Where are you?

I have wanted to do this for ages. I am sure you will all think I am goofy, but I want to know who YOU are. I randomly go check my sitemeter, and everytime I wonder who all these people are who are reading my blog? Where do you come from? I can't imagine that anything I have to say is interesting. It always catches me off guard when someone says "Oh yeah, I read that on your blog." Everytime I say "You read my blog??!!" It is fun to hear that, but I see a list on site meter and don't have a face to connect to it. So, I want to know who you are. If you have a blog too, let me know so I can visit you back!!
Merry Christmas!!

Christmas is coming, Christmas is coming!!!

Okay, it has been forever since I posted. The sad thing is, that time went by so quickly, it all just seems like a blur. If I am this busy now, I can not imagine how much busier I will be in 10 years, or even 15. Yah. Scary thought. It's a good thing I have Jesus, or I could NEVER do it. College is wonderful for making you realize how insufficient you are and how completely sufficient Christ is. For that I am thankful.

In case you didn't know, CHRISTMAS IS COMING!! I am so excited. Last night I drove up to the home of the amazing Bacaks, and behold, I saw some lovely Christmas lights!! It was a joyful occasion. A few nights ago, some of my roomies and neighbors and I went to eat and after eating, we randomly ended up at Central Park's Christmas light display. It was so beautiful. There was cold weather and Christmas lights!! (Two of my most favorite things!) I was a genius and tried to carry a cup of well iced Dr.Pepper, which lead to FREEZING fingers, but that aside, it was a wonderful outing.

I have so many Christmas-related thoughts I want to relay, so I am just going to pour out whatever comes to mind, because who knows when I will be able to post again...I mean it is finals season too you know!

Number one. Everyone should read the book One Wintry Night by Ruth Bell Graham. It is wonderful!!! If there was only book I read to my children, aside from the Bible, this would be it. I really mean that!! If you know me, you know what a big deal that is. I love books. But this one is spectacularly in a class all it's own. In the book, a lady takes in a boy lost in the woods and cares for him during a blizzard. (more snow!! great!) While caring for him, she tells him a story he has never heard before - the Christmas Story. Only this isn't your "traditional" Christmas story. This story starts before the world was formed. It is a beautiful tale of the Lord's love for and pursuit of us. It is the story of how greatly we needed a Savior, and how fully that need was met through Jesus. Go get on amazon today and buy this book!! (Except for the Bacaks b/c I want to give this to your kids for Christmas.)

Number two. My favorite Christmas tradition is something that I have learned the value of more and more over the years. Every Christmas morning, before gifts are opened, before breakfast is served, before people get dressed, everyone sits around in their pajamas, wrapped in something warm, and my Dad reads Luke 1 and 2. I love this!! It is such a beautiful reminder that this day isn't about boxes or bags, or paper or bows or how much money was spent. It is about the birth of the Savior we needed so badly. After reading Luke, we pray as a family and take time to sing a few hymns about Jesus' birth. I am so thankful that I have never had a Christmas Day where I haven't been confronted with the gospel and my need for a Savior. That there was never a day where it was all about what I got. That in taking this time to step back from the commerical ideas of Christmas,and look at what the Word says Christmas is about, the Lord speaks to my heart and I can worship him and express thanks for all the wonderful things he has done in my life.

I have run out of time, but I know I will have more Christmas related thoughts soon!! I want to know what your favorite Christmas traditions are in the meantime.

Thankful List

Today I need to practice being thankful, so here's a list:

1. Jesus died for me. Best gift ever. By far.

2. Last night's Operation Christmas Child party was AMAZING!! I loved having so many wonderful ladies over! :)

3. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. A break is in sight!! Praise the Lord.

