a late mother's day post

i forgot to post this back on may 9th, but still wanted to remember this

mother’s day always reminds me of what a sweet mom i have. she serves me in so many ways, but recently i’ve been encouraged by her serving through working. she teaches fifth and sixth grade, a full time job. throughout her past six years of teaching, things have constantly changed around. more recently, she would have preferred to be home, but that was not yet a practical option. so she continued working without complaining. her example of constant serving is so Christ like. now she’s almost completed her hardest year and we are unsure of what the future holds. her example of serving her family through teaching, and then coming home to take the ‘second shift’ and take care of her fam and home, is an example i will not quickly forget. mom, i love you and could never thank God enough for you!

williamsburg tradish

last year marked the first year of a new tradition for the girls in our family. on a pleasant spring friday we drive up to williamsburg. spend a relaxing friday night doing whatever we fee like, then wake up and shop the whole live long day on saturday.

we haven't yet learned how to pack light : )

we love the pretty view from the bridge

this year, mom picked out the best hotel. it was so pretty with large columns in the front. and we were on the first floor, with a lovely view of the outside greenery.

i love the american flag. this was the one in front of our hotel

this little guy was waiting for us inside the hotel room

chels and mar were excited to be there : )

ready to go out for the night

first stop: candy shop

chels is a cute, candy-loving chick

we continued walking around and i snapped so many pics. these are my top ten

that's probably more than ten but whatever

this weekend couldn't have been better. we enjoyed a peaceful, pleasant time together. i was so grateful for this time, and yet very aware of how times like these will grow fewer and fewer. i loved getting to laugh with my sisters and enjoy fellowship. it was a sweet time of listening to each other, hearing about future dreams and hopes, growing in selflessness as we coordinated shops to visit and places to eat, beds to sleep in and in general working with one another as we made decisions. i love that we were able to talk seriously at times and also have many memorable laughs. as i sais before, it was a great time to be together and one i will not soon forget. i love you all and hope that we are able to share many more trips like this in the future.

and i just realized this post should've been posted a while ago, but somehow i never posted it. so here it is and better late than never

25 & 50

25. a new haircut

and this is my 50th post!

leaving for georgia tomorrow with dad to visit mema. excited and scared all at the same time. i've never flown anywhere before, and i'm not sure exactly what to expect with mema. but i'm excited for the trip and the opportunity to get to spend time with dad and his mom.

one of mema and mary. i need to get one of her and me this trip

then i come back on sunday night and start school monday! yikes! not exactly excited for that, but i know i need to do this and am excited to get this done. i think having classes that are necessary specifically for my degree heightens my anticipation for getting into nursing classes and getting my feet in the door. so i'm excited to get going, cause i feel like this is the first step to learning what i will hopefully love doing one day!

a new work

Today in church, Eric felt pressed to encourage a certain group of people. A group that felt that they were not completely blameless. And oh how that was me.

This past week I’ve felt sad at the thought of starting up school again. I just finished a tough semester and after a 2 week break I’m beginning summer classes, and anatomy at that. I know its going to be full, difficult, and not fun. I hadn’t thought about it much until this week. And then I started to feel heavy and sad.

However on Friday morning, after waking up to take Mary to school, I ran by Michael’s. I got there before it opened and had nothing to do. So I prayed. I rolled down the car windows leaned my seat back and prayed. And God met me. I was quickly convicted of a number of things, but especially my self-centered nature. Instead of being grateful for all Christ has given me, I was complaining. I was focused on my “sad situation” (something most people would probably love to be able to do) and not focused on others or even Christ. I was finding myself sad because I had invested too much of my hope and joy into my situation instead of Christ, my only hope. Through tears, I asked for help. I knew I needed help to be able to lift my eyes off myself, and to focus on what lavish kindness Christ has poured out on me.

Needless to say, by Sunday morning I was more aware of my sins than of Christ’s work on the cross. However, God had not yet finished what he was getting at in my heart. Eric encouraged us to remember that no matter what sort of week we had had, God’s love for us was based on Christ’s death on the cross, and our daily performance cannot affect that love.
God’s love for us is unconditional and unlike any feeling we can ever muster up for others. His love is perfect and not based on our “good” or bad deeds. And as all these thoughts were racing through my head, we began to sing the chorus

“How wonderful the Father’s love the Father’s love for us.
That He would send His only Son to come and rescue us.
He has saved us called us blameless, guides us now and will sustain us.
Oh how wonderful the Father’s love”

God has been more than kind to me this week. Through his gentle probing, I was made aware of my sin and felt the sweet sting of conviction. Then, as I felt guilt set in, He reminded me through someone else that it wasn’t my record that had gained His love in the first place, but Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. And I was overwhelmed at how kind God is to me, and how great and unfathomable His love for me is.

My prayer now is that these truths continue to remain fresh in my mind and that God continues to soften my heart to Him this week.

The National capital

since my summer break's only two weeks long- and now one has already passes- i wanted to head up to dc for a day. so i got some people together and we did just that. after a late monday night laughing with chels, rach, and jap, we woke up at the ungodly hour of 6-which on summer break should be illegal. after scrambling to get ready on time, 7, we got ready by 7:20 and were out the door. beau drove, joey navigated, and jake, well he talked to chelsea.

once we arrived we decided to go ahead and grab lunch. after wandering around for a while, we found potbelly's. sounds crummy, but it's so delish. i'd been there a few times before so they took my word for it and we headed in.

the inside of each location is different, yet all are eclectic and artsy.

the lights were one of my favorite things of the whole day! i wish i could've brought them home.

after enjoying our subs, we began the hunt for the art gallery. i knew it was at the top left portion of the mall, i just wasn't sure where exactly we were with regards to the mall. we also wanted to walk by the white house quickly first. so with the white house in view we headed off in that direction.

one of the buildings right beside the white house

the white house

some guy passing by made the guys laugh really hard

as we continued walking we passed so many distinctive individuals. so jap proposed a contest. whoever captured the most snapshots of said individuals won. pretty easy. so i got to work

my first picture, this adorable old couple touring the city. i figure he's a ww2 vet, she's an old timey jazz singer. he met her one time while traveling and it was love at first sight. they were clearly both stylin back in the day- notice his chucks and her pearls, firey read hair, flats, and leather messenger bag purse. hope they don't mind my taking a picture

after walking some more, we arrived at the art museum's garden. first we paused to take some pictures

my favorite building in dc

joey stopped to give the musician a couple of dollars

the fountains inside the artgallery garden. so refreshing to sit and listen

while strolling through, we found some nifty art/chairs

after lots of walking, we made it to the museum

once we had explored the gallery, we made our way over to the tidal basin to paddle boat

our last stop before grabbing dinner at a semi-underground chiptole was at the holocaust museum. i've been through it two times before so i waited outside with chelsea and our ridiculously overpriced, just bought, not allowed in drinks : ) it was pleasant out though and a nice break on the legs.

i had a great time visiting dc, which has truly become one of my favorite places. i love being in the city, walking down the streets, looking at all the unique buildings and old timey architecture. "looking for bin" and "living the beach life" i love the colors, the smells, the sounds. i loved this trip though because i enjoyed spending the time with some of my closest friends. the way back home was good, listening to The National

don't leave my half a heart alone,
on the water,
cover me in rag and bones, sympathy
cause i dont want to get over you
i dont wanna get over you

listening to joey and beau make the rest of us laugh, and trying to ease the pain from chelsea's headache. jake took good care of her. i loved our day trip and wish we could do it again soon