Fun Post: A Day in the Life Tag

I am alive. I shall not attempt to apologize for my absence of nearly fifty-six days. In the time since I posted last, a lot has happened, including but not limited to, an absolutely incredible three week road trip out to Missouri with my entire family (minus one), a new job completely different than anything I've done before (in foodservice, no less ;P), and, most importantly to me at least, the continuance of a very special relationship. ;) Yes, as some of you may not be aware of, I am courting. And it's amazing. ;) But I shall valiantly refrain from going on about it, because once I start I don't know if I could stop, which I'm sure no one would enjoy too much. ;D Haha! I will simply say that God's leading and direction in this has been precious to see, and I am so excited to see how He continues to work! And also that Luke is an incredible guy. :)

Today I'm going to do a post I was tagged for by Grace over at Grace Notes! She tagged me forever ago, and I took the pictures for this post fairly soon after she did so, but never took the time to sit down and get them all together. :) The idea is to take 10 pictures of a normal day. Since my work is not full time, all of these things don't happen every day, but these are the activities I typically spend time at. :) Hope you enjoy! 

If I'm going to be at home for a while before work, or if I have the day off, I will start the day with coffee in one of my many, many favorite mugs. ;P For me, coffee is not fuel that I guzzle, (since caffeine doesn't do much for me energy wise). It's more of a treat that I enjoy sipping on. Also I'm really picky about it. ;P I pretty much only drink espresso type drinks. Strong, sweet and creamy. ;) 

Hand lettering is definitely a huge part of my everyday life. I started lettering around 3 years ago, but kind of fell out of it for a while. Now I'm more into it than ever, and spend much of my free time doing that. It's so relaxing and satisfying, somehow! :)

I work at Costco for the sample company, CDS. I enjoy a lot of aspects of the job, though it does have its downsides, for sure. One thing I enjoy is being able to answer people's questions about where things are located (which I'm not technically required to know, since I don't work FOR Costco, just AT Costco.) Still, it's fun to me to try to memorize where everything is so I can answer questions. ;) Also, I've grown a lot better at cooking very quickly and in a small space. Sometimes now in my own kitchen I find myself using like a 3 foot square of countertop to cook on. ;D One other fun thing about the job is people watching. You wouldn't believe the types of things you notice when you are yourself a fairly unobserved and unnoticed person standing off to the side. ;)

This is an odd pic, I know, but I spend a pretty decent percentage of my free time each day on either this app or Facetime. ;) No particular reason. Not like I'm talking to anyone special or anything. Ahem. ;)

It's a rare day indeed when I don't spend at least some time playing piano. Music is so special to me and one of my favorite things to invest time in. :)

Hanging out with my crazy family is also special to me. Being the oldest of 8 kids comes with its own fun adventures and challenges. It's awesome though. ;) 

In case you needed a demonstration of the last statement I made, here is a picture of Kourage giving Miriam a "ride". Also known as dragging her around the house as she latches onto his ankle. Not weird at all. ;)

Cooking for a large family is also its own type of interesting. We have one recipe that we make on a regular basis that has 18 eggs in it. Another one takes nearly 12 cups of flour total. Yeah, we go through a lot of baking ingredients. Heh.

I enjoy taking pictures with my phone, and usually end up taking at least a couple of them every day. I'm certainly not anything like a professional photographer, but I like playing around with it. :) Editing is fun, too. I usually do that with two different apps: Afterlight 2 (It costs around $3...totally worth it), and Snapseed. (Free!) 

This playlist on Spotify is one that I fall asleep to every night. I typically don't go to bed until well after midnight, unfortunately. ;P I'm at my most creative at night, for sure...so that's when I do a lot of my hand lettering, writing, and other creative endeavors.

