My Christmas!

First of all, my finished Christmas cookies:

Mission accomplished!!

Christmas morning, we opened presents at home, then went to visit my mom. My mom has had Multiple Sclerosis since i was six years old, and she has lived in a nursing home for about two years (which is why I love with my aunt and uncle, 25 minutes away from my school). I knitted her a green scarf and we got her earrings and other things. It's hard for her to open presents because she can barely use her hands, much less her legs, but I still wrap stuff. She can do it- she just needs someone to challenge and believe in her.

That's my mommy! She's wearing her presents. We also got her a memory foam pillow, it's awesome. I love her.

I also love Paula Deen. Everyone who knows me knows this; when one of my best friends, Kasey, gave me this cookbook for Christmas, it just made my whole year. I'm reading it through like a chapter book (because I am compulsive and that is just how I work), and I am on page 245 of 455. Thanks, Kasey!!

And for now, that's all I've got. Volunteering at our church's Bible school for eight hours today tuckered me out. Goodnight!!

COOKIES!!

I love to bake.

I have baked more in the past 24 hours than I have in the past 2.4 months, and that's only a slight exaggeration.

Here's what's been going on in my kitchen:

Absolute craziness! But I love it. And, almost 20 dozen cookies later, I can sit back and enjoy my culinary prowess. (hahaha.)

Merry Christmas!

Gift Exchanging

I love Christmas. I love Christmas presents.

Yesterday, my friends and I exchanged gifts. Receiving presents is awesome, but I love giving- making or buying something that you know one of your friends or family members will love is the best. Watching them unwrap it and seeing the look on their face is priceless!!

I can't wait to have babies. But until then, my friends suffice.

Today is Christmas cookie baking day!!!!

Knitting

The past week of my life has been dominated by knitting. I have knitted during class, during church, during meals.. my knitting is currently sitting on my leg right next to me.

Why?

I learned to knit a little while ago and just started taking it a bit more seriously. For Christmas, I decided to make, rather than buy, a lot of my presents for friends and family. And knitting is something I already know how to do. Easy, right? Not always. For me, it's not difficult- just pretty time consuming.

But the end result is so worth the effort! Over time, I've learned to use wide needles rather than thin ones, because the project goes so much faster. Also, I use thick yarn (like the kind you would make things for babies with) because it is super soft and also helps the project go quickly.

Currently, I only know how to knit scarves. I have one down, one halfway done, and one to work on and finish by Christmas (which is in SEVEN DAYS!). Maybe I'll learn how to do something else over break.

Or maybe I'll do my homework.

... Or maybe I'll knit instead.

The Countdown Begins!

There are NINE full days until Christmas! I finally feel somewhat prepared. 98% of my gifts for my friends and family are bought, half are wrapped and under the tree.. I'm almost done with the first scarf I'm knitting, then there is a second one to make.. three blankets are made with two to go.. ingredients for cookies were bought today at the store..

Yep. I think I'm doing pretty well for myself!

Christmas is such an exciting time of year. I love it. But in Ohio, our winter doesn't really start until like, February. How backwards is that?! Actually, today I didn't even need to wear my coat. It was almost sixty degrees outside. It's like Christmastime in Texas or something.

Maybe that was hyperbolic. Oh well.

In other news, I went out to lunch today with my aunt and her friend Chrissi to this restaurant called Jojutlas. It is new and Mexican; Chrissi knows the owner. My church was having a fundraiser there, and we all like to try new things, so we went. It was amazing!! I got salsa and queso and shrimp tacos. I love Mexican food.

Today was also day five of Christmas shopping.. I got a $60 sweater for $18!! Good deals are fabulous, I could shop all day, every day.

Time to be productive! :]

Christmas Shopping and "Healthy Cuisine"

Boy, do I love the weekend. No school and no homework (even if there should be...), just friends and laziness. It's my kind of life.

