trying to study

this is what i am doing right now. trying to study with whitnee and coni. not much is getting done though. especially since this thong man keeps walking by us. it's a guy who literally is in bright blue spandex and a pink thong that keeps walking through panera. i think he enjoyed our company too because he kept choosing to sit right next to us. it was probs cuz coni kept giggling. she is so cute! oh coni! you're so silly! but anyways, thong man was completely inaprope. what's also inaprope is coni tagging trevor as the thong man. but that's mostly just funny. hahaha. anyways, i guess i will go back to studying. i am meeting with tricia and mary tonight! i'm so exci! i love them and miss them!

whitneee studying

me studying?

someone is laughing about the guy

way to go coni!

coni died laughing. true story.

 we're so serious?

 :)

missing hungary

charee, me*, natalie, jessica

what else is new? i miss Hungary every single day. i miss my friends there and i miss the long days and long nights that i spent there two summers ago. i wish i could go back! i'm praying that i can.


it's funny, because i was talking to my mom one night and i asked her to pray for me and for what i should do next summer. well, more importantly, what God wanted me to do next summer. i wasn't sure if that meant trying to get an accounting internship or going on a mission trip. i was hoping that God was going with mission trip :) {side note: i love going on mission trips and serving. and last year i was praying hard that i could go to romania! God had different plans though (i had the privilege of going to haiti). and romania wasn't even in the works yet (haha! God must have been laughing a little at me jumping ahead of Him about romania! silly silly).} so literally, as soon as i hung up with my mom, i got on the phone with my friend ryan. and what does he tell me? oh that we might be going to romania for a few weeks in the summer on a mission trip. excuseeee me?! seriously!? and i had just spoken to my mom about this? but i was torn. because lately, i have been feeling like the best thing to do is get an internship. i'm planning on graduating in about a year, and i need to prepare for that.


so, i just don't know what to do. i mean, obviously God is going to give me peace about what i should do and what i am called to do. and i know my heart wants to go back to hungary so badly... but sometimes God asks us to do other things. things that we didn't think were ideal or what we wanted- but God knows whats best! it's the biggest lesson He has ever taught me. how to deny myself daily and just follow Him. to trust Him with all of my heart.


Mark 8:34* "When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."

i'm excited to see what God has in store for next summer! praying and looking to Him for guidance! love you God!!

thanksgiving

christmas card?- heather and i

happy black friday!! this morning i went shopping with four of my girlfriends. it's becoming a thanksgiving holiday tradition for us! they came over to my house around 10 pm then we hit the shops from 12-6 am! it's funny because i used to always think that people who shopped on black friday were crazy and now i'm one of them! haha!



yesterday was wonderful. i spent the whole day with my family and a few relatives on my dad's side of the family. it was my cousin nicole's 32nd birthday too! i'm glad that we got to spend time with her on her birthday as well!

here is a list of a few things i am thankful for (so i can remember whenever i look back on here! :)

{i'm forever grateful and thankful for my loving savior, Jesus Christ. it's something i try to remember and thank God for every day. i'm so happy that God loves me and has saved me! and i am so thankful for my relationship with Him.

{natalie: i'm extremely thankful for my sister and best friend natalie. words can't describe how much i love this girl! yay for sisters!

{i'm really blessed to have a place to call home. living in orange county has been comfortable and pleasant and very easy. i am very grateful for all that is provided for me by my parents and this includes our home. i have a place to lay my head at night and stay warm. and that's a lot more than a lot of people can say.

{my girlfriends! i'm sooooososososo thankful for all my wonderful and amazing friends. they all glow and love the Lord so much! i couldn't have asked for better friendships.

{my family and their commitment to the Lord. i'm thankful that they love God so much and have raised me in such a way that honors the Lord.

{i'm thankful for chai tea lattes and ice cream. i know these two are silly, but i love chais and ice cream. thank you God for taste buds and the extra cash i have to spend on these items when i like!

Psalm 100: 4-5: "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations."

