You are one college memory that I am NOT going to miss.However, I will not allow you to ruin my day. Because I have a great husband, a great family coming to help us move, some great friends I get to photograph on my study break, some great coffee from my sweet husband, and one more semester before I'll never have to see...

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Chris and I have been trying to make various things from scratch to save money AND to have fun crafty time because we're nerds like that. ALSO, everything is so much more sentimental that way. Let's just be real, who doesn't love home made objects. I hope we can always make time for stuff like this. Especially things like Christmas stockings and ornaments....

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1. We're moving in ONE WEEK! :)2. Jordan is done with classes, only 3 exams left!3. Nicaragua is happening in less than 3 weeks!!4. We can finally get our Christmas tree once we move :)5. After Nicaragua, our family will be expanding by ONE!...one dog. :)6. Jordan gets to finally do all the crafty things she wants to do over Christmas break :)7....

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Chris and I can't have a Christmas tree until we move into our apartment in a couple weeks=bummer. So I decided to gather some sticks from outside and make this little guy. I wrapped it with an 18ft pine garland that I found for two dollars. So hooray for our little baby tree.Also, we thought it would be fun to make each others...

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Okay. LOVE. Helllooo Christmas Gifts!It's hard to see in the pictures, but these are two different sizes. The one on the right is about two inches shorter. Also, the one on the left is made out of a recycled jelly container! We have tons of them. The shorter one was just a small candle holder we had. I used a hot glue gun...

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My mom found this idea on This awesome blog, and I had almost the exact same pair of white shoes from when Chris and I took a Nurse Aide class together in the summer. I definitely wasn't planning on wearing them again and the white was already fading! These shoes can usually be found at Wal-mart, Target, and I've even seen them at...

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“In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.” “In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.” ...

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I'm writing this approximately 24 hours after I wrote the above post. And I'm just gonna show ya how PRAYERS are straight up answered in tremendous ways.SO-after I wrote the post (I admit, I was a little anxious/worried, despite the confidence and peace exuding from my writing (wishful thinking?)) I went to do some preliminary house/apartment shopping, as Chris works really weird hours...

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Only to Pendleton or somewhere closer to Chris' work. Don't get ahead of yourself, let me tell you how and why we were semi-forced into this predicament. The hubs and I have been hardcore praying about some things related to material resources and housing and things like that. We have always had a huge heart for "the family" as a whole, but I...

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but I thought I would be oh so kind enough to post a list of what I consider to be relatively important parenting tips that I have learning through working with [my internship agency]. I know, I know..I'd be skeptical too if I were you, considering I have no parenting experience whatsoever at this point. Just calm down, grab a notepad and a...

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Listening to my husband do random things around the house. Because the things he says when he does stuff like cleaning the bathroom cabinets out (right now) are hilarious. I'm literally typing this as he is talking (indirectly to me I guess?) I would like to add this this is occurs frequently in our household.Chris: OH MY GOSH WHAT ARE ALL OF THESE...

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That is all.Much more money to raise, much more preparing to do, but I'm not worried one bit! I can't wait to be over there."Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God - the rest will be given."Yes! ...

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Silence. Pain. Solitude. Hostility. Emptiness. Not exactly what you'd expect to find in the delivery room of a first time mother after giving birth to a tiny, beautiful baby boy.The newborn lay asleep in the center of the room along in the new and unfamiliar world.The mother and family sat around the perimeter.The baby boy scratched his face with his tiny nails producing...

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If you read the post directly below this, you will understand why I was alarmed when Chris yelled very loudly, "I THINK THERE IS A BABY IN HERE!!!!" while sleeping.Don't get too excited. For one because we're not preggos nor will we be for a while (we think..)and for two, because if I know anything about Christopher it is that his brain is...

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Well. Today might just be one of greatest days ever because THIS stupid device is out of my body.It hurt. But that's okay. Because I was going to have to chop of my whole arm if they didn't take it out soon. Fact: my body just can NOT do hormonal ANYTHING. Makes sense, right? I feel so much better knowing that I can...

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One day with these two fellas = outbursts of random dancing (personal favorite), pumpkin carving, loud singing, and lots of laughing.You know it's gettin' chilly when I bust these suckas out!Yes, that is an exact-o knife. This is serious business.What a dreamy day. ...

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because Chris would have come home to a new apartment. It's okay, I took out my craft-craze on some hemp string and paper. I've been wanting to make a stringed-sign-wall-hangy-thing for months and months, just never got around to it. I guess it's kinda hard to see it in the pictures, but it's one of my favesies; Psalm 34:3. ...

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As promised. The names of the exercises won't make much sense if you don't know Insanity, BUT the numbers should say it all.(The test usually happens each two weeks, but Chris was sick for a few days so we had to break. So these results are after 19 days instead of 14.)The first number will be the results before beginning Insanity, and the...

