it's been a while

hello world,

its been a while since i've wrote on this thing. lots of things going on with wedding stuff...i will update that next time.

For now, you should know that I'm leaving in 15 mins to drive to Denver. My grandpa died yesterday & we have the memorial on Tuesday. Please be praying for my family.

I'm definitely going to need prayer for energy in the next couple of weeks. I'm leaving friday for LA for a conference with CRU. So for the next 12 days I will only be in town Wednesday night & Thursday. whew...yea, so pray.

i'm blessed with a wonderful family & excited to see them. I haven't seen the Denver family since last Thanksgiving. Just sad that it has to be for this reason. Teddy & I have a plane tickets for Denver for Christmas. So I will be seeing them again soon.

-Kells

more stuff...

it's crazy to think that we've been engaged for only 3 weeks. we have gotten SOOO much done. :)

little update from last blog...

-i BOUGHT the dress today!!! :) yahoooo sooo fun.

-two out of my 6 bridesmaid have bought their dresses

-I'm now on a hunt for navy flats for all of us to wear. if you ever get bored or if you are looking for shoes yourself and see navy flats holla at me. i'm already having a hard time finding some. thanks!

-our official theme is "rooted in love...": we will be potting a plant at our wedding. I think the way it will work is for one mom add soil, one mom add the seeds, and Teddy & I add the water. does that make sense? And then at the reception we will have potted plants...soil...that kinda stuff. We might still incorporate fish, because I still like that. We will see.

-OH and I thought about for wedding favors doing the CD thing, OR give out packets of seeds. But then katie webb told me about seed paper. Basically we would pass out a piece of paper cut in the shape of a heart...and that paper is what you put in the ground to grow wild flowers. here is an example: the red part is the "seed paper" that you would just remove from the paper & grow flowers from. HOW COOL IS THAT? i love it. And plus, if we have extra I will be pumped to use them myself. :)

-Honeymoon is BOOKED. we are going to The Royal Playa Del Carmen! check out the link to see it! http://www.realresorts.com/The_Royal_Playa_Carmen/ it's so stinkin nice. We will fly out Monday morning and staying 5 nights & 6 days. sooooo excited!!!

ok enough about wedding stuff. I haven't been able to tell you how proud I am of my fiance in a while. so I will take a moment to let you know what a freakin stud he is. He has been nailing all his test with A's. Just doing sooo well in his class. He tells me how he tries to encourage other people in his class. He always is way early, showing his dedication to his job. He had a guy ask if he could go to church with teddy & i. It just shows his character & how the other guys respect him. i love him so much & so proud of his hard work. can't wait for him to be my husband!!

I'm officially going to LA in november. I'm stoked. I just need to book my tickets! The experience of working with across cultures should be challenging & fun. Plus, getting to hang out with Dena on top of that. :) :) sooo exciting! pLUS, going to LA. never been before....hope to see someone famous!! yahoooo

I feel like my life is ALLLL over the place right now. I had 6 loads of laundry to do today. I started the first load at around 12:30...its now 6:30. How many do I have done completely? none. I have one in the dryer & one in the washer. I wanted to clean my room today, but I haven't. I went to get my ring re-sized today, but couldn't. I need to get my car inspected, but I didn't. I need to call the Credit card company. Pay a bill to my old apartments. pay teddy & I's sprint bill. on top of all this, my computer is still not working correctly. Therefore, it just makes life a little bit more hectic. Oh and my room is a mess. wedding stuff EVERYWHERE, clothes everywhere, papers everywhere. I just feel like I don't know how to manage time anymore. I had today off of work, and yes I have done things. But where does time go? I haven't watched one bit of TV today, and honestly haven't been on here much either. it just drives me nuts. I want my life to get organized again...but unsure how to do that when I'm trying to work, play, plan, relax, and maintain relationships. it is HARD work and my current status in this is failed. :) i'm trying though....sorta.

one thing I do know is that my identity continually can be found in Christ. I was gently reminded of this, this past weekend at Fall Retreat. thank you Lord for that! puts my mind at ease for a little bit of time at least.

i'm out. gotta fold stupid laundry!

-Kels

planning planning planning

that is the story of my life currently. i feel like i'm going to sleep thinking about marriage/wedding, dreaming about, and waking up thinking about it. not just about our wedding day, but just life after.

-update, i found THE dress. I will be buying it ASAP.
-I have asked all but one of my bridesmaid to be apart of my big day
-I know what bridesmaid dresses i'm using (in picture...sry its not bigger)
-We have exact colors now :) clover green, navy and orange (not neon, but soft)
-We aren't doing a unity candle. We are either doing sand or possibly potting a plant (sounds strange i know, but it might work)
-I found a song that i love to walk down the isle to. I'm still looking though!
-engagment pictures are THIS sunday. :) even though its been 70ish degrees everyday this week its suppose to be 90 that day...great. urgh
-Trying to figure out party favors right now: possibly a CD/candy bar...unsure!
-Think i want to do cupcakes for my cake. maybe a 2 teir small cake with cupcakes around it...
-might do fish in our centerpieces...orange ones :) that equals less flowers, more greenery & a fish. sounds fun to me!
-We still aren't sure who is doing our wedding, but thats ok. It will come together.
-honeymoon is still being looked into. Teddy is taking care of all that business!


Teddy & I just started reading Love & Respect...what an incredible book. it's perfect for our relationship, and probably would be perfect for yours too. if you are in a relationship (engaged/married) I HIGHLY suggest it & I'm only one chapter in. it's great. :)

In other news: Dena is coming to visit me in TWO weeks. how freakin exciting!!!! She will fly in on a Thursday & fly out Tuesday night. It's the fall break for tech, so I have monday & tuesday off work. it's wonderful!!! Oh & there is a possibility that I might go to a conference for CRU in LA...therefore, get to see dena AGAIN! And then she will be back for my wedding considering that she is a bridesmaid. So that means seeing each other 2 times in the span of 6 months...maybe 3. yahooooooooooooooo

i'm ENGAGED!

OK, wow it's been a while. First off all if you want to read about how we got engaged you can go to our wedding website: http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/TeddyLytle&KelliSmith

What a special evening that was. It's been one week since we got engaged & I'm STILL so excited about all this. There are so many things to do..goodness! We have our photographer so far...Brittany Strebeck (http://www.brittanystrebeck.com/). This afternoon I went to go look at places with my girls. We only went to one place called The Legacy. It's an old presbyterian church that the YMCA bought & remodeled. I really like it. But, it was the first place.

As far as colors go...I'm still not 100% about anything. I think i'm leaning more toward Kelly's green, burnt orange, and navy. It's my room colors, but my eye is drawn to those colors whenever I'm looking at wedding stuff. We will see! :) Nothing else has been set...well except that we will have our wedding in the afternoon (2:00pm). This allows people to drive back to wherever to get back to work on Monday.

I will try to keep this up to date on details and what not. But we will see how well I do...

