my guy

last night after posting about 2009.2010, i was thinking about preston and all that we did this past year.

preston is such a great guy.  i sometimes get tongue tied thinking of how to describe him.

We went through so much when we first started dating. Although it was mainly friendship spats with people we don't really hang out with now we are in college... then it seemed like my world had crashed around me.  The past two and a half years have really brought me to reality about living a life that has meaning.

-Here is a little tid bit about my guy-

he is shy.

until you get to know him.

then he frequently acts like a 5 year old on a sugar high.

he's extremely strong and makes me feel safe no matter where we are.

he is huge into working out, but whenever we go together he seems to motivate me more than work out himself.

he puts up with my N.C. State antics, even though he is a UNC fan.

he loves to teach me.

he teaches me how to play video games the "right" way.  How to golf, although I'm pretty much a professional (just kidding).

  he is extremely selfless.

he always thinks about me, and my concerns.

he puts up with my wedding craze, and baby name lists.

sometimes he even reads my blog!

he gets annoyed at how much I apologize for little things that don't matter.

he has taught me to love more deeply than I ever have before.

2010

Dear 2009,

How did you come and go so quickly? I hardly even remember last new years! I also apologize for not making any new years resolutions at the birth of 2009.  Hopefully 2010 will be more goal oriented!

With hopes for the new year,

Dear 2010,

Thank you for coming! I have a few goals this year. I would greatly appreciate the much needed motivation so that I can accomplish my goals for more than a few weeks.

• I want to stay in shape. This may be hard due to the fact that walking to class has been eliminated from my daily schedule, and going to the gym requires an extra 2-3 hours out of my day!
• I want to get organized.  But for real organized.  It needs to be functional.  I tend to put things in groups, but they aren't functional groups...usually they are hard to get to and annoying to take the time and put them away.
• I would love to stay on top of my grades, and keep them up, BUT without the loss of enjoying time with friends, family and of course preston!
• I want to get inspired.  Recently I have been in to attempting to dig up my "artsy" and "creative" self from deep beneath the paper writing machine I have become. Maybe taking pictures and scrapbooking will help!
• I would also like to stay on budget this year! I know, it seems awful 2010 that I have never been on an actual budget, but this year I'm determined.  I need to learn how to not just save for my next purchase, but save for my future! (you know, that wedding in a few years--fingers crossed!)
• I want to spend more time for myself. Being a coffee lover I would love to spend mornings sipping and reading and thinking....and what ever else I can force my body to do that early.
• I also do not want to give up.  Never give up.  Make each moment worth while. If one cliche explains my goals the best it is Live, Laugh, Love.  So what cliche, you describe who I want to be in 2010.

Thanks 2010 for listening to my goals.... I will probably write them down somewhere on my wall so I don't forget them.  Hopefully you will be proud as 2011 rolls around.

fingers crossed,

bring it on 2010

over, already? or just beginning...

wow, it's hard to believe Christmas has come and gone, and 2010 is right around the corner!

although my trip to Sanibel was wonderful,

being home and seeing my friends and preston has been amazing as well.

school is right around the corner again, so i'm trying to muster up the courage to keep it going for another semester!

with friends going out of the country, mhhhmmm natalie,  it may be a bit of a difficult semester!

but i am so happy for lovely nicole, who is engaged to such a great guy (preston's brother, josh).

recently i have been extremely marriage and baby crazy.

i know of seven ladies who got engaged over this holiday season, making me only the tiniest bit jealous.

and i know of quite a few ladies who had precious children within the last few months...

then i have to smack myself and remember that God has a plan for each of us!

and... i'm only 20, with 3 more semesters of school.

my boyfriend is fabulous i know this, and that is one reason why i want to have "proof" that we will be together forever...

so here's to all those who have wishes beyond their control this new year,

be grateful for what you have,

be patient while you wait

it will all come in good time.

love where you are and who you are with 

*

12 hours later...Sanibel

we finally arrived in florida this morning at 3:00 am... yes we drove ALL night!

this is the sunset in from I-40 last night!

i'm glad we are here though, it is about 70 out! and beautiful! i can't wait to share all my pictures with everyone! I forgot to take my camera to the beach, and of course there were things everywhere to take pictures of! but here are a few!

we had a model, while we were out fishing! my grandma said that the yellow on his head means that he is a young pelican.

i love being at the beach, like i said in earlier posts, i couldn't choose between the mountains and the beach.

it is absolutely breathtaking here.

i woke up to coffee on the back porch over looking the marina from my grandparents new home. 

we walked to breakfast, walked on the beach and i have loved every second of it.

