favorites

i backing up my computer (which consists mostly of photos) and came across some that i just had to post. i missed posting these on wednesday for wordless wednesday but i figured no one would really care :)

i'm excited for the impromptu photo-shoots in Jackson and Riggs' near future, especially now that they are both expert sitters

gift wrapping and giving (part one)

one of my favorite parts of christmas is wrapping gifts. i love that my mom boxes up all of our gifts, labels them with post-its and then leaves them for me to wrap. this year each person in my family has a different wrapping paper that their gifts will be wrapped in. 
i also love shopping for different people and coming up with fun gifts for everyone! i'm not going to blog about any gifts yet because i'm not exactly sure who might read about them here. but i will write about two little babies that were super fun to shop for this year. since it was the twins' first christmas and everything, i figured that i might should get them a gift. okay so honestly their gifts were some of the funnest to put together. i forgot to take pictures of their gifts before i wrapped them...a hazard of putting the packages together during nap time and then trying to keep Riggs away from scissors and extra paper when she woke up in the middle of my wrapping time. since i'm not with the twins right now, i can't take a picture of them with their gifts. don't worry, i'll totally be staging a picture (or 72) once i'm back. but for now, i'll just post a few cell phone pictures that cindy uploaded already.

wordless wednesday (cellphone dump) + a video

(the above two pictures...i almost can't believe Riggs was ever this little...but then i think about that first friday we spent together and yup it's totally possible)

and a video too (that hopefully works)

wordless wednesday [christmas part two]

(again i want these outfits, especially my brothers!)

wordless wednesday [christmas part one]

[i really hope my mom kept this outfit because i really want to put my daughter in it one day)

a child of the 90's

article here "10 things 90s kids will have to explain to their children"
basically i just think this article is pretty funny...and i love the first "issue" that i will have...cause topanga really is a fabulous name and i'm totally going to make my kids watch boy meets world because it's still one of my favorite shows ever!
i found the article from  90sgirlproblem on twitter...and everyone should go and follow her now...some of my favorite tweets from here include:
I shot 369 pounds of food, but could only carry back 200 pounds. #OregonTrail #90sgirlproblems
I forgot to buy a disposable camera for my school field trip tomorrow. #90sgirlproblems
I'm pretty sure Mary-Kate and Ashley can solve any crime. #bydinnertime #90sgirlsolutions
I don't have the cute ski suit outfit for my American Girl doll. #90sgirlproblem
I still need to read 2 more books before I can get my personal pizza.#BookIt #90sgirlproblems
I can’t believe pencil grippers cost 50 cents at the school store. #ripoff #90sgirlproblems
3 minutes is never long enough for the Temple Run. #GoBlueBarracudas #90sgirlproblems
I'm way too emotionally invested in Cory and Topanga's relationship. #BoyMeetsWorld #90sgirlproblems

first (of many) craft adventures

last monday the twins and i decided it was time for their first craft adventure. okay so i decided that we needed craft time. i found this on pinterest (link here) and decided that it would be the perfect craft for two 7 month olds to try. i mean really, how hard could it be? 

so jackson and riggs got all set up in their high chairs and then we started with the handprints. it actually went a lot better than i was expecting, it was just a little more difficult to make them open their hands and not just leave fist prints instead. after the turkeys were made, i decided to just let them smear paint over a new piece of paper. 

well jackson decided to eat the paper and riggs got more paint on herself and the high chair than the actual paper. i wish i had gotten some pictures of the twins as we were painting but someone had to make sure they didn't eat the paint...well anymore than they had already eaten. overall, this craft project was super successful. 

i've always been super picky about how my craft projects look and i can be a little over-critical. so it has been suggested to me that i should probably change this before i have kids or else they will never want to have craft time with me. so doing this craft activity with the twins taught me that i can totally do this with my own kids one day...as long as they are about this age. i mean it's not like i seriously expected that a 7 month old would make a perfect handprint turkey...but obviously a 3 year old could (at least mine better be able too)

[Jackson's turkey is on the left, Riggs' is on the right]

just some bullets...

