semester and scripture

Well first, Happy Christmas (or Winter) Break everyone!! I've got a little MercyMe Pandora playing in the background so I plan to type to my hearts content.  Typically I do a little semester overview so that's what I'm going to do and then go into some scripture that I came across today.

Fall 2011 otherwise known as probably one of my worst semesters at Auburn - I may be exaggerating a little bit, but it definitely was NOT my favorite.  

1. Well starting out it was bad because it was coming off the worst summer of my life (which is not an exaggeration).   I was still in a funk from this Summer which greatly weakened my relationship with Christ.  So, instead of trying to grow back closer to Him I continued to allow my relationship to weaken until I was miserable with myself as a person.  I do not recommend this.   

2. Hunter and I were in a long distance relationship.  No, a long distance relationship is not the end of the world and yes I survived, but it sucked to say the least. Props to my friends who are in them all the time.  However, going from a relationship where we see each other almost every day so seeing each other 1/3 of that... it's different.  Okay enough of that...  I do believe that this semester probably is going to end up making our relationship stronger and I am SO thankful for the opportunity that Hunter had this semester.  He is an amazing man of Christ and I am so proud of him and thankful for him.

3. I lost a best friend due to what I think is jealousy.  Not saying that all of it is one person's fault, because it is definitely mutual.  But jealousy is an evil evil thing that has caused someone to no longer want to be my friend.  And a mixture of other things.  Something I've realized is that if you're someone's so called best friend then you are their best friend through and through.  If two people are best friends and they live in separate towns and go to different school's and are leading two very different lifestyle's then that friendship is not going to be the same as it was in high school.  However, all that said, it does not mean that the friendship cannot be just as strong if not stronger than before.  It helps to have a mom like mine who gives AMAZING advice.  If I'm being ridiculous she's going to tell me.  If I'm insecure about something she is going to help me tackle that insecurity head on and help me not be insecure.  She is not going to sit their and feed into my insecurity - mom first, best friend second. 

4. I found out when I will be graduating (December 2013) and planned out the rest of my college career. In doing so, I figured out that I won't be getting into the College of Education until August 2012 and that I will be in school from this point forward until my graduation.  I am honestly not that disappointed seeing as how I will only be graduating a semester late and I am still completing a minor.  Yay!!

5. I've grown much closer to some sweet friends from high school and am so thankful for these renewed friendships.  God is always good and despite my lack of faith and trust in Him and His perfect plan He continues to fill me with his grace and presence.

lesson from this semester: 

• DO NOT allow my relationship with Christ to get to this point ever again because it only makes me a miserable person, for others and for myself. 
• what doesn't kill me will only make me stronger.
• God has a perfect plan for me and my life - never try to plan it, it isn't up to me. (easier said than done)

some great lyrics from the Kutless song Promise of a Lifetime

I know you're always there

To hear my every prayer inside

I'm clinging to the promise of a lifetime

I hear the words you say 

To never walk away from me and leave behind

The promise of a lifetime 

• "The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fail, because it had its foundation on the rock." - Matthew 7:25
• When you build your home on the foundation of God's Word, you can find safety despite the downpour outside.  Surround yourself with a strengthened relationship with Christ and a godly community.
• "In that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people." - Isaiah 28:5
• When you feel discouraged or oppressed, picture God's presence, like a lovely wreath, resting on you and strengthening you.
• "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace." - Colossians 3:13-15
• I found this in the "Mend" section of my bible - this verse also goes perfectly with my previous post on forgiveness.

Disclaimer: not everything about my semester was bad, although I did highlight mainly the bad parts.  I am very thankful and very blessed to have had all the bad and good things happen.   I am alive and have an amazing God, family, friends, and boyfriend who all love me.  Despite my negativity, I did the best in school this semester than I have done since I've been at Auburn, so YAY for that!

thanks to everyone who was a part of my semester

here's to a better Spring semester

and a strengthening relationship with Christ

peace. and. blessings. 

forgiveness

forgiveness - why is it so hard for human nature to forgive when Jesus gave up His life for our forgiveness of sins?  I don't understand it, but there are a lot of things I don't understand, so what's new?

