Some Randoms

Yes, randoms, I know you are THRILLED. But can I tell you why I love random posts in list form? Because I feel like it saves me about 234908696 gazillion posts. Instead of writing that many posts, I kill about 10 birds with one stone. Works great, and saves time. I am all about it. So here goes some Monday night randomness.

1) I feel like my life is getting back into a routine, and I am truly thankful. When I have some "normalcy" in my life, I tend to be much more productive, in every sense of the word. When I don't have a routine, EVERYTHING suffers. And I mean everything.

2) On Saturday, me and Jen and our moms went and saw Nights in Rodanthe (or Rwanda, Rowena, Rosacea, Rhodesia, or whatever you want to call it!). It was good. Definitely Nicolas Sparks material. As we said walking out of the theatre, that man is VERY in touch with his emotions. He sure can write a story! I had no idea a hurricane would take place in the movie, but it did, and it was so weird. Definitely hits close to home! No pun intended.

3) Yesterday I started my 2:42 small group (based off of Acts 2:42) with the Junior girls from church. I am so excited! This semester we are doing one of Kay Arthur's inductive studies. A first for all of us, but I know it will be great. We are going through 1,2 and 3rd John, James, and Philemon. We're gonna be learning all about God's love in us, and how to love others! Beneficial for sure!

4) I went to Jazzercise for the first time tonight in about 3 weeks, thank you Ike. It kicked-me-in-the-rear.

5) God is doing a work on my own heart right now. It is definitely a good thing, but a hard thing. I think a lot of it has to do with the transition I am in right now. I mean y'all, life is different here, different from college. I don't have all my girlfriends at arms length. And that is hard in itself. I know the Lord is asking me to find my complete everything in Him, and I am so trying, but sometimes I just get stuck. However, I have never wanted Him more, or even loved my job more. I think it just really hit me what I am actually doing here, in this position, and I could never whole heartily do it at any other time in my life. To say I am truly blessed or grateful, isn't enough. I thank Him every day for blessing me with the most amazing job ever. And with the most amazing love ever, HIM!

6) Okay, get ready, this is by far my favorite random of the night. This November I am doing a girls retreat for the girls at church...be still my heart. I am THRILLED. Not only am I so excited about it, but so are the girls. Every time it comes to mind, which is every 3 seconds, I pray that the Lord would have His way that weekend. I want it to be amazing, but I know that is highly impossible without Jesus, so I am trusting that He would do His work, and that I would hear Him loud and clear as I plan it, that it would be a weekend that points to Jesus, and Jesus alone. With that said, you should enlarge the flyer to see who the speaker and worship leader are going to be. Go ahead, enlarge now, and read the paragraph.



Someone pinch me. Having them come down to serve with me has been on my heart for a LONG time. Did I ever think it would happen? Honestly, no. I mean, they don't live in Texas, how would we get them here? Would they even be willing to do this? Or WANT to do this? But everything fell into place so smoothly, and with no stress at all. (At least on my part, I am hoping the girls didn't stress!) Anyway, when I brought it up to my bosses (which I was completely nervous to do, by the way) they had no question and told me to move ahead and get the ball rolling. (They trusted my judgement. Scary!) So that's exactly what I did. I still had my reservations, but trusted that the Lord would make a way if He saw fit. Well, God nodded yes, so they are on their way. Of course, it's always funny when people ask me who they are and how I know them, but the Lord knows what He's up to. :)

Well bloggy folks, and non-bloggy folks, I've got to get the rest of my bible study homework done before tomorrow, and then I've got to get myself in bed. Tuesdays are long, but good, days!

Love you all!

Love Languages

This past semester I read Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I know I am not married, but I think it is so important for everyone to read this book because it honestly is very helpful in knowing how to love people better and understand how to love people by what their love languages are. It even helped me understand my love languages and how I feel most loved. We'll get to that!

Most people have more than one love language, but my assumption is that most bloggers, including myself have "Words of Affirmation" as at least one of our main languages. How is my assumption?! I know it is a primary one for me.

