Thank You

            The other day I found a quote that said “what if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday?” It made me take a step back. What did I thank God for yesterday? Did I thank Him for everything? What if I forgot something important? Then in the midst of these “me” centered questions I realized it has nothing to do with me.

            God has blessed me continually, and I have been too buried in myself to say thank you. I began to think of all the things that I didn’t thank God for last night as I fumbled to say a prayer before falling asleep. There are the obvious ones that I would miss; my family and friends are a probably the most important. As I began to list all of the things I would miss I began to think of the littlest things that make my day so much brighter.

            I love pictures, I love all the decorations around my room and I would miss the little things plastered to my wall that give my dorm room/prison cell some personality. Pictures also contain memories and stories, things that you can’t get back but can capture in a photo. I would miss music. There are so many types that can go with any mood or feeling, it’s a form of pure expression and creativity, and it often articulates what words can’t convey, particularly in worship. I would miss my walk to class in the morning, the peace that falls over my campus and the stillness. I would miss the sound of laughter. I’d miss fruit and peanut butter. I absolutely love fruit and would probably starve without peanut butter!

            Luck for me God doesn’t take things from me just because I forgot to say thank you. He blesses me when I least deserve it and does so continually! Psalm 37:4 says “take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” All I need to do is find joy in God, who has graciously given me eternity, and he will bless me abundantly. It doesn’t say if you do x, y, and z only then will God give you something good. Trust God for your salvation and you will be blessed, even if you forget to say thanks.

            “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever” 1 Chronicles 16:34. Say thank you because he has been good to you! Not because you’re afraid he’ll take away his blessing but because you are truly grateful for the abundance that you have, the big things, the little things, and everything in between.

            So “what if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday?” What would you miss? What are the little things that bring you joy throughout your day? Look around and you’ll be amazed with all that God has blessed you with!

I'd miss his beautiful artwork!

*Joy of the Day: spending time with a very dear friend and seeing the Lord work in her life and through her willingness to serve!

Easy Dress Tutorial!

My First Tutorial! How exciting, hope I don’t confuse anyone!!!

Simple Dress

Material:

-shirt

-fabric

-thread

-scissors

-ruler

-chalk

-calculator

-pins

-iron and board

Amount of fabric for the skirt:

1) Measure your natural waist (we’ll call this measurement X)

2) Measure from your natural waist till 2 inches below where you want the skirt to hit -for me this was a   few inches below my knees (we’ll call this Y)

3) Take Y and multiply it by 2 (for each side of the skirt) this is how many inches of fabric you need. If you want it in yards divide Y by 36”.

-I needed 2 1/3 yd of fabric

Now you’re finally ready to start!!!

Steps:

1) Pre wash the shirt and fabric, if you plan on drying the dress pre dry them too! This will prevent any shrinking after all your hard work.

2) Lay the fabric flat on the floor with the wrong side facing up

 3)Measure the X of the skirt, if you want it twirly go ahead and use the whole length (you’ll still have to measure it for calculations later)

4) Measure the Y of the skirt, marking it with chalk

      5) Do steps 3 & 4 twice for the front and back, then cut these pieces out for the skirt

       6) Calculations (not fun but necessary): 

         X + 1½” (seam allowance) + ½” (ease) = Z

       Length of fabric – Z = a number. Whatever this number is find an odd number like 5 to divide it by. This is the amount you will measure for each pleat, V. (This isn’t a perfect science so be prepared to alter here and there to get the right numbers)

      7) Mark the middle of your fabric (the X way), measure V and place a pin to the right. Fold the second pin underneath, pin the fabric, creating a pleat. 

      

     8) Do the same thing, this time measuring V to the left of the center pin. This will create one big center pleat,

     9) Measure V from the furthest pin, creating another pleat. Do this until you have the desired number of pleats.

