The Big 2-4!

Last week we celebrated my 24th birthday! Thanks so much for all the sweet notes and encouragement you sent my way!!! I had the best time celebrating with my friends here! The weekend before my birthday the girls threw me a surprise party...I knew we were having a party but I had no idea what was going be going on! So when I walked in with my friends...I was tickled to see that the girls had spent all afternoon making a GATOR cake and decorating the house with all my gator stuff!! So a big thanks to Val, Sarah, and Joy and their mommies for sending lots of great stuff to make a delicious cake...and for sending toppings so we could have an all-out ice cream sundae fest!!!
Isn't it CUTE!!!

On of the things I was really excited about is that my new classmates came! So this is Joy and I with our classmates!

Cat and Belle, sweet sisters!

After a couple of dancing games, the cup game, a round of Mafia, and giving thanks to the Maker, we all got together for a group shot!

And after the party the girls surprised me with these new shades and camo kicks! They actually found my size (of course they're mens and labeled "giant" ;) )!!

Thanks so much for an awesome birthday...love you guys!!!

Mountain Climbing

After wearing long johns and carrying an umbrella all week, the clouds finally lifted along with the cold weather! So Nicole and I went out last Friday to enjoy a blue sky sunny day in the mountains behind our universities. We decided to take a steep little narrow path when we came to a fork, and what started out as stepping stones, quickly turned into boulder climbing! Haha!

"I lift up my eyes to the hills-

where does my help come from?

My help comes from...

the Maker of heaven and earth."

(Ps 121)

It was really beautiful from the top to look out one way to see our district of the city, and then turn around to the other and see the countryside!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...at least around our apartment! We had some friends over for a Christmas decorating party this past week! I have even more anticipation about this Christmas than I did when I was a child!!! Everybody got to paint their own ornament and hang it on the tree!
Lisa and Sally started decorating each other!

I got the priveledge of putting the star on the top of the tree...b/c my arms are the longest!

The decorating crew!

The nativity scene!
After sharing the Christmas story, Joy taught everyone Christmas Carols!
Thank the Maker for the gift of Emmanuel, and the many opportunities this season will bring!!!