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

currently.

currently I am crashed on the couch from an awful headache that i've had since thursday. but yesterday evening and today it really ramped up. i stayed home from church this am and slept/watched The Two Towers in bed. then i dropped my computer from the top bunk but lets not talk about that.   lets talk about the lord of the rings for a moment. more specifically Aragorn. why is he so legit? im dead serious. every time i watch the movies im more baffled by it. He's just SO. SO. YOU KNOW. if you've watched the movies and/or read the books then you know and if you haven't, I don't know what to say. only that you're missing out on the one of THE most epic trilogies ever.

end thought: I need a ranger in my life asap.

 im currently thinking about how can it be June already, that bottle of cream soda in the fridge and the fact that I saw The Avengers for the 2nd time yesterday. ITS JUST AS AWESOME SO GO SEE IT AGAIN. NOW. and how to balance different things in life. yah, i've got all kinds of random thoughts in my head people. welcome to my brain. enter at your own risk.

im currently feeling extremely thankful for the friends I have. and for new friends. looking forward to getting my laptop case in the mail this week and excited about the fact that i pre ordered my copy of The Hunger Games on amazon! {eekkkk}. also, feeling a bit overwhelmed/frustrated/stressed about school. I need to get my books finished by the August if I want August off. but my health{i.e. headaches} have been making that very hard. praying that i will find ways to override the pain or that it would go away.

im currently listening to this and this. and this. and this.

to wrap this post up, lets go back to fangirl me for a moment. one sentence and one picture.
Loki is one of my TOP favorite characters. okay, two sentences. and yes, because its Tom Hiddleston.

I shall leave you now, with that smile to go chat some more with Sky and finish The Two Towers and figure out what to do with myself and this headache.

happy sunday! <3

thankful.

Hey all! thank you all for your get well wishes! After switching medicines because of an allergic reaction and lots of rest and cough drops, the strep is all gone :) I have to say I'm glad to get back into a regular routine after a week of craziness! I can hardly believe its ALMOST December! goodness gracious!

back to Thanksgiving, i'm linking up with the ABC's of Thanks over at Finding Joy.
here's what I'm thankful for! {with the exception of family, friends, God, food etc. because they are kinda a given ;}

A-Advent

B- Batman

C-Christmas

D-down blankets/comforters

E-every time my dad says i love you

F-Feeling inspired

G-Green Bay Packers

H- hoodies

I-inside jokes

J-just being yourself

K-kind words

L- late nights

M- movies

N-new clothes

O-Olympics

P-Puzzles

Q-Quotes

R-raspberries

S-Sundays

T- today

U-U.S.

V-vegetable soup

W-wild berry lemonade

X-{i cannot think of anything for this one}

Y-{Greek} yogurt

Z-zoo

I hope you had a wonderful thanksgiving! 

well i'm off to enjoy some yummy homemade turkey(left over from thanksgiving) vegetable soup! :) 

much love♥

thanksgiving & Christmas and some friday favorites

hope you all are having a good friday night! it made smile to read the comments on my last post knowing i have some sundtrack loving soul sisters out there ;)

 when did thanksgiving just happen to be less than 1 week away already?! really. and please don't start even start about Christmas quite yet{which is only around 36 days away! but still.} . i LOVE Christmas. love it. and I really want to savor the time and enjoy. after Thanksgiving. It seems like every year thanksgiving keeps getting pushed further and further back on every one's burner. its all about Christmas. yes while it is super special, thanksgving is too. its a day set aside to specifically thank God for the many things He's given us. Let me dwell on that for a little while then after thanksgiving i'll join in all the Christmas cheer and fun ;) anywho, those are my thoughts. What do you think about all this thanksgiving/Christmas jazz?


here are a few favorite things from this week.

from pinterest

from pinterest

loving THIS post on Jessica's blog tonight.

i wanna go here. 

sang this song at church on sunday. powerful.





how are you gonna spend your weekend? Well tonight I'm finishing up chatting with my dear friend while listening to some Lecrae(take a listen.) and now I'm off to go watch some tv. And tomorrow I'm hoping to spend time with my family and getting some things done here and there :)

happy weekend friends! 

