Parting Ways

This quilt, I shortly recalled, was first considered being made last October. It was always put on the back burner. So I finally just did it. I tend to stick with colors that I love. I probably have too many quilts that are blue by now. But I found this quilt on Pink Stitches blog. The quilt is called "Parting Ways". I love the pink and quickly fell in love with the neutrals/whites she used. I've never collected those types and so I didn't have any on hand in my stash. I envy those who do have them. They are so random and cute. So in my spare time I kept trying to work on it. I started with some fabric from JoAnns and I went three more times, three days in a row. I kept going back because there was no pattern for the quilt, just a block tutorial. The tutorial is great by the way, but I wanted to make it bigger. I thought for sure the ladies at the cutting table would know me well by then and one of them actually did remember me. But now it is done and I love how it turned out. Happy sewing!

Senior Trip Project

Good grief! This poor quilt has just been stashed amongst my fabric stash since 2014. I graduated high school and my mom and I went to Park City for my "senior trip". It was a lot of fun. We rented a hotel room, watched it snow outside, went out to eat and then stayed inside and started this project. I know the picture doesn't say it all, I'll post another picture of the blocks later. But isn't the square beautiful? I love it, the children are adorable. The fabric is "Little Apples" by Aneela Hoey. Recently I've been wanting to go through my fabric again and find more unfinished projects and try to finish them up. I've successfully already done one so far. More to come. What projects are you working on?

Faith

   So lately, I've been reading and enjoying this book called, "The Blueprints of Christ's Church" by Tad R. Callister. There is one small section in the book that talks about Faith. Faith is one of those things I want to learn more about. I feel like it is one of those things that everyone thinks they know and thinks it's so basic. I think it deserves to be learned more about because it is our first principle of the gospel. "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." To me, that must be pretty important then. While I read, I highlighted a couple things that really stood out to me.

- "True faith always motivates its possessor to action."
   I think this helps us move forward. Having faith in the future and having faith in God that He keeps His promises and that all His words will be fulfilled. Faith is trusting in Him that He knows what's best for us. Faith that the atonement happened and works. Faith that God forgives and loves us. Faith keeps us going. With that motivation, we want to continue walking the straight and narrow path towards eternal life.

- "...faith usually comes step-by-step, and as each step is taken, doubt is diminished. We cannot develop faith without destroying doubt."
   We move forward with faith and as we do what the Lord asks we see blessings and we gain knowledge. This helps develop and strengthen our faith. We can't wake up and just have it. We work on it and it takes time to develop. On the flip side if we don't strengthen it, our faith will diminish and doubt will prevail.

- "..faith is a gift from God--it cannot be acquired solely by our efforts, however hard we try."
- "Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness. It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God's laws the greater will be the endowment of faith."- Bruce R. McConkie
   I'd never thought about faith as being a gift from God. Since it's a gift from God, we can ask God in prayer to help us increase it and develop it. In the book Callister specifically says,
"God has invited us to ask and pray for the gift of faith. To those who do so humbly and earnestly He has promised: "every one that asketh receiveth" (Matt. 7:8) "

So there is just some thoughts of mine.

"...seek learning, even by study and also by faith."

     Have you ever had a craving for something to eat? How about getting anxious to play a game or go somewhere? Recently I have had a driving desire to learn more. Some might say I'm silly because I just graduated from school and we are now out for the summer. I have months ahead of me to relax from homework or not think about another test.
     As cheesy as this sounds, I am specifically in the mood for more gospel learning. Going through my junior high and high school years I always loved seminary. I couldn't understand why some people decided to skip it because they just didn't want to go. My seminary teachers helped me immensily and they really helped my testimony grow to where it is today. I have had amazing institute teachers and I have even entertained the idea that I should work towards becoming a seminary or institute teacher.
     Not too long ago a famous women in our church Al Fox Carraway came and spoke and I was lucky enough to be able to hear her. She inspired me quite a bit in the way that she isn't shy about her feelings toward the gospel. To add to this, I admire any young missonary who tries their best on the mission field to spread the gospel. It is wonderful. Something I also loved about her is that she too had a burning desire to dive right into the gospel. She said in her talk that she spent many nights just writing gospel related talks just because she wanted to. I can imagine being a new convert to the church it might have been exciting to be learning new things but I also believe everyone can always learn something new. We are all converts ourselves and we always have the opportunity to learn and strengthen ourselves over again.
     How many times do we sit in some sort of meeting and someone shares something they "just found"? As if it was written just for them in the time they needed it. It's the beauty of the gospel. There is something for everyone. I am no where near knowing everything there is to know. Christ says, "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 18:4) We should all be humble enough and be just as teachable as a child, after all we are our Father in Heaven's children. We have so much to learn.

