"It's the little things"

A few nights ago the girls and I decided to bake a cake for dessert. We had a little fun with food coloring and make a pink cake with blue and purple frosting. The girls had so much fun helping and frosting the cake. They are getting so big and independent. They are a blast to be around and I'm always trying to think of new and fun things to do with them. While we were digging through the pantry trying to find the food coloring, Makenna found some sprinkles. I sat her up on the counter and we each took a second to eat a handful of sprinkles. After she finished her mouthful, she smiled and said, "It's the little things that are so much fun!" She is too precious!

And she is right. It really is the little things in life that are so much fun. It's extra bath time so your Barbie's can swim longer. It's handfuls of sprinkles and dessert before supper. It's big blankets and movies on the couch. It's popcorn for supper. It's the little things that make memories. And I'm so happy I can make the little things fun for these sweet girls!

My Best Friends Wedding...Chapter 3: The Bach Party

Rheanne's wedding is getting closer. A few weekends ago I headed to Nashville and we had her bachelorette party. It was fun hanging out with the old group of girls that I grew up with.

8 years later...

I don't think I will ever forget the events after 9/11. It changed America. It changed my town. It changed my life. It will forever be something that is important for me to remember. For me to reflect on, for me to honor, and for me to appreciate. Thank you to those that serve our country proudly. Thank you to those that served it even before 9/11. Thank you to those that continue to leave America, and fight for our freedom. To fight for those lost on this tragic day.

And thank you to my Daddy. For being the hero that lives in me, that still leaves our family week after week to prepare his guys for another deployment. For being the hero that misses birthdays, holidays, and special occasions so that I can sleep safely at night. So that I can live freely. You have been, and always will be, my number one Hero.

Family Weekend

Last weekend my sweet, sweet cousin Emily and her boyfriend Shannon came to Knoxville to see me. We had such a great weekend catching up, spending time together and going out! I have missed being around her all the time and I'm so glad they decided to come up and visit Ryan and I. Hopefully they will come up more in the future now that they know how much fun we are!

Month Recap

• School is great. Only a few more months and I'm done! I've been thinking about places to work once I get finished and I'm so excited!
• Work at Chili's is good and it is starting to pick back up again.
• Church is great! Our new building is coming along great and we are hoping to be in by Christmas! God has blessed Northstar greatly and I'm so thankful for such a great church family.
• Life in general is great. Things are going well and I'm staying busy working and schoolin'.
  

My Best Friends Wedding...Chapter 2: The Shower

Saturday I had the honor of throwing my best friend her first wedding shower. It turned out to be perfect and I was super pleased with how the decorations, the food, and everything turned out. The cake came from Magpies Cakes and I HIGHLY recommend them if you are in the Knoxville area. Yes, that cake traveled from Knoxville to Greenbrier in the car and still looked perfect!

I can't believe it is almost time for Rheanne's wedding. I'm so excited for her. It seems like yesterday we were riding the bus home getting ready for a weekend full of slumber parties!

Fun Friday

Friday we loaded up and headed to Pigeon Forge for some dinner at Calhoun's and putt-putt golf! Putt-putt always makes for some fun family time and a little competition. Tanner swears that Sam and I lost, but we like to think different!

Falling Behind

It seems as though I'm falling behind in every direction lately....and I mean every direction!
School is wearing on me and I'm just really ready to be DONE! Since I took the month of June off, it pushed my finish date back even further. If all goes as planned I should be done mid January. I've already begun praying that I can stay well and not be sick during the winter months.
My laundry is piling up! I don't ever have time to do it, because I'm always running around like crazy! Hopefully today I can get it caught up.
My Bible study area/life has slacked greatly. I have found it harder and harder to just set aside time to really focus on it. I've been praying that God will motivate me and really stir my heart again.

Even with falling behind I have much to be thankful for. God has blessed my life in so many ways lately. I have been able to fully let go of things that had been cutting at my heart, I have been able to rejoice in the salvation of a person I thought I would never see have anything to do with God, and I have tightened the bonds within my church family.

God has truly blessed my life. I have such great family, such great friends, and so much to just be thankful for. There have been so many times in my life that have been filled with hurt and anger that I often asked, "Why me? Why am I going through this? Why do I have to hurt?" It's all taught me something. I know that I will never be given more than I can handle. I will never be left to stand in the storm alone. My God has never left my side, He's been there through it all. And even when it feels like I'm falling behind in the small areas of life....God never let's me fall too far before He reminds me that I'm not falling...just merely being taught to lean on Him.

Edgar

This is my sweet boy in Guatemala. I miss him so much today. It's been a month since I've seen him. I loved on him so much for 5 days straight. I wish so much that I could have just brought him home with me. He was the most loving, sweetest little thing ever. Every day he would find me, and it would take everything I had just to get him to go back to class when it was time for us to change groups. We were both attached to each other. Diana and I had a chance to get some pictures copied so I copied a few of Edgar and I to give to him. When I gave them to him he grabbed them out of my hands and pulled them close to his heart. I told him to put them in his "mochilla" (backpack) in really broken Spanish and his eyes lit up and he took off running full speed through the play ground and clutched the pictures so tight to his little chest. Of course by that time, tears were streaming down my face.

This little boy, who only knew me as a 'gringo' loved me so much. He told me every day he loved me and that we would be best friends always. He hugged on me, kissed on my cheeks, and sat in my lap. On the last day, the kids knew we were leaving and wouldn't be back. Before we left, we literally climbed up my legs for me to hold him and buried his little face in my neck and I could tell he was crying. I was trying so hard not to let him see me cry but my heart was breaking for this little boy.

I knew and still know, nothing of his family. I don't know if he is loved in all the ways I'm loved. I only know that I got to love him and tell him about Jesus' love for 5 days. I got to give him three pictures that hopefully will remind him that I love him so much and that I'm praying for him constantly. But most importantly, I pray that they remind him of a God who is always there, always forgiving, and always loving.

Beach Trip 2009

At the end of June, Samantha and I packed up and headed to the beach for a few days with mom and dad and Caiti. We went to Navarre Beach, right outside of Pensacola in Florida. We got to spend a few days with Tiffany and Stephen since we were close to their house and we had a blast. I'm glad I had a few more days off of school so I could get a few days in at the beach! The weather was nice the entire time we were there. It only rained the last night we there and that was after we had already come in off the beach. The ocean was really cold, and there was a lot of seaweed coming in, so we spent a lot of time at the pool. We had a really great trip and I'm so blessed to have such an amazing family!