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2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.I've always (since I can remember) been afraid of horses. I think they are one of the most beautiful creatures EVER, but coming close to them gives me the most unsettled feeling ever. I didn't fall off of one as a child, or...

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Had so much fun practicing my photography on these two. Always a hilarious time. :)Some of my faves: ...

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Talking about Insanity makes me feel like a super fitness crazed individual that's obsessed with body image--I can assure you, I am not. Nor have I ever been. My goal in exercising has never been to "look better," but has always been to relieve stress and to do good things for my body! Unfortunately, the culture of our country likes to think that...

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Yep! Approved. Esta es muy bueno, pero necesito estudio espanol mucho. Estamos excitados!! But now we're off to send letters. Hooray! Yep! Approved. Esta es muy bueno, pero necesito estudio espanol mucho. Estamos excitados!! But now we're off to send letters. Hooray! ...

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Christopher is such an amazing chef. I'm not usually one to take pictures of food and stuff, but this time..I had to. This quiche was the best thing ever in the world ever. Just kidding, that's a major exaggeration. But it was really good and I am still amazed by his skillz. Did I mention he didn't use a recipe? I watched this...

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I guess I haven't written on here sine Chris GOT HIRED! Oh my gracious, it has been so amazing to not have to budget so severely anymore, but we have learned a lot about living off of very little income, and I am confident that if we ever need to again we will be prepared. Chris and I feel extremely strongly about not...

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..who is actually a bear preparing for hibernation. Seriously, people..we are NOT winter folk. I admire friends such as the Lilley's (holla Aaron and Kim) who thrive in their cute flannel outfits and their love for the crisp winter air.To us, all we notice are dead trees and the lack of fresh fruit (or affordable fresh fruit for that matter), the inability to...

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This is the INSANE workout called Insanity that everyone has been talking about. It's supposed to be the hardest one out there, and Chris and I started it today. It's 60 days of working out (with a day of rest each week) and I can honestly say I have never sweat so much in my entire life as we did the first day...

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Can scratch that sucka' off! And don't tell me they don't deserve a place on a bucket list. These guys are great. And little did I know I'd be this close. And very little did I know I'd have a sweet camera to take pictures of them with. (Thanks Mom.) ...

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While driving. However, it's an incredibly hard but good way to practice due to the super fast changes in light. Anyways, I started getting a bit dizzy so I just looked up to the sky for a moment. And bam. This is what I saw. Can I get a "what whaaaat!!!" for creation. Fureal. ...

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[I'm floating up the stairwell with my toes grazing the cedar, thinking softly what a tinder box we live in....and what a flammable heart I've been given.]I'm finding more and more throughout this internship of the state of my heart in the midst of a darker side of the world. I find myself leveling on a playing field so similar to that of...

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this post won't be as entirely exciting as my last post alluded to it being. Mostly because I am exhausted and a bit overwhelmed, but don't worry..there are hints of excitement on the inside. I promise. 1. Interning=still great, a lot to learn and still getting adjust to the flow of things. 2. My emotional state=can't decide if it wants to be depressed...

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I am so excited right now (and exhausted) but mostly excited. I can't write long because I'm about to leave for the FIRST HOUSECHURCH OF THE SCHOOL YEAR (Holla!) But..first day of interning was oh so fantastic.I'll boil it down to this:My whole life I've wondered why I am the way I am, why I think the way I think, why I befriend...

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..the Hayes family STILL manages to teach me great things. Need a good read? This family is inspiring. Seriously. And we totally miss them, and there is a Hayes-sized-hole in the hearts of basically everyone at DCF and used-to-be-Riggs family, but we are so excited to hear about their adventures! Hayes Family Odyssey ...

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But I'm kind of excited that I'm in school an extra year. I didn't wish for it, and I surely feel a good bit of guilt because it's expensive for my parents...but all that aside, I realized today that if I HAD graduated in May..I'd be missing school right now for various reasons. Last school year I was so focused on the wedding...

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I've got one. For people who have lost their hearing. As of right now, I can only hear out of my right ear due to this VERY awful ear infection that I got, which started from a not-so-painful swimmers ear and progressed into a beastly infection that decided to take over my left ear. To be honest, I feel very defeated right now....

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This is was my coffee pot. I can't decide what is more tragic..the fact that the pot is broken to a million pieces, or the fact that there's a whole lot of coffee wasted on the floor. At one moment, this guy was sitting perfectly on the counter. Then my butterfingers decided to pick it up and let go of it. Then I...

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I secretly want to be a filmmaker. It all appears so easy until you actually hold a camera and are lost in the fact that you don't even know where to begin. How do you capture art, feeling, emotion through the lens of a video camera? looks like I just found my life goal #34,794. ...