• at dinner tonight there was a mariachi band (?) that walked around the restaurant. my mom made the comment that my brother and his girlfriend should go to dinner somewhere that they can be serenaded at. i voiced my opinion (that it is a lame idea) and my mom commented that if i had a boy who did that i would love it. my dad interjected with an idea that i would think it was even sweeter if he (the boy) grabbed my hand or something during all of this. i, naturally, responded that i don't want to be dating someone who grabs my hand while i'm trying to eat. i mean personal space anyone. of course my brother jumps in at this time to say something to the effect of, you are never going to meet someone with that kind of an attitude. thanks little brother for the wise advice. i don't need you help and i certainly don't want the boy to be all touchy-feely all the time. i'm not a hugger and i really don't like being touched in general. so okay maybe i'll be okay with like an arm around me or something...but i'm pretty sure i'm the last person you'd have to be worried about with too much PDA.
• with everyone blogging about things they are thankful for and it being so close to Thanksgiving and everything, i was reminded of a story from like 5th or 6th grade. and just so you know, it's not a great thanksgiving story and i definitely come across as a bratty little girl (so i think it's safe to say i was in 6th grade when this happened). at church one wednesday night before Thanksgiving our teacher had us get into small groups and make a list of things we were thankful for. i, of course, ended up in a group with Kari and Lacey (2 of the star girls) and that's probably where we went wrong. this particular teacher had a habit of keeping us well past time for class to end and i think our parents were kind of scared of her because they wouldn't come and interrupt class. so by the time this list idea came up, it was well past time for class to be over. this particular teacher also had pretty strong beliefs about harry potter, basically that if you read the book you might end up in hell. (okay that might be an exaggeration) so, at first, we were really serious with our list. when we realized that she wasn't going to let us go after listing 5 things, we moved onto the more sillier items. like being thankful for toilet paper (for some reason it really sticks out to me that we wrote this one down) and then we mentioned that we were thankful for harry potter. okay so i wasn't into harry potter so i definitely was not reading the books. but i'm pretty sure to say this was my idea. our teacher saw red (i think) and started lecturing us in a really loud tone that we were not taking this exercise seriously (which we were not). at this point it's like 20 minutes past the end of class so the 3 of us just get up and walk out, mid-sentence. she starts to come after us so naturally we take off running and hide in an empty classroom under a table until we are sure she is gone. i know, 6th grade was a pretty rough year for me. 
• i realized this afternoon that i didn't bring my journal home with me...and i really wish i had
• this past monday was craft-time with the twins. this event is definitely worthy of its own blog post, so that will be coming soon. i'll be sure to include some cute pictures...and why the artwork of my own children may or may not make it on the fridge one day.
• so i have to take Reg again (third time is the charm right?!?) i have not told anyone this yet but i'm not like super depressed about it or anything. honestly i kind of saw this one coming. i definitely will be watching all of the videos again but i think i'll be able to take it much more seriously this time...so we'll see how that goes
• i have some sewing/crafty projects i need to post soon...i also have made a few recipes from pinterest that i'll also blog about
• speaking of sewing, i ended up at home without all the different feet to my sewing machine. i was so sure that they were in my bag that i didn't even double check. thank goodness that my embroidery foot was on my machine or else i'm pretty sure my brother would have KILLED me...also good that my mom has a sewing machine i can use...and using it makes me appreciate mine even more!
• last saturday night, i caught the last hour or so of the the first twilight movie on f/x. i may or may not now be obsessed with this phenomenon. i've been reading about the books online (so maybe like a cliff notes thing) and i'm thinking i might borrow the books from someone...since pretty much everyone else has already jumped on this bandwagon. i will say that i think a big reason i'm kind of interested in this right now is that the new movie is about their wedding/honeymoon/baby and that is pretty intriguing to me. 
• and fyi, my sewing machine doesn't like to embroider on fleece blankets. i spent a good 45 minutes taking my sewing machine apart and having a mild panic attack that i had broken it...i think i'll just be sticking to appliques in the future.

lady of purity

i feel the need to preface this chapter. i almost skipped it when i was reading the book. and honestly, even rereading it just now i was definitely thinking "well i'd never do that." so those thoughts may come through as i'm writing my thoughts out for this chapter. i will be the first to admit that it's really easy to make the "right" choices concerning purity when your not in a serious relationship. i know with 100% confidence that once i'm in a relationship with the boy that i'll need to revisit this chapter full-force as well as other books i have on the same topic. and i'm completely okay with that. but for now the thoughts will be coming from the 23 year old who isn't in the serious relationship and doesn't understand the idea of just casually dating someone (much less the idea of casual sex). 