New Goals

          Usually at the beginning of a new calendar year I make a couple goals. I tend not to aim as high anymore because I am a person just like most of this nation that make goals that they don't keep. Instead, I feel more empowered plus enlightened when my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has their semi-annual General Conference. What is conference you might ask? General Conference is a time in which the leaders of our church, including our prophet Thomas S. Monson, speaks to us. He is the Lord's mouthpiece on the earth and He speaks the words of God. This uplifts me because I know that God is in control and is at the head of the church. Even more, we are all God's children and he gives us prophets to guide us in these modern days. We get to listen to these leaders speak to us twice a year, in April and October. We receive councel and guidance. So as we watch conference, we have the opportunity to learn from them and continue in stiving to work on things. 

(photo credit www.lds.org)

             One thing I got from this conference is that we need to come to know God more. We come to know God by reading the scriptures and praying to Him. Something that I am really taking to heart is improving my spiritual self. One thing I plan to do is create a testimony notebook/journal. This means that I will mention doctrines and different principles and then write how they personally affect me or are important to me. This will include personal stories and my testimony as well as quotes I find that help me realize why it's important. It will help me realize what areas I'd like to study more, work on, or develop more of a testimony about. I was reminded today in institute that the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote in his history after praying to God for an answer about which church he should join he wrote, "...I have learned for myself...". We all have the opportunity to learn for ourselves and to, "...experiment upon my words...". which is stated in Alma 32 in order to know for ourselves. If you would like to know more about my beliefs check out lds.org . Otherwise, please join me or let me know in the comments below what stuck out to you or what you plan to do.  

Midterms

Literally every time I get on here to post something new I always start out with the same bit about "Wow I haven't been on here in a while". Not this time. I'm ending it now. Things happen.

Let's see. A new semester started and we are at midterms already. One of my teachers literally jokes about the fact she believes teachers get together and plan to make the lives of students miserable during midterms because they all plan their tests on the same week and not only that but also within the same few days. Thankfully I haven't been living in the testing center so far and I hope to keep it that way.

I don't think I've mentioned ANYTHING about my new roommates this year. They are incredible and truly are a blessing in my life. My immediate roommate, L, is a girl that I grew up with before I moved to the house we live in now. She and I are known as the cooks/chefs/bakers of the apartment and if we ever have a heaping pile of dishes in our sink, it's probably because of she and I. I appreciate the fact that she loves it as much as I do and I have already learned a lot from her. We have also been guilty of making multiple desserts throughout the week. I've really tried to cut down recently. Ls, and J room together in the room next door. Haha the only other bedroom next door. Ls is a music major and dedicates a ton of time at the music building practicing. On the side, she teaches a couple of students and so her life is filled with music. She says she probably bothers us while preparing for her listening exams by playing classical music around the apartment but I appreciate it. I enjoy the fact that music can be beautiful even without words. She says that she doesn't have talent but just works really hard at it. I agree with her about the hard work but I believe she has loads of talent. When we all got in line to receive our talents up in heaven, I was in line with her but I left to get a drink and so they gave her my portion plus probably other people's who had to use the bathroom. Yep, she is loaded with talent. J, she is incredible. She is the relief society president and God certainly doesn't make mistakes. We laugh a ton, at a lot of things. We share interest in music and we laugh at  Spongebob quotes. We hope to convert L to watching it but so far it's a no go. J makes me want to be a better person. I talk to her quite a bit and I've probably talked her ear off but I appreciate her listening. She also inspires me to eat better. (No, this doesn't mean that I eat terribly but I don't exactly eat the best) I walk into the kitchen and there she is sitting at the table eating peanut butter and baby carrots. Yes, together. I can't knock until I try it...but I just haven't chose to try it yet. Yes, this crazy bunch I live with are some of my favorite people. Couldn't wish for better.

Hopefully we take a picture all together soon and I'll post it.

Black Bean Brownies

This morning after soccer I went back to my apartment and hurried and got ready for the rest of the day. I had to hustle because most soccer days I move slower than a snail after I get back. But this morning I had to come up with a snack or treat to bring to my Nutrition class, hence more of a hustle. I made brownies and it definitely isn't healthy but I try to justify it because it's got black beans in it. So the other exciting thing is that the purpose of the black beans is a substitute for flour. So this recipe is gluten free!
This isn't the first time I've used this recipe either. Last year my friend P and I made it so he could take it to share with his class too. He had to bring something that incorporated beans but the problem is that he doesn't like beans so we found this so he didn't have to taste them but rather hide them. It was fun but we didn't mash the beans up super well so he said there were chunks of beans. My recommendation is that you mash it so you don't find any fragments of beans. The batter shoud be smooth. This may sound sketchy but don't knock it until you try it. This recipe is from the website www.hip2save.com . Enjoy and Happy Friday!

Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients:

1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained or 1 1/2 cups cooked dried beans
3 eggs
3 tablespoons coconut oil or vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8×8 pan. Place beans in food processor and process until mashed. Add eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, sugar and oil. Process until smooth. Pour into pan and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

*If you don't have a food processor, you can also use a blender. That's what I used.

I wish I had a picture of these because they really did look good but they were eaten too quickly that the only thing left for a picture would be an empty pan....well maybe next time.