Angels

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." The Bible, New International Version, Hebrews 13:2

Lately I have been extremely grateful for the presence of God in my life. The other day, without ever expecting it, something totally cool happened that I can honestly say was completely the work of God, and I wanted to share it with you all! :)

As many of you know, I bought a car over the summer:



Now, love dear Agnes though I do, she's had her share of issues since I got her. The engine makes a strange shuddering when I accelerate, among other things, and even though she gets me from place to place without issue, she's no superstar in some ways. But, up until now I haven't had any real issues, for which I have been thankful. As a matter of fact, without Wednesday's chance encounter, I might not even have known I was having a problem!

Those of you who know cars will think I'm really dumb for not realizing this, but apparently I had a flat-ish tire. The roads in Champaign are really bumpy and my car isn't the smoothest ride to begin with, so if there was a feeling of the air getting low in a tire I never would have noticed. So I was on my way to work from class, and decided to stop for gas. Now normally I go to either the Meijer or Wal-Mart gas stations, as they usually have the cheapest gas, but that day for whatever reason a voice in my head was like "no, just go to the Freedom station, it's right on your way." This Freedom station is a little shady, but I'd been there before and it WAS on my way, so I went there.

I was the only person there besides a middle aged guy at the pump next to mine. He began a conversation about the weather, and then pointed out to me that my front/passenger tire was VERY low on air, basically flat. I had NO IDEA! So get this: not only does he tell me, but he went inside the gas station with a dollar to get change for me, helped me fill it with air, and told me to call him if I had any more problems because he owns an auto body shop. WHAT?!? He even offered to change/repair the tire for free if it didn't hold the air he put in it.

This, to me, was totally an angel. Now everyone reading this might not believe in God, and that's okay, I'm not trying to tell you what to think, just to share with you this cool thing that I know in my heart was totally from God. I seriously hadn't been to that gas station in MONTHS, and just by going there had a chance encounter with a Good Samaritan who helped me for no other reason than that I was there and clearly clueless about my car's flat. I guess it's just a reminder that no matter where we are in our lives, God is right there with us! :)

Confucius Say...

So I was looking up quotes by Confucius for my friend (inside joke, long story involving a Chinese dog...lol), and found this one:

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop."

I really like it! I think it's good to remember that even if you feel like you are making slow progress, or even no progress on a goal, that doesn't mean that you won't eventually get there. For example, many of you know about my goal to lose weight. I've kind of hit a plateau and lost some motivation, but just because I haven't been hitting the gym hard or eating exactly healthy at every single meal doesn't mean that the little things I do won't eventually add up, if that makes sense. So, in short, don't give up on your goals if you are not making progress, just remember that going slowly doesn't mean that you have stopped, or that you can't go faster eventually if you want to!

Reason I Go To The Gym

1. To watch television shows like Parenthood



Supernatural



and Glee



2. To be in an air-conditioned building :)

3. To work out, I guess. lol

Fall!

Ladies and gentlemen, I think it is safe to say that fall has arrived!! I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited! Fall is my favorite season for many reasons. First, it means the return of the most delicious thing ever to have graced my lips, the honeycrisp apple. Observe:



See how they tumble out of the basket, as though they are shouting TAKE ME! EAT ME! Okay, maybe I've gone overboard. But I LOOOOOOOVE honeycrisp apples, and you can only get them during the fall!

The return of fall also means the return of one of my recently-acquired fan-obsessions, football! Football to me means two things. Marching band (like the U of I band that I saw at the U of I/OSU game this past Saturday)...



And, of course, this guy.



This, dear readers, is Brian Urlacher, and he is what we like to call a bad ass. lol my mom met him once by accident, he held open the door for her when she was on her way out of a Chipotle, and she said that he's pretty much a beast. Hopefully we don't have a repeat of last year ***knockonwood*** where he got injured....this guy basically carries the Bears defensive line, as far as my opinion is concerned.

