The Bubbly blogger

The second to last day to dressember is upon my friend Kassie and I. This is so crazy!!! What is dressember you ask? A lot of women are passionate about ending human trafficking, but feel powerless to do anything. You may not have a lot of time, money, or influence, but you believe in the dignity of all people. Dressember creates a path for the busy woman to have a significant impact on ending a dark injustice. By wearing the Dressember uniform -  a dress every day in December-  she uses her voice to advocate for the  freedom of  all people. We become advocates for people around the world who are stuck in slavery or human trafficking by raising awareness and finances for groups such as IJM and A21. These groups work daily prosecuting the people who participate in this nasty work and rescue the people that enslaved. Some facts about slavery: There are more people than ever before that are stuck in human trafficking. More than 27 million are slaves India ...

"But I think now, in the middle of the hustle and the busyness, the to-do lists and the calendar with its full boxes, that we got it right back then. That we knew so much more than I do now. Because what I remember from those times, more than anything else, is the feeling of being loved. The wonder of realizing Jesus came for me ." The above quote is taken from one of my favorite's authors Holley Gerth and her blog post this week Did you know 11 days till Christmas!!! Wohoo, can you tell I am excited. I love gift giving and receving gifts. I think its because I love the reactions other people have and love showing emotion when I receive gifts. I think the older I get, the more surprised at the thoughtfulness of people and the gifts they get or make for me. This season I am learning about the greatest gift of all Jesus and the reality of him being born in a manger.      Lately at church we have been learning about Advent and how its the 4 w...

In honor of Thanksgiving being this week and I probably wont have time to write a post before Thanksgiving. This is now a good time as any to write a post to God thanking Him for the many blessings he has given me this year. Thank You Jesus for forgiveness yours and others Your patient, steadfast love  fire places and heating pad friendships with awesome, Jesus loving people roommates and a three bedroom apartment my work in progress relationship with my sister Haylee My new job which I love and work with people I get along with so much so we go to happy hour often my relationship with my parents/fsiblings  coffee my cubicle my church my BSF ( Bible Study fellowship) leader my small group of seventh grade girls at church my friendship and accountability with Courtney the ability to exercise and read my new car my guniea pig Carmela paid time off from work a holiday bonus my grandmothers sleep sunrises and sunset Skype this list  is to be continu...

the joking banter my mom and dad have with each other middle school girls  that just want everyone to be friends the" have a good day" texts, I get from my mom every morning my co workers Coffee with friends BSF ( Bible Study Fellowship) small group My brother and his constant teasing the deep conversations I have with my sisters reliving the 90s with my roommates hearing what little children want to be when they grow up,ex: Bruce Lee Being sent cute pictures of my cousins Augie and Olive Little reminders of God's love throughout the day such as seeing the sunrise every morning honesty from others specific songs on the radio seeing others make courageous decisions talking with and learning from my BSF leader, Erin. dating advice from others or lack of .... handing out to candy to kids talking health care vocab with my dad the needtobreathe and mat kearney concert with Holland and Kassie the conversations about growing closer to God together

Have you ever noticed the behavior in little children?  Like the way they are positive all the time?  The way they are independent at times but then dependent at other times? The way they ask questions without thinking... "why is that person fat?" But really the woman is pregnant.. ;) I was sitting at Chick- Fil- A the other night and I noticed this one family get out of their car, a father with his children, one son and one daughter. Both of the kids were toddler age. They were getting ready to cross the street and automatically they both grabbed their dad's hand. They knew they were supposed to do that and they also believed that their dad would keep safe when crossing the street. That one action stuck out to me because I started seeing the similarities between their action and my actions with my Heavenly Father.  Do I automatically rely on God? Do I hold his hand when my I feel unsafe?  Do I pray and talk to him about my fears? Do I look up to him and belie...

Dear Dads', First off, Thank you to those dads that have been there for their children, Thank you for cheering them on at sporting events. Thank you for telling your daughters they are pretty. Thank you for telling your sons good work when they bring home their grades. Thank you for taking the time to get to know your children by asking how their day is.  Thank you for caring about their passions. Thank you for the encouragement you brought us all the years. Thank you for most of all giving us a glimpse into how our Heavenly Father sees and loves us. To those kids that do not have a strong father in their life, I am sorry. Its not a reflection on you at all. Those dads are not being the physical and spiritual leader you need them to be. They are not showing you that God's love is unconditional and that he demonstrated his love by sending His Son to die on the cross. Your dad didn't show you that you are valued and seen. Your dad didn't show you that your passi...

