Manda Jo's Journey

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T08:01:00.000-08:00

In honor of Valentine's Day I decided to link up and do this fun survey!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together?
We officially began dating in January 2006. So we have been together for 6 years.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}

Micheal and I met at our church youth group. we became really good friends when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore. We both served as leaders in our youth group along with our 2 other friends, Kayla and Gary. The four of us were together all the time. The summer before my Jr. Year my best friend Kayla moved to another school. After she left Micheal and I began hanging out just the two of us. We were friends with feelings! LOL! For the next year the only "dating" thing we did was hold hands. We truly hung out, played games, watched movies, and just got to know each other. After Micheal graduated he became one of the adult youth leaders in our youth group. I was still in the youth group because I was in High School and it was against the rules for a youth leader to date a member of the youth group (for obvious reason). By this time in our relationship Micheal and I were both in agreement about our feelings for one another but we wanted to respect our Pastor and handle our relationship in a godly way. We were allowed to spend time together as long as we were with a group. That was fine with us! :-) We just wanted to be together. We officially became boyfriend and girlfriend on January 1, 2006. When I turned 18 on May 2nd of that year our Pastor said that we no longer had to follow the spending time only in a group rule. We have been an "item" ever since! :-) I know our story may sound stange to some people but it's the way God brought us together!

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}
Micheal and I got married October 22, 2011. The Best Day Ever.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?
We got married at the Methodist Church in our hometown. There were about 180 guests. Our wedding was wonderful!

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!
We call each other by our middle names a lot. My middle name is Jo and his is Dean. We call each other Babe mostly. He will throw in a "baby" or a "darlin" every once in a while. He very rarely calls me Amanda. If he calls me by my first name I know I am in trouble! LOL! :-)

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.
1) I absolutely love his spunky sense of humor. He can make me laugh like no one else!
2) I love that I can trust him 100%. He has my heart and I know he will never let it go.
3) I love his passion for Christ. He is so wise and I love listening to him speak to his youth and children's church kids. God is using him in a mighty way.

7. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?
Micheal proposed at my apartment on Dec. 21, 2010. He came over to make Puppy Chow (a dessert we pass out to our friends at Christmas). We were washing our hands when he asked me to get his gum for him out of his coat pocket. His coat was hanging on the chair in the kitchen. When I reached in I pulled out a ring box. I was so completely shocked. I knew the proposal was coming but I was not expecting it in that moment. It was PERFECT.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?
Micheal is definitley a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy!

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?
I like both! I love getting out of the house and doing something special. But there are lots of times when the only place I want to be is on the couch next to my love eating and watching a movie!

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?
Micheal is a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. He grew up watching them play and just loves them. I would love to surprise him by getting tickets to a Dallas Cowboys Football game in Dallas Stadium. This will happen someday! :-)

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.
He won't tell me exactly what he has up his sleeve but I know we are going out somewhere! :-)

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?
I always just ask for us to go out on a date! But I did mention that I would like to go purse shopping this year! We will see! :-)

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.
Make time for each other. Pick one day out of the week where you will do something out of your ordinary routine. In my opinion, this is huge for a marriage!

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

Da Weekend!

2012-02-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had a mini family trip to Seminole. My Aunt and Uncle live up there and my brother had a weight lifting competition in Seminole early Saturday morning so my mom, Nanny, Pappy, and I drove up there on Friday afternoon. Micheal couldn't come because he had to work :-(

It was mine and Micheal's first night apart since we got married...but don't worry! We survived! :-)

We had a great time hanging out and just enjoying spending time together. We went to my cousin Blake's basketball game on Friday night (his team won! Go Indians!). Then got up early Saturday to go watch Adam's competition. He ended up placing 5th in his weight category so we were proud of him!

I really enjoy weekends like that where you simply make family a priority and just get in the car and go!

We got back home Saturday night around 7. Micheal and I spent the rest of the evening watching Friday Night Lights! I had banned him from watching it while I was gone so we had a lot to catch up on! Ha Ha!

Yesterday, we had church and we also got a surprise snow storm! I had kind of an off day yesterday. I can't really explain it but it was just kind of a bad day. Nothing really happened but I was just in kind of a bad mood. I hate it when I get like that...especially on a Sunday. Micheal and I do Children's Church on Sunday Mornings. I do crafts, Micheal does the Bible Story and we have our youth kids do games. I had a fun Valentine craft for them with paint but it really didn't go like I wanted it to so I was disappointed. Anyway, after church we had a meeting with the people who do nursery and after that it was time to head home and prepare for youth service that night. I hate to say it but preparing and having youth service last night was the LAST thing I wanted to do. Our youth ministry is so important to Micheal and I and I was so afraid my bad mood was going to make me miss out on an opportunity to minister to the kids. I didn't want to be short with them at youth or anything like that...

Micheal went up to the church and was getting things ready for service and when he got home he told me that since it was snowing so much he decided to cancel services for the night. I told him I felt guilty because I was so relieved that he cancelled.

Do yall ever have days like that? Where you just feel spiritually unable to do what you should be doing and you just don't have the energy or desire to get up and put yourself in a better mood?

I sure hope I am not the only one!

Here's to a blessed and wonderful week! Praise God that His mercies are new each morning!! :-)

It's Official

2012-02-09T13:03:00.000-08:00

Micheal and I have an addiction...

The Friday Night Lights TV series is now our favorite pasttime of choice!!!

It's kind of ridiculous how much we love it.

Let me tell you how bad it is: On Thursday nights Micheal and I have date nights. We take turns picking a place to eat...we usually try to go to Levelland since its a little closer than Lubbock. However, tonight we have chosen to stay in, eat a nice home cooked meal, and plant our butts on the couch for some uninterrupted Friday Night Lights time! Yes, we have traded our date night for the television! Ha Ha!

I know the root of the problem:

This week we got our internet installed which means that we were re-introduced to the wonderful world of Netflix instant streaming.

This has also led to my new-found addiction and obsession with Desperate Housewives...but thats a whole 'nother story...

:-)

Happy Thursday Everyone!!

Menu for the Week

2012-02-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

SO I have been trying to do good about planning meals for the week and sticking to them! This helps keep the McDonald and Sonic runs at bay!! I did pretty good last week. I have found that the hardest part for me is thawing my meat. It makes me so nervous to sit it out a couple days before we need it because our plans tend to change a lot. We will randomly do things with friends and family and before I know it the meat has been sitting in my fridge too long. I am sure most of the time it is still fine to eat but I get so nervous about stuff like that! So in order to keep from wasting food I started taking it out to thaw in the morning when Micheal gets leaves for work. But it typically isn't completely thawed by the time dinner rolls around...ugh! I know this is a totally easy and random problem but it drives me crazy!

I really love cooking and trying out new recipes and I definitely do alot more cooking when I plan ahead and know all of the ingrgedients are in the house!

Anyway, here is what we have planned for dinner for the days ahead:

Tuesday: Hamburgers and Tater Tots
Wednesday: Chicken Quesadillas with beans and rice
Thursday: Date Night
Friday: I will be out of town (AKA Micheal will eat whatever he wants)
Saturday: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Rolls, Salad
Sunday: Left overs from the week
Monday: MeMaw Tacos, beans, and rice (My great-grandmother had a wonderful recipe for tacos that you fry in oil...they are to die for! We call them MeMaw tacos) I am having my parents and brother over for dinner on this night.
Tuesday: BBQ Chicken, Salad, vegetable, rolls

So we will see how good I do with this over the week! :-)

Stuff!

2012-01-31T12:29:00.000-08:00

Sooo we are still waiting on the internet peeps to finish hooking up our internet...you know the internet that we were supposed to have last week. Oh well, hopefully it will get done within the next couple days.

So I just wanted to do a quick recap of whats been going on with the Simpsons! (I love saying that!)

Last Tuesday we had the Meltons over for dinner. We had a lot of fun just hanging out and talking. We had country porkchops. It is one of my new favorite recipes! I got it from a cookbook we got as a wedding present. YUM! Micheal brought home some cream filled pastries from the his department at United. He told me that people would ask him what they tasted like so he had to buy them in order to be a good employee! (Yeah. Right.) I think someone just wanted an excuse to bring them home! HAHA! (Sidenote: This is a regular occurence at our house...he comes home with all kinds of sweet from United...but its ok because I love him!) Anyway...so far the only people who like the afore mentioned pastries are Micheal and his brother, David. Andy and Meg literally despised them and gave Micheal the hardest time for making them try them! Ha Ha! It was soo funny!

So I have been going to Snap Fitness pretty consistently...I went 3 times last week. My goal is to go at least 4 nights a week. Hopefully I can make that happen this week. The good news is that my body no longer feels like it is falling apart! I feel really good about myself for going and doing something good for my health. I want to try to start eating better but it is soooo hard! I have such a hard time figuring out what is healthy when I cook. For instance, last night I made a chicken stir fry with carrots and broccoli. The chicken was marinated in a little oil and soy sauce but other than that there were really no other seasonings and I served it over brown rice. I think that sounds like a healthy meal but I could be wrong! HaHa! I am trying to find some good recipes that I can add into our weekly meals. Wish me luck! :-)

On Friday I got to go to Seminole and hang out with my cousin Kayla all day!! It was so fun! We talked about how every time we see each other it is because we have something to do, but this time we literally did nothing all day except for talk! I love hanging out with her! I am so glad we have stayed close through all these years! We always talk about how we want our kids to be close. Kayla and I have so many wonderful memories from when we were growing up! We want our kids to have great memories spent with cousins too!

On Saturday Micheal and I went to Lubbock for a date! We basically hung out all day! It was so great! We spent our giftcards from Christmas and then went to the movies and out to dinner. We saw "We Bought a Zoo". We both really liked it! :-) I told Micheal I didn't care where we ate as long as I could order fish. I am trying to eat a little better and I loved grilled fish! We ended up going to Rock Fish! It was very good! We were both impressed with the food and the prices! We found it to be a lot cheaper than Red Lobster! We will definitley be going back there sometime!

Finally, we finished up the weekend going to church and having a wonderful youth service on Sunday evening. I mentioned the new study we are doing in my last post and it is sooo good! We had 2 new young ladies come on Sunday who were very eager to learn more about who Jesus is. I was able to anwer some questions for them and it was just so cool to watch God move in there hearts throughout the service. Plus we found out that one of the young ladies just moved into a house on our street all the way from California! It is just so cool how God works!

Well, that pretty much catches everyone up on our week last week! Hopefull next time I post it will be in my house with my internet! :-)

Stream of Consciousness

2012-01-24T15:11:00.000-08:00

It's kind of a dreary, blah day outside..I really wish it would rain!!

I went to the new gym in town last night called Snap Fitness. I go with my mom, De, and Shonda. I hope I can stick with it since I have a group to go with. I was sooo excited to go last night. I don't know why I always think working out will be so much fun. Ha ha! Somehow my mind tricks itself into really believing that it will be a piece of cake!! I did have fun but there is no denying how out of shape I am.

Tonight the Meltons are coming over for dinner. We are celebrating Meg's birthday!I am so excited however from the hour of 5-7 I will be doing some serious cleaning of our casa! Ha Ha! I really should have people come over every day because it seems that is the best way to motivate me to deep clean my house! Ha!

As a part of our Staff Bible Study at work we were challenged to show someone God's love in a tangible way. I am praying and looking for opportunities to do that but for some reason I am really stressing about it! I don't know what to do and it seems the harder I look the more confused I get on what I should do. I am just going to step back and trust God to show me what I should do.

I had a lady come up to me at work the other day and say, "I don't want to rush you but how many kids are you going to have?" The question totally caught me off guard. I thought she was talking about some event at church and wanted to know how many kids were coming! Ha Ha!

We started a new series in our youth group on Sunday Nights called "Dig Deep" The whole idea message of the study is "what is your foundation". This question really makes me stop and think. I think sometimes I allow other things in my life to comfort me and lift me up when I get down rather than turning to Christ. I am really hoping that this study will help everyone involved truly learn how to make Christ their one and only foundation.

I love seeing Micheal's shoes laying around the house. It reminds me that we live together and I still think that is sooo cool! :-)

On Sunday we were married 3 months. I cannot believe it! On one hand it has flown by...but on the other hand our wedding and honeymoon seem like a million years ago!

Yesterday we went to Nana and Poppa's house to celebrate Poppa's birthday. We had a good time. We made chicken alfredo and Spaghetti and meatballs and just enjoyed being together. Last year on Poppa's birthday he was very sick and in a lot of pain. In fact, January of last year was when he began a 4 month hospital stay where he spent a lot of time in ICU. We didn't know if he was going to make it or not. We are so thankful to have Poppa with us and mostly for the fact that he feels good! Just a reminder about how truly good our God is!

