cute little monkey.

tomorrow is the big day.

my 3rd half marathon will be over and done with in less than 12 hours.

i honestly don't know why i do this to myself sometimes!!

made pancakes tonight so i dont have to at 6 am.

this is hopefully gonna be a short post cause i need to get some sleep!

today i got to see the orten girls and my they are getting so big!

the twins are speaking so much and have such distinct personalities.

and all 4 girls watched the royal wedding {all between ages 2-6}....how precious!

i can't wait to spend more time with the family this summer at the beach.

then i went to the KL's.

was there the rest of the evening and got to see aidan in the play "wizard of oz"

he was a cute little monkey...and was so adorable!

we played in the basement some today....see for yourself.

{what a ham!}

 {sorry for the bad quality....phone camera and taken by a 4 year old...enough said}

 {aidan is trying to turn her head and she was looking at me. typical}

i was supposed to see my cousin caroline tonight who was in town from NY.

well no one told us {till an hour before the event} that caroline was staying with a friend in new albany.

great. 

i cancel plans to have those plans fall through.

ugh...oh well.

at least i got to see aidan's play :]

i got to chat with rachel w and amanda c today.

how i miss and love them so much!

busy day tomorrow...off to bed!

sunshine and awesomeness.

oh my goodness, today was such an amazing day.

it had the potential to be horrible! but it wasn't at all.

praise the Lord.

one thing i have been picking up on is that my attitude is huge.

when i go into the day saying that i will be patient and remember they are little human beings who are still learning about life, and that it will be a good day.....it goes so much better.

also, doing my devotionals in the morning has helped tremendously.

i feel the Lord with me more as i am in His word first thing.

at night, i never was able to apply what i was reading cause i fell asleep--and honestly, i would forget what i read the night before. 

anyways, so glad today went well!

ava almost had--no, not almost, she did have--another fit about going to school. 

so i sat her down and talked about why she felt that way when i was there but not anyone else.

i told her this can't be a habit every time i am here.

somehow, something clicked and she was totally fine.

like nothing was wrong and was able to talk about school without crying and talk about how excited she was about going.

total 360. hallelujah, there is a God.

 am almost done babysitting for the week.

just 6 hours tomorrow!

{today chase and i had several hours of just the two of us. ava at school and ryan taking a nap. we had a good time.}

i was going to wake up early this morning to do my last run for this training! 

well, i wake up and there is flipping FROST on the ground!

so i hit the snooze button and went back to bed.

then, it was up to the mid 60's by the afternoon.

ryan went to grab his hat when we went to play outside; since its may and it is quite possible you would have need a hat!

ohio weather is nuts i tell you.

but it was a perfect day to play outside.

 

{isn't this adorable!! i can't get this flipped for some reason. ...i couldn't resist. now just tilt your head a bit.}

today i found out my car battery is a whopping 8 years old.
so i'm hoping that's been the issue all along.
pretty pretty please be the issue!

off to target tomorrow to find amanda a birthday gift.
she turns the big 21. this weekend.
i still don't know what to get her but target always has good stuff.
i can't wait to celebrate with some friends this weekend.
her friendship has certainly been an answer to prayers!

Lord, thank you so much for an amazing day and the warm sunshine. thanks for the reminder that you can make those little glimmers of hope. thank you for helping me have a great day with the kids. be with me this weekend as i see family, have my race, and celebrate the birth of a friend. You have blessed me so much. and thank you for my mother. she is really fabulous...and i don't tell her--or give her--credit enough. guide me tonight and watch over my family who is far away. help them to come to know You. i love you.

i do.

today was another long day.

but today went SO well, even though i'm exhausted.

was at two houses today and for some reason, could feel God's presence a lot.

i love those days.

{sarah was so tired. i jokingly put my head on the table...and so did she. she does that hand-on-head little bit when she is tired...}

{and justin wanted more pics! he is so sweet.}

then, i went to the KL's.

today, rory kept calling me 'annie'.

which is freaking adorable!
i usually don't like that as a nickname {cause it makes me feel i'm 5 years old!} but coming from him it's precious.

some guys i've talked to before have called me that, and i hate it!

but rory...he has all my heart and can call me whatever he wants :]

he also asked me today if i had a baby in my belly.

to which i obviously respond 'no'.

then he tells me that it looks like i have a baby in my belly

{i had on a jacket....maybe that's why?! haha}

he sure knows how to make a girl feel great about herself haha.

then he asked me when i was going to get married. i told him not for a long time. 

to which he says 'well i will marry you, for real.'

ummm insert heart melting!

and yeah, get me to the altar, cause I DO.

yeah. maybe i've been hanging out with the wrong crowd all along HAHA.

totally kidding. no cougars here.

i put the boys to bed tonight.

they just are so precious to me!

i love them so much, and sometimes wonder how i could love my children more than that someday.

i know it will happen, but it seems impossible.

how i look forward to that someday!

and aubrey was getting more used to me--which is a good thing!

i'm with the gossman's tomorrow.

it shall be a challenging day, this i am sure of.

but bring it on!