♥Samarah

its friday!! we made it! :]

 hey friends! its friday! that means i've made it through another week and if you are reading this, you have too! hope you are having a good one :)
man, this past week was a busy one. it feels like I haven't been home all week. babysitting monday, tuesday, wednesday and yesterday[ thursday]. soccer on monday, [ soccer pictures on tuesday], wednesday and thursday. a lot of coming and going. and I've had a bad headache all week and cannot get rid of it. i've tried most everything. and my back is not loving soccer right now ;/ wednesday's soccer practice was not a pretty sight[ like hardly being able to walk] . so i'm learning to get a balance between pushing myself but not killing my back. other than my back, soccer is going good! my coaches and teammates have been really encouraging, understanding and kind through all my back issues. so thankful! Opening Day[all the teams play their first game] is tomorrow and I'm excited! We've got the makings of a strong and determined team :)

Between babysitting, soccer and my health, this week has been draining and busy. a lot of running here, there and yonder. late nights and early mornings. lots of prayers for strength and patience. it was good but I'm so glad I don't have anything to do today outside of the house :) I did some cleaning{ the week was very hard on my room. it was mess.y.} this am and now my sibs and i are just chilling :)

as i think about the past week here are some things that I'm thankful for:

*I don't know about where you live but the past 2 days, the weather has been fabulous! like in the 70s/80s, NOT humid and breezy! Its like the weather we should of had in the spring. you can actually go outside and not feel like you're going to melt. I hope it stays around for a while :)

*Young Love has been on repeat, seriously since I got it. a few times at soccer practice , I'd start randomly singing 'Ships in the Night' or 'Count on Me'  or 'Down' in my head ;D oh and i've discovered that listening to 'Ships in the Night' at night is epic. because I know you've been wanting to know that. ;] My 6 year old brother's favorite song is 'Hey Mama' and my little sister's favorite is 'She Got the Honey'. so.cute. :)

*tweeting with my dear friends. those girls are such a blessing. they are such an encouragement on those hard days. Who knew that twitter could bring such special people into my life!

via

* last but not least, lovely light and raindrops which made for these kinds of photos that i'm loving-

 {the rest coming SOON!} 

What are some little things that YOU are thankful for this friday?! :) 

much love♥
Samarah

hey mama, don't want no drama

via

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♥♥

Happy Memorial Day!

via

thank you to all those who have, are and will sacrifice their lives and so much for this country. for our freedom. And the lets not forget those people's families.they sacrifice a lot also.You all are loved, respected and appreciated. so much. Your service to God and us is often taken for granted. and sometimes only thought of on Memorial Day and so my prayer is that I will never take for granted what many amazing men and women are doing for this country. for the people. for God. for me.
thank you from the bottom of our hearts.



I'm off to watch an episode of Lark Rise to Candleford and do laundry :) Then I'm gonna workout and then {hopefully}work on some school. Then hang out for the rest of the day and spend time with my family and eat some yummy food! :)

Happy Memorial day! 

I hope you have a great day!

much love♥♥

phew...what a night!

hey all!! Well it seems like most everywhere, there are severe storms and tornadoes coming through. well we had a really bad storm, possible of producing a tornado last night. our town got the worst of everyone around us. the wind was really bad and the rain. for a while, it looked like a hurricane. oh and HAIL. golf ball sized. yeah, huge. There's hail and wind damage for us and others. There hasn't been any injuries or deaths from it, I don't think. The storm lasted about an hour and half and there was no tornado, thank the Lord! We got out of the bathroom and ventured outside to see the hail, it was pretty neat :) most everyone on the street was outside taking pictures and seeing it! My dad was about 2 hours away in other city, in a training and he got home after the storm had passed. thankfully he didn't get any bad weather! Then....the power went out. for about 2 hours. Candles were light and my whole family and I camped out in the living room for the night. We were all a little bit unsettled and it took a while to get comfortable and to sleep. I turned on Audrey Assad and that was so relaxing :) anyway, it sure was an eventful night! now its overcast and a little dark. There are supposed to be more storms coming :/ But I don't think they are going to be super bad. we will see. I'm so thankful to God for keeping us and everyone else around us safe and protected!
here are some photos from the day/night :)

the clouds looked amazing

the golf ball sized hail!!

