Seattle - Day 2

Yay! I've survived! Seattle really is great - and this has been a good day - but very exhausting!

First off - here is what I woke up too - this is my view from my balcony - LOVED IT!



Then I went and visited the downtown campus of Mars Hill Church and it was amazing! A very small, but 'cool' church. And you could just tell that they have a real community there. The worship was a little different, but the message was INCREDIBLE! Helped me keep things in perspective, especially on this trip - Here is a pic of the church - its great - there are homeless people literally sitting on the front steps - which meant my dad had to walk me to church this morning. Seriously, if he only knew the places I've been and how a few homeless people do not freak me out!


Then we spent the rest of the day taking a ferry to Bainbridge Island - where I felt a little like I was a part of Grey's Anatomy. For those who watch the show, there are always scenes of McDreamy and Addison on the ferry - so for a moment, I pretended that was the ferry they took - Yes, yes, I am dork, but really, is this new information? This pic is specifically for you Julie Green!


Then after the ferry rides to and from this little island, me and Dad ventured on back up to Pike Street to visit the very first Starbucks. Yes, I am that big of a tourist - and coffee drinker. It was crazy and there - and you think our Starbucks have long lines...this one was out of control! But they had it down to a a science and it only took me 15 minutes to get my latte. But it was so worth it!



So - for now - that has been my day. We're going to dinner at the Space Needle in about an hour - should be good. All I know is that the seafood in this town is amazing!

I'll blog more later! I really miss you all!

Seattle - Day 1

So - I'm here! This is going to be such an adventure! Me and Dad...just me and Dad...oh Lord help me. I love him but am worried that we will kill each other after 8 days of being around only each other. Lord, help us both!

So - today has been great - i'm going on 1 hour of sleep, so I'm just impressed that I'm functioning. Seattle is great - its a little chillier than I had hoped, but I guess when Dallas is 100 degrees, 71 doesn't sound so bad. The sights have been beautiful - and I am in a freaking amazing room. I'm serious - the bathroom is to die for - and I have a flipping bear in my room - seriously. I'm posting pics so y'all can see what I'm experiencing....


This a view of the harbor and our hotel - and then me in front of our hotel...hey, I hate solo shots but I thought y'all might need proof that I'm here -










Ok - tomorrow is church at Mark Driscol's church - and then dinner at the space needle - I'll hopefully post more tomorrow!

Wish I had a friend to share this all with - Love you all!

Wow!

So - it has been a crazy few weeks since my last post! Summer school is almost over (thank the Lord) and I survived beach camp! I truly love my girls. I had such a great family group - 5 8th (going into 9th) and 2 7th (going into 8th) graders. The girls have such sweet - and FUN spirits and its always so encouraging to be around them. I'll put some fun pics up so y'all can feel like you experienced a little bit of beach camp too! :-) I'm also throwin in some 4th of July pics - just cause I love my friends!

Here are my girls before we board the bus for a long 12 hour ride to Padre - but look how cute they are!


And here we are sportin the one pieces - who said they weren't hot?



My girls thought it would be fun to go gangster one night...I think we pull it off well...




And here are me, Rebekah and Corrie on the 4th - I'll post more later - but I just love these girls!

What a Weekend

So - this weekend was anything but boring - actually - it was such visual display of God's beauty and hand in everything.

I was honored to be a part of Chavon and Casey's wedding on Friday and it was such a beautiful display of God's hand in orchestrating a true love story. I have been in awe of how He has worked in Chavon and Casey's life in bringing them together when either of them least expected it, and how they have loved and sharpened each other - and now they are married. Its been so neat to see it from the beginning. And Chavon made the most beautiful bride. Check on Lindsey's blog for pics - she is gorgeous!

Saturday continued the wedding weekend with Jessica and Michael Fordinal's wedding. Once again, this was a true display of how Christ's love is displayed in our relationships. I was at Six Flags with Jessica the night that Michael asked her out for the first time, and its been such an encouragement to see how he pursued her and how they have grown together. Jessica as well made a beautiful bride. Her pics are up on Lindsey's website -

The rest of Saturday evening was spent with some friends welcoming home Jeff from teh land down under. So crazy that he's back - and what's so crazy is how it just takes Jeff coming home for all the crazies to come out! ;-)

My weekend was also a great reminder for me of the amazing friends I have been blessed with. B-Ho spent the weekend with me and it was such a sweet time of laughter and encouragement - I miss her and and so blessed to have her as my friend. I also got to spent some QT with Summer and Lindsey which always brings a smile to my face. These girls are so wise and so flippin hilarious - I just love being around them.

