Winter Wonderland

Hey guys!

Sorry I've been totally lacking in my blogging lately, life has been insane and out of control! 

Since its been a couple months since my last post, I'll recap the highlights of my life! :) 

(these are in no specific order!) 

1. I love ALL of my sorority sisters, and Alpha Chi was definitely the best decision I've made

here is our Christmas Picture :) 

2. My twin and I made paddles for our lovely big Brittany :) 

3. I was finally initiated into AXO, and I can honestly say it was one of the best nights of my life. 

4. Homecoming in Minneapolis with my girls was fantastic 

5. Homecoming in Winona was also fantastic, I loved seeing my old friends :)

6. My friends here are amazing 

7. Date parties with my Alpha Chi's are so fun! 

8. Ice skating for Dad's Day :) 

9. Pumpkin Patch exchange with Delta Chi! 

10. I was a Dalmatian for halloween! 

11. Red Carnation (formal date party) with my boyfriend :) 

12. Red Carnation with my family <3 

13. Michelle's  birthday! 

14. Heather's Breakfast at Tiffany's bridal shower 

15. and FINALLY, an ugly sweater Christmas party :) 

I have no pictures of my own from the recent snowfall, but this is one that I borrowed from a friend :) 

I'm not usually one to enjoy the snow, but this winter is already just so pretty I can't handle it. 

I promise I will try to be better with blogging! All next week are finals for me, so I'll be back by the end of the month! :) 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart" - Proverbs 3:5

City Life

Hey everyone! 

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been getting used to my new life in the city. 

It has been quite an adjustment going from Winona to Minneapolis, but I can say that it is definitely the best decision I've made in my life to transfer to the U :) 

I went through recruitment and rushed the best sorority on campus and all of the girls are fantastic! 

Alpha Chi Omega is definitely one of the best things that has happened to me since moving to the city, and I'm loving every moment of it! Our house is the big brown box on University right of off 35 and I absolutely LOVE it! 

On another note, yesterday my roommates and I made a delicious garlic and herb rubbed chicken alfredo pasta and garlic green beans, and it was absolutely phenomenal! 

I hope you all have a GREAT week and I promise I'll post again soon! :) 

"When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place" 

coffee!

Hello everyone! 

If you know me at all, you know that I'm addicted to caffeine! Whether its from coffee or Diet Coke, I have to have my caffeine fix each day. 

With that being said, I'm obsessed with Caribou Coffee (have been since about the age of 12), and lucky me had a job interview there today! 

On an even brighter note, I got the job!! :) 

I'm so excited to be working there! 

"I can't stop drinking the coffee. I stop drinking the coffee, I stop doing the standing and walking and the words putting into sentence doing." - Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)

Guacamole

Hello everyone! 

I figured since it's been such a beautiful summer, I'd made some delicious guacamole :) 

I used Alton Brown's recipe (from the Food Network!) and it was SO good. 

• 3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced

I hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as I did :) 

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness" - Galatians 5:22

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had as good of a weekend as I did! :) 

I went down to Winona for the weekend to visit, and even though it was a little weird being back, it was so nice to see my friends down there again! 

I got a chance to see Megan again and it was SO much fun, although I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted ;) 

I also got a chance to eat at Bub's again and it was nice to be able to see some of my ex co-workers again, I didn't realize how much I missed that place.  

"it's better to live a life of oh wells instead of what ifs"

Erin Condrin!

Today I FINALLY got my last birthday present in the mail, my Erin Condrin planner! :) 

I seriously have been waiting for the planner for WEEKS! 

I have more pictures of it on my instagram :) 

It's similar to the old design of the planners from last year, with a few minor (but great) changes.

I seriously cannot wait to plan my entire life for the next 12 months in this thing! 

I'll post another blog about my planner (probably in a couple weeks, when I get some of the pages filled out), and tell you all how much I like it :) 

"Sometimes we're all too quick to count down the days that we forget to made the days count" - unknown   (taken from my planner ;) )  

Happy End of July!

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy end of July! 

July is my favorite month of the year, so I'm kind of sad it's over but I can't wait for August to come!

In exactly a month from today I'll be moving into my new apartment downtown and I couldn't be any more excited :) 

I definitely think this may be one of the best months of July I've ever had: to recap, here's whats happened to me.. 

