Happenings so far in freshman year of life [kind of]:

Even though I'm still not technically done with school because I am about to start grad school (in 8 days), it is still a weird transition. I feel like I am supposed to be so... grown up now... and I don't want to be! "They" aren't kidding when "they" tell you to stay in school as long as you can! I'm really stressed out about the upcoming school year because I will be a [almost] full time teacher as well as a full time graduate student. Ahhhh. But I have to trust that the Lord will provide strength, energy, and joy throughout the long, long days... because He is going to. Since I didn't even walk at graduation and I know what I'm doing next year it doesn't seem as real as my friends living the #lifeoftheunemployed, but it is still a little bit scary!

Since summer began I have not been doing much of anything besides moving into a new house with four of my best friends (the house is not new to all of them), shopping, babysitting, and a few big events like...

• The Chick-fil-a grand opening where I camped out with some great company for 52 free combo meals. (Pictures stolen from Matt.)

MY NEW ROOMIES!!!

• The drive-in where I accidentally spit water all over Der because Chelcie made me laugh.

Mom.

Well, it's Mothers' Day... and my mom refuses to be in pictures ever, so I'm going to put this one up here until I get a hate text from her telling me to take it off "or else..." The other ones are from like... high school and before. We are working on getting better at the picture-taking thing though because she always makes me model for her to photograph but refuses to let people take pictures of her. Not really fair, huh? Anyway, enough about that...

A special shout out to this woman on this day because it is dedicated to women like her, but really, she deserves a shout out every day. I owe pretty much everything to her. I am who I am (at least all the good qualities... hopefully there are some) because of her. For most of my life I remember her raising me alone. Yes, I saw my dad pretty often (because my mom allowed this), but I always lived with Mom and, therefore, feel as if I was raised by her.

She has set such a great example for me. She is so kindhearted, funny, independent, strong, sarcastic, and all around wonderful. I am thankful beyond words for her and who she has made me to be. Since she is a single mom, I feel like she had to work twice as hard as a lot of the non-single moms out there... but she did everything she could to ensure a great childhood and life for me. And great it has been.

I've always known my mom's strength, but it truly showed and made an impact on me throughout these past two years when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She worked almost every day through both chemo and radiation. She never complained a bit (which is kind of shocking for how much a whiner she is :) just kidding, Mom), and always forced a smile even when she was in so much pain. You would never even have known she was sick. I am truly amazed and inspired by this woman, and hope to be half the mom that she is someday.

So Mom, thank you for all that you do and all that you are. Thank you for making me who I am. Thank you for loving me unconditionally and letting me follow God's will for my life even when you may not like it very much. Thank you for being an example as a mom and being an example in your faith. Words cannot describe how thankful I am for you, how encouraged and inspired I am by you, or how much I love you.

I'll follow suit and say... No, I have the best mom in the world... but really. I do.

Love you, Mom. So much.

Proverbs 31:25

"She laughs without fear of the future for her hope is in Me."

Today is a good day.

Done.

Well folks, I am finished with undergrad. And it is weird. Living it up between now and May 31st when I start grad school. Three cheers for not having finals! More on the craziness of being done with this stage of life at another date.

I got to visit my mentor's classroom today. Can't wait to be spending a massive amount of time with her and the upcoming third graders next year!

Dane and I have been together for 6 months today! In some ways it feels like it has been two years, and in other ways it seems like we just started (officially) dating. --I feel weird blogging about my boyfriend, so it won't happen much... but just had to throw this in here since I'm blogging about today anyway. I'll add pictures from last night's Spring Fling as soon as I can steal them from someone's facebook!--

we've come a long way... and added a lot more color to our skin

We have our last "normal" club of the year tonight, and it is barn club! That's always my favorite! Too bad I forgot to take a change of clothes with me to visit my mentor... but my wonderful boyfriend (of 6 months) brought me a change of clothes! Mrs. Kolinsky's cooking is always a highlight of the week as well as spending time with my team and favorite high schoolers. So thankful for her hospitality.

P.S. My baby sister is 9 as of Wednesday. WHERE THE HECK DOES THE TIME GO?!

One month from today...

... I will be a college graduate.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

How the HECK was this already four years ago?

SB12 in Pictures and Quotes

 

[These quotes will only be funny to people that were on the trip]
"Well it's okay, everyone twilts their head!" -Jamie
"Who pooped?" -Molly
"LET'S DO IT! LET'S GO TO THE BEACH!" -T.J.
"Hold your breath... WHY ARE YOU PLUGGING YOUR NOSE?! You gotta be able to breathe." -Jamie
"It's okay guys, we got Jesus."
"You are so wude."

26.2 Miles... WOW.

I don't think the title of this blog will fool anyone into thinking I ran a marathon because that would be a pretty unbelievable April Fools' joke... However, some of my dedicated, motivated, crazy, awesome friends did! And some of my other half as crazy friends ran the half marathon. I don't know why they ever decided to do something like this, but I admire them so much for persevering. I do know how they did it though, and that's by the Lord's strength and joy in them... they won't hesitate to tell you that. I seriously am so proud of them! They even looked great while doing it! Please tell me how that's possible. I'm sure they want the blogging world to see how good they looked too, so here are some pictures (stolen from facebook):

Y'all are all-stars!!!