Things

My toes are cold. 

I like the sun. 

I don't want to memorize any more summaries. 

I've been reading this kid I don't knows(mutual friends) blog for like an hour while listening to him sing and it's all fantastic. Except his voice is kinda monotone. But he has good words to say. 

      This cutie. 

That's all. 

Hi.

 

I suppose I owe you all an apology for leaving you for so long.

So.

I'm sincerely sorry.

Now, If you have accepted my humble apology,

please, please, continue on to hear of my lame excuse.

(and of my random life)

 

We hosted our annual Wilson Reunion this past weekend.

Lemme tell ya, it was something else!

Relatives traveled from all around.

Colorado, Texas, Indiana, New York, Minnesota.

There were about 50 people at my house

it felt a little bit like grand central station at times

we played a lot of games of Five Crowns.

(i lost them all)

I met my dear new baby cousin, Jack.

(that kid is adorable)

we ate too much food.

At times the sound of all the voices got overwhelming.

I made some pretty fantastic Chicken Soup, if I do say so myself.

I missed my Matthews cousins.

(a lot)

the weather was fantastic.

my best friend came and stayed the weekend.

she is really cool.

Isaac posted everything we did on the Facebook event page.

Everyone stayed up too late making memories.

The guys played basketball a lot.

The girls took walks up and down the dirt road.

We made several Wal-Mart runs.

Nights were spent around the piano singing hymns.

All in all.

We had a fantastic time.

(but we missed the ones who didn't make it)

 

Sometime I will write a post with a bunch of pictures from off the Facebook Event page.

 

I love you.

 



That's how You forgive.

This is why I sing.

You lived the life I could never live.

You died the death, Oh, That I deserve.

You rose to life and now You live.

That's how You forgive. 

 That's how we forgive. Being forgiven by God gives us the ability to forgive others. 

Why I want to be a mother someday.

Sometimes when I'm babysitting, usually when it's eleven in the morning and I still haven't managed to get them out of their pjs, or it's ten o'clock and they still aren't asleep, I ask myself, "How in the world do their parents do this?!" But then, it's eleven in the morning, and sure they are still in their pjs, but the time we spent snuggled up on the couch, reading book after book surely was worth it. And it's ten o'clock and they aren't asleep yet, but you can hear their little voices whispering their goodnight prayers and them giggling as they speak sweet nonsense to calm the others fears. Those are the times when I realize what makes it worth it to the parents. How they push through everyday. Kids, they love you, unconditionally. Kids, they see you for who you really are. Kids, they are so innocent. Kids, they could grow up to be great people, all they need is people that believe in them. And those people should be us! 

It's the time I spent rocking one to sleep who is missing their mommy. It's the exclamation of "BEST BABYSITTER EVER!" after I let them have cereal for lunch or go to the park or play video games. It's the hugs and kisses and 'please come back!''s. It's the 'Ay-Ce, I wuv you''s that make this the best job in the entire world! Those times are the times when I realize why I want to be a mother someday, because even the hard times can be blessings. Because loving a child is always worth it in the end. 

A sad post about basically nothing.

This last week has just been something else. I was busy every. single. day. Sunday through Wednesday was our church's local missionary conference, The main speaker was Lee Lofquist. I loved every sermon. It was very challenging, not just to go but to send as well. 

I have no idea what Thursday was. I might have stayed home actually. I did a lot of school. I know that I had an hour long phone call from my best friend. It was really good. 

Friday. Ugh, Friday. We helped my oldest sister move some things into her apartment. Then, I went to Jennaea and Ben's and we watched some "scary" movies that weren't very scary, but rather funny. :) I spent the night there as well. 

Saturday was the official moving day for Jonalee and Steven so we unpacked boxes nearly all day. We got Starbucks. 

Yummy. 

  

And I held a two month old baby.. He was adorable! Jonalee also gave me a ton of her books.. Happy me! 

Here's a shout out to my awesome friend Emily for being awesome and brightening my day today. :) She is just too cool. 

There is my sad little post with not nearly enough pictures! 💜💜💜 Love you! 