1. I moved out of Winona, and came back home

2. I got to see my favorite families I used to nanny and babysit for

3. I bought most of the things I need for my new apartment 

4. I turned 19 and had possibly one of the best birthdays ever, and the best presents ;) 

5. I ran in the happiest 5K on the planet :) 

6. I biked 13 miles in one day 

7. I registered for all of my classes at the U! 

and thats all I can think of right now, but I know more has happened :) Looking back on this past month, I realize I truly am blessed with everything in my life and it makes me realize, even more, how great God really is! 

I hope you all had a great month too! :) 

  "Live life to the fullest."-Ernest Hemingway 

Hunter Boots!

For my birthday, my parents got me a Vera Bradley lunchbox and a pair of hunter boots. I got to pick out the design I wanted for my lunchbox and this is what I chose: 

Then, much to my excitement, the lovely UPS truck came today with my new boots! 

I've wanted Hunter Boots for SO long and I was absolutely ecstatic when I found out I was getting them! I wanted the green ones really bad, but I figured the black ones would get more use. I can't wait to wear them! 

My sisters got me an Erin Condrin planner, which hasn't come in the mail yet. I should be getting it either tomorrow or the next day (hopefully)..but the moment it does there will be tons of pictures added on here! :) 

"Love is always better than hate." 

Birthday Month!

Hello! I've been super busy these past couple weeks! 

First, I'm finally 19!  I celebrated by having a girls dinner at PF Changs, then had a small party at my house after. :) 

I had a complete blast on my birthday! 

Then, a couple days later Michelle, Laurel, Heather and I ran in the "Happiest 5K on the planet" the Color Run. 

It was literally the most colorful day of my life, and the most colorful shower of my life ;) 

A couple days after that I had my transfer student orientation at the UofM. I registered for my classes, and got to walk around campus a little! I absolutely cannot wait to move in to my apartment on the 31st of August. 

Finally, the last exciting thing to happen to me this month so far, is today my parents, my sister, and I, along with some family friends decided to bike from Wayzata to St. Boni Bistro. It was about 13 miles each way. I made it about 8 miles before getting extremely dehydrated and blacking out, which would of been a lot scarier if that hadn't happened to me before. Oops. :/ But I was able to finish the 13 miles and ended up getting a ride back to Wayzata after we ate lunch. 

It's been a crazy month but I'm really going to try to blog more often! 

"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" - Philippians 4:13 

happy and home!

These past few days have been absolutely CRAZY!

 I finally moved out of Winona on Monday with the help of my best friend Brooke and I've just been enjoying being home! This was taken on my last day at Winona. 

On the 4th I spent the day with my sister out on Lake Minnetonka, then I met up with some of my high school friends and watched the fireworks in Excelsior! It was so much fun!! I LOVE the 4th of July! 

I finally got to babysit my favorite family again and Celia has gotten so old! I had an absolute blast seeing them again :) 

I'm currently looking for a steady job, but for now I'm just babysitting. 

Things coming up during this crazy month: 

My Birthday

My Mom's Birthday

The Color Run 

Orientation for the U 

"He has made everything beautiful in it's time" - Ecclesiastes 3:11 

happy weekend everyone!

Hello everyone!
I hope you all are having a good weekend so far!

I'm thrilled because one of my best friends from my first year at Winona is here for the weekend! :) here's a picture from the end of the school year. 

 Every time we hang out we have a blast and it's always so much fun and it's really nice to get a chance to see her before I leave Winona for good!

It's crazy to me because I'm leaving in 9 days and everything is just happening so fast! I just have a couple more days of work before I'm moving on in my life!

I'll post more later! :)

"happiness depends on ourselves" 

finding my way

So it has been a while since my last post, so here's what's been happening..

First of all, I found out I was accepted into the University of Minnesota and I am officially now a gopher!

 I couldn't be happier and I have found my apartment in the cities and I cannot wait to move out of Winona! My apartment is only 4 blocks from campus and it's right off the freeway, it comes fully furnished with 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, which are in each of the bedrooms which will be extremely convenient. I'm moving home in the beginning of July and I move into my new place on August 31st. During that time I will be looking for a job near my place in the cities and just figuring my life out while enjoying being home! :)

Secondly, I went camping in Wisconsin with some friends where we had some fun with a 'Merica themed night! :)

Afterwords we came back to Winona and I can finally say that I hiked up Sugarloaf, and climbed part of the rock! :)

Then we went kayaking and paddle boarding on the lake..

It was so much fun trying out new things and actually do some of the activities offered in Winona before I leave.

