tonight:

iv large group

listened to jazz while cleaning my room/packing with no lights but candles

late night stroll with alli and finn

now im gonna jump in bed and read for a short bit

tomorrow:

wake up

breakfast

walk

work

craft fair

go to the movies with alli

night walk

get all packed and ready to go

saturday:

wake up

work

airport

fly home

(read my book on the plane, study in the terminals)

get home.

see family&sugar&hill.

HERE is something funny to watch me of me and my roommates

click here

to learn about a man who is a devoted, passionate servant of the Lord, serving here at NAU with InterVarsity.

if you would like to learn more about him click here.

and you might be interested in supporting him.

a few weeks ago, he noticed i was a bit stuck. i wanted to learn much much more about Scripture, so he approached me and offered me an afternoon of his to show me some interesting ways that he has approached studying/reading God's Word.

he didn't have to do that. but he did.

and his heart is so evidently broken that our generation is ignoring the importance of Scripture and prayer. he is making a difference here at NAU.

so is Theo Davis and Ashley Boelter (my mentor)

go to the link, by contacting Brian there is a way to donate to Theo or Ashley.

go to Ashley's blog and contact her about donating.

Last year, when Hillary left, Ashley asked to have lunch with me. We talked about my anxiety about having her gone, feeling no connection to Flagstaff, how I wanted to move, and how I felt I had no friends. She then started inviting me everywhere. She got me connected and plugged in here. Before we talked I thought I was going to leave NAU, and now I don't even want to study abroad because I love it so much here. Now I meet ever other week with her. She is a strong woman of God who is always encouraging me to find fulfillment in Him alone, finding contentment and joy in Him. Life is different for me, and many others here at NAU because of Ashley Boelter.

the staff who serve with intervarsity don't make money, they raise it.

just thought i'd plug this :)

my lovely day.

i haven't cut my hair in forever. but i've dyed it probably six times since the beginning of summer. its dead. fried. i've dyed it. curled it. straightened it. ew.

so i wanted to get it cut asap. then at our work meeting on sunday night, all the girls were given a $40 gift certificate to the aveda salon! how sweet is that? so i decided it was time. i chatted with my mom yesterday about the plans to get my hair done and how i wished i could get my eyebrows waxed but knew i was being silly and couldn't afford it. i called yesterday to set up an appointment for today to get my hair trimmed and a deep conditioning treatment (which i must tell you was far beyond necessary).

so after my classes i went to the aveda salon. as i was greeted at the front the sweet lady told me that my mom called and took care of the whole thing, as well as added an eyebrow wax! are you serious? mom! why did you do that? the whole time i was being treated like a queen, i kept smiling and telling everybody i came in contact with how much i didn't deserve this, and how sweet my mother was. afterwards i call my mom and she hardly let me thank her. my sweet mama has a serving, generous heart that keeps giving and giving. im totally undeserving of her in my life.

so here's the finished product...

i got home, had a snack and my dear roommate alli came home. we went to our friends (ben&dave's) apartment to watch the suns game (they won). ben and i played some guitar and sang together for awhile. then us four chatted for quite some time, which was such a sweet relaxing time. i'm still sore from laughing.

but alli and i had serious business to get to so we had to leave.

this serious business was our late night stroll that we can't and don't ever miss.

we walked and talked and laughed.

we got home. made tea. i washed my face/brushed my teeth and jumped into bed.

and here i am!

tomorrow:

sleep in, make breakfast, clean the house, and study.

then my small group is come over to study & chat.

thursday:

class from 9am-6pm.

exam at 4pm.

dinner with lizzy.

iv large group.

friday:

work.

date night with alli

(make dinner, get christmas decoration/tree, decorate house, listen to christmas music, watch christmas movie, peppermint hot coco, late night walk)

saturday:

work

fly FLG-->PHX

study

fly PHX-->SLO

dinner with fam&hill.

sunday:

church

afternoon with mama

have a wonderful day!!

update.

this is my dear riley.

what has happened to me?

i am now a committed cat lover.

if you know me.. this is very strange.

in the beginning of the year, the cat laid on my bed so i washed my sheets.

now we snuggle at night, he gives me kitty kisses and i lovvee cuddle times!

and this is my dearest and bestest flagstaff friend allison (alli) comick.

she is my upstairs roommate.

every night we go on a long walk with her poodle finn.

she is so much like my mom's college best friend carolyn. and im so much like my mom.

and they are still good friends. and thats what we expect to happen with us.

alli and i have discussed our future plans of being life long friends and living close by.

and having bi-daily walks with our children in strollers in the afternoons and our dogs at night.

you have no idea how much i love this girl.

and my cat.

i'm also fond of my dark hair and nose ring.

and my small group/small group co-leader.

and my mentor ashley.

and my two new friends ben&dave.

and my other two roommates aly&laura.

and fall/winter in flagstaff and my home.

(its 44 degrees right now, but the sun is coming through my window and keeping my warm).

i love my job and all the lovely ladies i work with.

God is so good and faithful.

But I and some friends are entering a time of pruning, and it hurts. Real Bad.

We could use some prayer.

Especailly one dear dear friend of mine.

So if you think of us, please pray.

Thanks!

By the way..

