-being sick makes you so incredibly thankful for when you are not.

-i wish i could travel back to college station in a spaceship that has an approximate travel time of 30 seconds. maybe i could handle a minute.

-i'm sorry but i really like the princess diaries two and I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!!

- 17 days until baltimore to visit lucy and have what will become known as the best weekend ever

- i have lots of decisions to make these days

- i really like my instyle magazine

- i enjoy church services where i'm given an outline for note taking purposes

- i want to be in mexico right now, spending time with the people at the covenant church

- i miss my room at school

- change is sometimes really heartbreaking

- there are five water cups sitting on my windowsill

tis the season, to be thankful!

mmm, thanksgiving.
i have so enjoyed november this year.
i can truly say that the past few months have been some of the hardest of my life,
but i can also say that i am the most blessed girl in the entire universe.

i should probably turn that into something i tell myself each morning, you know, daily affirmation style? you are the most blessed girl in the entire universe.

although i don't look at my life right now and see tons of things that i love, i can recognize that hardships are so planted in our lives from our creator.
James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
hard days, hard weeks, hard months, just don't feel beautiful.
but they are. my sweet friend Chrisleigh introduced me to a song, "Carry Me" by Audrey Assaud. The lyrics go something like:
You say I am blessed because of this
So, I choose to believe
As I carry this cross, You'll carry me
Help me believe it.
i got pretty tempted to post the entire song on here, because every word is literally gorgeous.
but as i continue to focus on the lesson i know i need to learn in this season of my life, not letting my circumstances dictate my joy or actions. november has made me realize that thankfulness truly needs to be a part of the attitude of Christ that i am striving to take on. the aches of my heart that pop up are only to draw me closer to the Lord. even just typing this i am challenged by the love that He brings. by placing these challenges in my life, He just wants more time with me. wowza. i don't want to make that into a completely mememe centered thing, but truly, the Lord just loves us more than our little hearts can bear.

this made my heart smile: 52 Letters.
i really want to accept this challenge to write a letter each week, thanking someone for their blessing in my life. this little project is combining my genuine love for letter writing, and this lesson that i am striving to learn.

i have become TRULY inspired by this month and the spirit of thanksgiving.
i am the most blessed girl in the entire universe.
i hope and pray the best thanksgiving holiday possible for you.


also, be amazed by the cuteness of this winter coat that i purchased on sale:

guilty pleasures on a monday:

01. taking too many photos
02. not listening to my voicemail
03. making up words to songs
04. scriptures
05. saving letters
06. writing letters
07. chapstick
08. blogging
09. driving fast
10. friends reruns
11. easter candy
12. harry potter books
13. pretty postcards
14. journals
15. antique shopping
16. corks
17. saving big boxes that get delivered to me
18. making my bed every day
19. ordering books off of amazon
20. pearls
21. theta love
22. vacuuming up bugs
23. the target home sale section
24. lace
25. stationary
26. going to the movies in time for the previews
27. my hello kitty print checks
28. pens and scotch tape and rulers and sharpies
29. headbands
30. crayons
31. in style magazine
32. but i still like writing checks. it makes me feel all grown up to write that number out and sign my autograph. it's real official.
33. daydreaming about the future
34. sweatshirts
35. chalkboards
36. clothespins
37. russell brand
38. with love perfume
39. eating raw cookie dough
40. the anthropologie sale room
41. online jcrew sales
42. ripping pictures out of magazines
43. reading magazines at barnes & noble
44. taylor swift
45. studying clouds
46. writing lists
47. signatures
48. apple juice
49. southern things
50. staying up late chatting
51. frosted mini wheats
52. scrapbook paper
53. planners
54. cleaning mirrors
55. taking long showers
56. candles
57. having ice in my drink
58. fb stalking people who study abroad
59. overpacking my luggage
60. road trips

okay. so not very many of these are actually GUILTY pleasures. maybe russell brand.

my heart just skipped a beat.

if only i could justify $100 on these little lovelies. that will never happen.

