The Art of Celebration

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This past Wednesday, I had the awesome opportunity to go to a concert with my family. But not just ANY concert, mind you. :-D Nope, it was spectacular for one reason in particular:

REND COLLECTIVE!!!

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It was beyond amazing. Completely. Utterly. Amazing. Best. Ever. Ever.

Now, I could call it that for many reasons:

They are super fun and folksy.  

HOMEMADE instruments! So cool. :-)  
(picture courtesy of the awesome possum cousin mentioned below :-) )

They are Irish. Enough said. ;-)

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There was even a confetti cannon. Seriously, a CONFETTI CANNON. 

As the first song performed was coming to the chorus, all of the sudden the band stopped singing and the room went dark. Then, the room exploded with light and confetti started raining down as the band sang about the joy of the Lord. 

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As I sang along with them and everyone else around the stage, I took a moment to look up above me... I will never forget the sight of the rainbow confetti flittering overhead as the room pulsed with happiness.   

( awesome possum cousin's pic ;-) )

But, the thing that truly made the night something to remember was the spirit of it all... the room was packed with over a 1,000 people singing, praising, worshiping, dancing, 

c e l e b r a t i n g 

in Christ together.

It was one big church service, led by pretty much the coolest band ever. :-) Their music has been a mainstay in my life especially this past year, and it was so wonderful to have had the chance to be there for their first stop in their tour. 

( via my instagram ) 

{ My brother (Jake, who can be found HERE), my cousin (Sara, who can be found HERE), and me - pic courtesy of the girlie in the middle )

What Sherlockians Do On Pinterest

Why, pin a billion and a half psychotic memes and gifs, of course! 

Seriously, you know you do. 

No shame about it. 

So, to save you time in your cluing for new things to pin to your Sherlock board, here are some of my favorites from mine (sources are connected to the pictures on Pinterest! :-) ). 

Enjoy! X) 

Of baking addictions, sparkles, and patriotic eagles

 I hope y'all had a fabulous Independence Day, and that your Summer has been sunshiney and great so far! :-) Here's a little peek into my life recently... 

Dog-sittin' this cool dog. ;-) One of my cousins is staying with us for a week and a half while the rest of the her family is out of state, and this fab poodle, Cupcake, has joined us as well...I may or may not be the culprit for the abuse you see above. ;-) But seriously, let's get real: who can pass up on dressing up an animal? 

Independence Day! I made a tart....because sweets are a necessity of every holiday. ;-) 

To make this, I modified a recipe found via my new favorite site, Sally's Baking Addiction.

If you haven't visited this site before, 

drop everything and head on over. 

Seriously.

You will not regret it. :-D 

Also, I attempted a patriotic pedi, in honor of the day! I recently snagged a bottle of white Sally Hanson for $1.20 (woohoo!), and I finally got to use my perfect shade of candy apple red and some sparkly blue top coat that have been sitting in my polish stockpile for quite some time.

I realized the next day that I could totally keep it on for a while though, 

as those are my school colors as well...so, it's a win, win! :-D 

Speaking of college, I have officially finished the first of my Summer courses through LUO! Taking Intro to Global Studies was life changing...it completely reshaped every concept I ever thought I had about missions (both local and global), and challenged, convicted, and encouraged me every step of the way. To any fellow LU students, this is definitely an amazing elective option! 

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Now that I'm done with that course, I am on to BIBL 104 - Survey of the Bible... let me just tell you, it is really cool so far! :-D 

A lot of times while reading the Bible, a lot of places or things seem a little abstract...the events happened in a different culture at a different point in time than me, so it makes sense that somethings might not make sense to me sometimes in my own present-day context. However, the main book in this course is jam packed with maps, illustrations. tons of photography of the Holy Land in modern day, and a bunch of other great things that really let you dive into God's Word. All in all, completely awesome. :-) 

I hope you have a perfectly lovely night! Stay on the lookout for a post tomorrow stuffed with Sherlock gifs and pictures - I have been stockpiling them on my 221b board on Pinterest, and I am dying to post them. :-D

G'night!

The Greatest Moments

Happy Tuesday! It's been waaayyy too long since I've last posted... life has been 

hectic, 

and Summery, 

and crazy, 

and beautiful. 

