andy griffith show (playlist)

One amazing God.

Every day I am more amazed by God and how awesome and loving he is. But in a specific way I was reminded of the greatness and power he has when I am at my worst. I'm sure more mature Christians may have had this happen more than the 1 time it's happened to me- but this was a 1st for me. It was one of those days I felt so discouraged and mad at myself and jealous of people etc etc.( Bad emotions) I felt like I was completely failing God. Well, we were having a party and it just so happened I was having a" bad mood" day. The last thing I felt like doing was acting all smiley and friendly and talking everyone's ears off. Bascially, I'd sulked away the past day and a half and wanted to proceed doing so. It felt fake and dishonest to act happy when my whole being was screaming out anger and tears. As teenagers, we all know the deep- down insecurities we face. I kept thinking I looked really mad or too serious- so I tried to keep smiling when ever someone's eyes met my gaze. I tried to be a gracious host, but I felt still felt selfish, as if my heart wasn't in it.  Eventually, the party was over and everyone went home.  the next day my dad revealed to me a crazy secret while we were having a conversation about our  current "church" situtation. He said that a lot of our non- Christian guests complimented him on his family and me, washing dishes and being so sweet. A bullet could have shot through my chest in that moment. It must be my personality, but being complimented is not something I appreciate- because I feel puffed up and proud when it happens, which I know is wicked. Even if it was easy to be humble, I still don't think I enjoy it that much. I was glad though when my dad said that we could reach these people by our graciousness and happiness, only possible through Jesus's strength. I can't think of too many better things in life then for Jesus to work through  me,  weak and selfish, but his strength is made perfect in my weakness. What an amazing, interesting God we serve!

Update: Currently Digging June 5th, 2013

Can you guys believe school is over? I'm still in shock and I have no clue why. My 8th grade went by like crazy fast and I learned so much in all my subjects. My mom congratulated on me on improving in math, according to my testing results this year, which I'm really happy about!( Math is a not my thing!) We learned so many interesting things, including a bit of geometry and pre- algebra!!!! And next year will be my freshman year of high school!! June is a crazy month for our family; there is so much going on. 

1: My Aunt and Uncle's Baby Shower, set for June 15th.

2: Baseball games, going to Arrows game this Saturday, 

3: Mine & my brother's Bds( 3 days apart)!

4. plans for sleepovers, spending  the night with Grandparents, ice cream outings and A&W outings and so forth.

5. Father's Day

All of this said, you can tell it's pretty jam- packed busy, amen?!

For my birthday this year, I have some cool food ideas. 

For my actual bd, I'm making corn- meal pancakes with Aunt Jemima syrup( my favorite!)

 

I'm also going to bake some sweet nuts with pumpkin- pie spice, ( inspired by Giada again:))

Then on the 15th, we are celebrating both of our birthdays( my brother's & I) at my Grandma's. For that, I'm cooking pumpkin pie and Giada's mushroom crostini appetizers with Italian bread.

But, enough updating. 

Here's what I'm currently watching, eating, drinking, reading and listening to

MOVIES: The Phantom Menace( Star Wars: Episode 1)

Recently, my brothers and I watched this for a campout last weekend. It was super fun. One of my favorite ones, it is thrilling, scary, and funny at the same time with excellent acting and a well- written script. My favorite actress, Natalie Portman, stars as Padme Amidala along with Ewan Macgregor as Obi Wan. I won't give all the story away, but it marks the beginning of the Star Wars saga. Anakin Skywalker, a young 10 year old slave and inventer on a planet called Tattiwan  is found by a Jedi knight, Qui Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi Wan Kenobi. He is thought to be the one to bring  balance back to the " Force". Expert Star Wars fans could explain this better than me; though I love the movies I'm not good at giving accurate, specific descriptions of parts of the movies I don't completely comprehend yet:) Bascially it's the way of life with the good side of the Force( opposite of the wicked," Dark Side"), and is used to fight, control emotions( fear, anger, hate)& thoughts centre of the dark side. Many on the "Good side", Obi Wan, Luke Skywalker. Etc. are quoted often as saying, " May The Force Be With You."  This is not the only section of the film though, it all details a current struggle for the Jedi( new enemies, a current war on the planet Naboo) Padme( Queen Amidala's) side of the story is as a queen in hiding, disguising herself as a maidservant, while trying to secretly free her people from foreign oppressors. 

At any rate, it is an awesome film, with lessons to be learned and plenty of excellent intense battles for the boys, as well as good humor from Jar Jar Binks ( you'll have to watch it to find out about him;) 

Music: Jewel. 