So... the other day I just came to the realization that my heart had forgiven a certain person that was once in my life. This person was my friend. However, I was lied to, mistreated, and backstabbed by this person.  I am a very vulnerable person and do not just accept being mistreated by someone the way I was.  So it took me a while for my heart to forgive.  The saying "I can forgive, but cannot forget" is so true in this instance. I don't necessarily believe that not forgetting means I am holding a grudge.  After all, if I were holding a grudge I can assure you my heart would not have forgiven.  I look at it more in the way that I don't forget so that my vulnerability will not be abused again.  I look at not forgetting in more of a I'm protecting myself for the future way.  After all, we don't forget good memories.  Therefore, my bad memories cannot be erased either.  Oh how I wish they could sometimes.  I believe that's God's way of allowing us to protect ourselves. 

"Be kind and compassionate to one another,

forgiving each other,

just as in Christ God forgave you."

Ephesians 4:32

back to studying.

peace. and. blessings.

proud

of course as you know I love Auburn...

I love the town, University, football team, but most of all I love the Auburn family.

I love the people that make up the Auburn family and the great hearts they have.

At any rate I do realize that there are some rude Auburn fans, just as any other team.

I realize I'm an obnoxious Auburn fan, but I'm obnoxious about things I love, so I won't apologize for that.

well here's a sweet story no matter what fan you are:

yesterday at lunch #43 aka Lutz was at the same restaurant as me.

there was a sweet family with a lot of children, at least 6 sons who were all sitting in a booth together.

well the dad got up and asked Lutz if he could introduce him to his sons, of course Lutz said yes.

so Lutz proceeds to shake every one of the little boys hands as their dad is explaining who he is.

the last thing the dad said was "But the most important thing is that he (Lutz) knows who God is."

doesn't that just warm your heart?

makes me proud to say he is a part of our team and family.

peace. and. war eagle. 

I am thankful for...

twenty four things I'm thankful for

decided to do it all now instead of one each day of november

enjoy.

one. our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the amazing love He provides for me.

two. my amazing mom. seriously she's amazing. she does so much for me, don't know what I would do without her.

three. my fantastic dad. he works so hard to provide for me, Ann, and Carter.

four. both of my grandmothers and the role models they are for me.

five. Hunter and the spiritual leader he is in our wonderful relationship. 

six. the rest of my family that are just as awesome as the one's I mentioned.

seven. my roommates Morgan and Jenny because they brighten many of my days.

eight. my kitty cat Gracie, just because she's precious.

nine. my best friend and "big sister" Lindsay. although we've been through thick and thin nothing can break the friendship we have and I am so thankful for that!

ten. Auburn University and the great education I receive and the awesome football team and family that I have for being a part of such a great community.

eleven. my homes that my parents provide for me. 

twelve. my YoungLife team and the amazing children that we get to have an impact on through Christ.

thirteen. every single person with special needs that God created to be uniquely them.

fourteen. my car better known as Carry da Camry.

fifteen. my stepmom, Ann and stepdad, John.

sixteen. every single one of my other friends that I am not going to name individually, but are just as important as the one's I have mentioned above.

seventeen. my computer, because without it I would not be able to share what I'm thankful for.

eighteen. my first graders in Mrs. Toothaker's class that have taught me SO much this semester.

nineteen. Mrs. Fichtner and Mrs. Hand two of the most incredible women of Christ I have ever met.

twenty. my iPhone. Hunter is especially thankful for this because it is how I annoy him the most.

twenty one. music. without music the world would be a very dull place.

twenty two. my lakehouse. it is such a homey place that has so many memories with my family.

twenty three. my blankies. which include the four blankies I sleep with and my tshirt quilt. seriously I can't sleep without them. they're so comforting, I don't care if I'm 20 years old, I'll admit that I still sleep with blankies.

