Thanksgiving Break

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!

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!

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

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!

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! )

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

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

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.