a girl date

Girl dates are the very best, especially when accompanied by an amazing friend.  

I decided Kylee needed to see the beauties of San Diego, so we headed to my favorite breakfast spot in Solana Beach.  After, we want for a nice walk along the coast.  Oh, was it a beautiful day.  BE-U-TIFUL!!!!  I still feel like I need to pinch myself when I see beautiful coastlines such as this:

After our walk we headed to Ocean Beach to peruse antiques.  Okay, so one area that I have never felt confidant in is decorating my house.  I'm always torn between straight, modern lines and more French-cutesy colors and decorations.  Kylee told me I most definitely need to go look at antiques because it was completely my style.  I love when people surprise me and know me better than I know myself sometimes.  Oh man, was she right!  Where have these antiques been all my life?????

I saw some that I could totally make (in my spare time...right?!?!).  Look at this adorably cork board!  I totally have a cork board waiting to be made adorable!  Now all I need is some burlap, stencils, paint, and doilies.  

Kylee had to drag me out eventually.  I did walk away with a beautiful blue tinted Ball Mason Jar and endless possibilities about what I will do with it.  We landed ourselves at Anthropologie where I saw this amazing wall unit.  Look how adorable this is!!!  I'm completely inspired. 

After breakfast, walking, antique shopping, and mall hopping we came home and baked COOKIES!!!  

I had a new can of pumpkin just begging to be used so we made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies from Skinnytaste.

The recipe:

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 egg white
• 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°.  Line two cookie sheets with non-stick silicone baking liners such as Silpats (I highly recommend for best results) or lightly spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice; stir to blend. In another bowl, whisk the sugars, butter, egg white, pumpkin puree and vanilla together until light and fluffy.

Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions until the batter is very well blended. If the batter looks more “crumbly” than smooth, add just a drop of water at a time (ONLY if needed) until it smooths out.

Drop by level spoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto baking sheets.  

Bake 8 - 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let them stand 5 minutes before removing the cookies from the pans to cool on wire racks.

Our "before" pic doesn't look too appetizing...

but boy oh boy did these pretty little cookies taste good!  I'm definitely a cookie monster!!!

in His time {encouraged}

Every morning my inbox is blessed by a beautiful devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries.  Some days my days fly by and I can't read them until days later.  As I was talking and venting to my mom the other day she asked me, "Have you read the Proverbs 31 devotional from today yet? It is all about us!"  What I love about this is A) I got my mom connected to these devotionals last year and now she's passing them along to me and B) moms always know the words your soul need to hear.

Here is just a snippet from the devotional by Lynn Cowell:

“This is how the lampstand was made: It was made of hammered gold—from its base to its blossoms. The lampstand was made exactly like the pattern the LORD had shown Moses.” Numbers 8:4 (NIV)

"Perhaps you too are caught in the frenzy of trying to get everything done. Do you ever lay awake at night wondering if you’ll finish the tasks on your list? I want to encourage you to try something that has helped me. Tomorrow, before your feet hit the ground, tell the Lord: “This is Your day, not mine. Whatever You want me to do, I will do. Whatever You don’t want me to do, I won’t.”

Throughout the day, as your desire to get more done in less time moves in, and stress tries to take over, repeat your prayer. Soon you’ll discover that handing the details of your day over to God will lead you out of chaos and into His plans for peace and purpose in your life!"

Lately I have been feeling as though I'm fighting against what God has planned for me.  As my master's program plugs along I get less and less sleep, and I can't help but think when will it get better?  When will the juggling act of life settle down?  When can we move onto our next stage of life?  Last week I definitely faced the truth and got down to pray to God.  I prayed that God would bring me joy in this stage, I thanked Him for everything He has given us, I asked Him to show me how to serve Him in this day.  Truly giving each day up to Him, acknowledging that each day is a gift from God, and remembering that each day also has a purpose has made a profound difference.

I trucked along with the week and then the overwhelming feeling of life took over again.  My mom's words to go read the devotional was in the back of my head as well as hearing her tell me that we are always on the fast track for the next stage in life.  I have truly been encouraged to slow down, take each day at a time, and remember that the intricate details in my life have been mapped out by God.   

I'm absolutely in love with this!  It completely speaks to me and reminds me to enjoy this season and phase of our life.  

Today I met with a parent that is helping me train teachers at my school on a new reading assessment.  This is exactly what I am going to school for and I was completely in my element to work with her.  As we were discussing how our training will go and analyzed the elements of the assessment and how it relates to students' reading, I acknowledged God's plan.  Through my schooling I am absorbing and learning SO much!  And, it directly helps me job!  I left feeling filled with hope.  It was confirmation that God's plan is the right plan for me, right now.  

As I was driving to work this morning I was just swooning over how beautiful the clouds were.  I loved  seeing God's beauty open up before me.  I loved slowing down and looking at His beauty right now.  

sweet sunday

This week flew by!  I still can't believe that it is Sunday and that October is here.  It is as if I have blinked and the last four weeks have already come and gone.  I know that I have been lagging on my "sweet sunday" posts, but blogging has been last on my priority list lately and my posts come sporadically.  

So this sweet sunday is going to cover the past two weeks and some wonderful things that have brought me happiness.

Happiness is....

1. This little ray of sunshine: Lindsay!!!!  Last Saturday she was the birthday girl and it was so much fun getting together to celebrate her.  She is seriously one of the most joyful people ever and, as teachers, we have lots of stories to share.  

2. Going out to dinner!!!  We used our "exception" for my spending freeze and enjoyed mexican food. Oh, YUMMY!  And...I got to see miss Mandy! It was like a wedding reunion!  I love this group because my belly always hurts from laughing so hard with them.  My highlight of the night was Lindsay crying out "Truck, truck" as we scoured the parking lot for her truck.  

3. Blowing out birthday candles.  Memories with friends are irreplaceable! 

4. Guess who's here?!?!?! KYLEE!!!!  Kylee= happiness in my life.  

5. We celebrated her return to San Diego with dinner Kensington Grill.  It was my first time and, holy smokes, was it amazing.  We were stuffed and needed to be rolled out after.  

6. Spending time talking to a one of a kind friend is the best happiness.  I don't think I can thank God enough for all of my amazing friends.  They truly help keep life in perspective, they keep me grounded, and most of all they love me for who I am.  

7. Going to my favorite breakfast spot this morning!!!!  Breakfast was spent with my two fav people: Ky and the husband.  

I know I always share 7 thing that bring me happiness, but #8 and #9 warm my heart:

8. Having not one, not two, but three kidos hang on my leg after school saying "I don't want to go home, let's just stay at school all day".  These moments don't happen often (I promise!), so I cherish them when they happen.

9. The spending freeze is over and I may have celebrated with a little bit of shopping today, but it was definitely hard pulling out that plastic card and hanging it over.  Seriously, as I perused through clothing racks I just kept asking myself "Do I really need this????".  Then, the husband called and told me to go buy a new pair of jeans.  These were his words, "Find a pair that make you feel good and remind you how beautiful you are."  

How did I get so lucky?????