dumpster diving.

I think "Dumpster Diving" is the most fun thing to do.. ever! This is what you do.. drive to stores, look/get in the dumpsters, and take the wonderful things they waste! It's super. I went with some friends a few weeks ago for the first time. We got some things to sell in a garage sale and we got "in trouble" with a cop. It was very fun. So, I decided to take my Springfield friends! Lisa, April, Maggie, and Me went last weekend to at least 20 stores. I think we picked a day just after trash pick up because we couldn't find much. BUT we found a cute, fake pumpkin, some paint, and a few figurines! Two things to remember when dumpster diving: bring a flashlight and gloves and don't go in the "crushers". Everyone should do it!

learning.

This is what I'm learning.. God is patient and big and just wants me to return to him.. no matter how far I go or what I do. He is always just longing for me and pursuing me. I have an ugly side. I mess up a lot. Yet, God still wants me and pursues me. Isn't that amazing? I'm learning who God is and in that I'm learning that I am loved. Now that I am starting to understand "being" loved, I am beginning to understand what it looks like "to" love. So thankful for God's love. So thankful to be learning in the grace of a patient, big, jealous God.

chicago with my friend.

Last weekend, me and my wonderful friend Anna went to Chicago. As I have said before, every good road trip must begin with Starbucks.. especially at 5 in the morning! We drove from St. Louis to Chicago in about 5 hours and only made a few stops.. we did good and were in the city by 10:30!

This here is a picture of my cute friend Anna playing with the GPS. She liked it a lot.

This is a picture of me kissing my future husband Michael Buble!! We found his NEW CD at Starbucks and I screamed because he's just wonderful! So we bought it and listened to it almost the entire way to Chicago.. Anna was very understanding.
This was pretty much the extent of our "site seeing".. the Bean. We did get to walk ALL OVER Chicago all day long and it was very fun. But, we didn't really go see the attractions that normal tourists visit.

This is my friend in Chicago. We think all of the buildings are so stinking cool and we had a lot of fun finding our way around.

And this is a picture of our friend and youth pastor Kyle. He ran the marathon that was taking place in Chicago that weekend. He was running for World Vision and raised a lot of money for them! We had a lot of fun haning out with him and his wife and the two other couples. Almost all of our time on Sunday was spent trying to find a way to see him during his run. That was probably our favorite part of the trip. We were successful two times! This picture is him about a mile away from the finish line! He finished and did a super great job!

Me and Anna had a lot of fun just being together. It was good to spend some time with my friend since I'm in college now and don't really get to be a big part of her life any more. She is one amazing girl.