Chartreuse + Concrete?

I'm IN LOVE! Content taken from YOUNGHOUSELOVE, and original kitchen from KELLYMOOREPHOTOGRAPHY.  Enjoy the juicy eye candy, I sure am.....wiping away the drool off my keyboard as we speak. (Blogpost originally written by Sherry of YHL)

This house just makes me smile, so of course I had to House Crash the heck out of it and share it with you guys. Behold- the eye candy that is Kelly Moore’s amazing casa. You might know her from her killer photography blog (all of her DIY-related posts can be found here) or her genius line of camera bags. But you don’t really know a person until you poke around their house, so let’s get to it. We’ll start in the kitchen, where Kelly and her husband whipped up some extra thick homemade concrete counters (and shared a tutorial right here). Everything from the happy painted cabinets to the apron sink and the sleek stainless appliances are so charming together:

The cabinets are painted Sherwin Williams Alchemy on top and Grandiose on bottom (she couldn’t decide on a color so she used both). And the island, sink, and shelves hail from Ikea while the rug is by Dash & Albert (from a shop in Ruston, Louisiana called Chartreuse Pear).

And that wall of smoky and sophisticated glass tile? Cue the breathy amorous sigh. She got that from Lincoln Flooring (also in Ruston, Louisiana).

Here’s the large and lovely living room with a come-hither sectional and cushy round ottoman (from Haverty’s and Overstock)…

… that faces a sweetly rustic brick fireplace with airy lofted ceilings.

Everything right down to the little details (like this showstopping mirror from Pier 1) seems to scream come on in and make yourself at home.

I can totally imagine myself curled up on that sofa reading a book. Is that creepy? Sorry.

And I can picture myself sitting here at the dining table scarfing some pita chips and hummus. Too much? Ok. I’ll try to keep it casual. Check out the great paneled ceiling and those sleek bulb lights (from West Elm) over the farmhouse-ish table (from Material Things in Monroe, LA). The chairs and picture ledges are from Ikea and that amazing folk art cow painting is by Erickson T. Wright.

Once again Kelly has managed to mix something rustic with something sleek for a gorgeous result (just like her stainless appliances & her charming apron sink or the clean-lined sectional & the weathered brick fireplace).

SUMMER AT THE B.R.C.

Summer Enrichment Programs @ The BRC

DEADLINES TO ENROLL RAPIDLY APPROACHING! SIGN UP QUICK!

SAT Prep Course:

This one on one tutoring course is designed to help students master skills required by the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test).  Such skills/categories include but are not limited to: verbal, mathematical and reasoning abilities, etc... Other strategies such as essay writing, analogies, and comprehension tips will also be addressed. The goal of this course is to encourage high test performance, decrease testing anxiety, prepare and equip the mind for testing and to develop useful strategies. Students will meet with the instructor once a week for the entire summer. To contact the instructor directly, please forward e-mails to Elizabeth Slagg via: eslagg@hotmail.com

Tuition: see reading therapy tuition fee

Dates: Evening hours to be determined by student and instructor, as they will commit to coming once a week for the entire summer. 

Summer Reading Maintenance Course:

This small group class is designed to maintain the average student’s reading skills over the summer by practicing skills through the use of fun activities. The reading of novels will be encouraged and rewarded.  Students will meet once a week for 4 consecutive weeks.  As research has proven,  the "summer slides" of academic skills occurs in most students, therefore all ages need to maintain reading abilities over the summer to keep such skills sharp for the following school year.  To contact the instructor directly, please forward e-mails to Amanda Peterson via: afpgfp@hotmail.com

Tuition: $95.00

Dates: TBA for the month of July

Advanced Classic Literature Experience: Small Groups

In an effort to revive the realm of classic literature in the hearts of avid, young readers this fun and laid back course is designed to excite and excel students. Class discussions, higher level thinking, and other critical literary skills such as comprehension, inferencing, etc... will be encouraged. Students enrolled are to vote upon the novel they are most interested in reading.  Offered novels include:  

• Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist (1839) 
• Farley, Walter. The Black Stallion (1941) 
• London, Jack. White Fang (1906) 
• Louis Stevenson, Robert. Treasure Island (1883) 
• Rawls, Wilson. Where the Red Fern Grows (1961)

Tuition: $95.00 per module

Dates: 

Module 1: (meeting weekly) Mondays from 4:30-5:30 beginning June 4 and continuing for 4 consecutive weeks, i.e. June 6, 13, 20, 27.

Module 2: (meeting four consecutive sessions) Monday through Thursday: June 20, 21, 22, 23 daily from 3:00-4:00p

American Sign Language Course(s)

This is a spiraling curriculum for students interested in learning American Sign Language.  Courses address both receptive and expressive skills needed to fully dialogue among the Deaf and hearing people who converse using ASL.  Each course’s focus (there are three options) will be tapered depending on the age range of students participating.  Students in the 4-Day Happy Hands course will acquire categorical vocabulary, the alphabet and numbers, and elementary conversational fluency.  Students in twice-a-week Serious Signers Course can be sure to acquire all that the previous course teaches, as well as higher conversational fluency, a more well-round vocabulary, and lessons in Deaf Culture.  Students involved in the twice a week Adult Course will acquire the skills taught in an entire year of Sign Language condensed into eight classes.  Quizzes, Tests, and other homework will be administered; this course is to be considered rigorous but worth the challenge.  *Note: ASL is now widely accepted as a foreign language in both high schools & colleges.  To contact the instructor directly, please forward emails to Kendra Randall via: randallphotography@hotmail.com

4-Day Happy Hands Class (four consecutive sessions)

