Friday Favorites!

Hello friends! Greetings from freezing and beautiful Chicago, and happy Friday to you! Long time, no see... again. More about my semester is coming soon, but for now here are some of my favorites for the week!

1. Founders Week! This week was the Founder's Week Conference here at Moody. Four and a half days of no classes, worship, speakers, and a bit of a break from everything. The speakers have been very challenging and encouraging, I am scribbling down pages of notes in every session, learning what it means to be holy as God is holy and commands us to be.

2. This video about marriage, relationships, and the gospel shown through Christ's love for the church.

3. This list of "21 Times Kelly Kapowski Taught Us How to Live" from Buzzfeed. My friend Ellen posted this on my Facebook and I was laughing so hard. Saved By the Bell is one of my favorite old shows to watch, and I'm just a tad obsessed with Kelly K... hence my halloween costume last year.

4. Gospel Choir. Two weeks ago I got to go to my first rehearsal since May! I was so blessed just by the practice, and yesterday afternoon we sang at a Founder's Week session. Lots of my friends came and my parents got to watch online, which was such a bonus to get to share it with them!

5. Kiddos God has put in my life. I went to my first night of my new PCM (Practical Christian Ministries, essentially our field study) on Monday, which is working with kids, and have gotten to hang out with my little sib (through Moody's Big Bro Big Sis) twice since being back on campus, and I am SO blessed by them.  God is teaching me so much. I may even write a whole post on this soon.

 

Thanks for reading! 

-Em

update!

Surprise! I haven't in fact abandoned this blog as you may think. I guess I just took an accidental break, since I've only posted maybe 3 times since returning from Greece. Here is what you need to know:

I have been home in NH November, December, and this beginning of January. Tomorrow I fly back to Chicago and move back in to Moody with my lovely roommate Bekah and get to see all of my friends again!! Classes start on Monday and while I will miss everyone in NH, I am beyond excited to be back. Both of these places are home to me.

I have been working anywhere between 40-60 hours every week at two jobs. One as a receptionist and the other at The Children's Place outlet (kid's clothing store). I also had 2 papers to write from classes I took in Greece and took a 3 credit online Research Writing class. So I have been wicked busy. Going back to school will be a break.

I am off of Facebook for at least a month, but I will probably pop in and post the link to this update on my blog page, but not on my personal one. Make sure to subscribe via email if you want to get the posts there instead! 

I have lots of posts I want to catch up on before moving into the type of posts I am planning for 2014. Here is what will be coming soon:

• 2013 in review (better late than never!)
• hello to 2014 
• what God has been teaching me (well, insert a more creative title here) 
• final pictures from Turkey and Northern Greece (any photos I have yet to share will come in this post) 

 
For now, I will leave you with the typical silly selfie before I head out on this snowy morning for breakfast with my Grandma, next time I blog may very well be from the airport or airplane tomorrow!! Eep.

 

Thanks for not abandoning me! See ya soon! 

Emily

Friday Favorites

this post from my friend Jenna, reflecting on how we have been home for a month now. she writes beautifully, head over and check out her blog!

speaking of blogs, on my blog...if you were reading my posts while I was in Greece, you heard me talk about my friend Ellen, or saw me link some of her and Emily's blog posts. I am so proud to link her very own blog as one of my favorites! So so proud. It's called "The Other Side of E"

Christine Caine on Twitter. She spoke at Moody's Missions Conference while I was in Greece, and while I haven't been able to watch the sessions yet, I came across her twitter and it's been killing me! So much truth in such a small amount of words.

this quote from my new devo book: "We thrive on creativity. Sameness bores us, but we still need the dependable security God offers" -Beth Moore

The Ultimate Guide to Saved by the Bell Fashion. Zach knows me too well and posted this on my facebook page.

and since all the posts I read about successful blogging say I need to entertain you with photos like kids and picture books... these three photos from Pinterest of some of my favorite classy movie couples.

 

 

And that's it!! Here's to the weekend, blog friends. 

xoxo Em (&K. we're on a homework date.)

seven on saturday

This was supposed to be a Friday Favorites post, but it's Saturday now so I present to you: Seven on Saturday. Here are seven things that have made me smile, laugh, or think this week- on the internet and in life. Hope you enjoy!

1. Miley Cyrus and Mumford and Sons- Little Wrecking Ball 
Don'y be quick to judge! You'll be surprised, I promise! All the nudity is gone from the video, I promise that too... watch! listen!

2. Sexy Christianity
If you haven't clicked through to this article after seeing it on Facebook, do it! It is truly worth the hype, and a bit of a punch in the face. This article is convicting, challenging, and helps put to words a lot of what it going on in Christian culture right now. It really made me think about my motives and desires for my relationship with God and how others perceive it. Let me know what you think of the article in the comments!

3. Twitter
After a long time off it, I am back on Twitter! It is really fun so far, tweeting everything from awkward moments during my day to retweets of life-changing quotes by C.S. Lewis, David Platt, or Christine Caine. However, my very favorite Twitter account at the moment gets it's own moment in the spotlight..

