Whenever a year draws close to it's end, it seems like that's when reflecting begins! New Years Eve is when people usually start thinking about what they did or what happened to them that made a mark on their lives. I mean, you see it all over social media and all that good stuff. To me, it's really weird when a year comes to a close. Have you ever thought about how the year only happens once? There will never be another 2013 and there will never be another 2014 after this next year! In my opinion, that puts a whole heck of a lot of pressure on us! If you only have one year to do something, it seems like you are forced to do something AMAZING and impactful!!! That's kind of scary...
Soooo I started thinking of what I did in 2013 and I came up with some that were "important" or fun... I did more, I just don't remember :P haha
THINGS I DID IN 2013:
Graduated High School: Let's be real, this is a major accomplishment :)
Went to Odyssey of the Mind World Finals and came in 6th place: This was SO much fun. If you don't know what OotM is, it's basically a theater thing where you prepare a 7 minute skit and perform it in front of judges at Regional, State, and World level competitions. My team was awesome and they're like my best friends!! We placed 6th- which is a HUGE deal!!
Worked at a summer camp: I was every kid's favorite person, so that's cool...
Began "real" college: Come on, this is huge, too :D
Watched a ton of amazing movies: This is just fun, not really a big deal :) haha
Although we have many more traditions, I'm going to
stop at this one (which is probably my favorite). We have this Nativity set,
right? It's this cute little plastic sculpture of just Mary, Joseph, Jesus and
his manger. Now most Nativity sets have baby Jesus attached to his manger, but
this one doesn't. He's removable. Ever since I was little, this was my favorite
part. I LOVED that little Nativity set! We would pull the set out of the
Christmas stuff and play with it. There was just one thing: baby Jesus was
always missing! But, we were excited anyways. We'd make little stables out
of shoeboxes and bring little sheep toys from LEGOs and stuff and set up the
scene. On Christmas day, the baby Jesus would appear!! That was my
favorite part of Christmas. My mom would said that I would run downstairs past
all the presents and just go to the Nativity set, let out this excited squeal,
and say "Baby Jesus is here!". It always amazed me as a kid, seeing
Baby Jesus appear on Christmas. I'd carry him with me all day and, sometimes,
I'd even put him on my pillow at night and tuck him in. Of course, now that I'm
older, I know my mom hid him each year and made him appear, but still, it was
the magic that came with Christmas. Through this small thing, my parents taught
us to see what Christmas was really about. I mean, the gifts were always cool,
but I never really remember what I got for Christmas... but I always will
remember the excitement of seeing Baby Jesus in His little manger. This little
toy represented the greatest gift of all. It represented Jesus Christ who was
born in a manger and would end up sacrificing Himself so we could live
eternally with God. I mean, what's a better gift than that!? No matter how many
or how little presents we receive this year, next year, or any years to come,
there is a greater gift out there- one that trumps any gift we could ever get
in stores and that is the gift God gave us.
Every year, on Christmas, my mom makes cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We
would typically wake up on Christmas, open stockings, then go eat breakfast
before diving in to the rest of the gifts. This is like the only day we'd ever
get cinnamon rolls and (I'll let you in on a secret...) I LOVE CINNAMON ROLLS.
My mom would stay up the night before and make them so they would've risen and
be ready to bake the next morning. However, she would try recipe after recipe
and they never tasted super super good (and she'll admit it, too, so it's not
like I'm bashing on her cooking). We even used to get the ready-to-bake ones
from the freezer section. UNTIL last year. Oh dear me. My mother got a recipe,
decided to try it, made it, and it. Was. HEAVENLY. We all now will freely say
that my mom is the cinnamon roll queen and has achieved perfection. I love this
tradition because (1) I love my mom's cooking and the fact she mastered
cinnamon rolls makes it sooooo amazing and (2) I LOVE CINNAMON ROLLS!!! :)
OK, so my family loves movies. So daggone much. Christmas movies, although we can often get sick of them, are classics and we watch these movies quite often!!!
Miracle on 34th Street. Although there are a couple versions, we prefer the 1994 version. The whole video-tape "you forgot to sew up the turkey's bottom!" part is quoted a bit in our house :)
Christmas in Connecticut. This is a great movie. Though it is black and white, which can be a turnoff for some people, it is really "hunky-dunky!"
It's a Wonderful Life. Once again, another black and white classic. I like this movie. You should watch it.
The obvious Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and the other animated classics.
White Christmas. Good movie. Haven't seen it as much as the others, but it's still good.
Home Alone and Home Alone 2. Come on now, who HASN'T watched these!! "Merry Christmas you filthy animal..." haha they're so funny!!!
There are others, but those are the main ones we watch. :) You should check 'em out!!
