O, hey there blog....

So it's been awhile. Yes. Sorry about that. How is life? It's really good.... A lot of things have changed since we last met. It's crazy to think about what all has happened since November. Dang!! Well, let me catch you up.

November- Josh and Leslie got married!! (for those of you who don't know, that's my brother and now sister-in-law) Yeah for them! It was a really fun wedding and if I danced that hard everyday, I would be skinny. 

There was also Thanksgiving a few days after their wedding which was fun. I love getting to spend time with family and catch up with everybody. I didn't really go Black Friday shopping either because 1. I didn't have anyone to go with and 2. I didn't have any money... (two big problems in my eyes, especially the second one)

December- Finished my first semester as a college student and didn't fail any classes!! Let me tell you, I definitely thought I was going to fail my psychology class but guess who got a 59.8.... THIS CHICK! Yeah, I know I should have a least gotten a C but you know what, I'll take the D because it is SOOOOOO much better than an F. Am I right or am I right?

What else happened? I went home for about a whole month. It was wonderful being home and getting to sleep in my own bed, shower in my own shower, and eat food that wasn't from Jones dining hall. 

Christmas was wonderful. I got my first pair of Chacos. I wear them all the time. They are the best shoes ever! 

January- I started my year off right away! On the 1st, two of my friends (Karlie and Kalene) and me headed to Passion 2012 in Atlanta Georgia! Which for me was my first major road trip without my parents. So to say I was super excited would be an understatement. If you've never heard of Passion and your a college student or you know a college student, I would highly suggest that you look into it because it was such an awesome experience and if I am blessed enough to get to go again, I would totally take it up! 

I went back to school for my second semester as a college student. YEAH! I love being in San Marcos with all my friends and I realized while being home during that month just how blessed I am at school.

February- Busy with school and other activities... Honestly I can't remember exactly what went on during this month. I know I was going to school, church, Rise meetings, hanging out with friends, learning how to two step even more, playing Phase 10 with Mare, and just being a normal college student.

March- At the beginning of the month, I was so blessed to get to go on a weekend retreat with the college ministry that I am apart of. The weekend was called Encounter and during the weekend you get to spend a ton of time in the presence of God and just fully turn things over to him that you haven't let go of. We all need a weekend like this and I was at a point in my life when I really needed it. Such a fun weekend with amazing friends and an amazing and awesome God! Then, Spring Break happened! Guess what I did? If you guessed stayed home while dog sitting and nannying, then you are correct.... I know, I'm a crazy college student. I know. It was a really good week though because I got to sleep and just hang out. When I got back to school, I was ready to finish the year strong! We went dancing the Saturday night when we got back and it was so much fun. This is also the night that I met some of the most wonderful that I have ever met! One of the things on my bucket list was to meet a great group of friends, which I had done before this point but little did I know that these few people would mean so much to me so quickly. And honestly when I first met them, I didn't even think twice about seeing them again after that night... Crazy how God works in our lives, right? But this is just when I met them...


April- Easter happens during this month! Yeah for getting to go home and see family! But the Wednesday before going home, I went to see my brother, Jake, in Belton perform in their Easter pageant that they put on every year. I am so blessed to have grown up in a family that loves Jesus with all their hearts and lives their lives fully for him. When I got back from Easter, I started to hang out with this new group of friends because my sweet friend I've nicknamed Slantie kept inviting me. I felt so welcomed and the relationships came so easily. Some of the easiest conversations I've ever had. It was so wonderful! My mom even got to come at the end of the month, finally! It was so exciting! She even got to spend the night in a dorm again after not doing that for just a few many years. I love that she is so precious to do that. One of my favorite things from the whole weekend is that she got to met these new friends and from what I saw she seemed to really enjoy them. But here comes my second favorite part of the weekend, she knew I like one of the boys..... I didn't even know I liked him. Is she good or what? So if you know me, you know I have never dated any boy before, I've only had these ridiculous crushes on guys but this is all because Christ was shielding me from boys that would just hurt me and not treat me like I should be treats. (But of course, growing up I never saw it this way) But by far my favorite part of the weekend was getting to take my mom to the church where I attend. I love my church at school and I was so excited to get to share it with her and let her see where I have been growing in my faith while at school. And who doesn't love worshiping with their parents?! So it was really cool to let my mom see my life as a collge student and I was so thankful that she was able to come spend the weekend with me.


