Well, 2010, it's been great

It's almost 2011.  Weird!  I feel like a lot of great things happened in 2010.  It was good to me.  Here are some highlights.
January: SMC, moved in to 211 in the KD house.
February: Found out I was going to be an RA in Humph!
March: Turned the big 2-0.
April.  I literally can't remember anything that happened last April.
May:  Finished my sophomore year and headed to Destin for Kaleoooo!
June:  Spent an incredible time in Pensacola with Kels, Jules, and Abbey
July:  Came home to Bville and moved in to parents new house
August:  Moved in and began to sweat in Humph.
September: Saw Arkansas football get off to a good start for the first time since i've been in college.
October: Uhhhh.  Again, I can't remember anything specific.
November:  Celeste's surprise birthday party and Thanksgiving in Bville.
December: All nighter in the lib with Jules and Kel, Celeste's engagement, and Christmas with my fam.  December was a grrreat month. 

Isn't it weird how so much changes in a year?  I feel like I'm getting old, which I don't like.  However, I do like how faithful God is, how wonderful my friends and family are, and how those things aren't going to change.  It's been real, 2010!

My New Year's Resolution:  To wear my retainer 5 nights a week.  Hold me to that, okay?

Now, SMC!!!!

Readings

"If we cooperate with Him in loving obedience, God will manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be the difference between nominal Christian life and a life radiant with the light of His face...Why do some persons "find" God in a way that others do not?  Why does God manifest His presence to some and let multitudes of others struggle along on the half-light of imperfect Christian experience?  Of course, the will of God is the same for all.  He has no favorites within His household.  All He has ever done for any of His children He will do for all of His children.  The difference lies not within God but with us.  Pick at random a score of great saints whose lives and testimonies are widely known.  Let them be Bible characters or well-known Christians of post-biblical times.  You will be struck instantly with the fact that the saints were not alike...I venture to suggest that the one vital quality which they had in common was spiritual receptivity.  Something in them was open to heaven, something which urged them Godward.  Without attempting anything like a profound analysis, I shall say simply that they had spiritual awareness and that they went on to cultivate it until it became the biggest thing in their lives.  They differed from the average person in that when they felt the inward longing they did something about it.  They acquired the lifelong habit of spiritual response.  They were not disobedient to the heavenly vision."                                             A.W. Tozer

My heart says of you, "Seek his face!"  Your face, Lord, I will seek.        Psalm 27:8

Is that beautiful, or is that beautiful?  I like Tozer a whole lot.  One great thing about Christmas break is that I've had the chance to do a lot of reading.  One of the books I'm currently reading is The Pursuit of God.  If you haven't read it, you should.  I own it, so you can borrow it from me.  There's even a picture of a deer on the front. 

The countdown:
4 days til SMC!
7 days til party in Bville
13 days til Fay

I still miss my friends.

Christmas is Upon Us

It's Christmas Eve!  Yep.  I like Christmas a whole, whole lot, so today is a great day for me.  Since we're going to my grandparents tomorrow, we had to change up the Golden family tradition a bit, but it has still been great.   What did we do today?
9:30 am - worked out (probably a good idea, seeing as I've pretty much eaten my weight in Christmas candies, cookies, cakes, etc. that my mom has made)
11:00 am - traditional Christmas brunch (we had to move it to Christmas Eve) complete with biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, fruit, and some great juice
12:00 pm - watched Miracle on 34th Street, aka, my favorite Christmas movie ever.  I bet I've seen it at least 50 times.  Maybe more.
3:00 pm - started packing for Kansas, showered, and so on
6:00 pm - Christmas Eve service at church

Me and Cooper before the Christmas Eve service

7:00 pm - took a drive around Fantasy Land Forest.  What's that, you ask?  Only the greatest display of Christmas lights in Washington county.  It's a true Oklahoma show, including bison, a teepee, and a bucking broncho.
8:00 pm - traditional Christmas eve meal of hors deurves (is that you how spell it?).  We always make homemade queso, cheeseball and crackers, wings, guac, pinwheels, and a bunch of stuff I can't remember.  I don't really know why we do that, I guess we just always have.  Weird.
9:00 pm - opened presents (this also had to moved to Christmas Eve because of our trip to Kansas).
Tomorrow at approximately 7:00 am we'll be loading up and heading out to Colony, Kansas - population 300ish.  A bunch of my family will be there.  I'm convinced it will be wonderful.
Merry Christmas to All!

Dreaded. Day. of. Shopping.

