twenty-six.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

thank You for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well i know it. 

You watched me as i was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as i was woven together in the dark of the womb. 

You saw me before i was born.
    every day of my life was recorded in Your book.
every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

[psalm 139:13-16]

on this day, twenty-six years ago, a 9 pound, 4 ounce baby was born into this world.
for weeks, the doctor said the baby was a boy, but to everyone's surprise, he was actually a she.
the mama was so worried that the daddy would be disappointed, but the nurse quickly informed her that he had already fallen in love with his baby girl.
they named their daughter amber.

 [august 31st, 1986]

today is my birthday! i have been on this earth for twenty-six years.

that is cuh-razy, y'all.

[skirt: windsor]

i thank God for another year.
for the two people He chose to be my parents.
for the best brother in the world.
for the blessings i don't deserve.
for His Son, Jesus.

my heart is so full.

so here's to another year of life.
my wish, my dream, my prayer is that i will continue to grow in my walk with Jesus, that i will fulfill His purpose for my life, and that i will enjoy every breath He gives me.
 

funny picture from back in the day: apparently getting panties on my birthday was a big deal.

autumn to-do list.

"autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."  

[albert camus]

with august coming to an end this week, fall is right around the corner.

the leaves are starting their transition to those breathtaking colors.

i love everything about fall.
the changing leaves, colors, yummy coffee drinks, boots and scarves, pumpkins, hoodies, football, cool temps.
i love it all!

i've made a list of the things i want to do/try for fall:

• carve a pumpkin
• try apple cider
• have coffee with a friend at a coffee shop
• bake pumpkin cookies and pumpkin scones
• go on a hayride
• drink hot chocolate while sitting under the stars
• wear a dress with tights and boots
• buy a yummy-smelling autumn candle
• go to a sooner football game
• rake leaves into a pile and throw them
• photograph fall colors
• make a fun diy fall decoration from pinterest
• bake a pie from scratch
• make leaf art
• make a new soup
• go to a pumpkin patch

i started blogging HERE now. be sure to follow along!

over the weekend.

5 tidbits of wisdom:
- you can learn from people at any age, no matter if they are 7 or 77.
- when you live in a small town, going to starbucks twice in one day while you're in a larger city is acceptable.
- always have a backup plan.
- before you try a pinterest craft, make sure it won't cost an arm and a leg to make.
- when you ask for patience, God won't just give it to you. he'll give you situations and circumstances where you can learn to practice patience.

4 things i learned about myself:
- i have stalkerish awesome detective skills when it comes to facebook. magnum, p.i., y'all.  
- thunderstorm + a good book + cozy blankets make my heart happy.
- being healthy is great, but i work out mainly so i can eat ice cream every night.
- i care way too much of what others may think of me. i've admitted it, and now i have to seek God's help to change.

3 things i'm looking forward to:
- FRIDAY! it's muh birfdaaaaay!
- starting a new book.
- SOONER FOOTBALL!

2 blog posts i'm currently lovin':
- this post by sunny + scout. oh, spring flowers. love.
- honey & jam blog. lovely blog, love her instagram pics.

1 thing i read:

"i hate when people refer to faith in Jesus as a crutch. nope! a crutch is for a limp. i was dead and needed a resurrection." 

louie giglio.

mark.

“some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same.” 

-franz peter schubert.

my friend, mark nation, went to be with Jesus yesterday.

he was born with spina bifida, with a life expectancy of five years.
mark celebrated his 21st birthday earlier this year.
he was a miracle and a gift to all who knew him. his joy was contagious.

to mark, he was like everyone else. the wheelchair was just an accessory.

after five minutes around mark, you were laughing and cracking up.
he liked to play pranks and sing to Jesus.
he loved m&m's and his grandpa.

mark made a big impact in my life, as well as every other person he encountered.
i have no doubt that he was sent here for a purpose.
VBS will never be the same, but i am so thankful for the time i was given with him.

i imagine he hugged Jesus and ran to join the choir of angels.
music was his favorite.

i found this valentine from him this morning. it brought tears to my eyes. but i know he is not hurting now.

and losing them wouldn't be so hard to take if heaven weren't so far away.

i wrote about mark here last summer.

random thoughts.

