Thursday, April 28, 2011

Art I'm Loving 2

Today was my last class in humanities (except for the final, yuck) and I wanted to share another art I'm loving post. I have a lot of art I'm in love with so I won't put all of it in this post. I will probably do another one. But I wanted to post one because its fun. yay


This is Caspar David Friedrich's Monk by the Sea. It shows a loan monk looking out into the vast horizon as a storm starts to form. It is one of the first to not fully feature the human in the picture. It was revolutionary. Its very peaceful and moving.


This is Jean-Francoise Millet's The Gleaners. It was inspired in part by Genesis 3:19 ("In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."). Its controlled dignity and beauty shows the hard working lower class women. Before this time, painting the lower classes was almost unheard of but then during this period it became more and more popular.


When photography was invented, it revolutionized art. Julia Margaret Cameron took photography from just documenting people, to an art form. The subjects of her photographs tend to look wistful. It makes you wonder what haunts them, or what trials they have that would make them look like this.


Claude Monet was part of a group of artists in France known as the impressionists. They changed art forever. Before them art was supposed to be about remaking things to look exactly the same they do in real life. Impressionists wanted to change that. As you can see, this art is not completely clear. Its more dreamy and makes you see the subject in a different way. Monet is my favorite artist. I love his dreamy, serene pictures. This is his Waterloo Bridge, London.


This is Georgia O'Keefe's Cow's Skull with Calico Roses. While it is different I think its beautiful and different. Usually you would not think a cow's skull is beautiful, but O'Keefe makes it beautiful in its starkness and as paired with the rose.


My mom loves Mary Cassatt. Her pictures of mothers and children are very sweet. She paints the sweet moments, and everyday moments between mothers and children. I honestly had a hard time picking a picture of hers. There are so many I love. This is her Breakfast in Bed


This is Edouard Manet's (not to be confused with Monet) Madame Manet and Leon. The bright, clean colors make me think of an early, relaxing morning. Her gaze seems to look right inside of you and knows every thing about you.


Finally, this is Romero Britto's Sweet Kisses. My father knows him, and I grew up going to his gallery in Miami Beach a lot as a child. His bright colors and cartoon like subjects are so pretty, and cute. This picture is so cute and sweet. I really want a print for my house.

So there is some of my favorite art. I hope you enjoyed seeing some of it. I have to say its not all of it, by any stretch of the imagination, but its some. Do you have any favorite artist or painting? 







Saturday, April 23, 2011

Easter

Tomorrow is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior. I really wish I had more time to stop and write a long post about my Lord, and God coming to earth and becoming Man, and all the pain and struggles that go with being human, and coming down because our debt had to be paid. I'm in awe of that kind of love. Jesus, our God, the God above all gods, the Lord of the universe, came to earth to satisfy my sin debt. What love. 

He went to that garden and waited for the men to come. Can you imagine what he went through for us? The literal torture. I once read a breakdown of the torture Jesus went through, but I try to keep this G-rated. Just know that it was terrible. If you want to know more go here.

But after His death, the story does not end. He is put in a tomb, and prepared for burial. If the story ended there, it would be nice but would have no power. It is what happened after that that the entire Christian faith is built upon.

Jesus arose! The earth could not hold Him. He was resurrected. The tomb could not hold Him. 

Sometimes that story gets lost on those of us that have heard it all of our life. We have heard the story so many times that the major impact seems to have been lost. But it should not be. It is the most powerful story in the history of the world. 

I wish I could write more, and go on about it all, but alas it is 11:00 pm and we have to get up early for church tomorrow, so this will have to suffice. 

Here is a Easter Montage done by the local radio station. Also, here are some of my favorite Easter songs. I hope you enjoy it.





Monday, April 18, 2011

How Big Is Your God?

Today in church our pastor's sermon was on how big our God is. He was talking about how we tend to make God so small. We tend to look at our life and think that God is big, but maybe not big enough to handle.... (you fill in the blank). For some reason, we think that our God is not big enough to handle whatever it is we are going through. We hear how God worked in other people's lives and think that God was big enough to handle their problems, but He's not big enough to handle ours.

If we only realized how huge our God is. If we only were able to believe how huge and powerful our God is it would change our life. We would realize that all of our trials and problems are nothing compared to our God than we would live our lives in a totally different way.

