piano

i have now read 4 books. i have been doing that yoga video. and it's a tough one. but i love it. lots of lazy days. i'm ready to do something. i'm going to start a project soon. like tomorrow. it's a gift so i can't tell what it is. i have started some piano lessons from none other than the finest, mother theresa.

i finally saw someone i knew from my high school tonight. he was the barista at starbuck. he told me that some of the guys we went to high school with were having a party tonight. but eh. i'd like to see them but they might all be drunk. it's mizzou vs. iowa tonight. big game.

beau and suzie and madelyn come tomorrow and that will be lovely.

went shopping. got some boots. love them. and some new pajamas. a shirt. leggings. coffee. mmm.

oh Christmas lights, keep shinin' on. man, i love coldplay and their new Christmas song. piano.

going to iowa friday and saturday. to the grandparents farm.

have one!

love maresalee

glow

this christmas break has been so lovely, so lovely. i don't think i have ever been so ready to go home more than this time. i'm not sure i'll be ready to go back. ha

i arrived home saturday, mom's birthday, had to babysit that night while she went to her work christmas party. i baby-sat for the doctors. it was a good evening. i started reading a book.

sunday was great. our church service was great and the lord is working in that church. it's very encouraging.

i slept in a tad. read a while and finished the book. walked on the treadmill. listened to derek webb. i'd only heard one of his songs and so it was different than what i was anticipating, but still pretty good. then i got ready and drove towards the library. i picked up a yoga dvd and drove past markli and i's favorite house. they added onto it so it's not quite as quaint. still looks nice, but just not the same. went downtown to have a cup of coffee at my favorite and use the internet. then went to meet mom at work. looked at some ray-bans. then we went to the goodwill. then home and i started a new book.

i wanted to blog yesterday but didn't get to it. it's nice here in columbia. i like it. it's calm right now because all of the college students are gone. and it's not too cold out actually. i wish it would snow, really. it's been grey/white every day that i've been here so that's been nice.

anyways, i have all this time to blog now. merry christmas to you and yours!

love, peace, and good tidings.

maresalee

o holy night

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our friend!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

merry happy

i am currently in kaldi's, my favorite coffee place in columbia, mo. just having a soy vanilla spiced chai latte in a mug. it's the perfect weather out. a little misty, cloudy white, calm. i have been trying to work on some homework(lesson plans) today. i will have to work on homework some other days of this break. not too thrilled about that, but i need to get caught up and work ahead.

christmas wish list: (i know i won't be receiving all of these--just ideas)

a plane ticket to seattle, washington

moleskin calendar book for 2011

raybans (i don't need these, just think they are sweet)--and my mom gets a discount.

backpack ( like this one, but a bargain price of course.)

french press

coffee grinder

cowboy boots

i need to be doing homework right now but i am distracted by this here blog. we are heading home now. i hope everyone is having a lovely thanksgiving time with family and friends. have a great day!

love

maresalee

comps

today has been such a great day. i was planning on waking up at 8 to start some homework. we didn't have any classes today because it was had to take junior comps--which i took at 1 and only took 30 minutes. the education students had already taken part of the test to get into the education program so they are just using that test score. it was a nice surprise. anyways, woke up this morning to a nice cloudy sky, a little chilly out. perfect autumn weather. it started to sprinkle and lightly rain around 2. it seems to be slowing down now. but boy, have i bet waiting for a day like this. i ended up sleeping in because my body/brain needed it. went to lunch, junior comp, target, starbucks for a eggnog chai latte, then to my teaching practicum to look at the lessons i will be teaching next week. that went well. i feel like i have a better hold on how to do a lesson plan. then i went to our coffee shop in the library and talked to a friend for a little bit. came back to my room to unload my groceries. started this little post because i wanted to tell you all about how much i have loved this day. about to go to dinner which is the thanksgiving meal. should be good. they will have the white table clothes out for tonight. feel like i should dress up. then i'll come back to write a lesson plan and perhaps make it to some of a basketball game. we shall see.

i've been thinking lately about what kind of church i want to be involved in. so many times church can just be a self help place and we aren't going out and serving and loving our community. if we are at least going to have church i think it is meant to be a place for studying the word and then spreading it in our daily lives. am i wrong? just juggling some thoughts. let me know what your thoughts are.

hope you having a great day!

love

maresalee

priorities

i'm finding that in life i can't always do the things i love. i really enjoy singing for chapel and for anything, but i don't think i'll be able to do that anymore (this year). i have too many other responsibilities.

in many of my classes we start things and don't finish them, we work on them slowly. i'm the type of person who likes to finish one thing before moving on to the next. so, it's driving me crazy! same thing with practicums. i have two this semester and three next semester. i wish we could do them one at a time. they would each only have to be 2-3 weeks long. it just makes mores sense. i think i would get more out of it. well, i don't have any control over that so i just need to get over it. i also can have a bad attitude towards these things that i have to do and that bothers me. i need to realize these are blessings and the Lord is molding me.

i love being relational with people so it is killing me being so busy. i have to run from one thing to the next and i don't know why, but i never expected it.

