Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Semester Goals

I'm back from my small hiatus! The last two weeks have been sort of crazy with getting everything ready for school and what not, but I'm super excited to be all moved into my dorm room and have all of my things pretty much organized for the semester. To bear my soul a little bit... being back at campus for my 9th semester has been pretty strange. Having the "super senior" status isn't something I really ever planned on happening in my life and it's already something that has been very difficult to adjust to in so many different areas... still working on it. Something that I think will help me with this, is setting some goals for my semester. So without further ado... here are my semester goals! 

1. Embrace Super-Senior Status

Yes, this is my fifth year at Valley Forge, but hey... I still made it this far. Something I've been trying to keep in my head is that it is better to graduate late than to never graduate. The fact that I got this far in college is something that a lot of people don't accomplish and it's something that over the last four years, there were a few times I didn't know if I would accomplish! I need to focus on the fact that I'm doing it and work hard to finish strong.

2. More Jesus Time

Something that unfortunately can tend to get lost in the business of college is the time to spend reading my Bible and praying. Today, I woke up at 7:30 without an alarm and I had my devotional time and it really set the tone for my whole day. This is so important and I need to work better at not letting this slack. 

3. Be Organized 

This is something that has been greatly improved in my life. If you walked into my room anytime in high school and then walked into my room anytime now, you would think the rooms belonged to two different people. I take great joy in my stuff being neat and tidy, and it's something that I'd like to continue throughout this semester! 

4. Work Ahead

No more procrastination for me. This is something I have struggled with basically every semester of my college career and all it does is lead to stress, anxiety, and lack of sleep. My goal is to turn in all my assignments at least 24 hours ahead of time, and never be in the library past 10pm. We'll see. 

5. Be Healthy

It is so difficult to live healthy at college. Eating in the cafeteria and balancing time at the gym with work, classes and homework makes it difficult. This semester, I have to stick to the health goals I set in August and prioritize my time (which really could be another goal) to allow space for the gym, and make healthy choices in the cafeteria. 

6. Keep Time for Hobbies

Painting, Photography, and Adventures. These are all things that bring joy and restoration to my soul, and they are things I want to make sure I have time for this semester. Because if I am only focused on homework 100% of the time... I think I might explode. 

7. Make New Friends

Just because most of my friends either graduated or decided to not come back to the school doesn't give me an excuse to sit in my room all the time. I need to put myself out there and make some new friends, otherwise I might go insane.

Well friends, these are some of my goals for the next few months! What about you? Do you have any goals you're trying to accomplish? 

XOXO

Friday, August 15, 2014

The Liebster Award


I have been nominated for The Liebster award by the lovely Summer over at Coffee with SummerThe Liebster Award is given from blogger to blogger to learn more about each other and discover more blogs. Here’s how it goes:

1. Link back to the person that nominated you for the award.
2. You must write 11 facts about yourself so people can learn more about you.
3. You also have to answer 11 questions given by the nominator.
4. After completing, you should nominate 11 other bloggers but you cannot nominate your nominator.
5. You have to let your nominees know that they’ve been tagged and give them access to the link to find out more about the award.
11 Facts about Me: 
1. I'm one of very few Kaycies in the world who spell their name the same way I do.
2. I am a teensy bit of a coffee addict. 
3. My best friend, Julie, has been my best friend for almost 10 years. 
4. I am heading into my last year at VFCC! (thank goodness!) 
5. I love trying new things.
6. I want to travel the world... it's one of my biggest goals in life.
7. I love the beach. Specifically Old Orchard Beach, Maine... which happens to be where I am heading tomorrow.
8. I've lived in New England my whole life, but I don't like seafood.
9. I am a HUGE sports fan, all Boston sports... of course.
10. I have way more than one favorite color. 
11. I just looked back at this and realized I forgot the 11th fact and now I'm embarrassed. haha
Summer's Questions:
Where are you from? West Springfield, Massachusetts!
How do you take your coffee? Light and Sweet :) (Cream and Sugar)
Fall or summer? FALL. 100%.
When did you start blogging? I have had various blogs over the last 4 years, but nothing consistent and nothing anyone read. I've had Life is a Highway for about 6 months now and I am loving it :) 
Top five favorite clothing stores? oh boy... in no particular order... Old Navy, Forever 21, DSW, Deb, and honestly, Target. haha
What was your favorite childhood show? Dragon Tales :) 
What’s your favorite Disney movie? Lion King. but I do love some Frozen :)
Do you have any piercings? I have my ears pierced! 
What’s your favorite scent? As far as candles and room sprays and the like, anything pumpkin... as far as perfume.... I love Wild Peach Poppies from Bath and Body Works.
Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, other? This has actually recently been up for debate in my life. but I have to say Dunkin Donuts :)
Would you rather live in the city or near the ocean? I love both, so a city right near the ocean would be nice :) haha
My Nominees:
My Questions for You:
Where are you from?
Coffee or Tea?
What is your favorite brand of chapstick?
Why do you like blogging?
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
What is your favorite movie?
What is the worst food you've ever had?
What is your favorite season and why?
What is your hidden talent?
Are you an early riser or a night owl?
Who would play you in a movie about your life? 
I hope all you ladies choose to accept the award! Can't wait to read your posts! 
xoxo, Kaycie

