Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Pics from the Last 1 1/2 yrs



A Year and a Half Later. . .

So apparently I'm not great at keeping a blog. I LOVE reading my sister's blog and a few friends but real bad at remembering my own!

Well, in the last year and a half, some pretty significant things have happened. Here are some BRIEF highlights! For more detail, check out my Facebook page notes!

I stayed at Trevecca till the summer of '09. I LOVED my years there. Really loved it. The job was EXACTLY what I was supposed to be doing for those three years. I have so many great memories from that place. My favorite by far were the relationships with my girls. I met some really incredible young women there. God was so apparent in my work there as He gave me wisdom and grace to handle SO many different situations. It really was a priveledge to be a part of those girls lives for those years! And of COURSE, it was TONS of fun. Lots of laughs, lots of silly costumes, lots of happiness.

While I was at TNU, I also graduated with my Masters in Business Management! It was a lot of work but I was so blessed to be able to go to school for free and to have such a flexible schedule to get my work done!

During the last year and a half, I've also tried to see my sweet nephew every chance I get. He is an amazing little boy now. He is such a joy to be around! He is hilarious, adventureous, sweet, smart, affectionate, and full of life! Being around him makes me want even more to hopefully one day have a child/children of my own! My sister and bro-in law are such great parents to him. It's fun to see them grow as a family!

A few other really significant things. . .after I was done with Trevecca, I moved in with two roommates: Jessica & Kate. It's been really great living with them both. I was nervous about the transition of living on my own to living with roommates, but they have been great roommates, and I really have enjoyed my time with them! We have a cute apartment in West Nashville that we've had fun decorating. (We were able to paint which helped a lot) It's beautiful where we live, in the middle of heavily wooded hilly country. Very green and very pretty!

I have become very involved in my church: help lead my small group, teach 3 & 4 year old Sunday School class for about 2 years now, volunteer in the toddler nursery, and various other things as they come up. I recently went to the church Women's Retreat and shared my testimony and feel more connected than ever to my church!

During the summer after TNU, I did odd jobs including working at a Christian summer camp, Deer Run, running team building. This was such a blessing. I loved doing it, loved being in nature (although not loving the mugginess), and provided financially the extra that I needed! Then after MONTHS of searching for a permanent job, I got a job with a preschool! It really was a blessing to get this job, but ended up NOT being my cup of tea at all! I LOVE kids, but this job stressed me out :) So THEN, I got a job offer (about a month into the preschool job) with BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS!!!! This was one of the main places I was really interested in working! I could NOT believe how God had provided for me in such an amazing way!

Well, the story took a detour when the weekend before I started this new job, I had a major accident! I went camping with friends from small group and went "cliff jumping." Well, on my second jump, I hit the water wrong and broke my pelvis in TWO places. Long story short, I was life-flighted out of the canyon, had surgery, and was not able to work, walk, or drive for 3 MONTHS. So needless to say, I had to give my dreams back to the Lord.

I thought He had provided that job for me and didn't understand why He had taken it back.
He of course knew exactly how it would all work out and taught me SOOOOOO much about trusting Him FULLY. I was at a place where I had to rely on Him because I physically could not help myself. He taught me to rely on friends and family. He taught me to rely on him for finances. Through His people, financially I was provided for during the whole time on top of the fact that my medical bills that were supposed to be around $65,000-70,000 ended up only paying around $3-4,000 myself. He taught me patience, not to take things for granted, and to trust in His timing in my life.

At around 2 months, I was healing a lot faster than they expected, and I was released to start walking more and driving! I was able to be off my walker, JUST in time for my 5-Year Reunion from college! That was such a small but great answer to prayer for me! The Reunion was better than I could have imagined, and I was just so thankful to be walking again without assistance!

Around this time too, I found out that BBBS had a position for me that they wanted me to start on EXACTLY 3 months from my surgery: Nov. 16th (my surgery was Aug. 16th). What a confirmation that this was what God had for me! And the job that I was offered was actually more what I would enjoy than the original job!

So, now I've been at this job since Nov. '09, about six months now. I LOVE my job. It is such a great organization and it is amazing the difference that having a mentor can make in the life of a child.

Physically I'm doing fine. Not to 100% yet, but very little pain. Just some back pain every once in a while (if I get up quickly, or sit, stand, or lay for too long). I really am blessed though that for the most part I don't feel pain and am able to walk and live life normally. This is not something I take for granted anymore.

So, I'm pretty happy with life. I am very blessed with my family, friends, church, and job. I admit I still struggle with being completely satisfied with being single. I look around and a majority of my friends are now happily married and beginning to have children, and I'm not even dating or close to dating anyone. I really have a strong desire to be a wife and mom someday, but I'm trying to give those desires and dreams to the Lord to do with them what He wants. I know that He knows my desires-I believe He has placed them there-so I'm trying to trust Him to either change those desires or to fulfill those desires someday.

In the meantime, I am doing my best to live a life that is pleasing to Him and that would make Him proud. I'm trying to take advantage of any chance to show people His love and to grow closer to Him.

I'm satisfied here in Nashville and even love living here, but I sometimes have a restless heart that wants to explore more. I'd love to live closer to my sister so that I could be a more constant part of Noah's life. I don't know if the Lord will ever have that for me, but if He did, I'd be more than happy to be there! I still have a strong love for Colorado and out west, so maybe someday I'll be back out there again! In the meantime though, I want to take advantage of the opportunities that God has given me TODAY. I believe He has me EXACTLY where I am for a purpose and until that purpose is fulfilled, I'm staying :)

Saturday, January 03, 2009

Fall 08




Well! It's been quite the crazy last several months! This last semester was extremely busy. I doubled up on my classes so that I could finish my Masters! I took my last class in December. It is SUCH a relief and a good feeling to be done! It's been an absolute blessing to be able to go to school during this job. I have so much respect for people who juggle families, regular jobs, and school! I feel like I've learned a lot and hopefully some things that'll help me in my next job!
My RD job has been good. It also has been more stressful than normal. I had a really hard time balancing everything this semester and had a lot going on in the dorm on top of the other stuff I've been involved in. I love my RAs and love the ladies in my dorm and even in the midst of the busyness had a really great semester and some really great times with the girls! I feel so fortunate to be in this job. I feel like I always say the same things about my job, but God really has blessed my time here and taught me so much. It's been very clear that this is where I am supposed to be.
I have a great group of friends here in Nashville, most are from my small group at church but also a few that I've gotten to know through Trevecca. Through all the stress, they have been AMAZING and kept me sane! I remember a specific time especially where my friends Dev & Jess came and stole me away for dinner and brought me some sweet presents during an especially hard time in the year. My friend Matt has become like a little brother to me, and he also has been a great friend to me.
I'm hoping to play in some tennis tournaments this next semester and have a little more time to myself to pursue some of my own interests! I'm super excited for that! I'm also planning on signing up to be a "Big Sister" for Big Brothers, Big Sisters (it's a mentoring program).
I've seen my fam a few times recently which have been nice. I still love being an aunt and try to
see Noah as much as I get a chance! I don't want to miss out too much on him growing up! He is such a great kid and so fun! My parents still live in Nebraska, which they love. My bro lives in KC. My sis, bro-in law and nephew just moved to Houston.

Followers