amazing.

not everything in that quote is true:

sorry to break it to you.. but everything won't be amazing. it's true. there will be some pretty crappy moments in your life, times when you feel down & don't know if you'll ever cheer up, times when the whole world feels like its crumbling all around you... unfortunately, we're not immune to trying & testing times. 

but there's truth in that quote:

but because there is a god that absolutely loves & adores us... things are amazing. there is hope for every dark moment in your life. there is joy for every sad season you'll ever go through. and there is a peace that will wipe away any fear you will ever face. and that's what's so amazing about life. 

don't worry... you'll hate life sometimes, you'll cry about it, you'll not know what to do sometimes .. and yet, everything will turn out amazing when you remember that there is more to life than that. live every moment with the knowledge that god knows exactly what you're going through; he knows exactly how to help you through it. and he'll know how to turn any bad day into an amazing one.

happy tuesday.

when i feel like quitting, i keep going.

just last year, i couldn't fathom the thought of going for a run. or even a light jog. a walk... yep, i loved those but nothing more. when i moved to california, bout half way through living there, i just got really excited about "working on my fitness." and so the journey began. a walk/jog here & there. then it turned into a light jog. then it turned into actually running around the neighborhood. was it ever really enjoyable for me? no. not really. but one thing it did do for me was, it cleared my head. and i think that's why i kept going. gotta have some kind of motivation, right?

anyway, so after my run today {4 miles} i was driving home and i thought, "dang. just last year i probably couldn't have done that without thinking that i would literally die." it just made me feel happy. and accomplished. i love working out now. some days i don't want to, but once i'm at the gym or running outside - i feel good. do i feel pain? absolutely. but just like that quote up there.. i endure the pain because i know that it's weakness leaving my body. 

so anyway. there's a fitness update for you. it's 2012. let's work on being healthy, enjoying life and making the most of every moment. {and hey, don't deprive yourself. sneak a little treat here & there as well ;) }

lattes & goodies

this morning i woke up & one of my first thoughts were, "a latte & a pastry... i want that right now." and so... with some help from my uncle & sister, it happened! :) love when things work out. went with my uncle to drop lily {my lovely hair-stylist sister - guys.. she's amazing! go to foxycut downtown seattle.. she'll hook you up} off & she bought me a yummy latte. and then after that, because of this nice weather seattle is having right now, went walking around the junction & hit up bakery nouveau for some goodies.

the case of french macarons. i am a strong believer that bn has the best macarons in the seattle area. those bright green ones are margarita flavor! delicious.

my choices of macaron for this morning: pb&j and coconut. the pb&j had some hazelnut butter & fresh made jelly in it - so yummy! the coconut one is probably one of my favorites. coconut heaven... 

so. it's only 11 am and my day has already been awesome. that's what i'm talkin' about.

excuse my childish ways

today, i was washing my hands and made bubbles. and it made me so happy. i smiled. at the bubbles. and then thought, "funny how those little childish things can make a person so happy." 

go ahead! do something childish today... make bubbles, write on the sidewalk with chalk, draw silly stick figures - whatever you choose, "never lose the child-like wonder. it's just too important. it's what drives us."

:)

thanks grace!

as of late, this has become one of my favorite quotes. i think about certain pivotal times in my life where this quote has been so true. grace is never too late. it comes at the perfect time. it meets me at my greatest need & somehow figures out when i need it the most. i'm grateful for that. aren't you? go ahead and think about all those times that grace swept into your life. and smile. and be grateful. and go about your day giving grace out to the next person. 

happy monday!

i got a little country in me..

every now and then, i get my lil' country on & enjoy my country playlist on itunes. one of my favorites: "we own the night" by lady antebellum 

and i just love cowboy/girl engagement & wedding themes.

bet you didn't know that about me, huh?

my last day.

"the soul is healed by being with children."

i'm going to miss these lil' guys. 

thank you, thank you

"would we know that the major chords were so sweet,

if there were no minor key?"

-C.H. Spurgeon

Thank you God for the bad days, for they make the good days that much sweeter. 

"as we go on..."

as some of you know, this is my last week working at hiawatha community center, as a before/after school program counselor. i have absolutely loved my time there and am going to miss it with all of my heart! seriously. i've always loved hanging out with the kiddos - grew up babysitting everyone's children! i thank god that he gave me the gift of patience and love for the lil' ones :) but god is doing some rearranging of priorities in my life & has told me to move on from the community center job. 

i told the kids that i was going to leave and some kids made sad faces, some kids asked questions and some kids continued to eat their snack, like nothing even happened. kids. but today, whenever the subject came up, some of the kids weren't very happy about it. sad actually.. like genuinely very sad. which made me.. very, very sad. i hate goodbyes. & it's not like i can ask them for their number so we can keep in contact. you know? it's been a tough week knowing that i'm not going to be around the kids that make me want to go crazy sometimes and then other times, make me laugh until i cry. *sighhh

so in honor of one of my favoritest jobs yet..

