The Amendment =)

Ho-kay. So. Here's the thing.

APPARENTLY in my last few posts, I left some VERY important people (and by people, I mean a person) out.

So let me amend that.
Matthew McCard, my brother-in-law...you.are.awesome.

Thank you for being my movie buddy. Thank you for helping me cheat on my diet sometimes (SHHH! Don't tell Jessica!). And thank you for being the brother I never had. I really am so thankful for you in my life. I'm so glad God was able to bring you and I close as family just as God was able to bring Jessica and I close as friends. What a great God we serve!

...And thanks for being a firefighter. That's really cool in my book ;)

Embarrassing camo photo - check.

Matt is also a great family-type man!

And he really loves his wife!

And his mom!

I just stumbled on this photo whilst trying to find photos that Matt and I are actually in together - aka NOT A LOT.


In conclusion, Matt McCard is a great guy. Just ask my sister :)

THE END!

PS: Matt, we need more pictures together.

THE FOR-REAL END!!

Pictures!

My last post was getting kinda long, so this post will just be pictures! Yay!

^Me and Lo at Alli and Trav's wedding in January =)

^Me and Alli!!!! "How beautiful the radiant bride...!"

^Me and Malia at my old roommate's, Mary's, wedding - also in January!

^Me and Mary =)))))

^A fun excursion Amy, Dakota, Hannah, and I took while in Clearwater. This is our band cover photo.

^This photo (as well as the next four) feature my trio, which includes me, Amy, and Dakota. In addition to taking great pictures together, we make great music together. You should check us out =)

^Me, Jessica, Sara, and my Mom - all at Faith Baptist Church. I love it when my church family and my biological family can merge like this!!!

^Me and Bella after her dance recital!

^All the family that was able to come to Bella's baptism! Included are Matt, Jessica, Matt's mom, Matt's stepdad, Aunt Judy, Sara, Paul, Mom, Bella, Liam, and me!

^This was the proudest I've been of Bella so far in her life. One day we will both be together in Heaven!! =)

^Beach day after Hannah's wedding. SO FUN!

^Me and Bella at her Kindergarten graduation program =)

As this next progression shows, crazy things happen when Amy and I get together...

First, the cake comes out...

Then, it somehow gets shoved in faces... ;)

And, you know, we like to keep our silly face-making fresh...

And so clean =)

As you can see, Dakota and I like to make faces as well.

...

...

...

But, let me assure you, we still know how to smile =)

But where would I be without my friend Hannah?....

"What made us friends in the long ago, when we first met? Well, I think I know..."

"...the best in me and the best in you hailed each other because they knew..."

"...that always and always since life began, our being friends was part of God's plan."

So once again I ask, where would I be? Thank God I will never have to find out =)

......................So thus my picture-sharing comes to an end. Thank you for visiting! Come back again soon now, ya hear?!

Fear Not! I am Still Alive!! =)

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated! A lot has happened in the past six months. Let's see, where to begin...? Well, first of all, I began working as a nanny for 3 adorable children in the month of March. Their names are Trey (6), Elizabeth Claire (4), and Jesse (2). Right now they are on a 2 1/2 week vacation in the Florida Keys which I was supposed to be on, but it didn't happen, because the morning of the trip, I woke up sick, and I'm still recovering. Here are some pictures of the cuties!

^This is Trey, the oldest. He is so independent and strong-willed! I told him that he will definitely be a manager or a boss when he grows up!

^This is Elizabeth Claire, the middle child. She is very much a little lady, and she is always asking me to play games and read to her.

^Here is EC again. This picture was taken when we went to a petting zoo/farm back in June. It was a fun day for the kids!

^Here is Jesse, the 2-year-old. He likes to get into EVERYTHING! Even just watching him is a job in and of itself!!

