Fruit Jam Bars and Mediterranean Salad

 

  One of my favourite hobbies, as of the last year or so, has been baking; especially different types of pastries and breads. I enjoy the quiet time, the preparation, the chemistry and yes…even the photography. 

  Baking has always been a chance for me to express my creativity yet also helps me learn a very important skill that I will need for the rest of my life, if I am to be a homemaker. I want to be able to make beautiful sides, or main dishes, to serve at the table for my future family to enjoy; just as my family now has enjoyed them. I find that a well served dish helps give the homey atmosphere for anyone that walks through the door and sits at the table. It shows that the person has put a lot of time and thought into what they are serving. And, I don’t know if it’s just me, but I always feel super blessed that someone feels comforted and happy with something good to eat. It blesses them, which gives the one hosting the same amount of blessings; we both enjoy the cup. 

  With enough said, I want to share two recent recipes that I have tried. Both are delicious and can be great sides to a main dish. The first are these amazing fruit bars that I made on Monday. The recipe that I used is by Shugary Sweets. I’ll link it here. The flavour of jams I chose were peach and strawberry, homemade by my mother. You can find her blog in the link box at the bottom of my blog, or click here. 

  The other recipe that I would like to share, is this yummy Mediterranean salad I served, for a lunch on Tuesday. This recipe allowed me to use a little bit of creativity in the placement of the ingredients. I served this salad in my beautiful bamboo wood, Pampered Chef salad bowl. You can find many recipes for this salad, but I will share the ingredients here (since I don’t have a link to this specific salad). 

  You will need: 

  Romaine lettuce

  Fresh Mozzarella balls 

  Artichokes (preferably in oil)

  Fire-roasted red peppers

  Kalamata olives (or olives of your choice)

  Turkey pepperoni 

  Cherry tomatoes 

  Fresh basil 

  Pepperocinis 

  Dressing of choice 

  I put this ingredients together in my wooden bowl, according to how many was eating that day. This salad is pretty simple and easy to put together, and you can customize it to your liking. 

  I was very happy with the outcome of both of these dishes and will definitely be adding them to my ever growing book of recipes. I highly recommend trying both and would love to hear your thoughts about the dishes, in the comments below. (At this time, I am replying as anonymous to the comments. I wanted to address that, so no one thinks that I am ignoring your comment. I have an issue being able to answer in my account, so I will be label as ‘Anonymous’ for the time being). 

  With love, 

     ~ 𝐿𝓎𝓃𝓏𝒾𝑒

About Me

 

  Shalom and welcome everyone! Thank you for visiting here today! You’ve just stumbled across my About Me post, so let me introduce myself. 

  My name is Lynzie. I am a 24 year old, stay-at-home daughter, living in Northwest Arkansas. I’ve been living in Arkansas for the past ten years, after moving from my home state (Oregon) with my family. I’ve spent the best years, of my teen and young adult life, living in Arkansas and wouldn’t trade it for the world! 

  I am the oldest of 9 children; five girls and four boys. My siblings have been my closest and best friends since my first brother came along (2001). I cannot imagine life without them and I am beyond thankful that I still have a good relationship with each and every one of them. They have been a part of the most important times of my life, as well as some of my darkest. YHVH truly has blessed me with the best friend circle that I could ever have. 

  I spend most of my days, at home where I help my mother; doing housework, cooking meals, taking care of my younger siblings. It’s been an amazing opportunity to still be at home in my adult years. It’s a safe place, a comforting place. When I am not helping about the house, I am usually engaging in my own hobbies. 

  I enjoy photography (mostly food and nature), letter writing, blogging, pressing flowers, nature walks, gardening, drawing and music. I love to collect teas, mushroom decor, enamel pins, seeds and stickers. 

  I am in a beautiful courtship, with a YHVH fearing, Torah observing man. We have known each other since June of last year, and started our courtship in September. We enjoy calling/facetiming each other every few days, send each other pictures of our meals and love discussing about our future; as well as enjoying a quiet Bible study together. He has been one of the most amazing people that I have ever met, and has truly helped me in so many ways. He has given me a safe place to share my thoughts and concerns with him. He encourages me to follow my dreams and shares some of the same interests for our future. I cannot imagine life without him. 

  I have been walking in the Way for almost five years (the last few months of 2019 being the starting year) and will never go back to the way life was before. YHVH has shown me so many amazing things in this new way of walking with Him, and my relationship with Him has been stronger and better than ever before. I would even say that I  did not feel like I was a true follower of YHVH until 2020, after walking in the Way for a few months. 

  I could go on and on about my life, my interests and dreams, but that is what this blog is all about! I hope that this helps give a small introduction about me. I also hope to find like minded people who come across this blog; that we can share our lives together. May YHVH bless you all and keep you. 

