christmas day.

What are your Christmas traditions? What do you do every year no matter how old you get? What does your Christmas day look like? What are the things that make Christmas so special for you?

Growing up, my brothers and I would get up super early (5:00am or a little earlier kind of early), and would meet up in my room. The rule was we couldn't go out in the living room, dining room or kitchen. We had to stay in one of our rooms until mom and dad were awake. We have a hallway between our rooms, so whoever was the first to wake up, would walk through the hallway to wake the others up.

As a little kid the anticipation of finding out what Santa brought and finding out what is in those boxes that you have had to stare at for days and weeks is huge! Funny thing is....I don't think that has changed much between now and then! ;) Anyway, once Devin, Dustin and I were up, the next task was to wake up the parents. How did we do this? Well....I have a piano in my room. We would play the piano real loud (and it wasn't a song that was played, it was just playing random keys real loud), we would sing at the top of our lungs, yell and scream, clap, knock on the walls, dance around...basically we did anything and everything that was really loud!!

Once they were awake we would all go to the boys' room (there door leads right out to the living room) and open the door and Santa's gifts and stockings were sitting in front of our presents. We would each spot out our gifts and run and get really excited at whatever was laying there from Santa. Then we would open presents from mom and dad. After presents, mom would have breakfast (mom makes a breakfast casserole each year...it's yummy!) ready! Then, almost every year everybody would go back to sleep, but me. I was always to excited to even think about going back to sleep! :)  Most years, we would eventually head to grandma moore's for the day once everyone was up and ready.

Now we are all in college and Dust is the only one left at home. Our Christmas day doesn't look quite the same, but it is still pretty close! :) This year Dust and I woke up at 6:30am....so did my parents! Dev and Kel came over at 7:00am. We opened our gifts. Mom made the breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, and some fruit. We ate "played" with our gifts for a little bit then got ready for church. My grandma and grandpa came down for lunch....my mom went all out! We had ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, broccoli and rice casserole, and rolls. Thanks mom!! :) We spent the afternoon and evening playing games and lounging around.

Santa was very good to me this year. ;) I got a new camera, a new pair of TOMS, some really comfy and soft pajama pants...AND they have polka dots on them which makes them even better! :) I got other stuff too, but I won't list everything out. I know you probably really don't care. haha All of this to say, even though we are older, we still enjoy those Christmas traditions that make Christmas so special to me and my family.

I am blessed to be able to celebrate Jesus' birth with my awesome family! Happy birthday Jesus!!

________________________________

Here are some pictures from the day:

Jordan! :)

Dustin and Devin.

She was pretty excited about her new shoes! :)

Dad and Jordan sharing a moment! haha.

I love our Christmas tree!

We got to dog-sit for the afternoon/evening! :)

One of my favorite pics from the day! ;) We kind of did
the same thing. That was not planned!

Dad didn't want his picture taken....haha.

Me and my mom! :)

She decided she wanted to take a "silly picture".  She kept
asking, "What do I do??" haha

:)

Devin and Kelli. They are my favorite!

Sisters! :)

Chrissy and Jordan are buddies!

Dustin and Chrissy! :)

Mom took this pic. I tried cropping myself out but part of my sleeve
is still in the pic. I wanted a pic of the tree at night though! It's pretty!

Jordy and I. Of course she was sitting perfectly still until mom took
the picture. I think she was on the verge of licking my face! That or she really
didn't want her picture taken! haha.

I love my new camera!!!!

AND.....I found out one of my good friends who has been in Uganda since July, is engaged! Her boyfriend was able to go spend her last month of being in Africa with her. And he proposed!! Congrats Meghann and Clark!! So happy for you guys! :)

Merry Christmas!

Well....I have been really slacking on my blogging. My apologies. I would like to promise that it will get better, but the next couple of weeks will be super busy for me, as I will be in Texas and then Georgia. But...I will do my best to get some posts in there somewhere. And when I get back in Topeka things will slow down a bit and I can take more time and get caught up on all the things I want to share with you.


