Birthday Blessings

Two more of my roommates and best friends have had birthdays in the last week... this post is to celebrate them.

Allison Baker. She turned 21 last Thursday. This girl has become one of my closest friends and now that we live together we spend even more time together. I'm so thankful for her wise advice and laughter that constantly fills our house. We have spent countless nights staying up late and having some seriously deep and meaningful conversations. I love knowing that I can walk down the hall and sit on her floor at any point and I love knowing that she's always available and willing to talk. She is such an incredible listener and I feel like I can tell her everything, which is a big deal for me. I love you Miss Baker, you are so special to me and I can't wait to see where the future takes us both.
(Patiently waiting but very ready...)

Alexandra Lake. She is 22 today. Met this crazy lady freshman year and we've pretty much been inseparable since. People often refer to us as Alexi, "the Alexes" and our Italian professor even calls us Alessandre (the plural form of Alessandra). She is one of the most brutally honest and straight up people I've ever met and that's what people love about her. For as different as we may be, we're also alike in so many ways. We're both silly and loud and confident in who we are. We can read each other's minds and connect in a really unique way. Lake doesn't care what people think, she is the way she is and won't ever apologize for that. And I think that's pretty cool. I love you Lake. You're crazy and funny and outrageous but deep down there's a thoughtful, beautiful, solid friend.


So thankful for both of these lovely girls, life wouldn't be the same if I didn't know them both. Can't wait to celebrate you both this weekend when we take our roomie trip to Austin. It's going to be SO fun. I love you both so much!!

Landen Shea Ellis

Forgive me for this being a little bit late...

BUT my sweet roommate turned 21 today (yesterday I guess, technically)!!!!!

Landen and I met freshman year and ended up both pledging Pi Phi second semester. We remember our first real "bonding" experience to be during pledging on a trip to the Waco Zoo (pictured). Surprisingly, Waco has a pretty rocking zoo by the way... who knew? So not the point. Anyway, our friendship blossomed that day and continued into our sophomore year where we grew even closer. This special relationship finally led us to becoming roommates and here we are today, in our junior year, living the life on 10th street. Together.

Landen is one of the most genuine and caring people I've come across at Baylor and I'm lucky enough to get to live right down the hall from her. She encourages me daily, continuously makes me laugh and most importantly, she covers me with love. Landen is by far one of the busiest people in the world; she does everything and anything to serve those around her and although it's exhausting for her on most days, I know she loves it. No matter how tired she is or how frustrating things may get, that girl always carries on with a smile on her face. She continues to love on people, call out greatness in them and show them grace when others wouldn't. I'm inspired by Landen's passion and work-ethic. She is a true joy to be around and doing life with her is such a blessing. I'm lucky to call Landen one of my closest friends.

Sweet Landen, thank you for all you do. Thank you for loving the unloveable and taking on tasks that no one else will. Thank you for your determination, for your joy, for your unshakable faith. You are strong. You are beautiful. You are funny. You are outgoing. You are remarkable. You are LOVED. And now, you are 21! I hope this birthday was special for you, we love you so very much!

 Thank you God for making this wonderful young woman. We are all blessed by her. Phil 1:3

Friday Night Whites

Friday night I was privileged to go see Maroon 5 (and Train) in Dallas with my friend Kirsten. I thought we had lawn seats but she tricked me and ended up buying us great seats, 25ish rows from the stage kinda great, as a complete surprise to me! Without going into too much detail, this weekend was long overdue and proved to be an amazing 20 hours or so of fun, relaxation and healing. No words can possibly describe how wonderful that was.

Despite the less than profound lyrics of "Hey Soul Sister", Train was surprisingly pretty cool. Much more fun than I expected and I must admit I rather enjoyed their old school stuff. The dude [Patrick Monahan] had about 6 unnecessary wardrobe changes, not kidding... but he has quite a voice so I'm giving him props for that. Plus he walked down our aisle, twice, and stopped in the middle of a song ("Marry Me") for a marriage proposal to occur 4 feet from us. First of all, how do you get that hookup? Secondly, Train? Really? ...Just my humble opinion. :) However, this is the moment where I apparently got too close to Mr. Pat, which resulted in his security detail physically shoving me out of the way. Oops? They also did a pretty incredible cover of Aerosmith's "Dream On" and while Monahan is no Steven Tyler, I was impressed. You go Glen Coco.

