The last day of the year

Wow... tomorrow is it! January 1, 2009... This is so unbelievable. I know that everyone is making their New Year's Resolutions, and I have already made one or two as well but, most of all I am just thankful that God has brought me through one more year! 22 down, who knows how many more to go!

In the beginning of 2008 I NEVER would have imagined me being anywhere I am today but I am glad that I did
*I am thankful for the privilege of being able to put my life in God's hands and Him leading me through the year
*I am so thankful for all the supportive people in my life especially immediate family
*I too am thankful for the meaningful friendships of Nicole, Sarah, and Bekki (without them I don't know what I would do! My good morning and good night friends that have stuck with me through thick and thin! Although I do miss my Nicole and Sarah so much, even more as the New Year begins).
*I am thankful for IBC, without this experience I would not have been able to begin to prepare myself for whatever ministry lies ahead

Some hopes and dreams for 2009 are:
*To develop a stronger relationship with God
*To become less self-centered and notice the needs of everyone around me
*To LOSE WEIGHT!
and all in all just
*To make this year the best one ever


Out with the old year in with the New! Cheers to 2009! Happy New Year to everyone I pray God keeps you safe and blesses you immensely!

The year is QUICKLY drawing to a close

I can't believe it is almost 2009! That is seriously SO hard for me to realize! 2008 was pretty hard for me to conceive too! Seeing I accidentally wrote a check to my dad for June 2007 when it was June 08! LOL Oh well! So much has happened this past year! I have sadly lost contact with some friends, but in the process have gained some incredible friends! I graduated with my BA, and then went right on into Bible College! Being independent isn't all it's cracked up to be! Lol. But all in all. It has been a wonderful year, sure I have had my fair share of tears, and laughs. I went from making GOOD money, to making NOTHING! And all I can say is, I am blessed! God has had His hand upon me through it all. It has been such an experience being able to be at Bible College, one thing that I will NEVER forget, and I am praying that I'll be able to finish up the year. I have had many people at church teasingly say that they don't believe I belong in Indiana and that I should come home. Well, in a way I believe that. I don't believe I permanently belong in Indiana; however, when I made the decision to move to Indiana, I made it feeling with all my heart that was where God wanted me. Which is why I am making the decision to go back, if God wants me there (which I still believe He does) then He will make a way for me to go. God takes care of His people.

So needless to say... I am looking forward to the following year and the surprises in which it will bring! So here is a poem that I enjoy and has so much meaning to it, as the old year unfolds into the new, I want to remember this poem

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost

The Promised Pictures

As promised here are the pictures from Christmas Day. Also, we went over to the Sablan's today for a delicious dinner! So here are some pictures from that too

Christmas in California!

So, one might assume that because I have been home for 2 weeks now, I would be blogging a lot more than I have, I mean... Normally I WOULD be blogging a lot more, however, I haven't and don't really have an excuse!

So the week of Christmas was quite fun!! We went shopping A LOT! And I spent most evenings at home with the family, and making presents! Bekki and I exchanged presents Christmas Eve and then went shopping! Lol she is so wonderful to me! I was actually shopping for a present for Justin to give to my mom! What a wonderful sister I am! Then when I got home, I had to finish making my Mom's present (a family scrapbook) and after than wrapped a few presents of mine, and then wrapped Justin's presents for him! What a nice sister! LOL

So needless to say, Christmas Eve and Christmas day was just wonderful. So very relaxing! I prepared the turkey and helped my Mom with the rest of the dinner, and it all was so wonderful! We are blessed! We spent the rest of the day relaxing and snacking! LOL. It has been wonderful. Today shows that OBVIOUSLY the holiday is over because my mom put us to work in the backyard! lol blah! Oh well. We're still blessed!

Here are some pictures from The Singles/Marrieds Party, and from Saturday night at the Mission Inn. Unfortunately my card reader isn't working with my computer right now. Hopefully we will fix that so I can upload Christmas day's pictures!!

So Wonderful Being Home!

