on my own...

I am now living on my own. Well, kinda, I have 3 awesome roommates. I have a kitchen to cook in, laundry to do and an apartment to clean. My mommy is 4 hours away and cannot help or teach me how to do these things (thank goodness I did listen all those years living at home, even when I acted like I wasn't). I have a new found appreciation for her. At night, after I come home from training and classes, dinner is not sitting on the counter staring me in the face. All the items are sitting in various places in the kitchen saying "cook me or starve." You wouldn't believe the things that you can come up with! I've learned to cook healthy meals using the same ingredients about 1000 different ways. For instance, last weekend my roommates and I wanted to cook something fun, but with me having to get into better shape for my major, the food has to stay healthy. I went to the store and bought a fresh pineapple and some teryaki marinade that was low in calories and sugar. I came home and cut up some chicken and lean steak and also had some fresh shrimp. Marinated those for 24 hours, then put them on skewers along with the pineapple and put them on the grill. It was soo good. I know my mom would be proud! :)

My mom has taught me so much about managing my time wisely and to get things done the night before so I'm not rushing before class in the morning. This may seem like a silly post to you, but this is a new phase in life for me and I wanted to brag on my mom a bit. :) Because of her awesome super-power greatest mom ever skills, I am learning to balance my time between keeping the apartment neat, going to class (while making good grades), studying, training and extra-curriculars.
Speaking of extra-curricular activities, my campus ministry meets for the first time this semester tonight and I am pretty stinkin' excited for all that God is going to do on this campus!!

So mom, thank you for being so awesome and teaching me these things. Without you, well, I'd be failing out of school, buried alive in a mess of dirty laundry, my kitchen would reak from dirty dishes and I'd be just about dead from starvation. Thankfully, I learned from the greatest and none of those terrible things are happening to me. You're my hero and one day when I grow up, I am going to be just like you because I want to have an incredible life and I want my kids to have an amazing mom like you. :)

"Charm is deceptive and beauty if fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30. My mom lives by this passage. She is just awesome!