Never Grow Up

Just felt compelled to share the lyrics to a song from Taylor Swift's new album that I've been listening to a lot lately that I feel like I've been able to relate to quite a bit. Not that I wish I hadn't grown up.. because I love where I am in my life, I wouldn't change it for anything. But as I get older, I understand more and more how beautiful, innocent and pure the life of a sweet little child is. And as I struggle with things like pulling money together to pay bills, sometimes I wish I could go back in time to 5-year-old me and tell her to enjoy every moment of being 5, being 6, being 7.. and on and on.. and not wish for adulthood to come faster. The view is so much more clear looking backwards than looking forwards.. but that's okay, because that's when we learn to place our utmost trust in God. (as a side note.. I am getting married in 3 WEEKS! Talk about being a big kid (: excited doesn't even begin to describe it!)

Your little hand's wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light
To you everything's funny, you got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that

Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple
I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart
And no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up, never grow up

You're in the car on the way to the movies
And you're mortified your mom's dropping you off
At 14 there's just so much you can't do
And you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots
But don't make her drop you off around the block
Remember that she's getting older too
And don't lose the way that you dance around in your pj's getting ready for school

Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple
No one's ever burned you, nothing's ever left you scarred
And even though you want to, just try to never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs
I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone

So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It's so much colder that I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on

Wish I'd never grown up
I wish I'd never grown up

Oh I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
I could still be little
Oh I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
It could still be simple
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple
Won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
And even though you want to, please try to never grow up
Oh, don't you ever grow up
Oh, never grow up, just never grow up

seven!

It has been 7 months.. yes.. SEVEN.. since I've blogged on here. Holy cow! I've been using the blog agent tumblr instead, but I think I'm going to switch back to blogger. Tumblr just doesn't have the crowd and ease of use that blogger has. And I also don't have the ability to forward my blog posts to my twitter from tumblr, which is a big thing for me since I'm real big on twitter. anyway, signing off for now! I'll be back. (:

post script..

P.S.-

I'd really like to start blogging more, even just short updates with little thoughts throughout my day. I do have an iPhone, after all, I should make good use of it. That is my goal for march.

Goodnight world!

xox annie

tweet tweet tweet..

So lately I've become slightly obsessed with Twitter. Okay, more like totally obsessed. Why you ask? Well, let me enlighten you.

(for those of you who don't know what Twitter is, it's a social networking site like facebook, only without all of the extra stuff. basically, you have 140 characters to write a status update, much like on facebook. but that's all you do. you can tag people and reply to people in your status updates, and also send direct (private) messages. You "follow" someone, subscribe to their page, and then you see all of their tweets. Twitter is a great platform for holding conversation, it is very common to see people tweeting back and forth to each other).

Anyway, twitter is a platform that is used heavily by, for example, celebs, companies, news anchors.. and the latter is what makes me so drawn to it.

As you all should know by now, I am an absolute Fox News addict. It's like Fox News has become the soundtrack to my life. When I look back on the last year I can hardly remember a time without the quiet hum of news anchors in the background guiding me through my afternoon, along with the peppy, fun atmosphere of Fox & Friends in the morning and the exciting, intense atmosphere of the nighttime opinion shows. It's on.. all the time.. even when I'm not watching it.

So anyway, what does this have to do with twitter? Well, pretty much all of my favorite Fox News anchors have twitter pages that they update constantly, especially in the time right before they are on-air, and also during commercial breaks when they are on-air. My second favorite anchor Gretchen Carlson (second only to the fabulous Megyn Kelly), runs the twitter for Fox & Friends in the morning and is always tweeting often. Greta Van Susteren who hosts On The Record at 10pm on Fox News also has a twitter. Her twitter is hilarious.. she tweets all the time.. she asks questions, and just gives general comments and she is always responding to her followers (pretty much all of whom are her fans).

