Gidget

A picture lays beside me. Its an old one, in fact I looked on the back of it and it was taken December 2002. It was a Christmas gift to Diana and I..one my parents built up for weeks. Not exactly the kind of gift we expected, but one we loved nonetheless. That December my parents took our dog Gidget to see Santa Clause. The gift happens to be the picture sitting next to me. Gidget is wearing a big red bow and is snuggled up next to Santa. It might just be the cutest thing you have ever seen.

            I was ten years old when we went to the Vet to look at a rescue dog. Ironically, it was just about this time in the summer, and my sister was away on a mission trip with church. My parents insisted we were just going to “look” at her as a favor to a friend who had asked my mom to come down. We walked in and Gidget did her beg where she stood on her back legs and waved her little paws at you..and that was it. We took her home. She was a 3 year old fur ball who you loved the minute you saw her.

            That dog got into more trouble than I can even begin to tell. She had the biggest sweet tooth and a curiosity that got her more than one summons to the laundry room (where inevitably someone in my family would feel bad and go rescue her after 5 minutes) ill never forget the time I left a bag of cooking chocolate out and my sister and I came home to the entire bag emptied….and Gidget as fat as a pig. She had eaten the entire bag and it had bloated her stomach. Of course she got sick everywhere and we had to call the Vet and nurse her. And honestly, I swear I think that dog was smiling, pleased that she had eaten that whole bag. Then there was the time she ate a whole box of girl scout cookies my mom made the mistake of leaving out. We knew something was wrong when we came home and she was running around the house like a manic..then we saw the wrappers, licked clean I might add. Most recently we came home and she greeted us to the door with an orange face…which my mom later discovered was a cake mix she had found…and eaten. By far my favorite was the time she got the Christmas cookies. My entire life my mom has made Christmas cookies a few days before all the family comes over. She would bake them and them place them in Tupperware boxes in the other room. Gidget was at her heels all day watching her bake then put them in the Tupperware boxes. After figuring out where the cookies were stored and having watched my mom open them she somehow figured out how to open the box. When my mom turned around Gidget was trotting through the hallway with a huge chocolate chip cookie in her mouth until my mom yelled DROP IT from the other room where she promptly dropped her treasure..but not without licking it a few good times. We weren’t even mad at her…I mean to this day it is still a mystery as to how she figured out how to open the box.

            It wasn’t just trouble she got into. She loved our family. For twelve years she greeted each and every person who walked through the door. She licked my face when I was in middle school and was crying because once again I didn’t make the basketball team. She stood on my dad every Saturday morning until he woke up and took her for a ride in the truck. She scratched Diana’s door until she would finally wake up and put her in bed with her in the mornings. She held a loyalty to mom because she spoiled her rotten, always bringing home a new collar for every season. She sensed when someone was upset and was always ready to curl right up next to you. She would pout around the house when we were packing for vacation and refused to give anyone a lick when we dropped her off at “summer camp” or the Vet. She made us laugh, and even angry ( like the first Christmas we had her and she was so thrilled a tree was inside she decided to leave a “present” under it.) But we loved her.

            Friday was the day I never saw coming. She was old and after trying for years to keep her going her organs finally began to give. We had to put her down.  If there was a single thing left to do we would have. I can say with complete certainty that it was the hardest day of my life. The nurses and Vets came in and cried with us. The groomer who has cut her hair for years came too.. she loved Gidget. So many people there loved her and grieved with us. I will never forget it.

She is just a dog. But she was our dog and we loved her. The sorrow hits in waves when you come home and no one is there to greet you. You call her or look for her simply out of habit before suddenly remembering. She truly was a member of our family.

            I miss that dog.

        But I remain with one repeating thought through it all…

“Lord, may I be burdened for people who do not know you. May it grieve my heart far more for those who die without hope of eternity than it does the loss of my beloved dog.”

May I be willing to take more than just good from your hands.

 (so cute in her dress)

(Tired of wearing the dress..)