Ok--back to my last post. Katie & Taylor came to visit me. What a wonderful time we had together. They missed being here for the engagement by one weekend, but thats ok. Something that I thought about that was interesting is that fact that I was with Taylor the weekend before she got engaged & she was with me the weekend before I got engaged. Katie is next for that to happen to. :) ha! Anyways, we had so much fun together. I CAN'T WAIT to see them in 6 months for the wedding!

Alrighty--i'm exhausted & I think going to take a nap. We are going on a double date tonight with our favorite young married couple Calder & Ceri! I'm excited!! :) :)

-Kells

love is in the air :)

yep, i can officially...out in the open say i love teddy. it's such a freeing thing knowing that I can declare it to the world. yes, he wanted to wait to until he proposed & I wanted to wait too....but the first time he told me was PERFECT. i cried. ha! it's been 2 weeks now that our "love" has been out in the open. it feels so good to tell him daily that i love him...and know that I mean it with every part of me. i love that we waited an entire year of dating before those words were muttered. i just think its special for our relationship. anyways, love you baby :)

i will write more about what is going on & has been going on in the next couple of days. :)

-Kells

life is a trucking

life has literally been flying by. time flies

teddy & I just celebrated our one year anniversary! we had a great time. We went to dinner & had sushi/hibachi. Then we went to a park & watched the sunset/storm roll in. Then we went to a small country bar to dance together. Dancing with him is one of my favorite things to do. it was a good night!
i've start back working. we've had meetings everyday for the last week & half from 9:30-12. We have a long list of things to do & details to chase. it's going really well so far. This year we have 8 full time staff on campus (4 interns & 4 staff). It's going to be a great year! I just can't believe we are starting up again.

We are settled into our apt now. I still have a few more things to do in my room....i've just been lazy. Who knows when anything will happen...ha.

Katie & Taylor are coming next weekend...can't wait!!!! :)

longgg time

Teddy and I after the ceremony

absolutely love this picture!! :) the newlyweds
best friends for a LONGGG while :)

whoops....life started picking up & I dropped off this blogging world. lots of business has been occurring lately. let me catch you up!

my roommates are home now! We packed up everything and moved into a new place. It's been kind of crazy trying to get everything taken care of. We call this our big girl apartment because it's not furnished & no longer in student living. i'm very pleased so far. I mean the apt. is a tad run down, but the space is AMAZING. All 3 of our rooms are a good size & our living room is huge! :) only downer so far is that I bought a brand new couch & love seat from Ashley's furniture back in April. Well we had them delivered today & the couch wouldn't fit into the door. It's one of the longest couches ashley's has....so now I'm trying to find a place to store that baby until I move again. I have my love seat here..so that's better then nothing. We are going to try and find some other sitting something. we will see.

Lori, my best friend got married on august 1st. it was such a blast to be apart of that wedding & to watch her marry the man she is in LOVE with. :) she looked freaking unbelievable that day, just like a bride should be. the reception was such a blast. lots of fun dancing occured then. i wish i had more opportunities to dance with Teddy. i LOVE LOVE dancing with him. it is seriously one of my favorite things to do with him.

Mary, my best friend has been here the past month recovering from breaking her leg in Russia. It has been wonderful having her around. i really don't realize how much i miss her until she is gone. Russia is her home. I have come to grips with this & totally supportive of her being there because she loves it. I love her passion for that city. I've also really enjoyed serving her. I feel like i can be a selfish person a lot....but being a bridesmaid & having a best friend with a broken right foot (who can't drive) can teach you a lot about yourself. Not saying that I'm not selfish any longer, because I certainly am. But I feel like the Lord is growing me through all this....and I'm not even the one who is broken. The Lord is good. :)

we start work next week. it's kinda crazy to me how quickly this summer has flown by. i mean seriously. i feel like it was just yesterday I was crying & crying about leaving Teddy for 2 months...and now I've been in Lubbock for almost a month.

Teddy & I have a big day soon. Our lovely one year anniversary is going to occur on August 14th. I still can't believe it's been that long already. However, it feels like we have been dating for much longer. i can't wait to start a future together. :) His birthday is 4 days after that.

He makes me so proud. He passed his EMT class & this past Monday he started fire academy. Things are definitely falling into place for him. I still can't believe how hard it is to get into academy now-a-days. In Dallas they had 2,000 ppl tryout and only 25 get in. Here there were 100 that tryed & only 30 made it. Considering the type of day Teddy had when he was taking the test for acceptance, it's by the Lord's grace he made it. He will be done with academy in January & applying for departments in Feb/March. He is on a fast track to a career & success. He is going to be a great, hardworking, determined fire fighter. I can't wait to support him in all his endevors.

quick trip & SUN

one of my favorite pics of Linds & I tubing at staff retreat :)

On saturday I went to the pool with Lori. it is finally NOT 100+ degrees, therefore I can layout without having a heat stroke. :) it was still hot, but not terrible. Sunday, teddy & I swam/layout too! We had a good time.


last tuesday night teddy had his fire academy orientation. it went really well! there are 30 people in the class. Teddy was really pumped after it all. He will be done in January! This allows him to apply for a department in feb/march! That's very exciting for lots of reasons :)

weds-friday: teddy & I went to ft.worth to visit our familes. it was a SHORT trip. not much time with each family. my parents are coming into town this next weekend to see me get baptized. i'm thrilled they are coming!

Last night we went over to my sister/brother-in-laws house. We grilled out steaks & hung out. I had fun with them. We played guitar hero for a while too. I will be house/dog sitting for them next weekend for about 3 days. i loooooooove those puppies. I'm pumped!

I'm going to start packing this week. boxing up crap & throwing away crap too. The only reason I like moving is solely to throw away crap that needs to be tossed. This includes cleaning out my closet yet again. If I haven't worn it in a year, it's gone. No budging. Same goes for shoes...goodness I need to get rid of LOTS of shoes. I'm not really looking forward to having to clean this dang apt. but very excited to get into my new apt with kimbo & cotter! Less then 2 weeks.

-Kells

struggles

my summer project :)

this happens frequently when people step away from a summer project. they become spiritually dry. i'm experiencing that. i started experiencing this a week before summer project was over. i think part of that was me "shutting down" & stepping away from everything. i was ready to be done with everything & back in Lubbock. well nothing has really changed since i've been back. I haven't been in the Word at all & not connecting with the Lord throughout the day. This is something that would happen DAILY on summer project. Not because it was apart of my job, but because I couldn't wait to get in the Word to find out what He was going to teach me that day. Why does it come and go? I know this is normalish. even people in ministry can struggle in their walks.

I almost didn't want to write this. but i'm a very real person/honest person you might say. I might as well just write it. it's ok. Plus, it allows more people in & praying for me. I hate how the devil uses isolation to get people trapped. NO MORE. I need a community of believers to surround me & encourage me.

