peace – Jaclyn Grace

Heavy Hearts

My heart is so heavy with all of the happenings in the world recently. There is so much hate and senseless violence- for what reason? Where is the justification in killing based on the color of someone’s skin or their religious beliefs?

I am afraid of what is happening in this world and I often wonder when, or if, it will end. I am afraid of the type of world that my children will live in one day- I never want them to encounter the same harsh reality. While it is easy to be afraid, we must make a conscious effort not to let this fear steal our happiness.

It’s so easy to get bogged down by the hate, which seems to be everywhere, that we often overlook all of the good that there is in this world. There are still people out there who will go out of their way for a perfect stranger. Even if it is just buying their coffee or complementing their hair, the world needs more of that.

We shouldn’t wait for the next horrific act to unite as one and treat each other with kindness. There was an outpouring of love and appreciation shown for officers after the Dallas shooting, acceptance and prayers after the Miami nightclub shooting, and unending compassion after the previous Paris attacks. We have seen what we are capable of and this deep rooted goodness needs to shine through always.

It is so important, especially in these hard and dark times, to keep spreading kindness. Show endless love and compassion every chance that you can and to every individual that you encounter. Be a breath of fresh air in a word that is suffocating.

xo,

Jaclyn

Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Before I start on today’s post, I want to take a minute to mention an inspirational, beautiful, and kind woman who passed away earlier this week – my great grandmother. While we no longer have her here with us on earth, I know that my family has gained another guardian angel.

On another note – we got bombarded with THREE FEET of snow today! If you know me at all – you know that I will always prefer the warmth of summer to the cold and miserable New England Winter. There is something to be said, however, for the first snow day of the year! I love nothing more than cuddling up on the couch with a big cup of coffee and watching movies all day.

Cozy, cozy, cozy 🙂

Another thing I love to do when snowed in is bake. Today I attempted coconut oil based coconut and chocolate chip cookies. They came out alright, but I am going to continue perfecting the recipe before I share it. Instead, I am going to share one of my favorite cookies of all time – Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Every year at Christmas time my mom, brother, and I bake tons of cookies. We make enough to give to family members, bring to parties, and of course eat ourselves. We all choose one type of cookie that we want to make for that year and are in charge of that one. This year, these were the cookies I chose to make!

I love how festive these cookies are for Christmas, but they are still delicious year round! I hope you love them as much as I do.

Preparation:

1. Combine butter, brown sugar, and granular sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

2. Stir the egg and vanilla extract.

3. Finally, stir in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt until a dough is formed.

4. Next, fold cranberries and white chocolate chips into the dough using your hands.

5. Wrap the dough in saran wrap and refrigerate for a MINIMUM of ONE HOUR. This will create the light and fluffy cookie texture that we all love.

6. After an hour, pre-heat the oven to 350 F and roll the dough into tablespoon sized balls. Place them approximately 1.5″ apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

7. Bake for 8-10 minutes before removing from the oven. The cookies might appear to be undercooked, but they are not! Let them sit on the cookie sheet for about ten minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack.

8. Enjoy!

xo, Jaclyn

What is “Always My Sunshine”?

I started this blog several months ago because I missed writing, I missed expressing myself, and I missed being creative. I have always loved to write, but studying engineering does not give me many opportunities to do so. I spend most of my time solving equations and complex problems, and occassionally preparing a technical lab report. The closest I get to creative writing is when my younger brother sends me his college essays to edit at 10pm the night before they are due (Sorry Ant!).

I didn’t start this blog for anybody besides myself. In fact, I will be surprised if anybody even reads what I write on here. I wanted a way to document what I am thinking about, ideas that I have, delicious recipes I find, workouts that I enjoy, and things that go on in my life on a daily basis. Recently, however, my mom mentioned that I should start a blog to document my experience as I study abroad in Australia.

I will be traveling for approximately two months between Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii. Instead of waiting until I return home to share hundreds of pictures and try to remember all of the little details, I will try to upload details of my adventure weekly. This will allow me to share my experience, as well as this blog, with family and friends back home.

One thing that I know my family will ask me is “Why did you choose “Always My Sunshine” as your blog’s name? What does that even mean?” Though I know that I don’t need to justify my decisions, I will share that I chose this name for a variety of reasons…

1. I aim to be able to find the sunshine in every situation, and if I can’t find any sunshine I want to be able to create my own. To me this means having a positive attitude and finding the hidden blessings in everyday life, which is something I am still working hard on.

2. In my life, my family and close friends serve as my own sunshine. Being around them uplifts me, it makes me feel at ease, and it reminds me how lucky I am. They are and always will be my sunshine.

3. To me, sunshine symbolizes happiness and peace. Whenever I visualize my happiest place, it is always full of bright sunshine and warm rays shining down on me while I am surrounded by the ones I love.

What better way to name this little project of mine?!

xo,

Jaclyn