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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

God's reminders

Okay so one of my goals for October was to update my blog 3x a week... and it has been a week since I wrote last!  But in my defense, the past 7 days have been absolutely crazy! (but wonderful at the same time because my best friend got married, blog post on that in a few days)
perspective
I saw this quote on pinterest a few weeks ago and immediately loved it.  I have had the privilege of hearing John Piper preach twice now and I recommend that if anyone has the chance to hear him to take it!  One of the reasons I love this quote is because it is a nice reminder that I am not in control of my life - God is.  He is constantly doing things for my good and benefit, fighting for me, supporting me, loving me, even when I feel like He is silent and has forgotten me.

 I think God wanted to remind me that He is in control & knows what is best for me yesterday. In the many adventures coming my way with moving to France in January, the one that was at the top of my list was getting my visa.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, in order to get a visa I have to apply in person at the French consulate in Atlanta.  The thing is, there are very few appointments available.  One of my contacts helping me with France told me that there was one appointment available December 10 at 330 and that if I could manage it I needed to go ahead and sign up. If not I should pray that another date opened up.  Not wanting to take a chance I started applying for that day but before I could finish it was gone!  Panic immediately set in, and that added to the stress of my week already, I had a break down.  Thank goodness for my mom who is my number 1 supporter (along with my dad) and she immediately calmed me down and prayed for me and put things into perspective.  I sent out an email to my prayer circle explaining the situation asking them for their prayers as well.  I knew that God has done crazier more miraculous things than open up an appointment and that he would be on my side to help me do everything I needed in order to go to France.  Later that afternoon I checked back on the website just to see if anything opened up.  There were at least 15 appointments available.  If this wasn't a God thing I don't know what is.  You see, December 10 would have worked but it would have been very difficult with my final exam schedule, because I have two on the 11th.  Without praying about it I just jumped on the first date because I was afraid of not having another opportunity!  God knew that this date would have been awful for me so he made me stop and trust him to let a better opportunity present itself.   How quick are we (as humans) to just do something because we don't trust that God has another better solution for us?  I know that I do it all the time.  I am a type A person and I like to be in charge (shocking, I know) and sometimes it is hard to let go & let God.  I now have an appointment with the consulate on December 3rd which is perfect because it is during dead week and I will only have to miss one class!  I will be road tripping to hotlanta with my good friend Jennifer :)

Thank you Lord for knowing me better than I know myself and showing yourself to me once again. 

Wedding details on my next post!

-Mary Beth

Monday, October 7, 2013

Fall-filled Saturday!

This past weekend my sister and her husband came home for a few days to visit.  After some mother/daughters bonding time at the gym Saturday morning we all went to the farmer's market, which is one of my favorite places in Raleigh.  It is always so bright & colorful and I love all the varieties of produce available. 


 






One of my goals this October was to paint a pumpkin so my sister & I decided to paint some together!  The pumpkins turned out great and they weren't hard to make at all!  I've actually decided to sell monogramed pumpkins as a fundraiser for my internship in France.  $25 for a large or $10 for a small - if you would like one please let me know! 

 
 

We finished off our Saturday with a great family dinner with grilled chicken, roasted vegetables, sweet potatoes and a chocolate chest pie from the angus barn (absolutely delicious).  The only thing that would have made this Saturday better would have been a Wolfpack win & for the weather to actually feel like October instead of being 85 degrees!

I hope that you had a great weekend!

Friday, October 4, 2013

France here I come!

If you can't tell by the title off this post, I am going to France!  After months of praying about it & anxiously waiting I can now officially say that I will be leaving in January to live in Marseille, France for 5 months.  I have an internship in Marseille where I will essentially help plan & execute community events as well as work with locals on their English.  There are so many emotions running through my head about France that it is hard to write down what all I want to share.  Am I nervous about moving to France for 5 months? Of course!  However, I have zero doubt in my mind that this is what God has planned for me as my next step in life.  The main reason that I wanted to restart a blog was so that I would have a way to document everything going on with France.  Over the next few months there will be many blog posts about my trip and all the adventures that will come with it.  (the next one being getting my visa.  I didn't think about needing a visa until I was told I needed one and let me tell you, it is a complex process)

Here is a map of France so you can see where Marseille is (very bottom)



From the pictures I have seen it is a beautiful city.  One of the things I'm most excited about (besides the food, of course) is the fact that France is old.  America is a baby compared to the rest of the world.  The oldest thing in our country is Williamsburg - which I love - but we don't have nearly the history that Europe does.  I cannot wait to see the old streets and churches and historic buildings.




So this the first blog post of many about France.  I cannot wait for this life-changing experience.  If you want to know more feel free to ask because I love talking about it! 


à bientôt!
-Mary Beth

Thursday, October 3, 2013

October Goals!



I need to start by saying that October is my 2nd favorite moth of the year (right behind March which is obviously the best month).   Here are a few reasons why I love the month of October:
 
  • The weather in North Carolina is (usually) perfect in October.  Boots & scarves are encouraged and it is the ideal temperature to run outside at any point during the day
  • Leaves start to change!
  • Anything & everything pumpkin (except pumpkin spice latte because ew coffee)
  • NC State Fair!
  • This October is extra special because my life long best friend is getting married!
  • my fall break always seems to fall in October
  • October means basketball season is just around the corner
 
As I was thinking about my love for October it struck me that this year has gone by so fast.  What have I done this year?  2013 has been a big year for me (and will continue to be) and the changes I have made since January still surprise me everyday.  Time goes by fast and I have so many things I would love to accomplish.  Here are my October goals:
 
  • Paint a pumpkin for my house!  (something like this or even this)
  • run 3 miles without stopping - I have been working towards this goal for a while and I am so close I can taste it.
  • step up my diet & exercise! I am also really close to my next goal weight. 
  • have at least 3 blog posts a week
  • complain less & be more thankful
  • spend more time in God's word and work on my relationship with him
  • Improve my French! (blog post on this will be next, I promise!)
  • embrace everything in school that I can since it is my last October in undergrad
 
What are your goals that you have for this month or even to finish out 2013 strong?
 
-Mary Beth
 
ps Happy Mean Girls Day to All!

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Blog take 3. Ready, Go!

Okay so this will be my third attempt at keeping up a blog.  The first one I kept for about 4 months, the second for about 2 weeks, but this one I want to keep for a long time.  I love the idea of blogging because it is a great way to remember things that I'm doing in my life as well as connect with people around me and make new friends!  My wonderful friend Ashley ,who has a great blog of her own, has been a huge help/inspiration for getting this blog going.  When I was trying to come up with a name for this blog she asked me "What kind of blog do you want?"  I thought about it and I realized that I want it to be about life.  The title of my blog is "Les Aventures De La Vie" which is French for "Life's Adventures"  It seems like a broad description but I want my blog to be a place where I can talk about what happened last weekend, the latest fashion trend, pop culture, what God is doing in my life, anything!  So that is what you will get from this blog.  Me. (and that includes run on sentences and sometimes incorrect grammar)   Hopefully this blog will really start to take shape over the next couple of weeks/months because some pretty life changing events are coming my way and I cannot wait to document them & share them with everyone!

Until next time,

-Mary Beth