Lord, thank you so much for being in my presence today. it is so amazing to feel you close to me and be at peace through peace that only you can give. will you help every day be like today? i just love you so much and can't wait to see what you have in store for me this summer. stretch me and grow me in ways i never thought possible. help me to take giant leaps of faith and be a blessing for You. give me strength and prepare me for all You are doing--You blow my mind, all the time. thank you for being so faithful. and loving. when i have done nothing to deserve it. i know i love having control, so help me learn to lose that to You. You only have my best interest at heart...help me to be able to fully rest in that. rock my world this summer. all for YOUR glory.

kiddos, jumping cars and heart to hearts.

well i survived 12.5 long hours of babysitting.

i love it...but its long.

i was at two different families house.

one for 9.5 hours, the other for the remaining.

i tell ya, the gossman's are great kids, but ava certainly likes to be in charge.
wait, can i take that back?
yes, they're good kids. but they have problems listening...a lot.

it's a bit challenging at times.
i am honestly wondering how i am going to get through the summer spending two full days a week there. patients will be practiced, no doubt.

ava didn't go to school today cause she threw a fit {and so her mom let her skip.  i wish i had it that easy growing up!}

soo it was a full day of kiddos.

{me and ava}

{honestly, this is the happiest baby. and how can you have a bad day when this adorable face is smiling at you all day?!}

then the cowie's were a breeze!

they were all worn out from their daily activities.

the other day, at their house, my car needed jumped

{my car is not going to last much longer!}

i guess justin and his friend spent all that afternoon "jumping" their toy cars.

how hilarious is that?!

we had a mini photo shoot. here are some highlights.

{she kept doing this...precious!}

{sarah wasn't sure what to think of the self timer}

{i like myself the most in this one. so i'm vein and that's why i included it}

{my little buddy}

i told justin tonight we had 20 minutes till bedtime and asked him what he wanted to do.

he told me he wanted to sit and talk with me.

ummmm my heart melted. right there on the spot!

so, sure enough, he sat two chairs facing each other and we talked.

had a good heart to heart.

about pre-school, mother's day, wallets. 

you know, the usual.

it was a long day and i'm exhausted.

up to do it all again tomorrow!

p.s..i'm going to start posting at night. since that's when i write them.

good plan? i thought so.

happy tuesday! glee is on thursdays, so that's a day worth noting.

reminiscing....i'm beat.

well yesterday was my first day babysitting since i've been back.

it was kinda weird and i notice that my patience has lowered since last summer.

but i'm sure that will come back in no time!

justin had a play date, who wasn't interested in playing WITH justin, so it was interesting to say the least.

not the most entertaining and involved day but whatev.

there are only 5 days left till the half marathon.

yikes!

so let's take a trip on memory lane.

here are some of my favorite things from CA memories last year.

{i didn't take enough pics so my selection was limited}

first off, a tribute to section 25 from our time at camp gideon.

{i look like i'm one of them....story of my life}

one night in august we went theme bowling.

it was SO much fun.

our small groups were given a theme and an hour to find an outfit at the good will.

here is the result of every small group:

{mama's house maybe?}

{fresh prince of bel-air}

{the brady bunch}

 

{i forget what we were haha maybe duke of hazard?...but we got the worst one, for sure}

{i just LOVED this pic and had to include it! what pimps}

i can't wait to make new memories with this years group.

all this reminiscing is taking a toll on me...considering i'm already low on sleep.

i'm beat.

{here are some pics from going to DC--not all CA's went. only the cool ones: dusty, julia, me, monica, nicole, victoria.}

{and again}

and while i'm at it here are two more pics from DC.

{me and jules}

{anda semi group shot--avery is a CA for next year!}

have a FULL day of babysitting today {8:30 a-9:00 p}

let's hope i can survive with sanity.

and that my patience is on its game.

i'm going to try to start doing my devotionals in the morning.

i think i need to start my day off with the Lord and then continue to be able to turn to Him through the day. 

give me food for thought to apply throughout the day, not before i sleep.

you know what i mean?

this might take some getting used to cause i like my sleep 

{and i am NOT a morning person.}

but it's been a habit i have wanted to start {switching from night bible time to morning}. so no better day but today!

but can i just say its been awesome not having homework?

yeah...yeah, it has been.

and i could get used to this!

two more funny pics. then i'm done...promise.

{i can't believe i captured this. pure hilarious-ness. john and ben..what characters!}

{and me and my roomie for next year after the whipped cream throwing contest on the CA's. don't we look beautiful...HAH.}

looking forward to many more memories with this pretty lady.

now i'm done.

off to start the day with little kiddos!

i am surely blessed to do what i love.

mission accomplished.

can i just say {for the millionth time} how glad i am to be home?!

one of those reasons is the church i attent....VGF.

it is so fabulous and i love the people there.

today, after church, mitch, leona, amanda and myself went to olive garden.

it was so good, and the company was even better!

i wish i had a pic but i was so caught up in the 'giddiness' of seeing them that i forgot!

i totally have a baby crush on mitch {along with every other girl.}

he's one of the worship leaders at the church--need i say more?! haha.