Y'all, I am a words kind of girl. Hence why I love blogging. Most times I feel like I can't speak it out as well as I can write things out, so that's why I love encouraging people through cards, emails, comments and what not, and love getting those kinds of things, also. Words of affirmation, as Gary Chapman puts it, "fill my love tank" like nothing else! Truly. As I said, I can't as eloquently (not that I write eloquently anyway) speak my love to somebody as well as I can write it. And really, when someone speaks something to me it's harder for me to accept it, then when it's written out. Weird, I know, but I'm working on it.

My other top language is quality time. Oh boy, do I love some quality time with the people I love. I feel so loved when somebody sets aside time to spend time with me. Sometimes it's even as simple as just going to the store with them, shopping with them, doing little things with them. Yes, I always love the good quality time, with good conversation where I walk away encouraged, but I am all about the little things, too!

And of course, I can't forget to add that pictures are also indeed one of my love languages! I mean, is that even legal?! But for real, if you haven't noticed already, I am a picture freak. Looking and taking. :)

I know that as time goes on and as seasons come and go, my love languages will probably change. I am sure that when I'm a mother "Acts of Service" will be pretty high priority, but then again, who knows.

And this isn't to say that any of the other love languages don't make me feel loved, but words and time are on the top of the list!

With that said, what is your love language? I am so interested, for real. So go ahead, fill my love tank! ;)

Because I Promised Pictures...

Here they are! The long awaited, highly anticipated pictures of my past 2 weeks. First, enjoy some IKE on our behalf, and then enjoy some Colorado. I assure that Colorado is so much better. I am not showing you these pictures so you can feel sorry for us, I am showing you these pictures to show you how spared we were in the storm. We lost nothing compared to so many people, however, I would never wish this upon anybody! But it was definitely an experience to go down in the history books.

A few of the clouds that were rolling is as the storm was making it's way toward us. Mind you, they were moving fast!

The next morning: A little tape and a lot of wind.




Washing my face in the sink. It was all the water we had for a while, and it was everything but high pressure. It was more like a trickle.
A few of our shingles in the front yard. You can see them in the back too!
A tree at church that fell on a telephone line! (It is gone as of today!)
Big trees on main roads. Scary.

Driving around viewing all the damage. And yes, this is what "the mop" looked like all week. :)
This tree fell on 2 cars. Bless their hearts.
A messy street in the neighborhood.
Dad grilling everything from the freezer. Interesting.

Now onto Colorado! (At the reception after the service!)

My dad, Uncle Jim and Aunt Janess (My Dad's siblings!) They were so sweet to come out to the memorial service.

Me and Kev waiting for Bri to take a picture!

I love my brothers!
The crazies on the crazy toy!
My sweet family!
Notice the hand on the hip and the crossed legs. :)
All my girl cousins from both sides. So fun!

I love my Grandma!
Grandma and her girls!
Brien and Sweet Irene. My great Aunt or 3rd Grandma!
The cousins in order! (From Mom's side!)
Sweet.

Typical. (Here he was telling them that his name is really Petunia Pickles. Bless!)
Mom's side of the family!
Just for the record, Grandpa chose to kneel on the ground. We didn't know if he'd ever make it up. Notice all the help he is receiving!
We were too busy laughing. And then he kept saying that he wet himself. Nice, Grandpa!
Grand kids and Grandparents.

Brien coming at me on the tricycle! Seriously scary.
Some of Dad's side of the family! Missing Janess and her family, and of course Gramps and Barb!
Looking out over the hill! (Um, do you see Emma's foot up on the rock? Who knows what she's telling them!)
S'mores!!
If you made it to the end, then bless your sweet soul! We had a great time spending time with our family. We love being with them! And now, we are just trying to get our lives back into a normal routine. Love you all dearly and hope you had a wonderful Wednesday! Hugs!

Life Simplified

It has most definitely been a whirlwind of a week! I just got home from bible study and am so refreshed. It was so nice to see so many smiling faces, let alone so many people. I mean truly, Houston has been quite the ghost town (or crazy town, I‘m not sure what word fit‘s best!). I am so ready for life to get back to normal, not that I know what “normal” is, but I guess I should say a routine. Goodness knows that this week has been anything but routine.

But y’all, guess what? WE HAVE POWER! Praise the Good Lord. After a week and a half, we are up and running. Yesterday afternoon on our way to the airport in Colorado, our neighbor called us to tell us she was turning on our AC in the house. Needless to say, we were thrilled. And thankful that we have neighbors that will watch our house when we are gone, and take care of the petty things like hooking up a generator before we got home with fans, just to make sure it was cool inside. The cool front that came in last week didn’t stay too long, so it was getting terribly hot in the house. I have never been more excited to flip on a light switch.

