Oh no. I've slacked off again.

It's official. I'm a slacker when it comes to blogging. Some months I'm on a roll and write faithfully throughout the month. Other months I don't write at all. Like the past three months.

Oops.

I've been trying to figure out how to update my blog without boring you all with a rundown of my life for the past three months. And instead of writing, I've been avoiding writing at all cost, which has led to more time passing and a longer update on the horizon.

But, no need to worry. Though I haven't written in three months, I will not attempt to write down a play by play of my life throughout that time. In all honesty, nothing much has happened. Instead I'll write down a brief (hopefully) update and then get back into the rhythm of blogging more frequently.

I think the most significant event to take place is that Damarise and I moved into our 17th home. Being a missionary kid has led to having many homes. And each home has been filled to the brim with wonderful memories. This home has already begun to have its fair share of good memories.

It's a little one bedroom apartment in the heart of our city and we absolutely love it. It's the perfect size for us and placed in a cute and cozy neighbourhood. God blessed us with it in the nick of time too. We are thankful! We got to house Janessa for a few months in it too while she was job and house searching. It was fun to have her stay with us, though I'm sure she is thankful to not sleep on a couch anymore.

Us on the day we signed the lease (sorry for the poor quality... it's an Instagram picture).

I have begun subbing, though not as often as I'd like. However, it has been so fun and such a blessing of a job. I have gotten to sub in Middle School math and English as well as at one of my Student Teaching placements. It has been a joy to put my education to use and realize that I did actually learn something throughout my four years at school (I knew I had, but it's nice to put it to use).

Sarah has started at Covenant College and it has been so fun having her in town. She's loving being at Covenant and I'm so thankful she gets to have the same wonderful education Damarise and I had.

Damarise got officially accepted into the Police Academy and I couldn't be more proud. She has put in so much work into applying and has persevered like no one else I know. I can't wait to see all that God has in store for her through that.

Well, I think that's the main points. Hopefully this will get me back on track for updating more... hopefully being the key word.

Until next time.

Licensed!

It's been a long time coming.

I was thirteen when Mom first took me driving. We were on a straight gravel road at my grandparent's farm. I drove a total of fifteen feet. Within those fifteen feet I gave everyone in the car whiplash and had no idea that people didn't use both feet to press the gas and brake. (Naturally, I had my left foot on the brake and my right on the gas... it worked well... I thought). After Damarise and Sarah jumped out of the car to relish being alive and on land (they enthusiastically kissed the ground and frolicked in the grass), Mom kindly told me that waiting a while wouldn't hurt and that there was no need to rush me.

Then came Africa. Most people get their driver's license by sixteen, depending on what state they live in, but I was in Mozambique – a place of massive pot holes, driving on the left side of the road, and no rules of the road. Learning how to drive there would have been like trying to learn to play piano while sitting in a canoe, it's possible but very difficult. So, I waited.

We arrived back in the US when I was seventeen. Getting Damarise to be a licensed driver was first priority. But Dad and Mom took me out driving a few times trying to move me along. I was a slow learner. Both Mom and Dad can testify to this. We spent many hours in parking lots just getting me to feel comfortable behind the wheel. Dad took both Sarah and me driving through Grandma's neighborhood. I never wanted to drive around other cars and drove twenty miles below any speed limit.  How Dad patiently put up with that, I will never know, but he was encouraging. As was Mom.

Freshman year at college came and went. Summer of '10 was spent in Missouri, again practicing driving. Dad took me out many times to drive through various parking lots, but learning was slow.

Sophomore year came and went and still driving did not progress. Mom and Dad went back to Africa and I was left to learn on my own.

But, I was left with a wonderful sister and two wonderful friends who took precious time out of their lives to help me become a more comfortable and confident driver.

Damarise graciously put up with my slow and jerky driving every Sunday afternoon after church. She also took me to many parking lots to practice. She was a big help, but at the same time it was hard for us to work together at my driving. We both learned a lot of patience!

Davey and Micah offered their help and helped tremendously!

Davey took me driving downtown one night. It was the first time I had gone on the "real" road around other cars. I was terrified. But Davey was confident. He calmly told me what to do and sat quietly while I scarily turned around curves. He also nicely told me when to speed up and not be afraid to go the speed limit. He was a great teacher! In a week he had me on the highway. I was shaking like a leaf when I was done but so happy that I had actually driven on the highway. His confidence that I could do it helped me so much!

