It's about time...

To take a breather and play catch up!

To say life has been a bit crazy lately, would be a vast understatement!  Let's just say the last 3 or so weeks of my life very well could be documented as the craziest period of my life thus far.  However...crazy doesn't always mean dreadful.  Really, I don't have much to complain about, besides the fact that I plain didn't have time to take in the 'moments'.  And, part of that craziness included finals, but that's done and over with and went as well as can be expected so can't complain there either!

So to document a portion of what all has been taking place, here are some photos.
Enjoy!

Enjoyed a weekend of fellowship and friendship building in November.

Officially joined the photography world with the purchase of the Canon Rebel T3i...Love it!

Had fun co-shooting Cmas picts for my bro and wife.  So cute!

Pretty much had my nose in a textbook as often as I made the time (which I'm embarrassed to say was not even close to as often as it should have been.)

Had a blast helping my niece and nephews decorate Gingerbread houses at FVH.  Love them!

Quick Senior session before the weather got too frigid. 

Pretty much had a splendid time planning, preparing, and catering a graduation buffet for a fellow nursing student.
More details to come at a later date!

Seriously could squeeze this lil darlin' to peices she's so stinkin' cute!

My lil bro is now officially 16. Not sure how I feel about that yet.  Still have one more day until he travels the roads...that's gonna be an adjustment! :-/

Helped mother take a few wedding reception pictures on Sunday.

That about covers the highlights of my life over that last month or so.  Including a lot more time spent in studying and school work but I wouldn't necessarily say thats a highlight!  However, I am so entirely thankful that semester 1 of nursing school is now behind me!  I am officially half way through my whole college career!!!  I must say tho, that there would have been absolutely no way I would have made it through the semester with out God's grace!  To God be the glory!

This week is basically full of Christmas shopping, wrapping gifts, and making gifts since I had absolutely no time before now to do so.  So here's to another crazy, yet exciting week!

Blessings!

Bittersweet

the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

~Job 1:21

 

 

Life is bittersweet.  I've been realizing that more now than ever.  It's not always a patch of roses.  Sometimes the thorns overtake the beauty and other times its the beauty without the thorns.  But that's the beauty of life.  It's NOT perfect.  Just when we get to feeling a little too comfy in this world, God sends us a reminder that this IS NOT our home. We should Praise God for that.  Because it creates in our hearts a deeper longing for heaven someday - At least it should. 

I've been thinking a lot about Job lately. After the last tragety, I didn't think our community could handle any more hurt.  I was wrong.  And now I realize that we REALLY don't know what the future holds.  We can look at statistics and think that we are done losing loved-ones for a while, but that's the farthest thing from the truth.  It's in God's hands, not statistical data.  Just look at Job.  Anyone looking at his life at that time would never have guessed after he lost all of his possessions, that he would lose his WHOLE family and be left with absolutely NOTHING. Job's life is an awesome testimony for us today.  No matter how much sorrow we are experiencing, God is FAITHFUL.  And through Him, we can find beauty amongst the thorns.

On to the sweet and rosy part of life, aside from the thorns, I had an amazing weekend with some AMAZING people.  It was one of those weekends that leaves you feeling somewhat (or maybe extremely) depressed after its over.  I know, I know, weekends like this should be uplifting, but it's sooo hard to say goodbye to friends from miles and miles away, not knowing when you may see each other again. But as a dear friend reminded me, we have to say goodbye before we can say hello again, whether its here on earth or in heaven. So I just cling to the memories and thank God for todays wonderful technology that allows us to keep in touch despite the many miles in between.

So to my dear friend who braved Illinois for 3 whole days, thanks SOO much for coming.  Even if you were a little intimidated! (Which is absolutely ridiculous) ;) For not hardly even knowing you (I must confess I couldn't remember your last name for the longest time, even though you were coming to stay w/ me for invite-a-friend!), I feel like we could have been lifelong sisters after this weekend. From thinking the same thoughts, to reading each others mind, it really was quite amazing how quickly we clicked!  Guess the Praise goes to our Wonderful Heavenly Father once again for giving us this chance to become good life-long friends. 

Sigh.  God has blessed me beyond measure.

TayTay ~ Miss you!

Saturday night sleep-over buddies - Taylor, Me, Karla, & Nicole

 

