Week 29: Days 2 & 3

So I am sick. Not fun. It could be a lot worse those. It's just a head cold, but still not the funnest thing. Despite the cold, I've still been keeping up with dates for the most part. Yesterday, I stayed home with my beautiful niece and had a date with her. Any time that I get to spend with my niece is time very well spent. I just love her so much, so much in fact, that I wonder how it is possible to love a child more than that. We spent the day playing with a balloon, watching some penguin movie (no idea what it was called), making chocolate chip cookies, and taking a nap. It was a lot of fun.

Today, I get to spend some time with my other favorite girl in the whole world, Bayless my goddaughter. I get to babysit, and I'm so very excited for that! I'm sure that playing with toys, Dora the Explorer, and Boots are in my very near future : )

And I get to end the night with my wonderful friend Kate! Loving this week!

Week 29: Date Week

Hello, everyone! Here we are at week 29: Date Week. Before we go into that, I will say that I didn't have much of a chance to make items to sell on Etsy, but I figured out the name which will be "The Alabaster Jar." Why did I choose this name?

Matthew 26:6-13
While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked.“This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you,but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.

Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

I had asked a lot of friends for their input on what I should name the Etsy store, but none of them really stuck out to me. Then one day this past week, I thought about this passage from the bible and knew that "The Alabaster Jar" was the name I wanted. This passage always gets to me. This woman brings this alabaster jar and pours expensive perfume over the head of Jesus. It brings tears to my eyes to think that this alabaster jar was probably the most expensive thing that she had, the most valuable thing. She chose to use it on Jesus. I could go more into that, but as I open this Etsy store, I want it to glorify God just as anything else I do. I think this name will be a good reminder of that. I am hoping to have the store up and running the first week in March, but I will keep you guys posted and when I get my beginning inventory I will post pictures.

This weekend I was away in Missouri for a young adult retreat through The Salvation Army which was wonderful, and today I spent sleeping and trying to recover from this horrible head cold that I have. Today was my first official day of unemployment. This week being my first week off work, I thought it would be a great idea to catch up with friends so very basically, date week is a week where I am going out on what I like to call "friend dates." I am excited to catch up with friends, and it will give me something to do besides apply for jobs. If you've been following my blog, you understand how much my friends mean to me so this week will be wonderful. I have some fun things planned with some fun people! Today, I hung out with my friend Neisy which was great considering I haven't spent real quality time with her for months. I headed to her house, we ordered dinner, and just talked for hours. Loved it!

I will keep you updated on my "dates" this week!

Week 28: Business Week

Hello, friends! Welcome to week 28, but before I get into that, I'll recap last week. Now, I didn't blog as much as I wanted to last week, but that's ok. Even though I didn't post everyday, I took last week to process through the changes that are happening in my life right now, and I must say that doing that has made all of it so much easier. I had a wonderful few days processing through things on my own, with friends, with God....I know that any time I start to freak out about not having a job, living with my parents, running out of money- I just need to stop and re-focus. God is faithful and provides. He has done just that my whole life. Why would I think it would be different now? Thanks for all of your prayers and encouragement in this transition. I have felt the power of those prayers, and I am so grateful!

This week is Business Week. I've been thinking about opening a store on Etsy. If you haven't been to the website, check it out. Basically, it's a site you can go to and find awesome, homemade gifts. I love the website, and I've purchased quite a few gifts from there for friends. The last couple months or so, I've been looking through the site and found myself thinking, "Wow. That's super easy to make. I could totally make that!" So I've decided to open my own store, make a bunch of handmade gifts (which I love doing anyway), and sell them so that I can make a little extra money and people all over can enjoy them! I'm actually really excited about this, and I have friends who are interesting in helping so this is going to be a lot of fun.

This week, I plan on looking into how to open a store. I also need to come up with a name for my store, which will probably be the toughest thing for me, and I am going to start building up my inventory. I'm planning on making journals, picture frames, ornaments, gift boxes, buttons, etc. Then I will need to come up with some prices. As I make stuff, I will post up pictures and you guys can give me your feedback. How does that sound?

Week 27, Day 3

So my phone has been off for a couple days- sorry if you have tried calling me : ) Reason: couldn't pay my phone bill. I haven't even stopped working yet, and already struggling to pay bills. Not good. The change that has been on my mind a lot today has been that come 18th, unless something happens quickly, I will no longer have an income. I almost don't want to fully say what I'm thinking because I know that I am so much better off than so many people who don't even have a roof over their head, but this not having an income thing worries me a little. I have my loans to pay for, which takes up a big chunk and then everything else. It just stinks that I spent so much stinking money on college which has left me in a lot of debt, to get a job which I am being let go from.

Now, I need to focus on the truth. God will provide for me. He has this far! I have nothing to worry about. All I need to do is seek God- He has it all under control. When I worry, I am saying that I don't trust God and His promises. God will and has been opening and closing doors. I am so unbelievably blessed because I can stay with my parents and not pay rent until I get my feet back on the ground. I have people in my life who love me and support me, so there's nothing to worry about.

The verse I am memorizing is Psalm 46:10 which says, "He says, 'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth.'” Be still. That's a hard one for me, that's for sure. All I need to do is be still and know that God is, well, God!

