Catching Up on a Snow Day

Sorry I haven't blogged in such a long time! High-school is a lot busier than I thought it would be. It felt that it was impossible to be creative when the cross country season was ending, getting braces :P, constant sickness, an endless array of tests, and homework. Lots and lots of homework. Though the busyness is a downside to a freshman in high-school, there are plenty of benefits.

For example; the privilege to drink coffee in class (yes!), being able to do photography projects in art appreciation class, and best of all, having ten people in my 9th grade class. Yes, you heard that right. Two boys and eight girls. The most amazing part about having a small class is that your classmates are more of a family then classmates. You hang out together, you talk about everything together, you have parties together, and you laugh together. It's amazing.

The cupcakes: Becca, Mac, Hannah, Kenzie, Paige, Toni, and Tara.

The studmuffins: Riley and Brandon.

I love you guys, you're the best.

Well anyways, With a blizzard coming to a close, resulting in a snow day (woot!). My hyper-creative instincts saw snow and two adorable girlies playing in it, so I rushed to action with camera in hand. This is the outcome. Enjoy! (:

 

XC Success

Just to let everyone know, I never could have been more wrong about joining XC. I absolutely LOVE it. I have never felt this strong and accomplished, and watching my 4k times drop lower than I ever thought they could. Not to mention my coach and teammates, they are the most supportive and hilarious group of people I have ever met. We literally arrive to the meets in a a long, straight line and walk dramatically just to intimidate the other teams.

The first meet at Marshall scared me to death. My running buddy and I were the only ones running for the jv 4k, and we were very shaken by the heat and the awaiting monstrous hill. In our anxiousness, we wrapped each other in a hug and prayed that we wouldn't black out, puke, or die during the race. I ended up getting 19th place with a time of 22:30. (: Not too bad.

My second meet, hosted by NLS, was the best yet. Feeling confident from my last meet, I crushed my goal of 21 min. and got a time of 19:37 and got in the top twenty! During the race, all I could think about was running to the best of my ability and having each stride I take praise Jesus. I picked up the pace, and sprinted my heart out the last 800 meters. After I heard my time i jumped with joy and then dragged my mom to the car so we could go out for tacos at Qdoba.

Thank you everyone for the encouragement and support! I wouldn't have done it without you! :)

Washington State Vacation

Here are a couple of pictures I took in Washington, about the time when my mom just got her camera and I was testing it out. Enjoy!

Caramel Frappuccino On a Budget

I can't be  the only one that craves the sweet, creamy coolness of a caramel Frappuccino on a hot Summer's day. But I think we all know the sacrifices one must make to get a small size of this loved drink. A small size of this smoothies is usually around four to five dollars! Yikes!

I knew I could make a similar tasting drink in my own kitchen, so I hunted on Google for ideas and recipes, and sure enough, Starbucks baristas spilled the info on how they make a caramel Frap. delicious. So here are the instructions so you can save your own four bucks.

Ingredients:

- A little less than 1/2 cup of  half and half or milk
- 1/2 cup of chilled, dark coffee
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of caramel
- 1 and 1/2 cups of ice
- Whipped cream and a swirl of caramel (for garnish)

Blend:

- Put the coffee, half and half or milk, sugar, and caramel in the blender and blend for about a min. so the sugar can disolve
- Add the ice. Blend

Viola:

- Pour into cup
- Add whipped cream and caramel and drink with straw. Yum!

I found out that all of the ingredients costed about the amount of one and a half Frappeccinos at Starbucks. So each med. sized Frap. I make costs under a dollar!

These are really delicious and taste almost like the ones they sell at coffee shops. And remember, you can always substitute the caramel for chocolate syrup and make a mocha, add pumpkin, caramel, and crushed pecans, and make a pumkin caramel Frap., or add choclate and peppermint and you have a peppermint mocha! The possibilities are endless!

Comment your ideas!

Less for Me, More for You, All for God

On the way home from grocery shopping with my dad, we talked about columnists who only write about their feelings and things that a normal reader wouldn't really care about.

"This morning I woke up refreshed and rejuvenated as I saw the glorious sun rising above the earth... but when I saw my precious, little boy sleeping, my mind wandered to flowers and meadows..."

All I could do was laugh when my dad said this, but a couple seconds later my mind snapped, and I wondered if my writing is anything like that. Looking at my previous blog posts, I found a common theme throughout the publishing's. Me.

Sometimes its OK to talk about whats going on in your life, to state your opinion, or show off your work, but if that all you're going to do, your readers are going to be snoring. So, with that said, I have officially decided to spruce up my blogging routine and add in more advice and ideas, and maybe a little of my walk with Jesus. I want to show you what I'm doing and show you how too. I'm going to let you peek into my more creative side and show you my ongoing factory of ideas. And maybe also how my devotions are like.

This Summer I am going to be very creative so watch out for a sudden avalanche of blog posts. (; And yes, I promise to stop talking about myself and my daily life and blog with you, my readers and Jesus, in mind.

Comments? Questions? Ideas? Comment below!

Designing the Interior

Shaggy area rug. Check. Matching nightstand and headboard. Check. Teal lamp. Check.

"Oh. My. Gosh. It's PERRFECT!!!!!"

-My enthusiastic words after we received my nightstand and headboard.
I have been waited for the matching furniture couple for a whole week now and I was ever sooo excited when it came. If you look closely, the color of the wood has a unique creamy wood texture, but sheen with a satiny finish. It reminded my of the sand at the beach in Oregon, a creamy beige color, but the sand was so fine that it made a squeeky noise when you walked across it a 'certain' way.

My mom and I struggled with the darkness of the room because of the dark brown wood panels. We added a creamy beige and tealish blue to our color palette too add that warm, brighter feeling, and it worked! Everything turned out just the way I wanted it to! Thank you mom, for purchasing my much 'needed' stuff! :)

Sweet Summer Days

This picture gives away everything about Alysia's carnivorous symptoms. :)

Tj's lemonade stand. Classic cute!

Lake day! This Summer's stops at the lake are going to be VERY frequent because of the warmer waters and weather. (All thanks the the warm weather starting in January).