new and improved

I love my new blog layout.  My greatest pal Julie did the design at the top and I absolutely adore it.  It is so fun.  Julie is so cute and texted me saying is it ok it says Coochie. I said it is absolutely ok!! For those of you that don't know me as "Coochie" it is what my dad (and now many others) has called me since I was a little girl and I love it.  I think it is such a sweet nickname and I know that it can be slang for a lady part, I love nicknames and Coochie is one I have certainly grown fond of!

It is about time I dedicated a post to Julie.  She is such a great friend of mine.  I learn so much from her and her humble heart and the way she loves people.  She is filled with so much grace and I don't know that I will ever live with someone who shows me as much grace as Julie has.  She would wake me so many mornings as my alarm clock would blare.  She is so sweet and I am excited for her as she graduates college.  A funny story about Julie is when we were freshman at Taylor she hated conflict so much that once she cried into her closet and another time I found her under the bathroom sink (in our community bathroom) sobbing her little eyes out.  This is funny to talk about now because she has come so far in dealing with conflict and now she has so much boldness she has no problem calling me out!!

Julie, I, and some donuts our freshman year... (not the day she was crying her brains out!!)

Also, my blog isn't all that has been changing.  Since Christmas I have moved to Chicago and started Cosmetology School.  Two things that I love so far.  I hope that I never get sick of either.  I want to live my life in such a way that I love where I am and never get sick of it.  It is so easy to complain or get bored in our day to day but when we love the moment we are in it can transform the way we see our day.  I need to go to bed because the night hours seem to fly by and I don't want to be yawning the day away tomorrow...  But I will blog soon and fill you in on my adventures :)

stress

Something that stresses me out... 

I am a very deep sleeper and can sleep through anything and so many times I won't hear my alarmS in the morning.  When this happens I tend to have such a bad day.  I start out rushed and have such a hard time just being ok with it.  One time I set my alarm for 9 o'clock in the morning and didn't end up hearing it until 4 that evening. I remember just crying because I felt as though without choosing, I had wasted a whole day of my life.

I oftentimes used to fear going to sleep not knowing when/if I would wake up (dramatic, but it was a real problem for me..).  It brings me so much joy that I don't have to fear anything and that I can trust the Lord to wake me... Not that I should go to bed really late and just hope that I hear my alarm, but that I can trust Him with each of my days.  One of my favorite verses is in Isaiah 50 and it really helped me to trust God about my sleeping.  When I read it for the first time I felt like God was speaking this verse as a promise to me so it is really special to me...

 ⁴The Lord GOD has given me
   the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
   him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
   he awakens my ear
   to hear as those who are taught.
⁵ The Lord GOD has opened my ear,
   and I was not rebellious;
   I turned not backward.


...I also get stressed out when I don't get my way :)

picture of my family and PETS!!

MY FAMILY... I AM SO PROUD OF THEM AND THIS PICTURE OF US

 

just kidding... that is not us.

here is my real family..

this is my favorite family portrait because to my left (your right) there is one of my ex-boyfriends cropped out. I think it is funny how perfect the crop is that you cannot even tell!!

I am also supposed to write about my pets.  I currently have no pets but I would like to highlight a few that I have had in the past...



R.I.P. Bulgy (fish), Hoppy (rabbit), Floppy (dog), Dude (dog), I also had some hermit crabs I can't remember their names though... 

 



something ive learned and music i like

somethings I have recently learned are...

I love doing a bad job crossing out the price tag when I buy something on sale so people think I paid more than the present cost me

No matter how old you get having a blankey never gets cool

That God has ALWAYS loved me perfectly, despite how I may feel about situations

If you have friends named Nicole you could nickname them "Hole"

I am really good at thinking of nicknames

Christians first celebrated Christmas on December 25 in 336 A.D. (I wonder who got to pick the date??)

Now music I like...

here are youtube links to two songs I have been singing in my noodle all day!!

The Earth Is Yours ANDDDD the best christmas song yet!!

somethings i liiike about myself

"ME, ME, ME, ME." -blogs.

Blogs are always just about ourselves, it is ok though. That is what they are for! Just a funny concept if you ask me.  Plus I want my life to point back to Jesus always so hopefully as I talk about myself He can still be known! 

something I like about myself... I hate telling things like this because I never want to say something I think is true and people who know me be like that isn't true, she is rude not nice... but I do really enjoy myself, so it is fun to share why...

I am a girl- I love everything (well almost everything) it implies like slumber parties, dressing cute, nail painting, and pillow talk.

I am a talker- I love telling people what I think about anything!!

I am passionate about somethings but super laid back and don't get worked up about a lot.

I am caring- people I am close with I always think about and want such good things for them.

I am SUCH a nerd- not the really intellectual kind, but just really dorky :)

hey mom and dad, IM ALIVE!

Sorry I've been slacking on my blog lately. I won't bore you with excuses (although I did visit Niagara Falls and have hair school orientation since my last entry). I'd rather talk about new and awesome exciting things...

I am reading this book "God's Grace and the Homosexual Next Door".  I love it so much. I have always been a fan of the unlikely and the underdog. I love when people are good stewards of what they are given, but I even more love stories about people who are given very little and do so much with it.  This book speaks measures of God's ability to change us, and how our sin doesn't have to have the power over us that it does. Gosh, I am blown away by God's power and love for His people.  Honestly, it makes me blush everytime I think about how God loves me.  It's like a funny thing that me and Him have together, I think (do other people have that??), but I always do... How weird! I am so humbled by how small I am and how abundant His love is. 