Micah taught me how to parallel park, do a three point turn, drive through many cones backwards, and he also let me drive through many busy parts of Chattanooga on a Saturday in his car! He encouraged me on when I did not feel sure of myself at all. He drove me to the DMV the second time to get my driver's permit when I finally brought all the right paper work. And was just a very persuasive and encouraging friend telling me that I could actually get my driver's license and that it would be a wonderful thing.

Damarise, Micah, and Davey have all played a vital role in getting me to where I was on July 31st.

Tuesday, July 31st, I was sitting in the driver's seat of our van having just finished my driving test. We were a little late getting back because I accidentally passed the turn. After turning around in a parking lot and laughing with my test giver at my mistake we made it back to the DMV where I put the van in park. I sat there wondering if I had passed. My stomach was definitely feeling the nerves and my hands were starting to shake. I had knocked over a cone during the parallel parking and I was sure I had made other mistakes. I looked over at my test giver with the question burning within me. Had I passed? She looked back at me and nonchalantly said, "Well, you passed." I PASSED! I let out a little woot of joy and excitedly yelled, "YES!" I could not stop grinning as I walked back into the DMV to tell Damarise.

It has been seven years since that first try behind the wheel. And now, now I have an official driver's license in my hand! I have been blessed beyond measure to have helpful parents start me off at driving. But even more to have an amazing sister who patiently put up with my begging to drive. And two amazing friends who took me way outside of my comfort zone because they knew that I could drive if I was just given the chance and a little bit of encouragement. The thankfulness I have for their generosity in giving up their precious study time and even risking their lives is overwhelming. I feel so blessed and so encouraged.

I am a licensed driver!

A huge thank you to Dad, Mom, Damarise, Micah, and Davey! I really could not have done it without any one of you!

Trying New Things

In the past three days I have done a few new things that I've never done before.

1). I started reading A Series of Unfortunate Events out loud with Megan. I'd never read the books before, but have quickly found myself enjoying Lemony Snicket's humorous writing.

2). I drove down Lookout Mountain and on the highway. Now to some this may be an everyday occurrence. But for me, this is was a first. Davey graciously sat in the passenger seat of our van last night as I drove down Lookout Mountain and then was encouraged that I was ready to try out the highway. I had never gone above 40mph before so this was an experience. I drove for about twenty minutes on the highway and we didn't die! It was exciting and I think I'm just about ready to get my license which I am pretty stoked about.

3). In case you didn't know, yesterday was national Peanut Butter and Jelly day. I almost didn't celebrate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but Andrew graciously made me one so that I could celebrate. It was delicious!

4). I have survived three days without Damarise while she is in California. It'll be good to have her back here!

... And that's all I have for now. It's been an exciting few days with beautiful weather to accompany it, but I should probably go and finish my papers that still need to be written.

So Proud!

I can't help it. I'm still just so proud of Damarise for running her first 5K! She just emailed me this picture that the sponsors of the race took of her and Micah running. Ah! Look at her go and Micah encouraging her along the way! I am so proud of her!! Way to go, Damarise!

Sprrring Brrreak!

Spring break has come and gone and it was fabulous! I couldn't have asked for a better, more restful, more fun break. It was chocked full of great memories. Here are just a few snapshots from the week.

We cooked meals...

Got entertained by Abby (Grandma's dog) who loved Davey...

We toured Kansas City... 

Saw some fun sights... 

Did some crazy things... 

Cooked some amazing meals... 

played lots of chess...

Enjoyed each others' company...

Laughed a ton...

Told stories, said great quotes, listened to music...

 and had an incredible time together!

I love these four and I'm so thankful for them! Spending a week together reminded me just how much God has blessed me with the friends He has put in my life. They are a blessing to me! And over break that became even more evident. I love laughing with them, being encouraged by them, just sitting down and talking for hours with them, watching movies and playing games with them, and just being with them. I'm thankful! God has blessed me! And Spring Break was beyond the best!

Friendship

Sunday afternoon lunch. Cheeburger Cheeburger. Laughter. Stories. Encouragement. 

These girls are amazing. I'm so thankful for their friendship!

Blessings of the Week

This week was busy. And I'm not going to lie, it was a bit stressful too. But God is great and gracious. He sent many blessings, little and big, this week. Looking back on the week, it was stressful but it was also an amazing week. Here are just a few reasons why.

Sunday: We went to a nearby church to hear Pastor Mbewe speak. It was great to hear someone from Zambia speak (I didn't realize how much I was missing Zambia until Pr. Mbewe got up to speak) and to hear people in the church being excited about ACU. It's fun to hear about African Christian University from Dad, but getting to hear other people excited about what God is doing is such a joy.

Monday: Damarise and I ate breakfast with Pastor Mbewe. I loved getting to visit with someone from Zambia again. It was fun to hear about how the family is doing from someone who just visited with them the week before. It was a great start to the week and such a blessing.

