{24 Days of Thanksgiving=Day 21}

"These are a few of my favorite things..."

Baking. One of my favorite places to be is in the kitchen. I love making messes and experimenting. I love making old recipes and attempting new ones. I am not an artsy person nor a musical person but the place where my creative juices start to flow is in the middle of mixing and making and baking.

Playing games. I think games can bring such happiness! I absolutely love playing any game... from cards to Settlers of Catan to Monopoly to charades to dominoes to (insert a game). I'm such a game person and I really don't know why much other than it is exciting and a fun way to interact with other people.

Personal Worship Time. In my personal worship time is where I really feel that God meets me right where I am. The other night I was home alone baking while listening to worship music. I have to take advantage of a quiet house to really get special alone time with God. It doesn't have to be a specific way or a specific place. God tends to meet me right where I am. Baking is a great place to do that. So while quietly worshipping and floating around the kitchen to mix up some Thanksgiving goodies I spent time talking to God and listening for His response. I felt so much strength infused into me after that night. It is amazing how impactful just small amounts of quiet time with the Lord can be.

These are just a few of my favorite things that I am thankful for that I have been able to experience this week. I love how the Lord cares about the small desires of our heart and wants to provide that for us.

Truly A White Christmas

We are leaving in 3 hours to go to Colorado! Yes, it is 2 a.m. and we are leaving at 5 a.m. Am I trying to pull an all nighter? Yes. We have had so much to do and I would rather hold out a few hours then try to wake myself up after a short nap.

We will be in the car for about 16 hours (give or take..depends on the weather) in just a little bit. I will probably sleep the first half of the trip and enjoy the scenery the next half. It is going to be snowing when we get there so we are bundling up and praying for a safe trip.

Most of the time we will be playing games, watching movies, and just spending time as a family. 3 of the days we get to go skiing! It's an amazing Christmas present. I will probably fall. Get up. Fall again. Get up. And finally ski! It's my first time so I am a little nervous but it will be fun no matter what. I am sure there will be a lot of hot cocoa and wrapping in blankets once we get back to the cabin. =)

We are still planning on having a huge Christmas feast! Mom and I have been working on pulling together a few ingredients and making a grocery list for when we get there. We have to have at least some of our traditional desserts and of course yummy ham, sweet potato casserole, macaroni, and other fun feasty foods. =)

Praying my mouth will heal up soon so I can eat real food...it's going to be an interesting car trip. Lots of applesauce! :)....:/

We will be gone for 9 days! I am sure the trip home next Sunday will not be as exciting as the trip there, but be looking for some pictures after Christmas. I will start taking those in just a few hours =)

Well I pray everyone has a wonderful Christmas. I'll be missing everyone especially my sister and brother, Rach and Joshua, who will be thought about every day of our trip! It will be good though.

Merry Christmas!

Random Excitement

Summer always has its slow times and busy times. I have spent most of my summer in a non stop blur of excitement. Therefore when I am able to catch a moment where I'm not going at 100 mph, I read or accomplish something.

The past couple of weeks I have not sat down at all, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The Bailey's, our friends from Georgia, came for a week. When they are here we always have something to do. We just pulled out our ping pong table again, so entertainment was easy to find. We all love to play cards and games too. I baked a lot. I always find that fun, so the week could not have gotten much better. :P While they were here we invited lots of friends over and had a little party. We danced, played ultimate frisbee (my team didn't win, but I almost fainted on the last round because it was so hot!!), ping pong, cards, and just enjoyed being together.

Thursday (the day the Bailey's left) our theatre had its first annual Gala. It is a formal theatre event where actors/actresses are recognized and given awards. It was a huge success, especially for out first time. I'm so excited for next year. Everyone looked fancy. I am going to put the pics on Facebook and post one with all the "Rosie Award" winners on another post (I haven't uploaded them onto the computer yet).

On Friday my younger brother, Ethan, tested for his low brown belt and passed. He is doing incredible in karate and lovin' it! =) It was a long tournament because so many people are testing but we had fun.

Saturday we had the Messingers over. I think my parents have known them for a long time. I love their family! We played our new favorite game with them. If I posted what it was, you would want an explanation and it just wouldn't work so I am not even going to say what it's called. I guess you will just have to wait in suspense and play with us sometime. ;) We LOVE it though, and play so much. Nat and Doug come over a lot and play with us.

Today we went on a mini road trip to Eastwood (it is in east Texas, past Dallas). My dad found some land out there he liked. In the near future his dream is to own acres and acres of land with a big main house, and 5 mini cottages (there are 5 kids in my family, so each of us he would let choose the style and it would be "our" cottage). His plan is to use it for family reunions, weekend getaways, and to rent it out. It would be a really neat place for people to go on retreats, go for a simple family vacation, a girl's weekend, etc. He has been praying about it a lot. This is no small/cheap idea, but God for sure answers prayers and if this is something that my dad is supposed to do, God will provide. He always does. We for sure know a lot about that. =)

Well, there is an update on my life and all the random excitement it has held!

Our Most Faithful Producer

We have had an abundance of blackberries! We pick enough to fill a gallon bag, and just a few days later there are tons more!

We have stuffed two sandwich bags already and given them to friends, and still had plenty, so......I made a pie!

It turned out fantastic, if I say so myself! As long as the plants keep on producing, I will keep on baking! =)

My random cooking adventures!

I like to cook/bake...I like to take pictures...so here are some pictures of the food I have made. =)

This would be my yummy dinner from tonight! Alfredo pasta with chicken...and an avocado. I love avocados.

I obviously didn't make the fruit, but it's a random picture I took...of food. The meal on the left was delicious though. My dad and I made it. Fish, rice with cilantro, tomatoes, and delicious seasoning, then sauteed asparagus with lemon juice. I am still working on acquiring a taste for asparagus. =)

Chocolate chip/banana bread & muffins.

The biggest salad ever. :P

My random breakfast...eggs, bacon, a banana,
and apple cider.

Then brownies, of course. My specialty. :)

Oh those cookies were so good! White chocolate/chocolate chip cookies!

So there are a few things I have made recently! =)

"Sunday Cooking"

So Sunday I was cooking pretty much all day. It was a blast. No one was home so I just went at it. First, I made breakfast for myself. Bacon, cheese eggs, a banana, and caramel apple cider! Secondly, we had a worship concert Sunday night with Barry and Michelle Patterson, and we had to bring desserts and a salad for dinner so I told mom I would make it all. I made brownies with caramel in them and cookies with chocolate chips and white chocolate chips! Then of course the huge salad but hey I was cooking for about 20 people. It probably had every type of vegetable. I don't think my family goes one day without salad. =)

By the way, I am still getting used to posting pictures so they might not be in the right order or who knows what. ;)

Fall Has Arrived!

I absolutely love fall!

From the trees changing colors to the sweet smell of baking aromas!

We have already made one pumpkin pie, and I just made another to take to school tomorrow! =) Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and I cannot wait to bake until I can't bake anymore, which would take a while. ;)

I think I am going to bring desserts, or something fun I make to school every once in a while. I need other people to enjoy all this deliciousness with me!