yes.

cheerin' myself up

I will be honest: I'm not having the best week of my life. Emotionally, I've had a pretty hard couple of evenings and look forward to this week just being over. I wanted to share a few doses of personal joy from a few weeks ago that bring a smile to my face.

here is some Teavana lovelieness!

this is my new tea steeper and White Ayurvedic Chai/Samurai Chai Mate blend. the tea steeper is awesome because once your tea is done steeping, you just set it atop a cup and your delicious tea drains through the bottom and into your cup! tiffany also gave me this great idea: steep your sugar with your tea so it dissolves better.

this would be To Life white tea and a pound of the german rock sugar Teavana suggests for their teas. it adds just "a touch of sweetness" and doesn't mask the flavors in the tea. natural and unprocessed, it's great if you're going to be drinking sweetened tea on a regular basis.

aesthetically pleasant too!

julie, I was on the site today and doesn't this look good?!

Raspberry Riot Lemon Mate.

i think it looks delicious.

i mean, i am obsessed with raspberries at the moment.

it just might have to be one of the next ones I try!

Arcadian Apple is also on the list.

see? i am feeling significantly better. and thirsty.

so the last little piece of Love is this:

made by grandma.

it's been in the works for a few years

and it's finally completed.

i love it!

and best of all, it smells like her goodness.

nash needed a bath one day, in fact.

then he slept under grandma's quilt.

and smelled like fabric softner, but better!

we may no longer be giving him baths.

we might just invest in grandma's fabric softner.

i kid :)

it's so special

and she left me a little note....

♥

need to see this!

just some thoughts

first of all,

'ello!

hope you had a great day.

mine wasn't so bad...

and i've been quite productive since coming home from work... which is always a challenge for me. i'm a vegger. i get that from my mom, i think. i don't think there's anything wrong with vegging, but veggers, once they start, cannot stop... so when they get home they need to keep it moving until they leave every responsibility completed. this, i also learned from my mother. she's a hurricane when she gets home from work. then once she does her vegging she's usually down for the count!

ah, that similarity is quite amusing to me.

i'll have to share that with mom the next time i see her!

(nash is on my lap with one hairy paw on the keyboard... it's resting on the space bar.

my gosh my dog is so cute.)

so tonight tim and i will having dairy bar for dinner. that's a big yum. he's leaving tomorrow :( greek test, orientation, first round of classes. our house still has not sold.

this is how i feel about that.

i kid.

i mean, i am bummed.

but there is also a peace.

reading about the OT story about God sending a meat plague to a bunch of grumbling Israelites in the dessert gives me perspective. i will not be a grumbler. i will be thankful for this house and not complain about everything that's wrong with it in the meantime. (there is not really a lot wrong with it... i'm just overcoming patience.) i must remember, it's in God's hands.

eye of the tiger, people.

i am excited for Saturday, though.

dinner with my mom & dad in law.

monday i will see tiffany AND julie.

double yay.

i'm finally going to check out tiffany's place.

and i will be introducing julie to red mango!

last thought:

why is katy perry's cd being sold at my work?

i am confused.

and why is she half naked amidst cotton candy clouds?

is this art?

and why is the cd cotton candy scented?

am i 5?

dear unnamed famous seattle based coffee shop:

you have officially sold out.

sorry to those of you who like her.

i don't hate her music.

it's kinda catchy at times, whether i like it or not.

i'm just not sure the combination of those 3 things belongs at

unnamed famous seattle based coffee shop

tomsrrrrhere!

i dig em :)

death in his grave.

i have posted the video to this song before.

i'm not good myself at actually watching videos that people post

but if you like worship music and want to be moved,

listen to this song:

though the earth cried out for blood

satisfied her hunger was

her billows calmed on raging seas

for the souls of men she craved

sun & moon from balcony

turned their head in disbelief

their precious Love would taste the sting

disfigured & disdained

on friday a thief

on sunday a king

laid down in grief

but awoke with the keys

of Hell on that day

the first born of the slain

the Man Jesus Christ

laid death in his grave

so three days in darkness slept

the Morning Sun of righteousness

but rose to shame the throes of death

and over turn his rule

now daughters and the sons of men

would pay not their dues again

the debt of blood they owed was rent

when the day rolled anew

on friday a thief

on sunday a king

laid down in grief

but awoke with the keys

of Hell on that day

the first born of the slain

the Man Jesus Christ

laid death in his grave

He has cheated death and seated us above the fall

in desperate places he paid our wages

one time.

once and for all.

2 timothy 2:22-26

so flee youthful passions

and pursue righteousness

Faith,

Love,

& Peace

along with those who call on the Lord

from a pure heart.

have nothing to do with

Foolish,

Ignorant controversies,

you know that they breed quarrels.

and the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome

but kind to everyone,

able to teach,

patiently enduring evil,

correcting his opponents with gentleness.

God may perhaps grant them repentance

leading them

to a knowledge of the truth,

and they may come to their senses

and

escape. the. snare. of. the. devil.

after being captured by him to do his will.

fear.

"Do not fear, only believe."

mark 5:36

Jesus defines faith as the antidote to fear.

"He said to them, 'Why are you so afraid?

