fall!

The sun sleeps behind gray clouds today
As rain falls on dying trees
Forcing brightly colored leaves to slip off their branches
And twirl gracefully by my window onto the soggy earth
As I cuddle under blankets feet socked
Sipping hot tea and resting in this blessed time of year

i wrote this today. as i sat watching a tv show in my parents house.

i am so happy to be home and be able to love fall again!

this weekend my family and i are going to clarion to celebrate autumn (and our family) at the autumn leaf festival!

i will post pictures, and take more walks and more pictures of this most beautiful time of year!

it's fall already!

good golly!

God has been doing amazing things in my life lately!

right before august started rachel and i got an apartment together.

BEST PLACE EVER!

then i got THREE yes, three, jobs. it's been crazy.

the months have slid by!

then, rachel and i decided together to start attending steamtown church, and it's really been amazing!

the people there are so awesome. also we started having dinner parties on monday nights.

i love it so much!

i make most of the meal and then people bring whatever, or nothing. either way i am just way blessed to be surrounded by such rad people.

rachel and i have also visited pittsburgh together and it was really such a wonderful weekend. i love those kids ssooo much!

so in all. i am a pretty happy gal right now.

and pretty excited to see the things that are going to happen in the future!

God's timing and plan is amazing, and crazy and makes me laugh.

and makes me rest and be at peace.

lots to think about, nothing to worry about

i've had a really hard time for the past couple months. moving from hawaii back to pennsylvania has been difficult. it's weird thinking that i won't EVER live there again.
and it's ridiculous how happy i am to be back in pennsylvania. i really really love it here and wouldn't trade it for the whole world.
in the past week i've had a hard time figuring out what to do. not with my life, just with little things.
i've been getting so worried about it that i've hardly eaten and have been having a hard time falling asleep.
this morning my grandma and i have been watching extreme makeover home edition. one of the families' father died of cancer within four months of being diagnosed and his wife said this quote "lots to think about, nothing to worry about" which i guess was something he always said.
what a great thing to say and think and believe. i am going to try to keep this in my mind and live by this. worrying gets you no where.

a tribute to times past

my very favorite pizza shop is location in a small north eastern pennsylvania town named tunkhannock. which, by the way, is where i grew up. so i've been frequenting this establishment since i was a kid. the other day i was there and decided to document it.

on another day while driving with my grandma and mom up to visit some relatives i made my mom drive by our old house. i just wanted to make sure it was taken care of and looked beautiful. i was surprised at how cute it looked.

my heart is at rest knowing that it is being taken care of.

it's july now

so, i haven't written anything since april?

i think i was pretty sick of life and friends and school

and hawaii then.. haha

so, home. wonderful.

i have a job at american eagle that i got because my good julie is the assistant manager.

i think i have a job at a cafe in downtown scranton because of my pysudo sister working there.

it's nice to have people you know working at jobs you can stand!

i've gone to pittsburgh twice since i've been home,

it's pretty amazing there. and i'm going back this weekend <3

almost every day i am blown away by how beautiful pennsylvania is.

i am so happy to be back here.

best birthday present!

today i stopped in at work on a break from school and got a late birthday present from a coworker! but the best thing about this piece of art is that my friend who made it told me that it was one of his favorite pieces he's ever done and he's held onto it because that.

so he told me he gave it to me because he thought i would appreciate it as much as he!

i really love it so much!

hear the bells ringing they're singing Christ is risen from the dead, hear the bells ringing they're singing Christ is risen as He said!

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty.

who was and is and is to come.

with all creation i sing praise to the King of kings.

you are my everything and i will adore You!

pretty much i am obsessed with this song right now.

i think it is so amazing. i love the idea of praising the Lord with all of creation,

and the word adore, it's just one of those words that you don't use,

unless you really adore that person.

gosh and to adore the Lord, it's just beyond what i can imagine.

so it's easter and i woke up at 5amish to go to church at 6, it was awesome.

i stayed for two services, sang a lot of songs, and then went out for breakfast with my friends.

there are a couple things i am really grateful for,

well first the fact the God loves me just for who i am.

that my ankle hurts. i've grumbled some but i feel God has been blessing me in ways i don't even know during this time of recovery.

i feel grateful that i always have money, it might not be a lot of money, but it is enough to get by.

i am grateful that i can go out to eat with my friends every sunday after church and spend time fellowship with those crazy kids.

this weekend has been pretty wonderful for the last thing i want to tell you that i am grateful for.

i reflected a lot on all that Jesus went through to be the atonement of sin and him raising for the grave so we can all have communion with the Father.

absolutely breathtakingly amazing!

so far this day has been productive!

i woke up late! i don't know why i've been doing that lately, but i woke up around 10, eeuucchh..

i like waking up at 8 or 830. 10 seems like i've wasted so much time.

anyway, last night i cleaned my room and got rid of clothes. also i realized all the cute shirts i have but don't wear, so again i cut one up and sewed it onto my favorite zip up.