    With love, 

     ~ 𝐿𝓎𝓃𝓏𝒾𝑒

  

Diary Entry #1: New Beginnings

 

"You are never too old to start over. Every day is a chance to make changes to create the life we want." Karen Waddell

  Life is always going to have its ups and downs, good days and bad days, happy changes and sad changes. We are the ones to take charge of which way life and its changes will go. 

  These past few days, I have decided to go through some mental and physical changes; especially now that my life is very quickly transitioning to a new stage and into a brand new adventure that YHVH is taking me through. I’ve been running very hard away from this new stage, but now that I am accepting it, He is showing me how wonderful it is and how it’s going to be. 

  The first thing that has changed, for this new beginning, is the physical. My physical appearance in public (both in real life and online) has been that of a cosplayer and identity changing every day. Life was always a decision of ‘which character do I want to transform myself into today’? My daily list of this transformation was thus: (1): Hair had to be perfectly curled, straightened and styled. (2): Makeup had to enlarge eyes in the anime style, lips had to be tiny and pouty, and bright colours to match an ex centric outfit. (3): Outfit had to be fluffy, sparkly and meet the dolly requirements. 

  Constant Pinterest visits happened the night before into the early morning, to figure out which persona I was to transform into. I determined who I was going to look like, based off of fictional characters. And…everyone knew that as Lynzie. 

  In all that, no one could see the actual me through all of crazy wigs, makeup and fluff. No one asked about my personality, my interests, my goals, without having to bring up the outfits. And I would honestly start to get annoyed. What I wasn’t seeing, was that I had done this to myself and the annoyance should be towards me. I had created this unwanted image that the whole world saw, and it felt very lonely. I wondered why it was hard to make friends; to have people take me seriously. I allowed myself to build up this amount of pride, with how amazing I always looked; in return chasing everyone and everything away. 

  I have made the decision that I don’t want to live that lonely life anymore. I’m tired of feeling lonely, of being looked at and allowing myself to follow the world instead of being something different. And besides, constantly changing your identity every day starts to not only chase away potential new learning experiences, it also starts to take a toll on your physical health. 

  Another thing that I am changing, for this new beginning, is how I take care of my body and health. Constantly wearing fluffy clothes, heavy makeup and using heat for my hair doesn’t allow me to give myself the self care that my body has to have; as well sitting around for hours because the crazy shoes that I wear doesn’t give me a chance to walk properly for exercise. Haha, you would be surprised how much a cosplayer can’t do normally, when you are constantly wearing heavy clothes and high heels. I’ve neglected myself and it’s starting to show. 

  In these past few days of change, I’ve really been focusing on healthier food choices and talking morning/evening walks. I’ve discovered so many good and healthy recipes, as well as noticing that my body is getting stronger as I’ve been taking those walks. 

  I know that there are many cosplayers out there, who focus on their health just as much as their costumes, but I can’t be the only one who struggles with their weight and strength when you always focus on the next outfit/identity. It’s not fun and I would rather be happy in my own skin, than a fake one. 

  It’s been a long journey, trying to get myself back into a healthier stage than I have been. I used to be very active in my later teen years, and was a smaller size when I graduated. But, as life went on and the stresses came, that tends to allow weight to be gained. I don’t want to have worries in my life affect how my body is; which is why I am taking this change into my new beginning. 

  The last change that is a part of this new beginning is preparing myself for the new adventure that YHVH has gifted me; the future that I am planning with the man I am courting. All of this change that I have been working on is what is going to benefit the end goal that I have so earnestly prayed for. 

  I want to be able to give a well lasting impression on my future husband and children, as well as the people who will be a part of that new chapter. I don’t want to have the pride that I built up with my looks, as well as being unhealthy, affect what YHVH has in store for me. I want to be able to have long lasting types of things that my children will want to have in their own lives, or hobbies that me and my future husband can share together in privacy. I want to be able to build a beautiful, stable and YHVH centered relationship with my future family. And I can start that now, by allowing these changes to happen. 

  Like I said at the beginning; life is always going to have its ups and downs, good days and bad days, happy changes and sad changes. We are the ones to take charge of which way life and its changes will go. I’ve decided to start a new and positive change in my life. And I am so looking forward to it! 

  With love, 

     ~ 𝐿𝓎𝓃𝓏𝒾𝑒

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

  Hello friends! ‘Tis the season/weather for tons of baking! I’ve been in a baking mood the past couple of days. 

  Today’s recipe is a family favourite cookie; butterscotch oatmeal! These cookies are super chewy, and addicting! Haha! 