I'm baaaaaack!!! At least, I hope I am. Well, here I am on Christmas break with one college semester over with! Kind of exciting :) My first semester was good, but I'm hoping next semester will be better!
SO today, in the spirit of the Christmas season, I am going to tell you all about some of my family's Christmas traditions each day!! A new tradition each day! We don't really have a ton- what we do usually varies year to year- but we do have some that we love to keep, and I'd love to share some with you.
Today's tradition is our Christmas Eve tradition! For as long as I can remember we have this Christmas Eve tradition of opening the presents aunts/uncles/grandparents/friends sent us. This is also the time my brother and I open presents we got each other. This was always a good tradition because my brother HATES waiting to open presents :) We always loved opening presents- I mean who doesn't?- and it was fun to have a little excitement before Christmas. My dad also would read the Christmas story (can be found: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A1-20&version=NIV ), which was nice, and then the kids were sent off to bed. Let's be real, though, and say we never slept. I mean, eventually we did, but we were always so excited it was hard to sleep!! One time, to "fix" this problem, my mom put on the Kenny G Christmas album... to this day, I hate hearing that. For starters, it kept me up instead of putting me to sleep. Secondly, because I was awake, I swear I listened to it ON REPEAT like 7 times. I was ready to chuck that CD player out the window.... Needless to say, the next morning I looked like a zombie and had a new hatred for saxophones...
BUT ANYWAYS, that is basically our Christmas eve tradition. Tune in probably tomorrow where I share another!! I promise it won't be my story on why I hate tubas or something :)
Well hello all you lovely people!! So I'm back!! Hopefully, at least. I have been so busy with all this college stuff!!! Ok, not really. I've had a LOT of Netflixing time, but let's forget that and continue with the fact that I will hopefully be back to blogging!! :)
SO today I'd love to talk to ya'll about cover songs!! Many people don't know what that means, so I'll quickly explain. Famous people make songs. "Normal" people sing the songs and that is called "covering" them. So when you go on YouTube and see a song, if it says "cover" after it, that means someone else is singing it.
I would like to share with you a couple of amazing covers I found and love! So I'm gonna give you 5 of them to listen to!
#5: Titanium (by David Guetta Ft. Sia)
sung by Christina Grimmie
Why I like it: I love this song. I love Christina Grimmie! So.. it's good. I like this song because it has a good theme of how you can withstand everything life throws at you.
#4: Roar (by Katy Perry)
sung by Alex G.
Why I like it: Katy Perry gave me another song I love! I love this song because it basically states how you can be your own person and not care what other people think or not be dragged down by other people.
#3: Radioactive (Imagine Dragons)
sung by Pentatonix ft. Lindsey Stirling
Why I like it: I like Pentatonix. I like Lindsey Stirling. Combine the two and you have perfection. Well, close to it. I love them. Pentatonix (for those of you that don't know) is an acapella group that is super good! And Lindsey Stirling is a awesome violinist!
#2: As Long as You Love Me (by Justin Beiber)
sung by Anthem Lights
Why I like it: I already posted a while back about how I LOVE Anthem Lights. They are awesome. No debate :) haha!! But I love this song because it's really cute! And they sing it so wonderfully. I don't know. I just like it?
#1: Wrecking Ball (by Miley Cyrus)
sung by Megan Nicole
Why I like it: Now I know not many people like Miley Cyrus anymore. But this song, when sung by other people, can sound gorgeous!! I LOVE this cover. It's really nice!! Another great Wrecking Ball cover is by Eli Lieb. Check it out here, too!!
Hey everyone! So I greatly apologize for not being on in FOREVER!! I've been super busy with school and getting in the groove of things, I haven't really had time to post things!! Well, I just ended my 3rd week of school and I'm loving it!! Most of it, at least. There's a 1 credit course I'm taking that is going to be a pain in my behind- and it stinks because it's only 1 CREDIT!! Anyways, I'm having a ton of fun- I love all my classes (minus the one mentioned above), I love the freedom, and I love meeting people!! However, I hate the late nights (I haven't gone to bed before 12 in sooo long), I hate waking up early, I hate making time to eat (because I have NO breaks for lunch so I'm sooo hungry all the time!), and I hate how rude people can be.
Just a tip for everyone out there: be nice to people!! Even if you don't want to be friends with them, STILL be nice to people!! There are some girls on my hall and I walked by their room and heard them playing a song I really liked. So me, being friendly and wanting to make friends, paused and complimented them by saying, "Hey! I love this song! I'm glad someone else knows this band!" and they replied by glaring at me, getting up, and slamming the door in my face. I mean, I was being NICE!!! So please, just remember, if you do something like that, you make the people feel like crap and that's rude. If you're nice, people will more than likely LIKE you! No duh.