4. I have great roomies

5. There is a wonderful family by the name of Bacak that I know!!!

6. My room is Tiffany blue. Excitement.

7. There is a Christmas tree up in my living room!

8. I am going to get to see two of my most favorite people in the whole world over the upcoming break!!

9. I got to sleep in today.

10. I am still wearing pajamas.

11. Gilmore girls are great.

12. What I like about you is really funny. And reminds me of Heather. (Double bonus - so many laughs)

13. I love red toe nails.

14. School will end someday. And I have the priviledge of going to school. So many don't get that.

15. It will be snowing in Boston soon. I will definately be dreaming about that A LOT.

Better late than never

I haven't posted anything in about three weeks. There are multiple reasons for this. I wanted to make sure everyone knew about the OCC party that is next weekend (the 10th). Also, the World Series ended last night!! So, for the last three weeks, I have been avidly seeking out opportunities to watch the wonderful Red Sox. To be honest, I really pretty much rearranged almost all of my schedule, and sadly, missed some school stuff...Also, in that time, my Great-Grandmother died, so I made a last minute decision to go home to be with the fam for a bit.

Because I haven't posted, you have missed out on some fun stuff. We (Julie Faye and I) decorated/carved our pumpkins. I have pics and will post them soon. You will probably laugh. Friday, is a big day as we will be putting up the Christmas tree (so it will be up for the party, and because I really want to put it up anyway). I know you probably are saying it is a month too early (I have heard this 50 times from my neighbor.), but I disagree, and my roommates aren't complaining, so up it goes!! Yay!! I will also be posting pics of Friday's festivities ASAP.

Okay, now that the trivial stuff has been taken care of, I will get to the good stuff.

Today was Treston's Adoption!!!
This was such a beautiful thing to get to see!! I loved it. This beautiful boy ABSOLUTELY melts my heart, and I know what I was feeling was only a millionth of what Jenn and Rusty were feeling, but it was amazing. Such a good thing that God has done!! Now we have a Treston Jeremiah Bacak!! What more could you want??

Happy Fall!! I will have details about the party at HG tomorrow or I can email you directions etc if you need them!!

Operation Christmas Child Party

I love Operation Christmas Child!! I have a long history with this ministry. I did this every every year with a group of friends from the time I was12 until I graduated HS. Some really great memories. I have even gotten letters and pictures from kids who have recieved my boxes in the past. So sweet!!

So LHers, I am proposing that we have girls night on Saturday the 10th of November (after Saturday church)!! Let's get together, hang out, eat some yummy food, watch some great Christmas flicks and fill and wrap our boxes!! This will be great fellowship, I promise!! Just go the week before and get your stuff and bring a box. I will try and provide enough wrapping paper and tape for everyone, but if you have extra bring it!! You can leave your wrapped
box(es) & the $7.00 per box for shipping here, and I will take them all up to LH at once.

I will post more details later, but go ahead and spread the word. Everyone is welcome. RSVP here or email me so that I can make sure we have enough stuff and room for everyone.

Let's Go Sox!!!

I must say I LOVE THE RED SOX. My roommates can testify to this. I just almost went into a seizure trying to contain my excitement over tonight's win. I mean really, does baseball get any better than this??? (Except winning the world series of course!) I wanted to jump up and down and scream and dance and have all the excitement that I know the streets of Boston are experiencing right now. What a way to build relationships! Yay! Let's go Sox!!

Where HAS the time gone??

Okay, I have been saying for at least a month I need to do some posts about all the things that happened in August. It still hasn't happened....so, instead of doing several, I am going to smoosh them all into one quick post.

Okay, here we go. Topic number one. I had a wonderful girls weekend. Jess came down to spend the night and we had a great time. There was a scavenger hunt, a mysterious vanishing sign, cookies and not much sleep! It was great. I had a wonderful time hanging out with Jess and those of my roommates who can make it past 11:30 awake. (love you Julie!!) Here are some pics from the weekend. (Justus' party was that Saturday also!)

Picture of the the LH Cross from the scavenger hunt (great job Jess!!)

