HOUSTONNN!

and.. i'm in houston :) visiting my besttt friend Brittney :) today, we went to the galleria and had lunch at Rainforest Cafe with Aaron McBride! and tonight, we are going to Kemah to see Michael Beach and for dinner!! gosh, I wish ALL summer was like this! it's a blast!

time for more updates on lifeee!

yesterday, I spent 4.5 hours driving to Houston.. long and boring. but, I got my Western Civ. test back in class.. and I GOT AN A! :) praise Jesus! oh, and Britt and I saw Charlie St. Cloud at midnight! it was realllllly good! sad, and confusing, but good! I'd recommend it! :)

and Tuesday, ah.. Tuesday was a GREAT day! went to lunch with my bestfriends Taylor and Amanda :) then spent hours shopping with Amanda :) She leaves tomorrow to go back to OU. i know she's excited.. but i'm not. I'm going to miss that girl. Then, that night.. i went to the TEXASRANGERS game with the fam and Sarah's family :) I LOVE THE RANGERS and i love baseball. We had 8th row tickets.. and got invited to a suite for part of the game! gosh, what a life i live. Best game all season.. sitting 8th row! perf. i've spent lots of time with Sarah lately.. so fun!

golly, i am just feeling so so blessed. i love my friends and i love my family, and i just couldn't be happier! i feel like my outlook on how i live my life has changed so much lately.. and i'm loving every second. i spend so much less time worrying about pointless things, and so much more time enjoying life. Its like i can't even explain how much i love life right now, and things are only getting better!! :)

i'll update you on the rest of my Houston endeavors later!

love you :)

love like crazy

well, i love summer, SO much! I love just getting to hang out, relax, and be lazy with the people i love. However, this summer has been bittersweet. I love my family and friends from home, but I miss my friends at school, EVERYDAY! i can't go a day without thinking.."man, i wish jill and brittney lived here." I miss everyone at UMHB so much, and I cannot wait to get back! 22 days and counting down! :)

Anyways, one of my favorite things about summer is new music! All the country artists come out with the best songs in the summer! maybe that's not true, but in the summer i get the time to actually listen to lyrics.. which always makes a song better. My favorite song this summer, and possibly ever, is "Love Like Crazy" by Lee Brice. It's chorus just is so amazing, such good words to live by :)

"be a best friend, tell the truth, and overuse I love you.

Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense.

Never let your prayin' knees get lazy, and love like crazy."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0f5g18EbG4

but as I listen to it and reflect on my life.. I don't do half the things it says, here's what i thought about.

1. be a best friend- well, I'd like to believe I'm pretty good at this one, you'd have to ask my friends... but when it comes down to it.. how many people would I drop everything for? This made me think about how I should be a best friend to everyone, and how i don't currently do that.
2. Tell the truth- well.. we all make mistakes. and I'll be the first to admit that I've stretched the truth, I've told white lies, and I've flat out lied, and I've learned from every instance. However, its not a commonality in my life and I personally despise being lied to.. there isn't much worse of a feeling, so I try to keep lying out of my life.
3. Overuse I love you- man, this one sounds so easy.. but it really hit me hard because I really don't overuse it. I figured out I need to tell my family and friends i love them everyday. I would hate to leave this earth with someone questioning whether or not i love them. besides, saying i love you to someone can brighten their whole day, so why not?
4. Go to work, do your best- this one is a tough one for me. I do go to work.. but how often do I truly do my absolute best at work? I get lazy often and just neglect to put my all into everything I do. I try to find the easy way out. A verse popped into my head the first time i heard this part of the song: "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men"- Colossians 3:23. Gosh, If I sat here and said I do exactly that, I would be the world's biggest liar, because often times, I do the complete opposite.
5. don't outsmart your common sense- haha this one makes me laugh because i second guess myself all the time, and a lot of those times i end up looking like a fool. most of the time, i'm pretty level headed.. but i do have my blonde moments. :) anyways, this one just kind of tells me not to second guess my self and my feelings.
6. never let your prayin' knees get lazy- gosh, I wish I could say I did this. I take the time to pray once or twice a day.. most of the time, but really I should be in prayer all the time, in every decision, but I really just get lazy and don't follow through. Prayer is the key to heaven, but faith unlocks the door.
7. love like crazy- Like I said at the beginning of the summer, my desire is to love everyone, and to love everyone "like crazy." i want to show love to everyone I meet, even though i fail at doing so sometimes.

anyways, this song really inspires me, and makes me wanna do exactly what it says :) and I wanted to share that with y'all, in hopes that maybe it will inspire you too :) Now it's time for the Ranger's game!! :D

i love you :)

update.

