I'm back.  I've been without internet for three months and just recently got.  Can we say Hallelujah?  So I promised before and after pics of the new apartment.  Well... I have one (busy summer = not very organized apartment at the moment).  So here is a little teaser to keep your interest until next time (Don't worry... I'm rolling my eyes too).  And yes... it's my bathroom.  So.. without further ado... Here is the Before:

And now... Drum roll Please!!!  The After pic:

I love it!

So... Let's all catch up, shall we?

I'm back in school right now and am thanking the Lord I saved up for a laptop.  It has been VERY handy!  I absolutely love it!  

Church:  Has been great!  We're in the process of a church planting which has been a learning experience.  It's been testing, a blessing, a frustration, and yet a time of community.  I feel no qualms about how God is going to use our church.

California:  I recently came back from a week vacation in California and FINALLY got to see my niece.  I went out in April for my niece's first birthday and her mom decided to not call us or let my brother see her for over 6 weeks.  Not a good thing.  That being said the last time I saw Mikayla was Christmas so she definitely had grown A LOT!  Here are just a couple of pics my cutie patutie:

So... How is everyone else been?

 

 

Right now I am studying Esther from the Bible.  Her story has always been one of my favorite Bible stories.  It always sounded like a fairytale when I was younger and they left the harem part of Sunday School.  Last week I read about what Esther went through before having her night with King Xerxes.  She spent a whole year going through beauty treatments.  That must have been seriously rough on her...  I decided to give myself a little taste of what she went through today by making some reservations at Burke Williams Spa here in California.  I spent 75 "grueling" minutes having my body rubbed in oils and lotions, massaged with hot rocks, wrapped in warm blankets and towels with eucalyptse leaves, scents and oils rubbed in my hair, and having every muscle in my body completely rubbed down.  After that I got a pedicure where they again massaged my legs.  It must have been real tough for Esther to go through a whole year of that.  Poor thing. 

In all seriousness, Esther wasn't just a beautiful woman on the outside, she was beautiful on the inside as well as courageous.  Her people were being persecuted and she was their hope.  Esther is my role model.  I pray that I can live upto the example she set so many centuries ago... and I promise that that has been tested in me many times in the past few days.  For those of you who don't know, I have a niece that my parents and I absolutely adore.  As I am writing I am sitting in the room that my parents remodeled specifically for my niece Mikayla.  The walls are a baby green, and there are pink flowers on the draperies and quilts.  The closet is lined with cute clothes that my mom and I have picked up on our various shopping sprees throughout the year.  The problem is Mikayla isn't here.  Her mom has stated that my mom and I are "abusive."  Four months ago Mikayla's mom told me that I had to be here for Mikayla's first birthday.  I bought my plane ticket right away.  I'm here... ready to celebrate my little niece's first birthday and I don't get to see her at all.  My heart absolutely breaks.  I've waited four months to see my little niece.  I'm struggling with anger at Mikayla's mother because I just can't believe someone would be so hateful, so full of lies, and so selfish.  Mikayla absolutely adores my mom and my mom adores her, and Ashley can't stand that.  It's SO hurtful to hear her say that she wants Mikayla only to want HER.  Mikayla isn't allowed to love anyone else.  My brother is frustrated since he hasn't seen Mikayla in almost three weeks.  He has texted Ashley every day to just see how Mikayla is doing and he gets accused of harassment.  My brother misses his daughter, my parents miss their granddaughter, and I miss my niece.  I'm trying to trust the Lord in this situation, I'm trying to be a bigger person and not send an email to Ashley stating how I really feel, and I'm trying to be strong for my family.  This hasn't been a fun vacation at all.  It's been REALLY depressing.  I'm looking forward to coming home to Indiana.  I miss you guys.

Just some updates... for all you updaters. 

Work:  Still enjoying.  I'm liking it even better that I don't have to wear my Friday shirt anymore.  It was a very uncomfortable shirt and very poorly made which is the reason why don't have to wear it anymore since it split at the seams around my arms and I have a gaping hole at my armpit. 

School:  Just a few more weeks left until summer!  I've already registered for fall semester.  It'll be another busy semester, but I'm actually excited for 2 of my classes:  Intro to Shakespeare and some Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel class.  Yes, folks... I'm a total dork.  The third class that I'm taking is another psychology class. 

Church:  We're back to two services and it's been amazing to see the church growing.  It's great to be part of a church who loves Jesus and want to fellowship and worship together, and yet acknowledges that they are a flawed, but hopeful people.  I've never been part of such an awesome community. 