!!

the kids thought it was so cool[pun not intended]

it only lasted like 5 mins but tons came down!!

after the rain and wind had died down a lot and we went outside

sweet Bailey...love that you can see her reflection!

i played Math Bingo with my sibs to get them to calm down.

I love taking pictures of raindrops on plants or whatever :)

a little while after the storm had passed, this cloud was so neat...it started like this then went across the whole sky

:)

then the sky got really dark, it was getting late but there was storm clouds in there too. it rained just a little but never really stormed again.

♥

 We are supposed to have some rain showers and thunderstorms today and tomorrow but nothing too severe.

I really can't imagine what the people of Joplin and the other places that have been destroyed by tornadoes and such, are going through. how scary. I'm definitely praying for them and I know that He will provide for their needs. I pray for comfort and peace for them. There is hope in Christ and He will never leave us nor forsake us. I'm praising the Lord that He has kept us safe! Please keep Missouri, Oklahoma and the other places in your prayers.

much love♥♥

♥my sin weighed upon Your shoulders♥

It just blows my mind of what Christ did for us. He loved us SO much that He DIED for us to save us from our 

sins. He endured great pain and agony for us. A crown of thorns on His head and nails in His hands. That should of

been my thorns and nails. But He loved us so much He took carried the cross for us. To redeem us. 

To make us new creations in Him. He gives us eternal life when we confess that we are sinners and that He is the 

King of Kings and He is the only way to way, truth and life. He endured great pain and agony for us. A crown of

thorns on His head and nails in His hands. All for us. Another thing that blows my mind is that He wants a

relationship with us. with YOU and ME. Sinners, dirty and unholy. Christ desires to be the Lord of our lives. 

We are called to live and strive to become more like Him even through the hard trials of this world. He will never 

leave us or forsake us.  Jesus Christ has overcome the world. I pray that everyday I would continue to give 

my life to Christ  and let Him mold me into the person HE wants me to be. His hope brings me joy. He showers me 

with  grace and mercy and loves me unconditionally.  that is amazing.  

I pray that I will never ever take for granted what Christ did for me. 

[This song is my absolute FAVORITE worship song and a top favorite of all songs]

You stood before creation
Eternity within Your hand
You spoke the earth into motion
My soul now to stand

You stood before my failure
Carried the Cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon Your shoulders
My soul now to stand

So what can I say
What can I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You

So I'll walk upon salvation
Your Spirit alive in me
This life to declare Your promise
My soul now to stand

So what can I say
What can I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You

So I'll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all

So I'll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours

 The Stand by Hillsong United 

 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 

Have a wonderful Easter thanking and praising Christ for the ultimate sacrifice He made. 

Much love,

Samarah♥

happy birthday dad {and 3 other people! }

Actually there are 3 other people that we know whose birthdays are today. My Aunt S and Aunt A and then a friend.

Happy Birthday Aunt S and Aunt A!! I miss you both very much! much love ♥ 

This isn't going to be a long birthday post. just something short and sweet :] my dad is: a great man of God. loving husband. awesome dad. my hero and protector. hilarious.caring. smart. generous. wise. creative. lover of a great variety of music. (I get my great love of music from him). and much more but i don't have time to list them all :) he is the one person that can make me laugh when I'm in the worst mood. he is down right hilarious. loves to make jokes. I get my sense of humor (if i have any ;) from him. put him, my mom and i together and we can be pretty funny! A lot of people say I look like my dad and i believe 'em. sometimes dad does something or makes a facial expression and I say "oh my gosh! you look SO like me!" we are so alike its creepy ;] we both have a great love for history and music. we can go from Kj-52 and Skillet to Carrie Underwood and Brandon Heath. He has a great memory and has a lot of information stored up in his brain. He and I remember the oddest things, like what kind of car somebody drives or what shoes they were wearing. yeah weird, but i love it ;) We've had great times together and I know we will have many more! :)

