House-sitting and moose hot dogs.

So I've been house sitting for some friends as of late, and when you house sit, it turns out you're supposed to check their mail.

Which is fine.

When you know their mailbox number.

It may not have been such a big deal, except these particular friends were (of course) expecting nothing other than moose hot dogs. And moose hot dogs, if you didn't already know, are supposed to stay cold. Like any other hot dog.

So I go on my merry little way over to the mail box, and that's when I realize I have no clue which one it is. And when you don't know which mailbox is theirs, what do you do?

Well you just start checking all of them. That's what you do.

I tried the key in maybe all of them when, CLICK! It opens one. There has never been anything more beautiful.

I grab the mail and start heading back to the house, but there seems to be a slight problem. You see, The folks I'm house sitting for are not Mr. and Mrs. Cook.

Huh.

Either I've been at the wrong house this entire time, or I've got some kind of skeleton key. Those are my only options, or so I've concluded.

Moral of the story is.. Well I'll just let you decide.

And also I did receive those moose hot dogs and I'm pretty sure I'm just gunna eat them. Because that's what a good house sitter would do, and I'm a great house sitter.

Mountain Altitude and How I Bought Pringles

Boy, have I been busy. And it's not one of those "good busys."

You know. Like the ones where the person's super popular and has all these fun things on her agenda and can't fit any time for you. (Not that that'd be good).

Me? All I do is work, work, work and school. And church. (I add that as a side note because I actually enjoy that part of the schedule!)

Adding all that together can become pretty draining and it leaves hardly any room for alone time with Jesus.

Don't get me wrong, I start every day off by reading the Word, but I'm talking about getting alone with Jesus. Quieting your mind and escaping from all the chaos of this life I'm living.

This weekend I got to do just that. I am just so sure that the altitude in the mountains works wonders on the human soul. Or makes you crazy. Either one.

After work on Friday I hopped in my car and drove up to a college retreat in Big Bear. I was leaving an hour later than everyone, so when I got to the cabin, and all the lights were off and there were no cars in the driveway, I kind of started to freak out.

For one, because I was all alone in a foreign land, but mostly because I really had to pee.

So I call up pastor Todd and he says they're about ten minutes away. Well great. I didn't know if I could hold it. So I got out of the car and looked to see if there were any bushes or anything.

But I decided that I didn't want to get eaten by any bears.

I hopped in my car, drove to town, almost ran some people over and found a market. I think the guy at the register must have known I couldn't hold it because he let me use the employees-only bathroom.

And then I bought some Pringles. Yep.



Okay so then the retreat actually started. And the message that the Lord had for me was a good one.

Change is good. And going up that mountain was a big one. Let's stop writing in the planner with permanent ink and use a pencil with an eraser.

A really big eraser.

I've heard it said that vision leaks and mine most certainly had. I am so entirely thankful that I serve a God who, whenever I want to throw in the towel, is always there to pick it back up and allow me to start again.

Cough Syrup was Made To Kill You

Something strange happens when you're sick and you have to stay home for five days straight. Strange things, my friend. For one, you start to get creative with different ways to be comfortable in your bed. But, you know, I got a new down comforter for Christmas. I'd stay home sick any day. It's heavenly.

The strangest thing, I must admit, is that I started to go insane. I really did. I found everything that I watched on TV simply hilarious. A simply tilt of a head could send me off the edge. When I'd realize I was laughing at stupid things, I'd stop myself, but usually it'd just make me laugh harder. It was probably the effects of that deadly cough syrup they're making me take.

Oh, the joys of being bedridden.

So if you get the bug that's been going around, I shall advise you to... you know... take your medicine. It's helps when you're not gagging anymore. I promise.

Also, that's my favorite movie.

I Burnt the Christmas Crack

I tried to tell them.

I'm not very good in the kitchen, I said. I even told them of the time I almost caught the kitchen on fire. Yet they put me in charge of the Christmas Crack anyway. (I guess this is what some people call peppermint bark).

So long story short, I forgot to set a timer while it was in the oven and my sweet little niece just wanted to play. It had to be a set up. Come on, isn't she adorable? Someone's trying to bring me down.

And as I opened the smoking oven and my mom pulled out the object of our conversation, all I could say was, "I told you."

Better luck next time?

Day Two | 5 Pet Peeves?

The month of November is not only bringing in colder weather and beanies, but I'm doing a challenge. It's only twice a week, mostly because I'm lazy. Feel free to comment, and if you want to join in on the challenge, you're welcome to.

 

Listing a pet peeves just seems so mean to me. So, you know what? I'm changing it. No one said anything about rules.

Instead of five pet peeves, I'll give you five things I love. Now isn't that better?

