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

Fun Post: July favorites

Here we are, in the beginning of a new month!

WHAT?!!? *hyperventilates*

Ok, I'm good now. ;P Seriously though, this year has gone by SO fast!! Somehow even when there aren't any huge plans in place at the beginning of the summer, it does seem to really fill up quickly! :) Here are some things I've been up to this past month:

Reading...
Wings of the Wind, by Connilyn Cossette. This was the third book in the "Out of Egypt" series by this author, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them!! They follow the journeys of different young women throughout the quest from Egypt to the Promised Land. I read the first two, and this one hadn't come out yet, so I had an impatient couple of months of anticipation for it. ;) I am way too cheap to buy books on their first release, so I always wait till the library gets them, which adds a bit of time as well. This book was worth the wait! Mrs. Cossette is one of my favorite authors now! :)

An Assembly Such As This and Duty and Desire, by Pamela Aidan. My friend Jenny recommended this trilogy to me, and I'm now into the third book. This lady wrote a series about one of the most famous literary characters of all time, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. :O Trying to write in the style of Jane Austen is a pretty tall order to fill, but Pamela Aidan does a marvelously good job of it!! There have been many times as I've been reading this series that I've totally forgotten that they weren't written by Jane Austen! She writes in a style so similar to her, and of course stays true to the original Pride and Prejudice, while filling in details and silent places (of which there are many), with her own story of Mr. Darcy. And let's face it...who didn't wish to know a little more about Mr. Darcy? ;P There are a lot of long spaces in P&P where we don't really know what's going on with him, (such as when he is in town during the time that Jane is also in town. What is he doing?! ;) Anyway, there is a bit of true to the period language, which is annoying, but there isn't too much of it. Just a caution for young readers. :)

 I am currently in the middle of around 6 other books as well, but I am not sure if I can endorse all of them yet, so I'll save some for next month's favorites post. ;) On my reading list for the very near future is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I have heard SO much about that book and I'm really looking forward to reading it. 

Visiting...
My grandparents in Salem, Oregon. We had such a lovely time with them, though it always feels a bit too short. ;) Both of our lives are so crazy, we don't get to see them but a couple times a year, so we try to enjoy every minute of it! We went to a park and a carousel, (and I got Oma to ride the carousel with me, which was super fun!!! :). We had our cousins over for a very jam packed evening of fun...I have 16 cousins on that side, though only 12 live in Salem. Counting our family's kids, there were 20 kids, and including the adults, there were 27 people there. ;D Like I said, pretty full place, especially since my grandparents' house isn't that huge. We always have tons of fun though. We went on a few nice walks, and shopped at Costco, and went to the Salem YMCA...I like our Y here in Wenatchee a lot better, but that's beside the point. ;P On our last night, we had a huge dinner out on the back porch, and then played ladder ball for a long time. I absolutely love that game!! It was such a blessing to be able to spend some time with them. :)

Camping...
For the first time in 7 or 8 years!! I hadn't been camping in forever, but while some of the kids were at church camp, we got the opportunity to have a free night's stay at a campground about half an hour away. We had a blast floating around in a shallow part of the river, playing volleyball, roasting marshmallows on the grill (absolutely no campfires are allowed here during fire season), and waking up at 5:15 when it got light. ;P One thing that was SO cool was that the tent my dad bought last year has a mesh top, so I could see the stars as I was falling asleep. <3

Listening to...
The Planet Earth II soundtrack. It's on Spotify, so I love listening to it as I work. (It's on YT too, but then I can't  turn off my phone while it plays. ;P) Some of my favorite songs from it are Planet Earth II Suite/Main Theme, Garden of Ice, Starlings, and Flight over the Alps. You should go listen to at least those ones on YouTube. Like right now. Look, I'll even give you a link to the playlist!!!! LINK THAT YOU SHOULD REALLY CLICK ON. Can you tell that I just absolutely love this music? ;P

