T H I S M O M E N T

 For years 

I have worried 

About this moment 

And here it is 

For years 

I have wondered 

What it would be like 

And now I know

Somehow 

It is different 

Than anything I imagined 

Not in a bad way 

But in a good way 

Somehow 

It’s like my wildest dream 

Didn’t hold a candle to this 

And all my worrying 

Was forgotten after the moment began 

I’m beginning to see 

That this was the plan all along 

And this was the day 

Set out before time 

And I didn’t need to worry 

I’m beginning to see 

That this is better then my dream 

And this is better then my hopes 

And I wouldn’t trade it 

For anything in the world 

Somehow 

God worked it all perfectly 

And somehow 

For years 

I’m beginning to see

He’s known about this moment 

And prepared me for it

Snowbound!

Texas has been under (for us) a pile of snow for the last week. My family and I are safely tucked in our house amazingly with both power and water. Though I am beginning to get quarantine vibes because I haven’t been out since Friday! 😉

During the last week I’ve mostly just been hanging out with family, but I’ve got a few things that have just made this whole time much more fun. 

1. The Chosen. This show is following Jesus’s life through the eyes of his followers. My family owns a set of the DVDs, but you can watch the show for free on their app! 

2. Chocolate Chai tea. This stuff is the best. Tazo makes it and it is the most amazing thing. Add a little bit of sugar and milk and it’s perfect for snuggling up under a blanket and reading. 

3. The online library. I actually have four library cards (It’s what you get for living out in the country and moving around a lot for work and church), so I have access to an insane amount of online material. Especially since I’m stuck at home right now, I have been so grateful to get online and be able to download books to read! Right now I’m working through some audio books by S.D. Smith. 

4. Nancy Drew games. My sister and I are playing though Danger by Design. I do not play many computer games, but the Nancy Drew ones are my favorite any time I get in the mood. If you’ve never played them before, you should start with Trail of the Twister.

5. ESV journaling bible. I usually read the NIV or NLT, but in November I bought myself an ESV journaling book of Jerimiah and I have been loving it. I do not take enough time to slow down and read each book of the Bible, so this year I am slowly working my way through Jerimiah and it has been amazing. The text is printed on one side page, and the other side just has lines for writing, its pretty epic! 

I hope you enjoyed this very eclectic list of things I am loving while stuck at home. Drop me a comment below and tell me what you’ve been loving lately. Also, if you’ve got any book recommendations, tell me, I could use some fresh reads!

Ideal Inspitaion Tag

I got tagged by Izzy from the blog Isabella Kate to do the Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award. I'm honestly going to skip over almost all of the steps because I hate rules, but I'm going to answer the questions! 

 1. What is your favorite summer activity?

Obviously, I've waited too long to answer this since there is now ice on my windows. But, in the summer I really like to take nighttime walks in the warm weather. That makes me very happy. Also, I really love eating watermelon on the porch. 

2. Favorite stationary product and why?

Well, I really love wax seals. Those are just fun to put on and they make the letters feel fancy. But I also really love pens. I am fairly picky about my pens, but I just really love them. I have never really liked pencils unless we're talking about drawing. 

3. How did you first get introduced to blogging?

My older sister started blogging when I was a kid, and so I knew about it from her. She helped me set up my very first blog, The Bubblegum Ballerina when I was thirteen. 

4. How do you manage blogging and school + life?

I am not in school anymore, but I do work three days a week. When I'm not working, I am able to spend a lot of my free time doing whatever I want. So it's pretty easy for me to fit in a blog post once a week. I used to spend a lot more time writing blog posts and networking, but now I have cut back to accommodate how much time I'm working, and doing other projects. 

5. Best tips for how to start blogging

1. Start out simple. Post once a week to start with. Don't burn yourself out or overwhelm your readers. Twice a week is probably the max you want to do or else people are going to stop paying attention. You can always schedule out posts! 

