123 days!

123 days until Baby Rains' due date! Whoo-hoo!

Merry Christmas!

Wow, I haven't posted something in a while! I hope you all had a great Christmas! Tell me about your day in the comments below. I love reading comments! It literally makes my day! Here are some pictures of Christmas at my house. Enjoy!

For Christmas breakfast, like we have done every year, we enjoyed fresh, warm, delicious, homemade, yummy...cinnamon rolls. Straight from the oven. With creamy, dreamy frosting on top. And coffee. I must have coffee. Black coffee, no cream or sugar. Just plain black coffee.

I designed these beautiful place cards here. If you want me to make some for you, I would be happy to! :D

This is what we had for dinner. Going clockwise from 7 o' clock: ham, buttermilk biscuits, mashed potato casserole, corn casserole (yum), Parmesan green beans, and sweet potato casserole. I think I gained like 5 pounds yesterday! Seriously.

Dessert: mini cheesecakes, fudge-y brownies, Russian tea cakes, peanut butter cup cookies, cookie-press cookies, chocolate chip cookies, kiss cookies (Hershey kiss), potato chip cookies (recipe here), Rolo pretzel treats (addicting, much!), egg white cookies, and peppermint bark. Whew! 

And that was just the food! Here are a few pictures of some things I received: 

First of all, I received a camera for Christmas! Whoo-hoo! All of the pictures above were taken by my new camera. I spent the whole day trying to figure it out. I think I understand it now! :D 

My sister Amanda got me this book, Perfectly Unique, by Annie F. Downs. I'm looking forward to reading it during my Christmas break!

My family knows me so well! Mustache notebooks, mustache paper clips, and mustache Duct Tape. Getting a theme here? :{

Oh, yum. Camo jellybeans.

My parents got me these navy-and-white, sherpa-lined, fuzzy-wuzzy socks. Oh. My. Goodness. SOOOO comfortable! I could wear these all day. In fact, I am.

So, there you have it, folks! Remember, tell me about your Christmas day in the comments below!

Please pray for my great-aunt Audrey. She had heart bypass surgery on Tuesday and had to spend Christmas in the hospital. It hurts when she breathes, and she has trouble sleeping at night. My family and I would appreciate your prayers! Thanks!

96 days, 10 hours, and 12 minutes until I go to Hawaii! 

Saturday Snickers - 11/20/14

#tbt - 12/18/14

For those of you who don't know what #tbt is, it stands for Throwback Thursday, which is the one day a week that you post an old picture of yourself. So, without any further adieu, (drumroll, please) here is my #tbt:

Awwww! Look how cute I am!

By the way, did you know that Tuesday was Chocolate Covered Anything Day? I ate Oreos dipped in melted white chocolate milk chocolate, with sprinkles, of course! :D

Monday Musings - 12/15/14

How to be a Mary in a Martha World 

Do you remember the story of Mary and Martha? Jesus was passing through the village where they lived, and Martha invited Him to stay at her and her sister's house. Martha was busy making a meal and cleaning, but Mary "sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word." (Luke 10:39) Martha saw her and literally lashed out at Jesus! She said, "Jesus, tell my sister to come help me!" But Jesus said, "Martha, Martha, you are worried about many things. But you lack one thing; Mary chose that one thing, and it shall not be taken from her."

So, how do you be a Mary in a Martha world? Well, first of all, what is a "Mary?" Mary was humble and attentive to Jesus. She took time out of her day to spend time with Jesus. Did you spend time with Jesus yet today? I know, a lot of you are busy; it's the beginning of another week, it's almost Christmas (!), and you have a lot of stuff to do. But, if you are too busy for God, you're just too busy! 

Application: Like Mary, I need to keep my eyes and focus on Jesus and listen when He talks to me. I need to learn to hold my tongue and control myself even when someone irritates me and I feel like lashing out at them. The only time Martha speaks in the passage, she is being haughty, selfish, and demanding. That's not very attractive! :D Proverbs 31:30 says, "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised." 

Saturday Snickers - 12/13/14!!!

So true... :D

By the way, did you notice that today is 12/13/14? Pretty awesome, right? That isn't gonna happen ever...again... Now, if you were really geeky, you would want to see 10:11 am or pm on 12/13/14! Just kidding. Happy Saturday!

