moving in :)

finallyyyyyyyyy!! We are getting things up on the walls and decorating our new house :)  It is so satisfying to spend a long day of cleaning and hammering and drilling and seeing how beautiful it looks in the end.  Thank You Jesus for a gorgeous, warm, cozy home :)

cosmetology school..

I have not blogged in quite some time! Nor will I blog much right now either..I'm tired and exhausted from my first real day of cutting someone's hair!! (It was such an exciting experience and again I would like to thank the 2 people that trusted me with their hair..you know who you are! But I am so blessed..God put me in the exact right school, with the exact right people, at the exact right time.  I am so thankful for the friends I've made and the influence I am able to be to them.  Thank you, Jesus for blessing me with this opportunity. 

And in the meantime...if anyone wants color, highlights, hair cuts, waxing, facials etc..I am officially 'on the floor' as of December 7th! So please call The Salon Professional Academy and request me to do your services :)

good ol deutschland.

I miss living in Europe.  I miss walking down the cobblestone streets to the 'backerei', or riding my bike for 20 minutes and ending up in a completely different village or walking to Lake Bodensee and just sitting and talking to God.  There were days I wanted to come home so badly, in fact I remember a few days in particular, I got on cheaptickets.com and was THISCLOSE to buying my one way plane ticket home from Frankfurt to New York to Denver.  I wanted to leave so bad because 1. I missed my family 2. I was at Bible School, however I was being treated by some people as though they were still the mean girls stuck in high school..what's up with that and 3. I was not focusing on WHY God had me there.  Now, more than anything, I want to go back.  I would give anything to wake up in my shaky bunkbed in my dorm room with green carpet.  I want to spend more time with just me and God in the forest or on the lake or in the orchard.  I want to bike to Friedrichshafen and go the back way past the castle and the Bodensee Centre and past the harbour just to have a picnic on the beach followed by ice cream on the boardwalk.  I want to go to Kaufland so badly and buy bread, meat, cheese and yogurt and put it all in a backpack and bike for miles till I get hungry, and then make myself a tasty little lunch.  I want to just up and go to Paris or Barcelona for the weekend. I want to visit the home of the family Kintzel and eat 'fruhstuck' with them and fix little Alexandra's hair.  These are the things my heart longs for.  I belong back in Europe someday.  The people there are so lost and confused.  Less than 2% of the population in Europe are Evangelical Christians.  Why did I not take more advantage of the time I had over there?? That's what I'm kicking myself for now.  I guess my little nugget of wisdom to other people would be: embrace life where you're at, you may not want to be where you are or may not understand why you're there, but God has a purpose for you being exactly where you are and one day you will look back and see the reasons God had you there.  Don't live life always wishing you were somewhere else.  Grow where God has planted you right now. 

Memories of Germany are the sweetest memories I will ever have.  Thank you, Jesus, for giving me that opportunity.

growing up is rough

Today I realized that I am growing up. And let me tell you..it is NOT easy being an adult! I hate having to schedule car maintenace appointments, buy my own glasses and contacts, pay taxes...and other adult things. It's scary! But thankfully I've been raised by good parents who have prepared me well. I may not always tell them I appreciate them, but I do. I am thankful that God gave me just the right parents and that they know just what to do in order to help me learn to budget my money and treat people and handle certain situations. Thank you Jesus for parents who love me :)

Two Beautiful Faces

What a wonderful morning!  I rolled out of bed and skyped with my two dear friends from Bodenseehof, Jenni and Brandi.  It was so good to talk about where we were at one year ago and to fill each other in on what's happening with our lives now.  I miss you two and I love you so much! God is so wonderful at putting just the right people into my life.

there's just something..

I know that I promised to blog while I was in Germany..little did I know that some of you would actually follow that blog..and notice that I only had 3 posts in it! Well..this one will go a bit better..fingers crossed. 

I just want to share something that's been on my heart, that I really feel that God has been sharing with me these last few weeks:

Love Always and Forever.

It's that simple. No matter what the situation or the time or place, we as Christians need to remember Who we represent.  And if I claim the name of a Holy God, I need to love everyone, always.  I don't know where everyone is coming from..the rude lady that yelled at me at work this morning? Maybe her husband just died.  The guy who made a mean comment to me at Chick Fil A? Maybe his job just got cut and he has gotten no sleep because he has been trying to find work for his family. Whatever the situation, no one ever knows the full story of where someone is coming from.  So in all situations, love always and forever.  Even if it's as simple as a smile or holding the door open, I will never know the kind of impact that I had on someone, but I know that at least I showed them Love.  And in the infamous words of Forrest Gump "that's all I got to say about that."