A Picture of Creation

Up from the bed of the river

God scooped the clay:

And by the bank of the river

He kneeled Him down:

And there the great God almighty

Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,

Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,

Who rounded the earth in the middle of His hand;

This Great God,

Like a mammy bending over her baby, kneeled

down in the dust

Toiling over a lump of clay

Till He shaped it in His own image;

Then into it He blew the breath of life,

And man became a living soul.

Amen. Amen.

James Weldon Johnson

A Little Commercial.

My mom has been sewing since I can remember. She made me all KINDS of things. Dolls, dresses, dresses for my dolls, lol. The list goes on and on. She FINALLY has her own Etsy account where she can sell all her handmade stuff. If you like it or know of someone who might, spread the word!

This is her "minnie" inspired apron for the little helper around the kitchen. $12.00 on Etsy!!! 

SewBella4U -- Hand-sewn little treasures!

5 things I am thankful for.

Due to a very wet and rainy Tennessee, plus a truck load of overwhelming homework, 20 hour work weeks, and juggling a boyfriend and girlfriends, I am a very exhausted, very cranky Rachel.

I decided that I do not enjoy being so crabby and so I am going to write 5 things that I was thankful for today.

1) That I finally found a research topic for class.
     This was stressing me out to the MAX. Thank you Dawnmarie and Jessica who talked me through it!
2) Time with my boyfriend.
     Believe it or not, sometimes you don't get to see your boyfriend in college! Today we got to just sit and just
TALK. It was so relaxing and I was genuinely thankful for the time I spent with him today.
3) That it wasn't raining today.
     I understand that the rain we had in the past 2 days was very much needed. I get it. But this Florida girl needs her sunshine, and one more day of rain might have made me go crazy. Just sayin'. I was thankful for the clouds that DIDN'T bring rain.
4) That I got to sleep in this morning. It was delicious. That's all I have to say.
5) That tomorrow is Thursday and the weekend is coming. Hallelujah.

Mi manchi l'italia...

Tonight I am missing the beautiful backdrop of Italy...

Tonight I miss--

....my room with no air conditioning, but the windows wide open with a cool breeze running through. 

....waking up in the morning and stepping out onto my balcony. 

....my teachers who were SO patient teaching me Italian.

...speaking Italian...ordering food...asking for directions...understanding new things...

...Centro and the cobblestone streets. 

...the guy playing his guitar every night at Ponte Vecchio. 

...walking everywhere. 

...creamy gelato. 

...REAL Italian pasta <3

...running into beautiful things. 

...singing in Italian. 

...my loving Italian friends that I had to leave behind.

...my American friends that I got close to in just 6 weeks. 

...the Italian sunset from my balcony.

...playing games with Italians. 

...kebabs. 

...pizza. 

...shopping in the COOP grocery store. 

...the hills of Tuscany. 

...the architecture. 

...the Duomo bells everyday. 

...Ponte Vecchio. 

...Piazza di Michaelangelo. 

...the smell of the kitchen. 

...Villa Aurora. 

...Italy. <3

Growing Up.

There is something in a kid’s body when they are about hmmmm let’s say a teenager, that just kicks into overdrive. When this gear is put into place, the engine explodes with raging hormones, flaring attitudes, and the strongest desire to grow up.

When we were little and our joints were growing we got growing pains in our knees and elbows. Sometimes we get stretch marks from our bodies growing too fast. Sometimes we have young faces. I know I always hear that I look younger than what I really am. When you are 45 years old and they tell you that you look young, that is an AMAZING compliment and it would surely make your day. But when you are 19 years old and someone says that you look 16? Not so cool.  

The raging hormones of the teenager fades and then you get an awkward 20, 21 year old, who is disgusted by their young sibling’s teenage behavior (because they are SO FAR past it) and instead trying to make sense of an organize a coming all too soon, future.

I have never got homesick, in all my years of going away, but I can’t make any promises about this year. Leaving home this summer will probably be the hardest one. Harder than all my years that I have left and went back to college. This summer is the hardest because this summer could be my last.

For all my ranting and raving about wanting to be independent and an adult, I don’t feel I’m ready. There are tons of “grown-up” tasks and duties that I wouldn’t have a clue how to tackle. It’s my senior year and unless I magically fail all over the place, then this year will be my last year in college and the next step is the real world.

I am twenty one years old, and in this moment I wish I could stay twenty one. I wanna stay a kid. (how immature, I know)

I feel like a selfish parent when they say “I just want you to stop growing”---well I do!! I don’t want my niece to keep getting taller every time I see her. I don’t want my brother to keep getting buff and start dating girls while I’m gone. I hate noticing that my parents look just a little bit older than they did before…

It’s a frustrating, heartbreaking, exciting, thing to grow up. Psh, and I’m not even all grown. There are friends my age who have apartments and husbands and kids. I don’t know how they did it. I’m sure they had some growing pains; I’m sure they have some stretch marks, as we all do.

We don’t stay the same. (And for those of you who do, get the hint, it’s time to grow up. Lol) We should always be growing, stretching, hurting, to be bigger, stronger, and better than we were before. Moving on and growing up is a big deal but thank God that it doesn’t happen in one night.