10 Things I Learned in 2015

July 6, 2015 // Favorite Shot of 2015

1. Making your own hot chocolate is a great idea. The first recipe I tried came right off of the Hershey's cocoa powder box. In August, I discovered an even better recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Also, Old Fashioned donuts go GREAT with the latter recipe.

2. I really want to move back to South Carolina. The winter of 2014-2015 is responsible for this lesson. Going back again in the fall to watch my brother graduate from police academy sealed the deal.

3. Living to make yourself happy, only makes you uneasy. God says a lot about this in His Word and there's a reason why. Stay in the Word and listen.

Jan. 7, 2015 // Three of six.

4. That you should wash your clear shower curtain in the washing machine once every three months. The first day of each new season is a perfect reminder.

5. That ants can apparently eat or at least carry off seeds. If you have an ant problem in your garden, take care of the ants and THEN plant your seeds. I usually do this, but this year I didn't and I ended up having to plant my cucumbers several times.

6. Cosmos really can bloom anytime during the summer and will continue blooming until the plant is killed off by frosts.

March 17, 2015

7. That theatre life is HARD and also very rewarding. The schedules require a lot of evenings away from home right around dinner time. Once shows start, there go your weekends too. Seeing my brother and sister SHINE and having countless audience members rave about the performances makes it all worth while. I'll never forget the little boy who sat in the front row at one of the shows...It was his first time to see a live performance and the JOY the show brought him could not be hidden.

8. That the Holy Spirit's main ministry in the life of the believer is to mediate the presence of Christ.  Packer's book "Keep In Step With The Spirit" taught me this!

9. How to poach an egg. I've been doing it at least once a week ever since. If you want to learn, you should check out this video and especially this video.

10 . The wonders of essential oils. The latest victory was adding two drops of lemon EO to the washing machine while I was washing some kitchen towels that just needed a little extra help.

Bonus - That I really enjoy preparing for and putting the work into photo shoots for sponsored posts. After working with several brands over the last few years I realized that this part of blogging is really inspiring and FUN.

What did you learn in 2015?