TTI: borders

sandy and casey are silly

TTI: this is the story of the time natalie and i went to borders (sad day because they are all out of business now!!). seriously, we had the best time. we tried taking videos of each other dancing down the aisles and just being silly. we even saw our pastor's wife there and definitely giggled about it for a long time. i think people got annoyed at how loud we were being. natalie is my best friend! God blessed me so much with her as my sister! i guess now natalie and i will have to hang out at barnes & noble.... we'll see about that though. these pictures were taken at the beginning of summer and they make me smile!

cute outfit natakie!

cute sister bear!

i love whipped cream

whatttttt

The A-Z of Chanel

A. Age: 21 (almost 22...sad!)
B. Bed size: twin? it's tiny.
C. Chore that you hate: washing dishes. i miss our dishwasher!
D. Dogs: casey and sandy. but sandy is an alien.
E. Essential start to your day: reading "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers
F. Favorite color: it's always been blue but i really love greens and browns right now
G. Gold or Silver: it depends!
H. Height: 5'4"
I. Instruments you play: my stomach (only Mel would get this! and i doubt she'll ever read this hah)
J. Job title: student, cashier at chipotle
K. Kids: maybe someday, if it's God's plan
L. Live: California
M. Mother’s name: Annette
N. Nicknames: bellie, giggles, chan, or natalie might refer to me as, "you dumb" (in a loving sister way ;) )
O. Overnight hospital stays: 3 days when i had pneumonia in high school
P. Pet peeves: rude customers at chipotle. especially when they demean the crew members
Q. Quote from a movie: my favorite quote that i can think of should not be shared. but it's in the opening credits of 500 days of summer. and natalie and i laugh so hard at it every time. actually there are lot's of quotes from that movie that we love. but again... inapprope!
R. Right or left handed: Right handed
S. Siblings: my best friend, Natalie aka NATAKIE
U. University: Cal Poly Pomona
V. Vegetable you hate: onion. that's a vegetable right? euw sick
W. What makes you run late: everything. procrastination and waiting to get ready at the last minute are very typical of me (ahem, maybe you should fix that CHANEL)
X. X-Rays you’ve had: lots and lots. i had three surgeries on my right elbow, so i don't know how many x-rays i had just for that alone
Y. Yummy food that you make: when i bake cakes, they are very yummy. or spaghetti squash with tomato sauce. maybe i should make food more!! because i do love food :)
Z. Zoo animal: well, i love sea world animals. so they aren't really zoo animals, huh? but i love being able to pet the manta rays at sea world!

this weekend i had an amazing time with a lot of my high school girls from calvary chapel! we headed down to beautiful san diego and shared a weekend filled with lots of laughs, dancing (LOL michelle!!!), and some good cries :) can i just say that i was so blown away at how much the girls LOVE Jesus? i am so in awe of who these young women are and how they are constantly going back to the Lord and trying so hard to serve Him and glorify Him in everything that they do! they encourage me and challenge me to love God more and more. i love being a youth leader and being able to see them grow! it encourages me so much! i am so blessed by all of them and consider them my friends.

the car ride home was probably the best part of the trip. having one of the girls open up to all of us in the car was incredible. i was in awe at how much wisdom God has given her! it was such a divine appointment! we all cried as we listened to her pour her heart out about her family and life. but she assured us that God is in control and will bring her family out of hard times and on to better things. her hope and her faith stands firmly on Jesus Christ.

i'm praying for you and your family, sweet girl! thank you for sharing your story with me. it broke my heart but you reminded me that God is our redeemer and our ultimate hero. and no matter what, He loves us so much and goes right through all of our hard times with us, standing at our side.

Psalm 28:8

New King James Version (NKJV)

 ⁸ The LORD is their strength,^[a]
         And He is the saving refuge of His anointed.

this made me smile:

"Dear Jesus, you're cute. Amen." -Ariana

she's so sweet! i love having friends who love Jesus so much and say fun stuff like this. it makes me happy.

my "birthday"

It was 2 years ago yesterday that I re-dedicated my life to the Lord. Time has flown by! So now i'm a little 2 year old baby Christian :) I am so thankful for all that God has been doing in my life and how He has shown His grace and mercy to me. It was a monday night and i was at MNL. When Pastor Garid spoke that night, it felt as if he was talking directly to me. Thanks Mom for asking me to go with you to church on that day!


