The Plight of the Earrings.

Jewelry is one of my guilty pleasures.

Oprah and football are the other two.

When it comes time to shop for me, be it Christmas, Easter, my birthday, or just Wednesday, I'm a fairly easy person to shop for. A gift card to Barnes and Noble or Target will fit just fine. So will earrings. I love earrings. Shiny earrings. Loopy earrings. Silver earrings. Gold earrings. Bedazzled earrings. You name it.

If for some reason, you still have a problem finding a present for me, I have 40 Bible Study girls who laugh at my jewelry collection but are very capable of providing more pieces to add to it. Call them up and take them shopping with you.

Anyhow, my mother knows better than anyone how much I love jewelry.

She also was with me when I ventured off to Vegas in August.

As we were walking around the largest whole-sale jewelry sale ever to grace the face of this planet, she mentioned that she had zero ideas for me for Christmas. If there was anything that I saw that was too expensive for my wallet, she'd happily pick up the bill and add it to my stocking.

I knew the exact pair of earrings I wanted.

The trouble was, I saw them at the beginning of the show and we were now at the end of the building. It wasn't exactly like I could walk over and hand them to her--the jewelry show is in a warehouse about the size of three football fields.

I sighed a little sigh and moved on with my life, realizing the earrings were never going to be mine.

A short time later, Hannah, Granny, Mama, and I found a little table at a Starbucks and sat down for refreshments and a rest. As we sat there, us Perry women, I couldn't stop thinking about these earrings. I wanted them so badly. They were perfect, and beautiful, and shiny, and they had diamonds, and I swear Khloe Kardashian had a pair almost exactly like them.

I looked at Hannah and Granny and told them of my desperate need for these bedazzled treasures. I told them that I had seen the earrings at the beginning of the show, and they were laid sideways on a black tablecloth-covered showcase.

We Perry Women are mighty stubborn. We're stubborn, and we're sassy, and there's no getting our focus off of a mission once we've committed to one. You best believe we committed ourselves to this mission. We hauled ourselves back into the jewelry show for one more lap to attempt to find these earrings.

As I was walking down Aisle 6, I knew we had lost hope. The earrings were either gone, or I had imagined them.

And then...

Then...

I heard this noise.

It sounded like...

No...there was no way...

"Rebekah! Are these them?"

There was no way Granny had found my earrings.

I turned a full 180 degrees and saw that she was standing beside a table that had a black tablecloth on it, and this little Korean woman trying to tend to her every need.

I remembered that Korean lady.

My eyes were suddenly caught by a twinkle in in Granny's hand.

MY EARRINGS!!!

I rushed over and inspected them and quickly had Mama thrust some cash into the lady's hand as to make sure that no one else showed up and wanted them. I would have to wrestle said person to the ground as my mom made a run for the taxi.

But no, the earrings were mine.

Now, all I had to do was wait until the morning of December 25th to open my stocking.

December 25th was four days ago. Four days ago I opened my stocking. When I opened my stocking four days ago, the little package whose content twinkled fell gracefully into my lap. I was reunited with them once again.

I was still in love with these earrings.

I was so excited to wear them.

I wore them all Christmas day.

...I currently have no idea where these earrings are.

Seriously.

After all of that, I think that I have lost these earrings. There's no telling where they have ended up.

If you're the praying type, I'd appreciate it if you sent one up to The Big Guy for my earrings. I'll be tearing up my parents house today in one last attempt to find these articles of perfection.

I'm just a girl...sitting in front of her computer...asking for her earrings back.

(name that movie...)

A Catastrophe!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, I simply cannot go on.

My very own DNA denies me life.

My entire double helix of deoxyribose nucleic acid is completely wrapped in a double membrane of OCD.

And I have left my apartment without any Post-Its or my Vera Bradley miniature notebook that houses my to-do lists, random thoughts, blog ideas, etc.

This has never happened to me before.

Seriously.
When I was in Lebanon, I brought my Vera Bradley notebook.
When I was in Clearwater, I brought three, count it: 3, pads of Post-Its.
Whenever I am anywhere else, I have one of the two (if not both) in my purse.

I am seriously about to start shaking because I can't make my lists! I can't check things off! I can't use different color markers for different types of activities!

The world as I have known it has ended.

My entire family is in the great state of Florida and I am stuck in North Carolina to work. (By the way, can I please insert how my mother texted me a picture of her and Russell Wilson, the Wolfpack's star quarterback. I am just not okay with this. Jealousy...envy...coveting...ughhh) Therefore, I am about to go crawl into my parents' fabulous Sleep Number bed and bury myself under the covers until it is tomorrow. Tomorrow I am moving my plans that I had for Wednesday up and heading to my apartment for more clothes, books, and Post-Its.

Once I am reunited with my beautiful Post-Its or notebook, I will soon make a list. This list will include many ideas for future blogs. Eventually, that list of blog ideas will become an actual blog, and I will entertain you once again.

Until then...

a picture is worth a thousand words.

It is a known fact that I have the world's most beautiful niece.

This picture, once again, proves that fact.

