spiritually high

dejé mi corazón en México.

adios

isn't that last song posted amazing? :) alrighty.. this is it for the week. off to baja. keep me in your prayers.

small bit of food for thought (by the way, i just typed 'snail bit of food'--weird)... anyway, i wrote down this quote from church a few weeks ago and am just now reviewing my notes. wouldn't it be great if we started every day with this question:

what am i going to do today for Jesus?

colossians 3:17

all set

losing air

isn't it strange how just seeing a picture of someone can make you forget to breathe? as in "wow, that person is amazing..." maybe you can't relate and i'll be honest, it doesn't happen that often for me, but it just did and i liked it a lot. :)

God is completely amazing to let us love on people so much that we can just get lost within them. coincidentally we can get lost in Him much more easily.

grrrr

i cant let myself rant >:(
but DANG, i'm angry and i cant get this stupid frown off of my face. being in a bad mood before bed is not good.

tomorrow will be better. ♥

waiting

It just seems like you're taking your time
I'm just waiting for the sun to shine
I don't wanna go another day
Without you here, without you here to stay

It seems like forever and I'm still waiting for you
I'm still waiting for you
It seems like forever and I'm still waiting for you
I'm still waiting for you
Yeah, I'm waiting

All I want is to see you smile
If a blink lasts forever, this might take a while
I don't wanna go another day
Without you here, I want you here to stay

It seems like forever and I'm still waiting for you
I'm still waiting for you
It seems like forever and I'm still waiting for you
I'm still waiting for you
Yeah, I'm waiting

It's never gonna be enough to dream of you
It's never gonna be enough to dream of you
I wanna see you... I wanna see you

It seems like forever and I'm still waiting for you
I'm still waiting for you
It seems like forever and I'm still waiting for you
I'm still waiting for you
Yeah, I'm waiting...

:)

graffiti

facebook graffiti is ridiculous and you'd think that i don't have a life. i drew these on my dear friend's wall. :)



i have to go into work.. for the second time today. soooooo tired. and i just had a quad redeye so not sure what the problem is--(quad redeye= 4 shots of espresso + coffee)

a major change

i think i just changed my major, again.

i didn't want to be one of those "idiots" that i heard about in high school/beginning of my college career that changed their major 92383719238 times and wasted tons o' money. but alas, that's me.

i went from graphic design to marketing to nursing to... eh, i don't want to say. i don't want to get my hopes up until i go talk to an advisor or something tomorrow/later this week. i mean, it'd be cool if they were all remotely related--which they're not. booooo!

:)
always keep your shining smile

hi

i think facebook is down and now i have nothing to do. but shoot, i'm completely fine now that "yours to hold" just started playing on my itunes. thank you, skillet.

at the risk of sounding like a freak, yesterday i had 5 glasses of lemonade. yeah, that's intense. i was bored at work and decided that i want to try every flavored lemonade possible. i had regular ole lemonade, raspberry lemonade, pomegranate lemonade, blackberry lemonade, and grape lemonade. don't worry, i have a good 10 fruity flavors left before i run out.

small prayer request: i'm not sure if i'm being called to help lead high schoolers at youth group or what. so just direction on that would be great since i could only see myself with the middle school/junior high age before this week.

soaked

i was just owned by a thunderstorm. before going into my leasing office, the rain wasn't so bad, then leaving i had to run as fast as i could for about 10 seconds before diving into my car. and was head-to-toe completely drenched. i did manage to keep my free popcorn dry though. priorities.

for some reason i thought i should just get home before the storm got worse... and i could not see more than three feet in front of my car which is ridiculously nerve racking--even while going 35 mph. then a random tree branch fell on me and my car--poor Rhonda.

then i thought i was going to be swept off the road since it looked like a river was flowing perpendicular to the road and it was getting hard to steer so i finally pulled over into one of the MSU research driveways and chilled with a van for a minute. then rain kinda, sorta, not really let up and a cement truck with huge lights on the back of it drove by, so i made my move onto the road again and got behind that monster so i could see a little further ahead of me.