Saturday morning, I volunteered and popped popcorn at our school's speech tournament, then my uncle met me for Christmas shopping. We shopped for a few hours for my aunt, and it was fun! Crowds at the mall aren't my thing, but I love Christmastime. When I came home this morning, the three of us left and went Christmas shopping again!

I love getting presents, but now that I'm older, I understand more how it's the "season of giving". Of course, it's about Jesus first and foremost- but I love seeing my friends and family open their presents!! And  I decided to get creative with how I wrapped my presents this year. Instead of wrapping paper, I'm using newspaper and really cute ribbon. I just finished wrapping and they turned out so nice!

And now, an abrupt change of subject..

Healthy food. I'm not about that at all. I love fresh fruits and some fresh vegetables, but I can't survive on that. I love meat. I love dairy. I love the MacDonald's. And I am not ashamed.

However, I love to try new things. And there just so happens to be a "healthy cuisine" restaurant that I've always wanted to go to, and one of my friends said it was good (but she's one of those Whole Foods people), so two of my friends and I tried it last night. For the most part, it was good! Really expensive, in my opinion.. my friend got a side salad and a milkshake and it was $10.00. I got a personal pizza, which is made with whole wheat crust, and it had garlic, shrimp, spinach, mozzarella cheese, and mushrooms on it. Yum.

Weird whole grain/oatmeal/bird food vegan stuff still grosses me out, though. One step at a time!!

TGIF

I've been becoming a lot more interested in makeup and fashion lately, or at least I've been trying to. So I've been doing some "research" and attempting to find ways to improve things and learn more. Before last night, my makeup situation was a disaster! Every makeup product that I have owned for the past five years (that would be since 7th grade) was tossed into a drawer in my dresser. That poor drawer..

While watching YouTube videos, I discovered something: you're supposed to clean your brushes! This was news to me. I've been using brushes that have never been cleaned and have been collecting filth for the past half decade. I was appalled. I had to take measures into my own hands.

According to this video, you wet a paper towel with olive oil and rub the end of a makeup brush on it until there is no longer residue coming off. Then, you wash the bristles with dish soap and let them dry flat overnight. Sounded easy enough! I did it, and this morning I was quite satisfied with the results.

Oh, and I scrubbed that drawer until it was spotless, threw out all the makeup I don't use (which has most likely just been rolling around since 2009), and organized the drawer, making sure to line it with something this time. This whole cleaning mood inspired me to even go through all of my nail polish and mani/pedi supplies, which is most definitely another story for another time!

Happy Friday :]

Back on the Bandwagon!

Okay, so maybe my last entry was in April. And maybe it's December at this point.. but better late than never, right? I am officially jumping back on this blogging bandwagon and will make it a point to write here every day.

My eighteenth birthday was last Friday- I am officially an adult! This whole senior year thing is going by incredibly fast. We ordered our announcements, got fitted for caps and gowns, I registered to vote, am planning my graduation party, all that fun stuff. It's crazy sometimes. High school really does fly by. But I only have three classes, and I get out of school at 11:00 every day, which is amazingly nice.

I'm going to Kent State University next year! Nursing major. I'm super excited to finally be able to accomplish all of my "dreams" that I've had for years of becoming a midwife and opening my own birthing center eventually. I've already been accepted into both the university and its honors college, so I'm ahead of the game in some aspects. Now I'm just trying to fill out about a million scholarship applications so I graduate with very little debt! Thinking ahead.

I got my first tattoo on my birthday! I am absolutely in love with it; don't worry, I thought about the following things:

- how I will look in my wedding dress

- how my grandchildren will feel about it

- how it will look when I'm 75

- how I could cover it in a professional setting

- if its meaning is something that I will still love in 50 years

It meets all the criteria! It is beautiful and perfect and there will be no regrets whatsoever. And, contrary to popular myth, it did not hurt that badly. really, it didn't. and I don't take pain too well. 100% worth it.

Matthew 28:20 is obviously my favorite Bible verse. I'm excited to show it off at church tonight!!

Where Have I Been?!