 With my overly-obsessive personality, when I find something I love I take off! Henceforth with the amazingly talented, beautiful Jewel. Winner of many music awards and blessed with an angelic, calming voice, she is def. one of my favorite singers. 

When I was younger, I hated her voice and I mean hated it. In comparison to my beloved newly- found JJ Heller, this" Jewel" of my dad's was nothing! Now I can't imagine my day without her in it. Nighttime( winding down, resting), daytime( learning to sing along and hold high notes). My headaches( which occur at least once a week) weigh me down with additional stress, & lack of sleep( which I can't help with our busy schedule). Anyway, I've learned to lower the level of intensity they get to it with chai tea latte( I call them " my magical cure") and Jewel" Angel Standing By". The line" Everything's gonna be all right" hits the spot with my worries and stress about what this headache will lead to it( throwing up, not being able to eat.. etc.). Two hours after a short power nap combined with these 2 things & my headache is GONE!

my favorite song is" Who Will Save Your Soul". The lyrics are stuck in my head like crazy & I can't stop listening to it. Such an awesome, well- composed song. Of course, I'm not allowed to listen to the more" Grown- up" songs by her till I'm older, but I'm in love with anything she sings that I can listen to:) 

Books: Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss

I read this book a couple years back and really enjoyed it. I can definitely relate to many of the spiritual struggles of Katy Mortimer, the 16 year girl in the book. It follows her from that age on through her married life and so forth. Truly a interesting, learned read, it will challenge the intimacy in your walk with God to a wonderful extent. As Katy, who makes many mistakes like all of us,  eventually gains trust and total acceptance of her Father's Will, you will rejoice as she triumphs over temptation and sin. 

Encourage all girls to read this book( probably most appropriate for ages 12-15)

Eating: Giada's Almond Waffles 

These delicious, flavorful waffles will make breakfast a lovely, yummy treat. They take a little more effort and longer steps than the traditional waffles, but are so worth it! Next time, I've decided to try them without the chocolate chips, because it's kind of an overwhelming sweetness with the honey & lemon combined( at least for me.) They are also healthier, made with almond flour, and of course honey is a better substitute for syrup. In my opinion, they would be good for a Sunday morning, when you have time to make a nice, prepared breakfast.

Ingredients
Vegetable oil cooking spray
Lemon Honey:
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Zest of 1 large lemon
Waffles:
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
2 cups unsweetened vanilla-flavored almond milk
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
Zest of 1 large lemon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips, optional
Special equipment: an electric waffle maker
Directions
Preheat the waffle maker. Lightly spray the waffle grills with vegetable oil cooking spray.

For the lemon honey: Heat the honey, lemon juice and lemon zest over medium heat in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, until warm, about 4 minutes.

For the waffles: Beat the egg whites until they are thick and hold soft peaks using a whisk or an electric hand mixer in a medium bowl, about 2 minutes.

Combine the egg yolks, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract and lemon zest in a large bowl. Beat until smooth. Add the all-purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until smooth.

Fold the egg whites, butter and chocolate chips if using into the batter. Using the amount recommended by the waffle iron manufacturer's instructions, about 1/3 cup of batter for each waffle, pour the batter into the preheated waffle iron. Cook the waffles until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Drizzle with lemon honey and serve.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/lemon-almond-waffles-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Drinking: Chai Tea Latte's

These are absolutely delicious, hot, spiced tea with a healing power, which as previously mentioned, is" magic". They say that caffeine helps with headaches( coffee particularly). I would drink these every day if I was allowed.  My mom got me into them, when I tried one about three months back. Anytime I need to rejuvenate and relax, they are the solution.  

Quick Update, Currently Digging April

Hey everyone, I know it's been a long time since I blogged. Life is pretty busy right now, so many cool things going on though, it's awesome!! On April 15th, I celebrated the 1 year anniversary of seeing Titanic in 3d. Yes, I know#Iamweird. But this day is really special to me and always will be, because it is what foreshadowed the novel I wrote on the film last summer. It seems so crazy and unbelievable that it has been a year...just yesterday( or so it feels) I remember excitedly browsing the ticket website, looking for movie times my mom and I could go to. Then, with ever- growing excitement, finding that it was going to work out, and quickly gulping down my lunch before jumping in the car; to get their on time:) It was such an unforgettable, memorable, beautiful day.. sniff. sniff:) happy tears. Okay, enough sentiment. So many other things are going on, so I will try to just voice the most important.


