I'm Back!

Ok, so I KNOW that it has been over 3 months since I have posted, and I am SO incredibly sorry, but life has a way of just .. happening. A lot has happened since September. This 15-week semester has absolutely flown by. I started taking my Education classes, and I had a *BlAsT*. I have had the opportunity to observe in two public elementary school classrooms, and although I have always had my heart set on teaching in a private, Christian school like the ones I grew up in, I have changed my mind!!! For me this is such a big deal, but after experiencing this semester in a public school, I have realized that this can really be my mission field. Other than my three education classes, I have taken Public Speaking, Physical Science, and Arts in Western Civilization. They have all been good ... not too hard but not too easy. I have enjoyed spending so many fun times with my friends here at school. I am going to post some pictures from throughout this semester. And even though there have been some bad times, and I have lost a couple people in my life that I really thought were my friends, I have gained so many more. Currently I am awaiting finals next week (I only have two!) as well as the ATΩ Christmas party on Thursday night and ATΩ Winter Formal on Friday night AND mine & my roommate Catherine's Tacky Christmas Party on Saturday night! So this weekend is going to be so much fun before finals begin!! :) So that is just a quick update in my life thus far. Alex & I are doing wonderful, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us!!

- b -



This is me and my friends Megan & Claudia at the Howdy party at the very beginning of the semester. That party is like a welcome back party for everyone to catch up from a long summer!



This is me & Alex about to go out to eat with my little sister when she came to visit!! :)



This is me & my friend Claudia & my roommate Catherine at the ATΩ flag football game one night! Us girls play on the same team ... we are the Diamonds!



And this is me & Katie & Claudia after we built a fort one night out of their beds!! It was so fun!! We even had a dance party after ;)

A Little Dose of Biblical Medicine

So tonight at church I learned a LOT. Ben's sermon definitely hit home, & it is so weird because I haven't gone to the Post *Southeast's college ministry* in a month, & for some reason I decided to go tonight, & it was amazing. So as I said before, Alex & I are doing a devo. book called 101 questions before you get engaged, & when we were doing in a while ago, one of the questions was, "What emotion is it hard for you to express?" And it didn't take me long to write down the word SYMPATHY. It's not common for us to think of sympathy as an emotion, but it is; it's a state of your heart. And a lot of times I really find myself not caring about what other people are going through or I do care what they are going through, I just don't sympathize with them at all. It's really a struggle that I have because like I learned tonight, God has given us so much grace and so much mercy that we do not even deserve. And He has given that to us because He loves us & wants us to show that same attitude towards others. A lot of times when people tell me they're going through a tough time or something bad has gone on in their life I always think of a way to justify it. Like "Oh, you made a bad decision, & now you have to pay for it," kind of thing, & that is not the right attitude at all. Sometimes bad things in life just happen. Sometimes people have to go through a situation to build character, & no one knows why or when or where or how but only God knows that kind of thing, and only He can judge us. Ben talked to us tonight about how the opposite of mercy is being bound to the trivial things in life, & that is so true. I think that because I do this little thing right & that little thing right that because of ME, I am going to be rewarded. But the truth is, nothing that I do will ever gain reward. I am only who I am today by the grace and MERCY of Jesus Christ. Nothing have I done to earn his love, & nothing have I done to earn His forgiveness except choose to follow Him. How do we get a heart full of mercy? Well Ben was talking about the beattitudes in Matthew chapter 5 & the way to have a merciful and sympathetic heart is the be meek; to hunger & thirst for righteousness; to be poor in spirit. They are all ways of how we deal with God, & when we realize our brokenness, we can fully understand and sympathize with the brokenness of other people. I am going to work on this a whole lot. I truly want to be a girl o f mercy. I want to be a friend that will cry for you when something spirals out of control in your life. I want to genuinely feel for others who are hurting, and that is my prayer right now; for a heart of mercy.

