Chocolate, Strawberry, and Banana Smoothie

One Cup of chocolate milk, one cup of sliced strawberries, and one cup of sliced banana!

Mix together and...... there ya have it....

High Five For Friday ~ Christmas Is About The Children.....and a little shopping

High Five Number One:

This has been a fun festive busy week! I love this time of the year.  Christmas is by far my most favorite season and holiday!!!

High Five Number Two:

One of our sweet patients brought sweet treats and a surprise Christmas visit.... I'm blessed to have such wonderful children in my life!

High Five Number Three:

Highlight of my week was watching these two kiddos sing at their school Christmas Concert.  I love these kids so much!

High Five Number Four:

Christmas shopping with my cousin/roommie today..... we got rained on and our feet hurt by the end of the day but we had a blast!  I even got to run into one of my favorite Disney Characters.....

High Five Number Five:

The greatest high five of the week is..... that tomorrow..... we are celebrating this little guy....

A year ago I watched this guy come into the world.  I literally watched him enter the world and saw his eyes the first time he opened them to see what the world outside of mommy was all about.  I heard his first little cry and I was there to watch his mother hold him for the first time.  That moment will always be embedded in my heart and soul.  He's growing so fast and I'm so happy to share his first birthday with him!!!!!  Happy Birthday Andrew!!!!!!

It's Ok Thursday - Christmas Season Can Be Exhausting ZzzZzzz

It's ok that I'm soooo exhausted..... the last couple of weeks have been so busy!  With Christmas season in the air, photography business has been booming and the clinic has been crazy busy!  Dr. Robinson is going to be out for a couple of weeks so squeezing in as many little patients as possible in a week has been CrAzY!!!!!!

It's ok that I'm totally ready for a new year!  Don't get me wrong, this year has been nice..... getting adjusted to the big city of Lubbock and getting back in touch with my Texas roots has been AMAZING BUT now that I am settled, I"m ready for life to take it's course!  I'm really excited to see what 2014 brings!

It's ok that..... It's 8:15PM and I am ready for bed! Yup, that's me.....ready for bed! Good night y'all! ZzzzZzzzZzzz.......

Fasting Smoothie - Honey And Lemon Smoothie

For those of you who fast or enjoy a smoothie from time to time, here is a recipe for you.

1 Cup Milk

1/2 squeezed Lemon Juice 

1 honey yogurt

1 bag oatmeal

Mix all if that in your handy bullet or blender and enjoy!!!! 

Saturday Six Blog It

Saturday Six number one:

I was able to get some wrapping done.... weeeeee!

Saturday Six number two:

Finished up my sweet cousin's baby shower pictures!  So happy for her and this new chapter!

Saturday Six Number Three:

Today was our Christmas Shoe Giving day at Church and it was amazing.  We supplied over 1,400 families with shoes.  It was amazing to spread God's love and remind the children how much Jesus loves them.  I heard so many sweet children talking to me about their love for God, they have no idea what they did for me today.  I love my Church!

Saturday Six Number Four:

I loved spending the evening with this little ewok.....

Saturday Six Number Five:

The one thing I love most about the holidays is listening to the sound of laughter and joy.  I went to several Christmas parties this week and laughter was the sweet sound I enjoyed the most!!!

Saturday Six Number Six:

Christmas is right around the corner.....hope you're ready!!!!!!

What I'm Loving Wednesday ~ It's All About Christmas

I'm loving Christmas Hallmark movies..... LOVE THEM!

I'm loving Christmas music and Starbucks Hot Chocolate.....YUM!

I'm loving snow snow snow coming in!!!!!!  WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

I'm loving the beautiful Christmas dresses I have bought for Christmas parties coming in.  I have a beautiful green one and a beautiful blue one so far.... oh and of course a beautiful pink one!  Now for some shoes for them.

I am loving Christmas shopping.....fun fun fun!

