How Beautiful

This morning I stood weeping unashamedly in the worship service at my church.  

There are just some days that my heavenly Father knows when I need a word from Him.  We were singing a song written by one of the worship leaders. At one part the words go something like, "How beautiful the feet of Jesus, that were nailed for me." At another part (when in the song is blurry in my memory) it says, "I will never forget the day that He washed my sins away."

It is a beautiful song.  

Through the last 7 months or so, remembering that I am cleansed by Jesus' blood had been a struggle for me.  I would find myself so often begging for the forgiveness that I could never quite realize had already been given to me.  I was reminding myself of all the mistakes I had made and it would often put me into a mentality of constantly condemning myself. 

I struggled with learning that I was the one holding myself back from a free and full life.  

Forgiving myself was one of the hardest lessons I have ever had to learn, and one of the most painful.  I'm such a prideful person that I felt I could never let others see what I was really struggling with. I had gotten myself so stuck in a pattern of negative thinking towards myself that I didn't realize it.  Drowning in a sea of my own criticisms.
Today at church as I stood silently crying, hands clasped against my chest. I began to reflect on how far I have come over the last several months.
I realized a long time ago that I will never be a perfect person.
I will probably always be my own worst enemy.
I will always need to work on some aspect of my life.
To others around me I probably looked like a wet, teary mess.  But it was the most joyful moment in my heart.  They were tears of just pure joy and thankfulness.
I truly am thankful for the truths God has made evident in my life.
Thankful for His sacrifice for my life.
Thankful for freedom from slavery to sin.
Because no matter how insignificant the devil might make me think I am from time to time, I am splendid to the King of Kings.

Acts 11:9b, "'Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean."

How Beautiful

This morning I stood weeping unashamedly in the worship service at my church.  

There are just some days that my heavenly Father knows when I need a word from Him.  We were singing a song written by one of the worship leaders. At one part the words go something like, "How beautiful the feet of Jesus, that were nailed for me." At another part (when in the song is blurry in my memory) it says, "I will never forget the day that He washed my sins away."

It is a beautiful song.  

Through the last 7 months or so, remembering that I am cleansed by Jesus' blood had been a struggle for me.  I would find myself so often begging for the forgiveness that I could never quite realize had already been given to me.  I was reminding myself of all the mistakes I had made and it would often put me into a mentality of constantly condemning myself. 

I struggled with learning that I was the one holding myself back from a free and full life.  

Forgiving myself was one of the hardest lessons I have ever had to learn, and one of the most painful.  I'm such a prideful person that I felt I could never let others see what I was really struggling with. I had gotten myself so stuck in a pattern of negative thinking towards myself that I didn't realize it.  Drowning in a sea of my own criticisms.
Today at church as I stood silently crying, hands clasped against my chest. I began to reflect on how far I have come over the last several months.
I realized a long time ago that I will never be a perfect person.
I will probably always be my own worst enemy.
I will always need to work on some aspect of my life.
To others around me I probably looked like a wet, teary mess.  But it was the most joyful moment in my heart.  They were tears of just pure joy and thankfulness.
I truly am thankful for the truths God has made evident in my life.
Thankful for His sacrifice for my life.
Thankful for freedom from slavery to sin.
Because no matter how insignificant the devil might make me think I am from time to time, I am splendid to the King of Kings.

Acts 11:9b, "'Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean."

Love is...

Over the last 2 years love had become a foreign word to me.  

It had been taken and twisted up so badly that when I saw it, I didn't recognize it.  

I had gone searching for it and found it in many wrong places. 

Because I got so carried away looking for human love I became a horrible friend, not just in friendships but in the relationship that matters most.  I had abandoned God.  Not completely, I still liked to put on a show for people and be the perfect christian girl.  

I think it was when several earthquakes had awoken me from my sleep.  Each time I thought that the Lord had come back and I had missed it.  Each time I went around the house trying to see if my family was still here, just to know that I wasn't alone.  Once I had crawled back into my bed I would turn on worship music and pray and ask God to forgive me.  To make sure He didn't leave me behind.  

That was literally my wake up call. 