- b -

Some things just cost a little *ExTrA*

So lately I've been coming to realize that some things in life you just have to pay a little extra for. And realizing that has been a little difficult for me! I hate spending large amounts of money on things that I believe should be cheaper and more affordable. For instance, I had this new digital camera that wasn't even six months old. It got dropped and was going to be 130 dollars to repair it. That was CRAZY for me to think that I just paid 170 dollars for a camera, and now it was going to cost pretty much the same price to get it fixed! How lame. So I thought it over for a while and came to the conclusion that it would just be well worth my money to buy a different camera (brand new) for only 50 dollars more. It makes sense, right? I get a whole new camera + a whole new warranty for give or take 50 dollars. And then we have the clothing issue. I just HATE spending a whole lot of money on clothes. Sure I can drop 110 for a Ralph Lauren jacket, but I feel that is rediculous to pay 75 dollars for 2 pairs of jeans from American Eagle. Am I missing something? because something just doesn't feel right at all. I've just realized that sometimes it is worth spending more money on something that will last than paying 20 dollars here and there and everywhere all year to fix some cheap thing that was broken or useless to begin with. So for entertainment, I am going to put a list of things up here that I will spend a little extra $$$ for and some things that I just can barely spend a penny on without cringing.

WORTH MY MONEY

-Jeans
-Bras *cringe* i hate to say it because i don't act it out, but they are just something you can't buy cheaply!
-Cell Phones & Cameras
-Cars & Computers
-Make-up (who wants to look like an orange pumpkin all day long?) NOT me
-Healthier Food


SOOO NOT WORTH MY MONEY

-Bathing Suits
-Tennis Shoes
-Lotions & Perfumes
-MOST purses *I do divulge about once a year / year & a half*
-Lip Gloss
-Car Stereos & anything else to "sup" it up inside OR out
-Nail Polish

So out of curiosity, what would YOU spend money on & what could YOU care less about?

- b -

Annoying Neighbors

Have you ever had that one set of neighbors that just constantly drove you nuts? If not, you're lucky, but I'm sure everyone has had there share *or will get their share* in the future. I'm sure people think we're annoying because we have 4 - 5 - 6 dogs at a time, but I would just like to vent on what has been happening over the past few months. Our old neighbors moved out last summer I think. I really didn't care because I was going to college and wouldn't be around that much, but boy should I have. Our new neighbors are 2 brothers in their 20s or 30s. They're never around except when they're smoking on their back porch or mowing the grass. The only problem I have with them is their PARENTS. Gram and Gramps are over 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!!! They are constantly doing yard work and cleaning and hiring people to fix their house and rebuilding. I can understand if their sons were helping them do all this, but they aren't. The parents are over every second of every day and they don't even live there! It's not their house, and I think it's about time Timmy and Tommy learn to break away. No wonder I've never seen any girls (ahem, women) over spending time with them because they are too consumed with their mommy & daddy! It's just frustrating especially when every time we pull into our driveway, their parents are up at our window wanting to talk to us for no reason at all. THEN the other day we were getting our driveway repaved and enlarged. I guess mommy next door wanted the guy that was doing our driveway to do hers to, but when she called he was busy so she got someone else! Well the moment he pulls up to our house, she stomps over to his truck and starts throwing a little temper tantrum and yelling at him .. IN OUR YARD!! Finally he tells her off and says, "Lady, I don't have time to deal with you. Stay on that side of the grass." Oh, I wish I had beaten him to it. :] So she just stomps over to "her" yard and supposedly calls the BBB & corporate on this man and his company. Come on lady; get a life! Let your boys fend for themselves, and leave our workmen out of it. We are getting our house ready to put up for sale, and I cannot wait. Because every time I see her when I pull in, I want to run and hide forever. I would absolutely LOVE to hear any of your! annoying neighbor stories :]

- b -

Do NOT Be Fooled!!

