{{tying the knot}}

Why I'm Not All About That Bass

Otherwise Titled: In Which I Use The Word "Sex" Twenty-One Times

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As a self-proclaimed "curvy girl," I find the popular trend of embracing every body type quite encouraging. I was always that girl who knew it would be impossible, even as a skeleton, to fit the mold of "the fashionable figure" and as I've grown up and realized that such a standard is not the only standard of beauty, I've learned to love my body. For the most part. That isn't to say there aren't (many) days where I wish my arms weren't so flabby, my belly was flatter, my calves smaller, and so on. Because of this, I'm encouraged when I read an article like the one about a size 8 model who was angry when the company for which she modeled photo-shopped her down a few sizes, or when I watch a video like Colbie Callait's "Try", which features the singer-songwriter wearing no makeup and has has had over 21 million views since it came out a month or two ago. I think it's amazing that our culture (despite all the things in which it is failing) is finally scooting over and making room for girls with curves or without curves, tall, short, plump, skinny, shapely or dumpy, willowy or compact.
But for all this, we still have a problem. The problem is that the pop-culture is embracing body types all right...and drawing them right into the sex-appeal trap. There was an article published recently that made its rounds through my Facebook feed. This article was titled, "Modest is Not Hottest" and covered the fact that if you are looking to be thought of as "hot", then yeah, modesty isn't the place you'll look for it. She's really right. I agreed with some points this girl made and disagreed with others, but the thing on which I think we'd both agree is this:

The object of the positive body-image movement is totally wrong.

This problem was brought into focus for me a couple weeks ago, when my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Abigail, asked if I'd heard a song by Meghan Trainor called "All About That Bass". I had not but after she mentioned it and told me that the woman who wrote the song is fighting to "bringing booty back", I went online and looked up the lyrics, curious to see what a song by a curvy girl, about curvy girls, had to say to the world:

"Yeah, it's pretty clear I ain't no size two,
But I can shake it, shake it
Like I'm supposed to do.
Cause I got that boom-boom that all the boys chase
And all the right junk in all the right places."

Wow. The joke about this song is that Meghan Trainor thought she was being counter-cultural. She thought that, by defying the long-held view of "skinny is pretty" that she was defying culture, when in fact she was only replacing the wrong view held by sex-culture with another wrong view. In essence, Trainor is calling skinny girls names and saying, "You're not sexy. I am." And the whole entire point of this song that was meant to break out of the molds, is that it this song is playing right back into the same mold. Girls don't really want to be told, "You TOO can be sexy!" Sure, it's nice to know that we have "It", but deep down, having sex-appeal is not the thing that will satisfy us in our quest to find our identity.

Identity Crisis is practically the entire point of the downfall of modern culture. You want to know why traditional marriage is breaking down and we have states legalizing LGBT marriages by the bucket-load? Because we've been fed the lie and talked backward, forward, and from side-to-side that we are sexual beings only. Shoes are now "sexy." A huge floppy sweater colored like your grandmother's couch-covers is now "sexy." Morning hair is "sexy," breath mints are "sexy", Tropical islands are "sexy," chocolate cake (the cake, not the person eating it) is "sexy," and next up, they'll probably be telling us that eighty-five degree weather is "sexy". The adjective has come to mean the same thing that "beautiful" used to mean and that bothers me. When we, as a culture, believe that we are made for nothing more than sex, life gets super confusing. So I, as an unmarried twenty-two year old woman, am useless unless I'm sleeping around with men (or women) (or both)? Is that really what today's culture is telling me? Pretty much. I get angry.

Identity in our culture is changing ... only in shape. Skinny is being ousted by voluptuous and one day, skinny will reign supreme again, followed by another curvy-swing because nothing has really changed. Sex is still the goal of many of the people who are involved in the positive body image movement: "I am sexy, you are sexy, all God's children are sexy." There are some who are on the right mental track, but too many others are still stuck on the merry-go-round that is Trying To Be Sexy.

As a Christian, I've got a special identity because I know that I'm a spiritual creature and that I'm body, soul, spirit, and all the rest. Yeah, sex-appeal is probably shoved in there somewhere as one of my less-important qualities, but it's a tiny piece of the elaborate person I am...that you are...that each of us is. Taking out of the picture the idea that we're only sexual creatures, body-image would barely worry any of us. I mean, this current form is going to last only...what...eighty years out of the whole eternity I will exist? There's so much more to me than eighty earth-years, but according to pop-culture, that's all I have. According to pop-culture, my booty better matter or I'm completely sunk.

I think we've got something going on here. We've got people reevaluating standards of beauty and that's a great thing. But instead of purchasing "All About That Bass" and gloating over the fact that we actually have butts, let's fight to redefine beauty as something deeper than sex-appeal. Beauty is way more than whether a man will look twice at us or not. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "beauty" as:

"the quality of being physically attractive; the qualities in a person or thing that give pleasure to the senses or mind"

The qualities in a thing. There are way more qualities in a woman than her measurements, her body shape, and her makeup. And we'll never really change culture when we settle for anything less than the whole picture.

