My favorites Friday...

I LOVE scarves--anytime of year!  Most of the scarves I wear are really pashminas...they are less itchy than bulky scarves, but surprisingly warm, and you can wear them lots of different ways.

Definitely, my favorite accessory...I racked up on them a few years ago when I was in India for the summer--so many beautiful colors, super cheap (a little over $1), made great gifts, and were easy to cram in a suitcase.    

I add a pashmina to my outfit almost everyday in the Fall/Winter seasons.  They are also great to wear as a shawl to weddings!

It's no secret that one of my favorite things to do is shop and of course, find a good deal.

This past week, I was browsing at Target and discovered a few pashminas on sale for $3.24!!!

So, I HAD to purchase a couple--a cheap way to spruce up an outfit and I already have plans for both of them.

Thank you Target for adding a basic navy and a neutrally patterned pashmina to my collection:)

'Knock You Naked' Brownies

My sweet friend, Quinn, celebrated a birthday yesterday.  I wanted to make a yummy treat for Quinn's birthday dinner party...of course, I looked no further than the Pioneer Woman.  If you've never looked at the cooking section of her blog, you should definitely check it out!  

I'm a chocolate fanatic, so I'm always looking for recipes with lots of pizazz and by pizazz I mean lots of wonderful extras!

I was scrolling through the dessert recipes when I came across, "Knock You Naked Brownies"...now, despite that they looked to die for, the title definitely got my attention...

Ingredients

German Chocolate Cake Mix

1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans

Evaporated Milk

1/2 cup of Butter (melted)

14 oz bag of Caramels

1/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Mix together cake mix, pecans, 1/3 cup of evaporated milk, and melted butter.  Mixture will be thick (kind of like cookie dough).

3.  Split the mixture in half and press one half in the bottom of a 9x9 pan & bake for 8 mins.

3. Unwrap all of the caramels (about 60).  Melt the caramels with 1/2 cup evaporated milk in the microwave.

4.  Pour the melted caramel over the brownies.  Then sprinkle about 1/3 of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used minis).

5.  Scoop remaining dough mixture on top.

6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  & during those 20 mins enjoy the best part of baking...any guesses on what that is???  Yes!  Eating the leftover dough on the bowl...yummy!

7.  Sprinkle powder sugar on top!

& there you have it...messy gooey goodness---don't get too crazy;)

The girls at Quinn's birthday celebration...happy birthday Quinnie!

My favorites Friday...

Lately, I've been trying to run more so that I can hopefully run a half-marathon at the end of October...it's getting here quicker than I need it to!

I found this old favorite & it's now the first song on my run playlist...

Why is it one of my favorites??

  Well...because it reminds me of road trips with my best friends, screaming this song at the top of our lungs.  Some of my favorite times, indeed:)

"Perfect love casts out fear."

The past couple of days, I've been thinking about 1 John 4:18, 

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."

We often praise God for His perfect love that casts out all fear...but, what exactly does that mean?

After listening to John Piper and pulling out the ol' Key Word, these are a few thoughts I've gathered....

The word perfect in the original greek language means complete.

The word fear in the original greek language means to be afraid.

[complete] love casts out [being afraid]

WHAT MAKES LOVE COMPLETE?

"And we have come to know and have believed that love which God has for us.  God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  By this, love is PERFECTED [or completed] with us, that me may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world." --1 John 4:16-17

"Perfected love is when you don't just talk about the need to share Christ, you do it. It's when you don't just talk about the hungry, you feed them. It's when you don't just talk about floundering new believers, you disciple them. And so on....Complete your talk with the walk" --John Piper

Loving God, loving people actively as Jesus would, walking in the light, and trusting in the Cross gives His children the confidence to believe and know that His perfect love casts out all fear!

"The way to boldness, the way to confidence and fearlessness, is to walk love not just talk love." 

--John Piper

HOW DOES PERFECT LOVE CAST OUT FEAR?

Fear is the opposite of love.  To love is to trust...you can't completely trust and have fear.  

Perfect love of God abiding in us, gives confidence...confidence diminishes fear.    

I only wanna be with you...

