now the sky could be blue..

...i don't mind/but without you it's a waste of time...

the picnic happened!
and i played strawberry swing while eating a delicious ham on wheat sandwich!

peace.love. and. politics.

One week until I leave for Washington D.C.!

It's my first trip to the Capitol, and I'm counting down the days 'til our plane leaves with great anticipation.

Late last semester, I got the opportunity to join the UH Honors College Model Arab League team. As we represent Iraq, I've gotten a chance to learn more about politics and foreign policy in Arab nations. As a member of the Iraqi environmental committee, there has been some interesting finds in my research regarding water problems and energy alternatives for the Middle East. Best of all, it's been helpful in me developing a more global view of politics.


Besides the conference, it will also be fun to tour the capital and hang out with fellow delegates and good friends :))

Tonight, I am attending a dinner with some fellow UH honors students to hear the former Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, speak on "The World and American Leadership".
I'm so glad to have the opportunity to hear from a potential 2012 presidential candidate. Spring break has given me some free time to do a little research on the 2012 arena for possible presidential candidates. Research is pretty much one of my favorite things to do; it's a little bit of my academic life I can do wherever and whenever!

i need a perfect day

People moving all the time
Inside a perfect straight line
Don't you wanna curve away
It's such it's such a perfect day

So I have declared a need for a picnic. As soon as this drowsy, gray weather blows through, I am going to grab my siblings and some fixings and eat out in the backyard. I'm NOT an outdoorsy person at all, but I want a change of pace and something thing new. Spring Break is a time for new things, right!? I'll bring my laptop and I can play this song by Coldplay.

I honestly am ready for school to start again. I'm not being too productive at home. I enjoy my family and even the chores?? But I like living a more scheduled life :)

where does one begin?

Ok, let me apologize: I was sooo going to update for during the conference...but I accidentally deleted the number that I was suppose to send my text too. :/

So I get to give you a full "after-the-fact" update. Over several days maybe?

I was very blessed by my time at Next. God revealed things to me from messages by Josh Harris, CJ Mahaney, D.A. Carson, Kevin DeYoung, and Sinclair Ferguson. But that wasn't all, through the breakout sessions by Dave Harvey, Jared Mellinger, and Carolyn McCulley...the learning and blessing continued. As I interacted with people at the conference: God revealed my need to rest in HIS plans and revealed sins that I will be looking to be held accountable for.

God was also gracious to deepen my desire for heaven and eternity. I long for the day when Christ will call those he has saved home. I pray that this will further a passion in me for the Lost and that my boldness to declare Christ to those around me would be evident.

No words can describe the feeling that you get when you are around so many strong young brothers and sisters-in-Christ for four days. I can't help but see it as a small taste of how heaven will be.

These are just a few thoughts. I will be posting more in upcoming days. I'll leave you with a few pictures:

More coming soon!

Love, Adrienne Renea

spring? are you here for good?

So I think Spring Break is definitely a teaser trailer for the Summer. Emphasis on "tease". Spring Break was great. :) Just not long enough.
I did get to see some of my lovely friends and spend some time with the family, but unfortunately my school decided to have SB on the opposite week of most schools in our area..therefore...most of my friends are "breakin'" this week.
So, summer is going to be grand. I can tell :)

Classes are going great. Poly Sci being my favorite, of course! I'm beginning to write a paper on judicial activism in the Supreme Court. I am super stoked! The research has begun and I'm enjoying every minute of it!
I'm already looking to the summer as I'll have 5 more hrs. to complete. I'm going to most likely be taking a literature class(yes!! and it's over ancient world lit!!) and a computer class(um, yeah not as much fun). It's only two and only for 6 weeks, the second half of the summer will be freeee! Good stuff:) I'm also pretty excited 'cause several weeks ago, Allyson and I along with some friends bought tickets to see Coldplay. They won't be here til July...can't wait!

We're on the way..we're on the way...

Ok, we're not gone yet. Actually we won't leave until early Tuesday morning, but I don't see myself having anymore time to blog before we leave.

I'm so happy that my Thanksgiving break is here! We will be leaving Tuesday to stay with my Mom's parents and while we are there we will being going back and forth to Memphis(just over the Mississippi River) to see my Dad's side of the family.

I haven't seen my grandparents in over a year, so it's going to be so great to spend time with them. I'm looking forward to cooking Thanksgiving dinner with my grandma and aunt. We will be there until Sunday. Alas, it's such a short time, but I know we're going to have a sweelll time!

I pray that everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Love, Adrienne Renea

What's Thanksgiving without Charlie Brown?