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that's okay. Hopefully we'll remember more. R: [to Chris] why did you have to shut my door? Chris: because we have to help out your roommate and he needs the door shut for it R: Well how am I supposed to see your pretty wife walk down the hallway with the door shut? Chris: HEY! You can't be lookin' at her! She's my...

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I don't know where you've decided to disappear too, or who took you, or why you decided they'd be a better owner than me, but not having you around is getting really old. I'm sharing Chris' ipod, but it's not the same. There is music on you that is not on my computer anymore, and if you don't come back it will be...

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I've really enjoyed nurse aid clinicals. Most people said, through grimaced faces, that it's a "tough" and "humbling" job, and many just flat out said it sucks. Turns out, I actually enjoy it. (Just another reason to take discouraging words with a grain of salt...as we've been learning a LOT lately.) While I can see that working as an aid in the nursing...

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You should read this quote every day and stop being stupid:"The irony is that while God doesn't need us, but still wants us...we desperately need God, but don't really want him most of the time."Thanks,me. ...

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...we need a video camera. You can't understand the hilarity of our lives together until you see it on video. We don't want to be reality stars. We're not that interesting, and to be honest, cable television couldn't handle us. They'd laugh too hard. (Kidding) But maybe it's true. For instance, as I type this my husband is reading a coupon out loud...

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"The use of stimulants with children ages 2 to 4 tripled in the 1990's and have continued increasing since."Context: Within the U.S. onlyWho: IDIOTIC parentsWhy: "my child is acting bipolar, happy one minute, sad the next, and hyperactive as well, but then sometimes they won't stop crying."Let's just take a moment to look at the facts: YOU'RE CHILD IS TWO YEARS OLD..ya idiot.My...

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These are the figs Chris and I picked from some massive fig trees in Clemson. Those bad boys literally had hundreds of figs on them, and most of them aren't ripe yet. So we'll be hittin' up that supply again soon enough. We literally eat them whole, it never gets old. But last night Chris made some homemade pizza dough (artisan style, I'd...

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If you're not excited about the new Needtobreathe album release..I do not think we can be friends.Kidding. But..really. This should help: or this: ...

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I'm studying mental illness right now. I learned this crazy fact. The majority of persons diagnosed with schizophrenia are winter-born babies.Isn't that insane?Correlation is not causation. However, those who are already predisposed to develop this illness are more likely to get it if they are winter-born due to speculations about pregnant women not being able to get as many vitamins and nutrients from...

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After our lab, we went over to the Hayes to finish painting the living room. Shannon told us we needed to go shopping in her fridge and cabinets, because after today, the food was being tossed. Its really hard for me to refuse free food, so Jordan and I filled about 10 walmart bags up with different food items. Now we have a...

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Today was the first day of CNA lab, where we learned all of our nurse aide skills on several plastic mannequins named Mr. Jones and some other lady whose name I can't remember. What was disturbing is that Mr. Jones had a female body. More disturbing was when I was changing Mr. Jones elastic stocking, somehow his head was violently separated from his...

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Wanna hear a stupid story?My STUPID wisdom teeth have decided that they would like to come in right now (as opposed to earlier in the summer when I didn't have summer class and CNA and could have easily scheduled an appointment to get knocked out, had some teeth taken out, and then had Chris care for my pitiful, pain-medicated self while I healed...

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DISCLAIMER: I love sleeping next to my husband. Really, I do. In fact, I would probs say it's one of my favorite things about being married to him. It's often the time in which we have really strange late night conversations that really don't make any sense and/or use his bookmark flashlight to make shadows on the wall (hello, first grade.)On with my...

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Basil, Cilantro, Peppers, and Tomato, what more do you need? ...

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A theme very very present at our wedding. And obviously so, as it is the theme of marriage in the Word and the profound mystery that Paul likes to discuss. What's one awesome thing about this equation? Often times, (and by often I mean every time) Chris and I feel the same "calling," even if it doesn't occur at the exact same time....

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This past weekend was the first I'd ever seen chris with a newborn. I knew he was good with kids, but man. Every other time I turned around she was sleeping on his chest. Thus, meeting our first little niece has made me realize a few things:1. Chris is going to be a great dad. (Don't worry, I actually knew this before the...

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"When I was in my early thirties, I spent several months working with an outreach team treating the homeless mentally ill in NYC. Our team consisted of two nurses, and a psychiatrist, a kindly M.D. from Haiti whom everyone called Dr. Paul. I was the driver and recruiter.Each night, we would arrive at a different homeless shelter and set up a portable clinic....

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Rob Bell's "Love Wins" has been on my heart lately. Ever since I began reading it, I just have had an unsettling issue with it. My friends and I discussed, however, that one of the main problems is that it seems to (unintentionally) create a sense of lukewarm, Christian passivity that really discourages us from seeking our purpose during this life time. I...

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