S'more Cupcakes :)

Even the title sounds good :) I saw a picture of this online somewhere, Googled the recipe and decided to make them! It is relatively easy, but sorta finnicky, extremely good but sorta messy! But definitely worth it :)

 Below are a few pictures of the process and at the end I will leave the links to the recipes!

1. Graham Crumb Crust....

2. Regular chocolate cake mix....

3. Melted Dairy Milk chocolate and then placed in fridge to harden. Mmmmm....

4. Marshmallow Icing and remaining chocolate...

5. Little marshmallows broiled for 10 seconds and a graham cracker stuck on top!

6. TA-DA!!

7. All ready to be given out...although I did keep some :)

Here is the link for the recipe (just substitute Hershey for Dairy Milk...in my opinion, FAR better!)

http://cookiesandcups.com/smores-cupcakes/

And the recipe for the icing....(it's right at the bottom of the page after the other cake recipe!)

http://cookiesandcups.com/cake-batter-blondie/


Enjoy!!

Disturb Us...

Disturb us, Lord when
We are too pleased with ourselves
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

-Sir Francis Drake, 1577-

The Past, Present & Future

Ahhh yes. The complicated relationship between these three aspects of one's life has been on my mind recently. Then in one of my English courses we are studying an epic poem, written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, entitled Aurora Leigh. In the opening there is a simply lovely stanza, written beatifully, from a woman to a man:

 "As when you paint your portrait for a friend,
Who keeps it in a drawer and looks at it
Long after he has ceased to love you, just
To hold together what he was and is."

To hold together what you were and are. That is the whole point of the past, is it not? To realize who you were then and who you are now. It is complicated in that some times, it is vital we keep them separate, yet other time it is equally necessary that they be looked at together.
There was a time in the summer where I had no idea what the future held or what I wanted it to consist of, and I was so bogged down in the past, I honestly didn't want to look ahead to the 'scary unknown'. Then a good friend of mine said this to me and I liked it so much I wrote it down on a trusty index card at work during the summer, and you will see that it fits every kind of situation. (The card is now at my desk at home so that I always see it! :) ) - "There is no point in shying away from tomorrow, just because you regret what happened yesterday." This is when holding on to the past can have a negative effect, as I have seen it happen personally in my own life. Don't confuse and mix together the past with the future!
However, if one was to entirely forget the past and all that they have learned from it, their present and future would be very different indeed. The past has got you to the present and what you do in the present becomes the foundation for your future. Enjoy the memories you have, live today with no regrets and plan for your future! Leave me your thoughts on the matter! The following are just some quotes I have enjoyed...

Raging Sea...

I've had this song on my iPod for a long, long time and yesterday it came on and I took time to listen to the words...and I was blown away.

Sometimes the journey makes you weary
Feels like a long and winding road
Sometimes this life can lose it's meaning
But you might be surprised to find some hope.

Maybe you're wondering where love is
You may feel it's far away from here
Maybe you're wondering where I am
You might be surprised to find I'm near

Chorus:
And when your life is tossed and turning
And you are on the raging sea
I'll come and pull you from the water
Then you will know that you are free

So if you're stumbling through the valley
Or if you're tempted to give up the fight
Reach out your hand and I will lead you
I will be your strong arm in the night.

Take time. Time for yourself. Take time. Time to look around and see if anyone close to you is in the 'sea' - and be the one to pull them out. I realize that this song has a double meaning. The first is that Jesus Christ is love and that He is ever near to those who love Him and He will pull you out and set you on the solid rock. The second is that friends and family love and they can show interest and attention, so that when "your life is tossed and turning", they can help :)
Here is the song if you want to listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVwNJvw4zm8

Edmonton - Part 3 and Final Part

Doing this post now even though I have 1 more day here!

Wednesday - I spent the morning in Wal-Mart with the family, and we all went to McD's for lunch :) Then, in the afternoon, I was dropped off at the legislature and had a free tour inside. One of the people in the tour group lives in the town where I was born in England so small world! Then in the evening, I went out for supper to friends' house and ended up in a medical clinic (not for me....thanks Tim :) )
Thursday - In the morning was the joint birthday party for the boys that I am staying with! One turned 5 today and one turns 3 in a few weeks! It was a great party with a dinosaur theme, complete with paper mache dinosaur eggs etc. Then in the afternoon, we relaxed from the party :) Two other young people came for supper and we returned to the legislature grounds for a really cool walk, with all the grounds lit up :)
Friday - Finally made it to West Edmonton Mall! I went with a good friend and we did some CRAZY shopping. Apparently it is rare to be able to do all the shops in 1 or 2 days... we did most of them in 5 hours :) Nearer the end, it was more like me running into a store, grabbing things, nearly overheating in the changing rooms, standing in line, running out, going into another store and doing it all over again :) Good times. Then we met up with another girl for supper at Tony Roma's, then there was an all-girls birthday party for my hostess which was super nice :)
Saturday - Actually slept in! Then was really lazy until about 2, when we all went to South Edmonton Commons (which is like all the outlet stores). It was super crazy there as it was the last Saturday before school starts, but we all persevered and got what we wanted. In the evening was the 2nd bonfire of my trip :)
Sunday - Today we just had the usual meetings, then we had a few girls over for supper. Then there was a sing after the evening meeting.
Tomorrow (Monday) - My last day :( In the morning, just planning on packing up. I am doing some serious praying that I will be under or just at the weight allowance for the flight back :) In the afternoon, all the youth are getting together for some Labor Day fun, complete with sports, games and a BBQ. Then I fly out at 9pm and get into Winnipeg at midnight (MB time). That is then followed by a lot of hectic activity to prepare for school starting Wednesday :)