gavin's first birthday.

The adorable, big one year old!

Mommy and the Birthday Boy.

Uncle Zachy and Gavin.

Aunt Michelle and Aunt Kelsey with Gavy.

Gavin and his Dad.

Great Papa MADE this toybox for Gavin!

And even though the toybox was filled with toys, he just wanted to play with the spoon!

Birthday boy's first cake!

He hated it because he was messy. He's even cute when he's crying!

Yep, brother and sister, Cubs and Cards fans.

My godson Gavin turned one on April 23rd. We celebrated together baseball style with lots of family and friends. Unfortunately, we had to be in the room with CUBS fans, but I survived. This kid better know his Aunt Kelsey loves him after putting up with those people! :) It was a great day celebrating this sweet, adorable baby's life. I just love him!

girls day out.

Over my spring break, my best friend Kelsey and I decided to take our two favorite girls out. My sweet girl Kenedee and Kelsey's little cousin Josey agreed to come out with us for a fun, girls day! Me and Kenedee started out by getting Starbucks, then we drove out to meet Kels and Josey to get our nails done. The girls loved it! Then we headed to McDonalds for lunch which I guess is pretty cool when you are four years old. After that we went to Painted Zebra to paint some pottery! Kenedee picked a mug for her daddy and Josey picked a skateboard for her brother.. so sweet! After that fun, we went back to Kelsey's house and we all baked cookies and iced them! And that pretty much wrapped up our long, fun girls day! This was probably one of my favorite days ever. Kenedee has a special place in my heart and I'm so grateful to have her in my life. She told me she had a lot of fun and hopes we can do it again soon.. she said everytime she goes to Starbucks or paints her nails she will think of me! Don't think she knows how special that makes me feel! Love that girl!

picture perfect moment.

You know those moments that you just want to keep forever? The ones that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and the world seems.. peaceful and alright? Well, this picture captured one of mine. I was sitting in my room, rocking back and forth in my big comfy chair, sun streaming through the curtains, cuddling my godson as he fell asleep on my chest. I'm telling you, it just doesn't get much better than that in my book! So this is just a reminder to not let these beautiful moments pass you by! I for sure could use more practice at finding these moments and I know I am going to try to look for them and soak in as many of them as I can!

brubby's birthday.

The birthday boy! Can't believe my baby brother is 14!

I had the honors of decorating his cake. It's his soccer team logo.. he was very sweet and said it looked really good (it's a horse)!

He's pretty cute.. Caleb mostly got money for his birthday plus a sweet mini fridge filled with gatorade for his room. He was very excited!

Addi, Zach, Peyton, Gavin, Caleb, and Me.. some of the ten cousins celebrating Caleb!

One of our favorite family traditions.. The aunts kiss the birthday kid! Sometimes they have to get creative because we have learned how to dodge.. but they always get us!

Here's my great family.. So thankful for them! It was easy celebrating my brother's life.. I have such a great little brother who has one of the most crazy, funny, goofy, sweet, strong and loving personalities. So blessed to be his big sister!

my dream room.

This is my new room! Back around Thanksgiving last year, our basement flooded with sewage water and we lost all of our furniture, our floors, and some of our walls in our family room, bathroom, and my bedroom. After our devastation of having to throw EVERYTHING away, we found out that our insurance was going to pay for all of it at full price! This was so surprising and so much fun. I was given a budget of money from what I lost in my room from the insurance company and then got to make my dream room. My big, white chair is my favorite.. it rocks, like literally back and forth! Excited to actually get to live in it this summer!

diet pepsi.

I miss Diet Pepsi. I usually have it at lunch and dinner. Yes, I know it's not good to have so much diet drink BUT I like it. The good thing about me giving up diet pepsi for Lent is that I actually think about its absence in my life. I was reading in Romans the other day and came across this verse:
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him. For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation!

Romans 5:9-11

We have the promise of RECONCILIATION through Jesus because of his sacrifice!! Something I'm thinking upon as I miss my diet pepsi.

daughter not poser.

