September in Instagrams || Personal

Yes it is already October 9...shame on me for being so late on this post! October has surely been a whirlwind of busy-ness so far. September was full of serenity, sunflowers, blessings, and tea.

1. Sunsets at the lake house...on the dock. What else is better? 2. City-bound. Pretty much cannot wait to live in the city. 3. Pumpkin spice cupcakes in the wee-hours of the night. 4. Delicious coffee. 5. Venti pumpkin-spice lattes for free. Fall is here! 6. Sweet friend's birthday. Fuzzy socks and heart-shaped chocolate chip cheesecake for you! 7. Hours upon hours of editing=cusp upon cups of coffee. 8. Random sickness...no fun. 9. The Great Creator never rests. Continually amazed by His beauty. 10. Homemade pies. 11. Ahhh my heart is so happy! 12. Infinity scarves and apple cider. Reunited. 13. So much beauty. Sometimes the Lord really outdoes Himself. 14. Phil Wickham, The Royal Royal & Travis Ryan. One night of sweet worship. 15. Sunflowers. Oh so happy.

I love October. I've already gotten in a couple road trips, fall walks and way too many pumpkin things. I hope October is treating you well so far :) 

Friday Favorites || October

Fall crept up on us and October is already here. I absolutely LOVE October and can't believe September has come to an end. October means pumpkin patches, apple picking, sweater and beautiful leaves. Here are five of my favorite October things:

1. Pretty stinkin' pumped to see Kari Jobe & All Sons & Daughters this coming Sunday...it may be a bit of a road trip but it will be worth every second. I have seen All Sons & Daughters many times before and I can hardly wait to see Kari Jobe for the first time. Their music has blessed me in SO many ways! 2. Eeek sweaters! I've been eyeing this sweater for far too long...I think it's time to buy it ;) 3. The leaves have started changing color and there is nothing more beautiful. Driving through crunchy leaves...nothing like it :) 4. PUMPKIN EVERYTHING! Last time I went to Trader Joe's I kinda freaked out :: pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin bread, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin yougurt, pumpkin cereal bars, pumpkin pancake mix. Ahh! 5. Oh my word, All Sons & Daughters new EP "The Longing" is brilliant. I highly recommend buying it and being so blessed by it. This duo is so ridiculously talented. My favorite from their latest EP is "Called Me Higher."

What are you looking forward to this month?!

Week 39 || Project 52

Having class five days a week is definitely not ideal...not a fan. BUT Tuesday's and Thursday's are highlights this semester. I'm taking an alternative processes class and I get three and a half hours twice a week to get all my creativity and craftiness out :) Last week I spent my time working on cyanotypes.

The cyanotype process was popular in the 20th century. The process involves using equal parts of Ammonium iron citrate and potassium ferricyanide and applying to paper or cloth and then exposing to a source of ultraviolet light with a negative or object. 

I toned the image above with tannic acid. Does this image look familiar to you? I made some negatives from a few weeks ago... Hope you are having a lovely, fall-filled week :)

Week 38 || Project 52

There's a lot of things on Pinterest that make me "ooh" and "ahh" but I'll never actually do them. Let's face it, no one has that much time on their hands. I pin a lot of DIYs and a lot of recipes and every once in awhile I'll come across a few that I'll actually do.

Last week was one of my lovely friends birthdays. Nothing says happy birthday like a chocolate chip cheesecake shaped like a heart and a pair of cozy socks!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

Serves: 15

Cooking Time: 45 Minutes

You'll Need:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 (16.5 ounce) rolls refrigerator chocolate chip cookie dough

What To Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract until well mixed; set aside.

3. Slice cookie dough rolls into 1/4 inches slices. Arrange 1/2 of one roll on bottom of spring-form pan. Do this with another spring-form pan or a pie tin of your choice. Press together cookie dough so there are no holes on the bottom. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over dough; top with remaining cookie dough.

4. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until golden and center is slightly firm.

5. Remove from over, let cool, then refrigerate. Cut into slices when well chilled.

Options:

If you're serving lots of people and want to make finger food, just use a cookie cutter and cut your cheesecake into bite-size portions.

So yummy! Affordable, easy and delicious. Hope you have some baking time this week and get some of those Pinterest projects done!

Urgency | Fall Mornings

Fall mornings are my favorite. Starting the day with a perfect cup of coffee and Isaiah [on this particular day]; there's nothing like it. 

Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,

we wait for you;

your name and renown

are the desire of our hearts.

-Isaiah 26:8

Day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute...we wait. We wait for the Lord to return. But we don't just wait and sit there. At least, that's not what we're supposed to do. Our number one priority should be to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20). This isn't just an empty, idle, boring waiting. This is an "I am so excited for Jesus to come back so I have the urgency to tell everyone about Him so they can go tell more people and so on..." We have this urgency. His name and His renown are the desire of our hearts. Not our name and our renown. Not that everyone would know me and that everyone would remember me but that the one impact we have on the world is simply Jesus. 

Reading Isaiah 26:8 just puts everything back in perspective. All of this doesn't matter; fashion, making a name for ourselves, status, etc. What a relief that we have the gift to walk in His direction for our lives. Day after day, praying that the desire of our hearts would be His name and His renown rather than our own. Christ created us to be significant for HIM. What a relief and what a sweet life!

Week 37 || Project 52

When I started Project 52 it was about taking photos for the sake of taking photos. Somehow, overtime, it became a heavy burden rather than a creative outlet. I used to spend hours adventuring just to find the perfect moment to capture and somehow I stopped doing that. How silly...needless to say, I am going to start doing that. Let's just say I'm pretty stinkin' excited :)

This past week I spent some time in the city with some lovely people. Take-aways from the week:

1. I belong in the city.

2. Chicago is one big melting pot of people and it's amazing.

3. I am moving to the city ASAP (seriously)

It was a weekend full of good mexican food, nonstop chatting, Proverbs and Psalms, pour-over coffee from Bowtruss, and pumpkin spice cupcakes at midnight. The weather was absolutely beautiful and so were the people. Now don't you want to live in Chicago too?!

Happy Wednesday!

Alison

Friday Favorites || Inspiration

Fall.is.COMING! I cannot wait. With that being said...so is the busyness. And with that I don't have as much time to "favorite" 7 things every week by Friday. Soooo, this week I'm coming to you with a little less than 7 things I love...as I will be doing every week. I love a lot of things but sometimes I just can't come up with 7 things each week ;)

1. Elf (or Eyes Lips Face). I'll take good quality makeup in a little less "cuter" packaging! It's not MAC or Urban Decay (although I think Elf brushes are comparable and sometimes better than high-end make up brushes!) but the quality and bang for your buck is unbeatable. I ordered a lot (maybe too much) from Elf this week. They're always having deals online and you can find a limited collection at your local Target.
2. Kari Jobe. Can't believe I didn't add her to my favorites earlier. Seriously cannot get enough of this lady. Her heart, her music, her love for the Lord. What a blessing! Can't wait to go see her in concert next month with All Sons & Daughters. Go listen to both of them and be BLESSED!
3. PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES! OH.MY.WORD. They are finally back! The salted caramel mocha isn't half-bad either ;)
4. Counterfeit Gods by Jefferson Bethke. This guy knows what's up.

That's all I have for you this week! Hope this week treated you well and this weekend will treat you even better! :)

Alison