Hi everyone

Well, in case you were wondering, I didn't die or fall off the face of the planet after Dunes. Trust me, I've got too much to do so those just aren't options for me (although they have sounded pretty good at times). :) Anyways, I just wanted to take just a second to show you a few pics of the kids I get to work with. But let me just say a few things before I do. First, I just found out that my dear friend Roxanna who is in Japan just had a baby girl! I am so excited for her, it even made me cry (I am also a bit emotional these days). Second, I love my daddy, he lets me vent to him and doesn't judge me, and he holds me when I cry over dumb things. My dad is great! Third, and this one is sort of cheesy, but when I left the gym this morning I heard a bird chirping and it brought a much needed smile to my face and my heart. Seriously, it was kinda weird to me too. I don't know what it was but it was so nice to hear that nice little sound and be reminded that spring is just around the corner. Oh, I can't wait. Okay, enough all this sentimental junk...on to the pictures. ;)

Here are a few kids from my bible study that meets on Sunday nights. This was at our Super Bowl party. Good times.


Here are a few pics from the infamous Dunes. There are a few of the senior girls that were in my cabin. They are all such fun girls and I had the best time sharing a cabin with them. Oh, and those are the flowers that Tyler Shackelford gave me for my birthday, what a nice guy! :) And here Tiffany Maddox and I get into character for Dunes Night Out. The theme this year was Spy/007. It was a blast and Trina had the place decked out. There are more that I want to share, but I have to get ready for the day so I will put them up later this week. It was a fabulous time and I'm so glad that I went. I had a great cabin full of fun senior girls and great leaders (Kristin Gibb and Emily Ford), the speaker was amazing (Tom Vice), the worship was awesome, and it was just all around fun. Now I know have a much better idea what Dunes is all about. And I think I like what it is all about. We had about 15 kids accept Christ and around 55 want to get baptized. WOW!! Ryan, Trina, Lenny and Holzer did a fabulous job and then we all sat back and watched the Lord work. And boy, did He work! :) These kids were on fire and it was so awesome to watch. Some of the kids have even started praying in the morning in the Barlow hallways. How cool is that?! Like I said, the Lord worked!

Well, hope everyone has a great day!

Love to you all!
Tabs

Oh my gosh, a new post!

Okay, so it's not what you think but I don't have the time or the pictures to go into my Dunes (and birthday) experience just yet. I'm still in the process of accessing it all. So, to make my readers happy (all 4 of you) and to maybe get some insight to what you all think of me I decided to copy my friend Tams latest post.

So...please go click here, it will only take a minute or two. Promise. It will be interesting, at least for me. :)

Hope everyone had a great week!
Love you!

TABS
What am I going to do with this space now that I can't count down to my birthday?

It's finally here!!! :)

TO ME!!!
Here is my birthday cake two years ago when my family took me to PF Changs. That was a fun (and yummy) night.

Here are some friends and I last year at The Berlin Inn for my 25th birthday. It was a fun filled evening, full of suprises (and I love suprises) and another tasty meal! Can't go wrong with german cheese fondue and dessert. YUM!!!

And here is the first of the many other birthday pictures I hope to put up. Sam and Karl took me out last friday night to Andina's for dinner (a fabulous, fabulous restaurant in the Pearl) and then to Pix Patisserie for dessert. Food wise, it was the best ever, especially the dessert. I won't do it justice so go look at for yourself and then go try it (I had the Dobo's Torte, I think).

Anywho, thought I would share a few memories and pics with you on this fun day. And now its off to get ready for my crazy, CRAZY day and weekend that we at Good Shepherd like call DUNES. Even though I'm stressed out I'm looking forward to it. Its gonna be a blast and I get to be in a cabin with Kristin and the senior girls, what more could I ask for? I'll let you all know how it goes when I get back and have recouperated (and have gotten my massage).

Love you all!

TABS

DUNES!!

This might show you a bit of how I'm feeling two days before my first Dunes:


















And here is what people might be wanting to call me right now. :)


















Thanks for all the prayers!!!

TABS
Only 2 days till my birthday (which is getting a bit overshadowed, thats new for me) :)

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

I hope you all have a wonderfully fabulous Valentines Day!!! Don't forget to take a moment today to tell those that you love that you appreciate them! It will make their day, promise! :)



Love to you all!!

TABS
Only 3 days till my 26th birthday! Yay!!

