What is in my Backpack- At the END of the year

I am so close to being done with school (less than two weeks)! YAYAYAY!

A long time ago, I showed ya’ll what was in my backpack (here). That is all fine and dandy but I think it is way more interesting to see a backpack uncensored after it a full school year. It is crazy. I purposefully haven’t cleaned it. So…… do not get too grossed out by all the craziness (at least I didn’t find mold).

Let’s go through this thing together!

Here is a refresher of what my backpack looks like.

Inside the very front pocket I have three note cards, a mini hairbrush, some paper divider tabs, and a list of my classes.

(This picture took so long to set up!)

In the long pocket I keep all my pencils, pens and such. I have crayons, markers (two different types), pencils, pens, colored pencils, a ruler with 3 hole punch, glue, an eraser, lolly pop, a valentine from my friend Sam, a broken crayon, and crumpled paper towel. How extremely random 😉

The little pocket at the top of my bag held this small container that had some essential things in it like sanitizer, band-aids, lotion, braces stuff, a gum wrapper, chap-stick, and toothpaste (where is the toothbrush?!)

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This is the inside of the main pocket and its contents. I have all the same books as before in the fall, though they are written in and a bit battered now. Plus, floating around in my bag are five quizzes, some report cards, labs, flash cards, a binder clip, gum wrapper, paper towel, candy, a valentine, an adapter for my iPod, a perfume, pen, pencil, and last but not least a picture of strawberry cheese cake drawn by my wonderful friend Lila.

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Whew, that was everything in the mess of my backpack. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, honestly.

Did you find this interesting? What is the most essential thing in your backpack?

Mine would have to be my colored pens. They make taking notes so much more fun!

Have a fantastic day!

-Rebekah

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Preparing for a Mission’s Trip

Last year I posted twice about the mission’s trip I went on read them here and here. I thought for some of you considering on going on a mission’s trip you might want to know the process involved. Obviously, it is different with every church or organization. I am also going on a domestic missions trip (not out of the country) so that does simplify some things.

For starters, you usually have to complete a form to apply.  It gives you information and you also fill out information. This includes basic stuff like your name and age but also other stuff like your work preferences, lists of people who will pray/keep you accountable, and questions about your testimony and other spiritual related questions.

After you apply, you begin raising support and attending meetings. Since we are all under 18, we raise money by sending letters to people we know and people in the church asking for them to donate money. We send an original letter, thank you letter, field letter, and a letter when we return home.

At our meetings we build team unity, learn how to share the gospel, and meet specifically with our individual group (we are hosting a Vacation Bible School). Aside from keeping up on the letters, we must prepare for our team. I am on teaching team which means I will be teaching the kids a Bible lesson one of the days.

For that I’m writing my lesson, coming up with activities to do, and practicing teaching it. If you want to read my lesson you can click here –>VBS Lesson. It is about when Jesus confronts Peter after he has denied Jesus three times.

Prayer is a big part of the trip. I pray almost daily for the trip, the kids we will reach, my team, and other related things.

Also, you have to pack. You don’t have to do that till the end but it is still a part of the process.

Whew, I think that is all the prep I go through when I get ready for a missions trip. I hope you learned something. If you are considering going a mission’s trip don’t let this scare you! It does take a little prep but the results are priceless.

Have you ever been on a missions trip?

Have a lovely day!

-Rebekah

What I Eat in a Day

Another post I was inspired by from YouTube! I love watching videos about what people eat through out their day and also finding inspiration on new ideas of food to make.

About that… Madi from Delightful World of Dolls released an awesome YouTube movie about two weeks ago. You should check it out– she did a professional job (plus, it is fun!) Link to it here!

Back to today’s post, I do not eat the same food everyday (in case you thought that) so this was just a day when I was at home. At the end of the day I realized I had eaten a lot of stuff from Trader Joe’s which I thought was funny because Trader Joe’s is looked at as a “healthy” store. Disclaimer: I am not saying that this is diet that you should eat all the time or that it is right for you. This is just what I ate on this day.

With that out-of-the-way, take a look at what I ate for breakfast.

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I had two blueberry toaster waffles from Trader Joe’s topped with blueberries and a banana. I love bananas. They are my favorite fruit.

For lunch I wasn’t super hungry so it was pretty small. I made sweet potato fries (They are delicious!) and cut up an apple with some peanut butter.

To make the sweet potatoes, I grease a pan, set the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and cut up the sweet potatoes. I like to sprinkle mine with a little salt as well. Mine usually take 25-40 minutes to bake. It all depends on the size and how soft you want them. Just keep an eye on them and they’ll be fine.