There are many girls on campus that are like that, unfortunately, and it actually put me in quite a funk the other day. We girls are very sensitive (most of us) and we can make mountains out of molehills quite easily. I had to vent to my friends about how rude girls were being was and how I feel like I'm inadequate and it was awful! I know a lot of people- girls especially- that feel that way. We feel like we're getting judged no matter where we go, whether it's how we look, what we eat, how we talk, who we hang out with, etc. Every day after I vented this week, however, something came up regarding this topic. Here are a few things I learned and I'd love to share with you guys- especially if you feel this way, too!
~Love yourself. This sounds kind of weird. You're probably like "She wants me... to LOVE myself? Whaaat?" But seriously! This is good advice!! I found a quote by Mark Sterling that goes a little like this: "If you want to soar in life, you must first learn to F.L.Y. (First Love Yourself)". DANG! That's poetic right there!! Basically, if you want people to love and accept you for you, you have to first choose if YOU want to love and accept you for you!! If you tell yourself, "I'm too fat!", "I'm too skinny!", "I'm too ugly!", "I'm stupid!", "No one could love me!", etcetera, then you'll not only believe it, but others around you will, too! People see you as you see yourself. Lucille Ball once said, "Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line."
~You are unique. Dr. Seuss is known for his quote that says "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” The last sentence of that is amazing. We're all different, so if no one likes you for who you are, then they're missing out on a one-of-a-kind experience! NO ONE alive is "Youer than You". There's only one of you and you should be proud of it.
~You are not alone. People go around wearing masks that protect them from getting hurt. What we don't see is what's underneath- the pain that goes on under those beautiful, confident masks. Whatever you're going through, KNOW you are never alone. Someone else is experiencing or has experienced exactly what you have.
Plus, you have a Friend that is walking by you always and will comfort you when necessary and never leave you. Deuteronomy 31:6 says to "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (NIV). God promised that- and when He promises something, He never breaks it.
~Sometimes you have to open yourself up. I personally have a hard time with this. I used to keep everything bottled in and it felt like I'd just explode at any moment!! Sometimes you have to tell people what's going on and let someone else help you! It feels great to talk to someone about what's going on. Don't think about it being a sign of weakness or something- that's what I felt! I think, now, it's actually more mature when you can talk to people about your problems! Make sure it's someone you trust, though, and someone that cares about you! You don't want the person going and talking behind your back about your problems because that causes problems in itself!!
~Dare to be DIFFERENT!! You were born to be you!! You were born unique!! You have talents and characteristics no one else does. Don't try to fit in with the world- dare to be different!! One of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes is "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?". This is so true. We WERE born to stand out- not fit in. Why should it matter what other people think of you- they're just people and YOU'RE YOUR OWN PERSON. Be proud of that!!
~Remember that you are beautiful; you are precious; you are worth something!! We are all beautiful creations of God. Now I know that not all of the people that read this believe in God. But here's the thing: whether we believe in God or not, He believes in us and sent His Son to DIE for us- His creation! He bought us with a price- obviously we're worth SOO much to Him!
~God created us just the way we are. Genesis 1:27 says that "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them..." (NIV). According to this verse, we, as humans,
automatically have a connection to God- we are created to be like Him, in HIS image! We are precious to Him whether we choose to believe that or not.
Now just because I'm saying these things, doesn't mean I'm perfect. Heck, I'm FAR from perfect!! I am just as insecure as the next girl, but I'm trying to work on that. I struggle with these same things. I have to realize these truths and be my own person!! Stay confident. Be you. I'll be working on this, too, so YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
I hope you were able to take a lot of this away and apply it to your life!! I also hope it helped and encouraged you like it did me!! Stay strong, everyone!!
Guys, I'm a Christian. You probably know that. Just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean I'm perfect. I'm not perfect. None of us are. This week I realized that, despite feeling inadequate and like a loser, I have someone I can turn to for everything. He IS perfect and can and will help you through anything. The world might look at me with hatred, but God never does! Girls might judge me based on what I wear, but God sees what's in my heart and loves me for me! If you don't know God, I highly suggest you find out who He is!! Here's a video I was shown the other day and it's long, I know, but really impactful: http://myhopewithbillygraham.org/defining-moments/ I highly recommend this!! You are also very welcome to email me with anything: aprincessfromfaraway@gmail.com.
This is another family favorite. It's pretty easy to make and you only need several ingredients!! And it's SUPER good!! I used to run track and, for our banquets, we'd have a potluck where we'd ALWAYS bring this and everyone LOVED it!! Please note that we make it so often, no one really measures anymore. So it's approximate.
RECIPE FOR CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
*Needs to sit for at least 6 hours!!!*
About 5 breasts of chicken, torn into shreds (we used leftover grilled chicken).