That's right.  Tomorrow is the annual "Rachel helps dad shop for mom" shopping trip.  What does this mean?  I'll tell you.  It means that my dad still is still completely oblivious to anything my mom might potentially want for Christmas.  Luckily, for the past couple of years, I've forced my mother into making a Christmas list that is at least 5 items long.  This has drastically cut down on strange and unwanted gifts given to her by multiple people.  However, shopping with my dad isn't like normal shopping.  This is how the day will probably go:
Dad: "So. Uhhhh.  Where do you think we should go?"
Me:  "Well, the mall would probably be a good start."
Dad:  "Okay, good idea.  So do you know what she wants?"
Me: "I think so.  I'll just show it to you when we get there."
(Once we get to the store...)
Me: "This is it.  That's what she wants."
Dad:  "That's what she wants?  Are you sure?"
Me: "Yes dad.  I'm sure.  Do you want to pick out the color?"
Dad: "Yeah.  How about that pink one with that black thing?"
Me:  "Mom doesn't really like pink."
Dad: "Oh.  You just pick something out then."
And this is how the day will go.  The good news?  It only happens once a year!  So after tomorrow I've got 364 shopless days to look forward to.
Also, Mallory and Dave made it to Bartlesville the other night.  We promptly ate dinner and went to Woolaroc.  Sounds great, I know.  Basically it's Frank Phillips' vacation house-turned-museum and they decorate it for Christmas.  Today I went to Taco Bueno, Lowe's, and the post office with my mom and sister while the boys golfed.  Weirdos.
I also had some great convos via text today with Nat, Lurban, and Kel.  All in all, I'd say it was a successful day!

No Place like Bartlesville for the Holidays

Well, it's Christmas break.  Yes.  I managed to make it through finals with my sanity in tact and I am now residing in Bville until January 11th.  It's WEIRD how normal everything seems already.  And by normal, I mean high school.  However, I've been able to spend some qt with my parents and sleep a lot, which has been great!  Here's a run-down of what I've been doing with the last 48 hours of my life. 
-I got home Wednesday night and my mom had an excellent meal waiting for me (of course).  We stayed up pretty late talking and then I sat in our basement and watched the Cosby Show.  Yes I did.
-Thursday I ate lunch with my dad and went Christmas shopping at the mall with my mom.  Then we made this awesome caramel popcorn stuff.  It's addictive.  I also listened to approximately 9 hours of Christmas music.  That night, I was soooo tired, so I went to bed at 10:30 and slept for 12 hours.
-Today, I started reading 30 Days to Understanding the Bible.  It's great so far!  I also did the Shred with my mom.  If you'd like Jillian Michaels to kick your butt in 20 minutes, you should try it out.  We also went shopping at Walmart and, bonus, I didn't see anyone I was specifically trying to avoid!  Tonight I babysat for my old friend Cal.  I hadn't seen him since May, so it was so fun to get to hang out with him.  With Cal, you can go months without seeing him and when you come back it's like no time has passed for him.  It's wonderful and tragic at the same time.  I love Cal so much because despite all of his ups and downs (and believe me, there are plenty), he puts it all aside at the end of the day and loves everybody he comes into contact with.  As much as he drives me nuts sometimes, he has definitely changed my life for the better.  If nothing else, I always have great stories to tell after babysitting him!  He's just great.

Countdown for the rest of the break:
-2 days until my sister and brother-in-law come into town!  I can't wait.
-7 days until Christmas.  Woooooooo!
-15 days until SMC.  Also can't wait for that.
-18 days until the girls come to Bville.  It's going to be epic.
-24 days until Fay.

I think I miss my friends.

Proposals, Finals, and Late Nights in the Library

To say this past week has been eventful would be an understatement.
Last Saturday, Celeste Elkins got engaged!!!  We had a big surprise engagement party at her parents' house and got to eat great food, look at pictures, hear the story, see the ring, etc.  I literally don't think I could be any happier for her.
Last Sunday, I stayed the night at the library.  No, I didn't just stay late.  I slept there.  I had a huuuuuge paper due and a final the next day.  So, I slept from 5-6 am and studied the rest of the time.  Jules decided to document it.

 Monday and Tuesday I had a paper due and 3 finals.  Needless to say, I was a little sleep deprived. 
Wednesday was wonderful.  It was dead day so I got to sleep in, study a little, etc.
Thursday was just a funny day.  Julia and Sarah were VERY sick.  I'm so thankful I didn't have to join in on the fun!
Yesterday I slept till 11, went to Lenny's with Randa, watched 13 Going on 30, and played baby guitar.  It was a good day.
Today I get to go wedding shopping with Celeste!  I. can't. wait.
This week I've been slowly decorating my room for Christmas.  Have I mentioned I love Christmas?

"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called.  Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."

                                                                                          -1 Corinthians 1:26-29
Thanks for the humility, Paul.