happy things.

i'm still feeling really bad but i'm trying to be positive so here are some things that are making me happy!

blue skies and sunshine

hot drink weather! Last night I made my brother hot chocolate and myself tea and we had to "tap mugs to Christmas" ;)

speaking of Christmas, 'A Very She and Him Christmas' album has been playing for the last week or so. i have no shame.

the fact that The Amazing Spiderman is out on dvd today. I'm getting it asap.

what is making you happy??

happy friday!

marissa

thor and tumblr.

yep. I caved. I got a tumblr [titled the shadow proves the sunshine]. and i'm loving it. Yes its a bit addictive and yes its just one more thing to distract me from what I probably should be doing. but its fun and is a happy place. and life is short so why not get a tumblr? ;)
Also this has been a rough week for me. I'm having symptoms of not taking my headache medication anymore and its no fun at all :3  I've been having trouble sleeping, nasueous and dizzy and miserable headaches. although yesterday was a better day and I was feeling a little bit better which is good since i've felt sick since friday. Today I'm babysitting away from the house and I'm praying for energy and wellness. I'm hoping to get school done and then later tonight i want to crash on the couch and watch Thor{i've been waiting for it for a month+ from the library, yes i'm faithful. and it finally came in a few days ago and I was so excited. i need to own that movie. anyway...} 
I hope you all are having a good week :)

So without further ado here is my very first tumblr thursday! {and posts after this will probably not have as many photos as this one does}

Captain Jack Sparrow. that is all.

travel

lets have a cup of tea

one of my most favorite characters and scene

cannot wait

 

that would be kick.

i hope those made ya smile :)

Feel free to check out my tumblr here :) do you have one? Please post your favorite tumblr images from the week and share the link with me :)

much love♥

*all photos taken from my tumblr- overcometwelve.tumblr.com

2012.

its 2012. whoa. I really can't believe it.

When I look back at 2011 I see pain, frustration, growing, the love of family and friends, little things that I love, God's strength and grace and my realization that this is my journey, my life that God has given me. I am called to serve and love Him right where I am.
I have met some of the most sweetest girls who have become friends through this blog and through twitter. Some of them are going through similar things as I am and we've been able to encourage and strengthen one another. I'm so thankful for them. they are amazing. 


Here's a little look back on 2011:

having one of the best twitter conversations late at night on birthday with the lovelies Kinsey and Sky.

We discovered I have several allergies/intolerance's and I officially became gluten free and nut free and all the other kinds of free.


I played my last season of soccer.


spent one of the best 2 weeks of my life with Sarahlynn.


really got serious about working out and taking charge. I lost 20+ lbs. my official goal wasn't to lose weight but to tone so i was surprised! I'll take it ;) 

discovered I really enjoy superhero movies  


Thor came out.


My mom went to India. {look out for photos!}

went to the amazing Make a Difference Tour


aspirations for 2012:

My only resolution is having deeper intimacy with Jesus. All other goals/resolutions flow from there. -Lecrae's twitter

to try my best to have a positive and fresh outlook on things. especially when it comes to my health. take more photos. to have more grace and patience. to love people unconditionally. enjoy the little things. make wise choices even in the small things. don't sweat the small things. practice healthy habits. give Christ my all.

{now i know all that is not going to happen over night and I will have days when i say "what in the world was I thinking? i can't do that. but they are aspirations--A hope or ambition of achieving something-- so I will live day to day. striving to do my best. and there will be some days when I am bummed about my health and such but that's when I remember these verses and drink lots of tea and watch Monk}

here's some things I'm looking forward to this year--

--the Avengers movie coming out in May!! so excited.

--Getting to see Sarahlynn and her family in the summer. CANNOT WAIT.