Well, there you have it! 10 photos of some of my most common activities. :) I would like to tag Sarah over at Dreams in Alaska. Sorry, I'm supposed to tag more people, but I don't follow that many blogs! :'D If you would like to do this, consider yourself officially tagged. ;) I hope you guys enjoyed this glimpse into my life! I hope to be more faithful in posting things on here, but I know better than to promise anything. Life happens. :) Thank you all for your understanding!! (Looking at you, Jenny! ;) Hope you all have a lovely week.
Mykaela

Growing! (Hopefully ;)

Hello, all my wonderful readers!
Today instead of an actual post, I have a few quick announcements/favors to ask of you. :) 

First off, I want to say thank you so much to all of you who take the time to read, comment, and repost things from this blog...it really means a lot to me. I don't have a huge reader base, but I didn't start this blog to get massive amounts of readers, I just wanted to be a blessing to someone! :) That being said, I have been trying lately to think of some ways I can refresh or restyle things every now and then. I want to make sure that my content is not only God-honoring, but also pleasant to read and relevant to my readers. 

So, I made a little poll on the sidebar of the blog. If you read my posts via email, (which I think many of you do), would you mind just hopping onto the web version and voting really quick? A desktop or laptop is the most user friendly, but you can do it on your mobile device as well by scrolling to the very bottom of the web page and clicking "View Web Version". It will probably be pretty small, but you can then zoom in and vote that way. It would help me out a ton! :)

Also, if there are any of you that are interested in guest posting for me sometime, I would love it if you'd contact me by my blog email: makingmusicforthemaster@gmail.com

Lastly, I just wanted to let you all know, I've been putting content on my YouTube channel a bit more regularly lately. I have had some time to record a few of my original songs, as well as a couple of piano improv/solos. I don't have a regular upload schedule or anything like that, but you can find the latest videos here. 

Again, I want to make the content on here a joy to read for you all! If at any point you feel like you just aren't getting much out of the posts, or there are too many emails coming in, or anything like that, don't hesitate to either let me know, or simply unsubscribe! I'll never be offended at something like that. ;) 

Thank you again for your time and your feedback, I truly appreciate it! Have a wonderful week. <3
Mykaela

Making Music is having a Centennial!!!

Psalm 126:3 The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

Today's is a big post!! The blog is not a hundred years old, so this is not technically a centennial. ;) However, this IS my one hundredth post on Making Music for The Master! 100 posts! I never really thought I would be able to be consistent with putting content out there, and am so thankful for The Lord allowing me to continue doing this for over a year now. In celebration, I have compiled a list of 100 of my favorite things in the whole world. They are NOT in any particular order. I sat down and started wildly typing, just putting numbers on things so I'd know how many I had... thus, it is most definitely not in order of importance. ;) Just wanted to make that quite clear. These are a bunch of somewhat random, but lovely things that are special to me. Hope you enjoy!


1.The Lord Jesus Christ
2. My salvation
3. God's Word
4. My precious family, who puts up with me. ;)
5. All of my dear friends, who also put up with me.
6. A large house, perfect for housing guests
7. Technology, and the ability to do this blog.
8. My blog readers :)
9. Books
10. A good job
11.  Food of all descriptions
12. God's provision
13. Cozy blankets
14. Espresso
15. Half and half
16. Whipped cream ;P
17. Jumping into a pool
18. Travelling
19. Airports
20. 50's style clothes
21. Sunglasses that actually look good
22. Laughing so hard I can hardly breathe
23.  Imperfectly beautiful things
24. Small flowers
25. Freshly cut grass
26. The smell of home made bread
27. A comfortable bed to sleep in
28. Long naps
29. Fuzzy socks
30. Playing racquetball
31. Driving with the windows down on a warm night
32. Listening to music with earbuds
33. Beating my own record at something
34. Coffee shops
35. Huge comfy chairs
36. Candlelight
37. Giving gifts
38. Getting gifts ;)
39. Writing
40. New pens
41. New journals
42. Vintage things
43. Picnics
44. Hiking
45. Seesaws
46. Playing piano
47. Winning a prize
48. Playing board games
49. Thrift stores
50. Yard sales
51. Close harmony
52. Singing at the top of my voice (alone. ;P)
53. Huge picture windows
54. Blossoms in spring
55. The smell of rain
56. Thunderstorms
57. Fireplaces
58. Leather boots
59. Catching something at the last second and feeling like a ninja
60. Staying up late talking
61. Free stuff
62. My birthday
63. Good hair days
64. Comfy AND cute shoes
65. Sharing my faith with someone
66. Bacon
67. Dresses
68. Super lightweight shoes
69. Breakfast dates
70. Self serve Froyo
71. Phones (love 'em, hate 'em, you know?! ;)
72. Window seats
73. Beautiful photography
74. Snail mail, package or letter
75. A good workout
76. Cold milk
77. Cereal (especially Life cereal! And Honey Bunches....and granola...and...I'll stop)
78. Summer nights
79. Purses and skirts with pockets. ;)
80. Family vacations
81. Music stores. All those new unexplored instruments!!! :O
82. Discovering a really good book or T.V. series that already has several released items.
83. Rereading a book from your childhood
84. Sleeping in
85. Long hot showers after being chilled or working hard
86. Hot chocolate (with the aforementioned whipped cream, of course. ;)
87. Baby animals
88. Ranch Dressing!!!
89. Bluetooth speakers
90. Eric Whiteacre, The Pettits, The Galkins, and Dan Forrest. <3
91. Taking little siblings on outings
92. Roasting marshmallows
93. Roller coasters, zip lines, bumper cars
94. Swimming
95. Slippers
96. Retreats
97. Conferences
98. Family road trips
99. Good dreams
100. The feeling of completing something, like a 100 item list, for example. ;)