I must see Jesus.

Oh, boy. This is a hard one. Stay strong, folks, stay close. 

A challenge from missionary Keith Hock: What is your reason for being in the Word and serving God? Is it your parents forcing you to? Your image within the church? Even your friends? Or is it this? 

I must see JESUS.

I must tell JESUS. 

I must serve JESUS. 

I must know JESUS. 

I must love JESUS. 

'This' is when you are serving Christ because you must, you can't even help it, you love Christ so much that you must serve Him, you must get to know Him better, you must tell Him all of your trials and joys. You must SEE Him in your life. When He becomes visible to you and to others through His work in your life! 

I love it when you are shining.

"I love it when you are shining. 

When you remind me to smile. 

When you encourage my heart. "

Hi. I like that first line, "I love it when you are shining." It is so beautiful. "I love it when you are shining." That means, I see you for who you really are. I understand how beautiful you truly are and I don't know how I didn't see it before. But you shine so bright now. I know that it's what is inside that really counts. I see you shining... 

Okay, I just liked that a lot. So I wanted you to see it. Now we can get down to the more unimportant stuff. :) 

This girl! Oh, I love her! I cherish all the Wednesdays with her. 

This is my best friend. I'm so glad that she is alive. I love you, Heidi-Lou, I really do. 

This picture doesn't even show a fraction of how happy I was to be out of class with a iced coffee in my hands. 

Yes, yes, yes, yes. 

A lovely fall night by the fire. 

Relaxing with some cool kids. 

Well, that's that. :) the pictures from the last time I posted. My page views went from 28 to 674, so that has been awesome for my ego. I love to run, I miss running.. So much, but lately I just haven't felt up to it. I've gotta fix that. :) this weather has been awesome, just enough summer to make me crave cooler days. I was babysitting tonight and the four year old girl kept saying every time her brother whined "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!" It was pretty darn cute. Sometimes when I see people, I'm all like "Hi, you make me melt.." *nervous laugh* and I'm not a witch either.. Hahaha.(so yeah, how many of you actually got that? Awkward..) first moment alone all day... Does Geography homework.. I have no life. That is it for now.. Cuz my mind is going blank. 

Ephesians 4:29, 31

Happy Days.

Hi, there. 

So it has been awhile, hasn't it?

I've been rather busy I suppose, with school and such things. Today I walked to the mailbox and found my Starbucks Gold card! There was much rejoicing. I have been waiting for(what seems like :P) forever for it to arrive. My heart is very happy today. 

I am extremely excited for the arrival of autumn! The past few days have been nice and cool, but not quite cool enough for hot tea, :( much to my dismay. I enjoy some hot tea to go with my homework. But still, I am excited that soon it will be cold enough! This past year I've realized how much I love all the seasons and I really do. I love spring because it is the start of all things new, with everything growing and all the wonderful rain! I love summer because it is so hot and there is no school! I love laying outside and soaking up the suns rays. I love fall because it is so cool, and all the pretty leaves changing colors, I love our family get-togethers for Thanksgiving. And lastly, I love winter because it is cold, and the Christmas carols, and bundling up in blankets and the beauty of fresh snow, and hot chocolate and tea! 

Algebra is my enemy. Seriously, it is. I can't stand it. All the numbers get jumbled up in my head and I can't understand it. It is altogether terrible. Just in case you were wondering.

I love skirts. They are just so much more comfortable than jeans. I'd much rather wear a skirt(or sweats or gym shorts) than jeans. I didn't used to be this way, but lately I've been wearing a skirt, rather than jeans, whenever sweatpants aren't socially acceptable.

I. Love. Kansas. 

Seriously. Everything about this state is incredible. 

I love the random thunderstorms. 

the rain for two weeks nonstop. 

the dust storms.

the tornadoes.

the hotness in September(What?) 

the snow in May. 

So maybe Kansas is a little confused.

But I love it.

Everything about it.
I don't think I could ever leave long term. 

Even the Ocean can't steal me away.

Kansas is, well, HOME.

 I'm home.

