New Lease

Being in a holiday always feels like 'a new lease on life', (whatever that is supposed to mean). :)

So the semester ended pretty good, I expected better grades, but I guess I should be satisfied with what I have so that's that!
I am really enjoying these holidays and I hope you are too (or that you will enjoy the upcoming holiday if you only get off on or closer to Christmas). So, yesterday we went to Covington to get fitted for our bridesmaid dresses, and they had beautiful tiaras, headbands, and veils for brides there. So, Allie was looking at them and was able to find some awesome wedding stuff although I can't quite say because I wouldn't want certain people finding out this classified information! :D
Also last night I was able to go to a Christmas party with all of my LSU friends, which was pretty cool cause I got to see some people I literally have not seen since graduation.

And the best news yet is that Jessica graduated! WOOHOO!
Congratulations to her because nursing is incredibly hard, stressful school that nobody can do without putting in a ridiculous amount of dedicated hard work. And not only has she studied hard for it, but she so obviously has her heart and soul invested in nursing, and I can only hope to be half the nurse that I know she will be.

I got a B in clinicals, which although people consider good, I honestly feel like I deserved an A so I was pretty upset about that, but I think that God has reasons for every small thing so whether it is to keep me from being over confident or to make me work harder or both, I just need to trust in the Lord and not be unfaithful to Him when he has shown His faithfulness over and over again!

So that's about all I have to say. :) Not much going down around here since I am out of school, but I look at that as a very good, relaxing thing!

Long Lines

Okay, yes it's 4:19 AM. I am not sure exactly how I end up being awake at times such as these? Maybe I'm meant to be a night shift nurse? ;)

Anyways.
This week has been off the chain! Yeah, I am trying to bring that phrase back. So far, no progress. People usually just look at me weird and ask what that is supposed to mean. Or they laugh at me. So, in case you were wondering, it means that it was really good.

Anyways.
So, I really had a great week. My last exam is on the 9th of December, which I am SO excited about. On black Friday, me and my sisters went to Toys R Us to get some stuff for Colton. The line was beyond ridiculous! It went all the way around Toys R Us, then stretched all the way to Petsmart, then turned and went through the parking lot again towards Airline, and then a little ways back again. Talk about craziness. But, it was actually less crazy than I expected. Certainly no rioting or trampling of individuals. Toys R Us kept it pretty tame. Now I wouldn't touch Wal Mart with a 10 foot pole on black Friday. I personally think it is kind of overrated to go right at opening time. Luke is going to Iraq for a year, (and is leaving tomorrow for training so I am staying home from church to see him go), and he wanted to buy two laptops so he can skype with us. The thing is, he wanted the ones Best Buy had on sale, but he didn't want to spend one of his last evenings home waiting in a line for 10 hours. So, he was just like, forget it. Well, my uncle was at the store on Black Friday in the evening, and he called my dad. Apparently they still had plenty of the laptops available! So, he was able to get the laptops. Short story is don't wait in long lines. Plus Luke found out that the laptops were at that same price online on Thanksgiving day until they sold out. So, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The 1 Sad thing about my Life.

So guess what?
Remember those assignments? Done.
What about the debate? Done.
ATI test? Level 3
Pharm test? 96%
My God? Yeah He's good.
The exams coming up? A work in progress!

So that sums up a bunch of the things I was stressed about.
Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I have SO much to be thankful about it makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time...
I am thankful for of course God and his goodness, my family, & my friends first of all. God is just so good that I can't even describe Him other than to say he is good. My family is just amazing. They are always here and love me even when I am unlovable. My friends are off the chain. Seriously.
Like, on face book, I will always see people posting statuses like, "I love getting stabbed in the back by my friends", "Some people just aren't who they seem", "I need some new friends".
And so and so on.
But I must say, all of my friends are the nicest people ever! They are sweet, funny, gorgeous, never mean to anybody, patient, and the list goes on and on. I am blessed with such amazing friends, it truly blows my mind. It is unfathomable that I have been given not only an amazing family but amazing friends.
Other things I am thankful for are the leaders in my life. And they know who they are.
And this is a little silly but I am very thankful for my animals. When I am sad, they are the perfect little buddies to just hold and cry. They don't ask any questions, they just look up at you with those big sad eyes and cuddle up. And it makes me all better!

