Hello!

So it's been a while. I could say its because life is boring, but really its quite the opposite. This week has proven to be extremely fun. It was COLD early in the week, which was not fun. I hated waking up to go to school before the sun I felt like my soul was frozen. Yeah....
But today the weather is beautiful. After work I came home and read a book on the hammock and then eventually fell asleep. SO NICE.
Thursday we went to the fair! Sam and I took Nolan, Hayley, Madison and Zach and met up with a ton of people. Nothing like riding rides that you have to pray for your safety before you get on them. And Corn Dogs, and Funnel Cake and Lemonade and Cotton Candy! YUM! It was hilarious how much Madison, Nolan and Zach just wanted to stand around and not ride the "scary" rides. But they ended up trying to be manly and went on a few. :)
And then last night was Halloween! Which was fun too! Sam, Steven, Khrysten and I went trick-or-treating with all the siblings.

I can't believe its november already! Time's flying by, only a few weeks and we'll be listening to christmas music and before you know it the year will be over. FREAKY!

Life is busy and insane, but I love it!

Here are some pictures from the fair(there aren't many from the fair sadly) and halloween. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60342&l=c407a&id=515746680

goodbye for now

two weeks of courtship! :)

So, I'm in a very happy new season of life. Tomorrow will be two weeks!(woohoo!) In this new season, I am praying for wisdom, grace and total reliance on God! I pray that we will not rely on ourselves, but be aware of our proneness to fall. I pray we will not rely totally on our parents, but trust in our Heavenly Father completely and therefore by his grace, submit to our parents wisdom and decisions as they lead us! I pray that this season will not distract us from our walks with God but bring us close to our Savior! I pray for strength to honor and glorify him in EVERYTHING!

And I'm so thankful, for God's sovereignty, goodness and faithfulness! No matter what happens, I pray He is glorified!

And um, I'm pretty happy, pretty much ecstatic! Sam and I have known eachother forever! And we have been best friends almost that long! ;) For the past few years, you could say my view of him changed. Somewhere along the lines he went from being that dorky little boy, who yeah is cool to be my lil' bff, but "never" like! To a really cute, sweet, Godly, guy who has been a faithful and caring friend over the years. I have had to guard my heart (and cry alot to my poor mother) praying for grace and wisdom in our friendship! Trying not to question God or "take matters in to my own hands" by trying to "define" our friendship.
God was faithful, he gave me grace, even when I was not aware of it. He guarded me and helped me to trust and calm my very independant, "I want things my way" attitude.
Sam and I were completely oblivious to the other persons feelings. Ends up we both liked eachother, but God guarded us! He allowed us to be friends without anything "awkward" going on. Nothing was revealed prematurely (well, to us, even if the rest of the world supposedly knew). I'm so thankful for how Sam protected and cared for me as a sister in Christ and sought the wisdom and counsel of my papa and other leaders before communicating anything to me. I'm so thankful for his heart to honor God in every step. And I'm so thankful that now we are able to be in a courtship! I'm thankful for the ways he continues to serve me and guard my heart, for how he challenges me, encourages me and brings the Gospel into focus. I'm thankful for his submission to my papa's decisions in our relationship, and I'm so thankful for the way he seeks to lead me spiritually.

I'm so thankful for our parents, their graciousness as we entered into this new season. Their love for us, to set guidelines to protect us. And their genuine excitement for this season!

I'm so thankful for both of our siblings. How they laugh at us, encourage us and help keep us in check. (Like last night when Nolan and Zach sent Hayley to sit on the couch and "watch" us haha)

And I'm thankful that Nolan and Zach and best friends so they don't mind being our third and fourth wheels... :)

If you didn't catch my drift, I'm happy! Happy that not only do I have a really awesome boyfriend who happened to be one of my best friends, but that God revealed the gospel to us at a young age and has given us the desire to honor him in our relationship! What an amazing thought! I love that God doesn't leave us to fend for ourselves makes us more like Christ!
I hope we can continue to strive for Christ-likeness through this season!


Yeah, Sam's my favorite.

The beginning of a week without a family.

Well as of Saturday my entire family (well, minus my brother Madison, who still resides in Port Orange, Thank God!) left me. My dad, Jenny and Quint started their journey to move out west. And My mom, papa, Nolan and Hayley left at 5:30 am to go on vacation.

I woke up at the crack of dawn to say a farewell to my family (after I had said I much sadder goodbye to everyone at my dad's on friday) as they left for North Carolina. I fell back asleep on the couch and woke up a few hours later to go to work. And after work I arrived home, and being that it was so quiet and empty, of course I fell back asleep!