4 consequences of having sex before marriage are discussed in this chapter. they are physical, emotional, relational and spiritual. 

my favorite line from the physical section is "she didn't want to seem "different" in front of her date." i feel like one of my biggest fears is summed up into that one sentence. i don't want to be seen as different or weird just because of my beliefs. i especially don't want people that i fellowship and worship with thinking that my belief on premarital sex is so strange and out-there. i remember a conversation that i had with 2 of my friends that i met at church while in college. by the time i left dinner i kind of couldn't believe that these were my "church girl friends". i mean it's one thing for random people to have such ideals but really, the people i'm going to church with?! i think i was just shocked and, looking back on the conversation, i never really said where i stood on the topic. there is a part of me that wonders if they honestly couldn't just figure it out. i mean i don't exactly scream crazy or anything. i will say that this conversation did leave me with the realization that now i no longer had to be concerned with just random people thinking i was weird but church friends might too. and really, i just think that is plain sad.
the topic of modesty usually comes to mind whenever purity is being discussed. i written a post on modesty here before and why i'm really glad that my mother did the things that she did. i think that sometimes a lot of pressure and importance is put on the whole "just don't have sex" concept. while that is certainly a valid and true point, there is so much more to purity. and i think that a lot of this can be brought back to modesty, and specifically the way in which a girl dresses. like i said, i've written on modesty before but just to revisit, being modest doesn't mean that you only wear a burlap sack and no make-up. i think that your attitude and intention about the clothes you wear and how you present yourself is pretty key in the modesty concept. of course there is a lot more to purity than just being modest but i think that when modesty can be a concept that a girl is comfortable with then the whole purity thing might make a little more sense to her as well. 

so i guess i really don't have much to say about this chapter [yet]. and i know that will all change one day (maybe one day soon). i also know that maybe i have unrealistic expectations of the boy and the leadership he'll bring to relationship [which might come up later in this book...or maybe this idea came from another book or bible study...so maybe one day i'll explain this in a little more detail]. and right now, i'm okay with that. i'd much rather be where i am than on the other side of the fence regretting my choices. i know i've sorta mentioned it before, the idea that if i behaved in a different way or did something different, then maybe i would have found the boy by now. and sure, there are a few minor choices i could have made differently. but the whole purity thing, well that's one area where i'm completely okay with my choices so far. and, as uncommon and uncool as they may appear, that's really okay with me. and i will totally say that having classes on this topic throughout high school youth group as well as the greatest friends ever really helped solidify this idea.

lady of devotion

obviously a major point of lady in waiting is that while single, a woman should be developing her relationship with Christ. chapter 5 is about becoming a lady of devotion. i feel like this chapter is pretty heavy on the idea of developing your relationship with Christ. 

"Much too often people view a single woman as thought she should be pitied rather than envied. Nothing could be further from the truth. A Lady in Waiting has the advantage of being able to develop her love relationship with Christ without the distractions that a husband or family inherently bring to one's heart." (page 65)

while this idea has been discussed heavily in the previous chapters already, i like how this time the focus is on how other's view the single person. it is so hard for me to imagine that i'll one day be envious of my status now. like that kind of blows my mind. or that someone out there with a husband/family could be envious of me. i like how the above excerpt also mentions that we shouldn't be pitied. i don't think that anyone really pities me and i'm pretty happy about that. i mean i obviously am aware of my current singleness and i don't really need to be reminded of it every time i talk to you. so i'm glad i don't have anyone who wants to have a pity party for me every time they see me. 