I feel like this picture also sums up my Snow Day 2010. You can be on the look out for a few fantastic posts about my snow day and other things, but this certain post sums up a good bit of my day.

My sister had a handful of friends show up to the house so they could leave early this morning for the Wolfpack Bowl Game down in Orlando, Florida. I don't mind our house being full of people, but I was very much looking forward to them leaving so I could spend the day with the books, movies, and puzzles that Santa brought me for Christmas (Cousin Hannah, you may now insert a comment about me being a Black Sheep).

However, when I woke up, I found about a half a foot of snow glittering in the yard.

My sister soon got an email saying that the trip to Florida had been delayed, and she announced that many, many other band kids were showing up at the house to play and stay.

My beautiful, quiet day with music, literature, and entertainment? Yeah. Effectively down the drain.

That's where my beautiful niece, E, comes in.

I know she enjoyed her day. My cousin's blog told me so. So do the cute pictures of her smiling.

On the other hand, Eden loves to shop! Loves the lights and the people and getting out of the house. She makes me proud.

Eden's mama had promised her a great day of After-Christmas-Deals Shopping.

The snow effectively ruined that day for her too.

However, Eden, like Aunt Rebekah, sucked it up, made the twist of plans into something good, and enjoyed herself.

Is she smiling? Or is she unhappy? I can't really tell...

I feel like she's just kind of shrugging her shoulders and saying, "Oh well, we might as well have fun..."

Good girl, E. Aunt Rebekah loves you a lot.

Happy Snow Day, one and all!

I am in NEED!

I am in NEED!

My creative juices are running dry and I don't know what to post about! Help!

A friend of mine did an "Ask Me Anything" type of deal and she has been able to get some cute posts out of it, answering people's questions and taking pictures of different things.

That being said, I'm stealing from Laura (and a bit from Christin too):

HELP ME, sweet blog readers! Give me ideas, ask me anything, instruct me on how to entertain you!

Unfortunately, I have no cute children to blog about all the live long day. I also have no cute boyfriend to brag about, and so much of my life is going out to dinner or the movies that I'm sure you're tired of that spill all ready!

So, for Christmas, from the sixty of you that read this every now and again, tell me what you want to know. I'm looking forward to delivering in 2011 :)

words cannot describe my family.

I write books.

I've mentioned this before.

Well, let me clarify: I have begun to many, many books in the past. I've only completed three. I no longer have any of these because I wrote them in third grade and they were horrible and somewhere around seventh grade, I trashed them. Part of me still wishes I had them (even though I'm quite certain that I could recite them to you) but another part of me is really, really glad that no one will ever know those jokers came from me.

Anyhow, I've got about four that I have the first few chapters written currently. I've got a good feeling about these. In other words, I think they'll make it past the first few chapters and I don't think they'll end up in the trash. Writing is a release for me; I will start to think about a plot line and eventually I will get so distracted that I have dreams about it and can hardly carry on a conversation until I get it written down. If we've ever been at dinner and I started writing on napkins, I apologize.

To write these books, I normally take a general story in my life and either make it more interesting, or make it turn out the way that I wish it had. One of them that I'm writing is about this guy that used to live in the building beside mine who was cuuuuuute and it's about how we met and fell in love and blah, blah, blah. Did I forget to mention that the majority of the stuff that I write is chick lit fluff? Yeah. You write what you read, and I'm up to my eye balls in chick lit.

Cute Boy Next Door is beside the point.
The point of this is to put some stories out into the void and hopefully make my four readers giggle a bit.
One of the plot lines that I have whirling up in my head is about a week at the lake with my dad's side of the family.
We did lake weeks for about a five summers straight and then quit until this past year. I'm already looking forward to Sanderson Extravaganza 2011. Y'all, these jokers are epic. It's a miracle the earth doesn't implode when you get that many Sandersons into such a small vicinity. And we're talking about expanding the week into extended parts of the family and renting houses near one another. That's when the world is going to implode...

My best memories of my childhood involve these lake weeks. My most cherished thoughts of my cousins come from the time we spent together on the water.

One of my favorite memories involves a younger cousin and a telephone.

This past year I took a few days off from work and summer school and headed to the lake. A friend of mine texted me saying that he was coming into Raleigh the following weekend and would love to meet up. We also arranged to have a little phone date (nothing serious, we just hadn't talked in a while) the following evening.
The house we rented was in the middle of no where. Actually, find the edge of nowhere, go five more miles, and you'll hit the lake house. Time Warner Cable refuses to drive a truck out there, so the house is without cable or internet. There were about 4 pockets of cell service that we found that week; one of them was sitting on the steps leading from the screened in porch down to the water. About 9 pm, I sat out there and talked to Friend. The younger boys (I have five younger cousins currently ranging from the ages of 11 to 7) were shipped off to bed about that time and so while I was on the phone, I had to excuse myself from the conversation to pass out kisses. Friend thought it was cute and he enjoyed hearing my stories about the boys after they went to bed.

About ten minutes later, my youngest cousin managed to sneak out of his bedroom and came to curl up in my lap. Youngest didn't speak much while I was still on the phone with Friend, but the minute I hung up, Youngest asked me,

"Bekah, when are you going to marry him?"

