Where has this year gone???

It's already practically half way through July! What's going on?? It's been over a month since I last posted, so, here's some fun updates for you.

-My man moved home yesterday, we're hoping that he'll be able to find a full time job in that area soon after relocating.
-I'm moving at the end of this month, to Virginia! I have never lived there, so it sure will be an adventure.
-My family is all living west of me. Pretty much the other side of the country. I miss them. (California, Edmonton, and Colorado)


Okay, so those updates weren't that fun. Sorry about that. But, on the note of me moving to Virginia... I vaguely know where I will be moving to, so the first thing I did was find a church. I have actually found a couple possibilities.

1) Chester Christian Church - very similar (from what I have seen) to what I am used to. Similar to Chase Oaks and North Point, along with the church my man's family attends (I have been to it and love the pastor there) and the church PCCH.
2) New Venture Christian Church - a unique take on church. Their website is even "relaxedchurch.com". From their website their beliefs are also similar to the churches I have been attending, so this will definitely be an interesting visit.
3) Destiny Church - my future-future father-in-law actually found this one, and I can't seem to find it online anywhere. I'll have to talk to him about finding it's website again so I can actually take a look at it. but if he recommends it, I'm sure it will be good (and similar to the churches I have been attending).


So from the little bit I have talked to my man, he is glad to be home and his family is glad that he is home too. I'm glad he's happy - now I just have to figure out what I am doing and get myself to where I need to go. Which will hopefully be soon...

End of the Year Life update

So as the title says, this is going to be a mini life update for me. Chances are you already know this but I'll say it anyway. I am moving to Dallas in January for work. I don't have a place to live yet (+10 stress) (okay, at least not officially. I found a place that looks nice and isn't super expensive, and they have my application and they're just waiting on my deposit and application check which I mailed on Monday.), my man is going to stay here (+5 stress), and I'm going to be working on TWO projects (+7 stress) that I've never had experience with before (+6 stress  +8 stress). Luckily the moving company came today and did the survey of my apartment, so that's one less thing on my plate. Now I just have to prime and spackle the walls... Also, I have found out that I'll be traveling to the job in LA twice a month for about three days at a time. So, 4 plane rides a month. That means about 12 hours on airplanes plus all of the airport time. I'm planning on using that time working on my 52 book challenge. So, as you can imagine, life is a little hectic right now.

I'm going to try and keep updating, but I don't know how often it will be. I've done some research about where I will be living, and I think I may have found a new church to go to. I'm going to try and keep up with North Point still, because I like Andy so much. Chase Oaks seems like it will be okay, I can't give you an honest opinion since I've never been. I'll let you know what I think once I get there. (Unrelated, but I think I'm going to find a zumba class when I get there as well. I think I would like it.) I'm also planning on becoming a Texas resident, so that means new driver's license, new plates, new car insurance, etc. Eep! So much to do in such short time... and I'll probably be regularly working 10-12 hour days.

We found my man a place to live and we're planning on getting all of the rest of his stuff into his new place this weekend, so that will be good. I think. We're struggling-okay, I'm struggling with this idea that we'll be 13+ hours apart. (and twice a month we'll be on opposite sides of the country. boo.) But we'll make it work, I know we will. We made it through the two months during the summer, we can make it through the next 7 or 8. We also know that God has a plan for us, and I'm relying heavily on Him through this transition in my life.

"God makes all things work together for my good." -- Your Love Never Fails by Chris Quilala/Jesus Culture

I am looking forward to this next phase in my life as a "traveler" as I've heard it called at work. I know this won't be a forever thing, but I'm sure looking forward to it for a now kind of thing. I trust in the Lord and prayed about this for three days before I made my decision. I hope that this change will mean good things for me and for my career. Plus, I've never been to Texas. (that one time I was in Houston for less than 24 hours doesn't count. and yes, I did leave the airport.)

Until next time, dear readers. Romans 8:28

I'm going to try harder.

My man keeps giving me grief for not updating-I gotta admit it's kind of nice to know he actually reads my blog updates and may even like reading them, HA! It seems I haven't been updating nearly as much, I can only blame myself for this lack of updates. So, I'm going to try harder. I can't guarantee it will be every week, but I'll admit part of the problem was the lack of ideas coming to me. Especially since I'm not sure I want this to be a journal where I spew my issues with the world... That's what paper is for. Paper that I can read and then burn/shred/etc. I'll include important goings-on in my world, if I feel the need to.

Like the fact that my small group has met twice outside of Group Link, and tomorrow evening is my turn to share my story. It will be sort of like the update I started a long time ago... but in it's entirety. Well, sort of. I can't possibly tell my entire story in 10-15 minutes, but I can tell the important parts. Especially recent (and not-so-recent-but-still-seem-recent) events. In any case, I'm going to bring pictures from my baptism and the DVD of my lavaliere, both of which are extremely important to me and helps me tell my new friends about my life. (Plus I'll get to show off my man in his tuxedo... :-D)

So, I'll recap the series for you since I cannot go into detail about the last 4 weeks-partly because I cannot remember everything that Andy Stanley has said over the previous weeks. I'll hit the parts I thought were important/stuck out the most to me. To begin, this was a 6 week series titled "Recovery Road", I believe I posted about the first or second week, but haven't since.
Main points:

• Recovery begins with me, not them. It begins with we, not they.
• Recovery begins when moral authority supersedes reelection as the value of choice among our nations leaders.
• Recovery begins with a declaration of dependence.
• Recovery begins when we embrace the fiscal discipline of lending rather than borrowing.
• Recovery begins when we leverage our entitlement for the benefit of those less entitled.

