an (awkward yet awesome)(true) story...

     I wrote and emailed this wacky story to my cousin and my siblings a few years ago of an...uh...interesting...adventure...


      I got to try a new form of seafood the other day. On Friday, one of my friends, Kyla, who's 8 years old, asked me if I ever had octopus. After I replied her with a "no", she asked me if I would willing to try it. I said yes, and she said she would bring some for me on Monday.  She'll probably forget about it, I thought to myself. 

           The weekend rolls on past, and I forget about it.  As I loaded my backpack in the Smith's car during the crisp, Monday morning, thinking about the wedding dresses from Say Yes To The Dress, Kyla ran up to me with a plastic bag of (mush?) baby octopus."I brought the octopus!" Kyla said to me excitedly, handing me the plastic bag. Ewwww... did I really ask to try this... mush? I asked myself. Breaking my thoughts, her mother, Mrs. Jones, chuckled and said, "Kyla was excited all morning to give it to Rae." I put on my Broadway smile and said,"Thank you, Kyla." I put it in my lunch box and hopped in the car.  Thanks a lot , Rae. Now you've done it. If you don't eat it, Kyla will be offended. If you do eat it, you'll probably find yourself puking in the garbage can at lunch in front of everyone and humiliated. I pictured Kyla's face if I told her I didn't want to try it anymore. Buck up, for crying out loud. You don't want to take her heart and rub it against a cheese grater, do you? I silently sighed. Okay, but you are paying for this!

          During lunch, I looked at it. I tried to snap a leg off of it. All the third graders at the table were watching me. No pressure...no pressure...SNAP. It came off. Amy raised her eyebrows at me. No pressure... 
         Jenna took my lunch box and put it in front of the octopus, "I am not watching this."  
         Amy said "Wait, I want to see what happens."  I put it in my mouth.  I chewed.  It was squishy.  And sweet.  It tasted good.  Well, now, I don't see you puking in a garbage can.  It actually tastes good.  
         Amy schrunched up her nose, "Do you actually like it?" "Yes."  I ate the rest of the legs except one which I gave to the Headmaster because he asked for one. He praised me. He praised my bravery. I asked Kyla if the head was edible.  "I am not sure," she replied. I still didn't eat the head. 

And that was my adventure of the week.    


**NOTE** I've changed all the names of the people involved so as to protect their privacy

healthy recipe!

(photo credit to healthyindulgences.net)

     Does this even look healthy? Uhhh......NO! Ooh, but it is. Guess what? Did you know that it is sugar-free, dairy-free, and nut-free? And that it only has 4.5 net carbs each? And it has all this without any artificial preservatives or additives? AND it doesn't even taste like it? I don't know about you, but I believe this is God's gift to us health-nuts. Oh, and I forgot to mention, they are so easy to make! You don't need a bunch of fancy equipment to whip these up in 20-25 minutes.

Healthy Molten Chocolate Cake by Lauren from [http://www.healthyindulgences.net]
Adapted from a recipe at AllRecipes.com

Serves 12

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) organic unsalted butter, cut into chunks
8 ounces 85% cacao chocolate, broken up (I used Lindt)
5 eggs
1 cup erythritol, powdered
1/2 teaspoon pure stevia extract
Pinch of unrefined sea salt
4 teaspoons gluten-free flour (oat, buckwheat, etc.)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Set out eggs to bring to room temperature. Section out 3 chocolate bars into seven pieces each, so you can measure out the ounces (each piece is .5 ounces). Chop up chocolate. Melt butter and chocolate together for 30 seconds in the microwave, and stir. Melt mixture for 15 second intervals, and stir until smooth. Whisk together eggs. Add beaten eggs, erythritol, stevia, and salt to chocolate mixture. Stir in GF flour. Pour into 12 silicone muffin cups and bake for about 14 minutes (check at 12), or until puffed up and still a bit moist looking on the tops. Do NOT overbake. Let cakes sit in muffin pans for one minute, and then invert cakes on to individual serving dishes. Dust with powdered erythritol, or top with fresh whipped cream and berries, if desired. Consume immediately while warm and gooey!

Wrap up leftover cakes after they have cooled, and nuke them (unwrapped) for 15-25 seconds to get them gooey again.

hairstyle monday!

          Today, I am going to share a beautiful video on how to do a romantic summer-looking hairdo. It's absolutely gorgeous, I think! I found this channel on youtube called "LuxyHair" and they do TONS and TONS of AMAZING hairstyles that are so pretty and feminine and (for the most part) easy! I'd encourage you to check them out :D  


      

beautiful song...

