Easter with Family

We got home from our grandparents house a few hours ago. We had a really good Easter! Our cousins came and we had a good time visiting and playing around. We took tons of pictures so check back for the others that I will be posting! We spent most of the day outside because the weather was beautiful even though the pollen was terrible and Titus and Madeline had a tough time with allergies.

My mom and I went shopping for clothes two weeks ago and this was the first and last thing I tried on. I don't think I've ever been able to buy the first thing I ever saw on the rack for Easter! It's kind of funny, I wear blue for Easter pretty often and this year was no different. It's just such a summery color!

We wanted to get a group picture of us by the swing but as you can see it was a little difficult. Levi would hardly stand still and cooperate!

We took some pictures by a fence until the people that lived in the house across from it came out on the front porch to see what what was going on!

Happy Easter!

I can't wait to change my layout and music, I'm really sick of the pink Valentines day theme on here. I just haven't gotten around to changing it.
I've got several other posts that are going to follow this one with more pictures of this weekend. I apologize if you tried to get on my blog in the last week and couldn't. I had changed the address from athismercyseat.blospot.com to amazed-bygrace.blogspot.com but then I realized that I would have lost all my followers because you didn't know the address so I apologize, it's back to normal now!:)

The Luck of the Irish to Ya!

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's day. This weekend we celebrated it with our cousins and had a brunch. We all wore green shirts and we sang Irish songs. I thought about baking Irish Soda bread but the last time I made it it wasn't that great. I'll have to find another recipe. Anyway we had a really fun time and I would post pictures if I could. Hopefully we'll get our computer back soon!

I don't have anymore time so I better go.

I hope everyone has a great craic (spelling?) tomorrow!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day
The Luck of the Irish to Ya!

I Haven't Fallen Off the Face of the Earth

We are currently without a computer. Boohoo I'm here at the library right now using the last twelve minutes of my computer time posting.

So I'm not meaning to be rude and I'm not ignoring anyone if you are not hearing from me!:) it's just that I'm not able to do much on the computer at the moment. My inbox is probably full and I want to respond to my comments it's just that I have to use the majority of my time at the library for school work.

I had big plans for doing a cute green St. Patrick's Day header and a new playlist for March but I guess I'll have to hold off on that at the moment.

I will check up on everything once we get our computer back!

I hope it's soon!

Hair Styles

I smell apple pie baking in the oven. I like the spicy sweet smell of baked apples. Today is beautiful. Great weather. Very mild and very sunny. Great weather to run in. I just finished my last bit of school work for the week. Done, finished, complete. Its a good feeling. I'm glad its Friday. I plan to spend my day very nicely. I'm going to go run, I'm going to see if we have anything that I can make sushi out of for supper, I'm going to watch the Olympics tonight, and I'm going to get my hair trimmed. For the last week I've worn my hair down or in a pony tail, it's been a few months since it was last cut and I'm ready for a change. It feels a bit dry on the ends and it's flat looking. I can't decide how I want it cut though. I can't think of any styles. If you have read some of my other entries you will see the YouTube videos of Amy Walker of "21 Accents". I like her hair a lot but I don't want to cut it that short. Do you have any ideas? Pictures of any styles that would look good? I want to keep it long but I just want something a bit different. I could use some advice. Happy Friday!

Valentine

We read the story of Saint Valentine this week. It was during a time when marriage and Christianity were outlawed in the Roman empire. But Valentine married couples in secret and was also devout Christian. Because he would not deny his faith he was sentenced to be executed. During the time he was in prison he fell in love with the jailers daughter. Before he died he sent her a letter and signed it "From your Valentine". Thus we sign our Valentines today with that inscription.




Love Never Fails
by Brandon Heath

Love is not proud,
Love does not boast,
Love after all, matters the most.

