January 30, 2013

Family Spotlight


I decided recently that I am going to start a "Family Spotlight" series on this here little blog. My husband, parents, and siblings have had a massive influence on the person I am today, so it seems necessary that I give them a good amount of public attention. There are 7 members in my immediate family, so be looking out for a feature each month starting in February. I hope you enjoy getting to peep into my past and learn about the people I love most! 


Until then, here are some fun pictures of my family from the past few years:




2006: A great action shot of Ruth running inside because I accidentally gave her a bloody nose.





2006: A nice visit to the Shatto Dairy Farm. 




2008: Happy Graduation to Katie!




2010: Glamour Shots.




2010: Just your average McQuerry Family Christmas.





2011: This was the only normal photo that we walked away with on Thanksgiving.


The Christmas card would've said "Have a freaking good Christmas."




2012:  Cheering for my dad while he pwns some noobs at the Corporate Challenge 1 mile run.




2012: Celebrating a special day with a pretty good-looking crew!

Via





January 26, 2013

Paper Snowflakes

I love to spend time making things. There is just something about creating anything at all that makes me feel at home. I would high-pitched-squeal anytime I found a "free magazines" pile outside a strangers dorm room in college because it meant hours of tearing out pages and cutting up pieces until I had transformed and re-arranged them into something of my own. What I got the biggest kick out of was making paper snowflakes. I don't necessarily remember what made me think of it the first time, but after I realized that my grown-up fine motor skills allowed me to make infinitely more amazing paper creations than my 7-year old self did, I couldn't get enough of the delicate little suckers.




I recently read a quote by author Kurt Vonnegut:
"Go into the arts. I'm not kidding... They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something."




I think Mr. Vonnegut is onto something. Creating is an enormous reward; it is something that flows through every human's veins. We are made in the image of the ultimate Creator- we can't help but have a desire to create. Whether it's crafting a delicious meal, a football playbook, a detailed spreadsheet, or a kind letter to a friend, we all identify with the reward that comes from putting our talents and interests into producing something unique. Creating is fulfilling because it's a native element of our being.





We love the things that we create. We are proud of them. We want others to notice that we did such a good job.




Can you image how God feels when he looks at you? He loves you. He is proud of you. He wants others to notice what a goo job he did creating you. The Creator of the universe is crazy about you. Dear reader, I hope you know what a work of art you are!





January 19, 2013

A Little 2012 Love


I was unusually thankful for my Twitter account recently as I spent some time reflecting on my life events in 2012. I went back through a year's worth of tweets and relived so many good memories and fun pictures. Here are my top 15 favorite tweets from 2012:

1: I started 2012 out with a bang! Quite literally, I banged by head on the toilet when I passed out in the bathroom at work and got sent to the ER. After the 3rd IV attempt, some yelling at the nurses, and almost sending my queasy husband on a blackout adventure of his own, they found out nothing is wrong with me.  Except that my resting heart rate is 89. 




2: Probably one of the biggest blessings of 2012 was the amount of amazing people that we got to spend time with in our own home. I sent this tweet after a crazy late-night game of Mafia with some our youth kids and volunteers: 



3. If you have never experienced my utter love for dancing like a crazy person, you can get a good idea of what that’s like 
here:


                                  


4. This one is a retweet, but my hubby said it best. We started a new youth ministry adventure in 2012 and have been so thankful to be a part of such a godly, generous, and compassionate church family! 



5. I seriously have the most amazing siblings, and 2012 proved to be no exception. I consider each of them a dear, dear friend and cannot imagine life without them! 



6. I picked this tweet for two reasons: 1) Because it mentions our awesome friends Sarah and Andrew, who have meant more to us than they know. 2) Because the Hunger Games changed my life. Not really, Jesus changed my life. But we did have a super fun themed party the night of the midnight showing, then went out late to see the movie like a couple of crazy kids. 



7. Carly Rae Jepsen stepped into the scene in 2012 and I was on that bandwagon in a jiff. 



8. This was a glorious day in 2012. 



9.  Marriage has been a huge blessing to me since 2009. I am one lucky lady! 



10. I turned 25 in 2012 and received the most amazing present from my hubby! Cirque du Soleil was FANTASTIC! If you ever have the chance to go, I guarantee you will be so glad you did!! 




11. This takes the cake for cutest thing in 2012. You will not regret listening to this once... or twice... or three times!


Click HERE to hear the clip. 


12. I got a nice big-change haircut in 2012. And I fueled my existing obsession with Zooey Deschanel and her tv show New Girl. 




13. I guess emojis were technically a 2011 thing, but but the update in 2012 really cranked the excitement up a notch.




14. My sweet 87-year old grandma was diagnosed with colon cancer this November. While we didn’t expect her to live forever, it was a shock to find out that she probably has less than a year left with us. I cherished this Christmas celebration with her and the rest of our family! 




15. I am hardcore blessed by the students I get to hang out with on a regular basis. Our annual winter trip to Chicago certainly confirmed that for me. Liberty is full of gems!




You were a good year, 2012.


January 16, 2013

Remix


I don’t have anything especially thrilling to write about today, but I was recently challenged to rethink the way I view my blog in 2013. I used to believe that the recipe for the perfect post was to allow a topic to boil up from the depths of my soul, and then let it simmer there for days on end until I had worked out all of the lumps and reduced the contents to a fine mush. I would stew on my writing forever- making sure that any trace of imperfection had evaporated before I hit “publish.” No wonder I didn’t blog often- it was completely exhausting! So in 2013, I’m going try a new recipe- it’s called Real Life. That means that some of my posts may suck, but I’m going to practice publishing anyway. I’m going to practice being the rough-draft version of me: a little sloppy, but mostly heartfelt and quirky with some creativity mixed in. I hope you like the new flavor!

Now here are some grainy pictures from a recent evening with 3 of the best men in my life:

1/2 of my brother Micah, me, Tim, and 1/2 of my brother Caleb. 


We made cupcake brownie burgers!