FLORIDA BABY!!!

I leave for Florida TODAY!!! I'm so excited! It will be so great to have 10 days in the sun relaxing, hanging out with some GREAT friends. It will be a much needed time to get away and just chill.
I don't know if I will have internet access, but if I do I will try and post some while I'm down there.
WOO HOO!!

Today

Today something is going on in me and I'm not sure what.
A mixture of emotions, but mostly something blue.
I have had some late nights and so I'm really tired. My body is not feeling well either.
Sometimes I just get to the point where I'm just worn out.
I think this is something spiritual too. Last night Hilary and I had a great talk and got to pray together and I just felt the love and grace of God so strong. When closeness comes to God it seems that satan likes to come in and bring me back down. I'm feeling the weight of that today.
I just want to close my eyes and get away from life.
Everything is making me cry today. Not sure what that is about.
God continues to be on the throne and I LOVE that.
I have been worshipping in spite of these feelings that I don't understand. I love that God continues to be gracious and loving and ALL good and that He never leaves and He gives strength to the weary.
I'm trusting and rejoicing in that today even if it's through tears.
"I will choose to say, You are my God"

Let Him Fly

I found this video too. It's Patty Griffin and I love her.
Here is Let Him Fly.

So I Think I Want To Be a Dancer

Like I said in a previous post. I'm hooked on So You Think You Can Dance. Seriously.
I SO want to be a dancer and I realize that it won't happen. But I have seriously considered maybe taking a lyrical or contemporary class. The thought makes me laugh.
Steph shared a video with me from last season that is AMAZING!!! AND it's to the song Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap. I LOVE her and I LOVE this song and did I mention that I LOVE dancing?!?!?
Check it...

It's HOT.

So...why is it that I moved to Texas?!?!?! Someone may have to remind me!!!
It is stinkin' HOT!!! and it's only June.
really, it's not that bad...for those of you who were thinking of coming to visit me...hint hint! :) It helps that we have a pool in our apartment complex and I pretty much go there as soon as I get home from work!
It was cute today at work our office supply guy, Raul, delivered some boxes and we usually talk when he comes in and we've gotten to know each other. He calls me his friend! He is probably in his late 60's maybe even early 70's, and he has a strong accent. He is PRECIOUS! Anyway he mentioned how hot it was and then he said to me, "I bet it's quite different than your country (meaning Iowa!) ! It's very hot here! I bet it makes you want to go back to Iowa!"--imagine it being said in a thick accent! It was really cute!
Another cute Raul story...the other day he just stopped what he was doing and said, "You just have the most beautiful eyes. They are so green and so pretty."(again, imagine the accent) It was so cute and so sweet! I love old people!

Florida of Fun

According to my google desktop countdown...I have 9 days left before I get to hang out with these two beautiful girls...
Andrea...aka AJ Johnson and Christy...aka...Mich. One lives in Chicago and one lives in New York. They are DEAR friends of mine and we try to get together at least once a year.
This time we are headed to Florida!! woo hoo!!!!! I've never been to Florida before. We are staying with Christy's aunt who has a nice house and a pool AND lives 20 minutes from the beach!!!! With these girls brings LOTS and LOTS of laughter. Which turns into snorting from laughing so hard...that sometimes results in peeing our pants. I really think I've added many years onto my life from laughing. I LOVE to laugh.
I can't wait!!!!!! I will get to spend 10 days with them! 10 days!!!!!! I'm sure I will have lots of blog stories!
Bummer thing about it is that Hilary is not able to come with us. :( She will be missed. It will definitely not be the same.

Noah's Words

Sweet Noah has some sweet words posted on my sister's blog.
precious!!!! Check it out here.

Dad

June 12, 1997.

10 years ago.

It's been ten years. I can't believe it. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday. Sometimes it feels like so long ago that my mind starts to forget things about him.

I was 16.

I remember my uncle telling him that Jesus was with him and that He was holding him. His face lit up and he smiled. He knew that God was in control and that this was all part of His plan for his life. Somehow.

"Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness; Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me."

I remember hearing from the nurse that he had died and my uncle grabbing me, telling me that he was with Jesus.
That image, I can still remember, came to my mind of that embrace.
Finally getting to see Jesus face to face. Touching His scars.

"And when I think, that God, His son not sparing; sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in; That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing; He bled and died to take away my sin."