A little later I wanted something sweet, so I had half a chocolate egg. This was a special one because it had coconut and peanut butter on the inside. My grandmother brought them so I do not know the recipe but I found a similar one here.

Nutty Chocolate Granola Bar

Blackberries

Since lunch was so small, I got hungry before dinner and I had some blackberries and a granola bar.

Cilantro Lime Ranch

DIxie Peach Juice

Ravioli’s

For dinner, my mom made raviolis and I made salad to go with that. We also had juice.

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You should definitely try the raviolis, waffles, and sweet potatoes those are all some of my favorites! I hope you found this interesting 😀

What is one of your favorite things to eat?

Happy May (Can you believe it is already May??)!

-Rebekah

All About Chickens

My family and I own five chickens (Henrietta, Coop, Nutmeg, Ginger Snap, and Queen Feather). I know owning chickens is becoming more popular and I decided to share some information about them. We’ve owned chickens for about a year and a half, so we are definitely eggsperts (I know it was an awful pun but I had to do it).

Our chickens were so tiny when I took this picture! Their combs (the red part) are so much bigger now.

We got our chickens in October 2015 and they’ve been laying consistently since about December 2015. We got them at 16 weeks old.

I like our eggs way better than store-bought eggs. I can’t go back to white eggs. They look so fake to me. Yes, some chickens lay white eggs but not to the degree of the store-bought kind. I love that we get speckled, spotted, variety colored eggs. Two of our chickens lay light beige eggs and the other three lay darker ones. The eggs are also different because they are a tad harder to crack.

{Safety First}

*The chickens in their run during winter*

• Make sure your chickens have a safe coop. We have woods in our backyard in which foxes live. We also have snakes and hawks that fly overhead. Our chickens are not free-ranging so they are a lot less likely to get eaten, but we still have to be careful to keep them safe.

• My dad made our coop. In their run (the outside part), he buried wire three feet down and bent it inward so critters can’t dig their way into the coop. We also have wiring on top so hawks can’t swoop in.

• Make sure you and your family stay safe while having chickens. Make sure to not eat raw eggs or to rub your faces all over chickens or chicks to avoid salmonella.

{Don’t be Afraid of Dirt}

• Dirt is good for chickens. It is how they keep themselves clean. You will see them digging holes in the ground and settling themselves in these holes. This is called dust bathing and is perfectly normal.

• The chickens will be healthier and so will their eggs by eating grubs (worms and other bugs in the ground). Let them eat it up!
• You can use chickens poop for compost or to make your garden more fertile. We don’t do this but I know plenty people do.

• Yes, the eggs do get poop on them, but you can wash that off. Besides, you aren’t eating the shell silly 😉 . With that being said, DON’T wash your eggs until right before you use them. Eggs have a special coating on them that keeps the poop and other stuff from soaking into their pores. When you wash them, you remove this coating.

{Will they ever lay?}

• Chickens start laying at about 20-24 weeks. Ours started laying at 21 weeks.

• During the winter your chickens need to experience at least 12+ hours of light and also need to be comfortable (so not freezing temperatures). If not, they will stop laying. We did this by putting a light (on a timer) inside of their coop. This way, they were a bit warmer and it was lighter for many more hours.

• You also may experience a chicken going broody. Basically, this is when the chicken decides it wants to hatch chicks and tries to hatch your eggs. We noticed this with one of our chickens about 8-9 months after we got her. She spent all her time sitting on the eggs and the other eggs the chickens had laid. She wouldn’t lay her own eggs. Nothing we tried would get her to stop, eventually they work themselves out of it and go back to normal. Sorry,  I don’t have any real suggestions on how to cure this.

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I think I just dumped on you a ton of information. If you want to know even more in-depth about chickens, check out Souly Rest. It is a unique blog and there are some posts that go into more detail about chickens on there.

Do you have chickens or want chickens?

Have a magnificent day!

-Rebekah

Having Joy Through Hardships

Right now, I’m sick. It is Good Friday. We have a program at our church but I’m home because I have a very low-grade fever and mainly just feel too tired to go.

About a week ago I began memorizing James 1:5, for a few days I was studying the surrounding passage. It is about having joy during trials and asking God for wisdom on how to be joyful in trials. I posted about joy a few months ago and here I am again. God must be showing me something 😉

Before I continue I want to make a disclaimer and say, yes, I am aware that getting sick is not considered a trial to everyone and definitely not as big as being persecuted for your faith or a family members death.

