Never Let Go

"WHEN YOU HAVE A DREAM,

 YOU'VE GOT TO GRAB IT AND NEVER LET GO."

 -Carol Burnett 

Things of Yesteryear

Antique books.

1911, 1917, 1932

 Letter written on December 29, 1916.

 Old bonnet.

 The American Woman Magazine.

June, 1921.

I can almost feel the residue from long gone memories 

still clinging to the old parchment.

Tightening its grasp around the fragile objects

never letting them forget their past.

their beautiful

hard

sweet

horrible

past.

I can almost hear the whispering pages

that hold the secrets of yesteryear.

Like recordings of the soft voices

of those who've touched these yellowed pages 

who've drank in these coal black words 

that enabled them to

hope

 for a better tomorrow.

believe

in the impossible.

and

dream

for something more.

Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

I made peanut butter cookies this week. They were extremely delicious.

I was just going to post some photos of the cookies, but I thought it would be very inhuman of me to tell you and show you how wonderful these cookies are without even giving you a recipe so you can try them. 

So today I will be sharing this amazing cookie recipe with you guys that my awesome mom created. (Thank you, mum!) These cookies are sooo easy to make, and they tastes absolutely heavenly! I'm normally not really into baking or cooking, but lately I've actually been enjoying it. Hopefully I'll be able to post some recipes of my own sometime. :)

Ingredients

1 cup of peanut butter

1/2 cup of butter

1/2 cup of what sugar

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1 egg

1  1/4 cup of flour

1/4 tspn. of salt

1/2 tspn. of baking soda

1 tbs. of vanilla

3 tbs. of milk

lots of hershey kisses

First off, preheat the oven to 350°. Put your butter in a mixing bowl and microwave it until it softens a little. Then add the peanut butter, brown sugar, regular sugar, and an egg in the bowl.  Mix them up with a mixer.

Once you're done, put all the remaining ingredients in the bowl. Mix it with a mixer again. Add more milk if your dough is too dry or add more flour if it's too liquidy. Mix them together yet again if you add flour or milk.

Roll your dough into small balls and put them on a baking sheet. Put your cookies in the oven. They'll only need to bake for about 10 minutes, so check on them every so often until you see that the edges of the cookies have turned a light brown.

While you wait, go ahead and take the wrappers off the Hershey kisses. When the cookies are done, take those bad boys out of the oven and set the baking sheet on a pot holder. Last but certainly not least, put the kisses you unraveled in the middle of each cookie.

Then you're done! Don't forget to pour yourself a glass of milk so you can begin eating your warm freshly-baked cookies.

Baby Blue Sky and Big Brown Eyes

The sky is a brilliant blue today. 

I get my camera and go outside.

As I rush out the door,

my little sister follows me

grabbing a camera of her own.

She wants to be just like me.

We walk around our yard

taking pictures left and right.

After a while I ask her,

Could I take some pictures of you?

She smiles,

letting me see the small gap 

of a tooth she has lost,

and says,

Yes!

and she puts her camera down. 

I begin to snap away. 

She smiles and giggles at the camera,

chattering all the while.

Her big brown eyes sparkle

as they reflect off the warm sunshine.

Like chocolate melting in the summertime.

Her hair dances and twists

in the cool wind

as the sun beats against her light brown locks,

making her hair the color of golden honey.

{I'm not sure if this is really a poem or not but it's just a sweet moment that happened today. :) }

Sunset | Life

The girls wandered down a long pineland aisle that seemed to lead right out into the heart of a deep-red, overflowing winter sunset.” 

― L.M. Montgomery

It surprisingly didn't feel bitterly cold out this evening. Yes, it was still chilly, but not unbearable. My sister and I (and Cornelius) took a walk as the sun was setting. It was so gorgeous. My sister  even took some pictures of me. It's nice to sometimes be in the pictures rather than always be behind the camera. :) The quote above (by L.M. Montgomery) seemed to fit perfectly with this post and the pictures. 

I think it has been twelve days since I last posted. Normally I try to at least post once a week but life has been so busy lately. 
Are there any types of posts you would like me to do?

So what have I been up to these days? Well let's see.

+I went to TCTC (Tennessee Christian Teen Convention) with my youth group. It was such an amazing experience. The music, the people, the speakers, the worship, everything. It. Was. Awesome.

+After a rather long Christmas break, I'm back to doing school, chores, and regular life stuff. I did a pratice SAT essay today. They always make me very nervous, but I feel like I'm getting better at them now...hopefully.

+I found out what bae means! Lately I've been hearing one word that seems to come out of every teenager's mouth: bae. They use it in different phrases as well. Like, "Icecream is bae." or "Luv u bae".  I got very confused on what it meant. At first I thought it was just another word for, sweetheart, baby, etc. But when people would say "Life is bae." it didn't really seem to make sense to me. Then I googled "bae" to see if I could find the meaning of it. I was very surprised when I found out its true meaning. Yes, it can mean sweetheart, but apparently it's also a Danish word that means...well, poop. Goodness...