just learning a lot, as always. not necessarily in classes. haha. just kidding, i am, but i feel like it is just a lot of life lessons. i feel like i have gotten sloppy with my responsibilities and i need to work on that. i also need to find a consistent work schedule. i need to make money, but i honestly don't have a lot of time to work when it isn't a definite schedule. if that makes sense. something will have to change next semester.

i fear getting burned out this year and i can't let that happen.

as i was making coffee about an hour ago i was reminded that i sometimes think coffee smells like a skunk. one time we were driving down town KC and past the coffee plant and i thought it smelled horrible because of a skunk but it was really the coffee plant. it's funny how we associate skunks as smelling bad and then love the smell of coffee. i have a friend who loves the skunk smell and it makes sense to me. but to this day when i know it is a skunk i think gross and coffee=the best. just thought i would share this with you. :)

on monday i was at my exceptional learner practicum school (special ed. resource room). it was only my third time going and i worked with this little girl meg. she is very smart but has behavioral issues, like throwing chairs and such. discipline sounds like a good option but they are trying to write an IEP up for her. yes, she may have some behavioral issues, but perhaps she just needs some love and to be shown that is not how we are to act. my heart goes out to this girl and the other children that visit this room. as i was just sitting/observing at this table she was at she had a little free time to draw. i saw her look up at me and then draw a circle and to curved lines on her paper. i had an idea she might be drawing me. she indeed was. then she drew herself right next to me. we were holding hands and had raincoats on out in the pouring rain. let me tell you, i teared up. i think the lord may be directing me to this type of teaching at some point in my life. i will have to have the classroom experience to pay off some forgivable loans, but i can see myself possibly getting my masters in the sped (special education) area.

i've been wanting to blog for a while now. i can't wait for thanksgiving break and definitely christmas break. if you could pray for me that would be wonderful. greatly appreciated.

love to all,

maresa lee

reflecting

sometimes is wonderful--only until i start thinking too much. and thinking too much happens quite a lot. i'm trying to find a balance of many things. it's very difficult. still doing all of the things i was doing in my last post. really trying to keep a good attitude about it all. i'm not used to being so busy. i enjoy it, but there are times i don't want to do anything. thus, why i am sitting in a coffee shop just blogging and chatting with friends online. i came with the intention of doing homework. i would like to go to the gathering tonight at 7. haven't made my final decision.

this week is homecoming week. friday night is a banquet and i got my outfit this weekend while at home for a couple days. home was wonderful. wish i could have spent one more day at home though--not doing anything. sitting out on the porch having some coffee and doing some reading really sounds wonderful right now.

on friday afternoon one of the MNU admissions counselors called markli and i to see if we would like to help rep. MNU at a switchfoot concert last night. hello! yes. it was incredible. loved it. it's good when you are pretty much smiling the whole time.

one thing i'm struggling with is not getting to hang out with ALL of my friends. like the ones that don't go to MNU. i can't seem to find the time to hang out with them. that is why i had been thinking about going to the gathering tonight. decided i am going to now. i miss them greatly.

also, i am listening to music right now on my comp. and for the longest time sound would only come out of one of my headphone bud things. and i finally fixed it just now. i was thinking it was going to be more complex. it took me 2 secs. and the music sounds so good coming out of these skullcandy's--thankin' my brother, beau for them.

since i am talking about so many things in this blog i might as well bring this up. for the past month or so i feel like the lord has been encouraging me find beauty in the things i wouldn't normally find it in by taking away some of my great listening experiences from some music. i still love it, but it hasn't been as awesome lately. i think it is slowing coming back now, but it's just interesting. little fact: i rarely listen to lyrics. i listen to the instrumental parts. maybe i can update you more on this later when i think i know more about what i have learned from this. ha.

this was a funny post. scatterbrained.

hope you are having a great!

lovelovelove

maresalee

resident

assistant. i would like to think RA life is the only thing making my life so busy. it's really quite the combination of things. class, work, relational/social events, RA, teaching practicum(s), homework, sleep, baby-sitting that comes up, intramural games (i'm playing a little softball), friends, ah so much. i really am loving it. it's becoming a little overwhelming though. when i start to get overwhelmed i just have to remember i CAN have peace about it.

today i went with a friend to a church to babysit--i made 50 bucks for 2 1/2 hrs. holla.

bethany and i have hung out a lot this year. it's great and wonderful. we go walking because we love it. we update each other daily on our lives.

days are moving so fast. already the month of october. i love autumn. beau and suzie and madelyn and mom and dad are coming for homecoming. that will be a lot of fun. i love going to football games. MNU is 5-0.

i have done a lot of reflecting lately and it is crazy seeing how much i have grown up and changed since freshman year. it is encouraging. patience is always something i have to work on. just the waiting type of patience.

today i decided i was going to get caught up on personal things. like responding to emails from dear friends, updating my blog, calling loved ones, not doing any homework today and going to bed early after my intramural softball game. right now i am sitting in starbucks, with my friend andria, drinking a soy pumpkin spice chai latte, listening to some jimmy eat world. it is delish.

hopefully i can keep my blog updated now. i hope everyone is having a lovely day or night.