It's been almost a month since I updated my blog. =0

I'm not sure what I've been doing. Homework, Easter, friends, something.. I guess. Over spring break, I finished annotating The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- after that was done, I decided that it was summer. So maybe I have a month left of school. So what?! I am done with schoolwork. I cannot do this anymore, it's break time.

So suffice it to say, I have been "relaxing". Actually having a life and hanging out with my friends has been amazing, and I am definitely getting used to it. After this summer, I'll be a senior. I know where I'm going to college and it won't be hard for me to get in. The only thing left for my application is this year's transcript, so my senior year doesn't even "really" matter. I have worked my butt off for the past five years of my life worrying about college, and now I'm done. It is time for me to develop senioritis and worry about what I want to do, not what I feel obligated to do.

End of story.

This summer is going to be FABULOUS! I have so many plans already; now I just need a job. It will all work out.

Chocolate Sheet Cake!

Today was my uncle's birthday, so of course I made him a cake. Do I do anything but cook? Well, not really.. not anything newsworthy.. sometimes I do my homework. But that hasn't happened yet- maybe Wednesday. ANYWAYS: he requested chocolate, and this was the end result!

Chocolate Sheet Cake (Paula Deen, of course)

2 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 c flour

1 stick butter

1/2 c vegetable oil

1 c water

1/4 c cocoa powder

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 c buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together sugar, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a saucepan, bring butter, oil, water, and cocoa to a boil and add to flour mixture. Beat eggs, baking soda, buttermilk, and vanilla, then add to dry ingredients. Pour into greased 13"x9" pan and bake for 25 minutes.

ICING

1 stick butter

2 T cocoa

6 T milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 c powdered sugar

1 c chopped pecans

Melt together butter and cocoa; add milk and vanilla. Stir in powdered sugar and nuts, and spread over the warm cake.

* If you don't have buttermilk, use 1 T vinegar plus however much milk it takes to equal 1 cup, and you have a cup of buttermilk. Since this only takes 1/2 cup, I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of vinegar for about 1/2 c milk, because 1 T = 3 tsp!

This cake was soooo amazing! Make it now!

Tomorrow, I'm going to Cleveland with my aunt to visit some relatives. This means that I will finally be getting out of the house! Hallelujah!

"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand." John 10:28

Another Day of Procrastination

After waking up and taking a shower this morning, I went to my Sunday school class.. I love my Sunday school teacher! Since the student council is doing an MS walk next month, we have decided to do a soup and bake sale fundraiser. This is just another commitment to add to my neverending list of things I need to do! I'm not complaining; I'm so grateful that people are generous and willing to help a cause that means so much to my family. My mom is in a nursing home as a result of her Multiple Sclerosis, and seeing her struggles makes me want to do everything in my power to help.

I went to Chipotle (love!) with Kasey and her cousin, then we went to Bible study at Starbucks.. after I came home, I started cooking. I guess it's to be expected! I made whole wheat banana bread, then for dinner, I made baked spaghetti with garlic cheese biscuits and salad.

Dinner! Yum!

While I am in the kitchen, I am inadvertently avoiding my homework.. oh well. Tomorrow is another day!

"But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

1 John 4:8

SPRING BREAK

It's finally spring break!! Luckily for me, I get to go on vacation to Homework Island.. with a 300 page book to annotate, an essay to write, a 25 page outline to do, and that's not even all. Too bad I haven't boarded that plane yet! I will eventually.

Life in general has been going pretty well for me- school's out for a week, I can cook and sleep and do homework without worrying about getting more. And then after school resumes, there isn't that long until summer. It's good!!

Today, I went shopping with my aunt, then came home and made dinner. After dinner I made lemon bars.. this can coincide with favorite recipe friday, even though it's saturday!