Love God Love Others

Love, the single most powerful word in the world.  Saying the word is powerful and expressing the word is phenomenal.   Love is virtually needed by every person in this world, yet we are so selfish with it.  Some people are afraid to express love in fear of getting hurt and others just do not make the time.  I am guilty of both. Sad, huh?  We get so caught up in our own agenda and schedules that we forget people around us need love.

Love, the single most powerful word in the world.

Over the last week and a half, I have focused on love.  Love is a fruit of the spirit and the most important fruit, as love holds all of the fruit together.  Once we can learn to love the way God loves, all of the other fruit will fall into place.

Love is the greatest commandment of all.  (Matthew 22:39) God commands us to love our neighbor, love one another, and most importantly love Him. Without loving Him, I'm not sure how one can truly love. We are all sinful in nature and selfish at that.  Love is supposed to be selfless, yet as humans, we are naturally selfish human beings.  It isn't until we make the choice to surrender our wounded souls and hearts to God and allow Him to work a miracle in our hearts, that we can give and receive true love.

Love is about treating others with honor and respect and that's hard to do if you walk around with a wounded heart.  Let God heal it.  Let God restore it.  Let God love it.  His love is pure and miraculous.  He CAN trade ashes for beauty.  God wants the deepest part of your soul to be completely surrendered to Him.  In order to understand a merciful and graceful love, we HAVE to allow Him in.

Loving others is vital, however, I am not fully convinced that we can completely express a genuine love towards another until we allow Him to come in and completely take over.  Allow Him to take residence in your heart, soul, and mind.  Allow Him to restore those past wounds.  Allow Him to remind you that all things work together for good.

Love, the single most powerful word in the world yet the full depth of love can only be accomplished when experienced with Him as the core intention.  Loving others is not easy but it's commanded of us.  Loving others can be a challenge but it's certainly worth it.

Start by loving yourself enough to invite God into your heart and watch love overflow you.  Be a blessing to somebody and wake up every morning with the intention of spreading His love by spreading His word!

Love Is God!

Day 11 ~ Another Picture Of My Friends And Me

Here is a picture of my co-workers and me at this year's Race For The Cure.  We had a lot of fun and I look forward to next year's!!!

Friday Letters - I Am Thankful.....a frown doesn't mean I'm NOT thankful, duh!

Dear Thanksgiving, You came and have gone....now it's Christmas and I lost my Christmas spirit somewhere between Halloween and a week before Thanksgiving.  Fail! This is odd for me because I love love love me some Christmas.... something's gotta give....soon, right?

Dear bank account, I need more money.  Please and thank you!

Dear blah feeling, I need you to please go away.  You aren't fun to be around and I'm personally sick of you sticking around.  Just sayin'..... 

Dear Daisy, why aren't you cuddling with me? 

Dear Forensic Files, I'm addicted to watching you and that's not cool.  You scare me.

Dear God, I'm down lately but I still love You and I know You have AMAZING plans for me! Jeremiah 29:11 reminds me of what you want for me.  Thank you for your love and mercy!  

Saturday Six Blog It

WHOA! I haven't written one of these in a while!  Blame it on being stuck in doors due to cold and icy weather! 

So here goes..... 

Saturday Six Number One:

Christmas movies on Hallmark Channel, yes please!

Saturday Six Number Two:

Editing and working is what I call fun....I love having work to do while I'm stuck in doors this weekend.

Saturday Six Number Three:

Daisy is so cute in her little sweater! 

Saturday Six Number Four:

I spent a lot of time with God this morning and afternoon....it was nice.  He and I needed that quality time.  He's so amazing to me! I'm so blessed!

Saturday Six Number Five:

I'm craving hot chocolate.....duh.

Saturday Six Number Six:

I can't believe Saturday is almost over!!!!  What a weekend.....what a weekend.....ready for SNOW!!!!!

Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad....

I particularly like Day 10 and digging into my play lists..... music is huge to me!  I tend to get lost in songs and in music, especially if I am feeling sad, angry, etc..... so here we go....