love love love,

maresa

washington

i have been putting this off for some time now for no reason other than i have been reading several books. washington was great. i am so glad i had the opportunity to go. i learned so much and wouldn't trade it for anything. getting to spend 2 months with luke, sherry, brek, sy, and gresh was incredible. i can't wait until i can go visit again. i wish i could once a month.

i leave the 21st for olathe. i am trying to get a short temp job for the time being. i had the interview with job finders today and well i forgot my social security card. so i had to reschedule. i tell you what, my luck with jobs is almost the worst. i shouldn't complain--i can usually find a job, but it never lasts as longs as i need. ha

i think i'm ready for this next school year. although, i'm in no rush to get back. i'll patiently wait the next 11 days. we have VBS this week so the evenings are full. then this weekend aunt rhonda, uncle paul, zach and brady are coming. then sunday starts district assembly in st. louis. dad gets ordained monday night. then i'll have a few days to get everything organized and ready to load.

still trying to figure out what to do. i'm going to call sherry pretty soon. then maybe to the library to get some more books. could go to the pool. i can't think of any other updates at this moment. i'll try and post a new blog entry in the near future.

love maresalee

olympia

it has been a while. sorry, i have been busy. well, over the past 2 weeks i have watched the kids about 3.5 of the 5 days. i love these kids like they are my own. the other times i go with sherry to school. it's great to get to observe and see school from this point of view. the 6th graders aren't as old as i was thinking--which just opens up more possibilities when it comes to teach. SO many options. i started another jodi picoult book the other day. it's called vanishing acts. it is excellent. about halfway through. currently silas and breklinn are quietly playing/watching cartoons upstairs. gresham has been asleep for almost an hour now. he didn't fall asleep at his normal bedtime last night. he was ready to go take a nap though. it was cute. i got the milk ready and he wasn't ready to go lay down quite yet. he wanted to lay on the couch and snuggle for a bit. then he got up and grabbed his blanket and milk and stood there waiting for me to get up and take him to his room. love it. brek and sy were painting this morning and gresh wanted to so badly. so i thought it would be alright if i helped him. he knows exactly what to do, but it became a little bit of a mess after a while so i had to say all done. he was so upset. he went up on the landing of the stairs and sat there and cried until i went to go get him. he just wants to be like his bigger brother and sister. of course. he also joins in on conversations too. he gets his word in. :)

we go on lots of walks and to the parks. i really love it. i am so thankful i could come this summer. church has been great too. yesterday they had a service explaining their building addition that is in the works. it was great to see. they had some new christians come up and talk about how the church had reached out to them. it was definitely encouraging. last wednesday we also had a great bible study--one that i've always wanted to have and be apart of but hasn't ever happened. it was great. well, i need to get some lunch going for the childrens. enjoy your day.

love maresalee

rainy

day. i am currently out on the back porch sitting in one of the patio chairs with my feet propped up. i have my coffee on the ledge and computer in my lap. some music (jon foreman) playing--but also the great sound of a light rain. have a book to start reading too. it's a little chilly but i have a blanket wrapped around me.

it has been a busy last 4 days. thursday-emporia. friday-chiropractor, babysitting, decorating for the women's brunch. saturday-women's brunch, sarah's graduation/moving away/birthday party. today-church. so, now everyone is having a relaxing afternoon. mom is taking a nap, markli is reading in the living room and dad is still at church i guess.

today's service was great. it was a weepy sunday for me. it first started out in sunday school. we were just praying for each other in our accountability group. then the spirit was just working in me. it's an incredible thing. and well, that's all. it was just a great sunday. His presence was definitely evident.

i feel like these next 2 months are going to be great. i think the lord has been working in and through me to prepare me for this awesome experience. i can't wait to see what he has in store for me.

i would have liked to go walking this afternoon, but i can wait until this evening.

i hope you have just as great of an afternoon as i am having.

love maresalee

lovelies

i am babysitting today. the mom left out some magazines for me to read while the boys were taking a nap. i love to look at magazines. as i have told you times before about my outings to barnes and noble to get coffee and browze the magazine racks. well, one of the magazines was crate and barrel. i found a few things i love. way to expensive. but the table could probably be made someday. i also love big old rugged round tables.
chair
table
yesterday we went to visit friends in emporia, ks. it was a lovely visit. our main reason for going was to see mr. samuel bruce cerretti. he's a handsome. so glad we could go visit. their house is so nice--they did a great job remodeling. we got to visit andrea for most of the afternoon and we didn't want to leave. it was a great time.

tomorrow is our churches women's brunch. we have lots of prep for it tonight. monday i will be babysitting all day for the same boys i have today. the youngest woke up and we had a little snack but the older 2 are still sleeping. they are sweet boys--should be a fun time.

i need to start some reading. i have a couple of books i would like to read. we leave a week from tomorrow! i can't believe it. i'll have some time on the plane to read and i'm sure there will be time while i'm there. you could be praying that i'll find some sort of job to make a little cash while i'm up in WA--but i'm going to very much enjoy being an aunt and getting to know some people there.

well, i think i might be smelling a little something coming from little man. i'll sign off to go change a diaper. :) hope you all are having wonderful days!

love
maresalee

finally

home. it feels great to be home. we have such a nice home. it's a blessing that i am very thankful for. there have been some great improvements since the last time i was home. such as a screened in porch area and some new landscaping. it is nice.