So I have been home for a full week now! It has been wonderful! But, I still need to find a way to get money before I go back to school. If I can... But I am just leaving it up to God! Sunday was so wonderful! I loved being at my church again. I have missed it so much. Sometimes in bigger churches where you really don't know anyone, it can get kind of lonely, but in our church (which has grown a lot while I have been gone) it is so easy to worship and fellowship!

This week has flown by SO fast! I have been able to sleep in every day! Well sleep in til around 10 means that it is 1 Indiana time, but I think I am growing accustomed to PST now. Monday night, Bekki and I went shopping. I've missed her so much! She is so fun! Tuesday night, my brothers and I went to the College and Career Class party! Good food and fun games! And I discovered a talent I never knew I had! LOL Wednesday I went shopping with my Mom and found... 1 thing! LOL She found some stuff for me, but now I only have Jason and my Grandma to buy for! Oh and some last minute things for friends. Thursday I ended up hanging out with family, my mom and I enjoyed a trip to Target... YAY for Target! Then Friday I FINALLY finished decorating the house and we spent "quality" family time together! lol. Good times!

Today has been marvelous! I woke up to Pumpkin Pancakes and Bacon! It was delicious, my mom even made me coffee.... REAL coffee not the nasty stuff they serve at school. Then we sat down and discussed what we want to eat for Christmas dinner, and what special foods we want before we go back to Indiana. Then I cleaned up a bit, because tonight we're having some friends come over and we're going to The Mission Inn! Yay us!

Hopefully pictures to come!

Two posts in ONE DAY!

Well... I am HOME!!!!! I would say I was in Sunny California.... but it isn't too sunny today! Lol, but it is MUCH warmer than Indiana. It was about 20-30* and snowing when we left yesterday! Well this week passed so fast. I was done with my last final by 10:15 Wednesday morning, and I turned in my paper by 11:30 then headed to lunch. I ended up sitting around with Kyle, Matt and Jordan Stumbo til around 2 since none of us had any more finals or anything to do in general. The guys were playing their guitars and writing silly songs for their A6 band. It was fun. That day just flew by, I sat around watching friends playing games then Justin and I headed to church at 6:30. After service I ended up playing games in Theresa's room with Cheryl for about 3 hours! It was a blast. Thursday felt SO GOOD! I didn't wake up til 11:30, and met Cheryl and we headed to lunch and then again everyone just sat around talking and having fun. I went to my room and started packing. Jason dropped off the suitcase he let me use after dinner, and I finished packing and weighing everything by 7! So I had a free evening. I kinda just hung out til around 10 when I went to Cheryl's room cuz we had BIG plans lol. After curfew a bunch of us (Jeff, Cody, Cheryl, Theresa, Ashley, Ben, Michael, Lauren M, Kari, Kristen H, Justin and I) went to Denny's it was so much fun. We ate, and then everyone ended up going around the whole table and saying something nice or a memory about each person. It was an appreciation service lol! We got back close to 2 and then I went to Kara's room to say goodbye, but ended up staying in there til almost 4 because Daphne, Lauren and Kara were entertaining me! LOL I love my friends from IBC so much!

Well... Friday I slept in late again... it felt SO GOOD!!! And then I got ready and made sure everything was packed up, and headed over to Cheryl's room, where Kari, Ashley and I hung out til I left at 3 to go eat with my brothers and Preston. We tried to go eat sushi, but the restaurant was closed, so we were walking downtown in the snow... and I was freezing because I hadn't expected the weather to be bipolar (it wasn't that cold the day before). So we went and ate at the food court in the Circle Center Mall, and had our sushi. I had noodles and chicken and sushi. I was a bit nervous about trying the eel but it was good... I also had some salmon and... what I THINK was tuna?? It was good whatever it was. I love sushi! So Preston dropped us off at the airport and then we found out our flight to Ontario through Houston was misconnected! So we had to wait for the lady to find a different way to get us home! We ended up flying to Cleveland and from there to LA. We almost couldn't land in Cleveland because of the snow, they warned us they may go on to Cincinnati but thankfully it was fine. We rushed to our connecting flight because of the shortened layover, and then got on our 5 hour flight to LA. I thankfully brought cards so we played ALL KINDS of games. The people in front of us probably wanted to kill us lol! Yesterday was a HILARIOUS day... things just kept happening! LOL But thank GOD we made it safely and then went to In-N-Out! MMMMMM!!! And THEN came home! Sigh....