• Tuition - $95.00 per module
• Class Times: Mon-Thur 9:00a - 10:00a
• Module #1: 6/13-6/16; 
• Module #2: 6/20-6/23; 
• Module #3: 7/11-7/14;
• Module #4: 7/18-7/2;
• Module #5: 8/8-8/11; 
• Module #6: 8/15-8/18

Twice-A-Week Serious Signers Class (eight sessions total)

• Tuition - $190.00 per module
• Class Times: Tuesdays & Thursdays 4:30p - 5:30p 
• Module #1: June 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, 30
• Module #2: July 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21, 26, 28

Twice-A-Week Adult Course (eight sessions total)

• Tuition - $190.00
• Class Times: Tuesdays & Thursdays 5:30p - 6:30p 
• Module #1: June 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, 30
• Module #2: July 5, 7, 12, 14, 19, 21, 26, 28

For More Information About Summer Enrichment Opportunities, Please Contact Us Soon!

phone: (813) 643-2559 

email: brandonreading@yahoo.com,

website: http://www.brandonreadingclinic.com/summer-classes.html

Tortilla Black Bean Pie

INGREDIENTS:
4 flour tortillas (10 inches)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large onion, diced
1 jalapeno chile, minced (remove seeds and ribs for less heat)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained and rinsed
12 ounces beer, or 1 1/2 cups water
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn
4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (2 1/2 cups)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. With a paring knife, trim tortillas to fit a 9-inch springform pan. Use the bottom of the pan as a guide. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Add beans and beer, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until liquid has almost evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in corn and scallions, and remove from heat. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Fit a trimmed tortilla in bottom of springform pan; layer with 1/4 of the beans and 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat three times, using 1 cup cheese on top layer. Bake until cheese melts, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove side of pan; sprinkle pie with scallions. To serve, slice into wedges.

Good Friday

Extreme
By Skip Heitzig


The world looks at Christians celebrating death on Good Friday, and they can’t figure it out. They say, “That is so extreme! Why, before God could forgive people, would He require the death of His Son? Why wouldn’t He simply, benevolently, forgive people’s sin? If I did something against you, you would just forgive me. Why can’t God do that?”


But that kind of questioning betrays a sort of ignorance that is two-fold. One is of how heinous our sin is, and the other is of how great and holy our God is.


Nobody speaks of sin anymore. In fact, sin has almost disappeared from the American vocabulary. We speak of “problems” or “hangups” or “issues.” It’s called a “sickness” or it’s called someone else’s fault. But the Bible says very plainly that if we say we have no sin, we are liars (1 John 1:8).


How serious is it? Paul said, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). We sin because it’s our nature. “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). And we sin by choice. Every day we commit individual acts that are an affront to God.


They are an affront because God is absolutely holy. You see, holy God is wholly incompatible with sin and unrighteousness. “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness” (Habakkuk 1:13). “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you” (Isaiah 59:2).


Perfect, holy God cannot coexist with sinful man. And because of that, we’re separated, we’re lost. So one of two things must happen. Either holy God must destroy unholiness, or holy God must declare that which is unholy, holy.


And that takes us to the cross. Jesus lived the perfect life that we could never live, and then took all our sins on Himself. So effectively, God said, “I’ll take the rap. I’ll take all of your wickedness and evil and I’ll put it on Myself so that when I die on the cross, it’s finished, once and for all.”


The cross is the only place that God will meet with mankind. The cross is the only place where both God’s mercy and God’s justice could meet. How can God be a God of love and a God of justice at the same time? How can holy, perfect God meet with sinful, rebellious man? Only at the cross. He came, He took our punishment, and then He declared you and me righteous because of it.




Copyright © 2011 by Connection Communications. All rights reserved.

Style Me Pretty

I am in love with this wedding shoot.  All image credit goes to Liga Photography from the wedding planning website Style Me Pretty.  What do you think bride-to-be?

I love the gowns, the avant -garde stylization of it all, and of course the use of vintage cameras as props... not the mention the beautiful use of light, the french meringues, the fabric pennants...okay pretty much everything!

His Return

Lately I have been listening to very poetic and meaningful songs, as you can tell by my playlist.  I particularly love the song "After The Storm" by Mumford and Sons.  It's on the playlist down below.  The lyrics are amazing and really make me thing of heaven and what God has done for me.  So lovely to think upon these things while listening to fantastic melodies and interludes.  Here are the lyrics:

After the storm

I run and run as the rains come and I look up

I look up - on my knees and out of luck 

I look up

The night has always pushed up day 

You must know life to see decay 

But I won't rot - I won't rot 

Not this mind 

Not this heart 

I won't rot

And I took you by the hand and we stood tall 

And remembered our own land 

What we live for 

But there will come a time you'll see 

With no more tears and

Love will not break your heart 

But dismiss you fears  

Get over your hill and see 

What you find there

With grace in your heart 

And flowers in your hair

Now I cling to what I knew

I saw exactly what was true

But oh no more

That's why I hold

That's why I hold with all I have

Why I hold

And I won't die alone

And be left there

Well I guess I'll just go Home

God knows where

Because death is just so full

And man so small

Well I'm scared of what's behind

And what's before

I LOVE THIS BAND!

"Up On A Mountain"

The Welcome Wagon

Up on a mountain our Lord is alone, without a family, friends, or a home. He cries who, who, who - will you stay with me? He cries oh, oh, oh - will you wait with Me? 


Up on a mountain our Lord is afraid, carrying all the mistakes we have made. And He knew, knew, knew - it's a long way down. Do you know, know, know - it's a long way down?


Up in the heavens our Lord prays for you. He sent His spirit to carry us through. So it's true, true, true - that you're not alone. Do you know, know, know - He came all the way down? 


So it's true, true, true - that you're not alone.
Do you know, know, know - he came all the way down?