Hillsong United is Amazing.

I'm going to see Hillsong in Grand Rapids on June 8th and I'm super stoked about it! Seriously, can you even imagine how amazing it will be to worship God with them. The presence of God will be so completely overwhelming, I can't wait! 

If your interested, here's the info:

tickets are $29.00

The link: http://www.itickets.com/events/229716/Grand_Rapids_-_Grandville_MI/Hillsong_United.html 

Basically the best $29.00 you will spend on a concert. you won't be disappointed. 

So wanna hear a sweet God story? i do.

So at Macomb, I took so many credits and passed out of classes that I'm in a position to transfer after this next fall semester to an art school because I will have all my transfer credits completed. That means I only have this one year to run track since I would be transferring.  So about a week or so ago, I realized that I had 3 track meets left to race in my whole track career. Then I got really really sad and I was like "well maybe I could run another year like if I stayed for some reason and took 12 random credits so i would be eligible and ran for Macomb another year. yeah that would be sweet." Of course that would interfere with the whole go with Kensington to Orlando to start a church plan but my mom was like well you never know what God might have in store we'll see. So then yesterday the macomb track team had a meeting with the athletic director. They announced that Macomb would be cutting their track team for the next year because they can't afford it in this economy. That means no track. at all. gone. done. not a chance. So i started cracking up inside because it was just like "Oh hey carissa, this is God and I'm thinking your not gonna run track next year. In fact, I'm just gonna get rid of the option for you because I know you and so I'm gonna make it easier for you =)" ahahhah then I caught myself smiling in the middle of everyone being mad and sad and I felt bad. lol God is soo cool. And I'm really glad he has a sweet sense of humor. 

Whiskers.

Long time, no post! The craziness of life is keeping me busy I'm sad to say. but funny story to blog about: so today I ran at the University of Toledo. I ran the 1500 for my first event and I was trying to hit the qualifying mark for nationals, right? well of course the qualifying time is 5:04.22 and of course I run a 5:04.46. When I found out I just burst out laughing. typical. my sophomore year I needed to run a 5:31.0 mile. I ran a 5:31.7. My junior year I had to run a 5:31.0. I ran a 5:31.7. again. I think it should be expected from now on that this is just going to happen when I need to hit a certain time.  How ridiculous. but it wasn't all bad since I am going to nationals because apparently I was regional champ? lol and I ran my fastest (conversion) mile since freshman year of high school!! 5:25!! woohoooo party!  oh happy day =) 

So I found out this sweet fact that cat's whiskers grow as long as they are wide so that they can sense if they can fit through places and I was like seriously? that's amazing. and then I got to thinking how can anyone seriously think that was just an evolved feature? I don't understand it. It is obviously well thought out by our Creator. I love how we are surrounded by God's creativity all the time. He makes me smile =)

This morning I went to church at the North Broadway Church of Christ and for the time I was there, it was quite delightful. My humanities class is comparative religions so this was our christianity field trip so of course I went to it. The best part about it was the way they worshiped Jesus with their music. There was no organ, no piano, guitar, drum set, violin...you name it, there were no instruments. The church is predominately made up of African Americans their voices were beautiful. This one guy got up and would begin every song at the front of the church and everyone, every last person, would join in and sing. and it was so awesome because they were singing accapella and it was from the heart. God definitely showed up there this morning.  About halfway through the sermon I ended up leaving though because I wanted to go to kensington, which was an excellent service and message, as usual. The remainder of my day consisted of painting value scales and going for an intense bike ride. today was happy and relaxing. I wish it didn't have to be over and there was't school tomorrow.

Orlando, FL

I bought a plane ticket to Orlando!!! yayyyyyyyyy! I'm going to visit  Full Sail at the end of May and I'm sooo pumped for it. I'm really praying God will speak to me clearly down there about where he wants me to go....whether Florida is His will or somewhere else. =) 

hmm so coldstone today. someone called at like 9:50 and we had closed at 9 but we still answer the phone, so, this woman calls and shes like "hi, how late are you open" and my manager was like "we're closed. we closed at 9." so then she gets really mad and is asking if thats the time that was listed on the door and my manager was like "I believe so." and the lady's like "you believe so or you know so? your the manager and you don't even know what your hours are on your door!?!?!??!?" blah blah blah. so long story short, we went and checked and it of course said 9 so then she got even more mad because we told he she was wrong and she asked who the owner was, like she's gonna contact her or something. ha. people are really funny sometimes.

