I'm an Auntie

Em and Christopher got a puppy yesterday and named him Gibson.

Yes, I know I'm just an Auntie to a dog.. but it's still exciting!

Can't wait till I can get one of my own.

Random Bloggings

A good piece of advice that I recieved right before leaving Miami. Knew I wanted to post it, but it for some reason it slipped my mind until now...

"It takes two people to make an akward situation akward. So as long as you don't feel akward, then everything is okay, and the situation can't be akward."

Other things:

countdown--

1. One week and a day till the summer adventures with Lead American begin. Flying off to DC on the morning of June 5th.

Favorite song lyrics--

a song that has been played on K-love for about the past 6 months came on the radio today while I was driving to work. It's by the Newsboys, Something Beautiful. For some reason I just love the lyrics. It's just the purity and innocence of the moments it captures, and then comparing that to God's love with us. It makes my heart skip a beat :)

It's a voice that whispers my name.
It's a kiss without any shame.
Something beautiful.
It's a child on her wedding day.
It's the daddy that gives her away.
Something beautiful.
When we laugh so hard we cry.
It's the love between you and I.
Something beautiful.

Saturdays Consist Of...

Scrubbing the sails. Love being home, but missing these Saturday's too...

My family cracks me up. Emmy lou left me a note this morning

"it's the awesome 20 year old"

things like that fill my heart with love...and laughter. blessed.

My favorite way to start the morning is with the attitude of -- this is going to be a great day. That's where I'm at this morning. It's friday, it's payday, and the kids and I are are going to be kept busy all the way until 5pm. But even if all of that weren't to be in place, simply by me saying it's going to be a great day makes it a great day.

A lot of the way our days turn out is based on our attitudes and intentions. Being optimistic with a positive attitude has the power to turn a day around. I guess that's why growing up my mom always said, "find one thing to be thankful for every day."

We have the power to control our emotions.
What is your daily intention?

An evening filled with whole hearted laughter with my mom, auntie marcia, emma, and me. Nothing beats time with the women sitting around the kitchen table!

Our favorite new family motto:

Are you the bug or are you the windshield?

;) ha

My Stomping Grounds

It's 9am. The cold air brushes against my face as my cheeks begin to turn a bright shade of red. Somehow, in all the hussle and bussle of spring, Crystal Lake has not yet realized that it is May and the weather should be warmer than 55 degrees. But I'll gladly take the cooler temperatures. Mud clings to my gym shoes from my accidental steps in the freshly layed soil near the drive way. In the quietness of the country road I hear the pavement beat to the sound of every step. It's just me this morning out here. Me and the road. The oak trees seem to have gotten bigger. They tower overhead and form an awning above me. My heart beat quickens. I close my eyes for a second and deeply breathe in the midwest air. The kind of breathe that fills your tummy completely. The aromas of my small town take me away; freshly cut grass, muddy patches, pine trees, and brisk fresh air. Nothing like my jogs in Miami where the air is filtered out by the city, I'm surronded by houses, and blazing in sweat from the humidity. The rolling hills out here in Illionis also burn my thighs a bit more than the flat road in FL. But this morning that extra bit of excerise feels good. One thought rolls through my head, I'm glad to be home.

Yes, there are things about Miami that I miss. The ocean, staying up late on Thursday nights to watch Gray's Anatomy with my best friend, a certain boy, and such... but they'll all be there when I get back :)

Lo Siento about the Hiatus

a new blog post will be coming soon. I apologize for the lack of words, thoughts, pictures, and general notes. These past 3 weeks have been very crazy with finishing up school, spending time in Miami, and now recently coming to Chicago. It's a transition period, and as well all know, sometimes I just can't seem to wrap my head around transition periods. I can't seem to focus my thoughts enough to do some creative writing :)

Recent note though:

-grades came in
PSY 350- A
PSY 250- A+
Microbiology- A-
TAL 101- A+
MIC 112- A
GPA- 9.931

Today's Highlight

Breaking out a box of oreo cookies and glasses topped off with milk for breakfast. Sitting around the kitchen table with Suzzette; talking about life and laughing at ourselves.... getting milk mustaches and enjoying the fine pleasure that is dairy oreos.

Tonight I choose to be... thankful.

One of the lessons that I've learned this year is that we get to choose how we react to things and events. Yes, we may not have the power to control the event, but we have the power to control our own outcomes and (to some extent) our emotions. And so tonight I choose to be thankful.

• Thankful for having Tricia. Who'll always set aside the time to listen/encourage/ and love on me in the midst of anything in our days. Who knows my whole story. Who still tells me day after day I'm one of the most amazing friends she's ever had.
• Thankful for getting to go kayaking today. To laugh at how the boats almost flipped over, how our boat was constantly trying to head out into the ocean no matter how hard Scott and I tried to stay on course, that no one knew all of the words to the little mermaid songs, and that our round versions of row row row your boat never manged to end in the sam key they started in. Thankful for the huge smiles that were put on our faces when we all tried to rope two of the kayaks together and have the four of us row one very large raft. Needless to say, David nearly got knocked in the head a few times by my oar.
• Thankful for my sister. Who I can ask questions and bounce ideas off of.

The list could go on, but I think the gist is gotten. Tonight I choose to be thankful.

Up and At Em

As summertime draws nearer day by day, I am getting better at sleeping in. For the past four months the internal/external alarm clock has been set for 7am. It seemed that as soon as the sun would shine a glimmer of light through my bedroom window, my heart felt it was time to get up and sieze the day. I give it credit though, I did have 8am classes every morning. And there is something nice about waking up early with the bright yellow sun. I find myself able to accomplish so many more things, and I love having the morning all to myself. To sit with my thoughts, and God's thoughts, and Chris Tomlin's soft worship music in the background. No one else to think of, no projects/assignments to get done, no to do list that must be started that minute.

But now -with only one more test left -I'm able to stay cuddled up in my bed and permanatly hit the off button on my ipod alarm clock. Nothing compares to softly waking up to the the birds tweeting outside, uncurling my body out from underneathe my massively large down comforter, opening up my eyes just a tiny little bit, and deciding whether I want to get up and stretch and welcome the day or go back into hiding for another 15 minutes.

I'll still get my morning quiet time with God. It will just be pushed back another hour or so ;)

and while we're talking about mornings, I'm thinking a trip to the grocery store to make banana pancakes one morning is definitely a neccesity!