"As a woman, you have been created with a desire to be known-not just in a physical or general way, but deeply known and intimately loved. If you are hoping a man will one day fill your heart's desire for intimacy, you will be disappointed. God knows your deep longings for intimate love. Only He, the Lover of your soul, can fill this need completely. Your heavenly Father tenderly created you with needs that only God can fully understand and fulfill. As you come to know who He really is, He will meet your needs for love." (page 67-68)

serious confession time: i have a really hard time with the above passage. i know i'm not in any place to judge anyone's relationship with God. but honestly i occasionally (or quite frequently) feel like there are a ton of girls out there who have a minor (if any) relationship with God. However these girls meet nice boys, get married and start families. and i know that i obviously know nothing about their relationship with God and know very little about their marriages and family life. but it's just hard for me to believe that every woman who doesn't have a deep and intimate relationship with God feels unfulfilled. the passage also makes me wonder why i have to wait and develop this deep love with God while it seems like everyone other girl is getting to meet some boy. and it's not like i can't see how much better off i'll be because of my relationship with God. and, in turn, how much my marriage and children will benefit from it. i guess it really just all boils down to that fact that instead of the people in relationships being envious of my singleness, i'm totally envious of them.

i don't really have much else to say about this chapter. it was fairly short and straight to the point. i know that i really need to work on developing and continuing a deep, intimate relationship with God. it's always good to have a reminder of this and honestly, out of all the things for me to work on, i mean it's certainly not going to hurt anything :)

*so i was pretty honest here and it's obviously not all rainbows and sunshine but that's why i like this book so much. it makes me re-evalute where i think i am...and it reminds me of what's truly important and that eventually i'll be able to look back on this time (and maybe even this blog post) and realize how everything ended up fitting together so perfectly!

wordless wednesdays [me and my brother]

oh the job search

i just realized the other day that i've been looking for a job for over a year. okay, sure i just graduated in august, but last september (2010) a lot of recruitment in my field happened for the fall of 2011. and people (including my college roommate and awesome friend) got job offers for the fall of 2011. and i did not. which was okay because i figured i had an entire year to find something and of course i would. and here we are...over a year later. (i promise no super sad posts here...but i don't really have a ton of things to blog about and maybe one day (soon) i'll look back at this post and laugh...or just remember where i was at this time)
and if i'm being honest, i'm not super-duper sad about not having a job yet. i kind of assumed that even if i got a job offer this fall, they wouldn't want me to start until january anyways. so i'm thinking come january maybe i'll be a little more sad. or maybe i'll be so busy with the cute twins that i won't even think about. (i think i've made this pretty clear but just in case, the cute twins belong here and are totally not mine)
i think that the worst part about not having a job [yet] is the whole feeling of disappointing my parents. i mean i would love to actually use my degree(s) for a little while. i think that the public accounting world could use a little bit of staci-flair. there is definitely a cubicle out there just begging for me to decorate it ;)

wordless wednesday [disney 2010]

my most loved journal

so i was looking through the journal that i'm in the process of writing in, in hopes of one day (maybe....if i can work up the courage to do it) giving it to the man i marry. i'm not gonna lie, it kind of terrifies me to think about someone else (especially him!) ever reading this entire journal (or journals if i end up with multiple books) so we'll have to see about that one. 
anyways, as i was looking through this journal, i found where i had written down a list of my "what-ifs" from the summer of 2009...and every single one of these "what-ifs" still completely apply to my life. and that kind of scares me to death. and then i try to think how it's funny that the 'big things' don't really change. and that these will always be my big "what-ifs" in my life. sure, some of them can be checked off if/when they happen but then others will replace them. and that's just life
it's also amusing (and slightly scary) how much i feel like my feelings just cycle through life. i have a few entries that sound eerily similar to my crazy emotional posts from almost 2 months ago. 
but then i'll read an entry where i talk about how i just painted my nails black to match my church outfit and how much i love the cherry 7up i was currently drinking. (side note: definitely obsessed with that drink for like all of my senior year...obsessed) so don't think this journal is so depressing and crazy that no one wold every want to read it. i actually find it to be quite funny to read at times. 
and ultimately i know (okay so i'm like 82% sure) that i'll end up giving this to the boy. and honestly that makes me really happy. writing (and rereading) each entry just gives me hope that someday someone else WILL get to read this...and he'll already know i'm kind of crazy so no worries there :)


[obviously i would really, really encourage young ladies to start doing this. i obviously have no idea how it will go over but i just think that ultimately the right guy would seriously treasure this book. even if you only write about the super cute new heels you just bought!]

lady of virtue

so again i'm going to start this post with how much i love this chapter. chapter 4 (a lady of virtue) focuses a lot on the difference between being a true lady of virtue and being someone who focuses on their outward appearance. there were so many good, short stories about men who noticed a woman because of her godly character. the chapter begins with talk of how a pearl is created through the use of an oyster shell. i think the following excerpt explains quite well how creation a pearl can relate to being single.


