Tetherball.

Do you remember that game that is on every elementary school campus in the United States? Tetherball? Well, the main concept of this game is easy. You hit the ball. You hit it in every direction, with every level of strength, and even with your words. Well, I think yesterday, I was that ball. It was a long and emotionally draining day. I'm butting heads with family that I love a lot for all of the wrong reasons. And it hurts. I feel bruised, beaten, and sore. It's exhausting disagreeing over stupid things. Things that you haven't done but you are approached with bitter accusations anyway, things that you don't understand, and worst of all---things that call for absolutely no need for immaturity, yet people find a way to spit in your face. It just doesn't make sense. Do you remember the term "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."?? I do. And that's what I've been telling myself the past couple of days. BUT, I know the Lord as a plan, and he is my ultimate provider. He loves me beyond what I could ever think possible, and my heart and life are in his hands. I will continue to follow him no matter who disagrees. He has the plan. Not me or anyone else. And thank you, Jesus, for that.

Just to add to the emotional stage I passed through yesterday, Luke's dad, Mr. Sean's, cancer is back. We don't have any answers. But, I will keep you updated. Prayers for patience, wisdom, strength, attitudes, and peace are strongly encouraged. STRONGLY.

On the other hand, work was good Tuesday. :) The kids are completely warmed up to me, and I am beginning to understand and realize each of their personalities. We have a few siblings enrolled-and even the siblings are way different. I love my job. I really do.

The kids have grasped most of the concept of UNO (They are 3/4 years old). & even if they haven't, they have learned their colors by playing! It's a neat way to guide children's learning by being creative while you have fun, too. :)

This is Amir. (like "a mirror"..ha) He just turned three, and he's in the middle of learning his letters. he knows his ABCs, but he doesn't understand what each letter looks like. But, yesterday we worked on his name for about 30 minutes. It was neat to see the results from repetition and how determined he was to understand! He's a bit of a sneaky kid, so it was awesome to see him settle down and work at something. :)

Here he is showing me how to draw, well it started out as a "happy face" and ended up being something like a stick figure. Oh well, it made him happy!

Last night Madison, Taylor, and I went to Chik-fil-A here on campus. After that, we came back to the dorm and had a fun dance session in the room. It was so hilarious. It started out just playing old N*SYNC and Britney Spears songs, and by the end of the night, we had the disco ball and video camera going. It was a blast.

and this was only the beginning... :)

It was a relaxing ending to a stressful day. :)

TODAYYYYY. ---> January 27, 2011.

I had my two most frustrating classes with breakfast and a WONDERFUL (I might add) nap in between. :)

I worked this afternoon, and the kids were crazy. CRAZY. In EVERY class. All ages. It was insane. Maybe it

was the weather change.lol. I have no idea. Hardly any, if at all, wanted to listen. They were bickering all day

with each other. Hitting and pushing. But, we made everyone get along, and forced it to be a good day. :)

Madison's writing a paper right now while I blog. I had to pull up the Mac photo booth (the program that

works with my webcam), and it never fails, she sees it and stands in her chair, and there we go! Snapping

pictures! It cracks me up that something so simple can put the both of us in the most giggly mood... :)

Last but not least. I just want to share how the Lord has been working around me lately. Tonight, I'm going to focus on Luke. It's just a couple small things, but that's what makes life matter most, right?

1. He joined a new discipleship group at Bellevue. He's the youngest one in there. The next oldest? 22 (I think). The oldest? In his 60s. He just showed up one night. God's truly guiding him into finding out what a true man is. Amen to that. :)

2. He's been asking for the Lord to use him. He helped an older lady the other night with money to put gas in her car. We have no idea who she is or where she's from. But, she wasn't broken down in the cold that night. :)

3. He's been talking to a younger teammate of his about God and a true relationship with him. Long story short, he's going to go over Crazy Love by Francis Chan (HIGHLY RECOMMEND) with him beginning tomorrow morning as the beginning of a possibility discipleship opportunity. What a blessing for both guys.

4. He hasn't been working lately due to basketball season and Bass Pro's hours/scheduling. We've both been talking about possibilities for him to maybe find another part time job that's a little more flexible, or when he should start looking, etc. Today at his bball practice, one of his assistant coaches randomly approached him and asked him if he would be interested in reffing 4th/5th grade basketball games on Saturdays. He'll make 25 bucks a game and average about $125 every Saturday. Two of his favorite things--kids&basketball--while making money...not too shabby. :) We're both excited and relieved. :))

5. He is going to start volunteering at Impact here in Memphis. It's like a food pantry set up for the lower income families that don't have a lot. They can come there and get free groceries, and there's also clothes and such. Sort of like a Goodwill. I have a class Saturday morning, but I'll be joining him the very first chance I get!

