Lessons, Changes and Quicksand

Hello my poor neglected readers. My apologies for not posting this past week. There's been lots happening on the outside and the inside and it's been a lot to handle. But I thought today, I can at least give you an update.


So, two weekends ago was the women's retreat which went very well! 20 ladies came and we all had a wonderful time laughing and talking and discovering new aspects of our great God and eating too much chocolate and just being together. It was a much needed time away. 


Then this past week, I've endured countless speeches from my dad and mom and now, I'm back to the English major. That means I got to drop Medical Terminology and Microcomputers and I got into a Spanish class that will be during the second 8 weeks. I'm still in everything else though (Anatomy stinks). My dad figured out all the switches and credits and requirements and everything so I won't be behind from the other plan at all. Which means after this spring semester, it's off to IUPUI for two years. I should like those classes better though since it's a lot of writing (especially creative stuff). Outside, I think it is the better choice for me but inside, I'm a strange mix of happiness and melancholy that I can't describe. *sigh* 


Right now, I feel kind of.... stuck. Like I've just stopped. At home, at church. I'm not being treated like a child but I'm not being treated like an adult either. I feel like I'm still the 17 year old who just got the car keys and still hangs out with all her younger high school friends and needs the ever-present guidance of her parents because she's not quite mature enough to handle herself. Does that make sense? I've grown up some but I'm not growing up anymore. Exactly like swimming through quicksand. You can swim as hard as you want but you won't get anywhere. 


Something I've discovered lately. God will bring you to a place of desperation, loneliness and isolation in order to bring you back to Him. It's not a punishment. It's not because He doesn't love you. It's because He wants all of your heart and if He's having to share you with other things, He won't mind if those other things slip away. Because when everything you depend on to carry you through isn't there anymore, there's nowhere else to go. 


I can't say my life is completely bad. It isn't. In fact, compared to some people, it is pretty good! It's all just me I guess. Ah well. Such is life. Here's your song:

Keep your smiles on. Until next time.


“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world” ~ C.S. Lewis


“The Creator has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do.” ~ Orison Swett Marden

Feminine Friday: Teacups

Good morning my dear lady readers! I wanted to talk today about teacups! Why? Well, teacups are very pretty things! I've actually started collecting them. :) (along with other pretty cups) They are multipurpose as well! They can hold bobby pins or flowers or candles or earrings or even tea! Recently, I heard a story about teacups and I thought it very thought provoking and wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!


~ Teacup Story ~

There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups. Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked “May we see that? We’ve never seen a cup quite so beautiful.”

As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, “You don’t understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me, pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, ‘Don’t do that. I don’t like it! Let me alone.’ But he only smiled, and gently said, ‘Not yet!’” “Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. ‘Stop it! I’m getting so dizzy! I’m going to be sick,’ I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, quietly, ‘Not yet.’”

“He spun me and poked and prodded and bent me out of shape to suit himself and then… Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. 'Help! Get me out of here!' I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, ‘Not yet.’”

“When I thought I couldn’t bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! Ah, this is much better, I thought. But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. ‘Oh, please, Stop it, Stop it!’ I cried. He only shook his head and said. ‘Not yet!’”

“Then suddenly he put me back into the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited ——- and waited, wondering “What’s he going to do to me next?” An hour later he handed me a mirror and said ‘Look at yourself.’ “And I did. I said, ‘That’s not me, that couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful!’”

Quietly he spoke: ‘I want you to remember,’ then he said, “I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you’d have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn’t put you back in that second oven, you wouldn’t have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you.”

After reading that, I look at teacups quite differently! Don't you? It makes me smile. :) And now for your song!

Keep your smiles on! Until next time!


"Tea! thou soft, thou sober, sage, and venerable liquid,... thou female tongue-running, smile-smoothing, heart-opening, wind-tippling cordial, to whose glorious insipidity I owe the happiest moment of my life, let me fall prostrate." ~ Colley Cibber


"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." ~ C.S. Lewis

Simple Pleasures

Ever have those days when a satisfaction with the little things brings contentment to your whole life? Well, today is one of those days for me. (I wish I had them more often...) Things that I find satisfying today?

- A "Good morning Casey!" from my sweet little three and a half year old sister
- Reading my Bible in the car before class
- Completing my Anatomy test
- The cool Autumn breeze and sunshine floating through my window
- Leaves dancing across the road as I drove home
- Vanilla Chai tea with honey
- A good morning text from my wonderful boyfriend
- Hugs from my big little brother
- Clean laundry
- My comfy stormy-sky-blue sweater
- Cabbage stew
- The prospect of some free time later today

Yes, all good things that make me smile. :) What reasons do you have to smile today?

Until next time!

"I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string." ~ L.M. Montgomery


Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ~ James 1:17

A Little Sunshine

What more sunshine could there be but some musical magic? :) Enjoy!

Keep your smiles on! Until next time!

Music is what feelings sound like. ~ Author Unknown


Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music. ~ Ronald Reagan

Lavender Melodies

 Just a little taste of my favorite color. :)

Keep your smiles on and enjoy your day! Until next time!