"When I am willing to explore my deepest disappointments I might be surprised to find my deepest desires lingering just beyond. Knowing Christ may only be possible when we come face to face with our deepest desire and are willing to walk through our deepest disappointment." p. 176 of Simply Tuesday So I am 3/4 of the way done with this book that I thought would be a struggle to read because its about slowing down and taking time to sit on a bench. In my head I am thinking " I will try to read this book but will probably quit halfway through because I don't need to slow down. I mean I am unemployed for gosh sake. All I have been doing with my time is slowing down." Then I get halfway through the book in the chapter " Success and Envy" It is all about accepting the importance of our right now work. She tells the story of  lifeguards at a nearby indoor pool by her house. They each are assigned an 8 ft space that they keep watch over. They are not wor...

Happy Sunday!! If you are in Minnesota you are probably loving this weather as much as I am! Its sunny and breezy and 74 degrees here. Yesterday I took a road trip with my roommate, Alexi, and we visited people in Eau Claire. I hung out with my sister Abbey. We went to a Farmers Market, coffee shop, brunch and dinner at an Irish Pub. It was a great day!!!! As I was driving I was talking to Alexi about our platforms. I believe a platform is any topic or season you can relate to because you are in it or are apart of it. God has given you that platform for a reason so He can use you to help others with it. Your platform can change during your life. My platform right now is unemployment/ job searching. If you have ever been in a time where you didn't have a job, didn't know what you wanted to do with your life, wanted to know where God wanted you to go then I can relate you. I had long term subs last year which were temporary jobs until the teacher came back. I can also re...

I love her voice, her story and this song. Take a listen "We are not born to fall and lose the fight... We were born to follow the light that never fails. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRsfm2jZY80 Here is her story 

Dear Millennials, You are going to be okay. You are going to do great things with His power. Its okay to not have your life figured out in your twenty's. You might switch jobs often or more than you thought you would. You might still be figuring out the passions and gifts that God placed in you. You are going to big dreams and want to do great things. You might still live with your parents in your twenty's. You might have to take a job you hate just so you can pay the bills. There will be times you will question what you are doing with your life and  maybe even the degree you got in college.  Should you have majored in something else?   Leaving college will be hard. You will crave community with other young adults. You will want relationships with both genders. You might have questions about your relationship status. You thought you would be married after college or at least meet "the one" It might be a struggle to find a church with other people your age that are...

Hey All- I got back two weeks ago from Chicago. We went on a vacation for four days and it was wonderful. Enjoy the pics

This post  is going to be filled with a bunch of random thoughts that I feel the Spirit has brought to my mind in the past couple of weeks. God is good all the time and all the time he is good. Hmm... seems simple but hard to remember, God is good even when I don't get that job, marry someone, get the right house, get accepted into that grad school, go on that trip etc. Following that train of thought, if I get my dream job, house, life etc then I am only following God based on conditions that I put on Him. I need to remember that He is worthy to be followed no matter what happens in life. Our identity is not in our dream job, dream life. I must find my identity in Christ and him alone > the lesson I am currently learning God is love and he is all I need from this day forward and all eternity. .> just heard this in a song by Owl City and Britt Nicole called You are not alone. This phrase stuck with me. Because I like to end with quotes, one of favorite bands G...

"One of the most challenging characteristic's  of God is his patience." Pastor Peter Kaspner of Open Door This is something my pastor talked about this morning. He started by explaining how we notice God's timing the most when there is injustice in the world.  We will wonder when is God going to intervene? Then throughout the sermon he talked about the reason for his patience is so that not one of us will perish as said in 2nd Peter 3:9 " The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,  as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient  with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." As I am sitting here thinking about the sermon I see the way God has been patient in my own life. I would be lying if I said that his patience didn't frustrate at times especially in this season of waiting for a classroom that I can call my own. But then I realize how if God wasn't patient with me I would have a really shallow relationsh...

 Confession time: I struggle with comparison. It is definitely an insecurity of mine. Wow you probably didn't think I would start out with a confession and get vulnerable right away. Well I did and now that we have got that out of the way I feel a little bit lighter. This summer has been all about uncovering what has taken root in my heart and letting the Holy Spirit bring it to the surface so I can be forgiven and experience the freedom I have been longing for. "I wish I could be outgoing as her." "If only I had as many friends as her" " I wish I could be her because she has a teaching job at a school that she loves." " Why can't I be funny like her?" These are only a small glimpse into thoughts that have been rolling around in my mind. A couple of weeks ago I was thinking about how ungrateful I am being. By comparing myself to others I have allowed myself to be a complainer and not thankful for the personality God has given m...

" Rest now child, you can rest now, put your head upon my chest now my heart beats for you . Rest now never second guess now, my love for you will never change no matter what you do." JJ weeks If you know me, you know that I have a hard time sitting still. I have to be doing something at all times and this has carried over to my sleeping at the new apartment. My thoughts wander all over the place. Since I am a busy bee, I tend to me a worrier. AT Night It is the WORST. I would try to pray but would get distracted. I overcomplicated my prayers and made them so wordy I would get distracted. Then one night I felt like the Spirit was saying " rest now and give it up." IT being  everything I was stewing over. Then flash forward a week, I worked at a merchandise table for two bands that played at my church... Jason Gray and JJ Weeks.  JJ Weeks talked about this song came out of time when everyone demanded something from him except  God and his children. God gave hi...