Plus I am so lucky to be born in America.. and not only America, but in Louisiana! Am I the most blessed person on the face of the Earth? I would not doubt it! And it even gets better...
I have an education, and I am in higher education to get a degree in an awesome job that I am going to love!

I am blessed with great health. I rarely get sick and when I do it's never too bad. Never even had allergies, eyeglasses, braces, or other minor things like that.
I was able to work through high school plus get a scholarship for college so now I have the huge blessing of not having to work while in college while still being independent, (besides still living with the parents).
I have so many little material comforts: a bed, food whenever I want it, clothes, perfume, makeup, straightener, bathtub, blowdryer, soap, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, a car, music, tennis rackets, purses, a piano, a trumpet, a wii, and so many other things it would be ridiculous to name them all.

While I am writing this I am in disbelief that I have ever complained about anything in my life.


Seriously the only ONE sad thing about my life is that I have more than 99.9% of the world's population. From the important nonmaterial to the unimportant material things, I have anything a person could ask for. I am so blessed, and it would be a shame for me to ever forget to count my blessings and not be extremely grateful for what I have. I know many of these things will not last. People die, pets die even sooner, things break, friends move away and get distant, but the one thing that I need the most is a relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ, and that is all that is important in this life. I encourage you to look at your life and see what you have. You could have everything but if you don't value the Lord, then the things you rely on could be gone tomorrow and you will have nothing left. But if you have God, you have the peaceful reassurance that His will can support you through anything.

God Bless
Happy Thanksgiving!

Had a lazy lazy long weekend. It was super fun while it lasted, but I already feel stressed about the paperwork, clinical, and test and assignments this week. Not to mention my first ever ATI test next week that I haven't gotten to study for that great. Plus next week is my debate plus and the week of Thanksgiving is my last pharmacology test! And all the assignments in between. But I know my God is faithful and stronger than any of this silly stuff, so I will keep it going! Hope this semester ends well and I may not post again until Thanksgiving or December 9th, my last exam day. :) Love always

Oh, Happy Day

School is finally starting to wind down a bit. I haven't had clinical the past two weeks, which I think has really let me breathe for a minute. Only one is left, in this coming week. After that, I have my ATI test and then I am finished with that class except for a little project that I can finish over Thanksgiving break!

I am so excited to almost be done this semester. As stressful as it is, I feel like I am really learning a lot and that I will be able to use it for God.

Although I should have been studying all of today, Natalie and Jessica wanted me to go to the state fair with them and Colton. I wanted to say no at first, just because I knew I should be studying, but sometimes I know I just need to forget about school for a bit and spend time with my family. And it turns out it was a blast! I only rode two rides just because I don't have a job and I shouldn't be spending every last dollar I have, but they were really fun. The first one was okay, it was basically this thing I got in and it spun really fast and pinned me to the wall. It was called the Starship. The second one was really fun. It was basically this huge arm that spun around and went really high. I got a lot of 'air time'... you know that feeling when you're thrown out of your seat and the only thing holding you in is the buckles? I LOVE that feeling. In fact, one day I want to go to Cedar Point Amusement park where they have crazy rollercoasters supposedly. I will seriously ride anything. (Except those wooden ships, those are boring and people throw up on them and I do not want to get thrown up on!)

Well, since I did all of that today, I think I should go study now! :)

This past September and October

So I have not posted since August. One word, SCHOOL.