--the Dark Knight Rises coming out in the summer

--continuing to save up for a laptop 

--the OLYMPICS
--leap year

what are some of your goals? what are you looking forward to this year?? :]

 

♥Samarah

so that was Christmas and this is break. i like it.

just how can it be Decemeber 30th?? it was just Christmas like...5 days ago. And 2012 is literally right around the corner. well, I had a pretty great Christmas and this week has been pretty nice as well{aside from physically feeling crummy most of the time}. A break from babysitting kids(except for 2 days), school and the regular daily routine.
 lets start with Christmas :)
the day consisted of church, breakfast muffins, opening gifts, cinnamon rolls, spending the evening with friends, playing the wii and taking naps. oh and NO SNOW[just fyi]. at the end of the day this is how i summed it up-- (from my twitter)
 today was one of the best days ive had in a while. despite physically feeling bad i was happy :) i'm so blessed by my God, family & friends!

 It was SO fun to watch my family open their gifts especially my siblings. my sister freaked out when she opened her Jamie Grace CD I got her. freaked out i tell ya. ;)

I got some pretty cool things too! here are a few of them.

one of my favorites are...these boots. 

an armband for my ipod & The Dark Knight and RV movies from my dad. :)

yum.

as for this week-- I've been fighting a really bad headache. we're not sure the cause of it {like most of the time} and it will get really painful then will lessen up and so forth. its very frustrating to say the least. so that had taken a toll on my enjoying this break :3 a good thing is that I can rest and not do anything because I feel so bad and not feel guilty about not getting school done! haha ;)
The week has been spent relaxing, playing the Wii, lots of movie watching, ignoring the book that I really should be reading for school and other things like that ;)

Speaking of movies, in the past week and a half my dad and I have watched the first 3 Pirates of the Caribbean movies. It was my first time seeing them and I really like them.  the first and second ones are my favorites. [the 1st one might very well rank as an all time favorite. whoa.]the third one wasn't as good in my opinion compared to the others.

yep.

and the music scores are so awesome. I love 'em. I've had "Singapore" stuck in my head. mmhmm.

on Wednesday my friend and I went on a spontaneous trip to the movies to see We Bought a Zoo.

 

It was really cute and a feel good movie. at times i was like okay where in the world is the plot to this movie and where are we going?? but I didn't think about it too hard ;) it was a good pick me up after a bad morning. :) plus, I love going to the theater. with friends.

now its friday. and i've spent the morning first watching Some little house on the prairie with my sister and then on the computer. I'm gonna go spend more time on the computer and later go do something useful ;)

what have you been up to this past week? :) 

Christmas wish list {plus some photos}

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I hope you are enjoying a relaxing day :)

here are some photos that I've taken over the past week or so. they are my first tries at the whole "bokeh" thing.

 

 

 

And when i discovered pinterest and all the wonderful things you can find through it, I created a board just for Christmas and Birthday wishes ;)

1. Starflower Knitted Hat
2. itouch/iphone charger holder
3. Fingerless Gloves 
4. Mr. Darcy Proposal Mug- i love this! ;)
5. The Dark Knight Soundtrack
6.  Clay Matthews Packers Jersey but really any Packers Jersey will do ;)
7. Thor Soundtrack
8. Brown Burnish Buckle Boots. --we actually found some similar to those at Kohls and my dad got them as a Christmas gift for me. Can't wait to open them and wear them! :)
9. Emma- i adore that movie
10. love that movie too
11. no words needed
12. I have 5 and 6 and would really like to have the rest! such a good wholesome series.

So what do you have anything in particular that you would like to have?

:)

2 year blogiversary. a month later.

yep i'm would be the blogger girl who totally forgot about her year blogiversary. it was on november 7th. I thought about it a week or so before then but it came and went and now its december 7th. well better a month later then never right? ;)
I've been blogging for 2 years. (you can read my very first post here.its not much though ;)
here are some scattered thoughts about blogging. I have a terrible headache right now.

when it comes down to it, i LOVE blogging. I love the fact that there is a place where I can share my thoughts and ideas. write about random things. without pressure to  i love that its a place where you meet new people even from different parts of the country. you build friendships. and discover you are not the only one who loves soundtracks and such. blogging is something that can grow with you and be oh so special. I really love how i'll blog about something random and think "i'm sure no one else feels like i do about such and such" or "no one will comment on this". yeah right. those random fun posts are usually the most popular.You get encouragement and care from people you may haven't even met in real life. Also i think that blogging helps me get my thoughts organized and define what i believe or what i really think.
Blogging is an amazing thing and i'm so glad that I discovered it when i did! God has blessed me SO much through this place. thank you so much to YOU my friends for reading my blog. you are awesome.