it's freeeeeezing.
i have a test tomorrow in a class i'm doing poorly in,
yet i cannot make myself work. it's a major problem that i am only a sophomore and already have such a little amount of motivation.

current:
taste- leftover coffee (which i NEVER drink) because sweet sweet madison mae parker decided to treat me to a peppermint white mocha!
music- jon foreman. obsessed.
feeling- a mix between stressed and absolutley content and blessed with amazing friendships and also aching heart. LOGICAL.
desire- to see the absolute clear glory of the Lord in front of my face
wish list item- flowing cables sweater skirt


last thursday i experienced one of those times where you're kind of in awe of the beautiful metaphor Jesus has placed right before your peepers. every tuesday/thursday i rushrush to my bus after math class. i always barely make it and it is always a semi-stress. this past thursday i saw the bus already there in the distance and knew i had to run to make it. okay. now. let me paint a picture for you. i'm not athletic. nor were my sweatpants securely fastened. so i'm stirring up every bit of vague athletic ability in me to get to the bus AND my undies are basically on show to all that have x ray vision and can see past my backpack. just as i reach the curb, the bus pulls away. my heart is instantly broken. so then i just decided to lay down on this long stone bench for the lengthy wait before an even lengthier ride home. my bench was under this huge tree with tons of little nests in it. the breeze was blowing my hair around my face, it was lovely. i ended up enjoying the time on that bench. then the Lord hit me hard. I realized that i have def. been holding onto sadness in lots of situations. situations where i felt like i was almost getting the desires of my heart and then having them taken away. this is so stinking similar to the bus. i thought i knew when i should get on, just as i thought i knew when i should get the things my heart longs for. but the Lord has his superior plan and timing. He wanted me to sit and enjoy His presence before anything else. so now, as i continue in this waiting period of my life, waiting for all those big busses of joy to come pick me up, i'm going to try and take comfort in the fact that one day i will look back and remember the beautiful memories of the things God revealed to me while i waited.

blesssings!! xo.

let me paint a picture of joy for you.

at this very moment i am sitting in mugwalls java bar:


with the following lovelies:

christian young


madison mae parker

mary martha klinke

reebs!!

okay. so while i was searching for excellente pictures of these amazing girls we were surprised by the arrival of the lovely hayes sisters:

arrington and ansley:

i obviously found the best pics of everyone. if you don't know these girls, this post is annoying. but each of them are just so wonderfully encouraging to my existence. starting from rush, i started praying that the Lord would provide awesome friendships for me in theta, and i can honestly say that i believe i have those girls. :)

i am living the typical college life right now, having homework and study things floating above my head but i couldn't be happier to not be doing what i'm supposed to be doing right now. love it.

this weekend i was reminded of my genuine love for my home church, first baptist church of justin. we have finally found a head pastor and i could just feel that our church was finally united as a family of believers. it was the most amazing feeling ever. AND it was orphan sunday. which is just bonkers because lately the Lord has so been putting it on my heart to one day adopt. obvi, i'm 19 going on 20 and clearly not about to adopt a buhhbay. but i know it's something that i want to consider one day, it excited me that my future hubs may potentially have this on his heart also. there is a PRECIOUS family that has a zillion kids. they adopted two sweet little girls, have one little boy that is theirs, and they just adopted four siblings from ethiopia. obsessed.

the oldest of the two sisters that they adopted kept making eye contact with me during service and we kept exchanging smiles. and afterwards she came up to me and handed me this little box of what we're going to call jesus mints. she said "these are for you." and we had a little hug.
it was absolutley adorable and warmed my heart.

i am thankful for much.