We serve a powerful God. We serve the God who knows everything about us. We serve the God who created the universe. This is the God we serve.

Something my pastor said that really hit home with me was that God does not need us. He is still our Savior, whether or not we receive salvation. He is our Redeemer, whether or not we ask for redemption. He is also still our Healer, whether or we not we ask for healing.

We serve the same God who did so many powerful works in the Bible. We serve the God who stopped a funeral procession and brought the boy back to life (think about being on the way to bury someone and some Man stops you and brings the deceased back to life, wow). He is the same God who raised Lazarus from the dead after 4 days. Lazarus was stinking already and he was brought back to life. This is the God who healed the woman that had been bleeding for years and years. He healed her immediately. This is the God who came into the dust of this sinful world and became Man. He went through the pain we go through, and understands our pains. And guess what, that is the God we serve.

Our pastor told the story of the Elisha and his servant. Elisha was surrounded by the king of Syria who wanted to kill him. His servant boy looked out at the huge Syrian army surrounding the city and was scared. Elisha prayed to God and asked that God would open the young man's eyes. When the young man's eyes were opened he saw that the mountains were filled with horses and chariots of fire. (2 Kings 6: 14-17)

That is how it is with our problems. So many times we are like Elisha's young servant and all we can see is the trial. What we cannot see is how much bigger our Lord is. If we were able to see how much larger our God is than our problem, how much pain and anxiety could be taken away?

My pastor shared a quote someone told him that really spoke to me. A man my pastor was talking to one time who said he believed in God, but nothing backed it up, and the man told him a very powerful thing, "When you think you have God figured out, you've limited Him."

My pastor had us sing this song twice today, and after thinking about all this it really impacted me.



I know so many times I limit God. I look at the mountain which is my problem. I tell God how huge the mountain of problems I have is, but I should be telling the mountain of problems how big my God is.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Giveaway - Laurelleecreativity

I now I just did a giveaway, but I have another one. I won't post them so often, but I wanted to post this one. I'm really excited about it. I love giveaways. I've won a few, and they are so much fun. I don't want my blog to focus on giveaways, like a lot of them do, but I like doing them when I have the chance. It feels like I'm giving back.

I love Laurel's blog and her shop. Her blog, Create, is really cute. She talks about her husband, and family. And her fun shop. She announced that she is pregnant. How exciting! I really enjoy how god is such a part of her life. Its so a part of her life and you can tell. Her relationship with God isn't forced, or put on, but just a natural part of her life. I have to say I really love her name. Its so creative and different, unlike mine.

Her shop, Laurelleecreativity, has all kinds of cute, handmade items. I really love her hair clips. Everything in her shop is very original. One thing I was really impressed with was in February all the proceeds from her shop, yes ALL, went towards her brother in law's tuition in a faith based program. That was really special to me.

Laurel is giving one very special person a handmade headband. Its really cute.



Isn't it pretty? I love it. I really love original, and cute hair stuff. I'm sure one of you will really like it. The giveaway ends April 30. Make sure your email is visible in your blogger profile, or in your comment. Also, make sure each entry is in a different comment to count. 

To Enter:

Mandatory First Entry: (this must be done before any other entries)
1. Visit Laurelleecreativity and tell me what your favorite item from her store is in a comment. 

Extra Entries:
2. Follow my blog on Google Friend Connect. 1 entry.
3. Follow Laurel's blog, Create
4. Follow my blog via Networked Blogs on facebook. 1 entry
5. Vote for my blog on "On The Fence". 1 entry

Enjoy. 

Friday, April 15, 2011

Our Universe

Right now I'm taking astronomy, and lately we have been learning about the stars, and the planets in our solar system. Its been all about all the different things in the universe, and its been amazing. I wanted to share some of it with you. I am so glad I took astronomy. It has been really fascinating.


This nebula is a star nursery. I won't go into the details about how a star is born, but it is truly amazing, and this is so beautiful.


This is the crab nebula. It was formed when a star died. This star blew up and was recorded by Chinese astronomers in the 1000's. 


This is Saturn. It is actually not the only planet to have rings. Its rings are just very well seen. The rings are very thin, almost transparent. The gap you see, and the way the rings stay together are because of Saturn's moons.


I think this where a star blew up again.


