recipe // amish friendship bread

This bread is absolutely delicious!!! Bread is my favorite thing to bake, and I'm pretty sure that this was the first bread recipe I ever made. It's super easy and is very good! I've made this recipe quite a few times in the past and each time it turns out wonderful!!

Ingredients:

• 1 t. cinnamon


• 3 T. sugar


• 1 cup canola oil


• 1 t. vanilla


• 1 1/2 t. baking powder


• 2 cups flour


• 1/2 t. baking soda


• 2 t. cinnamon


• 1 cup sugar


• 3 large eggs


• 1/2 t salt


• 1/2 cup milk


• 1 large box instant vanilla pudding


• 1 cup to 1 1/4 cup chocolate chips, raisins, or chopped nuts (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease two loaf pans. Combine the 1 t. cinnamon with the 3 T. sugar. Sprinkle into the well-greased pans.
Add the remaining ingredients to a bowl. (Mix with plastic or wooden spoon)




Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 1 hour or until done.
Makes two loaves.




I hope y'all enjoy the recipe!!! :)



 

life with acne

I have acne. I've had it for a few years. My sisters had/have it. My parents had it. My grandparents had it. So yeah, it's a tradition.



But actually, I'm not too happy about this tradition. But I have it, and I have to make do.

A lot of people think that people with acne are dirty people. People that don't ever wash their face.
Honestly, I really think that you could have the cleanest face out there, but still struggle with acne. Especially when it seems like it's in your genes.
Sometimes I have a really hard time with acne.
Some days I'll look in the mirror and I'll be like, "Hey! My acne is going away!!"

.

Then the next morning, I'll go to brush my teeth and I'll glance at my face and it's covered in new red, white, and black pimples (if you have acne, you will understand) and I'm like

.

I try to take very good care of my face and I have a lot of rules for myself that I try to follow.
One of my rules is not to touch or pick at my acne pimples because I don't want them to leave scars.
Some times when I wash my face, I'll be so careful not to pop any pimples. But some times in the process of washing, one will pop or fall off.

.

Even though I do struggle with acne quite often, I try not to think about it, and I'm so thankful that it's not any worse than what it is.
When you really think about it, acne can be quite funny some times! :)

For all of you who struggle with acne, try not to let it get you down. Just do your best to take care of your face, and make sure to always wear a smile!
It's not what's on the outside that matters anyway.
"...for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."
                                                                   - 1 Samuel 16:7b

Do you struggle with acne?
Do you have any tips?

tea party // photography practice

Chloe turned six on Thursday. I cannot believe that! She has grown a lot, and she is such a sweet little girl! I love her so much! :)
Chloe wanted to have a little tea party for her birthday. So we (the family), went over to Jason and Katy's house to celebrate.
This picture really captured how Chloe was. She was so excited and was like a busy bee running around filling and refilling people's cups with new tea. I think she had fun! :)


After her little celebration, Jason and I went outside so he could teach me a few things on my camera. I learned a lot about aperture. He wanted me to do a little photo shoot with Napoleon. I definitely need a lot of practice. Jason let me borrow his lens and his polarizing filter.

The one above would have been good, but the focus point is on the right side of the bucket, and Napoleon is blurred. I was very disappointed that this one didn't turn out better.




These turned out a little better. Napoleon is in focus and the background is blurred. I think these turned out the best. I tell y'all though, taking pictures of dogs is tough. Especially puppies. Napoleon would not stay still. He's a little wiggle worm :)
Thank you, Jason, for helping me edit some of these!

I also got to take some pictures of Bella. I think some of these turned out ok. She's a good little model! :)

I would have liked this one a lot more if the house wasn't in the background. But I liked the lighting.


So they were a few of my favorites. I plan on starting Nikon School really soon, so I can improve my photography! :) I'm really excited about starting it!

book review // like dandelion dust

My friend, Abigail, told me about this book. She told me it was really good, but very sad. I found it for $1.00, and so I snatched it up. It took me a while to actually read it because I have a huge stack of books that I'm slowly reading, one by one, but I finally sat down and read this one.
Like Dandelion Dust was a really good book. I enjoyed it.



Like Dandelion Dust
Karen Kingsbury
354 Pages
4 out of 5 stars

Summary (Taken from Amazon)

Jack and Molly Campbell are right where they want to be, enjoying an idyllic life with their four-year-old son Joey, and the close family and friends who live in their small hometown just outside Atlanta. Then the phone call comes from the social worker the Campbells never expected to hear from again. Three states away in Ohio, Joey's biological father has just been released from prison. He is ready to start life over, but not without his son.
A judge's quick decision deals a devastating blow to the Campbell family: Joey must be returned to his biological parents. The day after the ruling, in the silent haze of grief and utter disbelief, they watch their son pick a dandelion and blow the feathery seeds into the wind.
In the days that follow the ruling, Jack Campbell has a desperate and dangerous thought. What if they can devise a way out? Then they could take Joey and simply disappear . . . LIKE DANDELION DUST.

I liked this book a lot, but decided to give it 4 stars because I think they made Joey a little too perfect for a four-year-old boy. I know what the writer was trying to do, she wanted the reader to really like him, which I did, but it just seemed a little too unrealistic.

