Prayers of Praise

I just want to take a brief minute to express my praise right now! I’ve just been thinking about it a lot this morning (cuz work is real slow and I have plenty of time to think), and am so thankful for a pretty great life that I have right now. Of course things aren’t always pretty and perfect, but it’s all in the perspective of things…

ONE – I have a wonderful family. Sure – they get on my nerves pretty often, but for the most part, they’re awesome and I love them so very much. And my parents are letting me live rent free right now, and still providing so much for me, so how can I complain about that?!

TWO – I am making some truly amazing friends here now. When I first moved back home last May, I left an amazing community of friends and believers behind in St. Augustine, and I miss them dearly. But God is placing people in my life right now who are quickly becoming awesome friends! I love hanging out with these people, and am so excited to continue to grow our friendships.

THREE – I have a job. Granted, it’s not one that I love and want to be at forever, but God is providing, and that’s all I need right now! I should just be grateful that I’m at least getting a great paycheck.

FOUR – I have lived another pretty fantastic year. My year as a 22-year-old had some pretty great memories: graduating with honors from college, vacation to NYC with three great women, an amazing road trip with eight of my best friends for two weeks, a new job, a new laptop, making new friends, reconnecting with old friends, fun at FSU football games again, and so many other wonderful blessings. Thank you Lord for a great year! And now I’m ready to see what’s in store for my life as a 23-year-old, in just a few days!

So God – bring it on. With you by my side, a circle of support around me, and my heart tuned into you – I’m ready for another great year.

Love you friends.

Paperback & Hardcover

So last night while I was playing on my new computer, I was finally able to spend some time on the internet – which is abnormal for me usually. Over New Year’s weekend at the farm, my good friend Kaley Grant had told me about this cool website called Shelfari, and that I should join it, and that I should be her friend there. So last night I did. And it is pretty awesome.

It’s an online book shelf. And it actually even looks like a cute little bookshelf. You add titles of books, and a little icon of the book shows up on your shelf. Then you click whether you’ve already read it, if you’re currently reading it, or if you plan to read it. And then it kind of works like Twitter, where you can ‘follow’ other friends, and see their ratings of books.

I’m thinking this website is only cool if you’re a bookworm like me, but I really like it so far. And I’m excited to explore it a little further. I mean, I already have a GIANT list of books I want to read (I mean really giant – like over 60 books), but I’m looking forward to adding some more, based on stuff I find on Shelfari!

So, if you also like books and reading, then you should join it too. And we can share book recommendations together. Join, and then search for me, (by clicking this) and we can be friends in yet another online realm : )

Love to you all.

Potential Pianist

So I usually don't make New Year's Resolutions, well, because I think they're kinda dumb and pointless. I mean, who actually ends up keeping them all? And why can we only decide to do these things at the start of the New Year? Well, despite all that, I did actually do it this year - kinda. But instead of resolutions, I'm calling them GOALS. There are some serious things, and some fun things. But it's basically just a year-long To-Do List. Which I'm totally fine with - as anyone who knows my love for lists can attest to I'm sure. So I'm going to share them here, (a little late, yes, but at least it's happening!) And feel free to call me out if some of things don't get accomplished in the next 11-ish months!

1. Start practicing the piano again - and get good at it again!


2. Read 30 'fun' books - totally lost my zeal for reading this year


3. Read 20 'spiritual'/'helpful' books - totally lost my zeal for reading this year


4. Watch one movie a week (aka - keep up with Netflix) - CHECK


5. Cook dinner for my family twice a month - CHECK


6. Make a decision about Seminary - CHECK (not going for a least another couple of years)


7. Find a new job - one that could actually turn into a career


8. Weigh under ___ pounds - CHECK! (as of March 24-ish)


9. Get back into the habit of reading my Bible regularly


10. Learn to play the guitar - at least a little bit


11. Buy a new computer - CHECK!


12. Buy a 'big girl' camera - putting this off, cuz I got an iPhone instead!


13. Visit Bridget in Ohio


14. Blog twice a month - CHECK


15. Maintain both checking and savings accounts at $_,000 - CHECK


16. Go on another vacation with friends!

Seems like kind of a long list, but I think that I'm totally capable of these 16 things. Especially over the entire year. In fact, I'm pretty pumped about some of them. And I've already done one of them - I'm typing this on my new computer right now!!

I ask that you pray with me on the hard ones (#'s 6 & 7 especially please), and join with me on the fun ones. Wish me luck! Love yall.

Pizza Scarves

This weekend, one of my great friends, Nicole Ongalo, became Mrs. Brandon McKenzie. It was beautiful, fun, amazing, uplifting and loving.