There aren't too many interesting things to talk about tonight so I guess I'm calling it a night. 

Sunburn.

So today I won my first college race!!! yayyyyyyyyy! It doesn't really count though since there were only 5 people in the 5k haha oh well I got a free t-shirt. guess what color it is? black and gold. I just can't seem to get away from those colors lol. anywayss I'm super sun/wind burned and it was only 45 degrees outside! how does that happen? idk you tell me. Ohio was super beautiful today. It was nice and sunny out. It's supposed to be gorgeous in Kentucky next weekend too!!! 70 and sunny baby woooooo. The college we were at today, Walsh University, was really sweet. It was a christian college which was a nice change and not that you don't ever hear people swear at a christian school because thats far from the truth unfortunately, but it was really nice not to hear the f word come out of everyones mouth every 2 seconds. It's become the norm so it's pretty out of the ordinary to see anything different. props to Walsh University. =) 

Lighthouse had a really amazing service at midnight the other night. we got to look at the passover and it's meaning and the significance of the bread and wine. what a powerful message. and just an amazing time to just be with and worship God. Kensington also had a great message. Jesus didn't just die for mankind. He died for me. He died for real people. when He was there suffocating to death on that cross, He was thinking of me. and you. because He loves me that much and I soooo don't deserve it. So I got to thinking, if God died for the sins of everyone and everything, then when I go through suffering and hard times, why don't I just give it to God. Why do I take it and keep it and worry and try to carry the burden myself because the fact is I can't. and I'm weak and I will fail. and God already suffered for that hurt. He died for the sin that caused my hurt, so why do I not give it all to God. why do I try to suffer through it as if I can handle it. I'm basically saying "No God, I got it, don't worry about it, you already have a lot on your hands...." and He's sitting there laughing saying "Carissa, don't you see, I already suffered through that so that you didn't have to, why are you trying to carry that sin and suffering when i came to do it for you. because I love you that much."  - ( i totally didn't just write that by the way.) seriously? how awesome is He? 

"Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" - 1 Peter 5:7

He is risen. Thanks Jesus. 

Diseased.

I am so tired. and my eyes are hurting worse. yesterday i had to work from 6 to close at coldstone creamery and I hadn't worn my contacts in a week and my eyes were getting better so I figured i could wear my contacts just for the 4 hours I was there and my cronic dry eye wouldn't get too bad. I was wrong. and Cronic dry eye is a ridiculous disease to have. It never goes away!!! I have had it since fall of last year and it's still not getting better. I don't even know how you get it I guess you just develop it. for those of you wondering what the heck I'm talking about, I have this thing called Cronic Dry Eye, meaning my eyes don't make a sufficient amount of tears throughout the day to keep my eyes well hydrated. this results in me looking like I'm high all the time and my eyes hurting a lot all the time, especially in the sunlight. it's rather annoying, really. I guess I need to cry more. lol On the brighter side of things, at least I have eyes that can see the beauty of a sunset or the leaves that change all different pretty colors in the fall. They help me to create and design. Without them I wouldn't be able to do the things I love so if all my life I just have to wear my glasses in exchange for being able to see the all the beauty of God's creation, I guess I'm ok with that. 

tomorrow I have to get up at 5 to leave for a track meet. I love running, just not at 5 in the morning. 

I fly like paper, get high like planes

Sooo I have a problem. I need to buy a plane ticket to Orlando to go visit the school and area but I hate spending money. boo so I was surfing all the sites tonight to see what's the cheapest plane ticket I could get and  so i got to travelocity.com and they had this hotel and round trip flight for $240 deal so i was like ok i think this is a scam but I'm clicking on it anyways. so I did and it's supposed to be a 4 night stay in this one hotel and my flight is included and it's only $240.00 I'd like to think it's not a scam but seriously? how can it be that cheap? every other plane ticket I look up is $139.00 and then you have to get a hotel on top of it all. boooo idk what to do. I have been to orbitz, cheaptickets, expedia, travelocity, cheapoair, smartfares, priceline, cheapair, onetravel, and airtran. so if you know of any better, more reliable ones, let me know please!!!