Sanibel gives the word relaxing a new meaning.  if you have never been here before, you should come.

although, having Christmas in 70 degree weather... as nice as it is, seems slightly off!

i saw this coffee mug at the Grove Park Inn on my trip to the mountains, and i love the quote!

we should all live by it

what is everyone doing for the holidays?*

colors of Christmas!

Kattrina tagged me! i feel so loved in the blog world already by all you lovely ladies!

anyways, my color was BURNT ORANGE (: so beautiful

last night was our Christmas dinner with my mom's side of the family because we are hopefully leaving for florida within the next 12 hours!

so here are a few pictures of Christmas-y things that are orange-ish (:

 {a}

{b}

{c}

{a- is a gold star fish ornament (it is more gold, but who cares it is beautiful) since we are going to Sanibel today, at some point}

{b- one of my favorite decorations in the house, a burnt orange/brass colored angel}

{c- brass snowman cookie cutter, who doesn't love cookies during the holidays!}

my next post will hopefully be from the beach in florida--happy holidays*

it doesn't show signs of stopping.

Thursday my friend natalie and i drove the 4 hours to her house in hendersonville, nc

that night we went to the beautiful grove park inn

and we woke up to 2 inches of snow on the ground and a snow storm all day

the white is beautiful

although our plans of going to main street and walking around town have been postponed, it is still beautiful to look at.

i love the snow.

we don't get much of it where i live

but being able to be in the mountains like this

with Christmas just around the corner

makes me love the idea of a white Christmas

then i remember that on monday i will be in Sanibel, Florida

no snow there!

but the snow is beautiful and i am loving days in front of the fire watching tv 

its days like these 

that make me want to move to the mountains of colorado 

 so i can enjoy the snow and fireplaces roaring with hot chocolate in my hands more often!

today we went to main street and ate at a small irish pub... so fun! then went shopping

although the snow is piled up, we still hiked about a mile to a place called "jump off rock" which had beautiful views! 

i am sad to say that tomorrow morning i will be leaving and heading home saying goodbye to the snow and hello to the open, and most likely crowded highways of north carolina.

but i am excited to see my wonderful boyfriend and family!

enjoy the holiday season*

id be lost without you.

friends.

i love them.

there is something about seeing one on campus,

or randomly during the day that brings me complete comfort.

 i love seeing and hear from friends that you haven't seen in a while

and it clicks again like you haven't missed a beat.

those are some of my favorite friendships.

i love getting coffee with friends.

when you sit together and talk about the past months of your life that have flown by

or how this person did that, and that guy caught your eye

but no matter what is going on around, you have each other

each other's attention.

ears.

and most of all,

hearts.

on top of it all--

i love how my boyfriend is my bestfriend and that he is the best listener i know

when i may be the worst.

i love how we curl up together and we fit like puzzle pieces and just talk.

it is days like today,

friendships like these 

and a love like his

that make my life like a comfy pair of jeans.

complete comfort and secure.

deep meaningful friendships full of abundant love*

lost in the craze of Christmas

i thought this week would be completely relaxing and stress free since i have gotten most of my shopping done already. false.

yesterday was Monday and i baked Christmas cookies with my best friend Natalie (: they kind of look like a 3-year-old decorated them, but no biggie!

then i rushed to a cheerleading practice that i wasn't even allowed to stay at because of some formality with paperwork that still hasn't been finished, my b.

i went and looked at a house with my sister and her fiance and my family.

then i went to a Christmas party with my campaigners girls from younglife! we had so much fun! we all brought batches of cookies and shared. then we played a game called "family".

if you have never played it, play.

this is how you do it:

one person is it.

everyone gets a sheet of paper and writes a famous person (or just a person that everyone would know) on it that they choose for themselves.

no one tells anyone who you wrote, but turn them it to the person who is "it"

the "it" reads all the names through out loud 2 times

the person to the left of "it" goes first and asks, "[insert person's name here] are you, Santa[character name]?"

if that person says "no i am not santa" then it is their turn to ask another person.it just keeps going like this.

BUT if that person says, "yes i am santa!" then they sit next to the person who got it right and becomes part of their family. and they get another turn to ask someone else.

it keeps going until who ever has the biggest family.

if you guess the "head" of the family, then that person's entire family joins up with yours!

the person who is "it" never reads the names again...

this game is super fun in a big group of people, i have played it up to about 20 some people.

if you haven't played it, you should!

so after the party was over, i drove on all these crazy back streets and found my way to preston's apartment, where i surprised him! i brought him and his roommates cookies from the party, and i baked them white chocolate macadamia nut cookies! they loved them! it was so nice to get to hang out with preston on a week night, because that NEVER happens!

today, i slept in until 9:30! crazy i know. sometimes i think i am a morning person, and then there are days like today where i just wanted to sleep all day!

i meant to go to the gym (like i have been meaning to do all week!) but i didn't instead my sister and i got roped into making some cookie dough for my mom.  so we made gingerbread cookie dough from scratch and some sugar cookie dough.  even though we still had 2 more batches to make, we left and went bridesmaid dress shopping (: we found one really cute dress. but we'll see!

anyways this was supposed to be a quick post! oops!

white cup, green circle, queen in the middle

i wrote in my who am i post that i related myself to coffee in a writing class.

here are a few excerpts from that paper, because in reality coffee and me are essentially the same thing.