May- FINALS!! So finals happened. I did pretty good on all of them, I even got my grades later once I got home and learned that I got all B's during my spring semester!!!! Which was such a blessing and a shock since I definitely thought I failed my biology class. Not thought, was sure. I failed every test.... I should of. But I worked my butt off in that class and went to office hours and sucked up and sat in the front and did everything I could do and it paid off!! YEAH!
Some other cool things that happened. Me and boy, I mentioned, started dating.... which is crazy because I definitely didn't think I was going to be dating anybody.... ever. But God can really surprise you sometimes.
I also had to come home during May because I had to finally leave Jackson hall.... sad day? Not really. It was pretty exciting actually because it was such a great experience and it wasn't that sad because my room was pretty empty since my mom took a lot of the stuff home with her and since all my neighbors and roomie had already left. I did stay in San Marcos a few extra days even once i moved out because of boy and because I just didn't really want to go home quite yet. (partly because I didn't want to face my father with the face that I thought I failed biology. I didn't know yet that I hadn't.) But when the reality finally came, I had to say bye to all my friends for the next 2 1/2 to 3 months.... and I had to say bye to boy which was really hard because we had just "official" started dating like a week before and I wasn't going to get to see him for 80+ days because he is on a Summer Project with CRU.... hard life, I know. Coming home was hard. Just because I also didn't know exactly what I was going to do with my life. I had planned since about February that I was going to be working at a special needs camp but things didn't work out and I had no clue what I was going to do. I had plan a to plan f when God finally revealed what he was going to have me do this summer, which is nanny two precious kiddos.But that didn't start till the beginning of June. So I literally just sat around the house, slept, and ate for the first week. But during that week, I was in constant conversation with that new group of friends I told you about and I am so blessed that four of them, including boy, got to come and visit me!! I totally needed it and I was lucky that they got to come!


June and July- Summer! Yeah for sweating all the time... I started nannying at the beginning of June. It has been such a blessing and I have been able to grow so much in my faith during these two months. Even though it isn't very much fun being separated from friends, it is much needed because it shows me just how blessed I really am and how the Lord has surrounded me with such an amazing amount of supportive people that love me for me and want only the best for me! And who doesn't love sending snail mail and receiving snail mail? I am blown away everyday by the grace and mercy that the Lord blesses me with. I don't deserve it at all but yet He loves me enough to still give it to me. That is an incredible love that I can only try so hard to give to others, especially these sweet kids I get to love on this summer.


I hope this year has been a blessing for all of you and that you are able to see the love of Jesus in everything you do... even though it's hard, I promise, it's totally worth it!!


Love y'all!

I know/I don't know

I know I am beautiful. But sometimes it’s just an awesome thing when someone tells you this, and you don’t even know that someone. Whenever this happens, it completely makes my day. No matter what has happened through my day, knowing that someone else thinks I am pretty just makes me feel good. But I forget, my creator thinks I am the most beautiful thing in the world. He created me for a reason and a purpose, even though; I don’t always want to or be that reason or purpose. But his plan is so much better than my own. I love when I remember this. My heart fills with gratitude that no matter what I do, good or bad, no matter how much I judge others and myself, he doesn’t judge me. He loves me for me. The way that I am is the way that he wants me to be. He LOVES me!!

