Life-Giving Energy

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I started out this day drained even though there were good things ahead. I had a lot to do before a wedding, grocery shopping, and work, but I ended up having a lot more time than I expected, so I took a devotion that I had gotten in an email out on the back deck. It was such a beautiful day that really helped set my mind and heart on a better track. God's Word has an amazing way of doing that.

I get the emails and follow on social media The Daniel Plan, because it is just so encouraging to living a healthy life for the glory of the Lord. This week's email was titled "Life Giving Energy" and that devotion was just what I needed! I have also been wanting to get my own health habits better, especially now that school is out, it's summer, and I'll be going away for school again next year, and running collegiality! I've always gone up and down with my health with a huge issue this time last year, so right now is a perfect time for God to really help me get it together. It's one of those inner motivations that you know can't come from anywhere else!

The opening verse was Genesis 1:29, "God said to them, 'I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food." Since the very beginning of time, God created the world for us to live in and live off of. He gives us all that we need. You think nature is good now? Imagine when it was perfect, and we were in perfect peace with it and God. Because of our own sins, trying to take things into our own hands (life and food), we are never fully satisfied, and our relationship with God isn't perfect (but that's why we get grace). To enjoy nature is to enjoy the simplest form of God's blessings.

This is why when you eat healthy, real food, you start to crave it more and more. It's satisfying. You feel good and good about it. Same with God. The more time you spend with Him, the more you want to and the more you learn. Just like with sin or any bad habit, with food, you have to take out the bad and replace it with good. You can't just get rid of something. It's always a struggle, but struggle is necessary to change, and it's necessary to grow closer to God. If everything was easy, we wouldn't need Him.

Change is a big fear of mine, and I have so many little habits. I like routine and comfort. But to better myself physically and mentally, I have to try new things. To be of better use to God, I have to go outside of my comfort zone, go new places, do new things, talk to new people, do things that I don't really want to but know that He is telling me to. One of the best things to keep me going is to remember that God has been faithful to give me success, safety, and joy in the past, and He will surely do it again.

I also have a hard time doing things just for me; I always want others to benefit too, so if I was going to do something to help myself just for me, I would usually put it off. To counter this, I remember that God knows our hearts and rewards accordingly. I need to take care of myself in order to take care of others. He wants me to be my best so that He can use me more and more.

"How abundant are the good things that You have stored up for those who fear You!" Psalm 31:19
He always provides! We don't have to worry. As long as we put in the effort to follow God's plans, He will fill in the blanks (or change things when we mess up because He's in charge anyways).

So now I am even more motivated to get and keep myself healthier! For myself, for God, for my family, for Chattanooga, to be a positive influence on all those that see me. I can't pour from an empty cup.
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So about this day ahead that I mentioned earlier! Turns out it could've been way different, but work is disorganized, so I never totally know until it happens.
I went to a friend's wedding at 2, and it was so great! I don't know how I am going to make it through my own wedding. The past few I've been to I almost cry thinking of walking down the isle with my dad. He has my heart already. I didn't get to go to the reception later that day, but I ran in the store real quick, grabbed something to eat at home, and went right back out the door to work. It was supposed to be at Mayo Garden Center in Knoxville. Long story short, the schedule got changed, no one told me, I was totally unprepared to take everything down there by myself, a relatively new employee was by herself in the shop on a hot Saturday night...you see many things wrong here?? So I stayed and worked the night shift with her. That was another little way God was at work. I got to help someone out, and we had a great time. That's one of the best things about my job; I get to connect with people.

Finally, there were some holidays today! National dog mom's day and national babysitter's day, and I am both! Two more things that give me joy, those kiddos and my doggo.

Friendsgiving

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You may have heard of Friendsgiving before.  I had, too.  I thought it was a name people put to Thanksgiving when they had a Thanksgiving get-together with friends instead of family!  There's a real thing to it, though.  I am following No Kid Hungry on instagram from where I found out that they partner with one of my favorite yogurt shops, Orange Leaf.

Out of curiosity, I followed the link and found out that it's a real thing!  And a great thing!  Thanksgiving, friends, fun, and helping others!