twenty four. camp. although I have grown apart from most of my camp friends, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

well there you have it

the things that I'm most thankful for

or rather the things that came to mind first tonight

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

peace. and. blessings.

great memories

yesterday would have been my Grandpa Doug's 75th Birthday.  Grandpa died in April of 2002 when I was in 5th grade.  The memories that I have with him are amazing.  I believe it's no coincidence that I can remember memories with Grandpa, but can't remember other things from my childhood as well.  So here are some of my memories with Grandpa that I'd like to share:

1. Grandpa and Marilyn lived on a small private lake in Chilton County.  Their house was down a very steep driveway and I remember every time we visited I always thought we weren't going to make it up the hill.  Well Grandpa was a fisherman.  He retired from Frito Lay and built his lake house to be able to do his favorite leisurely activity, fishing.  He would fish for most of the day and I would also fish with him when I visited.  I had a child's fishing pole and life jacket and would sit next to his chair on the dock and fish.  Of course I wasn't quite as patient as he was because I would always end up saying, "Grandpa, I'm bored" or "Grandpa, I'm never going to catch a fish!"  Grandpa was always patient with me and just told me that it was a sport that you had to be patient with.  Well, I'm not very patient now so I surely wasn't patient as a child.  I am sure that Grandpa did teach me the patience that I do have.  I have no doubt that he looks down from Heaven the days when I'm not being patient and tells me, "Caitlin, just be patient."

2. Grandpa worked for Frito Lay for about 40+ years.  He drove a Frito Lay truck and would often let me climb up in it and pick out a bag of chips of my choice.  Every time we visited he would let me do this.  No wonder I like potato chips so much!  And of course, it's a sin to buy Golden Flake potato chips.

3. In the basement of Grandpa's lake house was a room that was kind of like an office/playroom.  He had this computer down there.... this computer was about 20 years old, like I'm pretty sure it was the first computer ever invented. It was so ghetto. anywho, the grandchildren used to always make these little printouts on it.  You could see every little dot that made up each character.  My favorite was making happy birthday cards on it.  It printed on this paper that was all together and had those little edges with the dots in them that you could tear off.  This story makes me laugh and to see the improvement of technology is just amazing.

4. Grandpa was always good at cooking breakfast.  He made homemade biscuits that were to die for!  They weren't flaky or extra buttery, but they were Grandpa's and they were great.  Also, we always ate a slice of tomato with anything we ate at his house!

(these memories are kind of jumbled and really probably have no meaning to anyone, but just some memories I wanted to type out so that in case I forget one day I can look back.)

So, here's to you Grandpa!  Thank you for always watching over me.  I love you and think of you all the time! 

nothing is ever certain

after seeing a very close friend of mine's engagement broken off recently I have realized many things. nothing is ever certain. a ring does not make a promise. whether a promise ring or an engagement ring, although you should have a commitment and promise to one another if you are engaged, it does not mean that the rest of your lives together is certain. however, things happen and people change. God should never be an excuse for something. instead of relying on the "promise" of the ring one should rather rely on the promise of God's perfect plan for us. God has a plan for us, that is perfect for our lives. He doesn't put us through anything we can't handle (something I have definitely learned and learned again). all of this is of course much easier said than done, and hard to say without being in the situation. for some reason I just had this revelation today while sitting in class and decided to blog about it.

well... I guess I contradicted myself, one thing is certain and that is that God has a plan for us and whether we like it or not that is the perfect plan for us, for He knows us way better than we could ever imagine.

go read Jeremiah 29:11

it's some good stuff

peace. and. blessings.

war eagle to that.

It's that time again.  You know... when I blog about one of the things I love the most.  Bet you can't guess what it is... Auburn Football!!! of course!

