Lazy Friday Morning

These past three weeks have flown by, and I have absolutely no idea where they went. Looking back, they have been filled with ups and downs, and laughter and tears. Oh, and lots and lots of change. My days are filled with lounging around, running the occasional errand, and seeing friends and family. While that may sound like the ideal lifestyle, I am growing tired of the lack of structure and am determined to change this. However, when Martin asked me this morning to look up homemade pancake recipes, I could not resist having one more day of laziness and Pintrest surfing. So, while the Bon Iver station played on Pandora, Martin and I made what may very well be some of the most delicious pancakes ever. 
We also had some Fage yogurt and fresh blueberries in the fridge, so how could we resist throwing that all together. Last but not least, I made some coffee which was more like sugar and milk with a tad bit of coffee thrown in. Probably not the healthiest meal(aside from the Fage yogurt), but still delicious and a great start to the weekend. 

Homemade Pancake Recipe:

• Ingredients
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Dash of salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• Directions
• In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder,baking soda and salt. Using a whisk or large fork, mix in the buttermilk and egg until well combined and smooth. Stir in the melted butter.

Heat non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour pancake batter onto hot griddle. When pancake is golden brown, flip to cook other side. Keep warm in oven heated to 275 degrees.

**We didn't have buttermilk, so I added 2 Tablespoons of Vinegar to regular milk and it worked out really well.**

Recipe taken from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/simple-homemade-pancakes-recipe/index.html

For Daddy

As many of you know, my sweet Daddy passed away Friday, September 9th. These past few days have by far been some of the roughest I have ever and probably will ever experience. His memorial service was a testimony to how amazing of a man Dad was, how much he loved God, and how truly loved he was. It was obvious in the faces of his friends and family as they all hugged us during the receiving afterwards, that he would be missed by many. God really is providing my entire family with the strength that transcends all understanding(Phillipians 4:7) and really revealing to us in various ways that He will get us through this. To be honest, thinking about how different my life will be without my precious Father really scares me, but I know I just need to take it one day at a time. You never realize how much a person affects you until they're gone, and that is so true about Dad. This house has reminders of his love everywhere. In his absence, we are all trying to adjust, and are fully realizing how much he did. My Dad was amazing, and I am so blessed to say that I am his daughter.

This one is by far one of my favorite pictures ever taken of the two of us. 

Check out those biker shorts-yikes!!

                                      

Let's Add Another Project or Two

Alright, I was feeling pretty guilty about not blogging as much lately, until I realized a lot of people are in the same boat I am. Summer has flown by leaving everyone to ponder where it went. So much has happened this summer, yet I cannot quite justify it being over yet. It is funny to think about how I felt in May, so full of joy that summer was justaround the corner. The one thing I was probably the most excited about was catching up on sleep. However, now I am doubting if I'll ever feel like I am truly "caught up," on sleep, and I am close to giving up on believing such a thing even exists.

As sleep deprived as I may feel I am at times, I am starting to think that lots of good things can come out of it. For some unexplainable reason-or maybePintrest is to blame-I have been getting into these moods where all I want to do is some sort of craft. Before I go on, you have to understand ONE thing about me. I am not creative-not in the least. I'm pretty sure if there was a sports team similar to dogeball based off of creativity, I would still be the last one picked(and it's not even based on height...wahhh). It is as though a cloud has been lifted, and Emily Bell's creativity fire has been lit after nineteen years.

Here are a few of my favorite ideas that I have done so far:

My first project was a simple, dry erase board that I copied from Pintrest and my friend, Lauren Winstead's blog. It is super easy, and anyone can do it! Since it's also a DIY yet cheap alternative, it's a great gift. All you need is any size frame, and a piece of cute scrapbooking paper, or any adorable paper for that matter, and a dry erase marker. Simply cut the paper to fit the frame, write a sweet note on the glass and voilaa, you have a homemade dry erase board.

• The second project I tackled was with my good friend. This craft was more picked at random, but we ended up buying a canvas andjust free styling whatever we wanted to paint on it. I must admit, this is probably the preppiest thing I have ever made in my entire life. Whew, what a summer of firsts!

• The third project doesn't even really deserve to be called a "project," per say, but I am still proud nonetheless. I found an adorable milk jar that my Mom had in our cabinets, and put some fake sunflowers in there. I cannot wait to keep this in my apartment. Eeekk. Like I said, this doesn't technically count as a project or craft..but whatever.

