A job in the making?

Last Saturday I was asked to volunteer at a financial advisor's banquet and I gladly accepted the invitation. This is for my father's friend that he works with and he a culinary artist to say the least. He caters, does floral designs, a costume designer, and graduated from Johnson and Wales culinary arts college in Providence, RI only 20 minutes away from where I used to live! It's a small world after all huh? It is so neat and he promised me a job when no one else would, that is why I attended his banquet as he is having trouble getting the money he needs to open up a new restaurant in our downtown area. He asked many close friends to the banquet whom were all financial advisors, it was so interesting to be apart of something like that. I loved the discussion that was going on between him and them, and now we are praying that they will partake in his amazing idea to open up a restaurant that provides the town and many surrounding areas with healthy, homemade fast food rather than the unhealthy fast food that's everywhere in our town. The food was absolutely delicious and watching him prepare it was fascinating as everything he did was a work of art.

 

Here are pictures of what he did for the banquet:

 

 My favorite was his healthy version of a pork loin soup, I made sure to have a bowl of that.

 

 

 The food was just, yum!

 

 

 Desserts in all their glory

 

 

 Those were cheesecakes and the basket contained macadamia white chocolate nut cookies 

 

 

 This cake was simple yet elegant in its own way, if only I liked chocolate...

 



No alcohol for me! He poured seven up in some of them but I prefer water. 

 I loved the appetizers and the salad!

 

 

The little pork loin appetizers were temptingly delicious

 



 The quiche he made was a meat lovers with a soft crust and it was yummy!

 

 This is a sample of a wedding cake that he designed and one lady has asked for it to be designed in gold, first customer!!

 

 

 Seashells nestled in a large vase of water, it reminds me of the ocean



Did you know that these flowers are actually fake? They look incredibly realistic!

 

 

The food was delicious and I refrained from going up for seconds or having desserts but it sure was hard!

 

Could I ask you all to pray for me? This is the only glimmer of hope I have received from anyone about a job and I would definitely appreciate if you all could pray for me, I sure could use them!

 

I love food, how about all of you?

It's beginning to feel a lot like winter!!

I didn't believe that North Carolina would ever get cold enough to actually bundle up in winter gear, but it actually does and the shock on my face said it all! It was so nice to be able to feel cold weather again, and then a cold rain settled upon the day making it all seem more like home. I am heart wrenchingly homesick for New England, the weather, the ocean, the four seasons, the snow, and even some of my friends that I had to leave behind so very long ago. This coming March marks a full year since we moved down here and I am longing to return home. The chilly winter weather only increases my somber feelings but I know that God has my family and I here for a reason so all I need to do now is trust in Him and allow his plan for our lives to prevail. Now only it felt like this around Christmas time, I believe that it would have felt a lot more like Christmas rather than unusually warm weather we had instead. But life is an experience, and I can say that it truly was one!
 Even though I am pining for home, I want to experience life down here because the North and the South are completely different from one another! Polar opposites in every way, it's been quite an interesting journey and I am glad that I was able to experience something that I probably never would have had I been given the choice. All I know is that I am a northern girl that's trying to make the best of the South haha! I am thankful though for the very cool temperatures that we have been experiencing these past few weeks, or as many are calling it, "The Polar Vortex!" I think that is very funny to say the least.



Candy for the gingerbread houses

 

 



Eden holding little candy balls as she called them

 

 

Faith picking a green spiral mint candy to place on her house

 

Not sure what Jacob was trying to do in this photo! But his face is so adorably funny!

 

My dad helping with the construction of the houses. These all turned out great except I never snapped a picture...oops!

 

Enjoying it all with a delicious hot mug of Irish Breakfast Tea, what else could be better?

 

 

 



Leaves frozen in time

 

Shadow Selfies

 

Sleeping peacefully all bundled up in layers of blankets and jackets. All you could see was his little eyes, I just love Brayden!

 

 

 I am so thankful for everything that I have, and for the cold winter weather! So how is the weather where you all are living? Has the Polar Vortex affected your area?



Another chance to start over again.

 A new year has come upon us once more, and it's as if God has provided us with another chance to begin anew to start fresh. It's a time when we let go of our past mistakes and try to correct them by making our annual New Year's resolutions. But in all honesty, how many of us actually keep them? I for one am one of those people who struggle on a day to day basis just to make it through the list of "to-do's" I made the night before. Well this year I have decided to try and keep the resolutions I made by keeping myself accountable to God and following his word and not my own. This is one thing that has never occurred to me and I feel a bit ashamed of myself for not doing it before. But 2013 was the most difficult year of my life and I never, never, never, EVER want it to happen to my family or myself again! My relationship with God was tested to the extreme, I felt as though I had been torn to pieces and that I wouldn't ever be able to be sewn back together. I shut myself down, I was going through the motions of life but I never allowed myself to feel anything, not love, not anger, not happiness, not sorrow, absolutely nothing. It was just me, myself and I. At first I thought it was depression, and many I have talked to agree that it was a form of depression. I suffered physically and mentally for it let me tell you though. My hair thinned out, I actually had to cut it to prevent the scraggly ends and I always had long hair, ALWAYS. I was borderline anorexic which was really frightening for me. And since the age of 13 or 14 I had pretty mild to moderate acne, I had it under control for a few years but with all the stress it flared up pretty severely. I was a complete mess, I hid myself away from the world hiding in the darkest of shadows never revealing what I truly thought, I was afraid and didn't want to endure the pain of everything all over again.

But I am now on my road to recovery, I have found the path that leads to God once more and I feel as though this is a whole new year and I am stronger after all that I've been through. My relationship with the Lord is astonishingly stronger and better than it ever has been and I have healed or am healing in other areas too. My hair has become thicker, I no longer starve myself, and my acne has healed up so now all I am left with are scars from my past breakout. God has healed me and I am extremely grateful for how faithful he has been. Even when I thought I wouldn't ever see the light, God revealed to me that there is hope, hope that life does go on amidst the pains and sorrows of life, and that joy and peace can be found if one seeks Him. I understand now, it was not easy believe me but it was all worth it.

This new year is a chance for me to start over, through God's guidance and everlasting love, I will be able to persevere and live on.

My New Year's Resolutions:

1. To walk closer with God
2. To read my bible more often
3. Finally be able to find a job (another post on that later on)
4. Once I start making money, purchase my own car
5. Earn a diploma in a vocational career (as back up for a day when I might need something more than a job at McD)
6. Write more children's stories/poems
7. Move back up North!!! I miss it so much!
8. Visit my brother Evan and his girlfriend Taylor in New Hampshire! :)))
9. To just read, and read, and read, and read!! Did I mention read?
10. Exercise more! I love exercise and nutrition so very much!
11. Perfect my bread making skills
12. Eat a low sugar diet, only reserved for special occasions and even then very little. It throws my body out of balance.
13. Save money for the future
14. Pray more
15. Wear a lot more skirts, they are so feminine and can be dressed up or dressed down. Maxi skirts are my absolute favorite and my best! (From Charlie and Lola)
16. Enjoy the time I have with my family because one day I will not always be with them (sniffles)
17. Eat lots of figs, I adore dried figs!!
18. And I am not sure of anything else?

Well that is all I have for right now, but I am sure there is probably more that I am just not remembering at the moment. I hope you all are having a wonderful and blessed New Year so far!

And here is my favorite song that I am currently loving right now!