In other news, right now there's this show on the travel channel on and it's called man vs. food. If you haven't seen it, it's about this guy who goes around America to find the best, most epic places to eat that have ridiculous food portions that could feed like 10 people, but they are for one person. and every time it's on I get mad. why? because everytime I watch him try to eat a 7 pound burger with a 2 pound bun, 7 pieces of lettuce, a whole tomato and onion, 8 pieces of cheese, and 1/4 pound of pickles, I can't help but think that there are starving kids in africa and south america and mexico and detroit that would be delighted to have a piece of lettuce but no this guy eating to excess on a TV show just for our viewing pleasure. grrrr I hate shows like this, yet here I am sitting on the couch with it running in the background. I should shut it off now. my dad is the only one who was watching it anyways and now he's sleeping. what's new?Then maybe the show will go off the air. all because I didn't support it by getting up and turning it off. ha, I can only hope. 

the title to this blog is lyrics from one of the dumbest songs ever. If you hate it as much as me, we should be friends =)

Winter? in Florida? How ridiculous.

God is sooo funny sometimes. 

So for a short little background story...In a year or so i might be living in Orlando, Florida. so my church, Kensington, is planting a campus in Winter Garden, Orlando, FL and I just might be headed there to spread the love of Jesus to the Orlando people yayyyyy!!! so how did this all come about. well one day I was sitting in church and they made this announcement that kensington is going to plant a campus in Orlando in 2010. so all the rest of the church service I couldn't get it off my mind so i went to the preview meeting afterwards just to check it out. so now, back at home being all pumped about Orlando, I figured I'd check out some college;s down there just for the heck of it to see if there were any good art college's in Orlando. so I type in Art Colleges in Orlando into the search engine and clicked on the first site that popped up. Full Sail University. and apparently it's like world renowned and accredited and all that jazz so I'm like alright cool this is a sweet school in Florida and they have a degree I want but Florida is big so where exactly is it? so I scroll down to the bottom of the page to see their address and not only is it in Orlando, but it's in winter park, the suburb just east of winter garden where the church is being planted aka 15 minutes away. um Hi God? are you trying to tell me something or what?? so from then on I've been praying about going and God just seems to be opening more and more doors but I'm still waiting to see what amazing things he has in store for me =) so anyways back to the why God is so funny. so today I'm driving not even thinking about Orlando or Full Sail or anything of the sort. actually I was thinking about running but anyways, I turned out at hayes and that little street behind Costco and this car in front of me who had already gotten my attention because it sat at a green light and I had to beep at them, turned down the first street on the right and what was the street name. of course, winter park. hahaha oh how ridiculously timed and weird is that? so then I'm studying for my test later on my computer and I'm googling the images and I looked away for a second and looked back and all the sudden I see the word Orlando in my face but then of course it's only the little sidebar that you would never notice as the first thing on the page but of course God's like hey check it out Carissa. lol how fun. you probably all think I'm crazy. whatever. I think if you love Jesus, sometimes you have to be crazy. ;) pray for me if you remember, I'd really appreciate it with all this decision making stuff. 

ps. of course now when i try to google "Art Colleges in Florida" Full Sail is no where to be found. aha how not coincidental if you ask me. 

"For i know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."  - Jeremiah 29:11

Fear, Snow, and God.

so Lighthouse tonight was basically a slap in the face. Cliff, the pastor who speaks there, delivered a beautiful and deep message about how fear can take hold of your life. He challenged us to stop living out of fear because the spirit of fear is not of the Lord. so true. fear creeps in so easily. I hate Satan.  afterwards, I did some very needed hanging out with some friends which was nice since I don't really do that too often because of being busy 24/7 =( but it was quite refreshing. I didn't do my homework. crap. I will have to get up early and paint value scales I guess. and my goodness it's snowing outside! Hey God, it's april could you please just send cold rain or something?? thanks. that would be lovely. ahh well since I have nothing to really rant on and on about and must get up early to finish my homework, I'll be peacing outt now. goodnighttt

mmm mmm good.

ah so today I had the most amazing pizza ever. Apple Crisp Pizza. yummyyyy. 

the recipe is as follows:

wheat dough

2/3 cups of sugar (we used honey sugar to make it healthier)

3 tbsp wheat flour

2 tsp cinnamon

2 large apples

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup of oats

1/8 cup margarine at room temp. 

