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I've been having a wonderful Christmas break so far, but I'm ready to move back into the dorms next Wednesday. Christmas was wonderful. I got all I asked for and more, including a new camera, digital picture frame, cell phone, movie musicals (MY FAVES!) and some cute new t-shirts that I love! Santa was super kind to me this year! We got Rock Band too, which is so much fun! I can rock out pretty hard on those drums! :)

A few updates:

~I'm still working out. I wasn't feeling well the first week of the break, and the second week of the break I was in Georgia, but I'm still working out. Santa brought me Sweatin to the Oldies 1--4 and I've loved dancing to them. They're so much fun! I should probably get back to the gym and do more strength training, but I'm just lazy. 2 pounds a week is my goal!

~I cut off all of my hair as a Christmas present to myself. It's really cute--really different, but really cute.

~Sad day. Emily and Elizabeth (my camp buddies and best friends in my dorm) aren't coming back to NWCC next semester. I know they're following God's will, but MY will is that they stay with me for forever. I know it's selfish of me, but you would be too! lol. I'm going to see them on Wednesday! We're gonna shoot off some fireworks and hang out and such. It'll be fun! I can't wait to see them again!

I have been incredibly financially irresponsible the last few years. So I'm making a New Years resolution starting TODAY to not spend any more debit card money on fast food. If I'm going to eat fast food, i'm going to pay cash for it. Ugh. I have a feeling that once school starts back up, i'm going to hate myself for this, but it needs to be done. I'm also not buying ANY more clothes until the ones I'm wearing are falling off of me. I've spent more money on clothes that I don't need than I have on groceries or anything else. And I'm also going to start saving and tithing my money. at least 10% to the church and at least $10 to savings each month. I want to bring glory to God with my finances like I do with the rest of my life. For some reason I think money is an area in my life that i can hide from God, but I know that's just not true. So, here ya go, God!

I realized not too long ago, that I've lived a very materialistic, instant gratification sort of life-style. I get what I want when I want it or I go crazy. I don't NEED anything at the moment, but I have this crazy urge to go spend money I don't have on something I won't use. It's ridiculous. So I'm changing that--one step at a time. I need to LEARN to be content the way Paul was in Philippians 4.

Anyways, here's some pictures that I've taken with my new camera over this Christmas break!

Oh Christmas Tree!



Mom's gonna kill me when she sees this but I don't care! :)

my favorite picture... Dad quit singing the song, so Pete had to pick up the drums AND vocals... so he stuck the mic down his shirt!

Christmas Craziness in 413

We had Christmas in out dorm tonight, Alyssa, Sarah, and myself. We've had Christmas decorations up since October, but tonight we finally got a chance to celebrate the end of the semester and go absolutely, absurdly, insane!! It was WONDERFUL!! We practiced our makeup for CATS, dressed up as something really loud from the 80's or something, and then took sweet Christmas pictures. it was sooo much fun!!

I did mine and Sarah's makeup. I was very proud of how feline we looked!

Not sure what to call this one... just plain weird, i guess!!! but it was a blast!

She's a GIANT!!!! we look so... weird. :)

our friend, will came over and helped us take the pics.. we had fun hanging out with him!!

MY ROOMIES!!! (and our beautiful Christmas Decorations!!!

wow

I didn't realize how long it's been since my last post. I'm terribly sorry about that! :)

Just a little update in the life of me:
1. this semester is finally over--well... almost. I have to finish out this week and next monday but then i'm home free!!! Praise the LORD!!
2. CATS is going well. We have at least 2 songs choreographed and almost all of the others have been worked on vocally. It seems to be a slow process but we're learning! It's a lot of fun--especially the dancing. I miss tapping, but I'm LOVING having to do it now! I expect to see you all at this thing: February 26th-March 1
3. I have a new commitment--and it involves a boy. :) His name is Dan... and he's my TRAINER!!! (so really my commitment is to me, and not to him, but it's fun to say it like that lol) I figured I should get in shape for the musical so mom hooked me up with Dan. He's been kicking my butt lately--and i love it. I can leg press over 150 lbs. he was about as shocked as i was. lol
4. I miss my camp friends. That's really all i can say about that.
5. I can't wait for Christmas to get here. I love Christmas. I love being with my family at Christmas. I love sitting at home and not doing anything at Christmas. (I have a feeling Dan's not gonna like that about me very much :P). I just love Christmas in general.

