1.31.2014

Those Days

Those days that you just can't win.  Try all that you might, nothing goes right.  You can go into something with a great attitude and a game plan only to watch it crash and burn before your eyes.  These are the types of days that you can relate to Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" more than ever.  The days where you wish you could take back half of the things that you said that day, or at least make it so no one else would remember your mistakes.  The days where you need to remember God's everlasting love and mercy more than ever.  That was today.
"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
                                                         - 1 Peter 5:7

Knowing that my imperfections, flaws and mistakes make no difference to God is such a relief.  The only opinion that matters views me as His beloved child.  The fact that God forgives sins when you come to him with repentance makes facing tomorrow possible even though it may seem as though the mistakes of today have ruined everything.

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace"
                                                     - Ephesians 1:7

Here's to a new tomorrow!

Love,
Allison

 

 

1.29.2014

What I'm Reading Wednesday

Do you think I could get a new hashtag going on Instagram? Instead of scrolling through dozens of duck faces and long sentimental comments about how much everyone loves their best friend/mom/girlfriend/random stranger that they think is hot, #wcw could be a thing of the past and #wirw could be in.  There would be intellectual comments discussing main characters and plots and photos of books with vintage filters.  It would be as close to heaven on earth as you could get.

So, to kick off this new trend, I present to you what I'm reading Wednesday (warning, I'm one of those people who read a ridiculous number of books at the same time):

1.27.2014

Overwhelmed

With wind chills dipping the temperature to a slightly chilly -18°, today just seemed like the perfect excuse for cup of hot chocolate.  But not just any hot chocolate, Serendipity 3 hot chocolate! You know, the famous little café in NYC with a 60 year history where the likes of Brooke Shields, Andy Warhol and the High School Musical cast have dined? When my parents took off on my dream vacay to NYC without me, the least they could do was bring me back a taste of the city.

And the city tastes so gooood! It's not a trip to the the Big Apple itself, but it's good enough for now!  



Sitting here, sipping my hot chocolate, browsing Pinterest, and listening to the Frozen soundtrack on repeat, I felt so relaxed and content.  It was perfect.

Until I remembered that math test coming up tomorrow that I don't understand . . .

Until I remembered the feelings I had hurt today with my careless words . . .

Until I remembered the mess I call my bedroom . . .

Until I remembered that many people don't have a place to take shelter in this dangerous cold . . .

Until I remembered a friend that my heart breaks for . . .

and then, everything wasn't so perfect anymore.  I began to stress over every little detail and only succeeded in causing myself to worry even more.

But God gave me a little tap on the shoulder.  Why should I even waste time worrying when the Creator of the universe has everything all under control?  That fact alone immediately gave me a sense of peace that I know could only come from God.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; 
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior
-Isaiah 43:2-3a

How amazing is that?!? God's got you, so you don't even have to worry about it! That's exactly what that singing fish has been crooning to all along, "don't worry, be happy!" 

I'll leave you with a great and extremely catchy (warning!) Kari Jobe song that is spot-on for this situation.  And I should probably get to studying for that math test . . .


Love, 
Allison



1.26.2014

Pinterest Crazy

Ahhh, Pinterest.  There is no other social media that I would rather waste my time on (except for Instagram, maybe).  My Pinterest days began wayyy back when you needed an invite to join and all my friends thought I was crazy for being obsessed.  Now that they're all crazy-obsessed themselves, I can definitely say "I told you so."

But despite the abundance of crafty DIYs, "simple" recipes and "easy" hair tutorials, they just never seem easy enough for this non-artistic, toast-burning, hair styling-challenged girl.  So I just pin them.  And that's the end of that.

Yesterday was a little different though.  I went a little Pinterest crazy.

It all started off when a friend and I started making another friend a birthday cake at 12:30 am.  I regretted joking that we would end at 4am when 4am rolled around and I was still elbow deep in soapy water, half-asleep.

The finished product (a Pinterest recipe!) definitely will be worth it when I get a slice of its double layered white-chocolate raspberry deliciousness on my plate though.



After a refreshing five hours of sleep, I got up to have the entire house to myself for the day.  This resulted in the creation of THREE more Pinterest recipes. I expected three naps, not productive and delicious creations.

It all started with the for real easy, healthy and yummy "breakfast cookies" which have turned into "breakfast cookies plus 11 am, 3pm, 8pm and pretty much any other time I walk into the kitchen cookies".


Next, for lunch, a vegan twist on tuna salad caught my eye and 30 minutes later, I had myself a mashed chickpea sandwich which tastes much better than it sounds . . . and looks.  



I spread avocado on some bread, added a few spinach leaves, plopped the chickpea masterpiece on and . . . volià! An amazing lunch was created! 


Finally, dinner came and not feeling in the mood for something fancy, but wanting something more than the frozen chicken nuggets that I eat every time I'm left to my own resources, a quick look a my Pinterest boards gave me the recipe to a Lauren Conrad baked oatmeal creation.  I tripled the recipe, threw it in the oven for 40 minutes and waited while it made the whole house smell like cookies. (I had already exhausted my Pinteresting for the next six months though, so cookies didn't actually happen.) 

This: 


became this:

and once I had topped it with some almond butter and bananas, it proved itself to be worth the wait.

So I guess the moral of the story is, stay up until 4am baking cakes and you'll never know what will come out of it.

Happy Pinteresting, friends!

Love,
Allison



1.25.2014

Blogging: Take Two!

I'm not a lot of things. No matter how hard I try, there are some things that I have never been and never will become.

One of those things that probably isn't in my near future is the full time "hoccupation" (that's hobby + occupation. And Google doesn't know what it is.  Am I on the brink of the next big thing?) of being a travel blogger.  That was "blogging: take one" and a tough thing to do for a girl who hasn't left North America.  So instead of struggling to relive my weekend to Chicago from 2009 for the fourth time because I had run out of things to talk about, I decided to start new and write about those things that I actually am.  Because try all I want, but travel blogging minus the traveling is no easy thing to accomplish.  I'll leave that to the pros.