Well I gotta run to the grocery store and head home to clean up and get ready for our dinner guests!!

Happy Tuesday!

Good News!!

2012-01-23T14:14:00.000-08:00

We should be getting internet at our house sometime this week!!!

I am sooo excited because I can finally upload and post our wedding and honeymoon pictures!

Sadly I lost my camera charger sometime on our honeymoon. It is driving me crazy because I was sooooo careful to make sure we had all of our stuff when we packed to head home. I am still cautiously optimistic that I will find it somewhere random but I am still going to buy a new one.

I haven't been able to take one single picture since we got back from our honeymoon.

Sad day!!

On the bright side...we have a whole lifetime to take pictures!! :-)

I will be back soon!! :-)

October 22, 2011

2012-01-17T13:23:00.000-08:00

One of the funnest and most amazing days of my life

The day I married my best friend, my sweetheart, and my first and only love.

The day I was completely overwhelmed with the love and outpouring that Micheal and I were shown.

The day I walked down the aisle with gum in my mouth. (The ONLY thing I would change)

The day I cried my eyes out when I saw my dad for the first time that day.

The day where I had a complete and total peace about everything that was happening.

The day my wonderful Mom helped me put on the prettiest dress ever.

The day my amazing bridesmaids stood next to me as I married Micheal. I am so glad they were there with me.

The day my beautiful cousin Kayla did my hair and made me look so pretty!

The day God answered my prayers...I am so glad we waited on His timing.

I cannot believe that day was almost 3 months ago!

I promise I will do a post with a complete wedding update including pictures very soon!

We don't have internet at our house right now so its hard to find the time to upload pictures and blog.

That's a poor excuse but its the truth!

My Sweet Husband!

2011-12-30T08:09:00.000-08:00

I just have to share this! Mostly so I will never forget!!

I came home from work yesterday and got a super sweet surprise from Micheal!

He had cleaned the entire house! I am talking dishes, laundry, and swept the floors. It was so sweet! We have a cute dry erase board on the wall in the kitchen and we write notes back and forth to each other. This is what it said yesterday:

"There is a reward for being sweet! I can be sweet too! I hope you like my surprise! I am glad I have forever to show you how awesome you are!"

Then he drew a little picture of the washing machine, the dishes, and a broom.

I LOVED it!

I will take a picture soon and post it!

I am one blessed girl!

Happy (Almost) New Year!!

2011-12-29T15:23:00.000-08:00

Wow! In just a few short days we will be saying goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012! I always look forward to starting a new year! It always seems like such a fresh start. I am totally the kind of girl who will wait until Monday to start a diet. Or the beginning of the month to start something new. I can't stand starting something on a completely random day or time. LOL. I am weird that way. So January 1st is like the perfect "start" date! :-)

In honor of beginning a new year I have decided to put together a list of goals and plans I have for the new year.

1) Now that Micheal and I finally have all of our bank accounts in order. I want us to sit down and create a specific budget that we can both stick to. We have never shared an account before so I am excited about this new "married" step! (This WILL happen)! :-)

2) I have finally (after about 23 years of trying) done good about having a quiet time with the Lord. In 2012 I want to really allow the Lord to use this time and for it to become something I cherish. I don't want it to become a structured routine that I check off my list. I want to be open to receiving exactly what he has for me. I am such a rule follower that I often feel like I have to journal, pray, read my Bible, and document my prayer requests during every quiet time. Then I completely overwhelm myself and end up giving up all together. The Lord has really been showing me that there are no certain steps to spending time with him. I just need to simply open my heart and enjoy talking to Him!

3) I know I have said this like a million times before but I really, really do want to start blogging regulary. This totally goes back to what I just said in #2. I feel like I need to take pictures and document every single thing I do and when I don't or get behind I just get overwhelmed and give up. This is something I need to work on in all aspects of my life. Things can't always be perfect and they won't always work out exactly like I want them to...and you know what...that is ok!! I have been reading several blogs lately and they all write about such simple things. Sometimes they don't even have pictures. And these are blogs that I LOVE to read. I just need to take some pressure off myself and have fun!

4) In 2012 I want to become a better planner. Now that I am finished with school I have a lot more time where I can help Micheal plan things for our youth group. Planning has never been one of my strong suits... mostly because of what I just got done talking about...I overwhelm myself that the outcome won't be good and so I just don't do anything. This year I am going to step out of my comfort zone and try to plan some fun events for our youth kids.

5) I want to fully enjoy this time in my life. Sometimes I tend to miss out on what is happening "now" because I am too busy looking forward to what is next. I did this a lot in 2010...for good reason... I had a wedding to look forward to!! But I do this in everyday moments as well. Micheal and I are in a very sweet season of our lives. We are married, with great friends and family near by, and we don't have kids! This is the perfect time to go on trips and just have fun!

Well those are some things I am going to strive to accomplish throughout 2012! I am reminded of a verse in Psalm 1.

Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.

Psalm 1:1-3

Here's to a PROSPEROUS New Year to ALL!!!

Wedding Fun!!

2011-08-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

I am completely shocked that the last time I posted was in MAY! That seems like a million years ago! (well actually it doesn't completely shock me...I don't have the best track record for regularly posting).

Anyway... when Micheal proposed to me in December I already knew when I wanted to have the wedding. Micheal and I had already talked about wedding dates before he proposed. I have always wanted to have a fall wedding. That is my favorite season and I just LOVE the colors. But the one downfall is that we have had long engagement. Well 10 months to me seems like a long time to me! It has its perks though, its been a blessing financially because we have been able to save money and we have had plenty of time to pick exactly what we want without being rushed. However I have been ready to be married and start my life with Micheal for a LONG time now... so 10 months has felt like an eternity.

All of that to say this:

I have told myself from the get-go that if I could just make it to May the rest of the time would FLY by! Simply because I would be done with school and to me summer ALWAYS flies by whether you like it or not. Boy have I been right! There has been SO much going on this summer that I truly have no idea how it is already August. But for the first time in my life I am glad it is August! I don't have to go back to school AND that means that the big day is less than 3 months away! WOO HOO!

So its time for a wedding update!

We have had the dress, location, and photographer booked for awhile now. We are getting married at the Methodist church here in Lfd. I am really excited about the place. It will be just perfect! PLUS, since I work there I have lots of opportunities to take a peek in the sanctuary and picture how everything will look! :-) (Don't tell anyone but I may be guilty of practicing my walk down the aisle!) Hee Hee!

All of the decorations from the ceremony have been booked, bridesmaids dresses and suits for the groomsmen have been picked out, flower girl's dress has been purchased and tried on (it fit perfect!) florists have been booked, cake has been ordered, favors have been purchased, and lots of the little things like cake topper, napkins plates, etc have all been ordered! I LOVE when the UPS truck pulls up because everytime I get another wedding thing it just makes me that much more excited!

One thing that has been SO cool about the wedding planning is that my wonderful friend Heath Lowe designed my invitations. Heath and I have been friends since we were born basically! We grew up together and are still good friends today. Well, it just so happens that he is AMAZINGLY talented at computer design! It was really special to me that he made my invitations. He was so patient with Micheal and I (well me mostly... I may have changed my mind a time or two in the process). He took the time to make sure they were EXACTLY what we wanted. I can honestly say that they turned out better than I ever could have imagined. We got to pick them up from the printers today! :-) They are simply beautiful, adorable, and perfect! I can't wait to send them out so everyone can see them!

Micheal and I have also registered for gifts and scheduled the shower for September 17th. I will have to do a whole separate post on us registering for gifts because we took pics! :-)

Well I think that gets everyone back up to speed! Sorry for the lack of pictures but I kind of just needed to spill everything out! :-)

** One thing that I forgot to mention!! And its a biggie!! Wait for it....

My cousin, Kayla is getting married TOO!! :-) Her wedding is set for September 24th! So we are getting to do all of this fun stuff together! I am SO happy for her and Jake! So we have 2 showers and a wedding in Spetember, a wedding in October, Thanksgiving in November, and of course Christmas in December that I will get to see my family! By the time January rolls around we aren't going to know what to do! Ha Ha! Usually we only get to all get together couple times a year. So I plan on soaking all of this fun stuff up!!!

Last Assignment EVER!!

2011-05-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

As of this very second I am working on my last ever college assignment!! (At least for my under grad career)! :) I have a lot of mixed emotions right now...the most prevalent one being..."I don't want to do this assignment!!!!". Ha Ha! This is not good considering it is a presentation to the behavioral sciences' faculty...so I kind of need to get motivated! Anyway this may be kind of silly but I decided this was a moment worth documenting! (Plus I am the world's worst procrastinator so this is an awesome excuse to take a "break"!)

So here is where I am spending my evening:

Saturday at 10:00am I will walk the stage! I am beyond excited!! A lot of my family and friends are coming to the ceremony and out to eat with us afterwards. We are going to eat at Carino's! Then hopefully the girls will all go to the movies! I love any excuse to get to see my family but getting to graduate certainly sweetens the deal!

Finally I just want to take this time to praise and thank my God for his faithfulness throughout this journey! He has blessed me abundantly through grades, friendships, and scholarships throughout this entire process! There were so many times when I was studying or taking a test and just feeling so overwhelmed. He taught me how to trust in Him to take care of the part that I couldn't. One of my favorite quotes is "Do your best and let God do the rest." I feel like this explains so much of the academic part of my college career. God always came through for me! Every. Single. Time. And even though I am a little bit stressed out about tomorrow and completely DO NOT feel like working on this presentation I know God will give me the strength to power through one more time! :) I am so very blessed!

Engagement Pictures!

2011-04-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Micheal and I got to take our engagement pictures! We had a blast! We were blessed to have LeeLee come down and take our pictures for us and they turned out great! She is so very talented and FUN I would recommend her to anyone! This morning LeeLee sent me a sneak peak of some she edited!

The one of us at the stop sign has a couple of stories behind it! Several months ago when LeeLee agreed to do our pictures she told me to start getting ideas of where I would like to have them taken. The first thing that came to mind was mine and Micheal's stop sign. In May of 2006, right after I graduated high school Micheal and I made plans to go to Lubbock for a date so he could give me my graduation present. We were on our way out of town but the weather was really yucky and there were some severe storm warnings so we decided we better not chance it. I was disappointed but I was still excited for him to give me my gift. When we turned around and got back into town Micheal had to run by his parent's house for something while I waited in the car. Once he got back in he pulled away and I started begging him to give me my present. The suspense was killing me and I wanted it right then and there. So Micheal put the car in park at the first stop sign we came to and that is where he gave me my promise ring. I remember being so excited and nervous when he handed it to me! I couldn't even see it because it was at night time and it was dark in my car. I had to turn on the light to get a good look at it! So needless to say that stop sign is very special to Micheal and I and I was so glad we were able to get a good picture of us there!

Also while we were taking pictures at the stop sign a cop pulled up to ask us what we were doing! Ha ha! We did look pretty crazy! There were 3 vehicles all parked on the curb and all of us (Me, Micheal, Mom, De, LeeLee, and Damon) were out in the middle of the road taking pictures. Micheal told him that we were taking pictures and the cop said, "Oh...at the stop sign????" It was so funny! Micheal was like "Its sentimental!" ha ha! He was like Ok and drove away! Everytime I look at that picture I will remember that crazy story!

I am so very grateful to have such amazing friends and family that would be willing to spend a hot, windy Saturday morning running around town with me taking pictures! I am so blessed!

3 Months and E.C.I

2011-03-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

So, as of today Micheal and I have been engaged for 3 months! Some days I think, "Wow! 3 months already! October is coming fast!" and other times I think, "Only 3 months! It is taking forever!!". Ha Ha! I am trying to be patient and enjoy this time as a bride to be but it is hard because I am sooo excited! As far as the wedding planning goes everything is going smooth so far. We have the dress, church, preacher, photographer, bridesmaids dresses, colors, and some decorations... and we still have 7 months to go! I am not a professional by any means but I say that is pretty good! There are times when Mom and I look at each other and are like "Shouldn't we be doing something!". Ha Ha! We are pretty much figuring things out as we go!

