a year?

i seriously haven't updated since last october? i guess i have been really busy... i went back to school last september, and my life has kind of been a blur since then.
i feel like i should do a summary/update of everything that's happened in the last year, but that seems terribly silly and impossible and besides that, over the last year i've realized that im not as interesting as i once thought i was. that seems so dumb to type out, but it's true.

there have obviously been a few life shaping events this year, but the one that shook me deepest was the tornado that hit joplin mo (where my husband and i went to college, where some of our dearest friends live, and where we first called home after we were married) we were so blessed to be able to take a van load of supplies from our church community here in iowa to our friends in joplin who had set up shelters and supply centers in the days following the disaster.

on the way down i was worried that i would be too emotional to be helpful, but the immense loss was so overwhelming that i couldn't even process it, when we arrived in joplin, the devastation was still pretty raw- people were still receiving medical treatment after being pulled from rubble, rubble was still in the roads and blocking traffic, search and rescue teams were still digging through homes, boards were sticking out of buildings... raw. and overwhelming.

i was so humbled by the service happening in Joplin. i saw people who had lost everything passing donations to other people who had lost everything. when we first arrived we heard a story of two of our friends who survived the tornado by hanging onto the underneath of a jeep as the F5 passed over and leveled everything around them-- a few hours after we heard this story, we saw them working in an outreach center in the church we had attended together. They were directing volunteers who were there to help organize donations. it was so surreal.

every single person we talked to had a story and we were thankful to be there in the days immediately following the storm to relieve even a tiny bit of the burden. timmy and i were only able to spend 3 days working at different relief centers around the city we love, it doesn't seem like much, especially considering how much the people who actually LIVE in joplin are coping with on a day to day basis even now, but my time there changed me.

it was so unsettling and humbling to see all the places that had been so familiar as rubble-- our first apartment as a married couple, our favorite restaurants, wal-mart, so many homes, all of the beautiful trees uprooted... all of it was the culmination of one of my biggest fears, and although i was spared witnessing that destruction firsthand, some of my dearest loved ones found themselves in the midst of the aftermath forced to spring into action, others were so devastated they couldn't do anything but wait for help, others documented what was happening with photos and twitter, or made phone calls to check on people from their church or work... we heard so many stories... my heart broke over and over.

if there's anything i've learned this year, it's that im not much without Jesus. im selfish. i'm foolish. im fickle. i'm temporary. God is constant and im thankful for that every inconsistent day i'm alive.
it's been a great year.
love.

yay! fall!

gotta love this time of year. i've had a cold for like three weeks.

...

i've been thinking about finding someplace to sell some knit wear in the area, but with starting school and everything, i just haven't had time to. however, the other day at school, one of the girls asked me if i could make headbands because the shop she works at wants to sell some!

so exciting!!!!

so, tonight i worked on a sample to show them... i couldn't find a pattern like i needed, but this is what i came up with:

i like it! i think its super cozy and really cute. i can't wait to try to make it a little thinner, and with some different colors, but i'm really happy with this one too! it has little strings in the back that tie, so it can adjust in size.

love

ombre!!!

so, at zoe institute, we get to have free haircuts whenever, and one free color. so for my first color i requested ombre. i wouldn't have probably ever known what ombre was if it weren't for my dear friend taylor who put it up on her blog (see the "taylor does my hair" link on the side over there)

anyway, taylor even sent me instructions for exactly how to get it and so i finally convinced some classmates to do it for me today and i LOVE it! i've NEVER colored my hair before!!! (well, once from a box kit at walmart, but it was just a little darker than my normal hair color, so im not really counting it..) anyway. it was fun :)

love.

YAAAAAY!!!!

i love cosmetology school. i wish i had done this a LOONNNNNG time ago! it's a lot of long days and im having to be really patient with myself, but it's so fun and i'm learning SO much every day. i love it. did i say i love it?

our loan totally worked out, which is awesome. and being in cosmetology school, i get free hair cuts whenever (hence the reason every girl in cosmetology school has shorty short hair, which i will not have. i'm keeping mine long. just in case you were wondering.) and we also get one free color, all the rest we have to pay for. i've already gotten my hair cut (just trimmed from how i had it before) and i've decided i want ombre hair for my first color

annnyway. class is 7:30 to 4pm monday to friday. but i love it. and i love the girls im in school with, everyone is so funny and outgoing. it's so fun.

.......

we had our first girls small group meeting last wednesday. we're gonna go through the gospel of Mark together. i'm so excited to get to know our high school girls a little more this year. they're a blast!

timmy is gone this weekend with our junior high students at a conference. i miss him. this is the first time i've had to opt out on one of these trips. it's hard for me to not be with the group. i know it will only be one year (for school) that i miss out on these trips, but it's so hard. i just like to be at everything :)

LOVE

hold your breath!!!! or dont... whatever...

so im trying not to get my hopes up, in light of all last week's broken dreams, but its looking like i get to start school NEXT wednesday! (MULTIPLE YESSES!!!)

we're still not sure how exactly it's getting paid for, but the cosmetology school owner said, "ehhh, come on in!" not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's SOMEthing! and im going for it.

meanwhile... i got my dress fitted for sarah and antionio's wedding and it rocks. its so beautiful! (thanks, sarah!!!) and i get to ride down to houston with my friend alexis from college and her boyfriend. and before that i get to hang out with my momma for a day or so in fayetteville.

i think it's the perfect way to go back to school. just sayin. it's gonna be a weird year. not that it's ever not weird... nevermind...

love.

uhh change of plans?

my excitement last week was met with an abrupt reality check by the weekend. timmy and i crunched numbers after we looked at the house friday morning, but we couldn't get the numbers to work out in favor of renting or buying the house we looked at and loved. it was so sad!

THEN

we went to the bank to get our loan worked out friday afternoon, and they said they wouldn't loan us money for school because of some new iowa law and also because the school is still in the accreditation process (because it just opened in may of this year.)

needless to say, it was bummer. we took naps and watched t.v. then went to the Keokuk vs Central Lee football game (im sooooo glad its football season! love it!) and had a 5th quarter party at a sponsor's house. it was relaxing and so nice to get my mind off these frustrations for a minute!

saturday morning we tried with the number crunching again... i want to go back to school so bad, but maybe this just isn't the right time? we'll see. we're talking to a friend who is a loan officer at another bank this coming wednesday and i'm going to talk to the school again tomorrow and hope that she'll just give me grace to pay as i go through school, even though im not totally sure how im going to do that. and if it doesn't work out, ill just work for a while and save up.

in the meantime... this coming weekend i'm going to texas for the wedding of my dear friends antonio and sarah. im so so happy for them and im so honored to be a bridesmaid in their wedding!

and H O P E F U L L Y i'll come home and start school the next day.

love

what a day!!!!

so it all started this morning... or maybe it really started last night, i drank a ton of tea and it kept me awake into the wee hours of the morning. so this morning when timmy left for work, i fell back asleep (i have no job, hence, nothing to really get up for right away.) when i woke up (around 10am) it was to the maintenance man in our bathroom fixing our toilet. i didn't have my contacts in, so i couldn't see past my hand, but i was pretty sure it wasn't timmy banging around in our bathroom cabinets.

i peeked out from under my blanket, because let's just say, i "wasn't decent" and he looked right at me and said, "do you know where this towel bar is?" (one of the towel bars in our bathroom is broken) i just shook my head "no" and pulled the covers over my head. it was really. REALLY. R E A L L Y awkward. then he left. then i bolted the deadbolt.

the day got more exciting when timmy came home for lunch. we had tuna sandwiches. that's our new lunch thing. then he left for work and i went to put in my application at cosmetology school in fort madison. i wasn't stoked when i timed the drive and it added up to aprox 35 minutes just to get there, but i figured it was just what i had to do. so i got there, toured the building, ignoring how it was kind of gross, paid my $50 application fee and walked back to my car through all the smoking cosmetology students in the alley.

on the 35 minute drive back to keokuk, i remembered that someone is buying all of java river's coffee stuff and i should see if they need some help (i need a part time job, and school doesn't start til october.) when i got there, the new coffee shop owner was setting things up. she regretfully informed me that they won't be opening til october (when i'll be in school) and she asked what i'd be doing. "cosmetology," i told her. and she was like, "you KNOW we have a cosmetology school here, dont you?" and i did know... but it's brand new and that made me nervous. but after i toured that school (which was very clean and pretty) and talked with their instructor (who also teaches zumba in the gym there) i was kind of sold on it.

SO

i got my $50 back from the OTHER cosmetology school, and tomorrow ill be discussing finances with this pretty school (zoe institute) in my own town.

AND

i'll be saving $5,000 by going to this school

AND

i'll only have to drive aprox 8 minutes to and from school instead of 35.

win win win

And we're looking at a house on Friday.

my life is always chaos. great exciting chaos.

love.