      10) Measure the pleated skirt to make sure it measures Z, if not make alterations in the last pleats       

                         

      11) Repeat 7-10 for the back part of the skirt

      12) Baste across the top of the skirt, close to top to hold the pleats in place

    13) Place the right sides of the skirt together and pin the sides together, sew together with a ¾” seam allowance

     14) Turn right side out and play around with where 

    you want it on the shirt, when you find where put a pin to mark the spot

     15)  Measure around the shirt at the pin, also measure 3 inches lower to allow for space to attach the skirt, then cut off the bottom of 

      the shirt AT THE LOWER LINE

       16) Pin the skirt and shirt right sides together at the higher line, and sew the skirt to the shirt                                

      17)  Put the dress on, have someone help you pin the hem. Measure from the ground and pin where you want the skirt to fall

       18) Measure one inch below the hem, cut off the excess fabric, fold the fabric twice over and pin it at the hem level, sew it to complete the hem

    

    19) Top stitch the skirt, pull the shirt and the top of the  skirt underneath and sew as close as possible to the top  of the skirt. This'll help make the skirt a little bit flatter.

TA DA!!!! You are all done! Wasn’t that easy?! (at least I hope it was) Enjoy your lovely dress!

 

This is another one that I made that turned out really well! And it is super easy to wear, the only thing I tend to add to these is a belt or something in the middle to help it fit a bit better and help break up the dress to give it more of an "outfit" feel!

Clearly I had too much time over winter break! 

New Quirks

            Over the past week and a half I have been getting used to new classes. Which means new professors who each have their own syllabus, and like things a particular way. Yes the beginning of another semester. I actually greatly dislike the beginning of new classes. I am not a fan of learning all of a professor’s quirks. The way they like the headers on papers, how they want assignments turned in, and how hard their tests are. I don’t like getting use to a whole new set of rules. Why do professors get to be so picky?

            A little dramatic, yes but I just want to get into the swing of things and forget learning the minor details that each professor throws at me. As a nurse isn’t it more important that I’m learn about diseases and how to treat people instead of where to put my name on a page? I just get really excited when I'm in some of my classes, which sounds kind of weird. Since when is any kid excited about a class, other than kindergarden? I just want to be a nurse so badly, I want to leave the classroom and go out into the hospital or to wherever God is calling me! I want to learn so I am prepared and equipped to treat and care for patients with the best of my ability. But I need the knowledge to get there first, and I don't want these silly little details standing in my way.
            In the end it's not about the professor's quirks, it's about mine. My impatient quirks that have me itching to travel the world treating children in third world countries who die daily of diseases we easily prevent. Diseases caused dirty drinking water, malnutrition, and diarrhea. Working somewhere with orphanages or hospitals in Africa or Asia because God has called me to go and care for His creation! To bring mercy, hope, joy, and healing around the globe in His name. And I get impatient when a bunch of professors try to slow this process by telling me where my name goes on a silly paper. That paper isn't going to save that child's life! So in the end I guess it's my quirks that are getting in the way, not theirs. And I am going to have to grow to be more patient.
           I am really interested in my classes this semester though! I am taking an anthropology class, which I have no experience with and it’s actually really interesting. We were talking about how a McDonald’s in China is called Americanization, but a Chinese restaurant in America is just another meal. And then I’m taking three classes focusing on chronic illnesses. Overall it should be a very interesting semester!

*Joy of the day: getting to see friends again that I wasn’t able to see over break! Laughter truly is the best medicine.

2011 Snapshot

A quick look at my year in photos-

Trouble turned ONE!!!!

Photo shoot with my small group, they're fabulous!

I tried coffee for the very first time!!!!!!!!!

My mommy graduated with her masters! I'm so proud of her!

The fam went to the beach for a vacation!

Adventures with friends over breaks, love them!

Goober turned FOUR!!!!

Friends came from near and far to celebrate my birthday!

I ran my very first (an hopefully not last) half marathon!!!

Mommy and I on vacation at Crater Lake

Suite and Sassy (my suitemates for the new school year!)

The fam came up for a football game! Aren't they cute?!

The girls at our winter formal

Santa brought us matching outfits!

 2011 was filled with joy and tears, a lot happened in those 12 months!

*Joy of the Year: I'm so thankful for the quality time that I got with all of my friends and family, the memories that were made are so precious and remind me how blessed I truly am!