So, what's next?? I am confident that this next stage in my life is going to be a great one. It all just seems like a dream to me though.  I am freaked out about my age. Freaked out about my college degree.. (what will ever become of it?) I'm freaked out about being on my own. Freaked out about moving to Chicago. I'm freak dancing to all these FREAKY thoughts... ha just kiddin.  But in all reality a lot is happening and I don't remember growing up and getting to this point but I love that I can know that God has gone before me and has a place for me there. 

I am planning on double timing the second half of the thirty day blog time so don't you people worry.  After my finals I will be blowing your minds with how many blog posts I throw out there... you just wait.

As I type this I am eating an atomic fire ball and they are sooo spicy. How do they do it?

a trip I have been on

I am so lucky to have taken as many mission trips as I have.

I love traveling and meeting new people.

I also love vacationing and going to the beach.

I love road trips so much, no matter where they are to...

Because it is coming upon January I am going to write about a J-term trip I took with a group from my school to Paraguay two years ago.

I love how simply the people of Paraguay live, especially the Ache.  For part of the time we were there we were unexpectantly stuck at a missionaries house because the roads were too bad to drive on from rain. It is bad, but that was one of the highlights for me. Everyone else wanted to get to serving since that is why we were there but I had so much fun just hanging out at the house!

some cute Ache girls

one of the villages we visited

a party we had the last night we were there. It was so fun!!

my team in front of Iguazu Falls

me and an Ache girl! She was so sweet and loved to snuggle, I'll never forget her and her lice

It was such a good trip and one of the main things I learned is how I want to live my life as a servant.  In Paraguay, I had such a servants attitude and would always be so willing to sacrifice and eat whatever, sleep wherever, play with kids til my arms were noodles... but that wasn't a reflection of who I was at home. I would complain about such little things. I want to live my life in a way that I am so undeserving...

Photo credit to Brad Everett. I didn't take any pictures there so these are all his work!!

the daily struggle of a late person...

I like that I am behind in my blog because it shows something about my personality. I am always late. I really value people and hope that they aren't offended when I am late I just can't stand being rushed and would rather just take my time.  I pray the Lord will change me and help me realize the importance of time IF it is an issue...

My love languages:
I HATE tests that tell you about your personality or love languages. Because you spend time filling out a test for them to tell you exactly what you just told it.  For example, it will ask, "Do you like being around people?" And then you answer yes and then at the end it concludes that you like being around people. It's like no kidding!! Anyways, I'm a multi-lingualist when it comes to lovin'. I LOVE BEING LOVED, But I have always known I am especially a quality timer.  I love just hanging out and talking with people.  And recently I learned that I for sure love acts of service. I asked one of my friends to write this blog entry for me and he said yes, (his was super weak so I didn't use it... ha!) but it is just little things like that when people help me that I really feel loved on.

This past Friday I went karaoke-ing.  It is so much fun and even though I have an awful voice I love getting up there! The people at the place we karaoke are so sweet and I just love them.  I love praying for them in my head while they are up there singing. They are all such a blast!

Here is a picture of me dancing with a big bellied man at the karaoke place

fears and television

Gosh, I love Saturday's!! I slept in. Have been chillin out and now I'm eating a burger (thanks Jules!).  It is nice living in a house as opposed to the dorm because I can just go downstairs in my p.j.'s and just hang out for a while.  This is the dream! I wish I was sorry I don't have more time to blog but I'm really not.  I do love it but sometimes life is just too crazy!!

My fears: One of my biggest fears is that I will miss out on all that God has for me.
That I will live my life without experiencing God to the extent that I could.
That I will not have constant joy in the future when hard things happen to me.
I am afraid that people won't take me seriously because I like fun and am different.
 I am afraid that I'll never get married, or that I will settle in who I marry.
I am afraid of driving in the snow and being bad at cutting hair.
I am scared I won't be able to pay my bills in Chicago.

It is so freeing to talk about my fears because as I write those I know that God is sovereign over all that and that I can trust Him with anything.  It is crazy how when we have fears or don't trust God with things then we try to take control of them.  For example, because I don't believe I am really loved by God, I try to manipulate my relationships and use people to feel loved. Or because I don't believe God will provide, I try to provide for myself, and live in fear that I won't be able to.  Gosh, there is so much freedom in knowing who God is and taking Him up on His promises.

On a more serious note, my favorite tv shows...

I have no time at school to watch TV but when I am home I do like watching it. I am so easily entertained, so it is important for me to be careful with what I watch and how much time I spend watching it.

I like reality shows because I think it is interesting to see other people's lives.  Even if they are half acting I am so fascinated by people's personalities.

I like shows that are funny and that I can laugh during.

I love watching football, especially on Sunday's with my dad!

I oftentimes get really attached to characters on movies and shows and will think about them and pray for them like I know them... its weird.

thank you for being a friend!!

oops now the golden girls theme song is stuck in my head.

day 9: share a picture of friends

For those of you that can count you may have noticed I skipped over day 8.  Day 8's topic is a trip I have been on. I am really excited to share about that but I just took some Benedryl, so the poison ivy on my face doesn't itch while I am asleep.  Anyways, I was just going to go to bed without blogging at all but when I saw what today's post was I just couldn't pass it up.

I HAVE THE BEST FRIENDS IN THE WORLD!! There are times I feel bad for everyone else that they don't have my friends, they just don't know what they are missing.  Here are just a FEW pictures (in no particular order of favorites, ha!)....

                                          

 

oh AND also, I have been so encouraged by so many of my friends that have said they keep up with my blog.  It really does mean a lot to me!!