these look SO good and fun to make too. i guess that makes me 5.

be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind - dr. seuss

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via tinywhitedaisies

firenze.

you still have my heart.

wherever you go, there you are.

i have had it in my heart to get involved at church, for a while now. i went through spurts of volunteering on saturday nights, helping out with the kids at Studio K at Rock Harbor, and as much as i loved that, i honestly felt that i needed to better understand my own faith and my own beliefs, before i could impart wisdom on the kiddies. not only that, but when a 7 year old came up with something deeper than anything i had ever considered, i knew there were things i needed to work on. it has been a slow process, but alas i found the answer i had prayed for by joining a Life Group through Rock Harbor church. it is a group of people, from all over Orange County, who come together with one thing in common: the desire to fufill your best life possible, to become the best version of yourself. The purpose is to have somewhere to go to share your faith and your life with others, and to have support in your life. i must admit it was intimidating at first, to walk into a room of probably 200+ people, and not recognize a single face. i did the awkward "pretend i had something to look at on my phone" thing, but i was busted within 5 minutes by a friendly face who wanted to know who i was. and this continued for the remainder of the night. my group consists of about 13 people from the Orange area, including Santa Ana and Long Beach. none of them are people I would ever pick out of a group and say i want to be friends with them but i think that is kind of the point. you don't grow if you always stick to what you know. this past week we focused on the quote "wherever you go, there you are", and the concept that you can't hide from your past and things you've done just by physically moving yourself to a new place. who you are will always catch up to you. you have to seek forgiveness in order to free yourself, and that there is nothing you could do to make God love you less.

i am so happy to have found what i've been looking for in my life group. He answered the prayers from the deepest depths of my heart by providing a way for me to truly become to best version of myself; the person He always knew i could be and I can't wait to continue on my journey.

I was made for sunny days, and I was made for you.

<3

Best Of....from National Geographic :)

 source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

this is just...awesome.

its October.

finally October is upon us....which means its okay to get in the halloween spirit

 festive pasta

 our cute halloween lights :)

 witch

cupcakes i made!

this makes me happy :)

my heaven.

saturday night.

i spent my saturday night with a 9 year old making shapes out of playdough, eating pizza, and watching the disney channel. basically the perfect night.

this man.

Phil Dunphy. I just look at him and laugh. He is probably my favorite Modern Family character. Here is why:

Phil: You can insult a lot of things about me - my hair, my voice, my balance-board exercises - but don't insult my selling. That crosses a line. What line? Oh, you don't see it? That's because I just sold it! (hahaha)

Phil: I always felt bad for people with emotionally distant fathers; it turns out I'm one of them. It's a miracle I didn't end up a stripper.

Phil: I'm cool dad, that's my thang. I'm hip, I surf the web, I text. LOL: laugh out loud, OMG: oh my god, WTF: why the face. (aaaaaaaaaaaaahahahaha the best)

i'm just a little bit obsessed with fall :)

candeeeekorn

nomnomnomnom.

i have recently been enjoying the pleasures of having my own room again. it is a relief to have finally gotten rid of my craigslist nightmare and be able to sleep through the night again. i've brought fresh sunflowers into my room, hung pictures on the wall, and have found simple happiness in lighting my candles every night. it was a real blessing to find strength within myself to stand strong and kick out that awful roommate that we so unnecessarily endured for 3 long weeks. i think we all are relieved to have just girls in the house. way more fun to decorate :)

neat candle in sarah's room

green pumpkin on our dining room table!

top of my dresser :)

someday i will ride in one of these

meet my boyfriend.

he is prettyyyyyy kaaaaauuuuuute :D

Fall.

i can feel it in the air......FALL is around the corner. i'm hoping we actually have my favorite season this year, instead of a wannabe summer that lasts until the january rains. sarah and i live for the changing seasons. we started to decorate for halloween...and then decided to avoid looking like losers...so we compromised and ONLY hung up orange lights, instead of orange lights AND pumpkin lights. however, when October 1st rolls around....ITS ON!

"I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate."

street fair

the annual international street fair brought out all the best people in orange county. it is a weekend filled with kettle corn, alcohol, no parking, and many white-trash inhabitants. we enjoyed it for a half hour and then decided that fighting the crowds of drunk people wasn't worth it. i seem to look forward to street fair every year, even though i never stay for very long. orange is a very quiet town, and i enjoy the fact that street fair attracts a lot of people.

you live and learn.

and at any rate,

you live.

Weekend in Santa Barbara

This weekend was an important one for the Loeser family! Alexa moved into her dorm room at Westmont in Santa Barbara, and my mom celebrated her birthday. My Aunt Sandy threw a fabulous dinner party for my mom. It was asian themed (complete with fortune cookies and all), and her decorations looked like something out of a magazine. We celebrated on Saturday, and then spent her real birthday, Sunday, enjoying Santa Barbara. I got to visit Alexa at Westmont and probably told her one too many times how jealous I was that she was just starting college. The weather was amazing all weekend and we had a great time with family and good friends!

Almost a year ago....

WEIRD.