Picture of Sul Ross from the Scavenger hungPicture of the Century Tree at night!Sign Thieves!!Party Pics!!Item #2. I had a birthday!! Whoop!! It was great. My wonderful roomies made me a special supper, bought me my FAVORITE flowers, and my favorite dessert. It was wonderful!!! My best friend from home came down for a visit which was amazing. And I got to hang out with the amazing Bacaks on my birthday after the watermelon fellowship. How great!!! It was a wonderful birthday. Thank you so much to everyone that helped make it so special. I know LOTS of work went into it.

Item #3. We had a parasite party for Julie!! She finally got better after getting rid of the parasite thing she picked up in Nica. We had a GREAT party to celebrate!! See pics below.

Item #4. I changed my major. This was a huge ordeal for me. But things are good now!! I was a Pre-K through 4 education major. Now my major is Educational Human Resource Development. I love it!! I am taking business classes which are GREAT and I don't have to take calculus again, which is a huge provision from the Lord. I am horrible at calculus. I had honestly taken it FIVE times and still couldn't get the C Elem. Edu. majors are required to have. With my new major the 5 D's I had earned were more than sufficient. I wish I had known this was an option YEARS ago, because if I had, I would have started out in this major, and I would still have the 3.75 GPR I had before I starting taking calculus so many times. If anyone has questions about this I would love to answer them. Now, instead of doing what would be basically two semesters of student teaching, I will do a ONE semester internship. I can do this internship ANYWHERE. Crazy huh? So now I am praying about where I need to be next fall to do the internship. We'll see what happens!!

So that is a recap of my August. I hope I didn't overwhelm you!!

Birdseed Fiasco

Okay, so good things come out of community, right? Of course, sometimes the good is just not what you expected.

Saturday night after church, me and the two roomies who were in town went out to dinner with four other LH girls. Shortly after beginning the meal, we decided that this was the perfect group of girls to start a prank war with. (We just didn't know how right we were!)

This is what we found outside today....it mysteriously appeared during the night.

Gross huh? In case you're not clear on what you are seeing, there is a kiddy pool with blue raspberry jello and bird seed, along with copious amounts of syrup topped with even more bird seed. Let's just say it was a mess. But this mess was a good thing!

This yuckiness created an opportunity for us to meet our next door neighbors (who so graciously helped us clean it up!!) and tell them about LH!! So great!!

And of course, now we have the opportunity to "return the favor"!!! What will we think up next??!!

Things you probably won't see in TX...

I think I am going to start a series of post on things that I haven't experienced in TX but will in Boston. I may do some things that happen here in TX that don't happen in Boston...we'll see!!

Anyway, You won't find a sign like this in Texas ever, unless maybe you are living in Amarillo. Even then, I doubt it....A snow EMERGENCY doesn't that sound interesting? Think of all the snowmen waiting to be made. All the hot chocolate to drink. All the laundry you have to dry over and over again because walking through snow makes your pants and shoes wet....

Okay, so maybe a snow emergency isn't all glorious, but it definately has potential!

The sweetest thing I've heard lately....

This morning, as I was walking to class, I was pleading with God. I have felt so restless and unsettled over the internship decision. I have prayed and sought an answer with all that I am, and only the silence answered me back. I was so discouraged last night that I almost lost it on my way to HOPE group. My heart has been hurting over this so badly. So I was walking and pleading this morning, and I heard the sweetest thing. Wait. Just hearing that voice after searching so long in the silence was incredible. It really is like water in a barren land. It does give life. I still don't have the kind of answer I was looking for, but I have a "for now" answer, and that is good!! Isn't our God good?! I love that HE sustains us in everything. Even waiting.

Oh so funny!!

So I was sitting in the SCC yesterday, waiting for my test to begin, and I ran across this website!!!

So funny!!

Please go visit!! I promise you will laugh!! It was so great to read right before my test. Talk about stress relief!! I laughed so much the people around me thought I was nuts!!

Afterwards, I want to hear which one was your favorite!!

