this changes everything...

this changes everything...

4.18.2011

My church has been doing a sermon series with the following theme:

Ever had something happen in your life that completely changed everything about your life? Maybe a phone call, an accident, a chance meeting, a discovery? Whatever it was, after "it" happened, nothing in your life was ever the same. Jesus was the catalyst for that type of change for the people he encountered. Sometimes it was a chance encounter with him on the street. And sometimes it was something he did for all the public to see. Regardless, those who encountered Christ usually walked away saying, "This Changes Everything".

There have been a few times in my life when I thought "wow, this changes everything..." - graduating high school, moving away to college, graduating college, etc. Lately, there hasn't been any huge, life changing events happen until this weekend. The management company of the lovely, over-sized townhouse we live in just raised the rent...$500 so it would now cost us over $1000 each. INSANE and totally unacceptable. Long story short, we're all moving and not together. This is where the "this changes everything" part comes in. One of my roommates is taking a huge leap of faith and possibly moving in with her boyfriend and my other roommate is branching out on her own to live by herself for the first time ever! Now you're thinking "And where the heck do you think you're going to live, missy?"

Two options here: live by myself is a super trendy loft/studio for cheap OR find a house in Lakewood and live with a few friends.

So what are the pros and cons? How far away from Uptown do I venture before I get lonely and stranded? Am I ready to live on my own? Is it safe? If we live in a house that means sharing a bathroom again...do I want that? How long will I be staying in Dallas? Do I want to furnish a whole new place by myself? What are my minimum requirements? Do I need an in house washer/dryer? Can I live with a couch/bed/kitchen/bathroom all in the same space? How much am I really willing to spend? Does it need to have hardwoods? Updated appliances? Close to friends? So many questions! Readers, I need your thoughts (and I want to see who the heck reads this thing...).

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margaux webster sarin

margaux webster sarin

4.05.2011

My sister, wow, is honestly one of the coolest people I know. Mom, if you're reading this, I really mean it!! I know it's pretty hard to believe but my sister and I used to fight...bad. We are only 2 years apart so there was a lot of hair pulling, face scratching and chaos in our household. As kids, we both rode horses which caused a lot of competition between us. However, we soon branched out on our own paths and have gotten closer every year. Now, we talk almost every other day and we actually like to hang out with each other, not to mention miss each other.

1. She's 20 years old (but she'll want me to tell you that she'll be 21 on June 29th, let the countdown begin!)
2. She has light brown hair and brown eyes and she's taller...taller than me.
3. She's a junior at UMASS Amherst.
4. She's an Alpha Chi Omega.
5. She had her appendix out in Ecuador.
6. She speaks pretty good Spanish.
7. She used to call me Ya-Ya when she couldn't say my name. Now she calls me San-San. Somethings never change.
8. She loves animals especially our cats (Mikey-RIP, Maddie-RIP and Millie).

Here's a few cool things about my sister:

She was born with 11 toes. No seriously, my mom asked my Dad just after she was born "How many fingers and toes?" to which he promptly replied 11. My Dad is a serious jokester so obviously she laughed it off until she saw the little extra toe coming off her pinky toe. And no, it is no longer attached to her.

She spent her junior year of high school in Ecuador on a Rotary International exchange program. She took french in high school and didn't know ANY spanish. When she came back, she was mostly fluent!

My sister (second from the left) with her host family

She bakes cakes. Yea, I know you're thinking "Hey, I can bake a cake too!" but she bakes KICK BUTT cakes! She's made wedding cakes for our family friends, barbie cakes and even won a cake competition at her school judged by Duff Goldman from Charm City Cakes.

she likes horses

meeting Duff Goldman!

She rides horses, which basically needs no explanation for why it's cool. She rides on the team at UMASS - Amherst where she goes to school. She also plays polo - which is terrifying to watch but also a really cool sport. She played on the Yale high school team.

Yale High School Polo Team

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She picked the BEST major - ever. She's a Hospitality and Hotel Management major which means she has to do mandatory internships like last summer in Hilton Head at a resort and this summer at a country club in Nantucket.

working in Hilton Head

Basically, she's all around the best sister there is. I'm so blessed that we've gotten so close over the last year and I hope only for the best for her! I love you seeeesssterrr so very much!

SMU Graduation

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{recipe} banana peanut butter chocolate chip muffins

{recipe} banana peanut butter chocolate chip muffins

I promise you, these are the easiest and most delicious muffins I've every had/made. You will love them too mainly because they are so easy and bonus HEALTHY! Thank Picky-Palate for the great recipe!

“Healthier” Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

makes 1 dozen muffins

• 4 Tablespoons softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 Cup plain low-fat vanilla yogurt (I happened to have Yoplait Banana Cream Pie yogurt on hand so I just used that)
• 2/3 Cup sugar
• heaping 1/4 Cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 Cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 Cup coarse sugar (I used Turbinado sugar)
• 1/2 Cup shredded sweetened coconut (I didn't add this)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place butter, eggs, bananas, yogurt, sugar and peanut butter into a large mixing bowl. Mix to combine. Place all dry ingredients into a separate large bowl and stir to combine. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips until just combined. Scoop into muffin tins lined with paper cups 2/3 way full. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and shredded coconut. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center.

This recipe can be found here.

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