Week 11

Day 1 ~ Office selfie.

Hi.

Day 2 ~ Registered for fall classes - graduation date is set for May 2016. Woot-woot.

The end is nigh!

Day 3 ~ Got a new pair of shoes in the mail (the pink ones).  It felt like a crime to hide them in the closet, so I decided to set out my pretties so I don't have to rummage in the dark for shoes each morning.

Mmmm...shoes

Day 4 ~ I've been struggling with my Spiritual Disciplines of late.  I am having to admit that my academic and personal walk has been badly skewed this semester.  Fortunately, Abby has agreed to help keep me accountable.  Marking it down (and knowing I have to show someone else) will hopefully highlight the areas I need to work on. 

Priority check

Day 5 ~ Friday night was potentially a bad one.  In the middle of watching a movie studying, my computer went bananas - and not in a good way.  I tinkered around a bit (while praying I wasn't deleting the motherboard) and I got it to chill out.  Works fine now.  Thank you for that miracle, Lord.

Oh, the horror

Day 6 ~ Abby, Sucey, and I watched Cinderella!  Great cinematography and costumes.

Abby, Kristin, Sucey

Day 7 ~ Volleyball time at Washington Hall.

Todd, Annette, Stephen, David, Sucey,
Jimmy, Kristin, Davide, Estephanie, Abi

I rejoice in God's provision of a full life, pray I keep my focus on real priorities, and am thankful for Abby's grace in not shooting me when I was unable to complete our Whole30 challenge. ✝

Week 10

Day 1 ~ It was all about the studying, tonight.  Nearly did myself some brain damage.

Brain melt

Day 2 ~ It snowed (and iced) 3.5 inches on Monday night.  Getting to the office was hampered by the fact that someone parked their car perpendicular to the driveway, effectively blocking the rest of us from exiting the apartment complex.  Who does that?  Fortunately, a few other people were trying to leave and they had a truck with a chain.  We just hauled the SUV out of our way. 

Seriously, who does that?

Team work

Day 3 ~ As part of the Whole30, I am trying to cook a variety of foods so I don't lose my mind.  Cooking and Kristin are not friends.  I had my first ironic Pintrest "Nailed it!" experience: guacamole deviled eggs.  The first picture is what it is supposed to look like.  The second picture is my baby-poo-brown result.  And they tasted like chili.  That's not a euphemism - the recipe called for a crazy amount of chili powder and cumin.  Nasty.  They were unsalvageable.

Guacamole Deviled Eggs via Pintrest

Nailed it!

Day 4 ~ Second attempt at cooking:  French cut green beans, chopped cashews, grilled chicken, and a packet of seasoning.  It was spectacularly tasteless.  Look at all the freakin' seasoning on that puppy - how can it taste like nothing?!  I actually all of ate this because throwing away food hurts my soul.

Bland

Day 5 ~ Cheri treated the office to lunch, today!  It was a beautifully sunny, despite snow still being on the ground.

Kristin, Regina, Abby, Leigh, Julia, Cheri

Day 6 ~ My mother and I are planning a road trip through the western US.  We're calling it, "Lucinda & Kristin's Wild West Adventure 2015."  T-shirts will be made.  Today, I sat down and finally hammered out all the details and booked the flights, rental car, and hotels.  My mom tasked me with creating an itinerary of all my favorite sites and National Parks I traveled to with Contiki and Trek America.  Fortunately, they are all in a nice looping drive from Las Vegas, so it will be easy to fly in and out.

Road trip!

Day 7 ~ After being forced to leap a pile of textbooks to get to my bed for the past few weeks, I decided it was time to clean my apartment.  This photo is typical of my messy state: relative cleanliness, but small piles of things in various locations.  The plies just grow and grow until I put everything back in its place...and start all over, again.

Hurtles

I rejoice in God's ability to reel me back in when I start to wander away, pray I will keep my heart and mind open as I seek a mentor from my church, and am thankful for the fact that I can buy most foods in a store instead of having to cook them myself. ✝

Week 9

Day 1 ~ Like I mentioned last week, during the month of March, Abby, Sucey, and I are going to do the Whole30 healthy eating thing.  As preparation, I bought all my favorite Easter candy to snack on this week since I will miss it next month. I can feel you judging me. 