Taking pictures of...
Tons of stuff. ;P I got an iPhone 6 Plus for a very good price this past month (yes, I switched over from Android very reluctantly. No, I am not a full on Apple maniac. ;P) I admit they have some advantages for sure, but there are some things I really miss about Android, such as haptic feedback and the back button. ANYway, moving along... ;D One thing I love about my new phone is how good the camera is!! It has been really fun being able to take good pictures, and I've enjoyed playing around with editing on Snapseed. I'm not a photographer by any means, but having a nicer camera is sure fun!! :)

Thrilling with excitement about...
My upcoming missions trip to Fiji and Samoa in November!!!! I've refrained from saying anything on here about this until I was sure, but it does look like The Lord is working things out so I can go both to Fiji for the missions trip with my church, and afterwards to go back to Samoa with my dear friend Abby for a visit!!! She and I are sooo excited about both of these incredible opportunities, and would appreciate your prayers as we prepare for it. I have a fundraiser page that gives some more details about the trip, you can view that here.

Hiking...
In an area I never knew had hiking trails! Last week a church member took us up to Mission Ridge, about 20 minutes from my house, and we hiked up to two sparkling lakes in the mountains. It was an amazing time to go, because all the wildflowers were in full bloom. I have almost never seen any place so beautiful in my life, and I've been a lot of places! It was so peaceful and quiet. Some parts of the woods were bright and sunshine could reach to the forest floor, making tiny ferns and plants reach through the layers of pine needles. Other areas were dark and still, with black beards of lichen on the trees. When we got to the lakes, it looked like a painting with the trees mirrored in the perfectly glassy water and flowers of every color lining the banks. I saw a tiny snake with patterns like a fancy necktie gliding along the top of the water. On the way down, I gathered an armload of wildflowers, and you'd never be able to tell where I picked them, they were so profuse. It was such a stunningly breathtaking display of creation. 

Going out...
To the park every weekend for outreach. Wenatchee has a massive amount of public parks, and one in particular usually has a lot of people walking around in the evening during the weekends. We have been going every Friday night and Saturday morning to witness to people, and have had some really good conversations. Besides getting to walk through the beautiful riverfront park! I love Wenatchee. :)

Insanely happy with...
My new rolltop writing desk that I bought on Craigslist. I love it SO. MUCH. Ahh!! I could just sit there all day!! ;D

Thankful for...
The perfection of summer evenings--When it's been hot during the day, and then it cools off, but the ground is still holding some of the heat, so it's the most comfortable weather there could ever be for watching the sunset...just wow. :O Kombucha. Old tv shows. Snail mail from friends. Unexpected letters telling me a poem I entered in an online contest went to the semi finals and they are going to publish it in an anthology?! Cookie dough. Having church in the park with a BBQ and potluck afterwards. Playing Settlers of Catan with the kids. Singing "Prince of Egypt" songs at the top of my lungs. ;P (That movie was my childhood, ok??) SUMMER. 


Well, this post turned out to be a long one, so if you're still hanging out with me at this point, congratulations and thank you!! :D I hope each and every one of you is having a lovely summer! <3 Love,
Mykaela

Fun Post: March Favorites

Hello, everyone!
Sorry I've been a bit uncharacteristically quiet in the blogging world lately! :) I may be even more silent in April, just as a warning. ;P I have a ton of fun stuff coming up! Here are some of the things I've been enjoying this month!

Reading...
Atonement Child by Francine Rivers. This is a reread for me (perhaps I should say a re-re-re-re-reread? :P) I think I have read it around 6 or 7 times since I discovered it a couple years ago. It's that good of a book. While I definitely don't agree with all of Rivers' doctrine, for the most part this is an extremely gripping and beautiful read, with a really sweet message. It focuses a lot on more mature issues such as abortion vs. pro-life, etc., so I would recommend it for older readers (13+). 

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper. I would say caution with this book. It is a heartbreaking account of one girl's journey through being taken from her homeland into slavery, and eventual escape to freedom. While it was an interesting read, it has some mature content, and I was saddened by the author's obvious non-Christian viewpoint. I wish that someone with a godly worldview could write a similar story through the lenses of God's Word. :( Wouldn't recommend this one.

