The Happenings of December

Man, it’s really hard to find time to blog now. Tis the season of finals! But I finished one final today and now I have a 7 page paper and another final to finish. Right now, it’s not going well because I’m caught up in watching The Nativity Story! I love it. I’ve had many Christmas things going on lately, but good thing I did most of my shopping already!

Last Sunday I went to my 1st cookie exchange. It sounded fun and it was…..BUT the process of making special Christmas cookies was not a great experience. Don’t try to be unique when you’re in a hurry! I decided to use my new pampered chef cookie press, so I used the spritz cookie recipe and Christmas cutters that came with the package. The 1st batch was good and it went down hill from there. Long story short, they looked like play dough (red wreathes, green trees, blue snowflakes) and tasted like nothing with a hint of flour. It was funny but not! By midnight, I gave up on those cookies. I was not taking those to the cookie exchange! I began making the Candy Cane cookies using the recipe that my mom and I had used every Christmas. They took a lot longer that I thought, because 4am rolled around and I had only made 35 cookies…patiently rolling & twisting red and plain cookie dough. I gave up and went to bed. Long story short, I ended up having the best disaster story. The party was still fun and I came home with about 35 really good cookies that other people made!

Hmmmm, let’s see……I missed a couple other Christmas parties because I was working on school stuff of course. But I guess the last fun thing was our Choir’s cantata at Church called Fear Not! Oh ya, and the Women’s Chrismas party, which was full of eating and ornament exchanging! Anyway, We had worked hard for months on our song and it turned out pretty good, surprisingly enough. I usually don’t get nervous now that I am used to singing on most Sundays, but we had a big crowd, plus my family came. Thank the Lord, we had a lot of people at church to hear the good news through music! I’m glad the stress of rehearsals is over, but I’m sad, because that means Christmas is almost over….with only 9 days left.

I also did family pictures after our cantata. Just to let everyone know, it pays off to have someone take pictures for you, because it took forever to put the camera on a ladder, position it and everyone right in the amount of 10 seconds before the flash goes off. And you know one picture won’t suffice, so we ended up with a lot more. But I was happy that I actually go a picture with my nephew, Eli, while his eyes were open! He’s so precious.

Anyway, I’m still excited for more events to come this month like the Candlelight service, the last of shopping, spending time with Drew and other family without homework in the way, Christmas, Drew's cows to have babies (hopefully soone!), and then the thrills of student teaching! Oh ya, I got my placements and I will be at Frazier Elementary (Ethan’s school) and Hughes Middle school in Burleson. I also finished my last big teaching exam, which is one step closer to certification. Alright, now that I’m some what caught up…back to my paper that I haven’t started yet :) .

So if you want to know about thanksgiving and black Friday shopping, just read the blogs of thecrazylifeofthepreacherswife and crazeehugginglady. There’s no need to repeat the story again. Just know I had a blast!! Maybe I can get back to blogging now that Thanksgiving break is over….but I do have tons of projects that I SHOULD be working on before finals. I’ll get to that tonight!
I have been really lazy this semester and usually I kill myself with keeping busy, so last night I asked God to encourage me somehow to get up and exercise (haven’t been consistent in doing that in months and my body feels horrible), and start getting my school work done to the best of my ability. So, before bed I laid out all of my work-out clothes and work clothes. I wake up this morning and the verse I looked at was about perseverance. A portion of James 1 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” I got outside, dressed warm, but I didn’t know it would be THAT cold! Man, the northerly wind froze my face and breathing hurt my lungs, but I pressed on. Listening to my music while I run really helps me keep going, and even then, I got more encouragement when I wanted to stop at 13 minutes into my run. Josh Groban sang… “Don’t give up, it’s just the weight of the world.” I finished strong and then while I’m doing my cool down stretching, Teryn had arrived at the house to drop off Emma & Lilly for Whitney, she walks out and I scare her half to death because she thought I was a bum just sitting on the pavement. It was funny (or at least it was for me)! Anyway, I actually made it to work before 9am instead of sleeping late. So far, the day has been good and God has already answered a prayer (doesn't matter how small they are!). We shall see if I get some school work done tonight! But for now, I have to get back to work, actually I think I'm going home to get some down now! Latr!

