thankful

today felt like a monday. it seemed like every little thing at work went wrong. every patient seemed to run a little late because of traffic, my x-ray taking was not the best, i dropped one thing after another. what a day. and what a full day of constant reminders that my strength, hope, & endurance comes from God. i prayed this morning that whatever it was God was going to do today, that my words, actions, and thoughts would bring His name glory & not mine :( can i just say how hard it is to live that prayer out? ANDDDD i was locked out of my apartment due to my key not turning all the way to unlock it...so i had to tell my neighbor and then she said- go to the office, the office was closed, and THEN i shook the door handle while i was unlocking...and it unlocked.
well now i'm at starbucks...taking a break out of this crazy day...and people are chatting about texting boys and holiday shopping. and i'm about to attempt to concentrate and focus on the David Bible study that I've SO thoroughly enjoyed. every thing i read in this study and all of the hw we do each day is mind-blowing. never have i had my eyes opened like this to simple passages and the complexity of them...and the complexity is a crazy way i feel like the Lord is jerking at my heart and making me value this truth and how much He loves me. all of the intricate, deep details about David's life, the genealogy of Jesus, and his redemptive plan from the beginning is so full and fresh and filled with love. the verses i have been meditating on and trying to memorize for the past couple of days come from 1 corinthians 1:26-31-
"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things- and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. it is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God- that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. therefore, as it is written: "let him who boasts boast in the Lord"."
oh my goodness- i could go on and on about this beth moore study. she is incredible. she is so profound.
can't wait for tomorrow and heading to memphis for thanksgiving with my family. i'm thrilled that my bro is home (with piper). it has not been the four of us- me my rents and michael in our home since last christmas :( it's sad that we don't get to spend time together anymore. but very thankful for times like this where we can...and something that i will never take for granted again and i want to remember for the rest of my life.
i feel like i just wrote a book- the end :)
and PS- i am going to GARTH BROOKS!!! yayayayay!

needtobreathe :)

WOW. one word sums up the concert in bham. it was amazing...and now can i say i'm even more obsessed with needtobreathe. and my ipod is hooked up downloading songs i bought on itunes...new fav: girl named tennessee or garden.
i'm so mad because i didn't have my camera to take pictures of the epic concert. and downtown bham (although not the safest at night) is so cool and unique. i've never really been around downtown bham, but from the parts we saw, it looked really cool...
this weekend i also saw HP...wow also. ummmm i don't think any other movie i've seen can really capture emotions like hp...haha. i'm making it sound like it was life-changing, but really, it was pretty awesome!
and now a 1/2 week ahead of me...monday, tuesday, 1/2 day wednesday (does that quote ring a bell, Godfather anyone?). and then home sweet home...with quality time with my brother- who promised he would spend time with just me one of those nights...and turkey at the atkins' house! and rest. and wedding shower for sweet abs :) i'm getting so excited about her wedding that's coming up so soon!
ALSO this weekend i got to catch up with a very long-lost, good friend that i used to take to school. SO funny i used to drive this boy to school with his sister.
and lastly to wrap up my semi-eventful weekend, today i went to church, did laundry, studied with lace, bought some really cute things for the apt...(unnecessary but couldn't resist)pics to come, and went to my John small group.
CANNOT WAIT FOR WEDNESDAY!!!! and thanksgiving!!!!
pic of needtobreathe from: http://www.media.wmg-is.com/media/portal/media/cms/images/200708/needtobreathe-03-medium_1185980223887.jpg

Yummy pizza & studying the Word :)

so last night was the first official meeting of our small group. a background story, the class i signed up for that was a 4 week thing ended a few weeks ago. i wanted to continue the class and meeting together, because i felt like we were all beginning to know each other and it was getting to the point where we shared about our lives/past experiences. i was encouraged by the amazing group of women longing to know the Lord more through this class. so i thought, we should meet every week and continue our group! every week we are meeting and going through a Beth Moore study, David: a heart like his. last night we met here & made homemade pizza, recipe courtesy of my old roomie. it was so easy and a big success.
can i just say that beth moore is SO intense? she is one of the most gripping (emotionally) speakers i have ever heard, and this was only a video we were watching! i felt like i was there and that she was specifically speaking to me. i know the Lord is using her powerfully in womens' lives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9poQO4U5Q0
above is a clip of her talking about her book "so long, insecurity". if you haven't heard of this book or haven't read it, you NEED to check it out. it is so good. its emphasis is talking about finding our wholeness/security/full identity in Christ.
happy tuesday!
and new countdown:
9 days until thanksgiving day

38 days until Christmas!

unleash. your. awesomeness. HAHA

so this past weekend started off with a little adventure...where emily and i thought we were only going to be driving to knoxville for 2 1/2 hours, and instead it was about 4 1/2 hours, which seemed like 4 1/2 years! we got stuck in traffic due to construction...actually we're still not really sure what the hold up was! we moved 4 miles in about 1 hour, it was crazy. we were delirious. and the radio station at that time kept playing ads for the state college in the town we were near...and it continuously said "UNLEASH YOUR AWESOMENESS 98.5!!!" or whatever the station was we were listening to. haha. we laughed for a few minutes about this.
well then we finally made it to knoxville where we got to see our bestie laura...good times in knoxvegas were about to be had all weekend! friday night consisted of a late dinner and then meeting up with laura at her apt and hanging out with her roomie, the roomie's friend, and one of laura's longtime college friends/roommates. we also facebook stalked...for a really long time. you name the person, we probably stalked them.
saturday was fun also! we woke up leisurely, everyone getting ready for the game (except for me) and a mad rush to chickfila for a biscuit and bagel and coffee. and then i dropped everyone off at campus and proceeded to starbucks and studied :( and learned a few new vocab words i'll try to use in my conversation this week. haha. and then i picked them up from the game and we went to get a snack & went back to laura's apt to watch football and sleep! and i wore a snuggie for the first time EVER in my life, so comfortable! THEN we went to dinner at the coolest restaurant (downtown grill and brewery) and then walked around market square and got a dessert and then went back to laura's to get ready for a night on the town...which really lasted till about 1 am which i am proud of myself for being up that late.
then today we woke up, went to panera, had an awkward encounter with a VERY strange man- which it wouldn't be appropriate to type out what his background story was that we found out later on, and our departure back to nashvegas.
all in all, a FUN, very memorable weekend...with LOTS of laughs. my ribs are still hurting and "crossing over".

cutest blog i've seen in a while...and KNOXVILLE BOUND!

more posts to come about this wkend, can't wait to see wad in knoxville. but for now, here is a link to one of the cutest baking blogs. i love how simple it looks. also, on sunday when i get back, i have to do major laundry, cleaning, and getting ready for our first place/small group meeting! we are making a pizza monday night and starting a book/video series by beth moore called "david: a heart like his". can't wait!
http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2009/12/hot-chocolate-on-stick.html

Love never fails.

this past weekend in memphis i went to celebrate steph and fletch's wedding. everything was beautiful. one of my favorite weddings, for sure. it still hasn't hit me that they are MARRIED.
the rehearsal dinner was beautiful, the ceremony was beautiful, and the bride and groom were surrounded by so many family members and friends. it was so great to see my auburn and memphis friends in the same place, and we were all together to celebrate the marriage of 2 friends- the bride i have known since i was in elementary school and the groom i was friends w/in college!
weddings are always a great reminder of how Christ loves his church and how the groom loves his bride. i love that parallel.
and on another note, i am going to buckle down this week and study for the GRE, and also look for a coffee table...and deep clean my apartment. and this weekend, i'm heading to knoxvegas to visit my bestie! can't wait.