EXTREME and DUNES

Okay everyone, I know I already posted this morning but I just wanted to ask if you all could be praying today for the the Jr. High and High School groups. We are having EXTREME tonight and its a huge outreach to the surrounding area's and also a buildup to Dunes. We are hoping to have a ton of kids here tonight and next wednesday (since this is a two week thing that happens every year right before Dunes) so just pray that everything will fall into place and we won't stress too much about it, the kids will have fun, and some hearts will be reached. For that matter you could be praying for Dunes as well. Like Trina said in an email she sent to all the mentors "there is an energy around both, and we can't wait to see what God will do in the upcoming weeks. Are you ready?!! ...be praying for Extreme and the Dunes retreat. Both venues will be high-energy, seeker friendly times..." Here are a couple of things that she asked us to specifically pray for but I thought they would be good to pass on to you as well:

>>>> many new students to simply show up, and that our Christian kids will have the boldness to invite their friends.

>>>> students to be open to the gospel message... and that many would give their lives to Christ!

>>>> the staff and leaders... for energy and strength, wisdom, boldness in speaking God's truth, and a genuine, God-given love for students.

>>>> Dunes-- Tom Vice as he opens the Word; Zach Lewis and team as they lead worship; the kitchen crew; tech crew; and other parental helpers.

What I pray is that we can rely fully on God and know that He is in control. That is sometimes the hard part. It's easy to get caught up in all the details and get stressed and worry too much about things going as planned. It's in His hands and all we can do is show up and do our best. So, pray that we do get the things done that we need to get done but also that we won't stress, leave it in God's hands and have a great time! Thanks everyone! You're awesome and I love you all!!

TABS

Best ever!!!

This is my all time favorite ice cream! It is hands down the best ever invented. It takes ice cream, which is so delicious on it's own, and pairs it with an oh so tasty cookie, the Samoa cookie. It brings the two together in a low-fat but still yummy way. Nothing could be better. Really! You all need to go to the store, buy some, take it home and have a bite. Trust me, you will thank me. Well, okay, it only works if you like the cookie. But how could you not? It's just the best cookie ever. I will be honest with you, as I always am, and tell you that I almost cried the first time I tried the ice cream because it was so stinkin good. Seriously, tears in my eyes. What got me were the huge chunks of the cookie. I didn't know they would be in there and when I made that discovery I couldn't contain my joy. YUM!!! Makes my mouth water just thinking about it sitting in my freezer as I type. Be aware, they do make other flavors such as thin mint and some other girl scout cookie.

If you guys have had this particular flavor or are going to go try it let me know what you think. Or let me know what you think of the other flavors if you have tried them as well. Who ever came up with taking everyone's favorite girl scout cookies and pairing it with ice cream should be given some serious bucks cause they are GENIUS!!

Just had to share that with ya. Have a great day everyone!!!

Tabs
Only 9 days to go...

I am apologizing now...

Okay, I am going to go ahead and apologize now for the next few weeks, but I'm going to be pretty busy until after I get back from Dunes so my posting will probably be a bit sporadic. I'm just giving you all a heads up on this, I sure don't want to leave my loyal readers in the dark about why I'm not posting as often or as much as my past has shown that I can do. Since Dunes is just 2 weeks away (well, from tomorrow) my posts will probably be less frequent and not as long. I know, doesn't seem possible but you just wait and see. And, who knows, maybe I'll do better than I think, sometimes I can surprise even myself, but I just wanted to cover all bases. Sadly, I probably won't have as much time to read the plethora of blogs that I usaually read either. Oh well, such is the rollercoaster we like to call life.

Can I just say, like I have already mentioned, that Dunes is only 2 weeks away and I am already getting tired. Things have picked up considerably this week and the end won't be coming too terribly soon. No, they haven't just picked up...their down right BUSY! Don't worry, I won't bore you, or myself, with the things that I get to do. :) But please don't think that I'm complaining. I love it, I really do. I just don't think I was quite prepared for all that went into Dunes. But thats what living and learning is all about. I've learned that there is a lot that goes into Dunes and that I will need prayer to keep my sanity and wits about me. :) Now those of you that know what Dunes is and how big it is, I would just like to inform you that we already have 220+ kids signed up. Can you believe that? Bekah can and probably will correct me on this but I believe there were about 230 kids that went to Dunes last year. WENT to Dunes, and we have almost that many signed up 2 weeks out. WHAT IN THE WORLD!? Thats tasty stuff as Ryan would say. We are gonna be sleeping in every available cubby hole of that camp and still be packed in there like sardines. Maybe I'll just go rent a room at The Breakers and kick it with Keels. :) A room to myself with a nice warm queen bed or a cabin with bad temp control, a sleeping bag and a piece of wood they like to call a bed....hhmmm, sounds like a no-brainer to me. :) No, I love this stuff, it's gonna be a blast!

Anyways, I'm exhausted and hungry so I'm going to go make my dinner, take a bath and go to bed as early as I can. Hope you all have a great day!!!

Tabs
15 days to go...