-Kells

lazy

my pretty sunflowers from my baby!

i've been way lazy since i've been home. But I think thats ok, mainly because I'm still recovering from being kinda under the weather. I have come to the conclusion that I'm dehydrated. I feel bad a lot & feel hungry allll the time. Apparently, that is my body telling it's actually really thirsty. I'm trying to drink water...but I still feel hungry a lot. painfully hungry.

went to Shelley & Antonio's wedding shower last night with Lori. They are leaving for Jamaica on wednesday to finally get hitched after 5 years! I'm excited for her & bummed I couldn't make it. I've known Shelley since 9th grade...so it's crazy to think the girl has a baby & about to get married. Yesterday I was sitting in a room with only 3 single people....the rest were engaged/married. When did I grow up? There are around 6 people that i'm aware of that graduated in 2004 from HS that are getting married this summer. GOODNESS!

just hanging out tonight with friends. i'm excited!
-Kells

texxxxxxxxxxxxxxas

i'm back in texas. but it took A LOT longer then what I thought it would

monday night I noticed my ear feeling a little bit weird. i thought maybe I had swimmers ear so I went and bought rubbing alcohol to help get the water out of my ear. it felt better for a little bit...but then 1:30am I didn't feel to excited about my ear. quite frankly it was hurting. I had my roommate put more rubbing alcohol in my ear & tried going back to sleep. I didn't get much sleep that night and I was suppose to wake up Tuesday morning at 7:30am to drive for 10 1/2 hours. I woke up & I was like...ok I can do this.

at breakfast that mornign with my team I had a spell of getting dizzy. that's when I got scared that I wasn't going to be able to make the drive home. i cried because I just wanted to get home. & i didn't want to call Teddy to break the news & disappoint him. I called him & just cried the second i heard his voice. I told him I was going to try to make it home...and got on the road.

I made it 2 hours feeling just ok...but VERY tired. I was going to continue on, but I got out of the car to get gas & felt really weak. I called Carolyn (my director from the summer) and told her I can't go on. I met up with her & her boyfriend and went to his house to sleep for about 2 hours. I felt better after I woke up & decided I would drive to Norman, OK and stay the night at Taylor & Nathan's. I made it to Norman alright. I didn't feel great...but I made it. I decided that morning I was going to go to the doctor the next morning at8am. I went...and yes I had swimmers ear. The doctor noticed some wax in my ear & decided to try to get it out. Well after digging around in my ear 3 times I got really REALLY dizzy & then I passed out. I have only passed out. Then it took me a good 30 mins to be able to sit up & walk. They put a wet wash cloth on my forehead & gave me water & crackers

Luckily, Taylor went with me to the doctor so she got to take care of me the rest of the day. We went to get my ear drops & breakfast...then I went back to their house & fell asleep again. I needed that rest. Around noon I woke up & decided by 2 o'clock I was going to get on the road to make my last leg of the trip. That is what I did & I started my journey to Lubbock. It took me right at 5 hours to get home. I felt Ok the whole trip...not 100%.

I showed up at my apt with Teddy waiting on me. He met me outside & we just stood there hugging each other for SOOO long. It felt so freakin good. I couldn't believe it. I cried because I was so excited to be back in his arms. he bought me some pretty sunflowers too! He had planned to cook us dinner at my apt, but I really wanted Chicken express. So he drove us to go get dinner. It was great...i just couldn't take my eyes off of him. :) We came back & just hung out. My roommate Kristin was home too...so we got to hang with her a little bit.

Teddy went home early because he had a 12 hour shift on the ambulance today...7am-7pm. I'm ready for my baby to get off work so we can hang out more. :)

Not only am I'm excited to do life again with Teddy...I'm really excited to do life again with Lori & Mary. Mary is back until the end of August & Lori is about to get married! yay!

i've been sitting here all day on the couch, watching the bachorlette :) catching up on the entire season. It helps make the day go by quickly! .....the joy of no work for about a month. i'm going to enjoy it!!

-Kells

i'm ready

this was my view from dinner every night in our cabins. SOOOO pretty!


yep, i am. ready to go home.

i can just tell that things that don't normally bother me are starting to. it's because i've been in a hotel room & this city for 6 weeks. :) there are things I'm really going to miss, don't get me wrong. But I will enjoy being back in my room...even though I will be packing it up. it doesn't matter, i'm ready.

i've had to use spiritual breathing a lot recently--mainly with what i'm thinking or how I want to respond towards something. Really, i'm working on not being passive aggressive....there is definitely more room to grow here.

tonight is the Staff Farewell Banquet. it should be a good time! :) the whole staff team is going to dinner down at the Branson landing at a nice restaurant. i'm excited...because even though I just spent the last 3 days only with them, I can definitely do it some more! i like my staff team SO much.

the retreat was unbelievable. You should go right now and look up Big Cedar Lodge online. HOLY CRAP. it's called a wilderness resort. it really is! it's so pretty & nice! I spent everyday out on the lake, at the lazy river, pools, and on the dock laying out. it was WONDERFUL. my body hurts though after knee boarding & tubing so much. I got pretty beat up, that's for sure. But I'm tan again! Oh & we ate some YUMMY food the whole weekend...

I got some work stuff to take care of so I'm gonna do that. Got paper work to turn in tmrw during our LAST staff meeting.

texas: 2 days!
-Kells

retreat!

here are all the staff women that i LOVE!

i'm leaving in about 5 mins for staff retreat at Big Cedar Lodge. This equals 3 1/2 days on the lake & boat with the team that i love! :) i'm really excited to relax & enjoy the last couple of days with them!

We will return home early afternoon on Sunday & that evening we have staff farewell banquet. Monday I we have staff meeting and stuff to do together from 9-3pm. Then I will pack & clean (ish). Tuesday morning we have to be off the property by 9am. And I will start my 10 hour journey back to good ole' Lubbock TEXAS!! :) i have to admit that I do love the scenery here in Missouri & Arkansas...it's REALLY pretty. But I'm looking forward to wide open skies & NO humidity.

see ya soon TEXAS!!! :)
-Kells

one

that's right...only one week left here in Branson. I seriously cannot believe it. Where has the time gone? It feels like it was literally JUST may 10th when I was leaving Lubbock for 8 1/2 weeks. it was FLOWN. of course I knew it would...it always does. but i didn't think that at all in the midst of my crying before may 10th. now i'm crying because I'm leaving people and a city that i have grown to love. the girls that I'm closet to freakin live in Baton Rouge....really...thats like 15 hours from me.

There are a lot of things going on in these next couple of days. We are turning over the project to the students & leaving to a lodge type place for 4 days as a staff team. It's suppose to be a time of relaxing & hanging out. I really can't wait to just hang out with them & learn anything I can from the married women for the last time.

