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

33 Facts About Me and Other Tidbits

If you know more than 21.7 of these facts, you get a prize. :)

1. My mother had three brothers just like me, but one of them was her twin. I've always secretly wished for a twin. 

2. If I could pick one state to live in, it would probably be North Carolina. Because it has mountains and beaches, two of my favorite things in the world. But Alaska and Colorado are close seconds. 

3. Biggest fears? Spiders, losing a member of my family, and marrying a serial killer by accident. 

4. My favorite number is 13, my favorite letter is X and my favorite color is turquoise. 

5. I am very possessive of my things. I like to have all my stuff together and I am really bad about sharing my food. 

6. I can't juggle or change a tire, both things I wish I could do. 

7. I was born with 6 toes on my left foot. I had surgery to take it off when I was 3. You can barely see the scar. 

8. I think video games are really stupid. But I love Age of Empires, which is a computer game. 

9. Just because I don't agree with gay marriage doesn't mean I hate gay people. It's possible to love people who do things you believe are wrong and the world doesn't understand that. 

10. If I could own any pet, it would probably be a leopard. Or a dragon. 

11. My favorite part in any movie is when a bunch of stuff is happening with music in the background. Like in Ratatouille when he's learning to cook. 

12. I would love to backpack the world but I can't. Cause I'm poor. 

13. My biggest weaknesses? Whipped cream, puppies, jackets and Rice Krispie Treats. 

14. I would marry Legolas in a heartbeat. 

15. I have a high pain tolerance but I like people to feel sorry for me when I'm injured. Even though the worst injury I've ever had was my broken nose. And I'm still not sure it was actually broken. 

16. Things I've always wanted are a lava lamp and those super strong magnets you get in a little bag. I finally bought the magnets at the Grand Canyon on my road trip. 

17. Dream jobs are a bartender, a stunt woman and a search and rescue worker. 

18. Number 7 is a total lie. 

19. Pet peeves are pens that don't work, locked doors, and stupid people. 

20. I have 20/25 vision. 

21. Caffeine doesn't affect me. 

22. I am really good at justifying things and I don't have a very strong conscience. It's kind of bad...

23. I am a very fast reader and a good speller, two things I'm proud of. 

24. I love the words creamy, flaky, and fresh.

25. My least favorite feature about myself is my nose. My favorite is my waist/chest.

26. I REALLY wish I could play the guitar. 

27. I can be very nostalgic and I love family traditions.  

28. If I could go anywhere in the world, it would be the moon. Or New Zealand. 

29. I hate it when people underestimate me or don't take me seriously. I HATE IT.

30. Things I would like to do when I move out: get a tattoo, take a pole dancing class, and take a road trip. I could say wear a bikini, but I probably won't.

31. I know I am the person I am because of how my parents raised me, and I'm scared to death I won't be able to raise my kids the same way. 

32. I love the stars.

33. When I was little, I always wanted a best friend. And now I have two amazing ones!!!

 

Hope you enjoyed learning a little bit more about me, although you probably already knew most of them. Your prize is the warm fuzzy feeling you get from knowing so much about me!!! I'm gonna miss you a lot, Brianna. Have a great trip!! 

Here's my Christmas list: 

•A Buff. One of those head things you can wear 12 different ways. I would like a greenish one but not one with a weird pattern...

•A hardback copy of Inheritance. 

•Gift cards to REI, Target, Kohl's or Starbucks. 

•I'm trying decide if I want Casino Royale...

•A pair of those shoes that Abby bought at Payless. The clog-like ones with fur. I like the brown ones. In size 9. 

10 years Later

I apologize for not blogging for so freaking long. BUT I have been very busy. Yeah, I know. No excuse but that's mine. These past two weeks have been filled with tests and papers and so much practicing. I am officially a terrible student towards Dr. Spillman (the guy who is filling in for Dr. Korevaar). I know that this also has no excuse, but I really have no desire to practice for him and impress him. 

I am writing this on my way to Arkansas. It is currently 8:15 in the evening and we have been on the road since 7 am. Needless to say, this trip is insane. Just imagine Joel and Isaac and Chloe in the backseat, tired. Yeah. It's a little bit crazy. But honestly, I don't even really mind because I love them all (for the most part. You know how that is).  We were playing this game where you say your name then a sibling's name, then where you live, then what you sell started with a certain letter (ex: My name is Abby. My brother's name is Allen. We live in Alabama. We sell Art. and so on) and Joel had F and suddenly he goes "Hi. My name is Francis. My sister's name is Fraberta. And then we all just lost it. It was very funny and very fun and we had a good time. 

I know that you both probably hate me because I like Seth and because we are dating. But I don't know what to do. What am I supposed to say? "I never want to spend time with him because he isn't someone I enjoy being around and he doesn't help me to think about important, difficult things." I don't know. Plus I feel like if you really hate it, then you should just tell me so that I will break up with him and be your friends instead of yours and his too. Am I just supposed to not want to spend any time with him when I come home? I won't even tell you guys anything about him because I know you guys don't actually want to hear it.

Anyway. So my friend Mikah is going to college in Australia. I am totally going to go visit her out there when she does because it would be so awesome! I have always wanted to go to Australia! 

I have also decided that now that I'm in college, I can literally do anything that i want to. If I want to go to Australia, then I can save up money and go. If I want to buy myself a pair of shoes then I can. And if I want to take a literature class, then I can just take it. I can't wait until you both have moved out and can experience that for yourselves!

Here's my Christmas list:

-Pair of heeled boots size 9 like the ones that I saw at Charming Charlie's or Payless

-Gift Card to Charming Charlie's

-Money towards a nice keyboard I can hook up to my computer

-Sibelius

-Headphones that cover your ear all the way. NOT earbuds

I'm sure I'll think of more things but these are pretty important.

Abby