2014 Lookback

Surprise! I'm still here...and it's only been seven months since my last blog post. If I don't blog right at this moment, it might be another seven months before I decide to write again, so here we are.

The most creative thing I can think of at this moment is a quick review of 2014 through photos. 

January 

School was gearing up, winter was in progress, all I wanted to do was take pictures of myself. 

Just kidding, I was creating outfits for a photo shoot I had in February -- please notice how absolutely tiny my waist was one year ago. 

|1.26.14| Some serious outfit construction

February

A highlight of the month: Planning and enacting my little bro's surprise birthday party.

Not pictured: The Birthday Boy

|2.17.14| Eagerly waiting for the birthday dude

March 

Remember when I said that I redecorated my room over Spring Break? Well I actually really did. I just never blogged about it. So whether or not it legally happened is probably up to a lawyer... 

|3.22.14| Pictured: A Banana and a Kaffin and some Wet Paint

 April 

There is only one day of the year when I'm actually inspired to wake up at 5AM. The Easter Sunrise Service is always beautiful, but especially so this year. 

|4.20.14| Sunrise at Selah Ranch

May

Finished the Spring Semester and celebrated. Many times. I also started thinking about weddings...

|5.26.14| Casual Girls' Breakfast Club

June

I bridesmaided it up for this lovely new sister. Note to the wise: Planning a wedding in less than two months is not for the faint of heart. Please just trust me on this. 

|6.29.14| Big smiles

July

Rather a perfect wedding, if I do say so myself. Also bridesmaided for this wedding, of course.

However, I think two weddings per year per family is about one wedding more than the human brain/body/stress counter is supposed to handle. 

|7.25.14| Bridal Party Edition

August

Aside from finishing up a summer internship and recovering from two consecutive family weddings I went to the beach once and also drove to San Jose and Back (A Katherine's Tale by Katherine Krive) solo for the first time... 

|8.17.14| The foggy GG

September

I became a legal adult (and still feel somehow gypped because I've felt 20 for about three years now...), drank a lot of coffee, did even more homework, and felt thankful for Labor Day off of school. 

|9.26.14| Day before my birthday at Della

October

We got a cute doggy, the Shelbster, sometime around here. Also I dressed up as a flapper for Halloween because that's important. 

|10.29.14| My baby

November

Well, I voted for the first time so that's something. 

|11.4.14| Baby's first vote

December

I dressed up and took pictures. What else is new. 

But really, Christmas was lovely with all the family from near and far. And tons of presents bc tons of people = tons of presents. 

{PS I took second semester calculus so I can calculate things now}

|12.20.14| Haircut and self timer skills

|12.25.14| The Best Day of the Year

It was a whirlwind year, and I'll leave it at that. Although 2015 is already looking up as stiff competition in the whirlwind title... Cheers! xx

A Little Bit a Lot

{Enjoying summer = hair dramatically blowing in the wind}

 One might say that I feel a little bit a lot guilty for having abandoned my readers to the howling wilderness of life without Reflections on the Window. One might be correct. One might also be incorrect. Because let's face it-- summertime is HERE!! If your summer is going half as splendidly (or busily) as mine is going, than I doubt you even noticed my absence. 

In the indubitably breezy summer spirit {note: indubitably is my favorite word, and I needed a spot to stick it} of June, I am going to write few words, give fewer pictures, and take my adieu 'til next time. I really do have blog post ideas saved in my phone for a day when I feel more intellectual and less like watching the next episode of Mad Men.

So, in no particular order. 

A few things I love about summer {A Little Bit a Lot}: 

• Friend time!

I am a people person. I love books too. But people are where it's at. I've been able to have some amazing friend dates since school ended, and I just love it! Pardon the gushing. I've read Anne of Green Gables (and the subsequent four books), Little Women (and it's two sequels), and seen a few too many rom coms in the last couple months. 