It's Emma's Birthday!!

Happy 7th Birthday Emma!!

Sweet Girl, You are a joy to me!

I love that you are crazy about animals.

I love when we watch a movie and you want to be next to me.

I love that you are not afraid of creepy crawly things that freak me out.

I love your fearless heart. Oh that I could be more like that.

I love that I have practically no pictures of you because

you are NEVER still!! You have so much energy!!

Watching you grow is such a blessing!

You are so beautiful.

Happy Birthday!

Significant September Ski-doodles

Okay, I haven't written about August yet, but I already have to tell you about September. There have been several significant happens in the last 9 days...

1. I got out the Christmas music!!! (About 2-3 wks. earlier than normal...) On Wednesday I was craving Christmas music, so I got it out of the closet!! It was amazing. So beautiful. Bekah had a Christmas themed dance party and I sat and laughed at her and told her about some of the songs I love and why. We bonded over Christmas music. It was great fun.

2. After listening to music on Wednesday, I couldn't resist pulling out my Charlie Brown collection and watching A Charlie Brown Christmas on Thursday night. I love that Linus just lays out the Word. I love that this is one movie that is correct in saying that Christmas isn't about the lights, or the gifts (contrary to popular belief), or the food; although those things are good. It is about Jesus!! What a great thing to be reminded of, especially by sweet Linus and his blue blanket. 3. After some extremely stressful moments, I found and "broke out" the much valued, highly treasured homemade hot chocolate mix tonight. It was great. I sat there holding the steaming mug and could just picture myself sitting on a couch (my couch!!) in Boston, wrapped in a blanket and watching the snow fall outside while drinking this incredible drink. Amazing (Such a Kodak moment in my brain)...the first "hot chocolate moment" of the season. Until....
4. I swallowed a fly. Every read the children's book "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly"? That's how I felt. It was SO GROSS. I took a drink of my greatly beloved hot chocolate and felt something crunchy in my mouth. Something was wrong!! It was without a doubt the grossest thing that has ever happened to me. It was nasty, but at least my roomies got a laugh out of it. 5. I have restarted Gilmore Girls...I started with Season One, Episode One tonight while doing work stuff...So great!!

Not so much a question of if, as a question of when...

Okay, first I should say that LOTS of awesome stuff happened in August that I have yet to blog about. I have a lovely post it here sitting next to me reminding me what to write about....I promise I will fill you in on all of that great stuff soon.

Tonight, I just wanted to say that I am at a cross roads right now. I have to make a decision in the near future about exactly when to move to Boston. I am praying for explicity clarity and affirmation right now. I think I know which way this is going but I want to be sure. I would appreciate your prayers in this too. Thanks so much!!

It's Justus' Birthday!!

Something wonderful happened today!! A sweet boy that I love SO MUCH turned 3!!! I can not believe that this sign doing, pop eating,firetruck loving genius is three!!

Isn't he beautiful?? I have loved getting to see Justus grow exponentially in so many ways in the last 9 months. The first time he said Amanda to me, I was so excited I almost cried. It was so beautiful.

I love that when I see Justus away from home, he wants me to go home with him. I love that he thinks I should live with him. How precious is that. I love that when asked who was coming to his party I was one of the people he wanted to invite. I love that he looks at me and asks "where going?" and then the mandatory "why?". I love that the word(s?) whoo-whoo-whoo come out of his mouth at least 300 times a day.

I can't wait to see how this precious boy keeps growing. It is so much fun to watch. I am so thankful that for a season of my life this precious gift is an everyday part of my life.

Happy 3rd Birthday Justus!! I love you! Whoo-Whoo-Whoo!!

The end of summer, the beginning of school and 10 reasons you wished you lived in the super cute apartment!!