Graduation and New Attitude! Recap and Photos!!

What a busy couple of weeks this has been!

First off was my graduation on the 17th! It was wonderful. The ceremony was very nice and I was so blessed by all the people that came to see me "walk across" the stage and then later came and helped my celebrate at my house! I'm so grateful to all the families that came and served and made my graduation celebration a great time!

My Graduation

After graduation I had a week 'til the New Attitude Conference. So I got some time to sleep and read.
On Friday, the 23rd. We attended the graduation of my friend, Leslie. We had a great time rooting her on and the ceremony was very cool. I'd never been to a private school graduation before and I really enjoyed the speaker. And there was cake!! ( ok, I'm really loving cake these days, especially if it has lots of frosting)

Next was Saturday, the weekend I'd been looking forward to since this time last year!!! My flight left in the afternoon and I got the privilege to be on the same plane with my roommates.
It was so exciting to see downtown Louisville full of New Attitude stuff and people! Over the next four days, We got to instructed and most importantly, challenged by Josh Harris, Mark Dever, Al Mohler, CJ Mahaney, Eric Simmons, and John Piper.

One message that really impacted me was Mr. Mahaney's sermon entitled: The Troubled Soul: God's Words and Our Feelings. Mr. Mahaney made a point that many times we listen to our souls instead of talking to them. He went on to explain that we are one of our biggest influences. Instead of listening to our sinful selves, we must go to His Word and minister to our souls with the promises that He gives us in his Word. One of my favorite quotes :"When we cannot trace God's hand, we must trust God's Heart". This message also challenged me to memorize Psalms 42, this chapter ends with hope in Christ in troubles time,

Verse 11:Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him,
my salvation and my God.

The weekend was full of reconnecting several old friends and it was a pleasure to spend sometime with some people from several of the Sovereign Grace Churches in Texas. I got to see some friends, whom I had not seen since 2002 at another Sovereign Grace Conference. I was so great seeing them after so many years!

Kierstyn:

Mindy:

I also got to reconnect with people I met last year at Fusion!

The time of worship was amazing, and I was going to upload a video I took during one of the session, but it's not working! I'll try again later. I bought the new New Attitude band's new cd Looked Upon, which contained many songs that we sang at Na. The lyrics are very Gospel Centered and the sound is very keen. :c)
I was soo blessed by my time there and this is not the end of my post about my experience there. I hope to blog more soon on several points of application I was challenged on and some reviews of some books and cds I bought in the very cool New Attitude bookstore. I am eagerly looking forward to how God will continue to challenge me by what I received at the conference. I can't wait til Na 2009 in Baltimore!

Here is my Na album( warning..lots of pictures!)

Na Conference 2008

and Melissa also has one too: Melissa's Album

Na!

New Attitude is in two days!!

I'm sooo excited about what God is going to do there!

I'm also pretty excited about traveling, rooming, and hanging out with her, her and her :c)

This is my first time at the New Attitude Conference. I've listen to Na messages , heard from attendees and read magazine articles for years. Now its finally my turn to go! I'm so grateful to God for allowing me the opportunity to go and experience New Attitude. I've never heard Josh Harris and John Piper and several of the other speakers live before, so I'm really stoked about hear them preach on the Word of God! I also feel so fortunate be be able to be in the company of so many like-minded young adults!

Fusion '07 Photos!!

Fusion '07!

It was Amazzzzing!! With a capital "A"!!

We( Pam, Melissa, Kamyl, Kiana, Allyson, and I) drove up to Waco in a cool white van that we nickname "Gertie". It was a quick drive considering the vastness of Texas!

We reached Baylor and as soon as we walk into the door we are greeted with smiling faces, introductions, and offers of help with luggage. Speaking of luggage...there was lots! :c)

The first night, we heard a wonderful message from Mr. Steve Shank on the unfathomable love of God. Wow, that message was amazing! Definitely my favorite, I look forward to listening to it again!

The next morning we heard again from Mr. Shank on The "Agape" Love that believers show to each other. I was especially convicted about my relationships with my siblings.

Uh, then there was lunch....*gulp*...lunch...let's say the food wasn't much to talk about. I did enjoy their french fries and coffee!

After lunch we ventured across campus, ok maybe not all the way across, but it sure felt like it......anyway, we walked across the pretty Baylor campus to watch the 3-on-3 basketball tournament.

Our team placed second! Woot!

Saturday night we heard a message from Mr. Cabiness about thirsting for God. Every sermon, God was showing me some sin or revealing more of His greatness to me!

