As part of my birthday celebration, my friend Lindsey and I went on a road trip to Sioux Falls (about 80 miles north) to go shopping!
We had a blast!!! It included lots of laughing, talking, shopping (duh), forgetting my wallet at home, borrowing money, laughing so hard you choke on your supper, singing to Michael Buble, and ending the day by totally owning our government debate.
This birthday was the best ever and I'm so thankful to all who helped me celebrate!! :D
Here's some pics of the trip yesterday:
Lindsey was the official road trip driver!
LOVED these heels!!! They made me about six inches taller. :D
Do they know how to spell Merry Christmas in Germany?
Adorable little puppy sitting in the back of an adorable little bug
T.J. Maxx and Charlotte Russe (yes!!!!)
On our way home!
Road trip soundtrack (happy)
This was pretty much the coolest thing ever.....
Two of my favorite purchases. I am in love with all things Snoopy. So, a Snoopy shirt and stationary. win.
Thanksgiving this year was BEYOND wonderful :)
I have so much to be thankful for, and I got to spend with some of the best people on earth: my family.
God is so good and has blessed me beyond words.
So here's the story...(in pictures of course. I apologize for the blurriness of them. They were taken with my iPod :P)
We headed out to my granparents Wednesday night, and this picture does NOT do the beautiful sunset justice!
To celebrate my grandparents' Swedish heritage...
...we stopped at a Swedish grocery store in Oakland, NE (the Swedish capital of NE)...
...to get Knackebrod. (it's like a HUGE cracker).
When we arrived, my grandma had pie waiting for us!
My daddy - happy with his pie and coffee!
And since some of us think that pie is the worst dessert ever invented, there were also cookies. My grandma makes the best cookies over. Hands down. No questions asked.
My baby cakes kept a close eye on ALLLL the food!
We hung out with my grandparents and talked and ate and watched basketball. (Ryan and Tyler and I stayed up with my grandpa and watched Duke win the Maui Invitational :D)
Enjoying yummy food and awesome people.
Meddie and I got bored and started taking pictures <3
Thanksgiving morning dawned bright and warm. So most of us decided to go on a walk :)
I came home to find the football game on....
....and the table set!!!!!
LET THEM EAT CAKE, er, THANKSGIVING DINNER!
As we got ready to leave that night....
....poor Cody got so nervous that he'd get left behind. (it was rather cute to watch)
So that was my Thanksgiving :)
I'm so thankful for many things that I don't even know where to start!
But what I'm most grateful for this year is the wonderful gift of salvation purchased by our Savior.
And that He chose ME to be His child...not by anything that I had done. He loved me and has a plan for me :)
God is good and I just can't praise Him enough!!!
(I worked Black Friday, 1-10 PM....it sounded horrible, but God's grace did MORE than enough. I couldn't have asked for more :) )
Have a blessed Sunday!
Birthdays are just awesome :D :D
This week two of my good friends from CollegePlus! (CP) are turning 18 and MY 18th birthday is on Sunday.
I actually already got my birthday present which was a roundtrip ticket to California in January to meet some of my CP friends in person!!! (I'm just a TAD bit excited!!)
So a very happy birthday to Kluane (check out her photography AND her "life" or whatever you wanna call it blogs :D), Collin, AND to myself of course :D
Hope you had a great Monday!!
I'm not often left speechless.
This morning in church, I was.
This past week has been busy and stressful.
This coming week will be ten million times more so.
I feel in over my head, like I'm drowning.
Sinking
Deeper
And
Deeper.
God has been good, but I still feel like I can't get out of this deep dark cavern.
I've lost sleep over it.
It's just constantly on my mind.
BUT THIS MORNING!
Oh I cannot even begin to express how I.M.P.E.C.C.A.B.L.E God's timing is!
Pastor Sowers prays before the sermon, and THEE first words out of his mouth are:
"Do you ever feel like you're in over your head?"
O_O
Ok, God...I'm listening.
God just really spoke to me through 2 Corinthians 3:1-6.
It was exactly what I needed to hear.
I was floored.
In that passage, Paul speaks on relying on God to be sufficient for us.
Oh how I needed that reminder!
Even when we complain about how we're incapable of doing something, God comes gently and tell us, I will take care of you.
God's grace is sufficient.
It might not look pretty, but He is there.
Every
Step
Of
The
Way.