   'Nuff said. Jon Schmidt is awesome. That's all I have to say.

do you ever have one of those days?

(photo credit unknown)

   I feel like that. I do. Especially that dreaded day of week: Monday.

   Monday. One wouldn't think by the sound of it that it was dreadful. In fact, it kind of has a pretty ring to it. I would imagine a delightful morning reading Jane Austen and drinking a cup of just-right peach tea while watching the sun make the dew glimmer on the lilac and the gardenias.  Because, in reality, Mondays usually aren't like that. They're probably rarely like that. 

 

   So my question is: why do we hate Mondays?
    
    It's the day you wake up to the buzzing of your alarm clock, and you make an inaudible grunt in your pillow, and you slam your hand on the buzzer. You make a low groan, then slowly drag yourself out of bed. You try to wipe the sleep from your eyes, but it doesn't help. Then you remember what will: coffee. Ooh, that sounds so good. You always look forward to that time of morning when you can curl up on the couch and sip the rich goodness. You walk toward the coffee machine, half slumped over, while continuing to yawn until it feels like your ears will split. You have messy hair, dark circles under your eyes, and, basically, the looks of what I would call a morning zombie. :D

   But is this what Christians ought to feel like? Should we despise the mornings, or should we see it as another day to serve God? Shouldn't we rejoice in it because this is the day which the Lord has made? When we get up is it a curse under our breath or is it a prayer?

   It's hard. But what has helped me in my walk to center my day around Him is memorizing a verse and saying it as soon as I wake up. It doesn't have to be a long one, and you don't have to actually say it out loud. The one I usually say is Psalm 118:24, "This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it."

    

a candle and a love letter

(credit unknown)

    This is a (rough) story I wrote in school, because we are learning Rhetoric, and I was supposed to write a story trying to make my readers feel sorrow. The background is WWII. Hope you enjoy it! (Well, I mean, kind of...)

     Heather stood on the balcony, staring out toward the sea, longingly. She was holding a letter which was wrinkled and spotted wet with freshly shed tears. The letter was signed at the bottom, “With Love, Edmund James Knightly”. Her true love was gone at sea, fighting in the war. But yet, in the letter’s contents Edmund promised her he’d come home soon.  She knew he loved her, and missed her, and wanted to come home, but he was drafted into the war against his will. As Heather was pondering these things, she heard a horn blow in the distance, and a faraway ship caught her eye. She felt a smile form on her lips–something she hadn’t felt in a long time.  She hurried down the stairs, letting go of the letter, which drifted slowly to the ground. She took off down the cobblestone street, wet from the rain of an oncoming storm. She came to the dock when, after waiting for a long while, saw many men in soldier uniform come off the ship and hug their loved ones. But she couldn’t see him. He wasn’t there. She walked around, calling his name, but there was no answer. She stopped, her heart skipping a beat. Where is he? She saw other men in uniforms who clearly were authorities begin to come up to women with babies on their hips and say something inaudible, then the women would scream or cry in absolute anguish. She couldn’t believe it. Tears began to run down, stinging her cheeks because of the cold sea breeze. She turned around to run when she almost ran into someone. It was him. 

     “Edmund!” she cried. He dropped a camouflage bag and embraced her, squeezing her until she could hardly breathe.
       Edmund wiped away her tears with his calloused thumbs, then whispered, “It’s been so many years since I’ve seen you, and I love you more than ever. I know we planned our wedding to be after the war, but I don’t want to wait that long. I want you to be mine forever.”
       She smiled then quietly said, “My heart has always belonged to you.”
       So Heather and Edmund were married after being engaged for four years. They had a happy two days together, until Edmund Knightly had to go back. She watched as the boat sailed away, and went back home. Every midnight since he had left, she left a candle burning in the window, so he could always find his way home.
       Many weeks passed. She was walking in her nightgown when suddenly she heard a loud knock at her door late one night. She opened the door to see a man holding out a letter to her. She bid him goodnight, then opened it quickly. Before she had read the whole thing, her eyes brimmed with tears, and the words blurred on the slip of paper. Life was hardly worth living. Her heart hurt overwhelmingly and, rubbing her temples, she went to bed. That night was a night to remember. As she drifted off to sleep, she gazed at the flickering candle on the windowsill, the candle which never brought him home.

