Before moving to New York, I thought living in a city where it snows a lot would be so much fun!  It was exciting the first couple of times but now, I am a little tired of it.  We have had three snow storms (including today) in the past month.  The snow just keeps piling up and doesn't really melt.  When it snows, you don't really want to leave your house because it is so cold and the thought of trekking through the snow is just miserable.  It's really fun to look at through your window and it looks so beautiful from the top floor!  Let's just say I am ready for warm weather now. 

Since I have been in NYC, I have been attending Redeemer Presbyterian Church.  The main thing that drew me to this church was the preacher, Tim Keller.  Everybody that knew I was moving to the city told me I had to go to Redeemer and hear Tim speak.  They were all right about him.  He is a great speaker and really challenges you with his messages.  Tim Keller is really all I enjoyed about Redeemer though.  The worship wasn’t the greatest and worship is a big thing for me.  I feel like I have been spoiled when it comes to that because of my church back in Atlanta.  I continued to go though because the messages were out weighing all of that.  The community was a little stiff and hard to get involved with.  That was another downside to the church.  All of my friends attend Forefront Church up here.  I went once in the summer and really enjoyed it but I was so fixed on having a great speaker that I just completely took it off my radar.  I have started to learn at Redeemer that you don’t know which service Tim is going to preach at until you are there.  This got me frustrated and made me realize that I want to be going to a church that is consistent and encompasses most of the things I want.  The speaker at Forefront is great and if I ever feel like I need more of a challenge, I could easily listen to Tim Keller on the internet.  So, for the past two Sundays I have been attending Forefront Church with my friends up here and it just feels so much better.  

I love the way that the Lord works.  He knows exactly what is going on in your life and he knows exactly what you need to hear.  I feel like he is pulling me in a different direction and that he will use all of my strengths and even strengths that I haven’t explored yet.  That’s what the message was all about this morning.  Basically, the pastor talked about all our different strengths and how if we don't use them, then that's considered a sin and we are "missing the mark".  I get very impatient with this because I just want to know everything right now.  I want to know all my strengths and I want to know how I am supposed to use them.  But then life wouldn't be so easy would it?  I have a feeling this is something that will stick with me until the day that I die.  

"Let Him do to me whatever seems good to Him."  This comes from a book that I am reading by Andy Stanley called "The Principle of the Path".  He tells a story about a woman, Debbie, who attended his church and passed away from cancer several years ago.  When people are diagnosed with cancer, the question 'why me' sometimes pops into their head.  They think about how they don't deserve the pain and suffering they are about to go through.  Andy goes on to tell us that Debbie looked at her cancer in a totally different light.  He quotes her, "Once I was able to accept the cancer as coming from the hand of my heavenly Father, I was okay." This story blew me away and really got me thinking.  Now, I know none of us have cancer or anything of the sort, but we can apply this story to any part of our lives.  What if we looked at all negative things in our life like this?  I for sure want to! #foodforthethought

Peel!

Playing games is probably our favorite thing to do with our friends.  We have so much fun and it gives us a chance to laugh really hard and just be goofy!  Last night we had some friends over to play some games because my roommate Kara left for the national tour of Beauty and The Beast this morning.  We chose to play bananagrams...which is basically a different version of scrabble.  Once you make your words, you have to create a scenario and tell a little story.  The stories that are made up are hilarious and we can't help but laugh.  I think that laughter is the greatest medicine to anything.  It feels so great to be able to laugh and just enjoy the company of people that you care so much about!

Success

I have been thinking a lot lately about success.  I feel like our parents generation and our generation look at success completely different.  We see success when we are doing something we love, no matter how much money we are making.  Some of our parents associate success with money and if you're making a substantial amount, then you are successful.  I hate that our generations disagree in some sense because we all have to work together.  That's where I am at right now in my life and I just wish that the two generations could come together and understand each other.  My parents are trying to figure out the same things I am trying to figure out and we are 30+ years apart.  Not everybody in our generation and their generation thinks these things but I am beginning to realize it more and more as I try and figure out my journey.

