saturday musings.

hey all! I hope you all are having a great weekend so far :)
i'm glad to have some down time. this past week was full. lots of babysitting, (attempting to ;) do school, working out,etc. but its all good.

So on thursday night i decided to bring some changes to my blog. i tried to make it a bit fall-ish. i made a new header, changed some colors/fonts and got rid of some things on the sidebar. what do you think? and before you ask, no that's not me in photo in the header. i wish it was. BUT actually i've been wanting dreadlocks for a while now and so my mom and i are gonna check around and see if we can find someone who can do it :) i'm excited about it. my hair is so tough to deal with and i wanted something new and different. anyway. :)

my sister had her last soccer game this morning. her team did well this year and i think they had fun :)
her game was at 10am and we were there around 9:30ish, the sunlight was so lovely and everything was pretty wet from the dew so I got these photos :)

and tonight I'm getting together with my friend and watch Soul Surfer! neither of us has seen it so we are excited :)

have a fabulous weekend!

♥Samarah

happy april! {new look, lord of the rings sweetness, ♥}

hey all!! Happy April! I was boring and didn't do anything for April Fool's, I don't care for it anywho. Can't believe its already April, time flies. Hope you all are having a great weekend :) What do you think of my new look?? Sky and I (ha that rhymes! ;) are working on the design and I was getting really tired of my last look so I thought I'd make a temporary design :] I like it...I wanted it simple yet unique. I might tweak it a little bit but it wouldn't be too drastic =)
Ok I'm going to post part 1 of pictures of India later today so here are some photos for you to enjoy, that I've found on weheartit.com and couldn't resist posting :)
These are for all you LOTR girls at heart ;) *warning: there's a lot of pictures*

love this

i get goosebumps just thinking about this scene.

:)

*goosebumps*

epic.

:)

this is such a cute scene :)

awesome

one of my favorite scenes/parts of all 3 of the movies. ever.

one my dad's favorite scenes.

:]

love! ;)

If you not a LOTR fan, hope that wasn't too boring for you and if you've never watched them, you have no idea what you're missing. I've watched all 3 mvoies recently and I.loved.them. I can't wait to watch the extended versions!! twice the time, twice the awesomeness ;] 

Samarah's Sayings has 120 lovely followers! Thank you all SO much. You bless my heart. ♥

well I'm off to edit pictures! India part 1 coming soon! :)

Samarah♥

i'm so much in need of pep music I'm listening to High School Musical {a.k.a I'm back}

I was working on this post yesterday but then I had to go and when I came back to it, I couldn't find the draft! I thought it was lost but I found it today :) so most of this is from yesterday...

hey all!! I think I'm ready to dive into the whole blogging thing again! :) and yes the post title is true. as I type I'm listening to Getcha Head in the Game. I was tired of Air1, Klove and all those songs and I needed something different. I don't care for the HSM movies but some of the songs are perfect for a im-tired-of-all-those-christian-songs-i've-listened-to-a-hundred-times-i-need-something-peppy-and-corny times ;) Not that I don't like Christian music but I need some variety :]

Ok well, lets catch up on what's been happening in my life :) hope I don't bore you with this part of the post!

My mom is in India. its the first time she's been out of the country or been on a plane longer than 2 hours but she's been able to email and few times and she is doing really well :) I'm so excited that God is using her to show His love and mercy to the people of India! She is so very dear to me so it was kinda hard "letting" her go but I have such a God given peace about it all. I can't wait to see pictures and hear all about her adventure :]


I've had some really fun times with some sweet friends over the past few weeks. I'm so blessed to have such fun and amazing friends. I've gotten to hang out with some of them, chatting, playing games, eating and watching movies(they have become my current favorites ;) I had heard of all these movies that a few years old that are so good and and I felt like i was in the dark for not knowing what they were talking about. So, my friend(s)  introduced me to these movie. We swooned, laughed and {almost} cried. ;]

heard so much about this movie and i really liked it. great mix of romance, comedy and adventure :]

hehe, now I know where this quote came from ;)

I'd seen this before but i watched it anyway. we laughed a lot during this one :)

we haven't finished this one yet but I'm really liking it so far!