Potato Chip Cookies

Don't let the name scare you away. These cookies are delicious! :D They are my awesome aunt's recipe! I am actually making these for a junior high girls' cookie exchange this afternoon, so I thought I would share the wealth (and this recipe) with you! Hope you enjoy!

Potato Chip Cookies
Yield: 3-4 dozen
Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter - soft
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 cup flour + 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup crushed potato chips

Directions:
     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix in order as listed. Drop by teaspoonful on ungreased cookie sheet. Press down lightly. Bake for 8-15 minutes, or until golden brown and beautiful. Check periodically to make sure they're not burnt.

Warning: these are addicting! Be prepared to make a double batch or even a triple batch.

Monday Musings - 12/8/14

The Great Exchange

When I spend time alone with God, I exchange...

my weariness for His strength,

my weakness for His power,

my darkness for His light,

my problems for His solutions,

my burdens for His freedom,

my frustrations for His peace,

my turmoil for His calm,

my hopes for His promises,

my afflictions for His balm of comfort,

my questions for His answers,

my confusion for His knowledge,

my doubt for His assurance,

my nothingness for His awesomeness,

the temporal for the eternal, and

the impossible for the possible!

~excerpt from A Young Woman After God’s Own Heart, 
by Elizabeth George

It's...A...

We interrupt your day to bring you this special news bulletin: IT'S A BOY!!! My sister is having a little baby boy in May! Yay! I'm super excited! My mom and I went shopping for little boy clothes and blankies and toys this afternoon! 

Below is a video (hopefully) of when we cut the cake, while Skyping with Sarah and Philip and the whole Rains family. 

The cake

Saturday Snickers - 12/6/14

Monday Musings - 12/01/14

Yay! It's December! Now I can listen to Christmas music without my brother telling me, "It's not even December yet!" :D

A few weeks ago, Pastor Roland preached a message for teen chapel entitled "Ruined by Rebellion." It was about Saul and when he tried to cover up his disobedience to God in 1 Samuel 15:1-25. You probably know the story: God told Saul to "go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not" (verse 3). However, Saul "spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly." In modern day English, Saul destroyed everything that he didn't want, but he saved everything that was useful to him: the king, the best animals and crops, and everything that was good. Did God tell him to do that? No! Saul was being rebellious. Obeying God partway never works! Oh, and then, Saul blames the people. He says, "The people made me do it! They pressured me to save the king and the animals and the crops!" The truth is, no one made Saul do anything! He was blame-shifting! Blame-shifting is just an excuse! We can never deal with our sin until we admit that we were wrong and God was right!
We tend to think of rebellion as out-right, foot-stomping, door-slamming rebellion that you can spot for a mile away. Yes, that is rebellion, but there is another type of rebellion. Quiet rebellion is when someone tells you to do something (maybe it's your boss at work, your parents, or your teachers at school), and that little person inside you stands up and says, "Oh, yeah? Who do they think they are?" But, you eventually do whatever they asked you to do, because you have to. That's also rebellion.
Back to the Bible: Saul had a lot of potential. He could have been something great, if he had only obeyed the Lord. But he didn't, and his life was ruined by rebellion. He could have been king for a long, long time, but he disobeyed God, and God took the kingdom away from Saul and gave it someone more deserving: a humble shepherd boy named David.

So, are you more like, Saul or David?

Random November Pictures

Wow. November is almost over. In fact, in 2 1/2 hours, it will be December. How many of you already bought all your Christmas gifts? Not me...

Here is a recap of November, filled with beautiful sunsets, lots of food, and family time. Hope you enjoy! {They are not in chronological order.}

The Capitol in Harrisburg

The frost on the pumpkin

I'm sorry, but this sandwich was a-ma-zing! Melty, mouth-watering muenster cheese in between two halves of a toasted sesame seed bagel. Yeah, you can't get much better than that. Unless you add bacon. Bacon makes everything better. That's my motto, my maxim.

There is a story behind this picture. First of all, the amazing effects were done here. Secondly, if you're still reading this, the story is as follows: I was sitting, minding my own business, taking the first bite out of the delectable sugar cookie you see in the picture above. However, after I took that bite, my creative instincts took a hold of me and urged me to run outside, in my bare feet, and take a picture of this beautiful cookie against the pristine, white snow. I gave in and ran outside, barefooted, mind you, in the 30 degree weather, all to capture this magical moment. 

