My Funny Valentine

I love Valentine's Day. I blame my parents. When I was younger my mom would decorate the house with paper hearts and cupids, and we would always make Valentines cards for everyone. My dad would get us kids a gift. Usually just chocolate bunnies and such, and this year dad got me a chocolate bunny. Love ya Papa.

I also love Valentines Day because when I was eleven I had a Valentines party. I invited some of my friends over and we decorated our own cupcakes with red, white and pink sprinkles, and candy hearts. Back when they said "be mine," and, "true love." Now they say, "tweet me," and "text me." Lame.

We also played games that I found out of my American Girl magazine. I worshiped that magazine.


So Valentines Day for me has always been more than just a day you celebrate because you're in a relationship with someone. It is a nice perk however! This year Gerald still got me something even though he's in Afghanistan. How sweet. Now for those of you who don't really know G, he is extremely cheesy. Cheese to the max, is what I always say. He also loves the cliche lines and the cheesier the better. What a goober. I love it. So knowing that, this years gift was not out of the ordinary. Behold.....the hoodie-footie snuggle suit.


Now, I never remembered having footie pajamas when I was a kid, so having them as an adult is different. I don't know what to do with it....I also feel like the kid in the Christmas story when he wears the bunny suit, so I call this the "bunnie snuggie." The feet zip off and it has a hood. Not sure why it has a hood, but I've only had it for 2 nights so maybe the reasoning for the hood will present itself soon. It's really soft and warm, but sometimes too warm. Some people have suggested that I wear it camping, so it will get some extra good usage from that on those cold nights. Gerald suggested that I stuff it with newspaper and act like it's a real person....at least if I do that I'll get to ride in the carpool lane! ;) and freak some people out when I take it to the movies, ya know, the usual.
I love you Gerald! Happy Valentine's Day!


Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

My Long Break

My, my, my, so much has happened in the month that passed between my last post. My bad. To start off I'll tell you my Urbana experience.

Most of you have heard it from me already, so in it's simplest terms, I learned more about who Jesus is, (not that what I knew before hand was wrong, or not good enough), and because of experiencing more of who He is and what He's done, it made everything sweeter. Worshiping with 17,000 people is amazing, but worshiping the God of the universe in community with each other and sharing in God's grace made it indescribable.

A view of the stage inside the stadium where the St. Louis Rams play.


This is the whole group


I mostly got to hang out with these cool people (minus sophie and renee) because we were in the same hotel.


I got to see the Gateway Arch, which was cool!


Did you know there's a museum underneath it? In this photo Ben is trying to swim and find Lewis and Clark....he never found them.


January was a bizarre month for me. I had my routine, but for some reason it still seemed off... Part of it was dealing with not talking to Gerald that much. The whole month of January I talked to G on the phone 5 times. Ouch. Ever since he moved to a new location, aka "the ruins," he's only been calling once a week. It took me the whole month to get used to it (which was tough and depressing), and now it's better and we only have 80 more days until he's home for his vacation. Yeeesssssss. As of late, he's been hanging out in those mountains behind him in this photo (this photo was taken at FOB Todd. So many places he's been!). We call the spot in the mountains, "the summit," and he'll be switching back and forth between the ruins and summit for the next little bit. Him and the guys also have 2 puppies, Dora & Scooter, that follow them around and are good moral boosters. G's been hanging out with some of the guys in the Italian Army, which have brought some delicious Italian cuisine his way, and will hopefully come my way when he gets back.


On another note, one of my New Years resolutions has been praying for my grandparents every day. For Christmas my grandma gave me a journal to record all of my hopes and dreams in, so I decided to write my prayers for them in it every night. So far, I have written in it every day since January 1. Ya persistence! Through it I have become more intentional with my prayers for them. When I was younger my prayer was, "and help grandma and grandpa to get saved. Amen." Now, I'm seeing them differently as children of God who need his grace and life just like the rest of us.
Love these two!


Sorry for the long break in my posts but I've made it back!
Enjoy the rest of your week!