Updates:

I figured I should get 2 posts in today since it has been awhile. Just wanted to keep you posted on what is up in my world.
Work: I am currently working 2 jobs and have been for 4 months now. I am tired. I applaud the people who do this their whole lives as I can not continue. I will miss my coworkers but believe my sleep and mental health to be more important than the extra cash I have been making. Some nights I am getting home at 11pm and need to be up at 3:15AM to get to job number 2. Not my cup of tea!
Age: I turned 27 almost 2 weeks ago and although I do not feel older, I think I am starting to look it. I have been finding grey hairs like you find little kids at a playground...they are EVERYWHERE!!! This shouldn't be a surprise to me as my mom has had a full head of grey since she was 40. My b-day party was fun (maybe a little too much) and I am so thankful for the amazing people God has placed in my life. My Grammy flew in to town to celebrate with the family as well and it was so great to spend some time with her.
Church: Have I said how much I love my church? Substance is honestly such an amazing place for me to be right now. The teaching hits home every week and it just starts my week on the right foot. They have been challenging us to get more involved and I really want to join a small group. The time factor has been a factor for me but I am working on that one. The last 6 months I have been going by myself which has been a big growth experience for me ( the girl who never goes ANYWHERE alone) but God has placed a friend in my life who was looking to attend with someone and so I am excited about that.
Dating: It has finally happened :) I know a few of you reading my blog will be glad to know that there is a certain someone in my life: FINALLY!!! We have only been dating for a few months now but I am really excited about the process. I don't want to elaborate too much as this relationship is pretty new still but I am thankful for it in my life. That is all I have to say about that!!! If you want more details you need to call!
I don't get on here as often as I would like but I do try to stay updated on all of your posts. Hope all is well in your world!
-Abbie

Complete Surrender:

This is a topic that has been a theme to my life since I was on Royal Servants the summer before my Junior year. I remember my leader talking to us about what our struggles are and how when we have struggles in our lives, it takes a daily choice to surrender it to God. When we struggle with something it is not usually the case that we make the decision to get rid of it and never struggle again. I remember this as a revelation in my life and it has stuck with me throughout the last 10 years now.

I remember in high school when God expounded upon that in my life by reminding me to live intentionally. I truly believe that SO often this is one of the hardest things to do. The busyness, day in day out factors of life make us forget to be intentional in everything we do. I also firmly believe that sometimes life makes it very difficult to be intentional. We start our days trying to "live right" and have the best intentions to be the best versions of ourselves. Then out of the blue something happens...be it big or small to cause a set back. I myself find this happening a lot lately to me. I know I am worn out and I need to take care of some of the reasons for that. I also know that sometimes, the circumstances are out of our control. Someone Else's bad mood or struggle can soon create an issue for us.

Today was a day like that. I was having one of the best days I have had in a while and I was reveling in how blessed I am and thanking God for that. I have really been striving for a positive attitude these days and working on making a difference. I know I am sensitive but honestly when I see others struggle in their relationships it breaks my heart. I am so relational and know that God put us all here for a purpose. The number one part of that being to serve Him. I just feel like life is too short to spend it struggling with the same issues over and over again. The effects of the past can not be carried into the future if we are ever to truly serve. This is where surrender comes to play.
I know that I need to surrender the things that are out of my control to Him....COMPLETELY. I want so badly for the world and each person in it to know how desperately God loves them and that it breaks His heart to see us struggle with the same issues over and over again. It is for freedom that Christ set us free....I choose not to be burdened. I will pray. I will pray with hope and belief but I will not let the struggles of others overcome me and the plans that He has for me. May you know today the love He has for you. May you understand that although it may be a daily struggle...He wants you to experience the joy and freedom that He has for you. May you choose to live a life of intention...through the struggles and through the abundance. We sang this song at church today and the words hit me hard:

All to Jesus I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
Refrain:
I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!

Challenge...

