Spring in full bloom...

Elise, this one's for you. :)





Spring has finally come so I went out with my camera today and took advantage of the fresh tulips and the rain drops on them. And I had a conversation with a random man on the street. And I took pictures of our neighborhood and the people in it (hard to do discreetly!). Today has been lovely.

Plumpynut

A Lifesaver called "Plumpynut"

I just wanted to show off my favorite girl a little bit more...







I'm learning a lot about love from this little girl. When I'm with her I understand complete and true love... that feeling where you'd do absolutely anything to make someone happy or to protect them. I love the age she is right now. I love playing with her and snuggling and hearing "jeenee" called out. But I also can't wait for her to be older... To be able to talk to her about life and take her out for coffee and just love on her. Sometimes I'm amazed at how much I love this little girl and I wonder how much more my love will be for my own children.

Love is...

Love is laying on the floor and staring at the 'stars' and 'clouds' on the ceiling and pretending that you are flying.

Love is holding tiny Lucy in my arms.

Love is reading books about bumble bees.

Love is pretending to eat a plastic pea to make my girl laugh.

Love is kissing hurts to make them better.

Love is arms reaching for you.

Love is knowing how to shake the gas away.

Love is hearing your name called from across the house.

Love is eating a slobbery cookie.

Love is slaying imaginary dragons under the stairs.

Love is splashing in the drinking fountain.

Love is offering your finger because it's way better than a pacifier.

Love is fits of hysterical laughter.

Love is...

I took advantage of the sun the other day and went out into the neighborhood to take a few pictures...





And of course, Jonas was the subject of some shots too...

I am frustrated and so tired of school. I'm sick of teachers who don't know what they're doing and are so disorganized that you can't keep up with what's going on. I took this dumb quiz today... i understood all of the concepts. I probably couldn't have written a short essay about each one, but the phrasing of them was so darn confusing I couldn't figure out for the life of me what the correct multiple choice answer was. I need a break from all of this. My head cannot contain all of the information I need to learn and all the things I'm trying to sort our and papers I'm trying to write. It's exhausting. I need a break from my own head.

My mom used to sing me this song...

Easter Bonnet
Written by Irving Berlin

In your Easter bonnet with all the frills upon it,
You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.
I'll be all in clover, and when they look you over
I'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter Parade.
On the Avenue, Fifth Avenue,
The photographers will snap us
And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure.
Oh, I could write a sonnet about your Easter bonnet
And of the girl I'm taking to the Easter Parade.

In my Easter bonnet with all the frills upon it,
I'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.
You'll be all in clover, and when they look me over
You'll be the proudest fellow in the Easter Parade.
On the Avenue, Fifth Avenue,
The photographers will snap us
And you'll find that you're in the rotogravure.
Oh, you may write a sonnet about my Easter bonnet
And of the girl you're taking to the Easter Parade.

You can't have Easter without a cute rabbit and a chicken...

Happiness is a warm rabbit... unless he poops on your bed!

As Long as You're Happy...

I've been thinking about this phrase a lot lately. It's something that people say all the time. When a friend is dating someone who is not worth it or is pining there life away doing nothing. You sit discussing the predicament that your friend is in and then respond with, "Well, as long as they're happy." Is that really how we, as Christians, should respond to each other? That's not how God intended it to be. It's not "as long as you're happy." It should be, "well, as long as you're honoring God." Why aren't we honest with each other? Why don't we just say, "get off the couch and do something with your life." Harsh, perhaps. But we're not doing any good by placating each other.

Handing over your money...

This past month we've been looking at what it means to give generously. What does it look like to not be bound by money? What happens when we ask God what He wants us to do with our money... and then we actually do it? Students have been stepping out, leaping out, in faith and handing their money over trusting that God is going to use it and in return bless them and take care of them. One student felt called to give up her entire savings. She felt like she should give it all to a hispanic woman with a stroller. So she prayed that God would provide such a person and as she was there withdrawing the money a hispanic woman pushing a stroller walked into the bank. She put the money in the envelope, wrote a note about God's love, handed it to the woman, and then walked out and drove away. She won't know what happened to that money, how the woman was blessed, but she was faithful to what God called her to.

This month I went to the bank and withdrew $100 and then put my debit card and checkbook into an envelope and handed it over to my campus pastor for safekeeping. That's enough money for fresh fruits and veggies, food for my rabbit, and some extra for school costs and emergencies for the month. I want to be aware of exactly how I'm spending my money. I'm sure what that means for what will happen to the money that's being saved. I'm waiting for God to call me into using that money... perhaps it will be for Uganda or for a family that's adopting... I don't know yet. But I'm trusting that God will reveal that to me in this coming month.

Our school had a goal of raising $3,000 to help build a bank in Mexico. We had 1 week to do this and considering the challenge was made to a room of only about 250 college students, we really didn't think it would happen. But the next week we took and offering and this is what happened...

Dancing (or running) in the Rain

Have you ever seen the rain coming? I was walking down the street last night and looked up and could actually see a wall of water moving towards me from behind the apartment buildings. It came fast too! I glanced at it and it just registered in my head when all of the sudden I could feel it pounding down on me as I took off in a dead sprint towards campus. By the time I made it into a building I was soaking wet and developed a cramp from hysterical laughter. It made me want to dance in the rain... which I would have had I not been caring my purse and wearing wool shoes. I danced in my head though.