Honestly y’all, I was getting such a bad attitude about the power. Yet at the same time, the Lord was doing good things.

First of all, I had no access to anything entertaining, unless we went somewhere (which was normally in the evening for dinner), and frankly, it was getting to be too quiet for me around the house. But, the silence was good. It was truly a nice break from life itself, a time for me to really “be still“. I was annoyed at night when at 10:00 I was ready to go to bed because frankly, there was nothing else to do. But, I got more sleep this week than I have the whole summer, and I needed it. The Lord is good. And just when I thought I had spent more time with my family than I thought I could handle, He sent us to Colorado together to spend even more time together, with even more family, but it was so good. (And please know that I adore my family. However, when trapped in a house for a week with no power, things can get snippy!) And of course, I was getting really tired, as petty as it sounds, of not getting to blow dry my hair and straighten it every morning, but it gave my hair a break from all the heat. Which has made it more manageable now. It needed a “blow drying” break. Yup, it’s the little things. We take so much for granted.

All of that to say, I have lived the simple life this past week, with major distractions (like internet and TV) taken away from me, and it’s not so bad. I haven’t even turned on the TV since we’ve been home because I’m so used to the quiet. It’s nice.

Speaking of Colorado, we had a grand ole’ time. Not only was it good to get away for a short time, but also good to spend time with some family that I haven’t seen in years and love on them. It was also good to love on Irene. She just kept saying the whole time that she had been crying so easily, like it was a weakness or something, and we kept telling her that it was OKAY! That is completely normal. I mean bless, he’s only been gone a week. After living with somebody for 54 years, I sure hope that after one week you wouldn’t be completely over it. We just keep telling her it takes time, even told her that tonight on the phone.

We will all miss our silly Herm, but are so glad we got to celebrate his life with everyone. He has been through stuff in his life that I wish upon no one. He has seen things in WWII that I can not even imagine, and he even liberated some of the concentration camps. Serious stuff that he never really talked about. But we were so proud of him. The memorial service was nice, as was the burial where they did the 21 gun salute. Talk about some tears. It is so emotional, but so fitting.

After everything was said and done, we just enjoyed being with family and laughed our heads off, and shed a few more tears, too. The hardest thing was leaving Irene, because he was everything to her. She’s been living in the house for about 4 months by herself while he was in rehab, but she keeps telling us that this time when she goes home, he’s not coming back. Breaks my heart and puts a lump in my throat. Some of our family had been staying there with her, but had to go home yesterday, too. I know she’ll be okay, but my heart hurts for her right now. Thankfully, my aunt and grandparents are there and will definitely take care of her, but I know her hardest days have yet to come. I don’t think by being older, pain get’s easier. Pray for her if you think of her, please? I know we would all greatly appreciate it. She doesn’t know the Lord, either, which makes it harder too. But I know that the Lord is faithful, and HE IS mighty to save, even at the age of 89.

Well friends, I am exhausted and we are all finally going back to work tomorrow. To say I am excited is an understatement. I love my job and have missed it so much. Can you believe it’s been almost 2 weeks since I’ve worked? Insane. We still have no water, but have power in some buildings, so are doing what we can. Would love for you to lift that up as well if you think of us. Things here are slowly getting back to normal, but there is still so much to be done.

Thank you so much for all your emails, comments, and what not. Y’all are the best and so encouraging! Love you all dearly and will be back soon with some pictures…and boy do I have a lot to share.

Update, Update, Update

Wow! I am quite the blogger recently, updates galore, I am sure you are thrilled.

I guess when it rains, it pours, though. We still have no electricity at our house, although we had a major cool front come through and the temperature was supposedly 58degrees this morning! Can I get an AMEN?! Sleeping with the windows open has never felt better.

But, we have some amazing friends that have opened up their home for us every night and fed us some glorious home cooked meals. (I feel like I'm in college when I say that!) Sunday night they fed us Spring Creek BBQ, there's nothin' like some good ole' Texas BBQ after a hurricane. Monday night they fed us some home cooked Fajitas, and boy did they hit the spot, and tonight we had Tim's Rib's. Yum. They have been so gracious to us, we owe them so much. They truly are our family. (This is also the family we spend most holidays with. We love them so!)