School started today, so of course there must be a post about it. I thought I would make a list of all the great things about our apartment, to start the year off right. I hope your first day went well, or goes well when it gets here. So here's a list of some wonderful things about our apartment:
1. I live with three sweet ladies
2.We have actually "argued" over who got to do the dishes....
3. EVERY night is movie night
4. You never know what craziness will happen next
5. We throw awesome parties, and everyone wants to come
6. We get to use our apartment to bless other people
7. Today, for the first time ever, I thought, "hmm, I going to be home alone for a while tonight...how weird." I was sad that one not a one of my wonderful roomies will be here.
8. We are know as the "facts of life girls" by the wonderful family named Bacak
9. We pray for each other every day
10. We write fun little notes on all the mirrors!!
Bonus: We get to have REAL community every day (this is greater than I could have imagined)

Lighting and I-45

Last night I drove to Houston to come see my brother. I love to drive, so the drive was nice, but the BEST part was that right after i got onto 45 it started lighting!! That made my favorite part of the drive just amazing (as well as something else). (Yes, I do like to drive on 45 and pretty much any other interstate, under all conditions) I absolutely loved it. It was really pretty. I enjoyed the pink and blue flashes that lit up the sky. I think I am a bit of a weather freak...I love when things fall from the sky (ie - rain, snow, hail) or when there is lighting...especially pretty lighting like last night's. I just hate hot weather and humidity....

So now I am off to hang out with my brother and probably get a bit wet...fun fun...maybe I will convince him how desperately I need to go to Sephora to get some make up...or at least to take me out for my birthday!!

Super Cute Apartment Pt 3

After the paint dried, I was finally able to start moving my stuff in. This was the first time I have ever moved and not had everything moved in and COMPLETELY unpacked in one day. This time it took four days. FOUR DAYS. Insanity. I was completely out of my element. I felt like I had lost my mind. HERE ARE SOME OF THE MOVE IN STAGES.

I have been waiting for my new comforter to be delievered and to hang pictures!!! I will have pics of the finished product soon!!! I will have pics of our cute Bathroom and the rest of the house too when it is done!!

Super Cute Apartment Pt 2

(Continuation of The Super Cute Apartment Story) ...So before I could start painting, and while waiting for utilities. I moved all my stuff into the dining room so that Bekah could bring her stuff into the living room. That was a lot of work. After that was done, it was time to get ready to paint!! My sweet friend came over at the last minute to help!! I was so thankful!!

These (above) are some "before" pics. Notice the plastic drop cloth and blue paint tape in the last picture. Unfortunately we didn't tape the ceiling. I had bought this really cool edger that was supposed to eliminate the need for tape...it didn't. I will be going back with white paint around the random mess ups on my ceiling. Then we painted!!

There are no words to describe how excited I was about this...I was literally giddy. Why painting was so exciting to me I have no idea, but I was so excited that I went a little crazy. There were squeals of delight and joy coming from me. I am sure it was a funny thing to behold. It was great!!

So this is the beginning stages of my "rock star" room....

I must say that these pictures don't really do justice to the color of my walls. You have to see it. It is incredibly beautiful. To see the an example click here.

Super Cute Apartment Part 1

In case you haven't heard I moved recently (the roomies are coming)!! It has been interesting in many ways so far. I thought I would share the process of moving in with these sweet girls. Last Thursday I moved my stuff in the rain. All of it. I was wet and scary looking. My sweet brother came to help me move the big stuff. I was so thankful for his help!! The electricity and water were supposed to be on when I got there. Guess what??!! They weren't! So we dumped my stuff in the living and dining rooms (where ended up completely full of my stuff) so that I could paint before moving my stuff to my room.

Seriously there was stuff EVERYWHERE. It was craziness. My well organized, order centered mind did not know how to handle the chaos that was this mess of stuff. When we got done moving things inside (and out of the rain) I realised that there was going to be no utilities that night. Which meant Jenn and Rusty so graciously housed me one more night. (Thanks so much Jenn!!) Friday I came ready to paint!! But alas, there was still no electricity or water...After some mess trying to resolve the issues, I had electricity at about 10:30 and water at about 2. So nice. I was so happy that I could go potty at my own house!! And wash my hands too of course!!

