Home sweet home

School is out now, which means most people are leaving campus. We have found this to be quite a treat! That sounds kind of awful, however it's benefits are just so wonderful. First of all, no people means no one to disturb! Of course there are still people on our floor, but our neighbors on the side of the apartment near our computers, are gone. Also, people are more than likely not studying anymore. Now for the really exciting part: free stuff!!! When people leave a lot of them just get rid of all their stuff by dumping it at the end of the hall. So Steven and I were able to find  enjoyment in being little pack rats-traveling the elevator to every floor and snatching all the stuff. We got a bunch of great stuff!

Our lovely sink area. The silver canisters were a free item.

I decided to decorate above our oven. =)

The vases were a free item. The art is something I
put together a little while ago. the back is actually part
of a paper bag from Panera, then the black border on the top and bottom is just construction paper. The green and blue is tissue paper that I glued to pieces of glass from inside a few picture frames. In between the tissue paper and the glass there are two of my wedding flowers.

We moved our furniture around a bit. Our table is now in front of our window.  Free item: a curtain rod for those curtains to hang on.

Our bedroom. Kind of obvious...

The polka dotted purse on my dresser was also a free item!

The blue curtain thing above the door was also a free item.

Some more art. I took some scrap booking paper with all different
designs and glued some of our pictures to them. A little memory wall. 

Our bathroom. Some of the wash clothes were brand
new and free.

Heres little box we got as a wedding present that you can put a picture in.

This is one of our favorite free items. A pull up bar! Every time we exit the bathroom we must do pull ups!

On the floor in front of the sink is a blue rug we got
free.

The big white light cover was also for free!

We got these side tables for free. And also some of the
pillows that are on the couch

Everything on this table was free.

Here are our little plants...which are not so little anymore! I made these little steps out of
boxes from the mail room and then i covered them with wrapping paper. Seemed to work
out pretty nicely.

I wrapped some boxes from the mail room and put some stuff in them to hide clutter.

The clock was free!

This lovely blue carpet was free!

These little carpets were free!

Mothers Day

Yesterday I was sitting on a train across from a young mother. She got on the train pushing her son in a stroller, holding a cup of coffee and carrying two very large bags. She was a very small Asian woman, so as you can imagine this was a quite a feat. The train started moving and she almost fell over while trying to care for her young son. She kept trying to get the stroller in a good place near a seat, but it was not working out. So finally she sets her bags down on a seat, parks the stroller, grabs her son out of the stroller and stumbles over to a seat. It is then that I see she has coffee stains all over her white leggings and white jacket. Her son keeps squirming and is hungry, so she grabs some food out of a bag and gives it to him. She takes out a box with some sort of child vitamin and starts reading the contents. The little boy knocks it out of her hand, and she struggles to pick it up and put it back in the bag. I'm sitting there thinking, wow, I would be so frustrated right now if I were her. However, she was perfectly calm and joined her son in a few exaggerated "woooooow's", as the door opened at every stop.

It was at this point that I thought about my mom and all she must have gone through raising me. All my mess, sleepless nights, tantrums and so much more. It takes a special person to be a mom. I am eternally grateful for the wonderful mom that God has blessed me with. She has been at my side all my life to laugh with me in the good times and cry with me in the bad. She has been the greatest friend one could ever want. In honor of Mothers Day I would like to share a poem that I wrote for my mom when I was little.

Years are coming, years are going

And as time passes, love keeps growing

It takes some time to learn to love

It's something that's sent from up above

Those who do it are blessed indeed

But love must grow like a tiny seed

Moms are people who love all their lives

They care for us and dry our eyes

Moms are special yes indeed

For their love has outgrown that tiny seed.

I love you Mom!

A Work of Art

Art is such a relaxing hobby. There is no pressure to meet a standard and there is not time constraint-it is simply what you make it. I find so often that people become perfectionists when trying to tackle an art project (and I guess I can be too, depending on what it is), but art is pure creativity-there is no need to become a fussy perfectionist, because whatever you design is unique and therefore perfect. Big name artists get paid big bucks for putting a blog of color on a canvas. This is simply their unique and perfect form of creativity. That is my drawn out explanation for why I love art.

This is the cover I doodled for the book Steven writing
and hoping to complete by the time he is forty.

I am especially fond of scenery. 

Flowers are great fun to draw.

I did this one with oil pastels.

I'm watching you!

Panera was my inspiration for this one, of course.

This one was a bit of a flop...I haven't finished it yet.

I'm not sure this one needs a caption...but...Meowth!

Bleeding hearts. I like using my own art to decorate the
apartment. It feels a little more homey and personal.

I found some cardboard outside of our apartment building and
put it to good use.

I love cherry blossoms! This one is also done on cardboard.
I painted it with acrylic paint first and then made the branch
with oil pastels. 

A Life of Protein

I'm a health freak! I love being healthy. I am the girl who stands in the produce section or the "healthy people isle", simply staring at all the food-trying to decide which food would give me the most valuable vitamins. Not a typical hobby, I know, but you do what makes you happy, right?

Anyway, my most recent health endeavor has been protein consumption. I want to start building some more muscle so, I started researching how to do that. I found that eating a high protein diet-especially after a hard workout, helps build muscles. There is a long scientific explanation for how this happens, but in short, when you exercise you are tearing down your muscle fibers and in order to build your muscles and help them recover you have to consume lots of protein. This of course makes sense when we take into account the fact that our bodies are made up of protein.

I have also decided to try eating small amounts of food-five times a day. Doing this gives me energy all day long and keeps my metabolism going. I purchased a Whey protein powder and started drinking that after my workouts. A lot of the ideas for food and exercise that I use, I have gotten from www.bodyrock.tv. She has great workouts and recipes in abundance!

A yummy drink I tried the other night with my protein powder, was a non-alcoholic pina colada.
It consisted of:
-1 Can of coconut milk
-1 Can of pineapple (next time i'm going to add at least another half a can though-I would recommend this)
-1 Banana
- 2 scoops of vanilla protein powder (you can make it without this...i just stirred some into mine after it was finished-tasted good without it though)
- Add just a little bit of chilled green tea and some ice
- Blend and drink!


Little side note-when I say I want to build muscle, don't worry, I'm not trying to become the next Arnold Schwarzenegger! Muscle is just another step in my health journey. =)

My happy thought

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of the word "Work", is: exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil. The parts of this definition that jump out at me are: exertion, effort, labor, and toil. If it is something that really interests me, I may not have such a hard time with this. However, when it is monotonous and uninteresting work, I seem have a hard time of getting into the laboring and toiling mood.

I have been working at Panera Bread for about four months now. During the past couple weeks I have been dragging myself to work and spending the part of the day I do not work, at home moping about having to work! This is obviously a terrible routine, but working at a restaurant, as a cashier, serving stressed and grumpy people all day, tends to make me apathetic towards the line of work.

This past Sunday, Steven and I attended Park Community Church and listened to a sermon that fell right in line with my dilemma. The pastor was talking about how we are made in the image of Christ, as well as made to become more like Christ. He referenced different places in the Bible where it talks about God being at work. We know that God is always at work. He did not create us to be completely lazy people, but to be workers. We are to be imitators of God. When we are working, we are serving.

I realized then, that when I am working, and helping those stressed and grumpy people, that I am serving. Maybe they need to see my smiling face and a genuine interest in their needs. I am also serving my husband by making money so we can live and he can go to school. My most important thought and driving point needs to be, that I am not simply serving man, but I am serving God.

This does not mean that I can't enjoy my days off though. His last point was that God also models rest for us. He created the world in six days and on the seventh day he rested.

This is now my happy thought at work. =)