over due and lately...

okay so i officially win the award for the worst blooger of the year.

question...so what's been going on in the past few months?

answer...hmmm well let us see where to start.  i have my master's degree. that's exciting right? it's really weird to think about more than anything...but it holds a nice little spot in my office. what office? yes i have one! :) i attempt to mold young minds on the daily for the most part.  my students are pretty funny.  so where is this office you might be wondering? well i did it...i made the move out of russvegas. weird? i know right? but it is for the best...sometimes you have to get away to appreciate what you have.

so i am living by myself. how do i feel about that? i actually love it a lot.  not that i don't miss my previous roomies...i do. but it's something i always wanted to do for a period in my life.  i think i lucked out too on my place...it's a cute little townhouse 2 bed and 1.5 bath. i am finding myself constantly thinking of things i think i "need" to continue to make it more homie...it's getting there but i enjoy doing it too.  it's something i have always wanted to do. however i do want to paint the walls sometimes.  i still have a lot to do upstairs but it'll come together eventually...or that's what i tell myself to make me feel better about it. :)

i am also learning the lay of the land...not that it's too hard to learn but i am still getting to know all the "cool" places in town.  i think the move def makes me feel more and more comfortable with moving to a completely new place possibly out of state...???  who knows...i guess we'll see.

in other good news...i think i found a church here too. so that makes me extremely happy! that was something i was def worried about when moving, especially going to churches by myself. i mean let's be honest...who enjoys that? okay you might but you're in a slim population. i'm just saying.

anyways...who is ready for christmas? umm this kid...i got a little crafty on sunday. i think i am going to designate sunday as craft day and i am working on making my second bedroom my craft room! :) i'm p to the umped about it.

so...too soon? i think not...

so before i leave you i just want to give a shout out to a lifelong friend who has a brilliant blog about crafts, life, and fun...mrs. broadhurst! check her out! :)

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sometimes a goodbye is

simply a see you later.

-rip ac brown iii-

let faith arise...

It is weird to think that 9/11 only happened 10 years ago and yet I remember it like it was just yesterday. It was such a chaotic day and I can remember thinking that everything was going to change dramatically. At the time I was new in my faith and yes things did change but to think that Gods hand wasn't in it was little faith. Gods hand was in it he was with those people who were on the plane those on the streets and those in the twin towers. Gods will is mysterious and perfect. Our human brains can not fathom the love, strength, mercy, and forgiveness of our Abba Father. I just remember thinking that even though new York was thousands of miles away the pain and suffering was going to get all the way to me. In a sense it did but no where near those who were connected to ground zero. I had little faith at the time but to think that God did not have his hand in it was somewhat ridiculous. God made us come together as a nation. Sometimes as hard as it is to admit, we need to be shaken and tested. Look how far our country has come today. We have prepared ourselves for all types of 'disasters' from earthquakes...tornadoes...hurricanes...wars...terrorists. Our country wouldn't be the country it is today if it were not tested. It's a matter or whether or not we can come together and love our brothers and sisters throughout our country and the world. I am grateful to be an American. I am grateful for our service men and women who protect us each and everyday. I am grateful for those countries who lend the united states a helping hand. But most importantly I m thankful to live in a country that is home to the brave and a land of the free where I can live each day with my Abba Father and worship and praise him. 

I will not fear the storm, our help is on the way, our God will come through always.

running back to you...

so it's official...i just had my last spring break as a 'student'.  that alone in itself is somewhat weird to me.  one, because i never thought this day would come. two, it makes me feel old and grown uppy.  however, it was definitely one of the better breaks i have had.  it involved: great friends, great food, great trips, great music, and great family time. 

in approximately 46 days i will have my second degree...only one more to get after this one. yes, you read that write. (sorry a little play on words! no?)  i will be getting another degree after this one.  but after a few years, gotta take some time off and let my brain deflate.  but after it you can start calling me Docta J! :)  some days i am ready to be older, just so i can say that i have NOT been in school for three-forths of my life.  i look forward to that day.

but not too much else is going on here in me-ville.  other than i was able to get away from school for a bit and spend some good quality time with friends, you know who you are and i could not say how much i love you and how thankful i am for you in these small words. 

now i will basically not have a life until april 18th, aka after my comprehensive exams are over...ten days worth of exams sounds like pure excitement right?  no?  if you want to watch someone freak out for ten days, call me and bring popcorn...this could get interesting people!  i'm just saying.  but until april 18th i am signing off.  so i will leave you with this picture and final thought...  happy spring!

me and some beautiful ladies that i love dearly.

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oh when push starts shoving,

you're left with nothing,

just know we'll always be,

family.

where are you going...

it's been awhile. this i know. once again i have been an epic fail.

which has been the norm lately...aka my life.  no, my life is not a failure.  however i just feel like there is so much going on in it...so somewhere there is room for an epic fail.

so what's new? the ush.  school, assessments, meetings, work, and working out to the insane shaun t.  two of my besties and i are doing the insanity workouts and let me tell you, it's a sick joke people.  well not really but it's legit, as in too legit to quit.  we are wanting to become our three f's. what? you don't know the three f's.  well let me give you a lesson today...Fit, Fabulous, and Feisty! now you learned something new today while reading. you're welcome. as you can see the three f's are already rubbing off on me and my blogging. 

anyway so as you can see it has left me little time to blog with all of that and worrying about various things...like graduating...passing my comprehensive exams, and a J-O-B. yeah i need one...are you hiring? :)

speaking of homework. i gots it.

i should probably get on that train while it's still in the station. thanks for still reading even though the long delay.

i'll leave you with a picture of a friend who i miss seeing often.

me and tywur.

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 but by means of their suffering, 

he rescues those who suffer.

for he gets their attention 

through adversity.

i go back to december...

only 5 more days of break left...so what am i going to do with it?

that's right watching hgtv, rescuing stray puppies (which are adorable), still attempting to unpack, seeing friendly faces, drinking coffee, running, reading, and writing.

a short little recap...the beginning of my break was spent at my rent's casa where i was able to get in some much needed r-and-r.  i didn't think i would be able to manage it but it was pretty successful.  the second half i spent visiting friends old and new.  it made for some good evenings and good convos with great people.  i really enjoy just talking to people and learning more about them and their background.  one of my friends that i met up with i had not seen in a few years because he moves all over the place doing different things.  we just got into the conversation of how technology even though it has amazing capabilities sometimes takes away from how relationships used to be.  don't get me wrong, i do appreciate being able to get online and do the occasional fb creep but i do miss the days of just not having a cell phone and not worrying about having to text someone back or i have to call so and so for blahblahblah.  i mean honestly turn your phone off for an hour and do not even think about it (it's pretty exhilarating...unless you are worrying about that text you are waiting on or what if someone calls me.)

anyway back to the point at hand...i just feel as though even though we have all these social networking sites now, it seems as though we all have a common thought that we are closer because we can reach out to someone from a tweet, or a wall post, or a fb message and the idea of being able to connect with people is so simple. but...

why don't we do it?

i feel like as a society as a whole we don't connect with people how we used to.  but that's just me...thinking and blogging out loud.  i mean admit it...most of you would rather text or e-mail someone or fbook them rather than calling and talking to them on the phone.

but don't get me wrong like i said, i do appreciate the technology we have...however i sometimes worry that we miss out on the finer and simpler things in life...

so next time just think before you text or fbook someone and i'll do the same.

while you're thinking about that...i leave you with something from the simpler life....

yes, it is i.

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i am waiting here.

waiting for you to come home.