& to top it off...

our kids like to do Just Dance for the Wii. this is their favorite song. 

the crazy things we do.

oh gosh. this was after i pulled an all nighter for school...like 6 years ago. don't judge me based off of this video. or do. whatever. hah ;)

feb 14th is around the corner..

..which means, ladies... make your gents a lovely heart cake. or gents.. get in that kitchen & bake your lady a cake. whoever. kids make it for your mom/dad. friends.. make it for your other single friends (*ahem*cough*cough*hint to my friends..). isn't it such a lovely cake? and you don't even have to tell the person you made it for that there's a heart in it. it could be a surprise! 

recipe here .. tons of other fun recipes on that blog as well! enjoy!

"i won't be overwhelmed"

"God, I look to You,

I won't be overwhelmed,

Give me vision to see things like You do.

God, I look to You,

You're where my help comes from,

Give me wisdom,

You know just what to do."

This song calms me every time I hear it. It's sort of been the anthem of my life for the past couple months. Whenever I get anxious, antsy, worried, tired, stressed... I start to sing, "God, I look to you... I won't be overwhelmed.." and it's almost immediate that I am at peace. I know a God that takes my burden away and carries it for me. He let's me look to Him.. and He knows exactly what to do. Now that's a relief ;)

Handwritten Sentiments.

This week has been the week for receiving fun letters & packages :) I LOVE it! Getting mail is one of my favorite things ever.
Thank you Maggie & Elisa for my lovely notes/goodies. Made my week & it's just begun!

life is too short

i told two of the girlies at my job (before/after school program) this today. 10 mintues earlier, they were best buds... and in that moment, you wouldn't even know they ever liked each other! in response to my cliche, "life is too short for fighting" one of the girls (1st grader) says, "no ms. anthea. life is too short for secrets. not fighting." 

... well, i guess she's right. but so am i. so there you have it. today.. remember - life is too short for fussing, fighting & keepin' secrets. 

..advice from me... and a 1st grader.

what are you built for?

tick tock, tick tock..

no thanks to pinterest, craft gawker, food gawker & wedding gawker.... i actually feel this way more often than i'd like to admit. okay, okay. i admit... i feel this way a lot. tons of ideas of things i want to do, people i want to hang out with, places i want to go, food i want to make, things i'd like to cook... etc. etc. etc. ... aaaaannd not enough time. but then again, i guess i can't quite make an excuse for the time not being enough. i've been challenging myself to make the most of every opportunity. despite how i feel about time, i know that there is just enough time to do the things that i'm called & have a heart to do. so.. no matter the number of ideas; i am sure that there is all the time in the world, that i need, for them. 

...so fear not! if you're supposed to do it, there will be grace to do it!

little anthea

{little me.}
it's one something in the morning and i'm up. wide awake. thinking about how easy childhood was. in the midst of any kind of turmoil, strife or hard time - i didn't know it. i was a kid... life was centered around playing house with my neighbors, eating bubblegum & trying to get out of nap time {the biggest hardship i knew as a child, hah.} and now that i'm older, it feels like, i'm carrying all the weight of the world on my shoulders. well, all the weight of my world at least. i know i don't have much to stress about, cry about or even complain about compared to others... but sometimes i wish i could go back to the carefree world of my younger days. 

...maybe that's why god calls us to be childlike. to live carefree, knowing that he is good & we can trust in him. it's his promise to me. to us. i know that. but i still wish that for a moment, i could be little anthea again. 

believe it.

snow day numero dos.

ventured to harborview to pick my sister up. 

stopped at delite bakery to get some goodies!

went on a nice stroll around the neighborhood with my momma!

pretty icicle tree.

the sky was so beautiful.

"put your hands up!"

oh.. and you may have noticed that i changed the blog title up there. yeah, that's a pig. and yeah... it's not for any particular reason except for the fact that i felt like putting a pig there ;) random & odd. i know.

"jesus was born.."

i was going through my iphoto & found this video {that i was supposed to post a long time ago} of my nephew kingston performing in his school's christmas play. i figure, since its snowing... it's still kind of christmas season & more than appropriate to post this video :)

isn't he cute? {the little big guy right in front}

new music

there are certain songs i never get tired of. 

& this is one of them. click the video & you can download the song! so good.

let it snow..

today was a lovely, lovely snow day. 

my view from my kitchen window

sledding is always fun...

handstand snowman, joanna, syd & me. all with our sledding positions.

momma mary made thumbprint cookies. so, SO good!

i liked the snow on our trees in front of my house.

homemade oatmeal chocolate butterscotch cookies. delish.

while i was baking, i looked over and saw my niece just chillin... funny girl.

and after i consumed too many cookies.. i decided to go for a walk with a bag of those cookies. i wanted to hand them out to people in my neighborhood. i figured, there's no school tomorrow, people love snow, and it's still light out - there has to be people out! so i took the pup jordan out with me to fulfill that mission.

....well....

& that concludes my snow day #1. now to get some rest before my snow day #2 tomorrow =) 

Q&A a day + 5 yr journal

this question was perfect for today...

must watch!

i'm always late when it comes to watching movies. i love movies... but for some reason, i always watch all the really good movies, really late. for instance, i still haven't seen avatar. yeah, crazy.

anyway, just watched warrior & LOVED it. definitely adding it to my favorite movie list. 

inspirational. tear-jerker. action. all those mixed into a movie = 2 hrs well spent.

goin' to the chapel..

simple wedding dress + extravagant accessories

simple & beautiful

femme by christos

this is beautiful. i want it. it's simple. but it's extravagant. all at the same time. i can think of some nice accessories to go with this dress. *sigh..

my imaginary snow day

so apparently, there is a supposed to be a "snowpocalypse". right now, in west seattle, skies are pretty clear with a little bit of clouds.. and a lot of sunshine. today, work was canceled because of the snow. or maybe it was because the warning of snow. whatever the case, i'm grateful for my imaginary snow day. more time to bake, hang out with family & go to my cycling class at the gym ;) 

a god who cares..

"...there I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor, a door of hope." 

hosea 2:15

in the bible, the valley of achor was a place that represented trouble, affliction & distress. and today, as i was reading that passage, god said to my heart, "my dear... i will make your valley of achor into a place of hope, goodness & life." as of late, i haven't been depressed or even slightly stressed out; just a little indifferent. i've been examining my life & am not very satisfied with where i'm at or where it seems i'm going. {hello world, i'm telling you my heart right now. no filter here. hah.} but today... today he whispered to my heart some good news. and i needed to tell you about it, because i know that there are SO many of us who are struggling, going through the motions, not sure of what lies ahead or even of what already was... but guess what. hearts, be still - he, a god who is interested in & cares about every aspect of your life - knows what we are going through & offers to us, every single day... a door of hope. 

3 books in less than a week

from the day i read the first page of the hunger games, i was hooked. like my good friend ash {check out her blog how sweet it is} said in her review - whenever i wasn't reading, i felt like i was leaving all my district 12 friends hangin'. and now... there isn't anything to read. it's a bittersweet feeling. half of me is happy to be done with the books and the other half doesn't know what i'm going to do with my time. 

*sigh. i guess it's time for another book. suggestions?

beer + bread + family

as of late... i've been all about beer bread. have i been eating tons of it? nope. actually, i've only had it a couple times this winter. but, embarrassingly enough, i log onto pinterest, type in beer bread and admire the fluffy, buttery bread - often. so today, as the snow is falling outside... i come to the conclusion, it's one of those days that it's okay to be lazy, eat whatever & enjoy family. SO.. as i'm typing, i'm waiting for my beer bread muffins {my brother doesn't have a bread pan} to finish. ah! i'm excited. i'll let you know how they turn out. right about now, it's smelling heavenly in the kitchen. {my mom is making coconut curry pasta too} come brave the snow weather & have dinner with us.

recipe here

hey there sof.

sofia elizabeth talamaivao. my niece is adorable.

home sweet, future home

rugged wood floors. rustic trunk. that rug. the sunlight. i love it.

just recently my parents let me paint the door in the kitchen with chalkboard paint. it's stinkin' fantastic. and i want one in my future home. i also like that door. a lot. i don't know how realistic it would be and it'll probably get in my way butttt... it still pleasing to the eye ;)

Those windows. Oh, let the light in. Natural light is the best. hands down. 

allen stone + say so

i'd like this song to be played at some point in my future wedding. 

allen stone - say so

i'm VERY excited. i get to see him live tonight! seattle rock orchestra + allen stone. woot woot. 

keep an open home.

"keep an open heart & open home." a phrase i always want to live by. growing up, my parents had tons of different people over to our house. to talk, to eat, to sleep... company, all the time. i want to live that way when i have my own home. a huge dining room table is a must - i want to have unexpected dinner guests often! an open floor plan - it's just better that way. a big, big kitchen - that's where we all end up congregating anyway, right? might as well have a big one!