Okay, I will save the rest for now, but the next post is about PAINTING!!! (and getting stuff actually INSIDE my room...)

Happy Birthday Treston!!!

I know it is late, but...

Happy Birthday Treston!!!

Precious Boy I have loved every minute that I have gotten to spend with you these last 8 months. I can't believe how much you have grown. I am so excited that I get to watch you continue to grow and become a little man. You are such a joy.

Your smile lights up the room and you are the best dancer I have seen in ages. I am thankful that even before you were born God had a plan to "give you hope and a future" by giving you such a special place in a wonderful family where you are loved immensely and will learn about His greatness. I can't wait to watch you grow over the months and years to come. I love you T-bear!!

Elem Ed. Major? Creative? Like to paint? Call me!!!

If any of you love to paint, I have an opportunity you don't want to miss!! I have a bedroom and a bathroom that need to be painted. I would love some help next Thurs/Fri (the 26th and/or the 27th). If you come help I promise to feed you something yummy!!

Summer time!!

It is summer!! I love summer. At least most parts of summer. I don't so much care for the heat. I have really been loving that it hasn't felt like a Texas summer this year. (If you don't live in TX, trust me they are like sitting in an oven...really not pleasant...) I went to a baseball game last night, and not only did I not get even the least bit warm, I didn't even see any mosquitoes!! It was glorious. I have been loving the rain too. I can't get enough of it!!!

My summer checklist is almost completed:

1. eat homemade ice cream
2. explode LOTS of fire works...I LOVE THIS!!!!
3. eat a snowcone
4. go swimming
5. eat a homemade (by my dad) hamburger
6. move at least once (or three times.... )
7. take lots of summer school
8. have a birthday
9. sleep late
10. lots of reading for pleasure
11. Watch some great movies
12. Have a Gilmore Girls marathon!!

I have done 1-7...5 more to go!! Much fun!!

I think the highlight of my summer is that I have gotten to spend lots of time with the Bacaks and it has been amazing!! What was my life like before these amazing people?? I don't remember, but I know it wasn't nearly as great. I mean you gotta love those Bacaks!!

How cute are they??!! I hope you have had a great summer too!!

Woohoo! (Just typing that makes me want to laugh...)

Okay, so most of you know that I am getting ready to move twice in the next few weeks. I have been trying to get everything together for the the apartment I will be living in this fall....My compulsive planning is coming out...I am trying not to let it control me or my checking account. I have already bought a beautiful new set for my bathroom. My next move was to buy this...I have wanted this for quite a while. I have been waiting until I won't have to store it before use to buy it. That time is here. So I made my merry way to Target.com. Care to guess what happened??

NOTHING!!! That's right, nothing. I didn't click add to cart and then type in my card number. I didn't get all excited just thinking about what was on the way and how much I would love cuddling with my new comforter...nope. I didn't do anything because they were sold out. I was sad. I had this perfect room in mind and the rock star in my mental picture was this set. I can't tell you how crazy I have been about this. I decided the only logical thing to do was search the internet. I looked EVERYWHERE. Surely, someone else sold this same comforter. WRONG!!! No one else sold it. I decided I must settle for something not quite as great, something I didn't like as much...So I looked everywhere again. I found nothing I liked. I was about to give up after searching online at every department store, high end retail chain, every random internet site. I decided to make one last ditch effort.

I would check walmart.com....I don't like Wal-Mart, I am thoroughly a Target kind of girl. So I checked and I found this....

I like this. And it is alot cheaper than the other one. I love that God had a plan here. Because of this, kids are going to get new backpacks for the fall!! I love that God is so much bigger than me and my small, selfish plans. How awesome is that!! I love that I am reminded once more that the money in the bank isn't mine. Something I need to be a bit more aware of all the time.