I don’t know why I struggle so much with self-confidence sometimes. I get so wrapped up in what others think of me… and it is sooo tiring. It one of my biggest struggles. I am so self-conscious about what other people think about me, whether it is “Do they think I am pretty/nice/a good person/etc.?” and it is so ridiculous of me. God doesn’t care what others think of me. I should love myself, a beautiful girl with a happy spirit, because he created me just the way he wanted me to be. I am here on this earth not for myself but for his glory. I forget this so often. It is a daily struggle to remember that this is not my world, it is God’s, and I am only here for a temporary time. I waste so much time on the silliest things. I have the potential to do so many great things but how often do I avoid doing these things because of my own selfish desires. I would rather spend 3 hours on Facebook stalking people that I never see rather than going and changing the lives of children that have been through so much more than I have ever been through.

I know that God has some amazing plans for my life. I’m not sure what they are but I have faith that they are going to be pretty awesome. I know this because so far in my life, this is true. I have been able to experience some pretty incredible things. Being able to go on a mission trip to Honduras for a week is the first thing that pops in my head. It was such a blessing in my life that I was able to get to experience such an amazing trip. God revealed himself so much to me that week and that is because I was so out of my comfort zone. Something that I have hear numerous times in the past few weeks is that if you don’t feel uncomfortable with where you are at with your relationship with Christ then  you aren’t growing with Christ. And I have to say, I agree with this. Being out of my comfort zone not only during that week but when I choose to do that here at school or even in the past, I have been able to experience so much more than I ever would have been able to be if I would have stayed in my “safe bubble”.

I don’t know why I struggle so much with listening to God. I love to make plans and do things “on my own”. I am kind-of completely ridiculous when it comes to being in control of situations. It was so hard learning how to two-step when I came to college because one: I had never two-stepped before and two: I didn’t know how to trust that the guy could lead me. I have to give over control every time I go to two-step because it is the guy’s responsibility to lead, not my own and I don’t know why but I find that so hard to do. The same thing has to happen with my relationship with Christ. It is a daily struggle that I have giving over control to the God, the maker of all things. I have to wake and immediately pray that God will lead the day and not me. It is so hard. I still fail. I will never be perfect.

I know that my life here on earth is for God and to build the kingdom of Glory. I love knowing that God has chosen me to be someone that helps to lead others to Him. I find that such a cool blessing. I’ve also come to find out that God will never give me more than I can handle. His love for me is never-ending and He knows just how much I can handle. Sometimes it feels as if the world is giving me more than I can handle but I have to remember that God’s plan for my life is so much better than the worlds. The world is such a test of faith and I love that I can stop what I am doing and pray for guidance during any situation that I am going through. Even though it is hard, looking back on the past, the struggles I have had have turned into some pretty incredible blessings. And I am so thankful for those.

Excuse me as I rant....

Hello... anyone out there? 


I hope not. No offense if you are but your about to hear me complain until I don't have anything else to complain about because honestly, I just need to get somethings off my chest without anyone interrupting me or telling me that I'm not being nice or whatever. So if you don't want to listen, or technically speaking read, all my complains from the last, o you know, month and half that I've been at school, then I suggest that you just click that nice little red x at the top of the internet or you click the back button and go back to the last thing you were looking at because I'm kinda in a ticked off mood and I just need to rant. 


If you want to read my rant, and I'm not really sure why you would want to (besides if your mother and you want to know why I'm ticked) because its just me whining about my life not going the way I want it to even though this isn't my life, I'm only here because of the grace of God. 


With me saying that I realize I probably shouldn't rant on about how my room-mate has been driving me crazy or about how I hate being a person that over analyzes things and takes things too personally or how I am so stressed out in school that I don't understand why I am even considered a college student, and me continuing to rant about these things are so little compared to the plan that God has for me. 


