and i'm proud to be an American...

i'll admit that sporting events are about the only time in my life that i'm truly patriotic...yes, i'm proud to be an american and all but for me to truly embrace my country it takes the olympics & world cup to really get me going.

well, if you didn't pay attention to the crazyness that was the USA's last soccer match of pool play wednesday morning then you missed out...you just need to look up the end of the match & watch landon donavon's goal. i unfortunately had to be at work for the 2nd half so i had to keep my emotions in check until i got home from work. i had to watch it a few times to really soak in how incredible not only the goal was but also the victory for the team.

even if you aren't paying attention to the world cup but are an american, this video of various reactions to donovan's game winning goal on wednesday. trust me you'll get major chills!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPmR9w&feature=youtu.be

praise Him for the small things

last wednesday the air in my car stopped working...let me clarify, not just the air conditioner but all forms of air including hot air that blows if the a/c is off. well, i must admit it really wasn't as bad of a week in my car as i thought. the only times it felt hot were when i first got in or while sitting at red lights...thank goodness for working windows or this hot natured girl would've been very sweaty heading in to work.

well, since i've put a lot of miles on my car it's no longer covered under warranty so my dad just told me to go get it checked & see what the estimated cost would be. my new friend lesley's brother is a mechanic so i took it to him this am & left with a fixed air system that to my surprise costed a whole lot less than i thought. PRAISE THE LORD!!

even more, my dad said they'll still help me out with some or all of the payment so not only do i have a newly air conditioned car to cruise around bham in but i can expect a happy check in the mail w/in the week. man, the Lord is good!

man, i love this girl

this past saturday i got to spend some quality time w/ my dear friend, kate cooper whom i hadn't seen in 3 yrs...in person that is since we have skyped since then. kate and i met freshman year of college & over the course of the next 4 yrs she became one of my dearest, bestest friends. we lived together soph and jr year and i'm ever so glad that she was one of my roommates during that time of my life. what's so great about our friendship is that from the get-go i felt an instant connection w/ her which at that point in my life was somewhat rare & even now it is just natural for me to be real & authentic with her. and while i'd love to have more opportunities to have in person hang outs w/ kate, i'm out of control grateful that the Lord has allowed our relationship to maintain its depth, trust, and awesomeness. kate has been in japan for the past 2 yrs which makes skyping difficult so i'm glad she's moving to england where the time difference isn't as difficult!

mini-goals

in a way these are goals but i'm not too fond of naming them goals because of the added pressure that completing them brings but i've got a few that i've been mulling in my head so i thought i'd share...
(1) grow my hair out so i can donate it again...which is going to be hard since it's summer & well, i've got a lot of hair
(2) work on limiting the amount of times i use "like" & "love" in my everyday conversations..."love" especially when i'm not referring to the Lord, my family or friends
(3) finish reading "freedom of simplicity"...i borrowed it from natalie & chris, um, pretty sure back in the winter & it's now summer
(4) have co-workers over for dinner/hangout...this will have to be in the middle of july when, hopefully, we're unpacked & settled in the new place
(5) start getting up a bit earlier to go running outside...since clearly it's not happening when i get off due to the lovely summer temps
(6) to actually call my friends who do not live here and whom i've been procrastinating calling because i think i don't have enough time
(7) take more pictures...i used to be good at this but i've fallen off the wagon & absolutely stink at taking pics

ok, well, i'll keep you posted on the progress and if i decide to add anymore

here's a first...

the other day i realized that this is the first year, not summer, but year(i guess this can change) in 5 years that i am not in at least one wedding. while yes i have some to attend or have already attended 2 so far this summer but it just seems a bit odd to not have bridesmaids activities in my 2010 calendar.

