3. Graduate from college with my Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing

These past two months have been busy and hectic to say the least. Gabe and I got married on April 21, went to the Denver area April 27-May 2 for our honeymoon, and then we both graduated from college on May 12.

My years at Northwestern have been filled with many ups and downs. Through it all, the Lord has taught me so much and allowed me to grow tremendously. I am so thankful for all I have learned, and the friends I have made. I enjoyed my business classes a lot, and it was wonderful to have such knowledgeable and personable professors.

We did it!

Roommates 

Little brother and me!

Business friends

Double date buddies

Gabe's family 

Prof. Middleton!

Getting my diploma 

Add caption

My family

Both our families

11. Get married & 51. Bring Gabriel back to Bismarck again

WE GOT MARRIED!!!! :) In Bismarck!

53. Go to the Midtown Global Market

We made it to the Global Market! The food and atmosphere was great. I tried tamales for the first time, and they were good! Gabe and I also got come Chinese food and different drinks.

49. Do not miss a single home basketball game

I love basketball which works out well since my lovely future husband plays basketball. Since this is our senior year, I wanted to make sure to make it to every home game and as many away games as possible. I believe I successfully accomplished my goal. Most of the away games that were within driving distance I went too, and I watched all but two of the other away games online. NWC made it to the NCAA Division 3 National Basketball Tournament for the second time in a row. It was a great season to watch!

1. Get my passport

Gabe and I were unsure of where we were going to go for our honeymoon, so I had a great excuse to get my passport!

11. Get married. Not up to me at, totally in the control of God.

Well....I'M ENGAGED!!! Ok, so I have been engaged for over a month, but it is still every excited. I cannot wait to marry the man of my dreams, which leads me to this post. While I am not married yet, the days are quickly going by, and our wedding will be here before I know it, Lord willing!

My ring :)

A replay of the special moment. 

My handsome fiance!

82. Re-read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

I absolutely love Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, and I think I could read it every month for a year and not get tired of what it has to offer. The book mirrors the story of Hosea in the Bible. Hosea is called by God to marry a prostitute. Their relationship portrays the relationship of Israel with God. He continues to love them and seek after them with unconditional love while they leave Him and instead worship other gods. In this book, Michael Hosea also is called by God to marry a prostitute, and through God's redeeming love, Michael is able to help renew and transform Amanda's life, bringing healing and forgiveness. I love the symbolism of this book referring to our relationship with the Lord.  While we continue to leave Him and make other things our idols, He forgives us of our sins and longs for us to turn to Him. Such a wonderful book!

7. Begin reading and finish reading a novel in the same month.

I love books by the Thoenes! They are such great authors, and I appreciate their incorporation of history and the Bible into their writing. What a great husband/wife team. Unless I'm super busy, whenever I read books by the Thoenes, I finish them very quickly because they are so good!

15. Get henna

My family and I went to Disney World in Florida for Christmas this past year. We visited the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Universal Studios, and Downtown Disney. While we were in Africa at Animal Kingdom, I spotted a lady in the market selling henna. I have always wanted to get henna but just have never found it anywhere close to me. Taking my opportunity, I got two cute hearts drawn on my wrist with henna. Tattoos scare me because they use needles and are permanent, but with henna you get the fun effect of a tattoo without the pain or permanent mark. Perfect!

A picture of the henna while it was drying before it peels off. 

The final product which stayed on my wrist for a week or two. 

69. Participate in Operation Christmas Child

Growing up I loved participating in Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse with my family. Whenever the videos play in church of the children opening up their Christmas boxes, I tear up. Literally every single time! I wanted to put together a box this year, and Gabe thought it would be fun if we made boxes for two children together. It happened to be a little spender than we thought it would be, but I am so glad we have the means to give something to others. I know it is unlikely that we will get a letter back from either of the kids that receive our boxes, but I would LOVE getting a letter so much!

You should participate in OCC next year! http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

How to pack a box

Shopping away at Target

Getting everything ready to be packed

I got everything to fit :)  

Splendid!

86. Purchase gifts from Samaritan's Purse

I cannot tell you how long I have wanted to buy a goat for a family through Samaritan's Purse Christmas catalog. Today is the day. Gabriel and I jointly purchased a goat! I decided to buy a few other items for people as well such as clean drinking water and emergency life-saving food. It is nice to be able to bless others through the blessings God has bestowed on me. 

There are just so many good and needed gifts that it was very hard to choose the ones I  decided to buy. 

Sheet filled out, check written, and envelope ready to be sent!

84. Re-read Intimate Allies by Dan B. Allender and Tremper Longman

During my sophomore year of college, I took a class called Relationships. In that class, we read Intimate Allies by Allender and Longman. This book was excellent, but I must admit I just skim some of the chapters the first time around. Therefore, I wanted to read it again, making sure to pay full attention to all the wonderful advice this book has to offer. While the book is geared toward married couples, it is still insightful to learn from the wisdom of those who have already lived and worked through so many experiences. I found myself underlining a lot while I was reading, and I kept telling myself that I need to read this book again every year, especially after I, Lord willing, get married. Below I will list some of the quotes I found to be meaningful and thought provoking throughout the book.

• "Marriage is a paradigm of God's pursuit, passion, and purpose in creating and redeeming His people."
• "To view our spouses from the lens of glory is to be overwhelmed by the privilege of being face-to-face with a creature who mirrors God."
• "Men and women are to rule in order to serve, and we serve through sacrifice."
• "Christians who are married should have a vision for a life of ministry together."
• "A Christian marriage should be the framework for a bold movement to bring God's beauty and salvation to a dark world of chaos."
• "We are most resistant to trusting God with our money and time because both expose our deepest vulnerabilities and our core inability to manage our lives as we desire."
• "After our relationship to God, our marriage relationship must command our deepest commitment."

Read this book and be blessed and challenged. 

40. Complete a sewing project

I discovered Pinterest and found a blog showing people how to make these scarfs. Since I wanted to complete a  sewing project and I LOVED these scarfs, I was clearly going to make them! :) Despite a little trouble starting to sew again after I wound up more bobbin, I think they turned out really nice.

Cutting out the rectangles

Moving on to the next t-shirt

The finished product!! :) 

Black and grey one 

All done

57. Volunteer somewhere

Starting two weeks ago, I became an office volunteer at the Presbyterian Homes Corporate Offices on Wednesday afternoons. I will be working with marketing, HR, and other general office support.

Name card :) 

81. Support a good cause

I like yogurt. This month, and I believe for the next few months, Yoplait is partnering with the Susan G Komen for the Cure and donating 10 cents for each lid they receive up to $2 million. There is currently a pile of lids on my bookshelf, and I will be sending them in shortly! 

38. Complete my internship at the MS Society

As of September 16th, I completed my internship with the National MS Society, Minnesota Chapter. During my time at the Chapter, I served as the Public Relations Intern. My duties included writing press releases, drafting media lists, completing projects for the Marketing Department, and website content management towards the end. While my internship is over, I am still volunteering at the MS Society. Currently, I am working on different web projects for the Marketing Department. After these projects wrapped up, I hope to still volunteer my time and skills to general office tasks such as mailings for the different Society events.

Today, as I was reading the Chronicle of Philanthropy, I came across an article noting that of 150 big charities, the National MS Society as a whole has been able to the most money, by a significant amount, via social media. This was an interesting fact for me to learn about since I was able to directly see how social media is used at the local chapter for fundraising purposes.

My cube

Picture in the Chronicle of Philanthropy by the article regarding the National MS Society

My name tag

77. Re-read Relationships by Parrott

I read this book for my Relationships class, and I wanted to re-read it.