The Countdown Begins..17 days until Spain

Pictured above is the town I will be staying in, Puigcerda...


Hello all!

I am getting excited about my trip to Spain which will include but is not limited to:

Hanging with kids.

Hiking.

Going to Barcelona (hopefully).

Sailing to Ibiza.

Learning. Learning.Learning.

Spanish.Catalan. French. annndd who knows how many other languages.

Growth! (In my relationship with God and in understanding myself!)

Driving a standard vehicle (oh help).

I am going to try to keep up with this blog and keep everyone updated on how my trip is going! :) So come back and see what you can see in a couple of weeks!

It's Been Awhile!

Hello.

Well it has been a long time since I have made a blogpost. I doubt anyone ever reads this anymore but I am going to try to post more this semester. So I am graduating and I am feeling kind of sad but also really happy. This is definitely a season of transition. So right now I am just trying to figure out what I want to do this summer (suggestions are accepted AND appreciated). Okay! Enough serious talk for now. I have a fun little story for you all.

My friend Bethanie and I went to a jewelry company's trunk show of sorts to showcase their jewelry and try to convince you to become a partner or whatever. We walked into the beautiful Austonian (a residence in the middle of downtown where very wealthy people live) and the staff led us to an elevator where we went allllll the way up to the fifty-fifth floor. The room was lovely and all of the ladies at the event were beautiful. It was fun to feel a little glamorous and sip on the mimosas and snack on the croissants. The jewelry had a cute concept but the quality of the metals left something to be desired.

Bethanie and I ended our fun little outing by enjoying the walk back to our car and playing a piano that was downtown on Congress. There are lots of pianos placed all over the cities put on by a program. They are only here for a couple of weeks though!

Hope yall have a great weekend!

-Ames

Can I get an opinion????

Okay so how much is too much to spend on something really good that I would use everyday...Honestly I don't think spending $21.00 on something you would use everyday for a couple months is a bad investment. I am posting this because I have been debating buying a really nice brand of mascara....It is called "Lashgasm" by Too Faced. It is amazing. It truly changed my opinion of what mascara can do. So yes or no? Buy the mascara or run away from it?

Interesting....

Doesn't this Gardenia look like is smells amazing?? :) I love Gardenias!

Last Sunday I found myself in my green Toyota Camry lost in some random part of Richmond, Texas trying to get myself to a wedding on time. I was flustered and annoyed when I finally arrived at the wedding (slightly late) and as I settled into my seat, I realized something.....

I smelled. Not a good smell by any means but a kind of sweaty, embarrassing smell that comes when you forget your deodorant and then sit in a dark green car with leather seats with a heat index of at least a hundred degrees (no matter how much you run the AC, it's still hot) for about an hour.

ANYWAYS the reason why I am talking about this is because I did not realize I smelled bad until I sat down in the lovely, cool church which had fresh roses decorating the aisles. I thought that it was very interesting that I did not realize I smelled until I surrounded myself with people and a place that smelled good. This made me think about the power that those you spend time with have over you. If you are constantly surrounded by people who do not live their lives for Christ you may find that their "scent" permeates your body.

I really believe this is why Christ tells us is Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers: 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night."

So I would encourage you to be careful of who you are surrounding yourself with. I have honestly struggled with this issue myself but the Lord is clear about the way you should live your life. Do not walk, stand, or sit near the wicked, those who sin, or those who scoff.

Have a lovely day! :)

-Amy

Stir Frying Up Some Trouble!

