I Will Rest in the Character of God

About a year ago I got an iPhone. Its been great! When I discovered the notepad on the iPhone I was so happy! I always found myself grabbing for a random sheet paper to write down my random thoughts and then would just end up losing them (always such a bummer!) But now I can write them on my phone and have them forever! People probably think, "Man, that girls is texting up a storm, she is going to get carpal tunnel's." or even "Who on God's green earth could she be texting a novel too?!" Well friends, yes, I do text a lot, but its more likely that I am writing out my random thoughts and prayers to God. I never share them with anyone, until today! For some reason, I just felt like I should share my thoughts from today. Warning-- it may not have any cohesion. But, my thoughts don't always have cohesion. YAY for the A.D.D mind!

April 23, 2012

In my confusion, the Lord is steadfast and sure. In my weakness, the Lord is strong and uplifting. In my hurt, the Lord is comforting.

For I am worthy of good things. I am worthy of better things than I think I even want. For my God knows my wants, but even better, He wants to give me my needs in all perfection.

I have given my life over completely to God. That includes everything. That includes my wants and desires. It includes my thoughts and my actions. That includes my future and relationships. That includes my gifts and passions. That even includes the promises I thought the Lord gave me. The Lord can give and he can even more so take away. I may not understand his taking away in this moment, but I press onward knowing that there joy in his EVERY action. For I have cried out, not my will but Your will be done! I cannot be upset with God. That's silly. For he sees the bigger picture. But I am just a spec in a massive plan. I can only see the tiniest glimpse of what is around me. But praise to the one whom I can look to in all hope. He is one I can continually boast in. He is the one whom I can put hope and trust in. Therefore my joy is in him! I may not be happy. I am downtrodden. But I have ETERNAL PEACE, HOPE, & JOY because my Father WHO created me in my mother's womb and has me written in the palm of his hand see's me! HE gives me identity. HE give me purpose. HE gives me HOPE & FUTURE. In the Psalms this man lays me in green pastures and leads me beside still and quiet waters. In Isaiah he lays my foundations with sapphires. He has turned my mourning into dancing!

The gospel speaks of this man (Jesus) & how he SUFFERED & DIED for me. Many would say the resurrection is the most important. But the cross. Oh if I could only understand & know the cross better. The cross. That's where it began. If it wasn't for the cross, there wouldn't be a resurrection.

He gives and gives and gives. Therefore, the ONLY thing I can ask of him is that he would have grace for me and if he is willing that he would use my hands and my feet to serve him and to go wherever and do whatever he needs! For there are people in this world who do not know this man and that breaks my heart and all I can say is, "not on my watch." They need to know the man who calls them by a new name and makes all things new. For he has come to bind up the broken hearted and to set captives free. All of our souls have an eternal longing and it can only be satisfied by his presence. Praise the Lord that I finally found where I belong. Now, it's my joyful duty to partner with God on his great journey.

Peach Ice Cream Day? Get Out of Town!

So this week I went on a baking craze! I made beer bread, granola, cookies, and peach yumminess. My friend Michelle came in town and lets just say, she, like me, has the passion for baking as me (if not more). So you get us together and we're gonna bake something.

When we found out that June 17 was National Peach Ice Cream day, we knew we had to do something! So we went to our local peach stand (yes, Waco has a peach stand. . it may or may not be in front of a gas station, but its a peach stand) and they so yummy! We bought some Blue Bell ice cream and came up with something good!

I decided that we also needed to make homemade granola bars.

Here is the granola! Its

has oats, peanut-butter, honey, brown sugar, cranberries, pecans, and white chocolate chips!! Get it my belly!! (oh, and it did).

Michelle did an amazing peeling and slicing the peaches. Its her favorite. (hmm). We (she) sautéed the sliced peaches in some water, sugar, honey, and a tiney bit of cinnamon.

Once that was done we took the peaches out and made a sauce from the left over liquid from the peaches. EASY. Leave it on the stove for a few minutes and add some cornstarch and you got sauce. We invited couple of our friends over and we devoured it.