What else....I can't forget that fall means SCARVES and gloves and coats!! When you live somewhere that is cold for almost 3/4 of the year, you get really good at accessorizing with your outerwear. I'm mad because I can't find this:



No, not that I can't find Hermione, but that I can't find the scarf I have that looks like that!! I might have to make a new one. You best believe I will be wearing it to the premier of the 1st part of the last Harry Potter movie in November!! hehehe :)

And, last but not least, fall means Halloween, and Halloween means pumpkins! My friend and I decorated for Halloween last week and it was a lot of fun.



We are going to carve pumpkins soon, too! Hopefully we don't get a repeat of a few years ago when our pumpkins had a little too much fun without us....just kidding :) but you definitely don't want to see your pumpkins like this in the morning!



Finally, just because he's adorable, here is a picture of my brother and sister-in-law's new puppy!! His name is Taz, he is a corgi, and I am going to steal him. Watch yourselves. lol :)

Survey!

My friend recently posted this survey on her blog, and I am bored and it looked like fun :) hehehe

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse

2. Your hair? Up

3. Your mother? Fun

4. Your father? Working

5. Your favorite food? Pasta

6. Your dream last night? Hanson (lol!)

7. Your favorite drink? Water

8. Your dream/goal? Satisfaction

9. What room are you in? Dining

10. Your hobby? Friends!

11. Your fear? Nothing (not true, but a goal...lol)

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Conserving (books)

13. Where were you last night? BillyElliot!!

14. Something that you aren’t? Normal? lol

15. Muffins? Chocolate!!

16. Wish list item? MacBook

17. Where did you grow up? LZ

18. Last thing you did? Napped

19. What are you wearing? tshirt

20. Your TV? Off

21. Your pets? Rory!!!!!

22. Friends? Awesome!

23. Your life? Hectic


24. Your mood? Great

25. Missing someone? Sorta

26. Vehicle? Blue!

27. Something you’re not wearing? Hat

28. Your favorite store? Target

29. Your favorite color? Blue!!

30. When was the last time you laughed? Always! lol

31. Last time you cried? Friday

32. Your best friend? many!! :)


33. One place that I go to over and over? Chicago!

34. One person who emails me regularly? SPAM!

35. Favorite place to eat? many! lol

Rory the Explorey

This post is going to be mostly pictures. As many of you know, I love my cat :) and many of you also know that she was in the kitty hospital this past weekend :( sadface. She had/has pancreatitis, which is a swelling of the pancreas, and though she has been home since Sunday, she has not been eating and spitting out what she is being force-fed, and I am worried about her. I HATE not being there 24/7 to take care of her, as she is in my future apartment with my future roommate in another city while I am here at school. I so appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers, and hope that my little kitty gets well soon!

What I've Been Up To

Greetings, readers! Lately I feel like I am always starting my blog entries with "gee, it's been awhile, huh?" Things have been pretty busy recently, though! First I stood up in my brother's wedding, which was a ton of fun. Here is a picture of the shoes I got to wear to the reception, and the shoes my new sister (!) wore :)



Fun, huh? :) I wish I could wear sneakers to every wedding! Later that weekend my friend/future/current roommate (it's a long story, I semi-live there already but not, lol) and I painted my future/current room!! Take a look:




It was a ton of fun, and I LOVE the color! It's a very pretty blue, similar to the blue that I had in my room at our old house.

Finally, classes have started, and since I got rid of the internet at my house I have been spending more time reading and watching tv, and crafting! I got together a few "care packages" to send to some of my friends, and also made some birthday/other presents. Since I took that bookbinding class I bought some pretty paper to use to make books, and I am really happy with the results! Take a look below at the paper, as well as the finished products. The blue book was the first one I made, and so that's why the inside is different than the inside of the green book, because I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to cut the paper, etc. But I'm pretty happy with the result, and I hope that once the recipients get them that they like them too! :) (side note: as usual, these pictures were taken using the camera on my phone, so they're obviously not so great...lol)