More Graduation Related Pics

My open house was alot of fun hosting. Mom, Grandma, Carolyn, Brooke and I spent

Friday prepping the food. We went with an Italian food theme-my absolute favorite!

Dad gave me 22 roses, one for each year I've

been in his life...

My friends and I hanging out for girl talk in my room!

Mrs. E!

Mom and Aunt Carolyn serving the food!

The intellectuals!;)

Playing games...

Some coworkers...

Mrs. C and Mrs. R

My scrumptious cake!

Update...

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator

of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with

wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

(Isaiah 40:28-31)

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind complete with much excitement and "busy-ness"! I have now been a college graduate for a total of thirteen days...woohoo!! Let me recap that day...

My Aunt Carolyn from Iowa arrived early Wednesday afternoon and we spent the day visiting and getting caught up on scrapbooking my senior year.

My Grandparents finally arrived safely from Texas after a flight cancellation and several delays! It was great to be able to spend a couple of days with the both of them...

I awoke Thursday morning to blue skies, birds chirping, and breezy balmy weather; it was the perfect start to a perfect day! Dress rehearsal began at 9:00 and all was well until the crossing of the tassels, or to be more exact when Pastor Voegtlin called my name...I was walking up the stairs to the platform, very slowly and precise since my dad was sitting at the top with the camera. As I approached him I noticed he was playing around with the camera rather than getting a shot of me! In the midst of trying to get my dad's attention while walking up the stairs, something went wrong, horribly terribly wrong. I managed to miss a step and ended up sprawled face down on the flight of stairs. I wished I could just blend right into the carpet, but I knew I couldn't lie there forever. I managed to get my own applause and quite a lot of teasing. I was just glad that I got my embarrassment done and over with at rehearsal rather than at the real thing!

When 7:00pm came my stomach was full of butterflies and my heart full of excitement. As I sat amongst my other classmates I couldn't help but reminisce back to my freshman year when I sat with the same young people at our first day of college orientation. I remember feeling the same way, nervous yet so very excited. My first year of college seemed to be such a piece of cake and when my sophomore year came I pretty much had the rest of my life all figured out. I knew who I was going to marry, where I was going to live, and what I would do following graduation. But, come junior year I realized that in the midst of all my planning I had failed to consult God. A verse that came to mean a lot to me during this time was Isaiah 55:3-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." The next year I really struggled with trusting God and taking my hands of my life and putting it back in the Lord's hands where it belonged. When I did this I realized that God's ways truly are higher than mine and that God's plan for my life is going to be greater than anything I ever could have concocted up in my little head. My four years of college went all to quickly, I made friends and lost some, I learned a lot from my teachers but I feel I learned even more out of the class environment. As I sat awaiting my name I thought of all the tests, projects, compositions, and papers I had prepared...now it was all over. My life was not how I had planned it out but I knew that God was in control of it. My graduation commencement is now over and I am an official graduate, have I arrived? I think not...I am far from it, I know. But one thing is certain, although I have no clue what my future holds I believe that He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that I ask or think.

In Honor of My Mother

I know that I am three days late, but I believe Mothers should be commemorated every day of the year...especially my Mom. I know that I am partial to my mom, since she is my mom, but I believe her to be the greatest woman and I highly respect her. A couple months ago, in Institute, the speaker was teaching on the Proverbs 31 woman. As I sat there and tried comparing myself to this great woman, it struck me that I have my own real to life virtuous woman and she is my mother.
As I look back over my 22 years, I see all the roles this special lady has played in my life. As a child she was the nurse who bandaged all my knees, the one who read me book after book, the one who painted my nails and threw the greatest birthday parties. Junior high came and sometimes I felt like I knew more than my mother, however I'd find myself going to her when I had questions about my friends, about boys, and about life in general. After high school graduation, I was confident to make my own way in the world, to be independent. However through college I came to see my mom differently, I began to notice how much she puts into this family. The long weeks she works, the things she gives up so she can be with me instead. With graduation one day away, I realize that on this journey of mine, one thing has remained constant...and that is my mom. She is the one, who no matter how long her day has been, always seems interested to hear me talk about my day filled with my trivial problems. She is the one, who wraps her arms around me and lets me know she's here when people let me down. She is the one who gives me daily wisdom on how to become a woman that pleases the Lord. She is the one who bandages my broken heart, and helps me to let go and trust God.
This fine lady who has always been by my side, the one whom I now consider my best friend, is a perfect example for me to pattern my life after. So, even though Mother's Day has come and gone, I want her to know how very proud I am to be her daughter. I love you Mom!

Master Clubs

This past Thursday was my last Master Club night with my first grade girls. Master Clubs is unlike any ministry of our church...whereas most ministries are an outreach to the unsaved, Master Clubs is program for church kids. It helps to teach them to hide God's Word in their heart starting at a very young age. For the last three years I have had the opportunity to be in charge of the first grade girls, and each year my class has been so very different. Last year's was only about five girls, but my current class was pretty large with a high of thirteen on some nights. They were a pretty rambunctious group of girls, but they were all so sweet. I received so many love notes from them almost every single week. One little girl wrote, "I love you so very much, I hope you stay my teacher forever!" It was alot of fun working with them and I am so very glad that I had the awesome privilege to do so.

