I'm a Coug!

It's official! I just got accepted into WSU Tri-cities for the Fall 2008 semester :-) I'm so very excited. I'm currently filling out my application for the WSU College of Education, so I'll let you all know when I found out if I got in or not (so much paperwork!)

I'm extremely excited about this transition in my life. I'm so thankful that God told me to be a teacher, because if He hadn't, I'd currently be applying for the Dentistry program at UW (YIKES). Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I would have made a fine Pediatric Dentist, but it's so good knowing with all my heart that I am supposed to be a teacher. Plenty of people have tried to talk me out of it, but God spoke so clearly to me my senior year of high school, that no one's been able to shake me on it.

Blessings to you all!

Over My Head

It's been quite some time since I've blogged. I apologize to my faithful readers (i.e. my dad) for not posting anything sooner. I don't have anything interesting to write about, so this is a life update.

Where to start? All I have to say is I have never been in such a hard place in my entire life. The past 3 months have been an absolute nightmare. I've spent the last couple of months hiding all my frustration and anger, but I can't do it anymore. My best analogy for it is that I feel like I'm drowning. That the circumstances I have found myself in for the past 3 months, have truly begun to suffocate me. I'm not trying to have a pity-party and make people feel bad for me, that's not my heart at all. I would just like to ask (if you don't mind) if you would keep me in your prayers; it would be so appreciated.






Take me beyond this door
Lead me to something more
Over My Head by Starfield

Peace-Out 2007

Wow, it's hard to believe another year has come and gone. I must say though, 2007 was definitely one of the toughest years of my life... so it's not hard to say goodbye to it :-) This was definitely a year of character building. As most of us know, that comes with a painful price. I wouldn't change anything about 2007 and I'm thankful for those hard times because in those times all I could do was cling to my Savior. He's done such a change inside of me, and for that, I am truly thankful.

I did have some good times though. Here are a few high-lights of 2007
1. My amazing nephew was born in April
2. I led my very first worship song in June
3. I started going to the Desert Rock college group in June and made some amazing friends
4. Learned how to snowboard
5. Learned a lot about myself and God (Yay for character building years lol)

Things I'm looking forward to in 2008 :-)
1. Turning 20 in February (wooo getting OLD)
2. Moving into our new house!!!
3. Graduating from CBC with my AA
4. Starting the Elementary Education program at WSU Tri-Cities
5. Quitting my job at the dentist office August 1st!!!! YESSS :-)

I also look forward to seeing what God does in my heart and life, the unexpected things. That's what makes life so exciting, it's so unpredictable. I hope each of you has a blessed new year!

I leave you with pictures from 2007:

Musings of a First-Time Snowboarder

Yesterday, I hit the slopes for the first time in my life. I've never skied or snowboarded in my 19 (almost 20!) years of being on this earth. I've had plenty of friends try to get me to go snowboarding with them, and I finally took a chance yesterday.

Dad, Tabitha, Amanda, Uncle Rick, and I headed off to Bluewood yesterday morning around 7. I had no idea what to expect or if I'd even been able to stand up on a snowboard. I'm not exactly the "athletic type" so believe me, I had my doubts on being able to accomplish anything my first day. So Amanda, Tabitha, and I took a snowboarding lesson. After spending most of the time falling on the bunny hill, I traded my "platter-pull" pass in for a lift pass in hopes that the steeper hill would be easier to learn on.

My first time down Triple Nickle was literally hell. I had no idea how to carve and control my board so I just would go really fast and fall every 4 seconds. I think it took me 45 minutes to get down on my first run and believe me, it was not a pretty sight. I did a face plant into a pile of snow as this 8 year old kid goes by and asks if I was ok. But I refused to give up, I knew I'd regret it later. On my third run, Uncle Rick gave me a couple pointers and went on his way. I took those pointers and applied them to my snowboarding... Guess What?!? I GOT IT! I was starting to carve and turn, I truly amazed myself! I went on a total of 7 runs and on my last one, I only fell a few times :-)

I couldn't believe that I actually learned how. I am so thankful that I didn't give up and kept persevering... hmm something I can apply to my day-to-day life.

Today, I'm completely sore. I could barely roll out of bed this morning. Every muscle in my body is screaming with pain, but I don't care. I had an absolute blast and am planning to go again in 2 weeks.

Silent Night

Silent Night, Holy Night
All is calm, all is bright

This morning as I was drinking my coffee I decided to put on our Josh Groban Christmas album, and in an instant our downstairs was filled with the sounds of Silent Night. For the first time, I let the words of that song really sink in. As the song continued to play, I stared at our Nativity Scene and saw the Shepard's and Wise men bowing before Him. Then, the meaning of the song hit me.

A lot of people find this song ironic. They say "How could it have been a silent night? They were in a barn with a newborn baby. Of course it was loud." I, too, have had those same thoughts until today.

God showed me this song had little to do with the natural relm, but had everything to do with the spiritual relm. Jesus came to earth to save and redeem us. The night He was born signified hope. All was calm and bright because He was born and willing to take on our sins. I have this feeling that at the moment of His birth, all of heaven was quiet; standing in awe and reverence of baby Jesus. Which makes that night one silent and holy night :-)

So next time you sing or hear this song, think of the spiritual relm. You will never view this song as ironic again, I garantee it.

May God bless each and every one of you this Christmas Season. May the hope that He brought that night fill your homes and hearts!

Just for Kicks

As most people know, I love kids. I love being around them because I truly feel like I am in my element. Well, I was cruising around youtube and found some really cute America's Funniest Home Video clips on kids/babies. So take a few minutes out of your day and have a few laughs. I think sometimes we forget how precious and wonderful each child is and hopefully these videos remind you of that :-)










I'll leave you with my favorite clip. I hope this makes you smile

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

It is my most favorite time of year; the Holidays are finally upon us! Now, I'm not just your average "Christmas fan", I go all out :-). My family can attest to this, I start listening to Christmas music right after Halloween (actually I start WAY before that but I keep the volume down low). I also watched The Santa Claus last weekend with Valerie and Amanda. And if I had it my way, the Christmas tree would already be up. I feel like a 3 year old kid on Christmas Eve.... soo EXCITED.

I think it is the atmosphere of it all. I love walking around the mall and seeing the great decorations or randomly talking to a person in line at Starbucks because it's almost Christmas. But one of my most favorite things (wow, I feel like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music) is to buy presents for people. I get so excited that I normally try to give them their present WAY before Christmas because I love seeing the look on their face. I guess you could call that one of my "love languages"; I definitely love to give gifts.

God also blessed me with the gift of receiving ;-) haha (I sound like my dad, scary). I'm not going to lie, I love getting presents haha :-D. It's not really the gift itself I'm excited about. I'm mostly excited because that person put the time into getting me something... it blesses me tremendously.

Well, I've rambled long enough. I hope you all enjoy this Holiday Season and spend as much of it as you can with your family! If you get the chance, I strongly encourage each of you to rent these movies during the Christmas Season :-)

Home Alone


White Christmas


It's a Wonderful Life


The Santa Claus