well, nothing is too spectacularly exciting in my life right now.. but i'm going to update you anyways :)

I'm in a western civilization class for summer II... it stinks. but today, I enjoyed because we talked about science. haha and we got out an hour early! :) so no torture today!

yesterday, I had lunch with my wonderful roomie, Whitney Almond! :) we went to cheddars! i LOVE cheddars!! lunch with Whit made me just SO SO SO much more ready to get to Belton! I also went shopping with my mommy. She told me we were going to one store.. and by one, she meant 7. hahha oh well, I got some cute stuff, and I love shop with mom days! :)

My friends are home from younglife camp, so I get to hang out with my bestie, Sarah, and our other friends again! :) I'm SOOO happy about that!

and.. i've been going jogging every night.. SO proud of myself! :)

anyways, that's my life lately.. I know I just gave you all incredible, life changing knowledge! :)

love you :)

Experiencing New Things and Missing Belton

Meet little Timothy. A darling (but annoying) baby goat at Jill's ranch!

I had an AMAZING weekend in Llano, Tx, Jill's little country hometown. I had so many new experiences! I sheared(shaved) a goat, went to a goat auction, swam in the Llano River, rode horses, ate at "hole in the wall" restaraunts, had NO cell phone service, and sketchy internet, and I enjoyed EVERY second of it.

As much as I complained about not having cell phone service, I actually really liked not being connected to the world for a few days :) So peaceful!

I never realized how much Jill and I have in common until this weekend :) We had so much fun! I'm so blessed to have her! :) Our waitress at Stonewall's (best burgers EVER, hands down) asked us if we were sisters, false. She then proceeded to ask us if we grew up together, also false. Truth is, we've known eachother less than a year! SO crazy how it already seems like we've known each other forever.

anyways, the 4.5 hour drive down was lonely.. but I stopped in Belton (oh, how I miss Belton) and had lunch with my good friend Mikey. We enjoyed our whataburger and caught up on life. Then, I went by work (FBC Belton) and saw my kiddos! I miss those kids SO SO much and I can't wait to get back to them! I miss my co-workers, too. I took a quick drive around the campus, just because I miss it, and then went on my way.

It's crazy how ready I am to get back to school. I miss my friends and I can't wait to move into my apartment with Audrey, Whitney, and KayCee! I've never been so excited to get back to school, ever. But now, I'm basically dying to! Ony 33 days! Hooray!

so, now the All Star game is on and I'm super excited! So, I'll write again later!

love you :)

loving summer

Oh Lake Texoma... by far my favorite place in the world. Sounds dumb because in reality, there are WAY cooler places in the world, but I'm content with having the lake. Anytime I get around the water or places with beautiful landscapes, I can't help but take millions of pictures. Even at Lake Lavon, during GA camp, I took pictures... LAKE LAVON people, one of the uglier lakes I've been to.

Somehow, God finds a way to make places like that beautiful. Its either that, or the fact that my eyes have been opened to the beauty surrounding me. God's creation is beautiful, ALL of God's creation. He is an awesome God. I love spending time on the water. It's so relaxing, so refreshing. It bites that I only get that opportunity every once in a while.

I spent my Monday with my bestfriend and my family out at the lake and I loved every second. My brother and his girlfriend put on a firework display for us while we sat on top of Jim & Cindy's yacht, so fun!

I'm loving this summer! I just can't get enough of my family and friends, and all of the things I'm getting to do! Tomorrow, I'm road-tripping to Llano, Texas :)

You've never heard of Llano, TX? yeah.. I hadn't either, but I'm going to visit one of my bestfriends, Jill Parson :) I'm super excited to leave Allen, FINALLY, and spend a few days doing life the country way..something I've never gotten to do! You'll hear from me by Sunday when I come back, I'm sure.

GOOD NEWS! my stupid british lit. online class is officially over tomorrow at noon! :D YAYYY!

Summer just got better! :)

love you.

Celebrating Freedom

So, today is July 4th, Happy Birthday USA day, Independence Day, whatever you wanna call it. However, I think I'll call it Thank you to our troops, and to God the Father for our freedom day. :) its way less convenient to say, but that's really what today is all about.

"These things I have said to you, that in Me you may have peace. For in the world you will face tribulations, but take courage, I have overcome the world" -John 16:33

Today brings back an INCREDIBLE memory.

Freshman year. As a member of the CRU cheer squad, I had the opportunity to skip out on class for a day, put on my cute little uniform and join loved ones in welcoming a fleet of soldiers from the US Army home to Fort Hood, the nation's largest army base. The experience was so humbling and so overwhelming. We did stunts and cheers for the crowd as they waited the moment for their soldier to run to them with open arms. However, it was emotional. As you think about the ones who lost their lives for us, for US. people they don't even know? that's love. That's courage, and that's dedication to a country. I could never do it, and I give props to all of the soldier spouses and significant others. (Sri, you're an inspiration!) It takes an incredible amount of faith and courage to be on either end of that relationship.