So, to explain a few of the main points I listed: What do all of our elected officials have in common? They were elected. So how can we possibly expect them to change when we are the ones electing them? Which can only mean one thing: we have to reconsider who we are voting for-and why we are voting for them. I won't tell you who to vote for or why to vote for a certain person, that's up to you. Your decisions cannot be made for you-but if you are a Christian, you need to take a serious look at the candidates and allow your faith to help you choose. My man and I actually got into a discussion about this last night, about how I find it kind of ridiculous that we are so concerned with the fact that is . Mostly because of the fact that we're so ashamed/nervous about talking about religion in the public eye. This leads into the declaration of dependence. This isn't a direct quote, but I think I got most of it right, from Andy (this is in part 4, if you want to take a listen to the podcasts): we would rather run the risk of offending God than the 8% of Americans who do not believe in God. And, oh by the way, half of those 8% don't care if we do talk about God. What would happen if the men and women in Congress fell to their knees and declared dependence on God? Can you even imagine what would happen to our country if we accepted and put our trust in God again? If you're lucky enough to have those little green bills in your wallet, take one out. Look at the back of it. See the promise we have made to ourselves, to our country, to others, and most importantly, to our God? "In God We Trust." We readily accept these pieces of paper in our lives, but why can't we accept God? Why is it that talking about God on a national level leaves us uncomfortable? I can't tell you. I'm not sure anyone can answer that question. The finance week hit me in a spot that has been making me think about it since then. I haven't ever had a salary-I mean, yes. I had internships. But I feel like those were part time jobs, getting me ready for the real world (even though I was working full time). So now I have a steady income and I'm so used to being a broke college student, part of me is still spending like I was a broke college student. Which, I suppose is a good thing. I refuse to open a second credit card, and I recently opened a savings account with USAA so I can transfer some of my money every month into it. 

This leads me into the last main point, from today. I am so blessed to have this opportunity for a job upon my college graduation, and I am ecstatic that I am now able to help Campus House out in a way that I couldn't while I was in college. They helped me-and showed me a love that I was unsure of, I don't know how else to thank them. I'm not even sure that it will ever be enough. Money is one of the four things we are entitled to. In list form:

• Time
• Money
• Possessions
• Influence

Jesus doesn't care how you got what you have or how much you have. What matters is what you do with what you have. What will you do with what you are entitled to? In a time where it seems like we are going to go through a second recession, most people will hold on to their "entitlements". But what would happen to our country if we gave what we could? What would happen if we all did without something that is minor? (Like, give up your fancy coffee for a month. Save that money and donate it somewhere like your local church.) Since I am still adjusting to this "real world" life, I haven't been the most generous with my time or money. My goal for 2012 is to, with every paycheck I get, take 10% and put it aside. I'm unsure if I will put it all towards North Point or give some to Campus House. I still have time to figure that out, but I know that this is something I need to be doing. I am blessed to have the life that I do and I know that I would not be here without God's love. The least I can do is give something back to these two communities that have helped me through some rough times. 

I pray that you will look at where you are and thank God for everything He has given you. I know that if you are reading this, you are blessed. Know that He loves you and is always with you. God works in strange ways some times, but it's always for the good. "You make all things work together for my good."

Until next time, dear readers.

Okay...

I most definitely had another post, but it disapparated. That's odd. I tried blogging earlier today, but Blogger was down. It said that some posts were removed and would be reposted soon. Hope so! Anyway, my amazing bf is graduating tonight!!! I am so proud of him. He's such a smarty-pants, even though he won't admit to it.

It finally hit me that I am also graduating. I am thoroughly freaked out. I am excited, but scared. I'm looking forward to this new chapter in my life, but I'm afraid I'm going to screw up, you know? (Side note: I dislike leaving messages on voicemail. I just had to do this to confirm my start date.) Confirmed for June 20th now, because the annual engineer's conference is the 23rd&24th. It will be good, lol. Work 3 days and then go to a 2 day conference where you don't do much. Woohoo! I am looking forward to starting work, but it will be weird because I won't be going back to school at the end of 3 months... Well, I am already planning on going back in October for alumni band, but that's another story.

My time at Purdue has been amazing. All of the "bucket lists" I have found to do before graduation I have done: except for one thing. And that will be done tomorrow afternoon, less than 24 hours from now!!!!! (Walk across the stage for your commencement ceremony) I am excited. I can't believe my undergraduate education is complete. I definitely still remember walking into Elliott the very first time, scared out of my mind. But I've met amazing people here and I know that I don't regret any decisions I have made while at school.

I can only hope that the next 5 years of my life goes as well as the past 5. I know that God is here for me and He has a plan. I saw this on twitter and retweeted it, but I'll post it here too. "God only gives three answers to prayer: 1. 'Yes!' 2. 'Not yet.' 3. 'I have something better in mind." I have definitely gotten answer #3 a fair amount of times, and I trust in Him. 


I should clean my apartment, my family will be in town this evening. Until next time, readers.

Let's do this thing.

Here goes. I'm graduating college on Saturday, yikes! I am excited and terrified at the same time. I am getting my B.S. from Purdue University, and then I'm going to move to Atlanta to start work at the end of June. I never thought that I would end up in the south, but here I go! I don't have a place to live yet, but I'm going to go with my mom to look at apartments at the beginning of June.

I don't really know what this blog will be about yet. Probably a look at where I'm going with life and my move to Atlanta. I will hopefully post at least once a week, depending on what's going on. It's going to be an interesting journey into this "new" life called adulthood.

I thank God every day for the people He has put into my life and the path He is guiding me on.

Until next time, readers.