day 06: my day

so... I know I am supposed to tell you all about my day today, but instead I am going to tell you about my weekend. Because my weekend was a WHOLE lot more interesting than my day was.

On Friday night, I went shopping with my friends, Autumn and Lauren. We went to a really nice mall, and I ended up spending a lot more money than I had planned. The up side is I have a few more cute things to add to my wardrobe!

On Saturday, My mom, little sister Faith, and Jeremy's parents came up to Valley Forge in the morning. They picked Jeremy and I up and took us to a family friend's house in New Jersey. The oldest son of the family, Joshua, is one of Faith's best friends, but we didn't tell Josh that Faith was coming. So when we got there, Josh was completely surprised and happy to see that Faith was in the car!

After all the craziness of the surprise, we ate lunch and went to their back yard to sled. Now, normally for sledding, you need a little slope to go down, but this "slope" was more like jumping off the side of a mountain. There were trees on all sides of the little sledding path. and I was terrified of ramming into one of them on my way down. Needless to say, I went down once then went inside. It was definitely more fun watching the others sled than actually doing it myself.

Then after chilling inside and playing a game of sorry (which, by the way, I won), we drove off to Hoboken to go to Carlo's bakery. This decision was greatly influenced by Jeremy who is sort of obsessed with the show Cake Boss. When we finally got there, Jeremy was pretty excited as were all of us. But the excitement died down after waiting in the cold for like an hour. Though once we were finally inside, we knew the wait was worth it! Everything looked so great! It was hard to decide what to get, but I eventually decided to get a cannoli, and boy was that the best decision I have ever made. It was delicious! Anyway, after the bakery, we walked to our cars. It was snowing, and it was just gorgeous and perfect like being in a movie.

After driving back to our friends house, we ate pizza, watched a movie, ate dessert, and headed back to Valley Forge Pennsylvania where we stayed at a hotel. 

Then on Sunday morning, I went to breakfast with my mom and Faith. It took us forever to find a place to eat, but we eventually stumbled upon this coffee place called Saxby's. It ended up being absolutely delicious and an adorable place.

my little sister is so beautiful!

adorable coffee place

yummy cinnamon bun and coffee

Then after a few hours of grocery shopping, we went back to my school and said our goodbyes :( it was such a wonderful weekend! I love my family and Jeremy's family so very much! And I had such an amazing time with them :)

day 05: my definition of love

love... it is as simple as this:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 - "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."


Jesus Christ showed us the ultimate example of love when He died on the cross for our sins. He encourages us to do the same for others: 
John 15:13 - "This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends."


Today, I was encouraged after hearing a story about Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsy. Corrie ten Boom and Betsy were Christians who lived in the Netherlands during World War II. They would hide Jews in their home in order to protect them from the Nazis, but eventually they were discovered and taken to the concentration camp. After being in the concentration camp and watching the terrible things happen, Corrie told Betsy, "This place is the pit of hell!" Betsy replied, "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper." 

How encouraging is that? I love it. And I will try to continually remind myself, even in deep darkness, that God's love is deep enough to reach me.

winter wonderland.

today was my first college snow day, and it was truly marvelous. I slept in, woke up, spent an hour eating lunch and talking with friends, took pictures outside with my amazing friend Autumn, watched Anastasia for the first time, and ate dinner. :) it was a beautiful day.

autumnskyephotography.blogspot.com

day 04: what I ate today

oh goodness. Do you really want to know? I go to Valley Forge Christian College... We are notorious  for having nasty food. So that is my explanation for not having pictures. You really wouldn't want to see it.

For breakfast, I ate nothing. We have this cafe here at school where I used to get breakfast every morning last semester. BUT now they changed it so that we cannot use our meal plan there. Therefore, most mornings this semester I have not had breakfast.

For lunch, I ate a nasty piece of pizza, some green bell peppers, one half- cooked nasty piece of broccoli, and frosted flakes. 

For a snack, I had two dove dark chocolates. :) (they make my day so much better)

For dinner, I had ravioli with meat sauce. It wasn't too bad. But it most definitely was not the healthiest.

Then, I did a bad thing... I baked cookies at Jeremy's apartment. And I ate about three or more cookies. AH! 

