Three Cheers for Bacon

All righty dighty. Well done you both for blogging promptly. Well done me for blogging promptly. Well done us for being awesome. 

So. Let me sum up my life in a few sentences. 

1. What's that you say? Abby and I are getting an apartment together? Why yes, yes we are. AND IT'S GOING TO BE SO FREAKING AWESOME. Sigh. So flippin excited. 

2. EMT class. Starting to freak out about clinicals and practicals and stuff. Again I sigh. 

3. Michael. Huge sigh here. Need I say more. 

Those are the only things happening to me right now. Except I did get a very nice black jacket as a late Christmas present. And I love it. 

Also let's just take a moment to appreciate a few things: 

First of all, the Fast and Furious movies are super fantastic. I don't even know why I love them so much. Vin Diesel is so perfect for his role and Paul Walker is...perfect. It makes me incredibly sad that he is dead. :'(  

Second of all, I am kicking myself for not watching LOTR sooner. And Abby, I don't care what you say, Gollum is creepy as hell and Legolas is a sexy beast. 

Thirdly, I don't care what you say, B, the Muppets fall into the same category as Gollum. Creepy. As. Hell. 

Fourthly, I finished Grey's Anatomy on Netflix. Insert heaving sobs here. I guess I'll have to start it all over again!!!

Just kidding. 

Sort of. 

So. On to happier things. Such as......Spring Break!!!!!!!

Here is the breakdown of finances for the trip. This is per person:  

         Hotel: $80 a night 

         Food: $60(dinners)+$15(lunches)

         Other: $12(zoo)+$18(aquarium)

        Total: $185

There might be a little more, for gas and tax on the room and stuff. But the food might be less and the hotel has continental breakfast so yay. Safe to say $200. 

I found a restaurant called 1515 that is super nice. Look it up if you want. We can dress up really nice and stuff for that night. 

Also when exactly do we want to go? Mon, Tues, Wed nights? Let me know so I can try and reserve the rooms sooner that later. 

And when I say 'let me know' I mean it. When you read this,  text me with thoughts about all the spring break plans. :) please. 

That's it. I might be changing the Netflix password cause my family might be trying to steal it. I will accept possible alternatives. 

Have a nice weekend. Love you both lots!!!!

My Awesome Week

This week has been CRA-A-ZY!!! So busy.

I went to Dr. Korevaar's piano recital on Tuesday for Free! It was awesome! I definitely think that your teacher really influences your performance style and I think that Korevaar has so much attention to detail and all this stuff that you guys probably don't care about. But every time that I have a lesson with him or see him perform, I just feel so much more sure of where I am supposed to be as far as school goes. I love it!

Also, I cam back from retreat and getting back into school NOT exhausted was hard. Because I was exhausted. I'm still tired. Also, retreat was AWESOME! I loved going as a leader. I love everything about retreat. I really think that you meet God there and it's awesome. I also just want to be the person who high schoolers feel comfortable talking to. Obviously, I'll never be as good at it or as trustworthy or as wise as Karla, but I want to at least not be pretentious and homeschooled (you know what I'm talking about…not that's it's inherently bad to be homeschooled).

On Wednesday, Grace and I went to look at an apartment? Wait, is that right? I don't know if I'm picking this up correctly…ARE WE OLD ENOUGH TO MOVE OUT AND DO WE ACTUALLY GET TO LIVE TOGETHER NEXT YEAR? Hell to the yeah.  :) B, you are welcome literally all the time. You can probably just live with us on our couch because that's how welcome you are. I am so so so so so excited because I don't have to live in the dorm, I get to live on my own, I get to live with my best friend, I love the apartment, and it's not nearly as expensive as a lot of other place. Oh and it is awesome. Wait I already said that. I'm just pretty much excited.

But this week has also been long because I have awkwardly had to help my friend with a break up (after 3 years) and that's hard because I hate relationships which is backwards because I love dating Seth.

So that's what my week has been like.

Oh and I can't wait for Spring Break! Just a little thing I'm looking forward to… :)

AND I DIDN'T TAKE FOREVER TO BLOG! GO ME. YOU GUYS SHOULD REALLY HAVE MORE FAITH IN ME!

~Abby~

Salt :)

1. I am having pre-vacation anxiety.
2. I think someone at work is crushing on me.
3. I saw the movie Lone Survivor and it was epic.
4. I hate math
5. I love short story writing class
6. I love Boulder chips