Over these past two years, God has shown me how I am a brand new person and all my sins and stains have been washed away. It's been hard learning this, and sometimes seems impossible to be clean and brand new, but it's the truth! ‎2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." Thank you LORD, for what you have done for me! And for making me brand new!

How can I glorify the Lord today?

"How can I glorify Christ today?"

That's the question I've been asking myself lately. How can I glorify the Lord today, even when I have no strength left in me? Even though I'm sad and a little fearful? Even though I feel so burdened? These past two weeks have been extremely difficult for me personally. The Lord has had His hand in all of my circumstances though. I have to trust in Him that this is what He wants for me; and I have to know and believe that His will and plans for me are far better than my own. The Lord has been faithful to be there for me through it all. And I have been blessed by great friends and mentors who have poured out Christ's love to me so much over these past two weeks. Thank you Lord for these special people! One of my best friends Jessica had some great words of encouragement for me today via text:

"As we walk through the trials of this life its always nice to dream about our futures and what we wish for them to hold.. but we must wait on God for those happy future things and instead not waste the time our Lord has given to us today. Today He asks us to spread His word and His love to ALL people. Today He asks us to spend time with him and honor Him in all of our ways!"

Thank you Jessica for the encouragement! I love you!

So today, I choose to glorify the Lord through these hard trials and circumstances. I choose to live for Him and Him alone today! I choose to fight all negative thoughts and emotions that come my way today and will instead lay them at the foot of the cross.

Father God, I surrender all my thoughts and hopes to you today.
You are my strength and my shelter when I am so weak.
Help me to rely on you for all that I need.
Help me to breathe through today, and keep going.
I want to look only to you. Not to the right or the left.
Only up to you.


How can you glorify the Lord today?

Things I want to do...

So I love the thought of blogging all the time and always having pictures so I can remember this time in my life, but I never actually do it! I love following other people's blogs and seeing all the pictures they post. I think it is so neat that we can do all of this and can always remember what was going on in our life at a certain point in time. There are a few things that I really want to start doing over the next few months:

1. Buy a camera. One day I would love to own a 5d mark ii. It's too expensive though. But it's still fun to talk about it! And my sister and I want to buy fun little cameras. Like instant cameras or holgas.

2. Read my bible consistently every single day. I don't know why I don't read it everyday. I love reading it. I just need to take time out of my schedule and spend some more time with the Lord. 

3. Make more crafts with my sister. Recently we made these ball things with a million little paper flowers on them. They look so awesome! I wish I did that more often with her. It's so much fun.

4. Spend more time with my friends. And not just my best friends, but other friends also. There are a few people I can think of that I should try to spend more time with.

5. Spend more time serving. I really should be more involved with the youth ministry at my church. I'm a youth leader at Calvary Chapel East Anaheim for the freshman and sophomore girls. I love them so much! I just wish I spent more time with them helping out at different events and what not.

6. Spend more time sharing. I am so quiet at work and at school about God. And I get really sad and upset that I don't talk to more people about the Lord. I just need to speak up.

7. Spend more time cleaning. My mom needs so much more help with just cleaning and taking care of the house and all the different errands that she needs finished. I want to be a good daughter and I need to help her out.

8. Spend more time praying. Seriously, it's so important and I don't do it nearly as often as I should. Sorry God!

9. Spend more time exercising. My parents bought me a gym pass and I only go maybe every other week. I'm so inconsistent at going. I just really want to get back in shape and feeling good and healthy again.

10. Spend less time wasting my life. This ones pretty general, but I really want to live my life full out for God! In practical ways, I need to and want to live my life completely for my Lord and Savior. He deserves it after all!

So, I guess in a few months or something I can write back and tell how I'm doing with all of these things. I hope I make some progress. I think I will :)