"God is using the sands of singleness to make you perfect and complete. He's developing pearls of your character in your life. He knows that whatever you use to "catch" a guy, you must also use to keep him. If you attract a guy with only your looks, then you are headed for trouble, since looks don't last. As time goes on, we all end up looking like oysters. Therefore, what you look like on the inside is far more important than what you look like on the outside." (page 52)


and naturally the Proverbs 31 woman in mentioned. i found this particular piece of information really interesting. there are 20 verses describing God's picture of a beautiful woman in Proverbs 31. However, only one verse mentions her outward appearance. 


another tangent in this chapter was about what you picture when you picture the prefect man for yourself? i think the perfect point is made quite effectively. do we honestly think that the godly kind of man we want to marry is going to be attracted to a shallow woman or someone who dresses only to capture the attention of men? i just love reading those few sentences because obviously i'm not looking to marry someone who is attracted to that kind of a woman. so i really need to keep that in mind with my actions daily. i might have high standards for "the boy" so why shouldn't he expect a lot from me as well? i don't want to settle so i certainly don't want someone who is just settling with me. 


this chapter also had 2 lists, one a lady of virtue and another for body beautiful. these were ways to get a man to notice you and to see if you are developing inner or outer beauty. i'm glad i marked these when i first read this book and its super interesting to me how i have changed (or how i'm still the same) in certain places. 


one of the study questions for the chapter is the following: Read Proverbs 31. In prayer admit, "Father, You don't choose to zap me into completion. So today, I choose to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as You make me a Lady of Virtue. From my scripture reading, show me one quality from Proverbs 31 that I need to develop." (For example: discipline, thoroughness, graciousness, giving, diligence.) Pray over this quality for a month before moving to something else.
i think this is something i'm going to work on for the next few months. we'll see how it goes...maybe i'll update it here...maybe


[lady in waiting, chapter 4]

wordless wednesday [omaha 2005]

lady of faith

"Your hope cannot be put in some dreamed-up future. It must be in the God who knows your past, present and future, and loves you enough to give you the best." (page 43)

chapter 3 starts off with which states have an abundance of men, you know if you were spouse-hunting. and just in case you were wondering those states are Alaska, Montana and Florida...where i do not live...but i really don't think that is the issue.

i enjoyed the story about a lady who went to a Christian college assuming she would find Mr.Right while there. she didn't and her Mr.Right ended up being someone from her small hometown. i know i've addressed this before but i sometimes have the fear/thought that if i would have attended the Christian college with all my friends, i would totally be married by now...but it's nice to be reminded that surely isn't a guarantee. 

a main point of this chapter is that we (single women) should not just attend events and participate in activities where we think there is a good chance of meeting someone. While it's totally good to be an active participant, we need to examine our motives for attending. i really, really liked this point and i'm not going to lie...i am definitely guilty of trying to find the cute, single boy at most events. i mean i just like to know who it's going to be. so i need to work on this...especially the examining my motives for attending different events. i will say i think i've gotten a little better with this concept but i know it was definitely one of the first things i thought about 2-ish years ago.

"You may wonder, "How can I be a Lady of Faith when I feel so insecure deep in my heart that God will deliver the goods? What if  I have faith in God and end up being 98 and unmarried?" Of course, you would never outright admit that you're not sure you can trust God. That would appear too ungodly! But there's that sneaking fear in the back of your ming: "If I really give up my search and have 'eyes of faith,' God might not give me what I desire, like a husband, a home and children." God knows when your heart aches for these precious things. But he also knows that these earthly things will not make you secure." (page 43-44)

the above was a fairly long passage to include, but i thought it really explained what i'm sometimes feeling. i mean most days i'm pretty sure that i'll end up married and everything. and it's honestly not a constant fear of mine that i'll be alone, 98 and unmarried. but i think it's only natural that every once in a while i think the above thoughts. i think the main thing i take away from the above passage (and really this entire book) is that finding a guy won't "fix" everything else that isn't quite right in my life. and i think that ultimately this is a message that all young women need to be hearing. i also think that the above passage might have been a little too 'real' for me to read 7 or so years ago. i was definitely not a point where i would even want to consider being unmarried and 30 (much less 98). i mean no one young girl wants to think about what-if she never gets married. and the majority of those girls totally will...but everyone could stand to hear that the boy doesn't make you more secure in your skin...or closer to God.

