its 2:30 in the morning

and megan and i finished movin our new  furniture in and gettin it all situated... yay for free things from generous aunts and uncles ;-)

oh and yes. that is our festive flamingo in her pretty halloween costume hanging from the ceiling (she has a different outfit for each month in case you were wondering) she is actually a lawn flamingo but we dont have a lawn and i cant seem to find her legs. so now she hangs in our sitting room.

i know the room would look nicer without the flamingo. very put together and adult. but what would my apartment be without a touch of ghetto?

exactly. it wouldnt be my apartment. i love living here.

its the little things...

...that make megan smile

we were driving home from rite aid tonight aft

er small group and as we pulled in to the complex, megan got REALLY excited all of the sudden. i am driving and i just hear her saying things like 

"oh oh!" 

"look quick!" 

"wow!"

as she is pointing out my window.

at this point i am trying to drive without hitting the pa

rked cars while not wearing my glasses. and also look at whatever megan could possibly be so excited about. i expected it to be something fantastic and was very eager to see what all the fuss is about. i was a little sad that i was seeing nothing. i asked 

"what is it?" (and i asked this several times because i couldnt quite get a verbal response from her) she just kept repeating her little excited phrases. 

so as you can imagine my anxiety is kickin in and i REALLY want to know what all the fuss is about.

finally i get a glimpse of what she has seen....

yes. you are seeing correctly. megan has just seen a skunk scamper from the dumpster underneath a few cars. she finally was able to put some words together "he is a fast little bugger" i believe is the phrase i heard.

i know she is from the mountains. and probably a little sheltered. but seriously. she acted as if she has never seen an animal before and that this skunk was the first and by far the most awesome creature she has ever seen. 

hahaha i love megan. and there is never a dull moment with us.

a perfect end...

my week has been a little rough at work. and it has nothing to do my actual class. i LOVE my students. i have so much fun with them (well most of the time) and enjoy spending six hours a day with them. i am looking forward to watching them grow as individuals and learn all that they need to be successful in middle school. my school is going through lots of changes right now in hopes of upping our test scores (cuz that is what it is ALL about) so it has been a very difficult transition to make from teaching last year to this year. it has been rough. in just an administration aspect. i had to hold back tears twice at the last staff meeting...anyways, it has just been a rough and exhausting week....

which leads to this picture. my very wonderful and thoughtful man showed up for dinner at my house tonight with these flowers. which just so happen to be m very favorite flowers. so it was the perfect end to a rough week. i am so thankful for josh. it has been an amazing 2 years and i look forward to many, many more. he is my best friend. and i love him very much

family. 

is often more than just your God-given biological family. 

this picture happened as part of a joke...but just seemed to stick....

awhile back the jokes about megan and conway being josh and my kids began. we were the parents. they were the kids. we would call times the four of us would go places "family outings" megan drew this picture one night representing our little "family". (note a few things: how much shorter i am than everyone, the weirdness of josh's pants?? megans voluptuous lips?-i love it megan!)

over time our family has grown so much closer. we now have weekly family dinners. (that often dont happen until 10 at night...its how we roll)  where either the boys cook or the girls cook. it works out nicely since megan and i are roommates and josh and conway are roommates. our family dinners are the highlight of the week. with all of our busy schedules it is so nice to be able to sit down and just catch up on life with each other. 

it has even happened where josh and i have gone somewhere together and feel the need to buy our "kids" presents for the next time we see them. like they need a treat after mom and dad have been away...its so funny. we went to victoria gardens and felt the need to buy megan and conway their favorite candies from see's candy before we went home. and we brought back megan a prize from sacramento.... its silly i know but we actually do it... 

i just am feeling incredibly thankful for these three. josh. i dont even know where to begin on what i am thankful for about him ;-) he is amazing and a complete answer to prayer...i love him... megan. she is an incredible roommate and a beyond amazing friend. she is funny too!!! she makes me laugh and i can just be myself and feel comfortable. i love her. conway...or conwizzle :-) he is such a good friend. incredibly encouraging and supportive. and such an example to me...i love him too...

where my girls at?

So I have had the opportunity to lead the women's college/career community group for a couple of years now and tonight was the first night of this next "cycle" as I like to call it (like how top model has cycles...hahaha). I am very social and I love to be around people and to have people over to hang out, so this opportunity is just the kind of thing I love to do. anyways, I find myself overwhelmed with joy and filled with love as I sit and reflect on tonight' time. The group is a good mix-on many levels. 

There are girls who are fresh out of high school and beginning their journey on the road of college, girls that are ending their journey on the road of college, girls who are going back to the college after taking some time off, girls who are married or will be married soon, and girls who have begun or will be beginning their careers. Their are some of us who have been in the same community group for several "cycles" (hahaha) and have seen many come and go, and then there are the new girls. I love the mix that we have. The dynamics of the group just seem that they will be great. 

I struggle with being a leader. I know that I have the ability to do it. But I fear not doing a good job or letting people down-that I might fail at it. Fear is a huge hinderance in my life and I am really trying to work on this. But this fear makes me worried about my responsibility as the leader of the group. My heart is in this. I want to really live life alongside these girls as well as be the leader that they may be looking for. My prayer is that I won't let my fear keep me from giving my all in being the leader. 

Some of my closest friendships have developed from being in a community group. Others have been made stronger. I look forward to building those type of relationships with the ladies in the new group. On several occasions I have found peace and comfort in my community group. Knowing that there is a core group of people who are living life alongside you-loving you, encouraging you, challenging you. They keep you accountable. They pray for you. It is such a blessing.

We have chosen to read a book together for this "cycle". We chose Captivating by John and Stasi Eldridge. (which i must say is one of my favorite books). I read it for the first time when I was in Costa Rica. And began reading it a second time a few months ago. I am excited to read this book with my small group. I cant wait to see what the Lord has in store for us!!!