Week's End Gratefuls :: Books and Birthdays

This Week I'm Grateful For...

- quotes that just catch you right where you need to hear it! 

- parents who send me flowers at work on my birthday
 (and that there's enough to go around for extra vases in the house)

- "early-bed friday nights"... yep, I'm that girl.
I didn't go to sleep till 9, but I was in bed curled up with a book a 7:24pm

- books that help me save money
(look forward to a GREAT GREEN "Music & Productivity" this coming Tuesday ;D)

- books that feel like old friends
I read The Princess Bride once a year all the way through Jr. High and High School.
 Glad to have its familiar binding back in my hands.

- blank books ready for filling in the quickly approaching new year...

yeah yeah, I know it's only August, but 2013 is passing too fast for me not to plan ahead.

"Thanksgiving is the evidence of our acceptance of whatever He gives. Thanksgiving is the manifestation of our Yes! to His grace." - Ann Voskamp

So what are you thankful this week?

(Be)Truth :: Contemplation

Blogger Swaps :: Mugs!

Although I've been blogging for several years now, I'm just beginning to find new joys and community that comes from sharing life on this world wide web. And this year as I've taken time away from most other social media mediums, it's opened doors for me to discover even more about what great community opportunities there are through these crazy web pages.

One such discovery thanks to {this} lovely lady is BLOGGER SWAPS. Where one blog hosts a swap between participants. And when I found out about this first swap - I just couldn't resist!

MUG SWAP

All you had to do was sign up with a little bit of information about yourself
Promise to send a mug to the person you were matched with
and viola! You're learning about new bloggers and connecting to people.

So first I'll share my "Mug Swap Sends"

His and Hers Mugs - since even though it's the wife who's a part of the blogging community,
the husbands are important too because they're sharing their sweet wives with us :)

I found the great Latte mugs at World Market and couldn't resist them. Kept one for myself to remind me to pray for this family that I'd been connected with. The "His" Mug is one I already had. I'm a mug collector and thought I'd be fun to send off one that was currently in my collection, but not used very often.
Check {Her} Out

And now for the "Mug Swap Received"

The sweet woman who received my name mentioned that it was ironic for a "Girly Girl" to be matched with "Granola Girl" But she nailed it on the HEAD!

-  I didn't have an Oklahoma mug yet. SCORE!
- Loving the gray and yellow right now... and always.
- Was just thinking about buying some Nutella, and now I don't have too.
- and this gratitude journal will get LOTS of use for 2014
- BONUS: the package arrived on my 25th BIRTHDAY! So perfect :)
Check {Her} Out!

My thank you note included this picture of my morning cup of tea and bowl of homemade granola

Want to be involved in a swap: Meg's hosting an Etsy Swap
AND
you're lucky because she extended the sign up period.
So if you want to get in on this awesome gifting, {HOP} over to her blog and sign up QUICK

I promise you won't regret it!

Music & Productivity :: Birthday Cake

Yesterday was my 25th Birthday
And it was great!
more on what happened later this week

So this morning I got up at 7am (which is normal)
and went straight to the kitchen to get productive
making my favorite cake

Carrot Cake

The carrot cake my mom made for my 21st Birthday.
She made it and then drove 3 hours to deliver it for my
"Back-to-school Birthday Bash" with mall my friends.

This way I can still cover my friend's shift and the cake will be nice and cool to frost when I get home before my community group comes over tonight

This is my own carrot cake in the process to celebrate my 25th!

And soundtrack of choice for this baking extravaganza?

Although Ben Rector has been playing more often over the past week I decided to listen to my old favorites Shane & Shane. They've got a new album out recently also.

SO MUCH TRUTH goes into their lyrics.

Enjoy!

(BE) Church :: God of Restoration

With a new house that I could actually make my OWN HOME
has come MANY hopes and dreams of things I want to have and DIY projects.

One of those was fresh herbs that I could pick and cook with..
but these things cost money... until you find friends with bountiful gardens who are willing to share a shoot or two.

So with 3 gifted plants
rosemary, mint & basil.

3 gifted pots 

and a new bag of soil

I prepared to have my own herbs to take care for my new home.

However, it took me a couple days to pot my new dear plants...
and I didn't pay attention to them well enough...

and I killed the poor mint. : (

But in some sad hope I went ahead and planted the poor dead thing.

But upon planting him, I gave up hope because he looked so dead.
And out of laziness I left the poor guy in his pot and just watered his flowering green friends!

The other week I was out admiring and giving the big green guys some love

 and  much needed water in this Chicago heat wave,

what did a find?

a small GREEN shoot of HOPE out of the brown dead stump.