This is another star nursery. If you enlarge the picture, and look at the tiny balls sticking out like little eggs, those are stars being formed.


Its the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. You can see the big red hurricane. Jupiter causes all kinds of havoc in the solar system. It is basically a big ball of gas. 






Isn't God great? That He could do all this? Wow. Just think about all He did. He didn't have to make it so beautiful, or fascinating, but He did. 





Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Taking a Break

I just wanted all you readers, or the ones who care about the blog, that I am taking a few days off from the blog. I'm going through some tough right now and I just need a few days off. Please pray for me as I make some hard decisions and go through everything. I will write more and start back soon, but for now, I haven't forgotten about you, my wonderful readers (though honestly not sure if I have any but I'm being optimistic). When I get back, hopefully I will have a lot say.

Please be praying for me. I could really use it right now.

Here's my challenge. Tell someone how much you appreciate them today, especially a friend. I have found that we don't share appreciation enough. We tend to take each other for granted.

Finally, I guest blogged on The Type A Housewife. I hope you enjoy it.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Giveaway Winner

We have a giveaway winner. WOOT WOOT!!! Congratulations to Krista from A Southern Belle's Crafty Tales. She won the two blooms from Petunia Blooms. She was picked using random.org as comment #31. Please respond within 48 hours to receive the blooms. 

I have to say, I'm jealous. These are beautiful. 


Be on the lookout for another giveaway coming soon! 

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Bring the Rain - The Continuing Story

Its interesting, but right before we lost loss of Faith I wrote a post called Bring the Rain. It wasn't until we lost her that this song really became real to me. It was the song Isaiah and I clung to during everything. We sung it in church on Sunday and I wanted to post something on here about it. I didn't even realize that I had already written something about the song, but this one is the more personal side of it.

I still struggle with losing Faith. I don't think a day goes by that I don't think about what happened. But I know that God had a plan. Doesn't that sound almost trite? When you are going through something hard and someone tells you, "well honey, God had a plan." don't you just kind of want to punch them? Maybe I'm overly violent and a terrible Christian but its hard to hear.

Long ago I told God that my life was in His hands. I guess I did not realize what all that would mean. But through this I realized that sometimes it takes the storms in life to praise God.

Sometimes God send the rain into your life to bring you to Him. Its during the times in my life that have been terrible that I've grown so much closer to God. And God wants to use it to praise Him through your life. Also, it tends to be the storms in your life that strengthen your testimony. How many testimonies of God's goodness have you heard that come from easy parts of life? I'm sure its happened, but usually its the storms in life that we can use as testimonies to serve other people.

I want my life to be a testimony to other people, and a way to show God's love to people. Sometimes that means God brings the rain and that's ok. I want my life to be a praise God and sometimes that means that He brings the rain.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Guest Post

Caitlin from Fit, Fierce and Fabulous has generously offered to do a guest post for me. You may remember her from my Pen Pals post. She hosted the pen pal swap. I really love her blog. Its all about her life as a student (which I relate to), her relationship with her man, and random things about her life. Its a lot of fun to read. She asked for people to guest blog on her blog, and I offered. She generously offered to write a blog for me. I am so excited to share it with you. Her relationship with her boyfriend is so sweet,  and when I saw this post I got so excited. I love sweet love stories, especially real ones. You all hear about my love all the time, now you get to hear about hers.


Cue mushy post...
Tangled clip
I adore this scene, and seeing "the light" for the first time is probably how I feel about meeting the boy for the first time..

A few people have asked how the boy and I met.. but I thought it would be interesting instead of hearing it from ME..why don't you hear it from..the boyfriend himself!
[ boyfriend
One day in the Spring of '07,I saw Cait walk into class and thought she was very pretty, but we were both dating other people at the time During class we started talking and became friends. During that summer, I wished her a "Happy Birthday" on Facebook and told her I would buy her a drink since she had just turned 21, just to be friendly. I was still dating this other girl at the time but noticed Cait became single over the summer. My feelings started to dwindle for this other girl not because of thinking of Cait, but because I was super busy with football and it was hard for both of us see one another. I ended up breaking it off which may have been better for both of us in the long run.


