Some shots {Thanksgiving Part 2}

I think power plants and factories and things like these are pretty. 

We went out to breakfast with a friend, and my siblings (mostly Emily) drank all the creamers.

Delicious smoothies.

At the Cowboy cafe they serve silverware in paper baggies. 

They also give out jackalope ride tokens.

I had *cough* half a Bubba Burger. 

For an appetizer on Thanksgiving we made bacon wrapped dates, which are delicious, but as I was taking this picture I asked my mom to remind me to take an "after baking" picture because otherwise it'd be pointless, obviously we forgot. 

we drank peace tea on the way home.

Hope you're all having a lovely Monday!

Lillian ♥

P.S. Listening to this, this and this.  :)

Family {Thanksgiving, Part 1}

We love car rides.  Which is a good thing, because we spent abut nine hours (one way) in the car this week.  We had a lot of fun, silly times, listening to books on tape, singing, laughing and drinking too much Starbucks and tea.  We visited a western museum and dressed up.  We had a "half mile" Thanksgiving Day hike that turned into a three hour-long, hilly hike, and certainly worked up our appetites.  We had a lovely time visiting with friends, and generally it was a terrific couple days away. 

  

Can you see jack in the middle there?

I'm so thankful for my family.

Lillian ♥

Thanksgiving.

As Christians, Thanksgiving day shouldn't be a special occasion.  Thanksgiving day should be everyday.  Don't you think?  We should be praying with thanksgiving and praise to our great Creator.  Every. Day. 

But sometimes life "gets in the way" right?  Sometimes I need this, or don't feel like it, or I am just praying for a specific thing or person.  That shouldn't be an excuse. 

In all things be thankful: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly... and as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3:15-17)

We should be giving thanks in all things, and living fully the life God has given us. 

In the midst of trials: "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefor I will wait for him.'" (Lamentations 3:21-23)
Even in the midst of trials we shouldn't turn away or beg for things to be "all right" from God.  God has a great reason for everything and we should learn to be like Paul and Job and Jeremiah and praise God through the trials, knowing that God has us in His hands.  We should trust that he will not give us more than we can handle, as he promised, and that it's all for His glory.  We should use our trials to bring glory to Him.  Not just ask for something better.  

With Praise and Thanksgiving: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." (Philippians 4:6)
It doesn't matter the reason we got on our knees, we should always remember to thank God.  He's got us in His hands. 

Because we serve a great God.  He's given me an amazing life, a life I should be thankful for, and praise him for every day.  I should be living for him every day.  We should be living for Him every day. 


So as we near the day that's become known as the "stuff-yourself-and-watch-football" day, let's take a moment, or you know, the whole day, our whole lives to be thankful to our amazing, loving, generous God. 

But don't forget how much Jesus liked food.  It's okay to eat some delicious food.  God wants us to eat together. 

"Listen, listen to me and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.  Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live." (Isaiah 55:2-3)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Lillian ♥

Trail Mix

My mom loves trail mix.  Give her a road trip, she wants trail mix.  Give her long hours backstage before ballet performances helping keep everything in order, she wants trail mix.  No time to grab a snack?  Don't worry, mom's got trail mix. 

Tomorrow we leave on a roadtrip to spend Thanksgiving with some friends, so obviously, we'll need some trail mix.  

Today, I made trail mix.

Lillian ♥


P.S. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

P.P.S. Also, thank you to the lovely Carlotta for my little side bar buttons there!

This week.

Delish hazelnut cocoa coffee.

Life.

Going to the library...

Getting a new (lovely) guitar...

Celebrating birthdays and anniversaries...

And Bagels.

Mint chocolate ice cream cake...

Grabbing coffee and bagels with my momma and sister...

Documenting outfits, even if it's just jeans and a tee...

My baby.

Playing games as a family...

Writing stories for school...

Doing my sister's hair...

Loving Life. 

What moments are most memorable to you?

Lillian ♥

P.S What are you doing for thanksgiving?

A Birthday.

Yesterday, Emily turned nine.  She's my baby sister and she's already nine, which is pretty crazy, considering I still think Camille (who's twelve) is eight.  *sniff*  I love them very much.  For her birthday Emily had a couple friends over and we went to the mall for a Scavenger Hunt.

mustacheee.  Isn't she so grown up? ahhh

It involved cartwheels in the food court, testing many perfumes in Bath and Body Works, asking for autographs and other such things.  The final and secret thing on the list was for Emily to get her ears pierced. 

Before

After. 

She was just a little bit excited. 

Lillian ♥

Watercolors

Spent some time watercoloring the other day. 
I really love watercolors. 

Sorry it's kind of fuzzy, I don't know how to use my scanner.  ;)

What artsy fartsy stuff do you enjoy?

Lillian ♥

New Name

Of the Field.

I came up with the name a couple weeks ago for a username I had to make up, but it's not the first time I've thought about it.

What's "of the field" supposed to mean?

I'm referring to the verse in matthew 6:28-30:

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?"

There are several things I like about this verse.  When I was little, it was because I was a lilly. Then, it was because God clothes the grasses in beauty, because of my love for clothing, I really liked this.  Now, I like how it says to not worry, about our clothes or other things.  For us to rely on God.  