Best candy holiday, ever!

Day 2 ~ A view of the snow/ice storm that SHUT DOWN Dallas.  It closed DTS for three days.  I was quite smug in my I'm-from-Iowa-this-is-nothing attitude. 

Snowpocalypses 2015

Day 3 ~ So, apparently these soft, southern automobiles couldn't handle the cold, either.  Abby's car wouldn't start, so we Googled, "how to jump start a car."  Nailed it!  It was actually, kinda fun doing something "grown-up."

Blue Belle, Kristin, and the deceased

Blue Belle, Abby, and the deceased

Day 4 ~ Not all of my prep for the Whole30 consisted of sugar-loading, I marinaded 14 pounds of chicken in a variety of approved spices and sauces.  My raspberry vinaigrette marinade turned out just plain funky looking.  Haven't tasted it yet, but I don't think you can go wrong with purple chicken.

Mmmm...purple

Day 5 ~ Sucey, Abby, and I had a wonderful Friday evening eating take-out, watching a movie, and playing cards.  En route to the Thai-nese take-out place, we came across this random, patriotic snowman on the hood of someone's car. #randomroadtripstuff

Sucey, Abby, Kristin and Bob the snowman

Day 6 ~ Saturday night consisted of Amazing Race watching and Hand & Foot with Abby and her brother and sister-in-law (Luke and Abby) at Swiss Tower on campus.

Abby, Abby, and Kristin

Day 7 ~ Due to a crazy week of cancelled work and my general laziness, I had to break my self-imposed no-study Sabbath rule. (In truth, I had about four no-study Sabbath days this week.)  A big paper crept up on me and I had to get a running start before the Tuesday due date.

The Osmosis Study Method

I rejoice in God ensuring the safety of everyone I care about during the bad weather in Dallas, pray I make good use of the next few weeks of spring break for studying, and am thankful for sweet friends who love cards as much as I do. ✝

Week 8

Day 1 & 2 ~ The first two days of the week were consumed with studying, so the rest of my life was an irrelevant blur.  At times I fear I'll accidentally fall asleep while reading and be squished to death under the weight of my textbooks.

A day in the life...

Day 3 ~ Shamrock Shakes are back at McDonald's in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. I had the shocking realization that I've been drinking these shakes of minty beauty every year for the past 24 years.  Worth. Every. Calorie.

Mmmm...minty

Day 4 ~ After a homework mix-up involving doing the wrong week's homework, I decided to treat myself to some salty goodness in the form of my favorite snack food: Tostitos and salsa/queso.

Mmmm...salty

Day 5 ~ In March, my friend Abby and I have decide to try the Whole 30 eating plan. It's essentially eating as fresh and natural as possible for a month.  Seeing as how I am incompetent in the kitchen (by choice and lack of give-a-hoot), I found myself at a bit of a loss on how to make whole foods taste good.  Bless Abby, she took me around to a few grocery stores and introduced me to the world of spices and label reading.  

Mmmm...pricy

Day 6 ~ Sarah had an awesome British-themed Murder Mystery Birthday party.  I was tickled to have an excuse to pull out the beer wench costume from storage.

Wench and Sarah

Day 7 ~ At Sunday night volleyball, we happen to have an irrational number of gentlemen named Jon.  So...the boys had t-shirts printed up.  Team spirit rocks.

The Jonsquad

I rejoice in God's help keeping me on track this semester (in many areas of my life), pray I will continue to be in communion with His will, and am thankful for the opportunity to share life with some truly wonderful people. ✝

Week 7

Day 1 ~ Today, I made a hard decision.  I gave up my Kindle for the rest of the semester.  My number one pacifier when I want to hide away from the world/procrastinate is to lose myself in a book.  Unfortunately, the sheer quantity of time I spend free-reading has turned my Kindle into an idol of self-medication. So…I gave my Kindle to a dear friend as a means of accountability.

Bye bye

Day 2 ~ Last night I got 11 hours of sleep.  When I woke up, I cleaned my apartment, did laundry, got in a half day of work, and managed a full evening of studying.  Best. Day. In. Months.  #NewDay  I also got to help the Morning Star Tours’ Prayer Intercessor, Lana, celebrate her birthday.