I want to share an interesting story behind finding the photographer! You know how every bride has those certain things that she considers to be "non-negotiables" well one of those things for me was my photographer. I am not picky about most other things but I always knew from day one that I wanted a good anf fun photographer, however not one that was going to make my parent's and I go into debt! LOL! Well all of the ones we looked at in Lubbock were ridiculous! So my mom started calling around in Levelland to see what we could find there. Well the first lady to call her back was named Debbie Blackshear. My mom was talking to her and was totally impressed with the price and the package. So she gave her my name... well at this moment Debbie begins screaming, "Oh My Gosh, AMANDA MARTIN! You mean Campus Ambassador at SPC Amanda Martin!!!!" And my mom, who was totally shocked was like, "Yeah...". Debbie went on to say how much she enjoyed me when I was at S.P.C. and so on and so forth!

When my mom called to tell me I was shocked and excited! Everyone who was a campus ambassador with me at the time loved Debbie! We all called her Mama Deb because she was like a mother to all of us! However, I never would have dreamed she would have had that reaction to me getting married! Anyway, I am so excited that not only did we find a good photographer but we found someone who knows me and I know she will do a fabulous job! It is so fun to see how God's hand is in all things even when we least expect it!! :-)

That is pretty much all that is going on on the Wedding Front! I am so ready for summer and graduation because after that I plan on diving into wedding planning head first! I haven't been able to that so far because of school. My main time consumer right now is trying to get my 120 hours of practicum time in before the end of April. I mentioned my practicum in an earlier post and will go into more detail about what I am doing exactly. Basically, a practicum is part of the undergrad program and requires the student to get 120 hours of real life experience in a place that centers around their type of degree.

With my degree being Family Studies there were a lot of different avenues to take. Some places I could choose from included anything from working within schools to working with women protective services. I chose to do mine with Early Childhood Intervention (ECI).

Basically ECI is a program for children form birth to three years old. They come into the home and evaluate children whose parents are concerned might have developmental delays. The delay could come in any type of form imaginable it could be speech, OT, PT, nutritional, etc. and ECI will come in and provide different types of in-home therapies for the child. It is such a wonderful program because it is covered by insurance so most families don't have to pay a dime and the initial assessment to see if the child qualifies is always free. ECI staffs speech therapists, dieticians, occupational therapists, licensed professional counselors, physical therapists, and many more in order to provided one on one care for each family. I have been shadowing Stephanie Coffman, Early Intervention Specialist, since January and I have learned so much!

About 2 weeks after a started my practicum Stephanie allowed me to do some of the therapy sessions by myself. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. There are definatly some difficult moments when dealing with babies and toddlers. However, there are also those amazing moments where you feel yourself connecting with the child in an awesome way and you stop and think, "Wow! I am really helping him!". Mainly I have worked with kids who have speech delays. It is so rewarding to hear them start talking more and more as the weeks go by! I love it!

If you know anyone who might benefit from ECI's services please pass it on! I believe if more parents knew services like ECI were available to them they would definitely take advantage of them!

Happy Monday Everyone!

Catch Up!

2011-03-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you guys but 2011 has just been an AMAZING year so far! I can see God's blessings pouring out on his people everywhere I look.

In late January our friends, Brian and Stacy adopted a beautiful brand new baby boy named Barrett Keinan Turpen. He is just perfect! God's hand was truly in this adoption because Brian and Stacy found out about this mother-to-be who was looking for someone to adopt her baby and less than 48 hours later the baby had been born and Barrett was with his new mommy and daddy! It is so neat watching God's blessings pour out on people you love!

Stacy with her brand new baby boy!

There are several other babies who will be making their debut in 2011! My best friend Meghan will be having her 4th little blessing in August! She actually found out she was pregnant on the same day Micheal and I got engaged! :) My friend Kara is expecting her 2nd baby boy on Good Friday so that is just around the corner and we are all very excited! Also, Micheal's sister Miranda and her hubby are expecting their first baby in August! Micheal and I will be getting a new little neice or nephew! :) I am so excited because this is the first neice or nephew born on Micheal's side that I will officially be "aunt" to from birth! Micheal's oldest sister has 2 boys who I have known from birth but I wasn't officially Aunt Amanda! (I like the way that sounds!) I am so glad Micheal has older sisters otherwise I wouldn't be an aunt for a long time because Adam is only 15!

On February 14th Micheal and I got to spend our first Valentine's Day together as an engaged couple! We had a great time. I had a hair appointment in Levelland that afternoon so Micheal took me to that and then we headed to Lubbock! He took me to eat at Red Lobster which is one of my favorites! And then we went to see the new movie with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, "Just Go With It". We both thought it was really funny! I had told Micheal that the only thing I wanted for Valentine's was a date but he didn't listen! :) I got some beautiful roses delivered to work and he also got me a personalized keepsake box. I absolutely love it! :) He is so sweet!

Micheal got to pick out what was engraved on it.

The top says: Have I Told You Lately That I Love You (He tells me that all the time)

The bottom says: Micheal & Amanda

Also in February Micheal and I traveled to Amarillo to participate in Disciple Now at South Georgia Baptist Church. We are always so blessed by our experience in Amarillo and this year was no different. We always leave with new friends and fun memories!

So now I look up and we are already half way through March and Spring Break has already come and gone. I am so excited because that means graduation is less than 2 months away! I cannot wait! Everything on the school front is going great especially my practicum! I will share all about that in my next post! To end I will share some pictures of some of my favorite things! :)

Sunday lunch with friends!!

Wedding shopping with my family!

Going to Adam's Play with the Family!

Me and Nanny

Me and Dad

Adam had to dress up like a girl! :)

Happy Sunday Everybody!!

The Dress

2011-01-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

I found it! Yes... I have officially purchased my wedding dress (well actually my parents did! Thanks Mom and Dad!). It is beautiful! It wasn't at all what I had in mind for myself but in my opinion it is even better. As soon as Micheal proposed I began planning the day I would pick out my dress. I knew I wanted to have my mom and Meg there for sure. Well Mom called me last week and told me david's Bridal was having a sale and it ended on Saturday. It was really short notice so Meg didn't get to be there for the trying on of the dresses because her kids had a birthday party to go to.

So Saturday Mom and I walk into David's Bridal and a store rep immediately asks us if we had an appointment. We told them we didn't know we needed one and the lady explained that usually you don't but they were booked solid for the entire day. I was a little disappointed but not too bad because in all honesty I didn't want to find my dress so early. I know it sounds weird but I wanted to prolong it as much as possible. So mom and I decided to browse in the store for a little while. We were in there for a few minutes when the manager approached us and said they had about an hour before their next appointment. They typically schedule an hour and a half for each appointment but we were just glad we were going to have any time at all! Well we ended up being in there for three hours! The other girls never showed up for their appointments which worked out in my favor! I tried on about six or seven dresses and I kept going back to 2 different ones. I loved them both sooo much! I told my mom that I thought it was supposed to be easier than this! I mean you aren't supposed to fall in love with two dresses you are supposed to only love one! LOL! The funny thing was that both dresses were completely different! One was what I had in my head that I would wear and the other was much more traditional and princessy (if thats a word! Ha Ha!) Mom and I were having so much trouble because we needed a third opinion to decide between the two. I mean I wouuld put one on and be 100% sure I wanted that one and then put the other one on and feel the same way! I was going crazy! Well at one point when I came out of the dressing room one of my good friends Kara was there! I was so happy to see her! She helped us mkae the final decision. (So much for not finding one that day!! ) It meant so much to me that she came by! :) The tradition at David's Bridal is that when you make your final decision you get to make a wish and ring a bell and everyone claps for you. I will try to remember to post pics of me ringing the bell after the wedding! I can't take a chance of Micheal getting a sneak peek at my dress! :)

As my mom was purchasing the dress Meg called and wanted to know if we were still at the store. I told her yeah but only for a little bit because I had already picked one out. She was shocked that I found one so quickly! She said she was on her way and I asked our consultant if I could put the dress on one more time to show my Matron of Honor. She said yes and so the day ended perfectly with me getting to show Meg my dress! I came out of the dressing room and we all cried and everyone was staring at us and saying oh how sweet! Ha Ha! That night when we got home I modeled my dress for Dad, De, Kamille, and Samantha. It was a fun day!

Yesterday during my quiet time I really tried to focus on praying for this time in mine and Micheal's lives. It is such a special and precious time and I truly want to enjoy it. I asked God to help me to slow down and enjoy the fun things that are going to happen while we are engaged without getting caught up in all of the details and the little things that don't matter in the long run. I pray that our engagement, wedding, and honeymoon will be imperfectly wonderful. That word imperfect kept coming to mind while I prayed because I truly don't want to get lost in a desire for a perfect wedding. Things happen and I know that and I don't want to allow myself to get upset over the little imperfections along the way because at the end of all of this the only thing that truly matters is that on October 22, 2011 I get to marry an amazing man! I am so grateful for such a wonderful fiancee, wonderful, friends, and a wonderful family! I am truly blessed!

5 Days and Counting...

2011-01-06T14:44:00.000-08:00

In exactly 5 days my wonderful Christmas break will be over and life will begin again. Not that that is a bad thing... I have a great life! I am just not overly excited to be going back to school. On the bright side, in exactly 4 months I will be a college graduate! I am very ready. This semester is going to be very different than any I have ever experienced. I am only having to take 6 hours... yep, thats all that is left! Those 6 hours consist of one class called Gender & Sexuality and my practicum. Gender & Sexuality I am not worried about... my practicum on the other hand is kind of nerve racking. I have to get about 120 hours working in a place of business that has to do with me degree. I am excited about the opportunity but I am having a hard time deciding where to do it. There are so many options and it is hard to choose only one.

While I do not want these final few days to fly by I am anxiously awaiting the 15th of this month. This is the day I am supposed to get my ring back from the jewelers. I had to take it in last week to get it sized and it is going to take them three weeks to finish. I knew if it would take several days but I wasn't expecting three weeks! I am so ready to get it back. I didn't want to part with it but I was getting tired of carrying it around in my purse instead of wearing it. LOL! It was a size 7 and I wear a 4 1/2 so there was no way I could wear it without losing it. Micheal was going to have them size it before he bought it but he really wanted to propose before Christmas so we could tell all of our family in person and it was going to be after the new year before he could get it back. I am glad he didn't wait but I am definitly ready to have it back!

I get to go try on wedding dresses this weekend which I am very excited about! However, I secretly don't want to find one this early! I want to try on every dress possible before I make a decision! For those of you married ladies out there, do any of you have stories about shopping for your dress? Did you wear one that had been in the family for years or did you buy a new one? How long did it take you to find "the one"?? I love hearing stories like this so please share!! :-)

The Proposal!

2011-01-02T22:56:00.000-08:00

Micheal proposed to me on December 21, 2010.

We had plans that evening to make a dessert called Puppy Chow, we like to pass it out to our friends at Christmas time. Micheal arrived at my apartment around 6 that evening. I had gotten home about an hour earlier and was just kind of hanging out and wrapping some presents. When Micheal got there we went into the kitchen to get started. Micheal began washing his hands and asked me if I would get his gum out of his inside coat pocket. His coat was hanging on the kitchen chair. As I went to get it I was thinking to myself that he left his gum at my apartment the night before and it was now in my purse but I figured he went and bought some more. So I reached into his pocket and instead of gum I pulled out a ring box.

I completely froze and just stared at him. At that point he came over grabbed my hand and took me to the couch. I had a movie playing on my laptop and I said "Hang on!" I began trying to pause it but I was completely freaking out. He was like just turn it off! So I slammed it shut! We were both laughing! It was a crazy moment!

Once we got the computer taken care of he got down on one knee while I sat on the couch. This is what he said, "I love you very much and I will love you for a very long time. I'm not perfect but I will be the best husband I can be. I hope you will marry me."

It was so perfect! I immediately said "Yes, of course!" I stood up and gave him a big hug and kiss! Then he put my ring on my finger!

I was SO shocked! I knew he would be proposing soon because we talked about it but I had no idea it would be the day we were going to make puppy chow! I didn't think he would be able to surprise me like that but he did! It was so perfect!

After he proposed we still had to make our puppy chow because we had to get it done and there really wasn't another day when we would have time to do it. Unfortunatley, making puppy chow was the LAST think I wanted to do! I mean come on... I wanted to go tell everyone!! :)

We already had plans to have dinner with his family that evening around 7:30 but before we went over there we stopped by my parents house. My mom and dad both knew he was proposing that day because he had already asked my dad for his blessing. It was so great that we got to tell our families in person that very day. They were all very excited for us!

I was so excited to start telling everyone! I didn't want to put it on Facebook until we had told all of our family and close friends in person. Not announcing it on Facebook was soooo hard, I just wanted everyone to know and that would have been the easiest way but we didn't want to hurt anyones' feelings. The morning after we got engaged we told my grandparents on both sides, my aunts and uncles, my cousin Kayla, and our friends Micheal & Stephanie, Tammy, and Andy & Meghan.