Wow, it's been awhile! I have been REALLY busy these last two monthes or so. I am now working two jobs!! ME??? WORKING TWO JOBS??? How am I supposed to get my 8 hours of sleep that I have ALWAYS gotten? Well, let me tell you that it is not happening. My weekends are spent playing catch up. It is nice though. I have been able to pay off a good chunk of debt and with the exception of my car should be pretty much debt free by Dec. That feels nice! I just have to keep plugging away. I do feel bad though, as I am not able to get on here and read your blogs very often. I miss that!
So, a few weeks ago at church, my pastor was talking about our faith and how it has gotten too comfortable. He said something that hit me like a ton of bricks. He said something to the effect of if the "glory days" of your faith were 10 years ago, 5 years ago....this is wrong. THAT IS SO ME! All of the times I think about when my faith was so strong and I felt so close to God, those days were back in highschool. Those days were when I was fully focused on Him and He encompassed every part of my life. I have been slowly trying to get back to that but I think it is not happening to the degree that it needs to.
I am going to be completely vulnerable right now with you. I am feeling sad about turning 27. My life is NOWHERE near where I thought it would be at this point. I know that has been a theme to this blog since the day it started and I can't be too hard on myself because I have been working towards the goals I have but it is taking too long. Sometimes I think it is important to evaluate why things aren't happening. I have never been one of those people to say "woah is me...my life sucks and I am just going to mope about it!". The problem is, I feel a little stuck. I feel trapped by my age and all that it entails. I know, 27 is not that old. But it is for where I am at. I am single, working in a job I really do enjoy but am not proud to do. I do have plans to pursue school as soon as I get my debt paid off. That is REALLY soon. I know what I want to be when I grow up :) but there are still so many areas of uncertainty. I have told myself my whole life that He is in control and He is working. I do believe this but I also believe that I have a responsibility to go and move. To listen and to focus. I feel like when things aren't happening in life, that is the case for a reason and you may need to reevaluate some of the decisions that you are making.
This being said, I came across a book I think it going to change my life. I am only a third of the way into it (no time to read) and already have been challenged immensly. I do believe that my dreams of a cookie cutter life have overshadowed the plans that He has for me. I think so many times in life we lose focus on who Jesus is and how He really calls us to live. I see how the "American Dream" has affected how I live out my faith. I am so exhausted from pursuing that life. I am excited to start doing things a bit differently. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is feeling a little distant in their faith. It is an easy read and think there are some very practical ideas as well as some very challenging ones that can come about. I will try to keep you posted on how it is affecting me. Can't wait to see what's next!

A lull...

I was at a wedding a couple of weeks ago and one of my (five) readers brought to my attention that there haven't been any funny stories for awhile. I pondered it and couldn't really think of anything, that funny, that has happened recently. To be honest, life lately has made me wish for a bit of my childhood back. Responsibility has not been a strong suit of mine and unfortunately the act of being irresponsible is much easier and less time consuming than the act of cleaning up and moving forward. Oh well...such is life.
One of my New Year's resolutions was to run a race this year. Some of you may know that I ran cross country and track in Jr. High. If you knew me at all during that time (or really, since) you have probably heard the story of the park bench. If not, prepare yourself for one of the funniest/saddest/stupidest/this would only happen to Abbie-est stories you have ever heard. It was early October and we were in Red Wing for the conference meet. I was on JV and our coach instructed us that Varsity would be running their race first and we were to go warm-up while their race took place. My friends and I began our warm up. We started walking the course and then began to jog. We were loafing around, chatting and doing as little as we possibly could while still under the guise of "warming up". Let's be honest, we were the JV team for a reason. At one point as we were going along, I looked back and saw that the varsity race was coming our way. Looking back on it, I know that I TOTALLY overreacted. If you know me at all, you know this is a pretty common occurrence. The thing was, the racers were headed our way but they were probably a good football field away from getting to where we were on the course.
So, at this point, as I see the racers coming, I jump into adrenaline mode. I yell at my friends "GET OFF THE COURSE!!!" and just take off running. I don't know if the rush of adrenaline blinded me or what but the next thing I know, I am flipping over mid-air and feeling pain in my shins and hips. As this was happening, here are the thoughts going through my brain:
"What did I just run into? It seems like someone may have parked their bicycle there. No, a bicycle would have fallen over from the force...this is something MUCH bigger and stronger than a bicycle. Man, whatever it was...I am in A LOT of pain. Wow, I just did a complete flip through the air. Why are my friends laughing and crying at the same time?"
At this point, I have landed on my butt. I sit there stunned for a moment as my friends chokingly ask "Are you ok?". After what feels like forever, I look behind myself and see the object of all of these emotions. It is a park bench. I had just run FULL SPEED, into a bark bench. My shins hit the seat part as my hips hit the top of the back part. My stomach flipped me over it and the rest is history. I still have less than the normal amount of skin on my right shin. The bruises that ensued from this debacle were colors I had never seen the likes of and it was quite fun to watch them change daily. I was yelled at by my coach for not being more careful and spent the time I should have been running the JV race in the medic area being tended to.
Needless to say, I haven't done a lot of running since those days. The incedint combined with asthma caused me to consider running as one of my least favorite sport activities. The asthma is another story for another day (I promise), but back to the point of this story. I am going to be running the Monster Dash in October. It is a half marathon and I am beginning training this week. Please feel free to join me, there may be a funny story or two in it if you do! Let me know if you're interested!