my room is all put together. feels like home.

i really don't have much to say. i'll probably only be home a total of 5 weeks this summer, but they will be great. the 2 months in WA will be grand. i can't wait to spend time with the family. markli and i were talking sometime today or last night and said how we wish all of the family could get together more. money is dumb. but maybe someday we will all live in closer proximity. but who knows. we do what we can and are very thankful for the times together.

oh life. it's great.

indeed

it was a great weekend. choir concert was great. dr. leavitt hired a union(?) orchestra to come in. they were great. during one of the songs there was a clarinet solo and my was this old man good! it made me want to play again and be that incredible. i told a friend, that i stand/sit by in choir, that i felt very sophisticated. ha--because we were performing, with an orchestra of adults, dr. leavitt treats us like adults (thankful for), etc. afterwards i also said i could do this for life. i loved it. i feel like i could have any life and be happy with it though. i mean, obviously i would be very happy with what i have. i could have a real artsy, music life or i live without--but i'd say it all has to do with the town or city i live in, who i marry, if i am married. so many options.

markli(my sister-for those of you who don't know my siblings names) and i might live together next year. actually, by the looks of it, we are! i'm excited! our room will be awesome. :)

several events have been changed or moved today because of the weather. it has just been rainy and there hasn't been any sun to dry up the ground. of course it has been my favorite weather since it started raining on thursday. it's pretty chilly today but nice and cloudy. just love it.

love

maresalee

splendid

this has been a great close to my sophomore year. can't believe i'm halfway done with college. this weekend has been great. friday night i started out the night baby-sitting reece and darby together. i had to put reece to bed because he goes to bed earlier than darby. he was so sweet. he was just so tired that it was precious. as i was putting him down i started to scratch his back just for a second. i thought he would be out like a light. well, when i took my hand of his back he said "pat reece's back please". he said it several times before he was finally asleep. it was so cute. darby is potty training right now and doing a good job. reece started a while ago and has it pretty well down. so proud. ha :) every time i watch those two i think of how great it will be this summer. after baby-sitting there was a campus event, 'glow with the flow'. it's was pretty good. just a good time to get together with friends outside with many different activities.

today i woke up a little before 10--went and walked about 2 miles outside. it has been perfect weather the past 3 days. raining. then got ready and had lunch. went to the baseball game. there were supposed to be 2 but the second one got rained out. it was a good time--MNU won 4-0. i then went to coffee with a friend to warm up. afterwards i came back to the room and eventually started the movie "a lot like love". oh it's a favorite of mine, but it's one i haven't seen many times. not many people have it. i saw it in a friends room the other day and remembered today that i needed to watch it. so i got started but had to stop 45 mins into because i had music practice for uchurch. had a great time singing tonight. it is one of the things i enjoy most in life. afterwards a group of 10 girls went to steak n shake. it's just been awesome. so after i'm done blogging i am going to finish my movie and go to bed.

tomorrow i have a choral union concert. it doesn't start until 3:30 but we all have to be there at 12:30 to prepare and practice. i'm excited about it actually. it will be beautiful. after that markli and i are meeting our friend lydia downtown for dinner. we haven't gotten to catch up with her much this year. she lives in independence, mo so the plaza should be a good meeting place. after that i will eventually need to start studying for my finals. i only have three because i have already finished two classes and the 6th is choir. no final in there.

tonight at church we all reflected on the past year. how did God reveal himself differently? and when? those types of questions. and others. but one of my answers was--God really revealed himself to me in my loneliness. he made me thirst for him. just to spend some time with him. think about him. talk to him. i, at some point this semester wondered why the Lord created loneliness. i mean really! i thought for a little while and came up with an answer. 1. to find a spouse to spend the rest of our lives with. but most importantly, 2. so we may always be in need of Him. i think those could be his answers. i can get so lonely at times that i just try to find things to fill the void (i get very anxious) and it eventually always comes down to spending time in the word and praying. as we were reflecting tonight, i also thought about how much i have learned about myself this year. an incredible amount of knowledge and it is very fascinating.

i think about the potential of next year and being a freshman girl RA--i have no idea what is ahead of me. it could be scary if i let it be, but i'm ready and excited about the future.

that is all for right now. have one!

love maresalee

kids

every thursday morning i watch reece. today as i was getting ready it looked very cloudy and as if it could rain any minute. i had my window all the way open but there was no wind sweeping in. so, i thought it was going to be a rather warm day. i walk outside and am surprised by the spring temperatures that we never had. we went right to summer. i love this weather. the temperature is perfect. it's raining. just grand.

reece and i just got back inside from an outdoor adventure. we were out to find some birds. when it started to rain we had to head back to the house--only he was in no rush. he is so sweet today. not that he isn't any other day, but today he just isn't quite so ornery. i'm enjoying my morning. i cannot wait for my two months with some other special chillins.

this is just a great day. i hope you are having one as well. :)

love maresalee

flight

i bought my plane ticket to seattle today. i am getting very excited about this summer. i have a couple homework assignments and i have a final that i assigned to me. school will be over in what seems like just a couple minutes.

i am also excited about RA week. it is just a training week for next year. the group of people should be good--we'll have some great times.

