Before

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After!

Amazing what a little white paint and elbow grease can do! Also, I’m obsessed with this closet. My room is nice and everything, but I could honestly put a towel down on the floor and sleep in here…ya know, surrounded by my clothes. Is that weird? Nah. Definitely not.

xoLL

Sometimes I just have to get these things off my chest! Moving on.

This cake is….well, it’ll save ya. If ya ain’t already saved this’ll do the trick. It is downright wonderful- and that is coming from a gal who isn’t crazy about peanut butter! But boy, am I converted.

ingredients-

for cake:

2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup boiling water

1 -3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1- 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1- 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

for peanut butter buttercream frosting:

4 sticks salted butter, softened

4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

directions-

for cake:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F. butter two 8″ cake pans, lightly dust with flour and set aside. 2. combine the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder in a small bowl and combine. add boiling water and stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. set aside. 3. in a large bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt until combined. 4. in another bowl combine sour cream, oil, eggs and vanilla. add the liquid and chocolate ingredients to the flour ingredients and mix with a hand mixer for approximately 2 minutes. 5. pour batter into the cake pans and bake for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. 6. cool on cake racks until room temperature.

for frosting: 

1. in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter on medium-high until smooth and creamy. reduce speed to low and slowly add powdered sugar. beat until smooth. 2. slowly add cream and vanilla until frosting is completely combined. whip it up real good! 3. frost the cake…or eat the icing. completely up to you. but it is good on the cake!

ENJOY!

(also, i apologize that the only pictures i can seem to take lately are phone pictures. again, corner of shame.)

xoLauraLee

Happy Holidays and a Beautiful New Years, Y’all!

Things are slowly coming along in the apartment…

Could it get much cuter than this?

My favorite thing to do on a Monday!

Swoon. Thank you.

XoLauraLee

I look forward to (hopefully) posting some pictures of the reconstructed rooms soon! In the meanwhile, y’all can feel free to imagine me covered in white paint, picking out moulding at Home Depot (ha, laughable), and ripping up old, nasty carpet!

Also, follow me on Pinterest!

Xo Laura Lee

Little princess has such a hard life….

“…until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning torch…”

My big mighty hunter! “Whack ‘em and stack ‘em!”

Not really Thanksgiving without a little Dickel…

Also, I would like to give some MAJOR credit to my best friend and sister Rachel Elizabeth Jolly. She did a PHENOMENAL job this weekend taking my pictures- like really guys, she’s professional. You should check out her blog!

Have a fabulous rest of the week! Happy “Hump Day”!

XoLauraLee

Saturday, September 15th

“…I think up until this point I’ve been completely disconnected to this trip- not fully understanding why I’m here, why on EARTH the Lord would put me with these people, and not celebrating in the joy of being in Israel. I’ve almost been in a sort of depression over the lack of connection I’ve had up until this point- sitting around hearing people say ‘Oh I knew the moment I flew into Israeli airspace that I was home!’. Totally did. not. happen for me. Jerusalem was where I made my definitive connection. When I was able to put my hand on the Western Wall, it all hit home- I’m here! I’m in the land! It’s hard to even articulate the emotions and feelings that pulse through your body while standing and praying at the wall. It was like a vacuum. It brought everything into focus and clarity as to my purpose here. And honestly it’s so ironic because I still couldn’t tell you WHY I’m here, but I know I have a purpose. I know the Lord has a purpose for ME. I know I am here to be strengthened and refined…” 

XoLauraLee

Gamla, Israel

Gamla (meaning ‘camel’ in Aramaic) is situated in the southern part of the Golan overlooking the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. Gamla is the site of the Roman siege during the Great Revolt of the 1st century CE. Gamla today still stands as a huge symbol of heroism for the state of Israel and is also an important site historically and archeologically. You can read more about the great revolt here.

A monument in honor of the brave Israelis who fought and died in the Great Revolt.

The Valley of Tears between Mount Bental and Mount Hermon

The view from atop Mount Bental: The Valley of Tears, Mount Hermon, and the borders of Syria and Lebanon.

From the overlook on Mount Bental you can also see several Druze villages as well as a network of old bunkers and trenches.

So blessed to have the opportunity to travel to these amazing places that mean so much to Israel.

During the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Mount Bental was the site of one of the largest tank battles in history. Mount Bental is a key strategic point for Israeli military due to it’s advantageous overlook and observation point over the entire valley. During the war, the Syrians attacked the Golan with 1,500 tanks and over 1,000 artillery pieces while Israel countered the attack with only 160 tanks and 60 artillery pieces. The 160 Israeli tanks were reduced to a mere 7 under severe enemy fire but still managed to take down 600 enemy tanks in the process. The Syrians eventually retreated at a loss, but not without inflicting heavy casualties on Israel. Today, the Yom Kippur War is looked at as nothing short of a miracle.

More to come!

LauraLee

In French, you don’t say “I miss you”- you say “tu me manques” which means “you are missing from me”.

Israel, you are missing from me.

One or two of you have noticed the “missing t” in “Carharts”. I promise it wasn’t a misspell! I left it out on purpose due to Carhartts copyright reasons. I debated over either leaving out the “t” or changing the name entirely…I decided I’d kill my pride (I’m a self-proclaimed grammar nazi) and leave out the “t” because “Cow Patties, Carharts, and Creme Brûlée” is just too darn good of a name to pass up. Even if it is slightly misspelled. To heck with grammar and proper English! …on some occasions (;

Y’all have a good night now, ya hear?

XoLauraLee

From our family to yours!

XoLauraLee