Mish Mash

• Wow. Sorry for my lack of posts.  Not sure what I've been up to thats caused the quiet blogging!
•  I think I'm in a daze.  Life is just flying by.  Everything seems like a blur.  I'm not gonna complain because I'm really looking forward to winter break.  But then again, I don't like to miss the moments, and I have been.  I can't believe tomorrow is November already.  Christmas is less than 2 mos away!!!
• Short up-date on life: College is going ok.  Not great.  Not horrible.  Just OK. I'm learning to take one day at a time.  I don't look forward and I don't look back.  I'm also learning how great of a procrastinator that I am...like right now... :S
• I need to learn to find a balance tho.  I'm having a hard time balancing school work, social life, and my spiritual life.  first off, I probably put social life before school work, which would be obvious if you could see my grades!  (Funny how my fear of getting a B or lower has suddenly and magically disappeared!  Now all I care about is the 75% to pass!) I don't want to give up my social life, but then again I know I DON'T want to have to re-take any nursing class...so I better get my priorities straight. And as for my spiritual life, sadly enough, I've felt like if has suffered even more than my school work.  I always seem to push reading and praying off till the end of the day when I'm already exhausted and just wanna crawl in bed.  Which usually leads to me falling asleep while praying and I somehow always wake up in the middle of the night, in bed, with my lamp still on. I've been working on that tho.  And it's getting better.  Guess I would just ask for some prayers to get my focus back on what is most important in life because I know one thing is for certain: I would definitely much rather fail a nursing class, than fail in my relationship with Jesus Christ!
• Side-note: I can't even begin to write about how much I have felt God's quiet, assuring presence throughout the past few months.  Whether its giving me the knowledge to pass a quiz that I did not take adequate time to study for because I probably opted to spend time with friends instead, or blessing me with great instructors who have made this semester much easier than I anticipated, or giving me the confidence, peace, and grace to face clinical each week because I know without that I would be a disaster!  Or maybe it's an angel sent by Him to wake me up tues morning for clinical b/c I fell asleep praying the night before and failed to set my alarm... whatever it may be, they are quiet reminders that God IS with me.  And He WILL grant me the grace to get through these next 2 years if it continues to be His will!  That's what I cling to on days when I'm totally and completely overwhelmed!  (Which is another quiet assurance b/c I haven't had very many of those days...yet.)  God be praised!
• One of these days I'll maybe catch you up on all my social-happenings the past few weeks but right now I should get to some studying. :)
• Blessings in the rest of the week!

  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
         ~ Ecclesiates 9:10

Idea

Sometimes all it takes is a simple idea.

That idea gets shared.

And the sharees enthusiastically encourage the sharer.

A date gets set.

Usually the same week because the excitement is just too much.

 

The simple idea turns into a night of priceless moments.

The moments create lasting memories.

And the memories strenthen a bond of friendship that is soo precious.

 

A clear, crisp, fall night.

Stars twinkling in the heavens.

A truck bed overflowing with blankets.

A fierce protector.

Quite moments. Loud laughter. Intimate talks.

A night filling our hearts with the Awsomeness of God our Creator.

Plus two wonderful ladies to share it with.

 

Go with the idea.

And enjoy the moments.

Oh...and don't forget to REPEAT! 

The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Psalm 19:1



Minnesota

The other weekend I traveled to Winthrop, Minnesota for a dear friend's wedding.

Sadly enough it was the first time I'd ever been there, despite the fact that shared a friendship with someone from there for so long.  Guess it goes to show that friendships don't have to always require face-to-face meetings.  We are blessed with some pretty amazing technology to feed those friendships despite the long distances!  I am thankful for that.  And I'm thankful for the girl who did so well at using the technology to keep up with our friendship.  (I fail to do that so often...but not because I don't love her!)

To Lena: I'm sooo happy to see that God has given you a wonderful Godly man to be your husband.  You will be blessed.  And I'm so superly excited to have you only 1 hour away from me now!!  Can't wait to come visit and see you being a wonderful wife! ;)

To Amanda, the amazing girl who put up with me all the way to MN and back: I love you! Thanks for being willing to come along and keep me company.  One more moment to add to our growing list of memories together.  Next time we go to Culver's I won't forget what you want.  All I'll have to do is order two of what I like - Chicken tenders team scoupie meal, with cheese curds instead of fries, and vanilla ice cream in a dish with raspberries.  YUM!  Who knew good friends could grow the same taste buds?! ;)

 

 

Guilty or Not Guilty

If tried, would I/you be convicted of being a Christian?

Or is there not enough evidence?

Survived but still swimming

My first real clinical.
It was not as stressful as I anticipated.
I didn't get overly nervous.
I only had a tiny stomach ache.  But it passed.
To say I did everthing I should have, would be a lie.
I felt very unorganized.
I think I looked like a deer in the headlights all day long.
But it went well. 
I was pleased.
And I'm actually excited for next week. :)

I was for-worned that this is the week when it gets "real."
I'm beginning to realize why. 
I didn't think I would get too stressed, and I haven't until right now.
I'm in a bit of a panic mode.
I have two quizzes to study for and have very little time to do it.
I have 8 chapters to read and take notes on.
I have to write a "poem, song, or jingle" on a lung/thorax disease by tomorrow
And I'm stumped. And tired.  And grumpy.
My creative juices went bye-bye and won't come back.
Then I have to share it with the class.
And I'm nervous.
I'm low on sleep.  I feel like I could ralf.  And I just want to throw something.
And my family is coming over for birthdays tonight, so I need to put on a smile!
And do my homework later.

So with all this on my lap, I decided to post instead.
Hoping it would spark some creative vibes...but I'm not feelin 'em.
Who wants to write about a lung disease?
I mean really. 
How creative can that get?

Hoping to let off some frustration, instead of letting it off on someONE.
Do I feel better?
A little.  Not much.
Well, not really.
I still have all this work to do.
It's not going to go away.
I think I could still ralf.
Maybe I need to eat something. 
Something Healthy...
And I still don't have a smile.

But, even though I sound like a grumpy complainer, I want to do this.
And I WILL get through this.

And just since I feel negative right now, I will remind myself that
this is only the bottom of the mountain that I am about to climb!
So, I will just keep climbing, because I don't know any other way to reach the top!

Oh, and I guess I may as well do it with a smile... :)