Tuesday: My first class of the day ended ten minutes early due to a faulty fire alarm. It was a beautiful day so nobody minded being herded out of the building to enjoy the sunshine. When we were told it was okay to head back inside I went to my math for educators class. We were learning about circles and how to find the radius, diameter, and area of a circle. We were all given paper cut out circles until our professor told us that we should have something more tangible. She pulled out a York peppermint patty and a Reese's peanut butter cup for each of us. It was great!
Also on Tuesday, I drove! Not on a back road in the middle of no where with no other cars. Oh no, this was on the main roads downtown with other cars around. It was great! Davey took me and was a wonderful encourager and teacher! Hopefully I'll make it onto the highway this next week, and then license here I come!

Wednesday: Micah and I got to observe two little boys for our developmental psychology class. It was a blast! I hung out with a little four year old for the afternoon, asking him questions and playing games. It was a great way to end the day and got me excited again for the day that I get to teach kids in a classroom!

Thursday: The weather was beautiful! Bright, sunny, warm, ah! It was a blessing! I also got to tutor Hannah in math which went well. And I got to go to two great chapel/lectures. Dr. Justin Holcomb was speaking for the week and it was great. He talked about stuff that I've been researching and thinking about a lot lately. It was encouraging to hear someone speak from a Biblical perspective on it.

Friday: The end of the week! One of the blessings of Friday was ping-pong. Yes, ping-pong. Some guys from Ithaca and our hall have been getting together every weekend for the past few weeks to play around the world ping-pong together. It is always so fun and gets everyone laughing. It's a blast!

Saturday: Damarise ran her 5K! I am SO proud of her! She diligently got up most mornings of the week to practice running at 8:00am like she would for her race. When Saturday came she was up and ready to go and did an amazing job! Micah ran with her and encouraged her throughout the race. It was great! She came in 2nd place in her age group! And was just phenomenal!

And, those are just a few of the many blessings of the week. Looking back all I can say is that God is faithful and He never gives us more than we can bear. He is gracious, abounding in love, and all the little blessings of this week proclaimed that. 

5 Days til 5K!

I am ecstatic! The t-shirt is made. New running shoes are bought. And in T-5 days Damarise will be running her first 5K! I can't wait!

Damarise

Today my older sister turns twenty-two. 

Happy Birthday, Damarise! 

I am thankful for her. So, so thankful for her! She isn't just my older sister, but also one of my closest and bestest friends. I'm thankful for her caring personality. She's always looking for what we can do for others and helping them out. I'm thankful for her perseverance in pursuing what she wants to do in her life. I'm thankful for the example she is to be of someone who loves those who are younger than her and respects (and loves) those older than her. I'm thankful for her care for me and her willingness to listen to my not so important stories. I'm thankful that we can go to the same school together and be roommates. I'm thankful that today we get to celebrate another day of life. I am thankful to God for Damarise. 

I love you, Damarise!

I. Am. Blessed.

Last night I was reminded how blessed I am.

It was 7:00pm on Thursday night. Which meant that it was time for my favourite class of the semester, "Art, Music, and PE in the Early Grades". Not only do I love the content of the class, but I love my fellow students and the professor of the class.

After piling into our seats we began to learn about the different ways we could integrate art with other subjects in school. Learning about all the different ways I, as a teacher, could integrate art with math, science, geography, and every other school subject inthralls me almost as much as it overwhelms me. I am learning through many of my education classes that the only way I will become a creative, caring, and competent teacher is by absolute reliance on God. I'm learning more and more how truly weak I am and how I am in utter need of God every moment of every day. It's humbling.

After discussing the integration of art in every aspect of school, we were told to pick out our favourite drawing that we had done throughout the past four weeks and "frame" it on black paper.

We were going to have an art show.

Side note: I have never been in an art show. In fact, the only time I remember showing off something I had done in school was when I wrote a research paper in 6th grade about dolphins. I couldn't tell you what I learned about dolphins, but I do remember Mom and Dad being there when I displayed it, congratulating and encouraging me on all my hard work. That was, by far, my favourite part about the research paper. (That and getting to use google, which was still fairly new to me at the time). 

Our class of seventeen elementary education girls were going to have an art show! I was excited. At 9:00pm our professor hung up our art work on the wall, and brought out some cheese, crackers, and sparkling grape juice to celebrate. We hung out together enjoying one another's art work.

And then, in walked Damarise and Micah. We were told that we could invite friends to come to our art show and I did, semi-half expecting them not to come, I mean it really wasn't a huge event. But in they walked, coming to see my art, encouraging me in my work, and congratulating me. It made my night!

Right then I was reminded how blessed I am. God has truly blessed me with incredible friends. Damarise and Micah are just two of them. Seeing them come into my art show and take precious time away from their studying just to encourage me in my rather childish art show meant so much.

It's the little things like that which make me praise God for His abundant blessings. I'm thankful for friends who show Christ's love. I'm thankful that God has me here. I'm thankful that God has blessed me with friends like Damarise and Micah.

I am blessed. And all praise goes to our Heavenly Father from whom all blessings flow.

Daffodils.

Two things are involved in this blog post. One: Daffodils = Spring. Two: Damarise is an amazing sister!

Once upon a time, we used to live in a red, flat roofed house in Arkansas. We moved into this house in the fall. Leaves covered the yard, and the trees were bare. Winter followed and our grass turned brown. But, come Spring the grass turned green and our yard was covered in beautiful flowers. Daffodils and tulips came up from nowhere. It was amazing! After living there for over seven years, daffodils and tulips blooming defined Spring for me – the beauty of their colourful buds sticking up from the ground, and the flowery scent all over the yard. Ah. I love it!

Since Spring is now here, I have been talking to Damarise about maybe getting some tulips to plant in a pot in our room or picking daffodils or something. Spring just doesn't feel like Spring without some fresh tulips or daffodils around.

And here's where the second part of my story comes in. I have an amazing sister. Damarise is so caring and knows just what to say or do to make me feel better. Friday afternoon she was down the mountain doing an observation for class. I had gone to a leadership retreat and when I came back home later that night I found a vase full of bright yellow daffodils sitting on my desk. Damarise had bought me daffodils because she knew just how much I loved them.

Ah! I could just gush about what a sweet sister God has blessed me with. I just love her!

The flowers are perfect, my sister is amazing, and Spring is here... officially now. :)

Atlanta, Georgia

Damarise and I have now lived in Georgia for about two years, but never have we visited the capital of our "home" state. With Spring Break coming to an end, and Damarise and I both itching to travel anywhere, we decided to hit the road and go tour Atlanta for a day.

Friday morning our Atlanta adventure began. We woke to the sun shining, clear skies, and an entire day freed up for travel and excitement.

We drove down the mountain and went to pick Micah up at his house. The sky was just beginning to clear up from the rain the day before. Having the sun shine through random openings in the clouds was a gorgeous way to start the day.

After the drive to Atlanta we arrived at our first stop – Ikea. Damarise and I love Ikea. And within minutes of walking into the store, Micah loved Ikea too. We didn't buy anything, but we had a blast walking through all the display rooms and taking pictures.

A map on the wall at Ikea.

Mirrors.

Another mirror picture.

After spending a few hours roaming through Ikea we hit the road once more headed for downtown Atlanta. Damarise was an amazing driver and got us to a cheap parking lot safely.

We parked the car and then headed out into Atlanta to see what we could see.

First sight: An old brick building. I'm not sure if you can see it, but at the top it has a very faded Salvation Army sign. Also, these budding trees are gorgeous!

Second sight: The Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel. The tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere.

We went into the hotel and climbed up a few flights of stairs...

And then took the elevator all the way to the 72nd floor. The Westin is a round hotel with glass windows all around, which means that we saw a 360º view of Atlanta from way up above. It was amazing!

We were excited to be up there.

The view was incredible all the way around.

We then hopped back in the elevator and rode it back to the bottom. It went fast and was definitely an experience.

Third sight: Random statue along the road.

Fourth sight: Centennial Park

Damarise and I with a statue of Pierre de Coubertin, the father of modern olympics.

Underneath the Olympic Rings.

Fifth sight: The Coca-Cola Factory.

We didn't want to pay to go into the Coca-Cola factory, so we just visited the gift shop instead.

We went back to Centennial Park and walked around looking at the random names written on bricks throughout the park.

Sixth sight: CNN Center

We didn't go on the CNN center tour, but we did get to see inside the building, and enjoy lunch from the food court inside.

After several hours, lots of laughs, and many miles walked, we headed back to the car to head home.

Until we hit rush hour traffic. Instead of waiting in the traffic, we went back into Atlanta and drove around to see more of the many sights that Atlanta has to offer.

When the sun had set, and the traffic had died down, we drove a little ways, rested a bit in a Starbucks and then left the bustling city of Atlanta and moseyed on home.

Touring Atlanta = Wonderful.

Sights seen = Incredible.

The people involved = Amazing.

Traveling Itch Satisfied = For now... :]