The reason that I mention these two anchors are because that I've actually gotten direct responses from these two women themselves on twitter in the last week. These two incredibly accomplished women, both of whom are anchors on largely popular cable news shows, have responded personally to me.. little me.. sitting at my computer in my little apartment in Charlotte. As a ridiculous Fox News fan this is literally rocking my world! I am like a little 12 year old fan girl all over again. The fact that I've received personal, direct message from these two women highlights two points for me. First of all, that they are incredibly gracious and down to earth women for taking the time to just talk with their fans and respond to what they have to say. And secondly, that twitter is an amazing new piece of technology. It takes things to a whole new level. Before, it was just the regular news experience: get the news read from the teleprompter by the anchor, watch some commercials, lather, rinse, repeat. (okay not really, but you get the point). But now the connection is so much more personal because I can read tweets that these anchors post during commercial breaks.. with questions or just general comments or insight into what they are thinking. It makes watching the news so much more personal, and for someone like me who is incredibly news-conscious and politically active, that is awesome.

well.. that's all from my little corner of the world tonight!

to all who stumble upon my little blog, many blessings to you and I wish for you a wonderful week!

xox annie

my fairytale ending. (:

I'm alive! and not just alive, but I am the happiest girl in the whole wide world!

I apologize for the lengthy gap in blog updates, but the past two months (wow has it really been two months since my last update??) have been crazy!! Things are just as crazy now if not more crazy, but I am making time because it is important to me to stay in touch with all of you. It was so wonderful to be home and see everyone! I am so blessed and grateful that Garrett gave me the opportunity to spend a weekend with my family and share with you guys my wonderful news and happiness. Speaking of news and happiness, I am pretty sure (at least I hope!) that all of you know my news by now, which is that Garrett and I got engaged on January 23rd! (: I am, like I said, the happiest girl in the whole world, and for those who don't know, I would like to share with you the story of our proposal:

On Friday, January 22nd, Garrett and I headed to Gatlinburg, Tennessee with four of our close friends Steve, Mike, Charliann and Kristen. Steve and Charliann have been dating for 2 and a half years and Mike and Kristen actually became an "official" couple the night that Garrett and I got engaged. Anyway, we rented this AMAZING cabin up in the beautiful mountains. It had a sauna, hot tub, pool & foosball tables, and three bedrooms. The funniest part about it is that between the three bedrooms and pull out couches, there were three king size beds and two queen sized beds.. and yet all three of us girls ended up in one king bed together, and (hilariously) all three boys ended up in one king bed together. It was like two giant sleepovers. But it was definitely a lot of fun.

On the afternoon of Saturday the 23rd, we drove into downtown Gatlinburg. We spent some time just walking around through the shops and having a good time. We sat down to dinner at a delicious restaurant and enjoyed great food. When our waitress brings out dessert, she hands me this little packet of papers. I looked down at the papers and see that it is the first three pages of a story of some sort. I read the pages and it turns out to be a fairytale about a girl named "Anneastalla". Along with the three pages there is a small paper that has directions on it, telling me that the rest of the pages are hidden throughout downtown and that I have to find them. Garrett tells me that this is my present for our three year anniversary which was January 4th (though I am secretly hoping that it might be leading up to a proposal). I end up going on a scavenger hunt all through downtown which takes me places like up the gondola to an ice rink, to a candy shop, and to a little river that runs through the town, receiving more pages of the fairytale at each place.

The fairytale tells the story of a girl named Anneastalla who is chosen as the next princess of "Chicagdria", signified by an old shoe of Anneastalla's being turned into a pink glass slipper in the middle of the night. Before Anneastalla sees the pink glass slipper and realizes that she is the new princess, the evil Lord Vicis steals the glass slipper. The kingdom has no idea who the new princess is, and by default, Vicis becomes king. One day Anneastalla meets Garricus, who is the prince of the nearby kingdom (though he does not reveal this to Anneastalla). They spend the day together and fall in love. Anneastalla has to return to Chicagdria and her and Prince Garricus must say goodbye, though they continue writing letters to each other every day. Prince Garricus discovers that King Vicis has stolen the pink glass slipper from Anneastalla and he sets out to go tell her. Before he can reach her, King Vicis kidnaps Anneastalla and locks her up in the castle. Prince Garricus rides to the castle to rescue her and when he gets there, King Vicis reveals his true form, a dragon. Prince Garricus slays the dragon and then frees Anneastalla and they live happily ever after. (the fairytale is much more complex and longer, this is just the summary version)