My little sister turned five. She wanted cookies instead of cake. They were sooo good. Now that she's five, her goal in life is to become a singing princess ballerina doctor. Oh and did I mention she wants ice powers like Elsa? Ah those were the days. ;) 

Have a lovely weekend! <3

Rainy Days

Rainy Days from Eve S on Vimeo.

It rained a lot yesterday. I don't mind rainy days. In fact, I love them. I love how they can be so dreary and beautiful at the same time. I decided to make a little video to share the splendidness of a rainy day through my eyes. :)

My sister and I went on little walk yesterday. I had no idea how much it rained until I went on the path in my backyard. It almost seemed like it was more of stream than a path. Luckily my sister and I came prepared with our rain boots. Sadly my rain boots were not as "waterproof" as I thought. After a few minutes, my socks were completely soaked. Did I walk back home because of that unfortunate event? Of course not! I had brought Cornelius (my camera) with me, and I was determined to capture the beauty of the lovely rain. 

Snickerdoodle (our cat) decided to join  us as well. She kept on meowing and meowing because she was afraid of the water. My sister came to Snickerdoodle's rescue. She carried that silly cat over all the water and puddles. And do you know what that cat did? After my sister let her down onto dry land, Snickerdoodle meowed and meowed again. She looked longingly over to the other side of the water where she was before. Well you know what they say, "the grass is always greener on the other side."

Sorry if some of the footage is shaky. It suddenly started to rain again while I was taking picture and such. At first it was just sprinkling so I would dodge a few drops of rain falling from the sky so it wouldn't get my camera wet. The rain got heavier and heavier though. I protected my camera by covering it with my jacket and ran quickly back to my home for shelter. It was quite an adventure. ;)
Hope you guys enjoy the video. <3

Time Flies | Things Change

It's 2015 guys. No really, it is. I feel like 2014 sped right through my life and is now almost a blur. Even though this year gave me some great memories, I have hit a view bumps on the road of life as well. 

I found out just how difficult change can be. 

Friends I thought I knew and trusted seemed to change into different people. I know, I know. People change. That's life. But the weird part is, I don't feel I've changed like everyone else has. Example: Here I am, thinking about how majestic unicorns are and how good sparkling grape juice is while a lot of my friends are obsessing over every boy they meet and taking selfies. I feel like everyone is following the latest trends in our society rather than just being themselves.

Sometimes it's hard to not follow the crowd, because honestly, it's so much easier. It's easier to blend in like a chameleons rather than stand out like an elephant. I love Romans 12:2. 

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

It's nice to know, 

while time flies by, 

and things change in our lives, 

God is always constant. 

That He'll always be there, no matter what.

I turned sixteen this year. That's another change in my life. I'm studying for my learner's permit, but I feel like the information does not want to stay in my head. I'm not one of those people who really looks forward to driving. Frankly, I'm sorta dreading it. I've practiced driving only a few times in an empty parking lot, but I wasn't very good at it. I know that driving would be a very useful thing to master, but it's just not something I'm extremely excited about. It seems like driving is such a very grown up thing to do, and I feel like time is speeding up on me leaving me wondering "Where did my childhood go?" 

Even though change can be really hard, some changes can be positive and great. 

Through 2014, I feel like I've somehow grown wiser, in a small way. I look at people differently than I used to. I used to judge people right off the bat, but now instead of judging their appearance or their actions, I like to wonder what their story is. What made them the person they are today? 

Another thing that's changed is that I don't care as much as I used to of what people of me. When I was 13 or so I was really self-conscious of what people thought of me. I refused to dress up for Halloween like my family or wouldn't do the things I loved because I thought people would judge me. This Halloween I went to a Halloween carnival with my little sisters. To get free admission you have to dress up. I was Amelia Pond. I put on a red plaid shirt and other stuff she would wear topped off with tally marks drawn with a marker all over my arms. My sister was a TARDIS. She made the costume herself and it was quite amazing. Yeah, people might have stared at us, but they just didn't recognize our awesomeness. ;) I now do things that I love even though they're different or out of the box compared to other teens' hobbies. 

For example I like graphic/web design, art, photography, etc.

I've also learned just how important family is. Though friendships can fall apart family is always there. To help you, to care for you, to support you, to love you.

Even though time flies and things change in our lives, let's remember to savor the precious moments life gives us. Because years can zoom right past us if we don't watch out.

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” 

― Mother Teresa

A Trip to Chicago

This week my family and I went to "The Windy City" also known as Chicago. Even though it was bitterly cold and the wind was horrendous I still had such a lovely time. They still had their Christmas lights and decorations up for the holidays which I loved! My little sisters got their first American Girl dolls there with their Christmas money. They were so excited. Even though I don't play with dolls and such, I have to admit that The American Girl Place was sooo adorable and fun.

We also got some AWESOME pizza! It was extremely delicious. It took what seemed like forever for it to come to our table, but boy, it was worth it. Mmmhmm. :)

I'm not used to city life. The crowds and the traffic were definitely not enjoyable, but it really makes me appreciate living in a small town.

Hope you all have a lovely evening!