tafting with adrie and april 

This weekend I finally got some much needed Vitamin D. I literally haven't seen the sunlight pretty much all summer! Some friends and I went to Lake Travis on Saturday. The lake is the lowest I have ever seen, so many islands! After being crispified, we went to Ape's and had pizza while watching the OC. I LOVE THE OC. Judge me if you want, Seth Cohen will always have my heart. 

I just love Adrie and April. April and I always just get each other. I love her so deep. I'm just really grateful that I have been able to have a friendship with her friends from school because that is so rare. Adrie is seriously the bomb and I have grown to really love her. Totally awesome fun times to be had with those two. Can NOT wait to go to Chicago again in the fall to visit them!!! :)

Also, today Micah informed me that he pooped in the dug out at one of his baseball games......how? Gross. That kid keeps me young.

{Independence Day!}

Happy 4th of July!!! I love wearing red white and blue. And I really love American flags. So grateful our country was founded on biblical principles. So thankful for freedom!! 

P.S.-  April and I painted our nails alternating colors--Red, White, Blue--with sparkles. Awesome.

{YES}

This video makes me just want to scream SUMMER!!!!!!! 
Also, it has so many colors and glow in the dark (eeeeek!). Reason #247 & 248 why I love Coldplay.

Challenge: listen to this while driving home from work, school, pool or anything with the windows down. Just scream! It feels awesome. This one's for you Bo...

{Dreamlights}

Okay watch these. When I watched them, I muted the video and was listening to Beautiful Things by Gungor. Bo showed me these videos and I'm obsessed. How did he know I would be? I

Here's the story. It's like real life Tangled!!!!!

{My heart will burst at the thought of..}

1. My dad being healed. Oh how I wait for that blessed day that his body finally responds to the promise written in the Scripture. The promise that He has already paid the price. We are saved. "Saved" in the Bible comes from the Greek word sozo. Sozo means several things: cured, ensured salvation, get well, made well, recovered and restored. Restored is my favorite. I love the notion that He restores me daily. He restores me mentally, physically and emotionally. He has restored everyone of us when He died for us...by His stripes we are healed- Isaiah 53:5. 
2. Having my own home. I get butterflies when I think about the tiny house that I so want in the future! It will be warm and cozy and clean. There will always be pillows and blankets in the living room so I can lay on the floor with loved ones and talk about life as we know it. There will be candles to make me feel like I am walking into a perfectly lovely store. I want a tin roof to fall asleep under with the rain pitter-pattering like a noise machine app on my phone. I want a rap-around porch with rocking chairs that I can sit and rock away the years with family. I want a yard with a swing on the tree so I can watch the world while swaying with the wind. I want flowers because there really isn't any better smell than freshly planted flowers in mulch. I want lots of crazy mugs that show how many places I've traveled and drank delicious chai and (hopefully) coffee. I want my bathroom mirrors to be covered in verses and Truths. I want mason jars and twinkle lights all over. I want a crafty room for the kiddies with chalkboard walls. I just can't wait for a home. 
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo
3. Europe in the winter! OH I cannot wait till I get to Europe and teach the little ones and travel and all things good. I have a feeling I will want to stay. Can't wait to pretend I'm really artsy fartsy. 
4. Becoming a teacher. I can't wait to love my students. I can't wait to know all of their names and little of what makes them up. I can't wait to write down silly quotes and take silly pictures of crumbs on their face or their shirts inside out. I can't wait to welcome them with a hug every morning and push them out of my class in the afternoon :)

I sometimes get so happy thinking about the future and what is to come! Joy joy joy joy down in my heart, YAY! 

I love the here and now. But as Anne Shirley says: tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it. 

{Anthology}

The new edition is here!!! I love this little mag.

1- because the theme just happens to be, Life is a Party. Ya know I'm gonna dig that.
2- it's so colorful!!! I love love love colors. Trust me, this magazine has so many colors you could squeeze the pages and out would spill a million Crayola Crayons. Perfection.


Okay, I'm going to stop there because you just have to read it! You can read it online right here or you can buy it at Anthropologie or you can subscribe!

{Brownie}

My most recent obsession is my Pillow Pet that Benji Belz gave me. 

I named him Brownie cuz he's.....brown.