Also, there are a lot more projects I would love to tackle while I am having this bout of creativity, but this one is definitely near the top of the list:

• I found a 3-picture frame that I'm hoping to fill with various object shaped like my initials. A few of my friends have done this, as well as my sister and I absolutely LOVE the idea!

I won't even begin to discuss all the recipes that I have been wanting to try! Pintrest is so addictive, and I can tell it is going to be a problem for me for quite a while.

Have fun crafting!

E

Change

Change. A magical word, that when spoken can quite frankly scare the livin' mess out of most any person. There are definitely people out there who enjoy and thrive off of change, but I am not one of them. I have always hated adjusting to new circumstances, especially if the change was unavoidable or painful. I have been very blessed in my life, however, and I

have not had to experience much change, or at least not negative change. It is much easier to adjust to something if the results are positive ones, or at least ones where positive things can be brought in along with the transition. A perfect example of this change; college. It is honestly so strange to me to be hearing all of the Freshman-to-be talking about all of the feelings they are experiencing here in the last few weeks before they will embark on what I believe to be some of the best days/weeks/months/year of their lives. I cannot believe that it has been a year since I was in their shoes and feeling the exact same way. The transition to college was an easy one for me because I had been desiring change for so long.

Unfortunately, the change that I am now facing is not so positive or exciting. As some of you may know, my Dad was recently diagnosed with cancer in his liver and pancreas. This news was extremely hard to hear, especially since it came in right behind a positive report only a few months ago. Not only that, but there are several other cancerous spots, but the doctors are unclear on what type of cancer they are, or how far along this cancer is. To be honest, the hardest part is the uncertainty of it all. I am just so ready to know more. But my God tells me to trust in Him and to be patient. I am a worrier by nature. But my God tells me He is with me always, and to not worry about tomorrow. I fear change. But my God tells me that all things work together for those who love Him. I am blown away by how blessed I am to serve such an incredible God, and that I have so many things and people in my life to be thankful for! Our family appreciates so much the love, prayers, and support you all have been showing us. So thank you! Even in this uncertain time, we will trust in God always.

Joyce Meyer once said, "Don’t be afraid of change because it is always necessary for progress."

Days Like These Go By Way Too Fast

Whew, so in about a week I will have been home a full month. That is absolute craziness to me. It feels like the days are dragging by a little bit, but then when I look at the calendar I realize how quickly time is passing. There is just something about summer that is so idyllic, which causes most everyone to look forward to it. I don't think it's just about the break from school, but more of the fun filled days of BBQ's, pools, lakes, and quality time with friends. Knowing that this could possibly be my last summer living here with my fam makes me want to soak up every minute of it I can. Also, since being away some friends during the school year makes me treasure seeing them more. I am so thrilled to see how wonderful this summer is going to be!

Title credits to Jason Aldean's, "Day's Like These"

Seriously?

Can someone please tell me why it is so easy to get hooked on the Bachelor or the Bachelorette? Every season, after the final rose ceremony is over and the drama stops for all of thirty seconds until news of abreak up surfaces, I tell myself I'm done. If you think of the idea behind the show, it is so absurd. I can just picture the producers of the show sitting at their desks. They had to be men, because no woman would want to create competition. Take twenty four guys orgirls all fighting for the attention of one guy or girl, drama, lots of hot tubs scenes, endless amounts of alcohol, drama, tears, competition, drama(oh, and did I say drama?) add it all together and you get the bachelor/bachelorette. Still, I CANNOT stop watching it! So ridiculous, but I love to hate it. This is definitely my guilty pleasure. So, since I've admitted that, now let's get to the good stuff.

First of all, I already have my favorite-West. Okay, so maybe his Mom had bad taste in the name, but he sure made up for it when he gave Ashley the broken compass pointing West. I mean, seriously? His experience with dealing with people's responses to his name was easily manifested when he joked, "Yeah, opposite of East and a little North of South." Excuse me while I swoon.

My top picks: William, West, Ryan

Gah, I cannot believe I just spent on a whole blog post on the Bachelorette.

Somebody save me. Or get me a job. Either one would be wonderful. I have been home for less than a week and already my time is being consumed by photography blogs and such. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that, but coming from such a planned out and busy semester, doing absolutely nothing is killing me. I might just fall into a Bon Iver coma and never come out. Alright, starting tomorrow I am making myself a To Do List of things to do.