So today I was driving home from shopping at Target, and I decided to stop by Wendy's to get a salad for dinner! Good choice, right? .... WRONG. That's what I thought at first, but once I got home I was curious to how "healthy" I was actually being. I was SHOCKED to read on Wendy's Nutrition Guide that my beloved salad contained 53 grams of fat and over 750 calories! WHAT?!?!?!?!?!? It was a BLT Grilled Chicken Salad for goodness sake! Well come to find out, most of the calories and fat grams came from the salad dressing (Honey Mustard), but still, I thought it completely rediculous. The drive-thru workers don't even tell you there is another option for dressing (Lite Honey Mustard) that is SO much better for you!!

I've never been the junk food police, and I've never been obsessed with checking calories and fat grams and all that junk, but it can never hurt to look! After what I learned today, I can still get the same salad in the future, just ask for the Lite dressing instead of the regular packet that comes with it! Also, if you compare, the exact SAME salad from subway, it is so much healthier for you especially with a lighter dressing. I work at Steak 'n Shake, and so many companies JUST LIKE the one I work for are so tricky when they advertise. For example, our new Light Fruit & Frozen Yogurt shakes are absolutely NOT good for you. They are over 350 calories each, some over 400. The only reason they are "healthy" as advertised, is because they are healthier than lets say, a mocha shake or a vanilla shake. But they still aren't healthy!!!! So I am just encouraging everyone who is reading this to be aware of what you are putting in your body. It's not wrong to eat fast food or have a burger every once in a while, just try to make wiser decisions and decrease portion size. Doesn't everyone feel so much better when they are at a normal weight & happy with the way they look? I sure do WITHOUT a doubt. So don't fall into the trap of thinking that you are being healthy because you are eating a salad. Restaurants do not care if you are being healthy; they only want your money. Be aware; be wise; be smart.

- b -

Some Really Good Books!

This summer I have had the greatest pleasure of finding some of the best Christian books (that I really have needed) to spend my time reading. The first series was recommended to me by my roommate Catherine Jenkins. It's the Redemption Series by Karen Kingsbury. It's about a family in Bloomington, Indiana that just goes through so many trials in their relationships (family & marital & friendship), but continually trust God and His plan for their lives & how He works through them. It is just a really neat series that I have LOVED reading. One if its focuses is on how love is a decision, not a feeling. You decide to love something or someone and your actions follow that decision no matter what. For any teenager, newlywed or mommy, I recommend it because it reaches out to people in all stages of life, young or old.

This next book is a devotional that me and Alex have started doing together. It's called "Before You Get Engaged," and as you can guess, it's for any dating couple possibly looking towards marriage in the near future. We have just started it, but already after tonight, I know this journey together is going to bring us closer to God, and closer to each other as we look for God's will in our lives and continue to pursue that.



Another study I have been doing with the women's group at Southeast, is of Randy Alcorn's book "Heaven." This book has gotten me so excited about Heaven!!! There are so many things that I am so suprised that the church doesn't teach on a regular basis that it should! I am so glad that our church did this study because I feel like a part of me has been pieced together after reading this book. Heaven is our eternal home, and not knowing what it will really and i mean REALLY be like should leave us empty. God gives us so much information in the Bible about Heaven that all we have to do is look look look!

So these are just some books I highly recommend. If you have read any of them feel free to let me know what you thought as well!!

- b -

Bored in Louisville

So it has come to the point in the summer where either A) I am in need of a vacation or B) I am just ready to be back at Union. I've been at the same routine since the end of May. Go to work, go to school, take care of Colby, go to church and repeat the same cycle every week. I'm pretty sick of it by now, and I just need some fun in my life. Normal people get to take vacations in the summer. Not students who have stupid class to worry about. I don't regret taking this class at all; I just want to do something fun. Any ideas? I'm thinking about going to the waterpark sometime next week ... maybe. Who knows. I wish I could have gone to Niagara Falls with my family, but no. Oh well ... give me any ideas if you all have any!

- b -