tuesday.

I started a new (part-time) job yesterday at The Curl by Sammy Duvall. The Curl is a surf/water sports shop located at Downtown Disney's Pleasure Island. My little brother has been an employee there for a couple years now and his boss has always tired to get me to work there as well, and so finally i gave in! I had my first day of training yesterday from 2:00 - 7:30 and it was pretty fun. All the people there seem to be really friendly and easy to get along with. My next training day will be on Friday and that will be from 6:00pm- 12:30am.... I'm not looking forward to that shift! 

This job will be my first "real" job in five years so I'm a bit nervous about how things will go. In the past five years I have been a nanny, a kindergarten teacher for an after care/summer camp program, a tutor, and just a regular babysitter, so it will be a little different getting used to working retail again. I am excited to be working with my brother though! 

Also yesterday, AMERICAN IDOL!! 

My family are big American Idol watchers, supporters, and voters. Ever since my brothers and I started to grow older, get jobs, and have busy schedules, American Idol soon became the show that brought us together during all the busyness. As a family we designated Tuesday and Wednesday nights as "Idol Nights". On these nights we all gather at my parents house and have dinner together and watch the show. We ha

ve been doing this for four or five years now, and actually we all truly cherish our Tuesdays and Wednesdays together!  

Until last week, I was away at school and therefore unable to be apart of "Idol Ni

ghts". Each week my mom would catch me up on the contestants that were eliminated. At the beginning of the competition I was pulling for Megan Joy and was really hoping that she would be the next American Idol. I thought she had a great voice that was very unique, and I thought she was sweet, pretty, and had a fun/cute personality. Oh well though! American and the judges thought differently! After Megan left, my next

 pick was between Danny Gokey and Kris Allen, both eventually being in the top 3!!!! Sadly though, Danny Gokey got eliminated last week. He too, had an incredible and unique voice, and my heart went out to him especially because of the recent death of his wife. Danny is also a Christian, and the Worship Leader at his home church in Wisconsin. Now that he is gone though, I am a full supporter of Kris Allen! Kris Allen is a newlywed, and he is also a Christian and a worship leader at his home church. I love that so many devout followers of Jesus Christ are becoming American Idol contestants! And they are doing so well on the show too! Praise God! 

Tonight is the finale of American Idol and as silly as it sounds, I am act

ually a bit nervous!! P R A Y for Kris Allen, because I am sure he is nervous too!!! 

...if only

I found this little note and thought it was adorable, and SO TRUE! 

In a perfect world I would have.. 

A real breakfast, EVERY MORNING, with no adverse effects on my weight or health.

Fresh coffee in the coffee pot. Always. 

Dark chocolate. Everyday. 

Linens pressed and folded daily. 

Clothes pressed, organized into drawers, and hung up in my closet. All the time. 

Real hot high heels that are also extremely comfortable. 

12 more hours in every day. 

8 hours of sleep every night. 

A good belly laugh. Every day. 

More vacation time. 

: )

summer!

I'M HOME!!!!!!!!!! : )

The school year is finally over  and summer is HERE! I am so excited about being home with my friends and family. I will be babysitting this summer, working at a surf shop with my little brother, and also working at a summer camp on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It will be a b u s y but fun summer! 

I miss my roommates already : ( 

The summer will be difficult being away from them. 

I thank God for Covenant College and the opportunity to go to that school. Covenant has been such a blessing to my life. 

13.1!!!!!!

On Saturday Lindsey and I ran in the Kentucky Derby miniMarathon in Louisville, Kentucky. This was my first miniMarathon, and also my first race! We had spent the last four months training for this run and had a lot of fun doing so. The most milage we had ever got up to was about 9.5 miles so by Saturday we were still slightly unprepared. 

We arrived in Louisville around dinner time Friday evening. Olivia and Lauren came along with us as our personal cheerleaders! : ) They were both so great! Lindsey's parents also ran the miniMarathon with us. On Friday evening all the runners gathered for registration at the Expo center. There, we eat dinner and picked up our shirts and running packages. 