Now to the important stuff! Maroon 5 (Adam Levine to be more specific) is one of my favs and seeing them live is always so much fun. They have amazing energy and you can't help but throw your hands in the air and scream the words to every song. I adore those kinds of concerts and to me, there's nothing better than dancing around like a fool to music you love with a bunch of strangers. Absolute bliss. I also like to fantasize about what it'd be like to sing on a stage that big and hear thousands of people screaming your name and singing your songs. What a rush! The Dallas show last night was the second to last of the tour and Adam explained that it was their last "Friday Night Whites" show... meaning that on every Friday night of the tour the whole band wore all white, all night. I loved this and although it probably has no correlation with my guilty pleasure, Friday Night LIGHTS, I'd like to think it does. Just one more reason why I love me some Adam. They had a great set list, an insane light show and super cool media. I was once again impressed with the show these boys put on and would totally see them again. Overall, it was an amazingly gorgeous, carefree, perfect night in The Big D.

Fall

Today is the first "official" day of fall which means the end of a hot, long summer. This summer was incredible; I got to travel the world, relax and spend some much needed time at home in St. Louis with friends and family. Aside from all those lovely memories, I have to admit I'm SO ready for fall to be here. Living in Texas has been an adjustment for me because being from the Midwest, I'm used to having FOUR full-blown seasons... that is not so much the case here in central TX. When it comes to winter, I don't mind that a southern winter isn't really a winter at all compared to what I've grown up with because I'm not great with coldness. However, fall is my absolute favorite time of the year and it always seems to take a little longer to arrive in Waco. So, in honor of today being the first day of my favorite season, here are some things I'm looking forward to about this particular fall!!

1. temperatures below 90 degrees
2. fall fashion - boots, long sweaters, leggings, glittens, scarves, etc
3. seeing my parents (one week from today!)
4. my best friend coming home from Africa
5. football - cheering on both the Baylor Bears and my STL Rams
6. homecoming and PIGSKIN!!!! as the first place act!!!!!
7. celebrating three of my roommates' birthdays
8. going home for breaks
9. firedance
10. dressing up for halloween

Some good Fall memories from the last two years.

Moving Target

Without getting too personal, so much has changed for me in the last year. Everything from relationships to my spiritual journey. I've grown up so much and have never been in a better place. My walk with Jesus is stronger than ever, my friends are more than a blessing and my family is beyond amazing.

Starting my junior year of college a few weeks ago honestly freaked me out... I'm 21 now, halfway done with college and starting to think about being a real grown up. Where did the time go?! With that being said, this is the most fun I've ever had in life! I love where I'm at. I love Baylor, I love sweet little Waco, I love my roommates, I love Pi Phi, I love my church, I love learning (most of the time) and I love what God's doing in my life. Some changes have been extremely evident while others, not so much. Regardless, big things are happening this year and I'm so excited. I honestly have no idea what that even means, but I can feel it.

Here are some of the beautiful people, places and things I've been spending time with this year so far. So blessed and so thankful.

Fashion Is Art

Food for thought.

The High Price of Fashion - NY Mag 2006
(Photo: Griffin Christensen)

I'm a fashion major. Obviously, I love fashion. And for one of my classes, I had to read this article... it inspired me a little bit. There's so much truth in what's written (seriously, read it) even though it is almost five years old. Who decided that a dress should cost more than the average person's car? Not me. But at the same time, I respect high-fashion. I get inspired by high-fashion. I'm moved by high-fashion. I love high-fashion.

I think we can all admit that it's not normal to spend $30,000 on a dress or even $2,000 on a handbag and I'm not gonna do it, but I do get it. Sort of. I get that fashion is art. Clothes are a way of expressing yourself and the things that designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Christian Dior create are out of this world. My brain can't even fully understand how such magnificent works of art are dreamed up and executed. At the same time, I do sometimes wonder, what's the limit? How expensive can we make clothes? How many people are actually buying such lavish items? Is it even worth it?