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Please Hold

It's already been a few days since I blogged last, but I wanted to post and let everyone know that over the next ten days or so, I will probably be pretty absent from my blog. My computer is broken and I can't get it fixed until I am back at school next week, so I am sharing my sister's laptop for the remainder of my time at home. My parents surprised Sarah and I with a trip to Maine this weekend (which I am so very excited for) so I won't be blogging then. I might get a post or two up next week, but I have about a hundred things that need to be done before heading back to Pennsylvania next weekend. 

SO, thus begins my temporary hiatus. Look forward to a post sometime the last week of the month about my goals for this coming semester! 

God Bless! 

Saturday, August 9, 2014

Do Not Be Anxious

How many people these days struggle with that little thing called anxiety? I know I do... being a college student is not an easy thing and it causes a good amount of stress in my life. What I'm about to write about is something that I need constant reminding of in my own life. 


"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7

The very first thing we see in this verse is the command to not be anxious. Now believe me, I know that is a lot easier said than done... but when Paul wrote this, he immediately gave us a way to do that. In EVERYTHING, with prayer and petition, present your requests unto God. When we open up a conversation with God, we are immediately entered into His presence, so this verse is basically telling us to take all of our fears and anxieties straight into the presence of God. Now, notice that I capitalized the word everything a few sentences ago... in this verse the Greek for everything "pas" translates into "all, the whole, or every kind of". This verse is telling us to take literally everything to God. No situation is too big or too small for God. He can handle everything you throw at Him, since He already knows what's going on anyway. Anxiety has no benefits for our lives today... all it does is tear us apart and cause distrust in God and it leaves us feeling empty. Paul offers us prayer as an antidote for anxiety. Take everything to God, and trust that He can take care of it.

Something else that we see in this verse is the word "thanksgiving". Now, it's not talking about the holiday in November when we stuff ourselves to the brim with food and watch parades and football games. It is talking about giving thanks to God for our lives. We are called to give thanks to God in every circumstance in our lives. God has a plan, He knows what’s going on… and we’re called to thank Him and praise Him through it all. So here we see that were are to present our requests to God with a thankful heart. Thank Him for the fact the we even have the capability to go straight to Him with our burdens and with our pains without going through someone else first. Thank Him for the unending blessing He’s already bestowed on you, and thank Him that He hears His children… I mean, how awesome is that? The God of the universe, who could easily ignore us all… hears each and every one of our prayers and cries to Him. 

Verse 7 says "and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." The peace of God which transcends all understanding. Think about that! Some other versions (I'm using NIV) use the word "surpasses" and it you look at in the original Greek the word surpasses translates into "I excel, surpass, am superior." God's peace is superior to our anxiety! His peace excels past our fears and is greater than our worries! The Greek for "will guard" is actually a military term meaning "to protect or surround a city". God's peace is like soldiers surrounding the hearts and minds of believers. The last words "in Christ Jesus" are so significant here. Jesus Christ is the only way we are able to have such peace. We must have a personal relationship with Him in order to have this peace. We get anxious and nervous because we are human, we are a fallen people... but through Christ's work on the cross we are saved and IN HIM all fear and anxiety are gone. 

What are you anxious about? What fear are you holding onto? Tonight, I encourage you to bring those things before the throne of Christ and lay them at His feet. Allow God's peace to overwhelm and flood your heart. 