I want to make a difference in this world and use my gifts and talents in ways that I thought were never possible.  I want to glorify the Lord in everything that I do and make sure that I am pleasing Him and only Him.  When we were little, we all had these dreams for our lives.  These dreams were continued through high school and even through college.  During those years, there is a lot of growth that takes place in you and your relationships.  I believe that the Lord can totally change your heart and take you in a direction that doesn't correlate with what you thought.  This is happening all around us and I feel like there is no greater time for this to happen than right now.  I am young and all I want to do is be rich in the Spirit and live my life for Him.  That's my idea of success.   

So living in New York is expensive...everybody knows that.  What we are learning here is that in order to save money, all you have to do is just stay in your apartment all the time!  Unless you have to leave it for work or auditions.  Since this is our mindset, we are thoroughly enjoying our apartment. 

We made our own popcorn!  Well really Maria made popcorn...I was too scared to do it!  It was actually really good and we have a huge bag of it that would probably last us two weeks.  A diet of just popcorn?  Ok.

The doorbell rang and in walks a Poland Spring employee saying that the man downstairs told him to come up to our apartment and install this wonderful water cooler.  All three of us had no idea what was happening but we welcomed the idea!  We were so excited to have this new addition until the doorbell rang later that afternoon.  It appears the water cooler belongs to our landlord's son.  He had to come and get it and take away our present.  Oh well...at least we enjoyed it for a couple of hours!

The Holidays

I feel like I have been away from the city for so long.  Being home for three weeks made me almost forget how to do things here!  Coming back to the city this time was so great because I knew that my two roommates Maria and Kara we going to be there...thank goodness.  November and December were pretty lonely up here so it is nice to be back to a regular schedule.

Christmas break was a really special time at home.  There has been a lot of stress involved with my family lately, especially on my parents.  It was nice to be home and bring a little joy to their lives.  They have been through a lot and to add to all of it, putting Sam to sleep and my mom messing up her ankle did not help at all.  I am ready for them to catch a little break.  However, through the midst of all this mess, we were able to enjoy the company of each other and have some really special times.  My mom's birthday is four days before Christmas and this year, my dad decided to surprise her with a trip to the Greenbrier.  It's a special place up in West Virginia that we used to go to when I was little.  We hadn't been there in probably ten years so to go there for her birthday was a treat.  There was snow, relaxation time, and lots of good food.  The place has definitely changed since we were last there though.  They added a casino which totally changed the people who come there and the classiness of the place.  I guess you gotta change things every now and then to make some money.  I love my family because they never allow you to forget "the reason for the season".  Every year, my parents make sure that we are celebrating Jesus' birth and making that more important than gifts and decorations.  Christmas day couldn't have been any better.  We did exactly what we wanted to do and ended the day with a special meal at our neighbors house.  They were so sweet to include us in their celebration and family time. 

My parents finally met Jordan's parents and it went much better than we thought!  We both were very nervous about them meeting for some reason, but we shouldn't have been.  The Greiners met us in Atlanta and came over for the night and spent some time with the Ledbetters.  It was so great to be in the room and see our parents getting along and finally having the opportunity for them to meet.  I wanted them each to see how special the other family was.  After the meeting, I jumped in the car with the Greiners and we made the long drive to Texas.  I spent five days in Dallas with the Greiners and celebrated New Years and Christmas with them!  I felt so blessed to be a part of their lives during those days.  Jordan's sister and her husband opened up their home to me and made me feel so welcome!  The Greiners went above and beyond and made me feel so special, especially when it came to their Christmas.  The whole time I kept telling myself that I don't deserve this.  I am dating a wonderful man with a wonderful family and it just couldn't get much better.  Oh wait...we could live in the same city!  But I know the Lord will make that happen when it should.

Now it's time to be back in the city and get working.  I need to come up with my New Years Resolutions but it's tough this year for some reason....