Right now, this is what I’m struggling with. It feels like a big deal to me because I love the traditions I have with my family at Easter and want to enjoy them. I also am planning on spending spring break at the beach with my friend for her birthday and have really been looking forward to that. None of this will happen if I’m sick, but God has taught me through this.

In front of people I’ve had a lot more trouble trusting God than by myself. I’ve been praying James 1:5 and I keep giving my worries back to God. It has brought me closer to God. This is teaching me to trust God. He has a plan. He will redeem the bad things that happen in our lives for good.

Your trial is probably different from mine. We all get them at some point or another. God uses everything for His glory, even our mistakes or Satan’s schemes. You are right. I don’t know what you are going through. Yes, I’m sure it is hard not to question God or wonder why this is happening.

Try to give it to Him. I’ve spent more time with God the past few days then I have since the missions trip I went on maybe. It feels good. Spending time with God doesn’t just mean praying and scripture reading, though it can. I’ve been listening to an amazing Spotify playlist of praise music. I’ve been doing some Bible journaling as well. Something I have been praying is that God won’t let me waste this opportunity to serve him.

Whatever kind of struggle you are going through. Look at it as a way to practice joy and pray that God will not let you waste this wonderful opportunity.

Have a fun spring break!

-Rebekah

***UPDATE: I’m better and had a wonderful Easter and I’m at the beach right now.***

 

What is Easter all About?

Crosses, the Easter bunny, lent, egg hunts, and candy galore— why is Easter so important and why do Christians celebrate it?

No one knows exactly when Easter began but now it is celebrated in many countries around the globe. For Christians, we celebrate Easter as the time when we commemorate Jesus dying for our sins and conquering death by coming back to life three days after He was killed. Sounds pretty remarkable, right?

It can be hard to comprehend all Jesus did for us. For my devotions this morning, I read through all four gospel’s accounts of Jesus’s death (if you want to read about it too check out Matthew 27 & 28, Mark 15,  Luke 23 & 24, and/or John 19 & 20). I feel like I have a new appreciation for how much Jesus did for me. He experienced so much hardship that He did not have to go through. He could have stayed comfortable in heaven and let us mess up and go to hell, because that is what we deserved.

Instead, He went through many difficult thing. He sweated blood and begged God for some other way to save us but went through with it despite His feelings. He was betrayed by one of His close friends. He was falsely accused multiple times for “sins” he had not committed. He was ridiculed, spat on, and punched. He was mocked while dressed as a “king”. He was beaten with a staff, flogged, and ultimately crucified (a horrific Roman death which you can learn more about here).

There are two reasons why it is extraordinary that He did this. First:

To God it doesn’t matter if you’ve committed adultery or told one lie, you are tainted by sin. Key point: Jesus has never sinned. That made Him the perfect sacrifice, unlike us.  He went through all of these awful things and He did not in any way deserve any of them. He chose to because He loved you and me. We are the ones who deserve to be killed and crucified. Because of what He did, we can live forever in Heaven. He has conquered death!

Secondly:

This is still true today isn’t it? It is very unlikely that a person would die for someone else. It is almost unheard of that someone,would die for a murderer or someone who is not a “good” person. Jesus did. In the next verse it says,

We didn’t clean up our act and then God thought, oh maybe I’ll send Jesus down to save them. We were sinning and He came down anyway. This truth is something to celebrate.

This is why Christians celebrate Easter. It marks the time when Jesus saved us from our hopelessness. If we believe that Jesus died and rose and ask him to forgive our sins, he will. Then, we are able to go to heaven.

If you don’t know Jesus very well (or at all) I challenge you to learn more about Him, what He did on Easter, and why it is so important. This coming Easter consider going to church. Check it out. You never know what you might discover.

If you already are a follower of Jesus, thank him for His amazing salvation. How can you let your light shine for Him this Easter season and furthermore?

Have a blessed and peaceful Easter!

-Rebekah

An Excerpt From My Novel

This past November I took part in my second year of Nano. I’d like to say it’s my first official year because the year before I only wrote a few thousand words (Wanna read an excerpt from that?? Comment and let me know).

This year I tried again. My goal was 15,000 words. I won and I’m so glad I did it. I already have some goals for next year.

Anyway, I’m doing Camp Nanowrimo in April (My goal is to get my book up to a total of 25,000 words). I thought it would be fun to share a summary of my novel and excerpt from it. Are you ready to finally read something?? Read on then (Hmmm, I feel like that was kind of obvious….)

