Not even Christmas yet!

Well i have been home for almost 2 weeks now, and it almost feels as if I never left. I picked up where I left off a work, and it was such a blessing to be there for the second year and be apart of the traditions we have at work! We had our work Christmas party at nikkos and all the women brought their spouses with them and they said that i could bring a date, but i got one of their daughters to come with me and Amber was great! I also got to sit in on CYB's class one day, i am so grateful for that man,he just had knee surgery and many other things going on so please keep him and his family in your prayers. Then i got to tag along with the sister and nieces to attend the Nutcracker at the Sanger theater, it was a great nigt with many memories and relived the times that we used to go there! I am no longer a teenager anymore either,hard to believe that i have been here for 20 years now! sand i am starting to get old! I have enjoyed getting to see all my friends, some that i haven't seen since we graduated and some that it has been a few months or weeks! Christmas Eve was great today, everyone came over here and then we went to the Christmas Eve service! It was cool to be able to watch the little ones and see their joy and excitement that they get from the present, for once the attention isn't on Caleigh and I! I am excited for tomorrow to see the kids open their gifts and just be able to relax with the family. It has been nice to just relax and not worry about papers or homework or test or anything to do with school. I still have till Jan9 to do that and am not rushing it at all! 

Study Break!

Well this weekend i took a break from my studies to go on a few adventures. This past week i had taken 5 of my finals and tomorrow afternoon will be my last one, wahoooo!!! But on Friday night I had one last get together with my girls small bible study group where we spent the late night and start of morning just talking about memories and  everything else. Saturday afternoon I went Christmas Caroling with about 15 others from Campus Outreach, to one of the local nursing homes. We were told that we need to make a cd, sing on TV, and one man asked a girl to come and sit on his lap! It was a fun time together! Then since myself and others have never been to the "zoo" outside of Troy we decided to load up and make the trip! So this is not what you would think when you hear the word zoo, if you have ever saw the movie We Bought a Zoo, this is almost what the experience was like. This is the link to the place! http://mikeszoocritters.com/ You saw everything from snakes (which i didn't want on me but the guy literally threw it on me) lions, tigers, zonkeys,monkeys, camels, lemurs, ostrich, kangaroos, bears and many more animals! Then that night I went to my first basketball game in the new arena! The boys lost in double overtime, but it was a fun time in the arena! I also had an itch to make something arts and crafts so i had a few Pinterst ideas up my sleeve! So close to being on "Christmas Break" I say that in honor of Jennifer, she said that I won't get a break with being at work, but that is going to be a nice break for me! I can't wait to be back at work with everyone and then back home with family and friends! Quote of the post is "God can turn a Mess, into a Message, a Test into a Testimony, a Trial in to a Triumph, and Victim into a Victory!" 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well last week i was fortunate to have the whole week of Thanksgiving off! It was nice to have a some what break and be able to see and catch up with many great people. Got to kick off one of my favorite hobbies:hunting, i love this because this is a special time for me because i get to spend some early morning hours and afternoons and nights out with my dad! This is also some peaceful moments i can enjoy the quiet and take in all of God's beauty He has created. Well this year Thanksgiving was at our house, which was quite interesting since mom was doing Home makeover to the place. But i know that she is happy with the results and was very impressed with her decorating skills! I also was able to get back into my fitness (thank goodness) i got to run 4 different days and then i also got to do my first bike ride, a whole 20miles on the bike trail. The weather was beautiful, Katie O and i started off at Burger King then made the stretch to Whiting Field and back! We (or I) ran into some technical difficulties with my bike, her only problem was trying to decide whether to tie or put her jacket in her bag! haha, i had to high a seat and then the resistance gear decided to go out on mile 15! So it was a funny trip! Then on Friday i was ecstatic to say the least, Matt got his first collegiate start and the game was on ESPN!! The Bulls lost, but they scored there first TD in 10 quarters, and the better part is that on this Friday i will make the drive to Tally to meet up with Katie O and then we are driving down south to Tampa to watch Matt play in his final game! We are sooooo excited, i haven't seen him play since senior year and he is doing great things. Another grand thing that happened over the break is that i got everything set up so that i can start back work when i get home in like 2 weeks! Very excited to be back with all my wonderful ladies and get back to work! I have missed all their goofiness!! So tomorrow will be my first of 6 final i have over the next two weeks, so feel free to say a prayer for me! Final note "God puts us in people's lives for a certain reason, just like he puts people in our own life. We must trust Him through all the hellos and goodbyes..."

Happy Halloween and Champions!

Well Wednesday was Halloween and Campus Outreach threw together a last minute party! So that meant i had to come up with a last minute costume, so went to Walmart(make that trip at least 1 time a week if not 2 times in a day some weeks) and bought some materials on Monday. Well i had class Wednesday night so at 7:30 i started to work on my costume for a party that started at 8! Thanks to Steven being a good roommate and being a mannequin while i worked on the costume him and Taylor did my wig! Lets just say that it needed a lot of work! So if you can't tell from the pictures i was Pocahontas! Tried to pull it off the best i could! Then today we had our last inter mural soccer game, the Championship game! And we won 1-0! It was a great win, got a little "hit" when a girl pulled me down from behind but nothing that i couldn't handle!Hope that everyone is doing good! Quote of the night is "Sometimes God has to brake us to make us. Its just a bend, its not the end. We're all like glowsticks, no matter how much we're bent and broken our light still shines." DeAndre Carswell

Long time...

