The Madness is Only Beginning

Well it is almost officially FINALS WEEK! Blah... Well I guess I gotta get used to it because after all, I am in college now. Its been extremely stressful trying to cram all of the information I have learned in the semester into this already overloaded brain. I just need to relax and know that God is on my side and he will never fail.
Another big stressor is coming up next Friday December 9th. The long awaited doctors appointment. I have spent many hours in prayer over next Friday, and I pray that my worry and anxiety will subside as it apporoaches. I know that God have everything under control, and I just need to trust him, and let him take care of it, as there is nothing I can do. Nothing except keep the faith of course =) I often find myself just thinking hmm... I wonder what I really was put on this earth to do? And then I remember that I may never know, and thats okay because as long as I fulfill my purpose according to God, it doesn't matter if I know or not.
It is with deepest sympathy that I send my thoughts and prayers to a friend of Nathan and I who graduated with us, and his wife Miranda on the loss of their son Gabrielle Barres-Perez. He was born into Heaven the day before Thanksgiving. May God bless them at this horrible time.

I am very blessed to be going home Wednesday after finals to be with my family =) I can not wait to see them and be with them as I will be thinking about Friday. It will take my mind off of things.
My sweet Nathan has been soo supportive and he is always here for me, and he has been absolutely wonderful. If you are reading this sweetie, I want to say thank you again for everything!!

God bless you all this week!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

God has really given me a lot to be thankful for this year. So many wonderful blessing, I couldn't possibly name them all =). My friends and family of course, but above all, having my sister Ashley here with us to celebrate. It was a rocky start to this year for my family, and its definitely been a tough one, but no matter where we are we have each other =) Happy Thanksgiving to all of my family up in Heaven, especially Nana =) You are joined with your husband, son, and sisters once again. Have a blessed day everyone!! Love you all =) and remember, I am thankful for YOU!!

Time to Be Thankful

It is almost my favorite time of year again!! Thanksgiving is just around the corner!!! I can hardly wait. I go home on Tuesday night =). On Thursday I am having Thanksgiving with dads family. I will get to see my grandparents, cousins, aunt and uncle, and the Paradise family as well!! There will be 18 of us under one roof!!  Then on Saturday I get to do it again with Marty's family!! I will get to see more cousins and grandparents and of course my wonderful step sister Tessa. I can not wait. I have soo much to be thankful for this year. The things I am most thankful for are my sister Ashley still being here with us(thats the biggest one), my supportive family, and being able to go to Winona and having an amazingly supportive boyfriend who is always here for me no matter what. I could go on and on about all of the things I am most thankful for, but that would be a mighty long post. I am very thankful for my faith in God. My faith has gotten me through all of my trials in life, and without it life would have no meaning. I am just overjoyed to be alive to celebrate another holiday season. We never know what tomorrow will bring, so we need to be thankful for here and now. We have almost made it through another year. 

I decided to post this now, because as it gets closer to Tuesday, my college life will become more crazy, as I have a lot of things to turn in before I can go home. 

I hope all of you have an amazing Thanksgiving, and beginning of the wonderful holiday season. Stay warm!! God Bless you <3

A lot going on

Hey everyone. Sorry it has been a few days, I have not been feeling so hot. Cold and Flu season is in full swing at Winona. I have been extremely weak lately, but that usually happens when I am sick. I felt a lot better today then yesterday. I had a 103.1 fever last night, but when I woke up this morning it had went way down. Not quite sure what was going on with that. I have been very stressed, but I have managed to keep up with everything, praise God for that. My close friends Courtney and Megan lost their grandpa this morning so please keep them in your prayers. I am looking to God a lot for strength this week, and thanking him for all he has provided me with, such as wonderful supportive people around me to pick me up when I am down. I have very special friends at Winona who I look up to and who are always here for me. I don't know what I would do without them. My friends Briana and Calli have been especially wonderful this week.
I am very much looking forward to going home for break. I miss my family very much. I will get to see my grandma from Iowa who I have not seen since before my uncle Darren died. It will be nice to see her. I will also get to spend some very special time with my sister Ashley that I am much looking forward to that very much, as she is so special to me. Well I hope everyone is avoiding getting sick and staying well as Thanksgiving is fast approaching!! Love you all, God bless <3

Blessed

Every time I come home I realize even more how blessed I am to be surrounded by all of my friends and family. The thing I love even more is that when I go back to Winona, I always feel the same way =) I feel loved wherever I go, and that is a blessing from God. Today is Veterans day, along with my Nana's 92nd birthday. It is a very special day. Tomorrow is Nathan's mom's birthday.  I couldn't possibly love her more if she were my own mom. I adore her. I got to spend some special time last night with my sister Ashley. She is amazing to me and I love her to pieces. It amazes me that I can actually see her faith growing. She is realizing that she has a very special purpose in life, and I am so blessed to be apart of her life, and that I was the one who was chosen to be her sister. She is a special gift to me, and I thank God every single day that she is still here. I am so unbelievably blessed by the God. The people he has put in my life, remind me every day of how special it is to be alive. Yes we all go through hard times, but God remains with us through them all. "I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength." - Phillipians 4:13 Have a blessed day and weekend everyone, and remember your veterans. Those in combat, retired, and the ones who lost their lives to defend our freedom.

Going Home!

This weekend I am very excited to be going home. It feels like it has been forever since I have been there. I have a lot of things I need to accomplish while at home this weekend. I will be very happy when I get to see my family and get to spend some much needed time with Nathan. I am going to surprise my cousins Billy and Braden (also my godchild) on Thursday. They have no idea that I am coming home, and I will be going with my dad to see them =) I cannot wait, I miss them soo much!! I love being home. It is also my second moms (Nathan's mom) birthday on saturday so I am looking forward to doing something special for her as well. God has really continued to bless me, as I have had more friends ask me about my faith and more people have continued to come to me for prayer. It is truly a blessing to me. I love when people can trust me with things, especially when they ask me to pray for them. I hope everyone is having a great week! Don't forget that Friday is Veterans day, so take time to be thankful for all of the soldiers now and those from the past. I will be thanking my daddy! I am so proud of him. Also on Friday it will be my Nana's first birthday up in Heaven. On 11-11-11 she will be 92 years old!! I miss her so much, but I know she is having a big party up there. I love you Nana. You taught me how to ride a bike, braid hair, and ever sing. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about you. You are there reason I am here in Winona pursuing my dream as a special ed teacher, in memory of your Tommy, all because at an early age you taught me that God made everyone special and that he loves all of us the same. Happy Birthday in Heaven to the most beautiful woman who ever lived. I love you Nana <3

Busy Week

It has definitely been a busy week!! But as always, a blessed one. I am so thankful for the ways God touches my life every single day. I am still blessed by meeting at least one new person each day. Since I have been at Winona, I think its safe to say that between church, my dorm, my classes and teachers, I have met at least 200 people. Praise God for that =). Last night the christian rock band Skillet came to campus. They gave an AMAZING concert!! There were 3000 people that attended. College students and people from the community. Of that 3000 that were there, 751 surrendered their lives to God for the very first time last night!!! SEVEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY!!!! That is so amazing! God is so good. His prescence was definitely felt in that gym.
Next weekend I am very blessed and will be able to go home =) it seems like it has been forever. I will get to spend some much needed time with my sweet Nathan, and of course my amazing family. I hope everyone has had an amazing week, full of many blessings. I pray that going into this next week you all find good health and much happiness coming your way! Try to stay healthy as cold and flu season is in full swing!! May God bless you this week! I love you all, and thank you so much for taking time to read my blog!! <3