Christmas Flower

When Paul and I were home in Ohio around Thanksgiving, I went shopping with my mom and mamaw!  Mamaw bought the 3 of us some Christmas flowers to grow in our houses.  I seriously LOOOVE to watch it grow.  I'm just so excited that it's actually working because I don't exactly have a green thumb.  Mine don't have "flowers" yet, but i really like the plants shooting up!

I really like the roots... it kind of reminds me of crab legs.  haha!

and i really like the 1960's editing option on picnic... can I get an AMEN?!

and here is my most handsome hubster. ever.  he is sooo cute even after a long day's work.

Thanksgiving!

i haven't posted in sooo long! here is a quick review of the Thanksgiving we spent in Minnesota this year.  It was freezing :)  and it snowed 3 times.  But it was sooo nice to be with family.

Here are Cyndi and Rachel in the aprons that I made them.  Steph and I also have matching ones.   We forgot to get a picture with all 4 of us in them

and here is Jesse setting the table...

Ryan cutting the turkey

we love our laptops....

and this is just a cute picture, so I had to post it 

I hope your turkey day was as good as mine.  Now I can't wait until Christmas!

christmas decor

alright, so don't judge me.  paul and i will be leaving for minnesota for almost 2 weeks for thanksgiving.  then we'll only be home for 2 weeks before we leave for ohio for christmas for another 2 weeks.  so if i waited until after we got home to put up the decorations, then we would barely get to enjoy the christmas spritit in our home for 2 weeks.

so i talked paul into letting me go ahead and decorate... he let me as long as i don't make a "tradition" of putting things out this early.

so here are a couple of things... our tree is somewhat sad.  my mom gave it to paul when he first moved out here to pennsylvania.  it was actually my mom and dad's first christmas tree the 1st year that they were married.  so as you can imagine, it doesn't exactly stand up straight.

and my favorite thing about all of my decorations is the christmas tree skirt that my grandmother made.  she made it a couple years ago... along with matching ones for all of my aunts and mom.  so i've coveted it for a while...  haha!  well she gave it to me this summer and i was soo thrilled!

and some more christmas spirit...

(notice harry potter on the tv in the background)

(and yes, des our dog does have his own stocking in the shape of a bone)

i also made my first pumpkin role all by myself!!!  it was cyndi, my mother-in-law's recipe.  my next will be to try a vegan pumpkin role recipe that i just got!  i'll let you know how it works out.

meet the flintstones

so i made our halloween costumes this year!  it was so fun and not hard at all... 

what do you think?

as long as paul gets to wear a mullet wig, he's fine with any halloween outfit i make... last year it was the black eyed peas... remember that?

some of our friends from church have a costume party every year.  it is always so much fun.  

of course, i had to make some healthy vegan desert

oooo spooky.... thank God for martha stewart stencils.

veil

Paul and I just got home from a wedding.  Two of our friends from church, Tim and Beth... are now Mr. & Mrs. Tim Cool!

Paul and me in my veil! sorry i can't figure out how to rotate this... grr!

Beth borrowed my veil from my wedding day.  Our friend Lori, (a church friend)  who got married in July, also borrowed my veil.  I love it!

Boh & Lori 7.24.10

It makes me really appreciate community.  As I think about Paul and my wedding day, I am so thankful for all of the people who were there and supported us.

Tonight at the wedding, as I was watching this couple madly in love commit their lives to serving one another in love, I started to think about community and what it means to be a part of a community supporting a bride and groom becoming one.

It is such a comforting thing.  That all of these people are cheering this couple on and want them to experience love and life to its fullest.

I think that being a part of this supporting community is to be there through thick and thin, whether by prayer, or by a shoulder to cry on or a voice to laugh with... but to be there, supporting them.  and i think about the rate of divorce today... and i wonder why that couple's supporting community didn't stand up and say... NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!  it is not just the two of you breaking this vow, but it is also the community that was there witnessing this union.

I have been to so many weddings over the past couple of summers.  I think that if any of those couples even considered divorce, we should get the entire community that was there at the wedding together... and give a tough argument.  You try and try.  it's for better or for worse....til death do you part.

beautiful inspiring marriages...

