Thanksgiving

I know it's a little late, but here are the things that I am Thankful for this year:

* That I can walk!

* My wonderful friends

* For people who have truly inspired me this year

* To "almost" be done with school

* My family, who has really helped me this past year

* That there's only one month left in 2009

* That I have sisters who are my best friends, and friends who are like sisters.

* That God is teaching me so much about myself right now

* Ugg Boots

* Starbucks Peppermint White Chocolate Mochas

*Really good food

It's that time of Year

My favorite time of the year is here. It's Christmas time! I just LOVE this season. Everything about it makes me smile, the smell, good food (told ya I'm a food junkie), wonderful times with friends, peppermint white chocolate mochas, Christmas music.... the list goes on. Everything is just wonderful this time of year!

I'm super excited because Tress is going on the Tour of Homes with me in a few weeks. I'm really excited to see what the Fayetteville one is like--I'm sure it's WAY better than the Cabot Tour of Homes. I like to just walk around the homes and Dream about what my perfect fantasy house would be like. Haha, I'm a nerd I know!

I'm very much looking forward to Thanksgiving break. Even though I have a million things to do on my 3 days off, it's always nice to do those things from the comfort of my parent's home in Cabot.

This is all for now!

Life is better with company...

"When you think about it, the most memorable moments of your life.... Were you alone?"

I remember....

Sitting on the front of John Mark's boat. The sun setting, as he's teaching all of us girls how to drive a boat "because that's an important thing to know how to do", Kenny Chesney's "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems" was playing in the background. We were in the summer before our 10th grade year and there really were no problems....

Cheering for countless girls basketball games my 10th grade year. I think we wanted those girls to win state about as badly as they wanted to. I remember being heartbroken for them when that bad call was made on Brittany in the final moments of the game, handing the title over to the other team.

Many afternoons spent with Christi in Mr. D's chemical closet, contemplating rather we should run away and leave graduating behind just so we wouldn't have to grow up.

I remember many walks up the hill to John Mark's house in the early hours of the morning as we "snuck out" of Christi's house to go hang out with the boys.

Mtn. Dews were called "Dewskies"

Every weekend I wouldn't come home untill Sunday night and spent every single hour of them with my 4 best friends: Loni, Christi, Ashley, and Summer.

Kaleb getting arrested for stripping in the bowling alley parking lot.

Me trying to punch Summer. It didn't go so well.

The night Ashley thought it would be wise to hit on Christi's little brother.

Having to drive Whitney's car home on graduation night, only problem was it was a stick shift and I had no clue how to drive one.

Bawling my eyes out the night before we all left for college.

Calling Christi every single day of my first semester of college, wondering why on earth we ever chose to go to seperate schools.

How excited we were when I finally got up to Fayetteville and we were roommates.

Many many nights spent in JohnMark and Shawn's room simply because Christi and I didn't want to go back to Reid....

How excited we were when we convinced Ashley to come up to Fayetteville.

I remember John Mark doing a strip tease in the upper hallway of our duplex.

I remember many nights when Christi and I would say "ok we are really going to go to sleep now" only to still be up hours later discussing life.

I remember learning how to shoot my first gun on Jack Tyler's farm.

I remember never eating in any of the campus cafeterias.

I remember going to one restaurant on Dickson every single week because Christi and I thought the waiter was hot.

I remember the first night I spent in my "own" house.

I'm pretty sure I have WAY too many memories... but I LOVE life!

Random

This post will probably be about several things.

To begin, I went to a baby shower this weekend for one of my best friends from high school. She is currently 8 months pregnant, and looks gorgeous. It probably has something to do with the fact that I think all pregnant women are cute. It's crazy to think that I am already at this point in my life... While I definitaley can't wait to be a wife and mom, part of me still feels way young. But I'm sure Summer will be a great mommy to Miss Greenlee Elizabeth, and I'm so proud of how she has handled some difficult circumstances.