i need to register for classes for next year. i need to get on that tomorrow.

i'll have more to update later. i'm a little distracted with a movie right now.

love

maresalee

OK

so i won't stop blogging. here are some little facts:

i'm on an intramural soccer team and we had a game yesterday. boy, are my legs a little tired. mostly just from kicking the ball.

today i don't have any class. i only have one class on tues/thurs and he canceled today and then no one has classes on thursday of this week. it's a testing day. only one more full week of classes left and then finals. done on april 30th.

i need to buy a plane ticket soon.

i would like to read more. for some reason it doesn't come to mind during school that that is something to do in my spare time. especially right now. i'd rather be outside in such beautiful weather than in my room reading. it would be different if there was a deck or someplace to go that had big windows.

starbucks iced green tea with some sweetener has been in my hand about every other day. it is so delish.

i have been waiting around to go to lunch. it is finally time. adios

love

maresalee

summer

plans are not working at einstein bros. i will go home for a while. then visit amanda and westie. live in olympia, WA for a while. family vacation. go home. maybe visit stacy moots and the family. then back to school before i know it.

i have decided to not blog anymore. i think. right now everyone knows everything so i don't need to blog. so i guess it's a good thing i can't really find anything to blog about. once friends start leaving the country for the summer i might pick up again.

have one!

love

maresalee

unknown

just trying to figure out summer plans. each time i think i can blog about something, it changes. not the way i'd like it to go, but it never does. i'm getting more used to it. can't wait for school to be over. it will be so nice. can't wait to do summer things. it will be so nice. can't wait to have a nice routine. it will be so nice. everything is so nice right now. i have to do some business stuff tomorrow. i have been trying to pump myself up for it. it's just school stuff, finances, etc. i will let you know my plans once i know them for myself. oh the day--it will be so nice.

love

maresalee

sorrythispostwassoridiculous

matt

wertz. came out with a new EP. and. i love it. www.mattwertz.com. he was in kansas city tonight. he usually gives away free tickets each night of his tour. so, we went down late this afternoon to wait around. he will either hide some tickets around the town he is in and people can go find them (he will twitpic-and you have to know the area) or he will just add some famous people's names to the will call and you go up and say you are friends with them. he tweets these things. anyways, we waited for about 3 hrs. during this time we went and had dinner also went to teadrops and i had an iced chai. anyways, we were waiting and waiting for him to tweet and it never happened. bum out. we could hear a couple songs just by standing outside of the venue but i felt weird doing that and we finally decided to leave. wish we could have gone but the tickets were 30 dollars. not paying that. i mean he is great, but i can't afford that. can i just say i wouldn't mind marrying a musician? i just did. ha.

well, i find it funny what i blog about. some people are so deep and use lots of words and it is just funny to me that i am quite opposite. it's just me. it just funny how different people are. SO different. each and every one of us. i mean, we've been told this since we were kids and in sunday school, everywhere. all the time, but when i stop to think about it it still baffles me. it's really just incredible. i love it.

the Lord has been revealing so many things to me lately. some of it is stuff that has already happened and i am just now realizing the significance of it. He is incredible. (maybe.) did you know the word incredible means unbelievable or not convincing? the informal definition is amazingly good or beautiful. so, it's odd that we use that word to describe things, but especially him because they are quite opposite of that definition. am i understanding this correctly? He is so believable and so convincing. so maybe i should say He is magnificent. He is that.

funny how this turned into something kind of deep. oh boy. well, this has been a great week and weekend should be good too. i can't believe march is almost over.

have one!

love maresalee

cake

well, i decorated a cake yesterday for suzie and grandma's birthday. (brek's too.) :) i think i could do that during the summers while i'm teaching. or i could do floral arrangements. i think i would really enjoy either one of those little jobs. it would be fun for sure! this one is nothing fancy, but i like the style.

tuesday

today i slept in a little. had a little cereal. went walking. was on the computer for a bit and then had lunch with mom. they have a really great salad bar at hyvee that'd we'd had before. it was delicious today. good fruits. then after i went to kaldi's. had the best ever decaf americano with sugar free caramel in my whole life. it was so good. i'll be going back tomorrow for the same. it's the cheapest thing on the menu so i do believe i could go back any day this week. :) tonight i am going to hang out with sarah. maybe get a free redbox and have some coffee and some cookies she made. tomorrow might be a movie theater day. then lunch at the pasta factory. then kaldi's. church. hang out afterwards. maybe. oh, this week is going to go by so fast.

that is all.

love maresalee

movies

today i am going to go see Remember Me with a couple girls. i hope it's good. at home we have this option on our cable where we get to watch free movies. last weekend Pearl Harbor was on it. i hope it still is because i want to watch it. there are some other movies i will be watching as well. it is going to be such a great week. i might leave tonight to go home or i'll wait until the morning. just depends on how long i hang out with these girls.

i just got back from sonic happy hour with my vanilla diet dr. pepper. so good. i'm really craving red robin. i hear they have a really good veggie burger and i think i'm quite in the mood for that. maybe we will go there after the movie today. crossing my fingers.

love maresalee

spring

break. i know i will find myself many times just sitting and thinking. i have already started to. psh, more like--i always do. ha. i won't receive/think of an answer for the majority of my questions but that is fine.

next year is going to be so different. i don't know what to expect. i know i won't let events or people drive me to exhaustion. i wonder who will be "in" my life next year? this year was so much different than last year. i know i shouldn't worry about these things. i'm really not.

i hope i am a person who is in touch with people's emotions and feelings. i hope i understand them. i wouldn't want to hurt them because i didn't put myself in their shoes.

love maresalee

mother

theresa quote. like mother theresa. not my mom.

