What You May (or may not) Want to Know.

I feel the need to play catch-up. This seems to be the way it has been as of late with this blog. In an effort to expedite the process, below is a list of 25 things you may or may not want to know about what's been happening recently. Ready, shoot!

1. I'm an Einstein Bagel's regular now. Two early mornings a week must give you that status. Can't say I'm hating it.
2. Wedding planning is coming along. Invitations have been the bane of my existence. But, I'm quite thrilled that people even want to come to our wedding. Really.
3. I dyed my hair. It's a vibrant red/amber/auburn. And, because I know what's coming next, yes, I think I'll keep it for the wedding.
4. It's raining slush-ee today. Walking around campus is interesting, or non-existent. Let's go with the latter.
5. Greg has been wearing the GAP clothes I bought for him. He's quite good to me, even when our personal styles couldn't be more opposite.
6. We finally decided what the groomsmen are going to wear at our wedding. Why was that so much harder than the girl's dresses?
7. I can't wait to see my dress. It's been over a month since I've last seen it. I think I need to try it on again. It's too perfect. Ugh!
8. My family (and our exchange student) are making an excursion to Charleston for spring break. Hello colorful heaven!
9. My mother hugs me at least once a day and tells me I'm her baby and that she won't have me much longer...Moooooooooom!
10. I've decided that I need a beach. And, to be able to tan. And, some free beach apparel. Don't think that's happening.
11. I finished the book With by Skye Jethani. It's a good read for anyone. Annnnyone.
12. My brother comes home from Afghanistan in a little under a month. So happy for him and his wife to be reunited. And, I can't wait to see him, too.
13. I eat a peanut butter sandwich for lunch everyday.
14. Greg and I started premarital counseling this week. Pour on the sanctifying fire, Lord.
15. I like yoga. No, I love yoga.
16. I have a summer internship at Subaru. So pumped. God has been super gracious to provide a job for me.
17. Greg and I get to move into our first apartment together in Indy. Since our tastes are a far cry from one another, I think our decor will have M.P.D.
18. God has been showing me a lot about how selfish I am. Not in a way that makes me pull up my own boot straps and try harder, but in a way that makes me need/want Him so much more.
19. I'm working with our wedding photographer Brian Powell this spring, and super excited for him to shoot our wedding. I've never had professional photos of myself or Greg taken.
20. I'm still mesmerized by my engagement ring. My boy is way too kind to me.
21. Our church is starting a campus on the west side of town, and I couldn't be more excited to see what the Lord will do through all that.
22. My dad is amazing. Can't believe he's been my rock for so long. I'm going to be a faucet when he walks me down the aisle...ok, I'm already tearing up. Moving on.
23. Signed up for another half-marathon, and I've started biking. Triathlon? 
24. My pencils are all out of lead. I asked someone in my class if they had any. Apparently, I'm too nerdy even for engineering.
25. There are flannel sheets on my bed. So comfy. Still pondering why I left them so early this morning...

So much has changed in a few short months. Can't wait to see how much more everything morphs into the present. For a girl who is highly averse to change, God certainly pulled a fast one on me. Maybe you found some decent information in that mess above. If so, good! If not, sorry. My life must not be too interesting. If that's the case for you, I can't say that I disagree.

Oh dear. Time to happily embrace all that is coming in this year.

Happy Tuesday!

Car Coffee Shop.

My mornings are early these days. I'm out of the house or awake by 7am, and I can only hope that for the most part I look presentable. So, needless to say, I'm not really getting up an extra hour early every day to study my Bible (like I wish I had the self-discipline to do, but let's be real). In between classes, there are mini-breaks that are ideal of opening God's word and getting my daily dose of perspective.

But, I'm a sucker for starting my morning off on the right foot (if not, my day goes down hill. stat). God is just the way to do that. So, have I started waking up extra early? Nope. I've created something that I like to call my car coffee shop.

Don't judge based on the name (details are still being worked out). In a nutshell, I grab my coffee, turn on the radio to the christian station, and spend the 15 minutes of driving to campus praising God. Not thinking about Erika.

A super-duper wise lady in our church challenged me to spend the first five minutes of every day praising God-without mentioning anything about me or my life. Spend the time just relishing in who God is. The car coffee shop is kind of my equivalent to doing that.

Ugh. I must come up with a catchier name. Gosh darn it.

Crazy Tuesday.

I sat on my mom's bed last night and tried to communicate what I was thinking. She told me that if God really wanted me to know about my future he would have told me. The response I gave was a nod that communicated "I know, I know." After my worries were out there, I started to imagine what my life would be like if I chose to do something different, something no one else would think of as acceptable. Maybe I won't go to college. I'll be an intern for SafeWorld and help children dying of malaria in Uganda. Start my own business right out of high school.

When I woke up this morning and did my Facebook checking after reading my Bible, I saw that one of my best friends had posted this quote:

"Not being able to fully understand God is frustrating, but it is ridiculous for us to think that we have the right to limit Got to something we are capable of comprehending."

Thanks you Francis Chan for coming out a saying bluntly what the Bible says over and over again. I am not supposed to know what God does. That's a comforting thought. I don't think like God. And I don't have to think about all the things God does. What a sigh of relief. My worries are minute compared to what he deals with on a daily basis.

If you haven't read Crazy Love (Francis Chan), stop what you're doing now and start. It's God's truth plain and simple.