Lana

Day 3 ~ My Spiritual Formation group meets at lunch time every Wednesday, so we often bring something to eat.  When Abi started munching on a giant, delicious looking apple, Lisa quipped, "I'd be tempted if the apple had looked like that."  #biblehumor #lovetheseladies 

Ann, Abi, Lisa, PJ, Amelia, Kim, Kristin

Day 4 ~ Our office complex decided to show their tenant appreciation by making us sugary mini donuts.  Delishousness!

Abby and Regina

Day 5 ~ Precious Julie brought a Valentine Cookie Cake (with our resident #Iloveus hash-tag) to the office.

Kristin, Julia, Regina, Abby

Day 6 ~ Abby blessed us with a Ladies Valentine's Day brunch.  She cooked a fancy meal, made a delish French Silk pie, and organized craftiness (we made scented heating pads).  Feeling so bless to have such wonderful girlfriends in my life!! :)
  

Abby, Julia, Sucy, Kristin

Fanciness

More Day 6 ~ The gentlemen of Washington Hall (the DTS dorm) organized a delightful Valentine's Day dinner for the ladies.  They went all out: they got all dolled up, cooked, decorated, entertained, and cleaned up after.  It was an amazingly affirming experience.  

DTS Valentine's Day Dinner

Day 7 ~ Abby and I trekked up to Allen to the Outlets and both found some amazingness at the Nine West store.  These shoes were the first thing I saw when I walked in the door and I completely flipped my lid.  They. Are. So. Me.  I also got a killer steal on a White House Black Market Genius dress, but who cares about that when I am the proud owner of these puppies.  I should name them. 

Winning

Work it

The camera loves you

I rejoice in God's ability to blow my mind with His expectation-shattering provision, pray I remember in the future how much better He knows me than I know myself, and am thankful for the answers to so many prayers coming to fruition this week. ✝

Week 6

Day 1 & 2 ~ Due to some hard core procrastination, I was under the crunch on Monday & Tuesday to complete some assignments.  Not how I like to operate, but it is what it is.  Mantra: Tomorrow is a new day.

Brain drain

Day 3 ~ Abby and I found a fun trail near her house to walk on.  There was an underpass with an awesomely oversized painting of bikers. 

Road kill

Day 4 ~ This week was annual reviews at the Morning Star Tours office.  We had some fun with sticky notes as we mapped out our individual roles.

Leigh and Julia

Day 5 ~ Due to a rough week, I didn't have a Day 5 photo, but I came across this during a procrastination break and thought it summed up my feelings on this day.

Cuteness

Day 6 ~ The DTS Eikon media arts group on campus had a workshop to connect with fellow artsy type students.

Artsy types

Day 7 ~ My mom was on vacation from her missionary duties in Honduras and finally in a location with good wifi, so we were able to communicate much easilier (made up word) than usual.  It was awesome to not be encumbered by low-tech issues.

Lucinda and Kristin

I rejoice in the fact that I am seeing how the Lord has been answering prayers in my life, pray the Lord gives me wisdom on some pending decisions, and am thankful for a great relationship with my mother. ✝

Week 5

Day 1 ~ Abi and I went to the park for our workout since it was such a beautiful day. :)

Abi and Kristin

Day 2 ~ I was in desperate need of a study buddy to help get me motivated, so Abi and I went to the library after our workout.

Abi and Greek lessons

Day 3 ~ I know this doesn't look like much, but I am excited over the fact that my apartment is tidy after a week of natural disaster mode.

Mmmm...clean.

Day 4 ~ At our office, we always take a photo when someone visits.  Abby had the brilliant idea to take a picture of all of us in the mirror so no one was left out.

Abby, Julia, Regina, Mike Cheri, Leigh, Dr. Hatteberg, and Kristin

Day 5 ~ I was very proud of my shopping ability.  I got all of this for $8 at Aldi.  Coupon score!

Mmmm...discounts

Day 6 ~ Ann and I drove up to Richardson to meet a missionary friend from China.

Ann and Kristin

Day 7 ~ Super Bowl Sunday.  The white blob in the background is the game.

Kristin and Abby

I rejoice in the fact that I can start over fresh each new day, pray the Lord helps me give myself grace when I stumble with school work, and am thankful for beautiful spring weather. ✝