This past month has gone by really fast and I've had an absolute blast! I'll post some more blogs and photos once I start buying fun things for my apartment!

Finally, today is father's day and I must say somethings about my dad. I miss him so much and I cannot wait until I'm home and back with my family! Today is a day when we all need to acknowledge (even though we should EVERY DAY!) how much we love and appreciate our dads! I for one couldn't ever ask for a better dad then the one that I've got! I will forever be a daddy's girl <3

There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream- Unknown

Summer!

Happy Summer everyone! 

These past couple of weeks have been absolutely insane! I'm officially done with my freshman year of college and I cannot believe how FAST the year went! I had finals, work, and it was finally time to move out of the dorms for good! I am officially living in my sisters house this summer, and come August I have NO idea where I will be! Now that it's summertime for this now sophomore in college (I love saying that!) I'm working now more than ever!  Now that summer has started I am now working constantly! I am a waitress at Bub's, I work at the daycare on campus, and I just got a job at a bar as a shot girl. I haven't worked there yet but I'm hoping I love it! I don't enjoy putting in all this time to work, but I surely do like those paychecks :) Once all the craziness of my summer job schedule and moving in/unpacking settles down I'm hoping I have time for the summer activities I love! I need to start running again before the color run in July! 

I'm excited to be able to post a picture of Michelle, Laurel, Heather, and myself after we complete the run! I'm SO excited! 

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul" - Hebrews 6:19 

Moving So Fast!

I can honestly say that I cannot believe how fast this semester as FLOWN by! It's absolutely crazy that finals week is in 3 weeks! I haven't blogged lately because I've been SO busy trying to figure out what I'm going to do with my life. Here's whats new... First of all, I am currently holding 2 jobs in Winona, I'm a waitress at a restaurant called Bub's and I work at the daycare on campus. I work about 30 or so hours a week, on top of taking 16 credits! It is stressful but it makes time go by faster! Secondly,  I sent in an application to the UofM Twin Cities campus. I really want to transfer to the U! I had a meeting with the admissions councilor there and as of right now I'm currently wait-listed, and she said that I have a really good chance of getting in once they see my spring semester grades once they are posted. Looks like I have to get my butt in gear for these next 3 weeks, and to have faith that God will choose the right path for me!

Finally, there was Easter break. I got to spend this past weekend with some of my CODA friends, and it was REALLY nice to see them again! At least, the ones who could go. It was a lot of fun, and I'm really happy I got to spend time with them! It's hard to get everyone together often because we all live so far away, and most of us are in college now.

"Faith, it does not make things easy, it makes the possible" - Luke 1:37

Ultimate (:

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! I've been SO busy. I spent the first two weeks of March studying non-stop for my midterm exams..which sucked completely, but at least they're over! Then I spent all of this past week in Florida! We got back this morning at like 6:45am. I went down to Tallahassee with my ultimate frisbee team, we drove about 21 hours straight through because we had a tournament last Saturday and Sunday. We placed 8th out of 14 teams.

From there we drove another 2 and a half hours to Panama City Beach where we got to relax on the beach from Sunday-Thursay morning. The week was SO fun and it was absolutely gorgeous there! Our resort was right on the beach front which was perfect! We spent so much time just hanging out with all the people on the beach and had a blast. Although, I did end up spraining my ankle the last night there, so now I'm doing my best to make it heal quickly because I can't walk normal, haha.

It was so nice to get away from Winona for a while and to just chill out, not worrying about school. But now its back to being crazy busy until the end of the first week of May! I cannot believe how fast this semester flew by! 

"Don't forget to cherish all the things you love."

Feisty But Classy

Yesterday was the most physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting day of my life. I have never attended a funeral before, and I can honestly say I did not think the first one I ever went to would be for my 18 year old friend. There were over 300 people at this funeral, and it truly was a beautiful funeral for a beautiful girl. Although, I must say I also did not think I was going to laugh as much as I did. The speakers at the funeral described Danielle exactly as she was, 4 foot 10 and 1/2, feisty but classy, lit the world up with her laugh, and always put a smile on people's face. She was constantly eating, yet never gained any weight, and she always talked about pooping. Always. She was graceful, beautiful, and an absolutely amazing dancer. She had a knack for making EVERYTHING into a dirty joke, and she was a complete germaphobe. She had every second of every day planned out, and everything had to be organized and clean. She truly shined. Danielle really touched everyone she met, and her happiness was contagious.
I got a chance to talk to Danielle's mom a couple times at the funeral, and that was actually a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Danielle and her mom were always there for me, and they both constantly made me laugh. It was really nice to be able to tell her mom how much Danielle meant to so many people, how she will always be missed, and will never be forgotten. While we were talking about the accident, she said "it just sucks" which is probably the best way to put what happened into words.