1 (14.75 ounce) can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 (16 ounce) container of sour cream
1 (4.5 ounce) can of chopped green chiles
1/2 cup milk (or enough to make it creamy)
Tortillas
Cheese
1. Mix the Cream of Chicken, sour cream and chiles in a bowl.
2. Spread some of the above mixture on the bottom of a baking pan.
3. Take a tortilla (we put them all stacked on a plate) and spread the mixture over it. You can really use as much as you want- just make sure it's not sparse.
4. Put some chicken on one side of the tortilla.
5. Sprinkle some cheese on. At this point it should look like our picture on the right.
6. Starting with the end with the chicken, roll the tortilla and place it into the pan.
7. Keep doing steps 3-6 until the pan is full.
8. When the pan is full, pour the milk into the sour cream/chile mixture- this new mixture should be thin and creamy.
9. Pour this new mixture on top of the rolled tortillas and spread around until it's covered.
10. Sprinkle cheese on top.
11. Needs to sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours- overnight works, too!! The reason is because it softens the tortillas and absorbs the amazing flavor- this is the key to the deliciousness!!!
12. Preheat the oven to 350 and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese bubbles and is golden brown.
Well, the day I feared is now here. It turns out I will probably NOT be able to post something every day and thus cannot keep my schedule... Sad, I know, but we'll still have fuuuuun! :) Here's the new plan:
I want to post whatever I want, whenever I want. Meaning it can and will be about ANYTHING I so desire :) Because I am such a random person, this might actually work out because this will now be a fun, random blog!! My plan is to keep posting recipes, movie reviews, and other stuff but, instead of me feeling bad when I don't post something, we'll make it random and post wheneva!! :) I'm really sorry because I would've LOVED to keep the schedule, but this will definitely be more convenient for me because I won't have a ton of time... Ohhhh the joys of college!!
Hey guys, I am SUPER sorry I haven't posted anything today!! I actually probably won't be able to post anything until maybe Wednesday due to my classes!! It's crazy. But I'm having a TON of fun at college and I'm hoping to get this up later.
Just a heads up, at the end of this month (or maybe even next week), I'm planning on changing the schedule around a little bit. This is the plan:
Sound good?? Hope so. I think that would be wayyy easier and I'd be able to get it up more often. Tackle-It Tuesday is what is taking me FOREVAA :) It's so hard to get it up, haha Anyways!!
Okay, I don't know how well my going-through-James plan is going to work out only because I feel like I will repeat things I've already said. There are SO many other good verses that I feel like I need to share with you guys!!! Don't get me wrong, the whole Bible's great, but there are some verses that I think provide extreme encouragement and I want to share some with you!!!
The verse I'm going to share with you today is one such verse and I personally love this. The verse is Matthew 6:25-34. It says:
"25 I tell you not to worry about your life. Don’t worry about having something to eat, drink, or wear. Isn’t life more than food or clothing? 26 Look at the birds in the sky! They don’t plant or harvest. They don’t even store grain in barns. Yet your Father in heaven takes care of them. Aren’t you worth more than birds?
27 Can worry make you live longer?28 Why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow. They don’t work hard to make their clothes. 29 But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn’t as well clothed as one of them. 30 God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith?
31 Don’t worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” 32 Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. 33 But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well.
34 Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today." (CEV)
Isn't that so great?? I love these verses because they show how God will provide for you. We can worry as much as we want, but, ultimately, God is in control and has a plan. It's our job to trust Him!! We have to trust that God will provide what we need and, when we trust Him, the Bible says "the other things will be yours as well"!! Let God be in control of your worries- just live your life for Him!! I love the comparisons with the birds and flowers. "Aren't you worth more than birds?"- that's just so great!! :) We are worth more than birds. We were made in God's image for crying out loud!! God WILL provide for us!!
One of my friends from school made these and they were AMAZING!! However, I made these last night and they definitely weren't as good as hers... BUT THEY WERE GOOD!!
RECIPE FOR OREO TRUFFLES
1 (16 ounce) package Oreos
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese
1 box of baking chocolate, or almond bark, melted
1. Crush Oreos- leave several aside if you would like to use crumbs on top of the finished truffles.
2. Add cream cheese and mix until blended.
3. Roll cookie mixture into balls.
4. Put Oreo balls in fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.
5. Dip the balls in melted chocolate and put on wax paper.
6. *Optional step*: sprinkle cookie crumbs on top of melted chocolate.
7. Refrigerate for an hour or until firm.
8. Eat themmm!! :)
*I used, once again, chocolate bunnies for the melted chocolate but they did not work very well. I HIGHLY recommend using the baking chocolate they suggested!! They still tasted good, they just could've looked prettier!*
So this Saturday is my brother's 16th birthday!!! It's funny how many milestones there are this year: I turn 18, I leave for college and my brother turns 16!!! Probably more, but those are the "most important". So I'm coming home for the weekend so we can celebrate!! :)
Doing the dishes... and modeling...
