God & etsy

{via etsy}

i've been thinking about the message of these last two lovely posters a lot lately.

one reads:Your Dreams, Your Hopes, Your Desires/ Make it Happen.

the other: Because Everything is Relative/Choose Joy

two ideas which are continuously pressing into my soul, lingering in the back of my mind. 

firstly, 'making it happen' is not something i'm good at. but recently i'm realizing how very vital this is.  we can't just sit back and let life pass us by, taking the easy roads and the well-worn paths.  

since moving to college station, God has been laying certain messages very clearly & strongly upon my heart. the first is that i am exactly where He wants me to be.  though i am often envious that my three college roommates are called to live in kenya, spain, and south africa this year, my calling is here.  thankfully, God has given me confidence in this.  still, i would be lying if i said i wasn't jealous of their adventures. 

besides that comfort, the predominate message on my heart is two parts, and it grows louder everyday:

find your calling and pray for the boldness to chase after it. 

in other words, make it happen. while i lack vision & strength, He desires to empower me- if only I surrender myself.  and throughout this whole process, i must choose joy. because really, we have everything to be joyful about.  He is on our side, in control, and has a plan.  now, just have to find my place in it all.  

and sometimes God just wants you to live in aggieland.  

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  for everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." 

Matthew 7:7-8

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

ditto

{from here}

hehe it's true.

also:

dear s.bucks,

please hire me. i love you.

thanks,

katie

trees are my favorite

mmmm i love this :)

double the cute

{from here}

which is cuter: the doilie or the cupcake?! who can know!?

radiate love

{from here}

love is in the air!

{from here}

isn't this the sweetest little valentines day card?
i'm so inspired to make pretty notes this year!
yet another way to distract myself from school...

thank you, the beatles

{from here}

truer words have never been spoken.

it's good to think about what we love here on earth.
we get to feel a brief ray of God's warm love
when we enjoy the people, places, and passions
he's generously given to us.

today is a dreary friday, but its friday and i love it.
i had coffee at common grounds with susan this morning,
and i love susan
(and coffee, for that matter).
i love the flower on my bedside table,
the fact that every friday feels like christmas eve
while i wait for ross to get here.
i love the challenges that school provides,
and the beautiful campus we get to walk on.
i love riding bikes, making cupcakes, my roommates, our house,
the gentlemen of kappa sig, my tribe, my last semester...
friends, family, so much more!

i love love!

what do you love today?

new years

{from here}

the days in between christmas and new years are some of my favorite. still during the holiday season, there are many tasty treats and delicious meals to enjoy. with a new year and its respective resolutions just around the corner, i adopt the mentality of, "i only have a few days left to eat like this." so i indulge.

but even sweeter than taking in a few extra calories here and there is the way we take stock of the past year. a year of our lives is almost over, and a new one is about to begin. what did we do right? what did we do wrong? what did we do?

i'm so grateful that God gives us this fresh start. we make plans to do this, change this, start doing this, and sometimes our resolutions stick. most of them dwindle, but either way, our souls are stirred and we are confident in change.

{from here}

yes, i plan to eat healthier and work out almost everyday. afterall, i have a wedding and the "LGN" diet as motivation. but more importantly, especially in the season of life that im in (engaged), i am reminded that my life is not about me. therefore, shouldn't our new years resolutions be focused on others? more specifically, on how we treat others.

like anything good in life, satan tries to creep in and ruin it. true love is so good, and so is being engaged. it's the best. but satan gets into my head and temps me to focus purely on myself and my parties and wanting attention on me. sick.

i hope i can be a better friend and servant this year, as we are all called to be. man, im grateful for a fresh start with a new year...even though Jesus gives us one every single day.

pencils & pancakes

this week: 3 papers & 2 projects
ugh.
but these tiny pencils & pancakes
make me really happy

silly

hehe

for the dude

sarah.
my roommate.
a girl of many nicknames
(many from me)

tiny, pitterpatter, satpack
sqatterlee, squits, tiny town
and my favorite:
the dude.

she loves design, community, light,
and vintage chairs.

this post is dedicated to you,
because i found:
vintage chairs for tiny dudes!

change

The other night I stumbled upon Robert Polidori, an architectural photographer who, among other ventures, has been tracking Versailles' metamorphoses for the past twenty years. The first time I saw it I was in fourth grade and was completely enamored with the preserved tapestries, huge stone staircases, elaborately carved moldings, and of course the gardens. Last fall I visited the chateau once more and took in it's wonders through an older set of eyes.


I love the juxtaposition of modern renovations and original beauty in this photo. Since the time Versailles was built, it has undergone countless transformations, but it constantly remains Versailles and is steadfast in it's beauty.

Maybe this stage in life, senior year and just after, is especially like Versailles. We graduate from college and jump into a new life but with our same old habits, hopes, dreams, friends. Even as we form new ones, we are still the same self with new additions mixed in with our own classical elements. We're old but we don't stop changing.

Hopefully our souls and lives will become more lovely with age and the jumble of old and new aspects of our souls. We don't know what things will be like in a year, five years, two decades; but maybe imagining ourselves as chateaux will make the transition bearable, and possibly even beautiful.

love makes the world go round

weddings are the best. great food, music, dancing, flowers, friends, and family; and it's all in the name of love. this wedding blog is my new guilty pleasure of sorts.

can't wait for yours miss wilhoit

hello fall

hellofall by katieplu