Until then, I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Last night we had Christmas at my grandma and grandpa's (my mom's side) which was a lot of fun! And there was SO much food!!! I feel like that is all I have been doing....eating. And it hasn't been healthy food either. Lots of finger food, sugar cookies, peanut butter balls, peanut clusters, puppy chow, and the list goes on. My mom has been VERY busy in the kitchen!!! Thanks mom! :)


Tonight Dev and Kel came over and we ate before going to Christmas Eve service. After the church we played Scattergories at Dev and Kel's. It was pretty entertaining! :) Even though it is Christmas Eve, I am still having a hard time grasping that Christmas is tomorrow! Looking forward to opening presents with the family, eating more food, playing games, relaxing, and celebrating Jesus' birth.

"Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them...'Don't be afraid!' he said. 'I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!'"

~ Matthew 2:10-11

And....here is a little video to end with! Merry Christmas from the girls at Chi Alpha, minus Mirah and Kelsey. :(  Enjoy and have a wonderful holiday!! :)

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/DknpGhaIQvMhKucH?cmpid=jj_fb_friend_holidays

and so break begins...:)

First of all: Christmas is officially one week from today!! This is blowing my mind....I don't believe it. I can remember when I was a little kid and December seemed to be the longest month....it took forever for the 25th to finally come around. Now it sneaks up on me and is here before I know it! I might also help if it was snowing outside or something....60 degree weather in the middle of December doesn't feel much like Christmas to me!

Second of all: I am done for the semester!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!

I have had a great start to the break! I took my last final Thursday and to celebrate being finished, a couple of housemates and I had a coloring party while we watched Christmas movies and drank hot chocolate! :) And yes...I am 22 and I love to color still! It was one of the highlights of my week actually! Something that made that day even better though....my dear friend Stefanie who is currently living in Colorado showed up! She wasn't supposed to be home until Friday, but she surprised us all and came a day early!! What a great surprise!

Today was an awesome day and much needed!! It started out with breakfast at Hanover's with some of the Chi Alpha girls...and baby Benjamin! :) Their biscuits and gravy=delicious! Which reminds me, I have leftovers for breakfast! :) That was followed by the best coffee date ever with some of my favorite people....Tay, Ari, Stef and Kelsey! :) We may have sat at Starbucks talking for about 3 1/2 hours! It was a great time. We all live in the same hall here at the Chi Alpha House....correction, we LIVED in the same hall...Stef now lives in Colorado. It was a nice hall reunion and the first time ALL of us had hung out together in a while! There was lots of laughing (as always) and good conversation!

Tonight....we went and looked at Christmas lights!!! Topeka Bible Church has a really awesome Christmas light show and if you live in Topeka but have never been, you need to go!! If you don't live in Topeka, I hope someday you are able to experience it. But here is a link to give you an idea of what it is all about! :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIOM6FO4Gvc  It's so awesome!! We followed this up with looking at the Christmas lights in the Potwin neighborhood. There are a lot of beautiful houses decorated with lots of beautiful Christmas lights....what more do you need?! ;)

That's all for now though.

Be on the look out for more posts! I am now on break so I will have more time to write...and I have several things I want to write about so be prepared! :)

things that make me happy...

Christmas lights! 

:)

People in my church back home put together "final packages" for the college students to help get through the joy of finals week! :) I may gain 10 pounds by the time
next week is over!

Also....I have a camera to use temporarily until Christmas! :) Oh happy day!! Thanks, Mary! :)

finals.

Well...I have been slacking on my blog posts. I apologize about that! I have been so busy with school and work and spending time with friends. I am officially done with classes and all I have left to get through is finals week! I have 4 tests, a project, and a few random assignments left. It will be a busy week for sure, but I sure am excited to be done! I am really looking forward to Christmas Break!!!!! Lots of friend time, book reading, spending time with family, movie time and some more friend time!! :)

Last night I celebrated my first "Christmas" of the season! We had our Chi Alpha Christmas party! We all met up at El Mezcal, which is a mexican restaurant. It is very similar to El Pueblito back home (the best Mexican restaurant in my opinion!) so it made me think of home a lot. But it was pretty good....still not quite the same as El Pueblito though! :) After eating, Ariona and I made a quick detour to Classic Bean which is a coffee shop for a yummy chai latte! Then back to the House we went. We did Secret Santa.... last week whoever wanted to participate wrote on a card with their name. 3 things they wanted for $10, and then we drew names. I ended up with a Starbucks gift card!! Heck yes! Just in time for finals week! Thanks Michael!