School has been an absolute nightmare this semester. Adding clinical to my mix of regular class was like the death knell for me.
Clinical in itself is not bad. I enjoy going to the hospital, learning things, etc. I hate doing paperwork, and I hate how the teacher explains nothing but still expects you to be beyond perfect. But such is nursing school. Another thing I hate is how I have gotten above 90% on my tests in pharmacology but she gives us stupid little assignments like filling out an immunization chart and will give us grades like 2/3. Do you know what a 2/3 is?! It's a 66% F! Do you know what that does to my grade? It throws it in the toilet, takes a dump on it, then pulls out and throws it into a cage of elephants which proceed to trample it. Then it dies. But such is nursing school. AND did I mention that I haven't had a good nights sleep since who knows when and it is only Monday?

It seems I left out a very important adjective in my opening paragraph.
So here is what I should have said: Two words, NURSING school

Other than school being a complete kick in the rear, my life has been... well I guess it would be good if I had a life! Just kidding, well only a little bit. Thank you to all my friends for praying for me and for encouraging me, I need it so much. Thank the Lord I haven't failed! In all seriousness, if I did not have the Lord to be my source of strength I think I would have either quit or just stopped trying.

For a time such as this

So I tried to post this but I failed miserably, so I will have to try this again. :)

August is almost over and I have been slacking on my blog posts. I just finished reading the book of Esther and am beginning Job. I have read both before but am always learning new things from each. I love the part when Mordecai tells Esther that perhaps she came to become Queen for such a time as this. What happened, in case you have never heard the story, is that a man named Haman was plotting to kill all of the Jews. Esther was the Queen and she could go to the King and make a petition to him to spare the Jews. However, if he was not happy with her coming to him without being announced, then he could have her killed. So, she was very nervous about going before him. Job is another story. He loses everything. His children die, his wife dies, he loses all of his livestock, his house, and he gets really really sick. But both continued to follow God. Job is never really given a reason about why he was having to go through what he went through. However, despite not getting a 'memo' on what God's plan for them was, they did what they knew was right. I think that having faith in terrible situations brings so much more glory to God rather than just hearing a commandment and following it. Having faith is a sacrifice of one's own will demonstrating true love and commitment and following God's perfect will for His glory and honor. In the end, we know that Esther was put in her position by God because he knew that she would fulfill His purpose and protect the Jews, keeping His covenant with Israel. Job gained back more than he lost, and we know that God was able to show Satan that he has lost and mankind is not unable to reflect God. I love the bible because it keeps me in touch with the wisdom of following God's plan for my life and not my own!

x but am always learning new things from each. I love the part when Mordecai tells Esther that perhaps she came to become Queen for such a time as this. I

x August is almost over and I have been slacking on my blog posts. I just finished reading the book of Esther and am beginning Job. Both I have read before

Vacation in Tennessee

So, I guess it's about time I should write another blog. :)

School is less than a month away! How scary but exciting. This semester I am starting clinicals for the first time, which is a lot of responsiblity and will be close to what I will be doing in my career for the rest of my life. So, it's a huge deal to me! I think I will have an easier time adjusting than other people I have known since I will be able to have the same schedule as Brittany AND Tori so we are at least all in this together!

Last week I went on vacation to Tennessee in the Sevierville/Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. It was so much fun. We drove there on Monday, leaving at 4:30 AM and getting in Tennessee that afternoon. Everyone was tired that night so we basically decided who had which rooms and beds and then we went to sleep. The next day, on Tuesday, I mostly just fished and hung around the cabin. I wasn't feeling too good that day so I took it easy. Unfortunately, while I was fishing on the river rocks I still managed to get a huge gash in my toe! I used my nursing skills and cleaned it though. ;)

The next day was Wednesday. As soon as I woke up and had eaten breakfast, Jessica, Allie, BJ, Dillon, Lisa, and I left and went horseback riding. My horse's name was Pepper, Jessica had Rooster, Dillon had King Kong, and I don't remember the rest. I know Allie's horse had a really long name like Mountain Hawk or something. My horse was really slow, but then the guide gave me a stick to hit it with, and the horse decided it was going to start randomly running even without me having to touch it! I guess Pepper did not want to get beat!! Poor horsies! Well, horseback riding took way longer than we expected and we ended up going straight to Dixie Stampede without going back to the lodge to change. (Did I mention our whole family was staying in a lodge we rented out and it was on the side of a mountain next to a river?)

