Where I was.....

Its raining today. Just like it did 9 years ago on September 11th 2001. I remember that day clearly, because it was a really bad day, even before we heard about the twin towers crashing. We went for a walk in the park, and everyone was grumpy. We also went to work out at the YMCA, and that is when we heard the awful news. I was really young then, and I didn't understand, but what I did understand was that something was really, really WRONG!

In May of 2001, guess where I was? At the VERY tip-top of the Twin Towers. (It was either May, or June, so it was 3 or 4 months before they crashed) We were in New York for a missions trip. (We saw the Statue of Liberty, from a distance, as well) I also clearly remember being very nervous, and frightened when we reached the top. Just thinking about it now makes me shiver.

So thats were I was........ Where were you?

"O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.

America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea."

Never Forget

Fall is coming!

School has started and fall is coming. I am kind of sad that summer has ended, (at least for me) but fall has some good things about it as well. I always struggle with fall clothes though. What to wear.... I recently went to Target and bought a pair of gray suede boots, that I absolutely LOVE! I also bought a purple solid color shirt, and a pale blue shirt.

What exactly do you think are fall colors? When I think of fall, I think of deep, dark colors. Burnt oranges, dark greens, plum purples etc. But I don't really like those colors. At least they don't look that great on me. So I was thinking of using lots of gray, blue, different shades of purple, and some green. Not exactly fall colors, but I like to change things up.

I only like fall sometimes. (Confusing, I know :) I do not like fall when it is always dark and dreary, and when it rains a lot. I like fall when it is just starting to get cool, and the leaves are slowly changing. Last year fall was very depressing. (And winter- to much snow!)

Several days ago I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache, and white chocolate curls on top. YUM!! I used the chocolate ganache recipe from Georgetown Cupcake. All you need is 2 C. chocolate chips, and 1 C. heavy cream. Easy, right? You just put a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water and add in the chocolate and the cream, while stirring the whole time. It only takes about 3 minutes to make, and it taste great! After I made the cupcakes, I had left over ganache and I dipped pretzels in it. :P They also said that it is great warm, over ice cream. I am sure that would be wonderful. ;)

-Caroline

My Favorite TV shows part 2

Here is another of my favorite TV shows

POLICEWOMEN OF MEMPHIS

From L to R: Virginia Awkward, Arica Logan, Joy Jefferson, & Aubrey Olson

I actually do not know why I like this one so much, but I do! I guess that since I really like to read Nancy Drew books, I like mysteries, and I like seeing crime dealt with, its a perfect match!

I used to want to be a policewoman when I was younger, so that could also have something to do with it! Ha ha

I doubt if I would be brave enough to do some of the things that they do.

You can watch Policewomen of Memphis online on either Hulu, or TLC

My favorite TV shows

I thought I would do a series of posts on my favorite TV shows. So here is number 1!!

DC CUPCAKES!

Not only is DC Cupcakes a cute show, but all of their cupcakes are homemade, and look delicious!

Sophie (on the left) and Katherine (on the right) are sisters who opened up a cupcake bakery in DC called Georgetown Cupcake.

You can go to this site to view their list of flavors!

Their bio:

"Georgetown Cupcake is DC's destination for gourmet cupcakes. We bake our cupcakes on site daily and use the finest ingredients- Valrhona chocolate, Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, European sweet cream butter and gourmet chocolate sprinkles."

Meet Katherine & Sophie

Georgetown Cupcake was founded by sisters Katherine Kallinis and Sophie LaMontagne. Katherine and Sophie traded careers in fashion and private equity to pursue something a little sweeter — their passion for artful cupcakes. Both lifelong bakers, inspired by their grandmothers, Katherine and Sophie opened Georgetown Cupcake in February 2008 as DC’s first and only cupcakery.

All of their flavors sound fantastic! I can't wait to go there some day. :)

Can you say "YUM?"

All of the pink boxes behind them are used to package each cupcake. How cute!

In several of their episodes, both girls have worn matching pink rainboots, black pants and shirt, and pink aprons. Not only can they make amazing cupcakes, they have a really cute sense of style!

You can watch DC cupcakes for free online at TLC or Hulu.com

XOXO

Caroline

Hammocks

I just found some amazing hammocks on google images. I know they must cost a heck of a lot of money, but they are really fun to look at! ENJOY!!!

My week

***Warning*** Boring post

Babysitting, watching Americas Got Talent, hanging out with my grandparents- thats what i've been up to! I just got back from babysitting about 30 minutes ago, and I am now watching Americas Got Talent. I really Like Nate Kenyon, Future Funk, RNG, and Debra Romer. I was sad when RNG got out, although I didn't really like their last audition.

Family. I brought my best friend with me to my grandmas house. My Aunt Cyndi was also there. She is the coolest but really out there! She is kind of the "Hippie" of the family. She is hilarious, and my friend and I had a good time with her.

So thats what I have been up to. That and.... Well... Dreading school. What about you?

Magic Sparklies

I found this fun little thing off of Let the Tide Pull Your Dreams Ashore, who found it off of Queen Bee Swains blog!

Magic Sparklies: random things that make you happy

Tiramisu

Running outside in the rain

Singing in the car

Eating raspberries

Clean sheets

Mascara

Building things with my Dad

Cooking

Cake decorating

Starbuck's water cups (random, I know!)