This verse has stuck out to me the past couple of weeks and the word faithful is what I felt like the Holy Spirit was prompting me to notice. So I looked it up, faithful means: "true, devoted, constant, implies long continued and steadfast fidelity to whatever one is bound." I just love this quality about God. He is the constant in my life no matter what my circumstances are or who else is in my life , He will be there for me I am so glad my hope is in this God.

Friendship is hard. Sometimes you think you are really close with someone but really you are not as close you thought. It can be hard because you have to  be intentional in getting together and staying up to date on each other's lives. It can also be hard because you might have to ask all the questions. It can also be hard because you might move in opposite directions and not be in each other's lives for your whole life. Friendship is also hard because you have to vulnerable and honest. This also makes friendship... Friendship is also rewarding. Its rewarding when you share open, honest struggles and they validate or encourage or listen to what you are going through. Its also rewarding when you know they are praying for you. Its rewarding when you are with the friend as they go through something hard and come out better and stronger. Its rewarding when you attend your friend's wedding, parties and celebrations. Friendship is also fun. When you are friends ...

Today I am going to tell you about things I love just so you can know a little more about me. I love Jesus!! I love anchors because they remind me of my favorite verse, Hebrews 6:19 "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.." I love the color purple. My favorite football team is purple and yellow. I bet you can guess what team it is. I love the pattern animal print. I love iced coffee. If someone brings me an iced coffee from Starbucks I will be their best friend. I love longboarding, running and reading. These are my favorite ways to enjoy the outdoors. I love sunrises & sunsets, these are ways I can connect with God.  I love seeing little kids learn to read or understand a math skill for the first  time. I love playing board games with my friends. These are things I love

Just had to share this song because I love spoken word mixed with singing.  Claiming perseverance and endurance during this trying and difficult season.  Who's with me???

Wow it has been a week since I have posted anything, so sorry about that. I started my two nanny jobs this week and it has been a whirlwind of busyness. Just so you can keep track of my schedule, I nanny a 5 year old and seven year old in Corcoran on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays I nanny Olivia who is six. On Wednesdays, I  help out with Next Gen and usually Tuesdays and Thursdays I am tutoring a second grader in reading. As you can tell I have a busy schedule. So tonight I am sitting out on our porch and updating you guys and talking to my roommate  Kassandra.  I took Olivia to Elm Creek Park today and she just reminds me how dependent children are on their caretaker.  Lately I have been living an independent life and not relying on God lately. I  search for a job myself, I look for ways to make money. This is me being in control when Jesus wants me to let go and rely on Him.  Just seeing how she w...

My word for the year is HOPE. I prayed about a word at the beginning of 2016 and asked God to bring me a word that would describe what he is going to do this year and the word HOPE kept popping up every where. I believe that he is going to renew my hope in Him after what happened last year, create a new hope for my own classroom, hope for new relationships. I have already seen Him build upon my hope for friendships as he brought me to a wonderful church with wonderful people in my age group.  He is slowly renewing my hope in him and not in ways  I would expect. I honestly thought he would renew my hope in Him through rest and extra time alone with him. I never thought trials would be one of the ways he would renew my hope in Him. But he is using a specific trial to not only renew my hope but also to help me identify where my hope is found. My mentor shared this verse with me yesterday from James 1:2-4 "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds...

I think its so interesting how after you graduate college you are on your own. I mean when I started college I felt like a baby. My eyes were just starting to open like a new baby bird and I was slowly starting to see the world but I still didn't know my identity. I worried about every little thing especially about what other people thought of me. I  took forever to make a decision because I wanted to make the best decision for other people. My time would  also revolve around other people's schedule. Even my faith was based on other people 's beliefs. The word I would use to describe my college years would be DEPENDENT. Now that I am 24 years old and working, I feel the shift in being  INDEPENDENT.  I have so many decisions to make but I also have many of my own beliefs and opinions. I started noticing these things this weekend when my roomie (Alexi) asked me to go to a movie late Friday night. We saw the movie Me before you. I realized that I can say yes and ...

Sometimes you work a ten hour work day. Sometimes you tell the kids you are nanny that they will get a prize for cleaning up the mess you made with pasta noodles... and the prize is a high five :) Sometimes you burn your dinner and set the smoke alarm off in your new apartment. Sometimes you have to go to taco bell at 8 pm to get dinner to replace the burnt dinner. Sometimes the family gets home 40 minutes late. Sometimes you have to rush from one job to the next to fit other people's schedule. Sometimes you sit out on the deck with a glass of wine and watch the trees sway in the breeze and children play at the park. Sometimes you blog about the crazy day you had. Sometimes you see that there is grace in each moment. Sometimes its takes a crazy day to appreciate the peaceful good days. Sometimes you just marvel at the fact that God is still present with you through it all and you don't have to carry the burden anymore.