1. I love God. The best decision I ever made, and will ever make, is following Jesus Christ. My life would be an empty struggle, searching and searching for some kind of answer for what I needed. Could it be found in works? Being a good person? Or maybe if I just had a perfect boyfriend, then maybe I'd be happy. We are all restless till we rest in Him.

2. I love food. What more can I say? It's great.

3. I love when God teaches me something new. I love, love, love it. Having those aha moments, or something completely mind boggling. Something that I can't help but share with you here. I just love when He teaches me something new.

4. I love rainy days. It's such cozy weather where you can to stay home and be content with old movies and hot chocolate.

5. I love toothpaste, because it cleans your teeth. That is all.

Have a wonderful Friday, my friends.

P.s. What do you love? Tell me, tell me.

Oh and I love turtles.

The Day I Conquered Mount Rushmore

It all started with a simple text message.

"Hey mom. Do you want to go rock climbing tomorrow?"
 
Sure, she says, and off we go. Now, some of you have done this before. Maybe it's your hobby and for you it's easy-peasy.

Well, good for you.

For me and my mom- this was a big deal.

We all know of the rock wall with the rope that allows you to propel down the wall as if you were a trained ninja-spy-super-hero. But did you hear of the walls that don't have the beautiful ropes attached to them?

It's abominable! Do they really expect me to climb a wall with no support and only a little, square, squishy mat beneath to catch me? It's unspeakable, tremendous, direful! So what then, did I continue on to do?

I climbed the wall.

And something brilliant happened. I thought I would die. I thought I would just give up and never speak of it again (no that's not the brilliant part).

I climbed that wall as if my life depended on it, and as my hand grasped the top of the wall and I propelled myself to the top, I knew, in one instant that had conquered the world.

It was like Mount Rushmore. Or.. (what's the tallest mountain in the world?)

Oh, it doesn't matter.

Today I, Bailey Gundry, conquered the world. Yay!

Tuesday Shmoosday

Sometimes you have no work and nothing to do. And sometimes when that happens, you crochet and then crochet some more. And when you have, nothing to do all day, crocheting gets old. It gets old fast. The fact that I've yet to finish any of my projects speaks for itself.

Sometimes you forget what you're supposed to do when you have nothing to do- no appointments on your agenda. Oh, the life of a young adult. Usually these days end with a good movie and a burning candle, but there's nothing on. Candle? Check. Movie? I'm working on it.

I guess I could finish writing a song I started, or I could- I don't know- write a letter to my future husband or something. I need Jodi to come home from South Dakota Oklahoma already.

But honestly? I really just want to watch The Little Mermaid but I don't own the movie. I guess I might just hit the hay early this evening.

Yay to pointless blog posts.

It Was My One Year Blog Anniversary and I Missed It

So It's a month past my blogs one year anniversary. Why the heck didn't I pay better attention to this? This, my friends, is a big deal.

So, late or not, I decided that blogging about my one year anniversary is a given.

When I created this blog, I wanted to write. I had something to say and I wanted people to hear it. Mostly I was a girl who wanted to be heard. I had passion and it needed to be placed somewhere, so I made this little pretty place. F. Scott Fitzgerald said it best:

"You don't write because you want to say something; you write because you have something to say."

Since the creation of this little blog, there has been a lot of changes. I think all for the very best. This is me saying what the heck was I thinking? Seriously though, I have no idea what made me think that was cute.

But that's how we all start. It's okay to start at the bottom, in fact, the only way anyone starts anything is from nothing. Jimmy Hendrix had to learn and practice playing guitar. Walt Disney had to practice drawing. The Eiffel Tower, at one point, didn't exist until someone drew up the blueprints and got to work. Neil Armstrong had to train and learn a lot of.. stuff, like rocket science or something, before he went to the moon.

Okay so the point is, to do anything we're passionate about, we have to start at the bottom. It takes practice and determination and at one point along the line, subconsciously or not, we decide that we will not give up and we keep going.

When I started this blog I had to come up with a niche. At the time (I think it's still in my About Me portion) I wanted this to be a place where I, a young lady, discovered who I am in this big confusing world. But it's not that at all. Not even then.

This is a place where I am discovering who God wants me to be, and walking towards that goal.

I never intended this to be a place where I told you what to do or taught you the bible. There are times in my life where I feel inspired or times when I believe the Lord is teaching me something. Sometimes things happen in my life or the lives of others that I feel would do someone else some good if they heard the story. This is where I write those things.

I hope this can be a place where you sometimes visit and feel inspired to go out and change your little corner of the world. I hope when you come here, you will know that you are not alone in this difficult time of your life. Or even in the best days of your life. You are not alone.

 We've come a long way from 17-year-old-me. There have been some wrong turns along the way but somehow it all brought us here, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. 

My Family Got a Dog

Meet Nova Raine.

She's my new puppy.

 Okay, so technically she's not mine.