LEMON BARS (Paula Deen)

crust:

2 c flour

1 c powdered sugar, plus more for dusting

pinch of salt

2 sticks butter, softened

filling:

4 eggs

2 c sugar

6 T flour

6 T lemon juice

preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9x2 pan. to make the crust, combine dry ingredients (i sifted mine) and combine with butter using a pastry cutter or two knives. press the mixture into the prepared pan, and bake for 20 minutes. while the crust is baking, make the filling by whisking together the eggs, sugar, flour, and lemon juice. pour immediately over warm crust, and bake for another 25 minutes. cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

i loooooooooooooove love LOVE paula deen. love her.

lovelovelovelovelovelovelove her. so of course, these lemon bars were fabulous. very nice for a first attempt.

My Favorite Thing.. Tuesday?

Hello!! Yesterday was super busy for me; I had to write an essay for English between school and Bible study. So, here is my"favorite thing" that I intended to post yesterday..

MY BEST FRIEND NICHOLE!!!!

Nichole and I have pretty much been inseparable since middle school; we definitely have our differences, but we have soo much fun together and are extremely close. We have a great share of extremely random memories, that can still crack us up five years after they happened. She means a lot to me. I know she isn't a "thing", but whatever. It's my post! :]

I donated blood today for the second time since I turned seventeen. Donating blood makes me feel good about myself, since you save three people with each pint you donate. Definitely worth it!

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8

A Busy Sunday

I had so much homework to do this weekend! Unfortunately, I had put it off until today, so I had the pleasure of doing quite a few assignments today. And I'm not even finished yet.

Total, I had seventy pages to annotate this weekend. Annotating is underlining or highlighting the important parts of a story and labeling/writing comments/asking questions of the text. I did fifteen pages before I went to sleep last night, and fifty five today. After annotating, I did a worksheet for English, then cleaned my bathroom and put clothes away.. then another English worksheet, a government outline, and a practice test for English.

Then I had to make more whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, because all three dozen were gone in one day!

And now, Leah has an essay to write. The work never really ends, but I shall prevail!

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

My aunt gave up anything with potatoes or refined white flour for Lent (because she's INSANE!), so she hasn't been able to eat anything I've made for the past two weeks. This is totally unfair, so she bought some wheat flour. On the back of the bag, I found this recipe..

WHOLE WHEAT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c brown sugar

1 c butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 c Gold Medal wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 c semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Mix sugars, butter, vanilla, and the egg in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients; stir in chocolate chips. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 10 minutes (cookies are light brown, centers are soft). Cool slightly on pan, remove from cookie sheet and cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 3 dozen amazing cookies.

I love to make cookies, but I've never made them with anything but white flour before. These were great! They taste a little bit different, but not weird or disgusting. They're actually really good and I'll definitely make them again. Who knew?

Survival!

THE WEEK IS FINALLY OVER- I SURVIVED!

Math test, study hall, choir contest took forever. Chipotle, pizza, rest. Sweet, sweet rest.

In other news, it is the first official favorite recipe friday! the first favorite recipe would beeee....

DILL DIP- this is my friend Nichole's grandma's recipe, and I make it a few times a month for church or parties, etc. It goes amazing with pretzels :]

1 pint mayonnaise

1 pint sour cream

3 tsp dill weed

3 tsp seasoning salt

3 tsp minced onion

3 tsp parsley flakes

Combine all ingredients and enjoy! Yum!

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

It's Thursday night! I thought this week would never end, but I am so close that I can feel it- things are definitely looking up.

I worked on my physics project for a few hours Tuesday night, and finished it in study hall on Wednesday. Although it seemed to take forever, and there was a lot of work to completing my little house, seeing something that I had created WORK was an amazing feeling!!

On Wednesday night, I went to church with Kasey and Desra. I loooooove church! I love love love my church SO much- everyone there is so genuine and sweet, and Jesus is definitely alive there. Kasey and I made the decision to become members of the church, and our first membership class is on April 2. We're excited!

After I got home from church, I made (frozen) cookies while doing my government outlines. Since the talent show was tonight, I had to bring something for the bake sale, and that was Leah's only available time slot. Balancing what I need to do for school with what others want me to do for extracurriculars can be a challenge, but ultimately, it gets done.

