Once Upon A Time...

    Once upon a time, in a land far far away (at least for most of you reading this), there lived a very happy little couple. They lived in a tiny little apartment in the heart of a very large city. Everyday the young man would grab his backpack and head out across the vast piece of land (aka the parking lot) standing between him and his place of education, for a long and grueling day of preparation for life in the future.
    Around the same time that the young man headed out the door, the young woman would don her work clothes and would set out on her trek across the city to her place of employment. She worked at a small cafe (Panera Bread) about a mile away for her residency. She worked very hard and did the best that she possibly could.
    In the evening when both the young man and woman arrived home, they would share a meal and take time to appreciate the others company. At night before they went to sleep they would thank God for the wonderful day that was coming to an end and for the one they would wake up to the next day. God always provided for their needs and every night they rested in the fact that he had their lives in his hands.
    One day the young couple reached into their pockets to pay for their small apartment and realized that aside from a few pieces of lint-their pockets were empty. What could they do? After realizing they could do nothing, they prayed. Once again God met their need, and provided them with an apartment that was half the price they were currently paying!

...the point of this story....? We are moving!

The Holidays Are Here!

    Hurray for the holiday season ! I find it odd (at least for me) that the time leading up to any holiday is more exciting than the actual day itself. Because the holidays are still to come I have much to be excited for ! The best part about the holidays is being with friends and family. I have been so very far away from my friends and relatives this past year, however my family was able to come up this past week and we were able to celebrate thanksgiving together. 
    I have always held tightly to memories and traditions, which means that getting married and moving far away has been especially hard for me. Having my family come to spend time with us and celebrate Thanksgiving was a huge blessing ! God certainly does understand me and my needs.
    I am also super excited to run around Chicago with Steven during the holidays. There are so many lights to look at and things to go see. I don't only like holding onto memories from the past, but I like to make new ones too ! =)

Oh Fall, You Have Been Missed...

I think fall has to be one of my favorite seasons. It's so pretty! I am glad that there are at least several trees around our apartment building, bringing some color to the view outside my window. However, nothing can beat the colorful mountains of Pennsylvania.

    I think fall is one of the hardest seasons to get through without missing home. It isn't even real big exciting things that make me miss it. It's the little things like the fall leaves and lights wrapped around the railing going up the stairs, the pumpkin spice candles burning in the evenings, and our family fall parties. Fall just always had a warm and happy feeling to it. I'm not saying that I don't have warm and happy feelings anymore, but it's different. 

    I bought some "fall scented", Febreeze the other day to recreate that warm fall feeling. Because a lot of memories are associated with smell, I can close my eyes and pretend like I'm sitting next to that railing while enjoying those pumpkin candles.

    On a not so sad sounding note, Steven and I went to a little park down the road and got some pictures in the leaves. It didn't last real long because it was cold and the all the dogs running around found the camera quite fascinating, but we still got some good ones!

There's Nothing My God Cannot Do

"My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty there's nothing my God cannot do. 

The mountains are His, the rivers are His, the stars are His handiwork too..."

    Steven had to go to work this evening, so I have been alone for a few hours. I spent all afternoon working, so I decided to sit down and watch some movies to relax and unwind. I found a few good christian movies to watch and really enjoyed them. It is so refreshing to watch films that solves the main dilemma with God and prayer. Despite the fact that the stories are fiction, they are encouraging to see because they show how big my God is. I forget sometimes. I get caught up in life and forget just how big and involved God is in my life. 

    I feel like we as human beings have a history of forgetting how big our God is. All throughout the bible we see men and woman making bad choices because they have forgotten how powerful God is. It seems like it shouldn't be so hard to forget, yet we do. We have the knowledge in our head of what he is capable of, but somehow it doesn't make it to our hearts. I need to remember to keep my all powerful God involved in every area of my life. I need to pray without ceasing. When I'm in need-take it to him. When I'm sad-take it to him. When I'm rejoicing-take it to him. 

There's nothing my God cannot do...

Taco Stuffed Peppers

This was dinner probably about a week ago. After going to the farmers market I made a delicious dinner consisting of zucchini bread, corn on the cob, and some stuffed peppers.