Cool fact: He can be a pillow or a pet! Sheesh those people are clever when they named these things.

I love him. I slept with him all night, which is probably why I woke up 50 times...#worthit.

Isn't he cute?

Happy Birthday to you!!

Happy Birthday to YOU,

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Happy Birthday dear Laur Baur,

Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

Today you are 21!

Wanna read 21 reasons why I love you? I know you do...

1. You are my best friend.
2. You are so loyal.
3. You are beautiful.
4. You are hilarious.
5. You love teen novels like me.
6. We named every Disney movie today with "animal companions."
7. You have beautiful brown eyes that do not look like poop even though you say that all the time.
8. You cry with me.
9. You are such a good listener.
10. We have known each other for so long. A decade to be precise. 
11. Everyone thought we wouldn't stay friends in college. How wrong were they?!
12. We have the same personality type. ESFJ's UNITE!!
13. We wear the same size clothes. Great for sharing. And being twins.
14. On the twins note, we like the same food. All food. 
15. We have the same love language :) Quality times are the best times.
16. You are so giving. 
17. You can sleep forever. Weird that I'm bringing this up? No. I love it.
18. You are so supportive.
19. You are so godly. I find myself naturally gravitating to your encouragement.
20. You have the same major as me!! We are the same person geez. {Insert high five/hug here}
21. The last and final thing: Heather described our friendship this morning as unconditional love. I don't know if I've ever seen it the way she was describing us. How we can fight and get annoyed and laugh and cry together but still love each other so deeply. Monday night is the best example, we can literally scream at each other with tears covering our cheeks and still end up embracing. It's funny how I picture our friendship in my head. I know we will always be friends. I know it. If you don't know why, see this post. 

Obviously 21 reasons I love you will never describe the friendship I have with you. You mean so much to me Lauren Marie Christensen. More than I could ever explain through email, texts, phone calls, notes, photobooth videos, wall posts or just words in general. My heart instantly feels fuller around you. 

I love you so much my dearest friend. This special day is YOURS. You rock.

Someday we'll have precious children like this. But for now, let's pretend these happy preshies are us, celebrating YOU :)

21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21. 21.

The best job ever.

Lemme tell you a little story about today.

Dialogue:
Grace- "Ms. Caldwell, did you straighten your hair today?"
Me- "Why yes I did, thanks for noticing!"
Grace- "I really love it. You don't look like a cook today."
Me- "Excuse me, a what?"
Grace- "A cook! You usually look like a cook."
Me- "Um you mean like a chef kind of cook?"
Grace- "YES! Exactly."
Me- "Okay. Thanks? Is that a good or bad thing?"
Grace- "Definitely good. I love food."


I just really can't wait to be a teacher with my own classroom and my own, hilarious students that make life more exciting and adventurous.




P.S- One of my students' this semester is named Romance. Literally Romance. And he's a boy.

glass lakes and peaks so tall.

Norway, I love you.

hearts are warm.

{via emily steffen photography}

j'aime ceci

Mumford & Sons - The Banjolin Song / Awake my soul - A Take Away Show #105 from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

I LOVE THIS VIDEO.

bye bye 2010.

january

my favorite event. nerds4life.

february

sing & snow.

march

rodeo & robots.

april

dia & dances.

may

boat times & birthdays.

june

weddings & reunions.

july

friends visit austin.

august

soaking up the last of summer.

september

21 & and the best trip ever.

october

homecoming festivities.

november

thanksgiving & the end of football.

december

christmas time is the best time.

bye bye 2010, you were good to me.

warning sign.

i have two favorite bands. mumford & sons and coldplay. 

coldplay was the first cd i ever bought and i never get sick of them.

this post goes out to my bestie anna. driving around d-town listening to this song last night brought me happiness.

i love that feeling. full.

 music does bring me happiness. so do my best friends.
do me a favor and listen to this song.

i miss you ans, loves ya!

little kids.

one of my favorite things in life are little kids. 

miranda is the cutest!

my little favie :)

my christmas miracle.

well the fam has been really struggling with money lately. no surprise since my dad can't work anymore. it's gotten really difficult for him to talk/walk. i've been stressing and worrying about how i'm going to not only survive the baylor materialism mindset but how my family is going to pay the bills. 