I began to realize just how far I had slipped.  How easily my heart was swayed by the things of the world. In today's society love means many different things, often times its quite ugly once you uncover the prettiness of it all.  

In the movies it might mean a rebellious teenage love story.  

In books its the hero sweeping the beautiful girl off of her feet.  

In music its the guy or girl pining away for the one they love with the other never realizing it.  

In our world its whatever makes us feel good.  

Love today isn't how God describes it, and so many are blind to it like I was.  It's all about how will I  feel about this.  What makes me happy.  

  "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails."

-1 Corinthians 13:4-8

This is the exact opposite of what I was looking for in other people.  I was stuck in a daily, what can I do for me mindset.  

 When my worldly love failed me, like its bound to do, I couldn't even recognize the love in my family surrounding me.  In the comforting pages of my old, worn out Bible.  But mostly that God was still there reaching out for me.  

 This is me confessing my flaws and hoping that others read this and are able to avoid the same mistakes.  The world loves in a way that is greasy and grimy, like a pair of old gym socks.  Gods love is refreshing and pure, like morning dew on the flowers.  Love is a beautiful thing, when its the right and real kind.

Seeking.

This past week I got the opportunity to go and enjoy worship and fellowship with a group of some very cool people.  I can't remember what song we were singing at the time, but the Lord just kept putting the word, Seek, on my heart.  

Isaiah 55:6-8 came to mind. 

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. 

 

As I was sitting there and just praying over this verse and trying to understand what I was supposed to learn from this, these were the key thoughts I had;

We are pardoned.  

Seek the Lord.  

God is always near.  

He won't abandon us.  

He is merciful.  

His thoughts and ways are higher and wiser than ours.  

He has a will for my life, specifically for mine.  

He has never changed.  

He never will.  

 

Seek:  to go in search of :  look for, to ask for 

I've been struggling lately, if I was a cool kid I might even put a #thestruggleisreal in there somewhere.  But seriously, life is hard.  Pasts are hard.  Jesus is better than all that though.  

For we are pardoned. 

Clean.  

Sought after.  

We all have such potential, if we don't let ourselves get in the way.  

 We are supposed to seek God and lately I find myself seeking so many things besides Him.

I use my past mistakes as an excuse for my present ones.

 I think we need to all realize that all we have from our past is a great testimony. 

For God doesn't call us to walk in our past, our shame or regrets! 

I am extremely thankful for His love and mercy.

Let's stop seeking excuses and start seeking Jesus. 

Control.

Control. 

It's a very funny thing.

We all desire it. Whether its over a thing, a situation, a person, or our own life.

Sometimes control is what we need the least.  It can harm us, or the people around us.  Yet we will all still chase it.  It can make us crazy, even paranoid. It can make us say words we don't mean.  Do things we don't realize.  

Sometimes when we try to hold that control so tightly it just makes it slip all that much faster.  

Then we panic. 

We're losing everything and yet there's nothing we can do.  We grab at random, whatever is closest. No matter who or what it may be. When in reality, the only thing we should be reaching out to should be Jesus. But we are flawed and human. And that's okay.  

Lately I've been struggling with control.  Control and trust go hand in hand.  Trusting in God is honestly like a free fall. Sometimes its uncomfortable. Sometimes its terrifying. Most of the time its pretty amazing. Its like you jump off of a cliff and you don't know if the water at the bottom has rocks or not, but you know that whatever happens it'll be okay. 

So why do we have so much problem giving that control away? 

Its because we're all just really near sighted. We sadly can't see what God has in store.  

And so we try to take our own futures into our own control. Which in the long run makes it about a billion times harder.  This week I'm working on being less controlling, because it doesn't help anyone. 

Matthew 10:29-31

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Labled.

It's late.  I'm aware of the fact that I'm oh, so sleep deprived.  Which is probably why I just burst into tears as I read some of my old posts.  I know that most of the stuff in them was straight from God himself.

I could never have such great wisdom. 

I'd forgotten some of those valuable lessons I'd so painfully learned.  

Because I am valuable.

I am something to be treasured.

I make stupid, silly mistakes.

I am seen by God as the most beautiful of all creations.  