"we can do no great things,

just small things with great love.

it is not how much you do,

but how much love you put into doing it."

columbia

sherry don't read this unless i have called you. :) i want to tell you about life over the phone.

okay, let me start from last weekend.

friday-found out i got RA for stockton. i have already been thinking. too much. i'll try to be studying and i'm already trying to think of how i will decorate the hall. (it won't be much--very simple style.) i've also been thinking about how i will arrange my room. it's ridiculous. i wish my brain could hold off until the summer. i'll have so much time to think about such things. so friday afternoon a group a girls went home with markli and me. we had a relaxing time. we arrived and had dinner. it was delicious. made some dessert. then we watched a movie. i feel asleep very early that night. didn't really watch much of the movie. then the next morning we went downtown for some coffee and sightseeing. after a couple hours of that we came back to have lunch. soon after we headed back to olathe. a couple girls had to be back that night. it was a short trip, but it was nice. they loved seeing columbia. it is a great place.

saturday evening i hung out with bethany(last year roommate). it was very fun. we went to the plaza and split a pizza at california pizza kitchen. went window shopping then topped the night off with some coldstone ice cream.

sunday i got up early to work out. went the the 11 o'clock traditional service at college church. i actually really liked it. it was a good nazarene structured service. ha. but really, i enjoyed it. that evening i had a choir concert at a church.

monday was a full day. i took the CBASE (test for getting into the Elementary Education program). hope it went well.

today i woke up to rain. went to chapel. speaker was good. todd bowman. he is one of the professors but also counsels here. i always enjoy it when those guys speak. then i had lunch. went to my one class of the day. target afterwards. then came back to my room to make some coffee and i also vacuumed. a very mellow day. it has been wonderful.

spring break is next week. i will be vacationing to my home. i am making myself a budget for the week. i will visit places i have never been to in columbia. it will be very nice. at the end of the week beau and suzie and madelyn will also be visiting. i cannot wait to hold that little baby niece of mine. :)

as for the job search. i think i am just going to stick with baby sitting for the rest of the semester. honestly, it is nice not having to go to work in the evenings. i'm not making money, but i'll be fine.

love maresalee

well

yesterday markli and i came back from home. i went and picked up my car (cousin geoff put on a new hood and front fender) and headed to the mandatory work staff meeting. we were all informed that that night It's A Grind had closed it's doors. for good. the reason: money. i definitely think it was the best decision on their part. the stress of it all was getting to her and her family/marriage. something needed to change. there were signs along the way that showed this needed to happen. some catering orders weren't going out anymore, the bakery we bought from closed down. it will be fine. i will find a new job. you could be praying for that though. i'm on the job search. i'm not stressed at all--it is in God's hands.

i hope everyone is having a lovely day.

love

maresalee

luck

maybe. blessings? yes. the past two days have been incredible. never a dull moment. let me recap the past 48-ish hours.

thursday - watched Reece. (always a highlight to my day.) :) then lunch, class, free time before work. then work. some friends came to visit me at work and that made my day. after work i stopped by intramural basketball games for maybe 10 mins. then went to an ASG electoral forum. well, they had prizes. I WON 50 DOLLARS TO ITUNES. no big deal. :) went and worked out after. and bed.

friday - class, free time, class, lunch. (on the way to lunch i found 40 DOLLARS on the sidewalk. i was with a friend and so we split the two 20 dollar bills.) then, had to get my phone fixed. the screen had been going in and out. so i took it in. they replaced the screen inside and didn't have to pay anything. then i go to choir. (it wasn't a very great rehearsal. we were in a different room with different acoustics and so for some people it was hard to hear, thus terrible pitch. it was terrible. and it was incredible weather today. and it was a friday. i'm not sure everyone was trying their best.) then i went to coffee and window shopping with a friend. she brought me a present. some decaf roasterie coffee! 1/2 a pound. we had such a fun time. then, kaitlin's mom was in town and we had been planning on having dinner together but debbie didn't want to eat CC. so we went to olive garden (on debbie). then came back and kaitlin tried to get me to do a face mask. didn't happen but we watched Sleepless in Seattle. always a good one.

that has been the past 48-ish hours. i work at 8 am tomorrow until 3. then markli and i will be going home as soon as i get off. it was be grand. it will be a nice little trip home. then we will come back and i have a mandatory work meeting at 7pm and then we both have a small group leaders meeting at 9pm. it will be a busy weekend but it will be good.

goodnight.