  I used Barefeet in the Kitchen’s recipe. Here is the link: https://barefeetinthekitchen.com/soft-and-chewy-oatmeal-butterscotch/#wprm-recipe-container-22446

Rosemary Roll Recipe by AllRecipes

 Hello friends! 

  Today has been a very calm, yet fulfilling day! It has been full of letter writing, updating my stamps book collection, adding new items to my Etsy shoppe and a few other homey type things. 

  In all these fun activities,  I decided to make some yummy rosemary pull-apart rolls, using a recipe from AllRecipes website, for supper tonight. Here is the link: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230749/rosemary-pull-apart-dinner-rolls/

  

  

Mori Kei Coord 1/14/2024

 

  Outfit Roundown

*Underskirt: Handmade 

*Dress: Handmade 

*Cardigan: Maurice’s

*Collar: Gifted

*Socks: Gifted

*Necklace: Heirloom from great grandmother 

Is it Mori? Cult Party Kei, a.k.a CPK

  Hello everyone! I thought that it would be good to have some posts on here talking about Jfashions that look Mori, but aren’t. I know that many, including myself, have confused styles with Mori when we first started, so this is a great opportunity for a section to talk about just that. 

  Today, we are going to talk about a style called Cult Party Kei (a.k.a CPK). This is a very unique style, and probably one of my favourites that I have come across. The style is best known for its bright red motifs (like ribbons and crosses), vintage nightgowns/robes (called peignoirs) and bright makeup. 

 

  The style started around 2006, in Koenji, Japan. It was in a little shoppe called CULT PARTY. The shoppe sold tons of vintage clothes, accessories and other fun items. Around 2010, the shoppe moved to Shibuya, Japan and changed it’s name to The Virgin Mary. (Sources are from the Japanese Fashion Wiki website section about CPK https://j-fashion.fandom.com/wiki/Cult_Party_Kei)

   For how similar the styles look, there are a few details that I will be discussing about, that will help you figured out the difference. (All photos have been found either by Googling the style, or from Pinterest, plus a few of my own for reference).

🌱Vintage Nightgowns and Peignoirs🌱

  CPK is probably best known for the peignoir styling. The fashion has a very angelic and airy feel to it, so these vintage robes help give that effect. Most colours come in a pastel form, but bright red has also been a popular colour. Lace, patchwork and crochet have been added to these robes, for a more handmade feel.

  Mori Kei uses a lot of outer layering, just like CPK, but nightgowns is not a choice. Mori usually wear more cardigans and caplets  

   🌱Red Motifs and Accessories🌱

  The next way to distinguish CPK from Mori is the bright red motifs and accessories. Religious designs and crosses are among the most popular types of accessories, and usually are in the bright red. The Red Cross is also another popular design and is usually in a more nurse like style for CPK than the dolly look. Ribbons, buttons, Pom poms and pins are pretty popular. 

   Mori Kei does have red in many coords, but it’s much more muted and darker than the bright red.  

  🌱Animal and Doll Accessories🌱

 CPK LOVES anything teddy bear themed, and you often can see them all over the outfits. From bags, to necklaces, to rings, to headdress’s; they are found everywhere. 

  Another popular accessory are dolls. The dolls are normally not all in one piece; arms and legs as earrings, heads as necklaces…you get the idea. 

  Mori Kei loves animal themes (especially bears) as well, and often you see jewelry with little woodland animals, or clothing with specific prints. 

   🌱Crochet/Lace/Handmade Details🌱

   CPK has tons of lace details, crocheted items and handmade jewelry. Quirky bags, fun headdresses and hand sewn patches all of a sense of handmade feel to them (not to mention a vintage touch). 

   Mori Kei is probably best well known for its handmade like fashion, and lace/crochet is a dead giveaway.

   🌱Layering🌱

  Another thing that tends to confuse people with CPK and Mori, is the layering aspect. 

   

  Both styles are based around layering, but what you are layering tells the difference. Synthetics, sheer fabrics and bright colours are CPK, while natural fabrics, crochet and more muted colours are Mori. 

  Now that we have discussed about the differences with the styles, I think it would be a great way (for the brand new Mori members) to test yourselves by looking up Mori Kei and see if you can spot the real fashion vs CPK. I will be doing other styles that are confused with Mori, to help broaden our knowledge, so hopefully that will be helpful in your research as well. 

  I highly recommend making Pinterest boards, saving photos and reading other references, to help you learn more about Mori and what isn’t Mori. I have a few blogs linked on here, that are from members of the Mori community. They discuss about the differences in the styles, as well as giving in depth lists of what to look for. 

  I hope that this was helpful,  and wish all a lovely day!