THANK YOU!

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Happy Sunday! :)

I can't express to you my gratefulness today.  I'm so happy that I started this blog/started reading other people's blogs.  I feel like I've grown so much as a person just in the past seven months because of it.  You're probably like, "Really? It's just blogging," but it's not just blogging. It's reading other people's life stories and learning from them.  It's finding a common interest with people all around the world.  It's realizing that there are other people halfway across the world who are just like you.  It's meeting people through what they have to say instead of what they look like, if they're wealthy, who their family is, etc.

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On every blog I've read, the creator has a story.  Most of them have had struggles that you never would have guessed.  Reading other people's blogs has taught me just how important it is to be kind to every person you meet because you have no idea what they've been through.  I always knew the magnitude of kindness, but now I'm completely aware of it's necessity. Every "about me" I read on a blog affects me in some way or another.  Some stories move me a great deal and others are just encouraging and inspiring; all of them have bettered me as a person in some way.

So today, I just want to thank you all for everything you've done for me, whether you're aware of it or not. 

There is no way I could name all of the people who have affected me the past seven months I've been blogging, but I just want to especially say thank you to a few (there are many, many more):

Lisa at I'm an Okie
Katie at Chocolate Covered Katie
Ali at Food Fitness Fashion
Clare at Fitting It All In
Samantha at Bikini Birthday
Jessica at How Sweet It Is
Tina at Faith Fitness Fun
Angela at Oh She Glows
Kate at Eat the Damn Cake
Heather at Heather Eats Almond Butter
Gabriela at Une Vie Saine

Gracie at Girl Meets Life

These are for you guys!  :)

Neiman Marcus Cookies
All Recipes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso coffee powder
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and espresso powder; stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.
3. Drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Cookies should be 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. For crispier cookies, bake 2 minutes longer. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.