Fingers and Toes

Yah, so it's 3:23 am Central time... that's 4:24 for all you Eastern time-zoners... I just finished my Spanish paper that's due tomorrow and I still need to read a story for class before I go to sleep... this week is proving already to be crazy. I have two tests on Thursday and I was supposed to have a project due that day as well, but my prof postponed it, "praise the Lord!". I have my Spanish paper due tomorrow, a paper topic for Great Texts due Friday... plus, I have a few mid-terms next week. Yikes. If everything works out I'm going to see some of my extended family with my bro and his fam this weekend. I'm excited about that :o) Gotta take advantage of being in the same state as my family for a change... hasn't been that way most of my life. Anyways... I spent Friday night through Monday evening at home and it was sooo refreshing. I love how when I'm at home it's almost as if I never left, nothing is awkward or uncomfortable, it's still home. James Morrow and I are now officially dating or courting or whatever term you would like to give it for all of those concerned with that ;o) That's definitely a big thing for me... for those of you who don't know, I've had a lot of strong convictions about dating for a long time. I wish that I could accurately communicate all that God has taught me through the years, but let me assure you, I'm definitely not one to enter into a relationship like this casually. As we have both prayerfully considered this we are choosing to move forward in our relationship and praying that as we both walk towards Christ we will talk towards each other. It's pretty awesome to be in a relationship that has Jesus as the focus. Keep us in your prayers, please, cause I know the enemy has every desire to dig his claws into genuine fellowship between God's children... praise the Lord that His light pierces the darkness!
"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:5-7 The weekend was a lot of fun, hanging out with friends playing some intense Nerts and taking crazy flying pics, going to a beautiful wedding, having deep, meaningful conversation with two of my favorite guys in the world (that would be Kenley and James, I love you both! :o) ), getting lots of hugs from my Mommy and Daddy, sitting and talking with my amazing grandmother in her kitchen, etc. etc. My mom and I went and got manicures and pedicures on Monday... good stuff, I'd never gotten either done before aside from the may-as-well-be-professional services of my beloved Diane Ashburn :o) It was fun to be pampered... tho I definitely messed up my fingernails before I had even left the salon... figures. You can check the pics... So when I came back last night Mabel had cleaned the room and stuff... made me very happy. :o) She's the best, what can I say ;o) She's definitely sitting at her computer laughing hysterically right now... you would think she's a lunatic... oh, oh, the joy you bring to my life, my dear :o) She and I took some pics with the huge bear James gave me.. She's good at getting me distracted when I'm supposed to be doing homework...
OK, I really should get some sleep before I have to be in class in less than 5 hours... enjoy the few pics. Love you all and am praying for you faithfully. Let me know what's going on in your lives!!

Alright, I'm not sure if these pics are gonna post right, but I'm not gonna stay up to fix em right now... love you all :o)

Happy Valentine's Day :o)

1 John 3:13 "Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action." I have been blessed to have so many friends that have shown me love that is more than just words out of their mouth. Their love rings true based on the way they live their lives. I pray that I will grow to know Love more and more, because Christ is Love, and He is all that is worth seeking after. I love you all and have you in my prayers. Thanks to all of you who made my Valentine's Day so special :o)

Lasting Learning

God continues to teach me so much. There's always more to learn. I love that I can never reach an end to Him, there is always more. He is so great that I will never be able to know Him in all His fullness until the day of Christ Jesus. How amazing. I know that this often frustrates people, but over time I've realized that it is part of the mystery and wonder of God that we should celebrate. I wish I could share with you all that God's teaching me, but I think that would require you living my life, so I guess I will try and share a little that I feel may challenge you. I finished reading Kyle Lake's book "Understanding God's Will: How to hack the equation without formulas" today. It's a great book, and I would encourage you to read it for yourself. It sort of confirmed and reaffirmed things that I had been learning from God more recently, a fresh view of God's will that isn't some huge puzzle for us to try and figure out through some complicated strategy. In the book, Kyle shared a prayer by Thomas Merton, a 20th century monk and poet. It really struck me, so I thought I'd share. Maybe it will minister to you in some way too... You are all in my prayers!