{My darling Heather}

• Work Adventures

I shall use a beautiful piece of coffee art (created by a friend) to represent my entry into the world of more-than-ten-hours-of-work weeks. Not that I've actually need coffee... I'm working twenty hours per week at a summer internship with a company in Petaluma, and it's been fantastic! I was also asked to work part-time at Julie Nation Academy, where I was previously interning, and I love the people and JNA so much that I decided to devote four point five {and sometimes more... read: I worked seven hours today} hours of my Saturdays to working in Santa Rosa for them. 

{I love Peet's coffee a little bit a whooooole ton}

•  Babies Babies Babies

Would my life be complete without small, adorable, cuddly children? Doubtful. Technically, this picture could be combined with my work adventures, because I DO spend two hours a week supervising seven children (with the AMAZING help of my friend Abigail), but babies really deserve a special bullet point. Are we seeing lil pacifier Ava in the front row???

{Back to Front, Left to Right:
Hannah, Abigail, Elly, Matthew, Ben, Ava, Cayden}

• Food

I should probably not be as excited about food as I am. Perhaps then I could achieve my weight loss goals {I literally only want to lose five pounds, and it is literally not working}. However! I am unashamedly in love with food. Especially because eating food is often combined with friend-dates. 

{Lily Kai's in Petaluma is a new favorite}

• Summer Weather

Sometimes the weather is so perfect here in California that I feel like exploding. I really do live in one of the most perfect {weather-wise, anyway} places on the planet. We've had some hot days, we've had some cold days, but we've definitely had more than our fair share of just-right-in-the-middle days. 

I must confess something...

This evening sky brought my close to tears last night.

Sometimes God's creation is overwhelming beautiful. 

{Sunset in Petaluma}

I should definitely include something about bikram yoga here in the spirit of summer fitness goals, but as I mentioned before, I'm not really feelin' it right now. So I shall take my exit.

Cheers!!
Xxx

Springtime {Summer in Waiting}

{Special blurring effects. Always appropriate.} Today I was inspired to go out and cut roses from my mother's garden in order to make my room a veritable bower of springtime. Or something like that... While we're being honest, I wanted to make a beautiful flower arrangement to post on Instagram because my life is controlled by social media. I have also included a couple other pictures from this beautiful spring season, for your enjoyment.  I also included these fun bracelets and knick-knacks in my flower-shoot. I picked them up at the antique fair, yesterday downtown Petaluma! Because, let's face it. Sometimes you need to ignore homework, and photograph flowers instead.  {I have a minor obsession with cloud-photography. My Instagram is proof of this. But who could resist such a sight?!} {Antique fair! I love my little town} {I call this arrangement: "The Lone Rose"} {"Smoosh the Flowers into a Vase and Let Them Look Gorgeous"} {"The Afterthought"} Because I actually thought of this picture after spending about ten minutes on the other arrangement, and I ended up liking this at least as much.... The problem with my blog posts is that I have all of these important issues to talk about, and then I forget them. So. I hope you enjoy flowers. Happy Springtime!! XOXO -k

Post-Lent Results

{Baguette time!! Take me back to Paris, please.}

Just a quick mention on the things I gave up for Lent, since I do believe that I talked about sugar, at least, in a previous post. Unfortunately, I still can't eat bread (with gluten), that was not a Lent fast, but I just think this little boy running with the giant baguette is adorable.

{Snapchat}

The thing I gave up from the beginning of Lent (March 5th), was the smartphone app called Snapchat. In case you don't know--basically you take pictures of yourself or random objects and send these pictures to your Snapchat contacts. The pictures have a lifespan of up to 10 seconds before they disappear forever into the void. I'm just mildly concerned that the cookie monster fills this void, and he's laughing at my mirror selfies...

I was using Snapchat WAY too much, and it seemed like the appropriate thing to give up for Lent. I made it! It honestly was not too hard to delete the app from my phone and just not think about it after the first couple days. It's definitely a bit embarrassing that this is actually something I could give up for Lent as a "sacrifice." But hey, you've got to do what you've got to do.

