my first ash wednesday.

Yesterday was the beginning of the Lent Season! I've lasted so far.. today (Thursdays) is probably my hardest T.V. day. I'm missing Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, and Private Practice! Oh well. It's been a good-different with the house being quieter and my time being spent reading and with Jesus. To kick off Lent my church had its first Ash Wednesday Service! It was very cool. Our pastors reminded us of our mortality telling us "from dust you came, to dust you will return" as they placed ashes in a cross shape on our forehead. We also took communion and worshipped together through songs. I really like Lent.

the next 46.

Every year we Christ followers take time to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and we call it Easter. One Catholic tradition leading up to that celebration is called "Lent". Although I am not a practicing Catholic, I am a practicing Jesus lover and I have decided to take part in this tradition along with my church family. Lent consists of sacrificing or fasting something with the intention of better preparing us for Easter time. My lent sacrifice is to fast T.V. and also to eat healthy (no bunny trails or "bad food days" allowed in my weightwatcher diet!). But its important to know that lent is not only giving up something, but also taking on something as well. So instead of watching my shows, I'm going to read my Bible and a book called "The Last Eyewitness: the final week". And instead of eating poorly, I'm going to pray for specific things when that craving comes. Both bad food days and t.v. are comforts and time-stuffers to me, so I'm very excited to see what my life and relationship with Jesus will look like without those two things for the next 46 days.

to be angelic.

This Sunday afternoon I was able to spend some time with my new friend Cathryn. She has an amazingly giving spirit. Every weekend Cathryn heads down town and meets the needs of two men that have no homes, Rob and Terry. She brings everything from propane and food to matresses and tents! The pictures above are the men's tents. Today, Cathryn, her dad, and I set up a new tent for Rob and cleaned up around their campground. I was able to visit with Terry for quite sometime. He showed me inside of his home and filled me in on the purpose of everything inside of his tent. One of his favorite hobbies is cooking! With a propane burner, Terry said he makes everything from tea to fetticine alfredo! Both Rob and Terry were very nice and I'm looking forward to getting to know them! They sure do appreciate Cathryn. Terry told me today that he calls Cathryn his angel! I hope my actions are just as angelic someday.

morning date.

I have the coolest little brother in the world! I really love any time that Caleb and I spend together and one of our favorites is Starbucks on the way to/from school. This morning we left early and grabbed some to start our Friday. Ever since I have had to quit my job, Caleb has felt quite deprived of his Starbucks on the account of me being broke! When I told the family at dinner that I had gotten a new job Caleb's reaction was "Yes, we can do Starbucks again!!" So glad I can give this crazy kid something to look forward to again! He cracks me up but honestly I'm really excited too!

road trip!

me and kelsey b: my mo state partner

getting gas for the 4 hour trip

us spending the night in Blair/Shannon... our hopeful

dorm next year!

one of the picture of mo state's campus

on our way home when we had to pee really bad
this was the sign we saw!


us approving that famous bathroom


what good is a road trip without Starbucks?!

This past week my friend Kelsey and I took a road trip together to Missouri State University! It was definitely one of the most big girlish things I have ever done! We drove down Tuesday after school and arived 4 hours later. Right away we began our plans and went to something called Christian Campus House (kind of like a youth group) which was pretty cool! Then we settled into a friend's dorm for the night and watched The Notebook together in the suite's living room. The next Wednesday morning we woke up around 9:30a.m., took a 25 minute walk to my car, drove for another 20 minutes till we found a parking spot and then began our hour and half tour of the campus! After that, Kels and I went to lunch with one of my favorite teacher's friend. She filled me in about the studies, work, and life of a social worker! After talking with her for an hour, Kelsey and I headed home. It was a really packed, wonderful trip! Mostly, what I received from the trip was a dose of reality. Not in a bad way, but college is definitely not what I expected! I can't wait!

its boring.

This week has been intense. I've been studying for tests, writing papers, watching tv, and going to play practice. In case you were wondering what keeps me going, it's diet pepsi! And yes, this is all I am writing about. Maybe that tells you just how worn out I am or just how lazy I feel tonight. Either way, I'm out of creativity for the day but it will return soon, I promise. Hope YOUR week has been good!

i'm a big kid now.

i'm not sure why i waste my time watching t.v. or just laying around. sometimes even school and work seem a waste. but i'm always reminded that wherever there is people there's an opportunity to build relationships. and people are what matter. i really do long to make my life meaningful and i don't want to let time pass and miss out on anything or anyone. i want to seek out the injustice and be used by God to just be his love. but usually i don't act on these things. i feel that i'm at a point in my life that i'm being stretched in two directions and it's causing me to have to make a choice. i can either stay put and continue "thinking" about taking action or i can grow up and just do it. i'm beginning to realize i have responsibilities, whether they're as daughter, sister, friend, or Follower. it's weird but i'm a big kid now so i'm putting on my big girl pants!

update

hello readers. i am very sorry it has been such a long time since i've blogged. i guess i'll just give you an update. first and foremost there are only 56 more days of high school left for me! with that comes lots of english projects and tests but i'm going to keep looking at that light at the end of the tunnel! my family is doing great and so are all the friends. yeah not much of an update, i've just been chuggin a long. nothing very interesting has happened lately but i promise to find something interesting soon!