I was in such a great mood after finishing all of my classes yesterday I had some friends over for dinner and the meal I fixed was stir-fry! It was really quite fun and interesting to try something different but I first had to find a recipe....I found one online and ran over to the grocery store to get all of the fresh veggies and chicken required (Oh, and some teriyaki sauce of course!). As I was checking out I realized that ALL of the vegetables I had purchased (carrots, green beans, broccoli, and bok choy) would not be able to fit in my largest frying pan which is not even that large. And then I had the wonderful idea that I could buy one of those things, what do you call them?? Oh, right a WOK! But then reality shot into my head and goes 'where in the heck are you going to get thirty bucks to buy one of those puppies?'... The rain was hitting the back of my neck when I ran to my car with a worried look on my face, how was I ever going to pull this meal off? But then I had the wonderful idea of running into the Goodwill next to Randalls to see if by chance they might have a wok! I ran inside and there it was, an amazing wok for only six bucks. It really is quite amazing and heavy-duty! Thankfully a shopper next to me told me that I better grab a lid for it (which didn't have a price tag so I did not get charged for it). I rushed home and began the task of chopping up the vegetables I had purchased. At the end of the night I was very pleased with myself for trying something new and different. It was so much more fun and interesting to chop up the veggies myself and do everything by hand than buy one of those ready-made bags of stir-fry (those can be lifesavers at certain times though, don't get me wrong). I also felt pretty good after eating the stir-fry, much better for you than a big piece of pizza or heavy pasta. Here are some pictures from last night....

Did I mention I also made some chocolate chip cookies :)?

Everything is all chopped up and ready to jump in the Wok! It is actually a lot bigger in person.

(notice: this picture was taken today as I forgot to take a picture of it last night...)

I encourage you to try making a stir fry! My only advice is that you get the freshest veggies possible, Randalls is not so fresh :/...

Cheers! -Amy Elinor

P.s. For those of you who have not had the immense pleasure of meeting my new purse in person, here she is, Celia....I will forever be indebted to Stephanie Erin Bostwick!

A Very Long Day!

I have not posted in awhile because I have not really felt inspired to do so but I thought I would tell y'all about an interesting and long day I had!

7:00am- Wake Up, Go running

8:00am-Read the Bible, Eat some breakfast

9:17am- Catch the bus to school

3:00pm- FINALLY get out of class (after five hours)

4:00pm- Leave for volunteering at the hospital

8:00pm- Get off from volunteering, head to the library

-get some Chipotle! yay! :)

9:00-11:30pm- Study at the library

12:00-2:00am- Study at home! woo!

So basically my Monday was not the best of Mondays. But I have to admit, it felt great to be so busy! I would have liked to have been that busy without all of the feverish studying though! I had two tests and a listening quiz that Tuesday so I had to get my nose to the grindstone. I did okay on my tests and quiz but not as well as I would have liked on one of my tests.

Sorry if that was supeerrr boring to you! :) It was just something I have been thinking back on. I really do enjoy being busy sometimes. It is nice to be able to look back on a day and really feel like you have accomplished something.

On a side note I have really been getting into the world cup! Anyone else enjoying the interesting games and match-ups? :) I especially like this match up....

Hope everyone has a happy Monday tomorrow and that you get something accomplished!

Love, Amy

Well Hello There Red Bull

This picture made me laugh for some reason.... haha I love Bluebonnets (thank you Mrs. Johnson!)

This week has been a little crazy for me. I did not get to go home for Easter because I had to study for two tests scheduled for Monday (which consequently I did not do too well on). I also had a test that I was supposed to take Tuesday but it got moved to Thursday because the teacher messed up the copies of the test. I also have a HUGE paper due ("Huge"= length and meaningfulness) on Thursday which I am slowly but surely finishing. The paper I am writing is actually a policy brief. The subject is mandating HPV vaccines for girls. I am actually learning a lot so if you ever want to know anything about HPV, HPV vaccinations, or the current policy in Texas regarding mandated vaccines let me know! I have really enjoyed my Children and Public Policy class (which is the class I am writing the paper for) even though my teacher is a serious liberal. I'm pretty sure she thinks that we should all be heavily taxed so that everyone can be equal, countries like Iceland are an example. I would like to go to Iceland and talk to the people about the way they feel about being taxed so heavily. When one looks at the data in regards to Iceland they are on or around the top ,in comparison to the world, in many things: low infant mortality rates, education, etc... My teacher argues that we should spend less money on the military and space travel (not sure how I feel about the space travel thing, maybe it is a good idea?) and more money on the health and well-being of children. I get what she is saying but a part of me wonders...What if a terrorist attack happened in Iceland and military assistance was needed right away, my guess is that the US would be right there to protect the small country. (Am I right?)

Forgive me if I sound ignorant, that was just an idea I had. What do y'all think?

Let me know! :)