             (snoozing in my room) (her sleeping bag )

(trying to get a raisin when i wasnt looking)(wearing her nightgown ready for bed) (begging for a treat..)(wearing her Christmas bandana) (her younger years)

 (her last car ride this past Monday)

-Leslie

words from pop

I am finally home and it has officially been a week since I graduated college. This week has been a whirlwind and i find myself surprised at how fast it has gone by. Little update on my life-
i am officially "graduated-out." That means that i have been to enough ceremonies to hold me for quite some time. Daniel graduated this weekend. Because VCU is so huge (or at least i think that's why) they have to have tons of different individual department graduation times. So that meant that Daniel graduated in his individual engineer ceremony of Friday night then in the official one Saturday morning. It was really crazy to see him walk and get his diploma..i cant even explain how hard he has worked for that piece of paper..how many nights i heard him recite equations and words i did not understand..how many 3 am text he sent to let me know he was still studying..how many times i told him he was not going to die and would pass the class/test/quiz/project/senior design. All i have to say is. " adieu, adios, arrivederci, auf wiedersehen, au revoir, bye, bye-bye, cheerio, good-bye, goodbye, good day, sayonara, later, peace, SO LONG 

yes. we were both happy. lol. I am proud of Daniel, and i love him because he sets his eyes on a goal and works hard when the rest of us would give up to see it accomplished. i think i can learn from that. 
He pushes me to do things i dont feel capable and gives me no option but to set my goals as high as his. 


My dad stood proudly outside after Daniel's graduation and told me 
   "You and Daniel have the world in your hands. There is nothing that can stop you from doing great things. You can never understand how blessed you are because of that."


Words that hit me in reflection. There is only one thing that can stop us from doing great things-and that is doing them in our own power. We are only as much as we are at His feet. PTL.


Psalm 27:4


"One thing I have desired of the LORD,
         That will I seek:
         That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
         All the days of my life,
         To behold the beauty of the LORD,
         And to inquire in His temple."

Final Day-GRADUATION

Well, obviously this is a day late, and because the day was so insane, i am almost 2 days late. The day had finally arrived..
GRADUATION! The morning came sooner than i wanted..maybe that is because i had to wake up at 5:45 am..geesh. Even though it was wicked early i wasn't tired because i knew it was about to be a great day. I got ready and made sure i timed the morning perfectly...i knew exactly what time Linny's (spellcheck is trying to tell me Linny's name should be Ninny..which is making me giggle.)  alarm was going off so i made sure to sit at my computer and be ready. You see for the past three years i have shared a room with her. And our beds have always been beside each others. And although it will be surprising, her hair is well...beautiful in the mornings. So i would frequently play "Good Morning Beautiful" really loud as she was waking up. This year has been so crazy so i haven't gotten many chances to play it but i knew this was our last morning as roommates and i had to make it count. So as she started waking...GOOD MORNING BEAUTIFUL, HOW WAS YOUR NIGHT, MINE WAS WONDERFUL WITH YOU BY MY SIDE!!!!!!!! ( i was yelling. and i also got it on video,lol) Linny LOVED it. she will miss me. lol. I also had all the girls give me a segment for my video that i am putting together.
We had to be on the field at 7:30 am (so we could wait to go to the football field at 8:45) But actually it wasn't terrible because we were able to take lots of pics with friends. We finally got on the football field, but im not even kidding by that point i was already sweating. It was like a 100 degrees in that black gown and we were packed like sardines on the field. The ceremony was really nice and it was hard not to get emotional about how much i have been blessed by the last four years of college.

After the ceremony the girls and I had all our families in town so we rented the church pavilion and cooked out the rest of the afternoon. It was a really nice time to just hang out with our families and celebrate the fabulous day. We had a few corn-hole tournaments and Daniel and I whopped Lindsay and Matthew (well..almost.lol). It was really nice to be able to combine my two world (my home with Daniel and my parents) and my school life with the girls. We had such a great time and i was literally wiped by the end of the day. Daniel and i drove home and talked about our future and the excitement of things to come. As sad as it is to leave the girls (and trust me, it's a much harder thing than i can even express) im so thankful that the Lord is bringing about new and exciting things for me. I look forward to those new times with the girls. new and old combine!