That's what today is really all about. Celebrating the fact that we are FREE. We live in a place where that same freedom is taken for granted. How cool is it that we are free to do pretty much whatever we want, where we want, and when we want?! Most places of the world can't do that---ANY of that. I feel so blessed to live in America, and I only have our amazing soldiers and our amazing God to thank for that.

It's awesome to live in a place where we have the freedom to worship our Savior and our Maker without punishment. In some places, you get exiled, arrested, or executed for doing so. It makes me thankful to live in a place like this.

There is a song by the Newsboys called "I am Free"

I am free to run

I am free to dance

I am free to LIVE FOR YOU

I am free.

This is what it's about! :)

So, having said that, enjoy your holiday, enjoy your friends and family, enjoy your freedom, but most importantly, say a prayer for those who lost their lives, those retired, and those still fighting for the rights that we have. Thank God for them and the sacrifices they give, and for giving the ultimate sacrifice for us.

Now, off to hang out with the family for the day by the pool, playing volleyball, listening to country music, eating Texas BBQ, and soaking up the sun!

love you :)

Finding Myself

Hello! :)

I'm supposed to be writing a 4-page paper on Henry IV for my Brit Lit class right now.. ask me how that's going! haha

Anyways, I was reflecting on my thoughts the past few days, and I wanted to share what I've realized/learned:

I'm not your typical girl, and I'm completely okay with that. I love sports (baseball and football most), my favorite meal consists of having medium-rare steak on my plate, I enjoy video games, and I love being outside. However, I love getting my hair, makeup, and nails done, and shopping with my mom and girlfriends as well. So anyways, I love who I am, and I love what i'm learning about myself! I think being balanced is great, makes me versatile when hanging out with guy friend or girl friends! lol

Here's what else I've learned (the important stuff!)

I'm not perfect, actually i'm about the farthest thing from it. i'm selfish, impatient, emotional, self-concious and easily hurt. I take things way too personally. I procrastinate all the time(example, now.) I'm loud..too loud most of the time. I'm laid back (good/bad thing) I'm lazy, I hate working out unless i'm doing something active like playing a sport, I drink too much soda, I get scared easily, and I forget where I put things all the time. I'm clumsy and accident prone, and I care way too much about what people think of me.

At church on Sunday, Pastor Chad's sermon was about how God looks at the heart. "For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the Heart" -1 Samuel 16:7 And through that sermon, I found myself doing a run through of my characteristics.. not focusing on the bad ones, that's exciting! I finally figured out the only person I have to please is God. and the only way to please Him is to live a life honoring and glorifying His name! "The King is enthralled by your beauty, honor Him, for he is your Lord!" -Psalm 45:11
I get so overwhelmed when I realize how beautiful some of my characteristics are and let go of the ones that aren't! It's encouraging.

Lately I've noticed a change in myself. The kind of change you only see when someone lets go of worldly views and clings to Christ's. I'm way happier all the time, way more fun to be around, and encouraging. I've been completely reassured that my passion is being with children, and that my choice to be an education major is completely where I'm supposed to be. My favorite thing to do is make someone smile, even if I can't make myself smile. I have noticed the little things that slip my everyday mind, such as how blessed I am to have parents who love me continually, and love eachother more than the day they were married! I'm so blessed to have a big brother, who loves me, even though it doesn't feel like it when he's picking on me, and I'm so blessed to have the friends that I have and am continuing to make. Brittney, Jill, Sarah, Brooke, and Amanda- you girls are my best friends and I can't thank you enough for shining your lights to me when I was hurting. I am so blessed to have you girls and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

I've found my goal in life, and that is to live out 1 Timothy 4:12. The only compliments I take to heart are the ones from people whom i've encouraged. When my campers told me I was the best counselor ever, I felt so fulfilled. When moms from the church tell me that I'm wonderful and that they hope their kids can grow up to be like me, I'm overjoyed. I've noticed I like compliments on my character way more than compliments on my appearance, and that's okay with me :)

So, the point of it all is that I'm finding myself. I'm finding my joy, and finding exactly who I want to be. I'm becoming way more of a "I'll try almost anything once" kind of person, and I love that! I've become kind of addicted to the feeling of stepping out of my comfort zone, and going for things I would never have before. I'm loving this process of finding myself.

Anyways, I have to get my paper done so I can go to Denton and spend the night at the Casey Donahew concert with my brother, and close friends for Lindsey's birthday! :)

looove.