The Saturday evening I went over to the Stembergers with Bethany and Olivia! (who's sisters had gone on a trip without them!) The Stembergers house is one of the best places to be when you are lonely and have no one to feed you! They will stuff you full of delicious food AND be the most wonderful company! That night was filled with tons of fun. (though I was a victim of a bad practical joke that involved me throwing up the contents of my stomach. ) Then Sunday morning came and we went to church. Brittany and Stephen were in town! It was so wonderful to see them and go out to lunch with them. (even if we were at opposite ends of the table and didn't talk much. :D)

Sunday evening I planned to just go home, clean the house, do some home work and maybe watch a movie and eat chinese food. But The Dunlops, another wonderful family, much like the Stembergers, were gracious enough to adopt me for the evening!! And when I say the Dunlops, I mean ALL the Dunlops (Morgans and Reels!)! I had such a fun time visiting with everyone, seeing all the babies (and not so little anymore kiddos!) and eating a wonderful dinner!
I felt like Lucy on "While you were sleeping" getting to party and have fun with a family instead of sitting home alone and eating chinese! :) And after dinner, last night I went home, relaxed and watched a movie. And today I was able to clean my house and do home work (quietly, without distraction!).

And this evening I came to Jesse and Tiffany's. My little home away from home. :) Talk about being my "family"! We ate a wonderful dinner (I'm being fed so well! haha), hung out, played a board game, ate some cookies (and cookie dough) and talked! (One of my favorite things to do is talk to Jess and Tiff!) And now I'm all cozy and happy in my own cute room. And I'm so happy because the are literally right across the street from school! So I can sleep in a little tomorrow! Yahoo!

I was really sad about my family leaving.(I know, its a week for my mom and papa, but still I've never been home alone before!) But I've realized how blessed I am with my church family who are so caring and loving and truly are my family! I'm looking forward to the rest of the week and the fun times in store! But I do miss my family ALOT!

Good night, sleep tight.

Posts are no fun without pictures, here are a few...

My favs...

My Quinters dressed as a penguin for some reason.

Besties...

Madison and I with Daddy and Jenny at their wedding...

Hello There!

So I am going to attempt to keep up consistently with this blog. Fill in with what I think is somewhat boring everyday blabbing. But my dad and Jenny are moving out west this weekend. And I want to be able to keep them up to date on my little life. :) And hoping that they will do the same (Hint Hint guys...get a bloggin').

So lets see...
This week...has been filled with lots of homework! (Which I should even be doing right now) My classes are beginning to keep me pretty busy (and I know it'll just get worse). For now its just not very hard, just a lot of work, which takes time. I have my first Psychology test tomorrow. And I have to turn in my final draft of my first English Essay in tomorrow as well.

Yesterday I started to work on a project for American Government. We have to do a 3,000 word research paper OR do a 20-30 minute presentation. I originally was going to do my paper on Roe vs Wade and argue that our government is allowing murder in the form of abortion.
But yesterday my parents challenged me to do the presentation, because it would not only be seen by the eyes of my teacher, but also all of my classmates. It would be a wonderful opportunity to share and to "end the ignorance" that many people have about Abortion.
So, I still have to check with my professor that she will let me do a presentation on this "touchy" subject and that I will be able to use all my resources, even if they will be 'offensive' to some people. But it is so heavy on my heart to share the truth! This would be a wonderful opportunity to work on my fear of man and be bold for the Glory of God!
So please pray for me, that I would have the strength, grace and ability to speak up!

Not only are my dad and Jenny moving this weekend, but My Mom, Papa, Nolan and Hayley are going on vacation in North Carolina for a week with my extended family from Pennsylvania. I probably would have been able to manage going, but the thought of missing school and work didn't really seem like the best idea. I'm pretty bummed that I won't be able to join them on such a wonderful trip! It sounds like a depressing weekend, all my family leaving.
But I going to have fun, I'll be spending time with Khrysten, Bethany and Olivia. And then I will be spending the week days with Jesse and Tiffany! And I am so excited to go and stay with them! :) Just like the good ol' days!

I have a long list of things to do, so I should probably go do them!

Goodbye!

Part of me would like to be a consistent blogger. Part of me finds it kind of pointless.
School Starts on Tuesday and Dad and Jenny are getting married next Saturday! (not Friday!) My life is crazy. Very very Crazy.