Wow. after reading this, I sound like a true fatty, but really that is all we have to eat here at this school. semi-fatty, fatty, and really fatty foods. Now I am not complaining really, but I would like to see more fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. I am really trying to avoid the freshman fifteen and eat healthy, but it seems impossible here because my only options are hamburgers, french fries, pasta, or pizza! 

day 03 – my parents

my parents... are great. I love them. I do not know what I would do without them. I have the best parents in the whole universe!

these are some of the best memories

Lets start with my momma. I love her. She is the single greatest example of a godly woman that I have ever seen. She is patient. She is kind to people. She knows when to say something and when not to say something. She is a true Proverbs 31 woman. Throughout my life, my mom and I have been semi close, but in just the past two years, we have grown to be closer as a mother-daugther relationship and as a friendship. She has been with me every step I have taken, and she has continued to encourage me to look for God's plan in my life. I do not know what I would do without her. She is that person I call when I feel bad. She is the first person I call when I have a cooking problem (she is the best cook on earth). She is the first person I call when I have a medical question (she used to be a nurse). Basically, I call her when anything happens because she knows practically everything! She is the greatest at giving advice, and I could go on and on all day about all the things I love about my mom. But the basic thing is that I love her so much and could not have asked for a better mother and friend. I love you, momma!

Dad is always hungry.  Beware! He will eat your left overs.

Now to my daddy. He is amazing. Throughout my life, he (along with my mom) have shown me a wonderful example of how a marriage relationship should look like. He loves my mom with everything. He treats her like a princess and even caves to what she wants most of the time :) Basically, my dad has shown me what to look for in a man. Besides that, my dad has been that person that I can have really long political or theological debates with. He challenges me to think for myself. He has made sure that I was picked on at least once a day because I didn't have a brother. He is sometimes very insensitive and makes me cry, but he always always always apologizes by coming up to my room, giving me a hug, and talking it through. Besides being an amazing father, my dad is the best preacher I have ever heard. God has really given him a gift of communication. Even though my dad gets really busy with all the church stuff, he has never neglected me, my mom, or my sisters. He always makes time for family time. And for that I am very thankful. I love my dad so very much.

There is so much more I could say about both of my parents. But this is good for now :) The main thing is that I am more than thankful for all the things they have taught me and are still teaching me. I am thankful for their unconditional love. And I am thankful to God for giving me the best parents!

I love you mom and dad! :)

day 02: my first love

my first love...we probably met about 15 years ago at our old church. My first vivid memory of him was the first day of high school. He was a sophomore. I was a freshman. It was both of our first times being at that high school. I was so nervous and anxious about the start of my four year experience as a high schooler. There were so many thoughts going through my head, but boys were not one of those thoughts.

His older sister and my older sister were friends. Every morning, we would arrive at school, and my sister and his sister would walk around together, leaving him alone with me. So we walked around too, just talking about everyday things. Then after about two months, (on December 8, 2006), he told me he liked me while walking me to class. The rest of that day was a blur. I definitely could not tell you what I learned that day or anything because I was just so happy that the cutest boy in the whole school and in my whole church just told me he liked me.

Then, I was just waiting for the time he would ask me out. I thought to myself, "If he likes me, then why not just ask me out?" Well, there was a bit more to it than that. This boy had to ask my dad for permission to date me. My dad, our youth pastor, was a little bit intimidating and very respected. So it took this boy a few months to work up the courage and confidence to ask my dad, but he finally did! Then, on April 20, 2007, this handsome boy asked me if I would be his girlfriend.

I was beyond happy. So then we dated... And after three years and 9 months, we are still dating. Everyday is such an adventure. I learn new things about him all the time. I know most of his strengths. And believe me, I know most of his weaknesses. But I still love him :)

day one: introduce yourself with pictures and words.

Hello. My name is Hope Phipps. I often have trouble knowing how to start these "describe yourself" type things. So I think I may just start off with the normal things. For example, I am 18 years old, and I attend Valley Forge Christian College as a second semester freshman. I am currently majoring in Christian Ministries, but I plan to switch to Business Administration in hopes of one day being a church administrator. I grew up in the great city of Manassas, Virginia along with my amazing parents and two sisters, Charity and Faith.

From the very beginning, I was quite a talkative and honest child. Not much has changed except I have toned down a bit. But for those of you who know me well, you know I always have something to talk about. 

Besides that, I love Jesus Christ with everything in me. I am a Chicago Bears fan. I am a pretty sensitive person. I like clothes and style, but I am not the best at keeping up with all the trends. I like classic, plain, and simple things. I am horrible at telling stories, yet I love to tell them. I have an amazing boyfriend of three years and nine months named Jeremiah.