Right now I have conflicting emotions. Sam made a comment today that conflicting emotions is the worst. And it's so VERY true. I'm seriously sad to leave here & leave my girls. I just love watching women grow & take steps of faith. Yes, it will continue to happen even when I'm not here...but this also makes me have faith. I'm sad to leave the staff team that has become my summer family. I love staff meetings because you know it will be full of biblical truth & laughter/stories. It doesn't get any better then that! ...on the flipside....i'm so stoked to get home to my man & just hang out. No more skyping & long phone convos. I'm really excited to be able to hold his hand while we talk about something serious. Or sneak a kiss in the midst of pure joyous times. Really to be near to him. I'm pumped to go home & hang out with my best friends again. Mary is home & I can't wait to hang. Plus, Lori is home too...and almost married. I can't wait for all this last minute stuff that is going to happen leading up to her getting married. MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED! :) :) i can't wait to see her be the happiest woman in the world! I miss my church...my church this summer has been, well ok. ........so yea, as you can see I'm experiencing lots of just ups & down thoughts.

My parents came this past weekend. That was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed having them here. I love that people enjoy my parents. I mean it could be one of those things where their child doesn't want to introduce their parents to friends....I couldn't be more excited for people to meet my parents. They are actually pretty cool :) We went to two different shows. I loved one & just thought the other was alright. They brought missy also, so I got to see my puppy! They left from here and went to Denver...14 1/2 hrs of driving to get there...gross.

I'm leaving July 7th....I have to be off the property by 9am in the morning. I think our team might go eat somewhere for breakfast all together. We'll see. Teddy doesn't want me to get home before he gets off work. It will take me 10 hours to get home...not shabby.

I probably won't write again until I get home. Pray that I finished well & can keep my emotions under control.

-Kells

GOD IS GOOOOOOOOOOOD

the Lord is continually blowing my mind. story after story of how He is working right now.

TEDDY GOT INTO FIRE ACADEMY!!!!!!!


the first school he didn't get accepted. the second they called and wam bam he's IN! i'm sooo stoked. i cried, alot. he's so happy. i'm so proud. i was a roller coaster of emotions...all because i was happy. but screaming one moment & crying the next :)

He deserved this.
and what's cool about it all is that it is evident the Lord had a hand in this all.
answered prayer FOSHO!

so excited for him!
-Kells

whoops...

favorite picture: WRECK 'EM
it's almost been 10 days. my bad!

lots has been happening around here. here is some randomness....

1. we have 16 days left as staff
2. went to the lake this past thursday & got to tube! soo much fun! :)
3. i just got back from our women's retreat. we went to eureka springs, AR. weird city...but good women's retreat. we did personality assessments to help us live in our strengths & grow through our weaknesses. my personality is Chloric. You won't understand that...but that's ok. Just know that I like to be in control. it comes natural to me. but can be bad. :)
4. i haven't mentioned this yet...but our shower head is actually shorter then me. therefore i'm ALWAYS having to squat in the shower. i thought it would create wonderful muscles for me...but instead i've manged to figure out how to lean so i don't have to use the squating position. call it lazy...whatever.
5. this week I will be going to an indoor waterpark for FREE. two of my girls work there & their boss said they can get us in for free. how fun!!
6. i do laundry every sunday. which equal once a week. which is so odd for me. I don't neccessarily need to do it every sunday, but it's almost my way of escaping the hotel for a bit. i usually go with people. today (right now) i'm alone. it feels nice!
7. i layed by the pool for 3 hours today. i love our sunday's here. i was on the phone for about 2 hours of that with Teddy & Dena. i also talked to Mary & my dad today....i felt productive
8. i did my first women's talk this past wednesday. it was wonderful & the Lord used my story to have an impact on multiple girls here. what an honor to allow the Lord to use me.
9. i need an oil change. probably will take care of that tomorrow.
10. my parent's are coming this next weekend...i really CAN'T WAIT! it will be a blast.
11. the next weekend the staff leave project from thurs-sun to let the students run the project & we get to retreat.
12. the next weekend I will be back in lubbock. nuts how fast everything has flown by
13. i made 2 pairs of earrings this weekend in eureka springs. i am really excited about them!
14. i will miss the staff team when i leave. mainly the girls of course...they are the ones that i've REALLY connected with.
15. i've learned a lot about myself being on project again. i love working on myself and really God never wants us to just stop learning. if you allow Him to work, you will constantly be learning about Him & yourself. it's hard at times, but worth it.
16. i'm getting tan :) loving it. on top of that my hair has managed to become WAYYYYYYYYYY blonde. it's out of control. ha


ok, i'm out.
-Kells

Faith? yes, FAITH!

first off: be praying for Mary...I received a phone call from her mother yesterday morning letting me know that she broke her leg while in Moscow. Apparently she was doing a swing rope into a lake & on her 2nd try she landed in to shallow of water. :( She will most likely have to have surgery which is a total bummer. She is heading back to America in a month & it sucks that when she has her time off that she will be on crutches most likely. Anyways, pray for a quick recovery & for wise doctors.

this morning I had a chance to have complete faith in the Lord & I let fear take it's course. Now, I'm "reclaiming" my faith in it all & fighting against the devil. I will choose to believe that God's sovereign in all & that He will continue to lead & guide. Please join me in praying that Teddy will get accepted into the Wolfforth fire academy. There are tons of reasons of why I want this to happen, but mostly because it will make him so happy.

we are about to head out to do outreach. I believe my group i'm leading is heading to the Outlet malls...i'm excited. I'll admit I was more excited last week. I just have lots on my mind. Sometimes I wish I was a guy...because guys tend to compartmentalize thoughts....open a drawer and close it & be done with it for that time. While girls tend to have things all out on the table & have a hard time escaping thoughts & emotions. I will just have to pray against all these distractions in my head. I want to share the gospel with people...Lord use me.

there are lots of old project people in town this weekend. it feels weird having them here...I wonder if when I went to re-visit my project if those people felt weird having us. Granted, there were 4 of us girls...and here there are literally like 15 people in town. it is nuts.

oh and in the span of one week i've seen two couples reunite...by surprise. So much of me wishes I could just fly home & surprise Teddy for the weekend. OR that he could come up here and surpirse me. it's just not possible with his school...i love cute couple stuff...LOVE it. Makes me giddy inside for those people. But I also love experiencing cute couple stuff with my man. I think i've done a really good job at letting my heart be here. But I will admit now that we are almost at 3 weeks (tuesday) I'm getting more and more freakin excited to just run up & hug my baby. :) I just try not to think about it...and I refuse to start a day count. I'm here. I'm here. I'm here. The Lord wants me here & I see how much He is teaching me here.

-Kells

bragging rights

before i get to my title of my blog I will say this: Now that the ABC business is done with...I'm now going to post at least ONE picture each blog. It will be a favorite picture of recent stuff....or just a favorite picture in general. So be looking for favs...

bragging rights: my boyfriend is SUCH a stud. He took his first test for fire academy acceptance today & freakin KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK. He got a 90 on the reading and 92 on arithmetic. This means that he got asked to come do the physical part of the acceptance on saturday at 7:30am. I can't even express how excited I was for him & so proud of him. It just seems like things are falling into place! He also did well in his first week of EMT class! He's great & will be a great fireman one day! :) :)

project is still going great! The past two sundays I spent the evening with Molly & Kinsey! I have loved that time of bonding & getting to know one another. It might become a tradition for us....who knows? I can't wait to get back & do ministry with these ladies. I let them "into" my world last night by sharing with them my soul to soul. I feel as if it's healing everytime I talk about my story. The Lord is good!

