home is where the heart is??...

So I should be working on websites, packing up my stuff to move again, or do something productive... but when my sister and her husband started to give me crap about how much I move, I decided to write it all out to figure out really how many times it has been. Final tally... 12 times in 7 years!! At one point it was atleast twice a year, but guess there was a few times in there I got a little settled. Here is the list I came up with:

August 2003 - dorms in Norman, OK (roommate Stephanie Malone)
May 2004 - parent's house in Carrolton, TX
August 2004 - duplex on Flood St. in Norman, OK (roommate Lindsay Bowen)
August 2005 - 4 bedroom apartment at Campus Lodge in Norman, OK (roommates Stephanie Malone, Jaclyn McNeil, and Jackie Anderson Manack)
July 2006 - quadplex on College Ave in Norman, OK (roommate Miss Ritz)
April 2007 - parent's in Catoosa, OK
September 2007 - apartment at Remington on Memorial in Tulsa, OK (roommate Miss Ritz)
November 2007 - dustin's house at 85th and Harvard in Tulsa, OK (Miss Ritz, Dustin, and Ralph)
October 2008 - apartment at Vintage on Yale in Tulsa, OK (roommate Miss Ritz and 3 months with Paige Woodruff)
August 2009 - parent's house in Catoosa, OK
September 2009 - hodge's house in Carrollton, TX
December 2009 - studio apartment at Post Heights in Dallas, TX (Jenna and Miss Ritz, reunited roommates again)

Then I started going through trying to find pictures of all the places I have lived. So many memories (and a huge reminder that I really should use some of this unemployment time to organize all my pictues in some systematic order bc it is driving me crazy!). Some memories feel like yesterday, some feel like a lifetime ago.. and a completely different person. I have changed and grown so much at every residence. I obviously love change, but have cried at almost every move. I don't know why the physical place which one resides has such an a strong affect on who one is, and maybe its not to alot of people.. but to mean, each place holds so much in my heart. Home is definitely where the heart is, but each home has meant so much in where I have been and who I have become. Each place having a physical, tangible remembrance of defining moments throughout my life. Here are some pics I found of the different places I have lived...

University of Oklahoma Dorms
suprisingly even with our differences of cleanliness and organization, we got along really well :)

My side of the room

Steph's side

Duplex on Flood
Probably one of my favorites because the back porch was amazing! I still am amazed at how I worked with that tiny closet though!

The awesome back porch!

My friend Eric and I in my shabby chic room!




Campus Lodge

Not such a great year for me here. But definitely alot of stories and looking back saying "what was I thinking!" All to make me who I am today :)

Not really what it looked liked, but is a good image to sum up my year there... a disaster.

In my room getting ready to go out for my 21st Birthday.

Quadplex on College
I love love loved this place because it was my first time in my life to live alone! It was only 420 sq ft and built in the 30's, but it was allll mine!

My friend Kandice and Ritzy's first boyfriend Skyyzer.

Remington on Memorial (Tulsa)
My first "big girl" apartment. All new furniture (great graduation present from moms and pops) and I had an amazing view. The shortest though of all the places I have lived.

House on 85th and Harvard (Tulsa)

Great learning experience and period of growth in my life. And I had my own "getting ready" room & ping pong room... so fun!

Vintage on Yale (Tulsa)
A lot of growing up and learning who I was as an individual. Best Summer of my life taken place in this apartment when Paigekins lived on my couch!

Post Heights (Dallas)
Finally getting to live in the City!!! Walking distance to shops, restaurants, bars, and a running trail. Rooftop deck, granite and stainless steel appliances! It is going to be a tight fit, but I am SO excited to be in Dallas with the most amazing people!

A White Christmas doesn't mean it feels like Christmas...

I feel like every year I say this... and I don't know when my life will start getting some normalcy year to year, but I am not minding it one bit. But OH how much life can change in a year!

Christmas is tomorrow, well actually today since I am up late, and it just doesn't feel like Christmas this year. My sister and her husband are stuck in Edmond due to this random blizzard, this house.. my Mom's dream house is up on the market, so there was no real need for a big tree. My Mom has her first job in over 25 years and has been working like crazy to help out when my family was going through some unfortunate financial situations. I thought I would be in Hawaii right now, but have been couch hopping and looking for a job in Dallas for the past 3 months. I have seen my family go through some of the roughest times we have seen, but God has taught us all so much and great things have been happening by his grace. I have an apartment in Uptown Dallas, my Dad got an amazing job at Baylor Healthcare in Dallas, my Mom will be back to Dallas soon, and my sister has graduated and is a teacher! This past year has taught me so much about family. It is a bond that cannot be broken. That is why when things aren't great, a part of your heart aches with pain. When even in the bad times, the strength of family can overcome anything. That prayer and emotional support is a two way road with every member. That victories are best shared with family. To feel loved unconditionally is the best feeling I think a human could ever feel, and to know that God's love for me is so much more powerful, intimate, and eternal blows my mind and gives me a comfort I couldn't describe.

Talking about bills, car payments, school, and job searching tonight got me kind of down. I start to stress and get anxious. The fact that my sister is not here to wear our Christmas pj's to bed and wake up and open presents together makes me sad. But as I got into my comfy, cozy bed I just sit back and realize how silly and minuscule my worries and sadness are. That I am blessed beyond belief.

I am HEALTHY. I pray for those who are not. I pray for Matt Chandler and his family. What an impact on my life he has made, and so many others. May God be glorified in the highest through this time.

I have an amazing FAMILY. Movies this year like Precious, The Blind Side, and I Can Do Bad All By Myself, really put that in perspective. There are children out there born into physical, verbal, sexual, or emotional abuse. It breaks my heart the things that innocent children will endure and blessed I am to be graciously born into a loving, stable and supportive home.

I have fantastic FRIENDS. Being back in Dallas has been such a blessing in the people God has placed in my life. Old friendships that are golden and held so close to my heart. The fact that all growing up your parents say "you won't even talk to 10% of these people in 10 years", and 15-20 years later, I have friends that have really become my family. And for new friendships within the past year!! I have met some incredible people that I know will be life long friends, and it is not often someone can say that!

I am ALIVE. So many celebrities have died this year. Michael Jackson, Brittany Murphy, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, DJ AM, Natasha Richardson, Billy Mays... this year has been a shock of all the young celebrity deaths, and it takes people a moment to realize "wow, life can be taken at any moment", but then forgotten soon thereafter. More personally I have had a dear friend pass away at 25, John Michael Gore. If we are still alive, there is a reason... I want to strive this year to live out that reason in honor of him.

True relection is something I think our society greatly misses out on. Everyone is so busy, running from activity to activity, our lives have been digitally taken over. Reflection like this is refreshing and I highly recommend to anyone that reads this. I spoke earlier of my pastor Matt Chandler, and the week before his seizure Matt did a sermon on the Sabbath that put what the Sabbath really means in a way I never looked at it and put a new light to how crucial rest, restoration and relection are to each of our well-being. Take some time this holiday season to have a yearly Sabbath. Rest in greatness and graciousness, count your blessings, and may you all have a very Merry Christmas.