I have some very true and awesome friends for whom I am so thankful for. I am blessed with an amazing family. And overall, I am living a wonderful and blessed life :)

    

   

okay. I am gonna do this thing.

Day 01 – Introduce yourself with pictures and words

Day 02 – Your first love


Day 03 – Your parents


Day 04 – What you ate today 


Day 05 – Your definition of love


Day 06 – Your day

Day 07 – Your best friend


Day 08 – A moment


Day 09 – Your beliefs

Day 10 – What you wore today 


Day 11 – Your siblings


Day 12 – What’s in your bag


Day 13 – This week

Day 14 – What you wore today

Day 15 – Your dreams

Day 16 – Your first kiss

Day 17 – Your favorite memory


Day 18 – Your favorite birthday

Day 19 – Something you regret


Day 20 – This month


Day 21 – Another moment


Day 22 – Something that upsets you

Day 23 – Something that makes you feel better


Day 24 – Something that makes you cry

Day 25 – A first

Day 26 – Your fears

Day 27 – Your favorite place


Day 28 – Something that you miss


Day 29 – Your aspirations


Day 30 – One last moment

Lately, I have had such trouble finding things to write about. I have heard that is called "blogger block." So due to my extreme case of "blogger block," I will be blogging about all these wonderful things starting tomorrow :)

five.

At my church, [the sound church], we are doing a series called "five." The point of the series "five" is to pick five things that you do everyday that you want to improve or start doing. It is kind of like a New Years resolution except it is not essentially a long term goal. They are things that you want to do daily. Anyway, I have done some careful thinking about what my list of "five" would be, and I have ultimately come up with this:

1. Work out. So you had to know this was coming. No list of goals or resolutions would be complete without "work out" or "get fit." My reasoning for this daily goal was partly selfish in that I really just want to work out to look and feel better, but I also know that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I want to treat it that way by eating right and exercising. Even if it isn't much, I just want to do some type of exercise daily.

2. Positivity. It is such an attractive quality in a person. People are drawn to those who are positive about life. Most people desire to surround themselves with people whose positivity builds them up. That is why I am determined to be more positive in my thinking everyday. That way, my positive thinking will transfer to positive actions and words. And eventually become a habit that cannot be broken. I want to look at each person I come in contact with and first think of positive and good things about them. I do not want to be judgmental, but instead look for the good in people, situations, and myself.

3. Assertion. Instead of just waiting for people to plan things, I want to take initiative and plan things. Instead of waiting around for my friends to call me, I want to call them just to see how they are doing. I want to smile and say hi to people first even if I don't know them, instead of waiting on others to greet me. I want to speak up and be more outgoing.

4. Trust. Worry is the opposite of trust and faith. I want to trust God more. I want to place my worries and fears in His hands daily. When I start to worry or get anxiety over something, I want to remind myself that the Creator of the Universe is holding me, and I can trust in Him because He has a plan for me. And when I begin to worry about even the small things in life, I want to remind myself that the troubles I am going through are only momentary. I want to remind myself that one day I will be sitting in the presence of God, released from all earthly worries and pain forever and ever.

5. God's Word. All of my other "resolutions" or "five" cannot be accomplished without the foundation of God's Word. The reading of the Bible will teach me how to think positively, trust, be confident, and even how to discipline myself to work out. It presents the benefits of these things and helps in accomplishing them. I want to read the Bible at least once every day to learn and allow God to speak into my life.

So there you have it. That is my list of "five." I intend on trying my very hardest to do these things every single day! Prayer would be appreciated (especially for the working out part).  :P

christmas break.

So winter break has been… well… eventful. My sister got ENGAGED to my awesome future brother-in-law, Christopher Ryan Campbell. I am totally excited and could not be happier for them! 

Besides them only a few other couples that I know got engaged over the break. Hahah “only”. Man... so lots and lots of people got engaged this break and last break. IT IS CRAZY. And awesome. But it does get me thinking a lot about weddings. Marriage. Babies. I want them all now. But I know I must be patient and wait for God’s timing. (it sounds a lot easier than it really is).

Anyway, other than the engagements, my break has been filled with tons of cookies. A few extra pounds. Family. Friends. wedding dresses. And not very much sleep.

The break is now coming to a close. And all of the poor college students have to return to school. I cannot say that I am too excited about going back. A lot will be different once I return. Two of my really good friends are not coming back and it will change a lot, but I am ready for whatever comes my way! Or at least I think I am. :)