• 8 years ago today, i started my first day of work at my grandma's accounting office. i was fresh off my move back home after my plans to live with friends and go to college fell through. my emotions were all over the place, but i knew i needed to work instead of sitting at home and crying. what was supposed to just be a chance to get myself on my feet turned into a job that i grew to like. some people can't work with their family, but i feel so grateful that the opposite is true for me. i'm learning to practice colossians 3:23. God's plan for me did not line up with the plans i had for myself, and for that, i am thankful. because every plan He has for me is infinitely better than anything i could ever imagine. this excerpt from tara-leigh cobble's book, crowded skies: letters to manhattan, describes Him accurately.

• i started pinning again. i really like pinterest. it gives me great ideas and inspires me. i'm currently working on an instagram journal, inspired by this pin.

• i informed mama to enjoy this weekend because it will be the last peaceful saturday she has before sooner football starts. BOOMER SOONER!

• i'm not much of a reality show fan, but i do like big brother. you know what i want to see happen? i want someone to play that game with integrity and honesty. to win, not by backstabbing and lying their way to the end or by floating their way through, but by being nice, honest, and a good competitor who gives their all, even if they lack skills to win a competition. i understand that wouldn't make for good television because it's all about "big moves" and stepping on others to get to the top, but for once, i wish the nice guy would win.

• my birthday is next week and i am super excited. i don't have any plans, but i have a "free starbucks drink" card and you best believe i'm using that bad boy.

• i don't care what anyone says: i like the new taylor swift song and listen to it way too loudly numerous times a day.

sunday school, week [6]

this week, we discussed the armor of God.

memory verse:

"therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. 

then after the battle you will still be standing firm." 

[ephesians 6:13]

to help the kids learn their memory verse, i put together a game of mad gab.

it took me forEVER to come up with the words, but after i finished, i was pretty proud.

one of the boys got really into it, which was great.

after mad gab, we read from ephesians 6:10-18, the armor of God.

as i taught, i had the boys draw an armor of God, but instead, we made him into a football player.

just as a football player wears a uniform and carries the football down the field, so we wear the armor of God and carry the Good News with us everywhere we go.

the boys like the football references. good thing i know a lot about football. :)

all in all, it was a great sunday!

over the weekend.

this weekend, there was rain, a nature walk, hot tea, getting lost and laughing about it, reading, and a mini-roadtrip.

lovely rain.

standing in the middle of the pond. well... what was the pond.

grilled cheese with tomatoes. aka: heaven.

raindrops.

love.

willow trees are my favorite.

last night's sunset. sigh.

5 tidbit of wisdom:
- forgetting your camera feels like the world is ending. but it's not.
- the armor of God is like a football uniform, according to my sunday school kiddos.
- adding fresh diced tomatoes to a grilled cheese sammich is cosmic.
- rainy day + hot tea = heaven on earth.
- embracing your flaws is beautiful.

4 things i learned about myself over the weekend:
- i find that when transformers is on tv, i will always watch it, no matter what i'm doing.
- cold medicine makes my dreams crazier than normal. i dreamed i was the character in the book i was reading. it was insane.
- i'm a little jealous of everyone starting school. i love school.
- the temperature cools down to high 80's, and my body thinks it's wintertime.

3 things i'm looking forward to this week:
- not being sick!
- diving into a new book.
- a possible shopping trip with mama.

2 blog posts i'm currently lovin':
- this post by jennifer blair. i want an all-white room so bad.
- this post by my sweet friend, cassie. her heart is so beautiful.

1 thing i read:

 "You were reaching through the storm
walking on the water
even when i could not see
in the middle of it all
when i thought You were a thousand miles away
not for a moment did You forsake me."

not for a moment by meredith andrews.

showers of blessing.

"do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?

do the skies themselves send down showers? 

no, it is You, Lord our God.  

therefore our hope is in You, 

for You are the One who does all this."

{jeremiah 14:22}

spittin' rhymes and beautiful nature.

oklahoma is in a very bad drought right now.

but just because there isn't rain to water the ground -- that doesn't mean there isn't beauty to be found.

[watch out now, i'm totally spittin' rhymes]

took these on my morning walk today.