you're beautiful, *every* little piece, love.

I often times have days in which I look in the mirror, and all I see are flaws. When I find myself listing all of the things I'd like to fix...

"I wish my face was thinner."

"Why can't my hair just be one distinct color?"

"My hips are so wide."

"How'd I get stuck with the hourglass figure??"

"Maybe I should dye my hair."

"I need to lose weight."

"Why do I have to be so curvy?"

"Why can't I look more like her?"

"How can I make myself prettier??"

I get myself to the point where I can hardly look in the mirror, where I so desperately

want to fit that image of the picture perfect girl who struts around in a bikini,

her perfect hair, looking, well, perfect, and her flawless face glowing in perfection...

(redundant, I know. And yes, I know bikinis aren't the most modest option; I'm making a point

though!)

But today, when I was having a brief moment of one on one mirror time,

I was reminded of this quote I'd heard recently:

"I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature

that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought,

and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking."

~George MacDonald~

When I'd first heard that, I was thinking of it in terms of who I am and will be as a person,

in the direction my life is headed...but today was the first time it struck me in a physical sense...

I actually had a moment when I thought to myself, "How dare I call myself anything other than

beautiful?" That's like insulting one of God's greatest masterpieces: us. You. Me.

We are His greatest work. We are each of us different in so many ways, yet the same in this:

we have a Creator who knit us together, who blended all of the details of our very selves

together to create something He sees as beautiful. Something He thought over, planned out,

put His time and effort into.

Can you imagine?

The God of the universe taking time to create you? Me? I cannot fathom it.

But I do know that this realization that He is the one who made me who I am,

who carefully thought out each detail about me, who always had my image in His mind, has me

seeing myself in a different light. Instead of seeing the worldly perfection I lack, I see other things:

I see my deep blue eyes that have little specks of sea foam green thrown in.

I see hair that's a toss up between brown and blonde, that shines like gold in the sunlight.

I see my somewhat lopsided smile, and curves that say "Hey! I'm a woman now!"

And I've got life, magnificent life, flowing through my veins...air that He breathed into my lungs...

and that is the most beautiful attribute I have. That I was crafted carefully, delicately,

beautifully by Him, for Him.

What a marvelous thought.

It's the sweet little things sometimes ❤

~April snowstorms! Okay, so I'm making a point of making this one happy tomorrow, when we get hit with inches and inches of snow; I shall be pulling out the Christmas music, the comfy cozy clothing, grabbing some delicious coffee from Sheetz, turning up the heaters and having one more Christmassy day before the summer months kick in! Taking it in stride! I can hardly wait :D

~Walking on my tiptoes again! Which therefore translates to a healing ankle, and a cute *cough* ankle doctor to tell me it's healing just fine ;)

~The 20 minute long score to Titanic. Could listen to it on repeat all day long. So. beautiful.

~BBC's Robin Hood!!! Thank you Samarah!!!! I shall never be the same again! *said in a British accent* Goodness, Jonas Armstrong has the most beautiful smile...

I've been more guy-crazy-ish lately than usual... I'd thought I'd passed that particular teenage stage about 5 years ago. I'm going backwards...I don't think that's a good thing.
Moving on!

~My first 3D experience, which was seeing Titanic in 3D...let me just say, I could practically feel the icy cold of the water! ...and not just because the theater was chilly :o By the way, that scene makes my heart just about burst.

~Moments where you realize you deserve so much more, and therefore, your chains get just a little bit looser. ;)

~And oh yeah. Tim Tebow. Just because we haven't heard from him in a while, doesn't mean we've forgotten about him ;)

~My blogger sweeties who are always an encouragement...thanks, my girls. ❤

New look...again! ;P

Ba da bing, ba da boom! All finished! I was missing Picnik quite a bit when it came to my header, but I finally found this site called FotoFlexer; positively wonderful! And the only one I could find that would let me stick with my traditional layout of a collage for my header ;) So I was happy!

Anyways, any thoughts from my amigas out there in the blogosphere? What do you think of the new look?

Hey girls...

You know that guy?

The one that will tell a girl she's beautiful?

The one that tells her that she's worthy of a prince?

The one that strives to protect her heart,

who proudly proclaims that chivalry is not dead, and lives it out?