We reached the end of the scavenger hunt and the last few pages were sitting on a blanket near the small river. Garrett asked if I had liked it, and I told him that I loved it and tried to act so happy about it, although I was secretly totally disappointed, as at this point I had definitely been expecting a proposal at the end (later I found out that I had done a terrible job of acting happy, because Garrett could tell I was totally disappointed!). We got in his car and headed out on the 20 minute drive back to our cabin, and in my mind I had the slightest hope that maybe there would be a surprise back at the cabin and that really wasn't the end, but I pushed that thought out of my mind. We arrived back at the house and as soon as we pulled up, Mike came out and told Garrett that our pipes had froze and we had no water, so Mike and Garrett disappeared together. (at this point I knew that there was definitely something going on, because I didn't believe the whole we-have-no-water gimmick). I head up the front steps to the door and I see a sign that says "Alternate Ending - Anneastalla" and there's an arrow pointing to the right, to the pathway that leads to the balcony in the back. My heart started pounding like crazy and I followed a trail of rose petals and votive candles around to the lower balcony, up through the house, and out to the upper balcony which was covered in rose petals and light strands. On the floor of the balcony I see a pink glass slipper along with a beautiful book that is the fairytale Garrett had written, and it is opened to the last two pages. I read the ending and it is different this time, it says that Prince Garricus and Princess Anneastalla not just live happily ever after, but that they get married, uniting their two kingdoms, and live happily ever after. I am shaking like crazy and my heart is nearly pounding out of my chest. Garrett comes up behind me, turns me around, and then gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him. I said yes, of course, and cried (a good cry). It was the most magical and beautiful night of my life, and I am the most blessed girl in the whole world to have a man who loves me so much that he would plan this incredible proposal for me. I loved that he wrote our story into a fairytale, especially because he is my prince and he truly makes me feel like a princess. I know that I have found my prince charming who will take care of me and love me my whole life, and who I know I will spend happily forever and ever after with.

Whew, okay, I know that is really long but I really wanted to share the story of our proposal with you guys because it is so special and magical and amazing!! I am truly the luckiest girl in the world. I had so much fun that weekend with our friends, and January 23rd was an incredible night!! Because of our proposal of course, and also because as I said above, Garrett's best friend Mike asked Kristen to be his girlfriend that night (and what makes it even neater is that we found out he asked her to be his girlfriend pretty much at the exact same time as Garrett was asking me to marry him. cool huh!?).

Well anyway, we don't have any big details set yet, all we know is that the wedding will be on January 1st, 2011. (1/1/11, kinda neat huh?) We of course will keep you all updated as we make more decisions.

I will update soon with more of the details of what's going on in my life in general in school and work and all. As of tonight, I was up last night until 2am doing homework, so I am going to enjoy a cup of hot tea, some relaxation, and a good night's sleep!

Hope everyone has a blessed week! (:

xoxo annie

The Christmas Gift

This is my favorite time of the year. The chilly weather (though not so much in NC, it reached 70 degrees at one point today!), the snow, the Christmas decorations, the Christmas tree, the Christmas songs, that magical feeling that always comes around this time of year. But most importantly, this is the time of year when we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ! Isn't it easy to get caught up in the craziness that sweeps through during Christmas time? I know that I am absolutely guilty. I found myself today worrying so much about Christmas gifts, about how I really won't be able to afford to buy many. I was worrying about who would be angry with me if I didn't get them a gift, and I was stressing myself out so much over how embarrassed and ashamed I would feel to accept a gift from someone whom I could not return the favor. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving gifts around the holidays, but what I'm coming to realize is that there is something wrong with being so worried about how many gifts you can afford to buy that you let it steal away your joy that the season can bring in the first place.

I started to wonder how Jesus would be if he was on Earth today. Would he celebrate Christmas the way we do? Would he give gifts, and expect them in return? And then it hit me. Jesus did give a gift.. and it is the most amazing gift that we have or will ever receive. And the kicker? It was freely given.. He expects absolutely nothing in return. He gave His LIFE for mine. He made an exchange. His life, for the lives of every person on Earth. And all we have to do is accept it!! That's it, no strings attached. And what do we do? Well, we spend our Christmas season worrying about the gifts that we are going to give and receive, instead of celebrating the one gift worth celebrating.. the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, for us!

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is.. I'm done worrying about Christmas gifts, and I'm going to start celebrating THE Christmas Gift. Because that isn't the way God wants me to act. There will be a time in the future when I will be able to afford to buy nice gifts for everyone that I want to buy gifts for. But until then, I will do what I can and buy the gifts that I can, and most importantly, not let it steal my joy.

God, thank You for sending us Your Son. Let us all never take it for granted, and let us always remember the best Christmas Gift of all.. a little baby, born to a virgin mother in a dirty stable, who would someday give His life for the lives of all of us. What a beautiful gift.


