So January 28th was Matt and my 4-year anniversary. It was quite exciting as we reminisced through the past year and how the Lord has blessed us! Here were few of the memories...
-Going to CU to dinner and received a BEAUTIFUL diamond necklace. -Matt visiting me with Florida and taking a walk on the beach together. -Dressing up in Jump Suits for the thrift store prom. -Going on a quadruple date for Halloween and totally rocking the pumpkin carving. -Buying his first suit together. -Looking at him on the ground as I skydived all worried for my life. -Going to Galleria de Paco for our 3 year anniversary.
Then on Saturday night we went on a date to CU again for dinner. It was so much fun. I love that place. Then we went to the movie Leap Year which was so exciting because the places that the movie was filmed were some of the places that we will be going this summer. So exciting to anticipate that trip! He also gave me a single rose and we dressed up for this fine outing as well! It was a great night! I am extremely blessed with him!
So as I was "Stumbling" around I found this site which I am super excited about. As I looked through the recipes some of them looked good, great, interesting, gross, and just way sweet to try! So here's a few that I am pretty excited to try!
P90X is an intense workout video series that lasts 90 days. About 15 boys from the Navigators here at UNI, along with some of their friends, are all doing it every morning this semester. Matt, by the way, is one of those boys. I hear that it is quite funny to watch since yogo or kung fu-ish moves are included in the workouts. I would expect that 15 grown, college aged boys all posed in 'tree' or 'cobra' would be quite hilarious. But even though we laugh, this endeavor that they have started calls for intense commitment and discipline. I have done 2ish of the workouts and have basically died because they hurt so much and I'm not even doing them with much intensity! So good work boys. Keep it up!
Before I just tell you all the exciting announcement and ruin the sense of anticipation that I am sure is going throughout each of your heads, I am going to present a few clues...
CLUE #1
CLUE #2
CLUE #3
CLUE #4
CLUE #5
Did you get it yet? Well... in case you didn't, I have been given the permission to go to Ireland with the Farley family this next summer. It is for about a week in July and I am SOOO excited! Watch out Ireland...Here I come!
In the past, self-control has been by far the hardest thing for me in so many areas, but I believe that I may have just turned a new leaf and I have no reason but that it must be from the Lord.
Since being at school, I have...
-Worked out twice (more than all of last semester) -Been on time for all of my classes -Used my planner for all assignments and 'appointments' -Eaten a GOOD, HEALTHY meal for lunch and supper every day -But most importantly, gotten good time in the Word every day.
I know that I have only been back for 5 days, but still that isn't like me at all, so what else can it be but Spirit-Control.
This is a youtube video that was sent to me and has really changed some of the ways that I think over the past month. Please take the time to watch it. It is 12 minutes long, but SOOO worth that time. So here you go... The Fire
If you don't have time to watch it or whatever, here are a few of the lines that stuck out to me. ________________________________________________
-"Have you ever thought that there are people going to hell today that never thought that they would go there?"
-"A little truth makes deception acceptable."
-"It is a complete impossibility for you to be saved and continue to live in a state of worldliness."
-"The first level of Christianity is a complete denial of all your desires... whosoever does not wake up in the morning and die to each of their desire is not worthy of walking in Jesus's footsteps."
-"You will hate one and love another always."
-"It's disgusting that it's more of a scandal to reprove sin than it is to laugh at it...The one who says sin is wrong is judgmental and the one who approves it is Christ like."
-"If you die without bearing God's fruit, you will burn in Hell for eternity."
-"I have freedom in Christ. Freedom from what? Freedom to let some of the worst words that can spill out of a human mouth serve as your entertainment and yet you still claim that you love Him with your whole heart?"
-(spoken by an unbeliever on his death bed) "I think that if you would have remembered that I was going down to Hell you would have been more earnest with me."
"There's nothing in this life that you can do to take glory away from God...Mercy is that you can choose. Will God be glorified by your damnation... or will He be glorified by your salvation?"
-"What is going to matter when you are on you death bed?"
-"He is holding the door of mercy as wide open as it can go and He is calling "Come and dine with me." To dine with Christ is to die to yourself."
-"He is coming, but you may die before He does. All you have is NOW." ________________________________________________
Jeremiah 14:20-22-
20 "O LORD, we acknowledge our wickedness and the guilt of our fathers; we have indeed sinned against you. 21 For the sake of your name do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us and do not break it. 22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this."
The Neglected (a few things that were not blogged about in the past few weeks) -Matt's Party: It was Matt's birthday on December 12th and so to celebrate, I told him that we were going to go on a birthday date, just the two of us. The only thing was that about 20 other people were going to be waiting for us at Montage, a very nice restaurant in Cedar Falls, which Matt knew nothing about. So as we were escorted to our table, people began cheering and Matt figured it all out. It was a wonderful night and so much fun to see Matt surrounded by so many of his friends and people who have greatly influenced who he is today. Happy Birthday Matt!!!
In the car on our way to our 'date.'
Matt with his birthday truffle!
-Finals: I had a total of 9 various types of finals this semester, so although it was quite the crazy week, I loved almost every minute. Besides the time spent studying, I was able to get some sweet friend time in... like "studying"/talking in the union, practicing for our vocal juries with other music majors in a computer lab, having a sledding party, having dinner at Kristin's, and many other sweet things. It was a really good end to the semester!
The New (a few things that need to be blogged about from the past few days)
-Family Pictures: Sam Kantak took some family pictures this past week and they turned out SOOO good! They were just really informal and quite goofy and some turned out so good! Here's a few fun ones...
-Henna: Nicole brought back henna from India but we never were able to play with it. So last night (the last night she was here) I decided that it had to be done. So, my legs were thoroughly 'henna-ed.' It was fun to see Nicole play around and try to decide what to do next and see how her exciting designs turned out in the end.
Nicole working on my legs!
The first attempt.
The GOOD one!
-The Airport: We dropped Matthew, Nicole, and Chris off at the Minneapolis airport this afternoon, which was very sad. Matthew had a very successful travel to Atlanta, while Nicole and Chris still continue their travels to India and then Hong Kong. It is very quiet and lonely in our house now and being the youngest isn't quite as cool as it is made out to be at times like this... BUT... I do get GREAT times with my parents and my grandpa which is well worth it! So... the 'all-together' family time may be over for at least 7 months but, at least I have been greatly blessed with a wonderful family, the ability to call or skype whenever, and loving parents with more love than they know what to do with!