I am all unpacked and glad to be back in my room (and in a bed I don't have to have a step stool to get into!). I can't wait to see all my friends and to get to go to MY OWN CHURCH for the first time in 4 months! YAY!

I was Tagged by Jana!

RULE ONE: Grab one of the books closest to me, go to page 56, type the fifth line and the next two to five lines that follow.
RULE TWO: Pick five people who love books and who could receive the Bookworm award with honor.

"They couldn't hide their crime because the very nature of their offense was to be seen underneath their picture just over their shirt pocket. It seemed an awkward thing to do -- my praying in the open yard and joining street meetings with other men. And yet, I dared not wait for time served to begin serving God. I felt I had to take a stand and make my decision at once."

How High My Mountain - An Autobiography By Carl Joseph Ballestero (well what do you know! It's my Grandpa! This is the first book I saw in the living room!)

I tag...
no ONE! LOL the ones I would tag have already been tagged! Just thought I would follow through with this post!

Finals Week

Well, it is so weird, but true... I am almost done with the Fall Semester here at IBC. It is kind of sad, because I hear a lot of people may not be coming back especially some people that I have grown close to. However, I also hear that there will be about 30 new students coming in January. So there are a lot of people just hanging out while studying.

So Finals for me started yesterday morning at 8 AM. I had a Dictation final with Bro. Gordon, then I had a three hour break, so I went back to bed for a while! Lol. I had my 2nd final at noon and was pleased to find out we were able to grade it there and I got an A on it. Then I found out last night that I was exempt from having to take my Music Theory final. That was so nice to know. There was quite a few people hanging out in the lobby studying for the 8 AM final that was this morning. I originally had two finals at 8, but I was exempt from one of them, so after the final we had a break and then had our final chapel, which Bro. Mooney preached. It was really good from beginning to end. Following that we had time for lunch and then I found out that I was exempt from yet another final! Yay me! lol. So I went from having 8 finals to having only 5 finals. So now I only have 2 more left and my first one is at 8 tomorrow and the second one is for my Sight-singing class and my slot is scheduled for 9:45 tomorrow morning. YAY! I only have one paper to turn in ASAP for my women of the Bible and I am done. So Thursday I'll be able to sleep in and clean up the room for my departure Friday night. I guess Preston Keller will be taking us to the airport. I can't wait to go home. I have loved being here but I am so looking forward to being home for a month! Lord Willing I will be able to afford to come back next semester. It is hard at times, but thank God for my wonderful parents and friends who not only encourage me but also help out financially! I am blessed!

Only 3 days and I'll be home!

IBC Christmas events!

So since Thanksgiving... I have had such a busy week!!! We had our Freshman class Christmas party on Tues which was really fun, and then had Deck the Dorms on Wed after service, which was also a blast. We have had so many projects due and some surprise finals... It has been crazy! Last night was the banquet and it was SO much fun! It seems to be the LEAST boring week of my life! lol tonight is the Music Dept Christmas party. So I plan on having fun for that too...

There are a few pics on the slide show you may be wondering what on earth... mainly the hallway ones... Yes that is water... My roommate decided she wanted to "steam" her banquet dress yesterday in the bathroom and turned the hot water in our sink on and left the room. One thing you must realize is that these sinks are quite old, and clog really easily so unless you keep the power of water coming out of the faucet on low, it will overflow quite easy! I had no clue any of this was happening, I was in Cheryl's room talking to her while she was getting her hair done. Next thing I know, someone is shouting my, name, I walk down the hallway and I see the flood.... come to find out it also leaked down to the first floor, and Bro Sleeva found out about it because he wondered why water was coming into the cafeteria in the basement! LOL So we had to call "IBC flood control" and they helped out. Lol! I started laughing while I was trying to help. It was so sad, but funny at the same time!!! LOL everyone kept coming down the hallway to see it! Lol well I hope you enjoyed all the pictures