Anyway, along with all this hurricane business going on, my Great Uncle passed away yesterday in Colorado. He's more than a Great Uncle to us, though, he is more like a 3rd Grandpa. He and his wife, Irene, were never able to have children, so when we came along, they basically adopted us as their grandchildren. Herm, my great uncle, has been sick for a while, but finally passed away yesterday afternoon. It's been tough because they have never been the "church going" people. He did ask to talk to a minister last week, but you just never know. That makes this a little harder. It does make you think about everyone though, and really helps me to be bolder in my faith. Losing someone when you don't know where their going, is not easy.

So, me and my family fly out this weekend (all at separate times because of work and school) to join the rest of our family for the funeral. So, if I haven't asked you to pray for enough, would you mind lifting us up this weekend as we travel? And, that our family would be a light to the rest of the people there that don't know Jesus? We would so appreciate it. I am excited to see my family and spend some time in Colorado, but wish it wasn't under these circumstances. Plus, packing and getting ready to leave when there is no electricity is a little hard.

Y'all are wonderful, and I so hope my posts will be more positive in the coming weeks, but this is our lot right now. I won't be online much, so I hope y'all have a wonderful week and weekend. Think of y'all often and am so grateful for this little community.

So much love your way!

An Ike Report

I am here to report that we made it, y'all. Friday night was probably the longest night of my life. I laid my head down, but never slept one lick. Y'all, the sounds of a hurricane are something I would never like to hear again. Wind, lots and lots of LOUD wind. The worst thing is hearing things thunking around and having no idea what they are. And sometimes they were loud, big things thunking around. I definitely didn't like it. Not one bit. The reason we couldn't see anything was because it clearly hit during the night. We would stand by our window and all we could see was black. I don't even want to know how many tornados came, but I know all too well they did. I'm glad I couldn't see them.

What was so funny was that my room is the loudest in the house. I have a window seat in my room, so it definitely gets a beating during any storm. Well during the hurricane, I was sure something would come through my window. During every gush, or thunk, I would either sit up or hop out of my bed, ready to head to another room. I did this numerous amounts of times, and finally I heard my parents talking. I thought I was for sure the only one awake, but alas, I wasn't. I went to them and we watched the hurricane for a bit, then they went back to bed. I laid in my bed for a little longer, and then headed to my brothers old room where it is MUCH quieter, and I FINALLY fell asleep for about 2 hours. That was at 5:30 a.m. The storm was never ending. Seriously. It had been going strong since 1:30.

Morning (or daylight for that matter) could not have come quick enough to see the damage. Thankfully, we weren't hit too bad.

We lost a part of our fence on every side, one tree in our backyard, that landed on nothing, and we lost a lot of shingles leaving a leak in my parents bedroom. And of course a lot of branches and leaves all over the ground. But other than that, we are perfectly fine.

After driving around the neighborhood yesterday for a bit, we know we were definitely spared. There were tons of trees down on houses and on cars. Streets were a MESS, and people were trying to do what they could to clean up. Definitely sad and scary. We are grateful for what we have.

I definitely feel like we're camping though, because we don't have any power, and for a while didn't have any water. We finally got water, praise the Lord, but still have no power. Currently we are at our friends house who have electricity, and I am NOT taking it for granted. I do love me some air conditioning, especially in Houston. I am also stealing their Internet, as you can tell!

We were told it could be a week or so before we get power. This would be me trying not to complain. That is a long stinkin' week, so if you pray for anything, you can pray for the 5 million people in Houston and the surrounding areas, especially Galveston, to get electricity and water up and running, and quickly.

Of course, we had an intense storm again last night, so that only delays the electricity. So you could also pray for no more storms so that the electricians can do their job, without getting hurt.

We are supposed to get a cool front come tomorrow, so that is definitely a "thank you, Jesus" moment. He knows we need some relief from this heat and humidity. We gladly welcome any cool front.

Well, we just put on a movie so I better get going. Thank you so much for your prayers and concerns, we greatly appreciate them, without a doubt. I'll try and keep y'all updated as much as possible, but with no power, that's just not possible! I'll also try and share some pictures I have taken.