{Sugar}

I decided to give up sugar about halfway through Lent. This was something that I had considered before, but never really had the wherewithal to go through with. Apparently, the time was right, this April. So, I did not eat any foods with added sugars for three weeks! (Until yesterday, of course...)

 Last year before I went gluten-free, this would have seemed crazy. To give up sugar for even a week would have been a huge mental struggle. However, after having lived without gluten for over eight months, even though I spent almost seventeen years of my life eating food with gluten in it, my mental state has definitely changed. Giving up sugar for three weeks was tough, but not impossible.

Yes, I had a stomach-ache after eating some maple syrup on breakfast foods yesterday. But you will be pleased to hear that I am not back to my chocolate consuming, normal self. 

Did you choose to fast from anything for the Lenten season (or part of it, like I did with sugar)? I'd love to know what you chose!

Xx,

Easter Whirlwind

{Selah Ranch, 7:26AM}

  The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

It's definitely a wonderful feeling to burst forth with our "Alleluia's," on Easter morning, after forty days of restraint. I always feel such amazing unity with the congregation of believers, as we lift our voices in unadulterated rejoicing at the resurrection of our Savior.

This morning began for me at 5:15AM, as I got up to leave for a "Sunrise Service" out at Selah Ranch, about twenty minutes from my house. The service was stunning! The weather this year was the most beautiful weather we've had at the sunrise service for as many years as I can remember going--which is a few...

My family and I drove to breakfast at a friend's house (she invites the entire church, every year, and lots of us do make it ;), where we enjoyed copious amounts of bacon.

Our main church service began at 10:30AM, and as you can see, I was not special enough to get someone to take a traditional picture of my Easter outfit. I definitely took a selfie instead. #noregrets #okaymaybeliketwo

After resting at home for about an hour, my family went over to yet another friend's house for a share-a-dish meal with our church family. We lasted from 1:30pm until about 5:30pm.

THEN my dad, three brothers, and I made our way over to Coldstone to celebrate a brother's 22nd birthday. Obviously, we had to eat some Panda Express as an evening snack since it was immediately next door.

After shopping for some beverages at Sprout's, we are finally back home, enjoying drinks and relaxing before two of my brothers have to drive back to their various cities for work, tomorrow morning.

I hope you had a lovely and blessed Easter, filled with His joy!!

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the 

place where the Lord lay." Matthew 28:6

Bliss {Out in the Sun}

{4/9/14 and also perfection} 

I'm having a difficult time deciding my favorite type of weather. Like extremely difficult time. I love rain because I can snuggle indoors with a fire in my woodstove, a mug of delicious tea, perhaps some dark chocolate, and a favorite book. But then this weather we've been having in California... I really don't think the weather could look or feel more perfect. The shining sun, the absolutely stunning clouds, the balmy weather {*mostly* perfect temperature, although it has gotten a bit hot at times}, did I mention the clouds?!

On Sunday I was feeling too lazy to do productive things. So I went outside, climbed onto the trampoline with a giant bag of air-popped popcorn and my phone {which has my current reading: Anna Karenina}, plopped onto my back, and munched contentedly whilst staring at the sky. I was planning to read for a few minutes, but the weather was actually perfect. And I mean that. So I just lay there, letting the day roll by, feeling like the world could go on without me because I was much too comfortable to move.

{I took a picture, but then I actually did this for real. My trusty popcorn by my side.}

{And then I sat up because SKY!}

{Blue sky just barely streaked with white clouds. Too lovely.}

{My walnut tree wanted in on the photoshoot}

{Doesn't the sky look peaceful?}

{Sun-kissed cheeks and pretend sleep. Just for the camera.}

I hope you get a chance to take a break from the world and soak in the sun, this week! Xoxo

The Struggle is Real

{All day, every day}

Post-Spring Break Struggles. I could definitely write a book on that. Instead, I shall take the next fifteen minutes to ramble. 