I really could go on and on though...as I wrote I kept thinking of more and more things I could add. This could easily be a 10 or 20 part post if you want! (Totally joking, I would never do that to you guys! ;D) Anyway, I am so, so thankful to The Lord for all that he has done in my life, and all He has taught me through this blog so far. I am hoping that my words will make an impact in at least one person's life...if that happens, it's worth it. :) I say this a lot, but I would like to thank you, my readers, again for continuing to stick with me! :) You are so wonderful to subscribe or check the blog, read my posts, leave comments...I appreciate all of it so, so much!! You guys are awesome! :) I hope all of you have a great week to come. Keep your heart focused on The Lord! Lots of love,
Mykaela

Sunday Snippets: A Farewell to 2016!

Psalm 65:11 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.

Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

Here we are, by the grace of God, at the close of another year. And what a year it has been! As the verse says, God crowns each year with His goodness. Today I'll be doing a recap of my year, both with this blog, and personally. I hope this year was a blessed and growth-rich time for each of you as well!

First off, I have some sad news and glad news. The sad news is that this will be my last "Sunday Snippet", as such. Don't worry, though! Lord willing I am going to be doing posts a couple times a week still, with at least one of them being basically what Sunday Snippets has been--a post based on a thought or idea from a passage of Scripture, and how it has encouraged me. :) I am not sure exactly what kind of posts I will be replacing them with, or if I will do a specific weekly post? I'm still working out blog plans for the New Year, based on the feedback I got from my recent survey. (Thank you so much to all who completed that! :)

This year's most popular posts were kind of a surprise to me as far as their order. I had several wonderful guest posts this year, that were towards the top in popularity! If you see one you missed before, you can check them out by clicking the titles:

5. Facing Crossroads

I think this topic is pretty near and dear to people's hearts. Everyone has had to make a tough decision before!

4. Through The Word in 30 Days

My journey through the Bible in a month.

3. In The Right Place at the Right Time

A wonderful guest post by Elizabeth.

2. Boredom is Illegal!

Another wonderful guest post by Kimberly.

And the number one post for 2016 was....

A Faithful Servant!

Like I said, that one really surprised me that it was number one, because it was a very short post about a good quote I found on Pinterest. Nothing huge. But you guys liked it. ;) I'm thinking about doing more of this type of post this next year.

January 1, 2017 is the one year anniversary of when Making Music for the Master was started. I was so clueless about blogging at that time; actually I kind of still am...but to those of you who still read my poorly formatted, not-too-well-written posts, and continued to encourage me in growing this blog, thank you so, so much. You are each such a blessing to me!

Besides starting the blog, in 2016 I have moved 2 hours south of where I used to live, thus not having to drive two hours to church every week. ;) How awesome is that?! Also, I love living in a bigger city...once I got used to driving in traffic. I transferred my job, so I now work at a huge four-story library instead of a one-level, quite small one. 