2. Get a good design. My blog may not be the best example of this, since I made my own, but get a good design for your blog. Either pay someone or get a friend who knows their stuff to help. I would always lean towards simplistic, you can always add more to it later but you really don't want your blog to be overwhelming with colors and pictures. 

3. Have fun. If the blog isn't fun for you, it probably isn't fun for anyone. Choose subjects you are passionate about and just enjoy writing about them.

So there you have it. If you don't already follow Izzy, you should check out her blog! What are you looking forward to most come summer?

January Highlights

It snowed in Texas. 'nuff said. 

I started back at my jobs this month after Christmas break. I have had a bit of trouble adjusting to going back to work, but I have loved getting to hang with the kids. Two of them told me I was their best friend, which melted my heart, even though I know kids change their opinions quick. <3 

I had an unexpected day off work, so my sister and I had a movie party with pizza for no other reason than I was off. If you have hung out at my house, you'd see that we take pretty much every opportunity to have family parties. =) 

We. had. Snow. Four inches in Texas. If you know central Texas you'll know that that's pretty much unheard of. It was SO much fun to have snowball fights, build a snowman, have snow ice cream, and just watch it from the warm fire inside. My family had to stay home from church (We have literally no way of handling snow on our roads, also I was not about to drive on icy country roads), so we watched it online, and then read a book together. Most of the book takes place during a blizzard, so we joked that this was our own little blizzard. It was just an epic day, and the snow lasted for three days in little patches, which was pretty fun! 

One of the family's that my sister and I babysit for are moving, so we spent a good bit of our free days over there. Don't let the word get out, but I really love helping people move. The cleaning, packing, and feeling of getting a fresh start without having to go through the stress makes me so happy. Also, my sister and I got to hang out a lot with some of our favorite kids, and do work together, which was awesome. 

I re-organized my desk. I didn't intend to do this, but one day I started to move one thing around and before I knew it I had everything off my massive desk and rearranged the whole thing. It feels very nice now, and I'm glad I did it. 

I had a morning at home alone, so I put on Frozen and made bath bombs. I had an immense amount of fun with this, though I reaffirmed my belief that Tangled is way cooler than Frozen. 

A dear friend of our family gave us Zoo passes, and we finally got to go near the end of January. Thankfully it was a pretty warm day, so we had a picnic and then walked around for about two hours. We also did a lot of book shopping, it was fantastic. 

My sister and I watched Pride and Prejudice the 1995 version, which is honestly the best ever. We colored in a P&P coloring book, and I did some embroidery, which felt very Jane Austin appropriate. 

January was fantastic for me. Way better than I expected. I did have a fair amount of work-anxiety. I let a lot of things overwhelm me that I shouldn't have, and I overcommitted a bit. But God really came through for me and gave me a lot of peace. I decided to take my commute each day to listen to Bible. This way I'm filling my mind with truth and encouragement for two hours a day. So yeah, I still had a bit of a breakdown when I went to the library and discovered they had changed their hours and I had to wait an hour for them to open, but I can tell God is working on me and teaching me to hold to Him. 

I ended up watching about 12 movies this month, though some of those were series, so they were a bit longer. (I also watched Pride and Prejudice and Frozen and forgot till now)

The only ones of these which are not re-watches are Blues Clues and You (Cute), Green Gable Fables (1 season was great, but I had one reservation about season 2), and Batman Begins (I hated it. Would not recommend at all.)

Would ya'll like me to start doing mini-reviews on the movies I watch? I always feel like doing this, but am not sure if anyone would enjoy it. =)

My favorite new read was The Archers Cup, and my favorite re-read was a toss-up between The Last Battle and Kiera. 

Before My Eyes Brin Lael 

Enough The Worthy Beloved

Hidden Treasures A Farm Girls Life

This or That Book Tag Hailey Hudson 

The Coral Island Old-Fashioned Book Love

Top 15 New Releases of 2020 and 2020 He is Still Good Stories by Firefly

How was your January? Do you like snow?