As much as I don't ever want or like to admit it, I love my brother. He's my best friend and we're pretty close. I know that, as the school year progresses, I'm going to miss him sooo much. Brian (my brother) and I were homeschooled up until I was in high school and he was in middle school so we got crazy close. We played together, fought together- I mean, we did everything together!! My first (and only) fight happened because some guy started hitting my brother and I, naturally, got protective of Brian and beat the snot out of the kid!! Well, not really, but I did kick him in the butt and scare him off :) My proudest moment- haha!! We're HUGE movie buffs (go figure) and we can quote movies like no tomorrow. He can PERFECTLY do the Edna Mode "NO CAPES!!" scene- voice and all. It's kinda awesomely nerdy :)
Soooo, for his birthday, I bought him an assortment of superhero items including a poster, a comic, a board game, anddd that's about it. BUT I'm going to take him out to see the new Percy Jackson movie (which we are both big fans of!!) anddddd that should be fun :) One last "hoorah!" before we both go back to school. Should be fun :) haha
It's official!!! I have my dorm and I'm a COLLEGE KID!!! Kinda scary. I'm so excited, though!! Obviously- I've posted about this a couple days in a row... So today I'm moving into my dorm. I'm planning on going back home until tomorrow, though, just because. BUT, like I said, "planning". Might change. I am sharing a tiny little dorm with 2 other girls but, unfortunately, I won't meet them until Friday because that's when THEY are moving in!! Oh well, that gives me plenty of time to explore my campus and meet people!! Plus, if I do stay, they're having a movie night... I do love movies... OK I'll get back to ya'll later!! :)
The plus side of living 30 minutes from your college is that you don't have to pack as much as you need to. BUT here's a sneak peek of what I'm bringing to college (next Tuesday will be Moving Into a Dorm so you can see my "final" product :) haha):
~Towels!!! (Boringgg)
<----
~Toiletries!!! (Almost as boring- except I got Disney Princess Band-Aids!! :) Oh yeah!)
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~My purtyful bedspread!
<----
~My TANGLED Pillowcase!!
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Now onto the best parts...
~My Hamish stuffed animal from Brave
<----
~My Pascal stuffed animal!!! :)
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Soooo I'm super excited... :) I leave tomorrowwww!!! Can't believe it... Hope I don't get beat up with all my Disney things :) I'm such a little kid at heart!!
I am a subscriber to a magazine called "Sisterhood Magazine", which is basically a Christian magazine for teen girls. Check it out! It's pretty great!! Anyways, in the March/April issue, chilling in the spotlight on the front cover was this band called Anthem Lights. Me, being a curious girl, read the article then YouTubed them. Oh. My. Gosh. I was exposed to a whole new world (cue flying carpet)!! This band is INCREDIBLE!!!
Left to Right: Chad Graham, Caleb Grimm, Alan Powell,
Joey Stamper
The band is made up of 4 guys: Alan Powell, Chad Graham, Caleb Grimm and Joey Stamper. As the magazine says, "these guys make it their mission to serve God with their music"- and they DO!!! Their songs are really amazing and have great meanings and they're so encouraging!!
Anthem Lights' ministry is to shine the light through their music. Not only do these guys appeal to Christians, but they try to reach unbelievers through their music, as well. One way they do that is by covering popular, secular songs on YouTube. For example, if someone finds their song cover and likes it (let's be real: who could not?), they might want to find out what else they sing and stumble across one of their Christian songs.
Simply put, I am an Anthem Lights fan now. I highly suggest you check them out!!
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My favorite song: My favorite song written by them is probably "Lifehouse".
My favorite cover song: Tough one. I really like their version of "Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia. One, they sing it beautifully. Two, they added a part in it and dang. It was really intense... If you've never listened to the real song to know what they added, they put "You are loved, no mistake, you are perfectly made".
Today I'm going to take a brief "time-out" from James to share with you something else!! Ok, so this week I went school shopping!!! As I was driving down the road to whatever store I was headed to, this song came on the radio and I liked it so I remembered part of the lyrics so I could Google it when I came home!! After I found out the title I went to YouTube and discovered the lyric video. I watched it and a wave of chills came over me. Like tons of goosebumps. This is such a powerful song and I just want to share it with you guys!!! The song is by TobyMac and is called "Forgiveness". Now some of you might be turned away because it's a Christian "rap" song, but there's a really great message behind it and I encourage you to keep watching!! I hope you enjoy it!! :)
This song is, if you haven't figured it out, about forgiveness. For me, the most impacting part of this song is when it says "No matter how lost you are... No matter how hurt you are... No matter how wrong you are... No matter who you are, you're not that far, you're not too far from forgiveness". This is so true!! No one is too far gone from forgiveness. No one deserves the forgiveness God gives us, but that's the beauty of it- He gives it to us anyways!! Like the song says, "We all make mistakes some time and we all step across that line", but God forgives us and loves us nevertheless!! It's incredible how awesome His love is for us!! I think this is why this song touched me so much. We're not too far from God's forgiveness. Nobody's perfect- not even close!!! But God still forgives us for our sins and loves us just as we are. It's also super cool that God forgave (and continues to forgive) EVERYBODY. You could be so far from God, but He still loves you and will forgive you if you ask for His forgiveness!!