I am beyond excited to see what the Lord is doing with him. Especially when he's mine. ;) He has become such a true gentlemen. Not only physically, but in the heart. I've seen such a positive change in him over the last year, and I'm anxious to see what is next. I love him a lot, and I am so blessed that the Lord allows us to know what it's like to have each other. Some people get frustrated with us. I'm not saying we're not a teenage couple, because we are. We're only (just shy of) 19. But, our faith in the Lord has helped us grow together, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I love you, Luke Berry. Keep pressing on towards the goal. :)

I hope y'all have a wonderful night. I'm here for each and every one of you. Even for those who don't know me, but follow my blog anyway. God loves you. Never forget that. Good night. :)

First Monday of the year.

So, today I would consider this Monday as the first Monday of the year. I moved in a couple weeks ago on Monday and then we had MLKJ day last Monday. But, today my schedule was full throttle, and that's the way I want and like it to be. :)

I had an 8:00 class and a 10:20 class this morning. I used my hour and a half break I had in between classes to finish my Frosh Camp counselor application! I'm really excited. I have my interview Wednesday before my Morale Captain meeting, so I'll keep you posted!

I worked at the daycare today. I love it there. The highlight of the kids day was getting our new pet! We added a rabbit to the 2 birds and hamster we have. :) The kids' faces were priceless when it was brought in. The rabbit came from the Memphis humane society where they rescue animals. In honor of the rabbit being lucky to be alive, the kids named him "Lucky." It was hilarious watching them flock towards wherever Amanda (one of the other teachers) walked with him in her hands. They followed her around and watched every move. It was absolutely precious! The kids couldn't wait to show Lucky off to their parents. & sure enough, they dragged them in one by one to visit our new pet rabbit. :)

I hope you had a great day!

2 Weeks.

Boy, two weeks have passed since I have last blogged, and I am just now finding the time/patience to sit down and type. A LOT has happened in the last two weeks. Things have changed. Life has changed. But, God has a plan.

On an index card, I have everything over the past 2 weeks written down day by day with what I did. I have a few pictures to go with it, but I figured you'd get bored with me explaining my life the way I had planned. I decided I'd just post a few highlights.

I'm seriously wanting to blog everyday. I promise! I just, I guess moving back to Memphis a couple of weeks ago shook things up. So, I have to get in a groove again. But anyway, here's a few highlights...

Some of the U of M's cheerleaders performed at one of the private schools that Luke played a couple of weeks ago. The younger kids and high school cheerleaders loved it! I had a class with one of the guys (the red-headed one) so it was neat to see him again...

I moved back in again 2 weeks ago Monday. I found out a friend I know through softball moved in next door. Small world. haha. Madison and I spent about 2 hours 2 nights in a row hanging out with three of our neighbors. It was cool to catch up and just chill and laugh!...

This is Brittaney. (The softball girl I know).

Our building also had it's first fire alarm of the winter. & it had to fall on one of the coldest days of this season yet. The alarm went off when Madison was in the middle of her shower. That was one of our worst fears..haha! All I could think about was her freaking out when she heard it, slipping, and hurting herself. So, here's Momma Bailey rushing to the bathroom door making sure she's ok. I asked her, "Madison! What can I do to help you??" Her reply? "Turn around so I can put clothes on!!" Oh man. We died laughing. It was hilarious. We ended up standing outside for 45 minutes with 2 friends that we graduated with, Brittaney, and a girl that was coloring her hair when the alarm sounded...

Here's the girl that was coloring her hair. She took the clip out, and her hair was literally frozen. It didn't budge. The next two girls are Caitlyn and Courtney.

Poor little Madison.

The next picture is just a random picture of Luke and I before one of his games. :)

One of the big highlights this last week was a gospel concert that was put together as a benefit for St. Jude. Being a Morale Captain, it was required of me to attend, so I dragged Madison who dragged Taylor along with me. It was all three of our first gospel concert, and it was great! Definitely TOTALLLLLYYYY different then what I'm used to, but it was awesome. We had a great time...

Two of these girls reminded us of Willow Smith and Nicki Minaji!

Kyle & Sam (MCs with me) getting down!

The three of us on our way back to the dorm!