God is so good, you guys!
TRUST HIM!!!!
I would appreciate any and all prayers for this week :)
The first would be that it's my twin brothers' 15th birthday!
Click here to see pics and see how great they are! :D
I love you, Rye Bread and T-Bird!
You guys are some of my bestest friends and I'm so thankful for both of you :)
Also, I'm taking a break from all things online this week, so there will be no blog posts for awhile.
I love you all and you'll hear from me soon!
(prayers would be much appreciated!)
God is good.
Have a great week!
I've often posted videos of The Piano Guys.
My brothers and I like to refer to them as the Sickly Talented Guys.
Each video progressively gets better and more impressive.
Enjoy!
Ever since I can remember, I wanted a sister.
I imagine doing her hair and her nails.
I imagined us staying up into the wee hours of the night giggling about who knows what.
Every time my mom would tell me she was having another baby, oh how I would pray that it would be a girl!!
But it never was. >.< (don't get me wrong, brothers are awesome!)
Life went on, but I still dreamed of having a little sister.
Pretty soon I was in high school and the little sister dream pretty much went down the drain.
I mean, I would be going to college and I would barely get to know my little sister even if I did get one.
And then, our family decided to adopt.
A girl of course!
Oh how happy I was!!
I was FINALLY going to get a sister!
I loved my little sister even before I knew who she was.
She and I clicked from the day she arrived home.
She and I are sisters.
I HAVE A SISTER!
And the sister I have is one who didn't have a future.
She was an orphan.
But she's my sister.
I love her to death and am so thankful for her everyday.
This video shows something we do quite often.
She LOVES to be tickled and every time that I tickle her, she says in her adorable little accent, "You funny, Katie!" ;)
I love you, Peaches, and I'm so thankful that God gave me YOU as my sister. <3
The face of my beloved little sister before she was officially ours.
That is the face of a child who has no hope.
And this is my adorable little sissy seven and a half months later.
She's part of a family who lavishes love on her everyday.
The change in her has been incredible.
Today was orphan Sunday.
You might say, "So what? What's so important about orphan Sunday?"
I'll tell you why it's important.
It's important because God says it's important.
Our hearts need to break with what breaks His.
The vulnerable breaks His heart.
In James, God defines religion as this: "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this to visitorphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:27)
It's SO important to learn about orphans and how we can serve them.
Through that, we can learn more about God and what He wants and what HE cares about.
As Christians, we can't stand idly by.
God calls us to reach out.
We have been adopted as children of GOD!!!
How can we just sit around and do nothing?
How can we just have an indifferent, apathetic attitude?
We.Must.Act.
And not everybody's outreach towards orphans will look the same.
Not everyone is called to adopt.
My family was.
Some are called to support financially.
And others are just called to be prayer warriors.
No matter how you choose to act, YOU ARE CALLED TO ACT.
As your sister in Christ, I BEG you to act!
You have been adopted.
Go and share the good news of that with those who have no hope.
I have a former orphan who is now my sister.
I know an orphan's story that once had a very bleak outlook, but was changed by being adopted into a family who could share THEIR love and more importantly, God's.
God's love does make a difference.
Please, I beg you to pray for what God might have for you.
This post has some serious and some fun.
Hence, serious fun. >.<
Kind of like this puppy.
He looks SO serious, but he makes me giggle.
Serious first....
My VERY dear friend Ruthiey wrote this post yesterday, and I was just floored.
Click here to see it.
Ok...now for the fun :D
Last night, my friend Lindsey were sitting in her car and chatting after class.
We had the radio on and the song "Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble came on.
Being the silly little girls we are, we blared it and sang at the top of our lungs.
If you've never heard it before, well, you need to!!!
Click here to listen to it....this music video is AWESOME!
My favorite classical musicians, The Piano Guys, came out with a new video this last week.
As usual, it's TOTALLY legit. :D
These kinds of songs make me wish that I had a soundtrack to my life made up of classical music.
I mean, whenever there was a monumental moment, you could have dramatic music playing.
Wouldn't that just make life that much cooler?!
But anyway....
Classical music also makes me wish I had pursued a stringed instrument.
One of my dreams was to play in a professional symphony.
Unfortunately, that stayed a dream.
So now, I just have to content in being in awe at the wonderful gift of classical music.
Without further ado, here is the awesomeness of The Piano Guys. :)
