Whirlwind!

Just a quick update--a LOT has been happening in my life!

• I'm now a proud resident of Clarkston, MI! After a long, long wait, God has given us a home. And guys--it's a great one!:)
• I have a new church family! And I am so proud to call them my family. I get to go to church twice a week with some truly amazing people. They've opened up their hearts to us and already I feel so at home. :)
• I started school at Oakland Christian on August 23rd. Let me just say--being the new girl is definitely scary. But so long as I have to be the new girl, I can't think of a better place to be than OCS. I'm taking some great classes (Honors British Literature, anyone?:) ) and making some great friends. Even though the transition is, well, a transition, I am so so excited to be making it. (here's the school website for any interested--oaklandchristian.com)
• Thank you Jesus--we bought a house!! It's absolutely beautiful, in a great location...and it has a pool:) It was sugh an act of God thing I just can't stop praising Him about it! We move in around the end of October--I can't wait!:)

In other words...I've been busy busy busy!! Between a new town, new church, new school, new living space, and of course new friends, I've hardly had time to catch my breath! Things are crazy--and I'm thriving! Thanking Jesus all the time for the great things He's doing. How encouraging it's been to know God's grace is sufficient! Even though I'm weak, He is strong!

I'd love to share about it all sometime too--give me a call, shoot me a text, facebook me. :)

Hoping your Saturday is absolutely great!

Allie :)

The Inevitable Post, in which I give more information about my wisdom teeth than anyone ever cared to know.

I got my wisdom teeth out about three weeks ago--let me tell you, it was not what I expected. They gave me laughing gas to calm me down before they put in the IV., but was did I relax? Of course not. I tried and tried, breathing in like there was no tomorrow. All it did was muddle my brain into thinking there really was no tomorrow. And so, embarrassingly, I sobbed in front of 5 dental technicians (one of which just couldn't shut up about what exactly they were about to do to me. I am still rather bitter toward thsi woman.)
I vaguely remember waking up...getting in the car...trying to tell everyone I was okay. And no, the anesthesia did not make me happy. It was pretty much just a repeat of the laughing gas episode.
Anyway. The first three days were not fun. Thankfully though, toward the end of Day 3 I fell asleep during Frodo's quest to destroy the ring--and woke up feeling a million times better. (I like that movie so much more now!)
Finally, on Day 4 I got my appetite back--but not the function of my jaw. So I was applesauce girl for about 12 hours until at last I thought of "real food" I could eat--Chinese! Never have I been more thankful to China. I am firmly convinced that it quite possibly saved my life.

More things I learned form having my wisdom teeth out:

There are some movies that are just amazing no matter how many times you watch them. (Example: Phantom of the Opera, which I watched twice within 4 days.) On Sunday, Day 5, my Gram brought me some lo mein and we found You've Got Mail on TV. Oddly enough, I think this may end up being one of my favorite memories, awkwardly chewing Asian noodles and watching Meg Ryan fall in love with Tom Hanks (again), just hanging out with Gram. I re-fell in love with that movie, and now Lindsay and I quote it almost religiously. We feel the same way about You've Got Mail as Tom Hanks feels about the Godfather. "The Godfather is the I-ching. The Godfather is the sum of all Wisdom. The Godfather is the answer to every question--'what should I pack for my vacation?' 'Leave the gun, take the cannoli.' " Etc, etc.

My family is really, really nice. Like, really, really nice. Who else would have retrieved applesauce from the local Kroger for me at 9 pm? That's right, my dad. Not to mention everyone who selflessly brought me ice packs every 20 minutes and my wonderful mother who woke up in the middle of the night to give me medication--2 nights in a row. (She said it was like having a newborn again. Ha. Ha.)

I am in love with Jimmy Stewart. My dad made me rent "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" from the library and promised me I would love it. And I did. A lot. Needless to say, if Jimmy were still alive, he would find more than a couple love notes in his mailbox. Sigh. He was wonderful. Not to mention handsome.

The best thing I learned, though, is this--I never have to do it again! :)

Kleenex, anyone?

Hello darling people--I'm calling you darling for reading the blog, though I'm sure you are darling for other reasons too. :)

Well. It's already been a week since The Big Trip. And still I am in shock of how wonderful it was. I think I'll end up telling a few different stories during other posts, but here's one of my favorites for tonight:

Last Sunday we had an experience that will go down in history among "The Cousins" (and company!). But let me start with this:
For a long time, I have had a dream of consuming an entire pew/row of seats with my "church posse." That's right. I want the whole thing to myself. I think I feel that as a veteran PK, I have the right. So on Sunday, I thought with eleven people in my posse I had a pretty decent shot at attaining this dream. But alas! Auntie G's church is one of those 227-wide rows...so my dream was dashed again.
As it turned out, our seating was even more unfortunate than I thought! Behind us sat a small coalition of South Korean exchange students, all little boys. I didn't notice it right away. But about 10 minutes into the sermon--I heard it.
A sniff.
And then another.
And another.
Lizzy, sitting next to me, noticed it about a minute and a half before I did. But once I had noticed it--oh boy, had I noticed it! At 11:14, I began to count. By the time the clock had reached 11:15...
TWENTY-FOUR SNIFFLES!
Do you realize that that is over one sniff every three seconds? Doesn't sound like a lot? Have someone stand right behind you and sniff every three seconds. If you don't go crazy by minute 3...you have more stamina than I did.
One by one, the rest of the family seated in front of the little boys noticed it too. We stole glances, we smothered our laughter, we bit our lips--all while the pastor expounded on covenant theology. I'm sure it was a great message...but my "take-away" had more to do with sniffles than sacrifices.
The best part to me was the fact that boy #4 held an orange the entire service. Apparently vitamin C did not heal his cold.
Anyway. Shout-out to the snifflers--one more memory we won't forget!

Love to you all. More ramblings later...have a dazzling next 24 hours!