It's been a while

Well, it's been forever since I've blogged! I was so excited to join the "blogging world". Shortly after, my life turned to complete chaos, and it was just an afterthought. There were several times I started to post and midway changed my mind or ran out of time. Where do I even begin to catch up? I guess the quickest, easiest way would be through pictures. :)


Let's see....Here are three really great things that have happened since I last wrote:


This is my awesome family. We decided to surprise my mom and dress "tacky" for Christmas. The expressions on most of their faces pretty much sums up the multi-personalities of my family! My step-sister and her boyfriend are posing for prom. My brother (on the far right) clearly hates that we put him in denim-on-denim and an elf hat. And my little step-brother is probably making some sarcastic remark. Christmas is my favorite holiday. It's the time of the year when I wear out "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and all songs on the "Mariah Carey Christmas" CD. Tradition is HUGE in my mom's side of the family. We've done nearly everything the exact same since my mom was a kid... now there's just a lot more of us! It truly is "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year"!!

I finally re-did my office..err..junk room! After not one, two, or even three, but FIVE coats of yellow paint, I finally could organize all of my craft supplies and contain all of my squirrels and acorns in one room! I got a Cricut for Christmas and needed an awesome place to put it! Hey, it's not as fantastic as the ones you see on Pinterest, but it's my haven!

 

This next picture just puts a smile on my face. Here's the background: my mom and I lived in Florida for a short time when she was doing her externship in school. I was in 1st-2nd grade where we lived in an apartment complex and met some really great friends. When we left, our friends also left and moved to Alaska! Yes, from Florida back to Alaska (where they're from). Well, we hadn't seen each other in EIGHTEEN years, but my mom found them on Facebook. Oddly enough, not long after they befriended each other on the book, they messaged my mom and told her they were coming to Kentucky! They came to Bowling Green for a week because they have family here and asked if we wanted to meet for breakfast. Of course we did!! J was my best friend in grade school..and about the only friend I remember from back in the day. We moved a lot when I was younger because of my mom being in school, and I didn't really have time to establish close friends before it was time to leave again. But this family---I could never forget! It's amazing how time has changed. J now has a family of her own! Needless to say, it was AMAZING to see them! I just hope we don't wait another 18 years to see each other again!

So that's what I've been up to. Now that the school year is coming to a close, maybe I'll actually have more time to post more often!


Be Back Soon!
~Ab

Fixing the broken pieces

What an eventful week! While I got to enjoy last weekend with my family and friends for our annual "Girls shopping trip", I didn't shop! I spent the weekend at the cabin studying for the dreadful Praxis Exam. I'm almost finished with my master's in special education. Although I have already participated in Kentucky Teacher Internship Program, I've never taken the Praxis. Well, the exam was today. Shortly after I got home, I received a knock at the door. It was a man delivering flowers from my best friends saying, "We're so proud of you!" Nothing else could have been more uplifting and encouraging than what they did today. They will never even realize exactly how much that meant!

Aren't they beautiful! Thanks again guys!

Now to the heart of the matter. I have put everything off to study for this exam. Housework...Homework..Schoolwork...my Social Life... So tonight, I finally started on this mess of a house!


I had loads and loads of laundry! I hadn't done any laundry since before the trip. Hadn't vacuumed, swept...nothing. So once I got started, I couldn't stop! I not only cleaned house, but started on cleaning my closets!


I realized there's more than just physical closets that need to be cleaned! It's time to get rid of things in my past that are constantly haunting me. How am I supposed to let God have control of my life if I won't give him the key? I have to give God complete control of my life, and before I can do that, I have to be able to let go. It's time to forgive and forget...time to move on.


I don't do well with change, so I am constantly repeating unhealthy, vicious cycles in my life. I keep subconsciously searching for something in my past that is going to define my future. For example, relationships. For some reason, I always end up going back to a person I'd previously dated. I guess that's been my way of thinking that maybe I could fix whatever went wrong the first time. Well clearly ladies and gentlemen, that hasn't gotten me very far! God obviously wants better for me. It's like trying to pick up the tiny broken pieces and put them back to something better than before it was broken when in all reality, it's only worse. Nothing broken can be miraculously fixed to look better than it did before! God is the only one who can take those broken pieces and mold them into something so beautiful, completely restored, and new.


So I'm officially giving all of those little broken fragments of my life over to God and saying, "Ok, Lord, fix me!" Just as it would take me forever to try to fix something, it will take time. I know that God is going to take His time putting all of those broken pieces into their perfect place so that I can be made new again. But here's the hard part.....waiting!

What's all this about blogging, anyway?

Well, I finally did it. I started a blog!


Just recently, I joined the twitter community. I know, I'm so behind everyone else in this world! Anyway, it opened a door to something amazing: the world of blogging! Yes, I've seen a blog, but I really didn't know the impact that blogs have. Just over the last month or so, I've started following several different blogs. Christian blogs, leadership blogs, empowering women's blogs, sorority sisters' blogs...so I decided to try blogging for myself! We'll see how it goes. 


When I thought about creating a blog, I knew it needed to serve a purpose. I decided it could be somewhat of an inspirational journal (you can laugh now). Anyway, I've always been a pretty easy target to pick on. With that said, I don't care if you begin reading to be inspired, to judge, to laugh, to cry, etc., as long as you are entertained! Yes, I even included "judge". Seriously, if it is purely for your entertainment---be my guest! Hopefully, this blog will at least put a smile on someone's face each and every day. 


I'll end with a brief biography:
I'm a 25 year old woman still trying to find my place and purpose in this life. I'm a daughter, a sister, a friend, a special education teacher, a church-goer, a life-group member, a sinner yet a saint. I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners, holding hands, kissing in the rain, romance...ok--I'm totally kidding! But I do wish to eventually meet that "Mr. Wonderful"...someday. As for now, I'm patiently waiting and seeking God to be the person HE wants me to be! I know that He has that perfect person especially hand-picked just for me, but right now, He is busy working in my life (as well as his) to prepare me for that next chapter in my life. While I wait, I think I'll stay in this chapter for a while and enjoy the ride...