Your world is pretty small if you're all about that bass.

News of a Romantic Nature ...

This is going on, guys:

Yep. After two years of being an official couple, Daniel asked Abigail to be his wife. Get that? My best older brother is marrying my best friend, probably by October. Furthermore, I got to be in NoVa when he proposed which meant that instead of waiting a week or two to celebrate, I was bludgeoning the car window for them to open the door probably two hours after the initial proposal when I pulled up to his apartment. We had an impromptu ice-cream party and toasted the happy couple with some Martinelli's and Abigail informed me as we sat side by side on the couch an hour or two later,

"You're doing your happy-wiggle."

Yeah, apparently that's a thing. Anyway, I'm so terribly TERRIBLY excited about this, and I want everyone who reads this to leave a big old fat comment if you can. I mean, it's an ENGAGEMENT, people! <3

Whole Lotta Happy

There is something about looking at beautiful things.

I don't really know what it is, only that it is a wonderful way to relax and let go of the world for a while. Why is it people like Pinterest so much? Some people swear by the clothing, the wedding plans, the "life hacks" (what are those anyway) but I love Pinterest for things like this:

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I'm not making any large, metaphorical or philosophical statement out of this post! Rather, I'm going to claim looking at pretty, beautiful, wonderful things as a good thing, and leave you with a few links to my favorite pools of beauty in the online world. Ready? Set? Go!

//Photos & Things//

The Fragile Beauties (Pinterest Board)

"When Your Heart Wants Lifting, Think on Pleasant Things" (Pinterest Board)

//People & Candid Moments//

(life is too short not to) wear red shoes

Lucia Etc.

Footprints in the Sand

Annapolis & Co.

//Fashion//

Gingham Girl

Adonis Ephemeral

//Food//

Brown Eyed Baker

Chocolate Covered Katie

//Words & So Forth//

The Rabbit Room

We will be sure to update you on how our Romania trip went! For now, you can read more about that over at my other blog. Enjoy some beauty, free of charge, and have a lovely summer evening. <3

Hold on to spinning ground.....

Hey you guys! It's been a while. These past few weeks have been a flurry of activity, consisting of alot of farm work, nannying, and shopping for our trip in 6 days! We truly cannot believe that next Tuesday we will finally be crossing the border from Hungary into our dear Romania. :) Oh, and for those of you who are interested in what our team is planning on doing while there, please check out our mission blog: www.tmcmissiontrips.blogspot.com We both are so blessed to be a part of this team and we cherish your prayers for health, travel safety, and that the Lord would bless our efforts and fill us with His Spirit while we minister.

circled are the cities we'll be traveling to during our 2 week stay!

We'll be in the air for a total of about 13 hours, so if you have any traditions or grand ideas of passing the time, we'd love to hear them! ;)

Feeling: very-excited-kinda-overwhelmed-cough-cough-PACKING-cough-cough-hyped
Listening to: Be My Forever
Eating: nothing....but I've been craving donuts. Just thought I'd throw that out there. 
Liking: my new haircut! 
Working on: finishing preparing my mini sermons/testimonies. Oh yeah--and PACKING LISTS
Enjoying: this gorgeous weather we've been blessed with.
Hoping: this cold of mine is gone by next week.........>.<
Loving: the Lord's grace and mercy evident in my life and those of my friends. <3

-Sarah

Mercy in His holy heart is beating ...

As I made dinner tonight, on a Good Friday that has been extraordinarily busy, I turned on Andrew Peterson's Counting Stars c.d. and was struck by how beautiful, how appropriate, is this song for Passion week. I pray it might be as much a blessing to you as it was to me, surrounded by pots and pans and spilled milk and coffee. In the night my hope lives on. 

