¡christmas!

well it is after thanksgiving now and all the christmas fun has begun!

our whole family journeyed to the far off land of mount airy...

dad and cj went hunting - caleb the one with gun in hand for the first time.

all us girls went shopping!

there are some really cute vintage / antique shops lining the christmas lit streets.

it was a lot of fun and we were fairly successful. :)

don't be too disappointed... but i don't have the recipe to these andy's candies cookies :(

but you can click here to buy them and have them shipped to your house! hehe!

they are made by nummycrummies...

so i'm gonna be starting on a line of christmas ideas!

hopefully it won't all be food.

ok. i'm hungry now.

merry beginning of the christmas season!! :D

The Fullness of God

"The Father has stored up in Christ Jesus,

as in a reservoir, for the use of all his people,

his eternal love and his unbounded grace,

that it may come to us through Christ Jesus,

and that we may glorify him.

All power is put into his hands,

and life, and light, and grace, are to the full at his disposal.

'He shutteth and no man openeth, he openeth and no man shutteth.'

He has received gifts for men;

yea, for the righteous also.

Not only as the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,

is he the possessor of heaven and earth,

and therefore filled with all fullness,

but seeing that as the Mediator

he has finished our redemption,

'he is made of God unto us wisdom,

and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.'

Glory be to his name for this double fullness."

.C.H.S.

harpar & trick-or-treating!

ok, this post is really late in coming,

but the 2010 harpar was epic.

like really truly epic.

first up, we had an awesome set up the night before.

"hey luke, need some tape?"

"don't fall off the bleachers!!"

"hey would you catch me?"

then we had a bonfire.

yasmeeeen. soul mate!

noelleeeeeeyy!

and jjzzojjzooo!

quite sadly, this is the one and only picture i have from that night.

where are jojo and i? no idea.

but hey, i loveee noelle and yas!! :)

wow that was amazing.

almost burning to death.

then roasting s'mores.

then drinking hot chocolate while we swung on the swings

and choked because we were laughing so hard.

"we should play football!"

"i understand some of it now!"

aaaand planning our beach trip to ocean city for next summerrr!!

yiiis! :D

then around midnight

(well at least i think it was midnight because noelle and yas kept tricking me!!)

we all went home and went to bed...

we woke up the next morning, and remembered...

MORE FUNNN!!!

harpar timmmmmmeee!

hehehe ;)

the disgusting old men.

like seriously.

its not even funny how old they look.

ew.

then justin came in dressed as bear grylls.

"where's the beeb?"

"he's coming later. he's in the backpack."

ew. like justin.

really?

so we got signatures on our arms.

even though justin beiber is gross.

anyways... moving on.

(notice the amazing shadow behind him?

meet matt who came dressed in a full black body suit.

and really freaked some of us out.

scarrry!)

then abbie, my fairy, and her bestie hannah, the princess. cuties!

ok and do i really need an explanation for this?

uncle nathan sent us his corn costume.

and i didn't want to wear it since i was going to be a hippie.

and i didn't think anyone was going to wear it.

that is until i saw someone walk in the door in a corn costume.

and the exact thought that ran through my mind:

"wow. that's funny. that person has the same costume. that's weird."

then i looked away, helping with my game.

and all of a sudden, the corn costume comes running up to me...

and HUGS me!

what the heck?!?

and then i realize... it's MY MOM!

hahhahahahahahahahaha.

ok, so after that amazing night,

and many hilarious conversations afterwards...

we actually went trick-or-treating around our neighboorhood!

like, for the second time evaaa! ;)

here are a few photos that bekah snapped before we left...

of course we changed costumes...

we're just awesome and creative like that! ;)

hunter... lady bug.

rebekah was too chicken to knock on doors.

and she was willing to have NO candy.

at least that's what she said THEN.

now she's eating all the candy we worked SO hard to get.

;)

overall, it was fun and not too scary! :)

see more pictures here.

leather wrap braclet

really like this!

you can buy it on etsy here.

ahhhh!

i'm not sure how i currently feel about admitting this to anyone.

or to myself.

but i've been listening to screamo music lately.

like just yesterday and the day before.

and ummm.

i think i might like it.

a lot.

what now?!?!?!!?!?!?!

keith & kristyn getty

Speak, oh Lord, as we come to You

To receive the food of Your Holy Word

Take Your truth, plant it deep in us

Shape and fashion us in Your likeness

That the light of Christ might be seen today

In our acts of love and our deeds of faiths

Speak, oh Lord, and fulfill in us

All Your purposes for Your glory

friendship & nighttime }

ok.

let me tell you a story.

i used to be on bad terms with nighttime.

ok, and i admit it.

i sometimes still am.

i would much rather be sitting in the warm sun...

than being in the scary dark.

yes. i'm scared of the dark.

phew! glad i got that one off my chest.

but really, i don't like the time switch we just made.

less sunlight. it gets dark earlier.