Well it has been a long time since I have last updated on here. Not too many things have been happening except for going to class, studying, and trying to sleep! Next week I will be singing up for my spring semester of classes, so busy getting that ready too! Well I have played inter mural soccer this last week and we are in the Championship game this week sometime! This weekend has been a relaxing and fun one for sure. Last night and today we had a girls "retreat" weekend with Campus Outreach! We stayed at the house of one of the people on staff here and it was a blast. Their house is beautiful, the upstairs is like a loft and when you walk up it is all wood and you feel like you are in a cabin! This morning we got up and ran a Mud Run, which was a check off the bucket list and was a blast. This afternoon we relaxed watched movies and did a few bible study lessons. Tasted something called Train Wreck which is AMAZING, all it is, is cookie dough in a cake pan and cook for only like 6-7 minutes and then you take it out and put ice cream on it and then just eat it right away! 12 girls eating 2 pans worth within 1 minute! Then tonight came home and decorated pumpkins with Taylor. We found some ideas on Pinterest and had to try them!! They did turn out pretty good I will say! This week is going to be a busy one, with papers due, i have to attend an AA meeting for my Substance Abuse Counseling class, and importantly trying to get my new classes. So just another day in little ole Troy, and the weather is like fall, low is around 35 for the start of this week! "You might have to fight a battle more than once to win it." Margret Thathcher 

USF!

Well this weekend USF played against FSU and unfortunately didn't pull off the upset. Well having one sister who is an alumni from there and then another one there, i did pull against them, because of my best friend Matt Floyd. He is a red shirt sophomore there and this year won the #2 spot for back up Quarterback! I was so proud, he worked very hard to earn that position and then coming into this game he has one play that he got to go in on since B.J.s helmet came off and he had to sit out a down. Well Matt got a chance to go in against FSU when B.J. got a little shook up on a hit. It was a bad situation that he came into, not seeing the defense and not being warmed up and was hit on the back side and had a fumble. Many people will say stuff about him having his one shot get wasted, but were you on ESPN and did you get the chance to face the #4 team FSU? Well i am very proud of him and can't wait to actually go to a game and get to see him play! He is my best friend and like a brother I never had! Love you Matty

Ocoee,Tennessee

This past weekend I was in Ocoee,Tennessee for a retreat with the Campus Outreach program here at Troy. It was a fun filled weekend, spent with some wonderful people. Made some new friends and formed some stronger relationships with others. On Saturday we had to choice to go White Water Rafting down the Ocoee river and it was a great experience! I had a blast and here are some pictures from it!

No More Cowbells!

Well got to get back to reality tonight. This weekend was a great one starting around 5:00pm on Friday when Mom and Dad came to Troy for the weekend. So we got to drive around and then go out to dinner. Then on Saturday morning I got to start my morning off at a place that I have missed/love! The softball fields, the 12-u Power team and 10-u West Florida Elite teams war both playing in a one day tournament, and so I got to see a little bit of Milton for the weekend. Felt good to see familiar faces and watching softball once again! Then on Saturday the Fords finally around around an hour before kick-off(they were on Ford time for sure) along with the Shaffers!So we all managed to find decent parking and head on over to the stadium to watch Troy take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs! The game started off very well and then it looked like it was going to be a blow out. Then the boys dug down deep and gave it all they had, but came up short falling 24-30. Which Im sure that many people never would have guess that would be the score ever! Robert Downs did not, because i had to send a picture of the score board as proof! haha Today was relaxing just going out to lunch out in Dothan where i got to see a friend who is playing baseball at Wallace now. Then eventually made our way back to Troy and trying to get motivated to get back to reality and hit the books! Next weekend is the possibly Tennessee trip with Campus Outreach! So looking forward to the chance to build new relationships with many different people! "God sometimes takes us into deep waters not to drown us, but to cleanse us." Have a great week!

For those of you who don't know I am fortunate to have one great-grandparent alive still in my life. I call her Nanny and my great-grandfather passed away when I was in 7th grade. But he was my Creepy. I do miss him very much and hate that I never got to spend time with him like I do with Nanny now. But she LOVES to share stories from when they first met and when he would stationed all around the states and all. She will tell me that when I was little he would always say "Watch Mikey, she is going to do something big one day" And today I thought about that. For those of you who don't know I am planning on going into physical therapy when I graduate because you just can't get your degree in it. So it is at a doctorate degree in its own sense. With this begin said my major is Sports and Fitness Management with minors in Exercise Science and Leadership. Now this is a start to the goal that I hope to one day achieve and i know that the road is going to be bumpy and not crowded. I know that i will have to make sacrifices, to put in the extra time, and many other things that might make me go crazy. But i know that I have someone who is looking down on me saying You can do it. That in life it may not be easy, but it will be worth it for sure! I know that if life was easy there would not be any adventure, that anyone could do anything. For adventures and risks sometimes show us who we are and makes us who we are. We just have to figure out what we and then go after it and get it! i have been enjoying the nice weather and walking to campus and it has given me time to think about many things. That in Milton things were not easy but not challenging, I knew many many people i the community, I was involved with FBC and had a wonderful job. Those were all many things that I am grateful for and will never forget the memories, but i think that God has a bigger plan for me. He call us sometimes to step out of our comfort zones to go and do things for Him and this is something i think He has called me to do. I could have stayed in Milton and made things easy, but I am not about easy things. I like challenges and I am having to adjust to this new way of life, but it is something that will be worth it all in the end. "And those who were dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music!" "Life is not waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning to dance in the rain!" So what is stopping you from getting out in the rain and dancing?!?!?!