Tomorrow, we will be celebrating Christmas with the Eccles side of the family! I am looking forward to it! Excited to see everyone again! This year will be a little bit different though...we lost two special people last year. In fact, the Christmas get together last year was the last time a lot of us were able to see Uncle Alan and TJ before the car accident. I know that we will all enjoy each other and it will be a wonderful time, but I know that we will all be missing them. Nonetheless, our time together will be full of laughter and fun! :) Anndddd I get to see my parentals, my goofy brothers, and Kelli!! :) It shall be a great day!


After finals week is over I will get back into the swing of things in the world of blogging. I really do enjoy it, and I have so much I want to write, but my stack of homework is calling my name.

Thanksgiving tradition: Black Friday Shopping!

Alright....this is a brief and fast blog post! Thanksgiving was GREAT! Break was SO busy for me but it was a good time. Thursday was full of family and lots of delicious food followed by a Thanksgiving tradition: Black Friday shopping! Every year my mom, Aunt Debbie, and Grandma go black friday shopping....I join in when I can but I'm not near as dedicated as them. I can only take so much shopping before I get grumpy and want to go home.

Anyway...I convinced (surprisingly it wasn't hard) Dustin to come to Topeka with us. I made sure he knew he didn't have to go shopping with us. The deal was we were going to go shopping at midnight....he could stay at my house and sleep. I was only planning on going for a few hours at midnight but there was no way I was getting up at 4am to go shopping. So that is where Dustin came into play....he was going to stay with me at the house so I would have some company on Friday while my mom, Aunt Debbie, and Grandma shopped. Thanks Dustin! :)


So 10:00pm comes around and the first stop: Wal-Mart. Dustin decided to be brave and come with us....he wanted to see what this Black Friday shopping was all about! We get to Wannamaker (which is where all the stores are) and Dustin's eyes got bigger and bigger as he saw the people standing in line at the stores and all the traffic. I do believe the words that came out of his mouth were, "Oh my gosh. People are crazy!" over and over and over! I think he secretly liked it though! ;) We went to two stores...Wal-Mart and Target. We didn't see any fights or anything. Just lots and lots of people everywhere! After Target (which we waited in line for about an hour and a half to check out) it was 2:15am. Dustin and I were both done. We were ready to go home. My crazy mom, aunt debbie, and grandma however continued on. They were extreme shoppers this year....they definitely did not sleep that night! They literally shopped till they dropped. While they were shopping Dust and I went to my house and played rock band and talked until 5:30am....we may be crazy too but at least we were doing something fun with our time! ;) Just kidding....I know some people do enjoy shopping....I, however, am not one of them.

Friday afternoon/evening, there was a family gathering on my dad's side of the family so after my mom was finished shopping and we ate some lunch, back to Gridley we went. I had a cousin in town who I can count on one hand the amount of times I have seen him....or at least the times I remember anyway! The last time was about 6 years ago. So we got to see him and meet his family, and then see some of my dad's side of the family. It was a lot of fun! We don't get to see that side of the family very often but it is always a great time when we do....there is always a lot of laughter when my dad and his brothers are together! :) I am looking forward to Eccles Christmas! Then from Gridley, we drove on to Chanute. I was finally home! It was a short and busy trip home but it was nice to get away...even if it was to Chanute! I always enjoy being around my family!

I will be writing (I have actually started it, but just a few sentences here and there) another blog post with details about the rest of my break in the very near future. Some people have been asking about my experience on Sunday so stay tuned for details on that! If you don't know what I am talking about....be sure to keep checking back to find out! :)

P.S. So much for a "brief and fast post"! haha Whoops!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your families and friends and enjoyed whatever thanksgiving traditions you may have!!

friends.

It has been a while since my last post! I have been so so busy and trying to stay calm and not stress out....key word being trying! But while it has been really busy with school, it has been awesome! If you know me at all, you know that I always try to make time for my friends. Sometimes I make to much time! ;) But seriously, how can you say no to hanging out with such awesome people?! The answer: you can't! :)
Yesterday was the last day of class for the week so it is officially Thanksgiving Break right now!! YAY!!

My break has been so awesome so far! I have been able to see all of my closest friends from Chanute (minus Riggsey who is in France...I miss you lots Erin!) as well as my good friend who is currently living in Colorado Springs this week...and it's only Wednesday! Monday night after work I went and picked up Stefanie and her friend who made the trip with her and headed to the Chi Alpha house! Us and some housemates made a quick trip to Coldstone. We had to take two vehicles to fit everybody so we were supposed to race there....Taylor kind of cheated though and left before everybody was in my car. No worries though....we still won! ;) Ok...maybe not but the people in my car were inside of Coldstone first so I think that counts for something! And then of course instead of ice cream I chose Starbucks since it is conveniently located right by Coldstone! :) Pumpkin spice latte's are one of my favorite things! Pretty much if you put anything pumpkin in front of me, I'm gonna love it! We spent the rest of the night talking and hanging out....it was the last night most of my housemates would be at the house. Some had already left. It is never the same here during breaks....a big quiet empty house is what is left. Sad.

But...last night it was ok because Amanda, Kiley and Cassie came and spent the night with me!! :) We ate at Olive Garden...actually we ate breadsticks, salad, and soup. By the time our food came we had to box it up because we ran out of time! We had a movie to get to! I finally got to see Breaking Dawn!! And it was even better getting to see it with them! The last time the four of us were together was probably when New Moon came out....Twilight movies just have a way of bringing us together! ;) Amanda came around two and we did some shopping and made a trip to Barnes and Noble where we ended up getting a coffee, reading a magazine...and yes it had something to do with twilight, the cover had a picture of edward and bella so of course we had to read it, and then we left! We got all excited and we had (yes....we HAD to!) go home and watch the first twilight movie! And after watching Breaking Dawn we came home and watched New Moon! Our night was all about Twilight! :) My favorite quote from the night: "I didn't see it there or I would of saw it!" hahaha. Let's play the guessing game...who do you think said that?! Amanda Cassie or Kiley?! :)

Thank you SO much for coming guys! I loved seeing you all!

I am so thankful for such awesome friends! I know I have said it before, and I know I will say it again but God has really brought some special people into my life! And there is nothing like getting together with old high school friends who you don't get to talk to or see very often! So much fun!

But now my friends are gone and now I must start on my homework. I just have to get through work tonight and I am off for the rest of the week! Tomorrow I will head to Gridley for Thanksgiving dinner, then on to Chanute! Can't wait to see my family!! :)

P.S. Sadly no pictures to add from last night. Some day (and hopefully soon) I will have a new camera and will have pictures to add. Pictures make everything better....especially when you aren't big in to reading. I would much rather look at pictures than read really long posts if I were you too! :)

i'm thankful for...

Well...Thanksgiving is around the corner! I can't believe it. School is crazy busy with end of semester papers, projects, and tests. It's hard to believe that we only have two full weeks of school and a few days, and then finals week is here! You would think that would be relieving but it's quite the opposite. So much to do before then!

But....I thought it would be appropriate if I put together a list of things I am thankful for. They are in no specific order!

• My parents...they are the best. They always support me in whatever I am doing and they always love me know matter what I do. They are always there for me and would go out of there to help me in any way I needed it. They have always went to all of my sporting events, piano competitions and recitals, and my band performances that they could make it to. 
• My brothers-they are crazy....but I love them. They make me laugh ALL the time and are always there for me. 
• Kelli- I am so thankful to have a such a wonderful sister and to actually have someone on my side! We now gang up on the guys! ;) And she likes to watch twilight and harry potter with me! And she likes to drink coffee with me! It is nice having Chrissy around as well...she doesn't let Dustin pick on me. Actually, we usually pick on him! It's nice to have it the other way around! haha. That and she is awesome and fun to be around. And she enjoys playing Uno attack just as much as me! 
• Jordan...dev and kel's dog! 
• The girls that I live with at the Chi Alpha House. They are the best---seriously! The guys are pretty cool too I suppose! haha.
• My family in general....this includes all of my extended family!! :)
• God's direction in my life. While I don't know how it is going to play out in the future...I know I am where He wants me to be for the time being.
• Fall!! Walking to class today was great. The leaves are falling like crazy....I love hearing the crunch of the leaves! :) 
• My lovely friends from back home and here in Topeka. I am seriously blessed. 
• Coffee! 
• Snow!!!! I love snow!
• Thunderstorms!
• My church...both here in Topeka and in Chanute.
• Pumpkin latte's....delicious!
• Scarves.
• The fact that I get to see all of my closest friends next week....it is going to be one awesome week! And to it off... lots of family time! So excited!
• Tennis (this includes ultimate tennis!) 
• Music--driving around with friends with the windows down and the radio up really loud with a bunch of friends....the best thing ever!
• Late night conversations--they are seriously the best. You should try it sometime!
• The most important thing of all...JESUS. I just love Him. I could go on and on why....but that would take a really long time. ;)

I know....some of those are really random. But the list could go on and on....I don't want to bore you though!

Now I have to go get ready for the Thanksgiving Dinner that is going to be happening at the Chi Alpha house this evening! Yum!! I love thanksgiving food....another thing I am thankful for! ;) Food + Awesome people = in the words of Tay....LEGIT!

So...until next time! And no worries, I will let you know how how the eating of delicious food goes!

P.S. I had every intention to add these photos to my last post, but that didn't happen. So I am adding them on to this one...better late than never right??!

Me with my little big brother, Dustin! :)

The whole family on Dustin's graduation day!

my little brother.

For those of you who know me at all know that I love my family.I am blessed to have two of the best brothers ever (i'm in the middle) and an amazing sister-in-law! They mean the world to me and I would do anything for them. I am so proud of who they are and what they do! My friends here in Topeka always tease me because I go home so often...but the truth is, it is hard to stay away when you have family like mine! When my brothers call me and ask me to come home...and sometimes they don't ask, they beg....how can I say no to that?! :)

Those of you who have been around us know that we all get along in a strangely good way! My brothers are both so ornery and you never know what they are up to. If you looked at each of our "wall-to-wall conversations" with each other on Facebook, you would think we hated each other. You would see things such as "you are dumb", or "you smell bad", or "go brush your teeth" and etc. etc. Don't be mistaken though, we really do like each other! I guess you could say that is our way of saying "I love you" or "I miss you!" We are all really close and we always have a good time together. They always know how to make me laugh! 

Today though, I am going to talk about my little big brother Dustin. (He is the young one, but he is the tall one therefore my little big brother) He has no idea, but this whole blog post is from something that he did last night. I don't think he will mind though....I hope not anyway!

Dustin (aka Dusty) is one of my favorite people! He sent me the nicest text message last night and it still puts a smile on my face. The words that he told me seriously melted my heart (cheesy I know, but true) and brought tears of happiness to my eyes! I'm not going to tell you what it said because I don't know if he would appreciate that or not. And I don't want to scare him...I would like for him to say more nice things to me in the future. But not all the time....that would be weird! :) It was such a simple message, but yet it meant so much to me! It was EXACTLY what I needed to hear at that moment. I knew everything that Dusty wrote in the text, I had never doubted it, but I guess I really needed to hear it at the time.

It's funny how God does that. He knows each of us SO well...he knows how many hairs are on our head. That is how much he cares about you and I....that is how much He loves us. God knew that I needed to get that text message last night and whether Dustin is aware of it or not, God used him last night. I am so thankful that Dusty listened and sent that message....I know it must of been hard for him since it was such a nice message! ;) Just kidding Dustin...but really! 

That text message got me thinking...

It just goes to show the simplest of words can go a long way! Don't forget to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. If God puts something on your heart to share with someone, DO IT!!! Chances are, it will mean the world to that person! It could be that something that they really needed to hear at that exact moment. It could give them hope. It could give them encouragement. It could change their life. You just never know. Words can be so powerful and you never know how God will use your words.

P.S. I don't want to leave anybody out... my parents are pretty awesome as well! :)

late night talks.