I then explained to Youngest that just because boys are girls are friends doesn't mean they love each other that way and I had no intention of marrying Friend. Youngest asked some more questions along those lines and eventually I just put him to bed instead of divulging the 411 on what it's like to grow up.

About 24 hours later, my phone rang again. Ironically, the friend that I had spoken to yesterday is one of two males that share a name in my contacts list. I hadn't put a last name with them because their area codes are different and that was how I differentiated between them.

Youngest Cousin, however, didn't know my little trick.

He got to my phone before I did, read the same name of the friend that I had spoken to last night, and figured he would answer it for me.

"Hi. Bekah doesn't want to marry you and Mama said that you only can talk to people on the phone that you want to marry. Good bye."

Needless to say, Friend #2 was quite confused.

I wish I was kidding.
I'm pretty sure this one is going to end up in the book.

Words cannot describe my family.

two of my faves.

After I published my last blog from earlier today, I sat down and wrote out my do-before-Christmas list.

I have let my apartment go to pieces over the last few months while I was student teaching because I had so little time and what time I did have didn't come with any energy. I wrote out every piece of this house that needs cleaning and what type of cleaning it needs.

Besides cleaning, I also needed to cook up a storm so I could have some meals in the frig for me to take to work over the next few days.

I realized I had some chicken that needed to be cooked so I cleaned the kitchen (clean the kitchen to just dirty it up again...hmph) and set to work.

But first, I hooked up the laptop in the kitchen to set the mood.

What better to set the mood for an afternoon of cooking than my CBSP playlist? Tenth Avenue North, Jesse McCartney, Relient K, and, of course, Usher.

...

What? Your favorite playlist doesn't have that type of variety? Well, I've always said we're a special family.

Yes, it was the most spiritually uplifting summer of my life and our theme song was "Love in this Club." It's a long story...

Anywho, I made my two favorite dishes: Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo and Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake! Both are Campbell's recipes and are so quick, simple, and cheap to make!

You can find the recipe for the Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake by going to the Campbell's Kitchen website and searching.

Note from my kitchen: Don't hold back on the cheese. Seriously. The recipe calls for half a cup of Parmesan---nah uh. I put at least a cup, if not more, of shredded Four Cheese Mexican Mix from Harris Teeter when it comes out of the oven. I also typically add a bit more when I put it on the plate.

Another note from my kitchen: The recipe suggests to put in veggies. Please do! Whatever I have frozen or canned I stick in there. Today I added some french cut green beans and some peas. I've added squash, carrots, and corn on different occasions before. Yum yum!

One last note on this recipe: If you pull it out of the oven and it's too watery, grab some Special K (personal favorite) or some other plain, flaky cereal and apply liberally. Stir it in and stick it back in the oven for five minutes. It gives it a bit more crunch and helps soak up the liquid.

For the Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo recipe, I'm going to walk you through it!

Oh my goodness, I feel like Paula Deen! So exciting!

Here's all you need:

1/2 of a 16 ounce package linguine
1 cup of fresh or frozen broccoli flowerets
2 tablespoons of butter
1 pound boneless, skinless, chicken breasts cut into cubes
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 can of Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup--you can use any variety. you can also sub with Cream of Chicken, but I prefer Mushroom in this recipe.

What Rebekah actually used today:
1/2 package of angel hair pasta--didn't have linguine
0 cups of broccoli--I was working on the fly here people. I went strictly carnivore today.
A generous spray of Pam.
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into cubes--yes, cut them up. it just tastes weird with the solid breast
1/2 cup of milk
Sprinkled pepper on top of soup when added. Didn't really measure
Generous portions of Four Cheese Mexican Mix shredded cheese from Harris Teeter (anyone sensing a pattern here?)

Directions:
1. Cook the pasta as called for. Add the broccoli for the last 3-4 minutes of cooking.

2. Brown the cubed chicken in a large skillet at medium-high heat. When almost ready (nice golden brown color), add can of soup, milk, and pepper for about two minutes alone.

3. After those two minutes, add in the pasta and broccoli. Stir and allow to settle for about another two minutes. Finally, dump with cheese! Stir and serve. Then add more cheese to taste ;-)

Yummy! One of my favorites!

A few tips from my experiences today:
1. As much love as Usher is due, it's probably not a good idea to make love in the club (XL) while cooking...because then you forget to set timers and just have to guestimate with your many, many dishes you have heating at the moment.

2. One should probably not tell their shawty they're leaving (no matter how many times Jesse McCartney tells you to) while beginning to make their third dish of the day. You'll forget that more ingredients must go in the skillet and you'll pick the wrong skillet...

See? The combination barely fits.
As I was feeling sunny with a high of 75 with Relient K, I was praying to Jesus that I wouldn't spill this mess all over everywhere while I was stirring.

Also, one small request: To those of you that haven't gotten me a Christmas present yet, here's an idea...POT HOLDERS! I don't have any! I'm using a (rather thin) towel.
My favorite color is purple and I also like pink and polka dots. And of course, anything Wolfpack. Thanks!