I don't know. What I do know is that fashion means something to me. No, I'm not going to go out and buy a $30,000 dress or $14,000 shoes... but I will dream about them. I will obsess over fashion shows and gush about designers. I will read magazines and see "who wore it better". I will look forward to reading fashion blogs and staying up on current trends. I will daydream about going to fashion week, on the regular.

I'm a girl. And I'm a girl that loves everything fashion.

Jenna Lynn

"Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God." Philippians 1:3

This is my best friend Jenna. Isn't she beautiful?

We have "known" each other for many, many years now but didn't become super close until high school. People always assume that's how we met but truth be told, we've never gone to the same school. Ever. I think we technically met at church randomly and after that we would occasionally see one another due having a lot of mutual friends. Little did we know, that was just the beginning.

I guess it was sometime in the middle of high school, when she got more involved in our youth group, that we really began to click. Our friendship grew strong and it grew quickly. We were suddenly inseparable! We developed a bond unlike any other I've ever had before. We have the uncanny ability to finish each other's thoughts and can always make the other person laugh. Sometimes people get to see the unique little world we live in together and while we think we're absolutely hilarious, I'm sure others think we're crazy. Jenna likes to say that we're REALLY funny (because we are) but some people just don't know it... yet. Flash forward a couple years and we graduated high school. So when it came time to go off to college, we both left St. Louis and headed for two very different cities in two very different states. Jenna goes to Vanderbilt (Nashville, TN) and is studying to be a nurse. She is way smart and has a passion for helping people that humbles me daily. I'm currently trying to talk her into going to Baylor Nursing School ;)

Some assumed our friendship would fizzle, as most high school friendships do, but we were determined to prove them wrong. Amazingly, over the last two years we've grown even closer. With skype, facebook, emails, tweets, and texts we communicate multiple times a day. We're in constant contact and always filling each other in on life, asking for advice, praying for and celebrating one another.

This July, Jenna left the good ole' US of A and headed across the world to Cape Town, South Africa to study abroad for 5 months. As hard as it was to have her gone for the second half of my summer and as complicated as opposite time zones can be, I could not be more full of joy for the work my best friend is doing over there. She's taking challenging courses, meeting incredible people, and seeing some of the most beautiful places on this entire planet. Her blog (check it out!!!) brings me peace and reminds me of the greatness God has planned for her. She inspires me to laugh and live my life to the utmost degree.

This silly blog can't possibly describe what this girl has done for my life. She's given me some of the happiest and funniest memories while being with me in some of my lowest times as well. She's thrown me surprise parties, baked me millions of cookies and slept over too many times to possibly count. We've been through relationships and breakups, dealing with friends and frenemies, temptations, questions of faith, family and things I won't even get into. She encourages me daily, prays for me often, and challenges me always. Long story short(ish), we have been through it all. Well, maybe not ALL, but we've been through a lot. And it brings me so much joy to think about how much more life we'll get to experience together. Falling in love, being in each other's weddings, having jobs, being grown ups, sharing our faith, traveling together, etc.

Jenna Lynn Kinsinger. You mean the world to me. You are without question the best friend I've ever had and will ever have. My parents love you like another daughter. Tori looks up to you like another sister. And I aspire to have just a fraction of the love and strength you possess. My words can't possibly express the gratitude I have for our friendship. I am beyond blessed to call you my best friend. I miss you tons but am so proud of who you are and what you're doing. Can't wait to have you back in America with me, I love you.

I'd Rather Have Jesus

My freshman year at Baylor, a group of students started a ministry called Vertical that brings college students here in Waco together on a weekly basis to worship and talk openly about the Christian faith. Their mission was to encourage students to 'actively pursue an authentic and "vertical" relationship with Jesus.'

Vertical is now entering its third year here at Baylor and the ministry continues to grow and flourish. We're blessed to have Jeff Johnson Band leading us in worship and the incredible Afshin Ziafat as our speaker. Afshin has one of the neatest testimonies I've ever heard - coming from an Islamic background, disowned by his own father after becoming a Christian, and now being a lead pastor of a church in Frisco as well as leading us at Vertical every week. He has such charisma and passion behind his messages, it's hard not to love him immediately. I have so enjoyed having him around the last couple years and feel really lucky to hear from such an authentic speaker.