I had a good night last night, because I got to go eat with Drew..yay for Chilis! Then, we watched a movie. As Drew leaves the Paschal's this morning, he drags me out of bed and says he was going to show me how to get Max out of the backyard without Zoe getting out. I can't ever take Max on a run, because every time I open the gate (even though I kick them back) they both get out and explore the neighborhood & that makes me mad!!! Last time that happened, I hit my head on the gate & cut my fingers while trying to catch Zoe and put her collar on. It's pretty sad that 2 dogs can overpower me. Lol. Anyway, of course, Drew gets Max out easily & I'm able to exercise with Max on a beautiful morning, but it was pretty chilly. I feel pretty good, now that I have exercised and spent time with the Lord. I need that every morning! Now it's time to get ready for school :( At least I have something to look forward to afterwards. We are going over to little Courtney's birthday party / Thanksgiving for Drew's family. She's definitely not little anymore now that she's 10. I remember when I was at their house in high school for Prom and she loved my blue dress...she was so cute. Now, she's just getting older & reminders the rest of us how old we are getting. Anyway, enough of that. I really need to go to school now :) Later!

Game Day

What a day. It began with waking up at the crack of dawn (or it is to me!), turn on pie (pirate movie) for Elan, and head to Teryn's house to buy out her garage sell. I only ended up getting a few items, because I could not squeeze into a pair of jeans and other things that I would have loved to have...but I guess I didn't NEED it. After that I dropped by the church where our lovely staff members were having "church work day" (thank you guys for your hard word today!) and I waited for my friend Amy & her 3 kiddos to pick me up and drive a couple hours to a playoff game. We had a rock start because we had to pick up some McDonald's on the way, but you can't just quickly do anything in Burleson, because there are a MILLION people at McDonald's, the gas station, & walmart...needless to say, I don't think she's going to drive through Burleson anymore :) Anyway, we made it to the stadium after we threw the useless Mapquest map on the floorboard (those things are not easy to read & often mislead you). We had fun cheering on the Lions, but I froze my rear off the whole time. Many of us prayed for God's Will to be done as the game came near to the end, so the boys took tonight as just one small trial in their lives. Tomorrow is a new day that the Lord has made, and today will only make those boys stronger. They cannot be ashamed of their great season, in which all the other teams thought we would be the weakest team in the district, but the Faith Lions fight hard! When left the game with a bit of sadness but still joyful in our hearts. I felt much better when we stopped in West for some awesome kolaches!!!! (It's almost a sin for anyone to pass the bakery in West) And now I'm home & finally going to sleep. Good night all!!! Have a great day in the Lord tomorrow.

Old Roomie Time!!!

So, apparently we ate too much chocolate at Central Market (Macall, Hannah, Courtney Rudd, Claire Rudd, Katie Rudd, & Ferrah) as a few of them are playing a balloon game, which seems to be fun & exciting. Lol. I had some wonderful clam chowder soup and salad, and we had fun walking around the nut and candy aisles taste testing everything and helping Katie measure ingredients for her work at the Food Bank. Let me just say, I forget how crazy they are at the Jesus House (we I used to live with them). I miss my dear friends sooo much and will have to have more girls night outs sometime throughout the crazy semesters. I am so glad that God created us to enjoy the presence of fiends and still glorify His name. Well, it's time for coffee (doctored coffee of course)! I am excited for Teryn's garage sell in the morning, too....I hope I find some great treasures :) And then off to a Faith playoff game! Oh, and I praise the Lord for how he is STILL moving in our Ladies lifegroup. The more we pray and dig into His word, the more knowledge and peace and love we find in our Lord Jesus Christ and the more we can be joyful! Ok, think I'm done now :)