Songs I listen to when I am happy.....

Beautiful One by Tim Hughes

Mistletoe By Justin Bieber

You're My #1 by Enrique Iglesias - this song reminds me of my sweetie.... :)

Love Came Down by Kari Jobe

Songs I listen to when I'm saaaaaad  :(

The Struggle By Tenth Avenue North

Yellow by Coldplay

Songs I listen to when I am bored..... (P.S. my music taste is very much all over the place)

Really, I will listen to any and all Eminem when I am bored. I know I know..... he's probably not the best to listen to.....call it my guilty pleasure.....

Songs I listen to when I'm Hyped!!!!!

Everlasting God by Worship Together

10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman

Songs I listen to when I'm mad...... yes, this is a slow song and not your typical "I'm mad song" but it really reminds me to seek God in my anger.....trust Him and believe that He will have His way....

Have Your Way by Britt Nicole

day 8- short term goals for this month and why

Short term goals for this month are as follows.....

~ Get my photography business back on track.

~ Get organized and situated.

~ Big announcements coming up, so to get my family and friends in the "know" haha..... super excited!

~ Car shopping.

~ As always.....growing my relationship with the Lord more and more.  Some changes that I have really had my eyes opened up to is my tongue.  My tongue tends to speak the opposite of life into myself and my loved ones and so my goal for this month is to really watch what is coming into my heart and out of my mouth!!

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." Ephesians 4:29 

High Five For Friday

I haven't done one of these in a while!  So, here goes!!!!

High Five Number One ~ High five for relaxing peaceful nights in!

High Five Number Two ~ High five for Thanksgiving and Christmas being right around the corner!  I'm so excited!!!!

High Five Number Three ~ High five for Texas Tech football game tomorrow night and for it being an EVENING GAME!!! WOOT WOOT!

High Five Number Four ~ High five for sweet dogs who stay cuddled up next to me on lonely nights.

High Five Number Five ~ High five for goals, dreams, and motivation.  I'm so excited for all that God has planned for me.  He has placed desires in my heart and I'm watching unfold right before my eyes and it's ALL HIM!!!  Praise Jesus!  I'm so blessed! 

Monday Afternoon Update

I have been listening to Christmas music all day! I am so ready for the holidays!!!! Woot woot!

So much going on in life and it is amazing! Will have to blog later about it but life is amazing! God is amazing! Hope you all have an awesome Pumpkin week and be safe out there! 

day 7- a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

Christ. 

day 6- favorite super hero and why

Shera.....duh. I don't even need to write anything more....

 

 

Trust

Fear.  Fear is defined as, "an emotion induced by a perceived threat which causes entities to quickly pull far away from it and usually hide.  It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger." Wikipedia.

Fear is a reality that most of us face on a day to day basis, yet when I do my Bible study, I remember how strong my God is and I begin to wonder why I walk around in life with so many fears.  Is it cause I am human? Is it cause I lack a certain amount of faith?  Is it .......could it possibly be.....surely not.... but wait, yes, it is cause I lack a certain amount of trust in my Savior.  I didn't realize how much I loved God and how much I depended on Him ......without.....trust?  How is this even possible?  How is it possible to have faith with no trust?  I'll tell you how......

We have faith that God can move mountains because the Bible tells us this.  We have faith that God can perform miracles and can do amazing things because we have witnessed it in other's.  We really do have faith in that.  However,  we don't seem to trust He will do these things for us.  Sure, I know how much He loves us and I know how powerful He is but why in the world would He bring miracles in MY life.  I don't deserve that.  The trust really isn't there.

Over the last few days, I have battled with this overwhelming fear that the desires of my heart will never come to pass yet when I think about all God has done for my loved ones and myself, I wonder how I could have so much love and admiration for somebody yet have a very minimal trust in Him.  Not because I think He lacks power but because I don't think I'm worthy.  I think I will harvest the bad seeds I planted SEASONS ago and that the good seeds I have planted will never come to harvest.  I think that I'm unworthy or that something is wrong with me, so God must have skipped over me when He was handing out miracles and completed dreams.  All of these thoughts and fears come into my mind and before I know it, I've lost trust. 

