december/2013 highlights.

Has December already gone by? Wait. Has the year 2013 already gone by? I cannot believe it. This past month and past year has been full of newness, surprise blessings (I'll explain this in detail later), blogging!, hardships, adventures, laughter, tears, grace, forgiveness, and provision of Jesus Christ.

Here are a few highlights from the twelfth month of the year:

• Stephen asked me to be his date for his company's Christmas party. It was so much fun! I got to meet the guys he works with and his boss. I'm so excited for him and his new job. Jesus blessed him with the perfect job.
• My small group had our annual Christmas party. We did a potluck dinner and I brought boudin. Everyone loved it! We played games and visited. Still can't believe I have such an awesome Christian community to do life with. 
• I think the biggest surprise blessing of the month and year happened a few weeks ago on a regular Tuesday evening. After coming home from work and showering, I came downstairs to a house covered in sewage. Yes, you read that correctly. It was an absolute nightmare and I hope no one ever has to experience it.  Long story short Jesus TOTALLY blessed me through it. I had to have all my floors replaced and luckily, insurance covered all of it and MORE. I was able to upgrade to beautiful hardwood floors and put some money in the bank! Never would I have been able to afford it, IF my house hadn't been covered in crap. Gross. I know. Jesus truly does work in mysterious ways. 
• The sunset picture is one I shot while finishing a run in the park down the road from where I live. You can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. I am so thankful I have this park to escape to after a long work day...even if it's in the middle of the city. 

Here are a few highlights from 2013 (most of these have been mentioned in previous blog posts, but I wanted a quick summary of this eventful year!):

January: Started my very first blog "Sojourner Stories." No explanation for the start of this blog other than Jesus laid it on my heart. Praying about a change in my life. New city?

February: Visited with HR in Dallas to discuss a potential teaching job. Praying. Is Dallas the right place?

March: Spring break trip with my mom to the beach & celebrated my birthday. Praying about making a big move to TX.

April: Attended my first real Louisiana festival. More prayer.

May: Attended a teacher job fair in Dallas. Finished my first year teaching. Feverishly praying. Would I be in DeRidder another year?

June: Anxiously waiting for interviews...got two interviews. Got a job! Prayers were answered. Went to Boston and New Hampshire for vacay. Praying.. where would I live?

July: Hosted a baby shower for a dear friend. Signed three contracts of possible future homes, one of them was the answer to my prayers! Packed up all my belongings and...

August: Moved to Dallas. Unpacked all my belongings. Started my new job. Praying for strength. 

September: Faced major spiritual warfare with all the unfamiliarity in my new chapter of life. Struggled with working for huge school district. Found my new home church. :) Praying for more strength & discernment. 

October: Still battling spiritual warfare, but confident Jesus has me right where He wants me. Made new friends at church and joined a small group. Mom and dad came for a visit! Praying in thanksgiving! 

November: Peace was established at my job and confidence restored. Thanksgiving celebration at my house with the whole family and friends. Praying & thankfulness. 

December: Final exams (no fun for students or teachers!). Christmas vacay (fun for students and teachers!). Mom and dad came to the rescue during my house catastrophe. Traveled home to Louisiana for Christmas break. Caught up with old friends. Spent time focusing on the goodness and generosity of my Savior, Jesus Christ. In awe of His power physically, spiritually and mentally over the entire year. Never would I have been able to do an ounce of what He did THROUGH ME without constant prayer and discernment. HE LIVES. 

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities---all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Colossians 1:15-17 (ESV)

icemageddon.

You can have all the plans in the world. You can train for a half marathon for months and be so excited to run it. And plan on race day being a blast. You can plan on your brother and sister-in-law coming to visit and doing fun things. But when an ice storm hits all your planning goes kaput. 

This is what happened last weekend. Everything in north Texas was frozen solid.

Icemageddon day 1.

Friday. School was canceled. JOY.

My brother, Shelley and I woke up to see everything was as white as snow. At first, it was kind of cool. We got out and there wasn't another soul out on the iced-over roads (the four-wheel drive truck came in handy). We went to Target and the mall. They were both so quiet! The best day ever to get your Christmas shopping done. While going down the escalator in Nordstroms, I got the official email informing me my half was canceled. I cried. I had worked so hard for it and was super pumped about running it. But I guess I'll just sign up for another one! I'm thinking CowTown in February. :)

          







My friend Abbey was without power and joined us at my house! Surprise sleepovers are always the best. I made a pallet on the floor (something I haven't done since I was a child) and we watched "It's A Wonderful Life." My new favorite movie! I had never seen it and it was so sweet.

real professional photograph.

Icemageddon day 2.

Saturday. No school.

I had to get out of the house. Yes, the roads were covered with a thick sheet of ice, but I couldn't stay cooped up all day. The gym was open, yoga classes were in session, and I was going. I'd never driven on ice before so after helpful tips from Abbey and Grant, I felt confident enough to brave it out. It's hard to do anything real scary when you're going 7 mph. I made it to the gym! I did almost bust it walking through the parking lot. Geez walking on ice is hard. A kind young gentleman actually gave me a ride to my car after my workout. Haha. That was interesting.

Day 2 was pretty chill. I got Pizza Hut for dinner and ate way too much. Really hoping I'd wake up to all the ice being melted...

Icemageddon day 3.

Sunday. No school. Church was canceled.

Church was canceled?! Who cancels church?? Everyone cancels church when no one can drive on the roads. Luckily for me I had disconnected my cable TWO days before the storm so I had a lot to keep me entertained at my house. Not. So it was off to yoga again. Thank goodness for the gym!

A few hours later, I was back at home debating what I could do with my day...I thought about blogging at Starbucks but the ice storm wasn't over so I couldn't write about that. I could go to the movies...by myself? Do people go to the movies by themselves? I didn't have a choice. Most of my friends were too chicken to drive on the roads. "The Book Thief" was an excellent movie.

just me and my Starbucks to keep me warm. 

I just knew we would have school on Monday, the roads would be drivable and life would be back to normal.

Icemageddon day 4.

Monday. School was canceled. JOY?

Four days of nothing but ice, cold, clouds, cold, and nothing to do is not fun. I couldn't believe this was still happening! Sweet Abbey had the marvelous idea to decorate Christmas cookies. So Caitlin and I headed to her house for the afternoon.

Abbey doesn't take her Christmas cookie decorating lightly. Check out the photo below of her setup. I was impressed. Very impressed. My childhood Christmas cookie decorating consisted of one red tube and one green tube of the 99 cent Great Value icing and maybe a few green sprinkles. Abbey on the other hand had an art studio of cookie decorating! It was so fun.

I stayed at Abbey's house for the remainder of the day. We ended the evening with the good ol' Tim Allen movie "Santa Claus." I forgot how funny he is. 

Thank GOD Icemageddon day 4 was our last day of ice, cold, ice, cold, and more ice. It was fun while it lasted {mostly}.