Here's to many more happy years! :) 

much love
Samarah♥

its the most wonderful time of the year...

source

source

Happy December! and Happy Christmas season! :) 

I can't believe its December. and it will 2012 in no time. holy time flying!
I hope you had a good thursday! This week was my day to babysit away from home yesterday and today so that meant earlier mornings and extra tiredness. But I made it through and its so worth it. love those girls. PLUS the parents of the little girls I watch had gotten some gluten free treats just for me the night before! {some i haven't even had before} that was a good surprise at 7am ;) FYI- I just had a glutten free vanilla glazed doughnut. the best sweet treat ever. yum. Anyway, so I got all of my school done by 2pm! woohoo! So that meant no school when I got home. I was able to do some other things before getting on the treadmill and [mostly] running for 3 miles! burned a lot of calories and now i feel really tired but I'm glad that I did it.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow and the weekend :) 



much love♥

Philippians 2:14-15

 ¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”^[a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 

 

good sunday.

 

good time at church this am+rain+blankets+football= my favorite sunday :) 

especially when my packers are lighting it up this season. undefeated. like whoa.

the not so favorite part is that currently my lymph nodes, throat and ears are really sore and hurting. My little brother and mom are not feeling well at all and have sore throats/headaches and such.(colds I think). But this just came on all of the sudden literally. I was fine one moment and the next I was in so much pain. We are hoping its just because of some new medicine I'm taking. I really hope we ALL get better so we can enjoy this week and Thanksgiving. and that I can get school done so i can have a few days off :)

well I i think i'm gonna go make myself some tea.
how was your sunday?? 

much love♥


p.s.-- be on a thanksgiving related post sometime tomorrow :)

i have a weakness for movie soundtracks

seriously i do. i love them. love. really love. okay you get the point.  i think soundtracks are one of the closest things to actual "raw" music. No sound effects. no voices. no distractions. just music. instruments playing all together. to tell a story. with emotion. sometimes i can just hear the a piece of a song and picture the scene in my head. Or sometimes its just background music for my own thoughts. or when i'm cleaning or playing a game with my siblings. or its a melody to fall asleep to. It brings back those "oh i love this part of the movie" and excited, intense etc. feelings without actually watching it.

Currently the Dark Knight and Thor soundtracks, my school work and I have been pals. the music makes algebra so much more workable. I'm keeping out The Dark Knight one from the library till the police come and haul me away. okay but not. but very close ;)

by the way, the Batman Begins album is a favorite too.

and other one....the Lord of the Rings. two words--amazing awesomeness. some of the best music ever.

so there it is-- I love movie soundtracks. they are one of my weaknesses. A good weakness though, I mean they help me with my school don't they? ;) I really think I will have my own little soundtrack library in my house in the future.

welp, I'm off to bed. Someone said there is a time before 7:30am called 5:15am. I'm not sure if I believe them but I'll find out tomorrow! {I'm doing this all in the name of babysitting and if-i-wanna-get-a-camera-or-a-laptop-i-have-to-work-for-it}

happy wednesday!

♥Samarah

hello there! {Let me spell it out plain and simple now. You.can.count.on.me.}

hey there fellow blogger friends! I hope you are having a good weekend. its raining right now and i'm hoping it cools things off. because its been hot.
We got back from out trip late Tuesday night and I haven't had the energy or time to sit down and blog. It was a very nice, low key trip, just what we needed. but alas, we're back to crazy busy normal life! ;)

Okay so most of you know that Mat Kearney's new album "Young Love" came out a few days ago. Once i heard "Down" on the radio I knew I wanted to own the whole cd. Because Mat Kearney's songs are just amazing. and Young Love is nothing short of awesome. and what made it even more awesome is that I got the deluxe edition for $5.99 at Best Buy! SCORE. So needless to say, its been on repeat since it came out :)

here's a song for ya: [warning: it might be stuck it head just after one listen]



 
Remember these goals i made for the trip? well lemme do a little report of how i did.