"But, luckily, he kept his wits and his Purple crayon." ~ from Harold and the Purple Crayon



"Lavender, sweet lavender;
come and buy my lavender,
hide it in your trousseau, lady fair.
Let its flovely fragrance flow
Over your from head to toe,
lightening on your eyes, your cheek, your hair."
~ Cumberkand Clark Flower Song Book 1929



"Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,
When I am king, dilly, dilly, you shall be queen.
Who told you so, dilly, dilly, who told you so?
'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, that told me so."
~ English Folk Song

Something Yummy

Good morning my dear readers! So lately, I have been entirely too busy to cook anything and it's driving me crazy! I need to bake! Cobber, cookies, cheesecake... SOMETHING!!!! However, I have my first big anatomy test this week so I won't have any time until next week. *sigh* So guess what that means. You have to bake for me! And I have just the thing. :) Please step into my kitchen!

(The following is meant to be read in Julia Child style.) The lovely bread above is called Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. I was able to make it a few weeks ago for dinner one evening and it was definitely a smashing hit! Beautiful isn't it? I cannot take credit for the recipe because I borrowed it from another blogger. You can find it here. Now please! Go and get out your butter and sugar and flour, grab your apron and start on your deliciousness! And by the way, it's best if you don't share.... hehe :)

And now I'm off to study some more. Enjoy your day and whatever you do, keep your smiles on! Until next time!


"When baking, follow directions.  When cooking, go by your own taste." ~ Laiko Bahrs


"Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts!" ~ James Beard


"All sorrows are less with bread." ~ Miguel de Cervantes

Feminine Friday: Embracing Age

There is something that has been bothering me lately. As I walk around IT Campus and the grocery store and Starbucks, I see it over and over again. What? Women in their 40's and 50's trying to look like they're 25! It begs the question... why??? Society tells us that beautiful is thin, fashionably dressed, blond model hair and foot high high heels. But is this influence so bad that it affects even older women? Well... obviously. 

Personally, I think it's beyond sad! We, as humans, age. Our hair turns gray and falls out. Our teeth fall out. Our skin blotches and sags. In the world's eyes, we turn pretty darn unbeautiful. But I don't like looking at elderly people through the world's eyes. I look at my grandma, who is in her 60's, and what do I see? I see sparkling eyes, permanent smile wrinkles, bony hands that have worked so hard, arms that always have a hug and an absolutely STUNNING spirit! She is one of the strongest Christians I know and she just glows with it!!!


Isn't that what we should be striving for anyway? No, I'm not suggesting we throw off all regard to our physical appearance because the way we present ourselves is important. However, when you get some gray hair and your face starts to sag, don't sweat it! Instead of buying the newest trendiest outfit, trying to look 25 again, embrace your Jesus and your love for Him because no matter what the mirror tells you, He thinks you're beautiful. 


One last thought for today. I found this picture on a site that I read often and I thought it very thought provoking. And very true! 

Keep your smiles on! Until next time!

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. ~ Titus 2:3-5


A beautiful lady is an accident of nature. A beautiful old lady is a work of art. ~ Louis Nizer

A Dreary Day

I am loving the idea of cooler weather that's the forecast for this week! I don't relish this humidity though. :P Today is kinda dreary. It feels like cold pea soup outside and the sky is just gray and blah. I wish it would at least rain so I could go outside in it! *Sigh* At the moment, I'm supposed to be working on an outline for Microcomputer class. I'm looking forward to having no homework tomorrow and ditching it Tuesday too. Why? Well tomorrow is a holiday so I'll be gone all day long with Dearest Carl and his family. Then Tuesday... well I'll leave that for another post. :)


I am thankful for: coffee, bright bouquets of flowers, handwritten letters. <3


Here is your song:

Keep your smiles on! Until next time.

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary." ~ Edgar Allan Poe


“Into each life some rain must fall, some days must be dark and dreary.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

September!

Finally some time to write! If I haven't been in class, I've been doing homework. If I haven't been in class or doing homework, I've been with Dearest Carl. If I haven't been in class or doing homework or hanging out with Dearest Carl, I've been sleeping. And while I've been so busy with these activities, August has slowly been slipping away and I woke up this morning to September! 

It was perfect driving home from class this morning! The trees are noticeably showing some reds and golds and oranges and there were leaves dancing across the road as I sped along. Today is hot however I hear rumor of some cooler temperatures next week. And the best part? We have green apples in our refrigerator! *happy dance* 

So, updates. This past weekend in Michigan was the best time I've had in a very long time! It was so good to be reunited with some of my old friends. Lots of long talks and laughter and general silliness (involving pink and purple hair and kangaroos) made a fantastical time! I was loath to come home. Buuuut time rolls on as time does so here I am, back to the grindstone. School has been going.... well going. Almost done with week 15. The pile of homework just seems to be getting thin and then it's time for class again and it's back to where it was. Never ending. *sigh* Okay, I'll quit lamenting and from now on, I'm going to try to list some things I'm thankful for in each post! Then maybe you'll believe that, despite all of my lamenting, my life isn't as bad as I sometimes make it out to be. Depends on the day. ;)

I'm thankful for: sunshine, dried banana chips, my little redheaded sister to make me laugh, hands to hold, sweet good morning texts.

And now for your song! Of course, beginning Fall for real, I have to include Vivaldi's Autumn Sonnet. Enjoy! :)

Keep your smiles on! Until next time!

“I love September, especially when we're in it.” ~ Willie Stargell

"By all these lovely tokens

September days are here,

With summer’s best of weather

And autumn’s best of cheer."

~ Helen Hunt Jackson, September