"For God loves a cheerful giver."  2 Corinthians 9:7

"The Lord Jesus Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Acts 20:35

So I got started "hosting" my own Friendsgiving. I'm not having an official party or anything, but just spending some time with various people throughout the month, enjoying my blessings. My plan is to have friends over to cook with me several times!  Cooking is one if my favorite activities, but it will be so much better sharing it with people I love.
"Jesus answered, 'It is written 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.''" Matthew 4:4

My goal is to just raise some money!  It doesn't matter how little or how much; I just want to make some kind of impact. You would be surprised at how far just a few dollars will go in feeding those who need it more than you could imagine.
"Freely you have received, freely give."  Matthew 10:8

"Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me."  Matthew 25:40

So it doesn't have to be a lot!  Just think, if 50 people gave $2, that's $100 dollars. And God works miracles!  Who knows what can happen with all that!  Like my Pator says, "Your little becomes much when placed in the hands of Christ."
"Give and it will be given to you."  Luke 6:38

"Give generously."  Romans 12:8
If you want to be a part of helping feed some hungry kids this Thanksgiving and Christmas season, that would be awesome!  I promise that God will give you some extra joy!  If not, He will still give you joy.  That's what's awesome about our God. 
No matter what you do, who you are, or where you are, there is something we can all do for anyone all over the world:  PRAY!  That's the most simple, yet powerful act ever.
"He who gives to the poor will lack nothing."  Proverbs 28:27

Feel free to share this and/or the team page with anyone!

#TSSAATF State 2014

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On Wednesday, May 21st, it would've been our last day of school, but I got to leave early anyways!  It was the day before state for the girls, since none of us had to run in any prelims.  I still wanted to get a run in, so I got my mom to drop me off (I didn't drive because we didn't want to leave my Jeep at school for 3 days) behind the school at the track, where I left my bags so I could get started on a run.  My coach wrote me a note the previous day so that I could get into class late if I didn't get done in time.  Around 8:30, I headed inside to finish a test, warm up breakfast, and do some other quick things before we loaded the bus to leave for Murfreesboro.  After having lunch at Firehouse Subs in Knoxville, we drove the rest of the way to the hotel, checked in, picked up the coaches packet, then went back to the hotel to get in our rooms.  Not long after that, we headed out to dinner at Olive Garden.  This was already a fun trip, and we were just getting started.  It was the smallest (in number of people) trip that I had been on with West High sports, so the little bus was FULL of laughs!

 



I'm not one of those people who thinks that I have to have pasta every day leading up to a race.  You don't need to carb load for short races or even really a 5k, so I just did what I had been doing at home and had mostly meat and veggies!  This is a new thing that I thought sounded great, so I ordered chicken meatballs on the side.  They were kind of spicy, and were also in a yummy sauce!  My favorite part of the meal.

This was a new menu item as well, and I don't even know how to pronounce it:  Chicken Abruzzi.  I also added crab meat to it.  It is full of yummy vegetables and beans, so this meal tonight had most of my favorites! 

After leaving there, we walked around and did a little shopping before going back to the hotel to clean up before bed.

This is the view when you first walk into the lobby of Murfreesboro's Embassy Suites.  We knew we were getting to live fancy for a couple days!

This is the fountain and pond area in the lobby/dining areas around the elevators.

The hotel elevators had mirror ceilings!

This is the Caffiena's Marketplace, open from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm in the hotel next to the lobby, where you can buy all kinds of snacks, drinks, bakery goods, coffee, magazines, and all kinds of odd-and-in things.

This is the nice little mini kitchen area we had in our rooms.  It was complete with a sink, fridge, microwave, and coffee maker!  Our rooms had two queen beds in one room, this kitchen in the middle, and a room with couch, tables, desk, and tv for relaxing.

The last Hilton-owned hotel that I had stayed at in Charlotte, NC did not provide complimentary breakfast, but at this one, everyone gets the buffet and made-to-order station!  I have never seen a complimentary breakfast with so much to offer!  Starting down the line was fruit and yogurt, then oatmeal, grits, and toppings, then hot things: French toast, biscuits, gravy, diced potatoes, eggs, and even bowls of salsa and bottles of hot sauce.  On the sides were cereals, pastries, and breakfast and soft drinks.  There was also a separate line off to the side where you could get a made-to-order omelette, panckes, bacon, and sausage.