"No matter who you are, you're not that far, you're not too far from forgiveness"!!!
My mom found this amazing recipe on Facebook one day and we all oohed and ahhed at how amazing they looked. Later that day, Kristen and I (this was when she was sleeping over) went over to one of our classmates' houses because he had borrowed my textbooks and I needed them back. Anyways, I, who really just wanted an excuse to make these bars, suggested we make these for him and offer them as a "trade" and thank you for giving me my books!! We made them and OH MY GOSH they're so good!! He even liked them and asked for the recipe!! :D haha So here's how to make 'em!!
NO-BAKE PEANUT BUTTER BARS
*super easy recipe!!*
1 cup salted butter (melted)
2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 (11 ounce) bag of milk chocolate chips
*see below for changes we made*
Combine all ingredients together- EXCEPT the chocolate chips- in a medium bowl.
Stir until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Pour peanut butter mixture into a baking pan (9x13 or so).
Melt chocolate chips in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Stir chocolate and pour over the peanut butter layer. Spread it around so it covers everything.
Refrigerate bars for 1 hour. Cut them while they are cool.
Enjoy!! :)
**So when we made this, we made minor changes. First off, we used chocolate bunnies instead of chocolate chips. My mom kind of stocked up on chocolate bunnies when Easter rolled around, so we just melted enough bunnies to make 11 ounces. Also, our peanut butter mixture was pretty chunky because I crushed the graham crackers into bigger pieces then I should have so, instead of stirring until it's "smooth and creamy" just mix in until you think it's right. It turned out perfectly fine, though!! :)
I don't know how many of you have a Twitter or have even heard of this, but there's this new thing that's going around social media that has been called "#1letterwrongmovie". It is HILARIOUS!!! What the people do is change ONE letter in a movie title and make a completely different movie because of it... This is an example of one of those... I found it completely hilarious :)
Instead of Pirates of the Caribbean it's Pilates!!! HAHAHA well, I thought it was funny :) haha
Have you ever stopped and taken a look at a soap dispenser?? Like the ones we buy at the store (I'm talking right now specifically the SoftSoap brand). For crying out loud, these are the weirdest designed soap dispensers ever!! I hate running out of soap in general, but when you take a look at a dispenser that is "out" and there's still enough for like 4 more hand washings trapped in there? Look at the bottom of the soap dispenser (or see picture provided).
There's a "bubble" in the dispenser, aka a raised dip in the middle of it. Because of this dip, there's a groove going all the way around, trapping innocent soap from getting sucked up into the tube thing that sends the soap into your hands. Because of this, you WASTE SOAP!!! Stupid design, really. I realized all this while washing my hands earlier and it upset me greatly... :) haha
All righty!! Well, today is Talking Thursday so I'm goin
g to talk briefly about something amazing... Cinnabon.
These things are so good, you, too, will want to lick the
container clean! :) *sigh* I have no shame
Have anyone of you even heard of this!? I ask my friends and most of them have no idea what they are. To quote Mr. Potato Head from Toy Story... "You uncultured swine!!" (just kidding, my friends are great :) haha). But seriously. Cinnabon is like Dunkin Donuts or something, but they make the most incredible cinnamon rolls!! One time, my mom and I wanted one so badly, we drove like 2 hours to go to Cinnabon- but we hit some great antique malls on the way :) If you've never had Cinnabon, GO TRY ONE!!! :) If you don't know where one is, well: http://www.cinnabon.com/home.aspx That's their website. Locate one.
I had a sleepover last night with my frand Kristen!! :) Today, we had a ton of fun doing a bunch of crazy, random things!! :) Except I'm REALLY tired today because we stayed up until about 5:30 this morning watching the Hunger Games and Abduction... and woke up around 10. Sooo I'm tired. But it was so totally worth it because (1) I got to hang out with my friend and (2) we're both obsessed with the Hunger Games and that's probably why we watched it last night...
