After driving home and seeing cute little cowboys all over the place, I've decided that a city boy with a cowboy's heart who loves the Lord is the most irresistable man alive. I could never live in the country, but something about the cowboy just makes my heart do flips inside. I've always loved men in trucks & guys that play the guitar but then if you take a glimpse at George Strait you'd understand why the cowboy is so cute. Okay now you've got a glimpse into just how nutty I am...maybe it's all part of this country music kick I'm on. I've always loved country and always will, but lately I can't seem to turn it off...sooo good!!! Anyway, I love my life.

I love this quote by Ben Frasier in Blast From the Past, kind of makes me think about God with my life... "im asking you to trust me with out understanding why".

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I hope you're wearing green today, or you deserved to be pinched...thats just the honest truth. Well I drove to Denton yesterday morning, and here's a few things I got from the road.
1) Women should know how to drive a truck before they are allowed to operate one.
2) Truck (18-wheelers) drivers need to pay more attention to the road before the nearly kill someone like me.
3) Cowboys are way cute.
4) How could anyone in the world look at all that God has created and not be directed towards Him? Seriously.
5) If someone pulls up behind you, get over so they can pass you...otherwise you're just a jerk. (i really hate getting stuck behind someone going 15 under and they wont get out of your way)
6) Stay at a constand speed or at least with a mile or two. (some jerk passed me going at lest 10 over me, then i passed him going at least 10 faster then him...at least 5 x's...so annoying!)
Anyway, I got to Denton where I changed then hopped back into the car to head to Tyler. We went to Tyler to surprise me sister for her 26th Birthday, she was surprised thats for sure. It was so wonderful to get to see her, I miss her lots and lots and lots. I bought her the game 'Apples to Apples' so we played it last night which was fun. I think me & my sister laughed nearly the entire game. I had a good time in Tyler, but I definately didn't get to spend enough time with my sister.

Today we drove back to Denton which was tiring, we got stuck in traffic because it was switching from two lanes to one on a highway (dumb construction). I mention to my mom that it would be awesome if an 18-wheeler blocked the left lane so people couldnt keep trying to get ahead of everyone and just wait like the rest of us...and before you know it one does. It was seriously amazing! He pulled over just a little and some wrecker still passed him, so as a truck tried to pass him, he pulled over all the way cutting the truck off...go him! I ran some errands today and here in a little bit I'm going to dinner with my friend Johnny while my parents have some dinner party here. It's been good, but definately short.

Ain't it just like one of us to pick up the phone and call after a couple of drinks
And say "How've you been" and wonderin' that maybe you've been thinkin' 'bout me
And somewhere in the conversation an old familiar invitation always arrives
And I may hate myself in the morning, but I'm gonna love you tonight.

Everyone's known someone that they just can't help but want
And even though they just can't make it work out, well the ones who lingers on.
So once again we wind up in each other's arms, pretending that it's right
And I may hate myself in the morning, but I'm gonna love you tonight.

I know it's wrong,
But it ain't easy moving on.
So why can't two friends remember the good times once again?

Tomorrow when I wake up, I'll be feeling a little guilty, a little sad.
Thinkin' how it used to be before everything went bad.
I guess that's what it is and late night calls like this that we try to find
And I may hate myself in the morning, but I'm gonna love you tonight.
And I may hate myself in the morning,
But I'm gonna love you tonight...

whoa these lyrics are all too familiar to way too many people. how many times have you done something one night and woke up the next day and thought maybe that wasnt my smartest decisions...oh well! lessons learned right?

It's snowing! It's snowing! I'm sitting here in my nice warm house staring out the window watching the snow cocme down. Although its not sticking it's still way beautiful and I'm loving it. Although I would really really enjoy not having to spend my Spring Break indoors. I'd love to be chilling in the hammock with a book in one hand and bahama bucks in the other. I'd rather be wlaking the dog at the park while allowing him to chase the ducks. I'd way rather be able to play frisbee with Lexy & Marzi, but since it's snowing I'll enjoy it while I can. If it would stick I'd really be able to enjoy it, I'd probably be out playing in it. Perhaps dancing in the snow would be really fun...hmm.