This is my roommate for the trip and me about to dig into our breakfast.  I always said on cross country trips that I wished we could stay at a hotel when I could actually enjoy the breakfast without having to worry about racing right after, and now I finally can!  A lot of track races are later in the day, where cross country is usually in the morning, so I was excited getting to chill out in the morning.

One of the drink machines had different Sunkist Drinks.  The one I tried and loved was mango flavored, vitamin infused water.  I also had to have coffee, of course.

After breakfast, we went back to our rooms to hang out for a while.  Chantal and Cherie came down the hall to mine and Katlyn's room, then even Coach Sanders came to hang out and talk for a while!  He knew where the party was at.

We had a great time, learning, sharing, giving input for future races and training, and laughing at and with each other.  He just thinks that we are all so funny.  Especially Katlyn; she gives us more laughs than anyone.  Her personality is just so bright and carefree!

She also thinks Coach Sanders has really white teeth.

And that if we just added salad dressing to the grass, we wouldn't have starving people in the world.

Just a couple funny Katlyn moments; Mrs. Bowen, one of the other track coaches, claims that we all act like we have tarets sometimes. 

Sitting on the bed in our room, Katlyn was looking at our great view (of the mountains, not the parking lot) and said, "Oh, hey, people!  Haha Kenzie!  It's your mom and dad!"  I ran over there and took a picture to send to them to tell them that I was creeping on them.

 

 

We have great support on our team!  At conference, we had a group of 3 freshmen girls spend the night to make shirts and hair bows to match and come to the meet at school the next day all decked-out in their outfits and hair-dos to cheer us on!  Jessica, on the right, is Emily's sister, and Abby is Quintin's sister.  They both also run, but did not qualify, but they got to make the trip with us!  They made their own t-shirts and painted their faces to add to their blood-curdling screams while we raced!

The blinged bows tying up the back were a nice touch!

The state meet each year is held at MTSU as part of the Spring Fling.  Murfreesboro was crazy this week, because all the spring sports were having their state competitions at one time.  There was baseball, track, tennis, and more all in one place.  It's a sports palooza!

I believe that this is my favorite picture from all season!  In between the 4x800 (who placed 3rd) and the 1600 was probably our best time to be all together at the meet, so we snapped a few pictures.  This trip was probably the best sports trip I had ever been on.  From the ride up there, to meals and shopping the past day and that morning, we had so much fun and laughs.  I can't say how blessed I am to have these girls in my life.

It helped ease my nerves, too, as Cherie led a prayer with us before my first race!

I was so nervous for these races!  It's always a lot of pressure coming off of really good races to do even better, but not every day can be your best day.  Nerves, odd schedules (including that the 3200 was at 9:30 there, 10:30 at home when I would usually be well asleep), and lack of big race experience for me threw me off a bit.  I knew these races would be super tough and fast going against so many talented runners.  They make me better though!

I prayed a lot that I would just run however God wants me to; my start-line-saying is "Always do your best, and God will do the rest!"  It is still scary.

I went out there and gave it all I had, but didn't have my best races.  I kept with the leaders until the last lap of both races; I was determined to put up a fight, even though I didn't think my 1600 had as much of a chance to win.  I finished that one in 6th place in 5:08.  The 3200 was where I was ranked 1st going into it, and actually led several laps of the race.  It just wasn't meant for me to get the gold.  I ended up 3rd in that with 11:01, which really disappointed me because my time of 10:50 is still standing as this year's top time in the state for that event.  I could've won.

Disappointment is humbling, but that can be good.  I learned a lot this week about countless things, and I can't wait to get back into it!  I have to embrace every step of the way and make them all count.  I learned from Ryan Hall's book, Running with Joy, a cool quote I apply to my racing as well:  "I may not always win or do something amazing, but I will always have the strength to do what God has called me to race for."  The verse that goes along with that is 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you; My power is perfected in weakness." and the surrounding passage.  That makes me feel great about my so-called "failures" because I know it's all got a reason!

A little advice:  never let disappointment bring you down.  God is the only one who will never disappoint, so trust in Him, and find your joy in Him alone!



