wonderful week

231. Sabrina and Donavon are ENGAGED!!!!! (Congratulations, dear friends!)

232. Middle-of-the-night set-up for the engagement :)

233. Ice skating to the Tangled soundtrack (so fun!)

234. Barbecue and two-stepping with friends from church.

235. An impromptu slumber party at Eyrie Park.

236. Lots of visits from church friends at Starbucks.

237. An overnight visit from Florida friends while they were in town for a show they played here.

238. The Gospel in Singleness

239. Several good conversations with a sweet friend from church.

240. Spending time with Bunny and Samuel.

let the praises ring

Let everything I say and do

Be founded by my faith in You

I lift up holy hands and sing

let the praises ring

- Lincoln Brewster

friends since forever - Danielle, Seth, Paul, and me

221. A wonderful first ice-skating lesson.

222. Lifegivers, and the opportunity to fellowship with the amazing women in my church.

223. My new FEED bracelet from Aja :) (mine's blue, for Haiti, of course!)

224. Getting to visit Will at his Starbucks.

225. Loved, loved, loved getting to spend a day in San Antonio with dear family friends who we've know "since forever" :)

226. Getting to eat at one of my favorite restaurants (which unfortunately does not yet have a location in good ol' CS).

227. Spending an afternoon/evening at Eyrie Park, for the first time in foreeeever!

228. Listening to a friend's 3 year-old son giggle at dinner.

229. The hopeful anticipation of all that is to come.

230. Yesterday's sermon.

loving life

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights...

James 1:17

211. A fun evening hanging out with friends after a wonderful church service.

212. The first Lifegroup meeting of the year; so good to be back together again.

213. Tuesday night Bingo at the assisted living home with Samuel, Bunny, and friends from church.

214. Baking cupcakes with Willin and Jubilee.

215. The gift of friendship...so grateful for long-time friends; thoroughly enjoying meeting new friends.

216. That my ice skates were able to be repaired (so that I don't have to buy new ones!).

217. This lovely book, which I am currently rereading.

218. A conversation with TGIGM.

219. Watching this fantastic movie again.

220. Hanging out with Paul, Sabrina, Everly, and Birdie at a local coffeeshop.

oh, what a week...

201. Ice skating TWICE last week!

202. A good, honest conversation with a friend.

203. Finally having time to clean/organize the back room at work (now if we can just KEEP it this clean/organized!).

204. Dinner at Blue Baker with friends from church.

205. Watching Sleeping Beauty for the first time ever :)

206. Getting to eat leftover pizza at Eyrie Park.

207. Having a new, fresh week ahead of me (and being able to put last week behind me)!

208. Nicknames.

209. The reminder, however painful, of how very much I need God's grace and mercy, and the fact that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

210. This very timely article.

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul,"therefore I will hope in Him." Lamentations 3:21-24

redeemed and thankful

Psalm 107:1 [Let the Redeemed of the LORD Say So] Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!

191. Reading books with Phoebe.

192. Utterly undeserved grace...mercy...forgiveness.

193. A New Year's visit from my dad.

194. Finally getting to meet this amazing woman (pray for her and her family as they head back to their Haiti home tomorrow)!

195. A fun and fairly low-key New Year's Eve with friends.

196. My church. And the people there. (I know this is a repeat...makes the list nearly every week...but seriously...so thankful to be a part of such a beautiful community of people who love the Lord.)

197. Quieter (for the most part) days at work while the students are out of town; enjoying this little break from the usual craziness.

198. The anticipation and excitement of a new year, full of hopes and dreams and who knows what!

199. Going to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader again with Paul...and then AGAIN with friends from church :)

200. Sitting in front of a crackling fire on a chilly afternoon.

my 2010 reading list

At the commencement of 2010 (I am in denial that that was a year ago already), I decided to keep track of all that I read over the next 12 months. Among other reasons, I figured it'd be kind of interesting to find out how much I actually read in a year; additionally, now as I look back over the list, just by seeing the titles of some of these books again, I am reminded of whatever was going on in my life while I was reading them (for example, I read Candles in the Dark while stranded in South Florida; the Emily books kept me company during the Period of Never-Ending Sickness and Near Death). So many of the books I read last year have made their way onto my list of all-time favorites; there were only two books, I think, that I absolutely did not like and only finished so that I could at least say I'd read them once. So, overall, it was a good literary year. Thanks to all who recommended (and sometimes loaned) books (Everly, Samuel, Gina, Loren); I certainly welcome more suggestions for 2011! Happy New Year!