1. Yes I love Auburn football probably too much, but A LOT of my/my parents money goes to Auburn.  My mom went to Auburn and I will eventually graduate from Auburn.  I also grew up coming to Auburn MY WHOLE LIFE.  So yes I do believe that if anyone can be an obnoxious fan then it can be me.  I have every reason to be.

2. I strongly dislike The University of Alabama.  Don't act like that's not classy because for my dislike of Alabama I know there have to be about 5 Alabama fans that dislike Auburn.  

3. If you go for Alabama because you live in the state of Alabama then I think you are very ignorant and I think that is a lame excuse.  People used to say that when I was in elementary school, I thought it was lame then, and when you say it when you're an adult it's even more lame.

4. Yes, I am more than likely going to pull for the team playing against Alabama especially if they are also in the SEC!  However, most Alabama fans I know would do the same.  What I'm saying is DON'T pretend like you don't do the same thing.

5. I believe in my team so much that I pray for them and the coaches throughout the week.  So, if I like a team that is playing against Alabama I will also pray for them.  Am I praying out of spite? ABSOLUTELY NOT.  I pray out of sincerity.  If I have spite, then I pray for me to no longer have spite, not to continue my spite.  I would rather see LSU win because they are also undefeated and they are a lot less annoying and obnoxious team when they win.

I posted about this last year and it was a much nicer post... more about how I like to share the things I love.  Therefore, I like to share my passion for Auburn football.  So if you want to read the fearless and true post then go there!

my inspiration for the end of this post is going to be some of my favorite lines from the Auburn Creed:

I believe in honesty and truthfulness,

without which I cannot win the respect 

and confidence of my fellow men.

I believe in a sound mind,

in a sound body and a spirit that is not afraid

I believe in my Country,

because it is a land of freedom 

and because it is my own home,

and that I can best serve that country by

"doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God."

punkins

well one great weekend followed by another!

Friday:

Jen's mom and sister came into town and we went to dinner

Saturday:

Jen's family tailgate

Auburn beat Florida

 the roomies at tailgate :)

 the love and I at tailgate :)

 Hunter, me, Brandon after the game

Hunter and I after the game :)

Sunday:

carved pumpkins with Hunter and Brandon!

 Hunter washing the pumpkin seeds!

 my pumpkin before

 Hunter's pumpkin before

 

 my pumpkin after!

 Hunter's pumpkin after!

together with our pumpkins :)

our "little" journey

this weekend was literally one of the best weekends EVER

definitely best weekend I've had recently!

Friday night started out with Hunter and I going to eat dinner at my dad and Ann's.

we had Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner) can't get any better than that!

then we went to The Civil Wars concert at the Alabama Theater

which was AMAZING

at one point the man behind us said "they are bigger than the Alabama Theater"

it made me kind of weepy! but it's so true!

can't wait till they get even more famous. they just got off tour with Adele in the U.K.

Saturday morning I woke up too early, but for good reason.

Hunter and I went backpacking and camping at Fiery Gizzard Trail/Raven's Point in Tennessee!

It was 4.5 miles into the camp site.

I'm not going to say it was easy because it definitely wasn't. 

However, it was totally worth it. It was so much fun. And who doesn't like a good challenge?

Anywho, the trail was amazing, other than the part that went up hill for about .5 mile. 

There was a creek that ran alongside of it and then we went up the hill that I almost died on and then it was a beautiful ridge for about 2.5 miles. 

There were several points along the ridge where you could stop and just look out which was beautiful!

We went at the perfect time, not too hot, not too cold. The trees were changing and there were some leaves falling but not too many!

at the Trail Head before I realized what I was getting myself into

Hunter at the Trail Head smiling in trickery of what he was getting me into

crossing the creek!

 picture of us on the bridge

oh Hunter just taking a picture of me mid hike

 looking out over Raven's Point

 isn't he the cutest? :)

 a tent... duh

the campsite

We met a pretty neat family that camped across from us. 