Have you still no faith?'"

mark 4:40

here ya go.

found this on the desktop when i got home.

hello.

good little blog

with some perspective on pornography

i've had this discussion with a coworker of mine.

it seems to me that many people have this attitude of

"who cares, it doesn't hurt anybody"

but...

i'm sorry, that's ignorant.

and it does.

so this sort of puts into words why this industry gets me so testy.

mr. toms

hey!

so i finally decided how to spend papaw's birthday 50:

it's funny:

i hadn't even though about them until tim & i were walking through nordstrom.

i had toyed with the idea of trying a cleanse deal

shara & brittany did this specific one.

they said sometimes people poop worms.

:V

but the great thing is you have to go caffeine free

and you get to eat real food

(just super basic & clean)

but they have a drink called spark that really helps

and brittany & shara are believers!

i just thought it might be a good idea to work on my sugar addiction.

but knew that papaw davis would want me to spend my dollars on something more worthwhile.

so toms, i ordered... they'll be here in 7-10 days!

woo!

most important meal of the day!

since i will be stepping down from my shift manager position in a week and will continue to open frequently at my store, i need to be better prepared as far as my eating habits go.

i usually always bring an egg for my first ten (usually happens around 6:15) and drink a sugary and creamy cup of coffee to go along with it.

the problem with this is i'm usually starving by the time i take my lunch

and want to kill customers who mispronounce caramel macchiato

or call frappuccinos fraps

or ask us if we serve cokes

:)

also,

the nice thing about being a shift is that you get to decide when you take your lunch. i never abuse this. i always take care of the baristas and make sure the ones who arrive before i do or at the same time get their lunches first. i just have this down to a science and when i take my lunch everyday is usually when i need to take my lunch.

so needless to say,

i need to eat more frequently so i don't become the hideous barista monster...

my goal in all of this is to prepare myself a little something before i leave the house

and eat a little something on my first ten at work.

a few extra calories to keep me going just in case....

i hate toast. can't help it. hate it with a passion.

so i was playing around with a new smoothie recipe and found one that is post-tooth brushing friendly!

fruit/oj smoothies definitely are not...

here goes:

1/2 c milk

1 fresh banana

2 Tbsp cocoa powder

2 Tbsp white chocolate wonderful

ice

it's delicious and i had a picture for you but i can't find my cord that connects my camera to my computer. so you'll just have to imagine it in its brown-ness in a cute little glass cup.

1. i will say, it needs some tweaking....i'm thinking of breaking the banana into pieces so that i can freeze it. i don't like using ice in my smoothies
2. i might use a little bit less cocoa powder... it tends to be gritty and makes for a texture that's a little too interesting
3. maybe some vanilla extract? if i did this i may use regular peanut butter. the flavor was good but i think that might make it even better

speaking of peanut butter, rachel found some cinnamon peanut butter for me to try (birthday present). i can't wait! she actually found me a few things that were interesting to try... macha dark chocolate bar (already consumed and delicious) and pomegranate & white tea gummy bears (julie, you would die... it was a hundred calorie pack so i didn't save you any... but the next time i'm at whole foods i'll pick you one up for your very own!)

back to the smoothie deal...

so i could make one of those when i have to open...

and then have a boiled egg on my ten

hello, protein, fat, & fruit!

makes me happy!

:)

limbo.

I've struggled lately with bringing my thoughts together in an organized way that allows me to use this blog as a happy outlet. I'm not entirely sure what my problem is. I think it may have something to do with being in a state of life-limbo: we are still waiting to sell our house.

Limbo and I have never gotten along. The agony of my impatience always takes the life out of me. When I know something's coming soon, but it hasn't yet and I'm not entirely sure when it will, I lose motivation and I lose my drive.

We had a showing on Wednesday, the company that set up the showings called us Wednesday night and said they wanted to show our house again on Thursday. Thursday Tim and I arrived to find that the house hadn't really been touched. (You can usually tell that the realtors have been there: doors will be ajar, shower curtain pulled back, closets open.) We received a call from the company again last night asking to set up a showing on Sunday. I have a good feeling it's the cancelled showing being rescheduled. It's pretty frustrating considering a lot goes into getting your house showing-ready, but we are hoping that some good will come out of this. If the same people from Wednesday wanted to see the house again it means they may be interested. If it's someone else entirely it means that (possibly) lowering the price of our house may have been a good move. We shall see.

In a couple of weeks I will officially be stepping down from my shift position at work. I'm actually relieved by this. It was something I offered to my boss because he did hire someone to replace me once Tim and I moved to school. He wanted this person ready upon my departure. And since it's taking a little longer than expected...

This past week hasn't been so bad, but every once in awhile you have a week at this place that makes you want to completely walk away. The job really is a good one. The pressure just isn't. I realize it's mostly self-inflicted, but while we are working toward this Chicago move and a few different major life changes I feel the absence of this pressure will be healing in a sense. Tim likes to tease me and remind me that I am someone who always thinks the grass is greener on the other side. I hope this isn't always true. I do know that I need some rest and I bad either. Much better than expected and it turns out that I'll make more as a Chicago barista than I did as an Indy shift. :)

So I just finished Water for Elephants. The book's a little crude but really, really good. I'm excited about a lot of the actors who will be in the film. Mostly Robert Pattinson and Christoph Waltz. Okay, epecially excited about Christoph Waltz. Anybody see him in this movie? Phenomenal performance.

courtesy

Up next is a book I wasn't originally that interested to read, but know now that I must because it was important enough for my mother in law to purchase as a gift for my birthday! If she loves the book enough to buy it for me, I know it's going to be good.

courtesy

I'll be sharing some birthday blessings and joy soon. And some cute Nash pictures.

Until then...