Dixie Stampede was the bomb dot com as usual! I got to see basically the best banjo player in the world in the preshow which was... interesting. He would play the banjo behind his back and crazy antics like that. The actual Dixie Stampede went great except for one part. The guy who jumps through a flaming loop while standing up riding with one foot on each horse fell off the horses because one of the horses tripped while jumping through the loop. The horsie had burned its foot on the flaming loop and was trying to put its foot out in the dirt in the arena. You could hear the whole audience going awwww. Everything else went excellent. I sat on the South side of course and the South won so I was super excited about that. So after that I went back to the lodge and it was nighttime by the time we got back.

The next day I woke up and took a plane trip over the mountains! It was unbelievably gorgeous. I hate the pictures I took because they in no way can really show how beautiful it was. The Smoky Mountains are known for being .. well... smoky, so I think that kind of got in the way of perfect pictures but it was a blast. I thought I would be really scared in such a tiny plany (it was a four seater), but the pilot was very experienced and was a Christian so that really gave me nothing to worry about. He told us several interesting stories. One of them was how a guy had come with him to dump out the ashes of his wife who had died from cancer. About a year later another man came back and dumped the ashes of the guy who had spread the ashes of his wife a year earlier. He had also died of cancer.

After the plane ride, I went back to the lodge and tubed down the river the rest of the day. I fished a little bit Friday and tubed a lot. There is a pretty big waterfall (for tubing down, anyways) and I had heard horror stories all week about how bad it was from everyone who had already gone that way. I decided to be adventurous and went down the waterfall even though everyone else got out right before it and got back in after it. It was actually really fun and I didn't even get scratched! Then right after that was a deep part of a river with a big rock overlooking it, and I jumped off the rock into the water. It was very cool! The last time I went that day I slipped on a rock and busted my hip on a rock, and there is a ridiculous bruise there now. It kind of put a damper on my fun, but not too much! haha

The next day we left at about eleven in the morning because we were afraid Bonnie was going to get bad so we did not want to be driving home through a hurricane! All in all this was a great vacation and I had the best time!

Although you've heard it before, Freedom is not free...

Heartbreaking... keep these people in your prayers, and never forget to thank soldiers and those who have lost loved ones.

Every fourth of July, Americans get to celebrate freedom. We have so much freedom, we can burn our own flag, berate our own president, and every four years, we have an option to change the leader of our country! I think a lot of times we forget that we have so much to be grateful for. Back when our country was founded, a type of country that was by the people and for the people was just unheard of. The American Revolution was not just a revolution for American, but for countries around the world. It gave the French people a hunger for the type of freedom we had, sparking their own civil unrest. Not that I think violence is a good thing, but can good come from a bad thing? If God allows it, yes.

Today, it can be easier to think of countries with people who are able to vote and decide on their future than those that can not. I think that is a small part of why so many people are going back to giving power to the government. Back to the American Revolution. It cost many lives. But do you think it was worth it? I do. I know the people of that time probably were uncertain, had fears, had their hearts crushed. Many who suffered never got to enjoy freedom as we do today. However, when the rest of the world was able to see a peaceful transfer of power (also known as a different political party taking control of the white house), it was to create a new precendent for the rest of the world.

I'm not saying that wars are good. I'm not saying that you should burn your flag or berate the president. I'm not saying you should do much of anything. I'm just pointing out the fact that you are allowing to think or do any of these because of what people who were willing to make a sacrifice were willing to do.