WORLD CUP 2010

i realized this morning that i forgot in my "it's june" post to discuss the world cup...how could i forget about one of the more exciting sporting events in the world?!!

well, it's here and the americans have one of their best opportunities to advance to the round of 16 than they ever have. we just drew a tie with england whom some have as one of the top contenders to win it all. while the american goal wasn't the prettiest or the fact that at times our defense looked shaky, i'm pleased and excited with our potential over the next few weeks.

playing soccer was an intricate part of my childhood & high school years so unlike the majority of americans i know most of the what seem confusing rules/events within a match and get really energized every 4 years when the world cup enters our lives. attending a world cup is definitely on my bucket list especially after bonding with my friend alicia over u.s. soccer 8 yrs ago while we were on a mission trip in belize...let's just say the 2 of us teenage girls became early risers to take in the american games.

enjoy the next few weeks of world cup action & let's go america!!

exciting new find!!

yesterday, alana & i ran some errands(well, really i tagged along on her errands so we could actually hang out since that hasn't happened much this week)...we got to the summit & she needed a snack so we stopped in joe muggs. well, what did i find but project 7 mints & gum!!! i've been unsure where to look here in bham for some of their products & if you can remember i posted about the awesome non-profit so you can only imagine how excited i became when i found their products...i will be making a gum purchase soon so joe muggs better be ready.

because of God's say-so

most mornings i start my day w/ the breakfast of choice(usually kashi go-lean crunch), a cup(really more like a mug) of coffee, & that day's devo from oswald chambers' "my utmost for his highest". (which you can access via the web: www.myutmost.org) i enjoy each of these because some mornings i don't give myself a lot of time so they give me a verse or two & some thoughts/ideas to really press into throughout the day.

well, saturdays when i don't have to work until later in the day, i like to make homemade whole wheat pancakes(recipe posted at the bottom) & usually i'll scramble an egg but this morning i cooked some sausage my parents gave me. to me, there's just something about a saturday morning when i'm either off or have to close: i don't have to set an alarm, i can actually cook breakfast, and i can take as much time as i want to enjoy my food, coffee & Lord (and even do somethings a mon-fri worker gets to do).

today's verse & read is one of those that i needed to read/forced to really think about. hebrews 13:5-6 are the verses he uses which state that because He said "this" i can boldly say "this". mr. chambers boldly states that "my say-so is to be built on God's say so"...i can't make claims for certain situations that aren't based on what God has said to me via His word but if i read His word, take hold of His promises & embrace who He is then i can boldly say and face any situation. which all of this brought a connection to some verses i've been really dwelling on lately...psalm 18:30-36. because of the truth about the Lord in these verses i can truthfully state when life feels shaky that He is my Rock and when i get caught up in wanting to be great via the world's standards i can remind myself that His gentleness makes me great and when i begin to fear failure of the world's expectations i can boldly claim that His ways are blameless, He makes my ways blameless and He enlarges my steps! Hallelujah, How Great Thou Art!

so the next time(s) i get caught in apprehension or fear i can wholeheartedly take comfort in God's say-so and who He is!


whole-wheat pancakes:
1 egg
1 c milk
1 c flour
1T veg. oil
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
i like to add some vanilla & cinnamon. this recipe is actually half of what the recipe i found said so this one makes close to 10 all depending on the size.

IT'S JUNE!!

ok, i'm really excited that it's june...so much is going on in the next 30 days that i've been anticipating for weeks/months & finally the month has arrived! i know you're on the edge of your seat wondering what june has going for it besides flag day & the first day of summer so let me just share:

*several days of separate weekends spent with lauren walker...she lives in fort worth w/ the husband right now so time with her is rare
*KATE COOPER! will be passing through bham the 3rd weekend...one of my all-time best friends from college whom i haven't seen since maybe 2007. she's been in hawaii/japan for the past several years & is starting grad school in england soon so i'll be soaking up as much kate time as i can get. we used to skype when she was in hawaii but the japan-cst time difference made skype dates nearly impossible.
*HEATHER LACROIX! will be returning from nigeria the same weekend as kate to spend the next 4 weeks in the states before she returns for another year in nigeria. heather moved to nigeria from bham about the same time i moved to bham last year so skype can only do so much good before you're just ready to see someone's face!
*vbs with the middle schoolers at church...some of my fondest moments of life come from middle school and just the unique stage of life these youth are in makes me excited about getting a week to engage/get to know them. plus, i've been itching for some service time with the youth group and 2 days during the week we're going to serve alongside a church on a "different side" of town which of course is right up my alley :)
*moving...we're moving to a condo that's basically right up the street. but the positive is that it's not much different location wise or price.
*lake day! with my sunday school class the last saturday of the month in the midst of packing/moving to the condo so i'm sure it's going to be rather refreshing.

i'm sure some other fun activities will be added to the list but until then i'm ready to tackle this incredible list. bring it on june! i can't wait