She and I have this weird thing that we do whenever we watch a movie: we sort of "assign" the movie parts to people we know. To demonstrate this, I'm going to use the movie Miss Congeniality for an example. In that movie, Kristen has been deemed Agent Gracie Hart due to similar personalities and attitudes towards things while I am Cheryl Fraiser (aka Miss America) because of my gorgeousness and charming personality. I'm totally kidding. I have no idea why I'm her. BUTTTT we do that. It's weird, I know, but it's really fun!! I mean, not only do we get to watch and enjoy the movies, but we also have a ton of fun thinking of the people we know who fit which characters!!! I dunno. We're weird :)
It's kinda sad, though, because last night was probably the last sleepover I'll ever have with any of my friends because I'll be chilling in a dorm!! That in itself is crazy.
Anyways. That's all I'll say :) Haha
Today I am going to explain to you how to change a light bulb!! :)
What you need:
Light bulbs
A light that has burnt bulbs
A ladder (optional)
A tall person (optional)
What you do:
Remove burned-out light bulb.
Put new light bulb in the socket.
Turn on the light!!
If you have a ceiling light, this is where the ladder and tall person come in handy!! I used my brother as the tall person. These are the steps for that...
1. Find the "dead" light. So sad...
2. Take out the bad bulb. It's OK to be angry at it.
It's no secret I have a love for Disney or animated movies (I mean, Tangled and Despicable Me 2 already made it to a Media Monday!!). Today's Media Monday is focused around one of THE greatest, THE best, THE most quotable movies in my opinion: The Incredibles!! I sure hope you've all been able to see this at least once...
The Incredibles is an animated superhero movie made in 2004 by Disney/Pixar. It starts out with a Mr. Incredible on his way to the most important event of his life: his wedding. On his way, however, he meets his biggest fan, Buddy, who is dressed in an "Incrediboy" suit with the full intent of helping Mr. Incredible fight crime. Mr. Incredible tells him to go home, but Buddy appears again after Mr. Incredible stops a suicidal man, which leads to him interrupting a robbery by Bomb Voyage. Although Mr. Incredible tells Buddy to "fly home", Buddy insists on going to get the police but, as he's about to leave, Bomb Voyage plants a bomb on Buddy's Incrediboy cape. He won't listen when Mr. Incredible tells him there's a bomb so that leaves Mr. Incredible no choice and he goes off to save Buddy.
Frozone
However, the bomb ends up breaking a bridge, leaving a train with no track. Mr. Incredible stops the train suddenly, which leads to many injuries of the passengers. Finally, though, Mr. Incredible goes to the church and marries a fellow superhero- Elastigirl- and the two live happily ever after. Not really, the train passengers, as well as the suicide victim, sue Mr. Incredible and more lawsuits begin to appear for other superheroes. The heroes that once saved the city are forced to go into hiding and become regular citizens.
FLASH FORWARD: 15 years later, Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) works for an insurance company. "Longing for the glory days while stuck in a white-collar job, Bob and his old friend Lucius Best, formerly Frozone, perform vigilante work" which causes Mr. Incredible to be noticed by a secret organization who apparently needs his help (quote from Wikipedia). In a turn of events, however, Bob is fired from his job but, upon his arrival home, he finds a folder hidden in his briefcase from Mirage, a woman offering him a job for the aforementioned secret company. Bob immediately agrees to the job and lies to Helen (Elastigirl) telling her the insurance company's sending him on a business trip. When he arrives to the location, Mirage informs him that his task is to destroy a special robot called the Omnidroid. This robot is malfunctioning and, due to it's learning capabilities, it's become a threat to the island and the people. Mr. Incredible ends up destroying it, but not before it rips his supersuit. Upon his arrival back home, he seeks out Edna Mode who made his suit- and countless other superheroes'- years before. She makes him a new suit, along with patching up his old one.
Bob is contacted by Mirage with another mission and sets off to the island once again. He eventually meets the "boss" of this operation who turns out to be Buddy, his "biggest fan" from way back when. However, now he goes by Syndrome and has become a supervillian with the full intent of destroying Mr. Incredible's life. He created a bigger and better Omnidroid he plans to send to the city and let it terrorize them a bit before swooping in and "saving the day" with his remote that controls the robot. As Syndrome tries to kill Mr. Incredible, Mr. Incredible hides and makes Syndrome think he's dead. MEANWHILE, Helen was cleaning and discovered a long, white hair belonging to a woman on Bob's coat, along with the patch job Edna made on his suit. She contacts Edna, who demands she comes to visit. When Helen arrives, she discovers that Edna made a supersuit not only for Bob, but also her and her children. Edna's made Helen's suit so it can stretch as far as she can, the suit designed for Violet- the oldest, as well as only daughter- can turn invisible like her, the suit made for Dash- the middle boy- can withstand the friction made when Dash runs fast, and the suit made for the little baby Jack-Jack (who at the moment has no powers) is made prepared for anything.