love,

maresalee

fluttering

it is terrible that the smallest amount of caffeine makes my heart race. it has been a good day so far. had a test at 8. turned in my application for RA next year. took two history quizzes. had lunch in between those. just paid off my school account. :) (i got a $1000 scholarship out of no where--thank you Women's Auxiliary) i wrote them a thank you note yesterday so that the money would be put on my account. such a blessing from the Lord. just got back from sending a few notes to friends. about to go to choir. i started a new book this week and i would really like to spend a lot of time this weekend reading it and hopefully finishing it. it's raining right now which makes the day even better. it was snowing and then turning to rain and back and forth but now it's just rain. this is a funny blog post. hope you followed. have a good one.

love

maresalee

work

i think i might be working too much. i might have to ask to only work one week night and one weekend day. it's crazy how much relief it was to get tonight off. brady and kreisa had their baby early this morning and so i wanted to go visit. i probably need some sleep and i need to do some homework. so i got someone to cover for me.

today i started watching reece. i'll be watching him every thursday morning 8:30-11:30. he was great. he just laughs and laughs--so we get along quite well. :) in a few minutes i am going to ride with them to go visit kriesa, brady, simon, and maybe darby--if she is up from her afternoon nap (if she took one today). i watched her tuesday afternoon and always fall in love. i'm so blessed to get the chance to spend a few hours with these two each week. sher and beau, you know where i'd love to be but school is in the way. i go into total "mom" mode when i'm watching them. i love it.

should i get these or these? leave a comment.

love

maresalee

bragging

about my nieceS and nephews. just a photo post.

silas breklinn gresham

the duerre family

the newest addition, madelyn

and her proud father and mother

today

is two blog posts overkill in one day? naw.

OH MY GOODNESS. today has been awesome. can i just tell you every little thing about it? so it started out waking up from a great nights rest. i slept in. (mom, don't worry--i went to church last night.) i had kind of planned on going to the plaza for the day. i'd asked a few people if they wouldd like to join. no one decided to come. which was fine. i was kind of thinking about not going with anyone anyway. so, after i was up for a little bit i went to go work out. then showered. started laundry. started thinking about what i was going to do. during that time i made some phone calls. called mom and sherry. it was good. then i looked up times at the plaza to see when the stores closed. well when i finally looked those times up it was 5:10pm. couldn't make it in any stores in time. so then i thought maybe town center plaza would be better. looked up food options there and they had ingredient. i've never been so i thought i'd give it a try. an AMC was over there so i stopped by to see if there were any good movies out and what time they played. saw a few and thought i would decide over dinner. well, i get to ingredient and they closed at 6--pretty sure the website said 9. oh well. i went to california pizza kitchen. i got a grilled chicken dijon sandwich and it came with a soup. i got something tortilla soup. it was so delicious. i saved half of the sandwich. ate pretty fast but only because i was by myself and didn't eat the whole thing. i remembered seeing a whole foods market store on the way to the plaza so i thought i'd see if i could find this one chapstick that i've been wanting. i couldn't find it but i could sure spend an entire day in that store looking at things. so, i headed back to the movie. when i got there i decided on the movie, dear john. it had just started so the previews were still playing. as i was sitting in the theater i realized that i was having THE perfect date. then i thought how nice it would be to have a man next to me. hahah (but i really was--sorry, bear with me. i don't normally talk about this girly stuff.) but then i remembered there is no man next to me and i am having one of the best nights of my life. by myself. i'd say it hit in the top 20 best days of my life. thus far at least. so that movie was INCREDIBLE. i highly recommend it. so good. i've waited a long time for an amazing movie to come out and finally. so i'd been planning my night out ever since i got in the car to leave. that's how i am. after i decided that i was going to movie, i decided i would get coffee afterwards. so i did just that. i got a decaf americano with sugar free caramel. (thank you sherry for introducing me to this drink.) while i was drinking my coffee i talked to beau and he told me all about the past two days. i'm so happy for them and i send them so much love. this has been my day. loved it. i hope everyone else had a good day of watching the super bowl and anything else you did. i'm going to bed early tonight and i can't wait. goodnight.

:)

love maresalee

conversations

are so powerful. i had coffee with a friend friday night and then an early dinner with another friend last night. after dinner yesterday my friend said, ''isn't it interesting how you feel like you have grown up in one conversation?" i said, "yeah, it's crazy. that's what happened to me last night." having coffee with that friend friday night helped me figure out so much about myself and that that is who i am. i think i always saw these 'traits' as things that i needed to change about myself. i didn't like them or thought they were not right because other people weren't that way. needless to say i have many things in common with this person and they had accepted themselves, i guess you could say. it was very encouraging. just now thinking about this again i have come to the conclusion i can't look to others for anything. no one except the Lord. when it is all said and done He is our source. i feel strongly that God uses others to speak to me. this is kind of confusing because it sounds like i'm going back and forth, but i hope you can understand. all this to say, it has been a great weekend of growing. maturing is endless. i can't even begin to think how different i will be in one month. days.

IMPORTANT NEWS!