SO, also this week, a few of my friends and I were bored and had to think of something to do. So, we played this game called 60 minutes. Everyone writes down something random to do and turns them in. The thing is, EVERYONE has to do it. Well, I'm not gonna lie, our challenges were a little lame.

1. Get a piggy back ride from a stranger

2. Hide in the Wal-Mart freezers

3. Build a fort out of paper towels in Wal-Mart

4. Scream in the Brooks quadrangle and pretend like nothing happen

5. ( I can't remember).

What also ended up happening, was fake interviewing people (and getting told to stop) and eating a $1 taco with cow tongue. It was actually pretty good. I would get it again.

Now, I gotta go back to real life and start my homework by reading a novel. (I dislike reading). But as someone once said, "Readers are leaders!" So i'll just keep that quote in my mind.

PS. I made made cookies today. Another post soon!

Until Next Time: Enjoy life, do something random, & have fun.

Laney :o)

HOLY SMOKES (this is going to be long)

So, its been since December since I have blogged!? I am really terrible at this aren't I. I'm debating where to start. I won't tell my whole life story, just give a little update.

So, its the summer here in good ol' Waco but its not so summer considering I am taking summer school. BUMMER. BUT this so far has been the BEST summer of my life.

At the end of May I went to Capetown, South Africa for a mission trip. So many people ask, "So, did you enjoy it?" I'm thinking are you kidding me?! I loved it! It was completely life changing as always. I've been on mission trips before, but after this one, it was confirmation that this was in fact what I wanted to dedicate my life to. To say "yes" to whatever God has for me and to bring him glory in everything. I do not feel specifically called to one place but to many.

My heart right now is to work with women and some children who are in Human Sex-trafficking. My ideas on this are so completely scattered. I want to take them out and pour identity in to them. I want to get their feet back on the ground by teaching them new skill sets. I would love to teach women how to bake and cook. I love to exercise and dance, so I would love to involve that as well. The list goes on. I am a Family and Consumer Sciences major so I am learning about families, children, adolescents, nutrition, housing, clothing etc. You get the idea. Most people say its the M.R.S. degree but really its the degree that has everything wrapped into one that women enjoy. Its preparing me with knowledge and skills to work with women. (plus, I haven't even gone on a single date since getting to college and I am now a Senior, so I would say I am not going for that M.R.S. degree haha!)

Maybe, I will open up a bakery and take women and teach them and give them a new job by having them run the business. Maybe I will just have a safe house with an open kitchen and teach them and their children and at the same time disciple them.

The verse that Lord gave me for my ministry is Isaiah 52:3
For thus says the Lord, "You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money."

EEK! So good. My heart and passion is for so many places right now.
Amsterdam. England. Cambodia. & Thailand and to other unreached people groups. But at the same time, I do have the desire to be in America some. So maybe I will do both! Its exciting that Lord gives you desires and passions and knowing that the Lord will work all things out together for good to bring him glory!

So enough of this scatter brained-ness. Here are some pictures of the South Africa Trip (can you tell that I am truly A.D.D. . fact).

So, have you ever walked into something and thought to yourself, "Yup, this is what I want to do?" Well this happened to me. The Lord was so good. This is me cooking for an African family. The two ladies Rachel and Priscilla taught me how to cook a meal for them. The Lord was just giving me a glimpse of what He has for me and the special gifting he has given me to connect with women.


This was the family that I really connected with in the township. The older lady is Rachel and the younger one holding the baby (Diago) is Priscilla.


This was my awesome group that I went with! Love and miss hanging out with these guys 24/7


Yes, this place is real!


What else have I been up to this summer? Well, I just got back from a road trip with two of my friends, Ayla and Kaitlyn to Wisconsin to go to SummerFest! (The largest music festival in America.) It was a blast. PLUS I got to see Jason Mraz for the third time! He never disappoints to put on an amazing show! AND on our way back we stopped in Chicago to go to Taste of Chicago!! That will have to be another post of its own.


Ayla and I at the Farmers Market at the capital in Madison, WI. It was early, can you tell?