I hadn't watered him AT ALL.

He'd been in that dirt for a month with only God's provision of rain.
And here is is GROWING!!

ONLY THE GOD OF RESTORATION COULD DO THIS!

I'm in LOVE with my mint plant 

and can't wait for him to grow large enough that I can use him in my kitchen.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

If you need to hear a good message on Ridiculous Restoration check out LifeChurch Online this week and Craig Groshel's final message in his series on Elisha and Ridiculous Faith!

What have you seen God redeem this week?

Week's End Gratefuls :: Friends and Flowers

 This week I'm Grateful for...

- Prayer boards that remind the world is larger than the Chicago Suburbs
- bright and sunny sunflowers in blue vases

 - finishing old journals and beautiful new journals arriving from home
(early birthday gifts and parents who know me so well!)
- friends returning and a full table of delicious food
- chalk raw hands and tiring out my arms climbing after tiring out my legs with an 8-hour shift
- early Birthday wishes from friends far away & remembering a great 6 years of friendship!

"Thanksgiving is the evidence of our acceptance of whatever He gives. Thanksgiving is the manifestation of our Yes! to His grace." - Ann Voskamp

So what are you thankful for this week?

(Be)Truth :: Job 38

Rainy days always make me think of the book of Job...
because when God rips Job a new one (in a loving fatherly way ;D)
he talks about the the storehouses of thunder, hail, lightening and so many other amazing acts of nature that I sure can't control.

I need a little bit of humbling too some mornings.

So this truth was good to let sink in as the rain soaked into the ground this morning.

What truth have you read in scripture lately?

Music & Productivity // Aug 20th

So with my new job I'm getting used to new "weekend" hours...
meaning that I'm off on Tuesdays and Saturdays (no more Sunday Sabbaths for this little later)
and I've decided that I want Saturday to be a Sabbath,
but Tuesdays are PRODUCTIVE DAYS!
Cleaning, laundry, running errands... (the necessary)
AND
DIY projects, baking, building, blogging (the desired!)

And what's a little productivity without some music - so I'll share what I'm currently listening to as well!

THIS WEEK'S SHARE!
HOMEMADE BLACKBERRY COBBLER

Fresh berries from the Farmer's Market!

Picked this recipe up from one of my favorite bloggers over at Today's Letters

Ingredients:

3 Cups of Blackberries (or 2 cups Blackberries, 1 Cup Blueberries)

2 Cups of Flour

2 Cups of Sugar

2 Eggs

2 Teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter

Directions:

1. Pour blackberries into a 9x13" greased baking dish and set aside.

2. Mix flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, and salt until well combined in a stand mixer.

3. Crumble flour mixture over blackberries.

4. Melt 1 stick of butter in a microwave safe dish and pour over flour mixture.

5. Bake for 35-40 min at 350°.

Simple Ingredients. Simply Delicious!

And because I'm not great at taking pictures of the WHOLE process, here's one from Mrs. Letter's herself

And now for the music...

So that was a little sneaky, because it wasn't a song.
But TODAY is August 20th!!

and that means my pre-order downloaded automatically to my ITunes!
LOVING THIS ALBUM RIGHT NOW!

It just might be on repeat for a couple days... so go check it out for yourself!

(BE)Church

So for those of you who don't know
I've started a new job

at a place called Blackberry Market

If you live in or near the Northwest Chicago suburbs you should come check us out.
And I'm loving it so far

But God is stretching me because my regular schedule puts me at work
Sundays from 7am-3pm.
No more Sunday Church

But God is continually teaching me that he is bigger than I could ever imagine.
And that includes a building with four walls that we call church
For the Church is not created by buildings,
but made up of people.

And that's what the Irish Band Rend Collective Experiment is trying to share through their new album Campfire. The video below shares their story of why they decided to record their album in community around a campfire.

"All of us have the divine spark in us and we desperately need the breath of God to set us on fire."

So whether you worshiped this morning in a building, around a campfire or as you worked
may you see the ways that God is using you to set this world ablaze.

What are you learning on Sundays?

Returning

Hello gang of faithful followers...

I've been MIA.

I've been avoiding God.

I've been letting God transform.

I've been avoiding sharing that transformation...

because it starts with where I come from

And looking where you come from takes courage.

And sharing that story takes even more courage!

But I'm returning.

This week - posts ARE COMING!

Until then,

Enjoy these beauties that I bought at the French Market this morning

(Wheaton's so fancy we can't call it "farmers")