After my last race, Cherie came on my cool down with me, and we had a great time!  I love getting to talk to her; she's so encouraging, funny, and understands me!  We ran around the sports complexes of the campus a couple times, and felt great!  It's amazing what good company can do for you.  Over the past year, Cherie, her sister, Katlyn, and I have grown a lot closer, and I am glad, because I have needed these girls here to help me through this life!  I can trust them and know that they will give me their honest opinion and pray for and with me.  We have all grown closer to the Lord through each other this year, and are willing to tell others about it!

"How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?"  1 Thessalonians 3:9

It was after 10:00 by the time we got back to the field where our parents and other two girls were waiting, which means that most restaurants were closed.  The bus with the coaches and a couple boys who were along for the ride went to Longhorn Steakhouse, but we didn't want to do that.  We wanted fun and fast!  All day we had made up our plans to get something sweet, Chick-fil-a, or just go by a gas station or Wal-Mart to pick up some ice cream, fruit, cereal, and/or things like that.  CFA was closed, and Mom and Dad said no to the last plan listed here (which happened to be us girls' favorite), so we found a Sonic.  We met there and sat outside to enjoy shakes and blasts!

We had been saying all week that after this last meet is over, we were going to party.  I was so ready for a time to break free.  This hotel was so stinking fancy, we wanted to go explore, too.  I am one of those people who can be really up tight sometimes, and I go to bed super early because I like my sleep, and know that I need it to go through each day, but this night I didn't care.  When we got back, Katlyn and I changed into our bathing suits and met the twins down in the fitness room to try out the equipment, play with the weights and balls, and tests out the water machines.  Katlyn, riding the bike up there, is so goofy.  The twins had to get up early the next morning to go visit Lipscomb, so they didn't swim, but took a couple pictures for us. 

I wasn't even going to feel the water; I just ran and jumped.

We had a ton of fun playing around in the pool like little kids, which I had not done in I-don't-know-how-long.  We were going to get in the hot tub, but some people were hogging it, just taking up space, barely sitting in it.  We thought it was a funny situation; we ended up swimming with and talking to Emma Mashburn and some of her teammates in the pool, too!

When the pool closed at midnight, all the barely-wet hot-tubbers took all the towels, so Katlyn and I stood there shivering for over ten minutes until another worker came to bring us some more.  Then we headed up to the room to take nice, hot showers and get ready for bed.  By the time we laid down, it was 1:30!

The next morning, we were even more excited about going to the breakfast buffet, because we could really eat whatever we wanted now!  I got a plate of cantaloupe and honeydew, some of that yummy mango water again, and hit the omelette line!  I got him to make it with peppers, tomatoes, and onion, then topped it with some salsa.  After I finished that, it was just so yummy, I went back for another one.

After packing up and checking out, our day consisted of shopping!  I don't even have to buy things to get the enjoyment out of shopping.  I just love to look!  However, yesterday I did rack up at Dick's on tank tops.  We stopped in the Victoria's Secret in one shopping center so that I could take advantage of the Pink 7-for-$26 sale!  I needed some new undies and Pink is my favorite, so sales are good.  Sales are good on any store.

In Bath & Body Works, I am always fascinated by the scents and designs; I often buy the product because of the labels.  Marketing works well on me.  I even have scrapbook pages with all my pretty labels that I have gone through!  I didn't but either of these, but I think that they are just precious!

"Cool as a Cucumber"

I also love peas!

I didn't buy or find this while we were shopping, but I always love miniatures of anything.  This little mouthwash is the one I had in my cosmetic bag for the trip; it tastes great, too!

After we had shopped around all late morning and afternoon, we had to get some lunch.  It was around 3:30, so it was kinda like a brunch but between lunch and dinner.  So it was a linner.  Or dunch.  Anyways, Murfreesboro is FULL of places to eat, shop, and pretty much do anything you want.  Everywhere you go there is a shopping center.  We had never been to Chipotle, but I had heard good things about it, so that is where we went to eat.  I don't know if all their restaurants are like this (I hope not!), but this one looked like crap inside.  Hopefully, it is because the building is not finished.  There was literally nothing inside but wood ceilings and walls, metal tables and chairs, and the food counter.  Dad was mad at me for picking this place and threatened me with, "This better be good."  It had been a hard enough day on all our nerves as it was, and I thought I was about to meet my end!  However, the food ended up being very good!  The selection on the bar is not near as diverse as Salsarita's (aka my favorite restaurant), but they definitely gave you plenty of guacamole and good taste!  Above is my burrito bowl and cute water cup that even tells me what it is a cup for.  We ate outside since it was really hot!