Chris & Amy 

Josh & Chelsea 

Ryan & Rach

I pray that if Paul and I were ever in a sticky situation similar, that our community that was there on that day and the people who have come to be within our community will be there pleading and encouraging and on our side.  that is so comforting.

the veil....

i really love the connection of the community between it.  the bond that it brings.... the day that i got to share with these other two beautiful women, who have supported me through my first year of marriage.

thank you jesus for marriage and community that supports marriage.

Disgust.

Paul and I are youth leaders.

Some of our students go to one of the local high schools... North Hagerstown High.

There is a church called Westboro Baptist Church (you can see their website at http://www.godhatesfags.com/schedule.html).  You can tell by the name of the website where this is going... they protested against a gay-straight alliance today at North Hagerstown High.

And all that I can think of is the bumper sticker that reads "Jesus, save me from your followers".

I am reading "Irresistable Revolution" right now and Shane Claiborne gave one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s quotes:

"These are extreme times, the question is not whether or not we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.  Will we be extremists for hate or for love?"

So we have Christians who hold up signs that say, "God hates fags".

And so what is the answer?  How do we show these kids in youth group how to LOVE a friend who is homosexual?

Because the loudest Christian voice they're hearing here, where I live, is "God hates fags".

(source)

"We see Christians declaring hatred in the name of the Lamb, but where are the Christians who are extremists for love and grace?"

Jesus was all about Love and Grace.


I am nauseous just thinking about it.  and my heart breaks.

cushion recover

just a quick post of what i've been up to lately...

i recovered some cushions for my patio (or front porch) furniture

BEFORE:

and after....

sorry, des really wants to be a doggie model so he has to be in every picture.  he just got his nails cut because he is a demon when we try to cut his nails a pedicure today.

i think i need some mums.

Paul and I are vegan... well a lot stricter than vegan (engine 2 diet) again for the next 28 days. Check out the diet here.  In July, Paul's cholesterol went from 136 down to 83 in 28 days!!  Anyway... i'm in the middle of making some yummmy nutrient and iron rich KALE chips.... Two blue lemons is where we found the recipe.  they have some really good recipes...

anyway... the recipe is a cinch... a bundle of kale, a TBSP of olive oil and some sesame seeds

(before the oven)

Put them in the oven at 250 for an hour.  and voa la!  a super healthy snack.. you could even have some hummus (for more protein and more iron) and some red peppers (some vitamin C to enhance the absorption of the iron).   yummmy.

Promise

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength.

Isaiah 40:31 (NASB)

Have you seen/heard Louie Giglio's message "How Great is Our God"?  If not, I would highly recommend checking it out on you tube.  i think they have it in like 5 clips or something.  but it's a 40 minute message.

At the end of the sermon, Louie talks about this verse.  This verse is so heavy on my heart right now.  I just received a rejection letter from my top school.  It is really hard.  Sometimes I wish that I had a different passion. Why am I so passionate about medicine?  why do i want to serve people like this?  But i am so sick of forcing things.  Just applying to schools while knowing that I don't fulfill all of the prerequisites.  Just hoping that I will get in.  And so I choose God.  I choose him over my passion.  I know that his plan for me is bigger than my own.  But it is still really hard.

I love his promise.  I choose to trust it.  He does not promise that I will wake up tomorrow and everything will be perfect, just as I had planned.  He doesn't promise me a spot in PA school, even if my heart is to serve him through it.  But what he does promise me is that if I hope in him.  If i wait for him, he will give me new strength.  He will give me just one more breath when i need it... just enough to keep going.  I keep hoping and waiting and he keeps giving me just enough strength to keep going.

In a way, it's comforting.  I don't need to stress or be worried.  Although i'm really good at worrying, it's an awful heavy load to deal with.  All I have to do is seek him.  and he'll give me new strength.

and so i wait.  and while i wait, it's painful. but i am not alone.

something so beautiful to me right now is the psalms.  David is so honest.  He is definitely a 'man after God's own heart'.

