home and school.

so it's time to update. I just got through with my last week of real classes. Actually they were over on Wednesday, it was crazy. I felt like I had a four day weekend. But now I have to start studying for finals. It kinda sucks because on everyone elses facebooks say they are already home. We are here a week later than everybody else. But we also get six weeks of for the break while everyone else gets three or four. (score). I am planning on substituting for elementary school over the January if everything works out. I needed a copy of my social security card but my mom lost it. So I have to apply for a new one literally as soon as I get home. Makes my first two days of "break" pretty crazy.
I'm actually pretty nervous about going home. It's always so weird, the place you call home isn't really home anymore. It's bittersweet when I go home. I love home because my family is there and so is John, I get to be in the house I grew up in. I get to sleep in my squeaky bed, see my doggy and enjoy private bathrooms! haha. But it's weird when I feel like I have to come home at midnight, when I have chores to do and errands to run. My mom makes us do our quiet times before we get on the computer. I'm not used to that. I like doing my quiet time whenever I feel like it. (I still usually do it everyday). It's so weird and I know near the end of the break I'll probably be school sick, ready to see my OBU friends.
Anyways, it looks like John will be spending next semester at OBU with me. It's crazy how God ruins my plans, I love it. When I first came to OBU John thought he would be spending next year in the city going to school, then he decided to come to OBU next year and now it's working out that he can come next semester. I'm really excited, I think he'll just flourish here, to be around great Godly guys for the first time.
Anyways I should probably start doing laundry, filling out my Social Security form (ugh), and buy blue books and scantrons for finals.
Please be praying for me this week!

please keep holding on to me

Well it's been a few weeks since I last wrote on here and I decided to give the update. There's really not a lot. In a couple of weeks I will have finals which is pretty scary, the first time I've had serious finals. High school has not prepared me haha. Right now I'm working on a teaching unit that teaches kindergarteners about the habitats. It's SO fun! I also have a research paper due next Tuesday (my first college research paper)...yikes. I also have to enroll for classes, get some language labs in and study. It sounds like a lot but, surprisingly I am not worried. It seems that every year God teaches me a major lesson. With year quickly coming to a close I think I know what this years lesson is: STOP WORRYING. God really does take care of me. It's so crazy how everything that gets thrown at me and everything that loads me down my Jesus gladly takes and solves. I love to plan and I hate not knowing what will happen, but God has shown me how great his plan really is. I've been dating a boy for seven months almost and it's going great, I'm doing pretty well in my classes (it's still an adjustment), I am learning to manage my time and money, I am learning responsibility, I feel so close to the Lord, I am learning to ask for help. What a great God. I didn't even think this blog would take this direction, haha. Just please keep praying for me. Especially with my grades riding on finals.
song of the day: Never Let Go-David Crowder Band

like anyone reads this anyways

It's been over a week and it's time to blog again. I get the feeling like no one reads this but oh well, I do this for myself mainly anyways (and my mahm). Well it has been an eventful week, John came this past weekend and we had so much fun! We spent a lot of time in the city walking around bricktown, watching movies and what not, we also hung around OBU and went horseback riding! I have a life list with things I want to accomplish in my life and one was horseback riding (I've never done it before) and John took me. It was a blast.
These next few weeks are going to be pretty busy I guess with the semester nearing an end teachers are cramming curriculum and assignments. I have a Spanish project, Critical Thinking test, essay, research paper, Earth Sci project and an informative speech due all before (or a few weeks after) Thanksgiving break. Yikes! Be praying for me. I hate feeling stressed out and I sometimes have a problem with time management. I want to get everything done and done well and I want to feel prepared. It's a lot to manage. In all honesty I don't know how I'm going to do it and I need the Lord to give me strength to handle it all. I cannot do this alone.
So I have some good news! John got accepted to OBU and he was worried about telling his dad (who is the Church of Christ pastor) and he told his dad last night. His parents were totally cool with it. All his classes are going to transfer as well. God is so good.
So I got the random urge to learn to knit two days ago. Me and this girl on my hall made a trip to Wal-Mart and bought yarn and needles. We learned mainly off of YouTube and another girl who know how to knit gave us a few pointers. It was tough and frustrating at first to get the hang of but now I am a knitting machine! I'm getting pretty good and I am working on my first scarf thing. I can't wait to lean how to integrate colors, make hats and learn new stitching techniques.
Whenever I finish I'll try to post pictures on here of what it looks like (my camera died a few weeks ago so I am without a camera)