I HAVE A NEW NEICE! :)

she was born yesterday 6:10pm. Madelyn Grace Carlson--she is precious. i can't wait to see more pictures of her until i get to see her. i know her mother and father are quite in love. :)

i hope everyone is having a lovely day.

maresalee

onehundreth

post. i can't fall asleep tonight. there are many reasons why. i babysat darby tonight and after i knew she was asleep that must have put me at rest enough to fall asleep on the couch while watching some food network show. i was probably out for an hour. i am watching her in the morning as well. kreisa told me i could stay but i thought i'd better head back to campus. i wanted to work out and just be able to get ready in the morning from my dorm room. well, let me just say i will not be working out anymore. i'll be exhausted in the morning. when i got back to the dorms i saw our home church van in the parking lot with people getting out. i stopped by and they needed help getting to the rooms they were staying in. so i helped them out. after that i stopped by my friend's alyssa and kai's bedroom. they had just made coffee and asked if i wanted a cup. of course. i did. that is reason number 2 as to why i cannot fall asleep. then, we decided to go out and sled. it has been snowing most of today. not much has accumulated, but it was such fun. i hadn't been out in the snow like that in years. it was great. well worth getting cold and soaked. that is the 3rd reason.

the things i have been thinking about while i lay in bed:

1. i like a person a whole lot more when they have a huge passion for something. i just really respect that.

2. why do i always change my mind? why can't i set my mind on something and not question it anymore?

3. summer travels

4. beautiful scenery--mountains, fort collins, gardens, rainy places

5. dreaming about the future(life after college) is all.

those are just a few things.

this afternoon i went to border's with amber. we had some coffee and looked at magazines. it's such a great time. i used to do that with mrs. amanda magnuson. i think of her many times a day.

i need to catch up with many people. phone calls are overdue on my part.

love

maresa

scriptures

here are just a couple scriptures i've been enjoying. also a little medley, if you will.

"But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

Colossians 3:14-16 NKJV

"Christ...loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

Ephesians 5:25-27 KJV

"I love you Lord and I lift my voice to worship You; O my soul rejoice. Take joy my King in what you hear may it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear."

bargains

so, i haven't been in much of a mood for shopping the past semester. well, i think it's back in my blood. it's good and bad. i find the best bargains and i don't buy anything but good bargains. today i had a date with target. i had a previous coupon from target that prints out sometimes after you check out. well, it was for 2 dollars off at the starbucks inside. well, i got a decaf sugar free caramel americano. i only had to pay 27 cents. this started my two hours of looking at the entire store. i found two picture frames. 4 dollars and 6 dollars. i also found a new reed scent deal for 4 dollars. saving it for when my apple spice runs out. the new scent is fresh laundry. should be good. i had a lovely afternoon.

i worked 24 hrs this week. it was crazy. that was the most i've ever worked while in school. it was okay but i was definitely tired. i just had to remember what my paycheck will look like. after work yesterday i hung out with amber then we went to Uchurch. after Uchurch i had some friends over to see my new room. YES, I HAVE MOVED OUT OF MY SUITE. i have my own little dorm room now. it was an open room and i went to talk to the RE about moving back to the dorms and she informed me of this room. i accepted the offer. ha. i love it.

i joined choir the semester. it's my first time to ever be in a school choir. always was apart of the church choir. it will be good and good for me. we got a new choir director, john leavitt. he is a composer from wichita area i believe. pretty incredible.

want to go home soon. i miss it. mom's good meals. i wish i could make my own. i actually am planning a meal with friends right now. tuesday night, i'm making dinner. they want grilled chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables. i can do that. i'm excited. :)

i believe that is all i have to share today. have a great!

maresalee

magnet

i forgot to tell you about this magnet i got from a friend for christmas. she also made me an awesome scarf. but the magnet says this:

peace

it does not mean to be in a place

where there is no noise, trouble

or hard work. it means to be in

the midst of those things and still

be calm in your heart.

(unknown)

this is perfect for me right now. and it has been since the beginning of this year. i just wanted to share that real quick.

adios.

ohyaknow

just thinking. about the future. this upcoming summer. life after college. it's great. they are all dreams though. quite wonderful. i hope they can happen similarly to what i have dreamt. crossing my fingers.

i rearranged my room today. i still have it to myself. we didn't get another person in our suite like we thought might happen. i am grateful. i love the new arrangement and i finally have time to enjoy it now. i had just rearranged it and then headed of to work this afternoon. now i am sitting in bed writing you all a little post.

i finished a good book recently. it's called The Red Tent. some may not like it but i found it very interesting.

today started the first day of classes. eh. not much excitement. everyone seems off here on campus. someone i talked to thought it might be the fact that some revert back to the person they used to be when they go home. i do think this happens, but i don't really think it happens to me. so it's a little hard for me to understand. it has been interesting start to the semester to say the least, but here we go. i have made my bedtime midnight for this semester. ha. and i believe i will be able to beat that by an hour tonight. i have an 8 o'clock on mwf. i had to work tonight as well, thus i am quite exhausted. i am trying to make my sleeping schedule very regular so i will be able to wake up in the mornings and actually feel rested.

i feel like i will get back into the swing of blogging, but i am also going to start writing letters so when that starts i'll probably stop blogging. i like the thought of writing letters. it seems like it is even easier that phone calls these days. the person i write to can write me back in the spare time. i'll just hope they will return me a letter of all that is going on in their life.

i am so thankful for the family i have. thankful for being able to be in school. thankful for a job, car to get there, and so much more.

i shall call it a day. goodnight or good-day to you.