Reading List 2010

1. Across Five Aprils – Irene Hunt

2. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll

3. The Jungle Books Volume I – Rudyard Kipling

4. Candles in the Dark – Amy Carmichael

5. A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens

6. Emily of New Moon – L.M. Montgomery

7. Emily Climbs – L.M. Montgomery

8. Haiti Past, Present, Future: Where is the Hope? – Timothy DeTellis

9. Dancing under the Red Star – Karl Tobien

10. Little House in the Big Woods – Laura Ingalls Wilder

11. Mary Poppins – P.L. Travers

12. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain

13. No Graven Image – Elisabeth Elliot

14. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

15. The Scarlet Pimpernel – Baroness Emmuska Orczy

16. Chronicles of Avonlea – L.M. Montgomery

17. Kiss – Ted Dekker

18. The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart

19. Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

20. Fearlessly Feminine – Jani Ortlund

21. The Story Girl – L.M. Montgomery

22. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame

23. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey – Trenton Lee Stewart

24. To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee

25. The Homecoming – Earl Hamner, Jr.

26. Kilmeny of the Orchard – L.M. Montgomery

27. Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery

28. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma – Trenton Lee Stewart

29. A Doll’s House – Henrik Ibsen

30. Uncle Tom’s Cabin – Harriet Beecher Stowe

31. After Many Days – L.M. Montgomery

32. These Strange Ashes – Elisabeth Elliot

33. Discipline: The Glad Surrender – Elisabeth Elliot

34. Tommy and Grizel – J.M. Barrie

35. A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle

36. The Happy Hollisters – Jerry West

37. A Lifetime of Wisdom – Joni Eareckson Tada

38. Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson

39. Love Has a Price Tag – Elisabeth Elliot

40. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

41. The Story of the Trapp Family Singers – Maria Augusta Trapp

42. Daddy Long Legs – Jean Webster

Currently reading:

1. Prayers of an Excellent Wife – Andrew Case

2. Dear Enemy – Jean Webster

3. What is the Gospel? – Greg Gilbert

And the results of this year's Bucket List are...

As 2010 winds to a close, I'm having to face the fact that I did not, in fact, accomplish all of the items on my bucket list for this year. Which is disappointing...but...not the end of the world. I certainly did more of these (sometimes silly and random) things than I would have done had I not bothered to write a list, so all in all, this was a successful endeavor. And, for many of the things I wasn't able to do this year, there's always 2011...which is approaching with incredible rapidity. So, I'll compose a new list...copy some 2010 tasks...come up with some new ideas as well...and we'll see how 2011 goes!

Here's what I did accomplish (or have begun working on, in some cases) from my 2010 list:

Have the Anne of Green Gables party part 2
Braid Birdie's hair on a fairly regularly basis
Learn about and put into practice what it means to be a godly/biblical woman

Go back to Florida [for a visit]
Finish watching the last episode of season 5 of LOST
Have the LOST season finale party

Babysit/hang out with little kids more
Have a summer Bible study with Sabrina and Everly
Visit a state where I’ve never been before (Arkansas, for Ian and Stephanie's wedding!)
Celebrate National Smores day on August 10th
Bake homemade bread
Get a library card
Update my blog more regularly
Go stargazing
Figure out how to register the van in TX and then do it
Get a TX driver’s license
Watch The Sound of Music
Acquire more children’s books
Memorize more of the Bible
Take a walk in a park
Write more
Volunteer for something
Go to a playground and play on the swings
Watch an episode of The Office, per Lee’s recommendation
Read The Mysterious Benedict Society books, per Teeko’s recommendation
Go on a boat ride of some sort
Go to Plato’s Closet
Go running in the rain.
Name the van. For reals. (Amanda the Spaceship)
Paint with watercolors
Go to a concert (Jack Johnson!!!)
Watch Lina sing at Carnegie Hall
Celebrate National Ice Cream day on July 18th
Watch the sunset with a friend
Go to a zoo
Get a hymnbook
Hang out with Kevin and Danielle

Overall, a good year (with still a few days left; perhaps I can still knock another item or two off this year's list)!