I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.

-Ecclesiastes 3:14 (msg)

"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you;

he will never let the righteous fall."

Psalm 55:22

Love/Hate relationship

HATE vacuuming LOVE lines in the carpet

HATE waking up LOVE being outside in the cool 7a.m. weather of summer

HATE washing dishes LOVE cooking

HATE wasting time LOVE looking at decorating ideas (for hours)

HATE being tired LOVE reading a good book far too late into the night

HATE doing the laundry LOVE when my clothes smell like Tide

HATE being late LOVE not getting speeding tickets

HATE carrots LOVE tomatoes

HATE weeding LOVE summer flowers

Love/hate relationships can be healthy after all.

Thank ya Cara Zoch for the inspiration.

Lovely Ink

Meet the new Sharpie Pen, the most fit of the Sharpie family. It's...so beautiful. I have several other sharpie pens, and if you've ever used them, and love them as much as me, you can see how you may need to buy some of these new little creations. Sharpie has successfully produced an inexpensive pleasure that I will regularly indulge to the fullest.

Adorable Wedding

My cousin Matt got married on Sunday night, July 4th, and it was such an amazing wedding. Everything was perfect--no, seriously. It's all in the details.

I love the origami awesomeness!

Their flowers were much like wildflowers and fit perfectly with everything else.

White tent. Romantic lights. They also hung a bunch of pennants inside.

How adorable are these?!

...and this!

They had coffee...

...with adorable vintage mugs.

If you would have been there, you would have completely agreed that this was straight out of a Jane Austin movie. It was gorgeous.

And the bride was beautiful, of course.

Congrats Carolyn and Matt! You rocked it.

In my devotions today, God brought this to my attention, and it was exactly what I needed to hear...

James 1:19-20 "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."

Today, I have not been slow to speak and slow to become angry.

James 1:26-27 "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

I have not had a tight rein on my tongue today.

I have used it to express deep anger in my hurt. Now, I definitely do not consider myself a gossip and really do try with everything in me to not talk about other people, especially in a negative light. But, sometimes, I fail--especially when I'm angry. I know I just said a few things to my mom and to my husband, but is that okay? No, it's not. I should have taken it to God first. When will I learn? It's not easy living like God asks, but he knows best, and I have to check myself daily. Am I doing my very best today? Or am I just okay with doing pretty good? To be honest, I'd rather be a full-out non-christian than a "pretty good" Christian. No thanks! I want to be the very best Christian that I can be because God deserves it! I'm the daughter of the King!! I'm a child of the most-high God! I refuse to have a religion that is worthless. God deserves my very very VERY best.

Apple Pie

This is an easy recipe that is completely from scratch. It will take you about 20 minutes to make. Although the pictures may be misleading, you should make the apple filling first, set it aside, and then make the crust.

1. Cut up your apples. I cut them right into my empty pie plate because all pie plates are different and you need just enough to fill it up. Fill it to where it looks like the one below. It's probably about 2-3 cups, but yours could be more or less. Dump the apples out of the pie plate into a large bowl.

Mix the apples with:
1 cup of sugar
2 Tbpn. flour
1-2 tsp. of cinnamon (I use 2 tsp. because I love cinnamon!)


After you've mixed the apples, set aside.

2. It's important to not over work the crust. It will get tough if you do this. To make the crust...

Mix:
2 cups flour
2/3 c. Crisco
1 tsp. sugar
Mix these three ingredients together with a fork until pretty well blended. Now, make a well in the middle of the bowl.

Pour 6 tablespoons of ice cold water into the middle of the well and begin to stir the water into the mixture. It will turn into dough as your work it in. When pretty well mixed, cover your countertop with some flour and get use your rolling pin to make 2 flat crusts.

After you lay your first crust, fill with the apple mixtere and then put your second crust on top. You can pinch the sides to look pretty if you'd like.Make sure to put a couple of slits in your top crust to let the air out. If you don't do this, your crust will puff up huge and probably break open. Cook at 425 degrees for 15 minutes and then turn down to 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Wahla!