1: My aunt and uncle are having their first baby!; we are so excited! And it is going to be a girl. I am so exuberant to have a baby girl cousin, to make up for not having a little sister:) My grandma is throwing Audrey a baby shower in June and the baby will be born in August. Grandma, Mom, and I are planning a trip to see Baby Hallinan that month.   
2:  I start high school next year. Crazy!!! I am so nervous, excited, and happy all at once. LOL. I have gotten a little taste of pre-algebra; of course I'm still a youngling in higher levels of math; but I really do enjoy it. So, I think that will not change as I move up through the more advanced, difficult levels of high school algebra. Graduating from school in 4 years is wow.. it gets me thinking more and more about what I want to do with my life. I'm learning more and more, each day, though to enjoy the present, because I know it will be gone before I know it. But I do look forward to graduation, deciding on which college I want to go to, and all of that fun stuff:) I have a really true desire to be a nurse; so I've been talking to my Aunt, who went to school for 8 years for it. Now, I'm not sure if I want to go to school for that long. But, to make a long story short, I would like to study in a 2- year nursing school and then work at an orphanage in India. 

3: My brothers are going to play baseball this summer! In the past 7 months we've really gone all out with the "sports" thing. Anyway, I'm really excited for them and it's a new experience for me too. My dad said we may be able to figure out how I could work at the concession stand; during summer games! What a fun idea- so excited!

So, now that I've probably bored you with my list of awesome things happening,  I will move on to currently digging and my goals for this month:0

Music: 

Even though I've never really been that crazy about Adele in the past, I've been gotten really hooked on her music these past 2 weeks. Once I spend more time to listen and meditate on the words of her songs, I enjoy and understand them better then the first time I heard them. I guess it probably all started with seeing a comic video set to her sad, melancholy song," Someone Like You", done by Christian artists, Kari Jobe, Dara Maclean, and Group 1 Crew's Blanca Reyes. It was a hilarious girls's rein action of this song. Anyone who is a girl knows what it's like to get emotional over the smallest things, am I right?! So, they were all bursting in tears when listening to this song; and eating cake and everything. Well, eventually, I showed the video to my brothers; who surprisingly thought it funny( mainly because there is guys it in the end). We acted it out for my parents in a small performance in the basement. It was so much fun. Since then, whenever I've gotten sentimental, I've probably fake- cried and pouted to that song half a dozen times, three of them with a small handful( mind you) of chocolate chips:) But, in the past couple of weeks, I'd grown tired of listening to the same music.  So, when my mom and I took a little country drive to pick up my brother from my grandparents's house; I casually picked up an old Adele CD I'd burned a while back. During the drive, I found myself enjoying immensely singing along to the words. I've listened to the songs a lot since then (probably my personality). I get with something and I can stop!! My mom says any too much of one thing is enough, so I have learned to get some self- control. At any rate, I really enjoy her songs as I get older. " Set Fire to The Rain' is def. my favorite, mainly because of the romantic lyrics that typically remind me of my book:) 

Food: 

In case you are wondering what this is, it is an authentic Italian cheese called fontina cheese. Since watching Giada, I've developed a delicious liking for real cheese, for instance: swiss, parmesan, and other fresh Italian cheeses. I find this is a delicious topping for salads, especially in my goal to not eat as much junk and focus on fruits and vegetables all day. With just enough vegetables and a heathy olive oil and vinegar dressing, it makes a fine substitute to croutons. 

Books:  In the past last month, I've read a truly, awesome book, called," Lantern in Her Hand", an inspiring story of a pioneer woman, Abbie Deal. It is truly breathtaking, well- written story, by Bess Streeter Aldrich; of selflessness, courage, love, faith, and hope. Also has a small sense of humor( at least to my taste) and romance at the end. It all started as a book I had to read for school. At first, my reaction was; oh, this looks like a long, boring book: I can't wait to finish it. Now, I can't believe I ever thought this! I'm really hoping to read more Bess S.A. books in the future," Rim of the Prairie" is one I'd like to delve into this summer. 

I encourage you guys to check it out! Totally awesome. I learned so much out of it! 

  Movies: With the way my personality is, I'm an over- obsessive movie person( need to tone it down a bit).  But on the weekend, I really do enjoy relaxing with popcorn and a good movie: be it romance, comedy, serious, or other genres.  Currently, my family has been watching some really neat movies. Last Thursday, we watched" Lincoln" with our Apple TV. Truly an inspiring film, though with a little too much of a depressing ending for my taste. I was impressed, but it is not one of those epic movies that I will want to watch over again.  " Gulliver's Travels" is probably the movie I'm into right now. For those that know me well, they will remember that I always keep track of something I like; even if it was five years ago! I remember watching this modernized version of the novel two years ago and thinking it was hilarious! 