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Synopsis

Camilla is fourteen years old and in 9th grade. She is going through that point in her adolescents where she is trying to find her self. Her mom died two years ago and she’s trying to coping with the loss. Plus, she doesn’t have any female role models in her life and lives with five guys. She feels like an outsider sometimes with four older brothers, especially when she acts like herself. Even her best friend is a boy and she doesn’t connect with girls. Through all of this Camilla has lost her faith in God and hates him at this point. Camilla struggles to find herself, make friends, and restore her relationship with God.

Excerpt

(The book is told from first person view of Camilla)

{via}

^^Camilla

I didn’t expect to spend my Wednesday afternoon having a chicken nugget fight and ranting about peaches (ew, their just so hairy!), but it happened. After last night’s news, I wasn’t particularly cheery to say the least when I plopped down in first period the next morning. Ambrosia slid into her seat right next to mine. “Did you understand any of the homework?” she whispered nervously.

“Ummm,” I replied really intelligently.

“You ok?”

“Sure, just a rough night last night and yes, I did understand the homework,” I said.

“Wanna come over? We can talk about it later,” she asked, flipping her hair off her shoulder.

I was caught off guard but I replied casually, “Oh, well I have homework that I need to get done before youth group tonight.”

“Ok, maybe another time.” she said disappointed.

{via}

^^Ambrosia

The rest of the day I felt sort of bad for lying to Ambrosia. I barely had any homework and nothing else planned other than youth group- which she was probably going to- that evening. I was just not in the mood for talking about my feelings or anything for that matter. Wow, sounded like the definition of my life right now.

The lunch line dragged on and on forever that day and I felt so self-conscious all alone. Ambrosia packed her lunch and was patiently waiting at our table. Dad didn’t have time for that anymore. I had always hated lunch lines and school lunches.

When I finally sat down, Ambrosia interrogated me again. “What’s wrong Camilla? You aren’t your normal self.”

“Nothing is wrong. Why do you think that! Can you please stop asking?” I snapped.

“Ouch,” called Jake who just so happened to be walking by, “and it’s because you bought tomato soup. We all know you hate it!”

“Ignore him,” Ambrosia rolled her eyes, “I completely understand. He was completely correct about the soup part though.”

I’m pretty sure she actually hated me though. I know I would if I were her. Gosh, I had a conscience. Nothing else note-worthy happened throughout the day but right after last period Troy came up to me and told me, “Hey Cam, turns out we have a spur of the moment play practice. I won’t be able to drive you home. Dad can’t either. Sorry.”

A plan began to form in my head. One in which I could show a little more love and not lose my only friend (ok, I’m not including Stan but he doesn’t really count). Hopefully, Ambrosia would hate me a little less after this. “No problem Troy. I’m going home with my friend Ambrosia. I’ll text Dad.”

What’s to lose? I ran over to her locker to tell her. “Hey…. So actually I don’t have homework to do and I would like to hangout if I still can- that is if I haven’t offended you so much that you never want to see me again.”

It sounded like I was begging and apologizing things I never did. Where had this change of heart come from? “That’s awesome! Why would I be offended?” she squeaked, “but before we leave we should go see the duet pairings! C’mon!”

“Wait, they are out???!” I asked.

We raced over to the choral room. The list was there. I scanned it. I didn’t see my name. Great, my fear was confirmed, I am bad at everything, a complete and utter failure– but Ambrosia interrupted my thoughts screaming, “CAMILLA! WE ARE PAIRED TOGETHER! THIS IS GREAT.”

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Thanks for reading! If you have any writing tips I’d love to hear them below.

What do you think so far? Would you want to see more excerpts or an excerpt from my 2015 novel?

Let me know in the comments!

-Rebekah

Delicious cookies (yes, that is their name) Recipe

Snow has returned…… I don’t know about you, but on frigid, cold days I love to munch on cookies. Where I live the weather has changed overnight from sweet spring back to wild winter.

I was looking back through a random folder of pictures I had taken and noticed a while ago (May 2016) I made some of MY MOST FAVORITE EVER COOKIES (don’t think that was grammatically correct but whatever). I thought it would be fun to share the recipe with you today using those old pictures. Warning; they aren’t the best because it was at night when I made these so there is a yellowy tinge to the pictures.

The cookies are called ‘delicious cookies’  because they are so tasty! My great grandma also are called them schoolhouse cookies because they make a big batch. Let’s hop right into the post.

