Twenty-two

-Woke up this morning to 3 inches of freshly fallen snow. Happy New Year's Eve!
-Did some adven- turous four wheeling, sledding, and then a combination of the two.
-Spent the afternoon setting up for the wedding reception.
-Jeremy turned 22 today. We had a pretty sweet surprise birthday party for him.
-Brought in the new year with cousins and siblings watching Cheaper By the Dozen 2.

I love my life.

Hammer Down

-Today I went snowboarding with 15 guys. It was one of the most unique, interesting and wonderful experiences I've had in a long time.
-Left before sunup and got home after bedtime.
-Watched the sunrise as we drove to the resort.
-Snowboarded for 7 hours.
-Here's a picture of Keith doing a board grab over the jump.

Love

Today was difficult. I found out that my precious grandmother has been seriously ill for some time. This may be the last time I get to sit and talk with her. I praise the Lord for her faithfulness to him, her diligence in raising a family that loves and serves him, and her heart for his heart. She is my hero.

Happy Birthday Mother Dear.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS. ENOUGH SAID.

Shmucking Around

Today we traveled to the north. It took approximately 11 hours. The snow was an exciting find about 7 hours into the journey. When we arrived, we ate the meal that I look forward to every year all year long. Grandma's cooking. Mmmm.

Christmas Eve Eve

-Today I had a fight with a broken toilet while trying to clean church. The toilet totally won and I spent the next while cleaning up after it.

-Free Krispy Kreme doughnuts with Ab and Ev.
-I hate Christmas traffic with a passion... 5 hours of errands. Yikes.
-Helped Daddy with his side job, worked some arm and back muscles. Man, he's hardcore.
- Spent 3 hours "packing" for the trip north. My mom's got some mad packing skills. Maybe someday I'll get them.
-To finish off the night, I broke several teeth off a comb trying to untangle my hair. O dear.

^ Where we are headed tomorrow morning, bright and early!

Thankfulness

I am thankful for:

1-My hard-working dad and the chance to spend time with him.

2-Pecan Pie.

3-God's absolutely incredible faithfulness.

Not Without Aim

Wonderful weekend with 5 of my favorite girls.

-- Road trippin'
--Time with Aliece's awesome family
--Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins
--5 mile race: Team Gorgeous!
--5 guys burgers... Mmm good
--Time with my FAMILY
--Early morning ride with Annemarie
--East Cooper Baptist Church
--An adventurous tire blow-out along with a kindly stranger to fix it
--Lovely visit with the Verdin family, complete with venison and a hay ride.

It certainly was a fabulous weekend!

Lava Monster

Perfect Thursday Night:
dinner with girl friends
the attack of the lava monster
crazy cute fun with adorable children
muddy ultimate frisbee
relaxing run at fike
nice walk home with great friends

Symbolism?

All of life is full of symbols. Symbols in literature, symbols in rituals, symbols in punctuation... I often find symbolism in ways that don't exactly make sense except in my own head.

My life right now feels like this picture. No matter how much I try to clean up, the mess is still just as big. I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer... or a Mopey Marsha for that matter, I know I am blessed beyond understanding, and I thank God every day for that. But sometimes the feelings are different than the truth, ya know?

What's in the pile? Socks of impatience, a blanket of insecurity, a few scarves of loneliness, some sweaters of anger and frustration, a coat of fear and distrust, all in all, a big ol' pile of sin. I know the answer is Jesus, and I know that I need to just run to him and throw myself at his feet in humble submission, giving up my everything to him daily as a living sacrifice. But too often we try to clean up by ourselves. We don't realize that without him the clothes won't all fit into the drawers and boxes, they will just spill out again. Praise him that he is faithful and merciful, and that our salvation is not based on what we do.

Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:12-14

Your Grace is Enough.

Cha-ching

This weekend was a good one. Sarah and Alyssa came to visit me! It was a fun weekend for costuming, spookie basements, cheering on the tigers (who dominated!), relaxing and eating good food with great friends, helping with some pumpkin carving, making a Walmart trip and playing some ultimate.

As I was leaving Walmart on Sunday afternoon, a women knocked on my car window crying. She asked me for some money for gas to get to Colombia. We went over the the gas station and we're able to talk for a while she filled up a little with my meager stash of change and cash. She is headed to Colombia to a hospital there, on a fixed disability income, and just seemed tired of life. She's unable to see her son who is in Charleston about to graduate from high school because his dad doesn't want him to communicate with her since they divorced about 15 years ago. It was touching to hear her story, and to see how God really softened my heart toward her, and didn't jump to suspicions and unbelief like I so often do with people who ask for money. I was able to share Jesus with her, pray with her, invite her to church and give her my number. I left feeling like God has plopped an opportunity right down in front of my face, then given me the strength to take hold of it. I'm so thankful to have the chance to touch a life, even in a little way, even if I never see her again. Praise Him.

