well 5 days after my niece was born, my nephew jonah was born as well…while i was in seattle if you can believe it! i was happy to be with julia but i had all that time off and i totally could have got to see him by now. as it is i have to wait what seems like and eternity to get the chance what with my school and work and trying to be thoughtful of their schedule…good grief he is going to be walking and talking before i meet the little cutie. anyway, my dad is totally enamoured with the little guy and he got to be the only grandparent on our side to be there for the birth…he is absolutely totally in love. he is already talking about another trip up to to see him! jeremy and aubrey will never have a problem getting a babysitter for him lol. and i think david and joanne better be ready because i think if jonah is anywhere in the vicinity dad is going to have to get to see him if even for a second. i think it is totally cute…michelle is definitely not the baby anymore..:-0
correction August 15, 2009
my new niece’s name is Julia not Julie…oops
i got to see her today and she is super cute even with all her little tubes and wires…i hope she gets to go home from the nicu before we leave, that would be a wonderful blessing
julie August 12, 2009
well i am officially an aunt…and weeks before i thought Iwould be. keeli, jason’s sister, went into preterm labor this morning. not sure of all the details but her water broke at home around 6am and they delivered around 2pm. i think she was around the 36 week mark, they have a baby girl named after justin’s recently deceased mom… julie ann westmoreland, she is 5lbs 12oz and 18 inches long. she is having some breathing problems, not sure if it is just because she is a premie or if there is a lung or heart problem, hopefully by the grace of god it will just be a early deliver issue and she will get to go home soon. jason really wants to go up there, but the plane tickets are crazy expensive. i am praying for their family and that i can someway figure a way to send jason up there. your prayers would be much appreciated!
look up July 31, 2009
do you see that beautiful green water at the top of the page…that is where i am right now…well sorta…the water is green or sorta chlorine tinted…and the location is..well a house…but the point is i am laying out by water!
testing July 27, 2009
i am in finals week blah…but, just one more to go on wednesday and i will be test free for 3 whole weeks! i hope to lose some of this weight i have gained from sitting on my behind studying and get a late end of summer tan…that is the totality of my ambition. 
red letters July 17, 2009
Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
About 5 years ago I bought a new bible, I wanted a slim version I could carry to church and honestly I found one on sale at Mardel for like $6.99, so I bought it. It is the New Living Translation which I had only read a few times, but I have never been super picky when it comes to Bible versions so I brought it home. Up until this bible I have never had a bible with the words of Jesus marked in Red. I had of course heard of that before, but somewhere along the way, they stopped always using red in every one and none of my previous bibles had red letters. This bible has become my all time favorite of favorites, I have read more often from it than any other, I honestly am not sure why but I have a few theories: First my previous bibles (which I do still use) are all study bibles or topical bibles or leadership of some sort which is great when I am studying and learning, but was very distracting when I was trying to read the Word for my own personal introspection. Secondly, I found that I love the NLT way of wording things, it is very familiar to me and speaks right to my heart like no other version has. And last, the Red Letters…having never had them before I don’t think I recognized the power of seeing Jesus’ words like that. When I come to a red letter phrase I actually shift my imagination to seeing him there actually speaking those words…it is a powerful visual. The best way I can explain how I feel about it, is with lyrics by DC Talk from an old song: Red Letters
Pages filled with a holy message
Sealed with a kiss from heaven
On a scroll long ago
Phrases, words that were bound together
Now have the power to sever
Like a sword evermore
Heed the words divinely spoken
May your restless heart be broken
Let the supernatural take hold
There is love in the red letters
There is truth in the red letters
There is hope for the hopeless
Peace and forgiveness
There is life in the red letters
In the red letters
One man came to reveal a mystery
Changing the course of history
Made the claim he was god
Ageless, born of a virgin mary
Spoke with a voice that carried through the years
Its persevered
Heed the words divinely spoken
May your restless heart be broken
Let the supernatural take hold
from the eye of the storm July 13, 2009
2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom
with such ignorant words?
3 Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
5 Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line?
6 What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone
7 as the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
as it burst from the womb,
9 and as I clothed it with clouds
and wrapped it in thick darkness?
10 For I locked it behind barred gates,
limiting its shores.
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
Here your proud waves must stop!’
12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
14 As the light approaches,
the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
it is robed in brilliant colors.
15 The light disturbs the wicked
and stops the arm that is raised in violence.
16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
Have you explored their depths?
17 Do you know where the gates of death are located?
Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
18 Do you realize the extent of the earth?
Tell me about it if you know!
19 “Where does light come from,
and where does darkness go?
20 Can you take each to its home?
Do you know how to get there?
21 But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
and you are so very experienced!
Job 38:2-38
black beauty June 22, 2009
well…if you don’t know, last saturday i somehow managed to total my car, and when say total i mean…even i knew it was totaled. i was driving home from work around 4:30pm i had been stopped at a train and was almost home on old military road. and then BAM before i knew what was really happening i was slamming into a car. i was going around 35-40 mph and he was pretty much stopped, it was one of those rare instances where you look away at just the wrong moment…and he slammed on his brakes to keep from hitting a car that decided to turn last minuted, and so when i looked up he was almost stopped and i was still going. both of my airbags deployed and i have never been quite so flustered..they hit me so hard and all this dust flew everywhere and it was like smoke, burning my eyes but i was afraid to move for a second before i had assessed how bad i was hit/hurt. but i was fine, sore for a few days and a small scratch/scrape along my arm. the guy in front of me was perfectly ok and we both walked away. my officer’s name was j.lucky…:)
so all that being said…they did call my car a total loss, and cut me a check for it. so jason and i have spent the last week looking, and looking, and looking for a car. it is not as much fun as it used to be. we even went to dallas for a couple of days, they have a lot more to choose from and really helped us narrow down exactly what we wanted. then finally after some “debating” over the price we came back to arkansas and bought this gorgeous toyota rav4 v6 4×4 in black with grey leather interior…she is a gorgeous piece of machinery. we feel very blessed that the lord kept me safe, and we received a nice settlement for the car and were able to find something that both jason and i both fell in love with…and since all cars must have a name…i named her black beauty.
day off June 4, 2009
yay today is my day off, and i am refusing to study or do anything school related except for about an hour finishing my “brain” because i have to turn it in by 8pm. i have goofed off on the computer for about an hour, i am about to go fix a late breakfast and sip on my coffee and read some c.s lewis cause i am digging him right now. then, i am going to do maybe a 2 loads of laundry max and go to the grocery store, lastly i am meeting breanne and heidi for dinner at my favorite restaurant lillys dim sum, and then off to holly’s to make my first poster board presentation since jr. high. i would say i am in for a great day, and hopefully by the end of it i will be rested! this weekend i am headed to the passage retreat with a bunch of 15 yr olds…so no sleep until my sunday afternoon nap lol!