Summer classes are now in full swing, and I'm officially doing full time course work for the next month. Even if that means more work, I'm super grateful for the chance to test out the full time waters - that way, I'll be more prepared for the possibility of going full time in the Fall. So, it's all good!

But, in the midst of all that school/job searching/normal life busyness, the picture above was such a sweet reminder.... the greatest moments in life truly are the simplest. 

Having board game tournaments with my nephews.

Discovering psychotic shows on Netflix instant with my brother. ;-)

Little talks with my Mom and Dad. 

Skyping with a friend.

Simple, sweet moments that I would never want to miss. 

          ♥

I hope you have a gorgeous day today!

Spring Days

Hi sweet readers! I hope you are having a perfectly lovely, gorgeous Spring so far...

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These warmer days of sunshine and rain showers have been a flurry of working and job searching, finally[!!] finishing Sherlock season 3, sleepovers, a million things to do and procrastinate on ;-), a sweet new cousin arriving, and - of course - school work...

I quickly realized pretty soon after the start of this semester just how much time must be invested to get everything done, even as just a part time student. 

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Still, I'm really looking forward to the challenges ahead as I get closer to going full time in August. It will be hard...many times stressful...and always a ton of work... but I definitely won't be doing it alone.

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

~Philippians 4:13

God's strength + my awesome family and friends backing me up all the way = immensely blessed

♥

What about you? 

What have you been up to these April days?

Sometimes You Just Need To...

.....browse mindless, hilarious pictures. 

No joke. 

There has been many a day in which in the middle of stress, work, studies, and so forth, a funny picture or comic strip has caused all of us to stop and plain ol' belly laugh. ;-) 

So, just in case you have been having a particularly hard day and need a good laugh, here are some of my recent favorites from my "funnies" board on Pinterest. :-)

 Jimmy Fallon's Thank You Notes.
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Martin Freeman's reaction to Sherlock losing to Downton Abbey. I love his wife's reaction to his reaction. ;-) 

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No words....
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Make a Retro Half Apron!

Every month, I contribute to Amazing Graze Farm, sharing a homemaking tutorial. Being close friends with my trusty sewing machine and an avid historical fashion fanatic ;-) , last month's post was definitely something I love: 

Making Retro Half Aprons. 

There are two key words in that sentence that make me especially happy:

Retro

and

Aprons.

;-) 

Now, even if you have hardly touched a sewing machine in your life, this tutorial is quick and easy enough for anyone to give it a go. Here is the link:

http://amazinggrazefarm.com/retro-half-apron/

I hope you love it! 

I am off to go get moving with my day - I'm currently on a week break before my next course starts with Liberty University Online, but I am keeping busy with my CLEP prep studies...still aiming toward taking three tests (Spanish, American History, and History of Western Civilization) by the end of Spring/early Summer! 

*crossing fingers* 

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I hope you have a fabulous day!

Hugs,

Shannon 

An anglophile baker's book review...

One word:

Pie. 

This past Christmas, my parents gave me one of the coolest cookbooks ever!

A *British* pie cookbook!!

(If you know anything about me at all... 

- even just what I post on Pinterest - 

E x h i b i t   A

E x h i b i t    B

...you know that I am pretty accurately described as an anglophile. ;-) )

Filled with English wonderfulness (like Cornish Pasties and Noble Pies), great pictures, easy instructions, and History lessons sprinkled throughout, this book will definitely be keeping this 

butter and sugar enthusiast busy baking

 this history junkie satisfied

and this anglophile extremely happy. 

After all, there is no such thing as too much pie. ;-)

I've tried three recipes so far, and all have been fabulous! My recent pie endeavor was a Sausage, Apple, and Sage Plate Pie. 

Please excuse the less-than-pretty crust - explanation below. =) 

The basic recipe was sooo yummy, but also super versatile. As per suggestion of my Mom, I will definitely be making this again, but giving it an Indian twist...a little curry, plenty of potato, pure yumminess. 

Also, let me just say a quick thing about the basic crust recipe from this book.

 It is amazing. 

I have made it twice so far, and it never fails. Seriously, even after messing up this last time and putting it in the oven thinking it was FOR SURE going to be tough and awful, it came out flaky and tender...buttery...yummy... This recipe is foolproof, which only makes me love the cookbook even more. 

Long story short: this book is 

awesome, 

completely original,

 fun, 

and I would *completely* recommend it!