Much like sin. God hates sin. But he was willing to die for us anyways. He sacrificed himself for us even though we are drawn to something he is unable to tolerate. God gave us freedom from sin, something we did not have to pay for, but something we can enjoy. Just because we are loved. I am so lucky to serve such an awesome God and to be apart of a country with people willing to die for my freedom.

When you get down, it is wonderful to remember, the only thing that matters is God's glory. If you believe this, live like it. If you don't, then continue to live your life serving yourself. Because then you can bring yourself glory. Just remember, when you die, the glories of this life will die with you. Would you rather give over this life to someone eternal, or to a wave tossed in the ocean? If you choose eternal, your life will become his, and you will partake in his everlasting life. The choice seems simple in these terms, but in the choices of everyday, where will you let your path lead? There is no path in between. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What will I choose?

Sweet sweet SUMMERtime!

Oh Praise Him! David Crowder definately has that one right! I am very happy to be done with my first semester of summer school. I did okay on all of my exams and got the GPA I needed to keep my scholarship, which is really all I want now. I could not have done it without the prayers and encouragement from all my friends. It was really cool to be able to see the work God has done in my faith throughout the semester. Now I am jobless and heading into the summer. I am not sure if I need to get a job or not. Well, it's not really that I'm not sure whether I need a job, it's whether I can find one that is convenient enough for me over the summer. I am actually having two vacations this summer and I have made up my mind that I am not going to miss any of either one because of work or any other obligations. Thanks to God I don't have summer school, which I am absolutely ecstatic about. A lot of the girls in my class group ended up having to take summer school, (and ALL of the people in nursing school are smart, so that should give you a hint of how hard school was!). I am so grateful that I not only do not have to take classes this summer but I also keep my scholarship! My roommate also has God on her side because she also got to keep her scholarship and all, which is something that me and many others were praying for. God is so faithful. It is great during these times when I can say that he is faithful, but I need to remember that it does not change his goodness, because He is good ALL the time, despite the trivial things of my life.

But school is boring and I really don't want to talk about that for the rest of the summer, I just needed to let the world know my happiness! :)

The Friday after school was out, I went with the highschoolers to help out with MORP, which is Victory's alternative to the high schools' proms. It went very good. I wasn't really sure what I was going to wear or how I was going to fix my hair, but I went over to Rach's house and the girls, (Rach, Tabi, and Tina), were awesome and helped me get ready. Then we made the unfortunate mistake of thinking that Cafe Americain was on Jone's Creek and Coursey when in fact it is now on Jefferson! HA! We arrived at a 'fashionably late' ;) fourty-five minutes late. But it was okay because we got there, ate, took pictures, and seperated into teams.

I was on team one, with the Johnsons from Kidzone and all the girls I mentioned earlier as the team leaders. (I think the leaders were more enthusiastic about the contest than the kids! haha) We first went to the Johnson's house (not the kidzone pastors, the other Johnsons), where we hung out long enough to take pictures and change our clothes. Kirby and Jen then told us the rules and we ran out to the vans and drove to skate galaxy, where the kids had to skate around how ever many times or whatever. Tiara, on team 1, found the secret hidden points, which helped out our team. We then drove around to different mailboxes throughout the city, finding various points for our team. We got then early, so we went to the laser tag place and rescheduled an earlier time. We were sitting around waiting for Jen and Kirby to get there to tell them about that when Tiara picked up a piece of paper on a table and discovered yet another point bonus! :) We couldn't keep the points because it wasn't fair because the other team hadn't been there yet, but it was still funny that she managed to find both hidden points! We made it back to the Johnson's first, so we did well on the first challenge. After this I went and played volleyball and got incredibly sweaty and tired because there were only two people on each team. Me and Goat were on one team and Andrew and Tori on the other. Me and Goat were doing really good, but we got tired, which was when the other team started keeping score, so we didn't have a really good score! haha But I stuck around and kept playing so I could make the other team quit, which means they lose I win! :) I went upstairs and crashed on a bean bag and watched Avatar with the high schoolers, but I didn't get to see the end because Kirby came up to tell us to head to our next challenge. At this challenge, someone had to jump into a swimming pool and the first team to find a bag with a barbie in it got the most points. Then, we had to build a boat, and the team that had the boat that floated the fastest across the pool won more points. We lost both! AH! Not cool at all, but we figured we could make a comeback with the last challenge. This was a scavenger hunt on the church grounds. We kept our team running and we ended up finishing wayyyyy before the other team, but it turns out we were so far behind it didn't matter and we lost anyways! Wooo there were not some happy people, and I can't say that I was too happy about it either, but I got over it. I'm too competitive sometimes. :) The point of it was to have fun and I did have an absolute blast! I love hanging out with the youth, they are great to be around.

