eco-friendly & friends.

I have been so bad about blogging! yikes! Life just doesn't slow down that is for sure! But I'd rather it be busy, than have nothing to do. Anyways not to much has been going on lately except for class and work! That is pretty much what I do all the time. this past weekend I did get a chance to slowdown. On Saturday, my school had a basketball game which we won so that was fun, and then I went to some of my friends apartment for dinner and then we played Mario Cart on the Wii and it was sooooo fun! I remember playing the older one when i was younger but I was just terrible on the Wii but it was still lots of fun. After that we went out to Kayla's house which is about 30 minutes from school and we stayed the night and it was fun to get away from campus and just have a good time.

Saturday was Valentine's Day, and my grandma sent me the cutest necklace ever! Whenever I was at home visiting a few weeks ago, I guess I mentioned that I try not to use plastic bags anymore, only eco-friendly canvas ones. I'm not going green, I'm just doing what I can to help out.. haha well anyways she found this cute necklace that is made of eco-friendly materials and I guess she thought I should have it : ] My grandma is the best! I thought it was neat though. Here is a picture of it! And some pictures from this weekend. I hope you enjoy them, and you have a great day : ]

Out of my Comfort Zone

As you know I am going to New York in March on a missions trip with my school and we have meetings every so often just to make sure we are all on the same page and just to get to know each other better and hang out! Well, on Saturday night we had one of those meetings and what the leader of trip called a "field experience". Now some people might think what we did was a little dangerous and maybe it was but we were in groups of 4 or 5 so I think we were fine. But While we are in New York we are going to be working with different organizations that deal with homeless people. Now homeless people are everywhere. Including Nashville. You don't have to go very far to find them. So, on Saturday my team and I went to McDonalds and each one of us bought a cheeseburger. The point was to find someone to give it to that needed it and tell them who we were and try and share our faith with them even just a little bit if we could. So we all headed downtown to find a homeless person to give it to. Now this was kind of hard for me and I'm not going to lie it made me a little uncomfortable. But, after awhile it was fine. They were all very talkative. They really just wanted someone to talk to. It was sooooo cold on Saturday too! It was 1o degrees outside and these people have to sleep outside in it with hardly anything! It broke my heart. A lot of the people that we talked to did talk about their faith which is very interesting to me. I am so blessed and I have no idea how I would be if I had everything taken away from me and I had to live on the streets. It just made me really really sad for them and made me feel very selfish. I have soooooo many things that I do NOT need at all! Giving them something as small as a cheeseburger totally made them so happy, and it was just amazing hearing them talk. But it was a very good experience all in all..

Now backtracking to friday night I went iceskating for the first time ever! It was so much fun! After I got off work I met up with some friends and we went to the Cenntenial Sports Plex! It was so much fun! Now I didn't fall the whole time which I was pretty proud of myself for that, but I still was not to great at it! But it was really fun for sure. Here are some pics from our fun night!

21.

Well on Friday I turned 21. This is just sooo crazy to me. It's like you really are an adult! oh my! But I must admitt it was a pretty great birthday. On Friday we went out to eat for my birthday and it was sort of a suprise because I had to work that night but they put it all together while I was gone and then when I got back we all went! What made it even better was that we went to one of my favorite restaurants in town, Demo's! It is so good, I love it! it was lots of fun and then after that me and two other girls went to Wal-Mart to get supplies to make shirts for our boys basketball game! Which leads me to the next part of my adventorous birthday weekend!

On Saturday me and four of my friends from school went on a sort of mini road trip! Well this year our basketball team is doing pretty good I must say, and they are really fun to watch! So, they had a game on Saturday afternoon so we thought it would be fun to go and suprise them, because normally they don't have a ton of fans at the away games.. anyways it was at Crown College which is about 3 hours away! What a great trip and great game! We ended up winning by 4 and it was so exciting! That night when we got back we ended up going to one of our friends house and she cooked us some wonderful Mexican food : ] mmmm it was so good!

To top the weekend off my family came to NASHVILLE on Sunday afternoon/evening! It was sooo good to see them! and we had so much fun, which we always do when we are together! Well they got here at like 3:30ish in the afternoon and we went and ate at the Gaingus Grill.. idk how to really spell it but anyways it was soo good! It is a really cool restaurant. They have it set up and they have all of this raw meat, vegtables, seasonings, sauces and everything you else to make stir fry and you get as much as you can in the bowl they give you and you can put whatever your heart desires in it and then they cook it in front of you!! It was great! Then we went to the church that I attend here in Nashville, and then for dessert we went to the CHEESECAKE FACTORY! And talk about good, oh my. We all got a different kind so we could all taste each others : ] I got Chocolate Raspberry truffle! so good! I almost forgot to say what I got for my birthday from my family! And, I don't know how! I got an iPOD!!!!!! I was so so so so suprised! Sometime right after Christmas I had mentioned to my mom that I hadnever thought I would ever use an iPod but I said now I think if I had one I really would. and guess what! I have one now! Its so cute too! haha.. its pink : ] Its a nano.. I'm still trying to figure out how to use it all the way but I'm loving it. I did download one c.d to put on there as a birthday present to myself. It's Priscilla Ahn's "A Good Day". She is my new favorite singer I think! Her voice is so beautiful and her music just makes me relax and puts me in a good mood! But what a great birthday I had! I am so blessed with all of the many wonderful people that I have in my life, I couldn't ask for better friends and family. They really do mean the world to me and I hope that they know that : ] Here are some pics from my birthday weekend! Let me just explain why there is a quote on the picture below.. well when we were taking the pic Kendall said "I just started smiling my freshman year".. haha he was referring to the fact that he used to never ever show his teeth when we would smile until his freshman year.. it was funny to us so jen made this cute picture on picnik with it! It made me laugh a lot! ENJOY!