I know it seems sometimes like he doesn't exist...but he does.

The myth of the godly man who cherishes the heart of a woman...isn't a myth at all.

He really does exist...

and I know it for a fact.

;)

baby steps.

"God doesn't give you the people *you* want..."

Are you ever grateful to look back and see God's "no"'s?

I am. That sentence above that reminds me of what I want...and reminds me that what I want isn't always a part of His plan. Clearly. I've practically begged him for this one certain thing in the past few years, and when I get out of that place, I realize how grateful I am that He says "No. Not now."

And maybe not ever.

And that's okay. It just means that He has something infinitely better in store, something I can't even imagine...

But it's moments like this where I find myself entrapped in this "want" and have changed my plea from "God, give me!" to "God, please take this away."

Learning to surrender these pebbles...Taking it all one step, one breath at a time.

Because He's got a plan. I don't know why this desire has been placed upon my heart, but I'm learning to trust. Maybe somehow, someway, it will even be used for His glory...though I can't imagine how, to be honest.

But this verse is my new goal in life, that I would wholeheartedly fix my eyes on Him...

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

~Hebrews 12:2~

Tonight, though my heart feels just the tiniest bit bruised, I am grateful for His promises, for the hope He so fully provides...without which, I would be so incredibly lost, broken, wounded.

I am grateful.

the word of God is living and active.

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

~Hebrews 4:12

*deep breath*

Thank you, Jesus.

{all pictures taken from my pinterest}

no rhyme or reason.

I am the worst irritable person there ever was. Because when I get irritable, I snap. And then when I snap, I feel so incredibly awful, like in those times when I know without a doubt that I'm letting God down...that's how it feels when I get snippy with everyone around me. Every now and then I wish I was one of those people that just didn't care...but I guess that's not how God made me.

Colton Dixon is so great. He's like the Tim Tebow of the music world. It makes my heart sing to see people using the platforms given to them to glorify the Lord...It's beyond inspiring.

I wish all the hype about The Hunger Games would disappear. I'm sorry if you like it and think it's the best book/movie in the history of the world, but I'm just a wee bit tired of seeing it everywhere. I hardly even want to log onto Pinterest anymore!

I wish my dog wasn't so bipolar. Some days she likes me, some days she doesn't. Odd duck.

Have you ever noticed how it can be easier to just purposely not think about something? Because you know that if you do think about it, you'll get worried beyond a point that is healthy? Feeling that way at the moment. I've had headaches and lightheadedness issues for like, my entire life. And recently, with a sudden onset of really quick, really painful odd head pains, my doctor's decided to send me to get some sort of scan on my head. I'm not too concerned about it, I'm actually relieved that they're *finally* going to check to see if there's actually something wrong with me or not. But I've already had a few moments where I've thought, "What if there is something wrong with me?", and that just freaks me out way too much to even give it thought. And thus, I shall not give it much thought. Onward!

I wonder what it's like to spend holidays with just your family? My Nana and Pap are like the shepherds wandering along, finding lost sheep and adding them to their flock...it's nice and sweet, but every holiday, there's someone added to the group....and to be honest, it's often times more awkward then anything else. Now, that doesn't mean everyone; this year our pastor and his family is coming and that's just exciting...he feels like family...he fits. ;) But every holiday there's someone just random and awkward thrown into the mix. And we're totally running out of space. To the point that today, I actually thought to myself, "Man, I hope someday when I have my own family, we can still come to Nan's on holidays..." So I repeat: I wonder what it's like to spend holidays with just your family?
(I hope that doesn't sound complain-y...it's just a "hmm" kind of moment)

Ew. I made this weird salmon dip last week....I had to descale the salmon. *gags* It was disgusting. But hey, milestone! I said to my sister, "What if I marry a guy who loves fish??" Well, now I've descaled one. I think that's a plus ;)

Okay, here's one for you: People...It is weird to follow someone on Pinterest, and then Facebook friend them. I'm sorry, but it is. Now, if I know you from blogger and you therefore find me from Pinterest, that is fine. There are quite a few of you lovely bloggers who I actually "know" and therefore recognize elsewhere, but if you just randomly friend me without explanation, and seemingly just because you like the stuff I pin...that's weird.
Anyways, my point? If you hop over to my Pinterest, and decide from there that you'd like to friend me, go for it... But let me know who you are, eh? Like say, "Hey, I know you from blogger!" That's actually fun :D I love being "official" friends with you guys ;)

I wish certain situations in life weren't so unnecessarily complicated. *sigh*!