money, hostages and everything in between.

Well here i am again. I'm doing pretty good on this blogging thing. haha. I'm still unsuccessful in finding a job. I'm going tomorrow to apply at some more places. It's really getting frustrating and I'm getting worried. Please be praying. I have a bill I need to pay ( i went over on my darn cell phone) and it's quite a bit of money. My mom sends me money once a month and my dad does too every once in awhile. But making that stretch for a whole month with toiletries, food and gas...it's hard. I am halving it, half goes for me to spend and the other half goes to my bill. I find myself worried a lot about it, sometimes crying about it. I'm trying to hand it to God but it is so hard when you need that money by a certain time. Maybe this is too personal but I feel like I need to get it out.
This weekend was a lot of fun. Our school held a Halloween costume party in the empty dorm building that they are remodling for next year. It was a blast! There was a ton of people there and they had a live band and we all danced. It was so refreshing to have people all dancing goofy and having fun. So different from the grinding you see in high school. I went as Gabriella and my best friend Megan went as Sharpay from High School Musical. I'll list a few of the other costumes my friends picked: a cholo(that was Ben), a kangaroo, peter pan, Sarah Palin, a nerd, the baby from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a Scot, a lifegaurd, a rugby player and Dwight from The Office. It was a blast. After we were done we made a 1:00am trip to Denny's and hit the hey around 2:30. Last night we all piled into cars and played a game called hostage. You split into two teams and pick two players and they switch. You blindfold the two players from each team. You take them in your car and drop them off at a random place in town. The goal is to find the hostage team members before the opposing team. Dangerous? Probably. Fun? Absolutley.
This Thursday John (my boyfriend) is coming to visit me. I'm so excited! He has a lot of things planned. We'll be dating for six months that day and he has a lot of surprises planned for the weekend. It'll be so nice to see him.
Just a few more weeks until Thanksgiving. Hooray! It'll be nice to be home again.

oh my...

me and megan


so it's been a really long time since i last blogged, i decided to log on and write (something i will try to do more of). Well, I'm in college now, what a change! I'm really loving it. I've become very good friends with the girl across the hall from me. Her name is megan and she is pretty much my soul mate. I never knew how my priorities change and pretty much everything. A 5$ t-shirt from Wal-Mart is exciting, being able to eat at Chili's just once a month is a blessing etc.. I am officially the broke college student. I'm in search for a job (thus far it has, tragically, been unsuccessful). I've never been complimented on how smart I am before, besides from John and my mom. My English professor said she "really enjoys my essays and I should think about becoming a writer"! I couldn't believe it. Of course I am still interested in becoming an elementary education teacher and I become more and more confident in that everyday.
I've become REALLY involved in this church called Good Shepherd. On a good day the chapel has about twenty people. It started last year and it has a huge children's ministry. On Sundays I sit with the kids in church, Sunday nights I play with the younger kids from 4:30 until about 6:30 then we go and listen to a quick message, and on Tuesdays we go to these apartment complexes and play with the kids there. These kids come from low income families and bad homes. One family was living in a two bedroom apartment with 6 kids and two parents, the kids were the sweetest things ever and were so excited to have some playmates. So many of them have captured my heart. It makes me so sure that those are the types of kids I would like to teach.
Things get tough, sometimes I really ache for a home cooked meal, I'm short on money from going over my cellphone minutes and nothing sound better than a night in my own bed. I've made some really great friends and Megan and I pretty much hang out with my brother and his friends. I love it here. I miss John terribly, so far we've gotten to see each other about every three weeks which has been nice. Luckily, he will be here with me next year.
Be praying for me. I'm excited (and a little nervous) about this chapter in my life but I'm loving it!

