Amazing Landlord

So this morning we had an interesting experience in my house. My roommate walked into the kitchen to discover these nasty little bugs all over our kitchen floor. We had no idea what they were, so I quickly went and grabbed our landlord Elvira from the front house so she could help us determine what had invaded our kitchen. And she went straight to work the second she walked into our kitchen! We still had no idea what it was that we were dealing with, but she didn't care. She was determined to rid us of them. We quickly discovered that these little bugs had created a nest behind our refrigerator (ew!) and seemingly had hatched and were overtaking the kitchen. Elvira seriously did an amazing job of killing all these little bugs and then deeply cleaning our kitchen floor and behind the fridge. She hardly let me or my roomie help at all. We didn't do a very good job of handling the strong bleach but Elvira says she is more used to it because she is always using chemicals (as she told me later) so she made us go outside and wait while she did all the work. Such an amazing act of love! I honestly don't know what we would have done without her. Oh, and we found out later, they were queen ants. I also found out that this has happened before. But, it's supposedly happens when there is a lot of rain. So, hopefully that means it won't be something we are dealing with again anytime soon. Tonight I rejoice in being blessed with a landlord who not only feeds me yummy food on a regular basis (which she actually did today) but who also takes good care of us by eliminating our bug infestation :)

Waking up

And having breakfast with mom. I rejoice in the chance to do that today :)

Reunion

I rejoice in the arrival of this lil guy today to Cali...

And in the chance to spend numerous hours of hanging out with him and his mommy and daddy (you can read about all of them here) over the next month. Hurray!

Unexpected Plans

Today was a good day of plans that I didn't really have very far in advance. I started the morning with breakfast with a good friend who I have seen in awhile. Good food and great conversation. Then, I headed out to Riverside with my mom and sis-in-law to visit my baby sister. We brought lunch for her and most of her roomies, hung out with them for a bit, and then had some nice girl chat time over tea lattes in downtown Riverside. Love spending time with those 3 amazing women of God. After we got back, Jess and I headed to the store and did a bit of shopping and then made this succulent dinner for the fam (Jones, not Gallina)...

It tasted so amazing, but most of all, the time spent with those I love made it a special ending to an awesome day. I rejoice in having a family I can't imagine living without and in the ways God continues to work in our lives.

Good Example

I watched my mommy take amazing care of her mommy today. Now, this isn't really something new, but today was extra amazing. I rejoice in the great example I have been blessed with in my life.

Back at school

After a 5 week break from Biola, it felt so good to be back tonight. I rejoice in the chance to spend time at a place I love, with people I love, learning about things I love :)

Studying

Funny how much you can enjoy it when it's something you're interested in. Once I again I rejoice in the opportunity to spend time learning and growing. So, so thankful for Biola and the Bold program!

Another one bites the dust

A class that is:) Finished my World Civ class tonight! And, I got a B in the class which is way better than I was hoping for, since I bombed the first test. So glad to be done with it. I rejoice in time passing quickly for something I wasn't too thrilled about.

Talking

It's so good for you :) And I rejoice in the fact that I have a great Christian woman to just talk to every Monday morning. Those times are good times.

Youth Room Transformation

I had a fun morning (before I had to head off to work) of working in our youth room at church, giving it a whole new look! I was bummed that I had to leave early but I'm super excited to see the nearly finished product tomorrow morning. I rejoice in the amazing feeling you get from a new paint job, but even more than that, I rejoice in the blessing of serving with a great group of people who give up their Saturday (part of it or all of it. All of it if you're my brothers apparently. They were there for roughly 12 hours) to transform the look of a church youth room. All part of serving our amazing Savior and most importantly, watching lives be transformed for Him!

Blondies

I hung out with 2 cute lil kiddos for most of today. It was fun. I rejoice in the chance to fulfill my mommy desires.

Happy 28th Bec!