<3 :) So those are the kids I babysit for during the week. Aren't they adorable? I've also been working on getting my Masters degree in Professional Counseling through Liberty University since last October. The first week of this month, I drove up with my mom to Liberty for a week-long intensive. And intense it was! It was a class which covered the basic skills and techniques used in counseling, so throughout the week, we practiced counseling each other. I talked WAY more about my life that week than I have in a LOOOOOOOONG time! It was exhausting! But well worth it =) I learned many things that I believe I will be able to implement in my future career - whatever that may be. During our roadtripping to and from Virginia, my mom and I stopped at my Aunt's and Uncle's house in South Carolina to visit with their family (which includes them and my cousin, Aaron). We went hiking (well, what hiking we could do with it being so hot outside) and sightseeing in Greenville, South Carolina. What's that? You want to see pictures? Ok!

^This is me and my cousin, Aaron, being awesome at Reedy River in Greenville, SC.

^Me and madre =)

^Me, Mom, and Aunt Joan at a place called...I think it was Table Rock?

^Uncle Stephen, Aaron, and I all climbed and hiked for over 30 minutes to find this waterfall (which was barely at a trickle because of the lack of rain recently)!

^About to enjoy a delicious meal together! So as you can see, it was tons of fun =) I'm so glad it happened and I can't wait to visit them again!! Another thing I've been up to is volleyball on Tuesday nights. Of course. It is my weekly stress relief, and, I'm ashamed to admit, the only form of exercise I get in my life as of late. But I love it. And every week I have had to miss has been TORTURE! I'm hoping to start up the volleyball league again this August - and hopefully, my team will dominate! Aaaaand the most important thing that has happened in my life in the past 6 months - I was able to see my best friend in the world, Hannah Isobel Osborne, become Hannah Isobel Hancock on May 19th!

^I got to see Marris and Tim, 2 people I worked with at Camp Gilead! Yay =)

^Hannah and myself at the reception. How happy does she look?!

^AND I got to see Luke, Geezer, and SISTER! Score! All in all, it was a great time. I have great friends. And my life has been amazing so far =) Can't wait to see what God has in store. My next post will be just pictures - so watch out!!!!! Later! =))))))))))))))))))))))

Late Night Ramblings.

First of all, I think it's safe to say that I'm awful at themed blog posts. Agreed? Good.

Second of all, I don't even know why I'm attempting to write this right now, because I'm tired. I just finished reading all my blog posts from Germany, and I miss the Dueck family with a passion.

Third of all, God's been doing some great things in my life and in my heart recently. I've been pretty consistent with my bible reading lately, and I really hope that continues. Also, God has convicted me about my attitude. There's this book called, "Lord, Change My Attitude (Before It's Too Late!)" by James McDonald. It outlines five negative attitudes that the Lord hates (complaining, coveting, criticizing, doubting, and rebelling) and gives five attitudes to replace them with in the life of a believer (being thankful, content, loving, having faith, and being submissive). I think my biggest challenge is to replace my complaining and covetous attitudes with attitudes of thankfulness and contentment. Which reminds me! I need to write in my "5 things I'm thankful for" journal. I'm trying to write down things I'm thankful for each day (as recommended by James McDonald in the book) so that I will complain less and less and more joy will come into my life.
Also, after I finished that book, I started reading another book I've had for awhile called "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson. And as I was reading it, it just hit me for the first time that God is truly ALWAYS with me. Like, when I call on His name in prayer, there's no waiting period as his presence "loads," because He is already there. He is here right now. All I have to do to talk to Him is open my mouth. How crazy is that?! Also, how humbling is that? The flipside of that means that He is ALWAYS there when I sin. He is right there watching me as I lie, or doubt, or complain, or any other amount of things I do that are sinful. So I guess it's true what Pastor Osborne says about his definition of the fear of God - the continual awareness that I am in the presence of Holy God; every thought, word, action, motivation, and ATTITUDE are open before Him and are judged by Him. Wow.