I've been doing Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred every other day and trying my best to eat gluten free.

its not easy people! mannn....I've really wanted to skip a day or eat ____ that's not gluten free but when I have I've suffered :/ So, I'm taking a hint and pushing myself to work every other day despite my tiredness or laziness and its paying off! I'm seeing results from working out and I'm loving it ;] I just started Level 2 of the 30DS and lemme say, you don't know what true working out is and the feeling like your body is on fire until you've done Jillian Michael's! I'm serious, I felt like I was gonna die. And I even stopped lots of times and took breaks for a a min or 2, and a few times I just skipped the exercise. And I still felt like i was dying. Jillian even said close to  the end of the workout "I want you to feel like you are going to die." yep, I've got that down. But its so worth it. I feel energized and happy when I'm done. Even more so when I stick to eating gluten free which is difficult but I know its the best thing for me. Gluten is not worth being sick in the bathroom for an hour and having a horrible headache! :) I've also had some of my dear friends keep me accountable for doing it. That has really motivated me, knowing that they are praying for me and are gonna ask if I've done it! ;) If you are having trouble staying consistent with your exercising/eating healthy/ bible reading etc. ask your friends for prayer and accountability! :)

I know I keep saying my blog design is coming soon and its not coming :/ Sky and I are working on it :) You guys have been so patient! It should be here by the end of the month! around when spring should be here!! :) I'm so ready for warm weather! oh and along with the new look I'm gonna do a "series" of posts about who I am and what I believe. I've gotten lots of new followers so I thought it would be nice to go over that again :)

Hmm.. I think that's about it. I have lots of ideas for posts and I'm gonna start working on them :] I'm off to workout!

Hope you are having a great week!!

much love,
Samarah

yep, I got myself one of those neat lil' photography blogs...

its true! a few days ago, I created a blog just for my photography/photos :) I'm still tweaking it and making it "mine" but its there! check it out :]

http://sweetmphotography.blogspot.com/

 

 

{and I promise I'm gonna post about what's been happening in my life soon!! very soon. bear with me :) }

preview of whats to come! :]

birthday...

spring!...

more spring!!....

blue sky breakin' through...

songs on repeat....

AND...

a fresh new look to the blog coming this week!! 

much love,

Samarah

gluten free girl,what I'm listening to and blog design!

 {yes I keep adding songs after I published it ;)}

wow, February 1st is tomorrow! Wasn't it just January 1st? well I really want to be in good health by birthday at the end of this month. the best gift I could receive would be my health. and I'm going to work hard to do that. I'm not making any promises but i will try. and I took the first step towards that today!

Today I officially became a gluten free girl :) and its feeling great!

(soon I'll be doing some blog posts about going gluten free, recipes etc.)

I haven't done a "What I'm Listening To" post in a long time! :/ my bad...anyway, here's whats rockin' my world ;)
(I'm not going to post the videos on here but I'll post the link to the video)

ok seriously I'll stop adding songs ;) 

love love love this song!! such a catchy song and its an awesome song to start your day off with! i am posting the video to this one because its soo good! please take a listen :D 

No Plan B by Manafest

I'm not a huge fan of Manafest and some of his songs are a bit too much but I like this one. it really applies to my life right now. I have changes I need to make and I'm not looking back :] 

music video here

Closer by Shawn McDonald
I've heard this song a lot on Air1 and its been stuck in my head for past few days. and its such a good song so I think I'm gonna buy it so it can be stuck in my head all the time ;) this is my prayer-

{chorus}

I just want to be closer to you

I just want to be closer, I am yours

You can have all of me anything, everything

I just want to be closer

listen to it and see the lyrics here

Echo of Love by An Epic No Less
ok seriously. this is one beautiful song. this is what I want my life to be. an echo of love. Go here to watch the music video.

{chorus}

I hear an echo of love
We are the echo of love
I feel an echo of love
We are the echo of love

{verse 2}
You are the strength when we are weak
You are the breath inside of me
You are the love that pierces hearts
You are the light thats shown into our darkest parts

A powerful song right?!