My parents are coming here in a few weeks. I only have a month left here...4 weeks. Which is NUTS to me. I feel like it's flying like crazy. I have been gone for 4 weeks & only have 4 weeks left. CRAZY! i love my staff team here....but we will be spread out allllll over the place after this. Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas. None of which I would be able to hang out with for just a weekend....to far away from Lubbock. :( We are already starting to communicate about the different ways we could get together again.

Students are already talking about reunions too. They are only 2 weeks in....haha....something about project makes you bond SO quickly. It's something that I think everyone should experience. GO ON SUMMER PROJECT!

My mom & sister are going to California here in a couple of weeks for FREE. i'm pissed...haha. My sister knows a family that works for a travel agent...and she teaches their kids. So they invited her and another friend to come free....COMPLETELY free to cali. Food...lodging....travel...the whole shabang. Apparently, I could've gone with them too for free if I wasn' there. I told them to push back the whole thing....because shoot I will have a month after project of just sitting by the pool because support is finished. :) My mom will be in Las Vegas, California, Branson, and Colorado all in a month period of time. Oh the joys of being a teacher & having the summers off....I'm pumped my parents are coming here! Can't wait for them to come & experience a little bit of project & my job/life right now. LOVE THEM!

had a revelation today while spending time in the Word...something about forgiveness. I can't describe it all on here at all. But I love those moments when I'm in the Word & the Lord makes something VERY VERY VERY clear to me that I have done & need to reconcile with a person. The Spirit totally was there when i was reading...or should I say I was listening to the Spirit...he's there always. Something I heard last week (chew on this for a bit): The Spirit is always pointing us back to Jesus....always.

Pray for teddy and his test
Pray for the students to get into Gospel conversations with their co-workers
Pray that I would be walking by the Spirit & leading through that


-Kells

"Zipadee dooo daaa"

I'm done i'm done! I did the ABC blog all the way through. Even though it took me an entire year, I'm stinkin excited. :)

well, I managed to make it a whole week & half again without blogging. It really is busy & the fact that so much happens everyday around here I don't want to take the time to sit down and write. But I've made it now.

All the students arrived one week ago. They now have jobs (mcdonalds, wendys, krispee kreme, fudge shop, water resort, babysitting, cooks...) so the hotel is very quiet during the day. I'm loving it :) I love my growth team! We already did soul to soul (last thursday) & had one growth team meeting (monday). They are wonderful & I feel like I can connect to each of them in different ways. Pray that the Lord would show where each of them need to grow this summer & that they would be pro-active in taking steps of faith to do so.

I love having Jeffery, Molly, and Kinsey here with me. Molly, Kins and I have been doing soul to soul too & just connecting well. The three of us went Sunday to do laundry together & hang out. I love those ladies. All 3 of them have already given their testimony in front of the entire group...mainly because they are some of the most trained people here. Texas Tech really does have wonderful leadership training for the students.





My birthday was Saturday. Seriously think it probably was the best birthday I've had in a LONG time. I felt so loved & appreciated. I had 4 cards mailed to me, 2 presents mailed to me, flowers delivered (24 beautiful tulips), fun presents from the staff team, and a card at the end of the night from the young staff with a note from each of them with encouragment. After having a mini birthday breakfast with the staff women I went to training stuff for students. There the entire project sang happy birthday to me. :) the rest of the day people said happy birthday & some of the students even gave me cards. After our social that night (for the students) the young staff went to Applebees to get dessert together. Our social required all the staff to dress silly & have students find us throughout Branson. Therefore we went to applebees dressed in ridiculous looking things...haha! They sang to me again & it was great! It was great turning 23 because we celebrated it all day. I still have my tulips too! I have been watching them open up & sprout out. I changed their water & fed them yesterday & they started popping out of the vase (literally). i LOVE them. My baby was so thoughtful in sending them to me. :)

have i mentioned that me & my roommate get along great! She graduated from Tech Dec 04. She interned at tech & then spent a year over seas Russia. i love this picture of us because we accidently matched. :) oh & I haven't mentioned this yet but all the young single staff are all blondes with blue eyes. Apparently that made it hard for students to remember who we all were because we all looked the same...haha

We only have 5 more weeks here. Time is FLYING. Thursday is our days off as staff. We were going to go to the lake...but it's suppose to be raining...maybe. It's rainy outside right now...gloomy and such. I want to get tan, but have only laid out once so far.

I put up pictures in my room finally. Pics of all my girls back home, staff girls, and of course my boo. Right next to my bed I have a frame with a picture of Teddy and I. I love the picture.

Teddy and I have mastered talking on skype. We actually hung out Sunday for 4 hours on skype. It was out of control, but so much fun!!! :) i miss that boy so much. We just started this book together called 101 Questions to Ask before getting engaged! It's a wonderful book and has sparked some GREAT conversations. We are already on question 6 (skipped one though). I'm surrounded by some awesome couples this summer....so I'm able to ask LOTS of questions & i love it. I feel like I'm learning a lot from them. Some of the questions are simple...but launch us into deeper conversation. While others are hard, but only require a simple answer. It's so much fun...seriously.

that's enough for now. have a good one!
-Kells

"Y"ou make me feel...

a guy was recently singing this...I honestly don't know who. It actually may have been Teddy....so that was almost 2 weeks ago. HOLY moly, it's already been 2 weeks without Teddy. that's nuts. Time is flying, but it's sure a lot of fun here.

that's right....i'm in Branson. I drove here last monday & it's been lots of fun from the moment that I arrived. We have a team of 16 people that we are working with here. (10 singles, and 3 couples) The students arrive this Tuesday.

What have I done so far:
-spent one day on the lake with the staff girls
-ate lots of GOOD food
-played games & gone for a late night swim with the singles
-went on the Branson Belle Showboat...such a good time!
-made one walmart trip
-went to First Baptist church this morning....my church I was assigned too
-Found out what my staff job is (socials/banquets) & found out who is is my growth group (5 girls...UT, OSU, OSU, Saginaw Valley State, SFA)
-adjusted to living in a hotel room with my roommate who ALSO graduated from Tech!
-laughed so much with my staff team, they are WONDERFUL.
-found out I'm giving a talk about something I'm very passionate about (to all the girls)
-did soul to soul with 9 staff girls...=starting 8:45am-7:45pm.

