Upcycle in Style

Sunriver provided some mixed weather; a little bit of sun and a LOT of clouds. We went on a bike ride for about an hour and a half and went to the furthest bike paths possible. I can never get over how pretty this place is! We were surrounded by trees the entire time and passed by miles of the Deschutes River. Here's the view from the river a few nights ago while I was reading...

This place is amazing. This WORLD is amazing. I think we take for granted how beautiful this place really is until we get out and explore it for ourselves. Just being here makes me realize how awesome God is by creating this for us...and yes, he created this FOR us. He also gave us the responsibility to take care of it. Here are a few well known versus about our duty as stewards to the earth...

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth." [Genesis 1:26]

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. [Genesis 2:15]

"The land is not to be permanently sold because it is Mine, and you are only foreigners and temporary residents on My land. You are to allow the redemption of any land you occupy. [Leviticus 25:23-24]

You made him lord over the works of Your hands; You put everything under his feet: all the sheep and oxen, as well as animals in the wild, birds of the sky, and fish of the sea passing through the currents of the seas. [Psalm 8:6-8]

The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord; for He laid its foundation on the seas and established it on the rivers. [Psalm 24:1-2]

I know that I may not be the most "eco-friendly" person but I realize that I need to try harder to take care of this place we call home because, well, God said so! There are countless versus about the punishments for not taking care of the earth, so I think He means it when He says that we are supposed to watch over his creation. Upcycling, recycling, and being eco-friendly are all trending topics right now. Here are some (simple) ways to be trendy and take care of our planet by reusing what you already have...enjoy!

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[PS...check out Etsy or Craft Gawker for more ways to reuse and recycle upcycle]

Walls and Stuff...

First full day in Sunriver! We mostly shopped and explored Bend so it was a good day :)

I was exploring Etsy and came across this CUTE wall art. I think everyone has probably seen the "Home Sweet Home" vinyl stickers and these outdo those simple phrases by FAR. They're a little spendy but can be worth it if they're considered a permanent investment in home decor, not to mention it's a whole lot easier than having it painted on. 

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Outdoor Wonderland

I'm in Sunriver! Right now I'm hanging out on our back deck and the sun is shining, what else could I ask for? The weather isn't supposed to be as hot as it was in the past, but it's still going to be nice :)

Five things to do while at Sunriver:
one. Float the river
two. Bike (a lot)
three. Get tan
four. Check out the snow on the mountains
five. Read and get into God's word!

I'm so excited to get a chance to do number five without feeling like I have a hundred things that I need to do instead. For me, staying caught up with reading my Bible is the most important part of my relationship with God, and for good reason! The Bible is truth and this is one of the ways that we learn what God wants for us and what we can do to become closer to Him.
While I'm sitting on the deck I'm thinking about different design potentials of this backyard and patio area. Here are a few of my favorite cute, clean, and country backyard settings.

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Waffles and Wannabes

I hemmed a dress! I actually sewed ACTUAL fabric! This is quite an exciting time if you can't tell by now. This is my first real sewing feat so I still consider myself a serious wannabe seamstress. As far as dresses go, they're usually too short (again, I'm 6'3") even if they're maxi dresses. Yes, there is such thing as a maxi dress that's too short which was the case with one of my dresses. I wore it for my senior pictures about two years ago and have wanted to get it hemmed (shortened) since then to make it more wearable. I finally took it upon myself to do the work and make it happen! It took me about thirty minutes to measure, pin, cut, and sew and it was so worth it! I wore it all day today and I love it so much more now than I did before. It's so nice to wear a dress and not have to worry about it being TOO short :)

Switching gears a little bit...let's talk about waffles! In my cullinary opinion, waffles are all too often overlooked. I think that this is partially due to the fact that they're confined to being made in the same iron day after day without any room for a creative touch. Personally, these are one of my favorite foods! I would probably eat them more often if they were more than a Bisquick mix with syrup on top. I was stalking Food Gawker and noticed that there are SO many different varieties and twists that I've never thought of! Here are some of my favorites, from oh-so-simple to what-the-heck. Enjoy, and eat up :)

(PS: click "via" for a link to the [yummy] recipe!)

