Cookies!!

So I just finished talking about grey days. You know one thing that I really find enjoyable on grey days? Baking cookies. Or bread. Or cinnamon rolls. Or potatoes. (You just can't go wrong with dem good ole' carbs.) Most importantly, I like eating them afterward. Anyways, I thought I'd share with you one of my favorite recipes- Cranberry Almond "AWESOME" Cookies. You will not be disappointed. (Or so I'm told).

Cranberry Almond AWESOME Cookies

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3 cups flour

2 cups slivered almonds

1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

             Preheat oven to 375˚. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and almond extract and beat until combined. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt and add to wet mixture. Stir in the slivered almonds and dried cranberries. Spoon by the tablespoon onto a baking sheet press down with sugar covered fork. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy.

So it's a 'Grey Day'...

Grey days. We all have them. Yes sirree. But what exactly is a grey day?

Well, to put it frankly, it's a day that is grey (obviously). Maybe not in color, but it is grey inside, in the pit of your stomach. It's a day when your head is pounding, you want to be around people but yet avoid people at all costs, and you find yourself walking aimlessly around the house, bored. So I guess I could call them bored days, but that doesn't sound as fun, does it? (Besides, these days mostly happen on cold, overcast days anyway so the term 'grey' fits.)

So we know what a grey day is and we all get them (right? Please tell me I'm not alone here.), but what can be done about them? In my experience, I've found a few things that can help combat not only the outward symptoms (i.e. that splitting headache that won't go away) but the actual problem as well. 'Cause after all, you can take as much ibuprofen as you want but if you don't fix the reason you're having the headaches, all you're going to be is really poor and addicted.

So the reason behind grey days? Well, I can't necessarily give you a blanket answer, but I've found that when I have a grey day it's normally because I haven't decided to be thankful for what I already have. This translates into discontentment with my present situation. So here are a two things that I've found can help on grey days.

1. Make a list of every single thing that you can think of to be thankful for (even the little things) or read over past lists.

Okay, so maybe not every single thing, but a pretty long list just the same. In fact, make it a daily practice if possible. Start a thankful journal (I know it sounds girly- work with me here). If you write down just three things every day, you'll have over a thousand things written down in a year. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in all circumstances." Hebrews 12:28 "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship the God acceptably with reverence and awe..."

2.  Find something to do.

Grey days are notoriously filled with nothing. You sit or mope around the house and sigh that you have nothing to do. Find something! Learn something new, try something you've never tried. Pick up a new musical instrument, learn to knit (or carve), push your body to new limits running, or my personal favorite, use your sibling for target practice. Heck, if all else fails, I'm sure that you have some homework lying around that needs to be done. Just do something. Stop making excuses! Proverbs 22:13 'The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!" or "I will be murdered on the streets!"'

So those are what I find helpful on grey days. Hope that they maybe helped you. If not, I hope I provided a little humor for you. If neither one of those things, well, I apologize. I'll (maybe) try better next time.

(Of course, another reason you're having a grey day is because you are legitimately sick. In that case, you should still make a list of the things you're thankful for and find something to do, but take the ibuprofen and get some rest right afterward.)

A Modern Rose?

So welcome to my blog.

Wait. That sounds kind of normal and boring (I believe cliche would also work), don't you think? That's exactly what I'm trying to steer clear of in this whole endeavor. Crap.

See, the whole purpose of this blog is for me to share what I know and rant about what I don't. Why doesn't she just use Facebook or Twitter or one of the other social media sites that everyone else uses? I can practically hear some of you saying that as you continue to read. Well, my answer is as simple as it can be-

 I don't want to.

Some might think of it as selfish. Maybe it is. I don't think so. In fact, I think it is extremely unselfish and the reason is this- if you get tired of hearing from me, just stop following and reading my blog. Just that simple. On Facebook it's just not that easy.

So anyway, welcome to my blog.

A Modern Rose. Yes, somewhat of a strange name, but it's something I've liked for years now while I've dreamed of a blog where I can be free with my thoughts and ideas. You know, where people can't judge you (I'll get into that later) or at least you don't know that people are judging you. So it's a win win either way, right?

And I'm off on a tangent again. Surprise surprise! Back to what I was saying about a modern rose- it's what i want to be. I mean, think about it for a moment. When you think about beauty, romance, and love, what do you think of? I think of roses.

Roses are beautiful and delicate. They can have many different meanings (Apparently a yellow rose stands for friendship, so guys, keep that in mind. Don't send mixed signals.). They can cause pain sometimes, but mostly they bring joy to people on dreary, grey days. (That's not a punctuation error, by the way. I'll explain a grey day later). As a teenage girl wanting to serve the Lord with everything that I have, that's what I want to do. I want to be a rose.

But I also want to be modern. Because, let's face it- long gone are the days of Romeo and Juliet and balconies and princesses (Actually, that's not completely true. Again, more later.). So I'm adding an adjective- modern. You know, 'chic' or 'in'. 'Modern'. Feel me?

In short (I should have used that a long time ago.), this blog is going to be my life and my journey on how to be the best modern rose that I can be. There will be lessons, random rantings, quiet prayers, diy stuffs, food, and anything else I can think of. And best of all, there will be Jesus. After all, what's better than eternal life? So follow me if you'd like to. I'm not forcing you. Just check in once in a while if you want- I'm sure that there'll be at least one thing you find interesting.

So to finish this off, I guess I'll say it one last time, even though it's so overused-


Welcome to my blog.