My new hair color...actually its lighter now 

Me and three of my kids! Oh how I love my kids, too bad I'm looking a little rought. Marcus, Liz & Brandon...I love you three!!

We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

Truly, how great how awesome is He? Although my life is sucking it up pretty bad right now I can find hope: For the joy of the Lord is my strength!!! These past couple days have been a little rough for me but God provides me with the strength I need to get through these hard times and he's also provided me with some truly incredible friends. Last night Liz drove out to see me because she knew that I needed to be loved on and it meant the world to me, because by no means is it a short drive and she needed to sleep but she sacrificed her own selfish desires to be there for me...what an angel. And then we grabbed Ali and headed to IHOP so we could all love on each other. Tonight Brandon showed me yet again how wonderful he is when he dropped everything to rescue his dumb "mother" who doesn't know how to change a tire and who was rather stressed out about the situation. Although Brandon had his own troubles to worry about he stopped in his tracks to take care of me. What selfless friends I have. I called Steph crying tonight after getting really stressed out and she just listened then left me tons of really fun and sweet messages on my AIM and that made me smile. Man I seriously have the most incredible friends, and I couldn't ask for any better than them. Brandon, Liz & Steph, the three of you mean the world to me and these past couple of weeks I've learned what true friends really look like I love you three so stinkin' much! I'd run to the end of the earth and back for you...don't ever hesitate to let me take care of y'all like y'all do for me.

More Chris Tomlin for you:

Great is Your faithfulness, oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You lead us by still waters into mercy
And nothing can keep us apart
YOUR GRACE IS ENOUGH!!! (do we believe those words?)

I think there are so many people hurting right now, it seems that everyone is going through something painful and I feel as if I've been selfish about wanting someone to comfort me when there are tons of people that need my love too. There is some serious heartache going on in the lives of those around me. I've seen my friends cry, I've seen my friends loose sleep to help others, I've seen my friends loose a loved one or a dear friend, I've seen my friends turn to the wrong thing to find a way out, I've seen my friends parents loose their jobs, I've seen the breakups, I've seen the stress & anxiety, I've seen the broken hearts all around me...Lord come down and help us to persevere because only with your strength Lord will we be able to. Lord I pray for everyone that's heart is broken and I pray that you would begin to mend those broken hearts. I pray for the families who are dealing with a loss of some kind whether it be finacially or because of a death, but help those families to get on their feet again and walk in your path.

I leave you with one last Chris Tomlin song:

What can take a dying man and raise him up to life again?
What can heal a wounded soul?
What can make us white as snow?
What can fill the emptiness?
What can mend our brokeness? Brokeness.
Mighty awesome, wonderful is the holy cross
Where the Lamb laid down His life to lift us from the fall
Mighty is the power of the cross
What restores our faith in God?
What reveals the Father's love?
What can lead the wayward home?
What can melt a heart of stone?
What can free the guilty ones?
What can save and overcome? Overcome.
Its a miracle to me, It's still a mystery.
Its a miracle to me, the power of God for those who believe

Well pray for my family please, my Great Uncle or the cousin belows Grandpa died today. I love my cousin a lot and I know how he feels because I was in his spot what seems to me as yesterday. The death is a reminder to me of the own death of my Grandma. I shall be going home Sunday night or Monday morning for the memorial so be praying for that too. I really just wanna be with my cousin and hug him and let him know I love him because he means the world to me. Thanks


me & timothy

went and saw hitch tonight, it was good. i got to hang out with all 5 of my kids at one time...that was wonderful! I got to sit between my two girls and then Matthew was on the other side of Liz. Umm, I heart Lizzie's laugh and when we both start laughing oh it's fun. So I'm proud of myself, I went to the movies by myself...not a normal thing for me, I have such a weird complex about showing up places alone...but I DID IT! Afterwards everyone was going to Taco Bell but I decided to head home, but I didn't tell anyone. I know this is stupid, but sometimes I do that because I wanna know if anyone will actually notice if I'm gone...yes, I have issues. Need to work on that too. But my babies either noticed or they just wanted me to come to IHOP real bad. And although IHOP is my favorite place I decided to be the mother and come home and sleep so that I can wake up for church. I laughed lots in Hitch, it was good! I forget how expensive movies are in Lubbock, tonight was possibly the last time I see a movie for awhile.

