A new year doesn't scare me...

inally I am updating! Wow - i can't believe it has been a month since i last "blogged". so much has happened and so many times i have told myself "i should write about that" and then i get distracted and before i know it, it's was a month later...

2010 was nothing short of great and i don't think i really have any complaints. i can only hope and pray that 2011 will be even greater.

this past month has been quite eventful...
- i finished my semester with my first ever 4.0 in college.
- i went back to work at old navy for the holiday season - a place i love and am so thankful to have a job to fall back on with people that i get along with so well.
- i cut off 13 inches of hair and donated it. though it was super short and a lot shorter than i imagined, it has grown on me and i'm learning to deal with it's shortness
- we had our driveway redone and it ended up being super slick and mom fell and landed on her head. what an eventful morning to the ER that was. after a concussion and 8 staples she is all better (minus a little confusion here and there that she now tries to blame on her fall) and our driveway has been repaved again.
- while our driveway was being redone again, all of our cars were parked on the street and a super nice person decided to take a BB gun to all of our cars - which resulted in a shattered window on my car. i now know what it feels like to have a plastic window flapping in the wind down the highway.
-christmas was great - new traditions were created and great fun had all around. it was great to experience a true "white christmas"!
- my brother and his wife finally came for our family christmas and i realized how much i miss having him around often

and lastly, i ended my year with another trip to see the Avett Brothers and ring in the new year with them! such a great show!!! they had these girls that signed all of their songs throughout the entire show. they had their sister sing with them as well as their precious dad who came out and made an appearance. that is one band and show i never get tired of seeing!!!

I can certainly feel God doing great things in 2011. He has already done so much for this upcoming Chrysalis weekend and I can not wait for that to get here. One of my old roommates is getting married TOMORROW! I also will be graduating. Going to Colombia. Finding a new place to live. Finding a job. and possibly starting my "adult" life. Though it all seems like scary thoughts, I know God knows what He's doing and I trust everything will work out whether I stress about it or not.

Bring. It. On. 2011.

I really am thankful!!!

I had this post sitting on my desktop for days and just realized that I never posted it. Whoops! Pretend it is almost Thanksgiving day as you read!

As a wonderful, food-filled day is approaching, I suppose I should express my love and gratitude for everything I am thankful for. I’ve seen people constantly updating their facebooks daily with items they are thankful for. I am truly blessed and have a hard time just narrowing it down to only 25 (I say 25 because there are only 25 days in November before Thanksgiving.)

So here is my list:

-Family – they have to be first. They are who made me who I am today. Their constant love and support constantly blows my mind. I don’t say it enough for how thankful I am. I can not even begin to imagine my life without any of them and I am truly blessed to have them in my life.

-Friends – life would be miserable without them. My friends constantly brighten my day and make me laugh. They have the best shoulders to cry on and ears for listening.
-Puffs Plus tissues with lotion – these are a lifesaver! After finally getting over a gruesome cold, these tissues truly put my nose at ease. You would think after going through about 4 boxes of tissues my nose would be raw but these wonderful pieces of heaven speak true to their commercial – a nose in need deserves puff indeed!
-Cold medicine – considering the previous item on the list, this goes hand-in-hand – Equate brand nighttime/daytime cold medicine definitely a cold miracle
-Hot showers – something so simple that I take granted for daily.
-One bedroom apartments – Don’t get me wrong- I have had some great roommates who are some of my closest friends – but MAN do I love living alone. I don’t have to be considerate! (Haha) I can clean whenever and I can’t get mad about it because it is my mess. I love leaving the bedroom and bathroom door open. I don’t worry about where my roommates are when it’s late at night and they aren’t home yet. I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever have to go back to having roommates.
-Chrysalis – words cannot express my gratitude for the experiences I have had with Chrysalis. I am just in love!
-Best friends – I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory. The greatest gift I have ever been given.
-Sleeping – I just love sleeping. Nothing is better than curling up with cushiony covers and being so comfortable you don’t want to move. A comfortable bed is something I definitely take for granted.
-Beautiful weather – I love walking outside in just jeans, chacos and a sweatshirt and it feel absolutely perfect.
-Courage – so thankful that I have overcome so many obstacles in my life with even just the smallest amount of courage
-Charlie Brown – what a pal, that guy! One of my favorite parts of Fall – watching Charlie Brown specials on TV. My sweet baboo!
-Becoming an Aunt – I have never been so happy before! I cannot wait to spoil this baby boy and just love him unconditionally! The end of April cannot get here soon enough!
-Music – I love that I have music for ANY mood I am in. It definitely makes my life happy.
-Love of Books – I think I am fortunate enough that school did not cause me to hate reading. Of course, I don’t like reading forced material but I still love to read a good book. I hope that as a teacher I can pass on to my students a future in a love for reading.
-Photography – Over the past few years I have discovered this love for photography and taking pictures. I am so blessed to be given the opportunities to expand my love by being a camp photographer and learning new things in a free photography class at school.
-Children – I am incredibly thankful that I have a strong love for children and teaching them. I can’t wait to have my own classroom and I hope my love for children will get me through the hardships that come with education
-Hot Chocolate – Hot chocolate just warms the soul – I have found that Swiss Miss trumps Nestle but who knew Land o’ Lakes could make some bangin’ mint hot chocolate?
-Morningstar foods – as a fairly new vegetarian I am so thankful for Morningstar foods – who knew veggie meat could taste so real!
-Parents who pay for things – I am SO incredibly thankful for having parents that could pay my way through undergraduate school, my apartment, my cell phone and my car. I forget these things often but they sure mean a lot to me.
-Good food that reminds me of other things – I don’t really know how to describe this except for there are times when I eat something, smell something or hear something and it reminds me of really great memories. I am thankful for memories.
-Snow – truly a beautiful gift from God and I am thankful that I get to sit here and watch it fall peacefully as I write this
-Fuzzy socks – they keep your feet warm and are fuzzy – enough said
-Laughing – I love to laugh and I am so thankful to have so many things in my life that allow me to laugh and have a good time
-My life – I am just incredibly blessed and thankful for the life I have. I am happy. I rarely have complaints. I have a great and supportive family. I have amazing friends. I don’t think I could do any better.