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following Your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I belieive that the desire to please You
Does in fact please You.

And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will elad me by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust You always,
Though I may seem to be lost in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for You are ever with me,
And You will never leave me to face my struggles alone.

~Thomas Merton, 1915-1968

I love Mabel, yes I do

So tonight was Creative Date night with Campus Crusade. A guy's Bible study group "asked out" our girl's group and the guys planned the night out. The plan was to go to dinner and then hit up a Korean Karaoke Bar... Marian, Mabel, and I decided we'd probably just go to dinner because we needed to be productive tonight (though I don't think our productive plan really worked out). Turns up the karaoke bar is about an hour away, so I'm glad we didn't go, because we probably wouldn't even be back yet. Anyways... dinner was fun. We actually had two guys groups and two girls groups go together. The guys treated us to Baris, a fun pizza place. We had a good time. It's cool to hang out with people in a relaxed atmosphere, knowing that everyone is there because they are involved in the pursuit of Christ through a Campus Crusade Bible study. Good times, good times. Mabel and I then had a typical photo shoot as we try and do whenever we actually have made an attempt to look nice. So, enjoy the pics :o)

Marian and Mabel, aww...

Again, again :o)

Me and Tabitha

Marian, Mabel, and Me (ooo... so many M's... hahahaha)

Mabel helped me do eyeliner for the first time, pretty cool stuff...

Eyes are so cool

Aren't we cute? Hahaha... you wouldn't believe how many attempts it takes to get cute pics of us... seriously, it's quite an ordeal, but, we usually get a lot of laughs out of it, so it's all good...

Awww....

My roomie loves me... *blush*

*Muah*

I love you, Mabel Tabeetha Macaden, and I wouldn't trade you for the world...

This is pretty much my new favorite picture... we were truly meant for each other, eh, Mabe? *wink wink*

Love and laughter

Alright, today has been a day of quotes... so let me share some... first, some funny moments from the world of Tamara, Mabel, and Alisha... then some sweet, sappy quotes from The Wedding Date, which Mabel and I watched this afternoon...

"I'm sort of having a two-pronged thought here" ~Adam (we might have to start having a quote for every class time we have with Adam, huh ladies?)

"Not all relationships begin in Great Texts." ~Me

"You guys are gonna have to not run me into the wet bushes." ~Alisha

"I don't like her. She's arrogant... and she's balding!" ~Mabel

"The hardest thing is loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back."

"I'd rather fight with you than make love with anyone else."

"I think I'd miss you even if we'd never met."

~Nick Mercer, The Wedding Date, played by Dermot Mulroney

This week has been interesting. I lost my keys... which proved for some funny moments... you guys better believe you are special if I'm willing to post pictures of dumpster diving for you. Sheesh, I must really love ya'll. Yes, we went dumpster diving looking for my keys, and we still didn't find them. So yah, we were stuck on campus for a few days. But, it's not really a big deal to be stuck on campus, at least not during the week. I now have new keys because of my ever so wonderful parents sending them to me... thanks for understanding, Mommy and Daddy. I love you guys. I had my first tests of the semester this week... what fun. The week was loooong, but it's finally the weekend, praise the Lord, and by His grace I made it without any severe bruises or scars, really without even minor ones! Alright... here's some pics from the week for you all to enjoy...

The end of the weekend and the beginning of the week are all a blur...

Yah, Mabel likes to take pictures of me when I'm trying to be productive... You're such a distraction, Mabe! Hehe, you know I love you.

Ok, I'm surveying the situation...

I can't believe I'm doing this...

In the dumpster...

Look at all that trash!!

It amazes me that we can even have fun in the dumpster.... hahahahaha

Studying, and laughing.... good times...

The way I look before the girls make me crack up ;)

Have a great weekend everyone! You're in my prayers!!