Oh, and where was Milley while I was jamming to The Summer Of My Life Soundtrack and cooking my faves?

She was keeping post by the back door. There's some birds that enjoy to torment her with their frolicking and she has to make sure they don't step one little claw onto the deck. She forbids it.

Good doggie.

Now, I have to go cross some things off of my to-do list! Ta-ta dahlings!

fifty two degrees.

It's currently 52 (read it: fifty two) degrees in my house. I'm a broke college student that won't splurge on the luxury of heat.

Yes, I am sitting in my chair with a sweatshirt and sweater on. Yes, I have my dog strategically spread across my feet to keep my toesies in tact.

But enough complaining, let's talk about the good life!

Yesterday was glorious and full of great friends.

I woke up to go to DH Hill library on campus so I could print my portfolio for Student Teaching.

Drama of the Day: Apparently the wireless network in DH Hill decided to crap out on us and none of the printers worked for about twenty minutes. And I only had given myself ten! It was stressful and even reduced a friend of mine to tears. But hallelujah, praise the Jesus, eventually it booted back up and I was able to run to class. Don't worry, I was only 25 minutes late.

Dr. Johnson took our entire LTN program out to lunch after class to celebrate a job well done. It was a great hour and a half. You put twenty girls in a room with food and you've got yourself a party! It was bittersweet because although we are all so glad to be done teaching, it was also the last time we were going to be together. Very few of us have a solid plan as to where to go from here so heaven only knows the next time we'll be seeing each other.

Ladies, it's been fun. Thanks for the laughs and lesson plans. Thanks for being a shoulder to cry on and joke to tell to get me smiling again. This experience would have been so different without any of you. I love you all.

I headed home afterwards to attempt to be domestic. I feel like everything is nothing but an "attempt" these days. My to-do list is too long! Anyhow, as I was folding clothes and there was a knock on my door. I knew I was supposed to be meeting my girls at their apartment to go see a movie, but what else had I planned for today?

It turns out, I hadn't forgotten plans, two of my girls decided to come surprise me!

Barn Party 2009 with My Kaitlyn and My Erika.

Kaitlyn and Erika were riding around and decided to stop by my place. I only had a second, but it truly made my day!

I ran out the door as soon as hugs were passed out to go see Tangled with My Lauren and My Kelsey and their Madison and their Morgan. Super duper fun time with my girls and their girls and Tangled is such a cute movie! It's stinkin' hiii-larious and precious to boot.

After the movie and some snuggling on the couch with my girls post-Disney, I headed off to RDU airport with some friends to go pick up the one and only Kimberly H. Spence! She's been in Ecuador studying abroad and I have missed her oh so much. She was the fifth roommate last year and she's another leader on West Campus. As many adventures as I knew she was enjoying in Ecuador, I'm glad she's home.

Today has been spent with more attempts at domesticity (new word. go use it.) and a lunch date with my daddy! You all know how much I adore my dad and he took me to Mellow Mushroom. Whoop whoop!

It's been a good thirty six hours, and starting in less than twenty four, I'm about to become a work-a-holic until Christmas Eve so I might not be around much, but I have plenty in store for you after the holidays I'm sure.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Another Giveaway!

I love, love, love giveaways!

I also love, love, love Laura Underwood, and her blog Meet Virginia!

I've linked her before so I'm hoping you've taken a peek at her super cute and sweet blog, and this time she's doing a Favorite Things giveaway! Check it out and get in on the action too :)

things i'm looking forward to.

Christmas is only thirteen days away, and I'm incredibly excited! The next thirteen days hold great things for me so I'm sharing them:

Sunday, Dec 12:
I'm about to head to my baby girls' apartment to work on my end-of-student-teaching project. We've delegated their house as "Study Central."

Monday, Dec 13:
In the morning, I have to report to State to turn in all sorts of work to prove that I actually did student teach this semester. I'm really excited to spend a few hours with my LTN girls one last time. We're also adventuring out to lunch (on my professor, what what!) afterwards for some good food and great fellowship.
My Lauren and My Kelsey are going to the matinee with their girls to see Tangled and they've invited me along! Yay for afternoons spent with generations of my loves! :)
I'm then meeting Erin (my CT from student teaching) for dinner that night. We're celebrating a great semester...we truly do have a lot to celebrate!

Tuesday, Dec 14:
A day off!

Wednesday, Dec 15:
Back to work at good ol' BN. I love that I love my job.

Saturday, Dec 18:

My sweet friends, Kelley and Corey, are getting married. They've been dating forever and I love how much they love each other and the Lord. It's going to be a great time with some friends from my freshman year that I haven't seen in a while, and a couple of my girls will be there as well. It will be a great afternoon of celebration!

Thursday, Dec 16-Thursday, Dec 23:
Work, work, work. Gotta pay those bills. But it's okay because I love my job, I love the people I work with, and I love the customers around the holidays. There's never a dull moment.

Friday, Dec 24:
PAY CHECK BABY.

