happy birthday kristie!

left to right: kristie, melissa, me, abby, laura and janet

tonight laura, abby, melissa, janet, me and kristie went to texas roadhouse for an early birthday celebration. kristie turns 22 tomorow (the 21st!) but melissa was going out of town for the weekend, so we went to celebrate tonight! the food was so yummy, the company was wonderful (these are my BEST girlfriends) and we had a great time sharing conversation and celebrating kristie! here are some funny pictures for your enjoyment:

kristie, riding the saddle when we sang the roadhouse birthday song, "YEEHAW!"

abby, laura and janet

kristie, melissa and me

kristie and my present for her- a teacher basket!

opening her gifts from abby and laura (in the parking lot!)

only a teacher would appreciate that gift ;)

made to worship

"before the day, before the light
before the world revolved around the sun
God on High, stepped down into time
and wrote the story of His love for everyone

he has filled our hearts with wonder
so that we always remember

you and i are made to worship
you and i are called to love
you and i are forgiven and free"

-"made to worship," chris tomlin

encouraging words

so i came home from yet another crazy monday-- 14 hours straight of teaching and classes at vt. :o and i am finally home, at 10:15 pm, craving some nourishment. i had a feeling an empty stomach wasn't the only culprit either. so i jumped into my bed and pulled out a book i've been faithfully reading called dating with pure passion. my dad got this for me this past summer (thanks daddy!) and it has spoken truth after truth to me, not only about living a pure dating life, but more importantly, about filling myself with the unconditional love of my forever husband, Jesus Christ. the personal bible study at the end of this past chapter lead me to this verse. i think this was just what i needed...

"we can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us- they help us learn to endure. and enduarnce develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. and this expectation will not disappoint us. for we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love."
-romans 6:3-5, nlt

how amazing it is to be so incredibly loved, so filled with the joy of the Lord, that i know in my heart nothing is too big, or too hard, or too great to endure. praise God for these trials! each little bit is a part of a bigger, more amazing plan than even i can begin to fathom. what peace it brings me to know that i can commit these days to the Lord and trust that He will direct me down the most glorious path imaginable. :)

little joys

so i came home for the weekend to 1) see my wonderful rent units 2) spend some quality time with dr. cox [note the sarcasm] and 3) nanny for katie and dominic, the two little bundles of joy i got to sit for all summer long. these two are so much fun! yesterday i was only here for a few hours and didn't get too many pictures. i was feeling really crummy from all the anesthesia and was not a fun nanny. (sorry guys!) :(
but today i came back in full-force! we went to the park, played in the "ducky tunnel"- this little tunnel between the park and the road- and got to ride the new tricycles the kids got for their birthdays! now let me tell you a little bit about these tricycles...as you can see, they have an enormous handle on the back-- at just the right height for a big kid to push them! so that's what i did, almost 2 miles there and back. katie and dominic quickly learned that they didn't have to pedal because "asheeee" would push them if they stopped! we came home to eat lots of dinner and then i put the stinkers into the jogging stroller and went for a run. [mommy training, what?!] now my little sweethearts are sleeping soundly and i am about to do the same...8am will be here before i know it and they will be up and at em! here are a bunch of pictures for you to enjoy. i get a little carried away sometimes ... :)

"riding" their new bikes :)

katie took this one ;)

so then dominic had to take one too


katie covered in pizza sauce


and again


my little "toot" does NOT like the camera


don't you just want to eat her up?!


smile dominic!


i love her!

the first fall 2006 potluck

so our first ece (early childhood education) potluck was tonight and man did we have fun! a group of my in-major girlfriends and i started these two years ago . each year we all seem to look forward to each potluck more and more! we alternate who hosts the big shindig :) and each volunteer to bring at least one dish. tonight we had homemade bbq from kristie, salad from abby, brownies and drinks from laura, cookies from janet, green bean casserole from melissa and i made yummy spinach-artichoke dip! it was soo tasty and we all ate way too much. a night of laughter, sharing teacher-stories and reminiscing followed with full bellies. you girls have made my college experience memorable, enjoyable and have held me up through the toughest of times. i thank you each so much and love each and every one of you! :)

me and abby- you don't know how much i miss 876, abby!

adorable little laura! (sorry about the red-eye!)

me and melissa-- we're so excited to have a new addition to our potluck family this year!

full bellies!

abby wasn't too sure about those "brownies" of lauras ;)

back row: abby, kristie, laura, janet
front row: me and melissa!

a fall favorite

can you smell it? the aroma of hotdogs on the grill and fall in the air?
can you hear it? the thunder of 20,000 hokie students jumping up and down in the north end zone? the chorus of chants while walking to the stadium, "let's go....hokies!"
can you feel it? the brisk fall breeze on a blacksburg saturday?

that's right, it's football season!!!

this saturday kicked off the 2006 hokie football season and boy was it fun! after two days of cold, rainy weather, we were blessed with a sunny, 70 degree saturday-- perfect football weather if i do say so myself. the hokies did a great job beating (of course) northeastern, 38-0. i got to tailgate with lots of old friends (that graduated in may) at the german club manor. it was such a great time to see everyone again and get back into the spirit of being a hokie. i love this place and am so grateful to be here for yet another year. :) go hokies!!!

me and janet, another ece grad student, at the manor

emily and erp (scott) - they're so cute!!