.. but until i spill two posts upon you.

pictures from the weekend with the amazing katherine klein.
love her so much.

she's literally so talented it blows me away. she has such an eye! all the editing was done by her, of course. because i can barely open photoshop, let alone work it. i did take the pictures of her though. good thing she's so pretty! :)

okay. so.. i have been a smidge lazy with blogging.

okay. that's not even true. i've just been busy. life has been happening.
and blogging every day is maybe not realistic.

i wouldn't think anyone would have even noticed except my lovely friend reebs posted on my facebook wall:


it's a smidge blurry because i made it bigger. yes, my friend reebs does have on a Rastafari hat on in her pic.

so let's back up.

november fourth thankful thing:
friendships!

so friendships are something that you're basically thankful for on the daily. but thursday morning i was reminded of this in a lovely way. i was blessed to spend time with three precious girls over the time period of wednesday night to thursday night and each of them just blessed me so much.


i love you katie willis! i included this picture of katie and i because it is a pretty good look at our natural selves. and basically the world outside of people who know us both really well is convinced that we're twins. when we were in Canton, people in one booth were so excited to see such look-alike sisters and when we said we weren't at all related all the other shoppers were displaying shock and awe. what do yall think?! katie always proves to be such a blessing in my life simply because she is someone that i know i don't hold anything back with. i know that when i'm with her it's easy for my absolute real heart to come out in whatever we are discussing and i think that displays so much good character on her part. she is always sharing with me comforting words and encouragement that comes direct from our Savior. a friendship like this is to be treasured. :)

i love you jodee morgan. i chose this picture of jodee and i because we're in the car. and we've spent a lot of time experiencing joy and blessing in the car the past few days. on thursday we went to a mutual friend's birthday party together, and jodee, bless her heart, is not the best driver. she is just so distracted! it provides so much fun though, because as we were about to make a uturn on a major road (texas, for all you, c-stat residents!) she put lotion all over her hands and yelled "I CAN'T TURN IT!!!" so i stretched over and made the uturn at approx 1 mph and then steered us all the way into a parking spot at hobby lobby for some scrapbook paper. imagine us laughing the whole time. we also decided to drive home together this weekend, which turned out to be a HUGE PRAISE for the following reasons: i was the driver & we woke up friday morning with jodee not feeling well at all, so she ended up sleeping in a little ball in the passenger seat for most of the way home. which was great because she could get home without having to drive herself. we made it in record time! three hours from college station to argyle, where jodee lives. no traffic. amazing. besides telling you tons of car stories, i just adore my friendship with jodee in every way and it is great to share all moments with her, the good and the bad. i know i can come to her with anything and that she will be there for me, no questions asked. this is such a lucky thing.


i love you audrey ryon. this little blurb is going to be shorter, not because i love audrey less, but because i need to not bore you few blog readers! the friendship between audrey and i has always been based on serving the Lord. we met on mission trip in mexico and experienced some seriously amazing and beautiful moments while sharing the gospel. on tuesday night we had the privilege of serving together at the go missions conference and literally any time spent with this girl blesses me. even spoons yogurt late thursday night when we are both exhausted! :)


november fifth thankful thing:

on friday i became thankful for being-encouraged-by-biblical-truths-in-songs-slash-hyms-that-pop-into-my-head-instantly-when-i feel-discouraged.

in christ alone, my hope is found.

end of story. made my whole day. you can paint the picture of circumstances on your own.


TODAY thankful thing:

sammi grace and chandler elise lewis.

if you know me at all, you know how much these two precious precious girls mean to me.
they're my youth pastor and his wife's adorable children, and are the little sisters i never had.




neither of these pictures are recent, they're from the summertime. i forgot to snap a good one last night & these little sillies have grown so much since then!

literally every moment i spend with these girls fills my heart with love in some way, shape, or form. sammi and i cut out hearts and wrote down things that we are thankful for on them. seeing her sweet personality was so special! there were so many great moments but the highlight was a very purposeful conversation with sammi after she asked me, out of the blue, "are you a Christian, victoria?" getting to tell sammi yes and tell her again (i know her parents are showering truth on her!) what salvation is and how it comes was just great. i pray for these little lovelies as i know that they will one day be just like me, college girls trying to one day be proverbs 31 women!


hope your day is just filled with blessings! today i will be enjoying home, a haircut, one of my oldest friends, and lunch with a lady who is such a precious encouragement to me. love!

heart.

