Full of Joy

i have finally made it out into the world of mississippi! i was starting to go stir crazy a bit! the place where i was assigned is just as the name describes: the house is PINK, there are about 7 pit bulls, 2 pit puppies, and two taco dogs...one is so small it's like a little bigger then a mouse! i LOVE it! i love all the puppies...AND the family has a BABY and two little kids! what a perfect place for me to be assigned! i keep smiling to myself thinking, "God had this place in mind for me..." i have been painting, priming, and playing with the little girl. her name is alexis. yesterday, as we were leaving, we all said good-bye to her. i turned around to get into the van to leave and she yelled, "WAIT!" i turned around and she came running towards me, arms wide open...i leaned down to hug her and picked her right up. she hung there for a bit and i just sqeezed her! oh how precious! i don't thin i will forget that as long as i live. i hope we go ba...

hey y'all (again!)! we have to have a "devotional" in a couple minutes, so this has gotta be quick. there's obviously too much to write and not enough words to say it all. i am deffinately getting into the groove of things here, and i like it better each day. i keep thinking to myself, "this is not a glamorous job..." there is ZERO glamour here. not that i was expecting that, or wanting it, but there is none. for me, i am designated to stay back at "camp"...this means i help prepare all the meals, and clean up after each meal as well. in between meals, i clean all the bathrooms (hairy shower drains and all!), dinning room, hallways, and vaccum both the guys and girls "dorm". after all that is done, there are odd jobs that i am in charge of. one of the main jobs has been for me to clean out this big 'ol RV that has not been lived in since october. there are absolutelyl rats, mice, and some remnents of cock roaches out there......

HEY Y'ALL!! (did i mention i love it here?!) i just wrote my family an email...and thought i'd post it. it gives a bit of an update about things so far...it's a bit personal, but i wanted to share about things...and i'm getting tired and don't feel like writing some thing new! :) by the way....they have sweet tea galore here...yet another reason why it rocks here! hello father, mother, brother, sista, and johnny cakes!! :) just wanted to let ya know that we made is safely to MS!! it's an AMAZING mid to high 60's here, humid and muggy and i could NOT be happier!! oh my word. we went to the beach, took off our shoes, and walked straight into the ocean...BLISS. i am soooooooooooooooooooo happy to be here, i can't even tell you. we made it to our "dorm" tonight. the building is used for: church, dorms (upstairs), kitchen (super nice, and i see LOTS of coffee and syrups so that makes me so happy!! i also see eggo syrup so that makes me happy as...

i am stealing this from research that jamie did...but it's just struck a cord in my heart...making me ache tonight. i am extremely thankful that i get to go help in just a few days. makes any thing else i could possibly blog about seem quite trite. these pictures alone just make me sick... http://members.tripod.com/4christe/WavelandDamage The city of Waveland, Mississippi was almost totally destroyed by HurricaneKatrina on August 29, 2005, and is now in the slow process of recovering and rebuilding. In a news report, state officials said Waveland took a harder hit from the wind and water than any other town along the Gulf Coast, and that the town was obliterated. Thirty-six years earlier, in 1969, Wavelandhad been severely damaged by Hurricane Camille. Official reports stated that approximately 50 people died when Waveland washit directly by the eyewall of Katrina and the 32-foot storm surge. Hurricane Katrina came ashore during the high tide of 8:01AM, +2.2 feetmore. Hurricane Kat...

happy valentines day! i adore valentines day. really, i love any excuse to celebrate- let alone celebrating the people in my life who i love and love me! amongst the many gifts i received today, i got a big, massive bag of m 'm m's from my mama. they are valentine-specific, but they are all green! apparently green is the new color of love. hhhmmm...green m 'n m's have come a long way since my jr. high years. is any body with me on this point?! since we're on the topic, i have quite a traumatizing story about yellow m 'n m's as well relating back to jr. high. i'll leave that alone for now! today is a day to celebrate LOVE! my day was just packed full of sweet things :) but i am going to narrow it down to one of God's gifts to me. you see, for the past couple of days, i have been a bit of a wreck inside. i haven't slept well. my mind is wrestling around with a lot of issues. i go to bed stinkin' late, and wake up stinkin' early b...