I am funny and witty.  

I'm a hard worker who will reach my dreams.

No one can label you. 

No one. 

You already wear the label of the king of kings! 

That is something so precious and valuable.  It cannot be snatched away in a moment like beauty or popularity can be.  It has to be removed personally. And even then you can always put it back on where it belongs.  God will always be there with open and loving arms.  

He doesn't change.

We do.

So we should proudly wear our labels.  Not the man made ones, those are cheap and dirty.

But the truly valuable one's given to you by Christ.

I am flawless.

I've always loved the saying, "Never judge a book by it's cover."  It's so simple and yet extremely complex all at the same time.  Recently I've felt like I can't really handle all that life has been throwing at me....Relationship problems, school trouble, just life.  And since I'm supposed to be mature and have everything under control, I can't show the cracks in my mask...Not until they get so big that everything just falls apart.  

I was thinking about that saying today, and really, a book is a great analogy for us.  

You never know what's on the inside until you start digging. 

On the outside it may be hard and very durable, but on the inside is something so fragile. 

 It can be torn and made dirty, and you can never make it like new again.  

We'll always carry the same scars but we don't have to let them affect us.  We have to look past our scars and past those of others so that we can really see who God intended for us to truly be.  We have to let Him heal us.  He's the greatest physician ever.  We can't get so hung up on how we look from the outside.  Cause that's not who we are anymore. 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

You are so cool.

Once upon a time, I thought that I wasn't good enough. 
Not good enough for a certain guy. 

Not good enough to be noticed. 

Then I realized. 

I am great.

No, I didn't become famous the next day, or get married to some mysterious guy (I'm too young for that anyway). 

I just realized that I'm just the way God planned for me to be. 

I still make mistakes, but He loves me in spite of them.  He wouldn't change the way I do a single thing.  Well, maybe the way I eat mayonnaise on french-fries. That just might kill me one of these days.

Back to the point.  DON'T change you! 

Sure, it's a lot easier said than done.  But next time you think you've found yourself lacking, remember this:

You are awesome. 

You are beautiful.

You are amazing.

You're you. 

 

There's nothing God would change about me, so why should I want to change me?

Envious

Envy.  

I feel like it's one of the best tricks of the devil.  

It can start out as something so small and then bloom into a bitterness that could possibly never be removed. It's something I struggle with constantly.  Whether it's because of a lack of confidence in myself, or because I'm just being greedy and selfish, it never fails to leave me wanting more.  

Last night when we were at a restaurant eating dinner, I found myself comparing myself to the girls who I though were around my age.  When I realized what I was doing I felt ashamed for I knew that it was not the attitude that a daughter of Christ should have.  Later, as I examined my heart I realized that I had let envy root and grow, I was no longer content with what I had.  

Envy: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck.

It can be something as small as the shoes I'll be wearing.  Instead of being grateful that I have shoes, I'll compare myself to the world, and then become envious of it.  

1st John 2:16 pretty much sums up how I feel like I've been looking at everything lately, "16 For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world."  Proof that my heart needs adjusting.  

I need to adjust my attitude back to that of Jesus Christ.  For only then will the envy be pushed out of my heart.  

Galatians 5:24-26  "24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."  

Outcast

Do you ever feel like the black sheep of the crowd?  I know I do.  Or maybe the last one picked?  Yep, that's me.  Lots of times I feel like I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time and so I miss out on the opportunity to do something great.   Or I just won't have had the right amount of talent that someone was searching for.  I'll have missed the mark.  Sometimes, I'm totally fine with it.  I don't really want to get picked to perform, or to be the first to demonstrate a soccer drill that I don't really understand.  But then, I'll think about how many cool things I'm missing out on just by staying in my comfort zone, and I'll get offended that I wasn't somebodys first choice.  Which is dumb.  And really complicated.  I know that it's partially my own fault I wasn't chosen, but then I feel like people should be able to see through my timidity to see that, Hey, I'm really a pretty neat person, that actually has a bit of talent!  Let me disappoint you.  

They won't.  