Spring break is an amazing week, and I am utterly convinced I could not make it through an eighteen week semester without this one lovely chunk of time in the middle to take a break and decompress. HOWEVER, this is the end of my first week back at school, and I'm still struggling to get back into the swing of things with good study habits. It's kind of like running {for myself, at least, I don't know about all you professional runners out there...}. Once I start running, I like to continue running for the duration of whatever distance I have set myself because if I stop to take a walking break it is excruciatingly difficult to get the motivation to start running again. It's mostly a mental thing, I know. Isn't psychology interesting? 

So, here I am, trying to work up the motivation to run again. I definitely wanted to turn off my alarm this morning and curl back into my fluffy blankets without giving a thought to the quiz on Linear approximations, Differentials, and Hyperbolic functions, I had in calculus at 9am. Alas, I really do care about my grades, so I rolled out of bed, did some quick studying before leaving the house, then made my way over to school. 

This morning I was particularly unexcited about life because....

*Grumbles*

1) I did not feel prepared for the math quiz, and I hate feeling unprepared

2) I've been exhausted this entire week, and had a rather large sleep deficit this morning

3) I had to drive up to Santa Rosa, immediately after math class for something I thought was a waste of time and gas

4) Did I mention exhaustion? 

5-8) I was definitely sleepy and tired

As I was walking from my car to my classroom, my phone pinged with an email. It was the daily email that a friend of mine sends out with an encouraging Bible verse: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear." (Isaiah 59:1) Reading this verse helped me to pause the whining voice I had going on in my head, calm down, and refocus. I said a quick prayer for alertness before sitting down to take the quiz, and I felt 1000x times better, just from this simple motion. 

*Blessings* 

1) I got 100% on the math quiz, which I really did not deserve because as I mentioned, my study habits have been lacking focus this week

2) The meeting I had in Santa Rosa was a much more profitable use of my time than I had anticipated AND I was able to make it on time because a car pulled out right in front of me before I had been looking more than two minutes for a parking spot. {Note: It can literally take forever to find a parking spot at the SRJC campus. This is huge.}

3) My Spanish class was exciting enough to keep me awake, and I ended up loving today's activities

4) I definitely got home and crashed. I usually don't nap... But when I do, it's for 2.5 hours.

So, my day went a million times better than it really ought to have gone, thank God {literally}. And I think I'll be able to get enough rest over this weekend to get back into the swing of things. No promises. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

• My room redecoration is almost completely finished! I am so close. I shall do a before/after post on it soon because I'm in love with my new set up. 

• I have decided to give up sugar for the remainder of Lent because I have not been feeling as healthy as I would like. So! I'll let you know how it goes. I'm already craving chocolate. This is the right decision, I just know it. Okay, so actually I just realized that this literally means I cannot have chocolate for over three weeks. WHAT HAVE I DONE. 

Ciao&Xx,

PS this took longer than 15 minutes to write

In Which Gluten-Free Cupcakes are Created {St. Patrick's Day Special}

{Step Two: Gather Ingredients}

I do believe that I promised a special post as soon as Ali and I baked gluten-free cupcakes {See Friendship on Monday, if you don't remember!}. So pin on your aprons, grab your raw, whole-milk, and don't get too concerned because my laptop battery is at 30% and it's 12:44 AM,  and I'm ready to wow you with my incredible baking prowess and then get some sleep.

Step One: Arrange Baking Date 
Obviously, the fun of baking is exponentially increased by doing it with a friend, especially when you're not the most competent baker in the world {me}, and really just need someone to make sure you don't put in tablespoons instead of teaspoons. As mentioned, Ali and I have been planning this gluten-free, cupcake baking extravaganza since February 23rd.

Step Two: Gather Ingredients 
I want the world to know that it is indeed more difficult to bake gluten-free red velvet cupcakes than regular cupcakes because the ingredients are just not as mainstream. Thankfully, Ali  and I managed to find all of the ingredients necessary without even a single grocery store run! We mixed almond flour and white rice flour, among other things...