My brother, Ben (sitting on the right), shot a buck with his bow and arrow. He used a compound bow, not a wooden bow like Robin Hood, though. My other brother, Tommy (sitting on the left), also shot a deer. Cool, right? I feel really sorry for all of you who don't have brothers who hunt. Really sorry!

My awesome mother made Chex Mix. It was coming out of the oven just as I was walking in the door. Mmmm! Oh, the smells, the tastes, the warmth, that proceeded forth from the aforementioned Chex Mix. It was heavenly, I tell you, heavenly.

More snow on more pumpkins...

I captured this gorgeous sunset while walking home from church one evening.

Me and my family on Thanksgiving

(I'm the pretty one) ;D Just kidding; we're all pretty. 

Saturday Snickers - 11/29/14

Haha! Gotta love I Love Lucy! Pretty much sums up my day...

Q: What did you do for Thanksgiving?

Q: Did you go Black Friday shopping? If so, where?

Leave your answer in the comments below.

If you don't reply, I'll just assume that you don't believe in Thanksgiving, and you have no idea what Black Friday is. :-)

Next Friday, we find out if Baby is a little mister or a little miss! #auntieB #cantwaittobeanaunt #futurespoiledbaby Pictures to follow.

123 days till we go to Paradise! I mean, Hawaii...

Grandma's Honey Muffins

These are seriously good. I didn't think that muffins could be so good, but these are. You must try these now. Like, now. Why are you still reading this? You should be making these amazing honey muffins. 

~ Grandma's Honey Muffins ~

• 
  
• Yield: 1 dozen

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, combine egg, milk, butter and honey. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
• 
  
• Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm, with butter.

KCEA State Choir

On Saturday, I had the privilege of going to Harrisburg and hearing the State Choir perform in the Capitol Rotunda. It was so cool! Because of the huge dome, everything echoes. When they finished a song, the last note reverberated for a while. My friends Abby, Katelyn, Hope, and Angie were able to sing in this choir, as well as some teen boys from our youth group. Next year, hopefully, I'll be able to sing in this amazing choir!

And, yes, I did climb all those steps. Actually, I ran.

Yes, I went all the way to the top of the Capitol building and looked down on the multitude of people, and yes, I felt compelled to drop either grapes or Gobstoppers on them. ;-)

You can listen to the songs and see more pictures by clicking here.

Monday Musings - 11/24/14

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

~1 Thessalonians 5:18

It's almost Thanksgiving, and everyone is talking about being thankful. We all know that we're supposed to give thanks in all things. But do we actually? I mean, obviously, when things are great, we give thanks. However, when you face sorrow, when your plans get ruined, when things don't go your way, do you still give thanks like you did in the good times? If you're human, probably not. 

So, how can you give thanks in everything, like the verse says? Make it a habit to give thanks. Here are some ideas:

• Keep a "gratitude journal" and write out at least five things you are thankful for every day. They can be as small as "The birds were chirping, and the sun was shining!"
• Learn to recognize the good things even in bad situations. Paul was in prison when the wrote the verse above!
• Verbally thank God for not only the things in your life, but also the people!

Saturday Snickers - 11/22/14

Three cheers for REAL books! :-)

End of the Volleyball Season!

Well, volleyball season is officially over. 

*sniff* 

It was a great year, and all the girls did really well! So proud of them! 

Abby and Katelyn cheering us on!

~The Coaches~

Amanda, me, and Ben at one of my games that we actually WON!!! Maybe that's why I'm smiling so incredibly big! :D

Good spike, Noreen!

1...2...3... let's go, Knights!

Me, #21

Me again...

Us bein' sorta crazy...

The whole team

Back row, left to right: Angie, Liz, Sarah R., Erika, Anna

Middle, left to right: Coach Selena, Abby, me, Akina, Katelyn, Jillian, Coach Alayna

Front row, left to right: Emaline, Sarah S., Hope, Noreen

The JV team

Standing, left to right: Coach Alayna, Anna, Jillian, Erika, Coach Selena,

Sitting, left to right: Sarah S., Akina, Emaline, me

Our lovely shoes. Can you find mine?

The Lady Knights

Left to Right: Angie, Emaline, Anna, Jillian, Erika, Liz, Abby, Katelyn, me, Hope, Noreen, Sarah R., Sarah S., Akina, Coach Selena, Coach, Alayna

Look at me being awesome in the front!

JV pyramid

Top, left to right: Akina, Emaline, Anna

Bottom, left to right: me, Jillian, Erika, Sarah S.