But you know who does?  Jesus.  He sees me as the beautiful, talented, smart, funny, adventurous, witty, and crazy kind of person that I am.  And He loves me for it!  At the end of the day all I should need to know is that Jesus approves of everything I did.  And most days I fail Him, but He's full of second chances.

  

So you know what?  Stop acting, and start living.  Stop seeking the approval of others, and seek Jesus.  Because until you do, you can't truly be happy.  I know how you'll feel.  At the end of the day, you'll be so tired of putting up walls and putting on faces that there's nothing you'll want to do more than sleep.  Or cry.  Normally it's a tie.  

I don't want to be a hypocrite, or just seem like I'm bragging about my best qualities, because, hey, I've got a temper like no other, I can slam doors with the best of them.  Just ask my family.  The beauty of the situation is, we're human.  And like I've said, thankfully, our God is one of second (third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc.) chances.  

So to end, I'll leave you with a quote from the great mind of Dr. Seuss,

"Today you are You, that is truer than true.  There is no one alive who is Youer than You."  

Lovely.

Just wanted to take a quick minute to post a couple of verses from my Bible reading this morning that I thought were beautiful.
  
Jude 1:24-25:  24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

This verse just filled me with joy and hope this morning and I hope it does the same for you.

The Thriving Life

The name of this post might as well be the Thriving Lie.  It seems as though our world has placed a very different definition upon the word.  Here's what the Merriam Webster Dictionary said about it, "to grow or develop successfully : to flourish or succeed."  One of the definitions was worse, "to gain in wealth or possessions".  To me that doesn't describe my picture of a thriving life.  

Whenever I hear the word Thriving, I always hear the popular phrase from the movie 13 going on 30.  In the movie all Jenna Rink wants from life on her thirteenth birthday is to be "Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving".  Then when she magically wakes up as "thirty, flirty, and thriving" she realizes it's not all it's cracked up to be.  Her thriving lifestyle is nothing that I want my life to be like, and Jenna realizes that she doesn't want hers to be that way either in the end.  

But seriously!  Why is a thriving life measured by success and wealth?  In my book, a thriving life is one where I can see the fruit of my spiritual labors.  Where I'm not just living from social event to social event.  Matthew 7:20 says, "Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."  How will we be that light for Jesus if we don't have anything to show for it?  This has been one of the harder things for me.  Every now and again I'll wake up and realize that I'm not doing anything worthwhile for God.  That I am just living for me, and for all the things that the world has placed value upon. Things like, being popular, wearing the right clothes, being in on all the latest stuff (which is a sin in itself.).  In all honesty, no one is going to remember if we wore Nike shorts or off brand ones.  Or if we scored the goal on the last soccer game.  If we were the center of attention at the last party.  It doesn't matter.  

Our life can be so meaningless.  But only if we let it get that way.  

Priorities.

Isn't it crazy the things we decide are important?  For me it's being the best at the sport I'm playing, or having the most fashionable outfit.  Dumb right?  Because, honestly this stuff won't matter in a year, or a month, or even next week.  I've always been told that relationships are the most important thing.  Not like lovey-dovey relationships, just good old fellowship.  If I get into a disagreement with a friend my mom always has this verse ready for me, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Romans 12:18  As much as I hate to hear it, it's true!   She always then proceeds to say that relationships are the only thing that we will take with us when we die.  Which is also true.  Now...That doesn't mean that all the other things in life aren't important to God.  Not at all.  I have firm faith that God listens to us when we're six and asking for a Barbie Jeep, just as much as he listens to us when we're praying for a life or death situation.  This doesn't mean that we should go live in a cave...Because even if we did that, we would still be coveting what all the other people in civilization had.  Which would be breaking the tenth commandment.  We just have to accept the fact that we are sinners and that we live in a fallen world.  We just have to use the world and the things it throws at us as tools.  Tools to love others.  Tools to serve others.  Tools to bring others to Jesus.  When you think about it,  when the devil throws a storm our way, it's really a giant blessing.  I know that it sure won't seem like it, but it builds our character and testimony if we handle it in the right way, taking it to Jesus.  I know that this post is kind of all over the place crazy...But this is just what Jesus has put on my heart to say, and so, I'm going to say it.  We have the tools to serve our God.  We just have to do it.  