Ok - that's it for now - I'm preparing to venture off to camp on Wednesday with the middle schoolers - pray for me - we're hitting Padre - yessss......once piece here I come!

My amazing B-Ho and me at Trinity Hall -


Love these girls


And my precious F - so glad she returned from China -



Until next time....

The Blow Out

So - Saturday night was sooooooo much fun! I have the most amazing friends - seriously! I feel so blessed to have them in my life. Here are some random pics from the night... Enjoy! Oh fyi - there are some key people who are missing - they were there - but didn't make the pics - :-( But still so glad they were there!

Me & P Bleecker - oh - the IHOP memories

Love these girls heaps and heaps -

Ladies beware of Adam and Troy - 2 great guys!

Love my Rachael! :-)
And go Blalack Bears!
Random shot - literally
Such fun girls -
Me hating Adam for many reasons...

Maile & me -
Lori and me - such an amazing party planner -
mmmm...cake....
The sass -
Yes, this is my age - such talent these boys have -

Amazing girls -
Sarah gave me the best birthday goblet - :-)
Hills & me -
Andrea & me -

I truly feel so blessed to have these amazing friends. This is just a minor sampling of the group that was at the shin dig - Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so much fun. I truly love you all. :-)

30 - Flirty - And Thriving!

Hey everyone! Yes, I know, once again, bad blogger - but I'm here now, and really, that's all that matters. Yesssss!!!!!! And guess what....I'm about to turn 30! I know, I think its crazy too!

What's even more crazy is to think about what all has happend in a year. When I read back on my post from turning 29, its amazing to think about how I'm at such a different place. I'm truly excited about turning 30. There is no shame in it. I thought that this was going to be a depressing time for me, but you know, God has been so good and given me an excitement and peace about turning 30 and being single (yes, that means that Jonny is back on the market ladies...he's a great guy and any girl would be so lucky to be with him.) I am really so excited for this summer and this year....I feel like there are some big things that can happen - and I can't wait.

I have been blessed with some amazing friends, who bring joy and laughter into my every day and I love them for it. I've got some amazing middle schoolers - at church and at school who keep me young and remind me how fun it is to be a big dork (ok, they're not big dorks, but I am), and I've got an amazing God who is really holding me close right now and teaching me so much.

So tonight is the big blow out for #30 - and I'm thrilled to celebrate with my friends who have been such an integral part of my jouney so far. I'll post some pics hopefully this week so if you aren't able to make it - you can feel like you partook in some of the festivities.

I'll blog with y'all soon!

I'm back!

So yes, I have been a bad blogger - but I have an excuse. I don't have internet in my apartment, and school blocks blogspot - so I've been on internet withdrawal...BUTTTT...I just discovered that there is free wireless internet at my pool, so guess where I'm sitting....yep - the pool - life is good. :-)

So, a lot has been going on in the past few weeks - school has been really good. I love my kids...and am so proud of them. We had our TAKS test in April, and my kids busted their little butts and most of them passed in the first round - so proud of them. I have really enjoyed some of the relationships that I've gotten to develop over these 2 years with them and its going to be really hard for me to watch them go to high school. But I'm hoping that they'll stay in touch. I really do feel so blessed to be doing what I'm doing - God is so good in guiding me here.

On a personal note, the social side of my life has been busy too - which is definitely fun - and I'm loving the friendships that are growing. Below is a pic of my sweet friend Lyn who is getting married to another dear friend Scott in June. I love this girl and am so excited for what married life is going to be for her -


Now here is an exciting part of my life - this is Jonny - or Joh as he likes to be introduced. I know him as Jonny though - so that's how I'll be referring to him. Jonny is my sweet boyfriend and I like him lots. He's so different than prior guys that I've dated...ahem...not a DB - ;-) I like him. And I think he's great. Hopefully you all will get to meet him soon - :-) He may not realize it, but he's been so good at showing me God's grace. I do feel so lucky. :-) And I think he's pretty cute.....