Isn’t it amazing?
Just to think such royalty
Would come the way He came
In a dusty little town
Born in such humility upon a bed of hay
Certainly He laid His glory down

Who would think this little child
Would be the Promised One?
Would the Messiah really come this way?
And certainly this was no birthplace
For the Son of God
Isn’t it amazing how He came?

I can’t believe that I would be the reason why He came
I can’t believe He left His mighty throne
He became a pauper so that I could be a king
He denied Himself and then He made my heart His home

Isn’t it amazing the way He came?
No crown, no throne no big parade
There were no fanfares played, no jubilant display
Isn’t it amazing how He came?

like a kite..

' "Let me not become disconnected from You, Lord. Like that red kite, let there be a connecting string between You and me, so that I can fly high and safe as You've created all people to do. With that string, I will go where You want me to go. I'll be what You want me to be. Thank You for Your grace." Somehow I knew that God was working on something significant in our small-town life, and I felt myself seeking something ahead. Still, I prayed to be content with what I had, even if that meant that my political career would end in Wasilla City Hall.'

-Going Rogue

That is a prayer that Sarah Palin wrote in an old journal that she shared in her book. I was really moved by it. Sarah Palin is a shining star in the world of politics. And I don't say that because she is a republican like me, or because she shares pretty much all of my fiscal and social views.. but because she shines with the LIGHT of CHRIST. We are hard-pressed nowadays to find a leader in politics who is truly unashamed to share their love for Christ and their reliance on the Lord. and I think it is AWESOME.

Anyway, that's not why I wrote this blog. I wanted to share that prayer that she wrote because it is something that I've been praying for myself ever since reading it. That string is so important in our lives, that in all we do, we remain connected always to the Lord. And also, what's even more important, is that we are always praying to be content with what we have. That is something that is SO hard to do, and something that I really admire Sarah Palin for praying for. It's hard to find people who are in the spotlight, whether it be politics or Hollywood or wherever, who ask God to help them be content with what they have. Most of them just want more and more and more. And that is something that I am really praying hard for, that I will let God lead me where He wants me, not where I want me, and that I will be completely content with what I have.

Anyway, I so enjoyed my time in Chicago with family. I missed you all so much and I wish our time together could have been longer. Now it's time for you all to come visit me!! ;) But seriously, I have plenty of room and I would absolutely love for all of you to come out here and see North Carolina.

Well, I'm off to read more of Going Rogue. I really can't put it down. It's a must read!! I recommend it to all. I promise a longer blog to come soon. Only one more week of class, a few finals, and it's Christmas break!! 'Yippee Skippee!!' as Garrett's Aunt Cathy says.

xoxo Annie

photo blog, episode 1 (henceforth known as a phlog)

hello world!

well, that is the 7 or 8 of you that read this. I don't think my blog is quite world famous yet, or ever will be for that reason.. but that is totally okay with me, cause God is listening, and family and friends are reading, and that's all I need! actually, that's what I prefer.

anyway, got a little off track.. I am doing something different in this blog.. it is going to be a.... (drum roll please!)... a photo blog! I figured it would be really fun for those of you family (and friends) reading this that have never been able to visit me here (like you guys, Dad and JoAnn and Nana and Nonnie!) to see some pictures of my apartment, my kitty, the area, and just other activities and things that have been going on in my life. I know it's great every now and then to be able to see some actual pictures instead of having to imagine everything in your head! so, here goes!



My Apartment!
It is in the University area, which is just the informal name of the section of the city of Charlotte where UNCC is.

Here's my apartment! This is the living room area. Kitchen table to the right, super comfy couch to the left, and my awesome tv in the back corner. And you can see my wonderful balcony! The coffee table was the most recent addition to this room, $20 at Ikea! I love Ikea!

Here's another view of the living room. The walls are so plain and boring.. I can't wait until I start working and can afford to buy fun things to decorate the apartment with!

And here's my nice little kitchen.. it's small, but nonetheless the perfect size for me! And that's the entrance to the apartment to the left.

Here's my oh-so-fancy hallway (more like plain boring hallway.. again, can't wait to be able to buy decorations!) that leads to my bedroom (on the right) and my bathroom (on the left) and also the coat closet. The entrance to the apartment is behind me, the kitchen to the left and the living room to the right.

