twenty-ten.

whew. so now we greet a new year. craziness. 2009 was full of so many new adventures, i'm really excited to see what God has in store this year.

i suddenly had an urge to blog. i think it's cause i like the nostalgic feel it gives me... and the postal service just came on over the radio so i couldn't resist the urge.

life is the same old thing, Caleb and I are working lotsss. still getting settled into our place. piecing together one room at a time. I really feel like it's starting to become home. We started painting, so that's super fun! the photo is what we've finished so far... (:

anyways, i have to get back to work...

p.s.

today i saw some tourists taking photo's of themselves hugging palm trees. hahaha.

it's been awhile.

does anyone still check up on me?

so sorry it's been so long. life has been so amazing and incredible i don't want to waste a moment 'typing' about it... but it's not right to deprive you all of the goodness! let's see... where to begin.

The last time I blogged was June, right? So four months later this is where I'm at... a married woman! hoorah. Marriage is such an incredible gift from God! I'm loving every moment of it. Caleb is uh-mazing in every way... it blows me away how much he loves me. (:

I should post photo's of our house soon. I don't think I've taken any pictures of it yet... perhaps I should clean it.

Let's seeeee.... the wedding! Seriously, I think I should win an award for the most stress free wedding. The day was beautiful and everything leading up to it just seemed to all work together. My parents helped out so much and praise the Lord that my family was all brought together by the Lord for this day. It was great, everything I wanted and more. cheesy, I know, but so true. God pulled all things together and blessed Caleb and I so so so much. His presence that day was overwhelming.

It's been a blast living together and being with each other so much more. He's so much fun! We went camping earlier this month and that was spontaneous and great. We bought our first washer and dryer unit... and we finally unpacked every box in our house! It's great fun.

now I must go and find something to eat.

Jehovah-Jireh

He is my Provider.

Life has been so incredible this past month. Everytime I start stressing out the slightest bit over something the Lord reminds me to give it back to Him and then shows me how He always comes through. It's been an overwhelming experience. One day Caleb and I were sitting inside of Starbucks and I was journaling about how I was worried about getting a photographer for the wedding. I've been having these reoccuring dreams where it's the wedding day and everything is perfect except.... no photographer! seriously, for those of you who know me you can see how this is obviously my worst nightmare. So here I was praying that the Lord would just provide someone, anyone really, who was handy with a camera and I could rest at ease knowing my wedding would be "picture perfect." Well, you know how He is. Literally the next day a photographer contacted me and agreed to photograph the wedding. God is so good, right? but wait... it wasn't just any photographer but the one that I've aaalways wanted. isn't that rad? yeah, He's pretty rad.

There have been so many other things too... super cheap rent for the cottage we're living in. well, only Caleb right now... I move-in in August. (; aaand for the honeymoon. "where do you honeymoon when you live in Hawaii?" necessities for our home and free furniture.

...like I said, an overwhelming experience.

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

and that's just a small amount of the blessing He has poured out in my life... I couldn't even try to say all that He is doing because it is immeasurable. Through it all I am reminding myself, it's not about the blessing it's all about the Blesser. and it's very evident to me that He has done all of this to bring glory to His name.

uhhh... yeah.

hello my dear bloggers, it's been quite sometime...

let's see, life "after" Bible College feels a lot like in between semesters... everyone leaves, you're still here, you go to work, you don't have homework, you watch movies, you don't listen to chuck tracks (even though you swore you were going to do them over the break)... did i really graduate? that last week seemed so surreal. everything leading up to that last night of graduation... actually, i still had one last class the next day so even though I graduated on Thursday night I wasn't officially done until Friday afternoon. It was crazy... There were seven students graduating and pretty much all of us waited til last second to prepare our 2 minute speeches we were to give on our, "belief, hope, and direction." "what does that mean?" is pretty much what we kept asking each other all day. it was a fun night and ended with an awesome slideshow! you might be able to view it here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=1160804385294&ref=mf

anyways, all that to say my Bible College experience added up to a great one. I'm so blessed to have been able to finish all four semesters and to have shared with the most incredible people every semester. God is so good.

So what's next? well, obviously marriage. (woohoo!) right now is a really big season of transition and it's all happening in a super short amount of time... but, I'm not stressing. which is kind of a big deal for me. I'm just taking it easy and going along for this crazy ride that God's totally in control of. So, if you think of it, please pray for Caleb and me we would appreciate it more than you could ever know! Wedding plans are coming along quite nicely... except for the fact that i've never planned a wedding so i feel like i'm forgetting some important things. I don't even have a photographer yet... oh dear. i guess as long as i'm there, Caleb's there, my dad is there (he's performing the ceremony), and the marriage license... oh, and you too mom... then we're good! and maybe throw some cake in there too. THEN we'll be good. yeah, so you kind of see where i'm at right now... it'll all come together. (:

Already we're seeing the amazing things that God is doing for us. Preparing and blessing us, He's definitely blowing our minds. It's been super cool.

it all comes down to this.

haha, okay. so i've been waiting 3 years for this moment! i'm graduating tonight and i'm sooo excited! 

it's going to be great... and i'm writing my speech right now.

whew. 

the end before the beginning.

well, the end of the semester is finally here. i guess i always talk about how fast these things go by so i'll try to spare you all in this post. it's just so crazy how fast it goes (that's all i'm going to say)!  It's coming at a good time though. summer will be sweet and at the end is a wedding! woohoo. i'm really looking forward to getting down all the details for "the big day". for those of you who are wanting updates on how it's all going... I have my dress, the colors, a venue, and a budget. haha. kind of still feels like the beginning but i know once i'm officially done with school i can really gear up and start checking more and more things off the list. 

