Valentine's Day Weekend

This has been another long weekend extended by snow!  I am so thankful for all that!

Here, I made my own healthier version of banana pudding!  Instead of pudding, I used a banana cream yogurt (and added some vanilla froyo) and used cereal and graham crackers instead of vanilla wafers.  Add in some mushed banana, and there you have it!

Thursday morning, Dad and I got up before sunrise to face the road conditions to go skiing at Cataloochee.  The roads were a little sketchy in places, and it took a while longer to get there than normal, but it was totally worth it!  I have never seen so much snow there in all 12 years that I've been skiing!  We called it "mini Colorado."  They actually had a foot of powder.  The Meadows on the backside from the top was also open.  If you have never skied in powder, you just do not understand how much burn it puts in your legs.  I am really sore today!  It also flurried snow the whole time we were there.  I had an absolute blast.  It brought back memories of last spring break.

This morning I made my own miniature cinnamon rolls!   They're very easy and can be made however you like.  All it takes is whipping up your own icing, slicing up some bread, spreading on the icing, rolling it up, and sticking it in the oven!  Then you have bite-sized, healthy cinnamon rolls.

See, look how cute.

I am a big fan of Hobby Lobby and all their positive and inspiring decorations.  Mom and I went today to see what all has come out since Christmas, and they're already on the ball for all the spring holidays!

This was a wall decoration with one of my most challenging and favorite passages of scripture, 1 Corinthians 13.  Considering today is Valentine's Day, it went quite well.

Sometimes it is extremely hard to love people.  We may think that doing good things is, well, good, and it is.  However, we are not called to just do "good."  God's Word tells us to "do everything in love."  1 Corinthians 16:14  Without love, our good works are not true.  Sweet and simple, this passage lays out what true love is:  patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, not self-seeking, not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs.  It does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.  Love always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres, and love never fails.

I always get a little gift from my mom and dad for small holidays, too, and this is what I got this year:  A daily "calendar" of Peanuts inspiration!  I'm so excited to see something new each day!



 

Another daily thing I've been doing lately is looking at a daily promise from God on 365promises blog.  The author paraphrases a promise from God's Word as if He were speaking directly to you, then puts it with a beautiful picture with the original verse below.  It's a great way to remember how much God loves us.

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has a magazine called Decision that they send out each month. The big features in the latest edition were stories about the Duck Dynasty opinions on homosexuality as based on the Bible's Words.  I started reading them today, and have seen some very interesting views of this issue.  A quote I really liked was by Ross Rhoads:  "Someone may argue, 'I was born this way.'  All people are born with the tendency to sin, but that does not justify yielding to sinful acts."  Many of the magazine's stories from "Ducking the Issue" are also online.

Peanuts

Peanuts is simple and sweet, but can be applied to everyday life!

"So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God, in a crooked and warped generation.  Then you will shine like stars among them as you hold on to the Word of Life." 

Philippians 2:15-16

"Bear with each other, and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

Colossians 3:13

 

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

1 Thessalonians 5:11

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

Proverbs 27:17

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:31

Updates!

Today starts another extra-long break from school!

We are only scheduled to be out Friday and Monday for President's Day and teacher work day, but last night, Tuesday, they called off today because of this "snow storm" that is coming.  It has just now started flurrying, but we'll see how it goes!

The first weekend in February, my aunt and uncle from Richmond, VA came to visit.  I love getting to spend time with them because they are just so funny!   My cousin is on the far left in this picture; we had a larger family lunch one Sunday afternoon.

That Sunday night, my church had it's Super Bowl Party!  This is my friend Britt and, in the back, Landry, who helps a lot with all the music and projector slides at youth!

Abby Hicks is one of my best church friends!  I've known her since preschool, and we even have the same birthday!

Monday, I got to run with one of the twins; unfortunately, the other is on the DL.  She will be back soon, though!

I was so excited last week to get an instagram notification from @youthrunner.  They do a weekly #yrcontest where they choose a winning picture from all who have used the hashtag.  One of my team pictures was chosen as a weekly winner!

  Youth Runner is a magazine that covers all kinds of running events for all ages!

Week-Long Weekend

Well, I am pretty ticked off right now.  I went to update and publish this post that I had worked on for a long time last night, and it deleted every bit of typing that I had done, even after I had saved it multiple times.

So here goes round 2.

I can't remember ever seeing this much snow on our back porch!  I snowed for over 12 straight hours!  We had no idea that we would be getting any snow at all, so this was a very pleasant surprise.

During cold weather, Mom lets Sophie inside, and she always makes a beeline straight for my room.  I woke up multiple days this break to a cat literally walking across my face.  She also loves to sit in my desk chair and refuses to move.  She finally sat up and took a very short look at my AP US Government and Politics.

I got this idea from a retweet I saw on my Twitter feed.  It's a peanut butter banana roll!  All you do is flatten out a slice of bread, spread some nut butter on it, and roll up the banana!  I used Peanut Butter & Co's The Bee's Knees, which is the best PB I think I've ever tasted!

What could be a more exciting food to try than cereal?  This week I found

Nature's Path Sunrise Crunchy Maple, and it is fantastic!  Honey or maple makes everything taste better!

While I was snacking on some cuties the other day, I had some "defective" ones that wouldn't peel right, so I had to slice them.  Sucking the innards out, I thought of how silly I looked, so I decided to capture the moment.

Friday, Mom was no longer afraid to drive on the roads because most of it had melted on the main roads, so she took me to the Jefferson City Community Center to swim and run on the treadmill while she went to Walmart.  This was probably the best workout there I've had!  It felt great!  Afterwards, we made a lunch date at The Creek Café again.  I love going to small businesses and helping people out, so I made sure to get some of the Fair Trade coffee while I was there!  I also added some cinnamon hazelnut to it as well.

Yum!

Today is Small Business Saturday!

Their coffee cups are cute, too!

This morning, Dad and I got up early and headed to Cataloochee to get in a morning of skiing.  Conditions weren't too bad, and it wasn't cold out at all!  (Compared to some days we've had lately, anything above freezing is a heat wave.)  Crossing Douglass Lake, we were shocked at how much ice was still over the top!

Queen Sophie claims her overlook of her kingdom while I enjoy the warm weather, actually getting to wear shorts and a tshirt!  I hadn't shot basketball in so long, so I decided that I would go for it.  No matter how long I go without playing, my muscle memory always comes through!

This is my wonderful Dad!  Although he is the biggest procrastinator I have ever met, when he does get around to doing things, he always does a great job.  Spaghetti is one of those things.  Whenever Dad is going to make spaghetti, I just expect it to be hours after normal dinner time.  But there is not a spaghetti out there that can compete with his!

Look at all those peppers and celery!