Love you all dearly and I hope you all have a wonderful week. We are just taking a little hiatus from life itself.

Hunkering Down

*Update: It's 11:25 and we still have power. Woo Hoo! Although, currently, we have frozen our house out for when we loose power so that we're not so hot. So right now I am in comfy clothes and a sweat shirt. This is very uncommon in Texas during the month of September. I just started hearing the rain on the window, and the wind is definitely picking up. It's coming, folks. It should be here around 3 or 4 a.m., so we're just waiting. We actually just walked outside, and it was nice. My hair, not so nice, but that's okay. Thank you, wind. At least right now it's clean. We have also watched the sky change to about 15 different colors, it was gorgeous. At one point it looked like a fire in the sky! I'll definitely be sharing those pictures with you later. Well, I'm out for now. I think I am going to lay my head down now, because my eyes are starting to get really heavy, and this could potentially be a very long night! Thank you so much for your prayers. We appreciate them so much! I'll keep y'all updated...let's pray the electricity holds out as long as possible!

Well, we're here, and we're staying.

We've been doing things all day, preparing for the worst. To be completely honest, we will be fine. We are going to have some strong winds, and a lot of rain, but I am hoping that's all. There are always chances of tornado's, but if I am praying anything away, I am praying those away. The thought of a tornado scares me almost more than the hurricane itself. We are about an our inland, so we were not issued to evacuate. If the weather center truly thought we were in danger, they would have told us to leave. But, we were told to stay here.

We have not taken our eyes off of the t.v., though, and y'all, Galveston is already gettin' it. And I mean gettin' it. There is already tons of flooding, and the waves are HUGE. There is a sea wall in Galveston that is about 16 feet tall, and the waves are crashing OVER the sea wall. About 5 minutes ago we were watching a reporter, and the biggest wave came crashing well over 15 feet over him. Scary. I keep telling the reporters on the t.v. to move away from the wall. I am sure they can hear me.

Here are a few pictures from the NY Times so you can see for yourselves the craziness already:



Let me tell you my pet peeve, yesterday Galveston issued a mandatory evacuation for the whole city. Of course, there are tons of people that decided they want to ride it out. Dumb, I say, dumb. Well, earlier today they told the people that were left there, that they need to put, in permanent marker, on their arm, their name and maybe even their social security number. Y'all, if the national weather station is telling us that people left there could potentially face death, it is serious. So after they were told to write their name on their arm, they got the point and many left. Praise the Lord! However, there was one man that finally called for help because he wanted to leave, and it is too late. No one can get to him. They told him to write his name and social security number on his arm. I am so sad for him. I mean yes, he was warned, but still. I just hate that!

They are still doing rescues, but once the winds reach about 55, all of the rescues will cease, and the hurricane hasn't even hit yet. So just pray now that they can do as many rescues as possible. This is when I wish people would really listen and get out. Hopefully they will learn their lesson.

The clouds have definitely rolled in, though, so now we are here, just waiting, and I'm already bored. I really am tired of watching the news, but I can't take my eyes off of it.

Popeye's was open, so I just had me some fried chicken and it was glorious. However, we did wait in a 30 minute line. I guess everyone wants Popeye's, or maybe it really is the only thing open. :)

Our windows are taped, so we're hoping we're good. I think we are.

Well friends, I'll try and keep you updated, as long as we have power. Maybe I'll even take some pictures to entertain myself, and you peeps. Who knows. The brunt of it isn't even supposed to hit until about 3 am, so it will probably be a long night.

Oh, and funny thing. Here at home we keep talking about the fact the I am the hurricane. My initials are LKE, and when they are lowercase, it is lke, which clearly looks like Ike. Watch out folks, hurricane lke is about to make landfall, and it won't be pretty.

Oh, Ike!

That is the buzz word of the night. Ike. Let's talk about my new BFF, Ike.

Ike is a hurricane. And of course, because we here in Texas like everything big, he's a big one, and instead of getting smaller, he seems to be getting bigger.

If you were to walk into our local grocery store, you will notice that the shelves are already 3/4 empty. Bless, news of a hurricane travels fast. Here at home we've got our Triscuits and tuna all ready for the weekend, because according to Dad, that's all you need for a hurricane. However, I am not a fan of tuna, so I guess I'll be feeding off Triscuits all weekend. That is if Ike decides to bless us with his presence.