 -Jaycie-

 

My week in pictures

I love this kid. Even after he throws a screaming fit. His cute little face covered in cookie crumbs saying "I love it!" makes me melt. Every time. 

These girls. Little divas. Fast friends. 

I love this. 

My new obsession in music. The oh hellos. 

Journal entry. Letter from a friend. 

The resemblance in our handwriting is scary. Oh dear. 

A thought. 

Do you know what quitters do?

Whenever someone around me says that they want to quit, I say(okay, usually I yell :)) "You are a quitter, and do you know what quitters do?!?!" And if they don't know the answer, I reply for them with "they quit!" And ultimately convince them to stick around and not quit.

Well, as much as I say this. I don't really follow through myself. I quit, all the time. When things are hard, I just have absolutely no motivation, so I quit. This year though, I got myself into a bunch of things that I can't quit. Like youth bells, and volleyball practice. These things are absolutely painful. But I have to get through them. Because I don't want to quit, even when my frustrated mind and tired body say I do. I want to get them perfect. 

I'd appreciate all of your prayers while I'm perfecting these two activities(can you even call them that? The word just sounds so.. Fun!) 

•for when you have no words and your mind is on replay•

Walks to Starbucks in your favorite jeans and happy shoes. 

Supper on the Suburban, right before a huge thunderstorm -- just because.  

Nephew and Uncle

Birthday cheesecake for Tear and Lucas 

The terrible rash I got after my first bell choir practice.. :( sad night all around, 

--everyone is beautiful, you just have to look-- 

___________________________________

I found some words in me. The past few weeks my life has been consumed with giving and giving and giving of myself until there is nothing left. And yet, there are always more people who need me. 

I'd started to get restless of this, of constantly running on empty. Until I realized one night as I was hearing testimonies of people who spent their summers giving. Of their time and resources. As I sat there, I came to the realization. These people, they weren't unhappy. They were filled with J.O.Y. They got restless sometimes, but they were happy to be empty, if that meant that someone else was full. 

My life isn't how I imagined it would be. I'm in a totally different place than I ever imagined being. But I've started to like it. Because if I'm empty, that means there's room for God. And if I'm empty, that means others are full. 

I think I like being empty too. 

Because in the end. 

I'm full too.

Full of Christ. 

-Jyc- 

___________________________________

In case you ever wonder about me...

I have been SO busy lately. Like rush-rush-rush busy. It's a fun busy though. :) 

Sunday. It poured all day. Again. I learned a ridiculous amount of great stuff that day. But that's a post for another day. 

I don't even know. :) late nights out on the trampoline. 

Strike a pose!

Forever friends. <3

Monday. My friend Heidi(and her three siblings) spent the night on Sunday night. In the afternoon, Janessa and I took our three younger siblings and Heidi and her three younger siblings to Rock River Rapids, the local water park. We spent a couple hours there running around, sliding down slides, chilling on the lazy river, deciding which life guards were best, getting sunburned. Ya know, a day in the life. Later, I hung out with Heidi at work. It was busy and tiring and fun. :) 

Heidi-Lou and I after work. :) 

Tuesday. Heidi spent the night again. And then we went out to lunch with the youth pastor's wife and their baby daughter. We went to Pizza John's, both the food and the fellowship was amazing. :) We went to my sister's apartment afterwards, hung out for awhile then headed home. By the time five o'clock rolled around it was time to head out for the Taylor Swift concert! It was incredible! I LOVE live music! Casey James was the first opening act, he is not only adorable but he has an amazing voice! Ed Sheeran came next, tears rolled down my face when he came out and said "'Ello, Wichita, it's nice to meet you." Why are British accents so stinkin' adorable?!?! He was so so amazing. Anyone who wasn't a fan of his before this concert, definitely was after! A friend that my sister and I went with had said before Ed came on, "I hate his music, he has no voice." Afterwards said, "whoa, I have a lot of respect for someone who can sing without a band and sound that great!" Ed did this amazing rap song, ahh, heart melted. Then it was Taylor's turn. I had always heard that she stinks at live singing, but she sounded incredible! I knew the words to most, okay, all of her songs, so I sang along. You could tell by the looks on her face that she loved performing. You could tell by the tears in her eyes that she meant what she was singing. During one of the songs, she could so emotional that she had to stop(it was All Too Well, the one that made me cry the first time I heard it, and I still get a little teary even now.) singing and playing the piano to compose herself. She is either a great actress or she really loved that guy. All in all, I enjoyed this concert immensely and wouldn't mind going again sometime. :) 

Janessa and I at Intrust Bank Arena!! Before the concert began. 