Happy Birthday Dad!

with love,

Samarah♥

Day 9 & 10, new camera and new blogger :)

 First of all, thank you SO much for all your sweet comments on my last post {really on the past few posts}!! you girls are so encouraging and sweet. love you all so much :)


sorry I'm a bit behind on the 28 day challenge. I was really feeling bad yesterday, I even had to stay home from Latin class. I think I've only missed 1 other day in the entire 2 years I've been taking Latin. Today I was exhausted. exhausted. I took two 1 hour naps. that's NOT like me. We even had 3 extra kids(almost 1, 3, and 5 y.o.) and I managed to sleep for 2 hours amidst the very loud little people. I still feel really weak and tired. I didn't get any school done :/ I really hope I'm not getting sick.

Day 9-A photo you took- 

this is a hard one because I've taken like tons of photos :P I have lots of ones that I'm quite proud of that I took of my siblings and my "adopted" sisters but I can't post them on here because their faces are just too cute to share with the blogging world ;] So I'll choose another one (or 2 or 3) 

none of these have been edited. straight out of the camera :)

I really love this one. my good friend's converse :) i really love the purple

ahh the lovely sight of spring!

took this on a hike. love God's creation

pure beauty

having a little fun ;) 

Day 10: A photo of you taken over ten years ago. 

I can't do this one or tomorrow's because I don't post pictures of myself (my face) on my blog. Maybe in the future but not now. I'm just too gorgeous, ya'll aren't ready for me yet ;] But for Day 11 I will post a picture of me but not showing my face. 


Ok onto the exciting camera news!!! We(my family) are getting a new camera! the one we have now is really old and the zoom stinks. see? 

We've gotten by with it and gotten some really good shots but its just time to look for a better one. One of the reasons we are getting I'll share with ya another time. so excited :) so be on the look out for that! anywho, I'm really pumped about the one we're getting because it has a super sweet zoom and stuff like that. I will be able to put off my efforts for a more "professional" camera because this one is sooo sweet.and the cost is really reasonable.  I really want to explore photography. I love beauty and photography can capture it. wanna see it??!! here its is....

 Nikon Coolpix L110

ain't she a beauty??

I'm really excited to get my lil' hands on it!! ;D And getting it means that I'll post a lot more pictures! :]

I want to welcome Stephanie, Emily's {Grace Like Rain}sister to the blogging world! Check out her blog, While I'm Waiting. She is super sweet and her blog posts are encouraging and inspiring! :)

hope you are having a good night and I don't know about you but I'm glad tomorrow is friday! oh yeah, its my dad's birthday! :D I'll be doing a special post for that ;)

much love,
♥Samarah

Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom!

My parent's 16th wedding anniversary is today!

I can't even begin to express how much I love them or how blessed I am to have them. My mom is my best friend and my dad is my hero. sure we have our tiffs but its really hard to stay mad at them for a long time. Even though I don't understand why they are making me do something sometimes, I know they are doing it because they love me. We've had so many fun events and have gone through tough things too but we've drawn closer to Christ and each other.My dad makes sure that my sister, brother and I know that he loves us and there's is nothing that we could do that we make him stop loving us. I'm serious, his family comes first (after Christ) and he loves us to no end. He would do anything for us if we really needed it. He teaches us, plays with us, reads with us, helps us and loves us. He works so hard to keep us in a warm and safe house,food, school books and curriculum and have fun times. He teaches us about life, its trials, Christ and how to follow him and serve him with everything that we do and say. and my dad is one of the funniest dads out there, he loves to laugh.. Mom is so patient, kind, helpful, caring, loving, wise, and fun. I'm learning that she knows a lot and most of the time she is right. I've doubted her many times and in the end she is right. So I've learned not to doubt her ;) We laugh a lot. a lot. Mom and Dad are so funny and we've had and will have some pretty good times.My parents are definitely not perfect,I've seen them have hard times in their marriage but I've also seen them draw even closer to one another. Everyday I get another glimpse of just how amazing and wonderful they are.