I'll be home.. ON SATURDAY!

My dad's 63rd bday is on Friday, I fly in Saturday night.

Greeted by daddy, mama, and, gram, pops & hill!

Off to dinner we will go.

Then the next morning, the whole fam is going to hill's baptism.

Then I will spend a week relaxing, eating, drinking & being merry with my dear family.

hillissa..

hillary has come and gone. and it was one of the best weekends ever.

i picked her up thursday night at airport. all day before her arrival, my smile never faded.

i ran into the airport and when i saw hill almost cried while squeezing the guts out of her.

we went home, made dinner and our friend colt came over for dinner/tea.

we got ready and headed to intervarsity where hillary and i were reunited with our dear friend stephanie barber:

the three of us were inseparable fall 08 of freshman year.

it was such a blessing to be back together, being silly.

then hillary and i drove down to phoenix/scottsdale on friday to shop. we went to last chance, my sister's closet and buffalo exchange (my three favorite resale shops). we definitely dominated our wallets.

after shopping, on our way back up to flag, we stopped at krispy kreme to get our fix:

we got home at about 7, and didn't leave my room once for the rest of the night.

we woke up the next day (saturday) and headed downtown to macy's for some coffee:
the rest of the afternoon was spent strolling along downtown flagstaff.

later that evening we met up with some dear girlfriends of mine for dinner. we ate at mountain oasis (hill and i shared portobello mushroom ravioli), and then all of us headed back home to make some pizookie and tea. we had a great time chit chatting and giggling. it was strange how woman-like we all felt. having dinner out, discussing customizing credit cards and how movies are too inappropriate these days. but it was lovely:

(above from left... lizzy, claren, me, hill, steph, dallas)

sunday morning we woke up, went to church, had lunch with steph and our friend randi at the hot spot (cafeteria at nau). we then went back to stephs and chatted for quite a while. we went home, and my bestfriend/roommate alli was home (she went back home for the weekend), so hill, alli and i spent the afternoon talking in my bedroom. we started watching sex&the city. then our dear friends ben& dave came over and we smashed/chopped pumpkins in my kitchen all night:

(above... ben, me and hill)

(below... dave and i)

the next day (monday) we woke up late, met up with our friend matt for lunch, then met up with steph for coffee. it was getting late but decided to head over to marshalls/old navy to do some more damage. we had to hurry home, pack up, and head on over to the airport.

we sat in the airport for sometime, talking about thanksgiving plans, winterbreak plans and such.

i was going to come home nov 24-30, but hill, my dear sister is getting BAPTIZED on nov 22, so im switching my flight to be there.

i must say that i am extremely blessed to have such a beautiful sister/bestfriend. pure & passionate heart, sharp/intelligent girl, who just loves jesus. so so sweet.

after taking hill to the airport i came home and hung out with my dear roommate alli (who has become my best friend in flagstaff, and one of my best friends on the planet). we went on a long walk and talked. then we went to ben&dave's to watch the sun's game. our friend jamie told us she made some cookies, so we went over there. she was sick so we stopped by the market to get some soup, and by the time we were there all the boys had already gotten there, and were consuming OUR cookies. we watched the steeler game, then went home to clean.. but we never did. alli and i spent the whole evening laughing in bed, joking, being silly, being serious on the verge of tears, being pathetic, talking about boys, our insecurities... it was just ridiculous. but i loved it.

so what have i decided? i have the worlds greatest girlfriends.

right now..

i am sitting in bed with hillary.

its been a great weekend so far. and still not over.

tonight we went to dinner with four girlfriends of mine (steph, lizzy, claren & dallas).

then we all came back here to my house and made some pizookie.

here's a picture from earlier tonight:

i hope you are having a wonderful evening/morning :)

phantom with claren.

yesterday after class i picked claren up, we ran to both of our houses, grabbed some stuff, got some gas and snacks, and hit the road. we drove down to phoenix to see the phantom of the opera at asu's gammage theatre.

we stopped at claren's mom's house to get changed and have a deliscious dinner.

we realized we were so late so we sprinted out the door and sped our way to the theatre.

got there just in the nick of time.. or maybe a couple minutes late..

the show was great. beautifully done. we both enjoyed it a great deal.

after the show we went and stopped by to say hi to her friend chad, then attempted to find an open krispy kreme at midnight. no luck. so we went to in&out. got coffee and fries.

we started driving home, listened to a message called "truefaced" given by john lynch to a group of navigator students. then we just listened and sung songs about jesus, and it was great.

we got home around 3, when we embarked on... our first sleepover ever!

it was awesome.

claren is becoming one of my best friends. we are so much alike its crazy. similar mom's lead to similar daughters. both not too into the consumption of animal flesh. respond to others in similar ways. similar love languages. both have cat personalities. we know what the other is thinking before we say a word. our bodies even respond to coffee and tea similarly. so weird. but its great. she gets me. i get her. we can encourage each other, joke, be silly, be serious. i just love the girl. God definitely meant for us to be pals, and mended and restored a broken relationship/relationships to create something better than what we imagined.

this weekend she looked at me and said "we've only been friends for a couple weeks but i feel like we've been friends forever. and i love it."

so here are some pictures (really horrible camera phone pictures) from last night: