Hand Lettering Lately

With the new year upon us, wedding plans finished and culminated two months ago, I have found that my mind and hands have been able to turn once again to the passion I have for hand lettering. I am also in the process of creating an online shop, which I hope to open in the near future. 

I absolutely love getting to use the artistic talent God has blessed me with to bring joy and inspiration to my life and to others. Words are a powerful thing, and to be able to craft them in an esthetically pleasing way brings me life. 

I wanted to post an update on the work I have been doing lately, so it's all in one place! Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Well again, it has been a while since my last update on life, and there have been quite a few changes! I went from a Miss to a Mrs! One of the best decisions ever. But that story is for another blog.

Today I just wanted to post a quick recipe that Zach and I tried this week that turned out stellar! One of my newest favorites is spaghetti squash, and this is my favorite way I've had it so far.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

2 spaghetti squashes, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed
1 Tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 head garlic
1 lb. spicy sausage
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. sage
1 Tbsp. basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
28 oz. crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup shredded provolone cheese

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Remove the outer layer of the whole garlic head, leaving each clove in place. Cut a small piece from the top of each garlic clove. Place the garlic head onto a small piece of foil. Drizzle the top of the garlic head with a 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil, sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper. Wrap loosely with foil, bake 45 minutes. After cooked, remove garlic cloves into a bowl (squeeze out of layer), and mash. Set aside.
- Drizzle the cut and seeded squash with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place cut side down on a baking sheet, bake 30 to 45 minutes, until just tender. Remove, let cool for a few minutes and scrape out the squash strands into a bowl. Leave a small layer of the squash (aka don't scrape all the way to the bottom because you will be layering your lasagna back in the shells)
-Reduce oven to 350 degrees.
-White spaghetti squash cooks, Heat 1 Tbspn EVOO over medium heat in a deep skillet or a medium pot, add onion, bay leaf, thyme, and sage. Cook about 5 minutes, until soft. Push to the side of the pan, increase the heat to medium high, add one more Tbspn EVOO. Place sausage in center, brown.
- Add tomatoes, basil, and water. Simmer, stirring occasionally until thick (15- 20 minutes). Discard the bay leaf, remove from heat, stir in mashed garlic.
-In medium sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add flour, whisk constantly for 1 minute. Whisk in milk and simmer for 2 minutes, while whisking. Remove from heat, stir in provolone, season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Let cool, stirring occasionally. (side note...this sauce is DELISH!)
-Take the squash shells, put a layer of meat sauce in the bottom, then a layer of spaghetti strands. Layer with the cheese sauce, then a layer of spaghetti strands. Add another layer of meat sauce, and cheese sauce. Top with shredded provolone cheese.
-Bake 20 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees until the cheese browns. Remove and let sit for 5 minutes.

ENJOY!

Engaged

So, it's been a pretty long while since I last updated this blog. And I think it's about time I put down in writing what's been going on in my life lately, because there have been some big changes.

Here's the breakdown.

In the past five months since my last post, I have: finished my internship with Adventures in Missions, and launched into my own mission, moved to Decatur (in Atlanta), gained a new roommate, started a new job, got promoted and transferred to a new Starbucks in Decatur, and....got engaged!

Life has been full of transitions lately, and I have finally come to a place where life is settling. (Yet it still is busy and full of change and growth)

God has stretched me, blessed me and grown me so much the past five months.

Things came together in ways I never even imagined.

And He has blessed me far beyond words, even in the times of difficulty (because they certainly are there).

So let's take a gander back a few months ago.

May held the majority of these transitions. First, I finished my internship with Adventures in Missions. God revealed so much to me through those classes, and I got to meet and work with amazing people. I am so thankful for my time and involvement with that program!

Next came Tuesday, May 21st. A day that my then boyfriend, Zach and I were going to hang out up in Helen, Georgia. He was supposed to pick me up for our adventure, but called and said he had a surprise. I had to come and find him, to which he promptly told me that he was at Starbucks.

I got in my car, wondering but not wanting to let my mind wander to those "what ifs." Zach and I had talked about getting engaged in October, so I thought, "Na, this isn't it." But I still couldn't help my heart from pounding in my ears as I walked up to meet him where we had our first date.

I stepped through the doors and there he was, my handsome man sitting at the table we had our first date at. Lovely memories flooded my mind as he and I sat at the table. He handed me a card for our anniversary, which I read with adoring eyes and heart.