If you know my sister, you would know that for the majority of her teenage-adult years she has been sick. We have never been able to find a cause, but she has the health of about an 80 year old woman. She has probably the worst immune system ever. But here lately she has just been getting sicker and sicker. A few weeks ago she had strep throat. Then bronchitis. Now she has pneumonia. It scares me because my sister IS my other half. I don't like her being sick all the time :(

Speaking of my sister though, some how she always dates guys who completely spoil her and its not fair. Just today, her boyfriend, Nathan, surprised her with midnight showing tickets to New Moon. He's always doing things like that for her. It makes me happy (and a tad jealous :) )

This is all I feel like writing right now!

Can't Live Without

It seems like every day I am reminded of something else I "can't live without" in my life. Ok... that sounds a little snobby. I'm not talking about material things here (well maybe a few), but primarily "life" things. And some things that I want in a husband I guess :)

Here are a few just in case you're interested:

* I want to teach a little kids Sunday School class with my Husband some day.

* I want to get flowers more than just on my birthday, valentine's day, and anniversary. I want flowers just randomly on some Wednesday afternoon, for no reason at all other than the fact that He thinks I deserve flowers. (haha ok so this one probably sounds a little snobbish)

* I want to stop being so dang tired all the time.

* I want to start tanning/working out again, but that would require me to have a little more energy than I do now.

I won't overflow you with my wants because the list could get rather long.... ha

And here's my rant of the evening:

I'm re-reading a book called Captivating. It's really really wonderful and I would recommend any girl to read it (and any guy who wants to dig deeper into his girl's world). It really makes sense out of a lot of things that women struggle with.

Anyone could tell you that a key difference between men and women is relationships. Women are all about having relationships and men really couldn't care less. Women NEED to have a sense of belonging, someone to share their secrets with, someone to laugh with, cry with and just be with. This is why women constantly surround themselves with friends, and are incredibly unsatisfied is they have not a friend to call their own. Women NEED Friends! But the frustrating thing is, no matter how close of friends you have, as a woman you still crave for those relationships to be deeper. Even if you just walked away from an amazing conversation, you instantly need more. I just learned that God made us this way. He made us so deeply need relationships, and companionship. And He made it that we would always have that longing for "more" until we turn to Him, the only thing that can fill that longing. Now guys need friends too, but they don't have the same intense desire for companionship that we do. Things make so much more sense to me now!

Ok enough of that, I have to shadow early in the morning so I should probably be heading to bed soon :)

Sanctification

Yesterday, a good friend of mine got me to listening to a sermon on the Internet. Now, I have NEVER enjoyed just listening to sermons in my spare time. But this guy, Mark Driscoll, is incredible! He speaks right on my level and I can't get enough. I learn so much through every one of his lessons.

Here's what I learned today:

God doesn't choose us to go through bad situations. I always thought He did. I thought He chose certain people to experience certain hardships, but this isn't true. Wow, this totally changes my perspective on some things. We experience hardships because of SIN. Our sin, or someone else's. God hurts for us, weeps for us, grieves for us. This is not how He intended for us to live. But, as a Christian, we can be confident that God uses every situation for our sanctification. We, through inflictions, are sanctified. How comforting to know that God works through every situation for the good of His people. I love this.

If you wanna check him out go to www.marshillchurch.org

Just Breathe

I have a confession to make. Sometimes I have to remind myself to breath. I catch myself holding my breath a lot. I guess its pretty symbolic to how my life has been lately. I feel like I'm walking on eggshells waiting for the next bad thing to happen. God must think I can handle a lot, because He's thrown a lot at me this past year. But I have a secret. I'm not that strong. In fact, the only strength I have is what God has given me. I have been mad and angry, frustrated, and sad. Very sad. But I have been completely humbled. I have been learning that God will take anything in your life that takes presence over Him. That's the hardest thing to do though because anything can become something that you seek to comfort you rather than turning to Him. I keep thinking about words from a song, "A time of jubilee is coming" It's definitely coming. I'm ready.

Brings You To Your Knees

"She got the call today, one out of the gray. And when the smoke cleared it took her breath away. She said she didn't believe, it could happen to me. I guess we are all one phone call away from our knees. "

Constantly throughout my life I had always said I just wish I could see the end picture. Who will I marry? What will my kids look like? Will I live a life that is pleasing to the Lord? Throughout the past year though I realize why God doesn't let us see the end result. This is life.

Life.