Today was amazing! Finally, spring weather!!! I ALMOST didn't recognize the sun, but it was so exciting when I walked outside and the sunshine was not deceptive: no chilly wind, nothing. It was the first OFFICIAL sunroof day. Yay!

After school, I went to the eye doctor. When that was over, I decided to go on an "adventure". I'm easily entertained. And as an only child, I don't mind doing things by myself. So I went the "wrong way" and happened to find this AMAZING store! Everything was so cheap- it was like Walmart and Dollar General combined. Fabulous.

Then, I discovered Chipotle for the first time since middle school. I'd never really liked it before, but ohhh myy goodness. Suffice it to say, I am in love.

After engaging in my small piece of heaven, I went to choir practice.. then to our school's annual talent show.. it was so much fun! Now it's back to homework and reality.

It's almost friday!

It's Almost Hump Day..

Today is becoming quite stressful- I took a government test, went to Sheetz with Kasey, and went to choir for two hours. Not to complain, but I'm in a bad mood, so I'm going to complain: it always seems like my life is revolving around choir. Or revolving around student council. Or revolving around school, five subjects over. One of those five subjects being choir, which starts the cycle over..

I AM SO STRESSED OUT!

For physics, we've been studying electricity and circuits, etc. So now, our teacher comes up with the brilliant idea of jumping from introductory notes to building our own miniature houses, which we wire individually. Of course, this little project is due a few days after it's assigned, amidst everything else going on in everyone else's lives. Ugh.

So my night was spent trying to make sense of what this project was intended to entail.. notable progress was made, but it isn't good enough. It's not done yet, and I don't have the time for each thing that I should. Everyone wants something else from me; there is not enough Leah or hours in my day to go around :[

So amidst all of this I am trying my darndest to keep my head up, trust Jesus to take care of what I can't (which is pretty much everything), and take life a day at a time.

I've found that blogging is quite therapeutic, and I don't care if nobody reads it or a million people read it. Blogging helps me and I'm glad I made a blog!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." -Philippians 4:6

My Favorite Thing Monday!

This week is off to a pretty good start! In my first class, I took a test that I'm pretty sure I did well on; then I sat in the library with my friends for two hours. After that, I went to my English class.. then Kasey and I went to Sheetz- we hung out at her house until I went to choir. Two and a half hours of choir later, I am relaxing at home!

The day goes by quickly when you wake up at 9:00. But I am most certainly not complaining. :]

Anyways, the title suggests that this post will be about one of my favorite things. A lot of other blogs do super cute stuff that corresponds with the days of the week, and I'm new at this, so I guess I'll just give into peer pressure and try it out!

My very first official favorite thing is... MY BIBLE!

I LOVE my Bible- where I go, my Bible goes (well.. everywhere but the shower). Maybe that's kind of weird, but Jesus likes it and that's all that matters! Haha. But in all seriousness, this Book is fabulous; when I don't have the answer, God does. When I don't know how to react to a situation, God helps me through. When I don't know how to live my life, God tells me through the Bible HOW to live so that I can live a life as full of His blessings as possible.

Seems to me like a pretty good deal!

If you were to flip through the pages of my Bible, you would find passages underlined, as well as various papers or cards that I use as bookmarks. I am honestly content with just reading my Bible, and learning new things about God- and since I'm created in His image, I learn more about myself! I can live a teenager's life free from identity crisis or "trying to find myself", considering how I "once was lost but now I'm found".

Because of my "favorite thing", life is goooood. And it always will be.. even when it's not easy. :]

OGT Week? Still Stressful!

To graduate from high school in Ohio, you have to pass the OGT, or Ohio Graduation Test. This test is given in five sections to sophomores all over the state. When you're a sophomore, you come into school regular time all five days- when you've passed the test, you're lucky enough to get a three hour late start all week. Luckily, I passed all five sections the first time- it isn't difficult- but this week is still hectic for me!