A SUPER month!

Alright, so it's been awhile since I posted anything of substance. Here's an update on my life, as I know it, right now. Two weeks ago, the pediatric floors in the hospital and our outpatient clinics decided to do superhero day. They let us in the pharmacy know, with the hopes that we would dress up. My coworker Sarah and I took it to a whole new level. First off, we decided it was important to think of a name. One morning, Sarah mentioned to me that we should be the "Super Tech Duo". I of course, being as naive as I am said, "YEAH, we can abbreviate it to S-T...Oh wait, maybe that isn't such a good name." Well, being that we have no shame, we went with it. We also decided to be Superheros on a budget. As you can tell from our outfits, that was a definite success. I made the shirts, Sarah made the masks and thanks to the invention of the towel cape, we were good to go! It was a great day and little did we know, there was a contest for best costume. The judges came down and took our picture and an hour or so later we were the winners for the WHOLE hospital. We got a gift card! Then, this week we received a call announcing that a poster had been made with our picture on it. It will be displayed on the peds floor, with the unveiling happening this week. Needless to say, I'm kind of a big deal now. People know me!
Also there has been another big change in my life recently. I have decided to take over the second shift responsibilities at work. I will be permanently in the discharge pharmacy from 2-10 and also will be in charge of inventory for the pharmacy. I take over in July. This is something I am not sure how I feel about it quite yet. We all know I like my sleep and this will DEFINITELY mess with that schedule. It is a pay increase though and somewhat of a promotion. Also, it opens up the possibility for me to approach school with a little bit more of an option. I will have one day shift (Tuesdays) and will never have to work weekends. I have been convicted about my financial situation lately and think this may provide me a better opportunity to get the debt I do have paid off as well as to get some money into savings. I need to be a better steward and want to get a kick start in that area. We'll keep you posted.

Never again!

I think I can.

I have decided to take up using public transport. As most of you know, I live FAR FAR away from where I work. I also work in a place that thinks half of my salary should go to pay for parking. I have decided that something needs to change. I am going to start off slow. My first excursion will take me to Eden Prairie (aka West Egg**), where I will ride a coach bus directly to The U. Don't judge me, I need to start off small.
What you may not realize, is that from the time I was deemed responsible enough...I avoided the bus at ALL costs. I walked to school from 7th grade on. I never really cared for the yellow vehicle that made me sit close to people I didn't care to sit close to.
I have thought this through and have been talking it over with my coworkers for quite some time. I have a few people who can't wait to hear my stories. They are the same ones that think it is fun when someone accosts them on the way into work. Yeah, I work with some interesting people! One of my coworkers asked me the other day, if I had started riding yet. I said, "I am just nervous, what if there is nowhere to sit on the bus and I have to stand the whole way? I can't stand while someone is driving." His response was, "That's why you find the cutest guy on the bus and stand by him. Then, if you hit a bump, you fall in his lap and giggle and say OH, SORRY!!" At this point I looked at my coworker and asked the same question that you are all asking right now, "Do you even know me?" I had to remind him of the story at the grocery store. The day I slipped and rolled into who my coworkers have deemed my Mr. Right, and without making eye contact....got back up and walked away. This plan will NEVER work for me.