Be Blessed!

xoxo

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Family Day

Today has been lovely! My cousins from Connecticut came up to spend the afternoon with us and we enjoyed some sun and pool time! I love my cousins a whole lot and we have so much fun when we all get together! Take a look at a bit of what we've been up to today: 

this is Nicholas. he is 6 and he is adorable.
this is my cousin Matthew. we are only 9 months apart in age and he has been
more like a brother than a cousin our whole lives.
my Nana just wanted a picture of us and I got a nice wet hug instead
my Nana rocking the selfie game. haha 
Nana and her 6 grandbabies. I love this picture.
Clockwise: Matthew (21), Me (21... I'm older :P), Amber (17), Nana (Young & Beautiful),
Katiya (10), Nicholas (6), and Sarah (20). 
Matthew and Nicholas having some high-flying fun in the pool.
seriously, how cute is this kid?
Katiya, Matthew, and Nicholas loving the pool on a hot day. The rest of us
watched from the deck with some coffee. :) 

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Words

Today I want to share with you some things I've found on Pinterest that have truly inspired me lately. I hope they do the same for you! You can check out my words board on pinterest to see more! 

This song has been on my heart a lot lately. If we keep our eyes on Christ, nothing will 
hinder us. Here is a link to my favorite version of this song. 
something I sometimes struggle with. focus on the positive, not the negative. 
be you because only you can. if people don't like it... that's not your problem.
mmmmm.
a grateful heart is a happy heart.

Monday, August 4, 2014

August Health Goals

Normally, I don't like to share anything about weight loss or heath or things of that sort, because well... I'm not always the happiest with how I look or the fact that I rarely stick to these things. However, I'm 21 years old and I do not want to be unhealthy my whole life. July was difficult, I was at camp for two weeks eating that food... and I spent last week in Columbus eating out for every meal... which is horrible for my body and for my wallet. So, here I am posting these goals online... starting today, because it's Monday and I seem to do best when I start at the beginning of the week. I feel like posting them online will sort of hold me accountable. So here are some things I am going to do differently this month:


1. Drink Water

I will admit, I love soda even though it is terribly unhealthy. Well, I'm cutting it out.
No more soda for me. Water is all I'll be drinking this month, other than my morning
coffee... of course :) 

2. Eat Cleaner

More fruits and veggies, less oatmeal creme pies. (goodness this is embarrassing)
Also going to be cooking meals with less fat. Maybe it will help my whole family. 
Also, no eating out. 

3. Exercise

This should be simple, but it's not. I'm going to try and workout 4 days a week to start.
Eventually move up to 5 or 6 days. Also, I need to try to understand that I'm not going
to be able to do everything I want right away... I have to build up to goals.

4. Much less Dunkin and Starbucks

This will be difficult. Now that my favorite Dunkin is re-opened, it's almost a natural response
to stop and get a coffee when I leave the house.

5. Go to Bed Earlier/Wake Up Earlier

I'm heading back to school in just three short weeks and two days of the week, 
I will have a morning class. 
If I am sleep deprived, my skips will be used up too quickly. Can't 
afford for that to happen. I need to start this habit now.
 Bed at 11... awake by 8.


Well that's all I can think of for now! However I think five goals is pretty good. If you read this, feel free to ask me how it's going! Also, if you have any advice/tips, please share! I need people to help me out with this! God Bless! 

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Columbus14

This last week was spent in Columbus, Ohio for National Fine Arts. I went as a leader with my youth group and to gain experience since it was my first time going to Nationals. I had one of the most amazing weeks ever. First off, Columbus is BEAUTIFUL! I really was not expecting much since it's kind of in the middle of nowhere, but I was so impressed! What a cute, friendly little city. Second, seeing thousands of teenagers and young adults use their gifts for Christ is a pretty surreal and amazing thing. So many wonderful things happened this week, and sometime I will do a more elaborate post on it, but I am completely wiped out. Here are some pictures from the week for you to enjoy! 

the start of our road trip!
our view heading into Columbus.
some of my SNEMN friends. i love these people.
some of the free things I collected this week.
second night of service. so powerful.
we got the chance to meet Dr. George Wood at our hotel!
my share-bear and I after she rocked her female vocal solo.
beautiful Irena. love this girl from the bottom of
my heart.
Jess, Shary and I before service Wednesday night. how gorgeous
are they?
got to spend some time chilling with Angie after service on Wednesday.
so good to catch up with her and see the amazing things God is
doing in and through her. 
on Thursday, I officially became a Starbucks Gold Member.
I never thought that would happen.
some of my super awesome friends presenting their Kappa Tau
Short Sermons! so proud of you all!
something that happened this week was Greece was coming
up all over the place. we went to a gormet grilled cheese restaurant
(and it was delicious) and their menus were on old record cases. I
turned mine over and this was the back.
love this pretty lady
yay for valley forge friends!
Eddie and Sam make me laugh continuously. 
some of my South Dakota kids. they have such a special place in my heart.
if you don't have a friend like Eddie, I am sorry for you.
Mongolian Grill the last night we were in Columbus.
so delicious.
home sweet home