Back to Reality...

Well, Friday has come, and reality is setting back in...Let me explain. The last two days have been basically free of work and full of fun and excitement. On Wednesday, I went on my last college activity. We went to Indianapolis where we spent a majority of the time shopping at Center Point Mall, which was absolutely and wonderfully enjoyable in every way. We were supposed to watch a minor league baseball game, but unfortunately it was raining and the game was postponed. So...where did my group go??? Back to the mall of course! At about 4:00 we met at the state capital where Eric Miller gave us a peek into where the Senate meets and also into our Lieutenant Governor's office. I must say that I got quite a workout from that day...I spent about eight hours standing or walking, and boy oh boy I am still feeling it! But, I suppose it helped me walk off the strawberry banana smoothie and pizza I ate that day. Our evening was capped off with standing on the side off the highway beside our broken down bus. It wouldn't be a Fairhaven trip if it wasn't complete with a dysfunctional bus! So, don't ask me how, but two bus loads somehow fit in our travel bus, and let's just say that the ride home was a little too close for comfort, but it definitely was a memorable one! Here are some pics too illustrate my day:

Rainy Indy

Michelle and her umbrella she had purchase at

the mall!

Paul and Brooke having a good time.

Stephanie, Elizabeth, and Me at the stadium...

Brooke and Paul at the Capital

Waiting outside our broken down bus...

Michelle, Brooke, and I squished into one seat!

I was able finish an intense book I was reading

on the way home.

Yesterday, to describe in one word would be...overload...as in stuffed...or pigged out...TOO MUCH FOOD FOR ONE PERSON...SINFUL. Elizabeth invited me as her "date" to Claim Jumpers along with about 20 others who had won the trip and picked a friend to bring along as well. We took the travel bus to Oakbrook, IL where we gorged ourselves on monstrous portions of potato cakes, ribs, chicken, seven layer chocolate cake and an eclair. We had a great time eating and fellow shipping, and I probably left the restaurant a good five pounds heavier. I should fast the next few days to make up for all the food I ate there!

So, today has come and reality did set back in when I went to eat lunch along with my little kiddies at work...No more smoothies, ribs, chicken, or seven layer cakes...instead I gorged myself on macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dogs in it...ooh, yumminess...;)

Book Review

Well, I finally did it...finished a book I have been reading for well over a month. It is titled Let Me Be A Woman, written by Elisabeth Elliot. It was excellent reading and was written to the author's daughter right after she was engaged. Although the book was published well over a decade ago the issues of the day are still the same. Elisabeth Elliot provided so many valuable truths for women, whether they are single or married. She explains that in order to learn what it means to be a woman we must first start with the One who made her. In our culture today, no longer is there a distinction between men and women, instead women demand equality and want to be part of a 50-50 marriage relationship. However, as Christians we must realize that this philosophy is not Biblical at all. I highly encourage this book to all Christian women who wish to be challenged. Here are a few things I came away after reading Let Me Be A Woman:

• Take one day at a time...God only lights our paths one day at a time, he gives us strength daily. The life of faith is lived one day at a time, so trust God and enjoy his gift of each day.
• God has called me to be a woman, so I will gladly fulfill my role as one. "The woman who defines her role as doing what she wants, or not doing what she doesn't want, is in the first place, evading responsibility. Evasion of responsibility is the mark of immaturity.
• Just as we as women are not perfect, we cannot expect to ever find a perfect man.
• Marriage is a union. It takes two to make it work.
• Don't let the world around you squeeze you into their mold, but let God remold you from within.
• Be proud that I am a woman. "We are called to be women. The fact that I am a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but the fact that I am a Christian does make me a different kind of woman. For I have accepted God's idea of me, and my whole life is an offering back to Him of all that I am and all that He wants me to be."

Design on a Dime?

Wow, we just completed a totally renovation to my bedroom!

You may be asking:
1. "I didn't know you were redoing your room?"
2. "When did you start this?
3. How long has this been going on?"

So in answer to your questions:
1. I really didn't know I was redoing my room either...
2. Today
3. From approximately 1:30-9:30. With of course a one hour dinner break.

Let me explain...I went to Hobby Lobby to get a shelving organizer thing for my scrapbook stuff, and then one thing led to another...Before I knew it my Mom and I had decided to give my room a complete makeover!

For quite some time now, I have really loved the combination coloring of brown, green, and blue. I had decided to someday, when I have my own place to definately incorporate those colors into a room. I was able to find the perfect bedspread with the exact shade of those colors and the pictures and paint just fell right into place from there. My dad painted over my baby blue walls and Mary Engelbreit flowers that I had drawn on my walls, while my mom and I put together my shelfing organizer. Believe it or not it took us the same amount of time to put it together as it did my dad to paint my entire room! Dad helped move furniture and then mom and I put up the decor. I absolutely adore it!

Here's the shelf thing, which I totally love,

being the organizer psychopath that I am!

Here is my awesome pictures
we picked out at Hobby Lobby!

And here is a shot of my new and improved,

and might I add more grownup, sanctuary!