Zach then proceeded to tell me how much he loved me, and began to stand up and fumbled with his pocket. My heart began to pound faster, and I gasped with delight and amazement. He pulled out a huge ring box and pulled me up to my feet.

I don't honestly remember everything he said, and neither does he. But I do remember him asking me that one incredible question...

"Sarah, will you marry me?"

To which I couldn't stop smiling and said "YES!" He slipped the ring on my finger, and we began a day of celebration and calling our families and friends to tell them the joyous news.

Enter in our season of engagement that we are now in the midst of.

Add in God blessing me with the opportunity to be promoted to a shift supervisor at Starbucks in Decatur, Georgia. A place God had drawn my heart to months ago on a random day excursion I took down there one day.

During this time I worried and wondered how it was all going to work. I was basically broke, had no idea where I would live, or who I would live with. But I was still hopeful and thrilled that I had a job closer in Atlanta, and one that allowed me to invest more into my work and ministry.

As God would have it, He provided for everything at the exact right time, and I now have an amazing roommate, who also did the World Race, and provided us an apartment that was reduced in price and fit our budget.

Our God is such a big God!

That does not mean that trying times don't come, they have. Worry still attempts to penetrate the resolve I have set to remember that God is faithful. But he is teaching me daily to lean on Him in new ways.

This season of engagement and newness in almost everything is stretching, but beautiful. Our God makes beautiful things. Beautiful seasons and times. Beautiful celebrations of life. Beautiful, difficult growth.

I am so looking forward to all that this season of engagement holds as Zach and I prepare to enter marriage together. It is a beautiful season indeed.

I Love What I Do

God gave me a revelation the other day. One that I already truly knew in my heart, but it still surprised me. It took my breath away for a second, and made my heart quicken, and a smile come across my lips.

I absolutely love what I do.

I'm already in a place of living out my dream.

That's pretty darn cool. Of course there are other things that I have dreams and desires for. But I am in a position right now where I am able to accomplish the goals and dreams that are currently on my heart.

The other day in one of our CGA classes, we were given the assignment to put together our own life "mission statement." We were given a tool online to do so, one that asked us detailed questions about what we love to do, what drains us, what people would say about you on your 80th birthday.

From there this tool "generated" our missions statement. Gave us a visual word picture of what we had already written out. Mine turned out to be pretty lengthy, but I noticed many themes coming out. I remembered the strong undercurrents and passions that God has placed in my life.

One of the biggest things that stood out to me from that missions statement exercise was what the survey said about work from my answers.

I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can draw, and be creative. Whether that is making a sign, or making a drink, I love to be able to make things for other people and make it beautiful. I love being able to interact with people, find out who they are, and tell them why they are special. I love personal one on one interaction more than group setting, so that I can personally and individually speak into their lives. I love being able to find little ways to serve people around me to brighten their day.

That's when it occurred. I already get to do that now. I already have the opportunities in front of me now. I work at Starbucks on the side of the program that I'm involved with at Adventures in Missions, and it has been such a blessing to have that job.

It's a place where I get to create. I get to create signs for Starbucks, I get to create drinks. It is a place where I can use my creativity in quite a few unique ways. I am able to interact with people that I would normally not have contact with, and I get to speak into their lives.

I get to pray for them, get to know them, make their day special. I am able to serve and help create an atmosphere of community. These things are huge for me.

While what I physically do for a job may change over the years and over the seasons, these core things are true to who I am and who God has made me to be and how He intends for me to operate within this world.

To create and bring beauty into the world, to interact with others and serve, and just show the heart of God to those around me.

I love what I do, truly I do.

And that is an incredible blessing to my heart, even if God had to hit me upside the head with the revelation before it finally clicked. 

So here's to walking forward each day, doing what I love to do, being obedient to God's heart every day and to where He leads.


Here are some pictures of signs that I have been able to create while working at Starbucks!

The Ugly, Beautiful Truth

Right now I'm reading (re-reading) through "A Thousand Gifts." It's a shorter, simple book. But one packed with deep, profound truth that resonates so much with where I am at right now. It's a book on finding thanks in the little things.

Taking a moment to breath in, and breathe out "thank you" to God for even the smallest gifts. For actually recognizing those small moments as gifts, when it is so easy to pass by and not even notice.