So I don't understand why I get so dang frustrated when these things happen. Maybe its because I am human. And being human means making mistakes. And let me tell you that I make a lot of mistakes. A LOT! Maybe I get frustrated with these things because life is so different than it has ever been in the 19 years that I have been living. I've never lived away from home before, heck, I've never been away from my parents for more than 3 weeks. So going and living 4 freakin' hours away from them is really hard sometimes. Did I mention that I really miss those to crazy people called parents? O because I do. I think I get frustrated with these internally struggles the most because moving away and growing up is hard. It's a learning process for sure. I know that God has some amazing plans for me (He even says this in Jeremiah 29:11) and all these struggles are for a reason but I don't know the reason yet and that really frustrates me too. 


I am kinda of a control freak. Okay mom, kinda might be wrong. I AM a control freak. And since moving away from home, me controlling anything, was thrown out the window about 2 seconds once I pulled away from my place I called home. Being in control isn't what I'm suppose to do anyways. All control should be placed in God, I know this, but guess what! I'm a sinner. I forget sometimes. Or a ton of times. And I fail at remember that I can not control everything. It sucks. I hate it. But I know that when I let God control my life everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING, goes better. Even though it is super hard for me to give up my control, I know I need to. Its important. 


So guess what. This so called "rant" has completely changed from what I thought it was going to be. I was just  going to get on here and type away about how annoying my life is right now and how frustrated and aggravated and annoyed I am. But I realized as I started typing, that isn't what my heavenly Father would want me to do. He would want me to give it all to him. He wants me to not worry about what people are thinking about me or if they like me. He doesn't care if my make-up is on or if my hair looks perfect. He created me. He made me look the way I do. He LOVES the way I look, even when I wake up in the mornings and I look like I was hit by a truck a few too many times. He likes that.... And I should too. In the bible, God says he will never gives too much to handle (1 Corinthians 10:13), it doesn't say this exactly that way but being reminded that our God loves us so much that he would send his only son, who was perfect, to die a death that no one can even imagine, is my definition of true love. 


True Love. Jesus Christ. It make me think of the song by Phil Wickman. The words below are part of the song: 


Come close listen to the story
About a love more faithful than the morning
The Father gave His only Son just to save us


The earth was shaking in the dark
All creation felt the Fathers Broken Heart
Tears were filling Heaven's Eyes
The day that True Love died, the day that True Love died
When blood and water hit the ground
Walls we couldn't move came crashing down
We were free and made alive
The day that True Love died, The day that True Love died


I love these words. They are so powerful. It is so hard to even comprehend a love this great. I love the words when it says, "Walls we couldn't move cam crashing down. We were free and made alive," because it reminds me about how amazing Christ love for us is. Walls we couldn't move because of our sins because of our failures because of our wrong doings were broken down and crushed and forever gone because Jesus Christ died for us, which makes us free and alive to live. We no longer have to die a painful death because the Father sent His only Son to SAVE us! Fromour problems. To me, I needed to hear these words today. I need to be reminded sometimes that I am loved. I need to be reminded sometimes that I'm not alone. I was bought with a price and I am the princess of the King of all Kings. And I just have to say that the feeling of everlasting, unfailing love is a pretty dang good feeling.




P.S.- I love when Christ interrupts my negative thoughts and completely turns me around to him.... that kinda might have just happened. Okay, it totally did.

Show Us Your Pets

I have been at college now for 53 days now and I miss my puppy dog so much!!! I can't believe its been 33 days since I've seen her! (I went home for labor day.) But I miss my sweet Shelby so much!

I took that picture of her when I went home for Labor day. She was so excited to see me! It was so awesome to be greeted by here when I came home! And I can't wait till I go home for Josh and Leslie's wedding when I get to see here again!!! 

Here is a few more pictures of my precious puppy dog:

Favorite Place to Shop for Kids

Well since I don't actually have kids, this doesn't really apply to me... but I like shopping in general so I will talk about where I buy my clothes. 


The main place I shop, especially for jeans would be this place. They normally always have cute clothes and some great shoes. Flip-flops or sandals. Great sweater in the winter too. And nice, modest shorts for the summer. My favorite place. Speaking of this place, I have two $15 giftcards there... I should go look around there.... Mental note made.