The mother has hiked 600 miles of the Appalachian Trail, which is a goal I can only dream of accomplishing one day. Her father was a survivor skills trainer in the United States Military, so she has been backpacking since a child! How cool!

Things I learned from the trip:

1. Don't wear Chaco's.

2. Get over your clean obsession.

3. God has made our Earth incredibly amazing, let's take care of it and explore it!

4. Hunter is a pro at camping/backpacking/anything outdoors. 

(I act like I didn't already know this)

5. I need to buy my own backpack/hiking boots ASAP so that we can go again and my body won't be quite so sore afterwards.

6. Take tums next time in case I wake up in the middle of the night with killer heartburn.

lately

so I always have great plans to blog and then they never happen

I really need to get back into my blogging addiction

but sometimes when I start blogging I think does anyone even read this and what I'm blogging about is pointless anyway... does anyone care. no probably not. oh well.

but now seems the best time to blog seeing as how I'm sitting in Goodyear for an hour with nothing to do.

Carrie the Camry has a little leak in one of her rear tires. 

oh and here comes a woman walking in in her pajamas. this just keeps getting better.

oh yeah and CBS 42 has the most ghetto tv shows on during daytime.

I am the minority.

Dr. Watts my foundations teacher would be so proud.

well the past few weeks have been pretty great I guess.

although there was a spot there for a while that wasn't so great, turns out it was all for nothing.

thank goodness for our amazing gracious God and his way of answering our prayers.

but as I've always been told "He won't put you through something you can't handle"

and boy is that so true! 

He was just testing me to see if I'm relying on Him.

Which brings me to my next thing I shall talk about.

I've been going to Cornerstone College on Monday nights and I LOVE IT.

It's the best and I am so glad it works out in my schedule to be able to go this year.

So we've been talking about sermon on the mount some.

Last week we talked about Matthew 6:19-24 maybe?

and the week before that I honestly don't remember the verses (scatter brained)

so anywho we've just been talking about how we need to rely on Christ and how we don't need to put other things before Him. 

so last week one of our questions went something like this:

If you had to leave everything behind would that be hard for you and how would you leave your things behind?

For me, I don't think it would be that hard for me to leave materialistic things behind.  I could pretty much leave my stuff behind without hesitation, maybe be a little sad.  However, if I had to leave my friends and family behind that is where it would be hard for me.  I don't think I would understand why God would want me to do that.  Which is why I'm thankful He hasn't asked this of me, but if He did how would I react?  It's kind of an interesting thing to think about.

Hunter and I are going to The Civil Wars concert tonight and tomorrow we are going backpacking/camping which I'm super excited about :)

peace. and. blessings.

prayer requests

tonight I blog to ask for two very important prayer requests. 

first.

my amazing roommate Allison from freshman year,

who also happens to be one of my very best friends,

dad has prostate cancer.

I love Mr. Noble and their whole family is amazing.

so I just pray that he can be healed and that our amazing God will take care of him and his family in this time of need.

second.

my precious kitty cat Gracie Lee is spending her second night at the vet tonight.

she has had a series of tests run the past two days to determine what is wrong.

she has been throwing up more than normal.

her kidney levels were a little high - but nothing to be worried about.

her white blood count was a little low - but nothing to be worried about.

her thyroid checked out just fine. 

now they are testing her for GI obstruction.

it seems to be there is something wrong - possibly that she has swallowed something.

so I pray that whatever may be wrong she can be healed as she is as much as a part of family as a human being would be.

she is less than thrilled to be taking this picture haha :)

more blogs to come

thanks for praying in advance

peace. and. blessings.

one hundred.

One Hundred Things I Love

I saw this on someone else's blog and thought it was a great thing to do.

Plus it makes me realized how incredibly blessed I am!