I love everything about this so far. The hills make my car struggle....but she survives. She was named Kiwi by one of the staff girls. I'm hoping to get tan this summer, because I will be spending LOTS of time by the pool. We have an indoor & outdoor pool, plus a hottub. We got the hoook up. :)

Tomorrow is work day. We move in all the bunk beds & take out all the hotel beds. It should be fun....for the guys. The ladies baked 200 cookies last night, so we will be organizign that for all the students. Oh I forgot to mention that I got a lime green fleece that says Ozarks Lake-Campus Crusade on it...super nice. AND my project boss (carolyn) made all hte girls INCREDIBLY cute purses. She loves sewing & baking...and we get to be the receivers of that. :)

I will try to not forget about this for another week. It is about to be crazy on Tuesday when students come...

-Kells

"X"cuse me

yes yes...i realize that excuse me starts with an E...but whatever...it works

This has been a phrase ("excuse me?") that has come out of my mouth on multiple occasions while i've been here in Iowa. Granted, this is my 3 time here....but it still manages to amaze me how country & crazy these people are. It's truly a whole other world here....but i love dena, so i can manage. We were going to go on her cart behind the horses today...but it's chilly outside & REALLY windy. We have been just hanging out with family & going around Marble Rock. (pronounced: "Marb roock) You should look up this tiny town...they have 300 people that live here.
















yesterday Teddy and I had our first skype date. it was SO good to see him! I spent the first 5-10 mins just smiling non-stop. Because I've been so busy up here hanging out & doing things & being with my best friend...it really had not set in that we haven't seen each other 5 days. As soon as I got a chance to talk to him & see him at the same time I was overwhelmed with feelings of missing that CRAP out of him. So much that we skyped again later on last night. :) so yes, the feelings of missing him finally set in...even though I'm with one of my bestfriends. But we are also almost a week in...it's going to fly.

it was a beautiful day two days ago & now i'm laying in Dena's bed under 3 blankets...in sweatpants & fleece jacket...oh and I have an electric blanket underneath me on high. it's COLD...well really only 50ish...but there isn't any heat up stairs in her room & it's so stinkin WINDY outside. Because Dena is moving to California in 3 weeks her mom is making her clean out her entire room & throw away all her crap she has. She has been going down memory lane & showing me all sorts of pictures....it's fun.

i can't believe i'm leaving here in 1 1/2 days already....and heading to summer project. Project is going to be a blast. the first week will be only staff, so we will bond a lot. I'm pumped! :)

i'm going to continue writing thank you notes now...well maybe...i wrote 9 yesterday!

-Kells
listening to: Chris August

"W"ay country...

well i'm here! We are headed to Dena's farm right now...

that should explain my title perfectly clear. :)

"V"ery far

I'm about to be very far from home. I'm in Oklahoma right now with one of my summer project friends Taylor. We have kept our friendship pretty consistent throughout the last 3 years! :) I got to be a bridesmaid for her & she is a great friend! We have just been chilling around her & Nathan's new house they bought and ate some food! she's so stylish. Even though she lives in Oklahoma we have seen each other 9 times since Summer 2006! I'd like to think that's pretty impressive :)

yesterday I drove to ft.worth from Lubbock...yep I left my love in good ole' west texas to embark on this journey to iowa & ultimately landing in Missouri for 7 weeks. It was hard leaving him & just weird to say bye...but we did it. It REALLY hasn't hit me yet that I'm gone because it's been only one day...haha...that sounds pathetic. whatever. The longest we've gone is about 2 1/2 weeks...9 is a whole notha scale of missing. I think it will hit me in about a week that I'm not returning home. Yes, this is my vacation right now...but I'm not going home right after. Anyways, got to hang out with my momma Monday evening. That was fun...she joined Facebook & was having a ball finding old students & tons of her "older" friends on there. It's cute (most of the time) when she is learning a new technology. i love her & will miss my parents this summer. My dad wasn't around because he was at state. His mixed double team lost in the semi's of state...still impressive. They are planning on coming to visit me while i'm in Branson---i'm PUMPED!

tomorrow I'm heading to iowa. It's a 10 hour drive, which really isn't that bad. shoot..it takes that long to get to Houston from Lubbock. I plan on catching up with friends on the phone, spending time with the Lord (of course not reading...but praying & singing), and then just rocking out and not thinking about anything. Teddy said that my gps can keep me company because she talks to me here & there...ha! I'm really excited to see Dena & Danielle. Dena is one of my best friends from summer project also. I haven't seen these girls for almost a year & half. I went up there for thanksgiving 2007. I have also been fortunate to have seen them multiple times since summer project. This will be my 3th time up to Iowa. I'm so grateful for the friendships I made from summer project...such a blessing. The Lord knew I would walk away with close friends from Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Indiana. :)

Oh...my race. I ran it. DANG RIGHT! it was only a 2 mile race, but that is amazing for me. I'm not a runner..at all. I did the couch to 5K earlier this year & lasted 6 out of the 9 weeks. I haven't ran in almost 2 weeks. But I had promised my sister that I would do a race with her before I left for the summer....and I did it. My first mile I walked quite a bit...it was mostly uphill/incline. The second mile I only walked once for maybe 30 seconds...i was proud of my self. I don't put many pictures on this thing now-a-days...but I gotta for the proof. I'm glad I did it. Granted...i was up at 6:30am...but oh well. I can certainly manage that every once in a while. After the race I got the chance to spend the rest of the day with Lori. We had a fun time together & connecting. I really value that time with her. It can become really hard for two best friends to stay at the same closeness when one is on the way to the chapel soon & the other is in a serious relationship...just the reality. I love her & will be talking to her weekly this summer. :)

That night a group of us attended a surprise graduation party for Matt. That was a lot of fun to have us all together. We ate some good food & set by a fire for a while. Later that night we decided to go bowling...I did GREAT. I scored 100 & 104...i can't tell you the last time I did that. I beat Lori once & even beat Teddy in my second game!!! :) I will miss these times & hanging out with these people.

alright...I really need to go to bed! I got a 10 hour drive ahead of me & I'm so excited!! :) sad my stay in OK isn't longer...but I've gotta keep on a drivin!

if you just read this...say a prayer for my safety driving, thanks!
-Kells

currently watching: Rockets completely blow this game...even though they whooped the Lakers last night...boo Lakers...

"U"nbelievable.

i'm at 100%!! From the first day that I started making calls until NOW is exactly 5 weeks....which was my goal. i cried. :)

i'm heading off to my first "race"...out in slaton. I'm only running 2 miles...but it's STILL going to kill me. i haven't been running, but i knew i couldn't back out on my sister. It's a first that's for sure. i'm going to feel it tomorrow....but oh well.

oh did i mention that i woke up at 6:30am for this race...sick.

-Kells

"T"ackling this...

I'm starting the process of packing...well tackling my room that is. I have my last load of laundry in the washer. I'm not taking all of my clothes by any means....but a lot. I mean really...how do you pack for NINE weeks. I remember vividly packing for summer project having no clue what i was doing. I feel more prepared this time around.

