life lately

It has been a while since I updated here about what is actually going on in my life so here's an overview of some of the fantastic things the Lord has been doing since last year!  (I'm sorry this post runs so long, there's just a lot to catch up on!)

In November I officially accepted the position of girls ministry associate at First Hurst. Since then I've been working alongside the student ministry staff to develop relationships, plan events and work towards in depth discipleship for our students. I have really loved getting to learn from the fantastic leadership and to work with the students. I even taught on a Wednesday night about the gospel and Frozen! :) 

My holidays were crazy and included a lot of work, the flu and then hosting Christmas in my one bedroom apartment. I'm so grateful that my parents made this year special. Even without extravagant gifts or meals, their presence made my little space feel like home! 

After an absolutely insane day barista-ing on Christmas Eve, we attended the midnight candlelight service at church, showering peace and perspective all over my weary heart. 

Thankfully I had Christmas Day off so we enjoyed brunch, bowling and the annual event where I force my family to watch It's a Wonderful Life.

In January I taught two sessions at the SAGE girls conference in Tyler! I am so blessed to be part of the SAGE team, which equips women to effectively lead girls and creates fabulous events for girls to come together and learn more about Christ and who they are in Him.  (BTW if you're in Central or Southeast Texas check out the website ASAP for awesome events coming up near you!)

In February we held a brunch and clothes swap for the girls- which was super fun! I'll be sharing more about this soon because it was truly a labor of love! It combined my absolute favorite things- Jesus, thrifty fashion, iced coffee, waffles,  and pink + gold. 

In March I was able to leave my barista job to fully focus on school and ministry. Although it makes budgeting much much tighter, I am so grateful for the extra time to do classwork, actually sleep all night, do much needed household tasks like laundry and grocery shopping, and to rest in the Lord. I really enjoyed my time at Starbucks and love all of my coworkers, but I am so glad to be able to fully pursue these passions the Lord has placed in my heart! 

 Over spring break, I visited my love in the valley and hung out with Kerrie and Wade in Mexico for a couple of days! I will share more about this later but it was just such a refreshing week, relaxing with David's family- thrifting, puppy sitting, eating delicious food, getting to know his sisters better- and watching God at work in the colonia with Kerrie and Wade!

After Spring Break, Annie came and spent the week before Hope Spoken with me! Although I was basically just working and doing homework all week it was so fun to have her here.

I  began sharing about my weekend at Hope Spoken and will definitely share more later :)

And this past weekend, we wrapped up Youth Ministry Lab, a conference to train, equip, and refresh anyone who works in student ministry. YML is hosted by my school (swbts) and planned and organized completely by grad student volunteers. This year I was a committee chair and took on a lot more responsibility. At the end of the weekend, though, seeing so many student pastors, girls ministers, wives, volunteers and even student leaders walk away refreshed and challenged made all of our hard work worth it! I'm a huge supporter of this event. It was such an effective training conference for me when I was serving as our full time student minister, and I'm grateful that now I have an opportunity to give back!

Whew! I think that just about catches us up on what's been going on over here. It's good to be back, y'all!

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!

The Last Thing I...

Hey y'all!

It's my first ever Last Things Thursday! I'm linkin up with Jenna at the Life of the Wife. She has an adorable blog and a super snazzy jewelry shop! So here goes...

The Last Thing... 

That Scared Me To Death

(photo from here)

It has been storming the past few days in Austin. Well on Monday night, we ducked in from the rain into a little Chinese restaurant. As we were finishing up and getting ready to leave, I took the trash over to the trash can. I was looking out of the front windows when lightning struck an electric pole VERY close to where we were.  It caused a huge and bright explosion. All of the electricity went down. It was like a scene from a movie! Everyone gathered around the window in awe. It was then that we realized the lightning struck the electric pole with transformer boxes. Because there was a second explosion. So we decide to get out of the area as quick as we could! As we were driving away, the last transformer box blew up and the pole caught on fire. It was crazy!! Thankfully, the fire department responded before we were even out of the area and electricity was restored quickly. I'm just so grateful that nobody was hurt!

I Cooked for myself

Breakfast Pizza for a late dinner last night! Quick pizza crust brushed with olive oil, and topped with shredded white cheddar and mozzarella cheese, Canadian bacon and a couple of eggs cracked over the top. Bake til crust is crisp and eggs are over medium. Delish!

I Lost at

After we (the youth group and I) had some tacos and enchiladas at Get LOW (lunch on Wednesday) at the church, we played Taboo. I LOVE Taboo. David and I get really competitive because we're both pretty dang good (not bragging but we can each get 7 cards per turn). So we each captained a team of students and it came down to me on the last round. I needed three to tie or four to win, and our team got stuck on the word "PC"! PC?! So we got three, tied it and had to go into sudden death. 

David rocked his sudden death round. He got six. I epically failed my sudden death round. I think we got two. But it was all in good fun, my team rocked, and everyone enjoyed the game! And then we moved on to floor pong!

Got Stuck in my Head

Brady Davis led worship for my college ministry and has been at our youth camp leading worship the past two years. He has just released a secular, solo EP called Life and Death. I love the country, folksy sound and the thoughtful lyrics. I've had The City on my Spotify for weeks and I cannot get it out of my head.  Check out his whole EP and free downloads here. 

Got Excited About

My dad is turning fifty this weekend (!) and to celebrate our entire extended family is coming to New Braunfels, Texas for a weekend of good food, Schlitterbahn and lazy river afternoons on the Guadalupe and the Comal. I love Schlitterbaun- the use of the river water and it's so shaded and they let you bring your own food! It's just a great waterpark.

 I am attempting this cake so stay tuned for photos and my adaption of the recipe!

Hope y'all have a great weekend, because I know I will!