Friends and Newtown, PA

Hey all! I have not been around these parts for a while, instead many of these past ten days have been spent college friends and family. Last week was spent with my girls in and around the quaint, historic town of Newtown, PA. The girls and I stayed at our friend, Danielle's house, and she acted as tour guide and party planner for our stay.

We spent the first morning together at Rice's

Flea Market. The market had great

deals and a large selection of items. Three of us decided to adopt a few cactuses for our dorm rooms next year. (Visit the Rice's website at :

http://www.ricesmarket.com

/Contents/home.aspx )

In the afternoon, we had a picnic and took a walk through Tyler State Park. Then, in the evening we walked around Newtown with Danielle as our guide. Below is a picture of the oldest theatre in the U.S. that continues to show movies and plays!

It was a nice time spent together and we all agreed that even the simplest things, such as exploring a small town, are made into exciting adventures when accompanied by your friends!

Journalling! Journalling! Journalling!!

Finally finished my journal for my freshmen year of college after 10+ hours of adding pictures and creating collages over the past two days!! Can't believe I went through a whole book so quickly! This year I have to have a separate summer journal. Phew, I'm tired but satisfied! Now to start my summer one (I have to add pictures from the last week of school) ...I think that can happen tomorrow!

"These are a few of my favorite things"

Cupcake, n.: a smile with frosting on it

I have this "definition" of a cupcake hanging on a my collage wall in my room. Ever since I purchased "Hello, Cupcake" about two years ago, I've become cupcake obsessed. Even my college essay for the Common App was written using cupcakes as a metaphor for my journey as an up-and-coming teacher. "Hello, Cupcake" was most of the inspiration behind it. The book is filled with awesome cupcake decorating ideas. (if you are a cupcaker this is one you need to check out!) The designs are fairly simple and most come out looking very professional. And when they don't, they end up looking sort of silly like my coy fish below. These designs come from "Hello, Cupcake's sequal "What's New Cupcake." I got to spend yesterday evening catching up with a high school friend from my art classes and work on replicating these amazing cupcake designs. (My favorite are the roses to the left) Cupcakes never fail to put a smile on my face!

These coy did not quite impress me like the ones in the book, but were worth a try.

My friend created these flowers to the left. I made ones similar back in January for a college friend's birthday! This has to be one of the best designs in the book!

Finally, we attempted to make the ones that looked like pies, they sort of turned out more like the coy, but you know what they say; nothing ventured nothing gained!

Today, I also had a fantastic encounter with A.C. Moore, but my encounters with craft stores are hardly ever less then fantastic. Today, I spent time scouring the shelves of stickers, it seemed that around every corner there were rows of them just tempting me to draw near.

Stickers are just one of those craft items I just can not get enough of! Who can? From childhood we are exposed to these sticky wonders and there are just so many different kinds. The trouble for me has always finding the perfect place to put them. You only get one shot to give them the best home. Personally, my biggest trouble was parting with them, so, often I just keep them on their glossy page, waiting for just the right moment to peel them off and place them in their new surroundings. The stickers I bought today will have just the right home, placed all over the pages of my journal, accenting the pictures, words and memories there.

Hope you, like a sticker, can accent your world today!

Hey! And, My sister is the cutest!

I just wanted to say hello and welcome to everyone who eventually stumbles upon my page. My name is Sarah, as the title suggests, and I'm plain and tall. (but I will get into that later) I'm home for the summer after my first year at Messiah College, located in a small town outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

As a child I longed to be able to depict my exact thoughts and ideas in my mind through drawing and was always let down when I could not quite transform these thoughts into masterpieces. However, I have recently discovered that I can express my inner ponderings through writing and have become more and more excited about the ways it allows me to depict even the sensations surrounding the idea. I guess I am excited to become a painter with words!

I have been keeping a journal for five years now but wanted an avenue to share some of my ideas with you. After taking a Magazine Writing course this past semester with an adjunct professor, I learned about feature writing and decided to try my hand at blogging. It has always been a secret (or not so secret) dream of mine to own a crafting magazine and as an aspiring Early Education teacher the simple, cutesy little things of home-making, decorating, child-like crafts and pleasures still make me happy even as an almost 20 year old! It is my hope for this blog to get to share some of my crafting adventures and just simple daily pleasures with you. You may occasionally get a post about a greater issue that I get passionate about and can't help but put pen to page, or more accurately type to screen!

So, to start I would love to share with you a quote that I found last summer before heading off to school.

"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost." by Marion C. Garrety

If you have a relationship like that of my sister and I, you would see how very accurate Garrety is. As the oldest of four siblings and my sister the youngest, at 7 and 1/2 years younger then I, she kept me younger for a lot longer. As a young girl with two younger brothers and mostly boy friends at church and in the neighborhood, I did not really like dress up or Barbies at a young age like many other girls. It was not until my sister came along that I got a second go around at a girly childhood.

Every time my mother got pregnant, (and that was twice before my sister was born) I prayed and prayed each time my mom would have a girl. Rachel Joy was born when I was in second grade and my later elementary and middle school years were spent with her as my test subject.

She kept me young and taught me the art of girliness. She would prance around the house in her tights and bathing suits, plastic high heels clacking as she walked across the floor. Through her I got to experience childhood a second time, this time much girlier. We dressed up in dresses and gowns strutting about the house, showing off for family. I played Polly Pockets with her, dressing them up in their rubber clothes, for a long time, with the excuse, "I have a younger sister."

She truly is a piece of childhood that can never be lost.

One trait that is unique to and characteristic of my own sister, is her capacity to love. I have never seen her look on the bad side of anyone. (Except maybe my one brother, with whom she would get into frequent squabbles, but I have even seen that fade in the past months.) In fact, I think she is blind to people's flaws. She can even love the hardest people and break their shells with her charming ways. Although sometimes my brothers and I feel she is a "suck up," I really honestly think she is just genuinely loving, and unconditionally so.

An example of her unconditional love and kindness that she showed me today spurred me to write this little blurb about my 11 year old sister. This small gesture is not rare, (I have a whole folder in my room of notes and drawings Rachel has given me) but I found this one especially ingenious and wanted to note the significance of all her small gestures.

Earlier today, I walked into my bedroom, adjacent from her own, and noticed a tiny ball of golden yarn resting on top of my desk with a note that read "Pull here." I quickly began unwinding the tiny ball wondering what small trinket Rachel had wrapped (since she has a fondness for small "treasures") until I eventually reached the end of the yarn, my heart melting as I saw a crumpled note. I began unfolding it to read in her curly hand, "'I just wanted to say I love you and your amazing' Love, Rachel."

Rachel, you are amazing and I love you!