My wonderful friends drove from St. Augustine Friday afternoon, picked me up in Tallahassee, and after yummy dinner at Moes, we finished our drive to Pensacola Beach. We didn't make it in time for the bachelorette party, so they brought the party to our beach house instead! We got to hang out with old friends, meet new ones, and laugh a lot. We played catch-up-on-life, and shared a lot with each other.

Saturday morning, we woke up casually -with zero food in the house for breakfast- and hung out together for a while. We met all the girls at Panera for delicious lunch, and then did some shopping at the mall. We got lots of girly things, spent time with Nicole, and had some great fun.

We spent some more time hanging out that afternoon, went to Target to get some food for dinner, and headed back to our house. We made pizza's and had movie-rest time while we watched "Casino Royale." Intense. And then we played Quelf. Awesome, and so freaking hilarious.
  Sunday was spent gloriously lounging around the house playing cards, eating turkey sandwiches, playing on the beach, looking for shells, and reading. We started getting ready, and it took us forever, but we looked great, might I say.
  

The wedding was winter-beautiful, and Nicole was stunning. We ate yummy food, laughed a ton, and danced even more. Like, we dance sooo much. And we loved it. And it was great. After we ate cake, clapped for the married couple on their way out, we invited others to our beach house. It was fun to continue our dance party, and we had a great night. We stayed up super late, danced a lot more, (with scarves) got really, really silly, laughed more than I have in a while, and just enjoyed spending time all together again.
  

Monday morning, Zach came in and woke us up at the ungodly hour of 5:40, we jammed all of our dresses and heels back in our bags, threw away our trash, packed the cars quickly, and were outta there by 6:10. We dropped off the keys, and hit I-10 East. We stopped for a very filling breakfast at Cracker Barrel where we all ate a little bit too much, had some coffee, and hit the road again. They dropped me back off at my car, and they headed back to St. Augustine.

The weekend was absolutely amazing, and I have the best friends ever. We literally could not have had more fun, except if ALL of our friends could have been there. I am so happy for Brandon and Nicole, and I wish you both so many blessings! Congratulations!

Pretty Awesome Weekend

Today is Sunday, the final day of a great weekend. Here's a recap, but it's gonna go all the way back to Wednesday, cuz it's just been that good...

Wednesday night was a great night at church with my favorite youth's. Then we of course went to Fuzions for some frozen yogurt, even though it was freezing outside. We hung out for a while, and then at home, Meg and I watched "Glee" on demand - so good.

Thursday was Veteran's day and it was glorious to sleep in a little. I hung out with my precious Sara Lane for a while, and then some of us met to play frisbee at Chiles. And I was given tickets to the FSU game! I went to dinner that night with my parents at a southern chicken pilau (pronounced per-low), and then went to Bible study. Which was so amazing. We dug in deep and talked about a lot, and all came away with a better understanding of scripture. Oh, and also on this day, my friend Robert camped out for the opening of a brand new Chick-fil-A, and was 15th in line, so he get's a free meal a week for the next year! Awesome!

Friday was rough going back to work, but I made it, and then Friday night was awesome. We had a bonfire for some of our youth at Jacob and Robert's house, with the Fantastic 4 (Robert, Me, Taylor & Sara) acting as adult supervision. We played man-hunt, played around with some archery, and enjoyed the cozy warm fire. After the youth left, the big-kids hung out for a while, and I met some new friends of Robert's that came. We had a lot of fun, and I really like these people a lot.

Saturday morning, Robert, Sara Anders, Duncan, Justin and I went to the cross-country regional meet to watch Sara Lane and Will Speirs race, and they both did so awesome, and now they're on their way to state! Nap time followed this, and was much needed.

Then it was game time! Robert picked me up, we made a stop along the way, and headed to the stadium to meet friends for hang-out time before kickoff. We had great seats (Thank you Chandler!), and had a great time. And the weather was awesome. AND WE WON!! Thank you Dustin Hopkins, you were amazing. It was a real exciting ending. After the game, we got stuck in serious traffic, and couldn't find anywhere to go. Checked a few restaraunt's, and finally landed at 4th Quarter. We shared some delicious food and drinks, and chatted a lot. Played Question & Answer time for forever, and then finally decided to call it a night.

This morning was church, and I love my church. I got to see friends, and youth, and family, and old friends, and I love it. (And I'm repetitive...). Now, I just got back from playing ultimate frisbee like we play every week, and it was of course followed by Fuzions.

Long post, but a great weekend. I love my friends and my life, and this wonderful time of the year. Fall is my favorite.