I love food.

Seriously, though.

One of my favorite parts about coming home is the fact that I get to eat a lot of really good food. And I get to make whatever I want!

So tonight I made Broccoli and White Cheddar Mac 'n Cheese and Cake Batter bars! YUM.

Follow the links if you want the recipes :)

 http://www.lovintheoven.com/2011/08/cake-batter-bars.html

 http://cravingchronicles.com/2011/03/31/broccoli-and-white-cheddar-mac-cheese/

my face hurts a little.

One of the many perks of my mom being a flight attendant: spur of the moment trips to Cancun! We left Saturday and got back this afternoon.

I was so ready to sit in the sun and just be warm all the time, but unfortunately, the weather just wasn't cooperating. It was super windy (after being on the beach we had sand plastered everywhere on our bodies, even in our ears) and the sun decided to show only yesterday. Oh well. It was still fun being together and playing many, many games of Settler's of Catan :)

Another perk of my mom being a flight attendant: we all got first class on the way home! I love first class...they give us chocolate :)

My face got a little sun-burned yesterday, but it will just be tan in a few days so I'm not worried :) 

being positive.

I have a new motto in life and other girls in my unit have caught onto it too :) I wrote PA :) (positive attitude, not Pennsylvania) on  my hand one day to remind myself that although I absolutely loathe bio lab, I needed to think positive about it and create my own happiness. And that ended up being the best bio lab ever!

Ever since high school I have had a negative and pessimistic attitude about life and everything in it. It was kind of depressing and made life sad. But I am changing now for the better! It isn't always easy, but life is so much more enjoyable.

In the last couple of weeks I feel like I have really grown in having a better attitude. When I am down, I start thinking about why I am down and then try to remind myself of how truly blessed I am. Jesus loves me after all! That should be enough to make anyone happy :)

"Fake it until you make it" works too. Sometimes when I am crabby I fake that I am happy until, amazingly enough, I usually end up in a really good mood!

I still have days where I just do not want to be positive. I still have my "I hate life" days and "people are stupid" days. I'm not perfect and I'm not going to pretend I am.

This quote by Martha Washington really sums it up for me:

"I am still determined to be cheerful and to be happy in whatever situation I may be, for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions and not our circumstances."

I also love this quote, it helps me when I really don't want to be happy:

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort :)

 I hope this inspires you to try to have a positive attitude more often! It really does improve your outlook on life and makes you a happier person :)

so SMILE :)

weekend in PA!

Last weekend some of us girls went to Chelsea's cabin in Pennsylvania! It was so relaxing and fun :) Chelsea, Mariah and I got there Thursday night and spent Friday doing nothing. It was wonderful :) We made and ate a lot of food, watched a movie, did homework, made a puzzle and ate dinner at a restaurant in town. 

 Making breakfast!

 Beautiful sunset :)

rock in the shape of a heart!

 There was a killer wasp and I thought I was going to die...but Mariah killed it!

puzzle time!

The other girls (Madison, Sarah, Hayley, Bria, and Darcy) arrived around 9 at night. Sarah and Chelsea's friend from home, Anna, came too. We talked, stayed up late, and had a dance party :) Again on Saturday we spent the day making and eating food, watching movies, doing homework, going for a walk, played games, took pictures, did our nails...it was sooo much fun just to hang out with everyone!!

 jUmP!

 :)

 silly us :)

 Roomie <3

 Bria and me!

It was so wonderful to spend all weekend in the mountains of Pennsylvania with some of my favorite people :)

sunshine!

Since I have gotten back there has been nothing but SUNSHINE here in Ohio :) Sunshine and 50-60 degree weather!

 Thus I have been in a pretty good mood all week. Everyone else has too! Well, most people.

It's amazing how much the weather can affect a person's mood. Usually it's cloudy and dreary here and most people (including me) just seem tired and not as happy as usual. Then as soon as we have a nice sunny day people change their mood!

Monday was our first nice day and everyone was outside running, playing frisbee, studying, playing soccer, etc. It was kind of comical, honestly. Everywhere you looked there were people. My friend Rachael described the scene as something right out of a college brochure packet :) it was so true!

I am not ready for winter anymore because it has seriously felt like spring for the past four days. I don't know how I will handle it when it snows again (assuming Ohio sticks with it's bipolar weather).

Hunter is 16 today!

Hunter and I have always been pretty close and we usually get along.  Growing up we would spend hours together playing hotwheels, beanie babies, house, and dress-up (where he sometimes would let me pretend he was my little sister).  We would fool around in the kitchen thinking up crazy concoctions and making people eat them. On rainy days we would have an indoor picnic or build a fort out of blankets.  I can’t imagine my childhood without him!

He’s one of my best friends; he knows me better than anyone else. He has seen me at my very worst and at my very best; at my crabbiest, and at my happiest.  I have told him things he probably didn’t want to know and things I don’t want others to know.

 

We have convinced people we are twins.  Some people think he’s older than me, and others think he is my boyfriend (which never ceases to make the situation awkward).

Yes, we fight sometimes. We are siblings after all. But we get over it eventually. I am stuck with him, so we may as well get along :)

My brother is truly amazing. He is such a sweet, caring kid with a heart of gold.  I love his determination and his strength; his compassion and his joy. He has the best humor and is one of the only people who can make me laugh no matter what. 

Jesus is looking down with joy on this little boy.

Happy 16^th Birthday, Hunter. I love you so much!

surprise!

I am in Minnesota for the weekend! It's Hunter's birthday tomorrow so I came home on Thursday to surprise him. I had been waiting to do this for a whole month; I was so excited!


My mom picked me up from the airport Thursday afternoon. We got home and my mom went upstairs as I rang the doorbell. She told Hunter to get the door but he didn't want to! So she had to come let me in after I rang the doorbell three times and I went downstairs to Hunter. He kind of stared at me with a blank expression on his face and then he smiled really big and gave me a big hug :) he is so cute!


Yesterday I went to Northwestern college to see Kelly and Amber and to meet all of Amber's friends. It was a lot of fun!

It has been so nice seeing the sun every day. I forgot how much it can affect my mood for the better :) I'm used to rain and cloudy skies every day in Ohio!


Today we are having a family birthday party for Hunter so we will be having a lot of company in a bit. I can't wait for Hunter to open up my presents :)