And here's my bedroom! You can see my bed, my fancy tv dinner tray nightstand, and then my desk. My box spring looks so ugly showing from under my comforter, I really need to get a dust ruffle. (that's what they're called right? haha). Actually, I just had a brilliant idea! I just ordered a new sheet set because coby ripped a hole in my current sheets.. but when I get my new sheets, I can put the fitted sheet with the rip onto the box spring, cause you won't see the rip since it's the box spring, but it will make it look much better! genius!

The other side of my bedroom, my dresser and the door out to my balcony. I also have a nice big walk-in closet that's right behind me from where I'm standing in this picture, opposite of my bed.

Andddd here's my bathroom, I'm sure you all really wanted to see it! Just kidding. It's actually a lot bigger than it looks in this picture, that area to the left is a nice sized closet, and the shower is to the right, you can see the reflection of it in the mirror.

Finally, a close up view of my balcony.. I love it! It's the best place to sit and have a cup of coffee, or write in my dbook, or just hang!

Meet Cobra Commander (Coby) my kitten!

Here he is, Cobra Commander! This is when I got him, and we were riding home. (This is also right before he got carsick and threw up in his crate. Poor guy, he gets taken from his mommy and then gets put in this big moving thing that makes him sick to his stomach. He was probably so confused! but he couldn't be happier now).

Coby playing with his favorite dangle-y toy. The pink park broke off, but I just tied a toy mouse to the end and he loves it just the same! (I can't believe how LITTLE he was! this is the first night he was home).

Coby stretching out on his blue bed that Mom bought him. He loves his bed!

Another shot of him on his bed. He used to be so small! He only takes up half of his bed in this shot, now he is nearly too big for it!

Here he is being adorable! His ears are so disproportionate to the rest of his body, haha.

Here's Coby sitting on Garrett's legs. He's getting bigger! I think he likes the heat of the computer.

Isn't he so cute?? Hiding behind a bag.

Well I'm apparently not the only one in this apartment that is a Fox News addict. Coby is taking after mommy!

Coby has discovered a lot of silly new places to hang out lately.. he loves to snooze in my drawers if I happen to leave one open by accident. I would guess this one is his favorite, it's got all of my comfy pjs in it!

His very favorite new hangout spot.. the top of the cabinets in the kitchen! He's been making trouble up there though, attacking those paper lantern lights that I have hanging up, so I haven't let him up there for a few days. (in case you are wondering, he jumps onto the counter, then onto the top of the fridge, then up to the cabinet tops).

And here he is in his favorite annoy-mommy-while-she's-trying-to-get-ready-in-the-morning-spot. the sink! and if I turn the water on, he doesn't even move! he's the first cat I've ever seen that likes water.

Miscellaneous Pictures
Here's a bunch of random pictures of all sorts of things!

Here's Garrett and I at a lighthouse in Maine. We made a day trip to Maine during our missions trip to Boston, and we visited the lighthouse, the beach, and ate some Maine lobster! It was a lot of fun.

Here's me and my big fish that I caught last spring! We were at this really neat catfish farm. As you can see, I had to hold my fish using the net because I wasn't brave enough to actually hold it.

Here's Garrett with his big big fish! This place was really neat, owned by a really nice older man and woman. It is only open in the spring, sadly.

Hehe! Here is Ally when we were at On The Border the night before my birthday when Mom and Ally visited. The balloon man came to our table (it was unavoidable) and made Ally this alien hat thing. I think she rocks it!

On campus one day, the Concord K-9 unit did a neat demonstration with their drug-sniffing dogs. They had a whole demonstration with a bunch of suitcases with one containing marijuana, and then after that they let us pet the dogs and ask questions. The dogs were so cute!

Here's a view of uptown Charlotte when I was on my way to the elementary school that I do my clinicals for school at. It was cold and rainy that day! In Charlotte they call the city Uptown instead of Downtown, silly right?

I love cooking stir fry, and Garrett and I love to cook stir fry together too! This was a stir fry I made when Garrett was out of town for the weekend and I wanted to cook something yummy. It's chicken, onions, zucchini and yellow squash, yummm!

And here's the subject of my latest blog, the big spike in my tire! Not sure how the spike got in that part of my tire, and I probably will never know!

This is the view of campus from one of the parking decks. Fall is so pretty and the UNCC campus is beautiful. I am so blessed to go there!

This is the view from my balcony, it is so pretty! I am so blessed to have a view of the woods instead of having an apartment on the other side of the building with a view of the parking lot!