1. roll out wheat dough and sprinkle some cinnamon on top. 

2. combine sugar (honey sugar), wheat flour, and cinnamon.

3. cut apples in thin slices and toss in the wheat flour mix until coated. 

4. Arrange single layer of apples in circular pattern to completely cover dough. 

5. combine remaining wheat flour mixture, brown sugar, oats, and cut in margarine in small pieces.  sprinkle over apples.

6. bake 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until apples are soft, not mushy. 

and enjoy the most amazing pizza ever!!!

so tomorrow make it for your family cuz it's really yummy! 

aha cronic dry eye is telling me to go to bed so I shall. goodnight everyoneee

 

Oh what a night

but not late december, back in '63. although it did feel like december outside. ugh. i hate the first track meet of the season because it's always freezing. and I always run terrible. but at least there's always room for improvement eh? haha soo tonight I'm super tired from running against 35mph winds. time for bed yayyyyyyyy

Thunderstorms

Thunderstorms are my favorite. I think we're gonna have one tonight. As I was driving home from work, it was lightening outside but there was no rain so I just thought it was heat lightening even though it's not even hot out but whatever thats what I thought but now it's raining. =) happiness. I love the rain. and the thunder. I will definitely be sleeping well tonight. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow though because that means running in the rain and although that can be fun sometimes, it's not fun when you have to race in it. so hopefully God will stop the rain by 6:30 pm tomorrow night so that I can run not soaking wet. 

In other news, today i skipped school and it was awesome basically. I hate school. I think it's a waste of time. education, I do not hate, but school, oh yes, I loathe it. especially when you go to macomb and are in drawing 1 and comparative religions. dumb dumb dumb. so i skipped. my mom wanted me to help her clean a house anyways and I earned $32.50 in 2 hours so I figured it was well worth the skip. speaking of comparative religions, my good old teacher is now teaching us christianity at the moment. This is not going to be a good time because throughout the class he has made comments like "well in all religions there is the common theme of living a good life and then being rewarded in the afterlife or going to heaven....yadda yadda yadda. "are you kidding me? live a good life? ha. thats funny. Does this man know anything about Jesus? it doesn't seem too promising when he is teaching us that if you live a good life or you're a good person or you follow all the laws that you're going to heaven. and thank God that isn't the way to Him. because I'd be sadly out of luck. I can't wait til my good old teacher tries to tell the class that that is how christianity works. I will be right there with my bible ready to whip out "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast." so take that mister. aha oh comparative religions class, how ridiculous. 

p.s. If anyone is looking for some ridiculously good tunes of the moment, you should totally check out Jon Ketchum's EP on itunes or you can let me know you want one and I can get it for you because if you don't get one, you're missing out. especially because I designed the artwork for it =) so get on it! 

laterrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Soooo 1st blog ever.....this will be interesting. I'm not really good at writing or speaking or being philosophical or anything like that, but I do have this problem of being open and vulnerable and trusting people, so what do I decide to do? create a blog. wow genius Carissa, post your thoughts on the Internet where virtually anyone can get them. yeah I know not the brightest idea ever but hopefully it puts me out f my comfort zone and that's what I want so here goes nothin! I don't really expect anyone to actually sit here and read this but if you are thanks for being sweet and reading this far. if you like what i have to say or absolutely hate it, whatever, leave a comment or whatever you like.

so since it's 1:30 am, I'll start ending this pretty soon here. random thoughts of the day: Slumdog Millionaire was actually a pretty good movie, go get it at blockbuster. Every girl should read captivating and crazy love is turning out to be pretty good too. go get those too. I love Jesus and I have this disease thing called chronic dry eye and it really burns my eyes to look at a computer screen so peace outttttttttt