MEANWHILE, Mr. Incredible is found and captured and Mrs. Incredible and the kids are heading to find him and help him out. To summarize, they save Mr. Incredible, fly off to stop the Omnidroid and, ultimately, save the world.
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That could've been WAYYYY longer, butttttt stopping there seemed OK :)
My Favorite Character: Hands down my favorite character is Edna Mode. She is HILARIOUS and one of the most fun characters to quote ever!! My brother does a fabulous Edna voice and it's so great :) I also love it because she is voiced by the film's director Brad Bird- a dude if you didn't catch that from the name. Watch this movie, and I guarantee she'll be your favorite, too!! :)
My Favorite Superpower: My favorite superpower out of the ones in this movie (super-strength, elasticity, speed, invisibility/force-fields, shapeshifting, ice) would probably beeeeeeee invisibility/force-fields. I mean, it's really cool :)
My Favorite Scene: My favorite scene is like every single one with Edna in it. If I had to choose out of those ones, probably the first one- "NO CAPES!" :) Watch below!
My Favorite Quote: This could also be considered my favorite scene, but I'll just share this [super] long quote :) My brother and I quote this ALL the time!! :D Keep in mind Lucius is Frozone (ice guy) and Honey's his wife. Lucius: Honey? Honey: What? Lucius:Where's my super suit? Honey: What? Lucius: Where - is - my - super - suit? Honey: I, uh, put it away. Lucius: *Where*? Honey: *Why* do you *need* to know? Lucius: I need it! Honey: Uh-uh! Don't you think about running off doing no daring-do!! We've been planning this dinner for two months! Lucius: The public is in danger! Honey: My evening's in danger! Lucius: You tell me where my suit is, woman! We are talking about the greater good! Honey: 'Greater good?' I am your wife! I'm the greatest *good* you are ever gonna get!
~My trusty website that I always go to for my movie needs, commonsensemedia.org, says:
This rating says it's "ON" (the green) for kids 7and up!
I might be 17, but I love this movie. I highly recommend that you watch it if you haven't. Those who aren't too into animated movies WILL still like it- that's how my family and many of my friends are as well! CHECK IT OUT! :)
And They Lived Happily Ever After...
*NOTE: I do not own ANY rights to The Incredibles- the pictures, the quotes, the videos, ANYTHING. This all belongs to Disney/Pixar!!*
"Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (NIV)
When you persevere through trials, you learn from them! This verse is basically saying that you must continue to persevere through these trials so you'll become more "mature" and you'll gain experience- and wisdom- from these trials. You will always encounter trials, and trials test your faith. Job was tested when everything he had was destroyed. Yet he stayed firm in his faith and was blessed by God!! If we stay firm in our faith and persevere when trials pop up, we, too, will be blessed by God and not be lacking in anything.
Today's Scrumdiddlyumptious Saturday recipe is one of my FAVORITE meals!! This is usually the meal I ask for on my birthday and all because it's so darn good!! This is definitely a family favorite and typically everyone who tries it LOVES it!! I give to you.... Chicken Divan!!!
RECIPE FOR CHICKEN DIVAN
*super easy recipe!!*
4 large boneless chicken breasts, split and cooked
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 package frozen broccoli OR 1 cluster fresh broccoli
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup buttered bread crumbs (about 20 Ritz crackers)
1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Steam the broccoli and, while the broccoli is steaming, cut up your chicken in small cubes. We usually use leftover chicken!! Like we'll have grilled chicken one night and make extra so we can use it for meals like this!
3. When it's done, arrange partly cooked broccoli in a buttered dish, then place chicken on top of broccoli.
4. Mix soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry powder together and pour over the layer of chicken.
5. Top the layers with shredded cheese and bread crumbs- if you're using Ritz crackers, melt butter and mix the crackers in it.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. Enjoy!! :)
Today is August 1st!! Wow, last month went by faaast!!! First, I'd like to say thank you to all who checked out my blog!!! I mean, over 400 page views in a month!! That's crazy!! :)
Second, this month is when most people go back to school (whoopee... oh joy...). No, I'm actually REALLY excited!! My first year of college and I plan to enjoy it!! :) Thankfully, I have roommates that like Disney!! :D I haven't met them, but I already like them!!! :D Soooo, because of college, this month will be quite hectic for me. I'm trying to write posts ahead of time, but who knows how that'll work out. Hopefully I can keep this up! :) So this is, I guess, another heads up in case that happens.
It stinks, though, that summer's almost at an end. It was fun, though!! I had fun at camp and I was in a small play which was incredible because all my greatest friends were there :) So I did some pretty fun stuff this summer!! What did you guys do?? Comment!! Email me!! I'd love to hear from ya!! :)
