this is why i'm scared of animals.....

and also why i despise going to the zoo.

Oh no Topanga....

Must you be like everyone else?? 

I had such high hopes for you....

Thanks Alanna!!!!!

So my dad booked my flight home for Christmas too early....
and i missed taking our high school staff christmas picture!!!!
but never fail....Alanna has some crazy awesome photoshop skills! 
Not sure how she found this picture of me, George W, and my roommate in college But well done Alanna! Well done!!!

I LOVE MY JOB!

I LOVE MY TEAM! 

I cannot wait for this!!

Only my small group....

gets kicked off candy cane lane for dancing in the street. =)
super fun night celebrating Christmas with the "small" group!
Even if we were asked to leave....haha.

Deep Thoughts From listening to David Crowder....

SUCH A GOOD SONG!!

At the start
he was there, he was there
In the end,
he’ll be there, he’ll be there 

And After all our hands have wrought
He forgives 

Oh the Glory of it all is:
he came here
For the rescue of us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all
for the glory of it all 

All is lost
find him there, find him there
After night
Dawn is there, Dawn is there 

After all falls apart
he repairs he repairs 

Oh the Glory of it all is:
he came here
for the rescue of us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all 

oh he is here
for redemption from the fall
that we may live
for the glory of it all
oh the glory of it all
the glory of it all
oh the glory of it all 

After night
comes the light
dawn is here
dawn is here
it’s a new day
it’s a new day
everything will change
things will never be the same
we will never be the same
we will never be the same
we will never be the same
we will never be the same 

Oh, The glory of it all is
you came here
for the rescue of us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all 

Oh you are here
with redemption for us all
that we may live
for the glory of it all

Dear david crowder....you have a way with words that makes me feel closer to God and see Him in a new light. 

That's rad. 

worst movie ever.

do not go see The Mist.

WORST MOVIE EVER.

this is why you join a small group....

two of our guys got baptized today after the 11:15 service!!! 

So us girls decided we'd jump in with them and do it together...clothes and all!! 

I LOVE THIS GROUP!!! =) 

Hands down...

hardest week i've had since starting in youth ministry. 

Delivering bad news to a student's parents is THE WORST thing ever. 

Nothing like being hated by a student you totally love to remind you why you do what you do! 

on a happier note...bowling with the small group was a blast today. 

And also...bethany and i did this on the way home while i was driving....ha this is AGAIN why we are friends. 

this will be our christmas card when we are roommates for sure.....
what would i do without great friends?!?

Dear Student Zone....

I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT YOU!!

We took a tour of the student zone today and I seriously cannot wait for the day it opens. Lives are going to be changed by what takes place inside those walls...i can just picture our sweet kids hanging out...building relationships...coming to services....playing basketball....i can just see all of it and I CAN'T WAIT! To give our students a safe place to hang out with people that love them...it's priceless. I'm praying for Griff and ETV this weekend that the congregation would see the value of what will take place inside those walls! 

dear zack...1998 called....they said they had enough extras for saving private ryan...

Happy Cleaning Day!!

Today was cleaning day around the office....Katie and I volunteered to clean the DISGUSTING fridge out.

there was this nasty bag of chicken found by katie...

this amazingly old sandwhich
celery (on the left) that was barely recognizeable
this moldy piece of cheese.....
this ketchup to be scraped off.....


all in all....it was a good cleaning day. =)

Life Time Movie....

So...my life is kinda like a lifetime movie right now....here's the run down of my trip to Florida/Georgia/Louisiana/Mississippi/South Carolina. 

I flew to Jacksonville, Florida on thursday morning....drove to my parents in Georgia where once again I GOT A NEW CAR!! Then on Monday I flew to New Orleans, Louisiana where my sister picked me up and we drove to her house in Mississippi. On Wednesday I drove from Mississippi back to my parents in Georgia with my 2 nephews. Then this morning we got up and drove to Charleston, South Carolina to meet the second half of my family that we never knew about...only to fly back to California in the morning and leave for Chi Alpha on saturday. woooo i'm gonna die. ha. 

So why is my life a lifetime movie....well apparently my grandpa got his girl friend pregnant in high school and they gave the little boy (eddie) up for adoption without telling anyone. When Eddie's adopted parents died he found out he was adopted and started tracing back his family and he found us. SO we all met up here in S.C. for a little family reunion deal. IT'S BEEN SO FUN!! So now i have an Aunt and Uncle and 3 cousins that i never knew about...and they are so so so so sooooo nice. And we also found out there's most likely another sibling they are trying to track down...the plot thickens...Oprah here we come. =) 

I MISS CALIFORNIA!!! 

I MISS COFFEE WITH BETHANY!! 

I MISS MY FRIENDS!!

I MISS MY STUDENTS!!! 

I can't wait to come home tomorrow. =) 

Things about Georgia that are funny....

you can buy this at a gas station....(which i did of course)

and this sign is necessary in a bathroom.....

so i got a new car....

I'M SO EXCITED!!!
i'm gonna sell my car and drive this one back at christmas!!!
Road trip anyone???

Dear Oregon trail...

I LOVE YOU!!! =)
here's a recap of the rough day we had on the trail....

It started out with Me, Bethany, Katie Shannon, Zack, and Shaun.
Water got scarce and Zack died of thirst....

Things were going well until Bethany almost drowned....

But fear not....Tom Holladay came along to save the day....

She had frostbite from her near death experience....

but we pressed on.
Until all of the sudden....death struck again and Shaun died of thirst.

then out of no where....tradgedy struck again....and Bethany died from reasons unknown.

These were our choices on how to deal with her death...i believe we continued immediately.

this is her sad face over her recent death.

This is katie and I staying strong on the long trip.

To be continued....

25 questions from Katie...

in 3 words or less...
1. Where is your cell phone? by my foot.
2. Who is your boyfriend/girlfriend or Husband/Wife? no thank you.
3. Where is one of your parents? home in georgia
4. Cheesecake? a lovely treat.
5. Your favorite thing to do? mondays with bethany
6. Your dream last night? not a clue
7. Your favorite drink? a little rootbeer
8. The room you're in? not mine, weird.
9. George Bush? i love him.
10. What you're good at? being open minded.
11. One of your wish list items? my own apartment
12. Where did you grow up? hawaii, georgia, tennessee
13. The last thing you did? freshman small group
14. What are you wearing? soccer pants, shirt.
15. Who stole your sunglasses? a cute little african boy. =)
16. Ketchup? not necessary
17. Your computer? white mac book
18. Your life? so so great.
19. Your mood? a little tired.
20 Your next blog? something funny happens.
21. Your car is? pretty dang dirty.
22. Your summer? spent in africa. =)
23. Your relationship status? a little complicated.
24. Your favorite color(s)? green!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
25. When is the last time you laughed? during small group


i tag my beeeeeeest friend mariah. =)

Fun Lunch

#1 John Sterns has the WORLD'S FLATTEST FEET!! #2 this is a fun group of people to share a lunch table with.

Yesterday

Right behind the oakley building in foothill/portola hills area....

New Pictures

these were right outside Griff's house....taken with the miraculous shutter speed of my iphone. ha.

That's only in the morning....