Hmmm...

Well the long wait for Christmas is over and done...and soon so will the wait for New Years...it seems like every year at this time, I somehow start to reflect on this past year: the blessings God has given me (whether I called it that at the time or not), events in the world and what I hope and pray for in the upcoming year. This year is a tad bit different...my whole life is about to change between starting a job and beginning graduate school to getting married and changing the last name I have had for the past 22 years.

This next year I have so many dreams and aspirations already on my mind but I also aspire to always remember that God had my entire life planned out long before I came about and he planned it in a way to bring honor and glory to Him. He planned it to help me grow both as a young lady and as a Godly daughter. I want to have more patience and a nicer tongue especially when I get frustrated or encounter things I don't understand at first.

Of course, I have many more "New Year's Resolutions" but I don't want to jinx myself by putting them on here...maybe later :)

Snowed in at the Grove....

I made it...I finally made it! I am an official alumnus of the University of Central Arkansas. I have successfully completed the curriculum and now am the proud recipient of a bachelor's degree....and I have NO job....lol....but I'm looking...and more importantly...I'm praying that God puts me in the place where I can do him the most good...and in turn it will do me the most good...

Graduation was GREAT! Dinner afterward at Shane and Tanya's was WONDERFUL!!! Graduation presents are good!

Time for a recap of the weekend post-final exams!:

FRIDAY:

• I picked Josie and Tess up at Ozark, brought them back to Conway, picked up Olivia and Ella and the four of us headed back to my house to make cookies. Needless to say when you have 4 girls ages 10 and under, there will definitely never be a dull moment..and a pretty big mess to clean up afterwards...but it's worth it to have the giggling sounds fill the house!
• After cookies came supper. I had originally thought about cooking supper at the house but then decided that it would be easier to take them out so to Pizza Inn we went! They were good and then we headed to Antioch Baptist Church for their annual "Bethlehem Revisited"...It was AMAZING!!!! Meagan showed up to help us go thru and I don't know what I would have done without her...She was a lifesaver..
  
• The girls ended up falling asleep on the way home which was adorable!
• I stayed up until about 1:00 am packing my room while the girls slept...Seeing my room so empty was sentimental..it signified a new beginning for my future but also an end to the life that I have known for the past 4 years...I guess every new experience ends an old one.
  

SATURDAY:

• I got up early to cook breakfast for the girls, get a shower and then get them showers! Granny and Papa got to the house about 11:00 even though they got lost and ended up in downtown Conway...hehe...then the coolest thing and possibly the best graduation present ever. I used my roommate's computer to use a program called Skype, which allows for video calls...The girls got to not only see their daddy for the first time in a very long time and even better, he got to put faces with voices! It was very cool for Uncle Steve to get to see all of his family!
• Graduation was neat and not too long which was nice! One of the honor students who started college when I did and has been in a wheelchair for as long as I have known her...walked at graduation....without her wheelchair...She had to have help but she was determined and received a standing ovation and thousands of tears! What an amazing and awe-inspiring moment which made graduation one of the most memorable moments of my life...
• After graduation, my family and I headed to Shane and Tanya's for dinner and it was amazing! They have become my second family and very dear to my heart so being able to have my "2" families was very cool!
  

SUNDAY-TUESDAY:

• Joe and I got up really really to head to Paragould to see his college buddy Luke!
  
• One thing I wanted to do was to go to Lake Ashbaugh and see the ducks coming in! It is an amazing experience and one of my most favorite places to be!
• We ended up getting snowed aka "iced" in here but have had a blast anyway!
• We've made sausage wontons, creamy tacos, cookies, played countless games of dominos and battle of the sexes...we have laughed more in these 2 days of being snowed in than I have in a very long time! I'm almost sad to think that tomorrow the weather will be better and we will head back to the hills!

Good friends, good memories, and laughter are, in my opinion,
the some of the most valuable assets a person can have.

Things to do post-graduation....

Lots of people make lists of all of the things they want to accomplish in their lifetimes...While I haven't made that list yet (but do have some things in mind to put on it)..I have made a list of things to do post-graduation and pre-graduate school. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Read "The Shack"...if you have never heard of it, go find it and then read it..It is a book about a man's relationship with God even with all the trials and tribulations he has gone through...I think....
2. Visit caves in Arkansas and southern Missouri...I work at Blanchard Springs Caverns, which is rated #1 in beauty in the nation, but I don't have much to compare it to...
3. Read the Bible completely from front to back...
4. Get married...guess I gotta put that one on there...don't wanna upset anyone...HA!!!!
5. Start and finish my cross-stitch afghan...one of the ladies in the gift shop taught me how to cross-stitch last winter and I bought an afghan and have a pattern laid out but haven't started it.
   
6. Take a sleigh-ride through Yellowstone...We are going to Jackson Hole, WY on our honeymoon and this is at the forefront of things I want to do!!!
7. Donate my hair to locks of love after the wedding...as thick as my hair it, I could probably make 2 people a wig...
8. Treat myself to pedicures every month even though I have the most ticklish feet in the world and I almost kick the girl in the face EVERY time she gives me one!
   
9. Work on not almost kicking the pedicure lady in the face everytime she gives me a pedicure! lol....
10. Write down 10 blessings I have witnessed/been given each day...small number actually.
11. Learn to quilt from Mrs. Riggins (one of my most favorite ladies in the whole world)
    
12. Learn to relax (this may take a while)
13. Ride my horse Louie and get him back on track!
14. Continue to learn sign language to the point where I can give my cave tours completely in sign if need be...at the drop of a hat...
15. Take a road trip...to anywhere....just to go....no plans
    
16. Learn to be a better money saver instead of an expert money spender...(this REALLY will take a long time)

That's all I can think of for now but it's probably more than I can handle as it is....we will see how it goes!

Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"

Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn't it...

Nothing a lil sugar can't fix...

I know it's bad...but after 3 VERY stressful days and 1 more week of stress to come I find that a little chocolate and sugar sure to make things so much better...not on the waistline mind you but everywhere else!

This semester for me has been all about faith. Here's why:

1. I met a wonderful group of ladies for a bible study regarding faith this semester.
2. I have had to relearn how to have faith in myself in regards to school grades following one semi-bad and one horrific semester last year.
3. I have experienced how my faith has affected my relationship with God. Honestly, I'm not sure why I didn't do this one earlier because it is really amazing to sit back and let Jesus work in your own life and handle the things that you knew without a doubt you had no control over...and even the things you thought you did.
4. I have learned to have faith when it comes to other people. From sharing my own faith, to encouraging others to find their own faith God has truly revealed himself to me and hopefully through me.
5. I have learned that the key to a good marriage comes from a great relationship with our Heavenly Father and that through them all things are possible. I am excited to start my life with Joe but also to start a new page in my spiritual relationship as well.
6. God has shown me the important things in life as well as the petty things. In return, I have realized that nearly everything we face is petty compared to the power of God. He holds the world in His hands.

Now on the lighter side, here are some things I have learned in my time as a undergraduate student at UCA:

1. Flip flops + Rain in Conway = not such a good idea...unless you like to fall down...or are just feeling gutsy...or stupid
2. Rainboots are Heaven sent...when it rains, it FLOODS!
3. My bestest friend is an 8 year old because I love to watch the world through her eyes.
   
4. You can always go home....
5. I will never understand Chemistry.....and I don't really want to....(the latter statement might be directly related to the first)
6. Anything can taste good if it's free
7. Day planners are essential
8. It is a rule that everyone will get sick the week before and/or during finals....but now I know the scientific answer behind it....
9. Staying up studying all night is never a good idea and really never turns out to be a happy ending
10. Mountain Dew's and cookies for breakfast are not cure-alls
11. Being open and public with my faith was far harder than any class I have yet to take and probably will take. I learned not only that people do not share the same belief altogether as me, but also people who say they are Christians can have a totally different take concerning God than I do. I don't mean this bad or anything, I just mean that before college, I just assumed that if you were a Christian, you had the same beliefs as everyone else.
12. My family is the most important thing in my life! Before college, I took them for granted so many times. I saw them everyday and couldn't wait for the day that I would leave for college. I vowed to never look back and that I would never go home on the weekends unless I just had too. That approach lasted about 3 months
13. The most sentimental time is when your Grandfather asked you to pray at his table at Thanksgiving.

I have grown up so much over the past 4 1/2 years from first setting foot on this campus as an 18-year-old child to getting ready to set foot on a stage I never thought I would make it to as a 23-year-old child (what? I've still got learning to do!!)....My experiences and life lessons here have prepared the way in which God has already laid out for me.

Just gotta have faith!