Brennan Manning is one of my very favorite authors. This book I just finished of his was just really great. He talks about finding your identity in being God's Child and how that is who we were truly created to be. A "poser" is the identity inside of us that says we are less than loved and must work for our place in this world as God's child or whatever else we are trying to make into who we are. In my life, I struggle with failure and the idea of not earning my spot in God's love. The freedom that comes with knowing that I am truly just loved by God without achievements or measurements is hard for me to embrace, but so beautiful and redeeming when I do. He talks about praying and being completely honest with yourself and God with who you are and where you screw up. I learned so much. Loved this book!! Hope you read it.

"Quit keeping score altogether and surrender yourself with all your sinfulness to God who sees neither the score nor the scorekeeper but only his child redeemed by Christ." -James Finley

masquerade.

(Me and my Best friend excited to be dressed up!)



(This blur is the INSANE fun we are all having dancing!)

I love to dance! My FROSH group that gets together and plans things for my campus ministry "Crusade" had the great idea of planning a Masquerade for everyone! All of us girls had the opportunity to break out our old prom/homecoming dresses and get all dressed up (the boys did too) and dance. It was so much fun. And yes, people actually did wear masks to this "masquerade". It was legit for sure.

just dust.

From dust you came and to dust you shall return. The season of Lent is coming up this Wednesday and I am so excited about it. It's a time of remembering that we are just dust and then Easter comes around and we remember that God died for us, even though we are only dust! Brennan Manning explains in his book "Posers, Fakers, & Wannabees", that Lent is... "a symbol of admitting our failures and weaknesses and renewing our attempt at trusting God through thick and thin..." I really hope as I give up junk food and diet pepsi this year, that I will be aware of all that I continue to keep from God and try to control in my life and remember how great God's redemption and grace is.. and that it's for me, even though I'm dust.

my valentines.

Usually, Valentine's Day is not the greatest for all us single ladies. But thankfully, that was not the case for me. Ever since my very first year of pre-school, my daddy has sent me flowers to school. Just what a little girl wants from her daddy, to be noticed and told she's loved. This year, they made it all the way to Springfield! So grateful to have a dad who makes me feel so special. My mom also sent me a little something in the mail. A pocket-card filled with ten reasons that she loves me. They are amazing parents. I am so blessed!

Embrace the Row.

Six friends of mine and I had the wonderful opportunity to serve in LA a couple of weeks ago. We headed down to Cali super early in the morning on a Tuesday and came back the next Sunday with an incredible experience. Our week started out on Skid Row. If you are unfamiliar with the area, it is a few block radius filled with over 7,000 homeless people. After 10pm everynight, the people down there line up their tents and blankets side by side filling the street's sidewalks. (If you would like a good picture of it, watch "The Soloist"). There are several missions on Skid Row. Many of them, like the two we served at, provided more than just food and shelter, but also life-skills classes, parenting classes, transitional housing, GED courses, and all sorts of other parts that make up a beautiful program of restoration. My favorite part of these organizations is that the men and women they are providing services for usually help out/run the jobs in the program. We had the opportunity to work with some of these people in the kitchen and were therefore able to hear some amazing stories!

If I could summarize what this trip was to me in one word it would be "overwhelming". There was so much to be broken over. The people we encountered had so many needs of all different natures... emotional, physical, spiritual... and everyone was at different places in their lives but in need of healing in all of those areas. I have never felt so helpless. This incredibly emotional realization reminded me just how great and lifechanging and beautiful the hope is that I have in Jesus and that people truly do need hope.

snapshots of LA.

This was the group. Josh, Emily, Tamara, Leah, Sarah, Me, Kyle.

Lots of reminders of how big God is.. mountains AND ocean!

My favorite! Got to chill with Batman down in Hollywood and it only cost me $1!

Got to learn from and hangout with the coolest youth pastor.


Met some really cool people like Jason. And ate some good food: Roscoe's chicken & waffles!

We had Starbucks like six times on this trip.. always a good thing!

Made some new friends and served with these cool kids from Pismo.

Heard some amazing stories about God's redemption in peoples lives.


A new favorite and tasty food that we also had a few times!

Left for LA at 3:30am and Left for home around 5:00am.. totally worth the lack of sleep!