I took a trip to Oklahoma to see Kimberly, and had quite a number of firsts on that trip! ;) My first roller coaster. My first earthquake. My first time eating gravy over fries over a burger over Texas toast. My first time spending 30 minutes laughing at a set of magnets. (inside joke. I promise it was funny. ;) My first time ziplining. My first time going through a cave, 50 stories underground. It was a good trip. 

I turned 20...crazy stuff. My thoughts on that here.

I helped host a group of 20 from Alaska who came to help out with a mass outreach here. A highlight of my year, honestly: those few days were so, so special and fun! The day after they left, my dad, Mercy, and I went on a 10 day trip to Wyoming--another highlight. (It's been a good year with lots of highlights, what can I say?? ;P) Then we went to the missions conference at my home church. Always a blessing.

This holiday season I have applied for a full time job, spent a day in the hospital, got my wisdom teeth removed and laughed at my craziness afterwards, went to visit family in Oregon, and worked as a receptionist at the library headquarters. 

God has been so good this year! I think one of the biggest areas I have grown in is that of prayer. It has become more of a habit for me to pray throughout the day as I work on different tasks, etc. An area I want to grow in this next year is that of patience with my siblings. Some of them can be hard to get along with...who knew?! ;) 

My top favorites from this year?

Songs:

Mary Did You Know. Never a favorite before, but this arrangement...wow!

Jubilate Deo by Dan Forrest. Especially this movement.

Though You Slay Me. So pretty!!

Books:

Land of Silence by Tessa Afshar.

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare.

In the Field of Grace by Tessa Afshar...can you tell she is one of my favorite authors? ;P

Movies:

(Not endorsing everything in every movie. Or book, either. Obviously.)

Finding Dory. I don't care that everyone hates on the Disney sequels. I loved this! And I loved Cars 2, and I loved Monsters U, and yeah, just get over it. ;)

War Room. While I don't love everything about this movie, it was a really good encouragement. 

Ben Hur. I'm only putting this on because of how pleasantly surprised I was by this movie. I always thought that the Charlton Heston classic had spoiled me for enjoying any other Ben Hur. And while this version completely slaughtered the original storyline, as a movie I did enjoy it! There was a surprising lack of garbage in it.

As we ring in the New Year, let's not forget to take time to reflect on the old one, ok? Take some time to plan for how this coming year can be one of spiritual growth, most of all. I love New Years, because it is a time of gratefulness for what is past, and hopefulness for what is to come. Isn't it good to know that God is in control of your life this year? :) I love you all, and thank you once again for an amazing year with this blog. I hope to continue making music with you for as long as The Lord allows!

365 new days. 365 new chances to serve The King!

Love,

Mykaela

POLL POST!! :)

Hello everyone!
I'm not sure if you guys knew this, but I started "Making Music for The Master" on January 1st of 2016! That means that we are coming up on a whole year of this blog being in existence, which I think is pretty cool. :) I'm very excited about this anniversary, and am trying to think of ways that I can possibly update the blog in new ways this coming year. 

This is where you as my awesome readers come in. I don't have a massive following, (that's never been my goal). However, I do want to write things that are pertinent and that you all enjoy. No one wants to read a boring blog. ;) Also, I will be attempting to build up the readership a bit more through better planning, more user friendly layout, etc.

What I need from you is a quick feedback response. I have created a survey, (don't worry, it's only 8 super easy questions ;), to help me get responses from you guys. I would love it if you could fill that out! You can find it here, and I'll also send it out via email. 

Speaking of email...if you would prefer to write me an email to give feedback instead, please feel free! My new blog email is makingmusic4themaster@gmail.com

I am so deeply thankful for each and every one of you, and the special ways in which you contribute to this blog, and to my life! This blog wouldn't be here without you guys. (To quote Monsters, Inc., "I wouldn't have nothin' if I didn't have you!") ;P 

Most of all, I am thankful to God for allowing me to start and keep up this blog. It has been such a blessing to me as I study for the posts, and interact with you all...even to meet some new friends through it! I hope to continue Making Music together for as long as The Lord allows. God bless you all! Much love,
Mykaela