and so it begins!

school that is. today was my first day back in class... even though its only been a few weeks since I stepped off campus for summer school. This day marks the LAST first day of school. ever. It's totally a weird feeling. I still don't know what to make of it.

Will started school last Wednesday and textbooks are officially in season... so this new season of life begins!

There are few things that I'm intentionally doing starting today. I want to document them to see how long they last. My hope is that this day marks a change in lifestyle vs. a fleeting new school year resolution. I'm super hopeful about how this affects my life, in several ways. And I plan to document them here, ideally. : )

Things that I'm starting today:

1. I'm becoming super disciplined about time in scripture and with the Lord. Quiet time, if you will. Lately, the Lord has given me a great hunger for his Word and I discovered I'm starving! Literally my soul is malnourished- no exaggeration. I find such life and satisfaction in scripture, why don't I spend more time there! I'm super grateful that the Lord has revealed this to me and given me a desire to spend time with him. This is probably one of the things I'm most excited about. I'm waking up way earlier than I would have ever imagined to guarantee time with Him. I found some really fun devotionals at Half Price Books recently and I'm planning as using those as supplements to digging into scripture. I'm currently doing a weekly study on "Living in Jesus" and a daily study on "Spiritual Gifts." Such good stuff.

2. I'm taking my waking temperature and recording it. If you don't know what that means or what its for: here.

3. I'm exercising every morning with the loverly Megan (see picture below) at the Rec! We are doing the 7:30 class Monday-Thursday and then Cycle & Body Blaster on Fridays in the afternoons. This is going to be a great way to kick start my mornings and be motivated for the rest of the day. Also, if I don't do this in the morning, it gets really difficult to fit it later into the rest of the day. This morning was a kick in the pants. You can ask Megan, I was probably the worst one in the class. This will change soon!

4. I'm taking my vitamins! Yes! Can you believe it!? My mom would be so proud. If you have to know, I'm taking Prenatal vitamins (no, we are not preggers) and a separate iron supplement.

The list may seem small and meager, but its a big deal for this one here. Obviously the regular school stuff starts today too. *Insert forced smile*

Just a quick update on all that you missed/I didn't blog about:

• my birthday was SO fun. we went to Austin for a night. Did the typical: Alamo Drafthouse, Sixth Street, live Jazz music, Chuy's with the beautiful Aunt Tammy, Botanical Gardens, and playing around in the park, with the camera.

• Will MADE me an awesome present. He is so cool. He got the idea and plans from this blog. Here is a picture of what it will look like:

It's called at puzzle bookcase because the middle pieces aren't connected. It makes it a very versatile piece. It can go flat against a wall, in a corner, or be pushed completely together if there isn't a lot a space. I will post pics when we get it painted and set up. Thanks husband!

• I got a job! Yup. While I was sitting around the apartment during my break, I got a little stir crazy. I'm now working as a personal assistant for a beautiful woman, Traci Smith. It was truly the Lord that made this happen. I'm really excited to be working with her and helping her reach her goals this year. Also, it's a great job that's super flexible while I'm in school.
• We went to camp. church camp that is. Remove all the images and ideas you have stored up in your brain about what church camp is. Get rid of kumbaya around the camp fire, a bunch of kiddos hyped up on sugar, crazy counselors & lots of drama. Say hello to awesome community, uninterrupted relational time, lots of porch swings, fun activities, worship, prayer, healing, remembering, dreaming, and more.

I have lots of thoughts and things I want to blog about. Hopefully this week I can catch this up with all the things I have going on in my head. I'm exploding with ideas, things I've read, stories I've been challenged by... life. I truly want this to be a place of growth, of development. (mostly for me, but for anybody else who decides to join me along for the ride) Soon I'll be sharing a few stories, thoughts on money and finances and some things the Lord has been stirring in me.

This blog is already waaaaay too long for me to get into all that.

But for the time being, check out the side bar to the right for some really neat stuff under Kingdom things.