Saturday, Dec 25:
CHRISTMAS! Spending the entire day with my family and getting fabulous gifts and celebrating the birth of my wonderful Savior! It doesn't get much better than that!

the last and the first.

"How was your last day of student teaching?"

is a very common question in my life currently. It makes my heart beat a little faster and a grin come on my face for different reasons. For one, I have actually completed something well. I feel like I did a job well done when it comes to this category.

Another reason is because I had the greatest kiddos in the world. No exaggeration there whatsoever. Every single class threw a surprise party for me. I've never had a surprise party before. Before first period, all of my little jokers were sneaking in grocery bags and boxes and refused to make eye contact with me. It was like they thought: "If I don't see her, she can't see me." Cute little boogers. Each class had a cake for me and they made cards and wrote me thank-you notes. My fourth period went all out with a banner and apparently they had been preparing for this for days, if not weeks. Like I said, cute little boogers.

My teacher even gave me a fantastic present: She "robbed the English office" and gave me a ginormous bag of school supplies: grade books, pens, pencils, dry erase markers, high lighters, etc.

It was hard for the bell to ring at 2:18 but it happened. I loaded my car up with my loot and headed for home. While driving I made a few phone calls to fellow LTN-ers and mi madre and left voicemails that sounded something like, "I AMMMM DOOOONNNE. D-O-N-E. DONE! DONE, DONE, DONE!" I'm sure they enjoyed it.


On my way home, I checked my Twitter to find out that my beautiful friend Caleb's grandmother wasn't expected to make it through the night. I immediately U-turned in the middle of Gorman Street and headed to The Ranch. I don't have an update, but I do know that God is Sovereign and Caleb and his family are in His hands. If you're the praying kind, I'd appreciate it. Caleb's grandfather past away back in the summer and this is an incredibly hard time for his family.

After Caleb had to leave, I headed out to dinner with some other LTN girls to celebrate the conclusion of this crazy ride. It was super fun but exhausting at the same time.

My darling Ally, one of my best friends in the major, leaned over and asked if I wanted to catch a movie with her. We headed out to the $1.50 and caught up with friends, Risa and Dre. We went to see Easy A, which is an adaptation of The Scarlet Letter. If there wasn't so much cursing in it, I would totally buy it and use it in my classroom. It was super cute, but all of the four letter words ruined it for me.

On the way back from the movies, Risa said, "Hey Rebekah, are you going to Hannah's tonight?" CRAAAAAAPP!!!! My girlies were having a Christmas party and I had COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN! I sped over to UWoods and joined in the celebration for a couple of hours.

By midnight I was exhausted and was asleep before my head hit the pillow.


"How was your first day of not student teaching?"

is another popular question in my life.

True story: I spent it in bed.

I didn't set an alarm. When I woke up, I took the dog outside, came back in to bed and watched a season of Friends, a couple of movies and a few episodes of Will and Grace while eating many, many bowls of spaghetti. The only reason I changed into good sweatpants instead of holey ones was because My Kelsey texted me, "There's too much cheese ball left over from the party last night. Go eat it." I consequently spent the next 7 hours at their apartment.


A couple of you have noticed the mention of a dog in my Tweets and my blog posts.
Well, it's official: My puppy has come to live with me!

It's a long story, but she's here and I'm loving it. She's a lot of work and I definitely cannot be as independent as I once was (ie, I had to come home last night at 3 am instead of crashing on my girls' couch because I didn't want Milley to be alone), but she's worth it.

My Hannah hates animals. Cannot stand them. I find it amusing because we're so similar in almost everything else and she's also the most caring human being on the face of the planet. But it's true, she hates dogs. She puts up with Milley because she loves me, but that's about as far as it goes. My Hannah has noticed, however, that Milley seems to have taken on my personality in the many years that we have been together:

1. Everyone that walks in the door is there to see her.
2. She will crawl into anyone's lap and demand attention, and she's just so cute, you can't help but love her.
3. She doesn't understand the concept that some people just don't like her.
4. She's stinkin' dramatic.

Case in point: I was enjoying my day in bed yesterday, but every now and again I would get up and take Milley outside to do her business. About 4pm yesterday, Milley was done sitting around. She wanted to go on the run that I promised her (before I knew it was going to be raining all day) and she wanted to dance around and get dirty and sweaty--I wasn't having any of that. I was beautifully curled up in my beloved bed and wasn't planning on getting out that day. Milley came up put her nose up next to my nose and starting licking my face and whining a bit.

"Baby, I am not taking you outside. Now come lay down."

She whined a bit more until she realized I wasn't playing. Then, dramatically, she plopped (not laid, plopped) herself onto the floor beside my bed and sighed loudly. After a few sighs, she looked up to see if I had changed my mind. When she realized I had not, she sighed some more. Looked up. Laid back down. Sighed some more. Looked up. Laid down. Sighed some more.

When she realized I really was not moving, she huffed (not sighed, huffed), and rolled over so she was no longer facing me.

Diva.

things.