"A friend of mine has said, "Once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader" and I feel like it holds true in my life.  Coffee is a lot like a cheerleader too.  Coffee wakes people up, makes them happy, and can always surprise you.  I have been told many times that I have a tendency to make people happy and help them get through their day."

"Like coffee, I am dependable.  I feel good knowing that I can be dependable, but like most people I can slip up.  Coffee can slip up on occasion too.  If you accidentally put too much sugar in it, it tastes bad.  Sometimes, even though I do consider myself loyal and dependable, I make mistakes and am not dependable."

"I feel my life has been filled with excitement just by being myself.  Coffee is coffee, but it definitely keeps life exciting."

"I hope that my life never gets boring, and I sure hope my coffee does not either.  If my coffee was boring, I do not think that I would be able to function in the morning and I think my life would become rather lame as well."

"To make one last statement about who I am:  I compared myself to my favorite drink, coffee--that probably ways something about me as well."

anways i hope you enjoyed that (:

status:

I am sitting at my computer attempting to read a diary for preston to help out with his excessively stressful exam schedule.

it is raining out, typical. since it feels like it should snow

and i am sipping coffee-- a venti white chocolate mocha from Starbucks. duh.

i will also add a dear so-and-so... to my temporary retreat on days like this.

Dear Starbucks,

you need free wi-fi...

love,

dependable sipper.

{source}

since i'm new at this...

this whole blogging thing seems kind of weird because now that i've made one, i don't really know where to focus.

so what are your favorite things to blog about, all you professionals out there?

&

what are your favorite kinds of blogs to read about?

BUT ALSO

today is exciting.

if you have read my previous posts you know

a. i am a college student

&

b. i am a younglife leader

both i love dearly.

well as of yesterday at 11:00 a.m. i am officially done with the semester! yay!

&

as of 5:00 p.m. today, we will have new leaders on our team!

there are so many  new leaders that interviewed that we may get

2 girls and 2 guys! which is huge in our area.

such a blessing!

anyways have a beautiful day, i need to get back to watching silly elsie on her play date with hank, the dog*

oh exams...

today i sat in one chair all day for 7 hours. studying. thanks college.

although i did find a new engagement ring that i liked a lot better than my previous choice.

that was what i considered being productive.

i was also pretty excited that i am now in the double digits of followers!

since i'm new to this blog thing, i don't know if i should be excited about a measly 11, but hey i feel popular!

today i had an epiphany as well.

this past summer my cell phone was stolen and it had baby names in it that i wanted to hold on to so when i got pregnant (i'm talking 6-10 years here) i would have them!

so today i decided to write down some that i could remember.

ellie

ella

sage

grace

keigh(preston's mom's maiden name is key)

collier

logan

shields(my mom's maiden name is greenshields)

caleb

colton

wyatt

don't forget to check out nicole addison's blog My Teacups in Peony she has a giveaway with another lady diana and they are amazingly adorable giveaways!

i hope everyone has a beautiful day tomorrow! i know it gets harder to wake up in the winter when your bed is all cozy!*

elsie, the cow...sorta.

this is elsie. (age 5 months)
i rescued her may of 2008. she was extremely sick and could hardly walk! she has come so far since then. i figured everyone loves animals, and like i said... i love dogs! especially elsie.  here is her story:

we were required to do community service for the club cheerleading team i was on.

so, obviously i wanted to play with dogs so i volunteered at an animal shelter.

after school was out, since i lived in the area, i continued to volunteer.

one day i was sitting at my computer and decided to browse the dogs up for adoption.

i immediately saw this adorable little puppy that looked like a bernese mountain dog.

i knew my mom loved those kinds of dogs so i went to the shelterand told my parents (who were out of town, i was volunteering).

when i got there i looked at the puppy and she was beautiful.

i put a deposit down.

my parents were sooo angry that i did it behind their backs.

she was supposed to get fixed a few days later.

my sister and i went to look at her before she was supposed to be fixed.

my dad showed up and saw her. clearly he thought she was so sweet too!

he wanted us to push back her surgery and show our mom more pictures of her.