So, needless to say, look for some GREAT stories. I am doing this for so many reasons but mostly because my life has been a little blah lately and there is nothing like throwing yourself into situations that you have dreaded FOREVER to get you out of the BLAH stage. I'll keep you posted!

** West Egg= new money! C'mon people doesn't anyone remember The Great Gatsby??

One GREAT weekend!

Giving in...

Well, here I am . Life has been a bit of a blur lately. I honestly can't believe that it is already the 15th of April. My boys are back in town and I get to go to the game on Sunday. Can't wait to check out the new digs and see what everyone has been talking about for the last couple of years. I am a little nervous though, as the last time I went to an outdoor stadium, (Kaufman)(in April) I FRIED! When I came home from that trip, someone asked me "Where did you go? Kauai?". I had a t-shirt tan line for the whole summer and had to be in two weddings that year with strapless dresses...oh the joys of being pasty white!
So, part of the reason that life has been a blur lately is that I feel like there is a lot of stresses going on. Financially, I am not where I would like to be. I feel like this is a constant in my life. I want to be a wise steward of the money that God has given me and feel like I need a lot of work in that area. Health wise, I am also struggling a bit. I have had neck issues since I got in a car accident 6 or 7 years ago and they seem to be in a flair up stage. This causes a lot of headaches and neck problems. I am not a fan of taking drugs (yes I know...it's medicine) but sometimes I have to just so I can get to work the next day. Flexeril is a funny thing.
Faith wise, I feel God working...more and more. I couldn't be more thankful. I love my church (Substance, you should check it out sometime!!) and am so thankful for the amazing friends and family that God has blessed me with to continue in this area. It is all a work in progress. All I know, is that at the end of my life, I want to be able to stand before God and know this verse is true for my life.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
2 Timothy 4:7

Nothing else matters. All of the plans,goals,dreams and rules I have need to be guided and directed by that. May the way I act, the words I speak and the thoughts that I think....be guided by that plan.

Faith

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 NASB

Happenings!!!

The little man turns two tomorrow. I can't believe it. I still feel like it was just yesterday that I was sitting at the hospital, waiting for hours, to meet him. I can't wait until he turns about 4 and I can take him to Twins games and really explain the game I love so much to him. It is such a joy and honor to be a part of his life as well as the lives of my two nieces. Children truely are a gift.
I must say, I am pretty proud of myself this weekend. I killed two spiders!!! I did it without having to put on a hazmat suit or call for reinforcments. Growth is happening! Maybe soon, I will be able to kill a centipede all by myself.
Had some interesting patients lately. It's funny because I really do enjoy working with people. I think I do a pretty good job with them, and feel that the majority of my encounters with customers are pretty good. This week was in a world all on it's own. I won't bore you with the details but I will say that I am surprised that I only cried once this week. I have been praying EVERY day on the way in that God will give me strength. This may seem weird to you, but I have been super-sensitive since I was a wee little girl and I have come to appreciate that part of who I am. I was the kid who made herself throw up from crying SO hard when I was little. It always makes me laugh, when I remember how my dad would handle my tears. He would look at me and yell "WHY ARE YOU CRYING?". As you can imagine....this only made things worse.
The state of Montana has a hit out on me, I'm sure of it. In the past month I have inherited a Montana Indian Health Patient and a Montana MA patient. Again, I won't bore you with the details of all that this means, but I will say it is not fun. If you remember, my troubles with Montana started this summer. Now, it serves as a comedy reel for my coworkers!
Hoping life is treating you well. There are a lot of changes coming up for me and quite a few of the people in my life. It is a pretty exciting time. I am really trying to live each day with joy and intention. So far, there have been a few challanges but I believe that it is worth it. May the Lord bless and keep you!

