Chocolaty Morsels

So, I'm not much of a baker because I like salty/savory food rather than sweet. However, there are times that I start craving just a tiny nibble of something sweet. Well, tonight was one of those nights.

As I was searching our apartment for something sweet, I kept trying to figure out exactly what I wanted..but nothing came to mind. Finally, I decided I would bake some easy, chocolate chip cookies. That may not seem like a big decision to you, but the last 3 times I've baked chocolate chip cookies, I didn't like them. They tasted like dough, but not cookie dough, more like...shortbread or something..I don't know, I just didn't like the flavor. All those cookies went bad, and my taste buds were left disappointed. 

Side note: I've been using the Trader Joe's chocolate chips bag recipe...tonight I decided to use Nestle's chocolate chip bag recipe...What a HUGE difference!

My chocolate chip cookies turned out scrumptiously perfect! They didn't look pretty on the outside, but the flavor was pure bliss to my taste buds. It struck me curious that the Nestle recipe tasted soooo much better, so I investigated.

I looked at the nutritional content on both of the chocolate chip bags, and both recipes...Everything was exactly the same! The recipe, the calories, the sugars, the fat, everything. Okay not everything...I kept investigating and literally the ONLY difference between the Trader Joe's bag recipe and the Nestle bag recipe is that Trader Joe's asks for 1 cup of brown sugar & 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, whereas the Nestle Bag asks for 3/4 of a cup of brown sugar & 3/4 of a cup of granulated sugar.

I'm not very good at math, but altogether those numbers equal the same amount of sugars!...So what makes the Nestle bag recipe better? I'm convinced that it's the type of sugar used. There is 1/4 of a cup more of granulated sugar in the Nestle bag recipe, and therein lies the evidence & answer.

Okay, so I know that this all seems so silly, but, you have to understand, I don't normally like sweets. Not only that, but the last few times I baked chocolate chip cookies, they were gross. Last but not least, these cookies were amazing!!! My taste buds are SO happy, and I am SO happy. I now know that I will never use the Trader Joe's recipe again. 

Sorry Trader Joe's, I love you, but not your chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Love, Em

Unconditional Love

Now that Valentines day is over, all the festivities, "love", and romance kind of all fades away. The world keeps moving and we all move with it. It's so interesting to me how quickly moments, days, or events we've prepared for and been waiting for seem to fly by so quickly! It makes me wonder why we don't celebrate every day as if it were a moment to be thankful for. I mean, why not prepare to have a wonderful day everyday? Why not prepare to have a romantic, or loving, or special day everyday? Of course we all have our jobs, responsibilities and other things to attend too, but I don't think it would hurt anyone to take an hour or so to just embrace the day we have before us!

Anyways, I'm not much of a Valentines day obsessor. Don't get me wrong, I love flowers, chocolates, quality time, cards, etc. But it's not a "holiday" that I obsess over too much. None-the-less it is nice to see everyone enjoying their significant others, friends, family, etc. This Valentines Day, I was reading another blog and it talked about God's love for us. It really inspired me to talk about it myself. 

We all want to be and feel loved. We all crave that emotional sensation, and we all want to give love too. It's inevitable. Very few people in life say, "I don't care for love" or "I don't want to be loved"...in fact, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that to me. The sad thing about the term "love" is that it's been so twisted. Love to so many people now days has been thwarted into a physical, in-the-moment, quick, thing, where the true value and meaning of love is lost. Kind of like this (ignore the the cuteness) 

This brings me to God's love and what His meaning of true love is.

Love by definition is: Love is an emotion of a strong affection and personal attachment.^[1] Love is also said to be a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection —"the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another".^[2] Love may describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals 

and

 strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties <maternal love for a child> (2) : attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt bylovers (3) : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests <love for his old schoolmates>

and it goes on and on in almost every type of dictionary available...

In the bible, the definition of love is this: This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10 NIV

And throughout the Bible there are several references to what it means to be loved by God and to love like God...unconditional love IS true love. No matter what day, time, or moment, God's unconditional love never fails, it never stops. He doesn't wait until Valentines Day to give you affection or love, He loves you every day, all day. This is the kind of love we should celebrate and cherish. Loving each other is a beautiful emotion that we have the privilege of experiencing; but if we applied God's love to our life, and loved like He does, think of just how much more invigorating loving each other would be. 

God loves you.

He loves everything about you, whether or not you feel it, it's there, it's constant, and it never changes. He loves you, has loved you, and will always love you in the PERFECT form of love. God is love, therefore he created love. He knows what it means to love unconditionally in perfect form.

So whether or not you had someone to "love" on Valentines Day, remember that you had someone loving you, and his name is Jesus. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever! Psalm 118:1-3

I hope everyone enjoyed Valentines Day, but I hope you also enjoy the love God has for you every day of your life. <3

Here are a few funnies to start your weekend with...

Don't forget to follow me! <3

The Emerald City

My husband and I just got back from celebrating our 1 year anniversary as a married couple!

 This was our itinerary I put together...highly suggest doing this. It was super helpful to be prepared.

 I mentioned in my previous blog that we were going to Seattle, and we did! I feel like I have so much to say about Seattle, but I promise I'll try to keep it as short as possible. 