Thankful for...
My dad's very successful and spiritually profitable trip to Jamaica for a week!! He and the other men that went with him were able to witness to hundreds, made some very good contacts, encouraged and taught the local pastors, and saw at least 1 soul saved! Others are still being worked with, so please pray about that! We are so thankful for our opportunity to reach Jamaica through our ministry to the workers in the orchards here. For 5 seasons, we have held services and Bible Classes with these men, and finally Papa and Bro. Chris were able to visit!! And the timing couldn't have been more perfect...God had been working for years to orchestrate the details of this trip perfectly. So amazing how He works! 

Enjoying my first...
Ice skating experience! Would you believe that I am getting on towards 21 years old and had never gone ice skating before this past month? ;P Since I used to rollerblade a lot (before I broke my ankle), the motion was easy for me to grasp quickly. I only fell twice or maybe three times, and none were serious, just a temporary loss of balance. ;) A quick gravity check, so to speak. Anyway, I would definitely go again! I am not anything like graceful or adept at it, but I did really enjoy the movement and the smoothness of the ice. Super cool to try a new adventure! :)

Returning to...
My mountain for the first time this season!!!! This past week the snow was finally melted enough that my mom and I were able to climb Saddlerock again. I have missed doing that so much during the winter! The feeling of reaching the peak again is so energizing. And the cool thing about climbing? You get all the hard work over with at the beginning. ;P It's all downhill after that! (literally.) :D

Looking forward to...
Vacation, as I mentioned in last month's favorites. We are leaving in 2 days, and I am sooo excited for the time of recharging. :) Right after we get back, my dad's 3 siblings and his mom are coming for a week's visit! His brother and sisters have not been out to the West Coast since my parents' wedding almost 22 years ago. So yeah...it's high time for a visit. ;P We are very happy about the fact that we can spend some time with them. Cue the late night Shoot games! ;D (If you don't know what Shoot is, you obviously have never hung out with my family for more than about 30 minutes. Haha! It's a game played with Rook cards that we are pretty crazy about. :)

Wearing...
My spring wardrobe. I'm pushing the season a bit, as Spring is still very much in it's trying-to-get-there stages. I've spent a couple Sundays at church shivering and cursing my outfit choices. But hey, that's part of every season change, right?? ;P You pull out the scarves and boots on the first 55 degree day of autumn, and dump them on the first 55 degree day of "spring". At least I do. ;) 

Watching...
"Planet Earth II". Oh my WORD you guys!!!!! This is a documentary type movie made by BBC, and it is absolutely....indescribable. Seriously, I don't even know where to start on how astounding this is. The filming, the music, the narration; everything about it is absolutely spectacular. There are so many creatures and plants that I've never even heard of, and they are brought up close and personal in the most sharp, clear, stunning videography I've ever seen. While there is a small amount of evolution/climate change garbage, it really is pretty minimal. Don't let the word "documentary" scare you away...this is a must-watch. It will make your jaw drop at the wonder of God's creation! I have watched the first three episodes so far, and can't wait to finish it. If you live in my area, you can get it from the library...you should totally check it out! :)

Loving the little things...
Such as naps. They are so awesome for powering back up after a long morning. I find that 26 minutes (also known as a NASA nap ;) is perfect for me to wake up rested. Also loving a new clay mug I got for 99 cents at Goodwill, lovely for drinking Aeropress and warming my hands on. Sparkling Lemon Bai drinks. Flowered lace black flats. My bluetooth speaker that I can listen to in the shower. Taking pictures with little Miriam. Texting ridiculous pictures to certain friends of mine. Pictures such as me drowning my sorrows in a can of whipped cream, or making a face like one of the Whoville city council members on Horton Hears a Who. Hahaha! Nothing too crazy, you know, just very me. ;P 

Well, that's a wrap for this month, folks! What have you been loving about the month of March? I hope April is even better! :) Have an amazing week!
Mykaela

10 years ago...

Psalm 40:2-3 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

Today is a very special day for me. 10 years ago on March 14, 2007, my life changed. And I don't mean just a little thing...my entire world was overturned and put back together again. It was the day that I let go of all my stupid, selfish pride, and asked God to save my soul. And He did!!! You can read the whole story in more detail here. Today I would like to take a moment to thank The Lord for all the incredible things He has done in my life since that day. 