 I think that so many people get a degree, make some friends, and have fun, and that is the extent of their time. my college time has been one of the richest times in my life. i didn't just get an education, i learned that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. I didn't just make friends, i met my best friends who have loved and encouraged me at every step. I didn't just have fun, i grew in character and as a person. And it's ALL BECAUSE OF JESUS. I believe in the work Dr. Falwell started and couldn't have had a better college experience. I am not left without a deep sense of gratitude for what the Lord has done in my life during my college years. Linny, Lib, Pookie, Sarah. You've made all the difference. next time..my wedding! Miss you girls already!

Leslie

Day SEVEN-Baccalaureate and Good Taste.

Today was a packed full day. We got up this morning and headed over to the school to pick up our name cards and the final information for graduation. For once Liberty was actually extremely organized and Lib and i got our stuff in like 5 minutes which was greaaaat. They gave us a pen to put on our gown that says Jesus First, which normally i think people would think it kinda cheesy except we know Dr. Falwell wore one and honestly I want Jesus First in my life so i am so wearing it with pride. 
When i got back me and Jen and Linny decided to go to the pool one last time. Today was so stinkin' hot and i actually got some sun in the hour or so we were there. We only stayed a bit then came back to the apartment just in time for the girls parents to get here. We all got cleaned up and i must say we were lookin' pretty sharp for the Baccalaureate service. It was really sunny so our pic didn't really turn out good...squinty eyes!! (Jacob, Lib, Jen, Linny, Me, Sarah)

Baccalaureate was really good and i was reminded of the great education that the Lord himself has provided for me. I am so challenged to be a champion for Christ. I really do desire to live my life for Christ first. I think that coming to Liberty has challenged my life in so many ways, but the greatest is the desire to live a life worthy of my calling. You have to not have a pulse to come here and not be motivated to change our world for Christ.
After the service Sarah and i had a date at Good Taste. Good Taste is this little hole in the wall Chinese place, that no joke is so legit. Really only Sarah and i can appreciate it. Other than the really good food. the reason Sarah and i eat there is because they have this little gum ball machine with rings in it and every time we eat there we make sure to get one. Sarah and i placed our order in and then of course went straight for the machine..only this time it ate not one but two of our quarters and did not give us any ring. RUDE. then we told the guy who works there and he said & quote, "not my fault." and that was it. he walked away DOUBLE RUDE. So, we huffed then ate our fabulous dinner and sat forever talking. I will certainly miss Sarah next year. We all will. We needed to get some stuff for our picnic tomorrow so Sarah and i decided to make a Kroger trip. Luckily they had a machine and we got ourselves a nice little treasure of a ring there. Sarah and i also went kinda crazy and she bought some cotton candy and i bought a piece of gum that was an entire foot long. i mean it was a dollar. so who could pass that up!

oh also we tried on our caps tonight and realized how ridiculous we looked in them and got a really good laugh.

The week has flown by and i am literally amazed at how quickly the past four years have gone. Tomorrow is such a big day and it wouldn't be the same without my best friends beside me. I am beyond thankful for them and the depth of our friendship. Tomorrow will both be an exciting and sad day, but i look forward to spending my final moments with my four best friends. Until then..

-Leslie

"So i offer up this life. It's all that i have to give." 

Day SIX- cleaning and pedicures!

Today was a the day i have been dreading. We decided that this morning we would wake up and get a move on and clean the apartment. So we got up this morning and starting the packing process. i HATE and i mean really really hate packing. almost as much as i hate unpacking. I am truly amazed at how much stuff we can accumulate in a year. I think i threw away half my belongings. i will probably need some of those things but i get in a throw everything away mode and cant stop myself. I think i have anxieties about becoming a hoarder because of those TV shows and so in effort to keep myself from keeping junk i throw away everything. Anyway, we spent the morning and early afternoon cleaning the apartment, packing boxes, dusting, cleaning toilets, scrubbing, and taking down pictures. Our walls are completely bare. sigh. There is nothing more permanent than bare walls. The girls did a great job however, and we work so well as a team. Everyone tackled a different part of the house and we got a ton done. Our apartment currently smells new, which is kinda a gross smell to me. i prefer a homey smell.