1. Auburn Football

2. working with children with Special Needs

3. Praying with Hunter

4. reading the Bible

5. "Something Beautiful" by Needtobreathe

6. picnics

7. the Back Pasture at Camp

8. Sharp Top Cove

9. O'Henry's Coffee

10. Apple Products

11. the sound of running water

12. turtles

13. barefeet in the sand

14. sunflowers

15. my iPhone

16. "God Gave Me You" by Dave Barnes

17. holding Hunter's hand

18. getting pedicures

19. my antiqued dresser

20. the Waterfall at Camp

21. tweeting

22. stargazing

23. lazy rainy days

24. Dave Matthews Band

25. my tattoo

26. dates with Hunter

27. cooking

28. Tiffany & Co.

29. pearl earrings

30. Daisy's

31. chocolate soy milk

32. hugs

33. playing piano

34. New Orleans, LA 

35. sunny Summer days at the Lake

36. listening to thunderstorms

37. the Auburn Creed

38. 1 Corinthians 13:13

39. pictures from my childhood

40. watching documentaries

41. "Sweet Home Alabama" - the movie

42. peanut butter

43. homemade gifts

44. The Alabama Theater

45. Downtown Birmingham

46. singing my heart out driving down the road

47. texting

48. laughing with Hunter

49. riding the train at the zoo

50. black and white pictures

51. wearing cowboy boots with dresses

52. Christmas morning

53. Aiden, Taylor, & Jensen King

54. riding my bicycle as a child

55. water with lemon

56. dad's cooking

57. listening to my Grandmother's wise advice

58. the way holding a baby feels 

59. Big Blue Bagel

60. playing board games with the family

61. antique shopping

62. "A Little Bit Stronger" by Sara Evans

63. road trips with Hunter

64. Mason Jars

65. vintage wedding dresses

66. worship

67. the way organs sound in a church

68. strawberry cake

69. talking to my mom

70. encouragement from Hunter on stressful days

71. Skyping friends that don't live in Auburn

72. wedding blogs

73. being thrifty 

74. blogging

75. poop parties with Veronica

76. Chacos

77. new shoes

78. swimming

79. mom's chicken parmesan

80. tin roofs

81. Chapstick

82. wind blowing through my hair

83. wrap around porches

84. dogs

85. my prayer journal

86. the way bookstores smell

87. chicken salad

88. my sapphire and diamond rings

89. going new places

90. wearing my Auburn jersey 

91. Pinterest

92. Psalm 139:14

93. Birthday's

94. gum

95. bubble baths

96. fires in the fireplace during the Winter

97. my t-shirt quilt

98. oversized t-shirts

99. the news

100. receiving letters

bbq. safari. cajun. and love.

My weekend in a nutshell: 

Thursday

I left Auburn after my class and drove to Huntsville to spend the weekend with Hunter of course, 

after getting slightly lost I finally got there about 8:00pm

(Happy 5 Months Hunter!!)

Friday

Hunter left for work. I spent the morning doing a whole bunch of nothing. A couple hours passed. I showered. A couple more hours passed. I napped. Another hour passed. Hunter came home! We went to dinner at the Smokehouse at Bridgestreet. The dinner was pretty good. With the exception of the extremely dry bbq. Then we went shopping. I got a new dress. Hunter got new pants. It was a win win!

Saturday

We woke up and went to lunch at Schlotzky's. Our fave!

Then we went to this drive thru Safari which was interesting to say the least.

So much fun and so random! A safari... in Huntsville, Alabama. Who knew?

 Mr. Zebra

(he was really friendly)

 "Alabama Alligators"

(didn't get close enough to see if they were friendly)

 Bull

(he was hungry)

 Tortoises

(they were in love... which is why love was included in the title of this post.)

the real reason love is in the title of this post.

Saturday night we went to the Po Boy Factory for dinner. Some of the best Cajun food I've had outside of New Orleans. It was great! However their bread pudding with whiskey sauce has nothing on my grandma's.... sorry bout it!

Sunday

we woke up and fixed breakfast. Hunter fixed the pancakes. I fixed the eggs. We went to Adtran so I could see where he worked and we took a nice walk around the lake. Then I drove home to Birmingham. Spent time with the fam. Got to see the Triplets. Drove back to Auburn.

"Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, 

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." 

-Psalm 23:6

have a great week

peace. and. blessings.

peanut butter cookiez

so I got a craving for peanut butter tonight.

what do I do?

look up recipes for peanut butter cookiez. 

of course!
which also just so happened to be a great cure for my headache.

 all the ingredients in the bowl

 peanut butter dough balls

(which were quite tasty by the way, I wouldn't recommend eating too many though because they do have raw eggs in them)

the cookies once I flattened them with a fork

the end result

NOM!

oh yeah and I got my badge for the College of Education today :)

(less of a badge and more of a button, but still cool!)

trust

trust. small word, big meaning. everything in life is based on trust. trust is important in every relationship. parent/teacher. brother/sister. employee/employer. boyfriend/girlfriend. two best friends. parent/child. husband/wife. teacher/student. whatever the relation is it is important for both people to trust each other and to attain each other's trust. with trust comes two other very important words: truthfulness and honesty. in order to have trust in any type relationship with others you must be truthful and honest. it is much better to hurt someone's feelings up front than to lie and have them find out later. lies always have a way of coming out.

one of the many definitions of trust on dictionary.com:

reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

integrity - integrity is a person's character. integrity is what others think of you. don't you want people to think the best of you and be able to trust you? the way you act and the actions you choose are what make trust.

strength - you don't have to be superman to be able to trust or be trusted. you do have to be a strong person in character. 

ability - you don't have to be able to do anything in this world to trust or be trusted. you do have to be able to tell the truth and be honest.

confidence - when you trust someone you put A LOT of confidence in that person. when someone ruins that trust confidence is the thing that is hard to build back.

a definition of trust that I personally like better. (also from dictionary.com)

a person on whom or thing on which one relies: God is my trust.

this definition is my favorite because it is trust to me. if I trust someone I rely on them. I expect people to rely on me when they trust me, so I expect the same. God is our trust. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." so, forget the dictionary, we have the Bible that tells us to trust in the Lord. as we trust in the Lord we should trust in thy neighbor.

I'm sure I could find more Bible verses to support my claim, however I will leave that to you :)

here's to living in a world where we can try a little bit harder to earn trust

peace. and. blessings.

long hot ride.

so Carrie da Camry decided she wanted her air to break... the day before I go back to Auburn. How convenient. Well the ride back today was not too bad. It rained for about 5 minutes... like rained hard cats and dogs type rain. I almost had to pull over but then decided to just slow my roll and get through it. Back to the air thing. I realized how blessed I am. I have a great car. She's getting old and has had to get some work done recently... but doesn't that usually happen as we get older too? No I didn't have air, but I have power windows that can roll down. And I found a trick... turn the defrost on cold and it feels just like the air condition. So although my air condition is broken, I can still be resourceful and be cool. 

On another note... please pray for the families who lost loved ones tonight in Indiana at the state fair after the stage collapsed. 

it's a bittersweet goodbye

Summer 2011. Where do I even begin? Well I was at camp, my favorite place in the world. With my favorite people in the world. Or for the most part anyway. What I wanted this summer to be and all the words I wanted to be able to describe it with: amazing, awesome, spiritual, easy going, fun, I could go on. At times my summer was these things. However, overall my summer was very much so a let down. Was it my fault? Well, partially. I don't like blaming things on others and so I'm going to try my best not to do that. If you know me, if you were at camp with me, you know why this summer was not quite what I expected it to be. What got me through the summer? our amazing God, my amazing parents, and Hunter. One of my favorite quotes is "setting yourself up for disappointment is the greatest disappointment of all." I definitely cause that as part of my let down. I expected this summer to be AMAZING. Every person on staff was great. I wanted to work in pool ever since last summer and that is indeed where I got to work. I got to room with Veronica. I was with my boyfriend all summer. So, all in all I had amazing things going on. However, not so great things went on too. The thing that I learned the most was how important consistency is in a workplace. Whether you are working at a summer camp or a multi-million dollar law firm. Along those same lines, why change something that doesn't need to be changed? Why come up with ideas if you're not going to carry them through? This is why presidents are so hated, because they have great ideas and talk talk talk... but don't follow through. 