1.) Whenever I am about to go somewhere I just get really nervous the day before. I freak out about if I packed enough clothes and if I have everything I need. Also when Lady's not coming with me, I freak out because she sleeps with me every night and it's weird when she's not there and she freaks out whenever i'm not there. None-the-less, I am extremely excited for retreat! Gracie, I wish you were going :( Abby I'm so excited you're going!!! It's going to be legendary!
2.) So idk if he is just being funny and messing around or if this is just how he is. but my boss's son seems like he is crushing on me. He said I would be a horrible girlfriend because I am too safe (maybe I should do what he does in This Means War to prove I'm not too safe) but I would make a great wife.....ya. And Corrie told me that he was talking about me to her so idk. I kinda like him and if he asked me out I might not say no.
3.) Lone Survivor was possibly the best movie I have ever seen. Possibly my new favorite movie. I love a movie that will make me cry. Sometimes if i just really want to cry (don't ask why. I'm a girl with hormones) I'll watch a sad movie and force myself to cry, but this movie there was no need to force myself. It was super sad but the end was amazing. It made me realize how little I pray for our military and how much I should. You guys have got to see it. There is a lot of swearing though. But that's understandable because it's a war movie. But seriously, probably the best movie ever.
4.) Self explanatory. I loathe it with a vengeance.
5.) Also pretty self explanatory. We are doing a Greek mythology story right now and it's really fun! My teacher loved my action story and commented on it in front of everyone in class and that made me feel good :)
6.) I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Boulder chips. I could eat several bags of them in one sitting. The best are the Salt and Vinegar. Emphasis on the SALT. (speaking of salt, did I tell you that John told the owner of cfa that I was the reason they were out of salt? Ya. Speaking of John and cfa we need to go there sometime. I miss it.)
Well I think that's all I got for now. :) Love ya both tons!
-Bra-nay-nay

My Life and SPRING BREAK

Okey dokey so it's a good thing none of us are professional bloggers, cause we would all get fired. it feels like months since i've blogged...it probably has haha. so i'll catch you up a little on my life and then outline a quick spring break review.

Well Christmas break was pretty great. it's been very nice to have so much time and not have to think about school or anything. but it's also bad because i do need to start thinking about school again. crap, is it next week already.....??  surprise...

let's see i went to a george winston concert at the beginning of december and it was so funny because halfway through the concert i lean over to jeremy and go 'look he only has 4 fingers on his left hand' cause he knew he would spend the rest of the time trying to see if he did. and then at the end of the next song i hear him go look dad he doesn't have a thumb. you can see the stump.' it was sooo funny. and my dad just starts cracking up in the middle of this concert. oh clueless jeremy.

also at the very end of last semester we had our last day of EMT class and they did evaluations on us and our skills and one of the teachers said he would let me take care of his family. well. that made me feel sooo good. for like 3 days i just kept looking at his notes and feeling great about myself. ;) and now school starts next week and i haven't studied for 6 weeks so no more taking care of anybody for me until i remember what the symptoms of kidney stones are....let's see, vomit that looks like red coffee grounds, stabbing stomach pains....

oh i also FINALLY went to the ear doctor because i had a feeling something was off. and she tells me that either my entire jaw structure is jacked up and i'll need therapy or my eustacian tubes leading to my nose are infected. so i've been spraying this stuff in my nose every morning and then i go back next week. hopefullyit was just an infection and it's all better because there's no way that i'm doing any therapy or junk like that...

got my wisdom teeth out. it actually wasn't as bad as everyone had said it was going to be. i have had almost no pain but there is a lot of swelling, which is kind of uncomfortable. i really just keep thinking about how i want cfa nuggets and spaghetti. and tiramisu. i am totally making tiramisu when i am healed. and then i will eat the whole thing. oh my gosh i need to stop....

SPRING BREAK

ok. spring break. B you need to figure out if you can skip master's hand that tuesday, the 25th. so that last week in march is the one we are shooting for. and we want to stay in the less nice hotel for 2 nights on monday and tuesday and then the 4 seasons on wednesday...let me know.

ok here are the 3 hotels i am looking at for the cheaper hotel.

BAYMONT INN AND SUITES DENVER WEST/FEDERAL CENTER
11909 West 6th Ave, Golden, CO 80401 US     $$273 for 2 nights

Fairfield Inn & Suites Denver Cherry Creek
1680 South Colorado Blvd · Denver, CO 80222 USA
$$298

Hampton Inn and Suites - Cherry Creek
E Kentucky Ave Glendale CO $$260

 i am 98% sure that they all have free breakfast and a hot tub/pool.  i like the look of the last hotel the best and it appears to be the cheapest one as well. it's also in a nice location. but check them out and let me know.

ok and the aquarium is $18 and the zoo is $15. i still have to call maggiano's about gluten free options. i'll also keep looking at other restaurants. especially places with amazing desserts!

also it looks like the 4 seasons is going to be a little more than we thought, i don't know if that's cause when we looked before they were having a deal or something...it's gonna be more like $488. that's about $50 more for each of us. not sure how i feel about that...hm anyway let's talk about it. we could do a google chat (i love them) or if abby comes back this weekend we can meet and talk.

i think that's it. goodbye.

Another 10 Years Later

So I've realized I'm awful at keeping up with this blog. Yeah. Pretty much! Lo siento!

The Christmas break has been wonderful! I have had such a good time! And I still have 2 weeks left.