I miss you Danielle, more than anything. You were a great friend and I love you.

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal."

At the funeral, the Pastor said something that will stick with me forever. He talked about how everyone says that their death happened for a reason, and that God has a plan, then he said probably the most brilliant thing I've ever heard...

"God did not decree her death. Rather, His was the first heart that was broken." -Pastor Dave

Heaven Needed Four Beautiful Angels.

I don't even know where to begin. I'm sure you've all heard about the car accident that happened on Monday afternoon in Alexandria. This car accident changed the lives of many, many people. One of my good friends for a long time died in that accident; nothing has been the same since, and it never will be. 

Danielle and 3 of her beautiful friends were in the front car that the SUV hit. Their car slid on the icy roads, over the median, and this was the result. There were either 2 or 3 people in the SUV that were brought to the hospital, but they were released and fine.

When I first heard the news I honestly didn't believe it. Danielle was one of the happiest, nicest, and outgoing people I've ever met, to say the absolute least. She was a real friend, always there when someone needed her, literally there for me throughout every step of my surgery. We could spend a whole week together, taking turns at whose house we would sleep at. We got into a lot of trouble, broke a lot of rules, and we had a hell of a time doing it. She was always SO positive and knew how to make the best of every situation. She may have been barely 5 feet tall, but she had the loudest, most genuine laugh a girl could have. She couldn't be dead. That just didn't seem right, and it still doesn't. I couldn't (and still can't) understand how I talked to her Sunday night, and how by the time Monday afternoon hit, I could never talk to her again. I still don't think I've fully grasped that idea yet. I never met any of the other girls, but I know people who knew them, and from what it sounds like, they were just as wonderful as Danielle. People keep saying that Heaven needed four beautiful angels, and I know that they made Heaven that much brighter, but they were 18 and 19 years old. They had their whole lives ahead of them.

People are constantly asking me if I'm okay, and they're asking if there is anything they can do to help. I hate these questions. Honestly, not to be rude at all, but why don't they take a second to think about it: if your friend died in a car accident, no one saw it coming, and no one could have stopped it, would you be okay?  

I'm sitting here, thinking about how hard this is for me to take, and all I can think about is her family. I'm SO unbelievably happy she got to spend her last weekend at home with them, and that they got to see her one last time before she was gone. Her very last tweet was about being home and sleeping in her own bed and it said "Last night in my bed #sadness". Scary how true that was. 

Danielle was a beautiful dancer, and the one song that keeps replaying in my mind is I Hope You Dance. 

I don't know God's reasoning for taking Danielle so early, but I do know God blessed me and everyone else who knew her during her short time here. Some girls are born with glitter in their blood, and she really was one of them. 

I hope you dance, Danielle. You will forever be in my heart and I will never forget you. I'll love you, always and forever.  

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance 

Keep Calm and Carry On

Today the family I used to nanny for came down to visit my sisters and me and it was a BLAST! We went to the Acoustic Cafe for lunch. I've never been there before but their food is really good and its a cute place! We then went to a couple of shops downtown, and one in particular may be one of my favorite places now called Heart's Desire on 3rd street. They have a ton of really cute things there and one thing that completely caught my eye was this box sign by Primitives by Kathy. Lately I've become obsessed with the Keep Calm quotes and when I saw this one I had to have it! I want to go back there soon and get more box signs because they are SO cute and I need to start finding things to decorate my room/house for next year! I can't wait! 

"learn to let go. things go wrong so you can appreciate them when they're right. you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together" - marilyn monroe

Pink On Purpose.

About a week a go or so I found this coffee mug online and I just HAD to buy it! Its something that struck me for 3 reasons...1.) its a coffee mug, and I'm addicted to coffee. 2.) the quote on it is by Audrey Hepburn and it says "I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong even when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happiest girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." which is one of my favorite quotes! and 3.) its part of the American Institute for Canter Research, and the $9.95 I spent on it went to breast cancer research! 

I literally just got it a couple minutes ago and I'm SO excited for it!! 

"Keep Calm and Stay Classy"