I was the most excited about telling my best friend Meghan! She has known Micheal and I from the beginning and she was anxiously awaiting the proposal as much as I was!! :) We wanted to tell Andy and Meg both the niht we got enagaged but they were in Lubbock until late. I didn't want to tell her over the phone so we were going to have to wait until after church the next night to tell her. I was going crazy!!! Well, while Mom and I were at the mall that day guess who we ran into!?!? Meg! As soon as I saw her I knew I was not going to be able to NOT tell her! We chit chatted for a little bit and then I said, "Micheal is going to kill me but I have to tell you something!" ( Now ideally this is the part where I would have held up my hand and shown her the ring but I didn't have my ring with me because it was too big and I couldn't wear it. But I had just bought a Christmas ornament in the shape of two teddy bears. One was proposing to the other one. At the top of the ornament it said: Micheal and Amanda December 21,2010.)

I pulled out the ornament and handed it to her. She looked at it for a little bit and then looked up at me with tears in her eyes and I was like "Yes, he did it last night!" Then she gave me a big hug and we both stood there trying not to cry! She wanted to see the ring and I explained to her where it was but luckily we were right next to Kay's Jewelers (where he bought it) so I showed her the display! Even thought I never imagined telling Meg I was engaged in the middle of the mall it was definitely a moment I will never forget!

We ended up going to their house later so Micheal could tell Andy the big news and so Meg could see the ring!

We received wonderful reactions from everyone we told! It was so much fun! We got to tell both of Micheal's sisters in person and I loved it!

On Christmas day I put it on Facebook and breathed a sigh of relief! It was hard keeping it a secret for a few days until all of our family knew!

This was a couple hours after he proposed.

My ring! I'm sorry for the poor picture! I had so much trouble getting a clear pic of the ring!

Here is a picture of the ring from the store's website!

I created a wedding website where I can keep everyone updated on the specifics of the big day. Details such as where, when, what time, etc. can be found at

http://www.weddingwire.com/simpsonwedding

Keep checking my blog for updates on how the planning is going and all of the craziness that goes on behind the scenes! :)

Have a great Monday everyone!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T01:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! Wow, I can't believe the year 2010 has already come and gone! For me 2010 has been an amazing year, however I am very excited for all of the wonderful new adventures 2011 will bring. As most of you know by now through Facebook or otherwise Micheal and I are engaged! We are so very excited about taking this sacred step into marriage. He and I have known for many years that we would be married however neither one of us has felt a peace about it until the last few months. We prayed and trusted that God would give us wisdom in making this decision and He most definitley has! I was afraid that since we had been together for so long people would not be very excited for us. I thought people would just say that it was about time and move on. While we did get several "It's about times." for the most part we have received wonderful reactions from our friends, family, and church family! Thank you all so very much for your love and support!

I thought I would share a little bit about Micheal and I and our journey together in honor of our engagement.

Micheal and I met when we were both kids in youth at Trinity Church in Littlefield. We were both very involved in the youth group and were on our youth pastor's leadership team along with two of our closest friends. Throughout my freshman and sophomore year Micheal, Kayla, Gary, and I spent a lot of time together. We all became very close friends both inside and outside of church. I had always had a crush on Micheal but throughout this time we were just friends.

The summer before my junior year my best friend Kayla moved away. Kayla and I were inseperable so when she moved away it was very difficult. After Kayla left Micheal and I began to spend a lot more time together. We would hang out on the weekends and we got to know one another on a more one on one basis. I treasure this time in my heart so much because we were able to learn so much about one another without the pressure of a dating relationship. It was so innocent and fun! We grew to treasure one another's friendship very much. At this time in our relationship Micheal and I both had feelings for one another but neither one of us would admit it! We enjoyed being friends but I wanted us to become more. Micheal however did not think it would be a good idea. He did not want us to ruin our friendship.

At this point in our relationship things got really weird! I hate to make him sound like a jerk, because he wasn't, but basically Micheal simply quit talking to me. Even though we weren't in a dating relationship it felt very much like a breakup to me. At the time it felt like torture but looking back on it we both see how God used the time we were apart to reveal things to us individually. For about 8 months we barely spoke to one another. It was such a strange and painful time but it was a wonderful growing experience for me. By this time I was a senior and was able to spend my senior year making new friends and learning who I was as Amanda. Not Kayla's best friend or Micheal's best friend... just Amanda. I find it so interesting how strong I was during this time. Looking back on it I don't remember being sad or upset (even though I know I was for a time). I remember that time as very fun and exciting. It is amazing how God protects our hearts and truly does provide us with the perfect amount of strength needed for whatever situation we are going through.

So at this point Micheal and I had not spoken or spent any time together from April 2005-December 2005. Now this is the really fun part of the story! I had not thought about Micheal in months, in fact I was actually dating another guy at the time. But Christmas Eve morning I woke up with Micheal very heavy on my mind and heart. I truly felt like I needed to talk to him and clear the air. You have to understand when I say Micheal quit talking to me I mean QUIT talking to me. From one day to the next. It was like we went from best friends to strangers in a matter of days. I had never understood why he did that and I had never cared to find out until that morning. I decided not to stress about it and I decided that if I was supposed to talk to him God would provide an opportunity. On Christmas Eve night my family and I were celebrating at my grandparent's house in Littlefield. At one point in the evening a few of us went to our church's youth building because my dad and cousin wanted to play ping pong. I tagged along to watch but I remeber very vividly sitting on the couch just in my own little world. I kept thinking that I had to talk to Micheal.

When we got back to my grandparents house as soon as we walked in the front door I walked straight to the table and picked up my dad's cell phone, I still have no idea why I did that but I distinctly remember making a bee line straight to the phone. I picked it up and saw that there was a missed call from a number. I went and got my cell phone, went to the contacts, found Micheal's number and compared it to the missed call number. They were the same! I couldn't believe it! At the time we had our home phone set up to where all of the calls were forwarded to my dad's phone. Micheal had called the house. I remember being so nervous and excited as I called Micheal back. I could not believe God had created this clear opportunity for me to be able to talk to him. I know this may not sound like such a crazy experience but to me it was God opening the door for us to continue our relationship. I ended up calling Micheal back right that second and we ended up talking on the phone for 5 hours that night! We talked about what had happened, why we hadn't spoken in so long and everything in between. It was an amazing night! All of the feelings I had felt for him came rushing back to me that very night. That night Micheal also shared with me the things God revealed to him about our relationship. I truly beleive he and I both needed that time to step back and figure things out for ourselves.

Well needless to say I broke up with the guy I was dating at the time and Micheal and I begin hanging out again. On New Years Eve he came over and we got to bring in the New Year together and have been together ever since! We consider January 1, 2006 our anniversary because that was the official day we began "dating". And now 5 years later here we are! Stronger than ever! Our relationship has not been perfect, in fact it has been extremely tough. I truly struggled with whether or not we were supposed to be together or if I was supposed to go off to college and a million other what ifs. However Micheal has never left my side throughout all of my worries and fears. He has truly been my rock and I know for a fact our relationship would not have lasted if it had not been for his commitment to me and to our Father in Heaven. In my eyes he is a perfect picture of what a godly man should be. He loves me with all of his heart and treats me like a princess. I know I am totally gushing right now but I am just so grateful and excited that he chose me! God's hand has truly been in our relationship from the beginning! I am so excited to be engaged to Micheal, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt this is the man I want to marry and I absolutely cannot wait to begin this awesome adventure with him!

I love you Micheal! Happy Anniversary!

**I honestly did not realize this was going to turn into such a long post! I will share the story of how he proposed in my next post! Stay tuned!**

Thanksgiving Break

2010-11-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone! This semester has just flown by and I could not be happier. While these classes have been very enjoyable they have also been very stressful. I am very much looking forward to Christmas break. It is very surreal to think I only have one semester left and then I will be a college graduate. Next semester will be different than what I am used to because I only have to take one class and do my practicum. I am excited to be able to get some hands on experience with what I want to do.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was great especially because Poppa and Nana were able to be with us this year. Last year Poppa was in the hospital and Nana was with him. They were both very missed...Thanksgiving was just not the same without them. Poppa has had a very rough year. He has been in a lot of pain since his surgery last November and has had other numerous problems arise. Nothing life threatening, Praise God, but they have been life altering. God has been moving in the situation though and he is scheduled to have back surgery on December 1st. We are praying and believing for a complete healing and for this surgery to heal whatever is causing his pain. My Poppa is a very outgoing person and this pain has basically made him become a prisoner in his own body. It is hard on everyone, especially my Nana. She has been such a wonderful caregiver. I would really appreciate your prayers for both of them as they go through the surgery and recovery process.

Poppa and I had a very special moment this week though because he showed me how to make his wonderful rolls! Every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas he makes them and they are divine! This year Micheal's family asked me to bring rolls for their Thanksgiving and I decided to use Poppa's recipe! I was really nervous because I have never made any type of dough from scratch and there are sooo many things that can go wrong, but they turned out great! They were not as pretty as Poppa's and I still have a long way to go before they are perfect but it wasn't bad at all for my first time. I am so honored that he shared it with me so hopefully I can carry on our famiy tradition of Poppa rolls! :) Plus Micheal's family LOVED them! I have realized recently how much I love cooking! I love trying out new recipes and getting family recipes from my grandparents that their parents used when they were growing up! I even asked for cooking equipment for Christmas! LOL! I am a total nerd!

Anyway, I have not done good at all about taking pictures at all these past few months but mainly because my camera always seems to be dead when I need it. However, I do have a few from my Alpha Chi Induction Ceremony in October and from Nanny and Pappy's 50th Anniversary lunch! Enjoy!

Well, next time I write I will be DONE with classes! I only have 2 projects, 3 finals, and a 13 page research paper in between me and sweet, sweet Christmas break! Pray for me! ;-)

3 Weeks Down!

2010-09-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! So sorry about my lack of posts recently. I have been trying to adjust to my new schedule and it has taken its toll on me! Ha Ha! I really can't complain because my school schedule is not that bad and the hours I work are totally flexible its just that I got really spoiled over the summer! However, I have decided to focus on the positives of my schedule change rather than the negatives! I am also ashamed to admit that I have not taken one single picture since school started... how pathetic is that! I hope once I get back into my routine I will be able to pick that back up.

As far as my classes go everything is great! I love my professors and my classmates. All of my classes are very small and I pretty much have the same people in all of them which is nice. I have gotten to know several them over the past year so that alone makes the classes fun. Plus, it helps when you find the classes themselves interesting.

Another positive change that has taken place since school started is that I have actually gotten into the habit of having a quiet time every morning before work/school. I am so NOT a morning person so I never thought I could actually do this. I have always known how important quiet time with God is but I have never been disciplined enough to make myself get up early and do it. A few weeks ago on during Wednesday night service we were watching a video clip on Marraige and the man talked about how he and his wife always have their alone time with Jesus even before they say good morning to one another. He said it is important for us to "fill up" with His love and power because we "leak it out" on others throughout the day. If we don't fill up each morning then we have nothing to leak out. This was a great image for me to picture to help get me motivated. He alse discussed how love is only good as a fresh commodity. Meaning that it needs to be shown every day. He gave the example of how sometimes husbands tend to do something nice for their wife and hope that it will keep her happy for a certain amount of time before he has to do it again. I am guilty of sometimes having this mentality in my relationship with Christ. I have enjoyed thinking about how every morning I am making Jesus happy by showing him how much I ove him that day! Plus I get to receive a fresh amount of love from Him as well!

I hope this makes sense... I am kinda tired and just wanted to share some things that were on my heart! I pray everyone has a blessed week!

My Last Week Before School!

2010-08-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

Howdy everyone! I hope everyone is getting in those last minute summer things before next week!! I cannot believe school is already here! I think I have officially worked through the grieving process of summer being over and I am ready to get the ball rolling on this semester. You should all be very proud of me!! Ha Ha!

First off I want to congratulate my dear friend Meg on completing her degree from LCU this past Tuesday!!

This woman is a ROCKSTAR!! She completed a 14 month (with no breaks) online program from LCU to get her Bachelor of Science in OM. Let me tell you she was a trooper because a lot of her professors did NOT make it easy on her! It was obvious the enemy was trying everything he could to discourage her not to finish but she stuck it out with a smile on her face! Now that she is done she is able to be over Trinity Christian School where she is currently teaching pre-school. This is an amazing ministry and God is doing great things through everyone involved. God placed this desire in her heart a long time ago and to be able to see her live it out is awesome! Meg, thanks for being such an awesome example of a godly Wife, Mother, and Friend! Your family is such a blessing to me and so many others! I don't know what I would do without you! I love you very much my friend!!