Who doesn't love Hootie???  Hootie and the Blowfish perform every year in August at the Homegrown Festival on Daniel Island...and I finally made it to see them!  It was so much fun and the weather was great.  Another reason why I love my beautiful city...Darius Rucker lives here:)

three special days...

Two years ago, August 8th, 2009...the beautiful Maegan Rogers became Mrs. Christopher Bolding...Bradley and I couldn't have been more excited to stand beside two people that we love and appreciate.  Being the first of our close friends to marry, they tested the waters out for us and let us in on all there is to know about being newlyweds!  & of course, Maeg was looking out for me that day...she arranged it so I wouldn't have to walk down the aisle escorted by Bradley Mishue.  Come on now, y'all know the old saying, "you can't walk down the aisle twice with the same person"!

Richard Bell Photography

....and the very next day, Bradley was to take me on a much anticipated date...in which I told his best friend Brad that if Bradley didn't ask me to be his girlfriend soon that he was getting pushed off the bridge.  Brad knew what was happening later that day, so he wasn't terribly concerned:) 

Bradley took me out to the, then newly built, pier underneath the Cooper River Bridge.  We ate watermelon, drank sweet tea out of mason jars, and he read me a long letter & at the end asked me, "Will you walk by faith with me?"...I nodded my head yes, smiled, & said, "I'd like that....so....you're my boyfriend?!" 

August 10th....my sissy's birthday.  Today is Terri Anne's 21st birthday...just kidding...but, she's getting to the point where she might not share her age;)  We might not always get along, but I do love her & appreciate that she is a wonderful big sister that put up with me eavesdropping on the phone, tagging along with her friends, and pulling the 'I'm the baby' card way too many times.
I am thankful that she shows me a picture of what it means to give to others.  Happy birthday!

such a fun Friday...

What a fun day it has been!  We enjoyed a peaceful few hours at the beach today...our old spot at Sullivan's missed us...I felt like I was coming home:)  I chose to enjoy my book most of the time, Bradley on the other hand explored the sand bar (he's the little speck in the pic on the right).

Then Friday night date night!  Full of my favorite things...started off with a quick trip to my favorite store, Gap, where I found these jeans 50% off...wonderful (my face isn't showing my true excitement).

  Then off to the movies (I love watching movies) to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes (which I recommend).  We tried making our best intimidating Ape face...

Shared a 'Love it' of birthday cake remix...mmmm.  Finished the night with seeing the Rains', playing a few games of banana-grams, watching TK & Mike's huntin' episodes, & Stacy leaving behind The Help for me to read.  The movie comes out Wednesday...have to get the book in before then! 

Off to Patrick in the AM, say a prayer for the college students & the Mishues as we talk with my church this Sunday. 

"When did I stop thinking life was dessert?"

Sugar pretty much runs through my veins and boy do I slowly indulge on some sweets!!!  That tasty big piece of cheesecake that makes you close your eyes and savor every single bite.  Now, how many of you devour your meal?  I definitely do...but not dessert, that's to be enjoyed one slow bite at a time.  

A couple weeks back while reading One Thousand Gifts, the line "when did I stop thinking life was dessert?" immediately stopped me...I imagined the excitement and anticipation of a good piece of cake or cobbler.  How did I let myself get so busy that I stopped savoring the little moments.

I continued down the page..."The fast have spiritually slow hearts."  Wow...I've always known that I can be fast paced--doing way too many things at one time, but to realize that my busyness and task oriented mindset makes me miss out on the important things or even more so, my sweet Savior really is pushing me to see the details in each moment.  

Further down the page..."It takes a full twenty minutes after your stomach is full for your brain to register satisfaction.  How long does it take your soul to realize that your life is full?"  I pray that I realize each moment that my soul is overflowing with true life given by Jesus Christ...that I have life because of Him, "Whoever has the Son has life..." (1 John 5:12).

Bradley and I run together from time to time and when we get close to the end I pick up the pace & sprint way before I should.  My reasoning is so we can finish quicker; Bradley however always tells me that I'm wearing my body out and that if I could go that fast towards the end that means I have the ability to keep going a little further.  I worry about finishing--Bradley reminds me to also think about how I get there.  "...let us run with ENDURANCE the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

"Life is dessert--too brief to hurry."  

(All quotes are from Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts)