Team Tuesday Christmas Extravaganza

Wednesday, December 17, 2008





Decorating the tree

Merge: 80's party

I am a little behind....better late than never, right?!
Pictures from our housegroup party....these high schoolers are awesome!



Cute French girl

Monday, December 8, 2008

This is the most adorable little French girl! Not that I know many French kids, but oh my goodness she is cute! This is a story she made up. She has quite the imagination. My favorite is the way she says hippopatomus and crocodile! Precious!

Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

Family

Monday, December 1, 2008

Jessica's sister-in-law Kiki, took family pictures a few weeks ago...


Andrew's rad sister and brother--Shelbi and Riley


Andrew and I


Haha! Would this not be the best Christmas card ever? It's actually Andrew's cousins....Mara and Ovid

Mudbowl

Sunday, November 30, 2008

On Friday, Merge experienced Mudbowl 2008.....




Cruz Williams

Saturday, November 22, 2008

This post is a little late, but my excitement is still fresh :)
Jay and Jess had their little man last week, and he is precious.
Meet Cruz......


... Congratulations Jay and Jess!!!

Proverbs 3

Monday, November 17, 2008

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path." Proverbs 3:5-6

Free Photo Book

Friday, November 14, 2008

Oprah and Snapfish are offering a free, 20 page, 8 x 11 custom cover photo book! It's usually $30.00 but if you sign up for it today, it's FREE! In order to get the offer though, you have to complete the book by Sunday. I think it would make for a great free Christmas present! Click here for more information!

Taylor Swift

Thursday, November 13, 2008


She is my secret shame.....I LOVE her new CD

Grad School Preparation


This is what I was doing last night after high school group until 12:30 a.m.

Just compiling info. for letters of recommendation is incredibly overwhelming. I know it probably doesn't look like a lot, but I had to make three different folders for three professors that included:
- a personal statement
-resume
-letters of recommendation forms (every school has a different form)
-deadlines for each school

Needless to say, it's a lot to do in order to ask for letters. But I am so glad to be done with that part of the graduate school process. I've narrowed it down to five schools: ASU, UofA, Vanderbilt, University of Washington, and University of Oregon. Step two: applications.

I voted. Did you?

Tuesday, November 4, 2008


Today's the big day....Get out and vote!

Bangs or no bangs...That is the question

Sunday, November 2, 2008

I'm getting my haircut on Wednesday and need some opinions. I loved my bangs last year, but they always seemed to be in the way and were pretty hard to maintain because they were straight across (I had to cut them myself every other day). Now I'm debating whether I should just grow them out or get bangs like Reese Witherspoon.

This is without bangs:


This is with straight-across bangs:


This is the potential hair cut:






So....What do you guys think?!

lists

Sunday, October 26, 2008

I feel like I need to blog....but there is so much going on in my head/life, I don't know what to even write about. I LOVE lists, I think we're gonna go with that format:

-Church was pretty amazing this morning--really refreshing.
-I am overwhelmed with school
-I am even more overwhelmed the prospect of grad school
-Andrew and I saw "Pride and Glory" last night....it was a great movie, but I had to turn on the tv when I got home to get some of those violent images out of my head so I could sleep
-I'm not dressing up for Halloween
-I think I want my bangs back
-I've been drawing a lot lately
-I love my family a lot
-Andrew and I are trying to figure out how we can afford a Portland trip

Speaking of lists, I have an awful lot of unfilled boxes in my agenda...guess I should get down to business!

Hamilton Homecoming

Saturday, October 18, 2008

I love my small group girls. Andrew and I went to take pictures of them before they left for Homecoming. Here's a few of the hundred pictures we took





Dodson girls

The Dodsons know how to make kids....
Andrew and I babysat their little girls last night and had a blast! We played dinosaurs, dress up, and "dogs chase cats". I'm not a fan of babysitting for the most part, but I really enjoyed myself last night :)
Here are some pictures of our adventures...
Ava and Cambrea are the cutest girls ever!



efficacious: the GRE word for success

Monday, October 6, 2008


Last week, I told Andrew that we were going out to dinner tonight. It was either going to be a dinner to celebrate my GRE score or to eat my feelings...but either way, we were going to dinner.
I am proud to say that we will be celebrating my GRE score!
I did well enough on the GRE that I don't have to take it again!!!
It was a rough test, but I managed to pull off an 1120.
God is so so so so good.
I have to wait a few weeks to get my writing scores back, but overall I think I am done with this silly test!
Now I have to write my personal statement, ask professors for letters of recommendation, and fill out applications.
I can't stop smiling....the weight of the world feels like it's been lifted from my shoulders.
YAY!!!!!

The best part of all this is that I know I had awesome friends and family praying for me. It was so cool to get in my car after taking the test and have a ton of text messages from my rad high school girls wishing me luck. It's really encouraging that people take time out of their busy days to think of me. I am blessed by great friendships.

