Up!

A good friend of mine showed me these engagement pictures that used the theme of the movie Up! How fun and creative is that? I thought you would enjoy these adorable pics. Too bad I didn't think of this sooner. :)

Up engagement photo shoot

Summer Raquel

Those of you who know me well know that I have 3 younger sisters whom I adore. Seriously, they are a HUGE part of my life and I am soo blessed to be their older sister. One of them, Summer, is turning 15 years old this upcoming Tuesday, June 1st. She is a beautiful, strong, funny and smart young lady. I saw this cute idea on Eva's blog about creating a cute box for teacher appreciation day. Well my sister has a lot of jewelry and things so I decided to make one of these tackle boxes for her. I for the most part followed the directions but changed it up a little bit. I think it turned out cute, which of course was the goal hence the name "cute box". :)

You can find the directions to this craft by clicking here:

Cute Box

Visitors

This past week has been quite eventful and exciting. My little sister, Summer came to Gainesville for the week because it was her Spring Break and my nephew, a Shih Tzu that goes by the name of Tank spent the week with me. On Monday, we basically bummed around watching some good movies like 8 seconds. That night I made some yummy cheeseburgers with all of the trimmings and some crispy french fries, Summy's fave. Then Tuesday we spent the day in the sun and were left sun-kissed. That night we indulged in Veggie Fajitas which were quite delectable if I must say so myself. MMMmm.. After din din, Summer and my other sister Sierra went to see The Last Song. It was good, but a tear jerker for sure. If you go to see it, make sure to bring the tissues! On Wednesday Summer and I enjoyed a trip to Lake Wauburg. We kayaked and paddle boated our little hearts out. We sure did work up an appetite so we went to Bono's for some good ole BBQ. Yumm! We then went to spend time with our sis Sierra. It was so funny seeing Tank's (the pup) reactions to Sierra's roommates doggy, Charlie. Charlie is a black lab/German Shepard mix and weighs a good 50 lbs more than Tank. Charlie is so stinkin sweet, but Tank wasn't feeling his sweetness. Tank at first was scared but eventually Charlie warmed up to him and they became very playful with each other. It was so adorable to watch. Thursday was another chill day of watching movies. That night one of my girlfriends, Jenna, came to town to visit so we went to the Ale House and :08 which is a line dancing club. It was such a fun night and it was so nice to see my dear friend that I've missed! Friday was a movie/homework day as well. Today I have been cleaning and packing up Tank's stuff because he goes home tomorrow. :( The only good thing about that is his mommy aka my aunt/older sis comes home tomorrow. I have missed our daily conversations and am excited to get to see/talk to her in 24 hours! Goodness, I'm exhausted just talking about all we've done this week! But it has been so so fun and I'm so thankful I've had such amazing visitors this week. :)

It's been long enough..

Wow, I cannot believe how long it's been since the last time I have blogged. What's even crazier is how much my life has changed since that last blog entry. Hmm, where to start... Well, first off I am now single, which is a hugee change! I have been spending the last 6 months figuring myself out without a significant other and it has been a beautiful experience. I have gained my independence back and have devoted all of my time to my family, friends, school and Jesus. I started the Early Childhood program at UF last semester and it truly has been a positive experience. I have learned and am still learning so many fundamental concepts regarding educational pedagogies. I started my pre-internship this semester in which I spend 6 weeks in a 2nd grade classroom and 6 weeks in a Pre-K classroom. When I first started in my 2nd grade placement I was a bit overwhelmed and pessimistic. It didn't take long, however, for those 2nd graders to capture my heart and I can already feel the tears coming on Friday when I have to leave them. :( One of the biggest reasons the Early Childhood program has been a positive experience is because of the girls that I share all of my classes with. I have made life-long friendships and have never in my life had such loyal, caring and beautiful friends. I love them all to death! Actually that picture up there is of me (far right) and Jenna, Michelle, Chelsea and Julee. These are my new, amazing friends. :) My life is turning out to be a little different than I expected, but in my opinion that's what keeps things exciting! I do not know what to expect in the future, but I do know that I'll be able to get through anything thrown my way! Yayy!!!

Winding down

So the semester is coming to an end and I am consumed with school related activites. Tests, papers, meetings, applications, etc. to no end. I really do enjoy school and all of it's fun activities, but goodness I am so thankful for Summertime and all of relaxation I'll get to experience. As this semester is coming to a close, I've been reflecting on all the cool friendships and awesome fun I've had and I am realizing that this semester has been great. The summer, however, is going to be greater! I am going to be taking 3 classes at the local community college and working, but I get to reunite with the dear girls that I had Bible study with last summer, and we're going to do it all over again. Also, I'm going on my first airplane ride, EVER. Yep, I've never been on an airplane. ; ) I might be going to Kentucky to on a seperate occasion if I can convince my Pappaw that that is a trip long overdue. My birthday is this summer too, so I look forward to celebrating that. And of course teaching VBS is a real treat. Whoo hoo it's gonna be amazing. The only thing that is going to be super hard is being away from my love, Tyler for 2 1/2 months. I just gotta be prayerful that God will keep us both at peace and content. God is great and I'm confident He will do this for us. :) It's great daydreaming about my wonderful summer that awaits me, but I got to get back to the books. Only 2 more weeks of this. Thank goodness!

Butterflies and Agape

First off, I'd like to say Yay for creating a Blogger! These things are awesome little devices.

Ok so I just wanna say that this past weekend was so amazing. I was on team for this awesome retreat called Chrysalis. It is a weekend of surprises, love aka Agape, blessings, and so much more. The reason these weekends occur is to further the Kingdom of God and let me tell you that's exactly what happened this last weekend. I was blessed in so many ways from the music to the sweet girls that I met. We all were so different, but we definitely had at least one thing in common and that is our love for Jesus Christ. It was so refreshing to meet these girls whom all come from different backgrounds but who all want to spread the love of Christ in all capacities.

It was so nice, after we left the closing ceremony of the weekend, a bunch of us girls met up at La Napolera aka La Nop. La Nop is this fun little Mexican restauraunt that has the greatest food ever. It was so fun getting to talk to the girls about what they loved about the weekend. And simply just getting to know them better. They're all beautiful creations of God and I am so blessed to know them. Thank you Jesus for bringing them into my life. :)

Today, Sam, my dearest friend, and I headed back to Gainesville. I wasn't too thrilled about coming back just cause school is kinda wearing me out these days, but I kinda had no choice. Anyways, I'm trying to get back in the swing of things.

Tonight my favorite show is coming on, which will be a real treat. And tomorrow, well who knows what will come of it.. Hopefully productivity. Hehe.

<3