Finally before heading home, we went back to the track to watch my teammate and All-American cross country runner Quintin run in the 1600, which we knew was going to be one heck of a race.  We have some great runners here in Tennessee, believe it or not.  He placed 2nd, just hundredths off of his PR.  The winner was another one of my friends, only a junior at Daniel Boone, Adam Barnard

.  He has become one amazing runner over the past year or so!

 

 

This is one of the tank tops that I got at Dick's on Thursday.  It goes perfect with my lifestyle!  I just love to run and hope to do it for a long, long time!  Although not only in running as a sport, but in my whole life, does this mean a lot to me.  I'll sum it up in this Bible verse: 

"...Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 3:13-14

May 10th-Sectionals Surprise

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Saturday, May 10th, 2014

aka the best day of racing thus far in my life

Going into these races, I was not expected to win.  I didn't even expect myself to win either.  In both my events, I was ranked 2nd behind a senior from Hardin Valley, Emma Mashburn, who will be going to run at Furman in the fall.  I have known her as one of my biggest running competitors since I started high school cross country, and now track as well.  Although she is a great cross country runner, I think she does better on the track, where her speed can beat out many others on the shorter and flatter races.  I thought I may have a chance, at least to push her some, especially since you never know what God has planned!  I also beat her in all the cross country races I have been in against her for the past 2 years.  However, I am at a disadvantage big time for experience on the track, but that is why there is a first time for everything!

 

I was also super excited that this section I meet was at Science Hill like the last time I had  my best races, and the weather was pretty hot and sunny, which is where I tend to have an advantage.

If you race, you know what nerves can do to your stomach.  Closer to race time, I could feel that I was more nervous than I thought!  I always get more nervous about the 1600, because it is so much more intense than anything I've been used to.  The shorter the race, the smaller the margin for error.  I've also always been used to running long distances, so it has been a challenge getting myself ready to race short ones!  I'm getting the hang of it, though.  I knew I was going to have to start fast to get a good spot and stay fast to keep myself in position to have a chance.  A PR is always a good goal, but I don't usually care about time as long as I'm in the place I want to be.  My main goal is to just run as hard as I can through the finish.  I don't want to start out too fast, but I also couldn't let myself get started too slow and have too much ground to cover in the second half.  Track has a lot more strategy than you realize until you have to do it.  Another reason I am a fan of long distance-more time to think about what you're doing.
From the time the gun went off, it was us two in the lead.  I stayed right behind her, then decided after we broke in around the first curve on the back straight, I would step in front.  I stayed there for a little while, but she passed me back.  At the 300 mark of the 3rd lap, my favorite spot to make my move, I accelerated in front and kicked it in from there.  You have no idea how scary it is to be leading a race at that point.  You can't see them, but they can see you, and all you can think is, "Oh my gosh, she's right behind me; I gotta go.  I can't let her catch me.  Oh gosh, I gotta go fast; Jesus help me!"  That last lap is always where I just push all I have into that finish line, especially in the last 100 meters, because I do not want to get beat that close to the end. 
I surprised everyone, including myself.  I was not supposed to win that race, but then, I had also never had anyone to push me like that.  God gave me good feeling legs this day!  I broke my PR by 10 seconds, finishing in 5:04, also breaking the school 1600 record by 4 seconds and improving my place for state by many places.
One down, one to go.

It had rained all morning, clearing up to be beautiful for the 1600 and other afternoon races, but by the time I did warm up #2, it clouded up, then began to rain again before the 3200.  I hate rain.  By the time I was about half way through my cool down it stopped, though.  We started out this one almost the same, Emma and I in front, but I took the lead from the break and kept it, since I had a little more confidence that I could take her today, especially feeling so good.  I kept that lead through the whole race, stretching it out a few steps each lap (as I knew because I could hear my friend's dad yelling for me each lap).  That last lap again, I gave it all I had, blazing my way to a huge PR of 10:50.  That was 14 seconds off my old best time, and moved me into first in the state, a time that still stands for the 2014 season.  This was the most worn out I'd been at the end of a race before.  I was speechless, but for two reasons:  one, I shocked myself and everyone at the meet; two, I was completely out of breath!  People along the sides were telling me how good I did, but I could barely spit out a thank you!  They said that was okay, just breathe!  Dad also told me afterwards that that was the most spent he'd seen me at the finish.  That's good, though; I need to make myself run harder.
I felt overwhelmed at the end of it all to see what I am able to do.  As this is my first track season, this gave me confidence and excitement moving forward into future seasons.  It was a day for tears of joy!  I am beginning to see more opportunities to be able to share God's love through what I love to do!