The Eighth Day of October

This morning started out with a torn contact. Bummer. Had to scrounge around desperately for a new one so that I could see. Then, right before leaving for class, Lauren surprised us with a large array of scrumptious pastries from the Pendleton Cafe. Hurrah!
ASL Class + Work + Music Class went well. Then, I packed up and headed home with Aliece for fall break. How wonderful to see my family again. The big trip is tomorrow morning!

Chickfila Twice in a Day (o dear)

Two classes cancelled... got to put some extra time in at the Java.
Found my long-admired Sanuk shoes for almost 1/4 the usual price!!
Crosspoint has a billboard! I saw it!
I had exactly $2.75 in cash, that C&C milkshake was meant to be.
Packed for the WEEKEND! Leaving tomorrow!!! =D
Awesome time with Mer.
Successful SCARE by Wilson and Elvis...They'll regret it...
CP women's night with the girls- so much fun.
I love Sammi Fife.

P.S. I can't take credit for the Chick-fil-a picture, hehe, it's from google.

Marvolous Monday

Work was better than I expected at 8am.

Drugs class was interesting.
Spanish test went decently.
Lunch with Sav and AG was wonderful.
Marriage class didn't cause me unhappiness about my marital status.
Relaxing walk to Starbucks gave me a lot of time to pray and enjoy the cool weather
Heard someone yell "Kurtz!" and momentarily relived high school. A quick chat ensued.
Prep for CP went smoothly.
Had a delicious homemade taco for dinner.
CP group had me frolicking home with happiness afterward.
Lots of fun facebook notifications from the weekend.
Headed to bed with the sound of a banjo from the neighbor's porch.

Fall Getaway '09 - Camp McCall: Sunset, SC

An incredible weekend for:
- growing closer to the Lord
-meeting wonderful new folks
-hanging out with awesome brothers and sisters
-hiking
-photography
-silly games late at night
-singing around the bonfire
-swing shot
-southern cookin'
-bundling up in a sleeping bag on a cold night
-sweet time with God surrounded by His beauty on the mountaintop



I feel like this picture so perfectly portrays the great fun and joy that characterized the whole weekend for me. It felt like a big family reunion.

Wednesday, September 30. 2009

Early work, drugs test, spanish class, lunch with Savannah, marriage test, a smidge of free time, discipleship with Mer, women's ministry kick-off night =)


This "To Do Soon" list looks over me from the wall as I sleep at night. It continues to stay longish. Every now and then I enjoy the privilege of checking or crossing something off.
Today was an amazing day... I found myself overflowing in the joy of the Lord instead of being so quick to base my moods on my circumstances. What a life of freedom it would be to learn to walk in that joy every day!

Promises

This afternoon I headed out to Yellow Branch Falls for some quiet time. God taught me a few meaningful things during those few hours, and showed me this passage which is so encouraging to me. Romans 8 is one of those parts of the Bible that we hear quoted a lot, but often don't realize how INCREDIBLE its truths really are if we apply them to our own daily lives. Here is it says that we are more than conquerors and that NOTHING, no matter how big or small, can separate us from his love. Praise Him! Don't skim it, read it and meditate on it, this is good stuff.

"What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:31-39

Barista Banter

Slept through my allotted morning run time

Took a sign language test
Had the privilege of seeing Latte Martin smile for the first time
Watched my coworker accidentally called a woman "sir" and legit not realize
Chuckled as Mr. European pursed his lower lip while ordering, as usual
Reacted harshly when another coworker flirtatiously poked me, I don't think he'll be doing that again.
Finally deducted that my music teacher, lovely lady, talks like she has a fireball sitting on her tongue.
Went on an encouraging run with Aliece Wilson.
Concocted a tasty homemade vanilla latte before sitting down to rest.
Long thursday.

PhotoBlog Beginnings

Am I allowed to use pictures in this photoblog that I haven't taken? I'm not really sure what the current photoblog etiquette looks like. Either way, I would like to give credit for this photo to the lovely Anna Grace Watkins.

I have decided recently to start a photo blog: not necessarily because masses of people will run to their computers each evening to find out exactly how my day was, not even to record every moment of every day. Really, my motivations are unclear even to myself. But a few things I do know... I love to write, I love to take pictures, I love being able to go back through a journal or a history of something that reminds me of old times. Being reminded of those good memories, great laughs, or even the day to day routine that changes so much throughout life.

And this might be a long shot, but the more I realize how few great listeners there are in the world, the more I want to be one of them. Maybe writing and photographing life in an alternate internet reality could help to suppress that selfish desire to constantly talk about myself with everyone in my life, haha. Instead, I could listen. =)

Cheesy? Perhaps. But here I go anyway.