when we (the cement truck and i--since we're buddies now) drove under the bridge, it was like a block party filled with random cars, motorcyclists, and bikers (we have a lot of hardcore bicyclists on my road). i would have joined the party too, and all, but i was only like a minute from home so i just continued on. i have never been happier to see my driveway. the end. i am still wet. yuuuck

yep

this is my entertainment at the computer. my cat is infatuated with the gloriousness of the printer. if i print anything off she runs over to it and stares in awe. since i hardly print anything off lately, she enjoys standing on top of it and waiting for something to happen. on average, she steps on the power button about once every five minutes which causes it to make noise and she goes crazy over it. i need sleep. for sure. i spent almost 14 hours at work today... ahhh. it's ok though, i'm learning discipline.

i am a workaholic

oh man...
i need to maybe not work as much. kinda feeling the physical side effects.

side note: i miss a good 7 people right now more than they could ever know. ...tear. :( pray for my friends out of state right now that are just living day-by-day on God's word and grace if there's some free time in your prayers.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errors and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt

2007 SUMMER CHECKLIST

spend as much time with audrey as humanly possible
Cedar Point #1
bocce ball
golfing
tennis
daily ice cream trips
boating
picnic-ing
fireworks
art fest
wakeboarding
tubing
Holland, Mi
b.studs
Lugnuts game
Tigers game
elementary school playgrounds
Ludington, Mi
camping with friends #1
wakeboarding
Grand Haven, Mi
sleeping under the stars
annual lame jazz fest
Chicago, Il
Cedar Point #2
Mexico
Canada
weekly bonfires
swimming in a lake/river
camping with family
Common Ground
camping with friends #2
TP-ing
playing in rain & mud

music makes me lose control

lately, i've been obsessed with British rock bands. they're amazing because the little accent gets me every time. makes me wanna watch The Holiday. i would give the band The Kooks an A+ as far as being a good Brit band... my favorite of their songs is "Naive" because it's so sweet and addictive. also, i really like the cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," as well as all of their other session songs.
there's not a whole lot of mainstream Christian Brit bands, but it would be awesome to find a good one.
ohhhh--and "Ruby" by Kaiser Chiefs is pretty good as well--in fact, Kaiser Chiefs are a new favorite too.

off topic: this sounds weird, but at my only two tables that i actually talked to at work tonite, God worked His way into our conversations without me initiating it. kinda cool. i like.

her myspace

i was checking out my sister's myspace page. that beautiful girl is really getting good at creativity and graphic design in general. she is so talented in that she's such a creative writer with her poetry from time to time and has the gift of being able to say anything or tell anyone exactly what she thinks. she doesn't hold back.

her page has a section for her "shouts" to some people in her life... it begins with her best friend, then to her friend/ex-boyfriend (who she "can't ever stop loving"), then to our 'rents, then to some guy friend that i dont know... and i was thinking, gee, arent i a part of your life, too? ;)
and then finally at the bottom of her "shouts":
SARA:
Sara is my sissy. She's a big hero in my life because she's like "strict" gaurdian angel. Whenever she tells me bout something... she may think im just blowing off what she says, but dont worry, i truly think about things. I know this lady's got my back. She's showin' me that "Christian Life" Love you sis. =]

she makes me smile.

i spent way too much time lately trying to make something out of absolutely NOTHING. i was too blind to see that i wasn't good enough which kinda sorta really hurts but it's my fault for thinking otherwise.

i'm feeling bitter right now which i hope goes away because i don't want that in my heart at all.

however, i just found this passage which is an amazing reminder :)

This is the way God put it:

"They found grace out in the desert,
these people who survived the killing.
Israel, out looking for a place to rest,
met God out looking for them!"
God told them, "I've never quit loving you and never will.
Expect love, love, and more love!
And so now I'll start over with you and build you up again,
dear virgin Israel.
You'll resume your singing,
grabbing tambourines and joining the dance.
You'll go back to your old work of planting vineyards
on the Samaritan hillsides,
And sit back and enjoy the fruit—
oh, how you'll enjoy those harvests!
The time's coming when watchmen will call out
from the hilltops of Ephraim:
'On your feet! Let's go to Zion,
go to meet our God!'"