Critics call it a "poor version of the novel" but I find it hysterical,entertaining, and most important of all; it has a good story line. Not to mention the fact that it has the actress from" The Young Victoria( one of my favorite romantic movies)"( Emily Blunt) as one of the main characters:)
Youtube Videos: Kid President. 
 My mom found these videos some time ago on her Facebook from a friend, and since then it's become a weekly habit to watch them. This kid is so sweet, positive, and funny. Such an inspiration!! He has become very popular on youtube; actors, singers, and even the President have got to meet him. His little optimistic, sweet spirit is such a blessing and there are so many life- lessons to be learned through his channel: Soul Pancake. Check it out! 

Last of all, to end this long post( sorry if it's a little overwhelming!)
Drinks: Currently developing an intense craving with cappuccinos, lattes, and basically everything but black coffee. I have a feeling I'm going to be different than my non- coffee parents;  I love coffee. My mom says to take it easy, but since I'm almost 14, she doesn't mind as long as I don't drink it more than once a day. It all started with my awesome friend, Charity, introducing me to pumpkin lattes through a Facebook post back in October 2012. Well... long story short I've taken off with coffee. from authentic restaurant coffee.. to the boxed mixes you can buy at Walmart. 
Pumpkin cappuccinos are my favorite and they're so easy to make- they sell all year long too!

February Happenings 2013

Sorry it has been a while since I wrote anything. I've been taking a break from blog posts for awhile. 

Thought I'd take the time to write a short post on what I'm digging... currently. 

 Giada De Laurentis: Everyday Italian Cooking

I was looking through the movies and happened to find some cooking DVDS. I haven't watched the Food Network for so long, so I added it to my library bag. It turned out to be a great way to pass the time for a weekend 's afternoon. A cup of chai- tea with my mom and an interesting show on Saturday... perfect :)

Plus, I learn lots of things and the recipes are simple and yummy.

Only drawback; it makes me really hungry for Italian Food!

Anne of Green Gables Books: 

I finished reading the novel I wrote over Summer 2012. Then we took a trip to the library and I decided to read my favorite AOGG books," Anne Of Windy Poplars", by Lucy Maud Montgomery. One of the best books you'll ever read by the best authors ever! A great story, moving, inspirational, well- written, and very funny. 

Def. encourage you to read it, when you get a chance. 

My dad also showed me how to record my book through Garage Band, a Mac- oriented program that is so fun and easy. My dad isn't' really your reading type, he prefers to listen to books. So, it was a great, convenient way for him to listen to it through iTunes, while traveling to Cali. And it also really helps me to improve my voice. Not to mention being a lot of fun!

That's pretty much all for now. Hope you guys all have a great rest of your weekend!! 

January 3rd, 2013

WOW!!!!! It's a new year, you guys. I love this time of the year..... it feels fresh, amazing, and wonderfully HAPPY! There's so many new things to explore, to see and do, to experience, to dream about. Think of everything we have to look forward to as we start this new year of our lives!
To start the New Year off, we watched Spiderman 4, I munched on mushroom and cheese appetizers and drank a cup of tea. Then I just excitedly waited in my bedroom until the  clock struck twelve:) It was a lot of fun. Tuesday was pretty cool too, we relaxed, took a long nap, watched Three stooges, made up fun games, and plain ol'd did nothing. It felt like a Sunday:0

Trying to learn to not worry about tomorrow and eat healthier, for my New Year's resolutions:)

Plans for the the coming weekend.....
make pudding cookies.. YUM YUM YUM.... inspired by Blimey Cow.. We love this one! I assure you wholeheartedly. THEY ARE THE BEST COOKIES EVER!

go see Les Miserables on Sunday in the theater with my mom.  It's going to be so cool!!

Dec 29th, 2012

There's something about Saturdays..... lovely, relaxing and plain ... well beautiful. Snow is coursing down my windows and I'm warm and snug in bed.  It's a special kind of day. Hot chocolate at 8am while reading my new book, listening to music, and looking forward to what the day's going to bring. Dreaming of love and heaven and Jesus and indescribable happiness. Meditating on Rebecca St. James moving devotional, dwelling on the fun and glory that winter will bring. 
Oh... and by the way... Christmas isn't over yet! 9 more days( that is... you know the 12 days of Christmas. :) I decided I wasn't ready for it to end so I'm still caroling till " Feliz Navidad" and" I'll Be home for Christmas." I don't care if it's January by the time it's ended. 
as the saying goes.... 
On the 12th day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
two turtle doves and a pear tree 


 Here's a picture of my novel... wasn't sure if I posted it or not.