Oh Sweet!

1.) Finding books you never knew you had.
2.) Warm scarves on windy days.
3.) Encouraging verses

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard you hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
--Philippians 4:6-7

4.) Purple polka dot socks =P
5.) Having learned all my dances(competition and recital!)--all I have to do is perfect them now! =D
6.) Sweet sets with ruffles on Polyvore

oh so Sweet by ~EmilyGrace on Polyvore.com

7.) Customers who are polite and aren't afraid to talk or laugh--they don't pretend that you aren't there...
8.) Smiles =D
9.) Having blisters from pointe heal enough so that they don't become raw each time you dance!
10.) Encouraging songs

You are More
by tenth avenue north



There's a girl in the corner
With tear stains on her eyes
From the places she's wandered
And the shame she can't hide

She says, "How did I get here?
I'm not who I once was.
And I'm crippled by the fear
That I've fallen too far to love"

But don't you know who you are,
What's been done for you?
Yeah don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

Well she tries to believe it
That she's been given new life
But she can't shake the feeling
That it's not true tonight

She knows all the answers
And she's rehearsed all the lines
And so she'll try to do better
But then she's too weak to try

But don't you know who you are?

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

'Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to

This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.

You've been remade
You've been remade.
You've been remade.
You've been remade.

Love in Christ,

Saturday's Scrawls 2

1.) I came across this quote and love it:

""Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." --C.S. Lewis

Pretty profound, huh? (he just told the truth! =P)

2.) My photo made it in the top five for Allie's Happy Monday photography challenge! =D

(you can go [here] to see the other finalists and vote for your favorite)

3.) Polyvore is just way too much fun =D


4.) A favorite verse of mine this week:

5.) I've got a fun new spring design for my photography blog in store--but not for this blog. =( So we'll just have to deal with the winter theme for a while more. (after all it is still snowing outside anyhow...)

sneak peak at the spring-y colors!

6.) I'd better get back to finishing up school--I'm rather behind this week....yuck.

7.) Oh and a special welcome to all the newest followers! =D

Love in Christ,

A Recipe - Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c. butter

1 c. creamy peanut butter

1 c. sugar

1 c. packed b. sugar

3 eggs

1 t. vanilla extract

3 c. flour

2 t. b. soda

1/4 t. salt

Filling:

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

3 c. powdered sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

5-6 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1.)  In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening, peanut butter, and sugars.  Add eggs. one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add vanilla.  Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well.  

2.)  Shape into 1-in. balls and place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Flatten to 3/8-in. thickness with fork.  Bake at 375 for 7-8min or until golden.  Remove to wire racks to cool. 

3.)  For filling, in  a large bowl beat the peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve spreading consistency.(I ended up using more milk than it suggested)  Spread on half of the cookies and top each with another cookie. 

This is a unique twist on a traditional peanut butter cookie.  The filling keeps the cookies nice and moist if you have soft cookies. It also adds a bit of soft texture if your cookies are more on the crunchy side(if you well-bake your cookies =P ).

I would suggest spreading the frosting more on the thin side--otherwise it makes the sandwich overpoweringly sweet(my opinion).

I'm entering the recipe in this contest.  Head on over to see other recipes and enter your own!

While you're baking, go ahead and listen to this powerful song by Chris Tomlin.

Our God
Water You turned into wine
Opened the eyes of the blind
There's no one like You
None like You

Into the darkness, You shine
Out of the ashes, we rise
There's no one like You
None like You

Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God, You are higher than any other
Our God is healer, awesome in power
Our God, our God

And if our God is for us then who could ever stop us,
And if our God is with us then what could stand against?
And if our God is for us then who could ever stop us,
And if our God is with us then what could stand against?
Then what could stand against?

Love in Christ,

Tuesday's Tips -Scrolling Button Widget

Have you ever wondered how to make on of those nifty little scrolling gadgets that help to keep your sidebar clutter-free?
Wondering what I'm talking about? Check it out below:

Some of my Favorite Photographers:

Clicked & Captured Photography

a story told in pictures

Expressions of His Gracce {Photography}

Farmgirl in Flip-Flops

His Creations Photography

His Light Photography

So how on earth do you make it, you ask?
Simple as 1,2,3 I say!


1.) Head on over to your blog dashboard>design tab>click new widget>select 'html/javascript' widget

2.) Paste the following code into your widget:

<center><div class="textwidget"><marquee direction="up" width="250" onmouseover="this.stop()" scrollamount="3" onmouseout="this.start()" height="250" align="center"><center>
(YOUR BLOG BUTTONS HERE)
</center></marquee></div></center>

3.) Head out to your favorite blogs and get their buttons to replace (YOUR BLOG BUTTONS HERE).
[If you want to know how to make a blog button, html code, and grab box head over to my tutorial on that HERE.]

Customizing

<center></center>

--makes your scrolling button widget centered.  You can change 'center' to 'left' or 'right' if you'd like.

align="center"

--also makes it centered, if you change the previous customization to 'left' or 'right' change this to match.

direction="up"

--controls the direction the widget scrolls, you can change "up" to "down", "left", or "right".

width="250"

--controls the width of the widget, you would want to change this to the width of your sidebar.

onmouseover="this.stop()"

--This allows the widget to stop scrolling when you mouse over it, allowing you to stop the widget so you can read the buttons without it scrolling.

onmouseout="this.start()"

--This allows the widget to continue scrolling after you mouse over it and back.

scrollamount="3"

--controls how fast the widget scrolls. The higher the number the faster it goes!

height="250"

--This controls how tall the window for the scrolling button is--so customize it for how much space you want it to take up on your sidebar.

Troubleshooting
Oh, yes. I've had several issues with this widget myself. I don't know all the reasons it doesn't work. =(  I do know that it doesn't show up in all browsers with some templates(one of which is the blogger watermark template).  The classic minima template works very well with it though. I've also had it not work due to weird button codes. (for that I suggest going through and editing the button codes so they follow this example to avoid any odd glitches)  Let me know if you come across any other errors or suggestions to make it better!

As always I'm always open to suggestions for Tuesday's Tips! =D (as a little heads up: a tutorial on block quotes and one on the sliding menu like mine are in the works...) 


Love in Christ,

The Sweetness of Life

1.)  Going through old pictures and remembering all the good times one had forgotten.

2.)  Receiving one's new laptop! =D (now I don't have to use my brothers--win win situation for the both of us! =P)

3.)  Writing in third person--even though it isn't required (most of the time one doesn't like to have to write in the third person) =P

4.)  Conquering HTML once again! :D (especially when it means one is finished with the entire new design of one's blog--releasing March 1st!)

5.)  Finally feeling like one's school project is manageable.

6.)  Perfecting a dance so well that one's teacher allows one to finish practice 10 minutes early.  (this is especially appreciated when one has blisters on one's feet)

7.)  Chocolate. 'nuff said. =)

8.)  Figuring how to graph on one's TI-84 Plus graphing calculator issued by the school. It is one pretty sweet calculator. :)

9.)  Warm fires, soft sweatshirts, and fuzzy socks!

10.)  Reading the last sentence in a book series, the one that makes everything right. =D

What makes your life sweet?

Love in Christ,