simply complicated

I have Wednesday through Sunday off this week & I could not be more excited! My only problem is when I have that much time off, I pack it full of things that I need to get done. Do you do that? Please tell me I'm not the only one. So here is my list so far....

1. Go grocery shopping.
2. Clean the bathrooms.
3. Clean the floors.
4. Paint tin cans for my classroom.
5. Drop fridge & some boxes off in my classroom.
6. Decide how to decorate my classroom.
7. Lay out.
8. Organize my home office. 
9. Lay out.
10. Blog.
11. Lay out.
12. Eat good food for the 4th. :)
13. Catch up on the Bachelorette {my guilty pleasure}.
14. Watch Orange Is The New Black on Netflix. {different show but I'm liking it I guess}
15. Hopefully plan my first day of school activity for my students.

I can't tell you the last time I had 5 days at home...I'm so excited!

What are you doing this weekend? 

I don't know about you, but my favorite time of the year is summer. For multiple reasons. A big reason is because Big Brother is on TV! It is by far my favorite TV show. I love the drama, competitions, & how often it is on TV. It will really consume your week of television watching for 3 months at 3 days a week. It is on Sunday's, Wednesday's, & Thursday's. Each night of the week is a different competition or contest.

The Big Brother Season 16 premiere was last night. One thing that is different this season is all the extra twists. Big Brother's motto is to "expect the unexpected" but this season they seem to be taking it to a whole new twisted level.

Like with the season premier last night...they {usually} introduce all 16 house guests & then have all the house guests compete in a H.O.H competition {head of household} after they are in the house for a little bit. Whoever wins the competition is crowned the H.O.H for the week. They get their own suite upstairs complete with their own bathroom, surveillance cameras, & basket of goodies from home. The H.O.H is responsible for nominating 2 house guests for eviction at the end of that week.  They are also {usually} safe from being eliminated.

BUT...last night they only brought 8 house guests in for the first H.O.H competition. Then announced to the house guests that they would not be alone for long & that the next set of house guests will compete in their own H.O.H competition. Ummm....what?!? Where did that come from?

Another premiere night is tonight & I'm so excited to meet the next 8 house guests. I am certainly expecting the unexpected this season!

This past week, my husband Nathan & I took 11 high school students to Knoxville, TN for a Christ in Youth MOVE conference. Nathan & I went to these all through out high school so we knew what to expect. Or so we thought....but let me tell you, as awesome as our youth group was when we were growing up, they've got nothin' on these students.

The main topic for the week was "This Changes Everything" {the "this" being Jesus' resurrection}. The bottom line is that without the resurrection of Jesus, His life would be nothing but a gory rated R film. It was an amazing thing to think about how His resurrection literally changed so many things in today's society that you just don't think about on a regular basis! {ie. hospitals were created after the word "hospitality" which was something super important back in Jesus' time.}

Through out the week, we saw many videos on how high school students are doing Kingdom things around the world. Well, our students loved that. They wanted to know immediately how they could do something for the Kingdom. We had talked about different things they could do on a daily basis all week, but one morning we watched a video about Ruby who gave up her 16th birthday so she could raise money for a lady in Nicaragua to have a house.

Our students decided that they could do this too! All the guys on the trip talked about building a well in a foreign country & the long term benefits that it would bring to an entire village. The next day, they brought it up with the girls on the trip & everyone committed to building a well in 2015! I am so proud of how they took charge & decided that 1 birthday with presents had no eternal ramifications, but being able skip 1 birthday to provide water for a community of people & share the love of Jesus with them could bring so much more to the Kingdom.

I love each of the student's hearts & Nathan & I are so proud of them! So get ready blog readers...you will probably see many more posts about CIY & our "save the wells" campaign that will be coming in this next year. Please pray for leadership among the students. Guidance & wisdom on who to build with & where to build {we have researched some & run into some age restriction road blocks}. Please pray for calmed nerves & excitement from the students so they can have joy to share the love of Jesus with anyone they come in contact with. Pray that God will bless this trip & open all the right doors for His Glory!

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead". - James 2:14-17

This changes everything.

Five years ago today my wonderful husband surprised me & proposed! It was the best day (just behind the wedding). Thought I'd share our engagement story.

It was my half birthday (yes, that is a real thing that I like to celebrate when possible) & I told all my friends that I wanted to go to dinner for my half birthday. When we got together for dinner we would usually go to a casual Mexican food restaurant, but I decided I wanted to go to a fancy restaurant & get dressed up (your welcome everyone for making this really easy for you to plan!). Nathan told me that he would just have to meet us at the restaurant after work, so my best friend/sister Alison said that she would come pick me up. Well, she was 30 minutes late & I was mad because I was so hungry! Then when she got there she gave me a picture of me & Nathan that said "laughter" on the frame & she said "happy half birthday!" I thought, "okay well that's pretty weird that she gave me a picture of me & Nathan, but okay..." The card that came with the frame said this:

She told me when we got in the car to head to the restaurant that we needed to stop by her apartment so she could grab her sweater. (ummm...it was June. In Houston, Texas...not exactly sweater weather) I went with it. Naturally I had to go up to her apartment with her so I didn't suffocate in her car when she took her keys to unlock the door. When we walked in she told me that she was going to freshen up & she told me "Happy half birthday! Put the puzzle together on my table!" Okay? So I put the puzzle together...
After we left her apartment, we went to get our friends Mike & Courtney. At this point I am starving, & things are feeling really fishy. (I knew that if it was a proposal then my best friend Chey would be somewhere.) When we got to Mike & Courtney's, Mike handed me 2 cards & said "happy half birthday!" Here is what the cards said...



She then said "I have one more stop for you..." & they opened the doors to the sanctuary & there were rose petals & candles everywhere & Nathan was standing at the end of the aisle. I walked down & he proposed with the sweetest proposal! After we took many pictures at the sanctuary, I very politely (HA!) asked if we were ever really going to dinner because I was starving! We did go, but they surprised me again & had our families & some friends all meet at the restaurant.


I loved every second of that day & I am so BEYOND thankful for all involved in making it so so special! Happy five years of engagement, Nathan!