a few photos from my day...

recipe: lemon crinkle cookies

lemons are so pretty! they smell so fresh! & they are the perfect summer flavor!!

i really love lemons!!! don't you??  :)

on father's day, my mom made some of her grilled lemon chicken, which is a family favorite during the summer months!! i decided to go along with the lemon theme & make a new cookie recipe, lemon crinkles!! everyone seemed to like them, since they were all eaten up that afternoon! i guess i will have to make more soon... :)

recipe for lemon crinkle cookies:

ingredients:

½ cups butter

1 cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 whole egg

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder

⅛ teaspoons baking soda

1½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cups powdered sugar

directions:

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

in a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. mix in vanilla extract, egg, lemon zest and juice. stir in all dry ingredients until combined, except for the powdered sugar. put the powdered sugar in a bowl & roll a big teaspoon of the dough in the powdered sugar, until it's well coated. place the balls on a greased baking sheet & bake for 9-11 minutes or until the bottoms are light brown and the cracks look done! let the cookies cool & enjoy!

:)

happy summer!

today is the first official day of summer & i couldn't be happier!! :)

i started off my morning by eating one of my favorite things for breakfast: oatmeal with cinnamon, brown sugar & a fresh peach. yumm! i sat outside on the deck, feeling the crisp breeze & the warm morning sun! that is my favorite place & time for reading & meditating! i love summer mornings!!!

so, now on to a few summer-y photos from my life lately...

bike riding...

lime green nail polish...

reading "sense & sensibility"...

& enjoying summer evening walks with pretty views like this...

happy first day of summer!!!!

next, i'll be sharing a yummy lemon recipe that's perfect for summer...

:)

monday encouragement {psalm 1:1-3}

saturday snapshot...

{linking up with yellow songbird for saturday snapshot}

because tomorrow is father's day, i wanted to share an old photo of me & my dad...

i love looking at old family photos... there is something so special about the look of them. they just makes me happy! & this one is definitely one of my favorites! as i think back on the years gone by, i am so thankful for the memories i had with my dad growing up... my parents are divorced, so things weren't always perfect, but i have always known he loved my brother, sister & i. ♥

summer daydreaming...

i wouldn't mind hiding from the hot sun under an colorful umbrella...

{alice b. gardens photography}

i wouldn't mind riding around on a cute bike with a basket...

{beg bicycles}

i wouldn't mind making my own yummy & fruity popsicles...

{nectarine & strawberry popsicles from martha stewart}

& because today's high is 102 degrees!!!

i really wouldn't mind having this pool & back yard! it's so beautiful...

{house & home}

every once in a while it's fun to daydream.....

:)

over the weekend...

a couple of months ago, my mom got accepted to do a painting for a special art exhibition. she had to design & paint a butterfly that would be auctioned off to raise money for art & music education! on saturday, they had a reception for all of the artists. my sister & i went along to see her finished butterfly & all the others. i am so proud of her! :) here she is with her beautiful butterfly...

here are some of the other butterflies, that i really liked...

i had gelato for the first time!!! chocolate marshmallow... yumm.

& we stopped by the garden of the gods for a few golden hour photos...

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

thank you!!!

i can't even express how special it is that someone (i have never even met) would buy something that i created to hang on their wall... it really means so much to me, as an artist!! it is the kind of thing inspires me to create & because of that, i had to share these photos... they made me so happy today!!

dacia of the ruffy owl bought the "you are my sunshine" print a while back & she just posted photos of how she used it in her photo wall...

oh my goodness, i love it... the frames go together so beautifully! photo walls like this are one of my favorite ways to decorate a room!!

thank you to dacia & everyone else who has supported my shop & my blog! it means more to me than you know! :)

so... now you should head over to dacia's etsy shop, because she has the cutest handmade paper goods for sale!!! (i just bought some of her butterfly cut-outs... yay!)

here are a few more items from her shop that i love...

sweet sunday freebie!!

happy sunday!!

i love this beautiful verse from church this morning!

♥

to get this printable download for free...

all you have to do is leave me your email address in a comment below (or you can email me: brightside_02@hotmail.com) & i will send you an email with the high resolution image, for you to download & print yourself! this would be a good one to post as a daily reminder!

remembering mexico mission trip...

{i am linking up with yellow songbird for "saturday snapshot"}

this shot is from the summer of 2003, when i went on a mission trip to mexico with a group from my church & other churches where i live! we were in a very poor area of mexico & we stayed at a church there for a week... (this was my 2nd time going to the same area.) we put on a daily vacation bible school for the kids. painted the nearby school & did other repair projects around the church & neighborhood. & we traveled to nearby churches to preform our dramas (without words). it wasn't all easy... of course, there was a language barrier. we had to take cold showers everyday. we slept on the floor. & almost everyone got some really bad sickness (worst headache of my life)... but it was all SO worth it!!! it was such a blessing from God & so many lifelong memories were made!

& here are a few more photos from the trip...

preforming one of our dramas... they were acted out & set to music only.

all of the girls worked on painting the school.

hanging out with some of the kids that came to vbs!

& the whole group, right before we left!

lately...

this week i have finally gotten back into playing tennis! yay! it's one of my favorite ways to get a workout in, because it's actually really fun!!!

a beautiful sunset, after playing tennis last night... how great is our God!!

this week i posted some of my favorite instax minis on a wall in my room!

right now i have purple sparkly nails!

& i updated my etsy shop with this cute necklace + more...

i hope you've had a great week! happy friday & weekend! :)

book review: "reshaping it all"

like so many, i grew up watching DJ Tanner grow up on tv...
(confession: full house is still one of my favorite tv shows!!)
so when i heard that Candace Cameron Bure had a book coming out,
i definitely had to read it...

because i looked up to Candace when i was younger, i knew that this book would be fun to read! i really love how she shares so much about her Christian faith & the way she lives her life! this book is more than a typical biography, as it is mostly about keeping physically & spiritually healthy every day! so often the two go together & i really believe that we need encouragement in that area on a daily basis.

Candace shares the struggles she has had with food & how the Lord has given her freedom from that. it's easy to she how truly healthy she is now, in every way & she always gives glory to the Lord. throughout the book i felt so inspired, because she genuinly loves the Lord & living a healthy life!

one of my favorite thing about this book is that each chapter has scripture applied throughout. each passage touches perfectly on the subject that she is sharing at the time. because of that, i got even more out of the book than i expected! i also love that she included letters from fans, recipes that she uses regularly & many other quotes & pieces of advice! & of course it was fun to read a little bit about candace's life growing up & her sweet family... (bonus, this book has a section of photos & who doesn't love that?!)

i thought it would be fun to share a some of my favorite parts from the book...

"no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." {Heb. 12:11}

"we as believers follow the Spirit of truth, and we do our best to stick to that truth as we yield to to God's plan for our life. The world sees it another way: the body is in charge, and if the heart longs to overindulge in food or narcotics, it does."

"being a Christian who is trying to live a life that's pleasing to God doesn't mean that life is a drag. I haven't lost out on anything; i've only gained perspective on life, peace, joy, fulfillment and purpose. God gives me all those things. that's something the world can never fulfill because it constantly begs me to get more, reach a higher status, and keep acquiring stuff. it never satisfies."

"things that you think are imperfections are God's own craftsmanship. in fact the most beautiful things about us are usually those things we don't see in the mirror."