Tomorrow I am going to go with Tiffany and her friends to Kaplan to celebrate her birthday with her family, which I am very excited about! Roadtrip!!!!!!! I will have to update on that soon!

So my first semester of nursing school is coming to an end. I have four exams next week and they are the hardest. The only way I have gotten through this semester is through God. Continually I feel as though I may fail, and God has provided and brought me through. There have been so many circumstances where I have known that I would not measure up and he has carried me through. I almost wish I could let someone feel what my heart and soul know to be true so that they too can witness His love. Me and my roommate were talking the other night about how many people are just so lost in this world. And what am I doing about it? What are we doing about it? I don't see how people can get through their lives without the Lord by their side. In the moments when I have tried to go on my own I have failed miserably. And I can thank God for this because I can still see his glory in my failings. Because you see, because I am that weak, it means he is that strong. What a comfort and joy! I want everyone to have not only salvation from hell but the everyday joy of the Lord that makes all things good. Sometimes I haven't trusted God and I always have to come back to him and repent for being so unfaithful. He is always faithful and has a plan for everything he does. I am praying to God that he enables me to do well on my exams next week. I know I can't do it on my own, but with Christ on my side, nothing is impossible.

These are the words I want to live,

I find it hard sometimes to really live out what I want to. If you get what I mean.
As a Christian, there are certain things I want to do, but sometimes I don't make the chance for myself to do them. I'm getting better, but I feel like I have a long ways before I become the person I am supposed to be.

I want to be..
someone who anyone can come to for help.
the person that can make you feel better after a rotten day.
a smile you see when you're walking down the street.
the hug you need.
the one who will listen no matter the situation.
the girl who will still talk to you no matter what you've done.
the girl you talk to no matter what I've done.
someone you can trust with your life.
a friend.
the one who will always take you seriously.
the comic relief.
a comforting hand in a tough time.
the person who will be there even when all I can do is just be there for you.
a prayer warrior.
that person who just loves everyone.
a kind reply to a harsh question.
the bringer of joy.
a compassionate heart without bounds.
a helping hand.
the quiet in a bustling room.

what God meant for me to be.

One of My Best Days

Since I wanted to be relatively close in time to Valentine's Day, and that was something that I had been thinking about, I went ahead and made my last post before this one, (and this one is full of good news!)

On February 6, my nephew, Colton David Cowart was born! It was so exciting! That evening before, I was at church listening to the sermon or whatever,(during a Friday evening service), and I got a text from my mom saying that Natalie was having pains and when she got home she was going to take some castor oil to try and induce labor! Well, after I got home and she was home she drank Castor Oil in orange juice and she drank raspberry tea!

So, then nothing really happened still. Of course her contractions picked up, but nothing happened quickly so we just all went to bed. Well, around 4:30 in the morning Natalie's water broke! She quickly stood up and her and Luke rode off to the hospital, since they pretty much had all of their bags packed anyways.

At the hospital, we pretty much stuck around all day. She was progressing very slowly, like one centimeter every two hours or so, maybe even slower. But, once she got to four centimeters things really started picking up! At one second she was told five, then about twenty minutes later eight, and then just minutes later Natalie was saying it was time to push NOW.