{i can't believe i'm posting about this right now.}

don't worry, he'll never go for me.

it's not that i don't think i'm good enough...cause i'm a daughter of the God so that alone makes me worthy enough. 

but there are just those some people that you just know wouldn't give you a second look as more than a friend.

you know what i'm saying??

but in all seriousness, he's a great guy and i'm thankful to be getting to know him as a friend.

onto the F-U-N stuff.

i'm all moved in at home.

took me from 1 pm-11 pm to get unpacked.

i only took a small break for dinner and a run.

wow...and i glad that's over.

{here is about half of my stuff before the clean up.}

that might not look like a lot but trust me...it is.

a lot of it is all piled on top of each other so it just kept going and going.

{and the after! you can see the floor--holla.}

{i even organized my dresser. i told you i'm a neat freak.}

just SO glad this process is almost over.

now onto babysitting this week!

sophomore year.

ugh!  i had this whole thing typed out and it DELETED on me.
try two.


well sophomore year is officially over.

praise the LORD!

it was a great year, but i am glad to be out of some of those classes.

coughmicrocough.

i alluded in the other post about how it was a rocky year. so as i am reflecting about the year, i'm going to share that story. {really only because i didn't have a blog then and want to be able to remember the things i learned through the year}.

{sometime at the beginning of the semester}

at the beginning of the year, there were three of us living together. things were great and we were ecstatic to be living in heritage hall. coming into this living arrangement, i dind't know my roommate too terribly well {yes, we picked each other to live with but she was a commuter freshmen year. so i never saw her in that way.} i was super close with my suite mate, rachel. 

rachel and i both moved in 2 weeks early for my CA training and her cheerleading practices. we would have great talks and were loving that we lived together.

{we took lots of pics--more to come at a later date}

things were really good.
then sarah moved in!  and things were good for a while.
but things quickly started to go downhill.
sarah started bringing over her bf, alivia.
no big deal...we had some good times and i love alivia.
well rachel started making friends with cheerleaders, sarah l. in particular.
things were great--until the four of them started hanging out all the time.
but when the hung out, i was no longer included in their plans.
they would plan events in MY bathroom and talk about them when i was in the room--but the invite was never extended to me.
i don't expect them to want to do everything with me, but then i would go into rach's room to try to talk to them when they would all be over there, and i was completely and totally ignored.

side note: while all this is happening, i am dealing with being diagnosed with seasonal depression. ok satan, keep throwing the punches....all at once now!

{rach's 20th bday!}

i talked to rachel several times about what was happening and how i felt.
she totally saw what was happening and said she was sorry...but nothing changed.


it was just so hurtful that the people i called 'friends' didn't even want to hang out with me.
i tried not to let it bother me, but it totally did.


but with all this, i am so glad this year happened.
you know how they say 'there is a reason for everything?'
well this certainly had a purpose, and i see that now.


through all this hardship God was teaching me tons.
because my friends didn't want to hang out with me, i was spending nights just reading my Bible.
my weekends were spent studying, and talking with God. 
now staying in on weekends and being alone is good--sometimes.
but this was happening all the time.
it is so sad that it took me to get to that point where i was aching for the Word.


i also learned that i needed to put my joy and hope in Jesus...nothing else.
the joy of the Lord is my strength. not the joy of sarah or rachel.
i learned that i need to lower my expectations of people.
when we have high expectations, we're more than likely to get let down.
i also learned patience.
cause i learned that someone is better than no one...so i need to be super patient and flexible with those 'someones'.

i tell ya, God was rocking my world through all of this.

i was once again reminded that God is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow.
He will always be here for me and be a friend.
even when everyone else bails.
i learned to turn to God first.
for all these things, i am forever grateful.




{and a winter pic}

but don't get me wrong, as much as i have learned through this semester, i would like to not learn these lessons the hard way again!
therefore, i made better living arrangements for next year.
fully how God sometimes has to get us flat on our face before we're at a point where we look up to Him.
man, if i had just listened earlier.


but don't worry!  things have been aweosme second semester.
rach realized that she was going down a bad path while hanging out with them {nothing big like losing the 'v' card....just little stuff that adds up in character.}
she has apologized numerous times and we are as close as ever.
and i'll tell ya--it was so fun to spend the second semester getting closer as friends and sisters in Christ.
and i am so thankful that we are close again.
she is one of those forever kinda friends.


this year, i have learned so much.
not just academically, but spiritually.


i look forward to next semester where i can grow together and closer to Christ with the ladies i am living with.