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Showing posts from January, 2015

Friday Five

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1) I just finished reading Nicholas Sparks' The Longest Ride today. I started it over the summer, and being a first year teacher, had to put it on hold for a while. Over Christmas break, I picked it back up, and I'm finally done. It's such a good book! It's set in Greensboro and Asheville mainly, so that's really cool to me. I cannot wait for the movie to come out, especially since I'm an extra in it! 2) The gym has been such a great thing for me since I joined in October. I love working out - it's sort of an escape. I love the Planet Fitness I go to. Many of my friends go there, so I always have a workout buddy! 3) In love with this lotion I got at Hangups over break. It smells SO good. There are different scents by Crabtree and Evelyn, but I think this is my favorite. 4) I've had so much fun watching Disney movies with my coworkers while we've done work and planned this week. :) 5) I'm pretty obsessed w

People Think I'm Nuts...

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...for being so obsessed with my dog. But how can you not be? Look at that face! When I look at how innocent she is (when sleeping, haha!) and think about how much she depends on me for EVERYTHING, my heart just melts. God put animals here both for our survival and for us to take care of. I'm in charge of this living thing's LIFE! And to me, part of caring for Emery is being literally over-the-top obsessed with her, because go big or go home, right?! Gosh, I love her.               Genesis 1:26: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'" Matthew 10:29: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father." Proverbs 12:10: "A righteous man has regard for the

God Turns My Stubbornness Into Growth

Me: "I don't like the mountains. I want to go to school there, but I'll never love the mountains. That's just not me." God: "I will instill in you a love for the mountains so deep that you'll never get over it and your heart will swell with joy when you think about the time you spent living there, growing in ME, in the beautiful mountains I created. And you will go back as often as you can, continuing to grow in Me every time." Me: "I hate huskies, and I don't really like labs. I'm pretty scared of both of those dogs and definitely don't want one." God: "I will create for you a mix of both of these dogs - a puppy you won't be able to resist. This dog will be a source of comfort and companionship for you in some of your darkest days thus far, and your heart will grow to love this creation of mine in ways you never thought possible. You will tear up just thinking about how much you love her and how perfect she is.&qu

59 Minutes

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Well, this post is a VERY long-time-coming post, because life is crazy, and there's never enough time to write... Anyway, back in November, my church held a walk-through drama production for the community to go through. The production was called "Judgment House (59 Minutes)" and it was the story of four people who experience their last hour of life and judgment / eventual eternity. The people who go through follow these four lives as they go to judgment and then either heaven or hell. It sounds heavy, and it is. It's an event that really makes you think about where you will spend eternity if you haven't already thought of it. I have seen it touch many lives. My own sister got saved at Judgment House when she was about 8 years old, so the impact of the event hits very close to home for me. This year, Ashley was in our "scene" one night and prayed that at least 70 people would come to know Jesus that night, and about 70 got saved! O

A Day in Boone

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On Monday, I got to spend a few hours in Boone, after not having gone since the first of December. It was my friend Angela's first time in Boone (that she can remember - she went when she was really young), and we had a great time. We had some good conversation on the way up, got to see my brother and a couple friends, met my coworker/friend Julie and her mom for lunch, and went into some of the stores downtown. It was so good to be back, even for a few hours. It calmed my soul like it always does. Me, my mom, sister, and a family friend went to a church on Saturday night and the pastor said he loved the mountains because at a certain altitude, he feels more connected with his soul and with the Lord. My eyes began to tear up and I thought, "This guy gets me!" There's just something about being 3,333 feet above sea level and feeling the wellness in my soul. "Man will move mountains for the mountains that move men."

New Year's Resolutions

1) BE ON TIME FOR THINGS. I've always been "tardy to the party" for EVERYTHING, like chronically, and I try to make this resolution a reality every year, but I'm still struggling. So now is the time to make it happen before it really ruins my life! Haha 2) Spend lots of time with my puppy. Give Emery the best and most enjoyable life possible. We're approaching the anniversary of Honeygirl's passing, and one thing I was really thankful for after she passed was the immense amount of time I'd spent with her in her later years. 3) Meet Tim Tebow. Self- explanatory. 4) Finish my book. I'm writing a memoir, and I want to get it published! 5) Get a good start on my book series about Emery. She gon' be famous. 6) Go on an adventure.  Something stimulating that's kinda spontaneous and VERY enjoyable. Last year it was driving to Disney World. 7) Blog more. Doing a good job of that already! :) 8)

What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?

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#MondayMotivation  eBa

#ootds, fish, and faith

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Yesterday was my first day back at work, so I got up, put on my #teacherootd, and had a pretty good day. But my brother went back to Boone and as the day went on, the more my heart started aching, for I wished terribly that I, too, was going to Boone. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I kept thinking about a sunny day in Boone, doing what I wanted to, going to a class or two, walking around downtown, just being free and enjoying the beauty of the mountains and of life. On my way to the crowded gym I tweeted: After work yesterday I had read in the book of Luke the story about Jesus telling Peter to let his net down in the water and Peter was a know-it-all and told the Lord that no fish would come because he had been fishing all night and hadn't caught anything. It seems very foolish to us because I'm like, "PETER, you acted like you know more than the Creator of the universe and that you don't trust that He can do anything!!!"

Little Things to Be Thankful For

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I haven't yet posted my New Year's resolutions, but one of them is to blog more and one is to be more intentional about being thankful each day. This post will help me start to achieve both of those. I'm going to start blogging more about little things and not just wait and blog about the big things that happen. Because after all, the little things are the big things! Today I was thankful for a teacher workday after a nice, long Christmas break. It was a good way to ease into going back to work and get prepared for the students to come back tomorrow. I was thankful for the coworkers that I now call dear friends and the fact that we could talk and help each other with lesson plans and have lunch together at Mi Pueblo. I was thankful that Christmas Pandora stations never go away and took full advantage of that while I graded papers. I was thankful for the Justin Timberlake jams I listened to on my way home and how they remind me of my amaaazing trip to Los

Wherever You Would Call Me

There are some places in life that you just don't wanna be. Some places you find yourself in are very uncomfortable, painful, or even downright depressing. We don't find ourselves in these places by chance. God allows us to end up in these places for reasons that are maybe (usually) not yet known. He doesn't ever promise that it will be easy, but that He will be with us, wherever we are. And wherever He calls us, we are to trust Him. That's something I've really had to work on lately. It's gotten to the point that I'm blindly trusting because there's no way I can imagine what's coming next. Lord, wherever you call me, I will be obedient in trusting You,  even if the odds seem against me,  even if I find myself in circumstances I never pictured myself in,  even if NOTHING makes sense anymore,  and I'm so disgusted with everything that I feel like giving up  and living in my pajamas the rest of my life.  Because the fact of the

Adoption Day

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"Every once in a while, a dog enters your life and changes everything. " I posted a picture to all my social medias earlier today (Sunday, January 4th), and the caption was this: "One year ago today, on a cloudy, misty day just like today, I went to "look at" some "husky puppies." The second this puppy was placed in my arms and her big brown helpless eyes met mine, I knew I had to keep her and care for her forever. In that moment, I decided that I was not putting her back down and that no matter what, she would have the best life possible. And ever since then, I've done my  best to fulfill that. This past year has been a learning experience big time. I've had lots of stuff chewed up, had to clean up messes, had my hands gnawed up, pulled down streets while holding onto the leash for dear life, etc. I've also had a furry source of joy to look forward to seeing, missed her til I cried while I