A new chapter...

So, it's been awhile since I've bored you with the details of my ever embarrassing life. Well, the wait is over. I've been somewhat busy lately but mostly I have not really felt like posting. The weeks are flying by and I can't believe the snow is almost melted. This is honestly the first winter in a long time that I wasn't ready to be over. The fact that my commute time is going to be halved will be nice.
So, let see...lately I have been, spending time with my nephew...I get to watch him every Wed. night and I can't tell you how much joy that brings me. My brother and Anna have done a great job with Elijah and I can't wait to watch what comes next. He turns 2 in a few weeks! I feel like I've done a pretty good job of scheduling my life lately. I never really knew this before....but I am a planner. I like surprises in gifts and such but not really when it comes to my time. I think I need to work on that though as I feel like I have aged myself quite a bit by not being more flexible and "fly-by-the-seat".
I just have to say, that I feel SO incredibly blessed these days. I have some of the best friends and family a girl could ever ask for. I have quite a few friends with some major things happening in their lives right now. Some good, some scary but all important. I am praying for you all and want you to know that I am thankful for you in my life. God is good!
Church- this has been quite a challenging area in my life lately. I LOVE my church. I started going to Substance last July and can't say enough good things about it. The problem is, I don't have a lot of single friends that are looking for a church or who attend Substance. I have had to do something that was WAY outside my box lately....GO SOMEWHERE BY MYSELF!!! It has been a challenge, but one that I believe will help me grow. I signed up to be a greeter at church and have a training day next week. Hopefully this will help me get plugged in. You may have never thought it possible but situations like this bring out a side of me I don't really care for... "shy Abbie". I am sure I will do a lot of growing through this process, can't wait to see what happens. I will keep you posted on any stories that make my face turn red:)
Fitness- One of my new years resolutions was to run a race of some sort this year. You may or may not know that I ran cross country back in school but I was never very good at it. I am typically not one of those people that accomplishes a lot of goals and I am trying to work on that. I joined the Gym a month ago and am trying to work out 4 times a week. I am starting to enjoy it and think I will start out slow, with the Twin Cities 10 mile but hope to eventually build up to some sort of Triathlon....this will be a process!
Organization- WOAH!!! I am SO not organized and it is really starting to get to me. I am in the process of simplifying my life. I am getting rid of a lot of clothes and other junk. The problem is I have a HUGE apartment right now but will soon be consolidating to a much smaller one. I want to be prepared, so it is not such a struggle. I also believe it is time for me to break some patterns and create newer, healthier ones.
This will be all for now. The baseball season is officially upon us and I am beyond excited. I am no longer speaking to my brother though, as he got tickets to the first 3 games of the season in LA. Must be nice to work for an airline. Oh well, I will just have to do the cheering from home!!!

Reason number 375,937,281....

I love my nephew!!! Don't get all animal rights on me....the cat LOVES it!!

Just Sayin!!!

It has been brought to my attention that I am a genius. You may think me vain for saying this, but hear me out. As most of you know, I am not really a Vikings fan. I don't dislike them, as the only two football teams I harbor dislike for are The Patriots and The Ravens. I consider myself a Steelers fan but that is only because I picked them as my team at the beginning of the 2005 season because after the boat scandal, I could no longer pretend to cheer for the Vikings. I would not normally switch my loyalties so easily but I felt the Vikes had no class and decided to cut ties before anyone (else) got hurt. This being said, I made an educated decision. I chose based on the QB of the team. I first chose Joey Harrington (based on looks) and then found out he was not a very good QB. I then picked Big Ben(not based on looks) and stuck with him. That year if you remember correctly....The Steelers won the Super Bowl. They have been "my team" ever since.
Now, back to me being a genius. If you know me at all, you know that I am a baseball fan. You know that in the summer, I am pretty much impossible to get ahold of unless you're a.) A Boy of Summer B.) A FSN announcer or C.) A season ticket holder. I'm sorry but I am pretty pathetic from February to October. This being said, I have had a quote attached to all of my work e-mails for the last six months or so. I changed it to stir up controversy with my coworkers that believe football to be a superior sport to my beloved baseball. I never knew the implications.
You see, it was brought to my attention that when the Vikes were playing the Saints on Jan. 24th. there was one point during the game that my face flashed through a few people's minds. Please read my quote and you will understand why a few of my coworkers now think I am so smart and also find me incredibly annoying!

"Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for having too many players on the field?"

Watch it!!

I love winter. Anyone who knows me, knows that I really enjoy the changing seasons. This being said...I also like to dress up and wear heels. I learned my lesson this weekend though. I was going to my best friend's house for dinner and on my way had to stop to get cilantro and bean sprouts for the delicious lettuce wraps we were to partake in. The grocery store I went to was not one I was familiar with and so I spent a good deal of time in the "lettuce/herb/grass" section of the produce section. I was chatting with my sister on the cell while going between the two different sections I thought I might be able to find the cilantro in. As I was heading back to check section number 1 for the 15th time...I slipped on some water that was inconveniently placed on the floor. Now this might not have been such a big deal, but I was wearing a dress and knee high wedge heel boots. Yes I know, very stylish. As I fell to the floor, I threw my phone about 3 feet across the produce dept. I was slightly embarrassed (ok completely) but regained my composure and started to pull myself up. As I did this, I slipped on the same puddle of water and fell again. As this happened, I somehow found a way to slightly roll into a guy who was shopping for tomatoes. He looked up and asked "um...are you ok?" I, of course, made no eye contact and said "yeah, I'm fine." I got up, walked over to get my phone and explained to my sister what had just happened. She of course was very supportive and made sure I was ok before laughing so hysterically, that I had to turn the volume down on my phone. I told this story to my coworkers and they reminded me that they truelly believe that my life is a sitcom. I decided that I would not show them the softball sized bruises on both of my knees.

Haiti, the country that I know...the country that I love.

Ok, this is my attempt to help in ANY way that I can. I know you have all heard a lot about what happened in Haiti and what is happening. I am going to share from a personal side of things. I have been to Haiti twice. Both times were trips that I took in High school and both times, Haiti changed my life.
I have traveled quite a bit in my life, this country is BY FAR my favorite one. I have plans to go back someday when I can actually impact the country in a way that is needed. Both trips to Haiti were for medical and evangelical purposes. A team of students and adults went to conduct medical clinics in small towns around the country. The first trip we traveled 7 hours up a mountain and the second trip we went on a boat to a small island off the coast. In our medical clinics we took vitals, spoke with patients about their ailments, prayed for them and made sure that they got their worm pill. It was the the best we could do. We brought along glasses and did vision tests with some patients who claimed they had trouble seeing. It was a pretty basic operation, with pepto bismal and Tylenol being our major drug therapies.
That being said. These clinics changed my life. The people of Haiti are an amazing people. We would open the clinic in the morning, to stories of people that had walked for days and days to come see us. They had traveled mountain roads with only the sandals they had on their feet. Some were really sick. There were people of all ages and I will never forget the beautiful baby girl...who peed all over my dress! These people are fighters. They are thankful for small things. They are thankful for things that I expect, things I have never known a day without.

On one of the trips, we brought supplies to a town to help build a church. We (the Americans) were really excited to help get the process started and thought we really had something to offer. The Haitians were the fastest, hardest working people I had ever seen. They had a legitimate shelter built within 2 days. We mostly were just in the way.

We always brought our own food on these trips and had to eat our meals with the doors to our compound closed as there were quite a few children who would beg for food. One of the guys with our team gave in one day and gave a little boy his small cup of chili beans. Two days later, as were were walking around the community visiting with families, we found that little boy, hovered over a fire, heating those beans to feed his family. This is heartbreaking. This is something, most people I know, have never known or could even imagine.