Taco Stuffed Peppers (unless you have a better name?):

-Green Bell Pepper
-Ground Beff
-Taco Seasoning
-Shredded Cheddar Cheese
-Pepper jack Cheese
-Sour Cream
-Hot sauce
-Salsa

Directions:
Tis real simple and yummy!
1) Gut your pepper and take all the seeds and inside stuff out by cutting a circular hole in the top.
2) Cook your beef you in your taco seasoning like you would for making tacos.
3) Fill the bottom of your pepper with the beef.
4) Grate sprinkle some pepper jack cheese on top of that.
5) Dump a little bit of salsa on top of that.
6) Put a little cheddar cheese on top of that.
7) Pour in a little bit of hot sauce.
8) Seal the top of the pepper with sour cream.
9) Sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top of the sour cream.
10) Put in the oven until the pepper is soft.
11) Eat it!

Now that I'm All Grown Up

    One of the things I love about being a "grown up," is being able to live out my childhood fantasies. Despite the hardships, there is so much to smile about. I always dreamed of growing up and getting married to a wonderful and godly man who loves me. I smile because I now have a face to put in that dream.

"When your in Love you can't fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams." -Dr. Suess




I had fantasies of grocery shopping and coming home to a cute little kitchen to put everything away. I fantasized having a place of my own to decorate, in order to make my own version of home. I thought of the day when I would get to go on dates with my spouse like my mom and dad always have. Now I smile because my dreams have come true-I'm living the life of the "grown up" that for a while only lived in my fantasies.
    Oh, and one more thing-this morning I went to a little outdoor market to buy some fresh produce and flowers, and I told Steven that growing up, I had always wished to have fresh flowers wherever I lived. So, of course dreams do come true. =)

The Boy Who Answered the Door

    Diseases never seem all that scary until they affect you or someone you love. To be honest, cancer has never seemed all that scary to me, AIDS is no big deal, and Anorexia-psh that's only for self conscious cheerleaders. I understand that I don't really want to get any of these things, but they don't seem all that scary to me. However, that all changed a few months ago, when I went home to visit my family and a little boy answered the door.
    He looked so different, his cheek bones stuck out further and his eyes looked bigger. I could put my fingers around his thighs. This boy was my brother-that much I knew, but something had drastically changed. I ran up to the bathroom to cry out my shock and fears for this boy that meant so much to me. When I finally pulled myself together I went back downstairs to visit with him, only to be met with a running stream of information about his diet and exercising routine. I was scared again. A few short months before, all he wanted to talk about was gaming and animals. What had happened in that short amount of time?
    A few months later, he was diagnosed with Anorexia. That disease that before seemed so ridiculous to me, was now very serious. It now affected someone I loved. Eating disorders affect approximately 8 million Americans. Nearly half of all Americans know someone with an eating disorder.
    Last week I went to visit my brother who is now in a Psychiatric facility receiving the care that he needs. While we were there he made us all bracelets. We told him we would wear them until he gets out of there (which will hopefully be no more than a month; however, he will struggle with this for the rest of his life). They are our prayer reminders. I ask that you also would think of Cory when you see the colors black and yellow (maybe next time you are watching a Steelers game ;) ), and pray for him.

One Year Later...

    Relationships are a precious thing. When we are young we rely on our relationships with our parents to meet all of our needs. As we grow and become more independent we rely on our relationships with  friends to support us and hear all of our problems. When we are grown  there are a few of us that are blessed with a special kind of relationship with a one of a kind human being. In these relationships the two individuals share everything-home, food, bed, problems, joys, sickness, health, and life. These relationships are designed for a lifetime. They are beautiful gifts from God. This kind of relationship is called marriage.
    I have been incredibly blessed to a part of a beautiful marriage for one whole year! I have loved every minute of sharing my life with someone so special to me this past year. It was not an easy change at first, going from what I had called home all my life to an entirely different life. However, God knew what he was doing, and knew that I needed Steven at this time in my life. I needed him there to walk with me hand in hand as I walked out into the world.
    Along with my new relationship with Steven, I have opened up a new door in my relationship with God. As our lives change, our relationship with God changes as well. We see him in a new light. Our goal when we got married was to keep God at the center of our relationship. It takes three to make a marriage, and it is not always easy, but of course we aren't perfect and we continue to work at it.
    I could never fully understand what married couples meant when they would say, "We become more in love everyday." I understand even after a year that love grows as time passes. As we face everything that life throws at us, together, it brings us closer as a couple. It is a truly beautiful thing.

I love you Steven!

