mine

have you all ever heard the Ryan Long song, Mine? well, if you haven't... here's my favorite lyrics the whole song:

Baby in the gutter come on out it’s time to go
Your mother must have left you here but I’m taking you home
Gonna make you beautiful I’m gonna watch you grow
And when you’re old enough for love I’m gonna give you a ring of gold
I wanna make you mine I’m gonna make you mine all mine

My mouth is falling to the floor as you’re floating down the stairs
I’m sure I can’t remember when I’ve seen a lady so fair
I remember you kicking in your blood before the water washed you clean
It may have taken a flood to uncover the queen
That you were meant to be now you’re covered in love and jewelry

Put on your dress tonight
Dig out your heels we’re going on a carriage ride
We’ll dine by candlelight
So put on your dress
You are mine

I know you’re wondering when the midnight bell will ring
But this is not a dream nothing will come between you and me

melt your heart, right? well, if you know Ryan Long, you know this song is not about a man and woman. 

I was reading Ezekiel awhile ago (technically still am for that matter...) but in the 16th chapter there are words VERY similar to the song lyrics. surprise? shouldn't have been.

I always say I love Isaiah because of the pursuant heart of God towards us, and I think that I love Ezekiel for the same reason. I guess all scripture speaks to that, but for some reason, these hit home more.

The thing about Ezekiel 16 is that God brings us home and washes us clean and covers us with his love, only to watch us run away back to our "kicking in our blood". Yet he still pursues (nothing will come between).

It took awhile in my walk with God for me to realize that I am that person running away, because it was not as obvious as telling God I don't need him and want something else. Its more in the little things that distract us, that we give our full attention/heart to that aren't Him.

I don't know about you, but I need to read scripture like this daily to remind me all that I have in Him. I don't want to turn even the slightest bit from this.

[my picture above is not in fact from chapter 16, just a little further in Ezekiel to show God still being loving and pursuant of us] :)

some hope...

so, the past 5 days have been spent preparing for the NCLEX exam I have coming up. (when I say "spent preparing" I really mean studying from 9:30-2ish then playing wii fit with Holly).

either way...

Maria and I have been super nervous, because as you can see below, the scores have been not too great bad. did you see that 46?! It gets to a point where you feel like you should be getting it, you know, it should be clicking, and so you're super frustrated.(btw...I experimented cheated for that 72)

so today I went to update my CPR certification, and I asked my friend Michelle about her scores and she said something to the effect of "you know you should be getting around 60?"

BIG RELIEF.

I feel a lot better.

So anyway, I feel like the Lord has given me some of this:

WHEW...


I hope you all are having a wonderful week, and if you have never wii hula-hooped, you should do it. You'll look really really funny. And be sore. 



...can you tell I will post about anything that lets me use my camera?

let it snow

i have to admit i have not LOVED the snow lately (for driving purposes), but wow is it pretty. i love it especially when it is glittery. However, i have absolutely loved taking pictures of the snow. the first two were from today, and i took them and didn't think they were that great, but didn't delete them because i just read a photography tip on darby's blog about playing with a picture once you uploaded it, and i'm so glad i kept them! fun. anyway...i have a dream of going over to see precious baby Eden soon and taking snow pictures of her because she is so precious! stay tuned :)

the last ones were a little roommate photoshoot in the snow. it was fun :) 

Things i DO love about the snow:

1) i love the reminder snow gives about our Lord washing us "white as snow". i mean, have you looked out the window when everything is white during the day? it's blinding.

2)  snowflakes. they're amazing! i mean, they are perfect little flakes, and not one is the same! i can't get enough of them. i predict getting in a wreck when i am trying to look at all the pretty flakes on my windshield. how much do they point to God?! He is such a God of details :)

photoshoot with silas

i don't think this post needs words. i really like the poston's.

a new year

There are a few things on my mind as I start this year. This past year has shown me just how gracious God is and how much He wants to stretch and refine me. I don't want that to stop. I know its already a few days into 2010, but I wanted to think about these things before I committed myself to them out in blogland :)

1. I want to be captivated by God's word. His promises never fail, and those are the things I need to remember daily. In light of his love for us and his promises, life can't look the same, and that is how I want to live.

2. I want to be intentional. Really in every area, but especially in the lives of the people around me. I am absolutely someone you could consider "shy" and that holds me back from really engaging with people sometimes, especially if I don't know them very well, which is when it matters if you are trying to live a life that glorifies the Lord and reaches into people's lives.