That night we stayed at a Hilton Hotel in downtown Louisville. The city was insane on Friday night! There were pre-party festivities going on everywhere, and crowds of people everywhere! We all hung out downtown amongst the crowds for a couple of hours then headed back to the hotel room to get to bed. Of course, because of me being an absolute complete nervous wreck, I was unable to sleep well.

 

Saturday morning approached real fast! We were up by 4:45a.m. and out the door by 5:15. Lindsey, her parents, and I caught the bus for the race in downtown Louisville at 5:30a.m. At this time I was even more of a nervous wreck (and truthfully I'm not even quite sure why). 

As all the runners gathered in their corrals at the starting line, my nerves finally began to fade and I was getting excited. The race began at 7:30a.m. 

My goal for the race was to run the entire thing, no matter how slow I was or how long it took me! I also made a goal to complete the race, 13.1 miles, in two hours and thirty minutes, which would be just under a 12 minute mile ( fast was not a goal of mine!!)

Well I completed the race! And it took A LOT out of me. I ran the entire time and my final time was 2 hours and thirty-three minutes. Three minutes over my goal, but I was still satisfied and proud of myself! : ) Running the race was such a blast, and it was such a huge accomplishment for me. I can honestly say that Saturday was one of the most memorial days of my life. When I crossed the finished line I thought to myself, Wow, did I really just run that?!!

I thank Lindsey so much for pushing me and for training with me and for encouraging me and convincing me that I was capable of running a half marathon! She was so awesome. I could not have done it without her! Also, I could not have done it with out Christ. I know running a half marathon may sound like nothing to many people, but for me it truly was something! I trucked along and pushed myself, and prayed and prayed and prayed until I reached that finish line! I was not going to give up! 

I am thrilled and so happy I was able to be apart of that! It was an experience I will never forget. Now, I can't wait for my next one!! : ) 

puppies!!!

I was asked to house sit a couple weeks ago for a family while they went on vacation to Florida. The day before they were leaving for vacation their cocker spaniel dog, Brownie, had six puppies!!! 

I had never seen puppies so small. They fit right in the palm of my hand. They were absolutely adorable, but a lot more work than I ever thought they would be! They cried alot. This was Brownie's first litter of puppies, and she's usually an outside dog, but when the puppies were born she became confined to the garage all day to look after them. I could tell she was going nuts! It was kind of fun to think of what Brownie might have been thinking, especially when all six of the puppies would cry for hours straight! I imagined Brownie thinking "OH MY GOODNESS, I CAN'T HANDLE THIS!", cause that's definitely what I was thinking and I was inside the house : ) 

..it's been a while!

So it's been a pretty long time since I last blogged! 

I'm not really sure if it's because not much exciting has been going on or if it's because SO much has been going on that updating my blog has been last on my mind, or possibly not even on my mind at all! 

For the most part school has been going pretty good as well. I have been extremely busy, especially the last two weeks, but finally got a little rest over Easter break. Just prior to break I completed a 32 page paper I was required to write for one of my classes. Along with the paper that week I also had two exams... if that kind of gives you an idea of what I meant by "extremely busy" : ) But it is behind me now. Things are somewhat downhill from here, for a couple weeks at least, until finals! 

I FOUND A HOUSE FOR NEXT YEAR!! I am so excited about this.

Lauren, my current roommate, and I had been seeking out places to live for the next school year for a while and we were just not finding anything that we liked or felt was a safe place. Finally though, at the very last minute, plans fell through for some other friends of ours which then gave Lauren and I an opportunity for housing! 

The house is absolutely adorable and we will be moving in with two other girls starting in August. We are all very excited! The house has tw0-bedrooms/two-bathrooms, a laundry room, a front and back porch, and it has a huge living room and kitchen! 