4. The Evangelical Hipster
All in good fun, this is hilarious. When I found it, I went through months of tweets laughing hysterically. Many of us have been guilty of things that they poke fun at, and going to a Bible college... yeah let's just say I see the reality of those tweets a lot.

5. Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches
I pack a lunch about every weekday for church, and sometimes I have to pack a dinner some nights too if I work both of my jobs that day. Leftovers and PBB sammies have been my go-tos this week.

6. These Pro-tips About Napping

Not that I've had any time to nap lately... a girl can dream.

7. Last Minute Halloween Costumes
My church's fall fest was last weekend, and since Zach was home for the weekend, we had planned to coordinate our costumes. This past summer we saw Despicable Me 2 in theaters and decided that would definitely be our costume this year. Until we saw Facebook and Instagram, noting that everybody and their cousin was a minion for Halloween. DANG people! just kidding. So we were left on Saturday afternoon before the party to come up with a new idea. I tried to think of famous TV couples. It was Kylie who came up with the brilliant idea of my second favorite TV couple ever (probably. don't hold me to it. Cory and Topanga definitely win first place, but a close second and way more fun costume was...)-- Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell.

The easiest part of this costume? I had every item for my outfit in my own wardrobe- high waisted shorts, keds, scrunchie and all. The hardest part? Zach/Zack's hair!!! How did they get it like that?

Brownie points if you made it to the end of this post.

Recipe: Apple Cheddar Butternut Squash Soup

At the end of a long but great first day of work at The Children's Place, I was starving and couldn't wait to try out this recipe. After posting a picture of my delicious dinner tonight, I got a few demands (ahem, requests ;)) for the recipe... so here it is!! I got it from The Food Network website and adapted it a bit. I'll list the ingredients I used, but the directions are exactly the same. 

Ingredients: 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (the recipe lists 5 if you're using prosciutto instead of bacon)

1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 medium apples, thinly sliced (I used gala)
1 large white potato, diced
1 1/2 cups chopped peeled butternut squash, fresh or frozen (fresh is good, people.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried sage (didn't have any of that, but rosemary works wonderfully)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup apple cider
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup milk (I put a couple spoonfuls of plain greek yogurt in a measuring cup, then filled it to the 1 cup measure with almond milk)
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, torn into bite-size pieces (I used BACON)
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (go for the seriously sharp, you won't regret it! It uses almost the whole block)

Directions:

(these are directly quoted from the food network site)

"Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large pot over medium-low heat and add the onion, apples, potato and squash. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the onion is soft, about 8 minutes."

"Stir in the sage (rosemary) and flour. Add the cider and cook over high heat, stirring, until thickened. Add the broth and milk, cover and bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring, until the potato is soft, 8 to 10 minutes."

"Add the cheese to the soup and stir over medium-low heat until melted. Puree in a blender in batches until smooth; season with salt and pepper. Garnish with the prosciutto" (BACON) and serve immediately! In a large mug, preferably.

There ya go! It was pretty simple. I'll be reheating it for dinner all week long, happily.

Let me know if you try the recipe out! How did I do for my first ever recipe post? Maybe there will be more in the future... 

xoxo

Emily 

throwback thursday: costume edition

 Inspired by many Instagram and Facebook posts, today I'm throwing it back to Halloween costumes of the past few years. Every year my church holds a Fall Fest, and my friends and I have done several group costumes.  oh, the things you find on facebook. 

Fairy Princess. Osh Kosh B'Gosh pink overalls. Enough said.

2008: Tinkerbell! 

2009: Kellyn makes an adorable superman, and then there's me with a very lame  Zazu, the bird from the Lion King. We also had Scar and a hyena and maybe a few other characters this year. Nice try, but we could do better....

2010: This was my favorite group costume ever. Peter Pan year. Ever costume was homemade. Here you see Rufio, Tinkerbell (reduce, reuse, recycle), Tigerlily, Peter, a pirate, and Captain Hook. This year we had SO many characters. Not included in the photo? Wendy and the crocodile.

2011: This is my favorite photo from the Alice in Wonderland year. We went all out this year too, we had Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, a bunch of cards, the Mad Hatter, the Red Queen, and the White Queen. 

I'll report back if my costume idea for Fall Fest this year works out like I'm hoping it will. Stay tuned! For now, whether you celebrate Halloween or go the Harvest Party route or celebrate Reformation Day, hope your day is full of apple cider and pumpkin everything, you know the drill.

xoxo

Emily

most productive day ever.

it's my first full day back in NH. normally, I would've just chilled out, but this is what I ended up getting accomplished, bullet point list style:

• filled out a job app
• job interview
• scheduled my first day at job #1
• drank a really huge water bottle
• peed in a cup in a slightly sketchy basement for a drug test
• unpacked tons 
• job interview #2 
• got hired... AGAIN. 
• obligatory Target trip for a new toothbrush etc. 
• got groceries 
• more unpacking

So basically, God is awesome. I had both of these jobs sort of lined up, but was so happy that today not just one, but both of them are finally solidified! And it was so easy this time, such an extra blessing because I didn't work all summer. I start training for one job on Saturday, and the other on Monday! It will be hard work and lots of hours, but I am so thankful. 

love from a receptionist, sales associate, and sometimes student, 

Emily

xoxo thanks for reading!