                                                             



 

Same Old Same Old

 
    It has been a little while since I have posted, mostly due to the fact that nothing really exciting has happened lately. My life continues to consist of work and sleep. I have been given some new responsibilities at work which require me to be there at 5:00 AM. This has messed up my sleeping schedule a bit so I have been a little more tired than usual. However, I have really been appreciating the morning hours. I have always wanted to be a morning person, because it has such a nice calm atmosphere. It really is a nice time to work, despite my extreme tiredness (thank goodness for coffee).
    Anyway, the new responsibility I have been given is titled as "the prep person". Basically I get everything ready in the morning. I distribute sanitize water, unlock the patio, get all the food ready and packaged for the day, and whatever other random things need to be accomplished before the start of the day. I enjoy new responsibility. I love a good challenge-I think that is what has really been keeping me going lately. I need to constantly be challenging myself with something new in order for me to really enjoy what I am doing.
    I am not officially a trainer yet, because I first have to take a class, but I was asked to train someone last night, and it was a rather enjoyable experience. Once again, I love being given new responsibilities.
    This is my life right now. Between working and sleeping I try to spend as much time with Steven as I can. He has also been fairly busy lately with Child Evangelism Fellowship, which he is really enjoying. I am very excited to say that next Sunday we will be celebrating our one year anniversary! This past year has really flown by!

Catering

 
 Work can be lots of fun. Friday night we tackled our second catering job, it  was at the Field Museum here in Chicago. It was a very fancy event. We were serving four-hundred people . We totally beat the system working for this catering company. We get to go to fancy things without having to be invited! Perks: We could eat fancy food, enjoy their DJ, and listened to an actress and film producer speak.
   So this is us in our lovely little catering uniforms. It took me a little while to adjust to wearing a tie . I'm pretty sure the only time I've ever worn one was when I put my dads over sized tie on to laugh at myself. Ties are most definitely for boys. However, I am now able to sympathize . I completely understand the desire to loosen the tie .
   Anyway, it has been a really fun experience so far and I love being able to look over and see Steven working with me . Sharing experiences is a joy.

Married Young

    I love being young and married. I'm only 19 and yesterday Steven and I celebrated eleven months together. Next month we will be celebrating one year of a wonderful marriage. We got engaged when I was 17 and Steven was 19. It was the best decision I have ever made aside from becoming a christian. We got married three months after my 18th birthday.
    Being married young is certainly not for everyone. However, it should never be looked down upon whenever it happens. I think it is one of the most practical decisions you can make. For one thing, it lessons sexual temptation greatly. Secondly, we are at a very critical age in life where we are coming out into the real world and experiencing life for ourselves. I am convinced that we need each other at this time in our lives (and apparently God thought so too). We need the emotional and physical support of the other while we are heading out into the world.
    Since moving to Chicago I have met a few couples who were/are married young. They all agree that it was the best decision that they could have made and find it sad that it is so rare-partially because it is so looked down on.
    God chose young people all through the bible to do things to further his kingdom. He chose Mary to give birth to a savior,Samuel to deliver a message, and he chose David to slay a giant and be anointed king. Why is it so hard to accept young people serving as couples through marriage?
    I'm so happy and excited to be young and married because I still have so much of life ahead of me to spend with Steven. To be young and enjoying life together. It is truly a wonderful gift.

Indian Fry Bread

    I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner the other day before running off to work. I needed something simple, but yummy. So, once again I explored my cupboards to figure out what I had to work with. I ended up making my own version of Indian fry bread.

    First I made my Indian fry bread, which is really simple:

*3 cups of flour (I used whole wheat flour because it's better for you, but you can use whatever you have)

*1 tbs baking powder

*1/2 tsp salt

*1 1/2 cups of water

*Oil for frying (I used olive oil)

    My toppings: 

*Onion

*Mushroom

*Peppers

*Tomato

*Tomato sauce

*Parsley

*Garlic powder

*Onion powder

*Salt

*Pepper

*Basil

 

Combine all the ingredients together and put it in the fridge for about half an hour. While you are waiting grab some vegetables. You can use whatever you want. I used mushroom, onion, peppers and tomato's.

After you have chopped up your veggies, simply put them in a frying pan with some olive oil (or whatever oil you choose to use), and wait for them to get nice and tender.

Whenever you are ready to put your vegetables in the frying pan, get your dough out as well, so everything ends up done at the same time. Split your dough in half, make two balls and then flatten them out out bit. Now   they can be dropped into the heated oil. 

 

Let them in the pan until they get brown.They are big, so unless you have a giant frying pan you will have to do one at a time.

When it's done frying, sprinkle on some spices. I used-onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, basil, and parsley.

While your veggies ares till in the frying pan, get out some tomato sauce. It can be pizza sauce, pasta sauce, crushed tomato's, or whatever you have, and put it in with the veggies to cook. When it's all cooked, take it out and pour over your fry bread.

Now top it off with some more spices! I just used the same ones that I had put on the bread after it was done frying.

In the end, you have a delicious meal for two. They were huge though, so if you want to feed more people you can make the balls smaller so they feed more.

Chicagoland Summers

    I love Chicago in the summer! I must admit that the vast majority of the time I very much dislike Chicago. It's expensive, dirty and really not all that pretty (unless your somewhere up high looking out on the city...at night). I'm more of a country girl than I realized. I love mountains and nature! However, summers are really not that bad. I think winters are worse because I'm cooped up in the apartment and don't really have anywhere to go, and when I do have somewhere to go I have to walk there in the freezing cold! In the summer, on the other hand, the city is full of life, it's warm, and there is so much to do!
    Steven and I have gone out roller-blading the the past two nights, which has been lots of fun! Last night we went out by the lake and tonight we went out to Barnes and Noble for some fruit smoothies (buy one get one free). We spent a while reading books too.
    There is also all kinds of ministry going on in the summer to be involved in. Child Evangelism Fellowship has their summer ministry in full swing-so that can be a lot of fun. Steven has been teaching at a VBS in a Korean church this week, and today I went along to help. The Korean people are a very hospitable people. Afterwards, one of our Korean friends took us to us house and served us tea. It was lovely.
    In short, I am enjoying my Chicagoland summers a lot more than the winters.

Kreative Kooking

    Today has just been one of those lazy days. I got up late, ate a late breakfast, and then when lunch time came around, I wasn't really all that hungry. But I did want a little something to keep me going through the afternoon. I decided a smoothie would be the perfect thing to rectify this situation!

In my opinion, the key to cooking is working with what you have. We don't all have money to go buy tons of ingredients for yummy recipes we come across. When I get in the mood to make something I head to the kitchen, open the cupboards and start exploring to see what all I have to work with.

  Today, I stumbled upon smoothie ingredients! I found a can of pineapple, a few kiwi's, Activia yogurt, and a strawberry parfait. They all sounded like very delicious ingredients, ready to make a very happy Kayla.

Now of course your fridge or cupboards may contain different smoothie building components, and that's okay! Work with what you've got.

Now all you have to do is blend your way to bliss. I threw all my ingredients into the blender with some ice. I like icy cold smoothies which is why I added the ice, but you don't have to do that. Mine was a little bit tart, but I like it that way. If you want it to be sweet, my recommendation would be to add some honey or Stevia (I don't ever add sugar to anything I make).

Pour into a glass and wala! Find yourself a nice sunny place by the window with a book and your smoothie- now R-E-L-A-X.

Provision for Life

    I absolutely love how God always provides. I feel like every time he supplies for all of our needs it's a new revelation! Woah! God really does provide! Amazing. Reading through old journal entries is one of my favorite things to do. It can be so uplifting, because I can look back and see all the ways that God has provided. I have entries where I am crying out to God because I am empty handed and in need. In those instances everything looks completely hopeless, but I have to always keep in mind that nothing is impossible with God. All I have to do is flip and few more pages and there is always an entry about how God worked the situation out and provided for me needs.

    My parents would always talk about how God always provided for them when they had absolutely nothing. There was a time when they had nothing in the house to eat, yet they had company coming over for dinner. My mom prayed and groceries showed up at the door. This was only one of the many times that God gave them what they needed. I have seen many of them for myself as well, but it never seemed to make that big of an impact on me. I had everything I needed- a roof over my head, food, and people who cared for me. I never had to pay the bills or worry about them. Because of this, God's provisions for the family never seemed that big a deal. 

    Now that I am off on my own and working, it's a lot more stressful knowing that I have to pay the bills and buy groceries. Yet I can see God's hand so much more clearly! We really should not be able to pay rent every month because it's so expensive and we don't make that much money;however, we make it every month and still manage to have some money to buy groceries! It can be nothing other than God's hand upon us.

Philippians 4:19-And my God will supply all your needs... 

The Joy of the Lord is my Strength

Tired, frustrated, and perhaps a little bit angry-these are all feelings that take place when we are struggling to accept a lesson that God is trying to teach us. This past week and a half has been one of those times for me. Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) (Child Evangelism Fellowships training program for teens) has been going on since last Tuesday. I have wanted to be involved as much as possible, but I have had to work most days. So my schedule is crazy hectic. I get up at 5:30, go to CYIA, then I'm off to work until midnight. This right off the bat, causes a little bit of irritation. I was also frustrated because we had no money to pay our bills and there was not anything I could do about it. I was starting to get angry about having to ride the CTA everyday with loud, dirty and annoying people. I disliked being away from Steven so much, because it's something I am not at all used to.

After having so many upset feelings going on inside of me, everything from there on out was just so incredibly annoying! This of course is incredibly ridiculous and uncalled for, but I thought they were perfectly legitimate reasons for me to be grumpy all the time.

After a few days of this, I was asked to lead a devotion for the girls last minute. The only thing I could think of to share was a devotional that I had shared on a missions trip I went on a couple years ago. The devotion started out talking about Paul and Silas when they were imprisoned unjustly. They endured incredible hardship for no good reason and yet in Acts 16:25 it says that they were praying and singing hymns to God! This is a picture of real joy. Joy should not be dependent on our circumstances. Joy comes from God and therefore it can not be affected by whatever is going on outside of us.

From there I went into talking about how the joy of the Lord is our strength! In 1 Timothy 6:12  it says that we are called to fight the good fight. In order to do that we need strength and the joy of the Lord is our strength. The ironic thing is, that when we need strength to endure hardship and we need that joy to do that, we tend to get discouraged and upset instead of joyful. This was me. Discouragement and frustration was what I chose instead of joy.

The most difficult part about learning this lesson is that it isn't something that we can learn once and then be done with it. It is the easiest fruit to lose. We can't live off the joy that we had last week or even yesterday. This is why we are told in Philippians 4:4-Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS. It is a habit that we must get into the practice of doing constantly.

Also, joy is not happiness. Happiness comes from the word "happen". Therefore, happiness comes from what is happening around you. Joy does not work that way. It does not rely on what is happening around you, but comes directly from God.

This is a hard lesson to learn, over and over....and over again! But every time the lesson is learned, we are filled with a an indescribable joy from God. Then life doesn't look so grim and dreary, but instead every mundane and seemingly frustrating situation can be turned into a joyful experience. Those hours of dreaded work turned into joyful service, those dirty CTA rides turned into opportunities to pray for the unsaved all around me, those days of little sleep turned into energy run off of joy, and those unpaid bills were in God's hands (and he did provide for our needs above and beyond what we needed for this month).

God is good all the time.

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:19

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

I have now returned to my home in Chicago, after a lovely two weeks visiting friends and family back in Pennsylvania. While in PA, Steven and I ate about a months worth of food. It was pretty great to have an endless supply and not have to pay for it. I do believe this is the part where I am supposed to smile real big and thank our parents for free room and board. =D But no really, in all seriousness I am very thankful for our families who are willing to house us, feed us, and socialize with us. It's really nice to have families like that to go back to every once in a while.

Anyway, now we are home and trying to get settled back into our normal routines. I think my favorite part about coming home from trips is unpacking. I always get nifty little things for the apartment while I am away and it is exciting to put them in the places I had planned for them. I also enjoy coming back and being able to cook again in my cozy little kitchen. Not that I didn't enjoy being served delicious food for two weeks, but there is just something special about coming back to my own little kitchen. I just finished making a delicious meal consisting of chicken (which has no special name because I made it up. I guess we can call it: Garlic-Herb and Pepper Chicken), wild rice, and some roasted vegetables.

It's a real simple meal.
Chicken:
Put your chicken in a skillet and let it there until it is cooked.
While  your chicken is cooking get out your blender and throw in some orange, yellow and red peppers. Add some olive oil, minced garlic, parsley, oregano, basil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Blend it all together and most of it on your chicken that is the frying pan. Leave a little bit leftover to pour over your chicken when it is done.
Veggies:
These are real simple as well, just grab some asparagus, tomatoes and peppers-chop them up and put them on a sheet pan. Cover it all in some olive oil, salt and pepper, then throw it in the over for fifteen minutes or so and wala!
 Then of course your rice which is simple...just make it as directed on the package. I had some leftover sauce from the chicken and I poured it on my rice as well. It was really good.

I must now bid thee adieu, for I must prepare my self for work this evening.

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.