Apartment:  I move in the first weekend of May and Oh My Gosh... I have a lot of work to do.  This weekend  I'm going in and painting my bedroom.  The carpet in there at the moment is... orange.  But I got the permission today from the landlord to tear that sucker out and put in something that DOESN'T look like a 1,000 pumpkin was smashed on.  Basically the whole apartment hasn't been updated since 1974, but I'm blessed to have an affordable apartment and I'm looking forward to Krystafying it.

Friends:  I've been blessed with many close friends.  Friends that I definitely consider family and over the next few postings I plan on acknowleding those friends.  Today I'd like to say a shout out to the Schwinkendorfs.  Ryan and Sarah are the two most generous people that I know.  They are always giving their time, their money, their talents to wherever it's needed.  They were the first to offer to help paint my apartment, they're always trying to buy me lunch (just stop it guys!), and they're always asking me how to help me.  But I'm definitely not the only one they try to serve.  Sarah is always volunteering her time in the kitchen at church, Ryan has been in charge of the painting at church, and they both serve through Celebrate Recovery.  They are probably the best friends I have ever had, and like Paul said... I thank my God every time I think of them (which is all the time) because He certainly outdid himself while I was praying for Christian friends when I moved here to Indiana.  Love you, Ryan and Sarah!  You guys are the Nacho Cheese to my Chalupa!

You know what really grinds my gears?  When a professor tells you that a test is going to be the first day back after spring break, you spend a lot of time getting ready for the test, so ready that all the information is burned into your brain... you show up to class, pen in hand, your foot tapping rapidly in anticipation as if you're saying "Put me in coach! Put me in coach!  I can beat this thing!"  And then the professor completely forgets about the test, didn't bring it and postpones it another week. 

I wanted to post a blog today since I haven't in awhile and I hate having an idle account, but I couldn't really think of anything...except the following (my apologies now).

I'm currently reading a series of books by a sarcastic Christian author named Ray Blackstone.  I'm about to start 3 of the 4.  The books are about these men who go to church to find their "soulmate."  The books frankly crack me up (as they are meant to).  The girls in the book play Church hopscotch.  Their club is called Ladies of the Quest.  As in... they change churches every couple of weeks between Baptist, Methodist, Pentacostal (nobody wants to go to the Pentacostal church because they don't have the energy to), Lutheran and Presbyterian. They have a schedule and a weekly email updating all the Ladies of the Quest on the male roster in the singles groups.  While I don't agree with church hopscotch, the books in general made me laugh.  Now for a segue... so in church we just finished our sermon series entitled "The Vow" and last night, since I'm the single one in the Bible study group, my singleness came up.  It was suggested that I think about going somewhere where "the babes" are.  Another was adamantly against this and I think she was very relieved to find out that I am as well.  I don't go to church to find "Mr. Number two" (For those of you who weren't part of The Vow series... God is my #1, the future spouse is #2... see Nate?  I pay attention).  I'm also very against singles groups.  I hate them and won't go to them.  My church in California had a 20s singles group with a couple hundred of singles in their 20s.  I wouldn't go.  I didn't want the reason why I went to church to be to hook up.  And I don't want to feel like guys are there just to check me out like I'm on display.  So I co-started a girls Bible Study instead.  All the girls were single, and the majority of the girls wanted to do a lesson on "How to Find Mr. Right."  I also hate those books.  I won't read them or do the lessons.  Why?  Because I want to focus on my Jesus.  I believe if I focus on him, that I study his Word and change my heart and my ways into his ways, then I'm going to be the woman/girlfriend/wife/mother he wants me to be.  So what is my strategy?  It's to wait.  I hate that too, but I believe it's what I'm supposed to do.  It's not easy at all.  There are days I'm frustrated about it.  There are days I feel that I am not good enough and that's why I'm single.  There are days when I just KNOW I'm going to meet someone soon and then realize I've been saying that for years.  The waiting game is definitely not easy.  I pray about it daily. I pray that the waiting is not my number one focus.  It's really funny what suggestions people give to me.  My aunt on my 25th birthday thought "it was about time I signed up for eharmony.com."  Another aunt had some teachers at her school she wanted me to meet.  I won't even go into what the girls at work say.  Anyways, while The Vow series was enjoyable, I'm looking forward to not focusing on marriage and something else for awhile.