i love it! it looks so cute!

i decided to make myself some VEGAN chocolate glazed doughnuts!

i am so excited that i've been making vegan treats lately and that they taste good,

all i want to do is bake and serve people coffee! it's such a delight!

highlights of my day

finally i got a doughnut (or two)!!

also i got a walking cast on my leg, have to wear it for 2 weeks then go back to another appointment and maybe some physical therapy.

also i want to go to nyc and get a sweet star wars tattoo by this guy! so awesome!

sprain sprain

we were hiking last tuesday and i sprained my ankle,

kristina took me to the hospital last night and they told me i severely sprained my ankle, hurt the ligament and then called me this morning to tell me that there is a tiny chip of bone out of the back of my heel.

so anyway, right now i have a splint on and tomorrow i'm going to another hospital to get more x-rays and meet with an orthopedic..

needless to say, i'll be happy when this is all over!!

i had to pee in a cup

kristina kept stealing things and put these in her ears

and a real nice doctor gave us juice and pop!

month of march

hurt my ankle while hiking with some friends.

and squirrel cuddled with me a lot while i did nothing for two days.

this little buy was on my steps! so cute!!

saw some of the beautiful ocean and some crazy wonderful ponds!

this is the best dog in the world!

this is a cute little muppit dog, who left to live with his real owner :(

cupcake birthday kisses?

birthday pancakes!!

kelli tooth miss potato head!

peace-a-roni!

tsunami tsunami

i could tell you a whole story about tsunami day.

but i'd rather just show you pictures.

first two are us laying around together about 15 people and 5 or 6 dogs.

next two are us watching and waiting for the tsunami to

last one is the view from where we sat, and showing how dead this usually very busy street was.

i feel like i want to scream!

i believe

(right now this is one of my favorite songs, find it on lala.com or youtube. so so good!)

by Dustin Kensure

Seen your face in every child that smiles,
but I can't help but rejoice.
And I've heard the song called thunder,
but I knew it was your voice.
Touched the holes in your calloused hands,
stuck my fingers in your side.
oh I was six-feet-deep in doubt but
now I'm sure that you're alive

Chorus
And it's safe to say we'll never know everything still blessings we receive.
And it’s safe to say I really don't know a thing,
still I choose to believe.

Smelt the scent of angel sweet floating in the summer air.
I have breathed in deep the incense,
while the saints send up their prayers.

I have tasted now I see
oh I see that you are good.
And I have ate your perfect body,
and I have drank your blessed blood

[chorus]

And all the answers that I find,
only take me so far down the line.
The tracks always give out
yeah it's a leap from the lions mouth.

vegan peanut butter cookies!

today after a horrible church service, great lunch, and puppy park,

i decided to come home and

be lazy for the rest of the day.

i watched heroes (can't wait for season 6!)

and sewed stuff.

example.

this is from a shirt that didn't fit me so well.

so i sewed it on the back of my purple sweater!

i'm so stoked to wear it.

i also decided to watch star wars and make vegan peanut butter cookies.

the first batch of vegan peanut butter cookies i tried making i made horrible,

and have been mad at myself ever since,

you see, i love making cookies and i'm darn good at it.

so i challenged myself to make some good vegan cookies.

and they turned out great!!

and i made this

it's a peanut butter cookie dough ice cream cake! yumyum!

now off to create some birthday presents for some wonderful people!

arise and eat

i cannot believe how wonderful this semester has already been. i feel like i have been appreciating so much more the wonderful friends i have and this glorious place that i get to live. and i have been (ridiculously) more comfortable with who i am.

but this morning i woke up to a missed call from my mom and a text from my sister.

maybe i shouldn't start my day off talking to my mom and my sister, because then i just miss them and want more then anything to be with them.

so, i missed an appointment with my advisor.

ate breakfast, did homework and then decided i should start reading "my utmost for his highest." i open it up to february 17 and all today is about is not being depressed.

i'll just let you read it..

"When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things-things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life."

i have seen in my life places that God has set me for some odd reason and it is nice that in the ordinary things He is there! and He wants me there for some reason.

take my job for an example, i can really see how i impact people's lives, just from giving them coffee and for a couple minutes investing in their lives. it's awesome.

"it's your beauty Lord that makes us stand in silence"

what a glorious week!

i had such a spectacular week! let me show it to you in pictures :)

my roommates got a puppy. her name is squirrel!

my friend heather came to visit!

my friend's band played their first show!

we climbed stairway to heaven, had dinner/breakfast and sleep in a pile. it was so amazing and so ridiculously beautiful. my favorite hike of all time!

my church had a ho-down for valentine's day

and last but definitely not least, my friend shane had a pirate/mustache party for her birthday! (this is shane's girlfriend alia, not shane herself)

..i hope the weeks to come are just as amazing as this one!

i really do have the most amazing friends in the whole wide world!!!