So far here is what I have:
12 pairs of shoes
3 dresses
9 solid colored cute shirts
8 patterned cute shirts
6 tank tops
4 pairs of shorts
3 pairs of athletic shorts
3 long sleeves tshirts
15 regualr tshirts
2 pairs of cut off sweat pants
2 pairs of regular sweat pants
3 skirts

I know you are probably thinking...GOOD LORD. Yea basically I could probably get close to not wearing the same thing all 9 weeks. But really, i know there are things i'm packing that I could possibly not wear. I think i'm going to travel in my car with all my shoes in my dirty clothes hamper. I will probably have 2 LARGE suitcases & one smaller one.

I'm lucky because I'm sharing a hotel room with ONE other girl. We will have PLENTY of space. When i was a student going on project...they said you only had 6 inches of hanging space (i laughed out loud). We definitely ended up having more than that...but still. I feel more freedom now that I'm staff. I know it will be ok that i bring this stuff. Plus i will have my car...if my 12 pairs of shoes is too much i will leave some in my trunk :)

tonight Teddy and I are going out to celebrate my birthday. It's not until May 30th. I joke with everyone that its my birthday month because I've ALWAYS had to celebrate my birthday throughout the month of May because people leave early...or i'm gone. When I go home on Monday I'm getting my bday present (GPS!!) from my parents. When i'm in Iowa next week we will celebrate my birthday early....you get the picture. Anyways, tonight is my last night with Teddy all to myself. I'm really happy to be able to spend time with him just us.

Tomorrow night Teddy & I are going on a double date with our new married friends: Calder & Ceri! I'm pumped because we are going to Red Lobster (we said we would go before I left) I love this couple & they truly model a christian couple! I will miss hanging out with them this summer. Calder disciple's Teddy...so i'm sure they will be kickin it this summer! :)

Kim left this morning. Cotter's family arrived today for graduation. i'm hanging out with my sister in the morning, Lori in the afternoon, shelley in early evening, then graduationg party in the evening. It's crazy how busy I am. I'm just trying to cram everything in & make sure I have seen the people I really want to see.

Now that I've successfully kept from packing & getting ready...i'm gonna go. Teddy should be here in about 30 mins! :) can't wait to see my love.

-Kells
Listening to: Dave Barnes-Fancy

"S"tinks...

four full days left.

today was the first day since sunday that I haven't cried. :)

i'm going to miss him so freakin much.

"R"eally fast...

support has been coming in SO quickly. I am now at 91% & I still have multiple decisions to receive from people. :) i'm praying to be finished by sunday...well at 100% by then. I won't be finished until August. I still have people to follow up with throughout the summer. People that said get back to me later....so I will do exactly that.

today started the multiple times of crying in a day kinda thing....about me leaving Teddy. I literally will start thinking about the fact that I'm leaving in 10 days & the tears start rolling. I will probably be a little bawl bag for the next 10 days. pretty positive about it. every time i hug him goodbye it's genuinely hard for me to let go. i will freakin miss him SO much when I'm gone. urgh.

enough. i'm tired & have staff meeting in the morning, followed by a phone appointment with my support coach. this weekend will be chill...so i'm happy about that. we are throwing a going away party this saturday at my partment. i'm sad about it being our LAST party in the 411.

-Kells

listening to recently: Gavin Degraw-Free

"Q"uality time is what I love.

today i reached 84% in support. 4% in one day is great! I think I could be at 90% by the end of Saturday. Which would be incredible because I feel like that last 10% is going to fly in. People like to be apart of finishing a long process, so I usually will have people come out of nowhere & want to give to help finish me off. it's fun to watch people take steps of faith in giving through this process!

tonight was good. Teddy & I went over to Calder & Ceri's house to have dinner & talk intentionally about relationships. They are a young married couple...so it was challenging & good. I'm processing right now. I've been praying for this to happen this semester with whoever really...and this couple practically fell in our lap (answered prayer). Calder is a volunteer for our ministry & has been discipling Teddy for about a month. I have grown to love them real quick & know that this will be a friendship that I truly value in the years to come.

tomorrow i'm going to get support from a random walmart worker who said they wanted to support me, staff meeting 10-1...but i'm leaving at 11:45 because I have lunch plans for a support appointment at noon. Then I have to pick up a support check at 1:30 from some people that live here in town. Then teddy and I will spend the afternoon together...looking at furniture & running errands. I'm assuming by tmrw night I will be exhausted. i'm exhausted right now actually so i'm going to bed. dueces.

-Kells

listening to lately: David Dunn: This if for you (on his myspace)

"P"roductive weekend!

this past weekend was CRAZY busy.

friday night Teddy & I were invited over to the Stargel's for dinner & hanging out. We went & ate a YUMMY home cooked meal & watched a movie with Mark & Phil! It was definitely a chill night & exactly what I needed

saturday I made support phone calls in the morning. I'm now at 74%. In the afternoon I went to Target to pick up last minute stuff for Lori's wedding shower. Then came home & started the process of getting ready for the CRU spring banquet. Teddy picked me up & off we went! It was a great banquet. The food was yummy & the speeches the seniors gave were great. I loved the video slideshow at the end. To top it off there was a dance party. I love to dance & be silly. More than anything I LOVE country dancing with my baby.
Here are a few of my fav. pics:




Sunday at church Lori & Richard got baptized! I was so excited to be there for this time. In the afternoon was Lori's first wedding shower! It was a lot of fun & so much fun to host it for her. She got lots of good goodies for her & Richards new life together! :) oh and the fun part is I won the prize for knowing Rich the best! There was a quiz...and I knew the most (well Lori knew the most....ha)
the Monday night girls that hosted the party--

all the girls at the shower!

Sunday night was one of my highlights of the weekend. I went over to Teddy's & worked on thank you notes for new support. I had 13 to write...blah. He has been very understanding during all this support stuff. He cooked us dinner & we got to hang out. We spent the the last 40 mins of the evening dancing in the dining area to music. Dancing with him is definitely one of my favorite things to do. He's a GREAT country dancer & I feel so protected in his arms, spinning around. It was a blast. We were two stepping, waltzing, & doing goofy interpretive dancing. I love that we have so much fun together & can be silly. We enter into this world of not even recognizing that we are being ridiculous & if someone could see us right now they would die laughing....but we don't even care. I love that he can make me giggle so much :) :)

enough mushy...i got up this morning early to go with him out to reece center to take care of more school stuff. then we went to get donuts & hang out for about 30 mins before he had to be at work at 10am. :) i really cherish all the time i get to be with him...especially when the days of me being here is twindling & that number is screaming at me daily. :(

have a good day!
-Kells

listening to..Keith Urban: I'm in

"Oh..."

i was reminded tonight that I've been out of the CRU world for almost a month. it was the CRU picnic & I haven't been around students in a while. I felt weird. Which is weird too. I wasn't expecting to feel that way...so i walked away thinking..."oh...ok?" if that makes sense.

it's interesting to because CRU has gain a lot of momentum in the past month. So there are a lot of new faces that I have no idea about. And obviously they have no idea that I'm on staff. It's just a weird thing all together. I can't really put my finger on it all.