 This was in our hotel room...they didn't have any screens on their windows! So dangerous, but great photo opt moment!

Our first walk to our first restaurant for our first lunch on our first day in our first time in Seattle. A lot of firsts.

The hotel Andra, side view. Not super flattering, but it's much prettier inside.

First of all, did you know that Seattle is known as "The Emerald City"?! I didn't! I thought it was the coolest thing to be on vacation in a city that has my name in it, Emerald. I'm not sure the reasoning behind why they call it The Emerald City, but I have to assume it has something to do with how green it is. It's beautiful in Seattle! If it weren't for so much cloud cover and rain, I would definitely consider living there. The culture, the people, the development, the surrounding cities, everything is just so fun to be engulfed in.

 They had police men and women on horse! So interesting..

 This place is a popular touristy market, a lot of farmers market, but it's indoor/outdoor & has 3 levels!!

 Sooo...my husband is from San Luis Obispo county, and I lived there for 2 years...if you've ever been there, you will hear of an alley with a wall full of gum. Well, Seattle had one too!!

 You'll notice that I'm giving a "thumbs up" in a lot of photos...it's because I never know what to do with my hands in photos...uhg. 

The view of downtown Seattle from the water-front.

We purposely chose to stay in a hotel that was basically centered in the middle of downtown Seattle. It was called the Hotel Andra. It was a very cool, modern looking hotel, smaller too. Since we were so close to everything around us, we walked around downtown Seattle for the first 3 days we were there. It was AWESOME! 

It was such a cool, new experience for us; everyone walks up and down the sloping streets of Seattle. There are cars, taxi's, buses, and shuttles too, but walking seems to be the way to get places in Seattle. Although the downtown part of Seattle is a smaller downtown, there is so much to see! It's weird because Seattle is basically between two lakes, but your mind tricks you into thinking the lakes are the ocean because they are so big! The other crazy thing is how hilly the streets are. Its really cool to see a street go up and down, up and down, up and down. I have a few pictures that sort of show you what it was like.

You can kind of see the hills in this photo.

 The Seattle Aquarium.

 Can't get enough of my babe. <3

 Such a hottie!!

Anyways, a few of the things we visited and explored while we were in Seattle were the Space Needle, the Seattle Aquarium, the Seattle Underground Tour (SO COOL!!!), wine tasting, visiting the original Starbucks (I was in heaven), walking up and down the lake water-front, and eating at all sorts of different restaurants. I could go on and on and on, but I think I'll just let you look at photos.

 Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...the ORIGINAL STARBUCKS!! Complete with an amazing violinist playing out front.

 BEST breakfast place EVER!!!

 Again with the thumbs...oh my goodness, Emerald, you look silly.

 Hahaha! I thought this was so funny...it's the other wall in the gum alley.

The following photos are from the Seattle Aquarium. Yes, those are all real sea creatures that we took photos of..so beautiful!

We met two new friends outside of this little cafe. It was poppin with people! It's a super popular spot to eat breakfast and lunch.

Okay, maybe I'll say just one more thing!...I highly suggest the Seattle Underground Tour, if you are ever planning on visiting Seattle. It is so cool to hear about the history of The Emerald City. I wont spoil it all, but Seattle in modern day is built ON TOP of Seattle pre-modern day...crazy! I know. Anyways...here are more pictures.

 This was such a cool moment...just walking along the streets of Seattle and this sign had "Hot Jeff" as the special of the day! Of course I had to take a picture of my hubs next to the special named after him!! That's what you get when you take time to enjoy the culture around you. :D

 This was taken at a Mexican restaurant at the Seattle convention center/mall area. The food was FANTASTIC.

The next several pictures are from the Seattle underground tour...literally the first city of Seattle underneath the now modern day city of Seattle.

Okay, I understand that by now, I've gone against my promise of keeping this blog short. I just can't help it! I hope you're not over the pictures yet, because I have more!!

I really, really wish I could tell you every detail of our trip but it would get boring and repetitive, so, I hope you enjoyed the photos! It was beautiful in Seattle. As a person who loves to travel, I highly suggest visiting Seattle for a few days and allowing yourself to be enveloped by the culture, it's a wonderful experience. Jeff and I really enjoyed being together, and enjoying our quality time for our 1 year anniversary, and we would go back to Seattle anytime!

These next pictures are not in order, they are all random restaurants we ate at. There was also a winery we went to that was in Woodenville, which is about 25 minutes East of Seattle.

 Yes. That was the original mermaid they came up with...So glad they changed that. Haha!

 That was and has been the first fondue we have ever tried! So yummy! It was goat cheese with a hint of lavender  Nom Nom Nom.

 This is my husband when he is shaved! I've been asking him to shave his goatee so about 3 months now. He finally shaved it all on our trip in Seattle! He looks at least 5 years younger. I love that he has so much hair to style and change..it makes things fun!

I will leave it at that. So many fun memories! So many yummy restaurants. So many awesome discoveries! If you have any questions about the restaurants or pictures I posted, feel free to reach out, I'll letcha know what was good, and whatever else you'd like to know.

Have a wonderful rest of your week!

Here's the verse for today:

 Exodus 34:10

Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you.