This past weekend there was an awesome youth conference called The Ultimate Game. It fell at a hard time of the year because a lot of Micheal's youth group were not able to make it because of football, band, and everything else that is going on right now but we were able to take 4 kids with us when we went. The people who put this conference on did a fantastic job! I was told they were going to try and make it a yearly thing and I really hope they do! The speakers were Robert Madu and Jeanne Mayo. It was a two-day event but we only went on Saturday so we were unable to hear Robert Madu speak. I heard he did an amazing job! I hated that we missed it. We also missed the Leeland Concert on Friday night. That was a bummer but we got to hear Jeanne Mayo speak twice and it was great! She did a fabulous job! The band Pocket Full of Rocks was there on Saturday and they were so good! I am going to download their new CD for sure! We also attempted to break the world record for the largest dodgeball game. I don't think we broke the record but the kids sure had a lot of fun trying! Here are some pics from our day!

Abigail, Sabrina, Ambrosia, and Jesse

The girls with the band 39 Thoughts

Ambrosia playing dodgeball

Micheal and Jesse playing one of the games

Brother Jesse after dodgeball

The girls hanging out in the shade

On Sunday my family and I went to my little cousin Brett's (who is not so little anymore) send off party. He is leaving for San Angelo tomorrow to go to school so we had a little get together before he left. My cousin Jonathan is also leaving tomorrow to go to school there. They are going to share a dorm room. I didn't get a picture of Brett because he was too busy running around being his crazy self! However I did get a picture of me, Mom, Nanny, and Pappy. Notice I am wearing my S.O.G (Soldiers of God) t-shirt Jesse bought me at the Conference! Gotta Represent!! Ha Ha!

Finally, on Monday my friend Jorge called me and said he was in town (he is going to school in Denton) and asked if I wanted to get together for dinner. We had a great time and I got to see some friends from high school that I haven't seen in a while! Thanks for the invite Jorge! We need to do it again soon!!

Unfortunately ,I am going to have to leave you on a sad note. Remember this little kitty...

Well we had to give her to a new family. It was sad but luckily these are the people we gave her to....

Yup! Molly now belongs to Nanny and Pappy. My mom hated to give her away but she was not litter boxed trained like my mom was told when she got her. Mom tried so hard the last two and half weeks to train her but it just was not working. We were scared to have her be an outside cat at my parent's house because the road by the park is so busy. So she went to live with Nanny and Pappy yesterday. Where they live she can play outside without a busy road right next to her. They say she is going to be an outside cat but they are both softies so we will see what happens! Ha Ha!!

Have a blessed weekend everyone!!

Final Days of Summer

2010-08-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

Yup, I think I am officially in denial. I know in my mind that I only have a week and a half left of sweet summertime before school starts but I don't think I have actually allowed myself to let that sink in. I don't want to think about driving back and forth to Lubbock, working random hours, all night last minute study sessions, doing, homework, dealing with financial aid, and so on and so forth. Now don't get me wrong, I actually do enjoy my classes and my professors and fellow students and once I am back in the groove everything will be fine. Its just that I have sooo enjoyed the freedom that comes with summer. Basically my only responsibility is my job and when I get off I don't have to worry about studying or anything like that. My free time was just that, free time. I really have nothing to complain about, my summer was great! I just am not quite ready to say good bye! However, as far as school goes I am on track with everything which really does make going back a lot less stressful. I have already ordered my books and applied for financial aid. Two things I hate doing!! Last semester I only had four books and it cost me over $500.00. I was sick. This semester my books only cost a little over 200.00 which was a nice surprise. Plus, when I went to check out the computer said that I had a $650.00 credit so I was able to use that to purchase my books! I tell you what God has played such a HUGE role in my college years it is almost unreal. Not just with grades and blessing me with great professors but also financially. As of this moment we have not had to take out any student loans to pay for my tuition. Starting out at SPC was the right move for me for sure! Those 2 and a half years were paid off with grant money and scholarships from high school. When I transferred to LCU in January of 2009 we were hit with the reality of paying tuition for a private school. We definitly realized what a blessing SPC had been to us. However, it all worked out because I was blessed with grants and scholarships because of my grades and the rest of it we were able to pay with money from my savings account. So that brings us to my very last year of college. For these next two semesters we will be having to take out student loans but we are extremely grateful that we are only having to take out loans for one year instead of five! God truly is our provider!

Now that I got that off of my chest, lets move on to some non-school related things! Like I mentioned in my last post, Micheal's sister's birthday was Monday. Since Tuesday is the day we always get together with his family we turned that into a little birhtday celebration for her and her husband! Turns out Matt's birthday is later this month so Micheal's mom decided to throw them a double party! We all went over to Micheal's granny's house for dinner. Matt and Miranda brought steak and potatos and it was delicious!

Here is a picture of them with their cake Cyndy made them. She asked me to write their names on it. It was my first attempt at doing something like that but I think it turned out ok! At least you could read it! But now that I look at it, Miranda's name does look like a first grader wrote it! Oh well! Ha Ha! (The reason Matt is grinning so big is because he just put icing on Miranda's nose...if you look close you can see it!!)

Here is a picture of Matt and Miranda with Granny Jo. She is the sweetest lady! We all love her very much!

Here is David, Matt, Miranda, and Micheal. I told David no bunny ears... you can tell he really listened huh!! :)

We had a wonderful getting to see you guys!! Love yall!!

Early last week I finally called the local groomers to get my dog, Jadie Jo an appointment. I feel so bad because she has just been miserable in this heat. I really wanted to get it done in July but with Micheal's birthday and then going on the youth trip to Sea World I just didn't have the extra money. I felt terrible. You aren't supposed to have to groom Cairn Terriers but she mostly an outside dog now that I moved out and she really needed a hair cut. Anyway her appointment was yesterday and I was so glad I finally got to get it done. I have to show you a before and after picture of her for you to really see the difference.

These pictures are from last summer but they give you an idea of what she typically looks like.

Now here she is after her hair cut!

Is that not hilarious!! When I brought her home my mom asked me if I was sure I got the right dog! Ha Ha! She may look a little funny but I know she feels a million times better! When I put her in the backyard yesterday our other two dogs Bruiser and Charlie were sniffing her and would not leave her alone. I imagined she was thinking, "I know it looks different! I am still subconsious about it! Leave me alone!" Typical female! Ha Ha!

My mom and dad are so awesome to keep her for me since I can't have pets in my apartment. They did not have to do that and I am very appreciative! However, I am so ready to move into a place where I can bring her with me. I feel like I abandoned her because when I lived at home she got to sleep inside with me and come in when I was home. Since my parents have redone their house they don't want any of the animals inside very much anymore (which I totally understand). I just feel like a terrible mother! Ha!

She did get to come inside for a little while yesterday since she was nice and clean and we introduced her to Molly. I think Molly has finally found a friend! They weren't to sure of each other at first but they warmed up to one another pretty fast.

Awww! I think they love each other! :)

Happy Thursday everybody!!

Birthdays and Babysitting!

2010-08-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

First off, I want to thank everyone for the compliments on my blog. You guys are so great! I appreciate the kind words of encouragement to continue writing. I was pretty nervous when I sent out the message on facebook letting everyone know about it but I feel a lot better now! I had some people say they tried to leave a comment but it wouldn't work. The way it is set up is kind of weird to me too. The only way I can figure out how to do it is to have a gmail email address or a google account. If someone know of an easier way let me know please, I know a lot of my family does not have google accounts and I love comments so I want to figure it out! Thanks!

I had a wonderful weekend! On Saturday I got to go to Zac and Kara's son's birthday party. He turned two years old! The party was a lot of fun and Kara made Hunter the cutest cake I have ever seen! She is so creative!

Isn't it cute! Plus it tasted AMAZING!

Here is the birthday boy and his friends enjoying the cake!

The wheels were reeses peanut butter cups with icing on them. I'm telling you! She is CREATIVE! Kara also made the pink tractor cake for Stacy that I mentioned in this post.

Here were some of Hunter's party guests:

Zyleigh

Gracyn and Aiden

Cassidy

While the women and children were enjoying the party...the men found entertainment elsewhere.

Ha ha! Yup, its official, football season is here.

Michael, Turp, and Micheal!

While we were at the birthday party my mom was in Lubbock having her own little adventure! Look what she came home with...

Her name is Molly and she is so sweet! We have had a lot of fun welcoming her into her new home. However not everyone was thrilled, our other cat Mickey was unhappy (to say the least) about Molly's arrival! The look on his face says it all!

Hopefully it will just take some getting used to on his part! Here are a couple of more pictures of the new baby! She really is as sweet as she looks!

As an added bonus my friend Heath and his girlfriend Courtney stopped by on Saturday while we were at my parents and we had such a nice visit. It was really nice getting to catch up with Heath and get to know Courtney. I am really hoping Micheal and I will be able to meet up with them in Lubbock soon so we can hang out.

On Sunday I had the awesome privilege of watching this sweet baby while the rest of her family spent the day at the lake! (This pic was taken at Micheal's birthday party a couple of weeks ago)

She was so good, especially considering the fact that she hardly knows me! We spent the whole day together and had a blast! Thank you so much Colton and Shonda for trusting me with your little Cassidy!

Finally I want to say Happy Birthday to Micheal's sister Miranda!! I know Matt took extra good care of you today! Hope it was awesome!! Love you bunches!! :)

A Fabulous Friday (and a little bit about Thursday too! )

2010-08-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

So this whole updating my blog consistently is very new to me, in case you haven't noticed! :) So it is kind of hard for me to come up with interesting things to write about. Hopefully I will get better at this so stick with me! :)

Today was a very good day. I was really busy at work and I love it when that happens because I feel so productive. Today was one of those days for sure. We have a meeting coming up on Sunday that I was peparing for so that kept me busy. At lunch I got a nice surprise when my mom called me and told me my Nanny was in town and wanted to eat lunch with us at Pizza Classic. That was a double win for me because I love my Nanny and I haven't eaten there in forever! It beat the can of ravioli I was planning on eating for sure! It ended up being me, Nanny, my mom, Adam, and Micheal. It was really weird Dad not being there. We are so used to him being able to meet us for lunch if we all do something but with his new job he can't do that anymore. It was kind of sad but I know he LOVES his new job so its ok. As long as he is happy so am I. :) I was so mad because I left my camera on my desk because I was uploading pics at work so I couldn't take a picture of all of us. I plan on going to Nanny and Pappy's house a couple more times for cookouts before school starts so I will take lots of both of them when I see them. I have the best grandparents on both sides of my family! I am so thankful that all four of my grandparents are still with me and I pray they are for a WHOLE lot longer! I so desire my kids to meet them someday! Seeing Nanny at lunch was just another reminder of how blessed I am! :) Here are some pics of me and my grandparents this summer. I don't have a recent one with me and Poppa because he was not feeling well the day of Adam's graduation which is when we took pictures.

I LOVE this picture of me and Pappy. My mom has one of her and him in the exact same pose on her wedding day. I will have to scan it on my computer so I can show yall! It is so sweet!

Me and Nanny and Pappy in Ruidoso this summer! :)

Me and Nana at Adam's graduation! :)

Poppa! This was taken a few years ago. He hasn't been feeling well for a long time. My heart hurts for him. He is having a tough time right now but I know deep down he is still the same Poppa I love with my whole heart! I would appreciate your prayers for him right now. Thanks! I know we serve an awesome God who is working miracles in his life even as I type this!

Now, onto a lighter subject! :)

Last night Micheal and I went over to Andy and Meg's to play a game. We played the new electronic Life game. It was a lot of fun! Mainly because watching Micheal and Andy compete in anything is hilarious! Even a simple board game turns into a huge battle between those two! Ha! I took a few pics of us playing the game. Enjoy!

Here is Andy with Jaymes and Zyleigh. Madilyn was at the lake with her friend.

Micheal Dean (he was smiling because he thought he was winning) Ha Ha! :)

Meg and I! I love this girly soooo much!

Here are some pics I took yesterday before we went to Andy and Meg's. I was just messing around but they actually turned out pretty good. I am proud of how good I am doing about remembering to bring my camera and take pictures.

I love this picture of Tyson! I took like fifty pictures of him and out of all of them this was the only good one.

He didn't understand why I was just sitting on the porch taking pictures! He wanted to go somewhere so bad. He stood by my car forever until he finally figured out we weren't leaving.