nyquil and scrapbooks

so it's been a little bit since i've written. seems like i'm doing everything and nothing all at the same time. i started getting sick a few days ago. yuck. it's just a summer cold but still being sick (especially in the summertime) sucks! today i was scheduled to work from 10 until 2 i wasn't feeling to hot and my mom gave me some cough suppresant and assumed it was non drowsy. i get to work and after about an hour of working i start to feel very sleepy. i call my mom and of course she realized that the medicine was NOT non drowsy. i had to work for four hours trying to fight a deep sleep! it's okay though it was really funny.
yesterday i got a new phone (finally). my old one was starting to get on my nerves. it buzzed anytime i was on the phone and i couldn't hear anything, i always lost phone calls, and it wouldn't always give me text messages. i got the new LG Shine. I love it! it's so so so nice! I can't stop playing with it. the new phone!



also this past week i finally finished johns scrapbook. i'm so excited, he loves it. i worked very hard on it. so i thought i'd post a few pictures of a few of the pages.




so those are a few of them. anyways that's enough writing for today. it's kind of short and lame but oh well.

remember i wrote it for you.

so i was in a bloggy mood tonight. i'm not really sure why. this past weekend was a great one. we went to okc to visit my brother and take him out. i always love to do things with my family. they are so much fun and we always have a really great time. i didn't realize how much i missed my bubbers. we get eachothers humor and have similar interests. seriously, the whole trip was one big office/arrested development quote. it was awesome. we went to a movie and spent like an hour in this bookstore and ate at some great restaraunts and roamed brick town for a bit. it was a blast. they are some cool people. so much of me comes from who they are. i can't say enough how AWESOME my family is.
so i've found out that i really love new things. like, i know most people always enjoy and appreciate a new thing. but...it's totally different with me. i get a kick out of a new box of cereal, i get way excited. it just feels good to me to have something that wasn't there before. just the idea of it being new. i mean i just went shopping not even a month ago and already i'm sick of my current wardrobe and want some new things. haha but maybe that's part of being a girl. but i get giddy when i get new toiletries i don't know why but i love them. when we were in okc we were at a super walmart and i got some different beauty products. it was all things i absolutely didn't need but i just wanted something new. i got some hair spray, some stuff to make my hair curly and a new toothbrush. so great. i'm so weird, haha but i seriously just love new things. no matter how small.

my new goodies =]

anyways i'm working on a scrapbook for my boyfriend, i think i've already mentioned this. but i really want to upload pictures of it because for me first book, i'm pretty proud of it. but i'm keeping it as a surprise for him and he frequents my blog and i don't want to give anything away. still, kind of frustrating when i want to show off. haha. i should be finishing very soon (hopefully within the week). i'm soo excited. once i finish i will definitely upload photos of some of the pages!

song for the day: the simple life by sherwood.