Keep in mind that Vertical is not a substitute for church by any means but instead provides a platform for students to come together and praise Jesus under the same roof. We all go to different churches, are members of different Greek clubs, have different friends, and come from all over the country... but there's one thing we all agree on and that is that Jesus Christ is Lord. I can't even begin to tell you how humbling it is to sing alongside hundreds of fellow Baylor students that have the same beliefs as I do every Monday night. I go to a very unique school and Vertical is just one thing that makes Baylor a special place in this world.

This next part is specifically for those of you reading my blog from places other than Waco, TX:
I would love to ask for your prayers and encouragement with this ministry. We have been so blessed these last couple of years and each semester kids continue to find Jesus and get plugged in at churches all over our community. All I'm asking is for you to keep Afshin, his wife Meredith, Jeff Johnson and his band, and all of the incredible student leaders of Vertical on your heart and in your prayers. These people continually make sacrifices and are trusting God in some huge ways to make Vertical happen every week. This ministry has been incredible to me and so many others at Baylor so I just want to encourage anyone (and everyone) to keep praying for all the amazing things that are yet to come with Vertical Ministries. There is so much to be thankful for! Love you all.

Blessed.

Important People

I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with the roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frost-work, but the solidest thing we know. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I believe that it's kind of a given that loved ones are essential for the well-being of any individual. There are so many times when I've called on people in my life, both in the highs and lows, because I knew I could count on them. Good friends can laugh with (and at) you, cry with you, encourage you, and call you out on your crap when need be. Without my family and friends there's no telling who I'd be today. The people that I surround myself with are people that are full of life and love and faith beyond measure. I have been so blessed to have a family that is uniquely close and friends that are stronger and more beautiful than I'll ever be. 

My life without any of these people would simply be incomplete. 

This is my family on a snowy TGiving.
Most amazing people in the world!!

Pretty little sister. Glad we're besties. We're lucky.

2nd generation Baylor Bears! Sic'em!

DuBrocs -  Jon & Karen are two of the most influential people in my life.
Words cannot possibly describe how lucky I feel to have them around me. 

Best fraaaand - Jenna Lynn

I love her. So much.

Met this lady, Sarah, when I was 13.
The most incredible mentor ever.
She's the big sister I never had.

And now she has a baby!!! 

Alex and Megan.

These girls were some of my very first friends at Baylor
and remain some of my best friends today.

My Pi Phi family. PCX. So grateful.

Catherine-Clare. By far one of my best friends at Baylor.
Love this girl more than words can say.

My big, Amber.
Prettiest person I know, inside AND out.

[Kardashian] Sisters.

Two besties in one picture!!
- Jordyn and Jenna -
Couldn't do life without them.

Trio.

My pretty roomies!!
(Gabby, Landen, Jorie, Alex, Alli, Me)

More roomie love.

Lake is from Hawaii.
I got to visit her there.
It was amazing.

Randall was my youth pastor growing up.
And this summer we went to India together!
He never fails to encourage me and make me laugh. 

Eric. Been friends for a lonnggg time.
Way too many good memories together...
including (but not limited to) this awkward photo.

Rob. Another absolutely incredible youth pastor I had.
One of the nicest and most real people I know.

Jared is one of the most loving people I know.
So glad we've been friends this long.

Jake and I have been friends since 8th grade.
Now we're conquering Baylor together.

Hef is definitely my best guy friend at Baylor.
Always makes me laugh. He's the best.

Aaron Krause.
Musical Genius. Witty Critic. Deep Thinker.
Best Friend.

Just a fraction of my incredible [extended] family.
So much fun, so much love.

A very recent picture of my pretty fam!
Agra, India in front of the Taj Mahal. We are SO blessed!

Thank you for being beautiful, raw, complicated, understanding, exciting, laid-back, faithful friends.
I am beyond grateful for the people I get to do life with. No words.