prayers.

please pray for my family today. i was reminded yesterday of how precious life truly is and how it can not be taken for granted. today i am clinging to the fact that we can't and won't always understand why things happen as they do, and as unfair as they seem, we still serve a good God. a gracious, loving and faithful God. i frequently have to remind myself that i don't see as the Lord sees nor do i understand as He does. and that we will not ever understand why some events happen in our lifetime here on earth. but He still is right there beside us walking through these hard times and He will be faithful through it all. pray for peace, comfort and healing.

i am so thankful to have such a close family. i couldn't ask for a better one.

let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. hebrews 10:23

letters.

whooa, two posts in two days. i'm getting ambitious. the babe is sleeping and i wrote about this in my journal last night, so i thought i'd share. i'm a huge fan of written letters...notecards, cards, notes written on notebook paper, handmade cards, you name it, i love it. cards just to say hi, to say thank you, to say i love you, anything really. i like them so much first off because i am not good sometimes at verbalizing my feelings, but if you were ever inside my head, you would see how deeply and passionately i feel about certain things, and my family and friends are one of these main things...so for me, writing people cards and letters is something i feel i need to do to let people know how much i care about them. that's why i journal too...i have to get what i'm thinking in my head out. so since i'm not good at talking it outloud and just praying in my head doesn't cut it for me, i journal. a lot. it helps me keep sane, seriously. i'm on my 11th journal since i was 18! kind of cool! (and slightly embarassing to read back through them) i hope one day one i get married and have a family of my own, they will be a fun way to keep track of milestones. and someday, when i'm LONG gone, i'll give the OK from up above for my family to read them. not until then though.

getting cards from other people also means the world to me. more than an email and definitely more than a text. there is something about written words, something about the time that person took out of their day to write something down to give to you. there's a lot of power i think in that. i have kept so many cards from when i was young. i have all of my cards i received when i was having seizures. i have all the cards my great-grandma wrote me when we were penpals before she passed away. i have the one card my grandpa, pop, wrote me right before he passed away which he says i love you in. these cards and letters are some of my most treasured things i have. they remind me of people that care about me, refresh my memory of hard times i have gone through and all the support i had through those times and how the Lord has stood by me through it all as well. with today's technology, i think we so easily forget the power and importance a card or letter can have in someone's day.

so, turn off that TV and computer and write someone a letter! i guarantee it will make their day! they always make mine!

race weekend!

this past weekend was the columbus marathon and jordan, tee, tay and her friend nicole ran it with me! it was jordan, tee and nicole's first half ever and it was so exciting! the weather was perfect. minus feeling like i was going to pee my pants the first mile and the race being SO crowded (15,000 runners ran this), it was excellent! it just makes me so happy to see people do their first race and know that i convinced them to train for it. for someone who doesn't run to think about running 13.1 miles seems IMPOSSIBLE. but really, anyone can do it. i really believe that...well i mean, unless you have a bum knee or something that physically prevents you from running. it's a total mental game. but crossing that finishing line and realizing what you just accomplished is such an amazing feeling. i was so thankful though i got to finish at 13.1...for sure did not want to keep going this year. next year though, bring it on marathon!





i got to see my best friends on sunday too after the race, i knew colby and simi were coming, but addy surprised jordan and i! such a perfect surprise. i hate how we're all so far away, but am so thankful for those sweet reunions we get every so often, even if they are short lived. i feel so thankful to have such perfect friends in my life. a lot of people have told me that eventually you'll lose contact with your college friends, but i've never even thought of that as a possibility. they are stuck with me, and vise versa for a long, long time. i've been so blessed with friends.

three things.

so i'm struggling with not freaking out moving into this new place. i always have a difficult adjusting to a new place/moving somewhere, so i knew this would happen. just a matter of dealing with how i'm feeling right now and switching this doubt/stress i'm feeling into hope and excitement of starting out here and knowing i'm going to be here for the next few years. so i'm copying churchie's idea of writing three GOOD things from the day that i'm thankful/happy for. as much as i don't like to admit it, i tend to think more negatively when i'm stressed/freaking out. i'm working on it. so here it goes...

1. i absolutely LOVE the area i am living in, it is perfect to run in. it's got tons of pretty trees, lots of cool streets to explore with cool old houses. and most of all, TONS of fellow runners! i passed probably 20 runners today on my run and i love it. i love seeing people when i run. it makes me feel a lot better running, especially if i don't particularly want to go out and run.
2. i love love love the bebe that i am nannying for (and the parents). she is such a sweetheart. i feel so blessed to have found them...they have made transitioning to cincinnati so much easier and always am offering to do things for me. they are amazing.
3. my books...i unpacked all my books today (most of them) in my little apartment and realized how happy books make me. i know, call me a dork, but i LOVE them. i want a super awesome bookcase someday (or library) where i can put ALL my books in one place. that would make me super happy.

that's all for now. i'll try to update more frequently, but we'll see how that goes. i'm ready for cool, fall weather...hopefully the end of this week!

all moved in.

so i'm all moved in (furniture and all) to my apartment. or room...whichever you prefer. it's a little bigger than i thought it would feel with all my furniture (what little i have) in there, but it still doesn't feel like a place i'm going to be living in for the next year. i hope it will once i unpack and attempt to decorate a little and hang pictures up. i feel panicky when i'm in there though feeling like i do NOT want to live there for a full year because it doesn't feel anything like home...so i hope i feel better about it soon. i still feel like i made a good choice and it was a blessing with the price of it for now...and the location. as most of you know, i struggle with change, trying to embrace it more than resisting it though...i think my life would be a lot less stressful if i did.

my good friend and soulmate, morgan, gave me this quote which i really liked (even if it was from grey's anatomy!): it's the way people try not to change that is unnatural. the way we cling to what things were, instead of letting them be what they are. the way we cling to old memories instead of forming new ones. change is constant. how we experience change, that's up to us. it can feel like death or it can feel like a second chance to life. if we open our fingers, loosen our grip and go with it, it can feel like pure adrenaline.

i'll post some pics once things get organized a little bit! on a funnier note, i've gotten a couple "congratulations!" when i've been out at starbucks with adele...people thinking she's mine! i just smile and reply, "thank you!" haha. i mean, i'm totally old enough...just not there yet. hopefully they think i've gotten back into shape incredibly fast though!! :)