life...

If what you're living for isn't worth dying for, then is it really worth living for?

Aaaand here's the car

We're all really sore and bruised up a bit. Cara is going to go to the hospital later on today to get her head checked out. Vayle and I are walking around very gingerly and trying not to laugh because it hurts so bad....but when you get the two of us together...we're always laughing. Pray for Michelle...she's taking it really hard. She feels bad that we got hurt. She's bummed about her car. She's sore. She's just plainly upset and she won't talk to any of us. My heart hurts for her. Thanks for the prayers guys!

Thank you Jesus!

I was in a car accident today that could have been horrible. Even though we were scared and bruised and banged up, everyone made it out alright. Thank you Jesus for keeping us in your hand! If you guys could pray for a few things, it would be great.

1) Pray for Cara. She didn't have time to brace herself and hit her head extremely hard. She was feeling tired right away, her vision wasn't quite right, and she was feeling sick to her stomach. She might have a concussion. If she isn't feeling better tomorrow they're going to have to take her to the hospital.

2) Pray for Vayle. She smacked her head and messed her ribs up so bad that she's having trouble breathing. She's another one that will have to go to the hospital tomorrow if she doesn't feel better. Both she and Cara are in a lot of pain.

3) Pray for my leg. I'm icing it and staying off of it for a few days. Yay for crutches. I was given a horse-sized pain pill when I got back home but as it wears off, it's hurting more and more.

4) Pray for Michelle. She was driving the car. We got t-boned and the other car hit her door directly. Miraculously, she's the only one who didn't have any specific injuries...just a few small cuts on her hand from the glass. She's feeling really guilty and bad that she was in the accident...she feels bad that all of us got hurt....she's bummed that her car, her "baby" got totaled. Please pray for my sister.

Thank you Jesus for keeping us safe and for all the nice people that helped us out.

Still more grief...

Pray for my roomie Kaylee. Her grandpa died today. He was a believer, praise God, but the grief is still strong.

HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

I just realized that I posted this long sweet story of how much I love my mom and then I misspelled the title of the song at the end! What should have been "These Four Walls" was instead "These Four Wars." Well....I suppose in reality it was five wars....Elisabeth, Peter, Becky, Me, and Julie. haha Never fear...Mama won them all! Oops.. :P

Beautiful Words

"Own Me"-by Ginny Owens

Got a stack of books so I could learn how to live;
Many are left half-read covered by the cobwebs on my shelf.
And I got a list of laws growing longer everyday;
If I keep pluggin away, maybe one day Ill perfect myself.
Oh, but all of my labor seems to be in vain;
And all of my laws just cause me more pain;
So I fall before you in all of my shame;
Ready and willing to be changed-

Own me
Take all that I am,
And heal me!
With the blood of the lamb.
Mold me with your gracious hand;
Break me till Im only yours-
Own me!

You call me daughter,
And take my blame;
You run to meet me,
As I cry out your name,
So I fall before you in all of my shame,
Lord, I am ready to be changed

Own me
Take all that I am,
And heal me!
With the blood of the lamb.
Mold me with your gracious hand;
Break me till Im only yours-
Own me!

Prayer Request!!

Today during chapel, one of our married couples, Tom and Tori, found out that Tom's dad died this morning. He wasn't sick or anything....he just didn't wake up this morning. It was very sudden and unexpected. They flew out this afternoon to California to be with the family and prepare for the funeral. Pray for Tom. He's taking it really hard. He's not sure if his dad was a believer or not. He professed to be a child of God, but they still aren't sure if it was genuine. Pray for Tori as well. She's my age, and now she's faced with the challenge of trying to comfort her husband during this time of unimaginable grief. Looking at her face 15 minutes after they got the call, I recognized the confusion, shock, horror, and unspeakable grief that we all felt a year and a half ago. Please please PLEASE lift them up in your prayers!!!

