life lately

Tomorrow is the last day of classes. I have one very late paper to turn in and three finals to study diligently for, and then it is time for pure Christmas bliss. 

This past week I had two big projects due, resulting in one all-nighter, lots of library dwelling, and a record amount of coffee drinking.

inconspicuous self portrait from the library, while listening to Christmas tunes

a beautiful and deadly new level

red cup and red lipstick after an all nighter. 

don't let that face fool you. I fell asleep as soon as I made it through class

I took a couple of study breaks to add some Christmas cheer to my little house. 
I used to have an extensive troll collection. Yes, weird and awesome. These guys are the only survivors because they're so funny and festive!

Then, my little sister Lindsey came to spend the weekend with me!

We explored Fort Worth- I gave her the grand tour of the seminary and the food park. I grabbed Starbucks and she got a Coke at Target and we looked at potential gifts. We had lunch at Chick Fil A, got caught up on Grey's Anatomy, talked a whole lot, saw Skyfall at Movie Tavern and gorged ourselves on pancakes at IHOP (well technically I got stuffed french toast). I had such a great time hanging out with my sis! And we didn't take any pictures because we just didn't even think about it :)

I was super excited to take her to my new church- I just knew that she would love it. Well, I woke up feeling kinda achy but thought I must have slept weird. I got a headache before she was ready for church and thought I needed my coffee fix. So I grabbed coffee and banana bread and we headed to church. Halfway through the service, I started getting really hot and kinda woozy.

I had the flu. 

Thankfully I have very understanding bosses, friends and neighbors who are willing to take care of me, and a clear schedule with time to rest when I need to. I am feeling much better today- no more fever or body aches! Thanks for all of your suggestions and prayers. They were and are very much appreciated. 

hope y'all have a wonderful week! 

grateful

I want to take a few minutes and update you on some exciting things going on in my life that I am so grateful for!

1. This past weekend I got to chaperon a girls sleepover at OMBC. I have missed my students so much so it was an awesome time to catch up, stuff our faces and learn more about the character of God. We had a make your own waffle bar for dinner- it was a big hit! I highly recommend this for sleepovers/parties! My waffle was chocolate chip, pecan, and banana filled. Yuuuum!

We just used Pioneer Baking Mix and had a ton of mix in options: blueberries, strawberries, banana, apple, pumpkin, chocolate chips, and pecans. We had butter, syrup, powdered sugar and whipped cream for topping!

These are the only pictures of the sleepover I got because we were too busy playing Don't Forget the Lyrics and Sardines in the dark! It was so much fun to hang out with my favorite girls and I really hope to be able to go back again soon!

Saturday evening David and I (who I hadn't seen in a month oy!) watched the Texas game, with its many ups and downs. Win or lose, I love my Horns!

2. Remember this post when I was stressed out about starting a job and paying my bills? Well, I'm officially employed at a cupcake food truck! It is one of the most fun jobs I've ever had! And without a doubt, it is truly a gift from God. Everything, from the job duties and hours to the environment to the perks, fits with where I am right now.

3. A big thank you to everyone who voted for my youth group's worship band in the contest to play at Spirit Fest. They have made it to the finals! Now, the judges will pick five of the final ten bands to perform. We are thrilled and continue to be prayerful that God would use this as a springboard to further their pursuit of worship ministry. 

4. And in THREE DAYS I'll be heading to the Influence Conference! I have never been to Indianapolis (or really any of that part of the US), nor have I met any of these women in person before. I am so completely excited to spend fun roomie time with Annie, L, Erin and Margaret; to attend awesome sessions about blogging+Jesus; to party hard at the Stripes party; and to meet new friends. It's still a little unreal to me. 

My God is good. And He gives me such amazing gifts and I am so grateful!

Blessed

This past week has definitely been a heavy one here on the blog. I'm so glad that I have a place where I can be open about the struggles and lessons I go through daily. Alongside a tragic loss in my hometown and some serious financial worries, there have been some good and beautiful things going on. I am daily blessed by my friends, family, classes and by y'all! 

Here are some happy things I am very grateful for this week. 

• New She Reads Truth study on Galatians 

• Cheap, homemade iced coffee every morning (and sometimes afternoon too!)

• starbucks gift cards from my parents because they know that's the first thing cut from the budget
• Ho Hey by The Lumineers, Poison and Wine by The Civil Wars, Lost in my Mind by The Head and the Heart, It's Time by Imagine Dragons, I Will Wait by Mumford and Sons 
• this cute guy keeping me company during study sessions

• episodes of Parenthood on Netflix during study breaks
• new friends from class to sit in chapel and visit churches with
• late night chats with Annie
• extended birthday celebration this month:
• restyling old clothes, free birthday drink, Oreo Dream Cheesecake (omg yes)

• pedicures and peanut butter pie from Brittany 

• Brand new, gorgeous, Urban Outfitter bedding from David and Lindsey 

• Having three job offers in one day- hopefully everything will be settled by the end of this week. I would GREATLY appreciate your prayers over these job situations!

• Getting a huge surprise in the form of a donation from a blog friend who wanted to support me while money is so tight. I don't know if there is anything as humbling and encouraging. 

Things aren't perfect and there are definitely a lot of things to figure out with money, jobs, balancing school, finding the right church and forming friendships. But God is faithful. He uses little things to remind how incredibly blessed I am. Thank y'all so much for your encouragement, prayer and kind words.  I am so grateful!

"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Luke 12:32

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!  Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’  For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34

Miscellany Monday

My students call themselves The Rugged Kids. Yeah, they're cool.

We are officially done with The Rugged Kids Cafe! It was a great camp fundraiser.

Our most popular item? The Green Monster Smoothie!

Ched 'R' Peppers should never come without a pepper! Sad day, Sonic.

My mom makes the best salsa in the world. She uses her garden grown tomatoes and cans it all summer long. Well, I got tired of waiting on this season's crop and made my own using this recipe. It's pretty good. It went well with our enchiladas.

I made my students my favorite enchiladas and they LOVED them. Definitely give them a try if you haven't!

After consuming crazy amounts of enchiladas, we had some live band karaoke at the church. This may have including 1000 Miles by Vanessa Carlton and Only Hope from A Walk to Remember. David was thrilled.

This past week, our church had Kids Bible Camp in parks and home in four separate neighborhoods around Austin. I took pictures and video each night and it was awesome to just observe and capture how God worked through that time! 

Also, I worked for hours trying to put a decent edited video together and failed miserably each time. David graciously volunteered to take care of it for me and did a fantastic job!

On Saturday we invited all of the children from Kids Bible Camp to the church for a big celebration service. We had free food, lots of songs, silly skits, puppets, and shared the gospel.

(practicing a skit)

At the very end we surprised all the kids with a giant water balloon fight! It was seriously so fun (even though none of the children listened to me, and they still threw the balloons at my head.) I was so grateful to all of the students who gave up their Saturday morning to come help us fill up 1000 water balloons! 

Sadly, yesterday I missed out on spending Father's Day with my daddy and I missed a surprise party for my grandma's 70th birthday. I'm so grateful for video messaging and phones that I was still able to communicate with both of them! 

Oh, and I'm definitely sending this card late. It's so perfect! My daddy still tells me I'm his favorite oldest daughter. 

Happy Monday, y'all!