My Favorite Things II

Baking

Chocolate

 Christmastime

Love Notes

Old Books

Tea Cups

Musicals

Keep your smiles on! Until next time!

I loved old black and white movies, especially the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals. I loved everything about them - the songs, the music, the romance and the spectacle. They were real class and I knew that I wanted to be in that world. ~ Sharon Stone

I can't walk by chocolate without eating it. ~ Malin Akerman

My Favorite Things

Daffodils

Dancing

Handwritten Letters

Peppermint Mocha Coffee

Surprises

Red Dresses

Keep your smiles on! Until next time!

"What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters.  You can't reread a phone call." ~ Liz Carpenter

"A blond in a red dress can do without introductions - but not without a bodyguard." ~ Rona Jaffe

Autumn Perfection

Today is the loveliest fall day you could dream of! Blue skies with wispy white clouds, warm sun, chilly breeze, colored leaves rustling in the trees and skittering across the driveway, good-smelling candles burning, boots and sweaters, little homework, and inside-out apple pie to make! Mmhmm. Perfection. And to accompany such a perfect day, of course you need a perfect song. :)

Keep your smiles on! Until next time!

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." ~ Stanley Horowitz


"O suns and skies and clouds of June, 
And flowers of June together, 
Ye cannot rival for one hour 
October's bright blue weather." ~ Anon.

“Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.” ~ William Cullen Bryant

"October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band."
~ George Cooper, 'October's Party'

In Love

Elegant beautiful feminine frills? Mmhmm, I think so! Yes, I am in love with this dress! <3 If only it weren't so darned expensive!!!

Here's your song:

Keep your smiles on! Until next time!

"I love being able to wear dresses and clothes that make me feel feminine and beautiful, and I love the fact that I don't have to all the time; I can wear a tank and jeans." ~ Portia de Rossi

"Your dresses should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show you're a lady." ~ Edith Head

"Just around the corner in every woman's mind - is a lovely dress, a wonderful suit, or entire costume which will make an enchanting new creature of her." ~ Wilhela Cushman

Feminine Friday: Frugal Living

Here is one thing that I've not hit on because I'm not very good at it: frugal living. I was raised to not worry so much about money. If you need something, go get it! Don't worry about the price tag! (that is, if you really need it) My whole life I've watched my dad replace a broken something with the new something instead of trying to fix it. He spoils my mom (which isn't a bad thing) and me and my siblings with extravagant gifts for Christmas and birthdays. And I know it's because he loves us but thankfully, I have a mother who has taught me to ask "Is this necessary?" 


Now I wouldn't say I'm too bad myself. Besides an occasional cup of coffee from Starbucks or a new pair of shoes once in a while, spending money on myself isn't my problem. I do however, tend to throw cost to the wind when it comes to buying something for someone else. If it's something I know that they will reeeeeeeally like and it isn't insanely expensive, I'll go ahead and get it. So far, that hasn't gotten me into trouble but I've realized that I can't continue on like this! 


A few weeks ago, something in Proverbs caught my eye:


"Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord." Prov. 19:14


I want to be a prudent wife someday! And to do that, I have to start working on it NOW. So, what does that mean in practical terms? One of my favorite words actually: Creativity! :D If I need something, want something or get something for someone else, I need to start being creative about how I spend my money. And maybe someday, I'll be better about being frugal. 


Now for your song! :)

Keep your smiles on! Until next time!

"Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character." ~ Calvin Coolidge


"Frugality may be termed the daughter of Prudence, the sister of Temperance, and the parent of Liberty." ~ Samuel Johnson

The Fall Epics

Good afternoon! Oh what I have been up to! Mountain climbing, ship sailing, hot air balloon flying, battling dragons and pirates and indians, hunting lost treasure and dinosaur bones and the Loch Ness Monster... well hey! That's more exciting than just doing anatomy homework right? 


Really though, I've been having a lovely time the last few weeks exploring park trails and new recipes and conquering homework left and right! I think dragon fighting would suit me better though...


Ah, well if I can't have adventure then at least I can listen to something epic! Here's a favorite. Enjoy! :)

Maybe you've been having more adventures than I? Well whatever you've been doing dear reader, keep your smiles on! Until next time!

"Adventure is worthwhile in itself." ~ Amelia Earhart


"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered." ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton


"Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." ~ Frodo Baggins

Study On!

In anatomy class, we're going over bones. Well, today I brought home a new friend to help me. Meet Ralph:

Ralph is going to be my study buddy and together, we will conquer the names and landmarks of the bones! Muahahaha!!!! *Ahem* Here's your song...

Enjoy your day and keep your smiles on! Until next time!

"But I found out that bones with flesh are more interesting than bones without." ~ James MacArthur 


Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. ~ Prov. 16:24

Happy Day

Today... was a good day despite the fact that I had to get up at 6:30 for class. My only comfort? It's class with my cousin so we get to talk. :) Anyway, this evening, I went to my Grandma's for dinner and another sewing lesson. Well... I guess I should say the first because the past two times I've gone, there was problems with the sewing machine and then we talked so long that we didn't do anything! But tonight, we finished the ruffle! :D It looks pretty darn sweet too if I do say so myself! Then I was gifted with three teacups and the promise of my grand aunt's hope chest before I left! <3 *happy sigh* Sometimes, I love being a girl.


So after a lovely evening, you need a happy song! Here is one that holds many memories for me. My younger brother and I used to dance around the living room to this song when we were little. We called it "the horsey song" because it sounds like some kind of horse race. At least to me. :) Enjoy!

Keep your smiles on! Until next time!

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." ~ Abraham Lincoln


"The art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a particular mode of happiness, but in allowing happiness to change its form without being disappointed by the change; happiness, like a child, must be allowed to grow up." ~ Charles L. Morgan

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