Quint has the cutest face in the world. I'm convinced of it.

I'm a big sister (for the fourth time!)

Quint McGregor Santos
11 lbs 1 oz
22 inches
Born 6-10-08 10:10 pm

Well, my little brother Quint is here! And he's a officially, almost a whole day old. :)
I can't believe it! I saw him last night when he was first born, my brother Madison and I were in the waiting room, but didn't get to hold him. (Madison and I had so much fun yesterday with our "pre-baby party, including movies, lots of candy and trips to target and chik fil a! We were trying to distract ourselves from how anxious we were to see Quint!)
But today I got to sit and hold him, and my heart melted! Its so exciting. With each of my other siblings, I was so young and barely able to remember when they were born. (I wasn't even 7 when Hayley my youngest sister was born!) But here I am, 18...pretty sure I'll remember this one pretty clearly. It was so wonderful to be able to sit and hold him today. I'm praying for this beautiful baby boy, that I will be able to be involved in his life, and that God will capture his heart at a young age! That he would be protected and cared for! I know he's very loved!
Its so crazy how much I can love this little munchkin! Well, this huge little munchkin...(11 lbs! He looks like he's a few months old! haha. He's a strong, sturdy, chunky little man!)
Its so crazy, I'm going to spoil this kid, I've already been buying all kind of cute baby stuff every time I go to target! Haha, I've decided its very fun being a much much older sister! Though, he's so big he probably won't even fit into all the new born stuff he has! Goodness!


Jenny and Quint are still at the hospital, but I think they are all going to come home tomorrow. Please keep both of them and my daddy in your prayers as they enter into this new season! :) I'm so excited for them!


"But when Quin(t) the Eskimo gets here,
Ev'rybody's gonna jump for joy.
Come all without, come all within,
You'll not see nothing like the mighty Quin(t)." The Mighty Quinn By Bob Dylan (The song he was kind of named after :D)

I figured maybe if I sit here and write something mindless on my blog, it might get me in the mood to write everything I need to… Though summer is here, beautiful as ever, I still have a lot of graduation things to accomplish before New Attitude in a few weeks. (Graduation stuff has to all be done before that because its only a few days after the conference!)

Today Khrysten and I worked on the speech I’m giving at graduation. (We didn’t get that far, but we got the general idea of what I’m going to say) Jordan Slingo is honoring the dads and I am honoring the moms. I’m looking forward to it, I just need to organize my thoughts! I also need to write out my “thank you letter” to my parents that will be displayed on my memorabilia table the night of the ceremony. Then there a few essays I have to work on in applying for scholarships. And I ran out of invitations so I have to make more! And I need to finish my scrap book this week! I only have 8 more years of life to do! J And I’m sure there are other things I’m forgetting… Like shoes! I need shoes for graduation! They need to be adorable and go with my dress, but I need to be able to walk in them because I will be walking in front of a ton of people. Oh the dilemmas of life! What shall I do?!

This past Saturday a group of us served as Janessa and Malachi’s wedding reception! It was pretty crazy and tiring but SO MUCH FUN! I loved being a fancy “waitress” and not so fancy dish washer. Everyone did so much pitching in that the work load wasn’t excessively overwhelming. We even got a chance to party and dance with all our other friends for a while. And I am so sore! I never danced so much in my life! It really was insane. (and my parents, oh my goodness, my parents were dancing fools…that’s another story though) Yeah, the next morning, I felt like I was dead. Haha. But by the grace of God, got up and went to church! J We just started a class at church called “The Truth Project”. The first lesson was very exciting! There has really been a theme lately in the things God is revealing to me. He is giving me a hunger for TRUTH, teaching me to dwell on TRUTH, and to be an advocate of TRUTH!

I can’t believe we’re well into the month of May! Just a few more weeks until my baby brother Quint is born! I have a feeling he’ll come while I’m at New Attitude. L But *maybe* I’ll be home! And New attitude! I am SO excited! Getting there in and of itself is going to be an adventure. We’re driving up…My mom, Gloria, Maria, Nicole, Sam, Steven and I! A full car, but I think it’s a pretty great group. I’m so excited to see what the Lord is going to do!

I love the beginning of summer! On Sunday everyone was running around all excited, quickly filling up our week days with fun things, mostly movie nights. Lots of movies! (We’re going to see Prince Caspian an midnight on Thursday!! YES!) And next week, well, it’s just going to be a beautiful thing. Looking forward to it would be an understatement.

I probably really should get moving on all my projects!