It's gonna be alright!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

While I was at MERGE this morning, I was definitely convicted. They sang "Salvation is Here" and it spoke straight to my heart. I am so extremely worried about tomorrow morning (the GRE), but I was comforted for a moment with these words:

"God above all the world in motion,
God above al my hopes and fears,
I don't care what the world throws at me now...
IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT!
Cause I know my God saved the day
and I know his Word never fails and
I know my God made a way for me....
SALVATION IS HERE."

I'll cling tightly to these words today....

Overwhelmed!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

The GRE is eating me alive....seriously-I have a chronic headache and every time I hear someone speak of the GRE I want to throw up. A little dramatic? No way. Studying for this test on top of 18 credit hours is becoming too much. Doomsday is October 6th. I'm not aiming for brilliance, I just need a decent score. For those of you who are not familiar with the GREs, it's like the college version of the SATs, but way harder. When you apply to graduate school, it's one of the three things they look at. Needless to say, I could use some prayer. I found myself wondering today how my friends can do all of this without Jesus. Good thing He is so much bigger than some silly GRE.

ANDREW

Wednesday, September 24, 2008


Andrew packed my lunch for me today..... I love him a lot

My dad is so great

Sunday morning, I went with my mom, sister, and brother to watch my dad compete in his first triathlon. He has been doing marathons for awhile now, so he decided to try something different. He did so great, and I'm really proud of him :)
Here are a few pictures! He just turned 47....what a stud!

...getting ready for the swim


...transitioning into the bike part of the triathlon


...the brother and sister (it was a little early to wake up)


...He finished with a smile :)

Too funny!

Saturday, August 30, 2008



HAHA! Pick your Nose Party Cups.....Now available. I totally want to buy these and throw a party just to use them :)
You can buy a 24-pack on Amazon for $8.00! This is great!

RAIN!

Monday, August 25, 2008

It's pouring outside!! It's a great way to turn a day around. I love love love the rain.
The electricity went out at our apartment complex this afternoon for two hours...needless to say, it was HOT!

This past weekend was so nice. Andrew and I left Friday afternoon for North Scottsdale. We stayed at the Westin for a miniature vacation since we didn't really go anywhere this summer. The pool was pretty stinkin nice. Saturday we celebrated my sister's birthday....she's 17-I can't even believe it! We also celebrated Ryan Axtells birthday Saturday night, and it was so nice to hang out with such great friends. Sunday we went to church like normal churchgoers! We just went, sat in a chair, and left.....it was weird.

On a sad note, Andrew and I head back to school tomorrow. I have mixed feelings about it. I'm a nerd at heart and secretly love school, so although I will be taking 18 credit hours, I think it will be alright. This is my LAST SEMESTER of undergrad. YAY! Andrew (by the grace of God) got into all the classes he applied so late for. He is all set up to apply to the professional program next semester. Our lives are starting to make sense :)

Home Goods is the best!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008



I went to Home Goods yesterday to get some plain throw pillows to go with my great purchase from Pottery Barn. A great robin- egg blue vase caught my eye. To my surprise it was 50% off! Terrific!

Good date


Andrew and I FINALLY went on a date last Friday. Life has been ridiculously busy and we haven't had time to slow down. Dinner and a movie...what could be better?!

JJ Heller

Saturday, August 16, 2008


JJ Heller is giving away her new cd for FREE until November 1st! Yes! I LOVE it! It is sooooo good! Go download it :)

SO glad yesterday is over a new one has begun

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Yesterday was seriously the worst day I've had in awhile. It started out well--with a mission to be productive during my day off. A desire to be productive ended up producing more stress.

My tags are two months expired--Tori pointed that out to me one night at high school group. Yesterday was the first chance I've had to get my car emissions tested so I could register it. So I went to the emissions place, waited in the wrong bay, had to go back around and wait in line again (45 minutes) all to find out that my car didn't pass emissions. Are you kidding me?! Only cars from the 60s don't pass emissions....well, add mine to the list! This was not making me feel productive! I needed to go to the DMV next door to get a new drivers license--the one that is horizontal. This was the worst experience at the DMV I've ever had. I was seriously harassed by six sixteen year old boys...I won't get into details, but lets just say I felt pretty violated. After waiting, they called my number and I went to take a new picture for my license. HAH! Should not have done that! I look like a shaggy dog with cheeks. There was a shadow on my face and it looks like I have dark thick bangs that go below my eyes. When your own mother says, "I will pay for you to go back and get a new picture," you know it's bad.

After the awful DMV, I went to Salem Boys to get an estimate on how much it would be to fix the problems in order for my car to pass emissions. The nice man told me it would be about $600!!! I said, "no thank you," and called Andrew crying, hoping he would just tell me we won the lottery or something. He didn't, but being the amazing guy he is called his uncle (who's a mechanic) and helped me figure out some car stuff. I think it will be a lot cheaper for him to do it.

Anyway, today is a new day.....and I am thrilled for small groups tonight. I'm excited for another year to hang out with the most awesome people on this planet. If you didn't know, high school girls (especially mine) are pretty stinkin cool. I'm excited to see them grow in their walk with the Lord. I feel pretty honored to be part of that. They're great!

And I'm thinking about trading in this.....












for this...... :)