Moving Mayhem

This week is out of control!!! I am moving out of my current place, cleaning it, and then moving in to the basement of some of my friends Blair and Kathryn Drake. It is going to be fun living with them (although who can compare to Foster Ave??) because they have a baby girl, Ava, and I will get to spend time with her and Kathryn during the days, which will be really nice. : ) I'll be there for roughly a month, and then BAM! Wedding bells! Aruba! Frederick, MD!

This week is also marking another transition of my life. July 31, 2009, I officially go off staff of the Navigators. I have enjoyed working for them the past 2 years, and am sad to conclude my time with them. I'm excited though for what God has in store ; )

The group of people I have compassion on this week: those students who relocate their living situations every single year for four years straight. They move into a place in August, pack up and move out and clean in May. Move stuff home for the summer. Pack stuff up for August. Move in August, and repeat 3 more times. I don't know how you do it, but I commend you! Moving and cleaning and packing is definitely not my fortay, and if I had money to burn, I'd hire someone to do all three of those things. haha

Currently I'm laying on my bed (aka blown-up mattress), awaiting 8:30pm so I can attend the last summer Bible study. It is hard to believe its over!!!



You might be able to see my makeshift bedside-table...its my printer box!

Ode to Nathan

I thought I would make a special post tonight. I am in Colorado for a short time, and away from my honey...well, I guess I'm always away from my honey because we are still at long distance. But I feel even further being 2 hours behind. So this is a special post in dedication to the man whose name will replace my own in a few weeks.

I love his humor and light-heartedness.



I like how he lets me bug him...I am the youngest of 3 girls, so I am good at being the youngest and bugging him sometimes. He is the oldest of his family, and so he also knows how to pick on the youngest - so we have that going for us : )


This photo (below) was taken at my grandparents house in Colorado in May. I like that my Dziadek (grandpa) says that Nate is a fine looking gentleman. He doesn't just pass those compliments around to everyone - so I know he really thinks Nate is a good looking guy, and I happen to agree.



I like that he looks so good in a tux! : ) We have been to quite a few weddings together, so I get to see this somewhat regularly these days which is nice.



I am thankful and super grateful for his willingness to spend so much time in the car driving to visit me. Since being engaged we have tried to see each other every weekend which means one of us ends up driving 3 hours there and 3 hours back to visit the other - and I am certain Nate has put in far more hours than I have.



Not to mention he spent tons of time and thought and research into the diamond industry to purchase this lovely unique, one-of-a-kind beautiful ring that I can call my own! It truly is the only one in the world that is like this since he designed it himself! I am so impressed.



I like that he likes adventures and finding unique places to spend time. He also really likes icecream.



I'm thankful he poses for all the photos I desire to take. He will usually let me take around 20 or so and then he gently says, "Ok, that's all we can do for now, the camera doesn't work anymore," or some other comment to communicate his smile is shot. He usually also removes the camera from my possession. But I am glad for what he does let me take - this photo below was taken by my dad in Colorado in May.



I am thankful for his willingness to fly to Colorado multiple times to see me and my family, and to also fly to Texas with me to visit family. We are quite the traveling couple.



One day he surprised me with a bouquet of flowers in our wedding colors! Pink orange and yellow. It was a wonderful surprise - and even detailed it with an orange ribbon around the vase.



And my last ode for the evening - this photo below was taken while we were apartment hunting together in Frederick. After we finalized which apartment to live in, and we took a weekend to move all his stuff into the apartment, and most of my stuff that I wouldn't need the month before we marry, he went ahead and set up the ENTIRE apartment. Put all the furniture in its place, unpacked a ton of boxes, cleaned, etc...so that when I arrived with my friend Brianne to show her our new apartment, it was all set up and clean and in order. It was a wonderful surprise.



In sum, I am thrilled to be marrying this man. : )

Unexpected Goodbyes

Hello faithful readers : )

I have some sad awful news to share. 2 of our students died 2 days ago in a car accident. One of our to-be-senior girls and her boyfriend, both involved in Navs, were driving together the other night in her hometown. She must've for some reason crossed over a median on a highway, and their car hit a semi head-on and went underneath it, killing them both at the scene. The semi-driver who was around 32 was unharmed. Both her and her boyfriend were believers - thank God - but their friends and families are shocked, aching and hurting. We found out the news last night. I just saw her the other day at our summer Bible study on Tuesday nights. Its so odd to know that I have seen her each week at Bible study (even sat next to her almost every Tuesday night this summer) and now they are both gone, forever. People are in shock here as it happened so suddenly. A week ago, I was sitting with this girl at the architecture studio as she helped me print out the Nav fundraising letter I'm mailing out for our campus. You may remember I blogged about it last - that was her who helped me get into the studio and we used her architecture account to purchase the printing. Its so weird knowing I was with her, sitting, a week ago, and she gave of her time to help us print these letters, and now, she no longer is on earth. Its so eerie. I'm thankful we have a God who timed her life to the minute and her purpose in life was completed.

Please keep her friends, her sister and brother, her parents in your prayers. Also her boyfriend's family and friends. They both were involved with Navs and went on our trips, etc, so this will leave quite a huge impact and affect many students we all know closely here. It really puts into perspective what is important in life and makes me so grateful that I was given another unexpected day today when I woke up. Knowing I was still alive to do normal things like put mascara on - and she will never do that again. It is so sobering.

I love all of you and am thankful for your lives.