Caleb and I took our engagement photo's last Friday, one of our friends shot them for us. they all turned out great, I was so excited. (:  I'm not sure how into he was, but i kindly reminded him that it's pretty much going to be like on the wedding day. camera flashes in every direction we look. which is good because i love photo's! and so does he... i think it's the whole model thing he's not all that into. haha.

anyways, tomorrow is graduation! i'm super excited. there are 7 graduates this semester which is the most we've had in a long while. the past 3 or so years it's one or two. so everyone's excited about this one. a good amount of them are staying on the island over the summer. which is cool and most are coming back next semester. It's going to be an interesting transition being married but still around Bible College lifestyle and that ministry but not being a student. But I'd so much rather be a wife (whoa!). hahaha. Caleb is going to be teaching The Life, our College Group on Monday nights. I'm really excited about it. he's a really good teacher and I know it will be a good opportunity for him to sharpen that skill a little more. but it's only going to be for a part of the summer, then we have the new Dean of Students moving in. This summer will be full of change for a lot of people, the Lord is really moving hearts and lives here. especially in the literal sense. so many people who have been here for the past few years are moving on, "from glory to greater glory." I'm so excited to experience the things God has for me personally. it's such a grand adventure! i'm so glad we serve a big God who never disappoints or lets us down.

a tribute to.

First and foremost, my BFFEEE (that stands for Best Friend Forever and Ever and Ever and Ever.) haha. My Fiancé, Caleb McLellan. "capital M-c capital L-e-l-l-a-n, get used to spelling that." yeah, i love him more than anything or anyone. oh my, so much to say and yet i feel like i just want to keep it all to myself. He's uh-maaazing... and he loves me! wow. I never knew I would be the one who was blessed with the privilege of have the most amazing friend in the whole entire world and get to spend the rest of my life with him. okay, yeah, this is going to be cheesy. but what do you expect? I'm in love. 

alright, alright, so he's a total goofball and we don't always understand each other. but what we lack in that we make up for in commitment, and it's a work in progress. i know we can only grow more and more and it's exciting! we're getting married the 7th of August and i'm already counting down the days. God has blessed us beyond measure and He continues to blow our minds with the grace He has pored out on our lives. he's a huge help and encourager, always there to pick me up and make sure I'm doing the best I can. and myyy goodness, he's soooo handsome.





Cara-Poo. where do i even begin? this girl is hysterical! what is the percentage of time spent together that we just sit there and laugh... for whatever reason. it's most likely something totally different from the time we began to the 5 minutes later when we finally catch our breath. speaking of which, she is a breath of fresh air. whatever we do it's just relaxing and a time to be ourselves and unwind. for the longest time we didn't even realize how good of friends we could be and i wish we could have that time back cause now we're apart and closer in heart but i wish we were together. she's going to be a bridesmaid! woohoo! i wouldn't of had it any other way. we just get each other... even when it makes no sense, you know? yeah, i know. 

She's been such an encouragement to me over the years and a huge blessing. life would be so boring without her laugh to make me laugh. 

"boys are whatever- God is forever!"

(sorry Caleb, i don't mean that first part now...)

uh-LISH-uh! oh, how i miss thee! let me count the ways... sitting with you every morning in 'dewotions', eating dön-shanks and drinking coca-cola that we had saved for those nights, having urgent heart-to-hearts right when i needed them, memorizing 26 verses in like 3 days but most the night before. oh my, talk about a best friend. from the moment we met each other we were addicted... always side by side. like peanut butter and jelly, pompom and homestaw, espresso and steamed milk (or in your case, just chocolate and steamed milk), left and right hand mittens? like Paul's greetings! grace and peace... it was obviously meant to be. i just miss being around you so so so much. you truly were my best friend those four, long, cold months in Germany. I don't know what i would've done without you, seriously! God is so good in the way He brought us together, if it weren't for the love of traveling you have and the island fever i had it would of been a lot harder for us to meet. but He knew. and you would of had barely any photo's of your first semester. (;

Jesse VK. oh, what a lovely lady. one of my closest friends through all four semesters. someone very close and dear to my heart. She has the most beautiful heart that encourages everyone around her. She truly lives out the Word and has an incredible heart that desires the Lord. She loves everyone around her, which astounds me! One of those kindred spirit kind of gals... we just get along with each other and it's a blast! whether we're having a heart to heart, a lazy day, or being mischievous... which we tend to be more often than not. God truly knew what He was doing when He brought her into my life. I admire her so and her thrill of adventures... haha. she is a treasure! a bwight and shoining staw afaw off in the darkest skies. 

oh, and she has the biggest smile... ever!

last, but not least, my sisters (Val Pal and Smereena). oh my, how i love them. they're my best friends because... they are my sisters and nothing comes between blood. haha. also, they love me so much... i know this because they've forgiven me time and time again. amazing, huh? we're each super different, but just enough a like to drive each other crazy. there's so much love and comfort in their presence with just enough teasing and sassy sarcasm. But above all they love the Lord. I know they will be here for me and i for them... although not always in the physical state. we're there for each other. Like Moses in Exodus 17, we can be the Aaron and Hur for one another in a sense. and it's a gift from God, everyone of my sisters.