tonight rocked. my whole store got to go out for a "party" which meant we went bowling and had food all on sbux. i am going to bed, but i just wanted to say that i love these people. so much. oh, and i WON!!!! :) here is about half of them... some of us girls...ALWAYS tons of laughing!!

it's technically monday, but i am holdin' strong to sunday still. i never want to let sundays go. i'm not ready to start the week. this was a particularly phenominal sunday. i actually got to relax this afternoon for the first sunday afternoon in months! i fell asleep to the sounds of some sort of sporting event on tv that swz was watching. i think they were bouncing a ball of some sort? maybe trying to make a goal? and what better way to put me to sleep then to be bored into my blissful, dreamy state? there were many other factors into my super sunday, but i'm too tired to continue. as a follow up to my last entry, i did call grampy. and i will continue to call.

yesterday i was running hungry. last night i was running tired. this morning i am "it's hard to get out of bed" running sore. this, this is why i run. there is a truck load of stuff on my mind. some of it is really deep, some of it is just lingering. for instance, i've been thinking a lot about my Grampy. he has cancer, has no voice (as a result of the previous), and it just breaks my heart when i call him. i keep telling myself i "should" call more often, or i "should" do this or that. well, to be quite honest, it's hard. it's hard to face reality, and really live in the reality of this situation. i'm also thinking about Holly, my cousin. her death weighs on me, in a sense, and will for the rest of my life. a woman asked me yesterday what the "green ribbon on my apron" was for. i have this answer that flies out of my mouth any time some one asks me that. "my cousin was killed in a car accident, and she was an or...

i finally joined the gym again. it's been a long time coming. and as i get ready for my loooooong day tomorrow, i ask myself "what am i thinking?" running again? blah. i guess it's because i've turned into a bit of a blob. the time has come. i need to be healthy. it's very important to me to take care of my body. it's just that i have really enjoyed not exercising these past few months. all my life, i've been obsessed with working out, and it's been nice to just come home and not worry about it. i need to make a list of why i run (or work out in some other way) to help keep my attitude upbeat. it seems as if the downside of the list is way bigger. why run? it's important for my heart it lowers stress a good stress reliever helps me to vent when i'm angry i feel good about myself allows me to eat more burns calories lose some of the blob ok. i still don't feel better. it's taking all my restraint not to write all the ba...

i can never resist these things. these questions have been "haunting" me all day... 8 Things I’m Passionate About: 1. people in my life believing God loves them 2. holding to my personal convictions 3. the ocean, the beach (the only true beach) 4. my home 5. starbucks 6. babies 7. jeeps 8. drums (even though i never practice...) 8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die: 1. drum in a worship band 2. finish my book/get it published 3. take care of babies that have no mothers 4. attend a ball 5. drive with no destination for weeks 6. establish residency in the south 7. be a prayer warrior 8. be used by God to bring some one to Him 8 Things I Say Often: 1. i'm so hungry, i am going to throw up 2. ish/gross 3. what size would you like? 12, 16, or 20 ounces. would you like dark or light roast? do you want room for cream? 4. and i'm done 5. whatever 6. i can't have dairy 7. what a ween 8. love you 8 artists I never tire of listening to: 1. colbie 2. hillsong 3. mat kearney ...

it really is. gathering my thoughts at this late (early) hour is proving difficult for some reason right now. usually i am alive at night, but it's been such a day that i haven't had a chance to process it all. i am going to bed soon, and i will lay my head down on my pillow, snuggle into my comfy, soft, flannel sheets, with my 7 layers of blankets anchoring me to my cushy matress and i'm pretty sure i will drift into my sleepy, dreamy state with a faint smile tugging on my lips. today started out like any other opening shift day starts out as. early, cold, so tired i feel sick, wanting to stay in bed, and groaning at the thought of working all day. but, alas, i got up, energized by thoughts of double shots of espresso that i love so much. the work day was a bit crazy from the start (we got a new, hideously UGLY purple chair in, which created a bit of distraction that me, and my non-talking self, had to deal with). i don't remember exactly what time this happened, but a...