Ingredients:

1 C. (each)  butter, salad oil (I used vegetable), brown sugar, white sugar, Rice Krispies, oatmeal, and shredded coconut

1 egg

1 tsp. (each) coconut flavoring (optional), cream of tartar, baking soda, salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tablespoon imitation butter

12 oz. milk chocolate chips

3 1/2 C. flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Soften your butter in the microwave. I softened mine a little too much XD

brown sugar

white sugar

extracts

chocolate chips

Rice Krispies

Add in all your ingredients! Yup, all at the same time 😉

I would suggest mixing in the normal cookies stuff before adding in the chocolate chips, Rice Krispies, and coconut. It will make it easier to mix.

This is what the completed batter looks like.

Scoop the batter onto a cookie sheet (you don’t need to grease them ).

Pop them in the oven until done. For us this is usually about 10 minutes. Let them sit for a minute on the tray before transferring them to a cooling rack.

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Now eat these amazing cookies and then leave me a comment thanking me for introducing you to this amazingness 😉 😉 NOM, NOM

Just kidding!

I hope you like this recipe. Please let me know if you have any questions about the recipe or if you decide to try them out.

Have a wonderful week!

-Rebekah

Choosing Joy

It can be easy to be joyful around the Christmas season, summer vacation, or any other time where you are doing things you enjoy. But what about Monday mornings (personally, I love Monday’s but I know most people don’t) or weekends when you are sick and can’t hang out with your friends?

Joy is always being content with your situation and being happy in it. Paul is someone who demonstrates a crazy amount of joy.

Paul didn’t always have a lot to be joyful about. He was shipwrecked (multiple times!), persecuted, beaten, thrown in jail, on house arrest, and ultimately died painfully (1 Corinthians 11:23-33) . He chose to be joyful through all of that. He said,

I wish I could be as joyful as Paul is. I find it very easy to be happy, especially when I’m around my friends. When I’m tired or stuck at home doing school work, it is a different story. How can we choose to always be happy (aka joyful) even through tough circumstances?

Jesus.

Jesus is the only way we can ultimately have joy. We can’t find joy on our own. We need Him to help us along the way. In the Bible it mentions many times about doing incredible things through Christ. Christ can give us that strength to have joy if we ask him.

Whenever I really stop to think about what God has done for me it fills me with so much joy. I’m saved. I do not need to fear anything because God is there for me. He sent Jesus to die even though I do not deserve it. I am sinful and he was punished for it. It can be so hard to wrap my mind around but at the same time it fills me with a joy that is bubbling up

We have so much to be grateful for. I bet you can name five things right now. Do it (and tell me what they are below). Jesus has done so much for us.

So today, let us chose to have joy.

Have an awesome week!

-Rebekah

My Room Tour

I think the title explains everything 😉

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Here is the entrance to my room. Right now I have a wreath on my door.

This is an over view of my room.

When you walk into my room and look to the left you will see my cool bird light switch, my purse (it is the perfect size and really cute), and my vanity. On top of my vanity, I keep the things I use everyday (like deodorant and moisturizer) and all my jewelry on it. I have a mirror hanging over it with Christmas lights strung around it. I really like the vibe they add.

Next up is my dry erase calendar. I use this thing all the time. It is really useful. Next to it is my closet.

This is my work space where I write all my posts. I have my trashcan and my desk. On my desk I have glass that covers the wood. Under that I have a bunch of pictures, quotes, and mementos of things I’ve done. This area is where I do school and write on my laptop (which isn’t in the picture). Above my desk I have my two windows and I can look out onto the street and have lots of natural light for my work space.

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Next we have my bureau where I keep out of season clothes.On that wall I have awards from when I did AWANA and some framed pictures of when I was a baby. On top of my dresser I keep some antique dolls (some of which are my moms), my make-up bag, piggy bank (I collect loose change), and a Bath and Body Works candle.

Next to that is my book shelf. I only have the top row full of books because I hate how much space books take up. I also have a radio. Yup, such an old-fashioned device, I know.

I have one more window in my bedroom because I’m on the corner room.

Across from my door is my bed. My grandma made my quilt. I also have Christmas lights strung around the headboard. It makes my room so cozy. Above my bed, I have a board with pictures of my friends and Bible verses.

Beside that I have baby pictures of me and a picture made by my great grandma. Beneath that, I have a nightstand with my lamp and clock. On the bottom of that I keep my Bible, journals, and whatever book I’m reading.

That is a full 360 of my room. Thanks for reading! I hope your day is fabulous. If you have any questions on where anything in my room is from comment below and I’ll make sure to let you know.

What’s your favorite part of your room?

-Rebekah