-Rachel

I am weary with the pain of Jacob's wrestling

In the darkness with the Fear, in the darkness with the Fear

But he met the morning wounded with a blessing

So in the night my hope lives on

When Elisha woke surrounded by the forces

Of the enemies of God, the enemies of God

He saw the hills aflame with angels on their horses

So in the night my hope lives on

I see the slave that toils beneath the yoke unyielding

And I can hear the captive groan, hear the captive groan

For some hand to stay the whip his foe is wielding

Still in the night my hope lives on

I see the armies of the enemy approaching

And the people driven, trembling, to the shore

But a doorway through the waters now is opening

So in the night my hope lives on

Like the son who thought he'd gone beyond forgiveness,

Too ashamed to lift his head--but if he could lift his head

He would see his father running from a distance

In the night my hope lives on

I can see the crowd of men retreating

As he stands between the woman and their stones

And if mercy in his holy heart is beating

Then in the night my hope lives on

I remember how they scorned the son of Mary

He was gentle as a lamb, gentle as a lamb

He was beaten, he was crucified, and buried

And in the night, my hope was gone

But the rulers of earth could not control Him

They did not take his life--he laid it down

All the chains of earth could never hope to hold him

So in the night my hope lives on

eShakti: Spring green

When the prospect of doing another review for eShakti came up, I was overly excited! I knew that their spring collection was amazing, and I just had a hard time deciding which dress to pick out. I knew I ought to go with a green (since I can actually pull it off, and it's very springish) but the beautiful choices made it so difficult.  I finally came to the conclusion that this one was my favorite for many reasons. First of all , the full skirts always catch my eye. I love being able to spin around and the cotton is so light and airy. I chose to customize by making it sleeveless and changing the neckline to square.

In all my experiences with eShakti, the customer service is spot on, and the delivery time is very reasonable. This company has so many modest choices for your spring wardrobe, and I highly recommend that you hop over and check it out. (Maybe even pick up a gorgeous Easter dress!)

  And to propel you into the wonderfulness of eShakti, here is a coupon made just for you, readers of Two's Company!!!

Here is a coupon code:

‘TWSCMPNY’

 exclusively created for our readers to get 10% OFF when you shop at eShakti –

 valid thru 03/27/2014 – 04/27/2014

photo credit goes to Matthew Walker at A Simple Glimpse Photography.

The Adventurous Barista presents "Macchiato in the Making"

macchiato: italian for marked or stained

The true way to start off, is to brew a couple shots of espresso in a genuine espresso maker. Ya know, that fancy contraption that drips life juice? But we don't own one of those beauts, so I make do with a strong brew of espresso grind in our French press pot. 

If you happen to be the lucky duck with the espresso maker, go ahead and heat/steam your milk. (For a 12 oz. drink, use about a cup of milk) 

Prepare your mug or cup with a Tbs of the flavoring of your choice. (I use this vanilla flavoring, or if I want a healthier version, just a tsp or so of pure vanilla extract) 

If you are in the same position as me, and don't have a machine to do the work for you ;), just heat up some milk on the stove and whisk it until it's nice and frothy. 

works like so ;) 

Now it's time to start building your masterpiece. Go ahead and either pour or ladle your milk into the cup. You need to make sure that there's a good amount of foam in there, so if needed, just skim some extra in. 

Wait for a moment (about 30-60 seconds) until you can clearly see the milk settling into two layers: 

Beautiful, ain't it? 

Ok, now you want to measure out a shot of your hot espresso (don't let it cool any) 

Here's where the magic of the drink comes into play. But it's a very fragile beauty, and can only be done with a good deal of patience and steadiness. You are going to take a spoon and angle it so that the tip is pointing down towards the edge of the glass. SLOWLY pour your shot of espresso onto the back of the spoon, letting the coffee make a SLOW entrance into the foaminess. If performed correctly, you will begin to see a neat separation of the elements, as the coffee settles beneath the foam, but above the milk. I use at least 1 shot per drink....depending on the day, 2 may be more appropriate. ;) Like I said, the slow and smooth factor is VITAL to this layered drink. But I tell you, it is worth it.....

....when you behold the full glory of your creation! 

And the look don't take all the cake.----this has been a HUGE hit in our house, and I get custom orders from my mom and sisters every day. ;) You can do so many variations of this drink: caramel, hazelnut, mocha, almond, irish cream, etc. I didn't put a topping on this one, but feel free to use your creative juices, and sprinkle with cinnamon, garnish with chocolate shavings, or whatever your little barista heart desires. 

Ladies, and Gents. I give you the

MACCHIATO

You're very welcome,

Sarah

Bless me lucky charms! ;)

"Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me."

"No one should ever say that it was my ignorance if I did or showed forth anything however small according to God's good pleasure; but let this be your conclusion and let it so be thought, that - as is the perfect truth - it was the gift of God."

                                      -Saint Patrick

happy st. patrick's day!

just bookin it.

Liza got me thinking about some of the fictional books I read as a kid that have just STUCK. Like the ones that have been passed on to the next 2nd grader for enjoyable consumption, and are a fast favorite. Here are some of those sorts of series:

 

All of a Kind of a Family Series

The Orphelines Series

The Railway Children

The Moffats Collection 

The Betsy-Tacy Series

What series did you enjoy as a little kid? 
-Sarah

"Why would a fella want a girl like her?"

Because it is Valentine's Day and we are all single (and most of you are single) and because we love singing/lip-syncing/the Broadway version of Cinderella, we thought we'd give you a bit of a treat. Suppose we had a variety show: this might be on it...and it's the first take so do forgive us. ;) Hope it gives you a laugh!

Love,

Rachel & Sarah

a snowfall's enough.