Reading Anne of Green Gables

Getting dressed up

Getting a package in the mail, or sending one

Peonies

Nutella

My turquoise ring

Finding a great deal

My attempt at photography

Watching Dancing with the Stars, and Foyle's War

Writing list

Spray painting

Bunnies

Finding a robins egg

Reading Ina Garten cook books, cover to cover

Getting tons of books at the library

Accomplishing something you think that you could not do

Missions trips

Art

The Ocean

My little faux pearl earrings

Tote bags

What are your "Magic Sparklies?" ;)

CCR

Happy Belated Birthday, America!

Since I took a blog break, I never told about my 4th of July! So here goes......

My family and I went to my Great Aunt Shirley's house. She is the coolest great aunt ever!

She lives in a really old town, that was actually named after my relatives. When we got there on the third, she took us to a little cook out, at a park where we listened to some people talk about Independence Day, and our Founding Father's. There was also a tea sampling, quilts people had made, and a drawing. I won some muscadine cider, (Muscadines are a type of grape) it was.... Interesting. :)

After that we went swimming in a gorgeous lake. Some of my relatives own a house on it, and we called to ask if we could go swimming off of their dock. I would LOVE to live there! It is a gorgeous place, and you can see to the bottom because it is so clear. (Except for where all the algae is) We got ice cream cones and sat out there the whole day. We took tons of pictures of us jumping off of the dock- My profile picture is one of them.

On the 4th we went to church with her, went back to the lake, and that night, watched fireworks from her house. We also did some sparklers. We were all very sad to leave her, but we will definitely be going down there again!

What did you do on the 4th?

-Caroline

Giveaway

The Messy Apron is giving away a Vera Bradley box filled with recipes from her blog- be sure to check it out!! Ends Friday, July 16th.

-Caroline

My favorite Bible verse

Here is my favorite Bible verse, and it really helped me when I was traveling to the Dominican Republic

"When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the LORD, your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."

-Isaiah 43:2-3

⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹ If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

~ Psalm 139: 9-14

Go To Kellys Korner to see more

My trip

I got back from a missions trip to the Dominican Republic on June 27th. It was wonderful! I am so glad I went. I feel like I have gotten closer to the Lord and that I have made lots of new friends.

My group met up at my church (At 2:00 in the morning!!), and then we took a bus ride to the airport. We had a 4 hour and 45 minute lay over, and everyone was so tired that we all slept in the airport.

My group was working on landscaping. We worked in mud, and mixed it with horse manure- yum. We also planted lots of grass. Unlike here in the USA, they pull up grass and then cut it into small pieces with a machete, and stick it into the ground. When I was not needed doing landscaping, I helped build stone steps.

(Some Dominican money- Pesos)

Another thing I really enjoyed was having a cut out time each morning for devotions. One of the team leaders would give a brief lesson and then send us off by ourselves to read our Bibles or write in our journals. They also served hot chocolate and coffee every morning, and their hot chocolate was the best that I have ever tasted. It was basically like drinking a melted chocolate bar with half and half in it. :)

We had lots of rice & beans, as well as tons of fresh fruits & vegetables. Here was our schedule-

Get up at 6:00

Devotions at 6:30

Breakfast at 7:00

Working until 10:00

Pineapple break at 10:00

Working until lunch

Lunch at 12:00

Working from 1:00-3:00

Cookie break at 3:00

Working until 5:00

Showers & free time at 5:00

Dinner at 6:00

Group devotions at about 7:30

Free time

It wasn't all hard work though. One time they took us shopping at some little stores, another time out to eat, to get ice cream,(I got coconut ice cream) and to go buy snacks. The place was absolutely beautiful.

On June 24th they took us to stay with a Dominican family. (Who was a Christian and worked with the camp) Our whole group (23 of us) was paired with a buddy and taken to a house. The people I stayed with were really sweet. We basically just slept there and ate breakfast with them, then our whole group met up at one house. On the last few days we worked in the city picking up trash, and building a roof. We left the Dominican on the 27th and got home on the 28th at 1:00 AM. I was sad to come home, even though I had missed my family. I still feel weird in America. There are no roosters who crow at 2 AM. No mosquito netting to sleep under. No crazy bus rides. I don't know... Its just so different here. I know there are good and bad things about both, but I really miss the Dominican.

When I got back I also found out that Ginger, my rabbit had died. I miss her so much. We think that she ate some of her shavings, but we are not quite sure. I am definitely getting another rabbit, but I doubt any rabbit can ever replace her. I loved her so much. I find myself missing her so much, and even though I only had her for a little under a month, I felt like I had had her for forever. Please pray for me about that- I would really, really appreciate it.

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Its good to be back. Hopefully I will be blogging regularly.

CCR

Just got a Rex!

I JUST GOT A REX RABBIT! Oh my goodness! Her name is Ginger, and she is a total sweetie pie. She is 3 months old. This picture is not actually her, but this one looks similar-

Has anyone else owned a rabbit? Any thing special I should know about?

Well I am off to go play with little Ginger!!

XOXO

Caroline

Giveaway!! Check it out: Murfee scarves! Perfect for summer.

A look into the Past

I found this wonderful picture website off of Muffy Martinis blog, and just had to share!

Notice how so much has been changing around these places (a tree is gone, a lamp etc.) but several things have remained the same. What an amazing thing to do!

Xx

Caroline