Beauty....

This morning I was using Blue Letter Bible to look at the Hebrew meanings for the words from Jeremiah 29:11.  Just like on other days, I'll write down some of the meanings in my notebook, and then substitute what the verse in my Bible said for the words I found from the Hebrew meaning.  In Jeremiah 29:11, we always focus on one thing,  

     For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you,                                                       plans to give you hope and a future. 

How God is going prosper us.  When I got to the word prosper I found that the Hebrew had many different uses.  Completeness, soundness, welfare, peace, safety, tranquility....And then I saw one that just kinda blew my mind for some reason.  Contentment.  That completely changes everything!  And yet, it's a word that fits so much better!  Because, if we are content in God, shouldn't that be enough?  I know being content is much easier said than done, especially in our society. I didn't change much, but here's what I ended with while using the Hebrew meaning. 

"For I know the purpose I have for you," declares the LORD, "thoughts for your contentment and not your calamity, thoughts to give you a future and expectation.

Expectation was another one of those words...When I clicked on the word for hope, there it was.  To me...This is so beautiful.  Absolutely amazing.   It's just so wonderful how God can just blow your mind the way He does to me all the time.  I feel so very blessed.  

Crazy love.

One of the many questions that has been tumbling around in my brain lately is, why in the world would you get into a relationship if you know you're going to get hurt?  I mean, really, if we know that we'll end up with hurt feelings, we'd probably run from that relationship.  I know I would.  Especially if it would cause emotional and physical pain.  Then you'd just be crazy to even talk to that person and put yourself and your heart in danger like that. And yet, that's exactly what Jesus did.  He knew that He was going to come and be beaten and scorned and tortured.  He knew that I was going to break His heart daily by following my selfish wills and desires.  But He still came.  He came and was tempted, tortured, beaten, hated, and killed.  He defeated death only to be hurt daily by His sheep.  In a way every single time we have our way and end up in sin, we're putting that nail back into His hands.  Putting Him back up on that cross.  Putting Him back into the grave.  It hurts Him more emotionally when we sin.  More pain than man ever caused Him while He was on earth.  I mean that's some crazy love right there, and it's exactly what Jesus did for me.  For everyone.  Even though I know that He loves me, it's still mind-boggling to think about how great His love is.  And how it's just now making it through my thick skull.  I'm such a human.  A human that is so thankful for God's crazy love.

The Cool Kids Club

When I was a little kid, my family would go to McDonald's every Friday for play group.  There my sister, Brooke, and I got to see our best friends Brennah, Micah and sometimes Raven and Fallon.  We would all spend the majority of our time up in the playplace in our "clubhouse"  keeping other kids out and having top secret meetings.  I thought it was the coolest thing, I was in a club with my older sister and two other older girls!  I remember a time where we wouldn't let a little boy into our "clubhouse" so he told us he would go tell his mom on us.  We decided to give him a VIP tour pretty quickly.  Looking back at this I see how we had become the playplace bullies.  Not a very nice thing for little girl to be.
There was another time when us Micah and I had done something 'not cool'  and so Brennah wouldn't let us into the club.  We were so mad, since we were always part of the club.  I remember Brooke had told Brennah to let us in, as any big sister should have.  Brennah told me that the only way I could come in was if I was the rug.  Then I think Brooke slapped Brennah on the arm.  In the end we all got in trouble, and left upset with each other.
Lately my family has been going through a lot of changes.  We left the church I've been going to since I was 4 years old.  I lost several friends because of things that were said.  Yesterday when I was thinking about this story, I was thinking about how I'm part of a new club.  How I don't have to work to get man's approval anymore.  After talking to my sweet friend CK, I realized that I've been trying as hard as I can to be my own knight in shining armor.  I've been trying to find ways to stop the change that God has brought into my life.  Trying to do everything on my own.  But the greatest thing about being part of God's club, is that I never have to struggle through anything on my own!  Looking back I can see how he has made change so much easier and how I would have avoided all pain if I'd just trusted Him.  He has provided me with such wonderful friendships so I don't feel lonely.  He's given my family the opportunity to visit different churches and fellowship with other Christians.
In the end, I know that it will all work out if I just live in faith.  If I just stop thinking about man's approval. I don't need it!  Because, I'm already part of the coolest club you could ever join!  