And so, a name.  


Lillian ♥

Easily re-titled as: 33 Ways to Live Joyously

I found this list on Pinterest the other day, and it's basically everything I want to be doing.  I'd encourage you to read, re-read and put this list into practice.  It's a pretty terrific list, no?

I wrote it down, and added a few of my own.  

34. bake something

35. read the bible

36. pray with thanksgiving

37. spend time with family

This is a list of things I not only want to add, or continue in my life, but also the things I want to blog about.  So maybe I'll have posts like... "#9:  I drank black tea yesterday, and couldn't get to sleep." Which is true.

Additionally, I'll need to remember to take pictures, and good ones. 

Have a lovely Thursday... still.

Lillian ♥

Beginnings

 Oh goodness.  There are so many things I want to say, that I keep re-writing this same paragraph.  I've had so many thoughts and ideas and even a note from a friend regarding this new project (Hi Jordan:), that my brain is just exploding.  Of course, after a few weeks I'll probably be starting to feel the monotony, but that's why I started this blog.  To be accountable for living joyously. 

So, day 1 of my "project" I got off the computer a bit early, played the guitar for a long while, sketched some, and cut out pictures from some magazines for my wall.  It wasn't that early that I got off the computer, and the song I'm playing doesn't sound that much better, and my sketch wasn't that great, but it was lovely putting effort into some things that I didn't view as chores, or put off lazily. 

Yesterday afternoon, I had a couple errands to run, and so my mom dropped me off (only have my permit, because I just.. didn't get my permit... for forever) on the little main street of our town and I walked around a bit.  I went to this used book shop and picked up Jane Eyre, and a selection of Poe's stories.   I then walked aimlessly through some other shops, went to the library (I know, redundant), bought some chocolate at the bulk foods store, and then met my mom at a coffee shop.  Then, we went to this awesome little, privately owned guitar shop.  It was very exciting.  I picked out the guitar I liked, and we'll go back with my pastor who knows guitars, to buy it later (he said he'd come with me so I get a good guitar for my price and all that).  Then, I had modern (dance) class and choreography class, which were both lovely.  It was a very nice day. 

I picked up this book a little while ago from the library and just started reading it.  It is very interesting, though I won't recommend it til I've finished reading it.  It's got some iffy subjects, though it's a terrific story so far.  Sometimes I'm not the best judge though. 

Anyway.  That's what my past couple days have been like.  Just the idea of new beginnings and clean slates just put me in a good mood.  I'm more apt to do things, than just be lazy or just think about them.  And I like that a lot.  My blogging won't always be like this, just a re-cap.  I plan on still doing occasional outfit posts, because I like getting dressed, and I know I like seeing what other people wear.  I'll post what I'm thinking, pictures I'm taking and the like.  But I guess for now, my focus is on documenting life, and living fully.  Having this blog to keep me accountable is nice. 

Also, we serve a mighty God.  He's doing things we can't understand, for reasons we won't understand.  But He is mighty, and loves us very much.  

“God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’” (Job 37:5-6 NIV)

Have a lovely Thursday!

Lillian ♥

Talent.

My loverlyy friend Abby drew me.  She's awesome like that.  (based on my outfit in this post)


Lillian ♥

Living Joyously

School.

Firstly,
I am often dissatisfied with what I am doing, or even who I am.  I think that "if only" I did this, or had that, that my life would magically become better, or that I would be happier.  But I am lying to myself.  I know that I need to work diligently in my work that God has set before me, and I know that I have to be the one to initiate these things.  God has given me an amazing life, and I am not living to bring Him glory to the best of my ability.

Secondly,
Part of the reason I have been dissatisfied has been because of the discontented norm our society has brought on itself, and the perfection of life that is so easy to translate onto the Internet when blogging and talking to other people over the Internet.  At this point in my life, I've been very jealous, unwilling to change, and then upset because of the mixture of those two.

Thirdly,
Many blogs these days have such an amazing simplicity and joy that I am so jealous of.  The writers, though acknowledging everything is not perfect, seem to be so happy and lovely, and even when they "confess" everything seems so perfect.  I want to take those lovely blog posts as inspiration to live my days.  I want to live with that simple joy, bringing praise to God.  Not just being jealous of their lives. 
 
I am generally a pretty lazy person, and I want to change that.  I want to live with a joy of life worthy of our great Creator.  And when I realize I've wasted another day, doing practically nothing, I get mad at myself instead of changing it.  That's not what God wants me to do.  I'm not posting this to just complain, I'm starting this blog to keep myself accountable for my days.  I want to live joyously, not dwelling on the negative things, that do happen, but living each day to it's very fullest.  I don't want to to be simply swayed by what other people do and say, I want to become the woman God wants me to be. 

This is probably my favorite group of verses ever.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

So here's my journey in blog form, keeping me accountable.

Living joyously, one day at a time.

Lillian ♥

Inspiration

I posted this on my past blog, not too long ago, but it's stil inspiring me, and I thought I'd post it here too.  

Some new pictures, quotes, and pretty things I've put on my walls lately.  It's a lovely inspiration.
It's like an in-person tumblr.
♥♥♥


Lillian