-Matthew 19:14

I don't even have the words to express my sadness, confusion, anger and bitterness regarding the school shooting that took place in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday. I will never be able to grasp the hate that transpired on that day. All I know is that those families will forever be in my heart, my prayers and my thoughts. I cannot imagine the ache those parents and families feel in their hearts. May God be with the families of those children lost.

Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38. 

when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate. 

their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air. 

they could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there.

they were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say.

they remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day.

"where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse.

"this is heaven." declared a small boy. "we're spending Christmas at God's house."

when what to their wondering eyes did appear,

but Jesus, their savior, the children gathered near.

He looked at them and smiled, and they smiled just the same.

then He opened His arms and He called them by name.

and in that moment was joy, that only heaven can bring

those children all flew into the arms of their King

and as they lingered in the warmth of His embrace,

one small girl turned and looked at Jesus' face.

and as if He could read all the questions she had

He gently whispered to her, "I'll take care of mom and dad."

then He looked down on earth, the world far below

He saw all of the hurt, the sorrow, and woe

then He closed His eyes and He outstretched His hand,

"Let My power and presence re-enter this land!"

"may this country be delivered from the hands of fools"

"I'm taking back my nation. I'm taking back my schools!"

then He and the children stood up without a sound.

"come now my children, let me show you around."

excitement filled the space, some skipped and some ran.

all displaying enthusiasm that only a small child can.

and i heard Him proclaim as He walked out of sight,

"in the midst of this darkness, I AM STILL THE LIGHT."

It's the start of Jimmy Valvano week on ESPN. The V Foundation is dedicated to cancer research and 100% of all donations go directly to cancer research. You should not only watch this video because it's inspiring and encouraging, but you should check out the website, The V. Foundation, it's a great cause started by a great man. 

Happy (very late) Thanksgiving! I was able to spend an entire week in Arizona with my family and friends and because of that, this blog was neglected. While I was home I went to thanksgiving church with my dad and it was so awesome. The pastor used 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 for his sermon, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." It was such a great reminder of what Thanksgiving is all about. I basked in the glow of my family and friends for 7 long days and now its time to get back to school, finals and Nebraska. I hope everyone had a wonderful break with lots of family, friends and food.

Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. - William Faulkner

Today I get to celebrate two years with Adam.  Celebrating two years with him is such a huge blessing in my life. We have had the best last couple years, full of (law school), amazing trips, dinners with family and friends, football games, nights on the couch watching tv and so much more. God put this amazing man in my life for a reason and every day I wake up feeling so blessed that I get to date him. If these last two years have been this good, I can't imagine what the future holds. 

This is going to be quite a vent-sesh, so if you're uninterested, move along please. I've never been one to blog about politics. My opinion on politics has always been a quiet opinion. I have my views and if you want to know them, ask, if not that's okay! I guess I just don't see the point. At this stage in my life and the lives of my friends, what I have to say today is not going to change their mind or their point of view. Maybe that's naive or pathetic or stupid but oh well. However, last night, America changed. At this point I can't really tell you if it changed for the good or bad, but it definitely changed. Barack Obama secured his place in the white house. Now, I did not vote for Obama in 2008 or in 2012, but as fate has it, he's back. And, honestly I wasn't impressed with his last four years, but I sincerely hope this four he came prove why he's the man for the job and the man to lead this country. He's got a lot of haters, but he's our President and he's got my support. What kills me is people who were not Obama voters being so incredibly negative. It's disgusting to see people's true sides when they don't get what they want. No, I do not agree with his policies, or what he's done this far, but I would never make it a personal attack. And that is what this country has to learn. What we (yes, everyone, we) says about Obama or the other candidate is an attack on the other 50% of the country. While I'll might not like Obama, my best friend might! So in my opinion, we can discuss politics, I'd love too, but it is my opinion that it is inappropriate to go further than that. I don't bash you for your beliefs, so please don't bash me for mine. (Maybe this post should be directed to facebook or twitter). But, for the record, I will make it my honest effort to support this President because, at the end of the day, he is my President, and I will try and have faith. To Mitt, congrats on a race run well. And Barack, please prove me wrong because I want to believe in you and I want to see this country be great. 

Today officially starts Fall Break 2012. My last (school) fall break ever! So, to celebrate this joyous occasion I am taking an entire week off from my life. Tonight I am venturing off to the fabulous city of Washington D.C. with some of my best girls. I'm going to drink champagne, take a million pictures and enjoy my break. THEN!! I'm going to Arizona for 5 days to spend some quality time with my family and best friends. If this doesn't sound like the most epic fall break then I'm not sure what is. I'm so excited. So, everyone, take the week off (if you can) or maybe just the weekend, do something fun and enjoy this beautiful fall weather. Everyone needs a little time off once in a while and this is mine. Hooray.

Struggling with: Being homesick. It's weird, but recently its been very active. 

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."- Mark Twain

I realize this is one of the most over said and overused quotes in history, but today it struck a cord with me and I really love it. But instead of 20 years, I'm going to use 3 years. Three years ago, I was debating law school. Now, here I am 8 months from graduation. Three years ago, I was struggling, drowning, if you may to find who i am. Today, I'm confident that I've found me and the niche where I belong. Three years ago, I was struggling over a breakup. Today, I'm in the relationship I feel God set aside just for me. Three years ago. I was losing sight of my dreams. And today? Today, I've only begun to reach and explore all my dreams. Sometimes I have to do a little compare/contrast to see how far I've come, and where I've come from. There are so many possibilities out there if we just believe in ourselves, dream a little more and to always dig a little deeper. We must never forget to keep exploring, keep dreaming and to keep discovering. Thanks Mark Twain, today you had just the words I needed to hear.

