This past weekend I had the privilege to host my husband’s graduation party, which just happened to coincide with his birthday weekend. I cannot tell you how grateful and thankful I am that he has been able to finish his Bachelors. He has worked SO hard working full time and going to school full time. It has been a challenging adventure but now we have been able to celebrate.

I have seen these burlap banners everywhere and could not resist making one myself

my first attempt at cake bunting, next time I will use thicker paper and remove once candles are lit

cupcake liners and toppers designed with my silhouette cameo, yay cameo!

some sweets

Ricardo on display :)

I set up a table with pictures of Ricardo, from the time he was a wee one until now, for people to leave him a little message on the banner above. You may find this little printable handy if you are hosting a grad party. Just click on the picture to download. It is a 5 X 7.

I also tried my first photobooth but as you can tell, the lighting was a little too much. I cannot complain though. I love the sun! After our six month stint in hardly-any-sun Washington state, I am very grateful for each sun ray! Next time I will try a corner in the shade.

And of course, no party is complete without some thank you cards. This is another postcard; I cannot help it. Postcards are so much funner than the standard card. I always wonder if the mailman gets entertainment out of reading them. I know I would. I like to think they brighten his day a litte. Click to download your own.

Thankful for celebrations. Now off to plan our little one's first birthday, which is in less than three weeks!

Each year our church does a People Hunt, in lieu of an East Egg Hunt, which entails children going in search of church members, all of whom are armed with some sort of gift or candy. This is will be my first year, so I am not sure exactly what to expect but it sounds like fun and children are always entertaining. The trickiest part so far has been trying to figure out what to arm myself with, besides the usual chocolate bunny. While rummaging through Google in search of the perfect Easter treat that does not account for too much sugar, yet still meaningful, I stumbled on the family online website. If you are looking for a way to teach your children about Easter, I would definitely check out it out.

The site boasts a recipe for cookies that takes you through the resurrection of Christ, with the intentions of making them with children the night before Easter. How cool is that? Obviously, I cannot take random children to my house and bake with them but I still wanted to incorporate this idea of telling the resurrection through cookies, which lead me to designing this little printable. Like the site suggests, it states the ingredients of the cookies with its correlation to Easter, all in a pretty little to go package.

Here is my abridged version of the ingredient meanings:

Nuts, Beaten like Jesus by the Roman soldiers, John 19:1-3

Vinegar, Jesus’ final drink, John 19:28-30

Egg whites, Pure like Jesus without sin, 2 Corinthians 5:21

Salt: Tears shed by Jesus’ followers, Luke 23:27

Sugar: Sweetest part of the story: Jesus DIED because he LOVES us! John 3:16

Go ahead, take a bite. Missing something? (The cookie has a hollow center, so fun!) Surprise! Jesus’ followers were, too! The tomb was empty! Jesus is alive! Matthew 28:1-9

To find the recipe and complete instructions, click here. I have not yet made these cookies, as I do still have a FEW days before Easter, so hopefully they will turn out yummy.

To download packaging, click here. There is 1/4" on each side to cut and 1/2" from the top. They measure 4" X 2" once folded in half. To get an idea of using the packaging, click here. 

HAPPY EASTER!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

Oh, Valentine’s day. Such a silly day really. The decorations get me though. I am a sucker for heart prints and the word love in general. The pretty pink hues are perfectly fitting, too.  In elementary school it really was all about the candy attached to the silly cards that mattered. Junior high left me questioning what those silly cards meant. Was he really bananas for me? In high school no one even bothered with the cards. My friends and I tended to be boyfriendless and did our own awesome Valentine exchange. Although, reading through countless teen magazines and watching chick flicks always left me wanting my own Valentine.

As with all holidays, it is overly commercialized with red heart shaped boxes of chocolates on every shelf for that special someone and roses to boot. Do not get to wrong, I love a yummy box of dark chocolate goodness but I would much rather it come on any other day than this. It is too man dated for me.

So, this Valentine’s day I wanted to do something different and send a message to the girls in my Awana group about true love. I wanted to let them know that they are beautiful and are loved by the One who is greater than any boy who may ever attract their precious attention. I wanted to let them to know that Jesus loves them. My wish for them is to be able to set their hopes and security in Him and not the boy in gym class. This is the part where I have to say if I only knew then what I know now, ah. Love and feeling valued comes from no one else but God but you have to accept and know that in order to live it out. Thankfully, these girls get the privilege to learn about his love each week.

I made up some Valentine-ish packaging and baked some yumminess for them to remember this little lesson. I made an extra set for each girl to let someone else know that Jesus loves them, too.



Whole wheat sugar cookies and chocolate cookies topped with ganache, ready for packaging







A small mountain of love <3





If you would like to share the love, download the template here.

Each design is 4” wide by 3” tall. I do not like marking the cutting edges on templates (they get in the way!), so cutting ½” off the left margin and then 4” across will give you the correct cut. Cut down 3", fold in half and you have the perfect package measurements :)

Thank you Jesus for loving me so much!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 (NIV)

My library card has been getting a great work out the past few months from books on baking and cooking to bilingual books for my little one to these awesome devotionals and more. Yay public library! A few weeks ago Fasting: Spiritual Freedom Beyond Our Appetite by Lynne M. Baab caught my eye from its shelf space and it made its way home with me in my book bag.

“You are blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God” – Matthew 5:6, The Message

I am not a huge fan of The Message bible translation, more of an NIV gal myself, but this seems pretty fitting for the overall tone of the book, which is probably why Baab strategically placed it on the back cover. It has been an interesting read and covered a few topics that I first found out of place in a book about fasting, such as eating disorders and dieting. Thankfully, eating disorders has never been an issue for me but I know people that it has been.

When I think of fasting, part of me reverts back to my upbringing as a Mormon where we fasted most Sunday breakfasts because that was what you were suppose to do. I never knew of a purpose like closeness to God through it or a relationship for that matter until I became a Christian. I know fasting can be from anything – your morning lattes to music to your favorite TV show, whatever works for you. My brain always goes straight to food.

No one likes to be hungry but there is an unexplainable freedom in fasting that overcomes hunger. Yes, we do need food but “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV).  

Baab scatters people’s reasons for fasting throughout the pages from a college student to a seventy year old retired teacher. There are a lot of views and interesting aspects I never thought of. Turning the pages of people’s stories and bible verses, I found myself disheartened at how far from God I get and how easy our culture makes it. I absolutely agree with Baab’s statement “our addiction to filling space and our discomfort with truth make the discipline of fasting challenging.” My conviction: more space filled with GOD less of everything else.