The beginning of psalm 4 and 5 read:

"Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief in my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer."

"Give ear to my words, O Lord,
consider my sighing.
Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
In the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation."


Please encourage me now with a time in your life that you have put all of your hope in the Lord.  A time when you've waited on him.  Tell me how you found new strength.

serger

i used my serger for the first time in my life all by myself!!  my aunt barbara (my grandma's sister) gave me her serger since she never used it.  i am sooo thankful for it.  anyway, there is a couple at our church who just had a baby boy and named him kylen!  so of course, being that we almost have the same name, i LOVE him.  he looks really good in orange and i had the perfect fabric for something cute for him.

i finally got the guts to make something on my serger.  so i used this pattern to make these cute kimono baby shoes!  what do you think?  don't look too closely or you might see all of the flaws.  but i'm super stoked to give them to him.

they kind of remind me of toms.

well today is my hubsters 26th birthday!!  woot woot!  so we'll be celebrating that today...

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LOVE!

the rocks won't be given a chance

this morning on my front porch i had the most incredible quiet time.  i started reading john and i just couldn't stop.  i have felt so discontent and lost lately.  since i don't know if i'll get in to PA school, i've been trying to figure out what to do with my life.

reapply?
go to PT school?
masters in nutrition?
be a teacher and eventually a professor (preferably anatomy)?

i don't know. i've been trying not to think about it. but it's been consuming my thoughts.

and then this morning.... all i can focus on is jesus.  he is just so creative and brilliant and loving indescribable.  and i just love getting to know him more.

source

and my front yard is beautiful.  the sun is shining through this big old tree.  everything is singing praise to him.  and so i thought of this verse.  and went back and read all of luke 19.  the people were throwing their cloaks down for jesus to ride his colt over on his ride in jerusalem. i remember how special i felt as a bride walking down the carpet they rolled down the aisle in front of me on my wedding day.  it is praiseworthy. it is beautiful.

and so with my life, despite the unknowns of where my career is going, today i am comforted and reassured.  i feel like i'm finally in an okay place.  and nothing else matters but jesus.

and so i will not let the rocks even be given a chance.

1 whole year.

today. 8.8.10, i have been married to my best friend and the love of my life for an entire year...

it has been an AMAZING year.  I just don't know why God has decided to bless me so much.  I never thought that I could love someone like i love p.dizzle  :)  

alright enough of the mushy goooshy stuff....

5 things i've learned after i've been married for 1 year:

1.  my husband still has my name in his phone as 'kylee powers'  (... i'm thinking i need to change it to something like 'most goegeous breath taking woman in the world' just to surprise him the next time i call!  haha)

2.  we still argue over what kitchen place mats are used for... i say decoration, he says to eat!  (so he won't let me get some of those cute round wicker ones because he says he doesn't have anywhere to put his drink!  hahaha.  o man i love him!)

3. it is weird to sing songs in deep and strange voices and break out in random dance moves on a daily basis (at least paul told me that i'm not normal for doing it... hmm, who would have thought?).

4. okay let's be honest, sleeping with your spouse is fun.  especially when they talk in their sleep or when you have a bad dream... someone is right there or the fact that you don't have to say goodbye or someone to just... well... to DUTCH OVEN! (click here if you don't know what a dutch oven is or if you want to read the funniest way i've ever heard it described.)

5.  the marriage relationship is the most honest relationship.  i have hidden nothing from my husband.  it feels so good!  he knows me so well.  i just love to be so comfortable around him and to love him with my whole heart!  it is soo incredibly freeing! beautiful.

God is so good.

burns & rejections

busy busy busy busy busy busy busy

i wish i could take a picture of the above sentence and make it really blurry... you know, like the ones that are taken in the wrong picture mode?

chaos.

in organic chemistry lab this week while i was doing a reflux... something i do at least once a week in that class

it's long and boring and tedious and time consuming. i hate it.

well i burnt my forearm. and it feels like that nuisance stinging pain.  i would compare it to that really high pitch annoying monotone noise that you hear sometimes.  it's just there and it won't go away.

And so i compare this burn to my feelings.  i just got my first letter of rejection for physician assistant school from philadelphia university.  i was praying for closed doors and it was one of my last choices. but still... the feeling of rejection... it's like this stinging, burning, nuisance.  

i am tired.  i try and i try. and i don't sleep. and the list goes on.  this passion that i have to be a physician assistant to help the needy... it drives me.  i know that this tug at my heart is from God.  but i also don't want to make this passion my idol.

and so i am really struggling to trust God.  this letter of rejection makes me anxious about rejection from the other 6 schools that i applied to.  i want to trust God. I really WANT to trust God.  

i still have 6 more shots... maybe i could get into 6 other schools.

but it is HARD.

and all i can hear is him saying. BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. (psalm 46:10)

and so it is hard for me to say, "okay God, if you don't want me to go to physician assistant school, then what?  how will you use me.  please use me."

and so everything is put back into perspective.  continue to pursue my passions. do my best work. but don't be 

overwhelmed

busy

chaotic

anxious

stressed

worried

be calm

be loved

trust

have faith

be still.

your prayers are appreciated. much love.

alien or owl?

anyone who knows me... knows that i LOVE owls.  it was my sorority mascot at otterbein.  paul says i'm going to be the 'crazy owl lady' when i get old.  haha!

i know so many people having babies right now, so i decided i wanted to learn to make some cute baby gifts. i really love this owl, but i didn't want to buy the pattern. so i tried to do a mix between that CUTE owl and this tutorial on my own.

and i came up with this owl... but it kind of looks like an alien.  and i think i'm just going to have to break down and buy the pattern. it's only $9 and i can use it over and over again :)

the one i made is of course to the left (alien or owl?).  but i just wanted to show you that i'm not exaggerating when i say that i love owls!  the crystals one is a swarovski owl that my brother just sent me from russia and the blue one is from my papaw and memee scheetz (it sits out in my living room) and the owl fabric... i think i am going to use for a baby blanket for my cousin.

and now i am soo ready for the weekend.  my o-chem test was AWFUL today. i had a B+ in the class before this test.. but we'll find out monday how terrible i did.  so i'm exhausted from this week.  it wasn't the best... but here is the highlight of my week... one night i was up studying LATE and i looked out my window and saw the most beautiful moon.  unfortunately i don't have the best photography skills, but try to share in the highlight of my week. 

be blessed my friends.

skirt

so in between homework and real work this weekend, i made my first skirt!  i wore it to our friends' (boh & lori nichols) wedding!  haha.  no one noticed that i made it, so that means that it at least looks normal.  haha!

i used this tutorial

the exciting part is that it didn't even cost me a dime!  i had the fabric from a couple of years back and my mamaw had given me some matching thread a couple of weeks ago!  wooo!

now back to a BUSY BUSY week of class.  so maybe next weekend, i'll make something more exciting!

cereal

ezekiel 4:9 cereal!  it is seriously the BEST cereal in the world.  AND it is super healthy! Just read the product description in how they open up their grains to make the cereal... not really processed at all.

and i kid you not when i say that it is sooo filling!  this stuff fills you up for hours on end.  the only 2 flavors we've tried are cinnamon raisin and almond.  both are delicious... but cinnamon raisin is my favorite.

and now i'm off to class... it is going to be a loooong day.  big test tomorrow only after 3 days of learning a chapter and a half.  our professor expects us to pull all nighters....

so i'm living off of madcap coffee.  it's the best coffee in the world.  i'd highly recommend it.  you can order it HERE.

so i drink coffee and hold my eyes open.  this is me this morning.  i look exhausted, huh?

ciao!

... tell these stones to become bread

...we all know about the temptations of jesus here in the bible.  for some reason, i've always had a hard time understanding why these could be tempting for someone who is God.  just recently i finally could relate to the last temptation of bowing down to satan for 'all of the kingdoms of the world and their splendor'.  when i think about how hurt jesus is by the sin of the world... if he had dominion over the world now (but instead he does), he could just do away with it and there wouldn't be pain... that is tempting. but God had another plan...

and then today i was given this analogy.  "the tempter came to him and said, 'if you are the son of man, tell these stones to become bread'".

have you ever thought of the tempter being in the form of a starving little girl... pleading with jesus to turn these stones into bread.  can't you just feel jesus's heart clench at this poor child's cry for help.  

...but jesus trusts his father's plan.  "man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God"

i trust that Jesus was really tempted.  scripture says, 'jesus was led by the spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  I don't know exactly how he experienced it. But this helps me, a 21st century, american woman to connect with chirst's heart.

thank you, jesus.

brownies

i should be doing organic chemistry homework right now... but instead i am cooking organically (haha-bad joke) really had to share this recipe with you!

finally a healthy brownie recipe-100% whole wheat!  this is for you amanda, amy, and momma!

here is the recipe:

DARK CHOCOLATE BROWNIES (makes about 20 brownies)

-1/2 cup light brown sugar,packed

-1/2 cup raw sugar (this is different from regular sugar)

-l cup unsweetened applesauce

-1 TBSP Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 1/4 cup water (we used 1 TBSP ground flaxseed mixed w/ 1/4 cup water because our grocery doesn't have any egg replacements)

-1/2 cup + 2 TBSPs soy milk

-1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

-1 & 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

-1 & 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

-3/4 cup cocoa powder

-1 tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp sea salt

-1 & 1/2 cups (diary free) 60% chocolate chips or chunks (we used ghirardelli 60% we found in baking aisle @ grocery)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

combine sugars and applesauce with a mixer

beat in egg replacement, soy milk, canilla, and vinegar.

in a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients.

gradually add dry ingredients to batter while mixing.

spray 9X13 inch baking dish and bake for 16-20 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  (i had to bake mine for like 22 minutes)

the batter really rises... it is almost like cake.  paul said it is like that molten lava cake.  

NOW JUST REMEMBER PORTION SIZE!  ONLY HAVE ONE A DAY--- IF THAT!  

and here is a quick peek at what paul and i had for dinner:

pad thai (rice noodles, broccoli, chic peas, red & green peppers, white onion, minced garlic, chives and cilantro-ask for the recipe if you want it!)

back to o-chem. 

love,

ky

vegan

Engine 2 is the name of the diet that we are currently following, as Paul and i are a part of a pilot study for the local doctors in our area.  There are are group of 18 people who are doing the diet with us.  it is a 28 day diet that is supposed to lower your cholesterol.  (shockingly, paul's cholesterol was slightly elevated... so it puts being healthy more into perspective for us). It's pretty strict.  No sugar, butter, eggs, milk, meat... etc. Most of the items we buy are basic veggies or items from the grocery that have only like 5 ingredients.  There are plenty  more facts I could give you.... if you want to know, just ask or google it!

It's really not been too bad.  I've actually really enjoyed it.  The hardest part is not eating sweets... because I LOVE sweets!  That is my biggest downfall.  So instead I of course have been grabbing fruit.  But today I made my first desert.  It was a blueberry cobbler... No added sugar. Made with only whole wheat flour. Only 3  tablespoons of molasses. not bad, eh? it's super healthy-- you get a serving of fruit & a whole grain!

yummmy!

and for dinner we had this delicious quinoa salad with some fresh veggies we got at the farmer's market today.

mmmm.  it tasted even better than the cobbler did... of course, because paul made it!  haha!  he is a much better cook than i. but i did cut the tomatoes!

 feel free to ask for the recipe, i'd write it, but then this post would be incredibly LOOOONGer than it already is.

We plan to stick to this diet for the most part after the 28 days... maybe add meat in like twice a week or so.  although I really do love soy milk and other soy products, but because of how controversial it is when you have too much in your diet (thyroid problems), we'll probably switch back to regular milk.

  i'll keep you posted about the diet.  but unfortunately, i start organic chemistry 2 on monday and it lasts for 5 weeks.. so i'll be super busy again.

now i have cuddle time with my roomie :)