First up, the classic. I think it's pretty self explanatory:

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Next, a (bomb) recipe for cinnamon roll waffles. Not just cinnamon, but cinnamon ROLL. Yes, the roll makes a huge difference. Check it out!

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My mom just informed me that her favorite food might just be pancakes with peanut butter and syrup on top. Well mother, take a look at this recipe that puts the peanut butter in the batter itself making it ten times better! (The fact that it's a waffle already makes it a #winner)

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Ummm what?? Bacon and waffles? Yupp. Bacon and waffles. Oh, and brown sugar :) Weird, but at the same time wonderful.

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The next and final three can be grouped together for one obvious reason. Can you take a guess? I'm not even sure if these can legally be called breakfast foods...

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[link to restaurant]

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WELL I'm off to Sunriver for the week! For anyone not from around Oregon, it's a biking/relaxing/sunny/river wonderland. Have an AMAZING week!!

Check out Psalm 8 if you get a chance...it just reminded me about how awesome God is going into this weeklong vacation into His nature :)

What a Beautiful Day!

I'm so exhausted! Ohhh my goodness I've done so much driving today...the short story is I went to Seattle with people who are doing the Seattle to Portland bike ride so I could drive their car back. I absolutely love that drive! It's at least four hours each way but coming back took about six with the awesome Seattle-Tacoma traffic. It's a pretty long drive but it is absolutely GORGEOUS. The pictures below don't give it justice at all. Seattle is by far the prettiest city when the sun is out and today was no exception.

I didn't do the driving on the way up which gave me some time to catch up on some reading. I started in on a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan and I couldn't put it down! It's about God's insane, undying, unconditional love for us. It was definitely a wake up call because it made me realize that I like most people are living according to the world's standards about what our faith should look like. We justify doing the bare minimum for God because it's more than "the guy down the street". I got so much out of this book and I'm planning on reading it more in-depth when my family and I go to Sunriver this week! It was a quick read and only took me about two hours. I STRONGLY recommend this book to everybody...let me know what you think!

Buy Me!

Colorful Cooking

I'm going to Seattle and back tomorrow morning, so I'll keep this short and sweet! I wish I was colorful/creative/daring enough to even come close to having a kitchen like this someday. This is part one (of a potential seventeen...), enjoy!

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Sunny Glasses

Happy First Wednesday! The streets of downtown Salem were packed all day thanks to the celebration of this once-a-month event. I got to spend four hours at my favorite spot (Starbucks) with Maura catching up on some online classes. What a beautiful day to be outside! I can't get over how much I love this sun. With the onset of sunny weather comes a high demand for a crucial accessory: Sunglasses. Here are a few of new trends this season with a few staples.

Cat Eye. The top trend this season is the "cat eye". They come in many different varieties but all have one common theme: A pointed outside corner. Below is my favorite style which  has a more subtle look to it, designed by Karen Walker.

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LOVE THESE. My friend Alli brought back some of these vintage shades from Nordstrom's BP and I knew that I had to have a pair ASAP. Granted the Ray-Ban version might be a bit more expensive, this retro look is here to stay. 

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Aviators. I cannot get enough of these. Some say that they're "so last summer", but I say "who cares when they're this cute?!" So what if I'm outdated, I love them! 

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Here are just a few more of my favorites: (P.S...You don't have to spend a fortune to have cute sunglasses! BP has TONS of different styles, all for $10! My roommate Katie told me about Urban Outfitters' glasses also...super kewt, super cheap) (P.P.S...Yes, I'm sort of obsessed with Ray-Bans)

So retro...so cute...so big...so awesome! The huge, oversized sunglasses are slowly seeing their way out but the combination of retro and almost wayfarer style SO works for these shades!

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I love these and wear them everywhere!

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And finally, the classic wayfarers.

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