Things I Should Be Doing:
1. Walking the dog.
2. Brushing the dog.
3. Writing (any of) my book(s).
4. Vacuuming the house.
5. Cleaning my room.
6. Scrubbing the toilet.
7. Scrubbing the bathtub.
8. Making my portfolio.
9. Creating my estimated-to-be-more-than eleven page long paper.
10. Researching Bible Study books for next semester.
11. Spending time with my Jesus.
12. Cooking.
13. Reading a book for pleasure.
14. Finishing the six, read it: six, loads of laundry that I've been working on for a week.
15. Straightening the house.
16. Cleaning out my car.

Things that I'm Actually Doing:
1. Watching Barbara Walter's Oprah Special.
2. Scratching the dog behind her ears.
3. Typing on my blog.

Welcome to my Friday. I don't care if you judge me.

You want to know why? Because I finished student teaching today. And I'm heading out with the LTN girls tonight. And so, the to-do list can wait for tomorrow.

i heart food...and my baby girls.

I heart food.

I don't think this comes as a shock to anyone.

I have two amazing cooks as grandmothers and my mother has also inherited those skills. Beyond that, I am loving learning how to cook some favorites. The best $7 I think I have ever spent was on a Campbell's cookbook. I got it on clearance at Barnes and Noble and I have been able to make about half of the recipes so far in the past eighteen months that I have owned it. They're quick and simple and involve simple ingredients that I normally all ready have in the house.

confession: i hate it when i get really excited about a recipe to only realize that i need some crazy ingredients that cost like $25 per ounce. not cool, recipe people. not cool.

This experimenting with cooking is about to come in handy...

But more on that later.

I also heart my baby girls.

Last night, I had my baby girls over to my house to have our Christmas celebration. About eleven people showed up and we ate chocolate and laughed and opened presents. I loved seeing how my girls know each other--each present was something that everyone will enjoy. Be it a zebra striped Snuggie, or a hot cocoa set, or some Wolfpack ornaments, it was so fun!

Since it was the last meeting of the semester, my girls naturally asked what was in store for us next semester (I will not think about it being my last semester. I will not think about it being my last semester. I will not think about it being my last semester...). My reply, "I have no idea." That seems to be a common theme in my life these days.

We decided to move our Bible Study to Wednesdays and do it early...so I can feed them dinner!!! I'm really looking forward to spending a meal with my girls every week next semester. We used to meet at Fountain Dining Hall on campus their freshman year, and it was an amazing time of fellowship. I loved watching their personalities come out while they interacted with me and each other. I also remember towards the end of the year, I was running really late for some reason, and I showed up to dinner, paid to get in, got my food, and headed to our usual table...to find no one sitting there. And it wasn't because someone else was sitting in our seats...my girls were no where to be found. The little pranksters had moved to the far corner of the other end of Fountain and were snickering as they were hiding out and stuffing their faces with food. Silly little angels.

After they left, I headed out to Kanki to meet up with my family to have dinner for my dad's birthday! I sure do love that man!

When I got home, I sat down and began to think about what I would cook for all of my girls next semester. I started making a list, and am about 3 meals short.

QUESTION #1 OF THE DAY: Do you have a recipe that could feed between 10-15 cheaply that I could add to my list of meals to serve my girls? I'd appreciate an email: sanderson.rebekah@gmail.com.

After we decided I was going to feed them every week, we then realized we had to decide what to study next semester. We went through some options, but still came up with a blank.

QUESTION #2 OF THE DAY: Is there a Bible Study book that you could request to help me out when figuring out what to teach my girls? Feel free to email or comment!

Here's some qualifications of what we're looking for in a study:
--I have a vast range of believers in my study. I normally appeal to the more advanced ones so that the "younger" ones are challenged and learning and the "older" ones aren't bored.
--As much as Beth Moore has to offer, she's rather time consuming and expensive. We're overworked and underpaid college kids. We love her, but she's just not right for us.
--We would also prefer a topic instead of a book of the Bible. In Spring 2010, we did a book called "Becoming a Woman of Excellence" by Cynthia Heald and it was fantastic. We might look into doing another one of her selections.
--I realize that "contentment" and "dealing with singleness" are usual topics for college girls, but going back to the idea of a "vast range of believers" I have labeled that as more of a one-on-one topic with my girls, rather than a group discussion. We do use it as a supplement, but it's not something that we're going to discuss for fifteen weeks straight.

I would really appreciate any advice!

Happy Hump Day :)

I so enjoy...

I so enjoy...

...reading.

...teaching.

...coffee.

...my Bible Study girls.

...cooking.

...television.

...spending time with my amazing Savior!

...my puppy.

...dancing.

...Diet Coke.

...road trips.

...phone calls with my Clearwater and Lebanon families.

...weekends with my Lebanon and Clearwater families.

...any day with my family!

...hugs and kisses.

...blog stalking.

If I could keep all of these things in my life, I would be happy forever!

I adore reading a certain blog every day. The writer is so sassy and so cute and she has the most adorable kids. It's on my bucket list to go through and read her entire blog (she started blogging in 2007. it's going to be a chore).