it really is silly that i was so overwhelmed. i always do this! typical kambly, picking up the burdens and worries that He tells me to leave behind with Him. 

my family has a really cool, unique story of how the Lord has provided to us when we had literally no way to pay the bills. for example, when i was a freshman in high school, our car got repossessed at least 2 times (i would ask my parents but they aren't home). if you aren't familiar with what it means to get your car repossessed, look it up. it's humiliating and extremely humbling to look out the window and watch our car get towed away (i don't know if i've ever thought about that before). well our neighbors paid for us to get it back once and somehow we were miraculously given money the second time. 

our ac has broken during the summer....no way to pay for it to get fixed....and we find an envelope of cash in our mailbox. countless stories such as these and i STILL WORRY. 

get it together kam, get it together. 

so i'm sure you're wondering (you few people who read my blog) what it is that happened?! what is this christmas miracle that is referenced in your title!?!?!? 

let. me. tell. you.

fact one: we have no money. fact two: no christmas presents this year. fact three: life sucks.

BOOM

some ladies my mom used to work with tell her to come to the preschool because they have a present for her. mom and i walk in and they are all standing in a circle. they give her an envelope with a $500 visa gift card and and a $500 check. cue the waterworks from mom. bawling. i'm shockingly able to keep it together. all the ladies move and there are three little christmas trees and a poster with gift cards and cash covering them (money really does grow on trees!). every year, each preschool class chooses a family in need that they can help. every class chose ours. once again, humbling. wanna see a picture? here i'll show you.

as you can see...lots of gift cards to lots of places. wanna know how much it added up to be? 

i'll show you that too.

 

yea. ummm. speechless. God REALLY provides.

oh! another cool thing: this lady wrote my parents a letter and was like "i want to give you something that lasts longer than a night" etc and basically said that since she is an occupational therapist, her clinic place is going to look at our house for free and tell us what improvements need to be made for my dad. 

well people. if you are worrying about money....just stop. because He will provide. He will. HE WILL!

i hope this brings you happiness. because He once again showed up and totally rocked my stupid human mind. i hope He rocks yours this christmas season

it truly was a christmas miracle. i'm feeling a really corny song coming on right about now....

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

time to read.

one of my favorite things about the christmas season is that it is my time to read. 

christmas break means time to read. i actually have time to let myself escape into a good book.

christmas break means re-reading harry potter books. it's what i do every year. yay!

this year i'll have headphones playing coldplay's new song on repeat, my mug of chai, and i'll be wrapped up in my sweatshirt blanket. doesn't that sound lovely? does to me.

eeeeeeeeeeeek literally can't wait.

p.s.- anna, so glad that you put that video on your blog. this is why we are besties. 

coldplay will never get old to me. i love them. always. and. forever.

chi-town.

it's been a while.  i've miss you, blog.

chicago is lovely. if it wasn't for the sub-arctic temperatures, i'd live there in a heartbeat. this weekend was so necessary. it was such a treasure because i got to see my best friend's life and understand her more. the gap between our college lives in austin and our college lives at school has been closed, i love that. seeing the sites and being touristy with april was just so....fun (for lack of a better word). sushi, laughing, spending money, walking and walking, late night pizza, people watching, salvation army, riding trains, tea, shopping, and talking. breathing. just breathing in the city. as i looked up at all the high buildings that made me feel so small, i couldn't help but contemplate the vastness of God. kinda freaks me out. i miss the air in chicago. the brisk wind that made me catch my breath and the impossible attempt to hold on to it like a fleeting thought. the miles of ground so hard and stable. stability. it was good to just be this weekend with "no regrets," as my dad would say.

as i grope for words to illuminate my excursion, i find that i can only settle on the deep friendship that i so appreciate. my bosom friend april. constant and true. what a treasure. i hope i can bless someone as much as she has with her shear ability to be afriend. the very essence of the definition. friend- a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter. love her.

well enough of that. on to pictures.

pumpkin spice cupcake. yum.

big red chair.

argo tea.

nervous about my first cab.

freezing at lake michigan.

beeeeaaaaaan.

rawr.

jump cuz i'm happy!

we'll meet again soon, chicago. sometime in the spring.