for coffee in the morning and coffee in the evening                                                                                                       for gramma and her sass and the gift she has of bringing everyone together
for a sister who lets me borrow her sweater and lets me hold her hand in the car                                                  for a holiday that is dedicated to pausing to be thankful, and together
for fireplaces
for safety
for an aunt who bakes a pumpkin pie just because she knows i love them                                                               for pumpkin pie
for my grandpa and how much he loves my gramma
for allison, and that she is in my family and is also my friend
for sweet texts all day long from people who just mean the world to me
for an aunt who gives cheek kisses
for my dad, makin me laugh all day long
for extended time at the table to lounge and talk and be together
for a thanksgiving eve service at church that seriously moved my heart
for mr grow and mrs grow and spencer and j.p. and riley.. each one very special.. they're family to me
for times when i get to grocery shop in target with my dad                                                                                           for being known, and known so deeply
for familiar trails
for lauren draayer
for God giving himself, and everything that comes with that.. (joy, deep love, life, peace, fullness)



i find that today, especially, my heart is troubled at the extent to which i have been given gifts that are ridiculously undeserved.  it just doesn't seem okay to have been given so much, and sometimes it just kind of puts me in shock and overwhelms me, almost too much to handle, if i think long enough about the kindness and goodness that God has extended to me throughout my life.  so if God is willing to appreciate the measly thanks that comes out of my mouth, i think i will be expressing that thanks as long as i am able.  i don't always want to thank God.  i snap and disappoint and fall short.  i worry and hurt and doubt and i know i have grieved him.  but he still chooses every day to love me, and give himself and every one of my needs.  so i think i can choose every day to thank him.  he is worthy of my life.  he is worthy of so much more than my life.

Day Eleven
11th October 2013
You guys, I'm slackin.  Sorry about posting this one late, but actually, to be honest, I'm not that torn up about it (: I hope you aren't either!
Last night Anna and I didn't have any plans except we knew we wanted to hang out with our good friends, Lauren and Cassie.  And it's Homecoming here at Eau Claire, so we definitely didn't just want to sit around!  We had a craving for adventure, so before we connected with them, the two of us sat for a while brainstorming adventurous things that we could do.  We even went on Google to find "Fun things to do on a Saturday night," ha and while "finish your resume" and "go skinny-dipping" were good options (:, an even better idea came to Anna's mind... go to Perkins and drink crappy coffee.  We seriously got SO excited.  So did Lauren and our other friend, Sarah.  There's just somethin about being in Perkins at night that feels like home.. don't know what it is.  So off the four of us went to Perkins!  And we each had one pumpkin pancake with our coffee while we were there.  Going to Perkins with them was my favorite thing.  It was so enjoyable.  Then later, we watched an old Alfred Hitchcock scary movie called "Psycho," except it wasn't the old one, because apparently there is a remake with Vince Vaughn made in 1998 and that's the one we got from Towers front desk.  It was a really great night.

And here's a happy Saturday song to make up for my late posting. (:  Thanks for the suggestion, Holland! xo

We eat pretty darn well at the Speich house.  For this I am oh-so-grateful.  My parents really aren't into "crap" (: (processed foods) and I'm learning so much from them.  But this summer, my dad' s signature creation is kind of an imitation "Lara" bar, if you've heard of them.  We seem to always keep refilling our stock, almost on a weekly basis because they're just so de-lish and we can't seem to get enough of them around here!  I was wary of them at first because the dates imitated raisins a little too much and I despise raisins, but now even I can't get enough of em! (: They're really good for you, too.  So if you're looking to eat healthier, are bored this summer, or what have you, you definitely gotta try these bad boys!

Here's what you'll need:
Lindt's 3.5 oz. 90% cocoa dark chocolate bar
unsalted raw almonds - 2 cups
coconut flakes, unsweetened - 1/4  c.
flaxseed, ground - 1 tbs
fresh dates - 16  oz.
unsalted almond butter - 2 tbs

* it is recommended to add your choice of additional flavor
to the dates mixture; goji berries, dried blueberry, or dried
cherries.* mmm!

First, you'll need to remove the cores from the dates.  This is easily done with a spoon.  Set the dates aside.

Then in a food processor, chop chocolate, almonds, coconut flakes, and flaxseed, until evenly ground, but not too fine.  Once chopped, divide the mixture into two separate bowls

^^^Put half of the chocolate-almond-coconut-flaxseed mix back into the food processor, now adding 1 tbs  peanut butter and 1/2 of the dates (8  oz.).  Chop until evenly blended, but not too fine. Put mixture on a wax paper  lined cookie sheet. Set aside.

Take the other half of the chocolate-almond-coconut-flaxseed mix and put it in the food processor.  Add the other tbs of peanut butter and half of the remaining dates (8 oz.).  Chop until evenly blended, but not too fine.  Add this  mixture to the other half on the lined cookie sheet. 
(Doing this one half at a time prevents the mixture from clumping and thus not blending evenly.)

Place flattened mixture in freezer for an hour or so to allow it to firm up.

With wax paper still over the top, cut into bar size pieces.

Store bars in tupperware in layers with wax paper separating each layer so the bars don't stick to each other. Store in  freezer to keep bars firm.

Makes about 20 bars.

haha, oh, Dad!