Here are a few reasons I would like Ike to go away:

1) I am not a huge fan of storms. Never have been, and I don't think I ever will be. Thunder, I can handle. Lightning, on the other hand is a COMPLETELY different story. Hate it with a passion. Wind, I can deal with minimal wind, however, Ike is supposed to be some strong winds our way. Honestly, this makes me a little anxious. My mind can think of every little thing that could go wrong with strong winds, so we won't even go there. (I was the girl that went and slept in my little brother's room, even up through high school. The rain didn't bang on his window like it did mine. Yes, that's how much I hate storms.)

2) Claire's sister, Bonnie, is supposed to get married this Saturday. I just got an email telling us how to get to the wedding going a different way in the case of bad rain. I am hoping it is just bad rain, with little flooding, so we can even make it to the wedding. And I don't want to even mention the worst that could happen. Let's just say a lot of planning has happened to make this day possible, and I would hate for that planning to be waisted.

3) Let's get honest, I get bored easily. Because we could very easily loose power, I have already decided the books I can read in the event of no power. Therefore no computer, TV, music, radio...you get the point.

Who knows, if it really looks like we may get hit pretty bad, we may make a convenient weekend trip up to College Station to stay with my little brother. I guess it would be a good excuse for me to see his apartment...I mean good night, I've never even seen it.

Even though we are about an hour from the coast, we are still expected to get some serious storms, so in all honesty and seriousness, we definitely appreciate your prayers. This goes for everyone in Galveston, up through to even the Dallas area where they are supposed to get some of it, too! To give you an idea, Dallas is about 5 hours north of Houston. THAT'S how big the storm is folks, yes, it's big. But praise the Lord, our God is bigger.

On a lighter note, bible study last night was absolutely amazing. I am so hoping to blog about it when I get time. All I know is that I told my mom when I got home that I don't think I'll ever get this experience again, to sit under such wise teachers to learn more about the bible and how to study it. I am truly eternally grateful. And do not take this opportunity for granted at all. My prayer for the whole semester is that the Lord would simply change me. And change me He will, if I'm willing to cooperate/obey, because He is in the business of changing lives. Amen!

Oh, and in the midst of all of this hurricane fiasco, I still plan on getting my hair trimmed tomorrow, and getting my passport ordered. I mean, a girls got to do, what a girls got to do.

Monday Night Randomness

1) I have a fear of clowns. I always have and I have no idea why. I have not even seen the movie IT, but for some reason they terrify me. I just recently discovered the professional medical phobia name: Coulrophobia. Yes people, go Wikopedia it now. I was so scared of them as a child that I used to make my dad go outside to my window at night, just to make sure there were no clowns there. CLOWNS, people, not boogy men like every other child feared, but clowns. You'd be surprised to find out that there were never any clowns outside my window. Shocking.

2) I spent a generous amount of time at Mardel's bookstore today. It is a huge christian bookstore and I am trapped every time I walk in there, because I feel the need to roam every aisle. It was a grand time. Have I ever mentioned how much I absolutely LOVE to read. It's quite ridiculous. Hence my generous amount of time spent at the BOOK store.

3) I planned on getting my hair trimmed today, however, my lady doesn't come in on Mondays. Dern. I guess I'll have to wait till Thursday. (Note: I said trimmed. I am officially growing my hair back out.)

4) This Thanksgiving I am going to Mexico with a team from our church for a mission trip! I am so excited, but have yet to get my passport. So, I planned on doing that today. When I was looking online to see where the nearest place was where I could get a passport, I found the nearest one, clicked on it, only to find out they close at 3:00. It was 2:58. I guess I'll be doing that on Thursday, also.

5) I have a dilemma. You see, I am not much of a T.V. watcher. I didn't watch much T.V. as a kid, and that has continued on. However, there are 2 shows that I thoroughly enjoy. Jon & Kate Plus 8 and One Tree Hill. (Don't judge me.) The issue, you ask? They both come on at the same time. Monday night at 8 pm. If we were technologically advanced, I would DVR one of them, and watch them at separate times. But, we are not as privileged as some of you, so you will find me flipping between both shows every Monday night, not really getting the full potential of either show. It is indeed a tragedy.