Well that's really been about it with me lately. I'm really just trying desperately hard to find excuses to not study for this silly Lit exam. Who's idea was it to cram 350 years of literature in one class anyway? ugh. Anyway, Love ya Mean it!!!

God moment

I was thinking tonight about a boy I went to highschool with, J.T., who had been bitten by a spider in middle school. The doctors did whatever they had to do to remove the poison from his body. However, in eleventh grade, years after the spider was forgotten about, he was suddenly faced with heart failure. The poison from the spider years ago had infected his heart. Luckily, the doctors found a heart just in time and J.T. is fully recovered and healthy.

God laid it on my heart tonight that that poison from the spider bite is sin. You can do whatever you think you have to do to remove it from your life, but until you have a full heart transplant, that poison stays with you.

I don't know if you understand what I'm getting at, but I think it's time for some major heart surgery. Luckily for us, it's not as painful or as long a recovery as J.T.'s was.

i miss my buddies!!!

I'm sitting here, in my dorm room.. lonely, but not alone. My "sisters" are out of town visiting their parentals. My "brothers" are in Jackson--even though they were both going to be here this weekend, they postponed and are now having a great time... 4 hours away. I miss my friends!!!

I can't wait for this weekend though! I'm plannin a whole load of NOTHING while my best buddies in the whole world are here, in Tobie-town, to love on and joke on... but mostly joke on. It's funny how we NEVER get to see each other. and you'd think that when we do finally get together that we'd be as nice as possible... but no. we love stepping on each others' toes and we love having our toes stepped on. it's an interesting friendship. :)

I MISS THEM!!!

fewer distractions, more time!

It's amazing how much more time you have when you cut out some of the distractions in your life. Today I've been, dare I say it? BORED!

I'm hiding my phone for the rest of the night and probably all day tomorrow. I'll keep it around in case of an emergency, but I won't be using it for any other reason. It's so distracting. Today in class I got caught checking it, and then I realized when I sat down to do my homework, I didn't have a clue about what we discussed in class. ALSO, I realized the other day when I sat down to do my Bible study, that I wasn't able to focus on God's word because my friends were texting me, and I was texting back. So I'm hiding it. I guess need to invest in an alarm clock and greeting cards.

I also deleted my facebook account today. DELETED it. This is a huge deal for me. If you think my phone sounds like a distraction, you should see me with facebook. It's ridiculous how much I use it. The chat feature is awesome and I can stay so connected with my friends on it. But then today, it hit me... I'm more attatched to my facebook than I am to the friends anyway. I get on to see how many new comments I can get on a photo or if someone has "poked" me or to beat my friends in the number of friends they have. It's insane how addicted I am to that website. So I deleted it. I know it's kind of rash and a bit impulsive, but I think it will be for my benefit. Now maybe I can get online for research without taking a detour to facebook. And maybe I can sit down at my desk and read, without getting distracted by friends who want to chat with me.

I know I may become a little less connected with my friends, but I'll become a lot more connected with my Savior without those distractions, and a lot more connected with my school work.

Pray, though. because it's HARD work.

I have a job!!

Hallelujah, praise the LORD!!! He has provided yet again with another wonderful job! At least it seems wonderful so far. I'm working on the registers at Fred's and while it's no Camp Lakeside, it's money in the bank and a wonderful opportunity to make my God known in Senatobia! It's gonna be tough to balance 20 hours of school work with 30 hours of Fred's work, and still have time for 8 hours of sleep each night, but I think I can manage it. I'm sooo excited!!