decision making.

It's not my strong point. Just throwing that out there.

twin :)

I have a twin. Her name is Olivia. We met 4 years ago at Moody on Smith 5.

Diet coke. Music. Writing. Flowers. Sun dresses. Food allergies. Traveling. Independent. 

We also have frequent moments of relearning lessons numerous times over, we sometimes challenge God, and we have similar ED struggles.

God placed Olivia and I in each others lives for so many reasons! To be twins. To walk through life and it's ups and downs together as sisters, friends, confidants, cheerleaders, and pen pals.

Love you, Olivia!!

Proof that I'm a city girl.

(No chickens were harmed in the making of this video. Alicia and I are fine, too.)

In-n-Out for the WIN!

Gluten-free cheeseburger from In-n-Out. I'm going to survive life without gluten!

tortilla chips

Sometimes these things need to happen.

I have creative things to do.

I have dresses to sew, questions to ponder, photos to take, songs to sing, people to love, stories to write, memories to make, guitars to play, flowers to arrange, life to live.

I have creative things to do.

Wednesday's Wisdom

Yesterday morning I was given a great piece of wisdom.

The mistakes of others don’t define you. They may hurt and help to shape you, but they are not who you are.

It’s all about choices. The mistakes and choices of others my hurt me. They might even change my life. But, I am still me. My identity isn’t found in those mistakes. It’s found in being a child of God. That identity can’t be taken from me regardless of how badly I’m hurt by others.

Gluten Free.

This new chapter of my life is gluten free. This can't be too hard, can it?

Gluten Free Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Gluten Free Cheddar Crackers (These will be my cheez-its replacement.)

Gluten Free Pancakes 

Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins 

Gluten Free Parmesan Crusted Chicken  

If anyone has any more delicious gluten free yummy things to try, let me know!

Faith and Josh

Faith and Josh flew ALL the way from Chicago to California to see me! Ok. They came for a vacation and to visit family, but I can pretend that it was all for me. It was great seeing them! We met at a fun coffee shop by Cal State Berkeley and had a wonderful time sipping coffee and eating pastries!

To see some of the beautiful photos they took, check out Faith’s blog!

Aimee!

Aimee came to visit me last week! We had fun touring Livermore, watching the Olympics, watching movies, doing crafts, and eating lots of dairy-free ice cream. Here are a few of the many photos we took in one of Livermore's vineyards.

 

griveving and cheeseburgers

Grieving and cheeseburgers. They just go together. In-n-Out cheeseburgers with tomatoes and no lettuce or onions are totally my comfort food. Today I'm thankful for the future, Alicia, an enjoyable job, sparkly eye shadow, texting, a new friend, and cheeseburgers.

Cooking Lesson: Toffee

Today Jen and I made toffee!

Ingredients

• 2 cups butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 package saltine crackers

Directions

1. In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Allow to come to a boil, and cook until the mixture becomes a dark amber color, and the temperature has reached 285 degrees F (137 degrees C). Stir occasionally.
2. While the toffee is cooking, cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
3. Cover the aluminum foil with unbroken saltine crackers.
4. As soon as the toffee reaches the proper temperature, pour it out onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate over the top, and let it set for a minute or two to soften. Spread the chocolate into a thin even layer once it is melted. Sprinkle the nuts over the chocolate, and press in slightly. Putting a plastic bag over your hand will minimize the mess.
5. Place the toffee in the refrigerator to chill until set. Break into pieces, and store in an airtight container.

Kendra's Birthday (was yesterday).

Happy birthday to one of the most wonderful people ever!! Love you, Kendra! And I love this photo of us from like 5 years ago.

Goodbye July, Hello August!

July was a fun and busy month. :)

Favorite photo from July.

• Cedar Grove had an outside service! I loved being part of the worship team for it.
• I successfully put windshield wiper fluid and oil in my car without any help. I was impressed. Then some guy biking by whistled. He was impressed, too.
• Alicia and I learned how to use SundayPlus!
• I no longer think Matthew McConaughey is attractive.
• Favorite new song: Shake it Out by Florence + the Machine
• I LOVE fireworks.
• Play guitar? Check. Unpack and clean room? It can wait until tomorrow.
• My sister is in South Africa for the summer.
• I keep losing my phone and my keys.
• Kendra was out of town for a week so I spent a lot of time with Trina and Viola.
• “We can conquer because of Christ. But sometimes the conquering is slow and takes so much more time than we think it should.” Annie Quick
• I went to the ER.
• I don’t like my short hair. Although it does look like Rapunzel’s in Tangled! So that helped.
• I started working at Brighton Collectibles in the Stoneridge mall.
• Alicia and I started planning our concert!
• I sang without playing guitar at church. It was strange and fun.
• Jen came to visit!! I finally got to meet her!
• I broke the contract. ;) Sorry Sam, Eric, Rusty, and Paul!
• London Olympics!! Woo-hoo! Go USA!
• Dog-sitting for little Mattie!
• I brought a backup outfit to church incase the outfit I was wearing didn’t work with the guitar pickup.
• Aimee came to visit me!
• For some reason I got oddly attached to my phone. I’ll spill more later. :)
• I re-fell in love with Bethany Dillon’s albums.
• I spent time at a cute little beach all by myself.
• Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps. I love the olympics!