September Has Come and Gone

Well, guys. I regret to inform you that September has apparently come and gone.

I have no idea where this entire month went, but a got the sweetest letter in the mail from a new pen pal reminding me that fall is too precious a season to be rushing through. 

She caught me.

I was completely rushing through September with school being as hectic as it is and now I seemed to have missed an entire month.

I promise I'll enjoy fall much more over the next two months.

Yesterday I went a got some fall decorations for our apartment: pumpkin spice candles, apple cinnamon air fresheners, pumpkin candle holders, some fall dishcloths and an autumn wreath for our door!

Here are my favorite posts from September:

True Love Ain't Fancy

I want all of my readers to go over to my friend Casey's blog, Bookcasey, right now. More specifically, read this post about The Truth About Marriage before reading this little rant post of mine.

Please.

Of course I'll ask nicely because I'm not about ordering around my readers without some good manners.

Ya'll know me better than that.

Now, go. Read the post. Then we'll meet back here in 5 minutes? Okay? Okay.

Experimenting with Artichokes

 

I love artichokes.

 I literally buy cans of them and eat them as a snack food out of the can with a fork. 

This probably just made some of my readers cringe, but it is the truth. Unfortunately, I have not recently been able to get fresh artichokes. I finally came home with some artichokes when I found them on sale this past weekend, though. I traded two with my wonderful neighbor for some other fresh produce, and proceeded to experiment with cooking the two I had left. Mind you, I've never done this before.

Currently: Four Weeks In

~You know you have been studying too long when you take a break to get water from the sink and call it "ambulating".~

Currently

It has been a while since my last post and I am so sorry for that! If it makes you feel any better I haven't been doing anything especially exciting that I'm keeping from all of you. All I do is eat, sleep, work, do homework and go to class. Here is my life lately.

Reading:

All of my nursing textbooks. Every day. The chapters never, ever end. On the brighter side, I'm 3 weeks smarter than I was 3 weeks ago!

Writing:

Letters to my cousin in prison. I miss him a lot and try to write him once a week. I am also writing health assessment write ups. This is much more fun than writing essays, I promise.

Listening To:

I haven't had much time for music so I have been listening to videos on how to do certain nursing things that I'm required to watch for school. I did get to jam out in the car yesterday to some country and apparently I jammed far too hard because I missed my exit on the through way and had to use every spare coin in my car for them to let me off at the next tollbooth.

Wishing:

I got to spend more time with my man. His work schedule is exactly opposite of mine and yesterday was his first day off when I had a day off in a month. It is hard. I miss him. 

Appreciating:

The fall! I love autumn. It is my absolute favorite month and I could just go on and on and on about what I love about it. There are lots of posts from last fall that I did that in, though.

Like this one and this one.

Eating:

Well, Last week I made a delicious lasagna for my first time. We had to eat it for 3 days straight because there was so much of it, though. We even froze some and gave lots away. Then, we have not had time to go grocery shopping since last Sunday and there is nothing to eat at all here. We need to go today. So, I've been eating cup noodles and oatmeal for the past few days just trying to get by. Alec did make some delicious chicken parm and pasta with what we did have, though. Yum.

Excited for:

The craft bazaar I'm signing up for! I pray I'll have time to craft before the bazaar, though. Hopefully this will lead to more DIY posts on this lovely blog of mine.

What have you been up to lately?

I Did Something Bold

Remember my hair? Long, highlighted, crazy?

And this post about how to know when your hair is too damn long?

Well, guys, I cut it all off.  As you know, I've been wanting to for a while. I have a chubby face, though. Short hair really accents it. My hair is so thick that it could probably count as two heads of hair easy. This means that when it is cut short it tends to look like a triangle. I also feel bald. On a positive note, I can take a quick shower now and don't have to use two handfuls of conditioner any more! For that reason, I love it. Did I mention I donated all of my hair to Children With Hair Loss? I know I would have been happy just trimming off 3 inches, but then would have to watch it all go in the trash. So, I sucked it up and cut off all 8 inches so that some little girl who doesn't have such thick, crazy hair as I do can enjoy it as much as I did. I know I made the right choice and donating my hair makes it more than worth it. I was sad to see it go, though. Cheers to new beginnings, right?
Have you ever donated your hair?

Love is Patient and Kind

I have been studying 1 Corinthians 13 this week and thinking a lot about how to better myself.

Love is patient and kind.

I try to be these things and think of these characters even when I feel the opposite way.

Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.

I am rude when I judge others. I am trying to remember that everyone has their own struggles. I am also trying to let go of envy all together. When I release envy from my heart than I can appreciate who I am and love myself. 

It does not insist on it's own way; it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth.

Love is not selfish. Love is wanting what is best for others above your own personal desires. I am working on loving everyone I meet without judging them, complaining about who they are, what they are doing or how they are doing it. God is the judge, not me. My job is to love all of God's children equally. 

I need to find love in all that I do.

If we all take a minute  to love when we are talking about someone else or complaining about someone or something, we could start a chain reaction of positivity.

I strive to stay positive.

It's hard, but I'm working on it.

How to you stay positive?

Saturday's Sweets: Blueberry Coffee Cake Cupcakes

Sometimes I'm a bad food blogger.

Sometimes I get inspired and improv my own recipe and make something absolutely delicious.

Sometimes I forget about the delicious cupcakes until I find the pictures on my camera.

Sometimes I forget how I made the really good recipe in the first place.

How to Make Easy Homemade Bread

Hello everyone!

I finally made homemade bread! I have been so in love with my kitchenaid and especially in love with making dough this summer. It is pretty obvious from this post about pizza dough. I have been nervous about making my own bread and had no idea where to start, but luckily my dear friend Martha posted a recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Bread. Apparently, Martha's mother made homemade bread all the time when she was growing up. This would make Martha's mother a pro, right? Who better to learn from than the pros and their children. So, I asked way too many questions and they patiently answered them (thank you, guys!). 

Now I am here to share with you Martha's Mother's Bread Recipe! 

I'd also like to invite my own mother who failed at making bread last week to read this post and try making her own bread.

 You can do it, mom! I love you!

New Cuties

I posted some new cuties up on my Etsy Shop this past week!

These little button bobbies.

And lots and lots of tea wallets!

That can hold up to four bags of tea, sweeteners, single serving drink packs, and instant coffee!

Click here to view my Etsy Shop!

Just My Luck

Sometimes days don't go as planned.

Yesterday was one of those days.