Finals...

It has been a whirlwind of a month since I last posted! I am taking a mental study break right now from studying for my finals I have in the morning--I've probably taken too many study breaks today, but I think I am just ready for my semester to be OVER! It has been a rough one, but I guess all in all a good one too! 

Here are some pictures from the Campus Outreach Christmas Party we had last week :)

The whole group!

Our weekly Bible study group and the new baby :)

Well back to studying--My microbiology and biochemistry exams are in the morning! Prayers appreciated!!!

Gratitude....

11. Chilly, but sunny mornings
12. Roommates who take of me when I'm sick
13. Popsicles
14. Pizza nights with the girls
15. Crossing off things from the "to-do" list
16. All the veterans and current military who have given their lives, time, or service to protect my nation
17. Including my grandfather and my older brother Abraham who both serve for the U.S. Navy
18. A day of from school to catch up on life
19. Campus Outreach
20. The people at my university who help me everyday to succeed (like the advisors of my honors program, professors, classmates, and friends)

Gratitude

'Tis the season...

I am grateful for:

1. Jesus' merciful death on the cross
2. the love of my family and friends
3. sunshine
4. christmas lights up in my room
5. good conversation over spaghetti with a wonderful friend tonight
6. christmas music playing on my computer
7. my roommates
8. the sweet laughter of my kids at YReads
9. warm blankets and hoodies
10. new friendships

Just to name a few...what are you thankful for?

October and Brothers

October is almost over, but I wanted to write a post about my two brothers who have October birthdays! Eli's birthday is October 1st--He is a freshmen in college this year! I just can't believe it :) One day he will be playing professional soccer....I just know it. It's exciting to watch him on the field, so focused on the game that he loves. My little brother who is not so little anymore :)

My older brother Abraham's birthday is October 25th! He is in flight school right now with the Navy learning how to fly helicopters....so cool, right? I know! It's pretty awesome to have siblings who you can brag about! These two brothers of mine (I have four brothers) are pretty special, and I love them a lot!

Happy birthday to you both!!!

Enjoy some pictures!

My and Bram when I was born

Welcoming Eli home!

This and That!

Jennah and I went to the final free country concert of the season and had so much fun!!! We saw Frankie Ballard, Danny Gokey, and Emerson Drive :)

My favorite part of Emerson Drive was the fiddler!! He was so talented!

The girls getting frozen yogurt at Mochi's :) Such a fun night!!!

Jennah and I volunteering as prize fairies at the Fetal Hope Walk at the Beaches...fun morning of handing out prizes to little ones and making little girls smile!

Yreads cutie!

Beautiful Jacksonville

Talk about blessed! These are all unedited photos from basically my backyard :) I walk out my apartment and get to look at this view! Something I will definitely miss when I leave this city.

Halfway through October!

Tonight we are going to the last free country concert of the Fall series hosted by a local radio station! It has been so fun!!! 3 Saturdays in a row of great country music for free...nothing can beat that!!! 

Here's Jason Michael Carroll from last week (photo props to my girl Jennah!! awesome shot of Jason singing in the crowd!!)

Here is some of the group from last week! About 12 of us went together...so fun!

Enjoy a song by Jason Michael Carroll..I loved it so much, I bought it when I got home :)

Football games!

JU has been doing great athletically! The men's soccer is currently ranked 1st in our conference, and our football is also ranked #1!! It's great to be a Dolphin!! Here are some pictures from football games so this semester!

Go Green and Gold!!!!

The 4 roomies!!!

Family Weekend with Mom and Pop!!

YReads

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon I am all smiles! I get to read and talk with my little elementary school students at their after school program with the YMCA called YReads :) They are all precious children, and I have so loved interacting with them. My heart melts everytime I walk in their classroom and they all shout "She's here!! I want to work with Miss Abbie today!!!"

Beautiful and precious children...I am blessed to have them in my life!

Country, country, country!

It's October!! And that means free country concerts in Jacksonville! Jennah and I saw Hunter Hayes and Casey James last night...so fun! And the weather was perfect for blue jeans and boots! :)

Hunter Hayes!