Since Cait actually was friends with the other girl, I didn't want to be forceful, and I also knew that Cait had just ended a serious relationship with her boyfriend a few months prior. I talked to her about asking if I could still take her out for a drink, which she replied "Sure, but it's NOT a date". I chuckled at that thought, and told her I would pick her up after my away football game. I admit, I was a little nervous, what guy isn't?
I drove to her apartment, and we went to a restaurant called Carlos O Kellys. We began talking about family, friends (of which we had NO ONE in common, despite our small school, and a joke to this day) Of course at the end of the night I payed for everything, because that's how I've been brought up. She was sweet about it and we went out with a few of her other friends to a bar so I could buy her (and her friends, since I'm such a nice guy like that) a drink. 
Actual photo from our 1st date
We look SO young

One of the things I don't really share with a lot of people is my love for musicals. I was taken back when Cait found my hidden "Phantom of the Opera" CD in my car on our ride home from our "date". She swore she wouldn't tell anyone my secret, and I found out she also had a love for musicals. We decided we would watch another favorite of mine, RENT. That turned out to be one of the greatest nights I've ever had with her. We talked until 4am about our likes, dislikes, relationships, family, dreams, favorite colors, pets, and more. Of course talking wouldn't have been that bad except we had an 8am class together the next morning (OOPS!)
My 22nd birthday, she took me to see RENT downtown!

After a few weeks, I realized I really started to like her. But the funny thing is, she asked ME out! I do like a girl that knows what she wants (haha). Clearly after 3 1/2 years my feelings haven't changed, and get stronger as the days past. I'm lucky I found such an amazing woman who I can not only call my girlfriend, but my best friend.So there you go.. that's my side of this mushy story. 











I bought her coach shoes for her 22nd birthday
 Yup- I'm thinking I am one lucky girl..and now you know how we met! (oh and boyfriend, IF you're reading this, lanterns, starlight, a boat... it's probably a dream of mine to do this someday, wink)


Any questions for the boyfriend? 
Do you have a unique "how we met" story?
What's your favorite thing your significant other bought you?

Monday, April 4, 2011

Recipe Monday









I tried a new recipe tonight Wow, it was easy. We really liked it. It was an adaptation of a recipe that I got on my post "No Recipe Tuesday". Isaiah and I went to Sam's last week and I got a bunch of frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts. I wanted to try using them.

Baked Chicken

mayonnaise (I used Duke's, another suggestions is miracle whip)
Italian bread crumbs (another suggestion is just seasonings such as oregano)
Parmesan cheese
skinless, boneless chicken breasts

This recipe has no actual measurings. I just eyed it. Mix the mayonnaise, bread crumbs and cheese until it becomes a paste. Spread it on chicken and lay flat in dish. Cook at 350 for about 30 minutes until white in center and cooked thoroughly.

I cooked rice. Next time I wouldn't put the topping on quite as thick, but it was good. The mayonnaise would change the flavor some. I used the quintessential souther mayonnaise, Dukes, but the original recipe called for miracle whip.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Ultimate Blog Party

I really enjoy reading other people's blogs and I stumbled on this blog party going on. I had to share it with you. They have a lot of different kinds of blogs linked together to read and enjoy. I hope you take advantage of it.

For those of you who found me through the party, here's some random facts about me and for my life (or for those who just were added and haven't heard all this).

1. I have 2 adorable cats, Abby and Mara.
2. I am married to a wonderful man named Isaiah.
3. I am going to school to study social studies education.
4. I am starting to learn to sew. eeeekkkk
5. I am obsessed with cleaning my bathroom. Its my favorite chore and I'm weird about making sure I have a spotless bathroom. When its not spotless I literally cannot sleep at night. I have cleaned the bathroom at 2 am before.
6. We got our cats at a shelter. They are both black and so pretty. One is a pretty rare breed, which is pretty cool.
7. I'm a Christian.
8. My blog is a mish-mash of things. Its basically whatever hits my fancy. Sometimes its about my life, sometimes about things I found online and sometimes what God is teaching.
9. I live in Florida. Yes, we do have sunshine all the time. And yes, I have been to Disney world many times. And yes, I live about 20-30 minutes from the beach.
10. I love to cook and bake, but I'm not that good at it. I have ruined dinner a few times, though my dear husband does his best to eat it.

So there are a few things about me. I can't wait to learn about you, and visit your blogs.


Ultimate Blog Party 2011