She's my sister's, but my mom said I could have partial ownership

because I get to help take care of her. 

She's kind of... weird.

She doesn't like car rides or kids

and she pees whenever she's scared or excited.

But I love her.

And apparently my mom has a new

technique for babysitting.

That's just so great.

 And I got my first letter from Coreen!

Yay!

I'm in this strange season and I'm learning that, even though I want the Lord to give me some life changing task so that I can do his "will", what he may want me to do might not be so big. I'm learning to serve him even if that means staying right where I'm at.

I thought, God must have something big for me to do and I'm excited to go out there and make a difference in the world.

But maybe, just maybe, he has me right where he wants me, and I can serve him here, even now.

It's Summer and I Feel Like I'm Dying

I don't get what the big deal is. Every one's freaking out that it's summer but it's like 170 degrees outside. whoop dee doo.

Just kidding. No school!!

But I have to be honest. I've had a lack of inspiration.

But the thing is, God is changing something in me. I changed my devotional time and I'm changing it again. I don't like change, but sometimes that's the only way to go. Now that I'm out of high school I don't know what to do with myself. I'll be sitting at home, feeling like I have somewhere to be, but I don't. I have so much free time it's driving me insane!

I don't know how to do nothing.

I feel like there's going to be a change ministry-wise too. I'm not sure where God wants me right now and, in a way, it's scary and freeing to be so open to anything.

IT'S SUMMER!

That means beach days and sleeping in till two. Slumber parties and ultimate night Frisbee. Maybe this summer I'll try out some journaling prompts to post. I'll get creative and have some fun.

And it's already 100 degrees. In Menifee, when summer comes, it comes.

I think I'll spend the rest of my life in air conditioned buildings. Please.

It's a Fairytale Kind of Month

Whoever had the nerve to say I couldn't dance was insane. But then again I wasn't watching myself.

I had prom, grad night and a beautiful wedding to attend this past week. Man, am I tired. And oh boy, do I have a lot of pictures. This post is mostly for my own future reference, so move along or join me. Your choice.

That sounded rude. I hope you know you're welcome here. At my little pretty place.

PROM

Oh, did I feel like a princess. Not only did I have a beautiful dress, and a chauffeur (show-fur), but there was a carriage ride that lit up. It looked like it was taken straight from the story of Cinderella itself. I didn't ride in this here carriage, partly because of the never-ending line of anticipating passengers, but mostly because I honestly just wanted to rescue the darn, sad looking horse.

If I was missing anything, it was a date. So yes, if you were asking, my mom drove me to prom in her massive F250 Ford truck. At this point, I really could have used a handsome fellow to help me down.

"Do you want me to come out and help you out?" my mom offered, but oh, the shame. So yes, if you didn't already guess the outcome, my most elegant descent from the F250 Ford truck, ended with me toppling, ever so clumsily, over my pistachio colored gown.

If it was going to happen to anyone, it was going to be me and I was glad to live up to my title. It was undeniably a Bailey Gundry moment. If I learned anything that night it's that sometimes, your crush doesn't know you exist and will therefore not ask you to prom. Also, the shame of your mother helping you out of a truck at prom, just might be slightly less humiliating then the outcome of doing it alone.

but also, I learned that God's perfect timing is a beautiful thing.

The KJ Marsh Wedding

Love is in the air. And you know what I realized? I have no flirting abilities whatsoever. To be honest, the way I show affection is by running in the complete opposite direction! Oh man. I'm down here like, "God, what's taking so long?" and He's in heaven like, "Well I'm trying, but could you help me out even just a little?"

I'm hopeless. it's probably God's way of protecting me though, so I embrace it for the time being.

It was a beautiful wedding! It looks like something pulled right out of pinterest.

The beautiful couple

KJ Marsh wedding 2013



These studly men

KJ Marsh wedding 2013

 KJ Marsh wedding 2013

 Ring security!

KJ Marsh wedding 2013

 A beautiful wedding, indeed

KJ Marsh wedding 2013

 I was her + 1

KJ Marsh wedding 2013

 Yes.

KJ Marsh wedding 2013

 KJ Marsh wedding 2013

 So many pictures

KJ Marsh wedding 2013

 KJ Marsh wedding 2013

And at last, the verse the Lord provided me with when I needed it most:

"Wait on the Lord; be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart," (Psalm 27:14).

The Next Stage of Life and My Advice To High School Students.

KJ Photography

I'm seeing the transformation occur, slowly but surely.

1. First, I turned eighteen- no big deal.
2. I got rid of some stuffed animals. I don't care who you are, that's a big deal.
3. Then  I actually started thinking about living arrangements. Will I live with my sister after high school, or will I find another friend to room with?
4. Then my job: will I get hired by Dr. Danesh as a Medical Assistant? Maybe I should try to get hired at an ultrasound facility.
5. I even created a new pinterest board: Home Décor. Which, by the way, has really cute decorating ideas for a cute little home, if you want to check it out.
6. And get this; I even bought appliances (for example cups, flower vases, carpets, pots, ect) from this cute little thrift shop by Arbys. What a steel.

