one year Ago...

Hello.

 Today marks the "one year anniversary" of when I started this blog. I've been thinking it, and I felt that such a momentous day deserved a blog post. But I have a problem... I don't really know what to write about.

 I could write about how much my life has changed during this last year. How I'm finally starting to figure out what it is I want to do with this life God has given to me.And how, as I'm figuring things out, I still get so scared. How I've learned am learning to trust God with every aspect of my life.

 Or maybe something simple like how I like my handwriting a bit more than I used to. I still don't love it, but I'm OK with it now.

 Or I could write about how ""cookie day adventures"" sort of just faded away into nothingness.

 I could write about how much God has shown to me; how He's shown Himself to me; how He loves and cares for me. And how the trials I've gone through have brought me closer to Him, and have assured me that He will always be with me.

 Maybe about the friends I've made, or even just met in passing. About what great, supportive friends I have, new and old.

 Or I could simply write about how this year has made me realize that I'm growing up. Whether I like it, or am ready for it, or not. And that being 18 is quite a bit harder than being 17.

 But I don't think I'll write about any of those things.

 I really don't know what to write about...

It's been an eventful year :)

Xoxo,
           <3 ichelle

Pumpkin rice pudding.

My friend shared this recipe with me the other day, and it looked so good, I decided to try it out today. It's a really simple recipe, and you don't need a lot of crazy ingredients in order to make it.

Pumpkin Rice Pudding
Adapted from notwithoutsalt.com

1 cup brown rice
2 1/4 c water
3 cups milk (I used 1 cup of rice milk and 2 cups of almond milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt – vanilla salt is wonderful here
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine the rice and water. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes.
Add the milk, brown sugar, salt and spices to the rice. Bring back to a boil then turn the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Add pumpkin and vanilla. Cook on low for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit 15 for minutes. Serve warm with lightly whipped cream.
Can also be served cold for breakfast.

I felt like it needed more spices, but it tasted lovely anyway :) I can't wait to try it after it's been in the refrigerator for a few hours.


Xoxo,
         <3 ichelle

...something

  Today's been a bit gloomy. The clouds can't make up their mind as to whether they want to cover the sky or not. The wind has been blowing all day. When I'm upstairs it feels like our roof might blow off. But it's not just the weather. It's something else. My mood today has also been pretty gloomy. Maybe the weather has something to do with it. Maybe it's the fact that my feet are cold. Maybe it's because the computer doesn't seem to want to let me look at my pictures from my SD card... Or maybe it's a combination of all of those things. I'm not quite sure what it is, but I can't seem to shake it.

  Last night, as I was trying to go to sleep,a thought came to me that made me realize that I've been falling into a pretty dangerous thought pattern. I've slowly begun to compare myself to people. Namely, other girls who, look prettier, are more intelligent, are more graceful. . . girls who seem to have it together. I've always been fairly comfortable with my body. So last night when my thoughts came around to "how I wish I could be like that", I stopped myself. I don't know exactly when I had started to let these thoughts find their way into my mind. But I know that I don't need or want them to stay there. As I was writing this my sister texted me with a question, and my answer to that question made me put into words the thing that I've been trying to get at here... No one is perfect. Even the people who criticize the way you do things or how you look, are not prefect. People are all different. Some people are better at some things than others are, but they still aren't perfect. The only Person who ever was and is perfect is Jesus Christ. God made all of us different, with different talents, looks, and thoughts, and I'm really glad that He did.

  It only matters what God thinks about us. And He's really more concerned about the inside of your body. . . Not the outside.

  I started writing this, not really knowing why I was writing, or even if I was going to post this in the end. Who knows, maybe I won't. But I felt that I needed to write...something.

  I'm so glad God has a purpose for everything.

  Maybe I will post this after all.

         "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks on

the outward appearance, but the Lord 

looks at the heart." 

1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV)

~ <3 ichelle

Aqua Nautilus.

   A few weeks ago I saw a giveaway on a blog. Love, Milk, and Honey was hosting a Sea Lillie giveaway to win one of Sea Lillie's Aqua Nautilus necklaces.  To enter, you had to write about your favorite beach memory. I entered, hoping to win, but definitely not expecting to. I put the the necklace somewhere in the back of my mind, and went on with life. One day, the contest came to my mind and I decided to look on Love, Milk, and Honey's blog to see who won. Imagine my surprise when I saw MY name! I noticed that the winner had been announced a few days earlier, so I sent an email, hoping I wasn't too late. I wasn't! Fast-forward a week or so, and the necklace arrived in the mail! It's so beautiful and I really do think it will remind me of the beach whenever I wear it. 

 

  

Thank you Love, Milk, and Honey and Sea Lillie!!

~ <3 ichelle

New Year's EVE...

 The new year as been here for a few weeks now, and the "newness" is already starting to slowly wear off. I don't think I have written the date wrong yet...

 I don't usually make New Year's resolutions. In fact, I don't think I've ever made a New Year's resolution. I actually came close to not making them this year... So close, that I made them a day or so after the New Year had started. But that's OK too. Better late than never :) My New Year's goals this year are: drinking more water, regularly; and going to sleep earlier... They are pretty simple goals, but I've been failing pretty terribly at them. But...all I can do is try my best and take one day at a time.

 All that said, here are some pictures I took on New Year's Eve to pass the time until midnight came...

I hope everyone had a lovely New Year's Eve :)

~ <3 ichelle

navy BLUE...

   For the winter formal this year, I decided to make my dress. I have always wanted to make a dress, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to do so. 

 I got tulle a few months earlier and I got the material that was to go underneath it --which was actually a sheet or curtain of some sort -- a month or so after that. The tulle I got for about $8 and the sheet I got for free. Which means I spent about $10 or less on this dress (because of the dress pattern, which I got at a thrift store, that I used for the skirt; and the thread and such). Not bad :) In October I had drawn out what I wanted the dress to look like. I kept the skirt part of the pattern in mind, and then designed the top.
  

I started making the dress about two weeks before the formal, but I spent maybe 4-6 days actually working on the dress. I had in mind what I wanted the dress to look like, but I couldn't find a pattern for a dress that looked like what I pictured, so... I decided to use a pattern for the skirt part and then make the top by myself. 

It actually turned out really well. The back seam is a bit crooked and I've never seen a dress fasten in the back as this one does; I was afraid I was going to rip it or have some other malfunction while I danced (which it didn't!), but...

 I like it.  And I made it :)