      So, I'll end this post with this song:
   
   

the awkward and the awesome: pt 1

(credit unknown)

The Awkward~

* laughing so hard you're crying for no reason whatsoever and after you stop you just realize how quiet the classroom is and that the other students could hear you from the other room

* going to the store in your school uniform and being asked by some thirty-something-year-old guy if you work there

* standing in the school hallway with one of your best friends who just showed you they got a B+ on a Logic test and they start dancing and you start dancing with them and you add to the moment by making up some rap-music-noises when suddenly one of the boys in your class walks in says, "What the heck?" and you and your friend stop and start laughing while he's cracking up at you

* trying to walk all cool to make a friend laugh and you turn around to make a funny facial expression then run into a wall

* accidentally calling your (male) teacher "Daddy" when you ask him a question

* going out onto your porch to lay in the sun and you fall asleep then you wake up to hearing your mom take a picture of you on her camera then seeing the picture and realize that you were snoring

* the taste and texture of coconut

* trying to tell a joke that someone told you but it just...doesn't work. Or being the only person laughing at your own joke

Sometimes you just have to ask: why does this always have to happen to me? 

The Awesome~

* ordering The Betrayal by Douglas Bond

*  your older sister who lives in California is coming up in June

* finding out that you are going to the Ligonier conference up in Seattle to listen to R.C. Sproul, Douglas Bond, John MacArthur, and Steve Lawson speak

* being able to read my Bible openly in this country

* being told you're cute :D

* finally buying the 6 hr version of Pride and Prejudice

audrey hepburn quotes

"I believe that the happiest girls are the prettiest girls."

"I was born with an enormous need of affection, and a terrible need to give it."

"If I get married, I want to be very married."

"If I'm honest, I have to tell you I still read fairy tales and I like them best of all."

"Let's face it, a nice, creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people. It does for me." 

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you're never alone."

"As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others."

  "You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him."

"The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides."

The End!

pt 2: natural, feminine beauty...

[unknown credit. all i know is that it's taylor swift. :D]

      Health is important for us women. We bear children, cook, clean, shop for groceries, and are a helpmeet to our husbands (or fathers). I believe that God has given us everything that we need to feel our best so we can do our best at these things, and be able to put our best effort into it. When I eat a bunch of white flour pancakes with Jif peanut butter and some sugary maple syrup in the morning, I feel sluggish for the rest of the day. I can't do anything I need to do. But if I start my morning with a green smoothie and homemade yogurt with fresh strawberries, I feel ready to take on the rest of the day. Not that there's anything wrong with pancakes and syrup, but those things should be eaten at a minimum. (Especially for me, because I have hypoglycemia, which is a disease causing low blood sugar resulting (in my case) from poor diet.) I don't know about you, but I like to feel fresh and energetic in the morning--as well as the rest of the day.

       Currently, my eating habits go back and forth. Some days I do really well and some days I don't do so well. But when I eat pretty well, I usually have a lot of fruit and vegetables, whether in the form of smoothies or salads. I'll have homemade yogurt, lots of water (maybe sassy water (more on that later!)), herbal tea, and some 75% or up uber dark chocolate, nuts, lotsa' raw milk, etc. And, *chuckles*, no, I do not count calories. I just don't. When I go to a restaurant, I usually eat what I want and I enjoy it, without wondering worrying about it making me fat. Because it won't. As long as I eat well on a day to day basis.

       Now, you're probably wondering why on earth I called this (very long) post "natural, feminine beauty" when I'm talking about eating healthy. Actually, I think they're connected. Proverbs 31 says, "She girds herself with strength and strengthens her arms..." I don't think that what we look like on the outside is more important than who we are on the inside, but I don't think that's an excuse to not try to take care of ourselves. I think it's beautiful when a girl neither becomes obsessive about her health nor neglectful of her health, but rather when she's in the middle: balanced. When she's happy with who God made her and how God made her (whether she has bigger thighs than most girls or is shorter than most girls), but takes care of herself by eating healthy and exercising when she can, and doesn't talk negatively about how she looks to others or to herself. Ever.

        Yeah, I know: It's not easy. It's just not, unless you grew up eating well and exercising. One of my favorite quotes when it comes to healthy living (and which I try to apply to every aspect of my life) :

        "I don't need easy. I just need possible." ~ Soul Surfer
   
       Hey, I'm not perfect at this either. I still something I strive for. But of course with God all things are possible. We just need to pray for Him to give us discipline, endurance, and a faith that can move mountains. :D