Well, of course I overslept today.....I think it was because I couldn't hear Elan (I depend on him to wake me at a decent time!) So, I decided to clean my tornado room, bathroom, clothes & other areas! That makes me feel a LOT better. I don't think God wants me to be lazy, but he knew I needed to get some house cleaning done...my Internet wouldn't even work so I couldn't waste my time on the computer! Anyway, I just got done with class and trying to make my schedule for the rest of the month & December. There is soooo much to do! But I just pray for patience and will power to get through the rest of the year. I only have to teach 2 more times, so then I can focus on projects and finals and of course the awesome Christmas parties! Yesterday, was pretty tough teaching, because I realized that I need to work on discipline for the days that the kids act like hoodlums (however you spell that). I teach a little bit at Ethan's school (frazier bears) and I had the 5th graders yesterday. I video taped it for my professor, but it's pretty bad when the PE teacher asked for a copy of the video to show her students how disrespectful they were! I really wanted to say they were horrible, but I hear the little voice in my head saying "you will never be given more than you can handle". So, I had to re-direct my thoughts and conclude that it was actually a great eye opener and learning experience...and there will be many more! Well, I have to leave school so I can beat the traffic & get to church. I love prayer night!

Sunday night visitation

Man, that was some great Chili...thanks to Cindy. I'm sitting here with a full stomach at church, listening to some great testimonials from the 3rd sunday of the month visitation. God is really working and I'm thankful for the people who went visiting while Suzanne and I watched sweet little Maci and Elan. Drew is makin me nervous here, watchin over my shoulder, be anyway...oh ya!...his team (Faith) won their first playoff game of this year 47-14!!!!! I'm excited because that means another great game next saturday! Love it. Well, I'll make it short tonight, especially since Drew realllllly wants on the computer :)

Praise the Lord that I wake up every morning breathing the air that He created. How amazing is that! My focus lately and prayer is that I desire to draw closer to my God every day by breathing and speaking His Word. I can be full of life every moment that I do that. Nothing else matters but to glorify Him. I am thankful that I haven't been the same since I met my Jesus, but I am still Courtney, a human whose life is full of twists and turns, but hopefully always refocusing on my Lord, my King. And like my title says (thanks to my lovely friend Whitney for her creativity of blog names!), I am a daughter of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and grateful that I am an heiress of an eternal kingdom with Him! What is even more amazing is that He wants us, His people, just as we are. Therefore, I want God to invade all my holes and spaces in life and tell Satan to stay away, because he can't take that away. God, is my rock and nothing will shake me!
So, you may think....man, she must have woke up on the right side of the bed or she's just high. I guess, both statements are true. Sometimes, it's hard not to praise a God who is always there for you, even when the world may bring you down. One thing to know about me is that I get lost in God moments through worshipping him with music, whether I'm blaring it through the speakers, playing it on the piano, or singing it at the top of my lungs. That's my escape! It's kind of like a runner's high or winning a championship or taking a bite of your favorite dessert (homemade ice cream!)...but it's so much more. I am always carrying a tune in m head everywhere I go.
But ya, I could get carried away writing (or is it blogging? I'm new to this!) about life. Just to get you up to date, right now, I'm in the process and end stage of earning my Bachelor's degree (teaching PE!) at TCU. I will be student teaching next semester! Yes, it took forever, but that's what happens when you change your major many times. I believe it was all part of God's plan to prepare me to be a teacher, which is something I has said I would never do. It's so much fun teaching kids to have fun but finding a physical activity that they can continue for a lifetime. It's not just about running or dodge ball or sports, but it can be that and more. For example, I love camping, hiking, hunting, along with the typical sports of volleyball. All of these things are becoming new avenues of PE-outdoor education. Anyway, I could go on about the positives of real PE, but that would be boring for you. One thing I do know is that my weakness is the health part....taking care of my temple (body God gave me) because I love food! But I know I'm not the only one who struggles with that (Amen?!?).
Well, I could blab (or blog...whatever) about everything (this would be Whitney's fault for finding something else to add to my to do list...I still love you :) but I need to get ready to cheer on the Faith lions, Drew's (my boyfriend), football team that he coaches. I love the excitement of playoffs and the fresh air, although I hope it's not freezing today. I am so proud of his time and effort that he puts into the boys and their growth in knowledge, leadership, and their relationships with others and Christ. God deserves so much praise! Farewell, fellow bloggers. Enjoy another day in the Lord!

A Blog Creation

Yay! I have conquered the task of creating a blog, but that was exhausting, so I shall return soon to blog in detail.