3. I want to be a woman of prayer. I want to get lost in it until I don't realize it is 2 hours later. Why I can't seem to pull myself some days to sit and hear from the God of the universe is beyond me. The more of this, the more I'll get to see Him move.

4. I want to be bold in the lives of high school students at tchs. The Lord has called my heart to this ministry and it is a waste to sit back in areas of comfort. I want to see Him work through me, and that won't happen until I stop putting myself in situations that I can "handle" on my own.

5. I want to be crafty. I want to learn how to sew all kinds of things and I want to start painting again. When I see something in a store, I want to be the kind of person that can just go make my own.

6. I would like to start walking regularly (maybe working up to running, but that is a stretch). My family has a horrible heart history. I already have a horrible health history. Time to start doing something about it. If you are my friend and would like to join me, please do!

7. I want to learn and grow from the hard days I am sure to have as I start my new job. Having 4 patients and just starting on my own will prove to be stressful, but I want to be a reflection of the Lord's peace and really give my time to my patients and their families. In doing that, hopefully growing in patience that comes from the Spirit.

8. Finally, I want to learn how to use my camera. I can do a few things, but I know there has to be more possibilities. If you have any pointers, let me know! Here she is:

Well, happy new year friends! I hope that this year will draw you to the feet of our loving God. I am very excited to share with you how these "resolutions" pan out (or don't) :)

under construction

Just wanted to say I will eventually make a header for this new layout :) until then it may end up looking kind of crazy :) Promise a real post is coming up in a day or two!

p.s. does anyone know how to make the pictures bigger? do i need to be taking them with a different size setting on my camera?

princesses, pirates, and a new year :)

This past week was spent with 2 of my favorite people in Orlando Florida! I will attempt to chronicle our adventures. To start, you could define our trip by one thing, really.
Traffic.
Thats right. Apparently this was the most popular week to make a little disney vacation happen. Below you can see our GPS we affectionately named Enrique. This picture was taken in our 2.5 hours of traffic on the way down. A few times Enrique even asked us if we'd like to switch to pedestrian mode while we were in these situations. Nonetheless, we ended up in Orlando safe and sound.
Here are my travel companions, Katie and Katie. They are both pretty great. Katie on the left is my former co-leader for YL at TCHS, and Katie on the right is a former YL girl, what a treat.
The people at downtown Disney really liked me trying to get the lighting right for pictures.
Luckily for me, there was a Pirates of the Caribbean statue to take pictures with! Now that is lucky. I love pirates. We spent a good amount of time throughout the week at downtown Disney, its free. Definitely a nice thing when Disney park tickets are so expensive.
There is a store in downtown Disney that has a ceiling full of chandeliers. SO pretty. I could have probably taken a much cooler picture, but is was pretty packed in there and I was being pretty touristy already...
I know the pictures I am choosing to chronicle our trip are not really telling a story, but bear with me, I have a fun camera. Below is from Goofy's Candy Shop. Great place. We ended up getting hot chocolate and treats there our last day. Yes. Hot Chocolate. In Florida. At least we weren't wearing tobboggans and gloves like the natives.
Ok so below is the only picture I will put up of our trip to the Magic Kingdom, but let me tell you...there are probably 20-30 pictures of this castle...it was beautiful.
We went to the park the day before new years, and arrived at 7:30 so we could get in before the park closed (didn't close until lunchtime...thank you front desk advice)
Yeah, we stayed until 10pm. It was long. Do not wear chuck taylors to a theme park.
The plan was to celebrate with the new years festivities and tell our friends that is how we rang in the new year, but after seeing a fireworks show at 8:30 we did not end up making it to the 11:30 show. We DID however experience a little of the new years eve DJ. He was great. We did the cupid shuffle in front of Cinderella's castle. Awesome.

The rest of our trip was spent relaxing and enjoying some more downtown Disney as well as some Ikea (and a little summer staff reunion for me!)

We left early because Florida was only going to be like 53 on Saturday. We arrived to a temperature of 7 degrees in Lexington. Awesome.

This last picture is of precious baby Silas. Oh. My. Gosh.
I love him
I believe I took 170 something pictures when I went to visit Ang and Micah today. He is too cute.


Well, I have lots of thoughts to start out the new year, but they'll be saved for another day, because tomorrow starts my life of studying so I can pass the NCLEX & write "RN" behind my name :)
I like you all.