thank you, europe.

I returned back to school last night. Not the most anticipated day...but returning to my amazing roomies made it much better. =) Especially when I had a Christmas present waiting for me all the way from Ireland. I like having friends from Europe. Not only because she brings me cute presents, but because she is an amazingly sweet, funny, and beautiful girl! You should follow Leah's blog, We are okay.

Here is my present! Isn't this wallet absolutely adorable?! She got it at a store in Ireland called Penny's. Unfortunately they don't have a website. I wish they did because apparently America doesn't sell things quite as amazing as they do in Europe! 

I especially love the purple on the inside. =)

Love ya, Leah! Thanks again for the awesome Christmas present! I will take good care of it! =)

{.sitting here thinking.}

As I'm sitting here thinking about how fast winter break went by, I can't help but think of how good my God is. His grace never runs out. I am far from perfect, and I continue to make mistakes day after day, but God never gives up on this heart of mine. Even on days when my faith is shaken I can always go to sleep knowing my God is still God. Here are a few things God has been doing in my life recently...

My grandpa was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago and went through six weeks of radiation treatments. He is as of now cancer free. Today was his 77th birthday and he is doing really well!

An old picture of my sister, Grandpa, and I about three years ago.

I was practically handed a job for the past three weeks and it was totally unexpected.

I get to go back to school for yet another semester...as much as I dread the thought of school, its a blessing that I get to go!

Me and my room mates whom I am very excited to be reunited with!

Well...I know this post is really short...but its late and I have a busy day tomorrow. I just wanted to share a few things God has been doing. I will be back again soon! =)

{.three short weeks.}

Three weeks ago I was sitting at home doing...well...not much of anything. The holidays were finally over and I had absolutely no plans for the remainder of winter break. I was unexpectedly offered a temporary job at a daycare until I went back to school. It wasn't much, but it was a job! I worked in the preschool room with three and four year olds. I love working with kids, but after these past three weeks I am now confident that I made the right choice in switching my major from Elementary Ed. to Counseling. Trying to control a classroom full of kids every day is hard work! Being a nanny is one thing...I will always love doing that...but having a classroom to yourself is a whole different story and just not the job for me. Teaching and playing with kids is fun and something I enjoy...but after experiencing some different situations at the daycare, I am even more sure that I want to be a social worker who deals with children and families. One little girl at daycare would wake up crying at least twice every day during her nap and when she would get up she followed me everywhere...almost as if she were scared of being alone. A little boy clung to my legs and cried as soon as he saw his dad come in the room to pick him up. It's those small things that make me wonder what the deeper issues are. As much as I love playing with the kids, I would much rather be trying to help them at a more personal level. Work with them and their families to give them the best they deserve!


I'm so thankful I was able to have this job for the time I was there! It was a little out of my comfort zone at first. It was run by nuns at the monastery...and I'm not even Catholic. haha I felt a little better once I realized not everyone there was Catholic and not all the teachers were nuns! I was only called "Sister" one time in the three weeks I was there...but the innocent girl corrected herself right away when she remembered I was NOT a nun. lol The sisters were super nice and I'm glad I got to know them. Today when I walked in the kids gave me a collage of pictures and gave me lots of hugs. One little girl who had never even been there before was shouting how much she loved me. If you ever need to feel loved, walk into a room of preschoolers...they will do the trick...for a little while at least. (Three year olds tend to be brutally honest! haha) I will miss those kids! It's always hard to say bye after getting attached. But now I'm on to another semester of school. It makes me feel better when I remember I get a break from diapers, spilled milk, kids who don't want to sleep, and shooting lasers for a few months! =P


Hope you all had a great day! God bless!

{.the waiting game.}

I'm pretty sure everyone has experienced playing the waiting game once, or twice, or a hundred times in their lifetime. I can attest that I am currently in the middle of the game. Every day I wake up and wait...and then wait some more. I've convinced myself that waiting is all I can do right now. There are tons of verses in the Bible that tell me I should wait patiently..."wait patiently for Him to act," "those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength," "if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently." I could give you a page FULL of more verses on waiting. Let me be clear here...there is nothing wrong with waiting. God allows things to happen at different times for everyone and He wants us to patiently wait for Him. The problem I want to talk about is when the waiting game becomes a wasted game.

I've been waiting for so long. And to be honest, I'm not even sure what I'm waiting for. Something amazing to happen I guess.The other day I was hit with the realization that all this time I've been spending waiting has been time wasted. I'm starting to figure out that if I just keep waiting and ONLY waiting, I will probably be waiting for the rest of my life! Being patient is good, but waiting while sitting on my butt is foolish. I keep telling myself that I have to wait for that "something" to happen before I could possibly go out and actually do a number of things.

Sometimes I find myself waiting to have someone to love. Well guess what? All this time I've been waiting for just that thing, there have been MILLIONS of people in this world who need love. I now ask myself why I've wasted so much time holding all my love inside.

Sometimes I find myself waiting to read a good book until I have the house to myself so I will have peace and quiet. All this time I've been waiting, there are about 50 books on my shelf waiting to be read. Why didn't I just put in some headphones and read?

Sometimes I find myself waiting to talk to a friend until I hear from them first. All this time I've been waiting, maybe they feel the same way. Why don't I just pick up my phone and try to reach them?

I guess what I'm trying to say is WHY do we spend so much time waiting for things that are so within our reach? Maybe they don't happen as easily and convenient as we would like. Maybe they don't happen the way we would like. But can you imagine how many amazing things are right at our fingertips if we would just stop waiting for them to be handed to us and we would put forth a little effort?

