and I'm a senior, again!

Alright. It's time to play catch up on my life. My blogging skills have dramatically decreased since nursing school began. I deeply apologize. Let's get started, shall we?

My junior year is completely over. Like wham bam, gone. Which means I am now a SENIOR nursing student. Two more semesters. One more year. Then I will be a nurse! It's hard to believe after all this time, I am so close to reaching my goal! Support from my family has been overwhelming, and without those three perfectly wonderful people (mom, dad and sister!) I would not be where I am, honestly! SO that's exciting! My junior year consisted of life with my roommates (aka the DIVAS) , my neighbors (the kittyhood) , nursing friends, and Jake (of course). My living arrangement was perfect. Two of my divas (there was four total) graduated! Proud of them, but already miss having them around. It's like being homesick. However, I am really excited to be living in a house with four other girls, off-campus, paying bills, learning how to grow up (almost-not-quite-ish).

My summer is in Belton, Tx this summer. I am going to miss that Oklahoma summer that I have enjoyed the past two summers. I am taking a class and nanny-ing. Everything in between includes laying out by the pool/lake, going to weddings, visiting home and Allen, shopping, youth camp, camp nurse with the Parker's, etc. Difficult life huh? I am excited though however because this summer will be challenging. I will be challenged to live out my faith in a very real-life situation. It's difficult (for me at least) to spend time with the Lord when my schedule is so... not a schedule. If that makes sense. Because of my overwhelming free time, I have the urge to put off my Jesus time. I am surrounded by people who push me to not do that, so I am excited to be able to spend time with the Lord learning even more of how to live real life with Him at the center. It's real. This whole Jesus thing. It's not something you get a "high" from when you are a teenager, it's a way of life. THE way of life. The only reason to live. I am excited to spend time pouring into youth I see year round, I am excited to strive to reach more of Belton, Tx. It's just another reminder that where I am right at this moment, is where I am supposed to be reaching others for Jesus. I am not supposed to be waiting on anything! Right here, right now, reach those for Jesus. Simple as that. One perfectly great thing about this summer is Jake is here also! We don't have to spend months apart! HUGE bonus.

My puppy is not so much a puppy anymore. He has grown to be a whole seven pounds! He's great, well trained, and perfect! :) Barli is a fan favroite. All the roommates love him. He has a doggy door here at the house. However, he's having trouble learning to use it.... I will let you know how that goes.

P.S. we call the house "THE NEST" and it's on BEAL street, therefore we are the BEAL BIRDIES! It's just fun.

The freshman that were freshman when I was a senior in high school just graduated. So I feel completely old. I guess from here on out I will just always feel old. Kind of like when my baby sister is now a sophomore in high school. WHAT HAPPENED TO BEING IN KINDERGARTEN? Oh well. Such is life I guess! Sorry if this was long, or not long enough. Now you know where life. is.


XOXO.

and I have been lacking to say the least.

Remember that semester that I didn't blog at all? (well, maybe once?) I just was drowned by nursing school! I am currently in what seems to be one of the best semesters of my college career. It's what nursing students call "J2." That simply stands for "junior year semester 2." As nurses, we just like to apprieviate things. :) This semester I am doing Pediatrics (kids) and maternity nursing! I will also been in labor and delivery for a week, also! I am super excited. ANYWAY, I didn't write this blog to tell you boring details of my school life. I wanted to share with you a special addition to my life :

BARLI.

He's a 2.5 lb yorkie poo!

and I just love showing him off!


Barli was my huge suprise (and three weeks early) birthday/valentines day gift from Jake! I live on campus, so Barli lives with Jake until I move off campus in May. He's seriously the funnest/cutest/most perfect puppy ever!

I would like to add just the day before Jake got me a baseball signed by David Muphy from the Texas Rangers! He was on campus doing "meet and greets" however, I had class (yay nursing!). So I pretty much was just spoiled as could be last week. Now it's Monday morning, and my case of the Mondays is horrible! I have a test a week from tomorrow, and no motivation!

I was blessed to be able to go to Duncan for the dnow weekend! I loved seeing old friends and making new ones! That Oklahoma town will always have a special place in my heart! We learned tons about abiding in Christ, and what that looks like. Andy Harrison (who was also my bossman at falls creek) spoke and something he said that stuck with me was "abiding in Christ means valuing His reputation more than your own!" Chew on that. Apply that.

One last thing, there is a girl who was apart of the youth at my church for a while. Her name is Haley. Last week Haley and 30 (ish) other students where involved in a bus accident in a community near Belton. Most students left the hospital the day of the accident with minor injuires. However, Haley has two crushed vertebrae and has not been able to move from the waist down since the accident. Her chance of every having movement/being able to walk is 1%. Join me in praying for her healing.

Happy Monday!
XOXO.
miss you Mamoo.

and I have the best roommates.

Meet my roommates, from left to right :

Jacqueline, Mary, Kayla and ME!

These girls have been real important in my life for a while now, but lately God has just been showing me how SERIOUSLY special they are to me. They are my family while I am here, and will be like my sisters forever. This week He's just been revealing their genuiness and love to me in a real way. We are known as the divas, and we embrace that FOR SURE. We are exactly the same, but at the same time the most different four people you will ever meet. I can't even explain to you in words how much I love these girls. BUT they deserved a blog, now you know. We live in Tryon 8104 - aka the DIVA DOME.

Some of our favorite things:

-acting like we are asleep when someone walks into the apartment. This can be tricky when you walk in and people are ACTUALLY asleep (becuase you think it's a joke.)

- trying to out talk each other, this very quickly turns into a loud scream fest in the dome.

-late night conversations, also usually ends in some sort of screaming.

-watching an unusual amount of one TV show or movie OVER AND OVER again and learning really weird/different things about the history of the show or the life of the actors and actressess.

-singing "everyone but." There are four of us, so when there are three we usually sing about the missing one... "everyone but Nicki..." for example.

-Acting like I am sick when I have to go to the "hospital" for clinicals.

- DOME TIME. We have an ipod dock in our living room with the time off by 4-6 hours (not really sure) we like to act like that is the REAL time of day.

-the board. it says where we are or what we are doing at that time of the day, usually ends up in some sort of sarcastic remark of where people are/what they are doing.

Please, come visit the dome anyime!

Please warn us first so we can clean :-)

xoxo.

miss you mamoo.

and let's ketchup.

alright, life is just great. I feel like I could sit here and say "I have been so busy, last thing I do is blog" yada yada YA DA. But, you know that. Whew, glad that is OUT of the WAY. Also, it rained yesterday. Our thirsty grounds finally got something to sip on! It's been a little bit over a month since class started. Some days it feels like there is NO WAY it's been THAT LONG. Other days I can't believe it's ONLY BEEN THAT LONG!?

SO. I am in nursing school. Like, IN NURSING school. I really like it, and I am not even lying. Time consuming? Abosouletly. Rewarding? Absolutely. God has really been teaching me about finding joy, and enjoying the place and time I am in. Whether that means literally, everday, find joy in class, find joy in free time, find joy in being on the couch, etc. OR if it means find joy in college time.  I want to prepare for the future, yes. However, not look SO forward to it that I ruin the moment I am in. He has taught me this just in time for nursing school. I have busy, and I don't mean that lightly, BUSY days. Being able to know that I can find joy (no neccessarily ENJOY, hehe.) in class is SO what I needed for this time of my life. I enjoy being around my friends, and learning alongside each other.

Let's see what else you've missed. OH! Lost my debit card, just in time for Panch to find it. That's okay! I ordered a new one today.  There was a hugo-mugo storm yesterdee, I mentioned earlier. It blew several trees over, like roots-out-of-ground over. God is strong, so strong. My best friend still doesn't live in Belton, still trying to get over that. Surviving, barely. OH my roommmates? They are great, perfect actually. 

OH! My cousin Kayla got married. Hello!!!! WOW, I really haven't blogged in a while. Jake and I road-tripped to Odessa, Tx for the celebration! He's SO great to be around, but even with him, the ride was long. The wedding turned out SO beautiful. I can not except the fact that she's married. It's weird. We were JUST making ooey-gooey mud pies and fighting over who got to wear the big poofy dress to dress up in. She got to wear it this time, but FOR REAL. She was beautiful. I can vividly remember memories from when we were 9 and 10. Now we are 19 and 20, and IT'S BLOWING MY MIND. I am so happy for her, I am SO proud of her. I wish the Turner's the best, and I refuse to change her name in my phone from "Kayla Brown" to "Kayla Turner." That's that.

Nothing else is incredibily new. My baby sister hit a homerun at her last tournament. She's impressive. I miss my family.  Also, right now I am watching football guys walk up to study hall (I am at work.) and judging all of them on their "I'm-too-cool-for-you" struts. (is that even the right word?) It's pretty hilarious. Most of them are going for the "shoulders back head tilted up" look.

Last Sunday I taught sixth grade Sunday School with Jake. Well, mostly Jake taught it and I just interrupted every now and then. He's really wonderful, and amazing with young'ons. The church we attend is really encouraging. Jake said it perfectly the other day "Not many churches get it, but this one does." I love serving with a body that lives biblically, and reaches the community around them. They constantly reach out to us college kids and keep us involved. I am blessed by them, and encouraged to believers love the Father in a REAL way. He's so worth it.

Welp, I feel as if this is the end of my blog. Who knows when the next one will ever come around. Seriously though, stay sassy.

XOXO.
miss you mamoo.

and I am chasing my dream.

I am in nursing school, and being successful so far.
That's all I have to say about that.

XOXO.
miss my mamoo.

and this makes you think, huh?

I love this, for the humor and for how it just makes me think.

XOXO.
miss you mamoo.

and it's Tolar time!

I sure loved (and already miss) my time in Duncan, OK! It was a precious time of getting to know and love students. It was crazy and tiring at times, but that's what I live for. I came home from Duncan and went straight to Odessa to visit family. It was a sweet time of seeing family from all different sides.

I am preparing to go back to UMHB. I am anxious to start what I know will be a very difficult, but rewarding semester of nursing. I am nervous because I know I will be stretched. I am anxious because I do not want to fail. I am excited because I am one step closer to being a nurse! This semester I am so excited to live with two of my slants! (and Mary, still... till death do us part!) As I am home, life is crazy full of stuff that needs to be done.  I love getting to spend time with my family and Janelle, and the random friends in between. I am however ready to be settled into one place again for a while!

I have been really learning lately what needs to change in my relationship with Jesus. I have noticed in myself that when things get busy and difficult, I don't run to Him like I wish I did. I think that's what is wrong with us. (meaning Americans.) We have so many other things to do and run to during different stages of our lives. We expect Jesus to satisfy us, but only right then when we expect it. That's not how I think this whole Jesus thing works. Jesus is consistent and constant, all the time. We are the ones that are not. He doesn't always give the answers we want or right when we want them. He doesn't always provide in the ways we wish He would. But life also isn't even about us. It's about Him. I am trying so hard to genuinely be content and joyful of however God chooses to work in my life. If it's not what I would do, then I should be thankful because He knows what He's doing WAY more than I do.

I would also like to share that coming from my sister's room is a mix of "hey, mickey!" , "cupid shuffle", and "down." She's keeping me entertained. Go DJ. She starts high school on the 22nd. It's weird.

Anyway, I have so much more running through my mind. I am trying to organize it, or else it will just look like pish posh.

XOXO.
Miss you mamoo.