We are going to have such a great time there! We have already begun to discuss decorating plans, and have been saving fun recipes so the four of us can cook and bake together! What a fun thing to look forward to : )

Well I have finally completed my well over due post. Hopefully my next post won't be too far behind! 

fyi- my half-marathon is in less than two weeks! I'm beginning to get very nervous. Please, if you think about it, say a little prayer for me! : )

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

My cousin gave birth this afternoon to a beautiful (so I'm told) baby boy!!

Welcome to the world, Hendrix Croy Bosch!  He was born at 12:30 this afternoon and weighed 8.5 pounds! BIG BOY! : )

I cannot wait to meet him! 

I praise You, little Hendrix is "fearfully and wonderfully made!"  

   -Psalm 139:14

back to school!

Spring break has already come, and gone. It went by so fast! 

I got the chance to go back home to Orlando over the break and had such a great time with my family. I guess I have a bit of a bias opinion, but my family is the greatest!! My parents are two of the most loving, gracious, giving, encouraging, and supportive people I have ever known. They are such a delight to be around and they are great examples of what God calls us to be. 

While being home I was able to see and catch up with family and some old friends of mine. One of my best friends since Kindergarten, Kayley, came over to visit with her four month old precious baby girl. It was such a joy to be able to see them. Kayley is a wonderful mommy! I was also able to go to Disney and lay out by the pool, soaking up all the Orlando sunshine! I look so forward to returning home again, and to spending the entire summer with my family. 

two and 1/2 weeks till easter break! THANK GOD! (schools getting pretty hard now)

the creativity in me!

In the past couple of years I have developed an enormous passion for baking and

cooking. I have no idea where in the world this passion came from but it has been very fulfilling and a ton of fun! : ) But because of living in the dorms without a kitchen or any appliances, my baking and cooking has been very limited. So in the meanwhile, I have developed another passion!

I have recently become somewhat obsessed with baking/cooking websites, magazines, and books. I love looking at different recipes and pictures of foods, and dreaming about creating it myself one day. This has actually become a little activity of mine that I enjoy doing when I feel completely overwhelmed by all the stresses of life! I have a folder in my room, specifically titled "Recipes I Want to Try", filled with ripped out magazine recipes, printed off internet recipes, and names of fun cook books that I have come across. 

Well, just the other day I was at a local book store in downtown Chattanooga and of course, went straight to the cooking and baking section of books. After thumbing through several really cool ones, I came across one that totally excited me!! I saw the book,immediately grabbed it off the shelf, and began to browse through it, dreaming of trying to create everything I saw. I wrote down the title of the book, Hello, Cupcake!, and was determined to get online (find it for cheaper!) and buy the book!  

The book finally came in the mail the other day and I couldn't stop showing it off to all the girls on the hall. 

Hello, Cupcake! has dozens of really great decorating ideas for creating anywhere from the cutest cupcake to the scariest cupcake! The book is great. There is even a section in the book with ways to decorate cupcakes that actually "fool the eye", and look like dinner meals!

This book has definitely been my excitement and stress-reliever for the past few days! : )

 

cold, rainy day at the tennessee aquarium!

Saturday was an absolutely miserable day, weather-wise. It was freezing cold and rainy the entire day. The mountain was so foggy it was hard to see right in front of you. So, Lauren, one of my roommates, Brian, and I decided to go to the aquarium! For the month of February admission to the aquarium for college students was half off, so we got in for $10 each! We had such a great time. We spent a little over 3 1/2 hours there. Brian was such a trooper putting up with Lauren and I for the whole day. Lauren is SO COMPLETELY into animals, their anatomy, their origin, their behaviors, all of that, so she wanted to read every bit of information on every single sign! She was too cute. The joy on her face was unexplainable. 

After our time at the aquarium, Brian treated Lauren and I to yummy ice cream at Coldstone Creamery!! Lauren was so excited to get mint chocolate chip ice cream, her favorite flavor, from her favorite ice cream parlor, but soon she was reminded that she gave up chocolate up for lint : (   She settled with just mint!

A gross, cold, gloomy Saturday ended up being a blast! 

(enjoy the pictures!! I got a little camera crazy and took pictures of just about everything, so here are a few of my favorites)