Batch 3 // Orange Creamsicle Cookies

Orange Creamsicle Cookies

{image & recipe via The Girl Who Ate Everything}
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons orange zest (for me that was the zest of 2 oranges)
2 cups white chips

  
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and chips.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Do not flatten cookies; it will make them dry. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Do not overcook! Cookies will be plump. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheets before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Reason #10

Reason #10 why being a pediatric nursing is awesome

On a rare occasion, you actually have enough time to sit down on the floor and play trains with your 4-year old patient. And it's pretty much the cutest thing ever to see him feeling good enough to crawl around and make train noises and laugh himself silly.

Hooray for feeling like a kid again!

Batch 2 // Oreo Pudding Cookies

Happy Saturday! I've seen this recipe pop up numerous times on my pinterest feed, and let me tell you, they did not disappoint. I'm literally in the middle of baking these delicious cookies, but after the first bite I knew I just couldn't wait to share with y'all. Make them this weekend... sorry to sound bossy. They're just THAT good.

Oreo Pudding Cookies

{via Sweet Treats and More}

1 cup butter, room temp

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 (4oz) package instant Oreo Pudding mix

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 Hershey's Cookies N Cream Candy Bars broken into small pieces

2 cups milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine flour and soda in a small bowl and set aside.  Cream together butter and sugar.  Beat in pudding mix until blended, then eggs and vanilla.  Add flour and soda mixture. Stir in cookies n cream pieces and chocolate chips.  Using a cookie dough scooper, place dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.  Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before moving to a cooking rack.  Store in air-tight container.  Makes three dozen (plus).

i shall use my time

{via}

"Don't get too close..."

"Be careful, they'll break your heart..."

"You're going to burn out if you invest too much..."

"Keep your distance with the kids and their families..."

"You've got to maintain strictly professional relationships"

"Trust me, it'll be for your good if you can leave work unaffected."

These cautionary words of advice from older nurses have been repeated over and over in the 5 months that I've been at my job. While I completely understand where they are coming from and value their experience, I must respectfully disagree.  I mean, in the eyes of the world their counsel carries a lot of wisdom. It's a risky thing to invest in others. You are no longer in control. Something outside of yourself has a pull on your emotions - on your heart. I can see why it would be much easier to do your time and separate yourself from the reality of the heartache you encounter. It would certainly take much less of a personal toll to stay detached. 

Still yet, the pulse behind these words doesn't jive with my heart. I have learned that I just cannot operate that way. I cannot go to work, clock in and care for people walking through literal shadows of death, then proceed to clock out and walk away as if I'm resistant to their tragedies. I simply cannot help but get attached to these kids and their families.

I want my patients to know that I care.

I want them to know that I'm not removed from their suffering.

I want them to know that I feel the weight of their grief.

I want them to freely share their burdens with me.

And I want to point them to the One whose hope can brighten the darkest of times.

I know that every person has to find their own way to cope with the stress of this job, and in no way am I writing this to bash on my coworkers... I'm not claiming to have it all figured out, but I am learning that the, "Don't get too close" approach is not the path for me. It's taken me awhile to yield to that, but I've decided I'd rather burn out in 6 months and love my patients in the only way I know how, than to stay at this job for 30 years manufacturing displays of affection while staying completely withdrawn emotionally.

I understand this is the harder option. Yet I'm resolved to this course.

I'm choosing to look mothers in the eye & tell them that my heart bleeds for them.

I'm choosing to hold onto hope even when things seem bleak.

I'm choosing to show my weakness and shed my tears.

I'm choosing to love these children until it hurts.

I'm choosing to leave work with bruises and scars.

Because I believe that is the call on my life; this is what Christ's love has compelled me to. I'm learning that it takes a lot of trust, because I never feel strong enough. I have to depend on His love to fill me back up when I am drained empty. I have to count on His mercy to flow through these ordinary hands when all I want to do is throw them in the air and give up. Sure, there are plenty of times where this melancholy soul feels crushed with grief, but I've met God intimately in those moments and am surely richer for it. 

At the end of my time at this job (whenever that may be),

I want to be close with those I encountered,

I want to be heartbroken,

and I want to be spent.

God, use my time for your name and for your glory.

i have emotions.

Let me repeat that (for my sake)... I. Have. Emotions.

{via}

During my freshman year of college I was part of a Bible study that spent a whole semester talking about what it means to be a Godly woman. As part of that, we had a lot of conversation about dealing with emotions (us women tend to have a lot of them). I vividly remember telling the group that I didn't relate much with the "emotional craziness" talk. By nature I'm pretty easy going and don't have a whole lot of ups and downs. 

I was pretty much convinced that I was just not an emotional being. 