This was a good, clean read. I recommend it!

life on the lake // aka large pond

My family and I live on a lake. Well actually, it's more like a large pond. Okay, a small pond. :)
People like to call it a lake for tax purposes. But I like to consider it a lake too. It just sounds, well, you know, a little better! :)
So today, I'm going to share with y'all, what it's like living on a lake.

One of the good things about living on a lake is that you can go fishing anytime you want.
I love fishing, and I love just being able to grab a fishing pole, walk out my backdoor and down to the lake.



We get a lot of wildlife at the lake. Beavers (right across from our house and down the hill is a beaver dam), owls, deer, woodpeckers, ducks, geese, turtles, herons, bald eagles and  really too many more to name. Our lake seems like a bird haven. We get a lot of eagles. Once I saw five eagles at once. That was so neat!!! We are very blessed to live in an area with lots of bald eagles, and it's not unusual to see quite a few of them at a time, and quite often. But I always get excited when I see one! :) They're just so, majestic.
We have gotten a few bears too. Our neighbor saw one in his yard once. That was a little scary!



We also get a lot of boat rides. We don't normally use our boats in the fall and winter months, that's mostly a summer thing, but I love riding in our boats! When I say boats, dont think of anything too large. It would'nt fit in our lake. We have a paddle boat and a sort of borrowed jon boat. :)

The view of the lake is wonderful! When the wind blows, it makes little ripples. I love looking out our door and seeing a beautiful lake right outside. It's especially pretty when the sun is rising above the water, or the moon casts a gorgeous reflection upon it.
Ahhhh.... :)



There is only one thing I don't like about living on a lake. INSECTS. They are really bad in the summer months. Especially the mosquitoes and gnats. We all get ate up. The flies are really bad too. They wont leave you alone and are always flying around your face. Yep, it gets mighty irritating. The lake also draws lots of frogs and snakes. In the summer, there are frogs everywhere, which is not fun when you are disgusted by their very presence. :) (it's all Kristen's fault for her telling me the story of when a frog jumped on her barefeet, and then she accidently stepped on it. She's quite disgusted by them as well).
The only time I enjoy the frogs is when they start up their band on summer nights. How I love summer!!! :)

Thats just a glimpse of life on the lake. I dont even feel like I covered half of its wonderfulness.

life post // driving time

Hello y'all! I've been snapping a lot of pictures lately. I think I'm improving, but I still don't know what some of the buttons are used for. I have so much fun taking pictures though. I tried my hand at portraits, but I think I have to get a little better before I start doing that. So right now I'm just taking pictures of pretty things around my house.



I've been trying to get some driving time in so I can get my driver's license. Where I live, I have to do a lot of hours. So many in the daytime, and then some at night. I've got nine and a half hours done.
I drove my Nana to the supermarket a few days ago. I was so nervous. That was the first time I had ever driven with somebody other than Mama (Mama is the one teaching me how to drive). I had a lot of fun though after I started going. In Nana's words, I did perfectly. But she is too kind! :)



I read a book a few days ago, and I cried. A lot. I think that is the first book I've ever really cried on. It was called An Untamed Land by Louraine Snelling, and so many things happened that I was not expecting. I cannot wait to start reading the second book in the series though.

I hope I'm not boring y'all with my life posts. They are the easiest posts to write. I have fun writing them because it's kind of like an online journal for me. :)

Have you ever cried reading a book?
Do you enjoy reading my life posts?

my thoughts on Jesus rocks

In this current generation, I hear a lot of people, especially young people, saying things like "Jesus rocks." They try to turn Jesus into a "cool" Jesus and to me they are making Him just another one of the guys.
Every time I hear the words, "Jesus rocks", it makes me really angry. It's like people are talking about Jesus like they would anybody or anything else. Jesus is God. God is the King of kings. The LORD of lords. Why would we want to talk about Him in such a casual manner?
Why would we want to use such a worldly, slang word like "rocks" when trying to describe God, when even the most magnificent words out there can't describe His glory?
I think when we talk about Jesus, we need to use respect, and surely saying things like "He rocks" doesn't sound respectful.
Jesus Christ is a Holy and Righteous God. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 2:2a
"There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee:"
and in Isaiah 6:3,
"And one cried one to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."
To me saying things like "Jesus rocks" is almost blasphemous. You are talking about a Holy God. God deserves more than that.

I know this was a very short post, but it's really been on my mind. I thought I'd just share it with y'all.

j a n u a r y // thankful things

Hey y'all! Today I am going to share with you a few things I am thankful for in January.




Going shopping with my Mama, two sisters, and my three nieces. Girls night out!!!

Eating homemade beef stew and biscuits smothered in butter and honey



Finally getting a nice camera!!!! Yay!!!! :)

Getting sweet blog comments



A foot of snow and going out to play in it with my family

Playing tug of war with Gideon in the snow

Going to Stratford Hall with my family

Taking pictures with my new camera



A new homemade French toast recipe :)

Beautiful 60 degree weather



Listening to pretty music while reading a good book

Playing games with my family



This actually happened on February first, but I thought I would share it with y'all. I got to meet my little nephew, Napoleon. Jason and Katy brought him home on Wednesday. He's a Great Pyrenees and is six weeks old. Isn't he adorable!?

 

In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18



 

What are some things you are thankful for???
Don't you think little Napoleon is adorable?