Miss Taylor

This is my best friend Taylor.

Not to be confused with this best friend Taylor...

See the difference?

Anyways.

Miss Taylor up there in the first picture made her way to Haiti on Monday night for a four month long missions trip.  How cool is that!?  She's interning at an orphanage run by Child Hope International right outside of Port-Au-Prince by running the guest house along with other duties at the actual orphanage.  I just can't get over what an amazing opportunity she is experiencing right now.  I have been with Tay through the whole process of examining the desire, praying for guidance, and now sending her off and she has been such an inspiration.  I wish that I had the capability of just taking off like that and following the desire to serve these people of Haiti for an extended period of time.  I cannot wait to talk to her and hear about everything!  I'm hoping she is going to be starting a blog in the next couple of days so I will be sure to post the link if you want to follow her journey.  

For now the biggest thing is prayer!  

If you have a minute I would love if you could pray for Taylor with me.  Obviously prayer for her health and safety would be great.  But also prayer that God would use her time there to grow and mold her into the woman He desires and that she would be the hands and feet of Jesus.  I am so excited to see how the Holy Spirit works in her heart and what she brings back in December!

Thanks everyone!

It's Monday.

Today was rough.  Moving away from home, even an hour, doesn't seem to get any easier.  Not to mention having to say goodbye to one of my dearest friends as she embarks on a four month mission trip to Haiti wasn't exactly rainbows and sunshine.  

But.  Being the dedicated blogger I am, I am still committed to the ever so popular {maybe just in my mind} Monday Melody.

I can't lie, Jenny & Tyler have been pretty much the standard these days but since I introduced them last week I figured I should branch out a little.  

James Morrison is the man, and if you don't know that, well, you should.  He is so talented and I just love his voice and I think you will too.  The song that I picked is one you will recognize because it's an MJ cover but your socks will be knocked off.  He just owns it, ya know?

Man in the Mirror

{The link above goes to a better version, just FYI.  Couldn't get the same video up though...}

Happy Labor Day!  Don't wear white anymore?  I think?

Material Goodness

Being an emotional person is hard work, let me tell you.

For the past couple of weeks I've been in total LA mode.  I couldn't wait to get back up there and finally feel like I am living in one place for a long period of time.  I drove back and forth this summer because my job was in LA while my rent-free home was in Orange County and it was completely different than I expected.  I thought it would be easy.  No biggie.  I was only driving up there twice a week after all and Baby Car gets unreal gas mileage.  I had no idea how tiring driving is.  And how inconvenient packing and unpacking an overnight suitcase can be.  And how much I hate sliding my card at the gas pump.  Needless to say, I am ready.  Ready to be in my apartment, with everything unpacked, and cooking my own food in my own kitchen.

That was until tonight.

Tonight is when I hit what I like to call the "reality wall".

And boy did I hit it hard.

I had to say goodbye to Katie, Brandon, and my sweet baby E and wasn't sure the next time I would see them.  While, yes, I will only be living an hour away, I will be a full time student with an internship and a part time job.  Extra time will be like an endangered species my life.  It's rough leaving an amazing family like mine.  I love my parents and siblings to death and while I am definitely in the right place up at school, it's always hard realizing that I have, yet again, taken my time with them this summer for granted.  Realizing I won't be able to meet up with Katie every day I have off just to hang out.  Or I won't get to see Ty start his senior year of high school as Senior Class President.  Or I can't come home from a long day and watch Law & Order with my mom or American Idol with my dad.  While these are all silly, little things, they feel huge in my life.  They are what make my family so special and uniquely mine.  

Gosh.  Told you I was a sap.

So to make it easier for me (or harder, I haven't really decided yet) I want to show you the top material things I will miss most about my OC home.

1. My boyfriend

2. My big bed (How am I supposed to starfish on a twin!?)

3. Closet space

4. Counter space

5.  A shower with water pressure

6.  A stocked refrigerator

7.  DVR

8.  Netflix on the Wii

9.  A washer and dryer I don't have to scrape up quarters for

Yeah I was wrong, I feel worse now.

Here's to moving out...again.  Our relationship is definitely on the rocks.