• take my soccer gear and touch the ball everyday. work on passing, dribbling, control, etc. - oh boy. well i didn't do so well on that goal. i only touched the ball/did drills, ONCE. there i said it. it was so hot(like 95+) and humid and there were gnats that would not leave you alone. and i didn't feel like going outside very much.
• walk/run every other day if not every day. I really need to do this. -i didn't do this either. blah. i WAS going to one day but there was this dog that had decided that half of the lane(my mom's family has their own lane, cuz we're awesome like that) was his territory and chased anyone who went down there. so i opted out.
• stick to my gluten(and other allergies) free eating deal. My mom and I are making lists of foods and meals I can take/make there so I have food I can definitely eat. As always, there's a stock of candy/sweets at Grandma's so it will take some strength and self control not eat it ;) -This is the one I actually did well on! I stuck to my free food plan the whole time except for when I ate a few mini Snickers bars which had nuts in them and oh.my.stars. the reaction was one of the worst i've ever had. like 5 mins after the 3rd one i ate, my legs broke out in red super itchy bumps. all over. my legs were all swollen and red. yeah, not fun. thankfully they just stayed on my legs and didn't spread. I had to take Benedryl and after like 20 mins. i was a lot better. but there are still scars and scabs from he episode. i stayed far away from the nuts for the rest of the trip!
  

• Do the 30 DS at least 4 times. -yes! I actually did pretty well on this! I worked out 3-4 times(can't remember exactly) while i was there and i'm proud that i did that! :) 

*i did some yard work and such while i was there so i'm counting that as exercise*

• take tons of pictures and work on my photography -i did take a lot of photos! like a couple hundred. mostly of the landscape and flowers :) I experimented with light and angle. pictures to come!
•  don't forget my time with God. a lot of the time when we're visiting family, God gets put on the back burner because I'm not focusing on Him. okay so i think i could of done better on this but I read some sections of Crazy Love and the content was on my mind for the rest of the week and i thought a lot about it.
• enjoy my family! :) - CHECK! :) I did enjoy my family! There was little fighting among my siblings and I so that was oh so nice ;) I think the reason was that everyone could spread out and kinda do their own thing so we weren't with each other all the time. :) 

well that's it for now! Just wanted to give ya a little update :) I'm planning on posting pictures from the trip this week!

I'm off to make pancakes!

much love,
Samarah♥

hey mama, don't want no drama

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hey all! just a quick post to say that I've been doing much better since saturday. i was really exhausted and in a lot of pain and it took sunday to really get myself back up again. (although I am having some bad back/hip/ right leg pain. :/ arghh!) Thank you for all your prayers and sweet comments! y'all are THE best. :)
I've been having a pretty okay week over all. I'm doing good about staying on top of my game with working out and eating healthy and school. those are my main focuses right now :) I feel a lot less stressed and overwhelmed over all and I know its all God because there is no way I could do this on my own!


I have some ideas for posts and I hope to blog them soon :) I'm wanting to blog...
some confessions--I love just laying it all out there. I'm love to be real and honest. :)
about my health, working out and eating choices and changes that have been hard/awesome
some photography
my thoughts about Thor[yess!!! ;], Prince of Persia, and National Treasure
workout/healthy eating encouragement
current favorite tunes


i'm not going to say when they'll be blogged about but hopefully soon ;) *excited*

just FYI: I think I just died. like seriously. Lindsay from Aisle to Aloha started following my blog tonight. She totally made my day. more like week. She is super sweet, gorgeous and funny! she is a talented artist and has some fabulous art pieces. Her husband is currently away working in the Navy but is returning back to Lindsay VERY soon! I'm so hyped for her! I love her and her blog. Go check it out.

and a huge thanks to Lindsay for following me!

well, i'm off to workout and then either go to head to bed or watch something... haha ;)

much love♥♥