Since then, I've walked through two different seasons that have completely shattered that illusion:

(1) The 5 months I spent in Africa + the months following my return home

(2) My post-graduate move to Raleigh, North Carolina

Holy guacamole, there have been so many ups and downs in the 5 months that I've been in NC. I've been on an emotional roller coaster like no other time in my life. The highs have been really high and the lows have been really low. My previously-emotionless self likes to try to convince me that this bucketful of emotions is a bad thing. But I'm growing into my new skin as an emotional being.

That's right.

I have emotions.

Good ones.

Bad ones.

+ all the other ones in between.

And you know what? It's ok! Even when I have days where I'm down and the clouds don't seem to lift, it's ok! These ups and downs are part of life. And God created us to feel things deeply. In the past I think it's been my inclination to run from any emotion that doesn't feel good or comfortable. In this season, though, my feelings have been so real and in my face that I've had no option but to attend to them. To wrestle with them and figure out what they're pointing to in my heart.

I have days where I feel very sure of my life and the direction that it's headed. Days where I'm excited about what's going on and expectantly dream big things for the future. But there are also days where I feel lost and unsettled and alone. Days where my head spins, and I question, "What in the world am I doing with my life?" and "Where and I headed?" and " Who am I supposed to be?" And all too often that questioning is a slippery slope to discontentment and doubting God's goodness. Sometimes I feel like I'm having the identity crisis I was supposed to have as a teenager. Is there anything that is real about me? Am I a late bloomer? Am I totally nutty? Or is this all just part of growing up and God's refining process? 

I don't have answers to those things. But I'm realizing something. It's okay! (I've said that a lot today, haven't I?). It's okay that I have zero idea who I am or where my life is going. Because God does. He knows me better than I know myself and can see every last detail of this earthly life (past. present. future). God is real... He's the realest thing about me. God is good... surely He is the highest good in me. Nix that, He is the ONLY good in me. He holds my world in His hands and has big plans for me, even though I can't see them just yet. And that, folks, is enough for me. 

I'm learning to cling to Christ through the crazies. When everything around me is confusing and uncertain, He is the anchor for my soul. Yes, there are days that are so awkward and uncomfortable that I just want to climb out of my skin, but Hallelujah, that means that I am a living and breathing human being. That means that God is not through with me yet - he's still forming me into the woman He dreams of me becoming. And I just don't think that can happen without a few ups and downs.

So, praise God for emotions!

May we all learn to stand on His promises when the emotional tides rage.

May we bring our insecurities to Him and believe that He is bigger than the things we feel.

{via}

be in today

{via}


If you aren't familiar with Jesus Calling, it's book filled with daily excerpts skillfully written as if from Jesus' point of view. I usually read it on the bus as I'm headed into work... always such an encouraging way to start the day. I read the following this morning, it was such a timely reminder for me to simply be in today, and trust God with what's ahead. Hope it encourages you too!

"Much, much stress results from your wanting to make things happen before their times have come. One of the main ways I assert My sovereignty is in the timing of events. If you want to stay close to Me and do things My way, ask Me to show you the path forward moment by moment. Instead of dashing headlong toward your goal, let Me set the pace. Slow down, and enjoy the journey in My Presence."

Reason #9

Reason #9 why being a pediatric nurse is pretty much the greatest thing ever

{via}

3-year old little dude: "Hey, what's your name?!"

Me: "My name's Jarah. You know that, silly goose."

[insert 30-second silent pause here]

3-year old little dude: "Jawah, I luh you. You my girlfriend, okay?!"

...and my heart is officially melted...

Andes Mint Cookies + a new project

In an attempt to work on my cookie baking skills, I'm setting out to bake 50 batches of cookies in 2012. That's a little less than one batch/week. I know, I know... that's a lot of cookies. Don't worry, I'll share. I admit that I haven't been the best with carrying out the various projects I've started on this here blog. So, we'll see how this goes. I may get 5 batches in and decide to bail on the whole thing, but for now, the project stands. I started off this week with some leftover ingredients I had from the holidays. These cookies were ridiculously easy to make... I don't know if they technically qualify as "homemade" to all of you foodies out there because of the cake mix. But hey, I'm a little jet lagged and this was about as complicated of a recipe as I was willing to spring for today. They turned out wonderfully... Give these minty little treats a try!

{Recipe from Six Sisters}

1 Devil's Food Cake Mix
1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

1 package of Andes Mints

Mix cake mix, oil, and eggs together. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-9 minutes. 

Take sheet out of oven and while the cookies are still very hot, place an Andes Mint on top of each cookie. In about 5 minutes, the mint will be melted. Take a spoon and smooth out each mint like frosting.