This is the Stuff by Francesca Battistelli

a fun, catchy song and oh so true :)

listen and see the lyrics here

Outcast by Kerrie Roberts 

kinda reminds me of Jesus Freak by dcTalk. same idea, I don't care if people cast me out because I know who I am in Christ. Let no one stop you from loving Christ with all your heart and living for Him :) 

video with lyrics here

Ground Zero by Mr. Talkbox{aka Byron Chambers}

sadly there isn't video or anything for this song. so you can only listen to it by hearing it on the radio or buying it. its such a good song and I gave in and bought it ;) which is saying a lot because I don't spend itunes money on any 'ole song! ;)

Hope you check out those songs and enjoy them :)

Also, I'm working with Lulu from Polka Dot Blog Design on a new look for my blog! so be on the look out :)

Hope you are having a nice start to the week :)

with love,

Samarah

and I'm proud to say that there a quite a few of you that are cheering for my Packs! thank you very much ;]

eeeek.... I WON 2 giveaways!!

ahh... I'm SO excited because I won 2 giveaways! This is my first time ever winning any giveaway! Oh I'm so excited! Let me show you what I won :D

I won Arianna's giveaway and I get a free blog design by Lulu! :) can't wait to talk with you Lulu, about the details :)

I'm so hyped about this...

I won a $10 gift card to a place of my choice and the book Start Here by Alex and Brett Harris courtesy of Jessica, Madison and Becky at iheart ministry!!

I'm really looking forward to reading the book and its winter so I will have plenty of time ;)

so how sweet are those prizes?! thank you so much girls! You've made this girl very happy :)

hope you all are having a nice weekend, I know I am ;)
with love,
Samarah

Stylish Award and 4 giveaways!

 I have a few things I want to post about but since I don't want this post to be a novel I'm going to break them up into 2 or 3 different posts ;)

first of all,
Kinsey French awarded me the Stylish award. thanks :)

here are the rules:

one. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
two. Share 7 things about yourself.
three. Award 10 recently discovered great bloggers.

seven things about me:

one.
I love that I can request items on my library website and I can go to the library and they are right there waiting for. seriously. i.love.it.

two. 
 I cannot stand heavy metal music. really any hard rock for that matter. Skillet is as heavy rock as i get.
three.
I've gotten into this show called Larkrise to Candleford.

go ahead and call me old fashioned or a weirdo but I love shows and movies set around that time period(like Cranford, Emma etc.) Most of today's shows are just so messed up and I'd much rather watch something like this.There a 4 seasons and I'm borrowing them from the library. its a perfect show for the winter ;)

four.
I really love photography. I'm saving up my money and I can't wait to get my hands on a camera like this:

I would love to travel, especially to New Zealand, Canada and England and photograph it. 
five. 
 I really hate the abbreviation Xmas. I can hardly type it. I can't it out loud, literally I can't make myself say it. I love the word Christmas. it has so much meaning and specialness. Xmas just doesn't make me feel the same way. So you are warned. please please don't say Xmas on my blog. please do not.
six.
There are some really fabulous giveaways going on! I will tell you more about them in a minute.

seven. 
I honestly and seriously don't like swimming or really getting in water. I'm not afraid or anything. it just doesn't interest me. even during the summer I'd take sitting in the 95 degree and dipping my feet in the pool than actually getting in. I know I'm weird like that.

For the awarding part, as I look through the blogs I follow, most of them have already been awarded. but you haven't yet and you follow my blog, you are officially awarded the Stylist Award by Yours Truly ;) 

Ok about the giveaways!! there are 4 giveaways going on right now (that i know of) and you should enter in all of them! :D

Arianna at There are a few of my favorite things is giving away a blog makeover made by Blizzard Blog Desgins. Go here and enter!! :)

 You could win a 11x14 frame of any style from Organic Bloom! They are beautiful and I would love one!

Go to Hannah's blog, Aspire  and enter! It ends tomorrow (friday) so hurry!

Lucia at From Under my Little Umbrella  is having a huge giveaway over at her blog! There are 25 prizes. yes 25!! Here are some of my favorites ;)

Aren't they gorgeous?! so go over to Lucia's blog and enter here!

Last but definitely not least,
In celebration of having 300 followers, Polka Dot at life is too short not to read shoes is giving away a bunch of cute things! 26 cute necklaces, earrings and rings to be exactly. and 26 different people will win something. the prizes are so darling! take a look:

I mean seriously it doesn't get much cuter than that! Oreo earrings?! that's awesome!! :) so hurry up and enter because you would be one of the 26 winners!!

I hope you have entered into these neat and fun giveaways! 

thank you for reading and following dear blogger friends :) 

with love,

Samarah