candid.

life lately has been so good. i can only attribute it to God's grace and faithfulness in my life even when i completely do not deserve any of the blessings he gives me.

here are some things on my mind [not all good, but mostly]:
1. in love with the Bible study i lead and the girls in it.
2. newly obsessed with florence and the machine [thanks steph].
3. worried about my grandpa.
4. excited to see my family this weekend.
5. feeling good about school for once.
6. happy for dan and emily.
7. loving james and the pace our relationship is going.
8. expanding horizons and enjoying thai and chinese food [i never did before james].
9. writing in my prayer journal with purple pen is my therapy.
10. had a bad hair day today.
11. interested in pablo neruda [chileno poet].
12. anxious to get my geography test back tomorrow [the good kind of anxious].
13. surrounded by weddings [getting measured for a bridesmaid dress on friday].
14. reveling in God's grace.

dan and emily

on wednesday i got a message from my friend dan asking if i could take pictures of his proposal to his girlfriend emily, who is also my roommate! of course i said yes, and it was an excruciating 4 days because as we all know, i am horrible at keeping secrets and this was a really good one! luckily, i managed to keep my mouth shut and dan and emily had a wonderful proposal at the pier in pismo. the rain stopped and the sun came out just in time! it was gorgeous and such a special moment to be a part of. dan and emily are perfect for each other; i know the Lord has wonderful plans for them! congratulations dan and em!















[ps: happy 100th post to me!]

creativity.

i have none. but on occasion i will try my hand at painting and i finally finished this one so i thought i would share it!

i had the background done for about 3 months but i didn't know what to put on top of it so i just left it. finally i was inspired by another lady who did something similar to this so i thought i would put my own spin on it!

i just painted over the top again so there was wet paint and then cut out a heart from printer paper and put the heart on the paint. i poured glitter over the corner and then shook it off. i peeled off the heart and voila! super easy and i am pretty pleased with the outcome.

now just to wait 5 years til my next creativity kick!

sunny with a high of 75.

this is what i sing in my head every day the forecast says high of 75, which is what it said today.

"and it's funny when you find you enjoy your life when you're happy to be alive."

pucker up.

i just learned the average person has 28 first kisses. meaning the average person kisses twenty. eight. people. in their life.

am i just a kissing prude, or is that a lot??

thank you, weekend.

this weekend was good to me. i saw my brothers, got to sleep in [though i was sick... bleh], played with kids in children's church, saw friends, had numerous beach visits, bought a new cardigan, and finished a painting i have been stumped by for months. tomorrow my 8am class is canceled so i can get some more rest and kick this cold as well as have ample time to get homework done before i have dinner with james. so the goodness from my weekend seems to be overflowing into my week! another testament to the greatness that is Jesus.

*note: why yes, that is me rocking out on the tambourine with by brother playing the banjo. we're like the von trapps, but folksier. and not as talented.

hermanos.

they're coming on saturday! and i am oh so very excited.

for your viewing pleasure.

a few awkward photos.


angels lighting the background as feel up my bf. nbd.


eating.


waiting for bailey to kill me any day now.


courtesy of a. wyosnick.


me getting tired of james taking 574967583 pictures of me.

experimentacion.

here are some extremely awesome pictures of james and me playing with our new camera.







bear with us. we're learning.

today.

today is a good day to eat pasta for lunch.

it is a good day for heavy sweaters and wearing uggs.

today is a day to be thankful for.

it is a day to listen to phil wickham while doing homework.

it is the day to go to bible study.

today is a day to learn and grow and try.

pictures.

alright peeps, here are some pictures from my life lately and my new beautiful camera who is my new love.















1.me with matthew and his new baby, a banjo he names benny and crammed in the already burtsing-at-the-seams car for a 6 hour drive. i sat with benny in my lap for a good portion of the drive, but i'm not bitter...

2. vintage ornaments that were my mom's grandma's.

3. some of the cousins at christmas in our new sweatshirts/scarves.

4. paul doing what he does... in the snow at hume.

5. james on a photoshoot we had trying to figure out how to use the camera. what a model he is.

6. my mom came to visit the other day and we had dinner. i have such a wonderful mom!

7. bailey ruining an otherwise cute picture of steph and me on girl's night at klondikes.

there you have it! my recent life in pictures. i plan to post more pictures now that i have cameron... don't hold me to it though ;)

new.

for me, the new year is a great time for me to reflect on grace [well there is never really a bad time to reflect on it].

yes, 2010 was wonderful. i grew and laughed and learned and played. but with anything, i made a lot of mistakes. i hurt people, was lazy, and ignored God at times. it sucks, but i am human and that is just the way it is. sometimes it is too easy for me to focus on what i have done wrong, rather than what God has allowed me to accomplish and all the blessings i have been given.

the Lord has made me new and every day i am thankful for the grace Jesus has shown me through his unchanging love for me, and through the people He has put in my life.

i also believe the Lord is teaching me to give myself grace. we are human. we fail. and i am definitely not an exception. but every day the Lord of the universe forgives me and keeps loving me with a love i can never fully understand. so i should be able to forgive myself for the mistakes i've made, learn from them, and move on.

here's to grace. and Jesus. and love. and new beginnings. but mostly Jesus.

2010 in review.

what happened last year?

i worked at backstage pizza, was reunited with caitlin and bailey after their return from europe, slugged through school, was continuing getting to know my new boyfriend, had a non-valentine's day the day before feb 14, went to el salvador, turned 21 there, visited an orphanage, made new friends, called my grandma every week, saw lady antebellum in concert, quit backstage again, got a job at the info booth, was on summer break, attended hannah's wedding, went to summer school, lived with my aunt for 2 weeks and became closer with her, moved into my new apartment, slept on the top bunk, stayed up too late talking with emily every night, got our door banged on by a drunk guy, went camping with james and my family in bridgeport, spent fourth of july with james and the twins at the wesley hose, saw fireworks in cayucos, saw keith urban in concert, worked at the info booth so much it felt like i lived there, went to jenn's wedding, went to costa rica, sent paul off to college, went to another wedding, fell in love, went to disneyland with my family and james minus paul, started my senior year of college, celebrated james' 23rd birthday, visited james' family, saw harry potter 6, drove to san fran with my brothers for thanksgiving, bought my first big joint purchase with james [a camera], celebrated christmas with my family, went to hume, attended whitney's wedding reception, spent new year's eve with my boy.

2010 was hard and wonderful. i cried a lot, felt lonely, learned so much more about the Lord, got to know myself better, grew closer to people, felt so loved, and just lived life.

welcome, 2011. i know you have plenty of surprises in store for me.

word of the year.

no pictures yet, as james has custody of cameron at the moment. but soon.

so i was thinking about what i wanted this year to be, and how i wanted to change. i'm not big on new year's resolutions, but i do think the new year is a great time to reflect on where i have been and where i want to go.

so this year my word is intention.

i will strive to be...

intentional in my relationships with my friends, james, and my family. i want to pursue them and care for them without seeking anything for myself. oh how rarely i use relationships solely as a way to care for the other person. i think of myself and how i can be benefited far too often.

intentional in school. i have been given this opportunity and i am going to act like i like it; put my full efforts into it. maybe i will end up enjoying it yet.

intentional in my relationship with the Lord and making Him the first priority in my life once more. if i am not moving forward with Him, then i am moving backwards, and it seems like i have been in a backslide for a while. i know He will help me to end that this year.

i have a tendency to sit back and wait for things to happen, but this year i know the Lord will enable me to act with intention, and that my life will be so much better with His purpose and will propelling me.

happy new year. i pray that this will be a year of learning, joy, and peace for all of us.