It's been awhile

Well I fell very behind in my blog. Last week was probably the worst week in school that I've had all along. It definately wasn't good, but by God's grace I got through it. School is going very well, except for one thing. Today they (the school board) called an emergency meeting with the faculty and students. They informed us that one of the partners in the school was pulling out of their agreement with the school, because the school is paid for by this health system and one other that means if Har-ber doesn't find another healthcare sponsor they will be forced to shut down. This will take place January 2006. I know everything is going to work out and that I will just transfer to another college here in Fayetteville IF Harber is unable to stay open. god is in control and everything will be ok. Pray about it if you think about it. Anyways, on to the better stuff John Mark is great and it beginning to sink in that I'm really truly getting married in December. I'm so excited and its going to be so beautiful. I sat down and talked to John Mark's parents yesterday about the wedding and marriage stuff. I'm so blessed to have such Godly in-laws I love them. The type of music at the reception is going to be "Father of the Bride kinda music" so if you have any ideas please post them, ex...Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Rod Stewart, etc. Also, any fun creative ideas for wedding/reception please post them. Anyways, that's a summary of my life in the past few days, hopefully I won't go as long until I post again.

Crazy Days...

Wow....Today was one of those days that I wanted to scream STOP!!! Don't say another word. My brain is on overload and everyone and everything needs to chill (just for a second). Anyways, I'm glad I'm home and its a few hours until I go to work. I work at Washington Regional Hospital on the Oncology floor, and I love it. It really has blessed me tremendously. Everyone has days when they really don't want to go to work, but for the most part I love my job. Working with cancer patients is alot different then other patients. You are able to become part of their life. One of my patients, Debbie, is a devoted Christian whom I've become very close too. She's has leukemia. She and her husband both teach at a Christian school and they have three children ages 10-2. I was working the day Debbie was told she had leukemia. I remember how strong she was. Her faith was/is incredible. Last time she was in I sat on her bed and we talked about what God was doing in our lives, and of course making sure she's up to date on John Mark and I and our blossoming relationship. Although she is a little behind in that she hasn't heard about my engagement (Yeah!). She's a real inspiration to me. I have never seen faith like hers. I hope that if I was in her situation the example I would set would bless others like she has blessed me. Anyways, everything else is going great. John Mark constantly wants to sit down and talk about wedding plans, and I'm still soaking in the fact I'm engaged. How exciting. Every day it becomes a little more of a reality to me. I'm so excited that I will be spending the rest of my life with him. Well I think I'm going to take a little nap before work.

Studies........

On Saturday night John Mark and I are going to talk to his parents. They know and are excited about our engagement, but we haven't really had a chance to sit and talk to them about it. Saturday it is. John Mark said they will talk to us a little bit about staying focused at school during all of this. I think John Mark and I are going to stay focused very well. We both are so driven to do it all right. I know we will do great in school, and have a beautiful wedding in december. It will be interesting....for sure. Lucky for us summer is about 5 weeks away. That will be a great time to plan as much as we can. Well I better go

Sisters

Jodi and Jada are my roomates/best friends. We have such a blast hanging out and enjoying each other. Jada can make you laugh at any given time. Regardless of what situation you might be in or the timing she seriously has a unique ability to make you laugh no matter what. Its great. Jodi is wonderful. She definately is the easiest person i know to talk to . She and I have late night conversations of an interesting bit. She specializing in making people feel so good about themselves. She really is great. I'm actually trying to set her up with one of the doctors I work with. Hopefully it will work out. They would be so cute. Fingers crossed. Today I was talking to both of them and realized how blessed i was to meet them and now to be as close as we are. I love them and I'm sooooo thankful for them!!!!

Wedding ideas

Any wedding ideas send them my way.....I love you guys

First Kiss

Alright lets talk about it! I can't stop smiling. This is great. John Mark the night he proposed was the first guy and first time I've ever kissed anyone. Wow. It's pretty cool. I was telling him tonite how glad I am that I waited to kiss until I was sure that it was the right person and the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with. That's not for everyone, and there is nothing wrong with kissing---this I understand. For me I find that I'm in awe. I have no clue if I'm a good kisser or bad, but I don't care----Really. Its such a cool thing to know that everything that I was saving and will continue to save are for John Mark. I feel so blessed. I will say that I've come to see the importance of standing firm, having boundaries that you both understand and respect. From the beginning. Purity is the best gift that you can give your spouse. It's such a treasure and should be treated as such. If there were two thing I would want my siblings to learn from me they would be 1) Surrender is sweet. Rest in Christ and learn to trust Him (I'm still learning) His plans far exceed anything you could ever imagine 2) Respect yourself. Know who you are in Christ inside and out. You are beautiful and precious. Value yourself. My pastor said the other day in church that the cars that they have to advertise on tv are the cheap cars. Never do you see a commercial for Lamborgini, or BMW. They don't have to say how wonderful, great they are we already know. That analogy spoke volumes to me. I hope my sisters know how beautiful they are and how sacred and precious that beauty is.

Wedding Bells

Well now that I have a second I can sit down and figure out how to use this "blog". I'm really excited because i just realized how much my family uses it. It will be nice to keep in touch this way. BIG NEWS............. I'm getting married. I seriously don't think I could every get use to saying that. I'm so blessed. I met John Mark last May at a banquet. He has been best friends with my roomates for years. At first I thought he was cute, but had no interest in pursuing it. Within the next few months I say him a few times. He was extremely nice, but still I was too preoccupied with other things to even think about it. One night in August or September (he could tell you) we went to look at some puppies and that was the night that it hit John Mark he says it was that night that he went home adn told his best friend that he was going to marry me. For the next few months I lived in oblivion. No clue, It wasn't until December that i realized how much I cared about him. I was in Mena and it hit me how much I missed him. I gave up my favorite Prime Rib dinner to get back to Fayetteville to see him. Wow the rest is amazing, but in the interest of time I'll get to the new stuff. On Saturday John Mark proposed and it was truly amazing. Understand, this is my biggest dream. Never in my life would I ever want to think of marrying someone I wasn't convinced i was suppose to be with, but I know that he's the right one. I'm so very excited. We are going to get married December 10th. Althought tonite he asked me how I felt about August (Don't break out in hives mom----its all good). I can't wait until everyone can meet him, and see how absolutely amazing he is. God is so good and he sees our heart and what our deepest desires are. He puts them there. I'm so very amazed everyday. God's wants us to embrace life and enjoy what he's given us. Embrace Him