Tonight I rejoice in the birth of my beautiful sister Rebecca, 28 years ago. She is a blessing in my life and someone I am truly thankful for. I'm excited to see the way God is going to work in her life in the coming years.

Time at Starbucks

Sitting at Starbucks reading, or listening to music, or catching up on blogs, or having a quiet time, or studying (I do that a lot unfortunately), or simply people watching has slowly become my new favorite past time. I think I could spend all day there and be fine. I had a nice evening there tonight. I rejoice in a comfy place to, above all else, work on becoming more of who I desire to be and who God is molding me into.

Ikea and Hans

Tonight I made a trip to Ikea with 3 good friends to get some stuff to redo our youth room at church. Then we made a quick stop at Hans Ice Cream, one of the best places to get ice cream that I've ever been. It was a fun night, especially after a not so great day. I rejoice in the fact that shopping and spending time with good friends makes things better :)

Yesterday

I didn't blog last night. Man, I've been doing not so great lately. But, it's because my routine keeps changing. I had a good day yesterday though so I want to take this morning to blog about it.

My day included morning prayer at church, breakfast with good people, a nice workout, meeting with my counselor, a great quiet time at Starbucks, getting some things taken care of at Biola, a trip to Target for some essentials, thoroughly cleaning the house with my roomie, a quick lil nap, a V8 spirit-led culture meeting at church, bits and pieces of the Bachelor finale, frozen yogurt with great friends who I haven't seen in forever, and finally, going to sleep with the comfort and goodnight kisses of a majority of my family. I rejoice in a day well spent and lots of great things to fill that day. 

Sunday Lunch

I had lunch with the fam today. I rejoice in good food and great company :)

Invitations

So I worked on the invites for my sister Rebecca's bridal shower today, with our good friend Laura. I just have to say they are super cute. I rejoice in having a creative friend, the chance to spend some time with that friend, and that my lil sis is getting closer and closer to the big day :)

Dodge Ball

First of all, yes, my blogging has been a little off the last week or so. It's because I've had internet issues, or have stayed at Mom and Dad's and not been in normal routine, or gotten home late. Haha. Lots of random reasons. But, don't worry. I still rejoice :)

Tonight I rejoice in a fun time had by all at youth group dodge ball night. Three hours of dodge ball in a variety of forms. Good stuff. I rejoice having a great group of students to serve AND play with and in having great fellow leaders to do that with.

Mother/Daughter Lunch

Today my mom, Bec, and I went out to Riverside to visit Rach. We had yummy lunch in the cafeteria, then walked around campus for a bit, and finally got to watch her choir rehearse for awhile. It was a wonderful afternoon. I rejoice in the blessing of an amazing mom and sisters, and that I got the chance to see my Rachie for awhile :)

World Civ Paper

I rejoice that I finished it, just in time :) All I have left is an easy test and I'm finished with another class. Hurray for being one step closer to the end!

Oh, and I didn't blog the last 2 nights because our internet was down...

Happy Birthday Laura!

Tonight I went out to celebrate the birthday of my great friend Laura. I'm so thankful for her. I could just stop with rejoicing for her friendship. haha. But, I'll also share a bit of the evening. We started with dinner at Octopus Sushi on Birch Street. It was good stuff. Then we headed next door and I had my first experience at The Melting Pot. Seriously, fondue is where it's at! Laura's super generous hubby treated us all to dinner and dessert (with coupons in hand, but still so great. haha). I rejoice in great food but mostly just in having amazing people to spend time with.

Um

I dunno. I rejoice that Jesus loves me :)

Happy Hour

No, not for drinks. Haha. But for super yummy appetizers! I went to the Yardhouse tonight with some work friends and got some great food for super cheap. I rejoice in good deals and the chance to hang with new friends.

Visit at work

I think tonight at work was the slowest night we've had since I've worked there. But, my bro and sis-in-law came to visit during my shift. That made the night a whole lot better. I rejoice in family being the bright spot in my day.