So what I bring out of this summer, how to be a leader. This summer was not an amazing fun summer. It was a summer of learning. A summer of teaching. A summer of improvising left and right. A summer of learning how to lean on others for support and learning who you can and cannot trust. A summer of putting full faith in God and myself. A summer of receiving great advice. 

Someone told me, "You cannot allow one person to ruin your whole summer. You cannot give one person that much power of your life. God will not throw something at you that you cannot handle."  Boy was that person right. Even if there are constant road blocks. Some days I would be having a great day and here comes a huge road block yet again. It's like almost getting to the top of the mountain and just as you're reaching the top you trip and slide right back down.

My favorite weeks were fourth and fifth. Everything about them was great. Everything.

As ready as I was to leave camp, I do miss it. What I don't miss is this summer. I will always love camp. I will always want the very best for camp. I did cry yesterday. I don't cry. This summer has been a summer of tears. Was it all worth crying over, definitely not. Some of them were wasted tears. But you have to do what you have to do. For the first time in my life I will say that crying is therapeutic and that it actually made me feel better at times. 

For now that is all. I have got to get back into the whole blogging routine.

Be Still and Know that I am God

some things I've learned recently:
1. Find the positive out of negative situations.
2. Blaming to make yourself feel better only makes things worse.
3. Lean on the ones that you love most and they will get you through.
4. Everything happens for a reason.  Although I may not understand what that reason is, I have to trust in God and not lose faith because He will get me through.
5. When my relationship with Christ is lacking, everything else seems to lack.
6. Trust is a hard thing to come by, so when you know someone trusts you... don't ruin that.
7. Life is not fair. But ya gotta put ya big girl panties on and get over it.
8. To take my mistakes and learn a lesson from them.

A lot of these things are things I already knew, 

but God decided to remind me, 

I had apparently forgotten.

"God is our refuge and strength, 

an ever-present help in trouble."

-Pslam 46:1

"Be still and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

-Pslam 46:10

"My flesh and my hear may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

-Psalm 73:26

So here's to a great rest of the summer at the camp that we love the best of all... :)

peace. and. blessings.

goodbye sophomore year

well here I sit at the Buerhaus home nearly 2 weeks after my sophomore year at Auburn has ended. bittersweet. this past semester has without a doubt been the best semester I've had at Auburn. I have also realized this semester that I really am growing up. I turned 20... woah, no longer a teenager! And I am halfway-ish done with college. crazyyy. this time last year I wasn't sure I even wanted to be at Auburn. this year... I couldn't imagine not being at Auburn. yet another answered prayer by our awesome God. I made some of the very best friends I could have. (Mo & Jen) I began my journey with YoungLife. I even got the reward and honor of being placed on the starting team of Capernaum. God has answered prayer after prayer for me and I could not be more thankful. Auburn won the National Championship. oh yeah and I am dating my best friend and the most amazing boy in the entire world. (Hunter) my relationship with Christ has strengthened and I of course tried out for staff and made it so I will be at camp again this summer... which of course is another blessing and I could not be happier. 

okay I know this post could be a lot better but that's all for now... I'll elaborate later. maybe?

this post is dedicated to 

Hunter, Lindsay, & Morgan

Hunter - I love you to infinity and beyond. Thank you for being my best friend and boyfriend. Thank you for always making sure our relationship with Christ comes first. You are more than I could ever ask for :)

Lindsay - thank you for being my best friend and big sister. love you!

Mo - thank you for being my bestieeeee and always listening to me complain or making me laugh and just everything you do for me.

Other Friends - if you're not in this... don't think I don't love you just as much! because I do!