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.

Fireworks!!!

The 4th of July is getting closer and closer. I keep thinking about the things that define summer for me...fireworks, homemade ice cream, sun, swimming (without getting burnt!!!), sunglasses, braided hair, and grilling (this means my Dad stands out side in the heat doing the grilling...I just enjoy the results), and of course, Texas heat. I love these things (except the EXTREME heat...hello Boston). As July gets closer and closer I am getting more and more excited. I am going home for the first time in a while. I get to watch fireworks and eat yummy food and hopefully not meet any mosquitoes. (at least I don't have to worry about west nile at home...) For those of you staying in CS though, you should go check out the fireworks at the GB Pres. Library!! It is free, and they are BEAUTIFUL. And of course you must make the mandatory homemade ice cream!!

Happy Birthday Pirate Jax!!

Happy Birthday to the most awesome pirate I know!

Jax, you are so much fun! Watching you grow up is such a blessing and a gift from God. I love seeing your enthuisasm and love of adventure. Watching you have fun is so much fun for me. I love that you and Emma are always excited when I watch a movie with you.

I love that you do crazy random fun things like playing with the waterhose on the trampoline...right after it rained...

(This a picture of Jax holding a random frozen corn dog from off the garage floor...who knows?)

And I really love hearing you say "Arrgh...matey"

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!!!

Father's Day

Today is Father's Day. Happy Father's Day to my Dad. Last night I sat in church and listened to Butch talk about what a Godly man is. I am so thankful for LH and that everyday the men at LH are striving to bring up more Godly men. I am thankful for all the men who I get to see seeking God's will on how to be better husbands and fathers. I am thankful that because of their example, I know that such men do exist. I am thankful that because of their examples I know what standards to have for a future husband.
I am thankful for their wives who are willing to invest in me, to teach me what it is to be a Godly wife. I am thankful that their husbands allow them to take time to invest in college students like me. What a blessing!!
So happy Father's Day!!

Gotta love it!!

I can't say it enough, I love rain. It is amazing. It reminds me of God's goodness and His forgiveness. Rain makes everything clean. And it is so great to listen to. I can't imagine how excited Noah must have been about the first rain. I am sure he felt remorse over the fact the everyone was going to die b/c of their sin, but he was probably pretty excited about the rain. Think about it. He had a great boat, and he had never seen rain before. I bet after he got his family and his animals into the ark and shut the door, they just laid by an open window and listened to the rain beating against the boat and reveled in it.

Anyway, all this rain has made me think about the things that I love so much that bring out the inner child in me, so I thought I would make a list.

1. Rain
2. The Christmas Season, especially the lights
3. School Supplies and the beginning of school in the fall
4. Fireworks
5. Snow
6. Snuggling up in bed with warm blankets and comfy pillows

On the other side of things, I had one of those moments the other day when I thought "I can't possibly be old enough to be grown up." I still feel like I should be in high school, thank goodness I am not. So this is a list of things that make me feel "grown up".

1. Looking at my wallet and seeing things like my drivers license that says I am no longer a minor, my checkbook, credit/debit cards and having a legitimate reason for these things.
2. Having more than 1 key on my key ring...(do you remember the days when you carried a key chain that only held the key to your parent's house?)
3. going to the mail box and finding, among other things, bills.
4. Never having enough time to get everything done...according to Jenn and Heather, this will never get better....
5. Watching things like the Little Mermaid that I was addicted to when I was little and realizing that they are 20 yrs. old.

Now you've read my lists I want to know what yours are!

Rain!!!

I love rain!!! It is one of those things I can't get enough of (unless I have to walk across campus). Today my love of rain is threefold.

1. It's rain!!! So fun and relaxing. (too bad I didn't get a nap...rainy day naps are the ABSOLUTE BEST!!!)
2. Today, I left work and it was raining!! Normally a walk across campus in the POURING rain without an umbrella would not be on my list of fun things to do. But, today, I didn't have class at the end of my walk, I was going home!! So getting wet was okay!! It was so fun to walk in the rain and goof off. It was magnificent!! Something I highly recommend if you aren't on your way to class.
3. Due to the rain there was a severe thunderstorm warning and I got to stay home!!! (just kidding Jenn!! I love you!!)

I hope you got some rain today to enjoy!!

It happened...

I just got the call I have been dreading for four years. The fact that I dread it now for different reasons than I did then, doesn't change the fact that I have hoped that it would't happen - yet. I guess I will explain. I just got a call from my brother. The call from my brother where he says...hey are you planning on going home on this certain specified date? The call where I say "no" and he says, "oh, cause I'm going to do it then." It took me about 2.5 seconds to figure out what the "it" was and that my travel plans were about to change. The it was something I had made clear to my brother I wanted to be there for. My brother was calling to tell me that he had set a date for the proposal. I can't tell you how my heart is breaking for my unsaved brother. My heart is breaking because I want God's best for him and I know he can't have that unsaved. My heart breaks even more when I know that on top of that he is going to try to build a marriage. A marriage in which I know he won't be the man he was created to be. A marriage that won't be God's best until they are both saved. I ache for all the greatness of God's plan that they are missing out on. I want my brother to have a great marriage full of all God's blessings. A marriage with joyful submission, a marriage where the husband is the biblical authority. A marriage where he is a man seeking God with his whole heart, above all else.

I know what my brother needs, above all else, is to be saved. Please pray with me for that regardless. Please pray that I can be joyful with my brother and family through this. Pray that I can love them and be Christ to them.

Flat Tires...

I had a flat tire recently. It wasn't fun. But, since then, I have been thinking about it. I have been thinking about how when a nail punctures a tire, the becomes unable to perform its job. I have been thinking about the things in life that keep us from doing what God has asked us to do. What things do we allow to come into our lives and divert us from focusing fully on Christ? As a college student, I am sure many people around me would say school. Maybe I would even say that at times. Some people might say work, or a social life. I don't know what things make your list, but I have been praying that God would show me these things in my own life so that I can get them fixed.