Bowing down at His feet and worshiping Him in a way he had never experienced before. Breathing in perfect air, through perfect lungs, in a body that was perfect and whole. Shouting hallelujahs along with the angels.

"Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee; How great Thou art, How great Thou art; Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee; How great Thou art, How great Thou art."

It's been ten years, but to him it's like he just arrived. Eternity to sing His praise.

"When we've been there ten thousands years, bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise. Then when we first begun."

I try to picture his crown. God says we get crowns. I bet his is beautiful and is growing in beauty as his story touches more lives, as our family grows and his legacy lives on.

"In mansions of glory in endless delight; I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright; I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow; if ever I love thee, my Jesus tis now."

I'm so thankful.
I'm thankful for this story.
That God put this man in my life to be my dad.
That Jesus captured his heart and that he fell deeply in love with Him.
Even thankful that on June 12, 1997, God, in His sovereignty, gave him his last breath.
That he is Home and that I will see Him again. Someday.

"I can sing with my last breath, sing cause I know; that I'll sing with the angels and the saints around the throne!"

Patty Griffin

I just got home from a Patty Griffin concert tonight. AMAZING!!! Seriously.
She is beautiful. Her voice is incredible.
She totally rocked it out.
She is my hero.

Confession...

So I realize that this post will bring on a lot of comments from the fam regarding all of the comments I have made to them about their reality TV addiction. (Dancing with the Stars, Bachelor, American Idol, Survivor...am I missing any?!) But I'm ready for it. Bring it on.
I'm totally hooked on So You Think You Can Dance.
It's true...not gonna lie.
I was hooked first season, then second season I forced myself to not get hooked, and now this year, for the third season, Hooked.
I am thankful that the 1 channel that we get on our TV just happens to be Fox and so is it bad that I almost think that it's a sign that I'm supposed to watch it?! ok...that's a stretch...but it is really good and it brings out the secret desire I have to be a professional dance. (not gonna happen).
I found myself tearing up tonight as people were getting cut and they were narrowing it down to the top 20. Sad, but true. Next week is when it starts getting good.
I will always remember Artem from season 1.
(Steph...I know you have a comment about this, so let's hear it!!!)
I will stop now.

She's a God thing.

Beautiful!
Last night my friend Kelli and I talked on the phone. This would be the second time we have ever talked directly to each other. We met and have communicated through the blog world, and also through email. We met face to face for the first time as Hilary and I drove down to Austin last August. She is lovely. I was SO blessed by our conversation last night. Her genuineness, her passion, her sensitivity, her love for Jesus was so beautiful! She has encouraged me and loved me so much over the last year we have known each other. I feel as though I have known her since the beginning of my life! I look forward to our weekly phone dates and many more years of walking through life together!
She also wrote a post about our night, check it out here.
Kelli Burrier....I love you sister!!

Lily Margaret

Happy Birthday my sweet Lovely!

A Night with the Thomson's and a Storm

Last night Hilary and I went over to our friends house for dinner. Matt and Erin used to live above us in our apartment complex and they now live a couple of blocks down from us in a house. We miss them, even though they are still really close. They have a lovely house and a great backyard that they put lots of work into.
Matt likes to swing on his rope or climb it...but mostly swing...They have this cool record player thing and I started looking through their records and came across some oldies but goodies...It brought me straight back to my childhood...these were a few that we had back in the day...Matt found a ladybug on the counter and said something like, "Hey there...how did you get out..." or something along those lines...and he pulls out of the refrigerator a container FULL of ladybugs...Random. And funny. But I guess they are for his compost pile...or something. One little guy happened to get away so he picked it up and put it back in the container and put it back in the refrigerator! Hilary and I had decided to walk over since their house was so close and at that time it was nice out...and no sign of rain. Well, while we were having dinner it started pouring down rain. HUGE. So we look at each other and say...FUN! Let's run home in the rain!!! Matt gentlemanly offered to give us a ride several times...but we insisted that making memories would be better! It was great! There were streams of water running down the streets. It was SO fun!
This is us in our parking lot running through the water that was falling down off of the roof.We were wet.
Once again, another random night.

Rudy's, Bowling, Mustang, Pluckers

My birthday was great. Last Sunday some friends got together at Rudy's BBQ for dinner. I'm thankful for my friends, they are all great! I definitely felt loved!!! Hilary even gave me a Birthday Girl ribbon to wear for the evening...My Saudi friends all went in together and got me some really nice perfume. They are so sweet!