I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn't there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That You would take my pain away
That You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crookedly lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave Your hands

When You walked upon the Earth
You healed the broken, lost, and hurt
I know You hate to see me cry
One day You will set all things right
Yea, one day You will set all things right

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave Your hands

Your hands
Your hands that shape the world
Are holding me, they hold me still
Your hands that shape the world
Are holding me, they hold me still

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave You when...

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave...
I never leave Your hands

the third of november.

it is oh so chilly and delightful outside.
a beautiful opportunity to bust out the pea coat.

today i am thankful for words.
i for sureskies think that my love language is words of affirmation.
i just love hearing people share with others! eek!

so i am going to share some words that have blessed my heart recently.

xoxo




okay. so that one was a mass text. but what i said back is completely true. seeing jeff grow makes my heart so so happy. and i always appreciate a bit of encouragement, especially when based off of some lovely bits of God's word!

day two of jesus goggles!

today i am thankful for freedom.



okay, no really.
my decision to make freedom the thing that i evaluate my thankfulness for came around 11:10 this morning. the time that my first class (ironically, american history) started. the time that i was chillin in my room reading blogs and doing math homework. i am so thankful for the freedom to take mental health days. to evaluate situations and make my own decisions.. to a certain extent.

the goal was to make today's post silly and short. but then i spent some time at the breakaway ministries go missions conference!


i got to help work the Next Worldwide table and talk to people about the passion for missions that was sparked by a mission trip i went on with next last summer. oh man. thinking back to that beautiful week just makes my heart smile. i wish that was the topic for this blog. but it's not. consider this a preview. i'm sure i'll write about that trip at some point, because let's be honest. i am so incredibly thankful for that amazing blessing!

the message of the evening, from Afshim Ziafat, who teaches at a church in Dallas, and also at Baylor's Vertical Ministries.. i've heard him lots of times. okay, anyways. of course the topic was missions. but one thing that he said really stuck with me. i wrote it down in my journal.

Freedom comes when we realize there is nothing we can do to earn God's love.

this wasn't the topic at all. but i loved it. AND it fit with my thankfulness for today.

SO. today i am thankful that i can skip class, that i can share the gospel where i want to, & that Christ has set me free.

loveylove.


ps.

i arrived home to this on my desk tonight. thank you, sweet friend.

hello, november.

ah, so much to say. this weekend was a rollercoaster to say the least, but i am always joyfully surprised by Christ's provision.
i am planning on being ultra cliche and posting something that i am thankful for each day.

why, you say?


"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

because, regardless of our circumstances, we are called to give thanks. we are called to look upon every situation through the Jesus goggles. The Jesus goggles show us a view that clings to our faith, a view that knows He works everything together for our good and His glory, that He wants to see us smile, as well as build up character in us!

So this November, I will be attempting to put on my Jesus goggles daily. I am going to try and see the good in things, and thank the Lord for these blessings constantly. even on those days where i want to scream and cry and question Him. it's going to be difficult. the goal = thankfulness sinking into my heart and sticking around long past november.

today, i am thankful for my health.
every time i feel even a smidge sick, i am reminded of the blessing that is our health.
you know those moments when you cling to the memory of what it feels like on a normal day?
i had one of those moments yesterday on the way home from a delightful road trip. it could have been a damper. but putting things into perspective.. there is a history of breast cancer in my family, and if we're honest, i'm scared that it is something i will one day face. i trust in the Lord and His will, but regardless.. i just plain don't want to face this battle. why would i? i feel like i am constantly getting a text message or invite to a facebook group asking me to pray for someone that has become seriously ill. so today, i am thankful for my health.

i am thankful that i am healthy enough to go on my first trip to bucees!




i am thankful that i am healthy enough to watch some fightin texas aggie football. at least for a few minutes, before i have to run of and tend to the leaking pipe in my house.


i am thankful that i am healthy enough to spend time with my theta sisters.


i am thankful that i am healthy enough to scope out goodies in Canton, Texas. (please note my vintage bible verse flower cards! $3!!)



i am thankful that i am healthy enough to truly love.

blessings,
victoria.