:)

I officially started working at the daycare this week. However, I'm not working with the school-aged kids (7 yrs.+) (Thank goodness!!). I am teaching the 3&4 year olds and a few kindergarteners! I absolutely love it. I know there will be days that I'm exhausted and grouchy, but I'm really excited. The kids are so sweet. They continually ask me to read them books. That's really one of the main focuses of that daycare, even when I was there as a student-to instill the love of reading. The kids are great. They need discipline though. :) A few of the kids wanted to play dress up, so that's what we did! They were so sweet and happy to pretend to be someone else for a few minutes. The little girl, Riley, was showing me her dress when her father came and got her. She was so excited to show him her princess outfit! The kids really are precious. I love them already...

Jeff as a business man and Landon as a firefighter!

& here's Riley as a princess!

There's just something about being called "Ms. Bailey." I can't wait 'til the day when that's how all of the kids will know me. I can't wait to have my own classroom. :)))

This week I got a new app on my phone--Faceinhole. It's where you take pictures of people and fill holes in other pictures. Here's a few that I made. I sent two of them to my mom. They cracked us up...

Luke and I. It makes me laugh every time I look at it!

One of my favorite foods of all time!

&&&&& of course. My favorite character in the entire world. :)

Wednesday, I got the cravings for a midnight snack. So, I pulled out a pack of pizza rolls that we have in our freezer and decided to throw them in the microwave. However, they were completely un-edible by the time I was through with them! My cooking skills proved to be an epic (and eternal) fail. Within 30 minutes, I had around 46 comments on the picture that I posted on facebook. It was the funniest thing Madison and I went through all day.

I don't know how, but yes, I burned the INSIDE of the pizza roll...

Friday, we had a SNOW DAY!! It was the ice that was a problem, but that's ok. I didn't have to go to class or

work. instead, I went over to Natalie's house and chilled there ALL day. (until supper when I had pizza with

Luke!) It was so nice. We never turned the TV on. Not once. We had our computers and our chatting to keep us

busy. i don't think she knows how much I appreciate her. Here's a few pictures from our day. She's going to kill

me... ;)

Gator stayed with me Friday night. Brittaney wasn't home this entire weekend, so we decided to leave a few notes on her door. Needless to say, they were hilarious jokes. We love her so much!!

We also went to iHop at midnight. It's now a tradition. We go every time she stays with me. It's our favorite thing to do together. We usually order breakfast, but this time Gator decided to order chicken strips. She started feeling sick in the middle of supper, so she got a to go box. I don't have ketchup in the dorm, soooo we took it!! We left the waitress a $5 tip though. We hope she understands... :)

It was nice having a day to do nothing but laugh.

Luke and I have had some hit and miss opportunities to have some time together these past few days. When we do meet up, it's usually spur of the moment and only for a couple of hours-if that. He brought me Starbucks one night at work and "cordially invited" me to a late supper at his house. (He wrote out an invitation and taped it to my cup). It was sweet and creative. :) We randomly met up last night after work at 10:00 for O'Charley's! I was really excited..I love their soup!! This morning I had a hard time waking up. I was run down from this week, and I was really stuffy and slow. So, instead of attending church, we went to his house and watched the sermon live on the internet. I love Brother Steve Gaines. He gives it to you straight from the Word. It's awesome to hear/see what God lays before me every day and Sunday morning through His word. :) Following the sermon, Luke and Mrs. Ronda made a shrimp and rice dish for lunch, and we had that before I had to go to work. It was a nice and comfy Sunday. :)

My schedule and stress is starting to pick up. I'm excited about what's to come, but anxious at the same time. I've hit an obstacle already, and it will probably only be tougher. I just keep reminding myself to follow the Lord. He will take care of me and any situation that comes my way. I belong to Him.

Remember that throughout the week, you can't do anything alone. It's hard not to "do it yourself," but, those are the times that turn out to be the worst. Give it to the Lord, and his blessings will head your way. Keep your head up as you go throughout this week. I love you all.

TOMS!

After 2 months of having them, I finally got around to painting my charcoal gray pair of TOMS shoes! I had planned on moving back to Memphis this morning, but the snow that came last night held other plans for me today. But, that's fine with me. :) Painting these shoes was definitely a challenge, and it took literally ALL day, but I really enjoyed doing it. I'm posting some pictures of the final product! I put them on facebook, and the amount of comments that came immediately after was so encouraging. I already have 2 people interested in paying me to personalize a pair for them! What an amazing compliment! Here's my new pair of TOMS!...

I hope y'all love them! I can't wait to see what the Lord allows me to do with these shoes and my "business." :) Until then, I'm hittin' the sheets. Sitting around all day takes a toll on me. ;) Goodnight!