now a continuation of last nights post. Steph, what a sweetheart and a girl who is completely running after God's desire for her life and someone who teaches me new things about God nearly everyday. Wow, Steph you amaze me as I've got to see you change over the last couple years. Marcus, that boy directed me to scripture when my heart was in the wrong place...what a stud! Ali, the girl gives me insight to the new things God is teaching her everyday. Matthew, his desire to see the true meaning of the scripture encourages me. I know there are still many more of you that I can say great things about and in time I will. I love you all so very much especially my 5 little childrens: Lizzie, Brandon, Ali, Matthew & Marcus!!!

Unfortunately there has been a lot of death going on in the last couple of weeks which has made me very appreciative for my own life and the live's of those around me. It's also had me thinking a lot about my own life. How much time do I spend wasting worrying about tomorrow when I should concern myself with today? I mean obviously I need to make sure that I start looking for somewhere to go in August when I graduate, and stuff like that. So what am I doing today that could further the Kingdom of Heaven? What would people say about me if I were to die today? I was reading Whitney's blog today about her daddy and I was just thinking I wonder if people could say some of those same things about me? How am I glorifying God today? Oh, I love the teachings of our Lord...man life is good.

So what would I say about you and your life? My sister, what a woman of God, one I look up to and aspire to be. A woman in which I admire every last aspect about. My roommate, Alissa, passionate about the rest of the world. My roommate, Renee, also passionate about the rest of the world and good at opening my eyes to what scripture says. Brandon, a stud, man of God who I truly am amazed at when I look at his life. Running after the Lord, pursuing Him with everything in Him and passionate about furthering the Kingdom of Heaven. A good friend and a great leader. Liz, such a sweet spirit, always filling the room with joy, pursuing God and His best for her life and loving her friends. And many more of my friend, I cherish all of my friendships with all of you. I love you a lot and wouldn't trade anything in the world for your friendships. Don't you think I forgot you, more to come tomorrow:)

"Everything is permissible for me"-but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"-but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinithians 6:12

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalms 27:14

Oh how impatient I sometimes am, but in due time God will provide only the best for me. God is so faithful and I am very aware of this especially as of lately. God has shown me so much in these past two months that today I was moved to tears in awe of His amazing love and faithfulness. God is doing so much in my life and the lives of those around me. God is using me in ways I never expected and God is pouring into me in ways I never really expected either.

Punky Brewster
Theme Song

Maybe the world is blind,
Or just a little unkind.
Don't know.

Seems you can't be sure
Of anything anymore.
Although,

You maybe lonely and then,
One day you're smiling again.
Every time I turn around,
I see the girl that turns my world around.
Standing there ...

Everytime I turn around,
Her spirit's lifting me right off the ground.
What's gonna be?
Guess we'll just wait and see.

So last night and today I watched 2 Discs from Season 1 of Punky, and I just love the theme song. The show is great too! Wahoo! Who remembers this wonderful show? Because way too many of my friends never even saw the show...what the heck?!?

Love Love Weekend

This weekend was the Southcrest Sprizzle Rizzle, aka I love love weekend. We talked about the stuff I love most: relationships. Made me even more excited about eventually getting into my future career, can't wait to deal with relationships on a daily basis. We talked about men & womens roles, sex, singleness, marriage, dating, etc. If it had to do with love we covered it! We also talked about doing everything for the glory of God, so how is it that you do everything for the glory of God? Do you glorify God in your friendships? Dating relationships? Marriage? Through Work? At school? heres a good one, and one i should probably work on...through your driving? I learned that no man will ever be Jesus, but where he is lacking Jesus takes over...good to know. There is so much I learned this weekend, not only during the word spoken to us but through new people and through time spent with God. He has a hold of my heart right now and I'm so excited about seeing what He has in store for me. I could talk forever, but I'm so high on life that I wanna talk to people for real not just through this thing. But there's a little update for you.

