WG

Today I am headed to one of my favorite places

 

to love on some girls I haven't even met yet.

And I am SO excited!

[some of] my new year's resolutions

In 2012 I want to...
-fall in love with Jesus every morning.
before I do anything else... I want to get up, spend time with the Lord, remember that He loves me, and fall more in love with Him.
-love others well.
I want to love others better. I want to love others well at all times. I want to love with a Christ-like love. I want to love because He first loved me.
-be more intentional. 
with friends. with family. with young life girls. with acquaintances. with strangers.
-be on time to church.
-read more books.
-blog more.
-start campaigners.
-make at least 12 crafts on Pinterest.
one a month... I can handle that, right?
-drink less diet coke.
and maybe less caffeine in general... still feeling this one out.
-get in shape.
pretty sure I say this every year, along with the rest of the world... but this year I promised myself after I was over this whole mono thing I'd really start working on it! we'll see.
-finish watching the Friday Night Lights series.
-eat healthier.
less french fries!
-cook more, eat out less.
-take more pictures. 
this past year I was terrible about taking pictures! 98% of the pictures on this blog were stolen from friends. this will also inspire me to blog more.

Twenty Twelve

It's crazy to think that last year I brought in 2011 in Seattle with some awesome people that I've hardly talked to since.

And this year I don't have any pictures of the great night, but we had so much fun. And I had my first ever New Year's kiss. Shhhhh.

Some quick highlights of the year (because I like to copy my friends):
-I turned 21!

-I took the Megabus to DC (my first time experiencing both the megabus and the city) and made it on Today's Letters.

-We got REALLY awesome new leaders at CAK.
-I had the worst (but still fun) spring break trip of my life.

-Matt came home.
-We had BIG storms.
-Went to Hilton Head with the fam.

-Went to weddings.

-Spent lots of time with my team/young life girls/at young life camps.

-Cheered on the Vols.
-Raced for the cure. (Mom conquered chemo and radiation, and I couldn't be more proud of her.)

 -Got real close to the girls in my small group.

-Met a boy (okay, maybe we technically met at the very end of 2010... but we started to like each other a little bit in 2011).

Thanks to everyone who made this year great! I have the most wonderful people surrounding me and walking through life with me. I'll probably have to add to this list when I think about it more. So thankful for the life God has blessed me with.

Christmas Break

I changed my blog to look all Christmasy and then only blogged once this month (until now)! Oops.

This break has consisted of A LOT of relaxing, which has been wonderful and much needed. I'm already kind of worried about the lack of sleep I'll get the next (and final) three semesters of school. So I might as well catch up while I still can, right?!

I ended this past semester with really good grades- I was hoping for a 4.0 for the semester, but I got a 94 in Info Sciences which was an A-. Silly. Oh well, still my highest GPA yet!

Since mostly I've just been watching movies with Dane, laying on the couch with Olivia, and having sleepovers with Jamie, and my family is really unphotogenic... I don't have any pictures to share!

Christmas was great though. I went to a candlelight service with Dane, Jamie, and Matt Sayers. I got a ton of "teacher" clothes from my mom- we went to the outlets one day, and I got money from various relatives to go towards a new computer. Now I am just on the look out for one! I think I might wait a little while, but I have the money all saved up!

I hope everyone's Christmas was as family filled and Jesus-filled as mine!

Maybe my New Year's resolution will be to be a better blogger... Better think of something quick!

Three blogs... WHAT?!

With all these blogs for class, this whole blogging thing is getting hard to manage! Don't worry though, I'm updating this one instead of the one that is actually due for a grade here soon. Or maybe it was already due... I've completely lost track of all my assignments.

I am so very blessed for so many reasons... and my prayer is that I will remember this always. Not just in the seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas when blessings seem to be more... evident (for lack of a better word).

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

These are three verses I hear and think of often... and I pray that my life will look like this. Giving thanks even for the things that don't seem like blessings at the time. Seems like they always ended up blessing me somehow! I saw something the other day, and of course I can't remember the wording so I'm going to butcher it... but it was something along the lines of "If only we were as quick to pray as we are to text..." How true is that?! I am constantly in communication with someone via texts... And I want to be in constant communication with my Father like that, but on an even deeper, more intimate level.

