blessings...

Less than $8!! For all 5! 

I am blessed beyond measure. I mean... I KNOW that I am blessed so much more than I deserve because Jesus died for my sins, loves me even in my sinfulness, and He doesn't want me to stay in that depravity.
But I could cry with overwhelming, joyful thankfulness in this busy, yummy local coffee shop... He has blessed me SO MUCH! Is it that He is blessing me more lately, or is it that I'm recognizing it more?!?!
And I have to share... but the list is long... so I'll just share the big things in the last week, trying to work my way backwards in time... starting with these beautiful wooden salad bowls on the left.

• thrift store shopping in Louisville is thrilling, and there are so many options! These lovely, beautiful wooden salad bowls were only 10$, but then were also 25% off today!  
• I get to move in to my apartment early (tomorrow!)- so no extra day necessary at the hotel! 
• I got a second interview with Fresenius this morning... really hoping I'll get to be a RN with them! It sounds like a good fit to me, but I'll trust Him with the details of yes or no.

• I bought a lightly used couch, chair, and dining set... and they will be delivered to my home tomorrow when I move in.



Me and my new friend by the waterfront!

• Yesterday, as "alone time" was starting to be wearying, I got a text from a girl I was introduced to on Sunday. She wanted to hang out! And we did. She showed me around downtown Louisville. AND we had Mexican food! We ended the day by making clover chains on her front lawn. :) 

The Starving Artist Cafe & Deli

• the trees. the TREES. the deciduous trees! with green leafy branches... blocking street signs (he he!), filtering sunlight onto the roads in dappled patterns, shading historic homes, and making lots of O2! Love the trees!

• I was worried about not having a Trader Joe's here in Louisville. (Gotta have my Greek Yogurt you know!)... Today, God's random, unexpected gift was the realization that the Louisville location of Trader Joe's is less than 2 miles away from my apartment!!! Seriously! (Also...World Market is in the same complex!)
• the weather. is. gorgeous. (Mid sixties and seventies Fahrenheit. Some rainy afternoons, but sunshiny mornings, and purple-pinky-orange sunsets every night. This is what summer is supposed to look like people!)
•  Not only is there a Mexican restaurant within steps of our new apartment... but there is a mouthwateringly amazing Colombian arepas place just as close... AND a sandwich deli cafe that I stumbled into, just around the corner.
• I got to drive through backwoods KY to see the H's and get some hugs from the girlies before they go back overseas... and only got lost on the curvy, loopy, meandering country roads through fields and trees once! (Though to be honest, there were A LOT of panicky iPhone map checking moments- and the one time I got lost was because there was absolutely no cell reception!!) 
• Found a tiny 'international store' that sells both Turkish lose leaf 'chai'... and small packs of yierba!
• Mexi-roomie (my new nickname for the future roomie since she won't be "future roomie" in a month, and we bonded over Mexican food back in VA days... It's also a joke based off of the off-the-wall random story our campus tour guide told us. He!) - got to come and stay in the hotel with me for a few days... and we totally bonded. It's gonna be a good room-mateship. I was worried she would never tell me if she was offended by anything I did, since she's a quieter personality... but she totally told me to stop smacking my gum while we were in the car... so I think we're gonna do just fine! 

• I get to study at one of the most beautiful campuses I've EVER seen! I'm such a nerd- but I'm so looking forward to academic life again!! I met one of the professors there, and I might buy his textbook to read for fun this summer- and also take one of his spring classes (which is NOT required for my degree- but Community Spiritual Disciplines?! Sounds amaze-o.)
• Sunday I went to a church that has so many of the qualities that made CHBC such a great experience for me the two weeks I was there before I left the States. Not only that... but I totally knew people there!! Random God-blessings of the day from the church included Mrs. P introducing me to lots of girls, recognizing an Australian girl that I had met over a year ago when she and her husband visited my city, and the once-a-month hymn singing class before evening service (!!!! I've never sight read the bass line of a hymn before!!!) Oh. And Mrs. P took me to lunch with her husband and son (which made me feel so welcomed), and then offered her spare air mattress to me while I'm bed-less!! 
• I have an iPhone... that lets me Yelp! new restaurants, that leads my poor un-directional self around, that lets me connect with friends around the world (literally), and that is my clock/camera/flashlight. 
• Little Louisville things: It's so quaint and historic. People are so POLITE and nice, they even wave you in to traffic on the highway! There are SO many things to see and do. Thrift stores/consignment shops/antique stores are everywhere! People are chatty and smiley. Lots of accents. Mostly 'southern,' but of all types and kinds. Love it.
• The lovely hotel my Dad provided for me with his travel points. It has been such a blessing to have a comfortable, free wi-fi, clean, FREE! place to crash in this week of transition.

My dear driving buddy-
just before I had to put her on a plane :/

• This last point deserves it's own thankfulness blog... but the whole Memorial Day Weekend Driving Extravaganza with this one extravagantly generous, kind, fantastic, fabulosa, witty, encouraging friend! I don't even have enough words of gratefulness for her driving skills, her cheerful spirit... and just being her awesome self and willingly accompanying me! Not only was the cross-country-driving trip enjoyable because she came, but it was EPIC!