Here is Micheal playing his new game I got him for his birthday. I feel bad because he has had it for almost two weeks now and has only got to play it once. He has been going non-stop this summer and in the evenings he is sweet enough to hang out with me instead of playing his game! :) Look how happy and content he is!! :)

This picture cracks me up because it looks like he is scared! Ha! We were talking when I took the pic and I must have caught him mid-word but it looks funny.

Have a fabulous weekend!!

Adoption

2010-08-05T16:57:00.000-07:00

Today was an awesome day! I got to go to the Baker family's final adoption hearing for their girls. For those of you who do not know them they have an amazing testimony. Their oldest son is their only biological child. Crystal and Dexter wanted to have more kids but were unable to get pregnant. So after many years of trying God led them to try adoption. Since that decision they have adopted 4 beautiful girls and one precious baby boy. Today was the last adoption hearing. They are all officially theirs! It was such a beautiful thing to witness. I felt very blessed that they allowed me to be in their with them on their special day! I am so happy for you guys!! :)

Enjoying the Small Things

2010-08-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

So far this week has been pretty uneventful but in a very good way. Monday was the first day in a while that Tammy and I were both in the office together. She just got back from taking her youth kids to Colorado for their mission trip. It was nice to finally be able to get back in the groove. Plus, time always goes by so much faster when she is there. We have a lot of fun together. I was supposed to babysit Monday night and Tuesday afternoon but the lady ended up not needing me so I had a lot of extra time on my hands. Monday night Micheal texted me and asked me to bring Monopoly over to his house so we could play it. I actually do not care for Monopoly... like not even a little bit but Micheal loves it so I agreed. We actually ended up taking it over to Andy and Meg's and playing it with them. We had a lot of fun. It was just one of those spontaneous get togethers that tend to take place when some of your closest friends live right across the street. I absolutely love moments like that.

I told Micheal that whenever we get married I totally want us to be one of those couples who just call people up out of the blue for a cook out or invite them over for dinner. I think that is so cool. That happens a lot with Andy and Meg. I love the fact that they live right across the street from Micheal. It is like one of things that I always thought would be cool but never thought it would actually happen! God has a way of blessing us even in the small things! Anyway, now that I am actually somewhat keeping up with this blog (knock on wood..ha ha) I need to remember to take pictures of little things like that. One thing that I would love to be able to do soon is to buy supplies so that I can scrap book, so I am trying to do better about taking lots of pictures. I think that would be a really cool hobby that I will enjoy ( I have been trying to find something I can do at night before bed besides watching t.v.).

Last night Micheal and I had dinner with his family. It ended up being his mom, brother, sister, and her husband. We started a tradition a couple of years ago where Tuesday nights are reserved for Micheal's family otherwise we would never get to see them. It has become something I look forward to each week. It is nice spending time with them and Cyndy (Micheal's mom) is an amazing cook! We typically go to his mom's house or his grandma's house but last night everyone went out to Nopalitos. It was a lot of fun. I am sure everyone else in the restaurant was glad when we left because we were a little noisy! Ha! Afterwards Micheal and I went back to his house to play with Tyson for a little while and ended up playing electronic Life. It was a lot of fun even though I lost! We are supposed to take it to Andy and Meg's tomorrow night to play with them. Should be fun!

Tonight is probably going to be another laid back night after church is over. These nights of relaxing and hanging out are a welcomed change from the craziness of July! Ha Ha! Well I hope all of you have a great night and enjoy the remaining weeks of summer.

Micheal's 24!!

2010-07-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Micheal's 24th birthday! This year I decided I would attempt to throw him a surprise birthday party at my apartment. I am proud to say everything went off without a hitch! Early last week I started cooking up the idea to throw him, Stacy, and Shonda (who also have July birthdays) a party, I wanted it to be a surprise but I really thought it would be impossible to keep Micheal from finding out. Mainly because we had Vacation Bible School all last week and everyone I invited was working out there. I just knew he was going to overhear something. But after the whole week went by and he was still in the dark I started thinking that it could actually work. I seriously could not have done it without all of my friend's help. Everyone said they would bring stuff to make burgers so we could cook out at my apartment and the kids could swim in the pool. I was so grateful that my awesome landlord allowed me to go WAY over my 2 guests in the pool rule for his party. I was sooo excited that everyone was going to be coming over to my apartment. We get together with our friends every other Thursday to hangout and have dinner and we like to rotate houses. However, since my apartment is so small I have never been able to host it. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone hanging out and having a good time! I can't wait until I have a home where I can have people over for dinner and what not without everyone being cramped! Ha Ha! On Monday I called everyone and confirmed that they were gonna be able to come and told them where to park and everything was falling into place perfectly. At that point the only thing that could have possibly messed it up was if it rained. I got really nervous around 4:30 when clouds started rolling in but praise God it only sprinkled for about 5 minutes and the rest of the time the weather was perfect! Even the mosquitoes left us alone! At one point during the party I was walking down my stairs and I saw all of my friends and family hanging out having fun and it completely warmed my heart. It just meant so much to me that everyone was willing to help me pull the party off. Everyone was so great helping me with whatever I needed. Friendship is such an awesome thing! I am definitly blessed!! Happy Birthday Micheal Dean! I pray you and I get to spend many, many more birthdays together!! I love you! P.S. You are getting OLD!! :)

Here were the two birthday girls, Stacy and Shonda. I can't believe I found a pic of just the two of them together! This pic was from Relay for Life back in June.

This was when Micheal first walked in!

Their cake!

Stacy's Pink tractor Cake Kara made her!

The coloring of this pic isn't good but it was the only group one I found

Summer Time!

2010-07-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!! :) I hope everyone has been having an awesome summer! This summer has without a doubt been the most relaxing and fun one I have had in a while. It has been a nice combination of cookouts, friends, family, vacations, and best of all NO SCHOOL! Throughout the last couple of months God has really opened my eyes and allowed me to see how truly blessed I am. So for this post I am going to list a few of the MANY things I am thankful for!

1) My family: I have the most amazing family anyone could ever ask for. I was able to grow up in a Christian home where I always knew I was safe and loved. My parents have an amazing marriage and I am so grateful for that example growing up. My mom and dad are my biggest fans and I love them so much! My little brother is pretty much the coolest person I have ever met! Now that I have moved out we have such an awesome relationship. It is so great watching him grow into an amazing man of God.

2) Micheal Dean: There truly are no words to describe how blessed I am to have a man in my life like Micheal. He truly is my Prince Charming and I look forward to see what God has in store for us in the future. :) My Dad told me a while back that he started praying for my future husband from the time I was a baby and I am so grateful he did that because God totally came through!! :)

3) Friends: A few years ago after I graduated high school I really struggled because I felt like I did not have friends. Let me rephrase that, I knew I had friends but I wanted one of those amazingly colse friendships where you stay up all night talking and laughing. A friend that lived near by so we could meet up for lunch or have a spur of the moment movie night. One of those friendships that is truly a gift from God. There was a time when I felt like that was never going to happen because I chose not to go off to college. I thought that was what you had to do if you wanted to have those kind of friends. Well once again God totally came through for me in an amazing way. I have the best group of friends! I truly could not ask for better! Every single one of them is special in their own unique way but when we all get together we have a blast! So... all of that to say that I am SO thankful for all of the wonderful friendships God has brought into my life!!

The guys (Minus Zac and Micheal Williamson)

The Girls (minus Kara and Stephanie)

4) My Job: I got my first job whenever I was a junior in high school and from then until now I have been so blessed to have always been able to work in wonderful Christian environments. Also, I was able to meet some awesome people who I truly grew to love. When I worked at Radio Shack it was so great to get to work with De who has always been like a second mom to me and with Larry and Donna. They were always so patient with me (a girl who knows NOTHING about electronics) Ha!! It was really hard to leave last summer but I knew it was time. The job I am at now is awesome! I have made amazing friendships and have been able to rekindle some old ones. This job was an answer to prayers because I was soooo ready to move out and by working here I am able to afford my own apartment and still be a full time college student.

5) My Apartment: I absolutely love my little apartment. I know that I do not want to live there forever but I also know it is going to be so hard when it comes time to leave it! It has been really awesome being able to have a place of my very own and I have enjoyed being able to support myself financially without having to depend on my parents. That is truly a blessing!

I could go on and on about all of the things in my life I am thankful for but I'm gonna stop here so this post doesn't get too out of control! :) Thanks for stopping by!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

Ephesians 3:20

MooLah!! :)

2010-01-19T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well everything is going great! School, work, friends, family...everything! I am so grateful for all the blessings God has poured out into my life! I am still doing pretty good with my daily quiet time. There were a couple of days that went by without me doing it but I am not going to let that discourage me! :) Anyway, I am really excited about the finance class that I am taking! It will be REALLY helpful for me to learn how to set up a budget and stick to it. I think I have always been pretty responsible with my money, especially since I moved out and have bills of my own now. But I have never really had a budget. So hopefully this class will help me learn how to do that. I am also excited because our book for the class is from Crown Financial Ministries, they base their teachings on the Bible. I just love going to a school where I can not only learn the things that I need to know for my major but also learn them from a Godly perspective. :) I will check back in and let you know how it goes! For the month of February our assignment is to write down all of our expenses and then write a paper over how it went and what we learned from doing that. I already write down what I spend but it will be nice to go a little bit deeper and look at exactly where all my money is going! The main reason why I want to budget my money is so I can help my little brother, Adam Michael Martin purchase Xbox live. (Ha Ha Adam I hope you know that I am sooo kidding but I mentioned you in my blog like you asked me to!) :) Anyway, I hope everyone has a blessed day!!

Back To School Again!

2010-01-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

I started back to school yesterday for the spring semester. ( I realize the entire fall semester has gone by without me posting! Ooops!! Ha Ha) Anyway, I think I am really going to enjoy my classes this semester! I am taking: Literacy and the Young Child, Family Financial Management, Marriage and Family Therapy; Personal Fitness and Wellness, and Family, Stress, Crisis, and Resilience. I LOVE my major! The classes are so interesting I actually find myself enjoying the lectures! I never thought that would happen!! Ha Ha!! I think I only have one semester left after this one and then I should have my Bachelors degree in Family Studies. Right now I am trying to decide where I want to do my practicum. I plan on doing it this summer so I better figure it ot here pretty quick. I want it to be something that I enjoy and something that hopefully will help me figure out what I want to do after I graduate. I know God will guide me in the right direction! :)

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I am really excited about 2010. My goal for this year is to do better at truly seeking God with all my heart. I tell the girls in Micheal's youth group how important it is for us to go after God and really seek out his promises for our life. I have always been the type of person who will stick to my quiet time for a little while and then something will come up and before I know it two weeks have gone by and I haven't done it. So I have purposed in my heart that this year its going to be different. So far I have done a lot better. It has always been hard for me to turn everything off (tv, cell phone, radio, etc) and just have quiet time with God. I don't really know why...maybe because I don't like the quiet. Also, I think it is difficult for me because I never really know what to read or what to pray for or really where to start. Its like I have so much bottled up inside me and so many things that I want to work on that it is overwhelming. But I know it is very important to have that intimate time with Christ. So I am trusting that God will honor the time I spend with Him and help me to overcome the obstacles that sometimes get in my way. I have also been keeping a prayer journal and writing down scriptures that I feel God has laid on my heart. It is really neat to write down a prayer request and then go back and write how God answered that prayer! It really has helped my faith grow!

Some specific prayer requests that I have right now are for the 2 Disciple Nows that are coming up. One of them is here in Littlefield and the other one is in Amarillo. Micheal and I are really excited about about what God is going to do in the lives of young people at these two events. Please pray for the kids' hearts to be opened to receive whatever God has for them and for all the people involved! Thanks and God Bless!!! :)

Baby Tyson!

2009-08-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

So Micheal got a new puppy about a week ago! He is a black lab who just turned 6 weeks old on Sunday! We have been having a lot of fun with him! He is a sweetheart! Well at least I think he is....I'm not the one who has to listen to him cry and whine all night!! Ha Ha!! That's Micheal's job!! Anyway his name is Tyson and I just love him!!! I have to take him to get his shots today...poor baby! Here are some pics!! Enjoy!!

Summer Trip!!

2009-08-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

Back in July my family, Micheal and I went to Carlbad Caverns and Ruidoso for our vacation. It was a lot of fun...sadly my camera died half way through the trip (it does that every time I go on a trip and I NEVER remember to bring my charger...UGH!!!) so I didn't get to take any pictures of us at White Sands. :( Besides that it was a very fun and relaxing trip. We went shopping, fished at the lake by our cabin, ate A LOT, went to White Sands and just hung out!!