We know Haiti is poor, we know they are struggling and some of us want to help. I am going to find a way to help as best as I can with this situation and just wanted to do my part to inform people of organizations I know about that are down there. Feed my starving children ( www.fmsc.org ) is an organization that brings food to Haiti, year round. I know they are already down there bringing food and can always use help either financially or by the giving of your time to help with packing events. Also, the American Red cross (www.redcross.org) is always a safe bet to donate to and if you text "haiti" to 90999, they will donate $10 and charge it to your phone bill (if you haven't heard).
Thank you for reading this. I love the people of Haiti and am praying for them daily. It is a country that has endured a lot but the people are AMAZING. Please enjoy the pictures as they are constant reminders to me of the land that I love!

And so, it continues.

I've started and restarted this post so many times I was pretty sure I would never get my feelings down. The holiday season is over and it was such an amazing and challenging time that I am somewhat at a loss for words. God is good...this I know. You may find it annoying that I constantly post this, but through EVERYTHING that I have experienced in my life, this has been one constant.
As a brief (yeah right) update on the happenings of December 09 through today I will post a few bullets of some of the most important things.

-Birthdays- Elise turned 5 and my dad and sister turned __ and __ in December. December is always a month FILLED with family time. I truly enjoyed it this year. Watching everyone (adults too) grow older brings a lot of joy into my life.
-Holidays- Christmas was with family and a great time. New Years was with some of my dearest friends and also..a great time. I love this time of year and was SO thankful for the large amount of snow that was provided right on Christmas. I am a true Minnesotan.
-Visits- Conni was in town and it was strangely odd for me to see one of my close friends...pregnant. I have adjusted pretty well to the changes that have taken place in all of our lives but I do believe this was one of the weirdest for me. I enjoyed SO much celebrating with her at her shower and also spending time watching her and Bryce as they prepare for this next change in their relationship. I am so excited to see what is in store. I got to have coffee with Steph and enjoyed catching up on her life. Seems like UMASS is treating her well and I can't wait to see what is in store. I may need to borrow some of her assertiveness soon as I plan on continuing my education. I am looking forward to a few dates I have set up in the next few weeks to catch up with old friends. I am SO a relationship person and LOVE catching up with people.
-Hardships- Christmas day was definitely a challenging one for me. This year was strange, with my nieces being with their other family, me deciding to work this year (in order to prevent getting drafted for next year), my brother having an incident with the snowblower, and a few other challenges that are a part of life as we know it. I am really striving for Joy in life right now. I know I wrote a bit about this on Thanksgiving but I just want to reiterate. There will always be challenges but through them, I do believe...there is a plan. My best friend lost her grandfather somewhat unexpectedly this year and although my heart breaks for her...I am SO thankful that she was able to spend time with him, somewhat near to his passing. I know in comparison to others, my life may seem like a piece of cake...and to be completely honest..I am SO thankful for what it has been. I do believe it is ok to tell God things are hard...but then it is important to move on to what is next in store while remembering what that trial has taught you. I also believe that in the midst of trials...He is still near and willing to hold you through the pain.
Blessings-My accountability partner got married on Janurary 2nd. It was one of the most amazing days of my life. To see Greta come from the past that she has, to see where God has brought her and to see the way He answered her prayers in a way that was above and beyond her dreams was SO amazing. I am so thankful for these moments. What a blessing to be a part of their story and to know that my own...whatever it may be, is in the works. God is working in me as well. I love the start of something new. Some people mock New Year's resolutions because they see them as rules that no one sticks too...SO WHAT! I find it important to set goals in life, and although I may fail...I will falter and I may not accomplish them, I see it as a source of hope. So, for me, this time of year is SO full of possibilities and hope. I may need to remind myself of that in May or September but I still think that is ok. The process is sometimes the most exciting part. So here's to a new year, here's to renewed hope, and here's most definitely to the increasing of my faith and desire to fulfill the most important purpose for my life...to go where HE wants me to go, love as He wants me to love and trust as He asks me to trust.