God, please continue to grow me in the fear of the Lord. You know my heart better than anyone ever has, does, or will. Empty it of my selfish desires and fill it with Your desires. I pray that the things I want would be the things You want. I pray that my faith would grow by hearing, and hearing by the reading of Your word. Help me to read it, memorize it, and meditate on it DAILY. Teach me moment by moment. When I have the choice of spending time with You or doing ANYTHING ELSE, I pray that I would choose to spend time with You.

Happy December!!!

Well, my friend Lauren just did a themed blog in November, so I want to do one for December (even though it's already the 4th day - blargh!) So my theme this month is going to be things that remind me of the reason for the season (a celebration of the birth of my Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ)!

So, for the 1st thing, I would like to say that the Christmas hymn, "What Child is This?" is a reminder of Jesus Christ. Obviously! ;) But Dakota, Amy, Cody, and I are performing a special for the church next Sunday night, and we chose to do a mash-up of that hymn and "Silent Night." Just singing the arrangement makes chills go up and down my spine as I envision the Christ-child coming down from Heaven to be laid in a lowly manger for my sake. =D

As for the 2nd thing, MY MOTHER reminds me of Jesus Christ. We spent all day yesterday puttering around the house, and we have been trying to organize a lot of our clutter around the house lately. We were going through one pile of documents to see what to keep and what to throw away. There were a lot of devotional-type papers that my mom has completed over the years. Even though she's not an in-your-face, talk-about-it-nonstop kind of Christian, I definitely see Christ reflected in her life and her decisions.

And now for the 3rd thing. My CHOIR DIRECTOR, Jerry Smith, reminds me of Jesus Christ. This morning in church, he walked to the pulpit to lead the first hymn of the service. And before we sang it, he said, "Did you realize today is the first Sunday in December?" The whole congregation said, "Yes" after some hesitation and scattered laughter. "Do you know what that means?" he asked. No one really answered, because we had no idea where this was going. "That means we get to start singing CHRISTMAS hymns! So turn in your hymnals to..." and we began to sing a hymn about Christmas. LOVED IT!

So that brings me to the 4th thing. RELIENT K reminds me of Jesus Christ. HAHAHA! Bet you weren't expecting that one, were you? They have one of THE BEST Christmas cd's I have ever heard. And it has a penguin on the front. Which is super-winter legit. So you should listen to the cd. There's one song in particular that I love. It's called "I Celebrate the Day" and the lyrics say, "The first time that you opened your eyes, did you realize that you would be my Savior? And the first breath that left your lips, did you know that it would change this world forever?"

GOLD.

So anyway, thus begins my themed December. Time to go to choir practice! More soon!

Ruminations of a College Kid.

Have you ever been doing homework when all of a sudden your brain just EXPLODES? Not in a sci-fi, literal way with brain parts all over the wall and floor, but rather an inspired way where you want to do ten million things at once and you just get super curious about EVERYTHING. I don't know, maybe I'm weird.

I've been procrastinating for about 2 days on doing my Master's work for this week. Then, when I started to read about all the changes that take place in the mind of a child in adolescence, I experienced the brain explosion thing. Maybe it's a sign. Maybe I should go into a field of psychology that has to do with adolescents. Or maybe I should go into a field of psychology where I create all kinds of empirical studies to observe different trends and correlations in the world around me. I just don't know! All I know is, I wish I had someone in the field of psychology or counseling to just talk to and bounce ideas off of. The closest thing I have right now is Jordan's parents, but they're so professional and over-my-head and secular that it scares and intimidates me.

Just one of the things that's running through my head is about social networking sites. On average, how much personal information do people share about themselves on Facebook and MySpace? Do people even use MySpace anymore? What is so appealing about sites like Twitter that just feature constant status updates? How many people have stunted social abilities in person because their lives and relationships are so wrapped up in the cyberworld? These are just some of the questions I'm thinking about right now.
My brain feels swollen. Only 60 pages left to go...Yay.

ANYWAY, that's just my random ramble (redundant?) of the day. Hope you enjoyed it! =P