"They remind me of your faithfulness and all you brought me through. They teach me that my brokenness is something you can use. They show me where I've been and that I am not there anymore, that's what scars are for." scars by Mandisa I have been thinking about the purpose of hard things that I have gone through in the past and how they have left a scar on my heart. I have also been noticing how some of those scars are affecting my relationships with different people in my life.  To be honest high school and my freshman year of college were the hardest year of my left. Granted I am only 24 but if you think about it 5 years is a long time to go through difficult times. The main thing that kept happening to me was being ditched by people in my life. It started my freshman year in high school in which I would make friends with two girls and then in the middle of the year they found other girls to hang out with and joined their clique.  This cycle of making fri...

Family is fun. We played badminton baseball (a made up game combining the two sports)  and the regular game badminton. Family is supportive. We had a girls day on Saturday at the restaurant "Mad Hatter". We went around the table and encouraged each other. We laughed and admired the unique setting of the restaurant. Then they came over and saw my new place. Family is close. Sunday, we had a barbecue. That night we tried to teach my 3 year old cousin how to play kickball. Then we played badminton in the rain. Monday we had another barbecue and sat outside for this one. All my sisters were able to make it this night so we got a picture together. Family is familiar. Saturday afternoon Abbey and I went thrifting and then hung out with our cousin Augie, as seen in the picture below. Overall it was a great weekend with lots of family time making memories as we played games and chatted. Thankful that God gave me such a great family and love the fact that we a...

Today was my last day at my job.  I was a long term sub in second grade. What was great about this job was that I was able to work to with small groups of students in the morning and teach second grade in the afternoon. If you don't remember this is at the same school I was a long term sub in first grade. They asked me to come back to teach second grade. In the above picture, this was my group of students on the field trip to underwater world. The fact that I made it through this job with his strength and grace is a testament to his faithfulness. This job stretched me beyond what I thought I "could handle." Man did I need to rely on Him everyday. My drive to work everyday consisted of prayers of grace for the students and patience for the ones that are the hardest to love... sometimes it seemed they were all diffcult to love, I saw so much attitude and disrespect. I was shocked.There was even a lack of support from the other second grade teachers.  But if you think ab...

 I love longboarding!! I bought one similar to the one above on Amazon a couple of months ago. I started practicing on small streets in neighborhoods. Now I go every other night with my roomie Alexi.  It is such great exercise.  The reason I share this new hobby with you guys is because now that I am in my twenties and out of college I have been taking more risks. I used to let fear get in the way of trying new things. Now that I see how risk = reward and risk = trusting God I take more risks,  There is such a freedom that comes with taking risks. It doesn't matter if you fail or succeed. Trying is the best part.  Watch out... here comes another clique : Practice makes perfect. But its is true. When you longboard you have to move your foot so that there is equal weight on both feet. Its called the "windmill effect" I just learned how to do it tonight and it makes boarding so much easier.  I conclude with the encouragement that you c...

Say what does your post mean? It means that I am off on a new adventure. I am living an apartment with two awesome roommates, Alexi and Kassandra. We have almost been here for two weeks. I am loving every minute of it. Since I love lists, here is one on why I love living an apartment. 10. Independence 9. Location... so close to church 8. Own room, bathroom and yes walk-in closet 7. Making meals for myself 6. 2 fun roommates 5. Next to many schools in Osseo district (if you remember this is the district in which I am trying to get a job in.) 4. Buy my own groceries 3. Live by own rules... meaning I can eat wherever I want. 2. Decorate my own place 1.  NEVER HAVE TO SHARE CLOTHES WITH SISTERS AGAIN!!! I will post pics of my place soon and tell funny stories (longboarding wipeout)  as I enjoy the adventure of apartment living.  Stay soon for more posts

It has been a long time since I have blogged.  Decided to write again receiving inspiration from other fellow bloggers, Alexi at http://www.alexirae.com/  and Mandy Hale at  http://thesinglewoman.net/category/blog/   God has blessed me with this beautiful relationship status: single. For a long time I dreaded it and mostly it happens around holiday i.e. Christmas and Valentines day.  Now that I have turned 24 I see this season as a blessing rather than the curse that the world wants me to think it is. I  love this season I am in because I am in the season of trust and surprise. I don't where I will be tomorrow but I love that God does. I know that in April I will be a second grade long term substitute teacher.  I know that May 1st I will get to move into a 3 BR apartment with 2 amazing friends. I know that God will bring me to my own classroom again and if he allows it will be in the Fall. I know that I will have a summer job but I don't know wher...