Kendall, Jenn, and me at the cheesecake factory : ]

Tiff, me, and KB at the flames game!

My new iPod : ]

A Big City & the Bahamas

Well.. I haven't ever really travled that much before.. when I was little we were always playing summer league softball and baseball, and my dad coaches lots of sports and my brother Kendall plays a lot of sports so our summers weren't ever really spent going on any crazy vacations, we went to a few places but none to far away. We did go to Colorado one vacation and that one was my most favorite! it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, but anyways its alright we weren't gone so much because I wouldn't trade those summers for a single thing. I am very thankful for all of those summers that I got to spend in Sesser. Now that I am not there anymore it makes me appreciate that small town a lot more than ever thought.. One of the best places. They were summers to remember for sure : ] But, this year apparently is different and I will be travleing a little more! I'm so excited! As you already know I went to Disney World which I had never done so that is one thing.

And, then in March I am going to New York City with my school on a missions trip! This is something that I am soooo excited because going to NYC has always been kind of a dream of mine. I like the big city life. Anyways we are going to be working with NYC Ministries and we will be working with them during the day and then at night we are going to get to do some touristy stuff I guess you could say, so I just really can't wait at all! There is a great group of students from my school that are going together and I know that it will be an amazing time and I will learn so much while I am there.

Now for the kinda crazy one... I'm going on a CRUISE! This is crazy to me. I really can't believe it, but me and my friends from Illinois : ] are going on a cruise!!!! Wow! We have always wanted to go somewhere, and we always planned it but it never happened. BUT, this time the tickets have been ordered! I can not wait! We will be leaving from Port Canaveral, then going to the Island of Cococay, and then to the island of Nassau! wow! We will be cruising through the Bahamas. We will be leaving on the 1st and coming back on the 5th of June. What a great vacation i think! There are seven of us going, 2 girls and 5 boys. Clearly the girls are a little out numbered but that is okay. We will have so much fun, and none the less. We will be sailing on the "the Monarch of the Seas". Sounds like a great boat to me!

This is going to be a great year! Growing up is kind of scrary and crazy sometimes, but you also get to do more fun things! I'm excited to see what is ahead of me! I'm so lucky to get these wonderful opportunities to go and see and do all of these wonderful things. I'm a very blessed girl and I thank God for that every day!

Florida, A Wedding, and Disney World, and now back to school..

Soooo this past week has been kind of a crazy one! One of my best friends from college got married in Florida. I had the wonderful honor of being one of her bridesmaids! It was my first time for that so I was really excited. Well the wedding was so beautiful, and I thought that it went absolutely perfect! The bride was beautiful, and the church, and decor, and just everything about it went soo good!.. well I will tell one funny thing that happened that could have been bad. Alyssa, the brides sister, was the maid of honor and right before we went to walk down the aisle she decided she had to go to the bathroom so she took the groom's ring off in the nursery we were in before.. well she forgot to put it back on her finger before she came out and she didn't realize it until she was already on the stage! oh no! however, she did recover nicely. See, she was standing next to the bride and the best man was standing next to the groom, Ryan. The rest of us were standing in couples on the stage stairs.. Me and the guy that I was standing with were right next to Alyssa. Luckily my guy is married and he had his ring on! She managed to get his attention without anyone noticing, to tell him what was going on.. So when Ashlee handed Alyssa her bouquet, and then Alyssa handed me hers she grabbed the ring from the groomsmen I was standing with and then handed Ashlee that ring to give to Ryan. Ashlee and Ryan were a little confused but it turned out funny and not to bad. And, Ryan got his real ring right after the ceremony! haha.. Here are some pics from the wedding.. These aren't the professional ones...

Well.. the day after the wedding we got to go to DISNEY WORLD! I was soooo excited because I had never been before! Well, let me just say it is more than ever could have imagined. It really did make me so happy while I was there. It really is the craziest place I have ever been to, not that I have been to that many crazy places. But, it was so interesting.. just how detailed everything is, and how much money and effort gets put into that place! It really just amazed me! I'm going to admit something that a lot of people may think is silly.. At the end of every night they have a fireworks show by the castle which is absolutely beautiful and was still all light up with 200,000 lights from Christmas, it was one of the most beautiful things I've seen. Anyways, while the fireworks are going on they play this song about dreams and wishes coming true. And I am a firm believer in dreams, and that you can do what your heart desires.. well the song really got to me I guess and I CRIED! I didn't cry a lot but i don't know I guess it was just an emotional moment lol.. but Disney World was great and I got to meet the Disney Princesses, Mickey and Minnie, Buzz Light Year, the Winnie the Pooh Characters and some others, I rode Space Mountain twice(which was awesome), went to see an awesome 3-D show, rode Splash Mountain, and so many more other things! It was such a great day! And, if you can't tell I REALLY REALLY LOVED IT!!! haha.. All my dreams came true : ]

Here are some pictures of our fun times at Magic Kingdoms!

But, after my fun adventures in Florida, I'm not back in Nashville. Its good to be back. Class starts back tomorrow which is whatever.. but I'm excited for a new semseter and a new year. I just hope it stops raining here sometime soon because it has for the past 3 days! yuck! I hope you have a good day!