The next morning, I got to work in the children's ministry. I was surprised how much fun it was hanging out with those kids! I always had fun in the children's ministry and there are some awesome adults who plan everything! We had lunch and sadly had to gather all our belongs from the dorm, then it was back on the road.........

I was so blessed by every session and every friendship I made. Thank you Pam and Melissa for getting us there!! And to the Van Essens for letting us borrow their van!

Love, Adrienne Renea


Oh happy day, happy day
You washed my sin away
Oh happy day, happy day
I'll never be the same
Forever I am changed

-Tim Hughes

Click!

Hope, Arkansas: Yay! We're almost there!

Helena, Arkansas: A quaint little town!

Cleveland, our cute little cousin!

Baking in Grandma Medley's Kitchen

There and back again!

We had a fabulous time!

Arkansas:
We got to our Grandparents(my mother's parents) house/farm, my grandfather was a farmer before he lost his eyesight. It was so much fun to be around them again! My grandma was so happy to see us, she is such a blessing. She cares so much for her children and grandchildren, especially scripturally. I love to hear her talk about what the Lord has done in her life and how He has continued to bless her and my grandfather. My Aunt Cheryl lives with them, faithfully taking care of the house and meals and transporting my grandparents to doctors appointments(my grandmother goes to dialysis 3 times a week) and grocery trips. My grandmother always seems to be one of the first ones up, checking to make sure we got a good nights sleep and that we've got a sufficient amount of breakfast. My grandpa, despite his loss of sight has a amazing sense of where things are and who people are. He can see shadows and can tell who people are by their shape and height Because my mother, Allyson, and I look a lot alike it can be hard to tell us apart! I miss them much and hope I can go see them again before too long! On Wednesday night, my Mom's brother, Kenneth, came to see us. He's the awesomest(I know, not a word!) uncle! We had camera wars and ate chocolate cake!


Memphis
So several time during the week we traveled to Memphis, Tennessee where my dad's side of the family lives. Dad traveled up there everyday, and we went up there a couple of days.
On Tuesday, Daddy, Allyson, Chris, and I traveled to Memphis to take my Dad's Mom to the doctor and on some various errands. Our day included a missing purse, late doctors appointments, and a discussion of my dad's rather interesting driving skills. We had fun hanging out with Grandma Helen.

On Thursday, the whole family traveled to Memphis to spend the night at Aunt Yvette and Uncle Thomas's house, the have a darling little boy, Cleveland, who is Michael's age. We first went to the banks of the Mississippi River, the view is really nice and the steamboats on the banks, quaint!
We then went to visit my dad's Aunt Liz and her husband Uncle James.
Finally, we made to to Auntie Vette's house! My Dad's Dad and wife and Dad's Mom were also there. We had a wonderful time fellowshiping with them and watching the NBA playoffs. They surprised me with a mini-birthday party that included Pizza, Presents, and cake!!!!
The next day we returned to Mom's parent's house and got to hang out with some more cousins. Mom's brother, Carl, lives in Searcy, Arkansas which is about 2 hours from our grandparents house. He has three kids:Kayla(almost17), Hayley(13), and Simon(10). We had a ball!! :c)

Overall the trip was totally fun and make me want to visit everyone again VERY VERY soon!!!

I hope that rambling mess up there ^^^^ makes sense :c) Thanks for reading!

Love, Adrienne Renea

P.S. Pictures coming soon!!!!!

a quickie!

I was tired of pink so.....how about green?

Ok, so I was going to do this wonderful post about the latest with us, the long and some what dramatic episode of me getting my driver's liscense (YAY), the latest on my reading list, and our trip to Arkansas/ Tennessee.

Alas, time is not on my side and I must leave a quickie note here:

All is wonderful. Being is an adult has yet to bring any significant benefits. Sarah's an adult now, too!( YAY!) I'm not attending the Regional debate tournament *sadness* Oh yes, and I'm leaving Monday(the 23rd!) for a trip to my grandparents( on my mother's side) and other family in Arkansas and while we're there we'll be visiting aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins( on my dad's side) in Memphis Tenn. Memphis is about and 1hr 1/2 from our grandparents house so some days will be traveling there. We should be back Sunday evening( the 29th), but I'd like to stay 'til Monday :c)
I'll be taking pictures and will post them here!!

I hope everybody has a wonderful week and good luck to all the competitors at the Region IV National Qualifier!!! Go WHSDC!!!!! and CHILE!!!( that's for you Grace!)

Love, Adrienne Renea

P.S. A quick note to Sarah........update your blog!!! :c)