:( boohoo.

i miss the glorious sun.

and i need my precious sleep.

boy, me without sleep...

you don't want to know.

anyways, this post is an ode to summer.

alas, it is gone and done.

until next year.

but this is also a tribute to my new friend.

mr. nighttime.

ok, why is he a guy now? no idea.

but anyways, i am now not hating towards him now.

i actually like him sometimes.

staying up late can be fun, not scary.

rachel, kenzie and ashley.

please know that i wish i had participated in the second annual goldfish competitions.

i would if we did it again now.

i have now decided not to dis mr. nighttime.

cause he can be fun too.

:D

ooooookeeeey?

during the last few days of summer.

(sniff. sniff.)

rebekah and i.

did a mini photoshoot.

in the rain.

at night. (yiiis!)

and it was actually fun.

end of story.

:D

fall idea #3

ok. so.

this might not be the most fally idea.

but here it goes!

handmade envelope set by pickledpantry on etsy!

i like how a lot of stuff on etsy is recycled.

it adds a lot of depth and layers and looks more vintage.

i wish i could send cards and letters to people more.

its so fun! :D

aaaaand. just want to leave with this picture.

pc: bekah

:)

Choose

lately i've been really encouraged by this song by Christy Nockels.

Let me be in love with what You love Let me be most satisfied in You
Forsaking what this world has offered me
I choose to be in love with You
I will choose to be in love with You

Let me know the peace that's mine in You
Let me know the joy my heart can sing
For I have nothing Lord apart from You
I choose to call on Christ in me
I will choose to call on Christ in me

For in the fullness of who You are
I can rest in this place
And giving over this, my journey Lord
I see nothing but Your face

Let me know that You have loved me first
Let me know the weight of my response
For You have long pursued my wandering heart
I choose to glory in Your cross

I will choose to glory in Your cross

fall idea #2

fall idea alert!

oh how i love this!

:D

today's fall idea has all to do with...

pumpkins!

pumpkin drink's cooler!
(picture found on http://www.blogger.com/www.marthastewart.com/)

i think i'll do this for my sweet sixteen party comin' up!

:)

after you've made your jack-o-lanterns...

or your pumpkin cooler...

what are you going to do with all those seemingly useless seeds?

throw them away?

ta-da!

also on martha stewart, this really cool trail mix!

click on this LINK for the recipe.

but really, think about how practical this one is.

or add your left-over pumpkin seeds to your bird feeder.

have a great day enjoying God's creation!

jess' blog

i really like the layout of jess' blog.

jess is dad's new secretary, who just moved here from south carolina.

i love how up at the top there are different tabs like quotes, music, photos, etc.

check it out... and notice it is now on the sidebar under "blogs i enjoy"

:)

The Daily Spurgeon

i'm subscribed to the daily spurgeon and let me tell you, it's amazing.

almost every day i get an email with a quote from morning & evening or one of spurgeon's other works.

the one i got yesterday met me RIGHT. exactly. where i was. like totally.

praise the Lord that he knows what we are going through at every single moment.

even when we haven't told others about what struggles we're facing (which is a huge help by the way. so do it!)... he still knows.

and let's face it... even when we haven't been praying for his help in a particular area, but we've been having a hard time...

he still knows. and he reveals truth to us.

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." -Romans 8:28

wow.

even through my guilty feelings & lack of prayer, he is drawing me to him!!

how great, how awesome, how unlike this world is our God!

here's the quote...

O you who feel your unworthiness this morning, who have been seeking salvation earnestly, and suffering the weight of sin, Jesus will freely give to you what you cannot earn or purchase, he will give it as an act of his own free, rich, sovereign mercy; and he is prepared, if you come to him, to give it to you now, for so has he promised, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

just a great, amazing reminder that it is Jesus who PROMISES to sanctify us.
and when we are painfully aware of our sin, this is actually a good thing.
before the Holy Spirit gave us this awareness, we would have dismissed our sin as no big deal.
Christ is working in us!
we needn't be discouraged, because our hope is not in ourselves! which is awesome. for me at least! :)


and i would suggest that everyone subscribe to the daily spurgeon.
you can do that by clicking "subscribe by email" on the right panel (duh!).
:)

looove these!

i absolutely love these folders/binders on etsy.

such a good idea to organize all that desk clutter.

:D

also on etsy...

these are so cute, and cheap!

cards to say hello and brighten someone's day...