After we got most things packed up and cleaned we got ourselves cleaned just in time to use the gift certificates Sarah got us sophomore year. Gift certificates for what you ask? PEDICURES of course! Sarah called Tony and Diane (the nail place) to make sure they could take all 5 of us and also to check if our gift certificates were still good. Diane yelled on the phone: WOAH! DE OLD! WE STILL HONOR, YOU COME IN. ALL 5- OKAY OKAY. 2 PM. BYE. (thank you Diane) So at 2 pm we all drove over to the place and treated ourselves to Sarah's sophomore treat. You may be wondering why we have waited so long to use these, which would seem like a good question. We decided this is the perfect time to treat ourselves to some TLC (and also maybe we just kept forgetting to use it).
There is something very very exciting about getting your toes painted. Typical girl things just make me smile, especially when they are done with friends. We got some great pics and cant wait to show our great colorful toes off this weekend. The time is coming up so close. Lindsay and i talked about our cap and gowns hanging in our bare closets. such a weird feeling..it's a gettin closer!
Oh and also, Daniel and i have been dating 66 months as i type..which means as of the 14th we have only 6 months left until we get married..which also means we have been engaged for 6 months..that is a lot of sixes! and another reminder that time is flying by!
almost there..
-Leslie

Day FIVE: KBC and Ice Lollies

Today was a much more eventful day. (dont worry Mr. Washabaugh, I'm glad you read too, i am excited to see you both this weekend!)
Tonight was our last time at Keystone working with the youth group. This summer while i was working M-Fuge in Charleston, SC i was assigned a church group. I promised that i would visit this church that happened to be located in Lynchburg. It amazes me how the Lord goes before us and is working in our lives even when we dont know it. I had no idea that when i went to visit this church with my roommates we would end up spending a year serving the youth and being connected with a church. It has been such a good and rich experience that i am so thankful for. Being at Keystone this semester has reminded me how our Lord is planning and working on our behalf. I really will miss being apart of Keystone. We got some pics before we left. Me, Lib, Jen, Matthew, Dixie and the youth group.

Our group activity tonight included a long time tradition of getting ICE LOLLIES! (we call them that but really they are just snow cones). Our freshman year we discovered this little snow shack that sells the best snow cones for only a dollar 50..which in college is a great cheap thing to do! They have like a million flavors so it always takes forever to choose what kind you want..except for me because every single time i chose the exact same flavor (Rock 'N Roll also called Batman) which is grape and blueberry..and it is sooo good! Jen went with icecream, Sarah wedding cake flavor, Linny got Jimmy Buffet (pineapple and blue coconut) and Libby went with Kiwi Strawberry. As we sat at the picnic table facing the Hollywood Movies i couldn't help but be reminded of all the good times we have shared eating ice lollies. Linny and i laughed about the time freshman year we took that pic where our lips were blue and we looked like we were freezing. It was such a good night, just enjoying laughs and each others company. I love the traditions that we developed in just four years. I love how individual each of our laughs is, but how they combine to make this loud racket that bothers anyone outside of our little world. Im so thankful for rich times like these...

            

-Leslie

Day Four-Friendship bracelets.

So today was largely uneventful but because i said i would blog and i dont want to let my readers down
 (Hi, Mrs Washabaugh! Lindsay tells me you follow so i wanted to make sure to show my appreciation!) so i am blogging today.
As we were brainstorming about what we could do during this fabulous week of endings, Jen came up with the great idea to do friendship bracelets. 'Cept only i did a bracelet and everyone else did an anklet, too bad for me i didn't realize until mine was done, and plus i like bracelets better anyway. Jen bought some great colors and by the time we were finished Sarah was still contemplating which colors she should chose. She went with browns which i thought was a good choice. i was wondering what colors i should do when i realized we had black and yellow, which of course is VCU colors and i knew Daniel would be proud, so i went with those. VCU, GO RAMS GO! (i learned that cheer from all the games Daniel takes me to.) Anyway we concluded the night with a picture and a movie. I have a final tomorrow so i need to get on that and study.

Tomorrow will be much more eventful considering it is the last time at Keystone Baptist Church working with the youth.
until then!
Leslie