progressive dinner 2011

friday night was the progressive dinner! i'm a youth leader at my church for some of the high school girls. it's awesome! i love hanging out with them and getting the chance to encourage them in their walks! it's great :) so friday night all of the high schoolers got together and dressed super nice. we ate dinner at one house, dessert at another, and then saw a movie (i absolutely did not like the arthur christmas movie! it was sooo bad!). it was such a great night! i'm looking forward to next years!

 love this girl!!

 and this one!!

taylor and i!

ps. ariana, if you read this.... i'm sorry you couldn't go! LOL! but evan was rocking his pink pants and bow tie! haha!

wondering what's next

i really should be sleeping right now. i mean, it is after 12 a.m. and i have church in the morning (and i wanted to go on a run before church? lol). but i feel like writing. i don't know what i feel like saying though. and with blogging you probably should know what you want to say first? oh well.

anyways, i'm really curious to see what is going to happen in the future. and i mean, soon soon. like next month soon. or even a few weeks soon. and i'm excited, but i'm also really anxious and nervous. and i feel really selfish. because, i'm always wondering about what i want to happen, or what i think should happen, or what i think will happen. and God is probably thinking, "oh chanel. just trust me. i know what you want and what you would like to happen. but I have everything under control and know what is best"*

it's just so hard leaving everything in God's hands! and not only that, but taking a step of faith in what you believe it is that God is calling you to do. because, if i'm being honest, i'm really quick to jump into what i want to do, and am quick to forget and not listen to what GOD wants me to do.

okay, so... here is my commitment to spending every single day over christmas break (yay! it's christmas break! FINALLY!) with Jesus and dedicating time to prayer and reading my Bible. i will use this break to bring Him glory and to try to get a glimpse in what He wants me to do over the next year.

so i guess i should maybe check in every day and let you know how it's going? yeah, we'll see how that goes :p but i'll try to write everyday! you can do it me! (is it weird i give myself pep talks? yeah probs. but jess on new girl does it.... hahaha)

aunt janine's birthday

nina and i and a friend's wedding

it was my aunt janine's birthday this past week. i love her so stinking much. you have no idea. she's more like a friend/sister to me than an aunt. i am so thankful for her! it was her 32nd birthday ;) maybe... all she wanted to do for her big day was hang out with my family and two other families. and i am in love with these families. they feel like part of my family, not just family friends. i laugh so hard at everything whenever we all get together. oh gosh, it is just so great! i love it! all of our families became friends before any of us kids were born. they all met at our old church, calvary chapel pacific coast. God blessed my parents with awesome friends! and i am so happy that i have gotten to know them over the years as i've grown up. here are some pictures from the birthday night:

 my dad's camera takes really great blurry/light crazy pictures, huh?

 7th grade dance re-enactment by brenen and melanie

 they are so crazy most of the time!

 aunt janine with all her "nieces and nephews"

 evelyne, judi, nina, and my mom annette

 all the adults!

 really... who told them to make these signs? haha hilarious!

 of course we would break out into a dance party

 all of the girls :)

 me, natalie, morgan, stephanie, and melanie

 dalton always looks like this. i promise.

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.