• He gave me an eternal home in Heaven. It is 100% assured to me that when I die, there is a place for me in His Kingdom. (1 John 5:13) What a promise! 
• He made me His child. (Gal. 4:5) Even if I lost everything and everyone that is dear to me tomorrow, I would never be alone. I have a Father in heaven that loves me more than anyone on this earth ever could!
• He has continually grown me since that day in 2007. Though I am so, so far from perfect, and I still make mistakes day after day...I can look back over the path of these 10 years and see how each and every trial and triumph has worked out for His glory in my life. I would not be who I am today without those things that He has brought me through!
• He has never forsaken me. Though there have been times that He has seemed far away due to my own sin and foolish choices, He has never left me. He is always there to pick me up when I fall, to forgive my sin, to guide me when I face tough decisions, and to chasten me when I stray from Him. 
• He has showered me with SO many material blessings. From my family to a warm house to live in, to clothes on my back, a church home, money in my bank account, and food on my table...He has blessed me much more than I could ever deserve!!!

I don't know where I would be if I hadn't made the choice to follow Christ starting 10 years ago. I frankly don't even like to think about it--life without God's saving grace would not be a life at all! My entire outlook on everything; finances, friends, relationships...everything is seen through different glasses. I am no longer a ship without an anchor. I am under the hand of the Captain who spoke the wind and seas into existence. I'm not wandering lost in the wilderness; I am safe in the fold of The Great Shepherd. I'm no longer fighting on the losing side, in bondage to sin. I joined the army of the King of Kings, who gave His own life to set me free. I have a new name, a new family, a new song of praise to Him. I am a new creature. So while today marks an anniversary, I don't ever want to stop praising my God for His love for me, any day of the year. I want to keep growing in my love and service to Him so that whether I live another 10 years or another 100 years, I can stand before The Lord and hear Him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!"

Mykaela

Happy Birthday to You!

Hey there!
This is definitely a different post than normal, but today I'd like to wish those with February birthdays a very happy day!! :) I have several friends, including one brother, who turn another year young in February. It's fun to have times to celebrate, in a month with not a lot of holidays. (Or at least, not a lot for those of us who are single, lol! ;) 

I would specifically like to mention my sweet grandma, though I don't call her that, it sounds weird. ;) She has always been "Oma" to me, as long as I can remember. Today is her special day, and I am so, so thankful for her and her impact on my life!! She is a prayer warrior, constantly lifting up me and my siblings, my parents, and my extended family up in prayer. She cares about people more than almost anyone else I know. She can find out more about a person (AND REMEMBER IT!!) in five minutes, than I could in a week! Sometimes it will amaze me when we are walking through the mall together and she says, "Oh, that's ____...her son Bill's wife has been terribly sick, I wonder if she is any better!" And she has only met this person like two times. :D 

I am so thankful for her sweet spirit of thankfulness to The Lord, and for her encouragement to me, especially in the area of this blog. She has been 100% supportive of me since the very beginning of it. Thank you, Oma, I love you!! 

Secondly, I would like to wish Jenny a very happy birthday. I will finally be taking a trip up to her corner of the earth to visit this next week! Jenny is another friend who's been with me since the start of the blog, and is such a faithful reader and encourager... even when I feel like a certain post was awful, or poorly written, she never fails to leave a sweet comment with her thoughts on the subject! She loves to write, (I think she could totally write a book. Or two or ten.) and when she writes you a letter, it will be a real, old-fashioned, newsy, 3 page epistle! And I LOVE that!!! :) She is so much fun to be around, especially when she talks in an accent (which is pretty much all the time!), or pretends to be offended by my lack of vocabulariness. ;P I love dragging her into crazy adventures with me, and she usually comes along, under protest, but ends up having fun anyway. I think. ;)

So yeah! Today I just wanted to mention a couple of people specifically, because sometimes it's really fun to get a shoutout on your birfday! :) (Yes, I did mean to spell it that way.) For all of my February birthday friends, I hope you have an absolutely lovely day filled with wonderful memories and lots of ice cream!! :D And even if your birthday is in August...you should still eat some ice cream because it's super yummy. ;P 
Mykaela