If you've never read Thought Catalog before, I highly suggest you do. It's a compilation of writers who write about everything; from political satire, to perfect first dates to best movies of the 80's. I usually love every post on there, but this is one of my favorites, Click Here. It's called 26 More of Life's Little Pleasures. Per usual, gaining inspiration from everywhere, I thought I'd write my own 26 More of Life's Little Pleasures. It's kind of like my happy post...but different. Enjoy. I'm gonna steal one from 'them' because I just love it, and it's my blog, and I do what I want :)

1. First kisses that you know will be your last, first kiss.
2. Stretching out in bed and finding the 'cold' spot.
3. Licking your fingers after popcorn. Mmmm salty buttery goodness.
4. Puppy kisses.
5. Checking everything off your To-Do list.
6. Pushing the elevator button and having it already on your floor.
7. A stranger in line who buys your coffee.
8. Freshly vacuumed carpet.
9. Payday Friday.
10. The feeling you get when you take your heels off.
11. The smell of a Sharpie.
12. Knowing that Friends is on, every night, for two hours.
13. The smell of rain.
14. Choosing the fastest line at the grocery store.
15. Having perfect change.
16. When someone lets your cut in front of them in line.
17. How quiet the world is after a fresh snow.
18. How we get two 11:11's every day.
19. Looking at your calendar and finding you have nothing to do today.
20. Finding the closest parking spot at the mall.
21. Finishing a good book, and rejoicing that it's a sequel.
22. Orange, red and yellow leaves.
23. Finding one more diet coke in the back of your fridge.
24. The bartender giving your happy hour prices even after happy hour is over.
25. The sweat after hot yoga.
26. When your iTunes shuffle knows just what you want to listen too.

I start my third year of law school tomorrow. Can you believe it? Because I for one, cannot. It seems like just yesterday I wrote this blog expressing my anxiety and here I am, August 19th, 2012, getting ready for my last year of school, ever. It's been a crazzzyyy, yet wonderful, two years so I know this one will only get better. My favorite thing I wrote from that blog post two years ago was "I've been given the most amazing opportunity to do something great, and tomorrow is going to be a great day. I'm ready world, let's do this." I was so optimistic about what law school was going to be, and I'm happy to report that it was all I thought it would be cracked up to be. Now, two years later, here we go again. Tomorrow is going to be a great day. 

Hi there. I've decided to join in on the Currently posts for this week.

I love you most (most beautiful darling)

more than anyone on the earth
and I
like you better than everything in the sky

-sunlight and singing welcome your coming
although winter may be everywhere
with such a silence and such a darkness
noone can quite begin to guess

(except my life) the true time of year-

And if what calls itself a word
should have
the luck to hear sun singing (or 
glimpse such
sunlight as will leap higher than high
though gayer than gayest
someone's heart at your each nearness)
everyone certainly would (my most beautiful darling)
believe in nothing but love.

-E.E. Cummings

-Shaun White

We had the best weekend celebrating Adam's 26th Birthday. A hilarious Friday night with friends, a fabulous date-birthday night with the best food at Lot 2, and a family Sunday birthday with carrot cake and home-made lasagna. It was a perfect night to celebrate my love. Here's to many more, Ads.

This summer has been such a good one, yet it has been so busy. So, instead of blogging about every detail, I thought a photo montage would do the trick. I hope everyone's summer has been great, only one more month until school starts!

Girls nights are some of my favorite nights. I just absolutely love nights dedicated to being together, taking pictures, drinking wine and laughing the night away. Only 3 more weeks until Lynds is back for good and I cannot wait.

Friday I turned 25. I can't even believe I'm halfway to 30, but Adam did a great job of helping me celebrate (and cope!). We went to Kansas City for the weekend and had the best time. We day drank, ate the best food, enjoyed each other, took too many pictures and toasted to the big 25. It was such a great weekend with Adam, one I won't soon forget. So, while I was nervous about turning 25, still nervous about where the next part of my life is going to take me, I know it's going to be good because I'm got my family, my friends and Adam to walk through every stage with me.

This weekend was one for the record books. You know when you're in the midst of a crazy busy weekend where everything is planned, there's a million people and activities, and you just stop. You stop to look around because at that point you realize you couldn't be any more blessed than you are in that moment. This weekend made my heart so full. I got to celebrate my best friend with my other best friend. We stayed up talking till late in the night, drank SO much wine, took wayyy too many pictures and laughed way too much. I am so blessed to have my two best friends who through everything we've only grown closer. I love you Whitney and Coti, let's go back!

Don't judge a book by it's cover... or it's reputation. Best series ever. And maybe I look wayyy deeper than E.L. James was intending, but it's a story about sex, but more than that its a story about how love can really save someone. It can be the one thing that saves a person from the impossible. So, yes, this book is about sex. It talks about sex. But at the end of the third book it's about a love that never judges, always forgives and always loves. I was so bummed when I finished reading, I hope she writes more. Remember, never judge a book by it's cover.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Salt Lake City to celebrate my best friend as she graduates from nursing school!  It feels like just yesterday I was saying goodbye as she ventured to Utah to start school, and now, here she is all grown up and graduating! And the best part? Is that Coti and I are both going to be celebrating Whitney.... we're finally all back together and I cannot wait.

To Ms. Whit.... I am SO proud of you. You deserve this more than anything. I knew you could do this. You worked hard.. you kicked ass and here you are, graduating nursing school! Can you believe it?! I can't wait to scream for you as you walk across the stage. You're going to make the BEST nurse ever. I love you! Go Nurse Whit.