Yes, I know I did it. I bought a Jason Mraz shirt. I always think those people who buy shirts and yell out "I LOVE YOU!!" at concerts are a bit much. I always feel badly for the artist. I'm thinking they are people too! They put on their pants one foot at a time too. But I gave in. I'll go ahead and say it, I love Jason haha he is truly a brilliant artist. He's been my favorite for 7 years. I'm allowed at this point.



Ok. This is embarrassing. After all that I said about those crazy fans, here I am with a Bieber cut-out. Wow, such a hypocrite I am. But I'll confess, I'm guilty. I really like this kid. :-/



Kaitlyn and I at Taste of Chicago "stomping" cranberries! Hilarious.



What I am doing now? I feel like I am finally doing EVERYTHING I love to do again! Its summer and I finally have time. I have recently picked the guitar back up and relearning how to play. Its been a blast. I signed up for dance classes (ballet, tap, & jazz). I feel old when dancing since my body doesn't quite move how it used to and I am only almost 22!!! I am taking pilates & yoga classes, and baking a little when I have time! I really want to go golfing but its been too hot. I also want roller blades and a bike. I feel like this is like a midlife crisis. But I am just fully enjoying life abundantly and experiencing the JOY that Lord has given me!

Things to come? Kings of Leon concert for my birthday and then CALIFORNIA to visit my best friend Rachel!!

Sorry this was SOO incredibly long.I think I really did end up telling my whole life story. I guess this is more of a place for me to vent haha. But if you actually read all of this I would say you need to get a life and find something to do. If you just looked at the pictures, well pictures speak louder than words and that's what I would have done. Until next time, enjoy life!!

Laney :o)

It's That Time of Year!!

So, why has it been so long since I have posted?? OH, its because I had lost my camera, but don't you even worry. Jade found it in her room. . . ha. So a lot has gone down since I last posted. Thanksgiving, baking, decorating, zumba, wrapping presents, cookie trays, and Christmas! woo!
I have found a new thing that I LOVE. ZUMBA! I go 3 times a week and I would go more if I could. It is such a blast and its working out. What in the world? I get to dance and move my hips and stay in shape. What a concept.
Well lately, I have been studying for finals and for breaks of studying I would bake/cook of course. duh. If you were lucky and sat with me you got my baked goodies! I made all kinds of cookies, oreo filled brownie cups, and trail mix that had honey and peanutbutter. I could have eaten that til the day I died. After finals I stayed in town and worked til the last possible day that I could. Ya see. . my parents moved to a teeny town with a population of 400. YEP. You saw that correctly, 400. I have to drive about 35 miles to go "into" town. It kinda stinks to be honest, I don't know anyone here and I have to travel to do anything. Love my parents and I love their new place, but still its rough. So at work I baked, decorated cookies, and made lots of cookie trays. I got some pictures to show! So I'll stop boring you with writing and just post some pictures. Pictures speak louder than words right? I think so.




these are some hand painted and butter cream decorated sugar cookies that I did. (most of them anyways)





yummy sugar glazed pecans and almonds and some white chocolate popcorn snack to go into goodie bags with the cookies



ok this is seriously the BEST bread pudding you will ever eat. White Chocolate Raspberry bread pudding. You will NEVER get the recipe out of me. Maybe if you paid me big bucks. . . even then MAYBE. Yes that is how good it is. My uncle said that it rivals his favorite bread pudding from a restaurant called Mercury in Dallas and thats a 4 star restaurant.




okay and lastly! Yup, I slaved away over painting cookies and I still didn't have time to finish. I had to finish packaging them in the car on the way up to Dallas. But the popcorn that went into them sure did make great snacking material. I told myself, "Whatever falls out of the bag I will eat. . somehow I kept "spilling". Ooops ;-) Also, if you want to paint and package cookies, make sure you give yourself many hours to let the cookies dry. I probably only let dry for like 2 hours so some got smooshed when packaged. The good thing is . . kids could care less, they will eat anything with sugar. . and so will I. My mom loves the cookie plain with out any icing. I'm not sure how many she ate. I think like 5 one day and 3 the next haha. We love cookies.

