Worst blogger. Ever.

I am so bad at this. It's just so hard to decide what to write about so I don't at all. I'm so aware that whatever I share is out there for anyone to see. I'm not so sure I want to share my family or my personal thoughts with everyone and their dog.
And I don't have an amazing hobby or at home business I can talk about.
I take horrible pictures too. And that seems to be important because I know I'm less likely to keep reading a blog without nice pictures.
I don't want to just link to and share other peoples projects even though I enjoy reading boots and browsing Pinterest.
And I always want to change my layout or design. There are so many cute options! So I get caught up more in that than actual posting.
When it comes down to it, I do have opinions about life. Lots of them. But I just don't think so highly of myself to think that everyone should listen to them. And maybe I'm a little afraid of mean comments too. Believing in right and wrong isn't very popular or worldly these days.

So hi. Maybe I'll post again in another 6 months. :)

Celebrating Halloween?

I have long been conflicted about celebrating Halloween. I grew up not participating in Halloween in any way. I am perfectly fine with that and do not feel like I missed out at all. It was rather easy, in fact. We lived in the country and so no one came knocking on our door anyhow. Now my family and I live in town and I find there are more aspects to consider about Halloween. We have neighbors that are going to come knocking on our door whether we have our light on or not, I realized when we first moved in. That year I wasn't prepared and had to give out candy bars to our new neighbors. :) oops! Though I don't like Halloween, I do love to give. (It's one of my favorite things about Christmas.) So even before we had kids, we decided that we would definitely turn on our light and hand out candy and be friendly. We needed the opportunity to see our neighbors more! Now that we have a child of our own, the questions only grow. This year we will be handing out candy and if O would like to dress up, she can. I always loved dressing up as a kid. Halloween or not, imagination and dressing up is always encouraged at our house!
I will always be opposed to the dark, sinful aspects of Halloween. And for now, we choose not to go trick or treating.
Do you trick or treat? Do your kids? Did you as a kid?

Here are a couple articles from Focus on the Family president Jim Daly I've read recently on the subject..

Halloween and Christianity
Halloween: Trick or Treat or Abstain?
He makes some very good observations and the comments are also quite interesting, good and entertaining. :) 

Thursday Thoughts on Romans

Today I started reading through Romans via a reading plan on my YouVersion Bible app. It's supposed to be a 8 day plan. I am sure I won't finish in that short of a time frame but I intend to do at least a chapter a day.
I've always loved the book of Romans. There are so many bold verses! Paul speaks so strongly about Christ and what being a Christian is all about. He doesn't mince words.. my kinda guy. :) I was blessed to study Romans at Bible college and it only deepened my convictions. And I haven't read entirely through this book since then.
After only the first day and the first two chapters, I am encouraged and convicted. Here are a couple verses that jumped out at me...

Romans 1:24-25 NKJV, especially verse 25.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
   I always have heard that line about worshipping the Creator rather than the creation and didn't know it was actually a verse.

Romans 2:29 NKJV
but  he is  a Jew who  is one  inwardly; and circumcision  is that  of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise  is not from men but from God.
   Beautiful picture and such a convincing reminder.

Wow. I love how any time I read the Word, I'm moved and encouraged. What have you been reading and learning?

Feels like Football

 This week I saw this bus parked in the lot of my local Wal-mart. And then this chair in my grocery store. Looks like it's almost football season! It sure is going to be exciting this year... Since we're now in the Big Ten, the Penn State - Nebraska rivalry in our home is going to really heat up!
I am dying to buy one of these little camp chairs for O. Every since she learned to climb on our kitchen chairs, she has been climbing on EVERYTHING. Maybe a chair her size would be less dangerous. :) I've also been hunting for the perfect Husker tee for O. She's not quite ready for the 2T size but I'm so done with onesies. And I think this year she might get a PSU tee and  Nebraska tee. Maybe I won't let her out of the house in Nittany Lion blue. O has been learning new words left and right. I can't wait to hear her say GO BIG RED!

Satisfying the Sweet Tooth

 

 We just finished these S'more bars. OOH YUMMY!

PA Cute-ness

 While we were in PA, we spent a day in Lititz. We stopped in a whole bunch of cute little shops including one called A Tea Affair. I love tea shops. Over the years, I've collected a few of my own tea sets. My Granny gave me a bunch of mini pink depression glass sets. And one of my favorites is from my mom. I don't remember why she went to MN without us but she always remembers to bring back souvenirs. I still love that she brings us gifts from her travels! So this particular time, she brought me the tinyest tea set I've ever seen. And I love the white and blue pattern. Blue is my favorite color. Now that O is getting older, I've started to think ahead to some of the gifts I might want to give her. This tea shop was so inspiring! Check out this adorable pink set in a basket. If O was a year or 2 older, I would've bought it on the spot! And their window display was beautiful. I loved the polka-dot set and the cake was a precious touch. It made me a little hungry. :)

 We also stopped at The Teddy Bear Emporium. I love these types of toy shops! They have so many unique gifts. I often peruse Amazon looking for cute toys for O. I love all the Doug & Melissa stuff. It's so creative and I like that it's not made out of plastic. So when I go into a little toy store and find that they carry  D&M, I'm thrilled. It's so hard to only see stuff online. But in spite of all the cute options, we had to pick one thing. O has been accumulating some coins, mostly from Easter, so we bought a pig! I love this pig!! It's soft and squishy! Now I don't have to worry about O breaking it.

Starbucks Outrageous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Starbucks Outrageous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark raisin
1/4 cup golden raisin
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping (optional): 4 tablespoons dark raisins, 4 tablespoons golden raisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Blend oats, flour raisins, cranberries, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg, cinnamon, and vanilla; beat until combined. Gradually add oat mixture to butter mixture; beat until combined. Combine raisins for topping in separate bowl and set aside.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart onto two lightly greased baking sheets. Place 1 mounded tsp of raisins on top of dough.
Bake about 12-16 minutes, until cookies are golden brown, but still soft. Cool on sheets before serving.

Notes: I don't do the topping because they usually burn on me and they're really not necessary because there are plenty of raisins and craisins in the cookies. Also, 1 batch makes 17 cookies when I use my pampered chef scoop. So I like to buy all the stuff and keep it on hand to make a small batch every once in awhile or double or triple it. Do not succumb to eating all the craisins after you make one batch! They're so good but expensive! :)
Oops I guess I haven't made it quite clear that I didn't come up with this recipe. I got it from my sister who probably found it online somewhere but I don't know where. 
Hope you enjoy these cookies!