I think that fall in North Carolina is the prettiest fall I've seen out of anywhere I've been. Especially up in the mountains! Did you ever get to see the North Carolina fall up in Asheville, Nonnie? It's so beautiful.

Well, that's the end! I hope you all loved my phlog! It took me a really long time.. I'm not kidding, like 3 hours! haha. But it was worth it! I'm off to relax for the rest of my Friday evening, I hope you all are doing the same! God is so great, and I will update soon on the awesome things He's doing in my life, and the things He's teaching me.

God bless you all,

xoxo annie

dbook//flat tire//&steak

I've started something new today. I bought a composition notebook from the grocery store and I am calling it my "dbook", which stands for devotional book. I was inspired (this is silly, I know) from the book Harriet the Spy. I loved loved loved the movie when I was younger (remember mom and dad how the VHS case was bright orange and had that cover insert that could be flipped around and made it look like a composition notebook?? I remember thinking that was the coolest thing, like.. ever!! I'll never ever forget that.) and just this week I had to read the book for my Children's Lit class. The book, naturally, was better than the movie.. but, alas, nothing could replace the memories of that movie from my childhood. who knows how many times I watched that movie. anyway, I digress. For those who aren't familiar, Harriet has decided she is going to be a spy. She carries around this green composition notebook with her EVERYWHERE, and she literally writes in it nearly every minute, just writing down things that she sees and what she is thinking and how she is feeling. Anyway, I was inspired because I thought that would be something really interesting for me to try out. Except, instead of writing things like observations, I am going to treat it like a never-ending devotional prayer journal type thing..it is small enough to fit in my bag so I will carry it around with me. I have already begun writing, and I am treating it just as another form of communication with God, everything that I write is addressed to Him. It is, I hope, going to be a place that I can constantly record my thoughts and feelings and anything that I would want to talk to Papa about. And hopefully, it will help me maintain a more constant and closer relationship with my Father. It is really, essentially, just going to be a journal.. because that's what a journal is, in my perspective anyway, just a log of all of those things that I would want to talk to my Father about. So that's what it will be. Just a place for me to put anything, even to doodle or print and paste scripture that I want to focus on. I will write in it diligently every morning, and then just throughout the day whenever I get a chance. I am excited about it, and will keep you all updated on how it goes.

It's been a busy week so far. I had a mini disaster on Tuesday.. somehow a huge spike managed to find its way right through my tire (what wonderful luck I have) and caused a slow leak (that is until it was pulled out, and it went flat) and wrecked my tire. BUT, God was good to me and it was during the time that I was nannying, and so because the Moyers had AAA, he called and they came over and changed out my tire free of charge. AND.. the Moyers invited me to stay for a delicious steak and mashed potato dinner. So, all was well in the end. And I am very blessed because since I drive a jeep, I don't just have a low-quality, only-safe-to-drive-with-for-a-few-miles spare tire.. I have a fifth tire on the back of my car that is no different from the other four already on, even with the same nice alloy metal rim and everything. (which I was not aware of until I came out and saw it after AAA had changed it). So thank You Lord, for working everything out okay. I can never seem to place my full trust in God, and when things like this happen I become a worry wart and get myself all worked up. ("I don't know what I'm going to do.. I can't afford a new tire, then I can't drive my car, and then I can't get to class or work.." etc etc..) And then God gives me that same old nudge that He always does and says, "My Annie, why do you worry like this? Learn to trust me, child, I will always be here, I would never let you go through this alone. Remember those times there was only one set of footprints in the sand? That is when I carried you, little one, and brought you safely through the storm. Don't you remember what I told you, daughter? 'Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you'. Don't you ever forget that." And then it leaves me, as always, my head hung low with a quiet "sorry Papa", and Him embracing me in His arms as He always, always does. How sweet it is, the love of our Father.

Anyway, I'm off to bed (I think.. I always say that and then get caught up doing something else).. it's up at 6:30 for me tomorrow, for a shower, devos (on the balcony with a cup of coffee, mmm) and classes, and then work. And then begins the weekend! and not only is it just the weekend, but it is fall break! Hooray! Which means that I not only have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off as usual, but I also have Monday and Tuesday off! Yay!

wishing many blessings for anyone that stumbles along to my little blog,

xox Annie

first love

"God will look to every soul like its first love because He is its first love." -C.S. Lewis


meditating on that beautiful thought today. more to come later.



xox Annie