Then the picture of my lovely family minus my brother Christmas Eve.He got sick and had to miss the big family Christmas party :( Its always such wonderful time.

Until next time. . . I hope every single one of you had a wonderful and blessed Christmas season!!

DILEMMA!

So your probably thinking "Woah Laney, calm down. Two posts in one week?!" Yah I know, pretty crazy!
Ok, so a couple of weeks ago I went to this doctor who does Nutritional Response Testing (go look it up, its difficult to explain. . . or maybe I am just too lazy to explain). Anyways, he found weaknesses in my stomach and so right now I am on a strict diet. To get rid of the virus in my body I have to take whole food supplements and (are you ready for this. . . sit down) eat NO sugar, NO grains, and NO dairy for 90 DAYS!!! umm. . . Your telling that to the girl who bakes like everyday of her life and lives off sugar. So I am two weeks into it and lets just say, I fail at life basically. hahaha. but seriously. I have eaten more sugar (and junk food) in the past 2 weeks than I ever have in my life. Its so bad. Since someone told me I couldn't have something, its like its all I crave. Your probably wondering, "Well what on God's green earth can you even eat?!" I can eat any kind of protein, and pretty much as much of it as I want. I can have all kinds of vegetables (oh did I mention that when he said no sugar that includes fruits. . um yah). I can lots of peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter. . you get the idea. I live off of scrambled egg and turkey muffins in the morning. (on the days that I actually follow my regiment). So here is my dilemma. Why is it that I all of a sudden eat a ton and everything that I am not supposed to even eat? Seriously, I have gained some weight because I have been eating so unhealthy. Well, one reason is that I am a selfish, impatient, and anxious person. I go to food because I'm stressed and worried about this new "diet" that I have to be on. (I could go on, but I wont bother you with the sob story). But even if its going to be really hard, I must do it to 1. get rid of the virus 2. learn how to obey and be disciplined 3. become free from any inner problems that I have and not even realize.
So, I am going to blog every so often tell you all what I have eaten, so your kinda like my accountability partners. Remember, NO sugar, NO grains, NO dairy. BUTTTTT I have found some somewhat good recipes I can have for dessert which includes a pumpkin pudding sweetened with stevia and some spices. Its not bad actually. Then there is my favorite. .. ICE CREAM! yup I said ice cream. . how? Its coconut milk ice cream and its the bomb diggity bomb. So yah. Thats that. Wish/Pray for me this week. Its a new week and I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Its going to be difficult, but I am going to look forward to the reward that its going to bring me.

Psalm 139 (its great)



PS. go to this website, it kinda explains what I am doing.
http://www.nutritionalwellnesscenter.com



THE ICE CREAM SENT FROM HEAVEN.

long time no blog.

How cheeseball can I get with the title of this post? Seriously.
Well, I haven't had much time to blog, or more like I don't think about to blog with school going on. So basically what y'all have missed out on (which isn't much) is this. . . I am back at Baylor, I'm back working at Simply Delicious Bakery and still LOVE it! (I actually look forward to going into work). I changed my major to General Family and Consumer Sciences with a Nutrition Sciences minor. oh and I turned 21!!!!! woo hoo. It was a good birthday by the way.

I still do a lot of baking of course, but not as much at home since I have school in the way now and plus I work at a bakery. I did make about 50 cupcakes and 30 cookies for some business school meeting event and they all loved my stuff. It was so awesome to hear!! I DO MAKE GOOD STUFF!