Today, I found an old post talking about a weekend that she and some girlfriends take every year. They take a weekend to go away and cook and laugh and hang out and just spend time together. Sometimes they bring their daughters, sometimes they bring their mothers. Sometimes they just bring their sweet tooth. I hope that somewhere down my line these weekends can happen with me and my baby girls, or more weekends with my Clearwater family or Lebanon family.

As I was reading the blog today, I envisioned a future conversation that I would have with my hubby like the one that she was having with hers.

Me: "Hey, sweeeeeeeetiee?"
Hubby: "What do you want now, my most precious wife that I would do anything for?"
Me: "Could you build me a kitchen?"
Hubby: "I already did you sweet thang."
Me: "No, no, no. Like another one. A big one where people could gather to cook and laugh and have fun. Like, another one in a building outside?"
Hubby: "So, you just want a big building that is just a huge kitchen?"
Me: "Well, I'll need a sweet dining room so we can eat that good food that I'm going to cook."
Hubby: "You want a kitchen and a dining room?"
Me: "Well, and we'll also need a nice living room so we can lounge while the cookies are baking!"
Hubby: "You want a kitchen, a dining room, and a living room?"
Me: "Yeah. Just somewhere that the families could come and hang out so we can see each other more often."
Hubby: "So what you really want...is a guest house?"
Me: "Just something in the back yard."
Hubby: "You want a guest house...in the back yard...But what's going to happen to it the other 50 weekends of the year when one of your family members isn't over?"
Me: "...We could keep it clean...You know, like if one of my girls wanted to move in..."
Hubby: "One of your girls??? Rebekah Sanderson, you all ready made me support 12 children. You want your girls to move in too?"
Me: "Well, not all of them..."
Hubby: "Seriously?"
Me: "But they're the loves of my life."
Hubby: "I thought I was the love of your life..."
Me: "You are...but they came first..."
Hubby: "Okay, so let me get this straight...we met back in the day. Then I couldn't help but fall in love with you because of your beauty and your charm. Then we had one of the most amazing weddings on the planet. And then we started having kids and filled up the house. And now you want a second house so you can entertain other people? Did I get that right?"
Me: "I'm so glad we agree on this!"
And then I give him a little smooch and he heads outside to start digging a foundation :)

From This Day Forward...

Yesterday, I spent the day in Clemmons, NC attending the wedding of Emily Ward and Brandon Compton. Emily and Brandon are two friends that I met through Crusade and I adore each of them. I remember the first time I met Brandon was at BoJangles my freshmen year--we spent more than an hour talking about life, school, Jesus, and whatever else it is that people talk about at BoJangles. Emily and I met through mutual friends. One of the first times I remember talking to her was at Shak-A-Thon my sophomore year. This past year we became even closer just through different circumstances. There are few people in this world that can make me smile brighter than when Emily walks through the door. She has an amazing heart for the Lord and her relationship with Brandon is completely focused on how they can glorify Him together. I have asked Emily some hard questions about my walk with the Lord, and Emily has always been honest with me and is constantly pointing me to the cross. I want a relationship like the one that Emily and Brandon have. They're the type of couple that it makes you sick to watch them for too long because love and adoration is pouring out of their eyes. But it's just so beautiful.

I love you guys and I cannot wait to continue to watch you grow in Christ together and love one another as He loves His Church. Thank you for everything you mean to me.


While I have your ear, let me tell you a bit about where I see myself in a couple of months.
The short version is: I HAVE NO IDEA.

But I'll give you the long version and all of the options that I have at my door.
1.) I'm looking for teaching jobs in Raleigh, NC. Big shocker there.
2.) I'm looking for teaching jobs in Knoxville, TN. My explanation for this: Why not? I have a plethora of friends and family there and I'm always in need of a good adventure!
3.) I am filling out my application to be an Intern with Crusade. I love my baby girls. So, so much. I love the movement that I have been a part of since January, 2007. It's been a crazy ride and I figured "Why stop at four and half years?" This application also allows me to look into going back overseas with Crusade for a year or two--like I said, I'm always looking for a good adventure.
4.) I am filling out an application to be a part of a church planting team in Murfreesboro, TN (right outside of Nashville). Another great adventure with Christ being the center of it. I would be helping promote the church and the Gospel and also getting a teaching job.
5.) I am writing books. Yes, you read that correctly. Somewhere in my busy schedule I have found time alone with my computer to write and write and write and write. I am working on a couple of fiction pieces that have been stirring for a few months and also a Christian Inspirational book. I am also hoping to follow a non-fiction idea that I've had for a few years this summer. I have no idea where this will lead me, but it's an option that I might pursue.
6.) I would love to work for Amazima Ministries. A friend of mine found a blog of a girl who packed up and moved to Uganda and has been loving on orphans for a couple of years now. She has also founded a non-profit that supports these orphans (similar to the workings of Compassion or World Vision). I am working on getting together a "ministry portfolio" as a type of resume so they'll send me over there to work with Katie and love the little orphans for a year or two.

I know that some of these ideas are crazy. I know only a few of these ideas are close to home. I know that only a few of them also follow the standard "American Dream" idea. But I honestly don't think that I was built for something "normal". Too much of my life these past couple of years has been so far outside of "normal" that I'm not even sure I could really figure out how to do that.

