His promises

Behold, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

nor will they come to mind.

But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I will create,

for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight

and its people a joy.

I will rejoice over Jerusalem

and take delight in my people;

the sound of weeping and of crying

will be heard in it no more.

Never again will there be in it

an infant who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not live out his years;

he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth;

he who fails to reach a hundred

will be considered accursed.

They will build houses and dwell in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

No longer will they build houses and others live in them,

or plant and others eat.

For as the days of a tree,

so will be the days of my people;

my chosen ones will long enjoy

the works of their hands.

They will not toil in vain

or bear children doomed to misfortune;

for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,

they and their descendants with them.

Before they call I will answer;

while they are still speaking I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

but dust will be the serpent's food.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,"

says the LORD.

Isaiah 65:17-25

Honestly, I know I am such a nerd...

BUT the highlight of my week last week was downloading this and this and this onto my laptop.

No more long hours in a dimly lit, scary attic mac lab for me anymore.

Now I just need Katie to teach me how to use Illustrator, then I'll be set:)

My face probably looked rather similar to this...overcome with joy and excitement.  Nearly the excitement I had over the chocolate melting cake we ate every night on the cruise.

My people

So in the midst of trying not to drown in all my school work, I am so thankful I have all of these people keeping me sane and supporting me throughout this year back home.

These Houston peeps came to Birmingham this weekend:



Photo from when C and I visited Texas a couple weeks ago.

 And some of my other friends threw a "Fall Dinner Party." Doesn't that sound so grown up?  I find myself looking at these pictures at different points in my week to remind myself that I do, in fact, have a life outside of school and work right now.

Why can't we all still live in Birmingham?

Sweet Meg (on the right) has her own blog here.

One of my mottos in life

Photo from Miss Ingredient Cake Company

"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."

-Ernestine Ulmer

What white chicks cherish

from sodahead.com

Considering I am working towards a Master's degree in Public Relations and Advertising, I was still able to appreciate the raw candor of the topic of this blog post:

Careers in Public Relations

White Chicks Cherish Careers in Public Relations and only Pharmaceutical Sales rivals PR in its white-chick-work-force dominance. Public Relations is a grueling and restless occupation—appointed with the dutiful task of portraying a perfect, socially acceptable appearance for exacting clients. And who expertly knows more about putting a glorious shine on appearance than the only species of human being capable of making sweat pants look adorable?

PR requires meticulous attention to detail, the ability to be charming in all social settings and a natural inclination for constant communication. There are plenty of social functions to plan and attend, demanding a relentless work ethic, a photogenic sense of style and the inherent need for of an arsenal of cute outfits. White chicks in PR work hard and play hard; the lines between the two commonly blurred. A Career in Public Relations affords white chicks dependable income and the chance to be engaged in social media while having an engaging social life. And they basically get to spend 40-plus hours a week talking to other white chicks.

White chicks were born for PR.

--from What White Chicks Cherish

I will say the field of Public Relations involves a whole heck of a lot more than playing on social media and attending social events, all day, Sir.

Get me in the kitchen, please!

Chloe from Bippityboppityboo

So, every fall bloggers go crazy. I mean CRAZY with the arrival of this season.

I have been reading about pumpkins, leaves changing, football games, tailgating, chilli, scarves, boots, etc. for about a month now.

Don't get me wrong I love the beautiful weather this season brings and all the fabulous fall accessories that I get to break out of my wardrobe.

But all of these delectible-looking pumpkin recipes are killing me.  I have had zero time to test any of them out. That is coming to an end this weekend.

Chocolate chip pumpkin bread, here I come. (I know, I though it sounded strange when I first read the recipe, too. But bloggers have been raving about it.)

Hayden, I am going to try your recipe.  A saturday afternoon of baking, football, and studying awaits me tomorrow!

Study break

So this week I have felt sort of like this:

Photo from rockonmommies.com

So I decided that a good way to decompress before I started working on homework again would be....what else?

GLEE!

And better yet....Glee singing "Empire State of Mind."

Now, didn't that just put you in the best mood?

Communication theory test, here I come.

Holy Moly

Check out the email I woke up to this morning from the Crew:



Courtesey of J. Crew

Now I can shop outlet prices from my computer.

Oh, how I love thee, J. Crew.

Oh, how my bank account has differring sentiments over you, though.

Is everything really bigger in Texas?

So this weekend, after I turn in 3 separate school projects all due on the same day (hooray!), I am packin up and headin west.

To TEXAS that is.

To see meet this one:

And to visit these two. (The newly married couple.):

So if you know anything about Houston, please don’t be shy to holler at me. Because all I know is that I’m thinking my boots are going to be a necessity in my suitcase.

War Eagle, Hotty Toddy, RTR, Gator Chomp.....

Now, I love me some good SEC football, but I must admit that I am probably equally excited about the delectable tailgating cuisine options that accompany this time of the year.


Apparently, Southern Living and I are on the exact same page.


Check out some of my favorites that I have come across:

Texas Caviar

Photo from caviergalore.com and recipe found here.

Chicken and Vegetable Stew (for those chilly football tailgates in Alabama that don't happen until November):

Photo and recipe from Southernliving.com

7 Layer Mexican Dip (Oh yeah...it's a classic party pleaser):

Photo from recipe.com and recipe found here.

The brownie (Okay, you knew I had to fit a little chocolate into this mix):

Photo from whatscookingamerica.com and recipe from here.

Beer-Cheese Spread (Never tried it, but it peaked my interest...)

Photo and recipe found at SouthernLiving.com

P.S. To my family and C,

Get ready for some of these recipes to come to fruition this weekend because creating this post has put me in the cooking mood!