I think I have grown up more in this past year, then years combined. Amazing how, in order to grow up, you must get down on your knees. I have been brought to my knees so many times this past year. I have been broken in every since of the word: physically, mentally, spiritually.

Broken.

Broken so that God could rebuild me. I wouldn't take it back. The pain, the endless tears, the suffering. Everything is worth this. This complete joy. This peace.

Peace.

Peace that no matter what, my Savior has my best interest at heart. Peace that while trials will come again, I will never face them alone. Peace that who I am is just enough.

Just enough.

I am just enough. My faults, my failures, my insecurities. God made me this way. And He thinks its beautiful. A beautiful love. A beautiful life. This is what I want.

Beauty.

Perfect beauty that only comes from complete devotion to the creator of all things good, and holy, and wonderful. Beauty isn't a curse, it breaks my heart that so many girls live this way. As women, we were meant to be beautiful. Completely breathtaking. Eve was breathtaking. We were created in His image. Of course we are supposed to be beautiful! How fitting is it then, that just as Eve was banished from the most beautiful place in the world, our beauty is what brings us the most heart ache. We try to cover it, try to use it to persuade, ache over it, want it, compare it. The list goes on.

This isn't what God intended.

Who you are is just enough. Just enough. Enough.

Recap

Each week I think life is going to slow down, and it doesn't. Not one little bit. I like to be busy now, but really I'm not sure how much busier I can get! I am constantly running, running, running. I know I have WAY too many things I am committed to, but I absolutely love everything that I do! Oh well... Thanksgiving is just right around the corner :)

Recap of the weekend:

I got to go home last Thursday evening in the midst of Hurricane Arkansas. Let me tell you, I am so sick of rain. I especially do not like driving in it. At one point in my drive, I was in tears. I mean, I'm not a good driver already and add some rain... well you get the picture. It ended up taking me about 3 and 1/2 hours to get home but I finally made it!

One of my favorite things about going home (besides seeing my family of course) is my bath tub. I am a girl who absolutely LOVES baths. I mean really loves them. My bathtub at home is heavenly. It's very very deep with a never ending supply of hot water because I have my own hot water tank for my side of the house. It's just wonderful and always makes me so happy!

On Friday night, I decided to be brave and venture out with my sisters for a night in Little Rock. The evening began with dinner at YaYa's. I love fine dining. I feel a little guilty for saying that, but its true. Everything about it makes me happy. I just love being able to dress up and feel totally like a girl. And there's something about having to make reservations that always makes it that much more special. It's like the guy thought ahead. Haha. So we went to Yaya's and the food was incredible. It's making my stomach growl right now just thinking about it. Then we went to a few different bars to hang out, karaoke, and have a few drinks. I have decided Little Rock is my town. I just love the night life. Everything is very laid back and chill. Not so much that way up here in Fayetteville when you are packed like sardines!

On Saturday, My mom and I went to visit my Cousin, Julie, who just had a baby boy on October 19th named Stayton Blaine. He is the cutest thing ever and I instantly fell in love with him. I forgot how tiny newborn babies are. So precious. I loved it!

Sunday, I went to a new church that my parents have been attending called Cornerstone. My aunt and uncle go there also. I really liked it. Then, we had Sunday lunch at my house and everyone came over. It was really great, and my sister introduced everyone to Nathan (a big step for her!).

Finally Sunday evening, my parents and I sat down and discussed my future :) Evidently there is some reason why God doesn't want me to graduate in the spring so I'm just gonna go with it and postpone until the fall of 2010. Hopefully** this means I'll have a little bit more free time next semester. Then... the future is open! Who know's where God will lead me next!

First Post

This is looking to be a 2 post kind of night because I have a lot on my mind. But for now (since I'm supposed to be working on homework) I'll just post this cute email my sister sent me.

Random Thoughts 1. Nothing is worse than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong. 2. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call. 3. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text. 4. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood. 5. There is a great need for sarcasm font. 6. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists. 7. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet? 8. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in. 9. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger. 10. Was learning cursive really necessary? 11. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever. 12. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers! 13. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart. 14. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died. 15. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water. 16. Bad decisions make good stories. 17. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste. 18. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.