Faisal gave me a BEAUTIFUL Jallabiah from Saudi Arabia! And of course there was cake!

At about 10:30pm we decided that we were going to go bowling...Ali has a Mustang Convertible and I thought that since it was my birthday I should get to ride in it...well...not only did Hilary and I get to ride in it...we got to drive it!...he insisted.I like to give the thumbs upI'm not nervous...reallyJust livin' on the edge! When we got to the bowling ally they were closing it down at 10:30 and having a private party which, I guess, equals...pay $10 and you get unlimited bowling until 2am.It was SO fun! We split into two teams and the losers had to buy dinner. (my team won!)

I had never seen one of these guys before...Aziz is testing it out!
This is what happened when Jordan would get a strike, complete with a leg kick...

This is what happened when both Jordan and I got two strikes in a row...Did I mention that our team won?!?!

So we made it until about 1:30am or so then the guys decided that they were hungry so we headed out to Pluckers. It's a wing place.

Notice the extremely large table. "Everything's bigger in Texas". The guys all sang to me in Arabic. It was great! They are precious!

Pluckers' birthday treat is fried Twinkies. That's right... FRIED twinkies. It was seriously the grossest thing I have ever had. But it was free and it was my birthday so I couldn't say no.

Faisal and Ali enjoyed it!It was a great night...late...but great! I didn't get to sleep until about 3:30am. I'm getting old. It was kickin' my butt...not gonna lie.

Chocolate Cake of Goodness

So at work they usually buy you a cake for your birthday and I requested a cake from Central Market. They got me this chocolate mousse cake. It was AMAZING! So I had to take the leftovers home. And of course it was best with a tall glass of really cold skim milk! Man...I love milk.
The funny thing was, was that Hilary and I would just pull it out of the fridge and eat it straight off the plate.
We worked away at it throughout the week and got it down to where we could put it in a little Tupperware container.
One day I walked to the fridge excited to have a bite of cake so I look in to find the Tupperware container looking a little empty, but I could see a little dark shadow of something in there. I opened it up to see a chunk of chocolate frosting...no cake...just frosting...
HILARY!
I laughed to myself knowing that Hilary probably didn't want to technically have the last bite of MY chocolate cake so she left a little bit. But it was actually just a chunk of really rich chocolate frosting...with NO cake attached to it!
It was funny...maybe it was a thing you had to of been there for....so sorry if this wasn't really that funny.
I'm just glad that the cake is now out of our apartment. Thanks Hilary! :)

Birthday Packages!

It was a little different this year for my birthday. I'm in Austin.
Every other birthday that I have had has been celebrated with my family. Laura's birthday is just two days ahead of me so we would usually celebrate our birthdays together...but not this year, this year was different. I'm in Austin.
It ended up being ok. It was fun to receive packages in the mail throughout the week before my birthday...and of course...I like presents...who doesn't?! I couldn't wait until my birthday, I had to open them right away...I didn't even wait for Hilary. You can call me a little childish.
The first present arrived and was a beautiful necklace from Jill. LOVE IT!!! It came in this cute little tin. It's reversible so one side is pink and one side is green! The second present came a couple days later from my mom. Again, Hilary wasn't home...but I couldn't wait. I probably should have because it made me sad that I wasn't home. It's ok...you can call me a baby.
My mom sent me a couple of skirts that she made for me. I love them! Here is a pic of one of them.She also sent some other fun stuff, some flip flops, a ring and most importantly I got this back...It's a journal that we are sending back and forth to each other (I got the idea from some of my friends!) I gave it to her for Mother's Day and we basically do whatever in it...cut out pictures...write random thoughts...write something serious...just be goofy...Like this for instance...Wow...I love it! It's been fun so far!
Then came the last package the day before my birthday. Hilary was actually home for this one so she took some pictures. This was from the McCarraghers...
Can you tell that I like packages in the mail?!
So Laura and I had a conversation about what I wanted for my birthday...somehow we got on the topic of pool toys and we got to laughing, imagining a raft coming in the mail or even a noodle! So I opened the box and there it was!
My very own noodle!
There was also a suspicious card...
With this guy in it! (and a gift certificate!)
Thank you family! I love you all!!!