Give Thanks Always

Skirt/H&M/ Top/Fred Meyer. Cardigan/Target. Shoes/Payless

Hello everyone,

So yes, I have been absent for three weeks, and yes, I also might have taken these pictures during Thanksgiving and not posted them, but the reason for this is definitely not because I've been utterly lazy and too tired. 

Oops.

My life pretty much consists of homework and sleep. When I'm not sleeping, I'm doing homework, and when I'm not doing homework, I just want to sleep. Fortunately, Christmas break is near and I just can't wait! It'll be nice to get a little time to just stop, breath, and enjoy this beautiful holiday season. Speaking of holidays, did you all have a good Thanksgiving?

Ever since I've been a little girl, Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday. The food, family and friends visiting, and a time to stop and remember all we have to be thankful for is so memorable. Yet, shouldn't I be remembering that more than just once every 365 days? The Lord has blessed me with so much, but I only ever become thankful once a year! We live in such a self-centered, all about me world, and often forget to stop and give thanks for what we have.

Thanks to your family for their love.

Thanks to your friends for always being there.

Thanks for the food and water the sustain you.

Thanks for warm shelter.

Thanks for clothes that cover you.

Thanks for the little things, and the big things.

Thanks for everything.

Throughout this holiday season, remember to always be thankful for every one and every thing you have. Don't just wait once a year, but every day of every year.

Have a wonderful day,

Elizabeth 

Run Into the Light // John 3

"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed." 

   - John 3:19-20

This verse really hit me hard today during my morning bible study. Constantly, I put off repenting what I've done wrong and trying to change, because quite honestly, I like what I'm doing, and I don't want to change to God's way. So often we see the light, but put off running to it, knowing very well that we are sinning, but don't want to give that up. 

Now don't get me wrong, we all have sinned, and are sinning constantly, because we're human! But when we are willingly sinning, and knowingly running away form what we know is right, we have a real problem. 

My friends, don't run from the light just because your evil deeds seem comfortable and fun. and do not be afraid to run to God with your sin, for He loves us and forgives us with His amazing grace. When we are so caught up in sin, the farther we drift from the Lord, We're afraid He'll be angry at us, won't accept us, and worse yet, will want us to give up our sin. So we skip our devotions that night, and then that morning. Next thing we know it, our bible hasn't been opened in weeks. Church becomes a guilt session, and when at youth group, you can't look your leaders in the eye when they ask how your the relationship is with Christ. 

Don't let your evil deeds and sin cause your relationship with the Lord become damaged, but instead, run into God's everlasting light and know He will forgive you. 

With Love, 

Elizabeth

Bake With Me // Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Hello everyone,

I am very much a homebody, thus my weekends are normally spent in my room catching up on school, lounging around, and quite honestly, being lazy and not doing much productive activity. Even the school that I'm suppose to finish lays on my desk untouched while I watch Cupcake Wars and drool over the delicious deserts everyone is making. It's a habit I'm trying to break, though I'm obviously not trying too hard, for here I am, typing away about how I should do homework and be productive. Oh well.

Anyways, enough with my rambling, This particular morning I was feeling extra motivated. Again, not to do school, but to bake, Watching Cupcake Wars was just too much for me, so I got to work. Of course, I didn't make a cupcake, as you can see. I wanted my cupcakes to look perfect and pretty, but I didn't have any way to frost them nicely and only 11 cupcake liners were stashed in my family's baking box, so I had to substitute for muffins. It's save to say, though, they were amazingly yummy and quite satisfying, 

Ingredients: 

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 large mashed bananas

1 egg

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup milk

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350

Grease one tray of muffin cups (You can line them too, but mine came out much better when greased.)

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients.

Blend the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients.

Add chocolate chips. 

Fill each cup 3/4 full with batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until brown.

This recipe should make 12-16 muffins. They're super moist and go perfectly with a good cup of tea or coffee.

Now I'm off to eat some muffins and tackle some homework, wish me luck!