The past 5 days, I went to this awesome conference with CRU. It was amazing. I learned so much about myself, God, and sin. So as you know, my aunt has now come out as lesbian and is getting married to my former PE teacher. I have really been struggling with how to respond to this. It's hard because in the church, you don't talk about homosexuality unless you are talking about how it's bad and you'll go to Hell if you do it, and it's one of those "bad" sins that is condemning and God-forbid any Christian have same-sex orientation struggles. Because obviously, if you're a Christian you don't struggle with temptation and sin, right? WRONG. I don't know about you, but I still struggle with a ton of sin and temptation in my life. Just because I don't wear it on the outside as much as my aunt doesn't mean that it isn't as bad as hers. Just because God hasn't given that to me to struggle with, doesn't mean that I'm not as broken as the next gay person, or that I need God's grace any less.

I mean, how would I feel if someone came up to me and said "You know Abby, you're a sinner because you are a lustful person and you're going to Hell." Or "Abby, you're going to Hell because you gossip and are careless with your words." Yeah I'd be pretty upset because I know that those are condemning things. The difference between me and someone who is without Jesus living in their sin is the fact that they are without Jesus. I still sometimes live in my sin and I still have problems with temptation and anger even though I have given my life to Jesus.

So what's the best option? Talk to them about how they need to clean up their life or else they are going to Hell? No. Can you clean up your life without the power and grace of Jesus Christ? No. You can't. The truth is we all need Jesus and the only thing that someone who is without Jesus needs is Jesus. Not a cleaner life. Because they would go to Hell without Jesus no matter what their life looks like. And change of the heart can only happen when someone knows Jesus. All that I can do for people who struggle with any sin is be there for them and love on them and listen to them and tell them that Jesus loves them and accepts them for what they are and even what they do.

Because no one is good enough without Christ.

I have been so convicted with so many things this week and this was just one of the main ones. I just want to extend this to anyone: I will listen to you in your struggle and it's not bad to struggle. It doesn't make you not good enough. It only means that we should be more thankful for Jesus because he loves us so much anyway. So this is a 2-way street. We can talk about sin and temptation because once it's spoken, it feels much better than when it's stifled in the dark recesses of our heart.

Sorry about the post being so deep but I felt especially convicted this morning about this particular subject and I feel like I can tell you both anything.

~Abby~

Insert Title Here

I'll start with my California trip! So we started in Carmel and stayed there for a couple days and did the 17 Mile Drive which is basically just a drive along the beach  and stuff. On said drive, there are some CRAZY houses. Like probably costs millon$ to live in them. They are super nice and pretty cool to look at. It was pretty cold there like high 40s, low 50s so not too much beach time sadly. Our hotel there was nice. It was more of a little seaside cottage than a hotel. It was super nice and had a fireplace in the room! Carmel is a cute little town! Then we went to Cambria and my parents did wine tastings there. The hotel there was super dog friendly. When we got there they gave us this "care basket" i guess you could call it, with all this dog stuff. It was cool. Then we went to Santa Barbara for one night and saw their Christmas parade which was rather anti-climatic. It was basically kids 18 and under walking down the street...ya. Our room there was awesome because I got my own room and my own tv! Then we went to Anaheim and got into our hotel room which was also very nice. It was basically a little apartment with a living room with a fireplace, a kitchen a bedroom with two queen beds and a bathroom. Then the next day we went to Hollywood which was a disappointment because I didn't see any famous people and it was really dirty with creepy people. the last week was spent at Disneyland which was awesome because I love Disneyland and you guys NEED TO GO THERE BECAUSE YOU WOULD LOVE IT!!!!

This is going to get a little serious but I need to talk about this. I went into work today to give my boss a Christmas present and get my check and stuff and my boss told me that one of the employee died last week. She was in a car accident but was fine after that and even came into work and she seemed a little shaken up but otherwise fine. She was on pain meds and stuff. Then the next day, her dad came in and told my boos that she had died. I'm sitting here at my computer typing this and I just don't know what to say or what to think. You know when something bad happens and you don't believe and you feel like you need proof that it happened.? That's kinda how I feel. I didn't know her that well so I felt bad because I wasn't crying. But then I thought about and the more I think about it the sadder I get. She was super nice and was always trying to talk to me and I'm shy so I didn't talk to her much and now I feel guilty. She seemed like an amazing person and now she's dead and I'm here watching Lost and eating jelly beans. I feel like I should do something but I don't really know what to do. I just feel bad and depressed. I've been praying for her family and that's all I can really do I guess. The other thing is, i have no idea where she was spiritually, and that makes me REALLY sad. Again, I just don't know what to do, or think, or say. It's just depressing.

I told you it would get serious. Hopefully you guys will help me feel better tomorrow at our EPIC SLEEPOVER which I got permission for and I was worried I wouldn't :) So see ya guys tomorrow! Love you both SO much!
Brianna    

Abby's Christmas List

I meant to post this earlier

1) Sibelius
2) Keyboard
3) Microphone
4) Headphones. Not earbuds.
Stuff that is actually affordable:
5) Those high heeled boots size 9 or any similar boots ankle length and heeled
6) Music books for everything. Like Christmas music, jazz, worship songs, musicals...stuff like that.
7) Games: ticket to ride, settlers. Anything else you think I might like
8) Headbands (like the one's at Charming Charlie's that were cloth)
9) Long socks