... it starts ...

o after hours upon annoying hours, i have finally created this blog. thank you to all of the thoughtful minds that helped me create this. my goal is to update this regularly - and i hope i can stick to that goal. i must first say that i will try my best to spell check my words but i cannot promise i will punctuate or capitalize correctly. therefore, you are not allowed to criticize or "fix" my grammatical mistakes. this isn't a paper for school - it's just me writing with whatever comes to mind. (i hope it doesn't turn you off...)


having no idea what to write about for a first post, i guess you can just get to know me...


Facts of my life:
-i don't think i will ever get tired of snow and i get frustrated with people that come to ASU and hate snow, as well as being cold.
-i am left-handed and i have the worst, smallest handwriting ever.
-i love power outages. i think it is more fun to be with people and play board games then to just sit and watch t.v.
-i have wanted to be an elementary school teacher since i was in kindergarten. no lie.
-i have an issue with patience; as in, i don't have any.
-M&Ms are my weakness.
-i absolutely hate to lose. anything. EVER.
-when in physical pain, i laugh. (when i was little, the only way to make my brother mad when he was beating me up was to laugh - he would get frustrated and would then leave me alone - and it stuck.)
-my life would be complete if i could wear chacos every day and duke never won a single game (in anything) ever again.
-give me ice cream and you'll win me over.
-(don't judge) - i still sleep with my baby blanket, but now how most people would - most people hold theirs when they sleep ... mine has always been balled up like a pillow
-i eat peanut butter out of the jar (and cookie dough out of the tub)
-with anything, it has to be set on an odd number - mostly, volume.
-i drink apple juice like it's water and it's going out of style.
-for some reason, i have always worn my belt to the side instead of the buckle being in the middle like most people.
-i get excited when i am eating peanut M&Ms and i find one without a peanut and it's just a lot of chocolate.
-i never thought i'd have a "real" BFF. i mean sure in elementary school and what-not you say you have one but you feel the same about everyone else equally. i love the fact that i can say that i DO have a REAL BFF and she knows more about me than i do myself.
-green is my favorite color because back in the day, green M&Ms were the "prettiest" out of the five original colors and before blue came along.
-i think life at camp is better than life anywhere else. you are disconnected from the outside world and you are nothing but happy. it's ok if you don't shower daily and it's ok to wear hot pink shorts with a green shirt and no makeup. no one cares.
-i really want a tattoo and already have it drawn out but can't seem to make myself get it. i keep coming up with excuses.
- i am ALWAYS in the middle of reading a book... sometimes i start books without finishing others. books are on my wish lists as gifts. romance/chick reads and children books are the fave but there is no limit if i find it good.
-i laugh at COMPLETELY inappropriate times... especially if Helen Keller is mentioned. i also literally am the person that laughs about something that happened yesterday at a complete inappropriate time...
-i don't do mayonnaise. ever. even in my thoughts. (which limits a lot of foods but that doesn't bother me)
-every time i hear the song "chasing cars" i stop what i'm doing and just listen. i don't think i will ever get tired of that song




..and so starts this blog...