Today was a lazy/productive/happy/fun day....that is a lot in one day! I started the day off with a delicious pumpkin spice latte from starbucks, spent the morning and early afternoon doing not much of anything. I feel like I was kind of wandering around doing really random things....anything that allowed me to put off starting the huge pile of homework I had waiting for me.

By evening, I still had no homework done. I went to dinner with a couple of my house mates. We ate at Chili's...we had a coupon for free queso...score! It was delicious. We had good conversation and slowly made it back to the house. Taylor (one of my 14 housemates) and I had plans to have a homework party in the dining room....we were both lacking the motivation to do homework so we hoped that if we were in the same room and both working on homework we could be productive....it worked!! She finished her paper and I made a dent in my homework! I have a homework date with another housemate (Lindsay) tomorrow at Barnes and Noble to make that dent a little bigger! :)

After I got to a stopping point with the homework, I sat down with some housemates and watched the Big Bang Theory which is always a good time....that show always makes me laugh. Sheldon is my favorite! (bazinga!) After everyone had headed upstairs to go to sleep, Lindsay and I were downstairs. We ended up sitting at the dining room table and talked for a while.

From the conversation we had, it got me thinking about how well everything works out when we give it to God. His planning and His timing are absolutely perfect. You never know when He is going to use you or how He is going to use you....whether you are aware of it or not. You (and I) may have impacted or could impact people in ways that we may never know. We are a light in the darkness. When we give ourselves to God and when we pray that He use us....HE WILL USE US…and sometimes in ways or situations that we could never think of. He is a beautiful and powerful God. So let that light shine! Pray for boldness and courage. Pray that He will put somebody on your heart to reach out to. And I don't say all this to tell you what to do...because those are my prayers too. I struggle with this. I like to be comfortable but God loves to bring us out of our comfort zones. But....if we have faith, He will NEVER let us fall. 

This is why I love late night conversations! They make my heart happy! They always seem to be the best conversations I have with people. Even though it means less sleep, they are SO worth it. We didn't exactly talk about what I wrote above, but from that conversation, these thoughts came to mind as I came upstairs to get ready for sleep and I wanted to share with you guys. God is SO awesome. So all in all....today (i suppose it is no longer today, but yesterday!) was a wonderful, relaxing and productive Saturday! :)

P.S. I promise not all my posts will be like this necessarily…I don’t want anybody to feel like I am preaching to them because that is not at all why I am doing this blog. It is more of what is on my heart and how God is working on me. This is a way for me to kind of process those thoughts and write them out. And if someone gets encouragement from them in some way….then that makes it even better.

first post.

Well....here goes nothing.

This is my first blogging experience. I am actually kind of excited! I have always thought it would be fun to blog, but I never have because I always thought I didn't have anything exciting to write about. I mean, I am a college student at Washburn University who works at a cupcake bakery (Billy Vanilly!). My days consist of class, homework, work, and spending time with friends and family. But God is telling me differently...He is showing me that my life is not boring and there are things that I can share with whoever ends up reading this.....you will have to wait and see what those "things" are though. I'm not going to ruin the surprise. In fact....it will be a surprise for both of us because I'm not even completely sure what "things" I have to write about. I just feel like God is calling me to blog about...."things". Needless to say, it will be a journey for all of us! :)

I do know however that God has really brought me peace with where I am at for the time being. While I am not somewhere extravagant like Africa, South America or Central America, Australia or Hawaii, I am really enjoying life....even in Topeka, KS. I know I am where God wants me to be at this point in my life. And He has blessed me with some incredible people who have become part of my family. I have made some of the best friends here in Topeka and I am so thankful for that. This, the Chi Alpha House, has become my home away from home. Although I am not at some exotic place God is still working in me and teaching me things, I am having some of the best times I have ever had. I laugh really hard....ab workout kind of hard....at least weekly. It is usually multiple times a week....sometimes maybe daily! It's a wonderful thing!

My point is though (I keep getting off topic...sorry), I want to use this blog to share with my family and friends the happenings of my life as well as my walk with God. And... eventually when I get a new camera, I will even add pictures! :) So I hope that my rambling isn't to boring for you. And just a warning, I am really good at rambling! I will try to keep it to a minimum! :)