I don't think any of what I'm saying is making sense right now. I can't seem to put my thoughts into words... and especially not eloquently! So sorry this probably isn't fun or even easy to read/understand.

Good gosh, I LOVE MY TEAM! Look how good looking they all are!

boredom at its finest [bear with me... I've been locked in the house for DAYS!]

I've pretty much been lying in the same position on [a] couch since I started feeling sick last Monday. I thought it was the flu so after leaving the library with aches and fevers a week and a half ago, I went home to attempt writing my paper (couldn't take the library anymore). Dane came over, carried me to the couch, hid my computer, and tucked me in so that I would rest. Thankful for that. Wednesday I left my night class early in tears because I felt so miserable. I called both of my parents and they insisted that I meet them at the emergency room because they could tell I felt horrible. Thankful for that. So I was diagnosed with mono in the ER and immediately started crying because I don't have time to be sick with all my projects and finals coming up. Mom picked me up from my house Thursday afternoon and brought me home to her couch where I have been ever since (besides a few trips to the doctor). Thankful for that. The doctor told me that there are three types of people that get mono- those that never know they have it, those that get a little bit sick for a little while, and those that get really really sick for a long time. She then proceeded to tell me that I was a case of the last type of person. Not so thankful for that, although I am thankful for lots of time to rest. I emailed all my teachers explaining the situation. I was really nervous that they wouldn't understand- mono is common... get over it. I never realized it could affect people so differently, and now I definitely feel so bad for Mel when she had it! It is no fun, but my teachers were all so understanding, and for that, I am so so thankful. I don't know what I would have done if they had not been.

I'm feeling much better. I can't even describe how terrible I felt at the end of last week, but now I'm mainly just really tired. It is amazing how much I can sleep! I've had some sweet visitors come and bring me treats- Gatorade, Reese's, Frostys, milkshakes, coloring books, Christmas in a Cup, soup, etc... And I am very, very thankful for those goodies! I've been on Pinterest non-stop... so sorry to those of you who have seen millions of things I have pinned. Unfortunately, I do not have the energy to make anything that I have pinned! One day...

I went to the doctor today, and she told me that I can go to Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow as long as I am feeling up for it and make sure no one drinks or eats after me. I am so thankful.  I really thought I was going to have to miss out on the quality time with family, and I was so sad. So here's to hoping I feel well enough tomorrow for a few hours out of the house!

I am extremely thankful for all my friends checking up on me and visiting me and encouraging me and just telling me they miss me. It means so much. It's been really hard being at home knowing my friends are at Young Life club or celebrating birthdays or at bonfires, so it's nice to just get a little "thinking of you" text.

I can't even express my gratitude to my parents for being so good at taking care of me. Who even knew that either of my parents could cook?! Kidding.

Above all, I am thankful for Jesus. I am thankful for all of the wonderful blessings in my life that I do not deserve. I am thankful for a God who loves me, and I am thankful that He is with me always.

I could go on and on about all that I am thankful for because God has blessed me tremendously... but this is already really long and we all know I like to have pictures in my posts!


A few pictures from Sharp Top:

Words cannot express how thankful I am for my best friend and getting to do life and ministry with her.

It's been a while... so a quick recap:

I went to the Needtobreathe concert that Ben Rector opened for, and oh.my.goodness. it was SO good!

I got to spend some time with Meredith and see the birthday girl, Rachel!

We had Halloween YoungLife club:

 

We celebrated Dane's birthday (I know I already talked about his birthday, but here are some pictures from the actual night!):

The only picture we actually got together. Thanks Jessie!

[Side note: I didn't actually take any of these pictures myself... pretty typical of my blog's pictures actually. Thanks to BT, Diana, Jessie, and Lindsey's cameras for these!]

Sunday night we had a "bring-your-significant-other small group bonfire" at Paulette's:

but of course we only wanted the girls in the picture!