Choir large group district contest is Friday, which means I get out of school early, although our choirs don't perform until 6:30 and 8:00. This is my Friday night- Monday night, Tuesday night, and Thursday, I have practice. The 2nd Annual Spanish Club Talent Show is also Thursday night, with dress rehearsal Wednesday; I'll go to the dress rehearsal until church, which is at 7:00. So pretty much, Monday through Friday, the earliest I'll be getting home is 7:30.

The third nine weeks also ends Friday, which means there is tons of last-minute homework to do, with no time to do it. But somehow, I know it will all work out!!

Being super involved with things in and out of school can make life chaotic, but I love it. I know that high school is a phase that passes by quickly (I'm almost a senior!), so I'm going to take advantage of just about every opportunity that comes my way.

Who knows what the week will bring?

As for today, I woke up and went to church; during the service, I stay in the nursery and watch the little kids. When church is over, I go to Sunday school- my Sunday school teacher is FABULOUS and I love her! It was just the two of us today, so we got to talk about "girl" things. Usually, there are a few boys in my class, and we end up talking about wrestling, etc.

We had a snow day Friday- between Friday and Saturday, I made seven different dishes! Suffice it to say, I had plenty of food to share. So after Sunday school, I went to visit my Aunt Laura. My Aunt Laura lives down the road from me in our tiny little town- she definitely brightens it up! With a passion for both cooking and life, with a mouth to back it up, you will leave her house laughing and well-fed. I love her! So who else would I want to share my food with? I ended up visiting with her for about two hours.

After leaving Aunt Laura's, I picked up my best friend, Kasey, and we went to our G2. At our church, we have "generation groups", or G2's, which are all-girl or all-boy Bible studies. Our G2 is every other Sunday at Starbucks, and we always have great discussions. Nothing- nothing- beats a grande caramel Frappucino with a side of Jesus!

My fun ended there- after leaving Starbucks, I came home and did homework. But everything has its time and place. Now I just have to make it through next week!

Thank you for reading my blog- Jesus loooooves you!! =D

Hello, Blog World!

This is my very first blog entry. It's exciting, but sort of scary at the same time.

My name is Leah.. I like to do a lot of stuff. And sadly, after years of advanced and now AP English classes, I don't really know how else to put it! The most important thing in my life is my relationship with God- I am a Christian, and I try to make sure that people know that about me first and foremost. Jesus is AMAZING! As a result of this, I read my Bible every day, I go to church, I go to Bible study, I watch TBN, etc. Not out of routine, but because I genuinely want to. My life has definitely not always been this way; because I've been through hard times, I can really be grateful for the not-so-hard times.

Just had to testify for a minute.

I LOVE to cook, I am in love with Paula Deen. If I ever met Paula Deen, I would cry uncontrollably. I love the Duggar family!! Towards the end of my freshman year, my friend Nichole and I met Jim Bob, Michelle, Josh, and Anna. They are all so sweet and genuine!

At school, I am President of our Student Council.. we plan two homecomings a year, and that's pretty much it. However, we're trying to do more this school year, and we have volunteered. Once. It's a start! We are also doing an MS Walk on April 30th. I am a member of Spanish Club, Ecology Club, Pep Club (during football season), and choir.

I love singing! At school, I am in our A Cappella Choir and Ladies Choir. Lately, we've been having practice a few times a week, since we are going on a trip to Williamsburg in May. I'm excited for that! From sixth grade through my sophomore year, I was in band, first playing clarinet, and then flute. Band was a lot of dedication, but it was a blessing- through it, I met a lot of my friends and made countless memories.

My life is extremely busy! Sometimes I feel like I never have time to sit down and relax. Because of two advanced classes, two AP classes, and a few extracurriculars, my schedule is always pretty full. But being busy is something I enjoy- I'm an only child with no cousins, so it can be difficult to create activities by myself at home. However, only children are magical in their own respect.. I might get lonely, but I never get bored!

Well, I think this has been a good start! [: