*some recent pictures...*

my girls!! xoxo.

*some of rach & me...

*4th of july w/ rachel & ashley...

everybody loves an american girl! or three of them in this case :) haha. 

...that's all for now...

what an awesome summer its been so far! its been so great spending time w/ my new holland crew (i missed you guys!) and having rach living here is so much fun! God just continues to keep blessing me over & over again!

 i just wanted to post some pics from the past month or so...

i LOVE maria! :)

my baby sis & me!

*ok...heres a bunch of pics from the UR concert in Virginia...

so much fun w/ all these crazy girls! oh yeah, and the concert itself was pretty fun too...

*now here's some pics from the concert last week in maryland...

the concert was AWESOME (as usual!) and i had such a blast w/ rach & stacie... love those girls!

*~*hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!*~*

so i should def. be doing work right now but instead i'd rather be doing anything else! haha, shouldn't be too surprising to those of you know that know me! i am just sitting here in disbelief that this school year is over tomorrow! 2 years down, 2 to go. craaazy. i am sooo excited for summer - for no classes, work, or deadlines and to just not have a million and one things to do all the time! i'm also kinda sad to be done, its bittersweet. i will miss my friends (cept' rach - cuz she's gonna be w/ me allll summer, yay!) it will be weird not to be w/ them everyday. also... i am gonna miss nicole & beck, its gonna be so strange not living w/ them anymore. for the past two years they have been so supportive and amazing, i have been blessed beyond imagination... i never expected to be so fortunate when i walked in freshman year. God has really placed both of those girls in my life to help take care of me and love me, and it really has meant the world. also, its pretty heartbreaking about dr. magahey, i can't believe he won't be back! he has become such an influential male role model in my life and i have really grown to appreciate and love him over the past two years. its real sad that he is leaving on the terms that he is, exp. cuz its so hard to understand. he has certainly impacted many lives in his 7 years spent here and he will never be forgotten! ahhh, it just blows my mind when i look back, its for real insane. so much has changed in my life in the months that i have been here at good ole' LBC. i have learned and grown so much... through all of the hard times, hurt, and mistakes, i wouldn't change anything b/c God has used it all to help make me who i am now. i have gained new friends this year that i know will last a lifetime. some of them i wasn't close w/ last year and some of them i didn't even meet until this year, and over this year we have been through so much and become inseperable. i love you guys . on a more challenging note, my friendship w/ my old best friend has changed drastically over the course of this year. i thought we could withstand anything... but God had a different plan for our friendship in mind.  its hard w/o him, he's been so much to me for such a long time and now all of that had to change. but the entire situation has grown me in ways that i never thought possible, and i have grown closer to so many other people as a result of it. i guess sometimes seasons end in friendships and they must move to a completely different and altered relationship, even when its hard to understand why. so yeah, that has def. been a major part of my past year - as one can imagine, a best friend is a big part of life. oh yes, i have also learned a ton in my classes, for real! i LOVE my major, i really feel this is where i am supposed to be - in early childhood ed. i just can't get enough of learning about kids and why they are the way they are, ect. and am so excited to be working w/ them as a career - i mean, how cool is that??  yeah i should probably stop writing... instead of just babbling on and on... leave me some love!

heres a few pics from recently...

*me w/ my adorable action group girls, LOVE THEM!*

some pics from the formal (a dinner cruise in inner harbor)...

*rach & me!*

*us w/ our beautiful flowers from our date mike!*

*nicole & i in mike & gary's jackets being cool*

*rach, me, & nicole at the formal*

thats it for now - had a pretty good time, we managed to make it fun!

i've been inspired to write about my talk w/ rach tonight after i read what she wrote about it...

last night we spent awhile talking about something that God has blessed both of us with a big heart for... underprivleged kids... expecially orphans. i have met very few people w/ this calling & am so grateful to have a friend who understands the deep passion in my heart for these children! many of you know that i have been to russia twice (my senior year of high school & freshman year of college) and that those trips have been a major influence in my life. i haven't been the same ever since. sometimes i get so caught up in american culture and lifestyle that i begin to take for granted all of the blessings i have been given and let stupid little petty things bring me down. how pathetic is that?? after seeing what i saw - i dont think there is any excuse for that! but i am human... so this will continue to be a constant battle w/in me, i've just got to be dependent upon God and do everything in my power as well to fight it! often times i will picture any one of my orphans in russia watching me... it just fills me w/ complete disgust w/ myself. they have soooo little - yet they are filled with so much love and so many smiles and they never complain. i have learned so much from them. my heart is overflowing w/ love for these children... and i am axiously awaiting the day that i will be fortunate enough to return! any one who reads this who knows me & my heart knows that once i start talking about russia i dont shut up for hours! i just am soo thankful God has placed a burdon on me for russian orphans and so excited about how He has used that and will continue to use that in my life. if anyone ever wants to hear more - do not hesitate to let me know, after all it is my favorite subject to discuss! i have been more challenged/encouraged/ and broken hearted concerning the situation in the russian orphanages and my experiences there than any other situation inmy life to date. please pray for these children!!! they are sooo beautiful and sooo love starved - pray that God is comforting them & that He will send more of His workers to hug & kiss them & share the Good News with them!

i dont have any pictures from my trips on my computer but heres some i found on the internet... i know they may make you uncomfortable - but i hope that you can see what i see when i look at them... beautiful children in need of proper care and most importantly love... look into their eyes and allow them to touch you... and please think twice about the next time you start to complain about something small that really might not matter all too much when it comes down to it - i know i need to be reminded!

i know these might be disturbing and i hope that i have not offended anyone - i just want to challenge everyone as well as myself to recognize that these are real children, with real feelings and real needs... and real hearts, just like you and me.