psalm 122.

Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹     I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

²     Our feet are standing

within your gates, O Jerusalem.

³     Jerusalem—built as a city

that is bound firmly together.

⁴     To it the tribes go up,

the tribes of the Lord,

as was decreed for Israel,

to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

⁵     For there the thrones for judgment were set up,

the thrones of the house of David.

⁶     Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

“May they prosper who love you.

⁷     Peace be within your walls,

and security within your towers.”

⁸     For the sake of my relatives and friends

I will say, “Peace be within you.”

⁹     For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

I will seek your good.

just smile!

What a toofy smile.

here

mint brownies & plate

Chocolate Mint Brownies

&

My new cake plate that I made.

Brownies:

1 c sugar

1/2 c butter/marg.

4 eggs

1 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 can Hershey choc. syrup (16 oz.)

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together above and put in greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 30 min. Cool

Middle layer:

2 c powdered sugar

1/2 c butter

1 tsp peppermint extract

2 drops green food coloring

Mix together and spread over cooled brownies.

Glaze:

1 c choc. chips (6 oz)

6 Tbsp butter

Melt together, spread over brownies.

Chill and cut into 1" squares. :)

otters

I've always thought otters were adorable, and I've always thought it would be a cool animal to be...webbed paws?
Yes.

Oo my goodness.

Also it could've been because of this:

Too precious.

reginapolis

{naifpanicscares}

The most random lyrics lead to the best maps??

logic & imagination

*

abcense.

{thxthxthx}

crows.

They're odd creatures, but supposedly smarter than chimps?

..And I love ^this guy's voice.

Though probably not as much as much as my childhood Wild America Man.

anders.

My happy kitty.

sisters

One of my faves...watched it the other day:)

carmel salted brownies.

mm.

Yeah I know how they look..
..But have you tried them?


Addictive Recipe.

autobiographical advice from a writer.

{how to steal like an artist}

"You’re ready. Start making stuff.

You might be scared. That’s natural.

There’s this very real thing that runs rampant in educated people. It’s called imposter syndrome. 

The clinical definition is a “psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their

 accomplishments.” It means that you feel like a phony, like you’re just winging it, 

that you really don’t have any idea what you’re doing.

Guess what?

None of us do. I had no idea what I was doing when I started blacking out newspaper columns. 

All I knew was that it felt good. It didn’t feel like work. It felt like play."

I like how Austin put this...that if we wait to figure out everything before we do anything, then we'll never do anything.
It's so easy to want everything figured out first, before we jump.
But if we never make any kind of step out into anything then we'll never make it to the good things, the things that are worth it.

wall or no wall

I'm an introspective-type person, so it always astounds me when I figure out something new about myself.
It's always something that I had a hint of before, but have re-learned in a different way.

It's a slap in the face when someone tells you something they see in you, or something that they think that you are based on who you've been around them...and then you realize that you must be putting off a different personality, because what they've related isn't you.

I've never been a really open person, to any degree, and I feel that only a few (a handful, maybe) of people have ever gotten to really know me, because I let my guard down.

Just looking through my life now, I wish it was more like a collapsible room-dividing screen rather than a wall that I've worked to perfect throughout my life.
Not too thin that it can just be blown down by an unexpected comment, but not too thick so as to never be able to find my way back.
But it would just be so much easier if it wasn't there...only to be put up when situations arise.

What is life if you can't share it with those that are beside you?

Who are you if everything is just a private joke that you never take the time to share?



But then again, who actually wants to listen.
Most people are on their own road, stopping for a while to relate their life to you.
But their road, no matter the actual size, seems a small path to them, winding through the woods...so taking the time away from figuring out their way seems preposterous.

My life does feel like a switch-back trail sometimes but I'd like to think that I can break out of my head sometimes to just be..
I don't want to look back on my life to see that I've been walled-up and staring at the ground a foot in front of me, instead of looking all around me and connecting to what's nearest to me.

I have seen the sun break through

to illuminate a small field

for a while, and gone my way

and forgotten it. But that was the pearl

of great price, the one field that had

treasure in it. I realize now

that I must give all that I have

to possess it. Life is not hurrying

on to a receeding future, nor hankering after

an imagined past. It is the turning

aside like Moses to the miracle

of the lit bush, to a brightness

that seemed as transitory as your youth

once, but is the eternity that awaits you.

-R.S. Thomas