Nombre (July Giveaway Winners)

Remember to live, 'cause you're gonna be thrilled to death / When the stars collide and your eyes grow wide. / Take it in with your breath against the glass. ~Owl City, Alligator Sky

I could not be more delighted to be able to announce that the July edition of Inspirational Giveaways is now closed. 

And three beautiful winners have been chosen.

Each and every one of you has been a blessing to me in ways you cannot imagine. Thank you all for your support, love, and beautiful comments. 

Thanks also must be given to Holly at Five Little Gems for her generosity and graciousness toward me and this blog during this process. Her work is truly spectacular, and I could not be more honoured and privileged to feature her artistry here. 

And now...please join me in giving congratulations to the winners, who were chosen using Random's random list maker. 

Jennoelle -- white Christmas fairy, authoress of Unoriginal Originality. Winner of Item No. One: burgundy pearl bar necklace with antiqued gold.

The simple things? Going barefoot. Time to read. Bike rides into town to buy and eat ice cream with friends. Sunburns that eventually fade into tans. Writing in my notebook outside in the sun. Driving with the windows down, sunroof open, and radio turned up loud. Small sweet kittens. Hair blowing the the breeze. Yes, these are the simple things that make me happy during summer.

******

Kels -- victorious ship, authoress of The Flip-Flop Farmgirl. Winner of Item No. Two:  Denim blue jade faded nugget bar necklace

The thing that makes me smile in the spring and summer are flowers. I love all of the little daisies that pop up in our yard. 

******

Hannah Grace -- God has favoured me, authoress of Walk. Winner of Item No. Three: pink crystal and grey pearl earrings.

The simple things that make me smile...My little brother smiling, his voice, his skinny arms around my neck, his laughter...all of him. Nothing brings a smile or a sad look to my face quicker than he can. I just love him so much. Other girls tend to take their siblings for granted, but not me with Noah. Other things are storms, daisies, toddler girls, the sound of laughter, and vanilla twilight. 

******

I could not be happier for the three of you. Please email me or comment with your email address so that I may get these items with you as swiftly as possible. 

August begins in two days. And with it, a new giveaway shall also begin. So I beg of you, keep your eyes open in the coming days. I look forward to walking down this road again with each and every one of you.

Blessings abound.

Never forget to dream. 

Remember to dream because it's gonna be a starry night / over every town, if you look down. / So harmonize with the singing satellites. / Remember to scream because you're gonna be lost for words / When the sparks erupt and they light you up. / Dip your toes in the galaxy 'cause it's yours to explore tonight. ~Owl City, Alligator Sky

Late {15-23}

Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind.  ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I know that today is Tuesday, and that I missed my weekly time of contemplation that come amid the sunrise each Monday morning.

Yesterday, however, was one of those days that left me simply no time for blogging...save for a short yet sweet explanation of my absenteeism, which can be found here.

And trust me, as much as I love each and every one of you, it was truly worth it in the long run.

Yesterday was one of those days that was so full of complicated blessings and wracked with unending moments of business that it almost has all run together in a watercolour blur...

...and yet, the blessings stand out as clear as though they were illuminated in an outline of the purest of light.

• 15. The restoration of the once-under-appreciated gift of electricity after almost an entire day of darkness, due to yet another vicious storm that swept over us.

• 16. Checking item 43 off my bucket list...as I begin the process of directing my first musical theater production...one step closer to fulfilling all my dreams. OZ! has just begun. 

• 17. The squeal of delight from an aspiring actor or actress as I tell them the part they received...these phone calls are one of the best parts of being a director. 

• 18. The simple blessings of a sunrise, warm and sweet after so many days of oppressive storm clouds stealing the sunlight. 

• 19. Awakening to read the beautiful words of Psalm 113, my heart flooding with tear-filled wonder and awe..."Who is like our God?"

• 20. Discovering that my little sister is coming home from Germany almost a month earlier than originally planned...reading a Facebook wallpost filled with sisterly inside jokes and upcoming photoshoot plans...it's been too long since I've seen my best friend.

• 21. Owl City and icy-cold Dr. Pepper...the melodies and the dripping moisture down the side of the can blending into a strange symphony of sensation and beauty.

• 22. The discovery of this song by Breanne Duren...Adam Young's female counterpart with a voice like oranges and sandlewood. This is my new musical love. 

• 23. Allowing my love of dandelions to pour out into this guest post over at A New Rebel...innocent beauty found in the weed patch. 

More simple joys. More little things combined to make beautiful pleasures of life.

Forgive my lateness...

...and embrace my delight. 

