Happy Halloween!

how are you celebrating? us..we are partyin it up here at casa de skatie! music, dancing, apple bobbing (i almost typed boobing, that would’ve been embarassing) and eating of course. all things that make a halloween party awesome.

scott and i are definitely dressing up. it’ll be a surprise. (aka we have no idea yet and have to make a goodwill run, obviously)

we’ll show you what we come up with. hey, have a GREAT halloween and don’t eat unwrapped candy or get lured into haunted houses with a stranger. we may never hear from you again.

our weekend in nashville and franklin was so fun! we got to be at our friends wedding and it was a mini college friends reunion which is always a good time. the pictures speak for themselves but the wedding was a lot of fun and TN is so beautiful this time of year even if it did mean we spent 18 hrs in the car to get there and back

here are our carved pumpkins that i promised to post. sadly, they have already made their way to the trash due to premature molding. it’s the experience that counts right?

it’s not about what i do.

this is a little long, but worth it!

i feel like my job has days similar to someone having mood swings. sometimes days can be mediocre and normal and other days something really exciting and life change happens. i know each day is significant in its own way and nothing major has to happen in order for me to know God is working, but sometimes he chooses to really show off and today was one of those days.

a few posts ago i wrote about the women’s event called girls night out. at the end of the event we gave girls a chance to fill out a card that had a couple different things they could check off if applicable. one was simply if anyone had questions and would like to get together with someone. melissa, a junior who came with a friend checked that she was interested in having some of her questions answered. on monday i texted her to see if we could get together but got no response (pretty normal.) i texted her again this morning before adrienne and i drove to campus to see if we could follow up with her during our time on campus today and she was responded with “sure, i’d love to chat i have no religious background at all and have some questions i’d love to get answered.” GREAT. i love a clean slate.

we got to campus and met at the fountain in the middle of landis green amongst hundreds of other students and got to talking about her story. her mom is jewish and her dad is catholic but because the two were always in conflict they chose to never go to church or even really talk about it. at girls night out melissa noticed that Marian (the main speaker) prayed “in the name of Jesus.” she said “i’ve always thought to pray to God, but who is Jesus?” WHO IS JESUS, she asked. when i said clean slate, i meant CLEAN SLATE. she didn’t know what Easter or Christmas was for, she didn’t know what sin was and she didn’t know that Christ died on the cross for her.

She read aloud “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life.” I asked her if she had ever heard that verse before…”no, i’ve never heard that. it’s hard not to get emotional when i hear these words. i never knew that God loved me the way this verse says he does.”

Tears came to my eyes for a couple of different reasons. it’s not often that i stop and think of the meaning behind these words. if i were the only person on this earth God would have still sent Jesus to die for me, and because i accept that truth i am confident that i am spending eternity with him when i die. also, my heart ached that melissa had never heard this truth. how could it be that she didn’t know who Jesus was?

she read aloud Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no man can boast.” again, she’d never heard that you don’t have to have life perfect before approaching Christ and that no one is perfect but it’s by God’s grace that he sees Christ’s righteousness when he looks at us and not our sin. She couldn’t wrap her mind around that (which, quite frankly i can’t sometimes either.) at the end we asked her if she was ready to make that choice. to surrender her life to Christ and begin a lifelong journey with him and she said she was almost there but needed to seek some more but was REALLY close. we had to reiterate a couple things but to talk to someone who didn’t know much at all was so exciting and watching things to come to life and make sense was such a privilege. we plan on meeting up again and studying the bible more so that she can understand more of who Jesus is but she was so excited about everything!

at the end we prayed for her and she prayed for herself. not these exact words but something close “God, thank you for hearing me. thank you for letting me meet katie and adrienne today so they could help me learn more. i just want you to know that i am seeking you and i want to be closer to you, that’s my goal. thank you for sending jesus for me. amen.”

God is pursuing his people, including Melissa. Grace is for her and it’s for me and it’s necessary everyday. today i realized even more how grateful i am for the gift of eternal life and that nothing i’ve done or ever will do can make God love me less or separate me from him.

i love my job and i’m thankful i get to see God change lives.

real simple.

look what came in my mailbox today!

i love this magazine and look what’s on the cover…pumpkins!!

here are a few thoughts i’ve had today:

1. if you live in northern florida (and probably lots of other places) you know what a great weekend of weather we had. it was perfect.

2. i’ve felt sick the last few weeks and i don’t know if it’s a food thing or what but i’m tired of being fatigued and sick

3. our pumpkins turned out awesome and i need to update pictures of it for you to see them.

4. this weekend we are going to tennessee and i want to try a little cafe called marche.

5. did i tell you we are going to chicago in november? well we are and i can’t wait! we get to spend time with my friend Ashley. we met in high school and have been bf’s since. she will have just had her second little nugget (that means baby) and i’ll finally get to meet her oldest, zoey. woohoo!