So, we were ushered out of the room and we waited in the hall while she began pushing at about four o' clock. In the hall we were all nervous and jittery and excited at the same time. It was impossible for me to fathom that I was about to experience the miracle of life! And then, while she was pushing, we heard silence in the room except for the doctor talking, and we all looked around at each other with tears in our eyes. And, can I tell you, when I heard that precious baby cry for the first time in his life, I started crying so much. This was the sweetest sound I had ever heard, there is no way to describe it. I don't see how anyone can have an experience like that and not believe in God... much less if you are actually there in the room.

It took what seemed forever for them to do all the things that are necessary to clean up and meanwhile Luke, with tears in his eyes, came out to tell us he was the proud father of a perfectly healthy little boy. His name is Colton David Cowart, 7 pounds 3.6 ounces, and 21 inches long. He was absolutely beautiful. When we walked in the room, Natalie's mom held him first, then my dad, and I don't really remember the order after that! All I know is that he had these big blue eyes and, despite the fact that he had been born less than an hour before, he was just a looking around the room. Jessica held him right before me and immediately burst into tears, and it was so sweet! Then I got to hold him for the first time and that little boy just made me fall in love with him at once. He looked into my eyes and I looked into his and it was awesome.
When Grandad held him, he prayed over Colton and that was yet another tearjerker! I know God is going to have a big hand in this little boy's life, in fact, I think he already has!!

The day quickly ended after that and I felt so blessed that I got to experience that and that I will be able to be apart of Colton's life. That is easily going to be one of my best days.

I can not imagine, if I ever have the privilege, getting married and having my own family. I feel like I have tasted just a tiny bite of a new and amazing type of love, and oh am I hungry for more! :) But, I will see what God has in store for me, and I want to live for his glory no matter the cost... Honestly, it scares me now that I may never have something like that, but I have to trust that he knows what he's doing up there! At least I can be pretty confidant that I will have many nieces and nephews, and that is definately something to be excited about.

I was looking online last night and found these listings for medical missions, which got me really excited! I never knew there were so many opportunities for nurses to go on missions, and I am looking forward to being able to do that one day in the near future, (I mean, to think of it, I will be a nurse in 2 years and 3 months, God willing!)

Oh, and the Saints won the superbowl! How 'bout them apples?!

True Love according to 1Cor13

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If you give everything to God and put on an awesome show for him, but do not love him, then it is all for nothing. You can pick apart the bible and twist little verses and make yourself seem righteous and holy, but that isn’t what matters to God. What matters is if you have love for Him. That is the importance of love. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. Faith without love is nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,but have not love, I gain nothing. Sacrifice without love is nothing. These first three verses explain how important love is, but then it goes on to explain what exactly love is.

4Love is patient, love is kind. Patient love is love that requires nothing in return. It is love that keeps giving and giving, not expecting anything in return because it is patient enough to wait forever. Other translations will say that love is long suffering, which is the same as patience, except it describes how you will feel when you love someone who doesn’t love you in return, or someone who disappoints you. Jesus exhibited this kind of love when he died on the cross in front of a crowd of people he had come to save. God’s love is patient, and although we disappoint him he loves us still. True love is patient. Hand in hand with this patience is kindness. Because love is patient, it is also kind…. It does not envy, Love does not envy. Love will be two people supporting each other in all of their decisions. It is happy for others when they succeed and get something that makes them happy. it does not boast, it is not proud. True love doesn’t parade and put itself on show. It doesn’t go around being conceited and thinking it is better than others. It just is because it is. Pride and love do not coexist. Because love is not proud, it is humble and modest. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, Because love is kind, it can’t be rude. It is allowing itself to be hurt and allows others to be happy at its own expense. It isn’t seeking to make yourself happy, but it seeks to make others happy. it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. True love doesn’t become angry easily. It won’t count up how many times one has been wronged. God loves us and thankfully does not count our sins but tells us he will forget them and throw them as far as the east is from the west. That is true love. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Love isn’t happy when it finds out someone has their heart broken or someone is sad or if you get something you want that God doesn’t want. Love rejoices when the right thing is done. Love rejoices with truth and strives to see that people will understand it. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love will always defend others from harm, whether they deserve it or not. Love is to stop gossip and denounce it before it harms anyone. Love trusts without cause. If your heart is broken because you trusted someone you shouldn’t have, it doesn’t mean to close yourself off, because in order to love you must trust. With love, hope is never lost. Love NEVER gives up no matter the circumstance.