I hate moments where I find myself wishing I was skinnier. I hate moments where the women around me who I adore find themselves wishing they were skinnier. I mean, who was it that decided that size 2 was best, and that curves were bad? And why do wedding dress distributors make their bridesmaid dresses so awkward??
Ugh. This is the train of thought that comes around when you're the one out of three bridesmaids who is definitely not a size 2 (or 0). *whispers* It'll be over soon enough!

This post by Mirriam over at Thoughts of a Shieldmaiden...almost too much to handle. So incredibly beautiful. I actually asked her if I could print it out to put in my Bible...she said yes. :) Thank you Mirriam!

Waiting patiently can be hard to do...at least God seems be throwing plenty at me to keep me busy in the meantime! Thank you Lord! :)

It's 11:00, I'm not even in bed yet, and I'm already longing for a nap tomorrow. I've been a bit too sleep deprived this past week. Hey!! Maybe that explains the irritability o.O Hmmm....

(This post basically inspired by Abby's, over at Castles, Quills, and Cameras. I adore that girl. You should go check her out ;)

PS: I do NOT know what's going on with the fonts. :P It's not like that on purpose though, and I can't fix it!! Argh. Oh well.

getting back to the roots of "bits and pieces" ;)

~Last night, I got to see Casting Crowns with Matthew West, and it was incredible! This was my third time seeing Casting Crowns, and they just get better and better every time. My absolute favorite thing about Christian concerts though, especially ones where you know the words to every single song ;), is really that it's more of a worship experience than a concert... The band up front? They're really nothing special. They're just our brothers and sisters in Christ leading us in worship. Even if you're in an arena with 14,000 other people, it so easily feels like it's just you, the band, and God. Everyone else just kind of fades out.
After doing all Christian concerts for a few years now, I don't think I'll ever be able to go back! There's nothing like it.

Okay, now that I've shared that, do ya'll remember when once upon a time, I'd have such happy posts bursting at the seams with pictures that were just cute, silly, pretty, sweet, happy?
I mean, hey, the whole blog title says it all: this is supposed to be the little "bits and pieces" of the snazzier things in life ;) I do pretty good with that, considering that the whole "Let me sit down and write an entirely comprehensive post about my life and thoughts!" just doesn't work for me. I know it's been said that bloggers should avoid being too "random" but seriously? Honestly, truly, my mind is a crazy place to be sometimes. I'm moody. I'm happy. I'm sad. I'm silly. I'm funny. I'm irritable. I'm a myriad of things, and go through a myriad of emotions each day. Believe me, you don't want me to be that super detailed kind of blogger...you get enough of my moods as it is ;)

Anyways, my whole point? I'm gonna start doing silly picture posts again. Because they're fun. They make me smile. And I love when other bloggers do it. They're my favorite kind of posts ;)

And on that note, so it begins!

And keep in mind: these are basically "these make me smile" posts. So hopefully, they make you smile too!

Lorelai Gilmore, sometimes I feel as if we are the same person!

This picture makes me catch my breath, makes my heart sing, and stops me in my steps. Fabulous.

(my) Precious!!!!

"Giselle!!!!"

Narnia???? *sigh*

No.

Haha! Totally kidding.

What?? Are you sure??

Well, that's just one more way that Cinderella and I aren't alike.

*giggles*

Though I don't know if "stalk" is the correct word...

Bahahhaha. Sorry, male viewers. But girls who remember this? Go ahead, and laugh with me. :D

Ah, what if it does?

"Dear John...."

Ah, Peter! But really....this picture is kind of creepy. Which makes Peter Pan just a bit creepy.

*nods head frantically*

No words for this awesomeness.

This movie never fails to tug at my heartstrings.

Had to do it. ;)

Adios, my friends. I bid thee a wonderful evening, and wish you well always.

Until our next meeting...

{pictures via weheartit. Except for Timmy. I may or may not have gotten that off of his Facebook page *cough* stalker *cough*. I'm not, I'm not!!)