the best line/phrase in this chapter is the following "If Jesus wants you married, he will orchestrate the encounter." (page 45) The book goes on to say that Jesus has our best interest at heart. okay so that concept alone is mind-boggling...but it makes me feel so much better about looking for the right guy...and really just life in general. 

the chapter closes with short stories about women keeping their 'eyes of faith' and how Mr.Right was brought into their lives. 

"Don't fear or resent the waiting periods in your life. They are the very gardens where the seeds of faith blossom." (page 48)

[chapter 3 Lady in Waiting]

gameday saturday

lady of diligence

"Although a single woman may long for the "chaos" of a family, she must not waste her time wishing for it." (page 25)

so i might end up saying this about each chapter but i really enjoyed this chapter. one of the things that i liked best about this chapter was the discussion about how single women should be using their free time to become more involved. during this "life stage" we naturally have more freedom and less distractions so we should take advantage of this and not become more emotionally distracted than a mom of many children. there are so many ways that we can serve if we just take that step of faith and get out there. i will totally admit that i'm really bad at taking this step. [currently i justify this thought with not really knowing what i'm doing/where i'm going to be in my life within the next few months...and i really like to think that once i'm settled somewhere i'll be really involved. i do know how much i loved when people my age-ish did activities with me in high school (confused yet?) so i definitely think i'd make an extra effort to do the same]

"Some singles see the lack of a mate as God denying them something for a more "noble purpose"-a cross to bear! Our selfish nature tends to focus on what we do not have rather than what we do have-free time-that can be used for others and ourselves. Is your life on hold until you have someone to hold? (page 28)

this above passage struck me as very interesting, especially the cross to bear part. i had never thought of being single like that, and i really hope that i ever won't think like that. however, it is something i could see myself rationalizing, especially if i'm in a similar state 7 years from now. (but that's 7 years away so it's all good) i also don't really think of God as denying me something. sure i want something that i don't currently have but i don't think that God is actively denying me this. i just think he knows that i'm not ready yet (or i like to think that the boy's just not ready yet) and that's okay. 

there was also a short story about a woman who dated incessantly in college but remained single longer than most expected her too. She would tell people that what helped her to remain satisfied was a "full place setting." One day she realized that she didn't need to be eating off of paper plates when she had good china and flatware in her hope chest. i laughed a little when i read this. it's totally not the same thing at all but my mom always tells me that i'm not getting a kitchen aid mixer until i register for one. it's such a small way in which i can relate to this story but it just makes me laugh. also because i like that this person decided she didn't have to wait until she had a mate to start living her life. i mean i totally plan on buying all sorts of nicer things once i have a job and an apartment. (i may also have a small yet insane desire to start a box (or closet) for my very unborn children...yup that might be the most insane thing you read all week...)

"Have you neglected some mission or ministry opportunities because you feared prolonging your unmarried state?" (page 30)

confession time--okay so i've never neglected a mission or ministry opportunity but i've certainly picked some over others in hopes of meeting "the one". and yes i do need to be active and not just pinning things all day, every day. but i should examine my motives for doing something or attending a certain event.

The chapter then talks about different ministry areas. some of my favorite ones listed are diligence and the ministry of writing, diligence and the ministry of hospitality, diligence and the ministry of teaching and diligence and the ministry of service. one of my favorite quotes from the entire book came from the diligence and the ministry of service section.

"your single state may not be permanent, but it definitely is not to be a comatose state until your Prince Charming arrives and whisks you off to his castle. Single women are not "sleeping beauties" waiting for their prince to fight his way through the thorns and past the wicked witch to finally kiss them awake. That is an allusion often used by the enemy to defraud women." (page 33)

"If all of our serving is before others, we will be shallow people indeed." (page 26)

(chapter 2 of lady in waiting)