They work hard to give us so much and I will cherish,thank God for them and love them forever. 

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! 

I love you!  

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."
Ephesians 4:2 New International Version

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
1 Peter 4:8 NIV

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13 NIV

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her."
Ephesians 5:25 NIV

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."
^{1 Cor. 13:4-8 NIV}

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Cor. 13:13 NIV

end of giveaway!

Our giveaway is now closed. Thank you very much to all those who entered! We will announce the winners tomorrow the 30th. Thanks again :)

♥Samarah

blessings and thankfulnes

(not my photo)

I probably won't be posting tomorrow so I'm doing my Thanksgiving post now :)
I've been blessed by God with SO much. I have a lot to be thankful for.
Here are just a few things I'm thankful for,

My Savior Jesus Christ. He saved me from myself and in Him I have Hope. I don't know how I would keep going without Him. In the past year, I feel like I've grown closer to Him through all my health issues. Some days I feel like my life is just falling apart then I read a verse, talk to friend, or listen to a song that reminds that I can go on with His strength and love. That I am more than my problems or mistakes. I am His and I am a new creation in Him.

My amazing family. Seriously I have the best family ever. They love and care for me even when I'm in my worst mood ;) Our favorite things to do together is snuggling up on the couch and watching The Andy Griffith Show or taking a hike or just hanging out :) my little sister will make me sweet cards saying "I love you" for no reason and my little brother will give me a hug or say something like "you're the best big sister ever". My dad never ceases to make me laugh and he would do anything for me if I need it. My mom is the best. She teaches me, laughs with me,. cries with me, helps me, and has incredible patience and forgiveness towards me! Those things and more are priceless and I'll be honest... sometimes I'm not very fun at all to live with but my family puts up with it and does a very good job ;) I don't know what I'd do without them!

My fabulous friends. One of God's greatest blessings! good friends are hard to find nowadays but I've got a great bunch of 'em. My friends will listen to me talk about the bad day I had or what I'm struggling with. And they will encourage me or just tell me to suck it up ;) just kidding!! :) We can laugh and talk about random girl things ;)  I don't feel like I have to put on a fake face for them, I want them to see me just as I am- a beautiful mess. We can help each other grow spiritually, emotionally and physically. I love talking to a friend about how I feel and they say " i feel like that too!" knowing that I'm not alone. in the good times and bad. I love my friends and am SO thankful for them!

YOU! yes I'm thankful for you, the readers of my blog. You reading, commenting, and following is a blessing to me. When I started this blog I had no idea that a year later I would have almost 70 followers and meeting new people who are like me-striving to love and serve Christ and reach out to other people. and the encouragement and joy I get out of this blog is great! Thank you so very much :)

Awesome music. Music is a big part of me. I'm so thankful for the artists who write about things that God has put on their heart and create some really awesome and uplifting songs!  Songs are the words of my heart when I'm speechless. ♥

Some random things that I'm thankful for :)

• my warm house
• itouch ;) 
• being able to get an education 
• photography
• my church 
• clothes 
• having clean food and water 
• entertainment 
• clothes 

Don't just think of all the things you are thankful for on Thanksgiving but all year round. When you think you've come to the end of your rope or just can't go any longer count your blessings. one by one.
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'll leave you with this Thanksgiving prayer from the episode "A Time to Heal" of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. It sums up my post and I think its beautiful.

Dear Lord,
Le us give thanks to God our Father for all of his gifts so freely bestowed upon us. For all the beauty and wonder of your creation and earth, sky and sea. For our daily food and drink, homes and family and friends, for minds to think and hearts to love and hands to serve, for health and strength to work and leisure to rest and play, for brave and courageous , for a patient in suffering and faithful in adversity and for all valiant seekers after truth,liberty and justice, we thank you dear Lord. Amen. 

Love in Christ,
Samarah

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