I don't know what's gotten into me! I'm not trying to grow up fast, I'm just really excited about this new stage of life. I'm excited to decorate a house, to live with that responsibility, to have my own dog. I'm excited for it. I graduate June 6th, and from there, it's free game. I do what I want when I want. I have to learn what to do- how to survive in the world- on my own.

But right now I'm still in high school, and I still have to take my finals and do my homework and make it through all the way to the end. It's really not too far off. And I still have to live through prom. Alone. A girl's worst nightmare. It's hard seeing all my friends going with someone and getting asked in the cutest ways. I guess that's just not what God wants for me. I don't even know why I'm going. Oh well, I already bought my dress (and its insanely beautiful. I'll have to post some pictures).

Throughout all this change, it would mean nothing if I wasn't doing what God wants me to. So that's what I'm going to be praying for, for the next couple months. God's really blessed me by showing me where He wants me, and I just pray that He continues to do so.

If I could give any advice at all to those still in high school, it's this:

1. Love your parents, and don't take advantage of them or any of the things they do. They love you like crazy and we only get 18 years or so to live with them. It goes by too fast.

2. Don't mess around during school. Do your work. Get it done and strive to do your best. It will pay off.

3. Don't fit in. The world and everyone around you will make it seem like you're not good enough, but in reality, they are feeling the same way. Be you. And don't let anyone bring you down for that.

4. Make a difference. There's so much that can be done for the furthering of God's Kingdom during high school. Grab the word of God and soak it up. And then let it out. Let God's love shine forth from your life, as you change the lives of others around you.

5. Pray. Some of you might think, I'm not quite sure how to. I say, WHO CARES! Talk to God. That's all he wants. Talk to Him and tell Him everything. pray for family and friends. You can only grow in your relationship with Him if you're talking to Him and reading His word. Because, guess what: That's where He talks back.

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity," (1 Timothy 4:12).

New Year | New Look

 

I think that's how the quote goes, no? Well, I changed my little pretty place and I hope you like it.

Ooooohh happy New Year!

The Becoming Girls Conference is this month. Are you going?! Today we start mobbing everyone on facebook. there's becoming pictures everywhere. Our cover photo is becoming, our profile picture is becoming. The guys even join in and go crazy. So go get your ticket!!

How was your New Years eve, did you make it to midnight? I'm a granny but I made it. Midnight troopers.

I actually made it to five in the morning. Can I say all nighter?

Me and some other girls went to prank our pastor and some guys from our youth group. It's called "window tapping" and it's just great. We turned out their power. We totally got caught, and it was poorly planned out, but man oh man, was it fun. And cold.

But anyway, this is taking way longer than I thought it would and I have to go to work. Have a good new year.

I know this one's going to be awesome.

I used an awesome face mask

So tonight, me and my mom used this heating face mask. And let me just tell you, That thing is awesome. If I hadn't said otherwise you'd probably think I had abnormally large sweat glands, judging by the picture up there. But that's just the mask, so don't be alarmed.

I've had a cold all week and I'm trying to train myself to like tea. Do you think that will work? I'm not quite sure what you're supposed to add to enhance the taste, though. Sugar? Honey? Both?

I'm a rookie. But tea will be so much more healthy than coffee, and I love coffee.

We'll see how it goes.

Friday Love

Okay, Okay. I've been way too serious lately.

Have you ever had chicken pox?

I went to the river last weekend with my youth group, and I happened to receive over 35 bug bites. They're EVERYWHERE. I'm dying.

But anyway, I'm looking forward to this weekend because I'm going to a leadership retreat at a mansion The owners just decided to lend us their house for the weekend. So, here we go!

I'm not going to lie though; I'm feeling a bit home sick.

I recently found the new love of my life. It's those Starbucks mocha frappuccinos that you can just buy at the store! Yum! How have I avoided these my entire life?

I just read a book called Redeeming Love and I just loved it. All I can say is that you need to be in the right set of mind. It's very graphic, and for us singles, not all that helpful for our patience. But I still loved it never-the-less.

I was going to say my new goal was to get a date to prom by the the time it rolls around, but I've found that that would go against my trying to let God be the one to control the situation. So I guess I'll wait. See what I did there? I guess.

That's why God has yet to do anything about my situation.

What I can do is pray and read my Bible and pray and read and pray. Yep.

If you'd like to subscribe to my blog and recieve emails when I post, you can scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your email. Cool, right?

And if you need prayer for anthing, my email is: baileyrox@msn.com

You can email me at anytime and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Love,