i didn't want anything for Christmas...God didn't care. :)

this was another Christmas full of comfy socks and family fun. my dad was finally able to get Christmas off, so we were able to celebrate yesterday rather than Christmas Eve or even the day before like we've had to do in the past.

i don't even know where to begin with everything that has changed in my life since last year. seriously...i was perfectly content and then God felt like giving me more for some reason. life has never been as self-defining as it is this very moment.

let's start in January. i started a difficult but influential semester in school...i took classes like Applied Ethics, Developmental Psych and Forgiveness & Reconciliation and i still remember specific concepts that have re-shaped my thinking on those subjects, including how i apply my faith to them. all the while i was growing even closer to my friends and making new ones as well. the months following included six-hour studying sessions at Starbucks, late-night conversations with friends about all sorts of things, moving into the cutest and nicest and best-roommate-infested house all for the cheapest rent, hiking hiking hiking, and an all-night trip to the Grand Canyon.

once the semester was over, it was turning into a fantastic summer already. a lot of swimming action, a lot of tanning ATTEMPTS, and a whole whole lot of friends. this is also when i dyed my hair red, which i already blogged about. that was a huge deal for me, haha.

soon enough July came along and i found myself driving up to Lost Canyon to be there for an entire month...never saw that coming. it ended up being one of the coolest months of my life where God wrecked me and built me up and wrecked me some more. i think everyone can attest to the fact that i did not come home the same person and am still utterly changed from that experience. this is when i met some ridiculous people from Albuquerque that i sometimes love and sometimes hate calling my friends. :P

school began again shortly after that, and when school begins, Younglife begins. i was determined to make this a semester of Clubs to remember, and was pretty much engrossed in one thing or another during every Club to make it absolutely perfect. as i was doing so, God decided to put my life on hold with a huge car accident that banged me up pretty bad...i still have to go to physical therapy for it. but yeah totally consuming myself with making Club awesome? that's the way i roll. and because of that, i didn't notice that there were two guys who were coming to every Club from Pure Heart Christian Fellowship's college group to check out what we do and become part of it; David and Chad. somehow without my knowledge, all of my friends were becoming friends with them and some started going to their college service as well.

i never knew either of them existed until i got a Facebook friend request from Chad...i didn't recognize him or know him but he was mutually friends with all of my Younglife friends so i accepted it. the next Wednesday i ended up being able to walk JUST enough to go to Club for awhile with Missy, and at one point she randomly had Chad right next to her and said "Katelyn, you should meet Chad. i think you two would have interesting conversations." haha that's Missy for ya. so i did meet him in person and we DID have an interesting conversation...it transferred to Facebook once i left Club and soon transferred to texts which then became talking to Chad everyday about everything. we started hanging out one or two times a week annnnnnd people started noticing of course. at first i wasn't sure what to say when people asked me about it...i didn't know him REALLY well so i didn't know if he considered himself becoming friends with a girl he thought was cool or if he had more on his mind and in his heart when we hung out. and because of that, i wasn't sure how i felt either. i'm not one to willingly harbor feelings for a guy if he's not on the same page...that's just unintelligent. so a big fat "I DON'T KNOW" was given to anyone who even mentioned his name in conversation with me.

then with the help of my lovely friend Rachel Patton, i found out Chad did indeed have feelings for me. at that point i could honestly admit that i was starting to have those feelings too and got excited about it! after that we hung out more and more and people asked about it more and more and we actually talked to each other several times about where we were at and what our intentions were with this. and NOWWWWW he's my boyfriend. YAY. his side of the story is ridiculously wonderful and makes me feel even luckier to have ended up with a guy like him. :) also, i never thought i'd find a guy...let alone any other person on the planet...whose favorite band is also Copeland and whose favorite food is also seafood. random and silly, those are just a few of the things that make him pretty darn perfect for me. :) he was definitely an unexpected Christmas present that came out of nowhere and smacked me in the face with wonderfulness.

those are the highlights of my year. God did work in painful, unexpected and wonderful ways. He gives me every reason to live my life for Him.

Merry Christmas my friends. i hope your year was full of as much growth as mine was.

"this is my prayer in the harvest..."

i get to go Christmas shopping today with my mom. :) i like her a lot. and i like shopping a lot. and i like Christmas a lot. so today will be fun.

i like God a lot too, especially when i could never have predicted the stuff happening in my life that He puts there. one day i am as content with life as i could be, and the next day something amazing is right in my face that i never even allowed myself to think was COMPLETELY possible.

i've messed up so many times. i've been a "good girl" my entire life but i've messed up so, many, times. i don't deserve my parents. i don't deserve my friends. and i CERTAINLY don't deserve Christ even knowing my name, let alone caring about me, let alone loving me more than anything, let alone stepping in front of me when i should have died for my sins. i don't deserve this life. and yet God incessantly overwhelms me with blessing after blessing after blessing. i never thought i could glorify Him in so many ways. not that i always do, but i have the neverending opportunity to do so with all that He has given me.

i know it's not about "not messing up." i know this isn't a test to see how far i can get before i fail. but i can't describe how terrified i am of screwing up once again...totally tainting a gift of God's because of my human condition. i've already learned and grown in awesome ways but i can't say with full confidence that i will prevail.

i'm praying my heart out over this. for now it's time to go.

love you all. :)

and i am sure that i've not seen the Christmas lights this bright before. :D

so i've already gotten to go to Zoolights AND Glendale Glitters this year! Zoolights was my favorite as it always is, but i'm really happy that i got to do both. :D

it's raining outside. and it's cold. i'm rather okay with it.

oh and if i end up being able to go back to Berean, i found out three of my friends who worked there with me years ago are coming back too! it could be awesome for sure! and my old assistant manager is now the store manager, so that could change things up a bit and i'm excited even more! :)

this is a short one. i need to do homework.

until next time! :)