these boots

Nate bought me my FIRST pair of cowgirl boots on Saturday!

My jaw about hit the ground when i saw how much those things cost.

But i love them so much. I never want to take them off. 

I may or may not have worn them to church on sunday.

 with a skirt. (is that a little redneck?) maybe.

But I made it VERY CLEAR to Nate and the saleslady at the boot barn: I'm not no country girl. I probably never will be, and i'm fine with that. 

You should have seen the way she looked at me when she asked if I was going to wear my jeans inside the boots. I said "well duh, all i own are skinny jeans."

africa

Today, I'm feeling overly sentimental.
 (not a huge change from everyday if you were to ask Nate)
but here's why.
ONE YEAR AGO TODAY my dad took me to the airport.
my bags were packed.
the goodbye tears and hugs were over.
 & it was my time.
I was off for my adventure of a life-time and lemme tell ya, it was an adventure.
My friend (who became a sister) Taylor was right by my side and we were ready to take on the world.

Ghana taught me so many things.
 The people I met there taught me even more.
+I learned what it felt like to be truly grateful.
+I learned a little more about who i was.
 +I learned it was OKAY to be who i was
+I learned that even when times are hard, Heavenly father is SO mindful of his children.

We had some challenging times in Ghana,  no doubt.
no running water for a week. lizards in our bedroom. EEK! got the flu so bad they thought i had malaria. 2 black men we met on the street followed taylor and I home one night and our host father yelled at us telling us those men are "dangerous." passed out in the Accra airport and was told I would have to wait 3 days to fly home. broken toilet.bucket showers. missed my family like CRAZY.

But those times barely even compare to the happy times.

Sweaty, stinky kids running up to me everyday and hugging me so tight. I'm telling ya, the best hugs in the world. grace combing my hair. Christopher falling asleep right in my arms. bathing and dressing Deborah every morning and telling her how pretty she looked. serving lunch to the school kids and having them all want to play. teaching my little host brother how to dance. doing dishes with Arnold. Going to the beach on the weekends and enjoying the beauty of it all. traveling around the country seeing and experiencing new things everyday. Meeting life long friends from all over the world who I will never forget.

I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
Those babes literally stole my heart and I think about them and pray for them everyday.
Someday I'll go back, but for now,
I 'm living my newest adventure with the man of my dreams.