Debts

How many times have I prayed that original prayer, "Dear Lord, please forgive me of my sins", and then gone on with whatever other prayer requests I had.  Probably a million times.  I hate to say it, but I don't ever really think about asking God to cleanse me from my sins.  I ask to be forgiven and then most days I probably repeat the same sins, that I was supposed to be sorry for.  

I've been reading a book by Dick Eastman called The Hour That Changed the World, it's all about prayer and how we should really do it.  Today it was all about confession and asking for forgiveness for our sins before we go before God.  It started out with a quote by Andrew Murray that said, "God cannot hear the prayers on our lips often because the desires of our heart after the world cry out to Him much more strongly and loudly than our desires for Him."  How true this is!  I know there have been many, many times where I've rushed through a prayer thinking about something a friend might have said, or what I was going to do afterwards.  God doesn't ask us to confess our sins because He needs to know we have sinned, he already knows we have.  He wants us to confess our sins because He knows that we need to know we have sinned.  In Psalm 66:18 it says, "If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear."  Thus, there can be no sin if we want an effective prayer life!  

Dick Eastman says, "This is why confessions is critical to our praying and should be implemented early in prayer.  It clears the conscience of faith-killing guilt and opens the heart to truly believe God will hear our petitions."  Another interesting thought from him was, "There can be no healing within until there is first confession without.  Confession is conditional to cleansing."  

I had never thought of it this way!  It shows how truly important it is to take time to repent.  I probably should of learned this years ago, but I'm really glad to know it now.  Just a little food for thought for you guys! :) 

Ahhhh...

It's 68 and rainy outside.  The perfect fall day!  The only time I feel like doing any school is when I don't want to be outside, which makes these types of days perfect!  One of the easiest things to do for outfits during the fall is, black skinny jeans.

They are so easy to style!  And the pair I have is pretty comfy too.  One of my favorite looks is just a plain long sleeve t-shirt with a scarf.  It's casual and comfortable.  I also love going with a bright cardigan with a tank top underneath.  In the winter paired with boots it's perfect.  You could also go with a sweater or a printed t-shirt.  When I wear a bright flannel shirt, I like to wear my white converse with it.   

There are just sooo many, ways you can style them!  

I hope you all are having a fantastic week! 

I ♥ Thursday {no. 7}

Happy Thursday everyone! 

I tried to change my blog to a Christmas and it totally messed everything up, so I'm sorry if my background and pretties are not showing up on your screen ):

 

 

Here is my weekly Polyvore set for you!  I has kind of a holiday feel to it (by the way its only 12 days until Christmas!) But I didn't know how to throw some green in there without making it look tacky. 

 

 

 

These earings are SO cute!

 

I absoloutley love these shoes!  Maybe for that far away wedding (;

 

 

This gorgeous beauty!  It's SO summery-springy, I guess now that it's actually cold I don't want it to be.  Figures. 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!

 

 

I ♥ Thursday {no. 6}

Once again it's Thursday!  I hope you all are having a fantastic Thursday! 

We were supposed to have some snow flurries today in windy, windy Kansas.  But so far it's just one of those days that make you want to curl up next to the fire with a cup of cocoa and a good book.  And it's 45 degrees outside.  45 DEGREES!  It's the middle of DECEMBER!  

Okay, sorry back to my post...

I made this on Polyvore  

via: bunsjunior.polyvore.com

The only problem I had when making this outfit was, I didn't really know how long the dress was.  So I'm sorry if anyone thinks that it's way too short.  

I absolutely LOVE this sweater!  I found it on Pinterest, but sadly it didn't have a link to the actual sweater.  

This outfit is SO adorable!  I love the way she paired the polka dots with the stripes!  Not everyone can get away with it, but here it looks great!  

This is totally me during the holiday season.  I know I'll regret it after the new year.  

I hope your day is wonderful!