6. also my mom, sister, aunt nancy and alyssa are coming to tallahassee the first weekend in november. i’m sure we’ll do some wedding things, antique shopping and just having a grand ole time.

i have lots to look forward to.

i hope you’ve had a great monday.

pumpkin patch.

today we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out our favorite pumpkins to bring home to carve. (that will be revealed later!) the weather was perfect and it was fun to walk around with maggie this year. she loves being taken to new places so she was going nuts over all the the “ball” like things on the ground. she thought the little ones were hers to pick up and play with. “uh no no” (was repeated quite a bit). it was really fun and we picked the perfect pumpkin which will have “spookyville” carved in it by the end of the night and we’ll put it on our doorstep!

we also made a homemade pumpkin pie and it’s cooling off right now. i can’t wait to top it with some homemade whip cream and eating away. did you know you have to let it cool for 2 hours? who has that kind of self control?

here are some pictures to recap our pumpkin patch adventures! it’s only fitting that we take “that” family photo with the dog

right not the harvest home candle is burning, we are carving pumpkins and about to slice into that pie. it’s been a pretty perfect day.

also, happy 3rd birthday to this little guy. we love you jackson and we can’t believe you’re 3! i remember seeing you rolling around in mama’s belly and now you’re a big boy that plays with swords. i hope 3 is the best year ever. how fitting that this picture was taken last year at the pumpkin patch right before you turned 2. HAPPY BIRTHDAY J BEAR!

love, tott and tatie.

girls night out.

a great event we’ve done here at fsu is something called Girls Night Out with Marian Jordan. Marian is the founder of redeemed girl ministries and she’s an author and speaker and has traveled all over the US and overseas. She shares her story of how her goal in life used to be to get the attention of guys, drink and party and achieve the approval of as many people as possible, only to find out she was more empty and alone than before. this is what her website says about her:

“Marian’s powerful testimony of coming to brokenness and emptiness and her dynamic account of the gentle mercy and forceful grace of Christ who called her into his arms permeate all of her writings and speaking engagements. Whole in Christ and ready to tell any ear that will listen, Marian has a passion for young women who flock to the parade of emptiness.”

we just had her speak tonight at FSU and it was really awesome. so many girls had the opportunity to hear the gospel in a way that relates to them uniquely while they are in college experiencing all the things that Marian shares about in her story of how she came to know Christ. She expresses the pain and loneliness before Christ and then gets to share the complete joy and love she now lives in everyday as a follower of him. it was wonderful!

check out this VIDEO that explains even more! you’ll want to watch

here are so re-cap pictures from the night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

my wish list.

this list is really so that in case scott stumbles across my blog and decides to be extra generous and thoughtful for christmas this year (not this he isn’t at other times, but he likes to know what i want. he says it makes me job easier and he knows i’ll like it. good plan, i think!)

1. nikon 50mm lense

a new lense!

we have a king mattress now, so we need a new duvet!

gray toms.

anthropologie anything!

 

j.crew boots mmmmm

new grey purse! (not this one exactly, there’s actually one at tjmaxx i lurrrve.)

these are just a few and i know they are a bit extreme, but they are just wants…not necessities

 

(image via joythebaker)

these are the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies i baked. notice this is not my picture. why? because they were gone before i had a chance to snap a photo of the delicious things. they are THAT good. it’s like muffin top meets cake meets chocolate. a deadly but delicious combo. you should DEFINITELY make them. right now i have pumpkin chocolate chip bread in the oven. i’m on a pumpkin cooking spree. sadly our publix isn’t displaying rows and rows of libby’s this year. i think there’s still a shortage from last year, but i grabbed the last two my publix had yesterday. i’m thinking of publix hopping this week and getting all the cans i can get my hands on. can you tell i’m serious about this? i LOVE pumpkin flavored things and i so pity the people who don’t. my gosh you’re missing out on something huge in life. since it’s only scott and i eating the bread i should be able to snap a picture, so i’ll be sure and do that!

i hope you’re all having a great weekend. it’s been a really great one for us. we got to go to thomasville yesterday with our friends Phyllis and Richard and it was really fun to go somewhere outside of tallahassee to explore. we ate lunch at a place called “Jonahs shrimp and grits” (thanks, teri!) and it was awesome! it’s mostly seafood and a burger or two, but the small menu highlights tons of different flavors. each of us got something different and we all loved what we ate. my shrimp and grits were super tasty and i know scott loved his burger. it was nestled right in the middle of downtown so we hopped in and out of little mom and pop shops, a book store, some antique stores and some outdoor stores so the men could keep their sanity. when my mom, aunt nancy, sarah and alyssa come we’re going to have to take a trip up there again! i really enjoyed it

last night we watched the football game with a bunch of our students which is good for me because i do not watch football. i do know we won and the gators lost and that is good for a seminole fan!

tonight we are going to a fall party at some of our students apartments. fall treats, a fall-ish movie, and cider! nothing is better! so all in all it’s been a great weekend and i’m hoping that the weather cools off again. i hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend too!