anyways that's enough for tonight. this was kind of pointless

about the other night

before you read: this post has no structure...just kind of a flow of thoughts



so last night was seriously one of the most glorious days of my life. well i'm prone to over reacting and embellishing things but last night...and the whole day really was just really great. the started off with my daily hour of Jon and Kate Plus 8. I seriously love that show, it always makes me laugh. then my boyfran' (John) came over and we watched a movie and had a quiet time. now let me say this, one of the coolest things about John is that we pray together and that we do quiet times. he comes over every morning with a dr. pepper and we sit down and spend some time with the Lord together praying for eachother, our walks, and our relationship. i've never had this with anyone before but i've always wanted to and what's more is it was HIS idea. so cool, right? so i've come to find anytime you start your day off with prayer it's bound to be better than without. then John and I made some mac and cheese and chilled for a bit. later i went over to Ember's house to scrapbook. something i've really gotten into lately. a few people told me i'd be good at it and that i should try but i never really thought about it. anyways somehow Ember talked me into it and i go over there and work on one and she helps out and gives me great ideas and techniques. it's something i really like, a way to relieve stress, get your mind off of things, spend time with a cool friend plus i'm pretty good at it. now let me say this about Ember...she is seriously one of the coolest people i know. i've known her for a year or two now but i've never really gotten the chance to just hang out with her and talk with her. she's so cool she likes good music (like the shins) and we really get eachothers sense of humor. i can tell her alot of things which is really cool. i tell her things about John or how i'm not quite ready to leave home yet or how i miss my brother. it's so cool. anyways after that i had to go to work for two hours which was the worst part of the day and it wasn't even that horrible. anyways i went over to Johns and his mom made us some curried fish and it was bombin'. she shared some really funny stories about him when he was younger...he got a little embarrassed. we decided to go to the park and look at the stars we grabbed blankets and pillows and just posted up on the ground at Huber. unfortunately the sky was eaten up by a mass of rain clouds but it was still beautiful. John and I had a great conversation about all kinds of things...it's cool that we can talk about everything. then basically he took me home.
now for the whole point of this blog (i know it's long enough already right?) the sky going home that night. it's amazing how God chooses to show himself to you. sometimes it's in my moms infinite wisdom, sometimes it's when my brother hugs me or laughs with me, sometimes it's just sitting there soaking Him in. i find such immense beauty and wonder in nature...especially the sky. nothing captivates me like a gorgeous moon, a starry sky, a colorful sunset or a lightning storm. last night there was a gorgeous lightning storm racing through the clouds. it was a constant display and dance of light between the clouds. in that moment i felt His beauty, His love, magnificence and power. in that moment i felt like it was all alright. even though some might find a lightning storm violent or scary, i found it incredibly moving and peaceful. i knew that He delighted in me and that He was happy for me and that He's happy with where I'm at. all in a lightning storm. in some way i feel like He showcased His love and power that night just for me. like He knew how much i take delight in His nature and he chose to enthrall me that night through that storm. i feel peace and maybe it's opposite to feel and find peace in a lightning storm but i've never felt so content with where my life is at. try as Satan might to discourage me and dishearten me i know i am happy with where i'm at and that God is as well. and isn't that all that matters?

the first

So this is my first blog. I used to do a lot of journaling and I've sort of been slacking a little. I do plan on being more consistent with my journals but I thought this was a great alternative as well. I know it's super "trendy" to blog but I am doing it because I enjoy writing so this is just a tool to express some thoughts and assemble feelings. I'm not really sure what to write so I guess I will start with a few things I'm thinking about
1. Fair Trade. Lately I've been interested in trading fairly from grower to sewer. I want to learn more about it. I know there is a lot of oppression in the trading company in third world countries and it frustrates me that America supports so much of it. I only know a few companies that do not support Fair Trade such as Nike and some coffee they serve at Starbucks although I know there are a lot more than that. If anyone knows other companies please let me know, I like to be educated.
2.I'm dating (and talking to right now) the greatest boy ever. I know I'm only 17, almost 18, but this is pretty serious. I may be too young for all of this but I don't care. I know I may sound naive but I know what I feel and I've never felt this before. He's super sweet to me, he brings me Dr. Peppers to work, he writes me letters, takes me star gazing, and leaves me flowers underneath my windshield. He's a great guy who always respects me, pursues me, prays with me, encourages me and makes me laugh. Yeah his name is John Mark... he's a pretty radd guy. I can only imagine how ridiculous I sound but it doesn't matter to me.
3. I am hungryyy. So I'm going to leave and grab some food. I'm sure this blog was lame but I'm in a crunch for time and will write something of importance next time

anna.elyse