I think I'm ready to stop waiting and take advantage of this time I've been given. It's time to make a change, to make a difference, to make the amazing possible. Time to let God write my story...and while I'm waiting to find out what the next chapter is, I'm going to take advantage of the time He has given me in this little waiting game. Time to grow, time to learn, time to seek Him and find exactly who I am in Him, time definitely not to be wasted.

Here is a song by Mandisa that really goes with what I just said. Check it out. =)

Now take my advice..take that first step and go make the amazing possible!

{.today is tomorrow.}

Today is tomorrow. No you say? Today is today? (Wow, anyone else notice I'm starting to sound like Dr. Seuss? haha) Anyways....let me explain. I stumbled upon this devotional at Proverbs 31 Ministries and it made a point that I haven't really thought about in a while. "Today is tomorrow." Hmm. How many of us have a list of things we need to get done or a goal we want to reach? How often do we say, "I'll just do it tomorrow"? Putting things off has been something I've been struggling with lately. I am constantly making mental notes of things I need to do, but they seem to never get done. There are not only tasks like cleaning the fish bowl and putting away clothes, but also personal goals and changes in my life that I really want to make like spending more time in God's Word, learning how to play guitar, eating healthy, or exercising. My tomorrows seem to never run out. Every day brings a new one which results in putting things off once again. I'm tired of putting things off. The longer I wait, the harder it is to actually start doing something. Starting right now I plan on reminding myself on a regular basis that today is yesterday's tomorrow and I WILL get done what I promised myself I would...or at least try my best! =)

{.good night.}

This is me. And no, I don't normally go around with a cheesy grin and my eyes half closed. I took this picture at 3 a.m. You might be wondering why I would do something so ridiculous as taking a picture of myself at 3 in the morning. Well pretty much...I couldn't sleep...and I was bored...and my camera was sitting right next to me...so there you have it. A lovely picture of myself with no makeup and fighting the urge to fall into a coma. These past couple nights have been restless for me. I know it's normally kids who have trouble with nightmares...but I guess I'm enough of a kid at heart that I still have the same problem. Every night for the past week I've had a nightmare. I'm not sure if it has to do with eating large amounts of sugar before bed or what. My guess is probably. Good thing I don't mind staying up late. Gives me more time to think and ponder and talk to God all while enjoying a big cup of hot tea. With that said...I'm off to ponder until sleep captures me. Guten nacht, bonne nuit, buenas noches, and good night. =)

{.goodbye 2011, hello new beginning!}

So 2011 has finally reached its end. Can you believe it?! Now let me tell you from the start...I don't have one of those exciting play by plays to share with you to sum up my year. This year was probably the weirdest, craziest year I've had so far...and by far it taught me the most! I definitely had lots of new experiences. I spent the first eight months of the year working as a nanny for the first time. Instead of waking up and going to classes like I was used to, I got up early every morning and took care of three adorable little girls. That job wasn't always easy, but it taught me a lot and was very rewarding in the end.

Sitting out a semester of college brought a lot of challenges, but also new opportunities. It opened my eyes to things I wouldn't have been able to see otherwise. Something else good that came out of staying at home was that I was able to earn enough money to go on a two week missions trip to New York City. I helped teach a two week summer school program for a group of beyond precious kids. That trip happened right during a challenging time in my life and going on it was exactly what I needed. It helped me take my focus off myself and instead use my energy to love those kids, show them how much God loves them, and give them all I could in my time there. I was also able to grow closer to my good friend Lydia and meet a lot of new friends there! New York brought many fun new experiences, including seeing the 4th of July fireworks in Manhattan, seeing Wicked on Broadway, hanging out in Manhattan with new friends, and so much more!

A few days after I got home from New York, I started thinking about school again. I was planning on transferring to a school closer to home, but after New York I felt I should return to the same Christian school I had been going to. This decision wasn't easy, but by the end of the summer I knew it was what I needed to do. These past several months have been the biggest spiritual growth period I've been through so far and I am so thankful for it. It took me a while to truly be thankful, but right now I can honestly say I am. I was able to see things for what they were and in the process God revealed Himself to me in such a real and personal way. It was far from easy, but throughout the rest of the year God continued to use people and circumstances to draw me closer to Him. He took away things I loved, He took away friends, but in return He gave me something much greater...I got to know my God better. I learned more about Him and His love for me. That is something I'd choose any day over relationships or friends or anything else of this world.

So I guess I said in the beginning I didn't have an exciting year...but I suppose I did. Maybe not by the world's definition of exciting, but it has definitely been one crazy year. Many times a roller coaster, but where would anyone get in life if they didn't take a few twists and turns and ups and downs? It's part of this crazy, challenging, beautiful, scary, wonderful, confusing thing called life! So with that said...I hope you all have a great New Year's Eve and strive for a great year in 2012! I've been thinking of some resolutions I want to stick with this year and this is what I came up with:

-Spend more time in God's Word and seek to know Him more.

-Learn to play my new guitar! Something I said I would do months ago and I'm finally doing it!

-Exercise daily...even if its just for 10 minutes!

-Lay off the sweets...we'll see how long this one lasts. =P

-Be a better sister, daughter, and friend.

-Read more.

-Smile more. =)

I'm sure I'll be adding more to this list as time goes on...why is it that we only make resolutions at the beginning of the year...shouldn't we be striving to do better and make new goals for ourselves year round? Just a thought. =)

HAPPY NEW YEAR AND GOD BLESS!