well we went to push back the surgery and they told us she was sick and couldn't be put under, and they wanted us to take her home that day! my dad said "absolutely not!" my sister and i were crushed.

we still went to show our mom the pictures.  she is a school teacher at a local elementary school.

of course being my mom, she asked her 2nd graders what they thought of the adorable puppy.

duh, they said we should get her.  and my mom blushed and said, "go bring elsie home"

elsie! who the heck is that?
well my mom had been thinking of names already. i think she knew we were going to keep her. so my sister and i went to go get the pup.

when we brought her to my mom's school, it was the first time we saw her really even move and she tried to run toward my mom and fell.  
needless to say my family now loves her like their own child.

turns out this bernese puppy is just a mutt. she is probably a border collie-pointer mix

this is her the day we brought her home. when she was all sick and had a runny nose.

i plan on writing frequent blogs about this darling puppy.

she is one and a half and has some of the funniest antics i have ever seen.

she is one of the sunshines in this world and i think she is the greatest!*

does anyone have cute animal stories?

this is elsie at age 1

a little bit of this and that....

so i got excited and i figured i'd post twice in one day.

big deal right, i have 2 followers so far :)

but maybe one day--people can come back and read these!

so who am i?

i'm a Christian, saved by grace

i'm a younglife leader, if you don't know what that is--check it out!

i love my younglife team and my girls at the school. they are such blessings to me.

i pretty much wear jeans and a t every day.
comfort is key.
but it never hurts to put on my sassy boots and have a good time!
i'm a student, who sometimes takes grades far too seriously.

coffee could be my name, and one time i wrote a metaphorical paper about "coffee" being me. i got an A+

i don't know if i could live without coffee.

when it comes to earrings...pearls.

i am a big fan of smiling, i think it helps the blues go away.

laughing with friends and family may be my favorite thing.

i do love the mountains and the beach-i could never choose between them.

i  am in love with the greatest guy on this earth... preston. he's the light of my world.

besides my precious puppy, elsie... who i rescued from the animal shelter.

she's pretty much a person too. sass and all.

my roommate thinks God put me on this earth for dogs.

i'm beginning to agree.

i used to be a cheerleader where i go to school. but now i cheer for them.

i tend to plan a lot.

and usually my plans change. go figure.
i started playing clarinet when i was in 4th grade.

stress is a thing of the past for me, although i often find myself overwhelmed--is that the same thing?

i find myself loving weddings more and more each day, but i know mine is far off in the future.

so i try not to plan too far ahead.

college. well college is college... hard to explain the love hate relationship with it.

who knows where i'll be in 10 years.

i can be mean, and hold grudges... but who can't. i'm working on it.

i try not to lose my temper.

i do lose it in the car frequently to miley cyrus party in the USA and taylor swift romeo & juliet. these are my guilty pleasures.
but i do not limit my music listening capabilities to only teen pop queens.
i enjoy everything, especially if i can blast it and sing along!

crunchy or creamy? creamy all the way.

love is what everything is all about when it comes down to it. simple love.

here is my all time favorite christmas song, done by drew and ellie holcomb or "drellie" their band is called drew holcomb and the neighbors. they are amazing. the song is baby it's cold outside. no clue how to cleverly post the video here... but there's the link! enjoy*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGyrfnhFcqw

christmas wish list.

it's that time when jack frost is nipping at your nose

and only a cup of hot chocolate can warm you up.

as a kid we wrote letters to santa and when we woke up christmas morning he had written us.

everyone seems to be making a grown-up christmas wish list this year.

i had a few things on my mind that i would love.

of course some are must haves and some are wishful thinking...

happy christmas!

an iphone would be great, since my razor is about to die any day now.

the gps is just a plus!

"billy" boots by frye.

cute and practical.

patagonia quarter button fleece.

 custom tutu from etsy.com

a beautiful engagement ring from a man who loves me.

anyways i hope everyone's shopping is going well, i know i am practically done! now its time to catch up on some sleep and enjoy the reason for the season*

 

new to this...

a friend of mine told me to look at her blog. so i did.

hers is awesome. and she told me to create my own. so i'm trying.

she's of course more creative than i am.

but i'm trying this out.

maybe it will be life changing? who knows.

my sister and i joke that our lives would be funny reality tv shows.

but we're scared our lives will crash and burn.

and that we won't be funny

and people won't watch.

but sometimes i am driving and i think that writing would be easy enough to share thoughts.

so i'm doing it.

it's a risk.

i've set up my account and i'm going to try and not turn back.

 i'm a journalism minor so words come easy usually.

we'll see how it goes.

tomorrow i'll see what happens and tell you a little more about me*