Our first stop was Carlsbad Caverns. My family went a few years ago but Micheal had never been so it was neat to go with him. If you have never been to the caverns it is a VERY steep walk down so lets just say Micheal got a little tired on the way...

But once he got his second wind he seemed to enjoy himself! Ha Ha!! :) Micheal's favorite part by FAR was the fishing. The lodge we stayed at had fishing, golfing, tennis and swimming all included so Micheal practically lived at the lake. It was right outside our door so him and Adam got up early every morning and went down there while the rest of us slept like NORMAL people! Ha Ha!! :)

We caught over 20 fish while we were there so it was a lot of fun. I had not been fishing in a long time and I certainly had not caught a fish in a while...so when I actually caught one...well lets just say it COMPLETELY caught me off guard! My face was priceless!!

We had a lot of fun and I can't wait to go back real soon! Ruidoso is just such a beautiful place!! I love it!!

WOW!!!

2009-08-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

Where has this summer gone!!!??? Seriously! It has been a crazy fun summer but it flew by WAY too fast...as usual! So, what has been going on with me for the last few months?? Let me see...

First off I started off the summer by moving into my own apartment and starting a new job. It was a big change but I have not regretted it for one single second. I had been blessed with a great job at Littlefield Service Center for the past two years. De and Larry were AWESOME when it came to working with my school schedule and I could not have asked for a better job while I was at SPC. However, I knew that it was time for something different. I prayed and simply asked God for direction about where I should move and where I should apply for jobs etc. After looking into moving to Levelland with my cousin and a few other things...(all of which fell through) I decided to put my name on the waiting list at Lfd Apts. The timing could not have been more perfect because in the mean time one of my friends, Tammy and Andy Roberts told me that they were looking for someone to help them out part time with their youth ministry. The job COULD not have been more perfect for me. I was able to work in a Christian atmosphere with great people and the hours work PERFECTLY with me going to school. So after praying about it I decided to accept Tammy's offer and apply for the job. In the mean time I got a call saying that an apt had opened up and I was set to move in June 1st. I was so excited!! I was given the job at the church and found out I started there on June 1st also! Ha! June 1st was a big day for me!! :) Anyway... I have been working there for almost 3 months now and things are going great! God def came through and I know I am exactly where he wants me to be. I will post some pics of my apt soon!!

My Turn!!!

2009-05-18T07:58:00.001-07:00

Well I am FINALLY moving out!!!! :) I got an apartment!!! It was crazy how it all worked out because it was sooo fast! I have been on the waiting list for a one bedroom for about a month or so and have been praying that God would have favor on me and help me to get one sometime soon! Well He did! I found out that they had a one bedroom available so as soon as I got off work on Friday I went and got an application, filled it out and took it back that night. Well by Saturday afternoon I had already signed my lease! :) I am not moving in until the first of the month so that gives me about two weeks to find a couch! Mom, Micheal and I are going garage sale hopping on Saturday and I CAN'T wait!! I am so excited to finally be on my own. I know it will be tough but I think I will feel so much better about myself! I feel like God has been preparing me for this for a while now, He just needed me to be patient! I have learned a lot about waiting on the Lord lately. About a month and a half ago or so I felt God tell me in a very clear way to just wait on Him. I was struggling with some stuff at the time and kind of felt like my life was just stuck. I felt like I was doing the same thing every day and that nothing was getting better. Well when God told me to wait I was so encouraged! Well since that moment so much as happened, He just needed me to relax and put my trust in Him. I know that I am still learning how to completely trust Him because I am a worrier, but I also know that He is definitly worth the wait!!!

A little bit of this...a little bit of that!

2009-05-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Ok...its official! I am a WHOLE lot better at reading other people's blogs than keeping up with my own!! :) Anyway...a lot has happened in the last month and 1/2!! First of all I turned 21! Thats always exciting! My mom and Micheal took me shopping and spoiled me a little bit!! ;) I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family! Also Micheal and our friends planned a surprise b-day for me and one of our other friends! It was so much fun. We went out to eat at Ohanna's, got ice cream, and went bowling! It was great!! The next big thing that happened to me is that I got a new job! I am going to be the youth director's secretary at the Methodist church! I am so excited because it is going to work GREAT with my school schedule! WOO HOO! I am so blessed! God is so good! Also within the last month I finished up my first semester at LCU! I couldn't have asked for a better outcome! I finished up with all As! Praise God once again!! I also had a really neat experience with one of my finals! In my Jesus and the Gospels class my professor read us the passage about Jesus being a servant and washing hs disciples feet, so for our final he washed our feet! It was such a WONDERFUL experience! Man...Do we serve an awesome God or what??? Well I am going to try to get better about posting pics with my posts...I am hardly ever on the computer with my pics saved on it when I post! Anyways! I hope you all have a blessed weekend!!! :)

I am confident that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord,be strong, take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:13-14

Happy April Fools!!

2009-04-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well its officially April!! :) I love this time of year..when its finally starting to warm up and you know that summer is right around the corner!!I love it when the seasons change! It seems like God knows exactly the right time to move on to the next one! I love the winter and the fall but I am ready for FLIP FLOP weather! Tomorrow is my close friend Kayla's twenty-first birthday!! Happy Birthday Kayla!! It is so crazy how time flies..our birthdays are exactly one month apart so I know my turn is coming up fast!! I was cleaning out my closet not too long ago and I found a box of old birthday cards I had saved and I found one from Kayla when we were 13! It doesn't seem like that long ago... Wow!!

As far as April fools goes I have always wanted to pull a good prank on someone but I can never pull it off! I am not a very good liar so it is hard for me to pull pranks on people! Ha Ha!! Maybe next year! But the good news is that I have not been pranked either so I guess I can't complain!! Well this time next month I will officially be DONE with my first semester at LCU! It has gone by fast and its been fun but I am def looking forward to summer! Sadly, along with the end of the semester comes finals!!! GULP!! I am not looking forward to those but I am sure I will survive! :)

Well God has blessed me once again!! I know I shouldn't be surprised when He does but I just can't get over how amazing He is! Everytime something awesome happens or He answers a prayer I just find myself in complete Awe of Him! Everytime...it NEVER gets old! Yesterday I went over to my friend Desiree's house to talk about our schedule for next semester and ended up having the most amazing conversation with her about how wonderful God is and about how he always directs our steps even when it seems like nothing important or exciting is happening! Well yesterday was a perfect example of exactly how He does that! Desiree emailed me this morning and told me that God used our conversation in order to bring her peace and encouragement! Plus, she got a phone call last night from a friend who was having a rough time and she shared what we talked about and was able to encourage her friend as well! So just a simple get together ended up being what God used to encourage Desiree and her friend! It just goes to show that when we ask God to use us and to direct our steps he does! Even when you don't even realize it! And this morning God used Desiree to encourage me by sharing what happened last night! God is so awesome and he ALWAYS brings things full circle! For we have the hope "that in ALL THINGS God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

Moving on Up!

2009-03-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend was pretty much the same as any other except for one thing...Micheal moved into a new house! I am so happy for him (and not AT ALL jealous ha ha!). I know how badly he has wanted his own place and I am so glad that God opened this door for him! Sadly, my digital camera is on the fritz so I can't post any pictures yet but hopefully I can soon. We had a lot of fun getting all of his stuff moved in and set up. Luckily Micheal did not have to do it all by himself...thanks to all of our wonderful friends!! Brian and Andy helped Micheal move all of the big heavy stuff and us girls (me, Meg, and Stacy) got to help decorate.We did a marvelous job...if I do say so myself! Oh...and did I mention that his next door neighbors are some of our most favorite people in the world??? :) Yup...Andy and Meg are gonna have to start locking their doors so we don't drive them completely crazy!! ;) I am so excited about everything God is doing and I am so thankful for his wonderful provision for Micheal!!!

Praying for Baby Stellan

2009-03-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

Back in December I started reading a blog called My Charming Kids. I am absolutely addicted to it now. The woman who writes it calls herself MckMama and I absolutely love the way she writes. She is a mighty woman of God and a lot of her posts are about how her relationship with Christ has helped her so much in raising her children and in her marriage. Anyway, she had a baby boy in November and he was diagnosed with some kind of heart problem while in the womb and the doctors did not expect him to live. Well God intervened and he was born a healthy, full term baby. He has been perfectly healthy until this weekend when his parents took him to the er because he was having trouble breathing. Well while he was in the hospital his heart began beating extremely fast and it seems that his heart problems have returned. I know that baby Stellan and his family would appreciate it if you would please pray for them. If you would like to find out more about Stellan's condition and his wonderful testimony click on the picture below.

WOW!!!!

2009-03-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how time FLIES!! It is already Spring Break at school!! :) That means that when I go back on Tuesday I only have ten days of school left! It seems like just yesterday I was just getting started at LCU! I have really enjoyed this semester but I am so ready for next semester because one of my close friends, Desiree is transferring there too! YAY!! :)

Hopefully we will be able to take lots of classes together since we are majoring in the same thing! Well as far as spring break goes I didn't do a whole lot. Micheal and I went on a fast and furious trip to Oklahoma for a youth ministers conference. We left on Friday morning around nine and got back Saturday night around 11:45. Talk about a long trip but the conference was great! I think that Micheal got a lot out of it as far as ideas to help him out with his youth group but I got a lot out of the teachings as well. A lot of the teachings were about dying to yourself and carrying your cross daily. So I am intentionally waking up every morning and throughout the day commiting my entire self to God. I want my life to be a living sacrifice! It is so encouraging to know that I can let go of everything and give my life to God. Throughout the conference I kind of had a revelation. For a long time I have been praying and asking, "God what do I need to do?" But I realized that I don't necessarily need to pray and ask what I need to do but I need to pray and ask God to help me die to myself. When I die to myself and commit my life as a living sacrifice to Him he will guide me and direct my paths because I can't do it MYSELF!!! That gave me such freedom and I know that more I continue to grow in the area of dying to myself and giving my life to God the more I will understand it!! :) A scripture that is really helping me learn to let go of what I want and trust what God wants are Romans 12:1-2. I really like this verse because it gives a very clear understanding of what we need to do in order to see God's good, pleasing and perfect will prevail in our lives. We have to give our bodies as living sacrifices, keep from conforming to the pattern of this world and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds! I know that a lot of people, including myself, are sometimes scared to lay down our plans and truly tell God that we want his will to be done in our lives and not our own. We tend to thing that as soon as we say that God is going to send us off to some remote country and make us live some horribly depressing life! This scripture contradicts that COMPLETELY!! God LOVES us and he knows us better than we know ourselves, therefore we can trust the fact that His plan for us is not only good but it is better than anything we could ever have planned for ourselves! God is so WONDERFUL! I cannot wait to see what God does in my life as I continue to take myself out of the equation.I am expecting GREAT things to take place because I serve a GREAT God!!! :)

Bryson Andrew Quinto

2009-02-17T14:59:00.000-08:00

Well one of my dear friends became a mom on February 8th!! I am sooo happy for her and her husband Chris! She is the first one of my close friends to have a baby! She delivered him about 9 weeks early but God is answering our prayers and he is doing GREAT! I actually went to see her the day before she had him and we had a great time. I had not seen her in several months, so we had a lot of catching up to do! Our visit was fun but way too short! Anyway the next morning when I found out she had him I was so glad that I had gone to see her the day before otherwise I never would have gotten to see her pregnant! I love how God works! :) You can check out Baby Bryson's progress here http://www.brysonquinto.blogspot.com/. Please keep Courtney, Chris and Baby Bryson in your prayers so they can go home soon!!!

Exciting Weekend Coming Up!!

2009-01-30T07:28:00.000-08:00

This weekend is Littlefield's Disciple Now. Its a time when jr. high and high school students come together for a weekend of fun, games, food and fellowship! This year we are doing it a little different than we have in the past and I am really looking forward to it. It starts tomorrow at 12 noon and lasts until Sunday at noon. So its 24 hours of non stop action. Including going to Lubbock to the movies and Main Event (both of which have been rented for just our kids)! It is going to be a lot of fun. I will try to take lots of pictures!! Today I am just trying to prepare my heart so that I will be able to have a good connection with my group of girls. D-Now is a lot of fun but its main purpose is to spread the love of Jesus and to help kids grow in their relationship with him. So there will be several small group sessions. I can't wait to see what God has in store for everyone this weekend! Come Sunday I know I will be exhausted but it will be worth it!! :)

Trusting in God

2009-01-28T08:58:00.000-08:00

Wow....God is so good! Yesterday when I had to miss school I was pretty nervous because that was the first time I had missed any of my classes this semester....and I hate missing classes! So even though I had a day off yesterday I have to admit that I spent the majority of it worrying about what I was missing. Then I got even more worried when I realized that I was going to miss a quiz in one class and a test review in another. Not to mention a whole days worth of notes. As soon as I saw how many important things I was going to be missing I immediately began praying. I told God that I knew he understood why I stayed home and that I knew that he would take care of me and make everything work out. I tried my best to stay calm and remember that God was in control. I know that this may seem like a silly thing to worry about but I knew that God ALWAYS cares, even about the little things. So this morning when I checked my email I found out that both the test and the quiz had been postponed until next week! Plus, my professor emailed me the notes from class...which was way more than I expected because he always told us that if we missed class then we would have to get the notes from a classmate.