Step Three: Mix Ingredients

This is where we really had fun. We definitely took turns measuring and pouring the ingredients in because, let's face it, it is SO much fun to push the flour off the measuring cup and make a perfectly level cup of flour, then pour the cup into a mixing bowl and watch the flour go *plop* in a perfect little circle. Everything was going smoothly, but then Ali told me to put in the butter. Now, I'm not entirely sure what she said, but my brain translated, "put in 3/4 of a cup of butter." I did this. As I began cutting the butter up inside the bowl, which already had flour and sugar and coco powder inside, Ali looked over and mentioned, "Wow, that does look like a lot of butter...." We then discovered that it was supposed to be *3/4 of a STICK of butter* which is half the amount that I had put it. Being the resourceful bakers that we are, we pulled out half of the butter, and washed it off for use in the frosting, later to come.

{Our poor, coco and sugar-coated butter}

{Butter-washing. It's a thing.}

Step Four: Make Sure Ingredients Are Actually Mixed 
So the thing is, I'm housesitting, so I don't know where every single baking utensil is in this house.... We couldn't find the plug ins for the electric mixer, and so our two separate bowls of red and green colored cupcake mixes were looking a mite butter-flecked, if you know what I mean. I mentioned the resourceful bakers? Ali and I improvised! And out of our improvisation I do believe we have actually invented the fine art of Butter-Mashing. We got down and dirty with that cupcake mix, and mashed.that.butter.

Butter-Mashing!}

{The fine art of....

 Step Five: Preheat the Oven because You Forgot to do this Earlier
The title of this step is basically this step. So enjoy the picture...

Step Six: Fill Cupcake Tins. Bake Cupcakes. 
Our green cupcake mix definitely looked a bit like some sort of alternative Kale-flavored mash, but we heroically carried on the operation and got our dozen cupcakes into the oven without further ado.

Step Seven: Make Cream Cheese Frosting 
It was at this point in our cupcake creating process that Ali and I discovered to our great amusement that we did NOT need the one cup of milk that Ali had told me to bring. To this very moment, no one knows why she told me to bring milk. It was extraneous.
Anyway, we pulled out the cream cheese from the refrigerator, rejoicing that we had not had to go out and buy cream cheese, we poured the powdered sugar on top of the frosting, when suddenly I exclaimed, "ALI! I don't think this is cream cheese...."

{This is Neufchatel Cheese. Not Cream Cheese. Oops.}

But can I really be blamed? Honestly. This box looks just like a cream cheese box. Unfortunately, it turns out that is in fact a cream cheese substitute. We made due, but are quite convinced our next frosting will taste more correct.







Step Eight: Pull Baked Cupcakes out of Oven and Cool in the Bathroom 
So, there are two very hungry dogs at the house I'm staying at. We decided to be safe and put the cupcakes in the bathroom with the door shut while they cooled off. I'm not saying this step is absolutely necessary. I'm just saying--it totally worked.

Step Nine: Frost Cupcakes. Take Pictures
We frosted those cupcakes with knives! They looked perhaps not quite as perfect as they could have looked. Our spirits undampened, we smiled with pride, and posed for a multitude of pictures, futuring *drumrollplease* Gluten-Free, Red {and green} Velvet Cupcakes!

Step Ten: Watch Copious Amounts of Television While Eating
Basically, we watched four and a half episodes of Call the Midwife, became addicted to the show {British TV, I tell you...}, ate two cupcakes each, consumed the milk that we hadn't used for baking purposes, drank two cups of tea, and each devoured a lime flavored popsicle.

Also, we took more pictures than I even put on this post, believe it or not. So enjoy one more picture of the two most competent, hipster, classy bakers you will ever find anywhere. Probably. Maybe not. I make no promises....

I hope you enjoyed the Cupcake Adventure. Go bake some right now. It will be worth it.

Xxx,