After the race, I changed shoes and met up with one of my best racing friends I have made through track this season, Macy Carrier from Tennessee High, who is also a senior going to ETSU next fall.  She is the one in maroon that you can see from behind my shoulder with the #3.  She placed third in the 3200, qualifying for her first state meet, so I was very excited for her!  We had cooled down together several times this season and had lots of fun, so we headed out one more time!  She had to leave a little shorter to go back to her school's athletic banquet, so I ended up cooling down some more with Emma and another HV girl.  It's funny to me how in running sports, your competition is often your best friends, too.

I am very thankful to the Tennessee High coaches for being so kind and encouraging to me as well, and even helping me get some college attention!  They are always there cheering for me and taking pictures for me, even though I'm huge competition.

This may give you a laugh; it definitely made me and others at the meet laugh.
On the jumbotron screen, they had listed for each race, so many letters of the runners' first names then so many letters of the school they are from in the order that they are in the race at any given time.  During the 1600, I kept looking up there when I would be facing that direction, and I got really confused.  I saw a name in front that was Makenzi Morris.  "Who is that?"  I couldn't figure out why a Makenzi Morris was up there and I did not know who this was with almost the same name as me.  Then there was a Chantal Morris.  "Whoa!  There's another Chantal!  And she has a sister named Makenzi!  After the race I have to go tell Chantal that there's another Chantal!"  (One of my teammates is named Chantal).  Then after the race, I was sitting in the stands and realized, oh, that was Chantal and me.  My first name was too many letters and Morristown West was too many letters.  It was Makenzie from Morristown and Chantal from Morristown.  I felt really dumb, but everyone thought it was hilarious!

Busy but Blessed

I'm getting to do a blog update today because we are out of school for probably the rest of the week!  (Tomorrow is for sure, and most likely Thursday, too)  This miracle snow came from nowhere, really quickly this morning, and it has not stopped since!  It is beautiful!

 

This morning, since I woke up to a wonderful surprise, I decided to whip up a big batch of pumpkin pancakes!  A random lunch conversation at school last week inspired me to make shaped pancakes one day, so today was the day.  I used a Pampered Chef squirter of my mom's to make these snowflakes.  It worked out so much better than I had imagined!

This was last Wednesday night after church with my friends (left to right) Bella and Jenna.  We were at TCBY for over an hour eating up and laughing at all kinds of crazy stuff!  Jenna is the college leader in my Sunday School class, and she inspires me so much!  She is so real, fun, and passionate for the Lord.

Tonight I got the idea to make my own apple cobbler for dessert!

I sliced up a golden delicious apple and microwaved it with honey, sugar free syrup, nutmeg, and cinnamon

used a Chobani Greek Apple Cinnamon yougurt

Arctic Zero Vanilla Maple
Kashi Apple Cobbler Granola Bar

and some Dulce de leche Cheerios

TADA!  This was a terrific and healthy dessert!

This is my wonderful mother!  She works in the office at a local elementary school, so she was even more thrilled to be out of school than I was.  I made a portion of my snapchat story for each line of let it snow because,
"It doesn't show signs of stopping
and I've got some corn for popping
since we've no place to go (that was where this picture came from)
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"
We have had a great day today full of laughs from the minute I woke up with our cat walking across my face.

This was from before church a couple weeks ago, but I had to snap a quick pic because I had never tried these before, and they were great!  Mom finally found the Cinnamon Harvest at walmart, but I'm still looking for some Indigo Morning!  I am a cereal lover for sure.

 

Here are two beautiful pictures taken by two of my beautiful friends!  God has shown us blessings today in the fact that we are getting a break from the craziness of life (since there is not really anyway we can drive!) and in how gorgeous His creations are, and how He can change things in the blink of an eye!