This store is not only a place where I shop for random things but also clothes. They have some really cute things each season and I love them. The only thing is that you know your going to find someone else with the same outfit sooner than later because everybody (the normal ones) think that this place has some cute clothes and shoes and accessories and hats and purses and lots of other things too. 

I always go to this store with my mom. She is the one that introduced it to me and I love it. Most of my clothes come from here (or the two stores above) They always have great sales going on (side note: NEVER buy anything that isn't on sale there because it will eventually be, probably the next week) But they have a great clearance section and I love shopping here too!

I love the next two stores a lot too. I don't visit them enough. (and won't be for a while seeing as I'm on a budget) But they always have cute clothes! Their tops are adorable! I always find something there... even if I don't need anything. 

And the last two stores that I love shopping at (well I only love shopping at them or any of the above stores if I'm in a "clothes shopping mood" and thank goodness that isn't super often) are two normal mall stores. They have lots of different options yet I normally can always find something at them, if I REALLY need something (it might not be in the style I want.. but it normally has my color choice, which is nice.) 

College Life

Where do I even begin??


College has been, by far, the best experience of my life! And that's an understatement. I have learned so much about myself and about others in the month and one week that I have been here than I would have learned anywhere else. I have met some pretty incredible people and have had so many opportunities to share my faith... I just can not even put into words how awesome of an experience it has been.


So many things have happened since I've moved to the wonderful San Marcos. I left my hometown on Tuesday, August 23 with my parents. We stayed the night in a hotel in Austin that night because the next day, I had check in at Texas State at 11am and I didn't want to miss anything. Little did I know, God had some other plans for me that day. We left the hotel the next morning (Wednesday, August 24), at about 10:15ish, since it only takes about 30ish minutes to get to San Marcos from there. In the next few pictures, you'll figure out what happen:

And this is how felt after everything happened:

So my start to college was definitely was not how I expected it to start. But God loves to surprise us and give us challenges to work through. But I know there was a reason for the wreck and even if it was just to learn how to become more patient, that's a good lesson to learn in general.

But I still got to move in that day, just a whole lot later than expected. 

Here is a few pictures of my room and random things (if your my Facebook friend, you've seen these):

Speaking of meeting some great people, God has provided me with some awesome Godly girls in my life. Some the same age, some older. He has been so awesome with protecting me from some of the craziness of college and keeping me sane. I have been so blessed and just continue to realize how present God is in my life. 

I have visited a few churches here in the area and I really enjoy two of them. One is on Sunday morning and one is on Sunday evenings. I have to continue to visit both and pray about which one God wants me to be involved in. I know He has some amazing plans in store for me at which ever one I attend.

Classes are going well. I still don't enjoy the whole learning part about school but its still fun... (as much fun as studying/learning can get) But it is nice knowing some of the classes I am taking now will actually help me with my future unlike those that I took in high school... But hopefully my attitude toward school will continue to stay positive and that I will continue doing well. 

I do have to add about my favorite class is for sure bowling! I love that class! My highest score so far is 134 and I am super impressed with that. My goal to reach by the end of the semester is to hit a 200... big goal but hey, it just takes practice.. right?

I've learned I love dancing. It quite fun. Especially two-stepping. I might stink at it, but it is o so fun. If you've never tried it, TRY IT! Even if you hate dancing, you should try it. You might just like it! I sure do. 

Well that's all for now because my brain doesn't know what else to talk about for now and I'm just rambling about how awesome college is.... I'll ramble more later. But for now, I'm going to go get ready to put my cowgirl boots on and get my dancing self ready because we are going out dancing tonight for my friend, Mallori's birthday!!! 

Talk to ya'll later!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Jesus has risen!! How wonderful it is! 

 
I love this song and it is such a great one for today! ENJOY!

 
Have a wonderful Easter Sunday!

Peace and Love