The reason I am listing these ideas out for the vast yonder of people to read is to ask for prayer. I am sure that you can see that I am at a loss for words. I am sure that you can see how confused I am about my life and where to go from here. I am asking for guidance from The Throne daily, and the only thing He's giving me is "Love Me. Trust Me. Obey." Even with this answer, this idea of which avenue to take in order to love, trust, and obey Him is beyond me.

Just as Emily and Brandon are going from this day forward, I am as well...I just don't know where exactly I am going...

My Clearwater Family (Day 23)

My Clearwater Family.

Two and half years ago, I packed up The Reba (before she was named The Reba) and headed down to Atlanta, Georgia as a pit stop on the way to Clearwater, Florida. Kerianne joined me for the trip and we also made a stop in Charlotte to pick up Alex.

I remember that we showed up at Mattie's house (when he was just Matt) and thought that we were the first car there, and so we drove around the block for about ten minutes. I remember walking into Matt's front door and seeing this living room full of boys staring at us. Thankfully, Marla and Jenna were all ready there so we weren't the only girls. Kim and Julia soon showed up, followed by Kimi.

All of us (save T. Hays and Ryan) that slept over at Matt's house before we ventured to Florida.

I remember all of the girls sitting on my and Kerianne's bed talking that night. I remember getting in the car the next morning and making another 7 hour drive.


When we finally pulled up to the North Sunrise Hotel & Resort, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. It wasn't until about half an hour later when Ashey saw me at the bottom of the stairs and came up to me. "Are you Bekah?--Oh! I am so glad to meet you!" And then she wrapped me in a hug and I knew that I was not only going to be okay...I was about to have the time of my life.

Ashley and me walking down to get our group photo taken.

I love walking hand-in-hand with my sisters.

My sweet Ry-Ry.

That summer flew by. We rarely slept. We ate junk food. We swallowed too much Rita's (it's not really "eating" or "drinking". I couldn't think of another word...). We worshipped at Grace Christian Fellowship and found community at Peace Presbyterian Church. We laughed, cried, ate, napped, explored, advntured, played, worked, worshipped, swam, and sunburnt together. I went from having one brother and one sister, to having 26 sisters, and 15 brothers.

A great example of CBSP eating: we love Mexican food!

This was one of our first meals out :)

The happiest I have ever been in my life was Labor Day Weekend 2008. We all drove into Knoxville for Boomsday and some fellowship. Whenever I am having a bad day, I think about pulling into T. Hays' long gravel driveway and seeing Hannah, Julia, and Scarlet come running at me. I stopped my car and ran out without putting it in park--I wanted my arms around them so badly. We all squealed and cried and hugged, so happy to be reunited. I then walked into T. Hays' basement and squealed like there was no tomorrow when I saw the majority of my family hanging out on the couches. I remember Will running from me, a bit scared after seeing how excited I was, thinking that I would hit him in all of my joy. They eventually relinquished and let me hug them. Soon after that, we headed to The Ranch (RIP old buddy. CBSP loves you) for a dance party. Mattie was there to surprise me. I screamed my head off and almost fell down the stairs from the shock. And then Austin walked in and us girls immediately surrounded him for hugs--he was/is such a rock star.

The "Girl Pic" that we took before heading to The Ranch.
I treasure my sisters' laughs more than anything else in this world.

My best friend, my sister, my other half, Hannah Stewart Huffman.
I love her so much.

My Ra Baby.

It was the best weekend ever.

My beautiful sister, Sarah.

With the best people ever.

My sister, Rachel.

My kids will know about CBSP. And Lebanon. My kids might call a few of my Lebanon people "aunt" or "uncle" but I know that they will be calling some CBSPers "aunt" or "uncle." I know that my kids will know them. I know that my future husband has to have a talk with a few of those guys/girls before he can get on one knee.

Sarah, Ashley, and I cramped in the back seat of Kim's sweet little yellow car on the way to Rita's.

I tell my girls all of the time taht if they had known me before I went to Clearwater, they would have met a completely different girl than the one that loves them now. Clearwater taught me how to love. They taught me how to fully lean on Christ. They taught me about the necessity of community and prayer. They taught me how to have a daily walk with Christ, about how to have a relationship instead of following a religion. They taught me the necessity of community and prayer. They taught me how to be a sister.

I pray for all of you daily.

No, no photoshop was required for this picture. This is just how this picture of me and Rachael showed up on Mattie's camera.

I love you with every piece of my heart.

Our Fourth of July celebration down near the Pier.

Hannah, Ashley, Jordan, me, and Ryan.

I am always looking forward to the moment when we're all together again.

Our group photo at Celebration Station for our Tacky Golf Event.

I am quite the fan of entering raffles and giveaways.

Aaaaaand, wouldn't you know it, my dear friend Christin is doing a giveaway on her blog, Carolina City Girl!

She is quite the crafty queen and she is also a Meredith girl, which means homeslick can shop! I'm really hoping I get the fabulous picture board she is giving away.

Check her out, and get in on the action :)