Life Lately | April
I have a love/hate relationship with April. It feels like forever to the end of school, but it also somehow seems so fast approaching to work season.
April was a busy month but it was so so fun.
April first was our one year anniversary of owning Promise, our horse. We celebrated Easter with a big family dinner that went really well! I made lots of good memories with friends, did a bunch of school, wrote a short story, raised money at a YoungLife camp fundraiser, practiced driving a ton, got sick, did more school, figured out what I'm going to do with my life (major in Psychology and get a certification for animal assisted therapy along with minoring in creative writing), went to a tea party hosted by my aunt's church, and helped lead youth worship at church along with many other things.
It was packed, but probably one of my favorites this year. My 2023 photo album (check THIS POST out to see what I'm talking about) got many more pictures for sure!
School has been going okay. I wrote my short story for writing class and I think it turned out alright. I somehow got a whole module ahead on science and finally started working on my end of year project for marine biology. Shakespeare rehearsals are going...well? I guess? So close to being done with school (April 27th was our last co-op).
It has been feeling much more like spring/summer lately and the snow is melting quickly! We had a lot of really warm days, a little rain, and a bit of annoying snow. The days are so much long and the sun has been setting around 10 pm now.
I've been driving a lot lately, preparing for my driver's test and I learned to parallel park.
As for my goals. I am failing at journaling everyday :( Blogging has been alright, definitely not as good as last month. I'm on track with my chronological Bible reading plan. I still haven't been able to work with the horses because of snow, but hopefully that will change soon! They have been shedding so much though! My water goal has been okay but not great. Exercising has been awesome (usually 6 times a week) but since I've been sick I haven't so I can recover.
What have I been cooking? I made my easy, all time favorite: goulash. It's so simple and it tastes amazing!
What have I been baking? I made vegan cupcakes with my aunt and they turned out really good! I've also been making those protein balls I posted about a lot.
What have I been drinking? Nothing in particular, just coffee and water and peppermint tea.
What have I been watching? We finished all creatures great and small and we have started the next season for The Chosen. We also really enjoy watching The Middle on Saturday nights.
I start work in about two weeks which is insane! I get my license in a little over a month which is also insane. I'm so excited for that! I still have been struggling with allergies but I'm taking a supplement that's supposed to help. Anyway, thanks for reading and hope you have a great day!
I love the YouVersion Bible app and I love that it has so many different devotional plans you can choose from. Here are some of my five favorites that I have completed so far, and the reason behind why I liked it so much.
Live Fearless by Sadie Robertson-I love Sadie Robertson, her messages, her podcast, and her devotionals. She's so inspiring and I love that she appeals for younger audiences as well.
Real Friends from reThink Group-I've actually read this devotional plan more than once because of how good it is. It's so insightful, and shows not only what to look for in a good friend, but how to be a good friend yourself.
Choosing Gratitude by Amy Seiffert-I really enjoyed this plan and it definitely stuck with me.
Dear Anxiety, Let's Break Up: Conquer Fear and Worry by Dr Amanda Porter-I really loved this plan because she addresses how to overcome anxiety from both a biblical and a medical perspective.
Hello Mornings: Start Strong by Lysa Terkeurst-I loved this plan and it helped me implement strong habits in the morning that help me draw closer to God every day. Plus, I love the way she writes!
My aunt and I made these vegan, gluten free, dairy free cupcakes for a tea party and they turned out so so delicious. With the cupcakes we used Bob's Red Mill gluten free flour and egg replacer, etc. I made dairy free frosting with Country Crocks' Olive Oil butter and silk DF heavy whipping cream. I think they turned out really spring-y. We got this recipe from THIS WEBSITE
There are so many things that compete for our attention. How do you balance all the things in your life? I have school, chores, social functions, church...so many things that inevitably take my time and attention away from other things.
I am a very visually minded person, and this analogy has really stuck with me.
You're making an elaborate dinner and on a four burner stove you have a pan of asparagus, a pot of fish sauce, a fish filet in a skillet, a pot of noodles boiling, and a saucepan of balsamic reduction all on the stove at one time. As you can imagine things are overcrowded-in fact one of the pots can't even fit on the stove. Things are brushing up against one another, things are wedged in tightly, but one pot doesn't have a burner at all. There's no way that a four burner stove can fit five dishes that need heat. You're going to have to comprise on what's going to go on the stove or put it to the side for later.
Of course, you're the stove in this analogy and the pots and pans crowding for space are the things that crowd for space in your life. This can be family and friends, your time with God, school, work, sports, activities, etc. The heat from the burners are the energy you have to take care of all the different things. If you have too much on the stove then you can't properly heat everything because there's not enough energy to go around. Plus, with all the Tetris-ing you have to do to fit five dishes on together, none of the things are going to be centered over the burners, so they won't warm through evenly.