Casey James!

Here is Hunter Haye's hit "Storm Warning"

Soccer Sunday

Loved seeing my little brother play collegiate soccer this weekend!! His Stetson University Hatters were part of a tournament that my school hosted this weekend, so I got to see him play, plus I got to cheer on my own Dolphins!!! Two soccer games made my Sunday afternoon great!!

Jennah and I cheering on our boys!!

Thoughts...

It's almost 1am and I have been studying...well trying to study..for a biochemistry exam that I have on Friday--this exam was moved (it was supposed to be today), so I suppose I should be glad, but sometimes, I just like to get exams over with!!

I am super excited about this weekend! I am heading to Deland for a Campus Outreach Fall Retreat with students from UNF, JU, Embry-Riddle, and FIT! I cannot wait to meet more Christians and be encouraged in my faith! These past three weeks have been so encouraging to me, in the midst of what should have been one of the roughest times I've gone through in college, I have felt incredibly at peace. I know that God is on my side always and it has been awesome to have my daily reading of Scriptures seem to correlate perfectly with what I need to hear. I've never really experienced that before, but I am loving it!! Talk about encouraging!

We sang a song tonight down by the river during our worship time that I just love: "Love Song for a Savior" by Jars of Clay:   http://youtu.be/j_wb38KMXLs

"I want to fall in love with you [Jesus], I want to fall in love with you!!!"

September already!

Happy September!!

This past weekend I was able to go home for the Labor Day 3 day weekend, and it was so nice. Albeit, I had homework and wrote a paper...it was still nice to be at home. Abraham even came home with Chips as a surprise, so it was a lot of fun.

Now I'm back to school, and trying to be productive. I started a 31 day experiment today in my quiet time--I'm excited to see what God has to teach me through this process. I may post it on here so you can try it out too.

Also, I'm posting a link to a blog that is excellent! It's a great reminder for upper upperclassmen even though it was written for freshmen! See what you think!
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2011/08/22/the-freshman-15/

God Is Sovereign

"Promise me you'll always remember...

You're BRAVER than you believe,

and STRONGER than you seem, 

and SMARTER than you think."

:: Christopher Robin to Pooh ::

God is Sovereign over my life and everything in it...even over the really really really hard times. Sometimes this is so hard to understand and trust in, but I am trying really hard. 

And it begins...

Here we go...senior year!!!! Classes start in 2 days!! I almost can't believe that I am back in my apartment with all my girls gearing up to start again; summer flew by in my opinion, but I guess that good summers always do seem to fly by :)

Working at the children's hospital this summer was such a great experience. I feel so incredibly b.l.e.s.s.e.d!!!! The nurses and staff got me a cake when I left--can you believe that?? I wanted to start crying, they are all such amazing women and were so kind and generous to me all summer, I feel so lucky! I feel more confident than ever that I am doing the right thing by getting into the pediatric medical field. God gave me so much confirmation this summer that I am right where He wants me...as always of course!

I continually think of a plaque that is hanging in the kitchen of my parents house that reads: "The Will of God will never Lead you where the Grace of God cannot Keep You" ---so so reassuring.

This semester will be a great one- I am excited about being back in Jacksonville with all my very dear friends, and as much as I am nervous about my classes, I know I'll get through them like I always do.

Here's what my schedule looks like:

Microbiology

Biochemistry I

Environmental Psychology

JU 101 (a freshmen course I am teaching)

JU 168 (the honors version of JU101 that I am assistant teaching)

And twice a week I'll be tutoring at an Elementary School with the YMCA program YReads

Hopefully I will be consistent and keep blogging, but we'll see how it works!

P.S. I sure enough kept adding to my flower painting, I added some dragonflies :)

Painting

Well, I must say when you are alone in a house with only 2 dogs, there is plenty of time to paint :) So I have already finished my 3 panel painting...of course knowing me, I'll be touching up on it for the next few days. 

 Ok, so I can't figure out how to rotate this, but it should be rotated to the left :)

I'm looking forward to finding some wall space for these in my apt this year!

I've been listening to "The Help" while I paint so that helps the time go by as well. I'm looking forward to finishing it and seeing the movie--it seems like everyone I know is talking about it. Fun fact that I learned on Regis and Kelly this morning (I just love this show haha!!): the writer of "The Help" went to 60 different publishers before her book was finally published!! 60!! I didn't even know there that many publishing houses! And now it is a best-seller, and probably will be a record-breaking movie too! I wonder how those other publishing houses feel now!

Proverbs 4:23

I decided I wanted to do something artsy/crafty this summer for my bedroom in my apt at school. So here is my first piece:



This has been one of my favorite verses since I was first introduced to it by my middle school basketball coach--what good advice we are given in the Proverbs.

It's on an 8x10 canvas with acrylic paints...boy, it felt good to hold a paintbrush again. I'm looking forward to do a few more pieces.
I have 3 more canvases and I'm thinking of doing a triple canvas piece, you know the kind that carry over onto the next, like a triplet set. Anyway, I'll post some photos once I decide what to do :)

Oh the Places You'll Go

I have been incredibly blessed in my short 21 years to travel! Having traveled abroad, a spark ignited and I cannot wait until I am fortunate enough to travel again!

Until then, I have a list of places I want to go to someday...so over the next few days or maybe weeks I'll share them with all of you.

Place #1
Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

Yes...I'm thinking many of you already know why I would just LOVE to go here! Green Gables of course!! I don't remember the first time I read about Anne-girl (I think it was 4th or 5th grade), but I fell in love with the stories of this vivacious girl and her life in Avonlea (I mean what girl doesn't fall in love with a guy like Gil, right??)


Or a place that looks like this!!



So someday, I will get here, someday...

Every baby is a Miracle

I just love this new Pampers commercial! They did a great job including all sorts of situations; so relatable to so many people!

http://youtube/OxbRdxbBROI

I can't figure out how to put the video here, so I'm sending you all to YouTube!

Come fly with me!

Michael came down to celebrate my 21st birthday with me this weekend, and no he did not drive. He flew!!!...yes, he flew an airplane down to see me! How cool is that?

Talk about an impressive date! He taxied right over to where my parents and I were waiting for him (that's the nice part about him flying into an executive airport). So we went and had dinner and drinks at a local Irish pub. And get this, I was NOT carded! First time purchasing alcohol and I didn't get carded haha!





So Saturday morning Michael took me on my birthday flight with him around Orlando. It was my first time flying with him, and so fun!! It was especially great seeing him in his element working the controls of the plane :)





We flew around downtown and Lake Apopka
And Michael did two touch and go's at a small air strip in Apopka





Such a fun afternoon/date/birthday present!

21

21... I have reached that pinnacle age everyone in college just can't wait to get to! So here are some snapshots from my 21 years

1990: Welcome to the world, and hot Florida summers!

1991: Receiving lots of loving from big siblings, and walking!! :)

1992: New baby brother Eli joins the fam!!

1993: Momma makes me my very own Belle doll!!

1994: New best friend Ali Cat! She is still around today :)



1995: Some more new siblings join the fam!

1996: the Geneva saga is under way...

1997: Decide I want to be a doctor!

1998: First stay at a hospital...and first and last move to a new house! And a trip to Disney :)

1999: Trip to Lake Erie, PA

2000: the new millennium and double digits! Startin’ to love basketball

2001: 6^th grade, 9/11, first time seeing snow!

2002: Christmas on the beach

2003: Southland Summer camp, 8^th grade! Basketball; shoulder injury

2004: Hurricanes hit big time! Start high school! Growing out the bangs :)

2005: Shoulder surgery :( Trip to NYC with Geneva!

2006: Busy young athlete...basketball, volleyball, and softball

2007: First time abroad; Italy and Greece with Geneva, and Mexico with church missions





2008: Graduate from high school! and begin a new journey at Jacksonville University





2009: Study abroad to England, Ireland, and Scotland



2010: Spend the year blogging in pictures



2011: Big brother Jameson gets married...Turn the big 2-1!