paper hearts and chocolate...

usually i am one of those annoying girls who pretends to hate valentines day but secretly loves it and is just in a horrible mood because she doesn't have a valentine. but today i woke up with a great relization. today is a day we celebrate love and there are lots of people that i love and that love me back. HENCE (yes, i did just scream "hence" at you) the following is a list (not at all comprehensible) of my valentines. please to enjoy.

my year in review...

well kitty-cats:

it's that time once again; for some reason i just feel that my first blog of a new year, must include some sort of unpacking of the year before it. so please to enjoy, my year in review

the 3 best student moments of 2011:

- when ricky told me he was going to quit soccer because it was getting in the way of church

- when avalon said she wanted to live the life God had for her, not the life she has for her

- when vince, waffs, and ricky helped strangers unload their luggage at camp, wearing superhero costumes.

the 3 best family moments of 2011:

- when i got a sister-in-law

- when emery was born

- moving back in with my momma and dad

the 3 best friend moments of 2011:

- going on the cruise to mexico with rachel and the ladies

- patrick's wedding

- valentines dates with jenna

the 3 best God moments of 2011:

- summer camp with the kiddos

- catalyst

- preschool chapel

the 3 best chelsea moments of 2011:

- finally coming to grips with everything dr. palameno has been telling me for years and accepting the PCOS

- getting Bingley

- trusting myself

copy-cat, 2009 edition...

so clearly i steal my best ideas. but i was reading my friend haley's blog (a great pastime you should try) and i loved how she summed her year up. i've been trying to find a good way to do the same... so i'm stealing hers: the following are the people, places, and moments that defined me this year. some of them helped me to better grasp who i am and who my God calls me to be, others were just plainly a bad influence. I want to be clear that the following items are listed for all sorts of reasons. so don't take any of it as an advertisement (necessarily)!

BOOKS: The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay), The Furious Longing of God (Brennan Manning), The Twilight Series (Stephanie Meyer)

SONGS: divine romance (phil wickham), don't stop believin' (glee cover), i didn't know my own strength (whitney houston), by your side (tenth avenue north)

PEOPLE: President Barack Obama, Sally Cook, Pierre Bartels, The Klug Family, Kevin Cox, and Chelsea Handler

WEBSITE: www.youthspecialities.com/jobs

Album: Line on the Horizon (U2), ACTS 2009

MOVIES: (this was by far the hardest category to sum up) Invictus, Schindler's List, Last Chance Harvey, P.S. I Love you, Star Trek

TV SHOWS: Sons of Anarchy, Survivor, The Real Housewives

MISC: Directing ACTS, Leaving SAPC, Last Family Camp, Moving Out, Standing Up, Tyler getting married, Letting Go, AAA, Joining and Leaving the OAM Board, Trust