Ben, who is completely convinced that Taylor writes all her songs about him, they just didn't rhyme as well so she changed his name. ;) 

This was right before Taylor came on, we were SO pumped! 

Wednesday. I was up at seven and off to babysit. The two kids were adorable. We painted with water colors almost the entire time. It was just fun. :) I hadn't got very much sleep that night so I took a nap when I got home, then just kinda relaxed the rest of the day until prayer meeting. Then I watched kids in the nursery and went out with some friends afterwards. 

Thursday. Up at six to go babysit. I was exhausted! So the kids and I just watched a movie and then read books and played a game. When I got home, I read some more, cleaned and helped my mom with school stuff. We all went to girls night at my sisters apartment around seven. We just watched TV, ate food, and took a walk. Just enjoyed each others company. :) after that we went shopping at Walmart. We have lots of fun in Walmart. We got there a little after ten and didn't leave until around 1am. Yeah, crazy redneck people we are. I just like shopping when there is no one around. 

Mirror selfie. I'm so cruel. :P 

Jonalee and I at girls night! 

The girls at Walmart. :) 

So. Much. Bored. 

Friday. I spent the morning making brownies for a wedding I wasn't even going to. It was fun though. We spent the afternoon getting decorations ready for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary dinner. We headed to Spears(where we were holding the party) around dinner time(duh.) once we got there we rushed getting everything ready. My uncles, aunts, siblings, and cousins all arrived, and then grandma and grandpa! Whoo! Sixty years people!

The big 6-0!!! 

It was a ton of fun! I don't get to see my cousins that often so I was really happy to spend time with them! The food was amazing. :) when all us Rue's get together we can get pretty crazy. It wasn't long before my cousin George(okay, so here's the story. His real name is Talbot, like Tail-butt. Yeah we don't know what his parents were thinking either! But he always gets incredibly embarrassed around us, so a couple visits ago we just decided to call him George. It stuck.) had called all of the girl cousins fat(what even?!?!) and Janessa anorexic. When we called him out on it, he replied that my other cousin told Janessa that she was never getting married. Yeah, I don't really get it either. They also think I'm getting married tonight, secretly. It's not happening guys.  After dinner we took family pictures. 

My closest in age cousin Rebecca! Love her tons. :) 

Then my whole family went to go see the Keeper of the plains! The river is flooded and it looks amazing! I love it. :) I walked a little bit on the flooded sidewalk(I know what you're thinking oh you rebel, you :)) 

The Keeper. :) 

"I don't know why you won't take me downtown, like we have anywhere better to be" :) 

Saturday. Babysat six boys and two of my siblings. Eight hours. Fun times. :D 

From where I sit. Friends conversing. :) 

Now enjoy some random pictures from this summer!! 

These guys. Like what even? They steal my sister's iPod and take pictures of themselves. This was at Sonic a couple Wednesdays ago... From left to right. Nathan, Matthew, and Matt. :) 

Em!! One of the best friends I've ever had! This was taken at my birthday party a couple of weeks ago. :) 

Us girls love our blankets!! 

Lil sis and I off to our cousins baby shower a few months back... 

Oh, Blaze-y. Don't you break my heart slow... 

My good friend Ryan is moving next week! I'll miss him so much! Hopefully he can visit next summer. :) 

Hey kitties. 

In Jenn and Ben's new car, wishing I could take it for a spin! 

Makes me laugh. Every. Single. Time. 

Well, that's about it. :) I hope you liked this post. An entire week in the making. :D  

-Jyc-