Love love does not run,
Love does not hide,
Love does not keep locked inside

Love is the river that flows through,
Love never fails you

Love will sustain,
Love will provide,
Love will not cease at the end of time

Love will protect,
Love always hopes,
Love still believes when you don't

Love is the arms that are holding you,
Love never fails you

When my heart won't make a sound,
When I can't turn back around,
When the sky is falling down,
Nothing is greater than this,
Greater than this

'Cause love is right here,
Love is alive,
Love is the Way, the Truth, the Life,

Love is the river that flows through,
Love is the arms that are holding you,
And love is the place you will fly to,
Love never fails you

The Month of Rosy Pink and Playlists

February...this month means Valentines, chocolate, flowers, and of course the color pink. I made a new Playlist for this month, I couldn't find the song I most wanted but I found a few that fit the Valentine's feel.

Love is Not a Fight
Warren Barfield
I love this song from Fireproof.

Wait For Me
Rebecca St. James
I've always thought that this was a sweet song, they have the music video on YouTube. Don't you love to find things on YouTube? I could spend so much time looking at different things on there.

Would You Go With Me
Josh Turner
This country song is so catchy! I've listened to this song for months now. Once you listen to it it's stuck in your head! It's a happy song.

Your Love Is Amazing
Phillips,Craig,and Dean
I tried to think of songs that had the word "love" in the title. I've sung this song in church a lot. It's uplifting and it's a praise to the One who shows us the most love in the world.

This Love
Michael Buble
After Everything (which btw I would have posted had it not been on my previous playlist and didn't fit into the Valentine mold.) This is my favorite of his songs. I like the tempo.

The Way You Look Tonight
Tony Bennett
This song is on here for my mom, she likes it. I personally think it's slightly melancholy..but it is lovely. Don't they have this song in Father of the Bride?

So those are some of my favorite songs, I looked for I Wanna Know What Love Is and I should have put Puppy Love too. Levi loves that song but didn't find an artist that I liked or knew of. What are your favorite songs for this month? I believe they should write a song about chocolate..it would be great to listen to this time of year!:)

My Culinary Attempts

One of my New Year's resolutions was to learn to cook. I can cook spaghetti and casseroles and meals like that but I wanted to branch out. I wanted to try some new types of food. Some things I've never attempted before.

Ravioli was one of the things that I love to have but have never made before. I wanted to do something hard. So I got on the Food Network website (which BTW is really fun to read) and found a recipe. The only problem was that it called for a pasta machine which I don't have. But I thought that if I rolled it out thin enough with a rolling pin it wouldn't matter. And when I want to try a recipe I'm pretty much going to find a way to do it. ;)

So...I spent my entire afternoon in the kitchen making it. I had the dough and the filling ready and I started to put the ravioli together. I put a few large ones in the boiling water to cook, just to try it out. It really didn't turn out the way I was hoping...as you can see.


They were large, grayish brown, rubbery, clumps of dough that weren't at all like the pretty little Burtoli ravioli in the grocery aisle. They tasted like ravioli but there simply was too much dough. They were so unlike the picture in my imagination of Giada DeLarurentice's raviloi. Boohoo

And the next few I made turned out the same way. A little less rubbery but not the way I wanted them. I definately should have used a pasta machine.

So then after a lot of time had passed and I still was not succeeding my Dad thought that we should try frying them. Fried ravioli was something I hadn't heard of before but I was really up for anything at that point! So we fried them in a little olive oil and they turn out good. They were actually very good. Boy, that was a suprise to me!:)

They were a little like the wrappers on chinese egg rolls. I actually prefer that texture over the texture of the ravioli. So even though it didn't turn out the way I was expecting I was pleased.

This past week I made Cuban Sandwiches (yeah, I wanted something a little simpiler) and this week I think I'm going to try Tortilla soup. Well see how that goes...:)

And despite this attempt I really can cook, maybe not a five course dinner, and maybe not raviloli, but I am able to make most of the meals my family eats. I am only fifteen so I'm doing well for my age!:P I'm doing hard thing!