Chateau sweet Chateau

I can't believe I'm saying this...but........

take a look at my NEW HOME in PARIS!


Kitchen



Living Room



Living Room



Bedroom #1



Bedroom #2



Bathroom




Isn't it FABULOUS?!?! Wood floors, french windows, flower boxes across the street, vaulted ceilings....I'm in love.

AND, it's a blank canvas! Jen and I love to decorate so we spent a few hours searching the french Ikea website (yes, it was all in french...hence the 3 hours)to furnish our new place...so I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together!!!

I'll keep it short and sweet tonight since I'm exhausted, but I couldn't resist sharing this exciting joy in my life today :)




P.S. The 3 other girls and I are so blessed to have this place next year. However, the guys are still looking for an apartment, so please be praying for their search.

Entre Nous

Hello dear blogger friends!

My life has come to the point where I literally have to schedule down-time…no joke, in my planner it says “take a break today”... haha. And boy was it a much needed one. So, thankfully it was a beautiful Sunday and I relaxed outside by the pool with a new book, Entre Nous (Between Us): A Woman’s Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl. This came in the mail all the way from California a few days ago from my good friend and soon to be roomie in Paris, Jen! We are each reading the book and then passing it on to the next girl in our group going over in August (me, Lauren, LC, and Jen)


It’s sort of like the sisterhood of the traveling book :)


So, like I said in my last post, I made a big purchase with some graduation money……here it is!


TA-DA!!...my new Nikon D40

With the help of my sweet friend/fellow blogger, we found this baby on craigslist and snatched it up asap! I’ve been having so much fun playing around with it…I really know nothing about cameras, but it’s always been on my to-do list and I would LOVE to have some skills before I head to France.


So, to kill two birds with one stone…here are some pictures that I’ve taken with it that will also catch you up on what’s been going on in my world lately…


My mom is a big tennis fan and player…so we thought it would be so fun to combine her interest in tennis and mine for Paris and throw a French Open brunch with all her tennis gals and share with them what God has called me to do in Paris…perfect! The event was so much fun and pretty successful!















My mom and I had lots of fun planning that party. A big thanks to all the ladies who came!!!


I celebrated my 22nd birthday this past week. I am no longer 21!!!!!!! I don’t know why, but I didn’t enjoy that age…I feel like you’re still considered a teenager. So, here’s to the year of the deuces!


Tenley and Liz, my Rosie True gals. My birthday would not have been complete without these two!...or the chips and queso we devoured...yum.



Bday dinner @ Mellow Mushroom





Every girl needs a friend like this one...especially on your bday. She's a sweetheart. If you don't believe me, check out her blog...man I'm giving the shout-outs tonight!

And last but TOTALLY not least...

My scrumptioulicious bday cake from the French Pantry.

I had a FABULOUS day celebrating with some amazing friends! Thanks for making me feel so loved :)


Whew! That was kind of a lot for me. And as I've been learning in Entre Nous, a french girl practices discretion and leaves some things unsaid...so until next time,

Adieu

love/hate relationship

Sorry for the hiatus…please don’t give up on reading my blog yet! I promise things will get much more interesting once I learn some blog management skills…and of course, once I’m in Paris :)

Blogging can be very time consuming! Especially for someone like me who takes 30 minutes to write a paragraph because I have to write something about 4 times before it comes out the way it I want it to…plus attempting to correct all my grammar mistakes (key word :attempting… I apologize if that’s a pet peeve of yours!)
So, like I’ve said before, I’m keeping this blog as a way to keep track of things that are going on in my life so I can look back on this one day and remember both the struggles and blessings that grew me into who I will be after this journey. The reason I’m doing a blog instead of a private journal is because I have benefited from the openness and honesty of others and I hope that I can be an encouragement to others as well.

Here’s a little update on my love/hate relationship with raising support:
I’m about 4 weeks in to this roller coaster of a process. I’ve made 152 phone calls, sent 76 letters, and had 16 appointments. I’ve spent many hours praying, calling, writing, brainstorming, and meeting with people….and I still have quite a ways to go by August 1st. The task at hand seriously seems impossible sometimes…a lot of times actually. How am I supposed to convince enough people to write me a check so that I can live and spread the gospel to college students in Paris??? …that’s exactly where I go wrong. I cannot raise this money… I cannot move in someone’s heart to feel called to give to this ministry… I don’t have the power or skills to do this, but He does. He has a plan for how this is all going to happen. Whew! It’s very comforting and very convicting to be reminded of that everyday. This summer, I am called to do much more than just raise my income for the next year…more importantly I am called to give people an opportunity to invest in God’s plan and act on God’s calling in their life to be a part of expanding the kingdom of God. That perspective is a whole lot cooler isn’t it?!?!? I still struggle with asking for money and have definitely had my share of being turned down, but my fear of rejection is so much less important than giving people an opportunity to be involved in God’s plan. Just in these past 4 weeks I have seen some amazing things happen that would never have been a part of my plan. For an entire week I was sick with a cold, but saw God provide more in that week than any other so far. People that I had never met are now partnering with me and praying for me.

I have to laugh sometimes at how scripture can be so perfect for a situation…like this:
Matt. 19:26
"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
I mean, HELLO!!... straight from Jesus, so you better believe it! Haha

Well…since that took me almost all night to write, I’ll have to save the rest for the next post…stay tuned for details on my latest big purchase ((!!!))