So what I learned from all this was that God cares, even about the little things. He loves us and takes care of us even when we think our prayer requests are too miniscule for him! That just encouraged me so much!! It made me think...if God is willing to take care of me when it comes to missing one day of school...then he will take care of me in the big things too! Even when we don't deserve it! God has completely showed me that if I put my trust in him that he will make sure that everything turns out ok!! I am so pumped right now! God is so AWESOME!!!

Snow Day!!

2009-01-27T09:40:00.000-08:00

Well this morning it snowed!!! This is the first time we have had snow that stuck this winter. I had school today but when I woke up and checked my email I learned that my first class was cancelled. So that was good news!! So I planned on leaving in time to make my second class at 9:30 but my parents said that they thought it would be better if I just stayed home today. So after emailing my professors to let them know the situation I officially had a day off! I called De and told her that I would come in at 3:00 so that way when she left to pick up her kids she would not have to come back and close up the store. So, until 3 I plan on doing some laundry, catching up on some reading for school, and doing my Bible Study. Well I hope that everyone stays safe and warm today!!

Wild and Crazy Weekend!!

2009-01-26T13:41:00.001-08:00

Wow!! I had a very busy and fun weekend. Friday was my Poppa's and my best friend Meghan's birthday! So Friday night my family, Micheal and I went over to my grandparent's house to celebrate! We had a lot of fun... we talked, ate pizza and cake, and played games. Then on Saturday we celebrated Meghan's birthday! There was eleven of us in all...Andy, Meghan, Brian, Stacy, Jaime, Flavio, Shonda, Colton, Ben, Micheal, and me!! We had a BLAST!! We started off the evening by eating at one of Meghan's favorite restaurants, Orlando's! The food was delicious!!!

We told the waitress that it was Meghan's birthday and so they brought her a huge chocolate rum cake with a candle on it and sang her happy birthday Orlando's style! Meghan, being the sweet person that she is shared her cake and ice cream with everyone. We then realized that Ben's birthday was only a few days away but the waitress said that her manager would not let her bring out another free cake so we took matters into our own hands!! Meg gave Ben a piece of her cake and we relit the candle and sang our own version of the Orlando's Happy Birthday song to him! :) By the end of the night we had made great friends with our waitress so we all took a group pic!! :)

Our friend Brian has decided to start collecting t-shirts from all of the places where we go eat...for free! He must have a way with words because he decided that he was going to ask the manager for a free shirt and two minutes later he came walking back to the table shirt in hand!! :) So far he has a shirt from McAllister's and Orlando's!! When we finally left the restaurant I think everyone in there was very glad to see us go!! Ha Ha!!

The plan was that after dinner we were going to go bowling. Well after visiting and calling several bowling alleys in Lubbock we discovered that there was a 2 hour wait at all of them. So we decided to go to Main Event so that way we could do other things while waiting for a lane to open up. You would think that having to drive from bowling alley to bowling alley would have slowed down our fun....NOPE! The drive consisted of Meg hanging her head out the window like she was flying and us taking pictures of Jaime and Flavio and Colton and Shonda in their cars while we were stopped at red lights!!

Anyway, we finally made it to Main Event where we played laser tag and messed around in the arcade until they had a lane open. Sadly, I was only able to take one picture of us bowling before my camera died. So the only picture I got was of Meghan showing off her AWESOME bowling skills! :) Oh well at least it was a good one!! So after an hour and a half of bowling excitement we finally made it back into town around 2 in the morning!

So that was Saturday! Then on Sunday we went to church and that evening Micheal decided to take the kids in his youth group bowling as a treat for all the hard work they did on a fundraiser. So back to Lubbock we went! It was a lot of fun and the kids did great but after we got back home Micheal and I decided that we had both had enough bowling to last us for a while! So needless to say by the time I got home from dropping the kids off last night I was TIRED!!

Its weekends like these that remind me of how blessed I am to have such an amazing group of friends!! I love them SOOOOO MUCH!! :)

Killing Us Softly

2009-01-23T07:36:00.000-08:00

Well basically Wednesday night was NOT fun for me. All day long while I was at work I was just dreading going home because I knew what was waiting for me.... HOMEWORK!! :( I had to write a 5 page paper over how harmful advertising is to woman. So I basically sit in front of my computer from the time I got home at 5:30 until I went to bet after 12. The part that stinks the most is that I know that I could have easily written that paper in like an hour and a half tops but I sat there stressing over whether or not I was doing it right. (Mostly because this is the first assignment with a brand new professor and I didn't really know what his expectations were.) Therefore, I wasted a lot of time! Anyways, I got it done and turned it in yesterday and it was a great feeling...knowing it was OVER!!! Ha Ha!! I am really hoping that this semester I can...how can I say this...NOT PROCRASTINATE!!! I have been a procrastinator when it comes to homework my entire life! I have always managed to do well but waiting until the last minute to do things adds a lot of unecessary stress to my life...and I really dont want anymore of that!

Anyways, the topic that I had to write about has been on my mind lately. We had to watch a video called Killing Us Softly that showed us a lot of advertisements that send messages to woman and young girls that they have to be beautilful, THIN, perfect, sexy, and submissive! It is such a dangerous idea to put into young girls heads. The scary thing is that these images are EVERYWHERE! They are in magazines, on t.v, and on billboards. Plus, the barbie dolls that young girls play with are built to perfection. It is such a shame that these young children have this idea placed in their heads at such young ages that, this is what I am supposed to look like when I grow up. It is an unrealistic expectation. Our professor talked about how only 5% of women actually have body types to be as thin as the models we see. Even then most of those models starve themselves and have plastic surgery. Women that are not born with that type of bosy style cannot diet themselves to look like that anymore than they can make themselves taller. It is such a shame that we as women are not allowed the freedom to decide for ourselves what our idea of a healthy body image is. I, personally have felt the pressure of this idea that women are supposed to be skinny and perfect. I am currently at the perfect weight for my height...so I am at a healthy weight but I still feel self-conscious about my body. I have to strive everyday to convince myself that I can be happy with the body that God has given me. I know that I have been on a soap box with this but it makes me sad to think that so many young girls have eating disorders because our society has told them all of their lives that the only way that can be be successful and desireable to the opposite sex is to be thin. And that is simply NOT true! I for one hope that I can make a difference in the lives of the young girls that I am around by telling them that they are God's children and they are beautiful just the way they are!

Lubbock Christian University

2009-01-21T11:02:00.001-08:00

Well, I knew this was bound to happen...I start a blog, do well for the first few days and then completely forget about it!! Ha Ha! Well I am determined not to let this blog end up like every single journal I have ever owned...(filled with one or two entries and then...NOTHING!!) :) So I am going to recap on January and then hopefully do a lot better in February!!

One big exciting thing that happened to me in January is that I started school at Lubbock Christian University!! I have always wanted to go to LCU so it was really neat to FINALLY be going there! My first day was a little nerve racking but first days always are right?? You know the feeling of sitting there on the first day of class hoping you are in the right room and praying that your professor will be friendly! Well I survived my first day and I love all of my professors!! :) I am taking: Family and Community; Love, Courtship, and Marriage; Parenting; and Jesus and the Gospels. I really enjoy all of my classes but so far my favorite is Love, Courtship, and Marriage, my professor is awesome and the class is so interesting! I still find myself shocked ( in a good way) when my professors mention scripture and God when they are teaching! It is so awesome to be in an environment where students and professors can openly profess their faith in the classroom! I absolutely LOVE it! Another cool and exciting thing about LCU is that everyday they have Chapel. It is neat because EVERYONE attends. Basically the entire campus shuts down and students, faculty, and everyone else on campus stops whatever they are doing and goes to Chapel! I really enjoy it!

As far as friends go I still have a long way to go but I have made a few friends in each one of my classes! They are all very sweet girls and I hope to get to know them better throughout the semester! I would say that this has def been the hardest part about switching schools! I miss all my SPC friends and they better not forget about me now that I am not there!! Ha Ha!! :)

Well tomorrow I have my first official assignment due for my Love, Courtship and Marriage class and I am sooo nervous. Its a 5 pg paper over a video we watched. I have always done good when it comes to writing papers but its a brand new professor with a whole different set of expectations! I guess I am just going to have to do the best I can and hope for the best!! :) Wish me luck!!!

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-02T07:44:00.001-08:00

Well Micheal and I had a great time ringing in the New Year with our friends!! It was a lot of fun! We had a few friends over to my house and we ate pizza and played games!! Pretty much the same thing we do every year but I enjoy it! My first day of 2009 was great!! I got to sleep in, eat good food, and visit with my grandparents! :) All in all I give it an A+!! I also figured out how to put super cheap songs on my ipod that Micheal got me for Christmas! I hate that itunes are 1.00 each so my friend told me about this website where songs are like 9 cents each and yesterday when I tried it worked great!! I am so glad! Yesterday was mine and Micheal's three year anniversary and we usually go out to a movie and dinner but yesterday we agreed that just relaxing and hanging out would be just as nice. So we postponed our night out for this weekend...gives me something to look forward to! Tonight he is having a lock in for all of his youth kids so I will prob help out with that for a little while...should be interesting. Anyway, back to my great first day of the year...the best part was when he and I read a couple of chapters out of our book last night! It was wonderful!! The book totally opened up the waves of communication and I was able to get a lot of things off my chest and he was so understanding!! It was great! I feel so good today like a burden has been lifted!! Praise God! I am so blessed to have such an wonderful and amazing man in my life! Thanks babe!! :)

Goodbye 08...Hello 09!!!

2008-12-31T08:32:00.000-08:00

Well, today is the LAST day of 2008! I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by!! I am excited to see 2009 come and 2008 go... its kind of like a new beginning and a fresh start! Lets see... I believe that today is day 9 of my cold and I hate it! I am so ready to be over it!!! I definitly do not want to start school next week with a runny nose and a cough..that would not be cool!! Wow! I cannot believe that school starts in less than a week! A new school, a new year, a new start... that is the way I am looking at it! This is a brand new adventure and opportunity for me, I am a little nervous but for the most part I am excited! Last night my Micheal and I read our first chapter of "The 5 Love Languages" I am really excited and hopeful that this book will help us learn how to better communicate with one another and pray together! The first chapter talked about how we all have a love tank inside of us and if our love tanks are full then we are able to experience life in a more fulfilling way. When we first meet our significant other we are in the "in love" stage where everything is new and exciting and we fill like our love tank is overflowing. However, after the in love stage is over we have to make a conscious decision to love the other person whether we "feel" it or not. And if we learn how to love one another then we will be able to make sure that one anothers love tanks are full and that they truly feel loved! We both liked the chapter and are ready to read the next one!! Another exciting thing that is happening tomorrow is that it is mine and Micheal's 3 year anniversary..(even though he claims that its our 4th)!! Ha Ha! I pray that our next year together will be filled with joy, love, and hope!

My first post ever!! :)

2008-12-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

So.... I have been wanting to create a blog for sometime now but today I finally decided to just do it! I am not exactly sure what I hope to accomplish by doing this but hopefully this can be a way that I can clear my head and just let it all out!! I have soooo many things that I want to accomplish throughout my life. So many goals, so many dreams, so many ideas. Sometimes I have to admit its a little overwhelming and frusturating because I often feel like I am not doing anything to help those dreams become reality. I am 20 years old, going to school, working part time, and basically doing everything that everyone else my age is doing but for me at times its simply not enough. God has really been stretching me about how I should deal with my emotions. I have to learn how to not allow myself to be ruled by my emotions. I tend to base my mood and attitude on the circumstances around me and I know that is not how God wants me to live. Therefore I am trying to learn to discipline myself and know that the Jesus who lives in me is bigger than any emotion that I could ever experience! I praise God for his promise that I am "more than a conquerer" and that "I can do all things through him who gives me strength!!" AMEN!! I am so excited to see what God has in store for me to learn and experience in the future!!