because our save the date rocks

and posting this will force me to write about our engagement. i'm so happy we made this ourselves. austin and i loved how it turned out. it's so rad.

hours away

i'm only hours away from being home from my work trip (and i get to see austin!). even if it's just for a day and then i'm back out in kentucky again for another two weeks, i'm very thankful for the chance to go home and rest. Lord knows i need it.

this verse has brought me a lot of comfort while being away, "And He said, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'" Exodus 33:14.

kansas city, missouri

 

 

i really enjoyed my trip to kansas city last week. i know that i've never lived where it's snown or even really rained much, but it's so magical to me. i am so blessed to be able to travel and explore all these new-to-me cities.

take me back to washington, please.

i forgot to post this from a while ago. but lets be honest, i'm always ready to go back there. who wants to take me to washington. please?

salt lake city

i've never seen so much whiteness and snow before. it was breathtaking. it seemed so quiet and still here, looking down on the city from an airplane. something so strange and different than california. hoping to take the stillness i imagined and bring it into my life here at home. learning to be still and quiet before our God. to hear His still small voice.

welcome 2014

welcome 2014. i'll look back on 2013 fondly. it was challenging and wonderful. and i'd say by the end of the year that i had grown and learned quite a bit. and God continues to grow me and to meet me everyday. if only i would choose to meet with him everyday. i definitely have some resolutions, just to re-focus myself and work hard towards goals for this year. my top priorities being:
meet with God everyday. allow Him to be my top priority and my number one love.
learn to serve my fiance with all of my heart. i want to be as selfless as i can be.
focus on my relationships with my family and friends.
learn to love as Christ loves us.

i'm so excited for what 2014 holds. i also can't believe that this is the year that i will be marrying my sweetheart. it seems like forever ago that austin and i were meeting at a friends house for the first time. really, it was 10 years ago that we first met. i am a blessed woman to call him my fiance and soon to be husband.

the verse that keeps coming to mind for the new year is this, "therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (hebrews 12:1). praying you have a blessed year and will choose to run your life race for Christ as I am choosing to run mine.

i'm graduating

so i graduate tomorrow. weird! i'm really looking forward to it though. i'm happy to be done with school and moving on to the next area of my life. i told my family and friends that they have to be the loudest and craziest ones there when they call my name. also, natalie told me that instead of having the people announce "chanel paulk" i should have them announce "tobias funke". haha! we'll see. life has been so good lately. minus my dog not doing so well, i've been having really good days. hopefully i'll be posting on here more to help document my days :) and to give myself a break from studying. my first test is so soon!! anyways, yay for tomorrow! hopefully it's not 90 degrees because then i'll just want to kill myself.

killer surprise

these photos are so grainy, but oh well i love them anyways! i surprised my boyfriend and took him to go see the killers for part of his birthday present last week. it was a blast! they are so great live! and austin was so surprised. i got him real good!! it had been so long since we had gone to a concert together and we had so much fun. i can't wait til our next show! maybe we'll see the mars volta again for the 1000th time. except, i think the last time they toured was in 2009 soooo i don't think we'll see them again anytime soon.

toning it up and feeling good

my sister and i decided to really start eating better and working out on a consistent basis about two weeks ago. i know that doesn't seem like that long ago (it really isn't) but it's definitely made a huge difference in our lives. nat has already lost a good amount of weight since starting to work out a month ago, and i've already seen changes in myself too. it's fantastic. and i'm so proud and happy that my sister decided to do this on her own. i didn't have to force her or ask her. she just did it. which is so rad! if you're interested, we follow Karena & Katrina and try to live the Tone It Up lifestyle. i've had their nutrition plan for a few years now, but am just not really giving it my all. and i can already tell that it is so worth it.

today's been a good day

i'm glad i got to see my friend charee today. it's been months since we've seen each other. and she came with me to church this morning which was wonderful. and i had the best naked juice at coffee bean. and i got to surprise my boyfriend with his favorite jamba juice while he was at work. it's been such a nice sunday. and in a little bit i'm going to workout with friends at a park and go to dinner later! so my sunday is going to get even better. i love sundays :)