6) After my trip to Mardel's today, I am now completely ready for bible study tomorrow night. I have my 2 books, my bible, my new journal, pens and a highlighter all ready to go. Now I just have to figure out what I am going to wear! ;) Seriously though, I am so excited! Oh Lord, teach me how to study your word more diligently, so that I can fall deeper in love with you! I pray this for every girl attending! Your word IS like fire!

7) Please go visit Debra's or Amanda's blog to find out more about the children in Haiti! Debra's family is adopting a little boy from there and I know they would GREATLY appreciate your support! Especially after the hurricane that just made landfall there! Amanda thinks they can generate at least 50 supporters alone from her blog, and I say we can do it!

8) That's all for now, folks! I hope you all had a wonderful Monday! So much love your way...and many cyber hugs. :)

Wake Up Weekend

Hello people out in the world wide web! :) (Do you ever stop and just think about that. I mean, our blogs are on the world stinkin' wide web. Anybody can read this! Crazy!)

Anyway, my brain is so scattered because I just got home from a fabulous retreat weekend in Galveston.

This was our 2nd annual family retreat for TSMAC (The Student Ministry at Cypress)and I think it went over well. I mean, when Rock Band is included, anything will go over well. And boy did we have some Rock Band business goin' on this weekend!

Last year, I was in charge of childcare. We provide childcare for the families who have kids younger than Jr. High so that they will actually come! Both sides benefit from this because we get more families, and the families with young kids actually get to come and leave their kids with babysitters while they go to the sessions. Anyway, I did the childcare last year and had an absolute blast. Really! We had a great time.

This year was equally as fun because me and one of our interns got to emcee! I also got to be in the sessions and see what that was like. We had our band that we normally get to do our Florida trip, the Tom Edwards band, who is absolutely fabulous and our speaker was Brian Houseman who travels to speak to families all over the country. He is great, too! All in all the weekend went well, and everything went pretty smooth. However, I am absolutely pooped. These weekends wear me out. I mean, y'all, I'm only 23. I feel like I shouldn't be this tired after a retreat weekend, but, what do ya do! :)

My favorite part of the whole weekend was our trip to Schlitterbahn! I LOVE the original Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels and had yet to be to the new on in Galveston, so I was way excited. Granted, this one isnt' NEAR as big, but it is still a blast. I actually like that it's a little smaller because you actually feel like you can do everything!

Anyway, we went to Schlitterbahn on Saturday and laughed our heads off the whole time. And y'all...I conquered a HUGE fear. I rode the slides that go straight down, the speed slides, Cliffhanger and Rohr! Y'all, my body was going 40 stinkin' miles an hour. By itself. My body doesn't do 40 mph when it's not in a vehicle. Never, in my 23 years of living in Houston have I ever even rode the Texas Free Fall at Splashtown, however, I guess I felt extra dare devilish this weekend as I rode both the rides at Schlitterbahn that are exactly like the free fall, and maybe even a little scarier. I have never been more proud. I even had complete strangers cheering me on, that's how scared I was. Maybe, just maybe I was wearing my emotions on my sleeve yesterday. I don't know, just a guess! :)

One of my friends even took a video and told me he was putting it on You Tube, so I'll let you know when that airs.

Of course, we came home from Schlitterbahn MORE than exhausted. My body felt like jello. But, I had to hop in the shower right away to be ready for dinner that night. There was no stopping for this girl! What is it about water that takes it out of you?

Not only did we have a blast, but the weather was P-E-R-F-E-C-T. Not a cloud in the sky. We prayed so hard that Gustav would back off so that we could at least still do our retreat this weekend. It could have just rained all weekend and we would have been happy people. But, the Lord IS good and made it a beautiful, sunny filled weekend. There were ever times at Schlitterbahn while we were waiting in lines that I got COLD! That's unheard of here in the Texas south. :)

We wrapped up the retreat today, just in time to eat at The Spot on the seawall, which has FABULOUS burgers, and spicy waffle fries. Mmmm. Then we made our trek home where I got home it time to close my eyes for a minute then head to church. (Which was fabulous by the way in the new sanctuary!)

And now that I've finished this post, it is approximately 11:00 and this girl is going to go get some shut eye! Love you all. Hope y'all had a fabulous, beautiful weekend, also!