8Love never fails. True love, the true love that God created, NEVER fails. No matter what. It’s always there. God will always love you. True love is giving when you don’t have anything left to give. True love is trusting and hoping when there is no reason to hope left. Love always perseveres and will not give up even when everyone else has lost hope. True love is pure and does not exist without God.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I was just thinking about how I have an immediate 'checklist' when I see a guy. I don't go around checking people out or anything I just personally give myself a chuckle when I do this. When I see any of these things in a guy it is like a red buzzer goes off in my head.
1. Smoking.. Run awayyyy
2. When I hear a foul word I think what a dumbbutt
3. When I hear drinking stories, plans, etc.
4. People who go clubbing.
5. When they check out a girl. (yes we see this and it's gross, especially if im that girl. Btw if you want to come across as a creep, do this!)
6. Guys who put down anybody, whether they deserve it or not!
7. Self rightousness ( on so many levels, not just religiously but basically people with double standards)
8. Piercings
9. Tattoos
10. Flirting
11. I thought this was obvious but I'll just say that if God isn't the number one priority that's a huge dealbreaker with no way around it.
12. Super skinny or super fat people (sorry that one's a bit shallow :/ )
13. rudeness
14. Serial daters
15. Stalkers
16. Guys who wear peacoats (I know I'm wierd)
17. Long hair
18. Apathy
19. Repelling scents
20. Pride (cofidence is good, but being overly prideful is just obnoxious!!)
21. There's more but I was doing this just so I would get tired but I'll type more later.

disclaimer; yes i know I ask a lot but that's just the way I am. Heehee

Do you believe in love at first sight? Yeah, I bet you don't, you're too sensible for that.... Or, have you ever like seen somebody, and you know that, if only that person realllly knew you, they would, well of course dump the perfect model they were with and realize that YOU were the one that they wanted to grow old with.. -while you were sleeping

Update on Katelyn, the Insomniac!

As is half of my journals, I am sitting up at night wide awake when I should be dreaming. I am pretty much an undiagnosed insomniac I assume. But I'm sure there are plenty of people worse off than I am. At least I don't have to worry about being awakened by an earthquake, like the poor people in Haiti. But anyways, I just started nursing school last week and it looks like it is going to be very hard. I knew it was going to be hard to begin with, but this is like, next to impossible hard. I really want to be a nurse, which is the only reason why I'm not throwing everything down and walking in the other direction. I keep reading chapters of my textbook, all the while thinking, oh my gosh, how am I going to make this information stick into my head. My blackboard has all eight of my classes on it, not in any specific order. As all my classes are now named nurs(insertrandomnumberhere), it is impossible for me to even find the course I'm looking for without having to go through several others in the process. It's overwhelming. I believe that God will be the ONLY reason I can get through this without loosing my sanity! Other than school, though, I am really excited because my little nephew Colton will be here any day now. As I may have said before, I'm not one of those people who are known for being a 'baby person', but I love babies and I get so excited when I see the little baby clothes and smell the baby soap!!!!!!!!EEE I can't wait! ((I just got really scared because someone just knocked on my dorm door and it's 2:17 AM)) I just read the Mark of the Lion series and they were, hands down, the best books I have ever read in my life. Hadassah, the main character, is pretty much the most amazing christian example I have ever read of in a book. She makes me want to be a better person. Well, I would write more but now I'm terrified thanks to whoever knocked on my door. I'm out!