When ideas float in our mind without any reflection or regard of the understanding, it is that which the French call revery, our language has scarce a name for it.  ~John Locke

Le Chocolat

My rock candy passion is bittersweet / And armed to the teeth / Cuz she would rather fall in chocolate / Than fall in love / Especially with me ~Owl City, The Yacht Club

I love chocolate.

Again with the trite statements. I feel as though every chocolate product in the world has just cringed at the disservice those words have done to them.

Chocolate may be one of the most genius culinary inventions in the known world.

There is something so wonderfully smooth, delicate, and rich about the flavour...the texture...the memories and delight that even the word "chocolate" concocts in the human brain.

No wonder it is said to bring up fancies of love and affection...no wonder men use these delicate morsels to conjure pictures of romance.

Indeed, it is romance in edible form.

After I learned last night that I was the winner of a four-pack pound of eccentric and deliciously quirky fudge from Jewel of the Lion, courtesy of the beautiful Lucia at From Under my Little Umbrella...

...I began to contemplate upon the subject of this tasty delight.

I have decided that I want to be like chocolate.

In it's barest form...in the bean pod from which it is created...chocolate is one of the most undesirable flavours in this world. It is bitter, harsh and sharp against the palate, and not at all something one would want to put even remotely near their lips.

And in my barest form...oh, how sharp and bitter I am. I know from past experience that I can indeed push people away from me because of my harshness.

I am not sweet or smooth. I am harsh and vile.

Photo: It's a Dream Sampler Pack (my winnings,

but not these flavours)

Courtesy of Jewel of the Lion

I am undesirable.

It takes work.

The heat of adversity.

Being willing to break down...to not be so hard and locked away in my own shell of bitterness...

...it takes pain and struggle.

But in the end, my King has transformed me.

From bitter to delicious.

He has made me precious. Well-received and beloved.

And with each passing day, I become sweeter.

Like chocolate.

I prefer to regard a dessert as I would imagine the perfect woman:  subtle, a little bittersweet, not blowsy and extrovert.  Delicately made up, not highly rouged.  Holding back, not exposing everything and, of course, with a flavor that lasts.  ~Graham Kerr

Inspire

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep.  ~Scott Adams


One thing that I get asked more than anything is how I get so much inspiration...how it seems like I have an endless pot of artistry, and it flows from me in a copious amount.


I will be honest...I really have no such thing.


I run out of inspiration on a regular basis. I start posts constantly that never find their way to being published onto the blog. 


I try to write pen-to-paper, or rather, fingers-to-keys...not letting my overly-analytical brain to get in the way of my dreamer's heart.


But, to my own deep regret, I turn my nose up at my own work and allow it to sit without ever seeing the light of day. 


There are so many things that inspire me, though...so many things that move my fingers to dart a new path across the keys. 

• Summer days, complete with lemonade and fresh-picked orchard fruit
• Those people in my life who love me, comfort me, and reassure me...who bless me beyond compare. 
• Rainy afternoons, the chorus of raindrops beating against the windowpane, the percussion of thunder acting as the perfect accompaniment. 
• The melodic streams of Owl City and Imogene Heap flowing out from my rolled-down car window into the humid summertime air. 
• The sweetest scents of vanilla, white jasmine, and lilac...the kiss of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and cinnamony peach cobbler...the natural scents of damp soil and blossoming tea roses. 
• The words from my favorite book...reminders that there is more to life than facts and numbers...parchment letters from Hogwarts, back-of-wardrobe fancies that may just lead me to my long-chased Narnian home, and the floral gardens of Jane Austen romance.

These things are my bliss...rich and sweet, strong and deep

These are my inspiration...full of light, rich with power.  

These are the gifts of my loving King...the soft whisper of my Savior reminding me that He cares for me closely.

This world is hard and strange and can feel, oh, so empty. 

But there are gifts here. 

There is love here. 

There is glory here. 

There is inspiration here. 

Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.  ~André Gide

Yearner

Yearn–verb (used without object)

1.to have an earnest or strong desire; longing

2.to feel tenderness; be moved or attracted

I rarely follow Facebook status trends. 

I'm one of those people who posts Owl City song lyrics, random thoughts that interest me, my blog posts... miscellaneous things of that nature.

I don't generally follow the stream of "re-postings."

But today, I saw a fill-this-in status that I just couldn't resist passing along to my friends. It was something along the lines of picking one word that best described me using the third letter of your first name.

Cheesy? Cliche? 


Yes, perhaps...


...but it was worth it, for reasons you will soon understand. 

