Being Carried

I am extremely busy right now and have had to really structure my time to get everything done. My amateur photography business is going well and I am constantly either snapping photos or editing them. I also am in the middle of a quarter for my OTA program and it is absolutely crazy. I thought they were trying to kill us the first year and now I know that is so not what they are really preparing us for. On top of school and my business I am also considered a head teacher in my classroom at the daycare I teach at. I share the responsibilities with another teacher and I have been super busy preparing for our Halloween Party. My brother is also getting married this weekend and I am planning a trip to Rhode Island for the AOTA Student Conclave in November. So yeah, my life is BUSY!! However, this past Sunday while attending church I knew the sermon was going to be important because I actually fully listened to what the pastor was saying. Usually going to church I sit there and look through my planner or watch things around me (it's not that I don't like going to church, because I do but sometimes just being there makes me feel better). Anyways, I knew this week was going to be important because I read the verse (silently) along with the pastor and really payed attention to what he was saying. The title of the sermon was "God's Chisel" and the verse we read was Ephesians 2:1-10 "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Following the reading we watched a video that portrayed a man talking to God. God appears to him to explain the Ephesians bible verse. He does this by "chiseling" all the bad away from man to create his masterpiece. This movie really stuck to me because at the end the man says to God "I have let you down" and God replies "No you didn't, you never carried me. It is I who carried you." I have known this all my life, but I can't even count how many times I have felt like I have let God down myself, never once did it dawn on me that I never carried him but he carried me. I think about this all the time and it is definitely something to consider. If interested check out the video here: http://youtu.be/AhfUzodLRvk

Pinterest

I have found a new obsession and I cannot stop looking at this website. It is called Pinterest.com and it is a website that allows you to "pin" things that you like and save them to a board so you can keep them all in one place and won't forget when you saw it and what it was. The boards can be set up into categories like style, crafts, photography, and quotes. It is great and I have found so many great ideas on it. You do need to be invited to the website so interested comment me and I will send you an invite. Pinterest.com

It's Picnik not Picnic

First off I would like to say Happy October! I love October and I am so excited for it to be fall here in Ohio. Now back to the reason for the title and the new post, I do amateur photography on the side (in between school and work) and Picnik is my saving grace for photo editing! I love it and it is so easy to use. I don't need all the crazy programs on my computer, I simply log into the website, upload my photos, and edit how I wish. It is great and I have to brag about it. There is a free version and a subscribe version, only $25.00 a year for unlimited access to the website! If you have never tried Picnik go to www.picnik.com to try, it's definitely worth it.

Flying Horse Farms

A few weeks ago I had the volunteering opportunity of a lifetime. I volunteered at Flying Horse Farms in Mt. Gilead, OH. FHF is a camp that allows children with terminal illnesses to go for a week or a weekend and be a kids. They do not have to worry about doctor visits, hospital stays, and everything else that revolves around them being sick. When I first arrived, I did not know what to expect. I am not very outgoing so I knew that in order to meet knew people and have a good time I would have to instantly be able to stick my hand out and say "Hi, I'm Amanda, nice to meet you." Luckily, it was very easy and now I stay in contact with many of the people I stayed with. The week I volunteered was Hematology/Oncology week and the kids were amazing (amazing doesn't even describe what they were, they were indescribable). It is incredible to see all the volunteers and everyone that participates in these camps. I was worried I would be the odd one out, the last time I camped I was ten! However, this camp is different, it is exactly how they describe it Magical Transforming Fun. Every moment, from the camp fires, to the wish sticks, to the Camp dance, to the Luau. All of it is amazing!!! Every time someone asks me how camp was, I get a huge grin on my face and cannot stop talking about it. I love Flying Horse Farms and encourage you to check it, donate, or volunteer! It is an amazing time.

Baby Shower Cake

For my cousin's baby shower, I decided to make the cake at home. We aren't sure what the baby is going to be so I decided to use both pink and blue colors. I got the idea for the cake from Charm City Cake's Cake Tattoos. You can purchase them at any Michael's and they are simply pieces of icing that have print on them. So I baked two cakes an 8in and 6in round cake. For the 8in I had to stack two cakes together so I placed a Nutella butter cream in the middle. Once Stacked I iced both cakes with homemade butter cream icing. Then I placed the cake tattoos on and added some more butter cream decorations. I think it turned out great! And it was delicious.

Bridal/Baby Shower Pro

I can now say that I am officially a baby shower and bridal shower pro. I along with my mom threw two (one bridal and one baby shower, not for the same person) within three weeks of each other, and they were successful. I helped make the decorations for each and think of the games as well. In the pictures you can see that I made the hanging pom poms out of tissue paper and I also helped make the cake. For the Bridal shower we played How well does the Bride know the Groom, and Bridal Scattegories. For the Baby shower we took the Mother and Father -to-be names and had guests come up with Baby names, we also have our guests eat baby food and guess what they were.

Ohio State Fair 2011

This was the first time I have ever and I mean ever been to the Ohio State Fair and I can say, it wasn't that bad. We decided to go after church and was going to wait until it was later in the day, but since we knew the temperature wasn't going to change much we headed out during the early afternoon. The weather was hot but nothing that was excruciating and there were plenty of places to stay cool. Since I had never been to the fair, I did not know what to expect and I can say after spending six hours there we still did not see everything the fair has to offer. Some of the cool parts I liked that my niece and my nephews did too was the obviously the animals as well as the Park section. This is where they had all the great things about Ohio's parks on display and during this summer I have really begun to enjoy some of what Ohio's State parks have to offer. We got to see beavers, owls, skunks, groundhogs, and a bobcat up close (closer than the zoo) and it was really cool to see kids react. We also rode a ton of rides, well the kids did at least, and it was cool because they did not need an adult to ride with them this year. I got to see some of the vendors there and see my first roller girl game/derby (don't know the official game). It is definitely worth going back to again that is for sure.