So in Human Sexuality we have been talking about the issue of homosexuality and well my mind starts whirling as I look at the different theories. It's really hard for me to sit in class and try to take these ideas in with my completely God centered ideology. So there are theories stating that homosexuality may be genetics and also is a psychosocial process. Ultimately if you look at it from a God centered prespective you will see that homosexuality is a sin just like any other sin, so therefore it is a choice. So just as I can choose to start drinking I can choose to participate in the homosexual lifestyle. Why is it that in society we mask alcoholism and homosexuality? Because we have found that if your dad is an alcoholic then it raises your risk to be alcoholic so therefore we almost kind of excuse it as a "disease". Isn't it true that our sin becomes a generational thing? It's biblical. So its a sin we will have to fight, if you find out that your dad is an alcoholic then its at that point that you must make a decision to watch your own lifestyle. So then let's look at homosexuality and how a lot of people would say that they don't know anyone in the rest of the family that are homosexual, which I'm sure it has been an issue before and no one knows about it because it has been so unacceptable till recently. I could probably write over 6 pages on this, but I'm going to try to keep it to the minimal so if my thoughts seem kind of scattered its because my mind is running faster than my hands can type. But here goes it:

In the beginning God created us man and woman. In Genesis 2:18,21, & 24 we see God's purpose in woman being created after man was so he would not be alone. God didn't create another man for Adam but he created a woman, and then in verse 24 God tells us we will leave our father & mother to become one with this person. I am going to go ahead and say that if one of the first things God did was created us to be together he probably wasn't taking that too lightly. In Leviticus 18:22 God talks to Moses about unlawful sexual relations and he tells him not to lie with another man as he would with a woman for it is abomination.

Then there is 1 Corinithians 6:9-20 . In verse 9, we are told not to indulge in such sins as homosexuality, drunkeness, being greedy, etc. (1) Homosexuality is a sin just like all other sins. Alcoholism, if you are were an alcoholic would you give into the sin and drink yourself to death? So why would you indulge yourself in whatever sin it is? So this girl in my class is homosexual and doesn't really see it as a sin. And she feels that if she leaves the lifestyle she will be living a lie so her argrument to use was that if she fails to give into her sin of homosexuality then she is living a lie because she genuinely believes she was born to be homosexual. I will use alcohol as a comparsion again; if you are an alcoholic then you are an alcoholic for life, but just because you give up drinking doesn't mean that your life is a lie. (2) Vs. 11-You can be freed from your sin. (3) Vs. 12-Do not allow yourself to become a slave to your sin. (4) Vs. 15-Your body belongs to God. Vs. 18- You should not sin against your own body. Vs. 20-You must honor God with your body.

Although this post was directed towards homosexuality we must think about our own sin in our lives and allow our selves to be freed from that. I cried in my class today as I heard the opinions of those in my class and realized how lost this world truly is. By no means will being freed from our sins be easy and we will probably struggle with it for some time, but don't be scared because the Lord is willing to free us and He will. I'd write more but I'm going to go hang out with my best friend. I love you all lots!!!