The picture above is a passage in the book, recounting a story of a woman reading a book that was displaying "1,000 Places to See Before You Die." Which sounds like an amazing book, and I'm sure it's packed full of magnificent pictures, splashed with color and lights, inviting you in to smell and step into a new reality.

But the author poses this deep question. "Isn't it here? Can't I find it here?"

I ask myself the same question. Isn't it here? Can't I find it here?

For some reason, coming back home from the race, I have found myself going through periods of time where it has been difficult to be thankful. Times where I'm just tired, and life seems to lack the luster it once had.

My eyesight seems foggy with sleep and confusion, and it is harder to find the beauty in those small moments like I have before. My schedule feels full to overflowing, and I feel anxiousness closing in and I don't have time to stop and smell the roses.

But the more I hurry on, the more I pass over those little moments, the more my heart hurts and I long for relief.

The solution?

Gratitude.

Thanksgiving.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you for spring showers that bring May flowers. (Because sometimes the rain and clouds just feel like a weight on my shoulders)

Thank you for gorgeous budding trees. (The once barren trees are now a symbol of new life)

Thank you for the days that the sun does shine in Georgia. (This desert girl just loves the sunshine)

Thank you for coffee. (Because it is so sweet and smooth)

Thank you for warm breezes, laughter with friends, bouncing on trampolines, staring at the stars, taking walks in the park, for good conversation, for time around a kitchen table, for the stillness of the morning, for a glassy lake that reflects the sun in all its glory.

No, sometimes life is hard. Sometimes I am tired, overwhelmed, and I feel the pressure, speed and anxiousness of this world. And in those moments, it's hard to make myself stop and say thank you.

Sometimes I wish I could hold those sweet babies in China, laugh with kids in Cambodia, paint another mural on a dusty foreign wall, mime out what I want to say with someone who speaks a different language.

But there is so much to be thankful for here, right now. And when I stop to say thank you, I am overwhelmed with joy and realize how extremely blessed I am.

I want to capture those moments, and those things I am thankful for. Not to say I have a perfect life. I don't, and never will. But I love capturing those moments that God gives me here. Those little things I'm thankful for.

So here are some of those moments of beauty I've found recently here in Georgia.

What are you thankful for today?

Getting Away

Sometimes there are days where God just calls me away.

Days that He calls me into His heart, to just be. And in the midst of a crazy, sometimes chaotic schedule in the past few weeks, when Jesus called my heart away, I gladly went. 

I thought I would just spend some time around the house, praying and reading. But he called me out of the house, out of the city. He put Stone Mountain on my heart, so I hopped in the car and headed towards the park. The sun was shining, it was gorgeous. First gift to my heart from Jesus.

Once I arrived at the park, I felt like I could just breath. 

I found a quiet spot, opened my journal and began to draw, taking in inspiration from my surroundings. The majestic granite mountain towered above me, complete with civil war figures carved into the side. The trees are just beginning to bloom, and white buds framed the carving just so. 

I sat in the stillness for a while, and contemplated the statue and quotes before me. This one stuck out the most to me, complete with the figure stretching his arms towards the heaven. It speaks of Valor, courage, and it stirred my spirit with delight. 

After my time in the park, I drove around looking for somewhere for lunch. I found a coffee shop that I wanted to settle into later, and figured that I would find a place for lunch around there. So I drove to Decatur, and right across the street from the coffee shop was an amazing little Indian food place. 

I absolutely love Indian food, yet another gift from God. All of the colors and pictures in the restaurant just filled my heart with delight. There were even fresh flowers on the table.

From a tasty lunch I moved onto some more quiet time in the coffee shop across the street, and I received a beautiful, deliciously smooth latte. I was able to talk to some people back home, and just sit with God and feel His peace wash over me.

I could feel Him pouring out His love through all of the small details throughout the day, and it delighted my heart to know that He loves me so much to show that in the small things. 

In a vase of flowers on an Indian food restaurant.

In a expertly crafted latte, topped with silky foam.

In flowering trees.

In the sunshine.

In gently chirping birds.

In colorful pictures.

In sweet music. 

In sketches.

In covered bridges.

In geese playing in the water. 

In being able to cook dinner.

God delighted my heart in the simple things of life that day, and it was beautiful. What are the little things in life that God has put in front of you today?