Friends posted words such as "blogger" and "elegant"...even some complimentary words that I would blush to post in my own praise. 

But the answer I got from my mother, Joyce, inspired me more than anything. 

The word she chose for me was "yearner." 

They say that your mother knows you better than any other person in the world. 

In this case, I would have to agree with whomever "they" are...which I do have yet to figure out.

My mother knows that, ever since I was a little girl, I have been a yearner...

...filled with passion for everything I undertake, hitting everything head-on and never letting go until I see my dreams through...

...a heart flooded with love and tenderness for others, one that breaks when people hurt or when I am the cause of their pain...unwilling to let go until their tears dry and their hearts begin to mend, regardless of the detriment to myself. 

 

This can be to my benefit...but it can also result in my own heartache. 

It's part of who I am, really. 

I hold on tightly, and I never let go. 

I love as hard as I can, and I refuse to let anyone suffer alone. 

Yes, my mama does know me best...

...because I am indeed a yearner.  

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 1:3-6

Waltz

I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forest / The trees keep the tempo and they sway in time / Quartet of crickets chime in for the chorus / If I were to pluck on their heartstrings, would you strum on mine? ~Plant Life, Owl City


As many of you know, yesterday was not one of my favorite moments on the calender. 


A lot of things decided to happen all at once...one hard hit in particular was aimed at my blog, and got very close to shutting me down. 


However, throughout the entire disastrous evening, I was overwhelmingly blessed by the love that poured from the hearts of my friends as they leapt to my defense. 


I was blown away by the messages, emails, comments, and other various feedback that flew to my heart from the hand of God and the keyboards of my friends. 


A blog post written by Grace at Puddles of Memories...comments from Mary at Sue-Sue's Stories...text messages, emails, and phone calls from friends all around the world that are too numerous to mention all here...


...every last one of them added a small piece of wood to the flickering fire of hope and endurance in my heart.


All through the night and into the wee hours of the morning, the notes...the prayers...the words of encouragement continued to slip from glory and into my hand. 


And I awoke to waltzing. 


Yes, my heart still hurts...confusion still abounds. 


But I have been blessed by all of you. 


You were used by the King...


...to turn sorrow into joy


...and my mourning into dancing.


And again,


because of Him


and because of each and every one of you,


I will awake to waltz. 


Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one." ~C.S. Lewis


(For a more detailed account of the strike against DramaticElegance, and to get some very important new information about my URL and other blog changes, please take the time to read my post here.) 

Citrus

Orange eclipse, I can taste your lips / In the citrus afternoon / If you can fly, don't stop at the sky / 'Cause there's footprints on the Moon ~Owl City, Yacht Club


This was a very citrus afternoon. 


After juicing all those limes yesterday, it was little to no work at all to combine their lip-puckering sweetness with a few other ingredients. 


Two key lime pies now sit in my refrigerator, patiently awaiting their raspberry-syrup-and-whipped-creme-topped debut at tomorrow's family 4th of July celebration. 


(If you want the recipe I used, check out Olivia's blog here. For my own lime-juicing adventures, check out yesterday's post!)


Summer and citrus truly do go hand in hand. 


Lemonade on a sultry hot day, sitting on a porch swing with your best friend, laughing and sipping your tart beverage as the ice clinks gently against the glass...


...a sweet lemon ice and fresh raspberry smoothie, toes wiggling just under the surface of a relative's swimming pool, the breeze blowing just enough to cool your skin and ruffle your hair...


...and yes, even a slice of fresh, homemade key lime pie on the 4th of July, enjoying the sour-sweet firework show occurring on your tongue, a delightful precursor to the firework show coming when the sun finally slips below the horizon and the American sky goes navy blue. 


Perhaps I will forever associate my own patriotism with the aroma and taste of key lime pie, and with the feel of fingers made wrinkling by the acidic juice sinking into my skin. 

One of my own finished pies
Photo by DramticElegance

Perhaps summer will always be citrus fireworks to me.


Perhaps that is how it should be.


Because isn't that what summer is, really?


A combination of the bitter and sweet...moments of joy as lifetime memories are made, and outstretched fingers of heartbreak as so many things change. 


Summer is tart and acidic. 


Beautiful and full of sweetness and life. 


Summer is citrus.


And that's how it will always be. 


I wish that we could sail our sad days away / Forever / In deep blue seas of paper mâché / Let's dance in the moonlight / A barracuda chased our dog days away / Forever / Let's sink or swim 'til we fall in love / And dance in the moonlight / When we join the yacht club. ~Owl City, Yacht Club