Mum <3

One of my favorite things to do is tell people about my mom. I love to see the shock on their faces when I tell them that she's a red belt in karate. I help them pick their jaw up off the floor when I tell them about her "bracelet of terror." (you know the black leather ones with metal spikes? Yep...that's the one.) I gladly return the high five offered to me when I tell them that she knows and can play on the guitar pretty much every Beatles song that was ever written. When telling funny stories from my childhood or family vacations, most of them revolve around my mom. I was looking through my pictures to find one of her to put on this post, but they are all of us goofing off and I don't know that she'd appreciate me posting it on the internet for all to see. I'll keep looking and see what I find. She's the only mom I know who frequently tags "yo" onto the end of her sentences while flashing ghetto hand signs. She'll get excited over an action movie with shooting and all kinds of fire and explosions one night and then be moved to tears the next night when the doggy in the movie dies. She homeschooled four of us....and I don't think we made it very easy for her. One of the best homeschool memories was when she was reduced to tears while telling the story of Noah and the ark. She sacrificed everything for us. I remember all those nights that we sprawled all over the family room and she told wonderful stories, each one teaching a lesson, of course. And then for years and years, all the way up until I graduated from high school, every morning when we woke up, all of us would wander into her room and pile on the bed all around her waiting for her to fully wake up and trying to wake ourselves up. Every time we were all awakened in the middle of the night by an earthquake, within seconds, before the shaking stopped, we'd see her shadow in the doorway and hear her voice letting us know that we were okay. Every mother's day, all 5 of us would wake up early and make her breakfast...4 pieces of toast, 4 or 5 eggs, 3 apples, 4 clusters of grapes, 3 bananas....I mean, come on, she's a mom...isn't she supposed to eat a lot? And she would smile and thank us as we brought in allll that food and do her best to eat as much as she could. haha My roomies think she's phenomenal...who else has a mom that would buy all of their roommates socks before she even met them...and then send a pair of maracas for thier birthday! Kaylee is forever grateful to you Mama!



I really could and do talk about my mom for hours. I was doing my homework tonight and I heard the song "These Four Walls" by Sara Evans. I remember the first time Mom heard it. It brought her to tears and she forwarded it to all of us because it described how she felt perfectly.

"These Four Wars"

Wasn't That Long Ago
I Was Skipping To School With A Lunchbox
Pigtails In My Hair
Where Did The Time Go
One Minute I'm Playing In The Sandbox
How'd I Get To Hear From There
Making Lunches And Folding Clothes
Is Not The Most Glamorous Life I Know
But I've Got So Much More Than Most

I'm Not Famous But My Kids Think
I'm A Star
I'm Not Rich But I've Made A Million
Memories So Far
I May Not Be A Model
But My Man Thinks I Could Be
I May Not Be From Royalty
But In These Four Walls
I'm The Queen

I Had It All Planned
First I'd Make It Big In Nashville
Then Take Hollywood By Storm
But It Was In God's Hands
There Were Three Little Lives That Would (5 lives in her case)
Need Me
To One Day Be Their Mom
I Wouldn't Trade It For Anything
Those Movie Stars Don't Have
Everything
I Know I'm Right Where I Wanna To Be

I'm Not Famous But My Kids Think
I'm A Star
I'm Not Rich But I've Made A Million
Memories So Far
I May Not Be A Model
But My Man Thinks I Could Be
I May Not Be From Royalty
But In These Four Walls
I'm The Queen

I Had To Let It Go, But I Have No Regrets
I Would Have Never Known This Kind Of
Happiness

I'm Not Famous But My Kids Think
I'm A Star
I'm Not Rich But I've Made A Million
Memories So Far
I May Not Be A Model
But My Man Thinks I Could Be
I May Not Be From Royalty
But In These Four Walls
I'm The Queen



So Mama, you ARE a star! And you ARE the Queen! I could never have asked for a better Mom. I want to be just like you when I grow up. I don't think I would have such a desire in my heart to be a mom if I hadn't been blessed with such a fantastic example. I love you!

(A goofy picture will have to suffice since the rest are on my external hard-drive. This is one of my favorite pictures anyway. :P )

Yay for snow!!

It's finally here!!!!! I love it!

I'm so freezing, I'm gonna die. I'm taking donations for snow boots. haha!

What a precious picture. :)

~This is Julie and Wim. Our cousins Tim and Wim weren't aquainted with the lovely world of dance until their female Baldwin cousins got their hands on them at Sarah's wedding. I love this picture! William looks quite the dapper gentleman quite used to dancing...and Julie just looks stunning. Not to boast or anything...but I claim credit for this darling picture!~