Support: i'm at 70% now. this week has been like pulling teeth. I brought in 7% this week. Yes, that's good because it's an increase. But it has been the slowest week so far. It put me in a weird mood at different times during the week. discouraged...

I haven't been connecting with the Lord much the past 2 weeks. It has affected me in different ways...most definitely. It's crazy how you can just tell. My heart, mind, thoughts, relationships, actions...everything changes some. I have a harder time recognizing the Spirit. I have a harder type walking by the Spirit when I do recognize Him. Overall, I need to stinkin connect with Jesus.

Today Teddy and I went to go look for furniture for my apartment next year! I'm pumped about new couches. I'm looking at getting a couch, loveseat, and ottoman (i think). I found some pretty good deals that were in my price range. It's fun to think that this stuff I will probably keep for at least 10 years. Probably get passed down to my kids. Yes I said my kids. haha...I say that because there have been things that my parents passed down to my sister. Which p.s. when I have kids I will make sure to save some of the stuff for passing down for the younger ones too. Anyways, when I "grow up" I will already have living room furniture, kitchen table, and one bed room set! yay! :) I kinda want my own house right now.

another thing I want right now is a baby. yea yea i know what you are thinking...you aren't married. Well right, I will of course wait until I have a hubby. But that doesn't take away from the fact that I am wanting a baby. I wanna be a mom. I know I wouldn't be fantastic right now because I'm so freakin selfish. It would teach me a lot...that's for sure. these feelings come and go month by month. Some days when i'm around babies it's practically like birth control. Then some days I want my own...as long as they aren't crying. That point I will just pass them off to my hubby :)

"N"adda Lotta

nadda lotta stuff in this post...

hi! :) i felt like I have accomplished a lot today. I woke up early & Teddy brought me donuts. I sorted out all my laundry (4 loads) & started them. I cleaned the kitchen, took out the trash, swept our front entry & porch, cleaned up the living room. I ran to Target to get birthday presents for Lori from the 411. I got a new bathing suit while i was there...ON SALE! I'm about to go to a tennis match with my sister & brother-in-law (my dad's team is in town for regionals), and I have birthday dinner tonight for Lori. GOODNESS...full day! Problem is...where is support working in all this.

Saturday was a rough day. I made 20 phone calls...STRAIGHT...and only increased 2% (thank you Jesus for the 2%). That hasn't happened this 2nd time around yet. I felt beat up & didn't want to talk to another answer machine for the rest of my life. Yet, i managed to talk to yet another one on Sunday. I'm now at 63%, which is stinkin incredible. I'm WAY ahead of schedule. I'm praying to be finished by May 5th. That was my original goal when I started. I feel like the next 3 weeks are going to fly...and BAM out of this state. GOODNESS! (clearly my favorite word of the day) I also feel like the next 3 weeks of support will probably start slowing down quite a bit. I will perserver though.

this is easy to type:
1.Where is your cell phone?...........sitting right next to me
2. Your significant other?.........at work across town
3. Your hair?.........In a pony tail::slightly greasy due to wind
4. Your mother?.......funny
5. Your father? ...............coaching Tennis right now in Lubbock
6. Your favorite food?...................chicken strips & fries, pizza
7. Your dream last night?........nothing
8. Your favorite drink? ...........Barqs Rootbeer
9. Your dream/goal?................confusing right now
10. What room you are in? ................living room
11. Your hobby?....................volleyball
12. Your fear?.............being alone
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?.......married & with at least one kiddo running around
14. Where were you last night?...........with Teddy, Lori & Richard at the movies
15. Something that you aren't?...............short
16. Muffins?.................blue berry with butter
17. Wish list item?.............GPS, Zune, Luggage, Ear Rings, New Pretty Ring (James Avery probably)
18. Where you grew up?.........texas
19. Last thing you did?.............went to Target
20. What are you wearing?.............tshirt & shorts
21. Your TV?....................turned off
22. Your pets?.................none of my own...I want a DOG sooo bad.
23. Friends?...................total blessing
24. Your life?..................rescued
25. Your mood?..............hungry
26. Missing some one?.............absolutely
27. Car?................blessing from my parents
28. Something you're not wearing?.............socks
29. Favorite tv show?...................Idol
30. Your favorite color?..................Blue or Green
31. When is the last time you laughed?.................today
32. Last time you cried?.................week ago
33. Who will resend this?................who knows?
34. One place that you go to over and over?........my bed :)
35. Your favorite weekend activity?..........dates
36. Your favorite place to eat?...........Carinos
37. The thing you hate most?............................pride
38. Your greatest challenge?...........................selfishness

Check out Lacrea: Desperate

::Kels::

"M"aking progress...

haven't been here in a WHILE...not surprised!

I can't believe it, but I'm raising support AGAIN right now. I'm raising for my 2nd year internship with Crusade. I'm already at 40%...almost 2 weeks in. It is going really well! I have multiple people who have increased their support & a couple of new people who have joined my team. total blessing. Kim, Cotter, and Kristin are basically my "coach" during this process. They cheer for me & often force me to get on the phone to make calls...it's really scary. i truly value them during this time. Teddy has also been great during this process. He even came over the other night...made dinner & cleaned up after so that I could work on my support. :) he's wonderful.

today: April 14th...Teddy and I have been dating for 8 months! I can't believe how fast it has gone by. summer will probably fly by...and when school starts back up again we will have been dating for a year. WHOA. :) he brought me gerber daisies this morning before my work meeting...sweet sweet man.

I'm leaving in less than a month for 9 weeks of this summer. it's kinda bittersweet. i'm really excited to see my parents, taylor (in oklahoma), and dena (in iowa) and then drive down to branson. I will be in Branson from May 18th-July 7th. After that I will go back to ft.worth & be there for a little bit (maybe to wrap up support stuff) but then I will get back to Lubbock ASAP. I'm also sad to leave my best friends & my boyfriend. I will have skype & what not while I'm there on summer project...but who knows how much time I will have.

I'm really excited about staffing a project. I know it will look a lot different from when I was a student. I'm on the other end...training students to be leaders & grow to love the Lord at a deeper level. It will be different then being on campus...because every girl I work with wants to learn...wants to be meeting..etc. They know they are on a summer project for spiritual growth, so there is no beating around the bush. i'm not a huge fan of beating around the bush (i'm blunt), so I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it.

I'm hoping that I will use this throughout the summer...hoping...we will see. :)

i'm learning more and more about myself lately. It's interesting & plays a big role in so many of my relationships. The Lord is truly opening my eyes to more sin in my life & where he has grown me in the past year. It's fun to be able to put my finger on certain issues/topics and see that Yes, there is still work to be done in my heart...but Yes, I have come a long way with the help of Him. Praise the Lord for grace. Because of grace I can confidently come before His throne...

-Kelli

Listening to lately: Ronnie Freeman-Breakaway