"When I am afraid, I will trust You." Psalm 56:3

There is power in that verse.  There are times that we are so afraid for the future that we walk around in fear all day.  Will my bills tomorrow get paid, will my sick parent ever be healed, will my family member ever turn to Jesus, will my lost child ever find his way to Jesus, will my dream ever come to pass.....the list goes on and on of all the fears we carry around on our shoulders.  The truth is, life will never be perfect.  There will always be bumps in the road but we have to trust Him.  Trust Him with the good and trust Him with the bad.  Live our life to HONOR Him.

"Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything You need, always giving thanks."  Philippians 4:6

I have always been one of those who prayed the generic prayers when it came to myself.  I could pray specifics for loved ones all day long but when it came to me, they end at "whatever is your will God."  I have just recently learned to pray specifically for myself and not because I have gotten selfish in my praying life (this has been my whole fear of being specific, I didn't want God to think I was selfish).  God wants us to be specific when we pray because that tells Him exactly where we are with Hm.  Do the desires of our hearts match up with the desires He has tried to place in our hearts?  Where are we with what specifics we pray for?  Also, God wants us happy and joyful.  He does not desire us to be unhappy and gloomy in life.  If that were the case then Jesus dying on the cross for our salvation and our lives was all done in vain.  He paid the price for us.  He wants us to walk in His power and His light and His desires and His grace.  Be specific when you pray.  Talk to Him.  Trust Him.

Too many times we measure the size of the mountains in our view that we forget to talk to the One who can move those mountains.  The one who sees what is right over those mountains.  We have to trust His view.  We have to trust that He can move those mountains because what He has on the other side is phenomenal.  Trusting Him is vital just as it is in any relationship.  There always has to be a firm foundation of trust in a relationship and our relationship with God is no different. 

He loves you and wants the best for you. He wants you happy, so trust Him and walk in Joy KNOWING that He has your life in the palm of His Hand.  What an awesome thought, He has your life in the palm of His Hand! 

Be blessed today!

Day Five - A Place I have Been

Back in February of 2012, a friend and I took a trip to Joplin, Missouri after the tornados hit there and that little trip is burned in my heart and soul forever.  Seeing how the town was destroyed and how the community and surrounding communities came together to rebuild, was amazing!  It was a nice reminder of people standing together in life!  We should all carry one another!  The storms will come and storms will destroy but love and loyalty will always stand!

Day 4: A Habit That I Wish I Didn't Have

I definitely need to stop drinking so much chocolate milk...... can you say fat butt!?!?  I absolutely love Tru Moo way too much!

Day Three- A Picture Of My Friends

Day 2 - Meaning Behind My Blog Name

The meaning behind my blog name is representing exactly what life is.... full of blessings and seasons.  Some seasons are good and some seasons are not so good but either way, every season is full of blessings!  God is so good!

Friday Afternoon Update

Well, I haven't done updates in a while and since I am home bored, thought I should start. :)

Tuesday I had surgery. Yuck! Had a kidney stone that wouldn't pass so the doctor went in and shattered it and I got a stint put in between my kidney and bladder. Yuck! Uncomfortable but glad to have it fixed! I will heal in no time! 

My sister came into town to help my Momma take care of me and it has been such a blessing. Last surgery I had in Arkansas was a nightmare. Spent lots of days trying to walk myself to the bathroom or make something to eat and would be in so much pain that I would end up just not eating cause it hurt so bad to get up and fix myself something. My sister was in town for a couple of days for that surgery too but had to go back and when she went back.... I had nobody helping me. It is amazing to have family here helping me! I am so blessed! 

I have had some awesome friends send me flowers and treats and many visitors drop by to check on me! 

 

And of course Momma's home cooking and the dogs loving on me.....

 

God is so awesome!!!!!