So tonight was an amazing night and all thanks to my new friends and some old. I went and picked up Dayle to go to Sugar Brown's when I had the sudden urge to buy pink saucony's so we went to the mall, unfortunately Journey's was out of the 8 1/2 (God was telling me something). So we headed to SB's for some good ole live music. There was a $2 cover charge that I was unaware of so Jennifer Green spotted me so I could get in the door, what a sweet girl! Abe was playing when we got there, just started I'm sure so I got to enjoy him. After walking around a bit, I was offered a seat next to Jennifer which turned out great. Jordan's roommate looks like Napolean Dynamite and because of this he got on stage and did his few seconds in fame, I laughed lots. (Videod it, but the sound isnt good b/c of too many other noises) Had a blast at Sugar Brown's with all of my wonderful friends. After SB's me & Dayle went to IHOP where we experience something interesting to say the least. First and foremost there are these wonderful high school girls talking really loud and being really stupid. Fatimah walks up to them and they start 20 questions with her, what a patient woman. So shes stating that she's from Malaysia when this girl says "oh middle asia?" And Fatimah gives her the benefit of the doubt and says, "no its under Thailand" but me, I would have said "u idiot, i said Malaysia not Middle Asia" I think me & Dayle laughed about that for awhile. Then these two older men start talking to us, did I say CREEPY older men? I seriously considered calling Brandon at this point and telling him to come save me, but I resisted. So these men keep talking to us although we're rather disinterested, I answer to be polite but put my head down to show extreme disinterest. But they didn't read that and just kept talking to us. He told me I should be in a pagent because of my quick and witty responses. I'm pretty sure the man was drunk, but whatever. Then we went to Wally World because I had to get something and that was entertaining because of Dayle's fear of the place because of the recent Tyler abduction. Had a blast with Dayle, glad we're such great friends now, being seperated at birth was a bit rough though. I'll post pictures tomorrow of tonights fun, but I leave you with words by Dayle(purple writing is all her).

Dayle's Away Message: yay for new southcrest friends at sugar browns and scary drunk men at ihop with jana and napoleon dynamite and the gross creepy man glove in the walmart parking lot and the woman saying "be careful" ... way to freak me out on that one! but no good for shin splints, or the cold foggy thing in the air and having to walk/run to the car parked in china and getting mean looks from a family all wearing mexican ponchos but none being of the hispanic persuasion...hmmm...explain that one!

the new motto: "facebook brings people together" (but it can be a bad thing sometimes!!!)

How would you describe me in one word?

owen3368: your amazing
owen3368: your incredible
owen3368: your stunning
owen3368: your intriguing
owen3368: your captivating

Now James went overboard, but that's to get you started.

If one word doesn't work you could always do a summary:

owen3368: damn, some guy is going to be the king of the world when he gets you

Okay, get on it, i wanna hear opinions!

George Strait was amazing, couldn't have asked for a better night. Although now I am in regret from screaming so much because I can barely breathe. George is the hottest old man alive I think, I hope my hubby is that hot!

I've been wanting to post for several days now but I can't seem to capture all my thoughts. God has been doing so much in my life, and I don't know where to start. God has showed me so much through his word, prayer, and through friends. God has shown me a lot about friendships, his promises, his love, and his faithfulness. Last night Cale accepted Christ and the joy that gives me alone is amazing, to see the love he has for God kind of stops me in my trail. I have just began to get to know Cale, but look forward to getting to know him better. What a joyful picture that paints for me as I think of the Heavens rejoicing. I've been reading through scripture and seeing God fulfilling His promises and getting to see the promises he makes for His children is sweet too. I just stand in awe of everything that my God is to me and for me. I am very thankful for the friendships that are developing in my life right now and couldn't ask for anything better than that. I really can't even begin to express everything that is on my mind right now. God is amazing and I love seeing everything He is doing in my life and the lives of others. While I'm at it, can I just say I'm stoked because my best friend is having a baby! That's right my friend, Lauren is gonna have a baby! Not only that but her & Josh are building a house now too. I love you Lauren and I am so excited for you & Josh!

Here's to an incredible guy...

Last night I got sick and I've been just laying around all day. And this guy came over and brought me a blizzard instead of going to watch a movie with his friends. Now that's a great friend I have. If you take a look at that picture you can have a little glimpse at why I enjoy hanging out with him so much. Not only is he fun, but he's great to talk to. Thanks for everything Brandon, you are great!