Crazy story. This past week a man got super mad about a cake at the bakery. It was a $200 Mad Hatter cake and it was awesome!!!!!! It took Alyse 4 days to make. Well the phones rings and I answer. . . big mistake. "Simply Delicious" and on the other end, yelling and cursing and more yelling, (like absurd amount). What ended up happening was the dumb butt placed the cake in the back seat which is on a tilt. We asked if they wanted help out to the car and they said now. SOO the cake ends up taking a tumble. They must have been driving crazy because the cake was no more. He blamed it on us and demanded all kinds of things like money back, getting someone up at the bakery in 5 minutes and some profanity along with that. He called 7 times. The guy was a maniac because it was HIS SON'S 16TH BIRTHDAY DAMNIT. Well all be darn. I ended up crying because he wouldn't stop yelling at me after I asked him not to anymore. Our manager was out of town, and we weren't sure what to do, but we COULD NOT give him his money back b/c Angie (boss) wasn't there. oh but he wouldn't have it. Oh yah. Also, the wife signed the paper saying that once the cake has left the premises, it is no longer our responsibility. ANYWHO, Alyse and I ended up staying 6 hours after we closed to make the darn cake. And the woman who picked up the cake was so rude!!!!!!!!! and didn't even say thank you. So I made sure to say "YOUR WELCOME!"
As my aunt said that I should have said when the man was on the phone, "Well sir, quite frankly, you sound like your talking to someone who gives a shit." (excuse my language, but thats a quote.)

that was a long story short actually. But that man is no longer allowed on the premises of the property and my boss is pressing charges. INSANE. (did I mention his wife hugged me because she felt so badly and said that she was so sorry for his behavior and he had no right to treat me the way he did. Can someone say, abusive relationship, possibly? or at least, dysfunctional family).

Ok that is all for now. Thats a lot to take in and I apologize :)

Some pictures from my 21st!!






Laney

A walk in the park with an AMAZING breakfast for champions

Ok so I like to exercise! Its fun and its the only way for me to eat what I eat and not get fat hahaha! So my mom and I go on walks a lot (power walks). So we decided to go to Eleanor Tinsley Park in Houston. It was so nice! We actually got up IN THE MORNING and drive 45 minutes to this park. Now your probably wondering, "Why in the world would they drive that far to go walk in a park?!" Well thats a fair enough question. Besides the fact that it was just a nice change of pace. . . there was of course a restaurant around the corner that we really wanted to try. Baby Barnaby's. My mom and I have been to Barnaby's before and were very much impressed, so we wanted to try their breakfast only restaurant. Let me just say. . . best meal I have eaten. So good in fact that I ate two. . . thats right TWO whole breakfast plates.







The restaurant is KINDA like a little hole in the wall. But as oxymoron as this sounds, its a cute, fun, and quirky hole in the wall. Its super small, and has a maximum capacity of 35! WOAH. But I loved that fact. Its small, but it delivers LARGE portions, and BIG flavor. One thing I thought was super neato was this juice contraption. It freshly squeezed oranges, and threw the oranges in a bin. It was crazy. I watched that the whole time until my FOOOOOD came in. It was like a halo over food with a spotlight beaming off it. It landed on my table, and I was thinking, "Holy freaking moly." So what I got was a plate called Green Eggs. This would be scrambled eggs with monterey jack cheese and spinach and artichoke dip mixed in. I took the first bite and my mouth awakened to the best salty breakfast dish I have ever eaten. The eggs were cooked to perfection, nice and fluffy and the creaminess of the cheese and dip in it, practically melted in my mouth. With the eggs came potatoes and apple chicken sausage (delicious) and two pieces of wheat toast.
Ok so I ate pretty much ate that entire plate. The next plate was supposed to be for my mom AND I to share. An apple pancake. This was like no other pancake I have ever eaten. This was almost rectangular shaped and HUGE. I have had bigger pancakes than this one, but nothing like this one. This was the most fluffy, moist, and cake-like pancake. The apples were perfectly placed in the pancake and were seasoned and cooked to perfection. My mom literally ate two bites, and I ate the REST. I would eat a bite and eat some more and I would put it down, and say ok I am done. I feel sick. But somehow that fork kept getting picked up by MY hand and placed into MY mouth. Eventually the whole thing was gone. I then washed it all down with my fresh squeezed orange juice.
This was in fact hands down, best breakfast joint I have ever gone too. Soon enough my "fullness" hit me like a giant rock. When I got home I took a 3 hour nap hoping that after that I would feel great. Oh no, there was still a rock in my stomach. ANYWHO. The stomach pains were totally worth it, and I would do it again and hope to do it again!!

Baby Barnaby's
602 Fairview Street
Houston, TX 77006

NEXT POST: My 21st birthday! Be on the look out!

Laney