Elizabeth

You Are Beautiful

You stand in front of the mirror, no smile in sight, wondering why you're so ugly, why your thighs are too fat, your teeth too yellow, hair to thin, too many dots all over your face. "Why's" float around in your head as tear drops fall from your eyes. You don't even realize:

You are beautiful. You are loved. You are special.

Oh but my dear girls, no matter how many times your family tells you, or your friends envy you, you won't believe it. I could shake you and yell over and over the truth, but you still wouldn't realize:

You are beautiful, You are loved. You are special. 

You rely on how many boys seek your attention, which girls tell you you're pretty, and what society says, to make you feel worth something. And when those boys leave you, when those girls start making fun of you, and the media fails you, you go back to the dumps and you think:

I am ugly. I am hated. I am worthless.

My darling, you will never truly feel beautiful, loved, and special when you tell yourself over and over you're not. You will never feel beautiful, loved or special when you rely on others, and cry when they fail. Your self worth comes from within. That voice that whispers to you all your insecurities, that is who you think you are, but no:

You are beautiful. You are loved, You are special. 

When you look into the mirror and see your flaws, and tears start welling up and threaten to spill down your face, look again. Smile, and tell yourself what so many other people see:

You are beautiful. You are loved. You are special.

And when that boy tells you he's done with you, when those girls laugh in your face, when society tells you you must be a size 0, you won't need to cry, or runway and hide. No, because you know now:

You are beautiful. You are loved, You are special. 

With Love, 

Elizabeth

Magical Tights

Dress//Macy's. Top//Burlington Coat Factory. Cardigan//Target. Tights//Target. Shoes//Payless. Necklace//Forever21

Hello,

It's been a little while since I've last updated this blog, and it's mainly because I really haven't had much to talk about. Life has been pretty uninteresting lately. Eat, homework, sleep, repeat. That's all I have had time for, but I'm glad to be back with an outfit post for you all.

I wore this today for my private school classes I take once a week. I've been feeling sick and very tired the last few days due to my cold, so I thought if I'm not feeling well, I might as well try to look good to convince myself, and others, that I'm fine. It worked, at least for me. I've been looking forward to wearing these tights all summer, so now that I had finally gotten the chance, it was bound to give me higher spirits. Hopefully I'll be feeling peachy again soon, though, and won't need my special tights to get me through the day.

With Love, 

Elizabeth

Harvest Season

Hello,

It's that time of the year again, can you believe it?! I don't know about you guys, but October sure sneaked up on me and slapped me in the face. It seems like just yesterday I was on summer vacation, but now I'm looking for the perfect pumpkin, getting pulled around in wagons by my brothers, and drinking my favorite apple cider. Next thing we know, we'll be putting up Christmas lights! Too far? Yeah I'm not ready to start thinking about Christmas either.

For now I'll try to navigate through Fall, wish me luck!

With Love, 

Elizabeth

A New Beginning

Hello,

So today is the day I finally make my first post on Whimsical Thoughts. Throughout the last couple of weeks, I have been planning and creating this blog in hope that I will continue to use it. I spent most of last night finishing up the design and of course munching on some candy corn. Now, I sit here before you all typing away my first post while listening to classical music and Washington's hard rain splash against my window. It is quite a wonderful cozy fall day. 

Now, some of you may be wondering why I choose the title "Whimsical Thoughts" Or maybe you aren't, and in fact don't really care, but nonetheless, I thought I would begin with explaining why. Firstly, I must define for you what the word "Whimsical" means. It is more then just a pretty and dreamy sound when you say it out loud. Dictionary.com defines Whimsical as "of the nature of or proceeding whimsy, as thoughts or actions."  I then shall define "Whimsy" for you. "Anything odd or fanciful" So pretty much the main point I'm trying to get across from my title is that my thoughts will be quite scattered and odd, yet I'm still going to post them here for all to see.

Is posting them for all to see a good idea? Maybe, maybe not. I guess we shall see! In the meantime, feel free to push that follow and share button. I will be hoping to post more soon. You can expect to see a little bit of everything. Fashion, Food, Photography, Rants, Reviews, and just a whole ton of the randomness that goes on in my life, so stay tune!

With Love, 

Elizabeth