Coconuts in America

Last night, I decided to bake. It was about 9:30 and things got pretty wild in the kitchen. I'm trying to make my baking much healthier since it's something I super enjoy, but it can also lead to eating far too much food! So, I ventured to make a healthy banana-coconut muffin for breakfast the next morning. I used a super simple recipe and substituted regular flour and sugar for healthier alternatives:

1 1/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of sea salt
2 Bananas
1 stick unsalted butter, melted (Make sure it's in a bowl. Mine melted all over the microwave!)
2/3 cup organic raw sugar
1 Tbsp Chia Seed 
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup coconut flakes

Breakfast today! 

Turn oven to 375.
Use a chia seed egg. Put a Tbsp of chia seed in a small bowl. Add 3 Tbsp of water and let sit for about 5 minutes. 
Mash the bananas in a large bowl. Add the sugar, butter, vanilla, coconut flakes, and chia seed egg. Hand mix together. Gradually add the flour, salt, and baking powder. 
Place into muffin tins. This should make about a dozen. Bake for 25 minute, cool, and enjoy!

Coconuts have a new significance to me now. At TruthSeekers, Sunil literally wacks a coconut open during communion. It's loud, shocking, and perfect representation of Christ's body. It was ripped apart and broken for us in a very vivid and real way. Ripping bread just doesn't have the same affect as seeing the swing of the hammer repeatedly hit the coconut; a reminder of the nails that were driven into the Lord's hands. So, as you make these amazing muffins, just reflect and give thanks to Christ for his sacrifice. 

Long Live.

Confession: T-Swift's Long Live song still makes me weep. Uncontrollably. Still. It's mildly embarrassing but something I've come to terms with.

My dear friends, 2010

My sissy is graduating in like three days and I am half-way finished with college as of three days ago. So many emotions flooding my brain. I cannot believe that soon, half of the fam will be in college.
I hung out with my dear friend today and made the off-handed comment how I am really satisfied with how life is going. The past couple of months have been a roller coster of learning opportunities and life lessons. (Actually, let's get real, the past 6 years have been a roller coster of life lessons!)

Just as wonderful now!

But seriously, I have the most wonderful group of friends that laugh as we reminisce about the past and encourage each other as we look towards the future. It seems so not two years ago that I waddled down the gym floor and received my diploma  Now, I'm two years away from graduating from college. Seems so far away, but if the next two years are anything like the past two, it will fly by.
High school will always have such sweet memories and wonderful moments. I'm so thrilled to keep making new friends and new moments while pouring into the lives of my dear friends that have helped shape and mold me, thus far.

apartment.

She walks around the apartment in high heels and gym clothes, perhaps not the most practical way to beging the daunting taste of packing, but who's to say what is and isn't acceptable. Captivated only by the thoughts in her head and the noise of the construction crew outside. she struggles to get her mind focused on the task before her. The idea of transporting all her belongings out of her beloved apartment is overwhelming. And unthinkable. Here is sacred ground- the walls hang with smiling faces of past memories, the couch sags with the weight of people's ghosts, and the floor creaks with the pressure of holding the place where many memories were made. With every frame removed, dish pack away and clothing folded, she feels her adult-ness being packed away with the items.
Here is the kitchen where she burned milk and cookies, perfected pumpkin cheesecake brownies and chicken enchiladas, and fostered her love of hospitality.
Here is the living room where she decorated the mantal for every season, sprawled on the couch after a long day, and ate dinner with friends.
Here is the bedroom where cousins, friends, and sisters have stayed and where the art of storage under a bed was perfected.

Next year, someone else will inhabit the apartment she has grown so fondly of. The apartment where she can rock high heels and gym clothes. The apartment where nerf gun wars happen. The apartment she can call home. The apartment in which she became an adult.