My friend Linda will be praying for me this next week- that I wouldn't stress out about money and that I would remember that God will provide! And also that I would be a good steward of the money I do have. I have already set up financial accountability so that I will spend very little money in order to save what I can.

Week 27: A Week of Change

Hello, everyone! After 24 Hour Blog Day, I needed a couple days to recover : ) Plus, today was my grandma's wake, so we were all busy preparing for that. Thank you all for your support, prayers, for coming to the wake, for the encouragement....it's all very appreciated and has been a huge blessing.

So as I have shared with you guys, there's a lot of change happening in my life right now, and some of you may know that I do not deal very well with change. I am done at my job on the 18th, I just moved back to my parents' house after living on my own for 6 years, I have no idea where I will be working and when, and my grandma just passed away. Any time there is change, it is usually followed by some depression and a bumpy road for a while. A friend of mine suggested that I react in this way because I'm not prepared for what's coming. Maybe that's true. Whatever the reason, I've decided to try and prepare myself a little bit. Really, the change has already happened, but I don't think that it has sunk in yet.

This week is really pretty simple, but may be hard for me. Basically, each day I will take an aspect of my life that is going through change and face it head on. I tend to run away from facing change by being busy and distracted, but that obviously hasn't worked for me so far. My plan of action is to journal and pray through a part of my life that is going through change; find some scripture pertaining to that change, write it, and memorize it; find a friend that can pray for that specific area of my life. Make sense?

I guess today I'll start with the passing of my grandma. A lot of times, when a person passes away people say "He/She's in a much better place now." For some people, that statement is not helpful at all and for some it is. For me, it is very helpful. My grandma loved the Lord and had a relationship with Him, so I know that she went to heaven. There is absolutely no more suffering, no more pain, and while we were all crying over our loss, she was sitting there with Jesus, basking in His wonderful love and peace.

Now, here's where I am going to have a problem: Things keep running through my mind like, "Why didn't you spend more time with her? Why weren't you home more often? Why didn't you ask her to tell you stories or teach you lessons or ask for her advice?" I know that I shouldn't do that to myself, but it's hard not to. I hope that she knew how much I loved her, even if I didn't show it as much as I should have. I have definitely learned a whole lot from my grandma- the importance of family, of loving everyone you encounter, not to go to bed mad at someone because you'll never know if that person or you will wake up the next morning....those things she's taught me will live on, and I will pass those things to my children and so on.

My family put together picture boards for the wake, and today my mom told me that I looked like my grandma when she was my age. You guys, my grandma was beautiful! Breath takingly beautiful. I thought my mom was nuts. Then another women who was friends with my grandma said the same thing...maybe it's true, even though I don't see it. If I am half as beautiful as my grandma, I'd be happy! My prayer is that I will love people like my grandma did, that my family will experience peace and joy, that God will turn things around for my family. We've been through so much, Lord!

My memory verse: Psalm 18:2 "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I take refuge." When I got home just a little bit ago from the wake, there were flowers waiting for me from my best friend, Lisa. God laid that verse on her heart, and she wrote it on the card with the flowers. I think it's a perfect scripture for right now.

See, I feel a lot better already : ) Whenever my mind starts to race with those questions, I will remember this verse- the truth that God is my strength and refuge!

Topic #24: Cartoons

Cartoons. Really? This is the last topic of 24 Hour Blog Day? Well, poo. Ok, here we go: Cartoons are awesome. My favorite cartoon growing up was "Doug." I often get that theme song stuck in my head. Roger, Skeeter, Patti Mayonaise, Porkchop- awesome names for cartoon characters. Yay for "Doug!" The end.

I made it for 24 hours!!!!! Insane and quite the miracle. Thanks to Mike for inviting me to participate. It's been awesome reading my friends blogs during these last 24 hours, and now I'm taking a nap. See ya later, friends!

Topic #23: 80's movies

Oh man, the '80's hold some of the greatest movies ever. First one that comes to mind is "Ghostbusters" which came out in 1984. Epic movie. I think it would be interesting to see how society would have reacted if that movie first came out now in 2011. People would probably think it was lame, didn't have enough sex in it, and was "blah." Not all people would think that way, but I just don't think this movie would have been as epic had it come out now. Here are other ones that stick out to me:

• "The Blues Brothers" started their mission from God in 1980


• "E.T." came out in 1982 and honestly I was a little scared of E.T.. Kept thinking he would pop out in my own pile of stuffed animals


• The first "Back to the Future" came out in 1985 and started an epic trilogy, or so I hear. haven't actually watched them. I know, I know-it's embarrassing.


• "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" (1987) is another awesome movie. I think that movie is hilarious. Steve Martin and John Candy are great together. Have you seen the new movie "Due Date?" In my opinion, it's a disgusting version of "Planes, Trains & Automobiles." Perfect example of how there seems to have been a shift in society- with sex entering in, inappropriate language, and other "adult themes." I could go on and on about this, but I won't because it will just make me mad.


• "When Harry Met Sally" is one of my favorite movies of all time, and that came out right at the end of the '80's-1989. That's how I want to fall in love- we'll see if it actually happens that way.

In conclusion, 80's movies rock.