Jeremiah 31:3

love wins.

news news news news news news

yesterday i signed the first lease of my life. exciting!!

i feel like a fat blob lately as my new hobby has been getting into bed and sitting my laptop in front of me. i considered going to play tennis today but i talked myself out of it after i checked weather.com. no thank you, i do not want to be downpoured on during play.

can not wait until summer. honestly, i have way too many plans. but it will all work out.

peeeaaaacccee and loooove baby... peace and love.

basically

BASICALLY... brittany fila is the most amazing person i have ever encountered and she is amaaazing. randomly drove into e.l. after work not knowing where i was going at all... short story made shorter: i love talking to her and of COURSE to all of the other gorgeous women God decided to throw into my life lately. wow.
i have grown so much over the past couple of weeks and normally it would kinda freak me out that so much has happened, the circumstances, etc. but... i'm strangely at peace with where i am even though it feels like i'm traveling 29837420 mph and have so much on this plate. very chillax, but only through God's everlasting encouragement and grace has this happened.
i've closed a lot of doors and opened plenty new ones very recently. i have been able to use time to be reflective and think about who has been in my life. and the biggest struggle for me was trying not to blame those who i felt have sinned against me with words and shut me out. but i've been able to recognize (through a greaaaat network of beautiful people) that i can't set the same expectations for those not in faith as i can for those in faith--which corresponds exactly with the trend i see right now and it's crazy. on the flip side, building relationships with certain individuals today was awesome and unexpected on both sides--but much needed. :) my thoughts just sort of ramble together, ifeellikeimightaswelltypelikethis.

Romans 5:3-5

"God is my boyfriend"

"To love someone properly probably means that you won’t be very popular. Pure love, loving the way it was intended, is unfortunately a foreign concept to many. Love is messy. Love will involve hardship, demand patience, require forgiveness, test maturity, strain friendship, challenge priorities, refine character, ignite the heart and unleash the soul.
Love is not something you sing about, it’s the reason you sing. Love is not something you write about, it’s the reason you write. Love is not something you live to find, it’s the reason that you are alive."

-Mark Hart

And here's the letter that has affected all of my beautiful girls and myself. Honestly, ever since I read it, I began to live my life for it. Crazy! It's not even from the Bible, but Britt, Shandy, and I are slowly translating it line by line for text found in the Bible. I actually found some really good verses that parallel a couple points in the letter today. They're found in 1 Peter which I am reading for the first time and have to say that it is quite a cool book so far.

Oh yeah, and for my favorite letter in all-time which I am so grateful for reading: "The Perfect Love."

Everyone longs to give themselves

completely to someone. To have a

deep relationship with another, to be

loved thoroughly and exclusively. But

God, to the Christian, says no, not until

you are satisfied and fulfilled and content

with living, loved by me alone with giving

yourself totally and unreservedly to me,

to have an intensely personal and unique

relationship with me alone. I love you my child, and until you discover that only in

me is your satisfaction to be found, you will not be capable of the perfect human

relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until

you are united with me- exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other

desires or longings. I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow me to give

you the most thrilling plan existing – one that you cannot imagine. I want you to have

the best. Please allow me to bring it to you; you just keep watching me, expecting the

greatest things. Keep that satisfaction knowing that I am. Keep learning and listening

to the things I tell you, and you must wait. Don’t be anxious, and don’t worry. Don’t

look around at the things others have gotten or that I have given them. Don’t look at

all the things you want. Just keep looking

off and away up at me, or you will

miss what I have to show you. And

when you’re ready I’ll surprise you

with a love far more wonderful than

any you could ever dream. You see,

until you are ready and until the one

I have for you is ready, you have to

wait. I am working this very minute

to have both of you ready at the same

time. And until you are both satisfied

exclusively with the life I’ve prepared

for you through me, you won’t be able

to experience the love that exemplifies

your relationship with me, and this perfect

love. And dear one, I want you to have

this most wonderful love. I want you to

see in the flesh a picture of your relationship

with me, and to enjoy materially and

concretely the everlasting union of beauty

and perfection and love that I offer you

with myself. I love you utterly; I am God

Almighty; Believe and be satisfied.