You have to make a conscious decision on what might have to wait for later or make a compromise. Of course there's fundamentals that need your energy: God, your family, school...but then there are things that definitely just clutter up the stove: social media, shopping, sports...things like that.
You can't fit everything so you have to choose what's most important. Like Jon Acuff says in his book Finish, "In order for me to go all in on things that matter, I have to choose to suck at a few that don't."
I know that this analogy was a bit of a cluttered jumble of words, so I apologize. But I hope that it helped!
My goal this year is to read at least one fiction and one non fiction book a month. I've been doing pretty good with this goal, though I am a little behind right now.
I've read a lot of great books so far, and I copy down some of my favorite quotes or things that stuck out to me in a notebook, along with a brief summary, my "review and rating", how many pages the book was and a rough estimate of how much time it took for me to read it.
In honor of spring, I made a smoothie bowl with peaches, mangoes. frozen banana, and frozen greens. I topped it with chia seeds and dried coconut. It was delicious!
I hope there are days when your coffee tastes like magic,
your playlist makes you dance,
strangers make you smile,
and the night sky touches your soul
I hope you fall in love
with being
alive again.
-brooke hampton
Life Lately | March
What a month March was.
We started off strong with National Ocean Science Bowl from March 3rd-5th. That was such a great experience. I went into it so nervous but came out so happy that I had done it. My team (The Mystic Mysiceti) did great and if we had done the research paper and presentation (half of the teams opted out because it was more short notice) we would have won third place overall. For the six teams that didn't do a paper and presentation we were second place because we lost our last round by ONE POINT. It was pretty crazy! Anyway, it was so awesome and I got three new hoodies out of it so...
I've just been really busy with school (second semester, right?) but have made a lot of great memories with friends! I've gotten mostly back on track with science, we're writing a short story in writing class, in Shakespeare class we have to perform a scene in a class play...I definitely am excited to be over with school!
The weather has been so much nicer lately. It has snowed but not a lot, the days are getting so much longer, the sun is shining, and the weather is mostly warmer. That also means I've been driving more now that the roads are mostly dry!
For goals: I've been much better about journaling thank goodness! Blogging has been good, I've caught up with the Bible Recap Chronological reading plan (37 days!) and that has been great. There's no way we can access our round pen right now with all the snow, so I haven't been able to work with the horses a whole lot, though I did a bit in the driveway. I have been so good about drinking water (usually six glasses a day) and exercising (usually 5 times a week).
What have I been cooking? On Tuesdays I am in charge of dinner and I have been making chicken (either barbecue or olive oil and thyme in the air fryer) with potatoes cut really thinly and baked in the oven with salt and dill, alongside steamed broccoli. It's really good.
What have I been baking? I made vegan cinnamon rolls. I also made Vegan Irish soda bread for St Patrick's day but didn't get a picture!! It turned out really yummy though.
What have I been drinking? Decaf coffee. I am so so loving my decaf coffee, and although it doesn't have the energy giving benefits of caffeine, that means I can have a hot cup of coffee for afternoon snack. So, yeah. I've been making more iced coffees, but nothing can beat a plain black coffee.
What have I been watching? Finishing All Creatures Great and Small! So good!
Thanks for reading and sorry this is late!
I have always wanted to try claw clips-but my hair is really long and thick, so it doesn't really work in regular ones. I searched Amazon for XL ones that had good reviews and went for it! These claw clips are very large and they work for my hair! I really like them, their colors, and the rectangle shape. Here's the link if you want to check them out.
here are a few things I'm excited for in the next few months (that's crazy to think about!)
1. being done with school!
2. starting work (aka making money :)
3. my birthday
4. getting my license
5. YoungLife camp
6. Working and Riding the horses (there's just SO much snow and/or ice)
I haven't done anything like this in a while so I thought it could be interesting.
Here are five random facts about me.
1. I really struggle with drinking water (not hydrating, like I always choke on my water, don't ask why because I have no real idea.)
2. I love people watching and standing on the sidelines is something I do best, so I get to do this often.
3. I am a very shy and quiet person if you don't know me, but if we've been good friends for a while I can be quite the opposite.
4. I love school. I mean, yes, school is hard but it means schedule and schedule is really important to me. I also love learning (except math).
5. I am obsessed with corgis. I just love them so so much and I don't think there is a corgi out there who isn't the cutest dog ever. I don't know, I just have a special place for them in my heart.
6. I can memorize sheet music really well, so sometimes sight reading can be more of a struggle than it seems for me.
7. I want to build and design my own home (when I'm older)
8. Cookie dough all the way
9. I love love love to be alone. Like, as an introvert it just gives me such joy to have the house to myself for an afternoon in total silence and solace.
10. I adore coffee (making and drinking it) and really want an espresso machine.
So there are 10 very random facts about me, the girl behind the computer screen. Thanks for reading!
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