Everyone needs to remember this...

You are not your bra-size, nor are you the width of your waist, nor are you the slenderness of your calves. You are not your hair color, your skin color, nor are you a shade of lipstick. Your shoe-size is of no consequence. You are not defined by the amount of attention you get from males, females, or any combination thereof. You are not the number of sit-ups you can do, nor are you the number of calories in a day. You are not your mustache. You are not the hair on your legs. You are not a little red dress.

You are no amalgam of these things.

You are the content of your character. You are the ambitions that drive you. You are the goals that you set. You are the things that you laugh at and the words that you say. You are the thoughts you think and the things you wonder. You are beautiful and desirable not for the clique you attend, but for the spark of life within you that compels you to make your life a full and meaningful one. You are beautiful not for the shape of the vessel, but for the volume of the soul it carries.

My favorite is the last sentence! I need to remember this each day and how much my Savior loves me because he made the vessel and the soul.

Red Rocks with the Girls

Last night I had a fabulous evening with my best girls. The entire group was not there, we missed them, but had a great time none the less. We ate at Red Rocks Cafe and a fabulous dinner filled with laughter and our typical, sometimes-hard-to-follow chatter. After our yummy meal we walked over to the Rockefeller tree in Birkdale and took pictures. We didn't take as many as we usually do because it was cold, beyond cold. After our few pictures, we proceeded to Starbucks for some warm beverages. Allison then had us over to her apartment when we chatted it up again for a few hours. All in all it was a wonderful evening.

Winter Snow

Could've come like a mighty storm

With all the strength of a hurricane

You could've come like a forest fire

With the power of heaven in Your flame

But You came like a winter snow

Quiet and soft and slow

Falling from the sky in the night

To the earth below

You could've swept in like a tidal wave

Or an ocean to ravish our hearts

You could have come through like a roaring flood

To wipe away the things we've scarred

But You came like a winter snow

(Yes, You did)

You were quiet

You were soft and slow

Falling from the sky in the night

To the earth below

Oh, no, Your voice wasn't in a bush burning

No, Your voice wasn't in a rushing wind

It was still

It was small

It was hidden

You came like a winter snow

Quiet and soft and slow

Falling from the sky in the night

To the earth below

Falling

To the earth below

You came falling

From the sky in the night

To the earth below

~Audrey Assad featuring Chris Tomlin~

Gilmore Girls Marathon

What a day! Spending the day with two of my faves watching one of my favorite shows.

And now for some awesome quotes:

"This is a serious problem. These Friday dinners are the only proper food that child eats all week."
"Rory, are you in any way malnourished or in need of some international relief organization to recruit a celebrity to raise money on your account?"
- Emily and Richard are snowed in with Rory, "Love and War and Snow"

I'm going to be in town tomorrow because I take a class at Hartford State and there's a coffee shop across the street that I sometimes, almost all the time, go to around 4:00 and usually exactly 4:12. I could not stop a person from entering said establishment around that time, nor would I avoid them if I knew them if they did." - Lorelai

Lorelai: Why should we date?

Max: Because we are attracted to each other.

Lorelai: I am attracted to pie, but I do not feel the need to date pie.

Luke: [to Lorelai, about the town Reenactment] Tradition is a trap that allows people to stick their head in the sand. Everything in the past was so quaint, so charming. Time's were simpler, kids didn't have sex, neighbors knew each other. It's a friggin' fairy tale. Things sucked then too, they just sucked without indoor plumbing.

I know what you are thinking! "Why didn't I get the invite?" Well, you did! Come over! It's on like Donkey Kong!

Sundays with Family

Sundays have always been a particularly busy day in my life. I know that is not the norm, but ever since I can remember I have gotten up to go to Sunday School and Worship, lunch, home for a nap, then back for some sort of afternoon practice and evening service. Like I said, it has always been this way. I know no different. I like it, most days.

Yesterday was a nice change in the pace. Because of Christmas and the snow that came through town, there was only one Worship Service at church and no Sunday School. So my family got up, had breakfast, went to the one service, ate lunch and came home. I went around the neighborhood and took pictures of the quickly melting snow. Then, as tradition requires, I took a Sunday afternoon nap. This might have been it for most people, but I also had to go and celebrate the season with a few of my fabulous friends.

We had so much fun! As stated in a previous blog, I love these people so much. I love, adore, and I'm downright thankful for my genetic family, but it seems I have been blessed with two families. I love my sister so much, but I always wanted more sisters and at least a brother. That was never God's plan genetically.

God chose to give me brothers and sisters through the friendships that I have made over my life. I have the greatest "sisters" in the world. Amy, Catherine, Jackie, Alex, Carly, Allison, Jennifer, Christa, Mina, Melissa...just to name a few. (Of course, none of them hold that special place that Stephanie does!) I divulge my deepest, darkest secrets and fears to these women. They have seen me at my weakest, nastiest, and silliest and love me just the same. God has really blessed me with these women. Oh, and then my brothers...Cameron, Nathan, Josh, Jonathan, Trent, Chris, Grant, Aaron, Zack! Some of them are my big brothers that look after me as I go through life and could possibly beat up any suitors that come my way. And there are my little brothers, who I joke with, laugh with, and sometimes get into deep philosophical discussions with. I don't have any real brothers so God saw fit to make up for that fact.

I am blessed beyond belief. I know that. Some people don't even have one family. They seem lost in this world. But I, as stated, have two families. Two wonderful, beautiful, quirky families!

Christmas

Praise the Lord! I have so many things to be thankful for today. I don't know where to start so I am just going to start with the obvious. (Of course, this is in no particular order since I'm kind of winging it as I type.)

• This fabulous new computer. My parents bought me this new computer because my PC is dead on the side of the road.
• Man! My parents are amazing. After months and months of complaining and not being able to save any money my parents broke down and bought me a computer. And not just any computer a top-of-the-line Mac Book Pro!
• My sister. My beautiful little sister who has the biggest heart. She's beautiful inside and out. I can't wait to see what this year brings her.
• My job. I love my job. I love teaching, I love working with kids, and I adore my coworkers.
• My roommates. I live with two of the greatest people in the world. The keep me in stitches most days and keep me sane the other days.
• My church. I love worshipping there each week with my fellow followers of Christ.
• My Sunday School class. Wow, what a group of people. They are my best friends, my confidants, and the people that challenge me to live better each week.
• My FRIENDS! This is an area where God has REALLY blessed me. We meet at LEAST twice a month to watch movies, catch up, just chat, or all of the above. I know no matter what they will always be there for me. I can't imagine my life without and praise the Lord for the presence in my life.
• The college Sunday School class. I am blessed to minister to the college students each work. I know all I do at the moment is make name tags for them each week but their smiling faces, warm greetings, laughter, and friendship make my life brighter.

This is all I can think of for now but as I go through the course of the next year I am sure that I will think of something.