the future is here...well, sort of

I just turned in my application for graduation--11 months away. It seems like forever, but I know it's gonna come quickly. I've already done my pre-placement interview for my internship. Right now I'm looking at doing my internship at the Red Cross. Doing my internship there could bring lots of opportunities for me after I graduate. It is also an ever-changing internship. No day will be the same. One day I may go to an elementary school and teach kids what to do in case of a hurricane, the next day I may be helping a family whose house burned down. The Red Cross just seems like a good fit for me. We'll see if they think the same. I'll be setting up an interview with them soon and I'll go from there.

Matt & I traveled down to Columbia last Thursday for the Chris Tomlin/Matt Redman/Louie Giglio concert. I knew going down there it was going to be amazing and I was right. I was smacked in the face of how amazing my God is and how he calls me by name. It is one thing to know that God has an intimate plan for your life, but a totally different thing to truly believe it. I relish in my Savior's love. It is such an honor to sit at His feet and call Him "Abba, Father". I wish all could experience my Savior's love as I have.

I am getting my wisdom teeth out next Friday. Sounds like fun, huh? I am kind of excited because Matt is taking the day off work to be with me and pamper me. Haha. We'll see how excited I am at 11 am next Friday though. Nothing like cutting your gums open and yanking those teeth out!

Just wanted to let you guys know...

I am burnt out but completely and utterly blessed by my amazing Savior. I am in awe of His amazing grace.

Heck yes!

I LOVE working 11 hour days!

slacking on the blog

Man oh man, it's been forever since I've written on here. Life has been busy as always.

*The end of the semester went well. I got a B in Philosophy! Woohoo! Only one more semester of classes until my internship. I can't wait!

*Matt & I celebrated our first Christmas together (well, being married). We had a wonderful Christmas eve service at Westminster and then headed over to his parents house. Matt & I cooked potato soup and ham rolls (my family's traditional Christmas eve meal) for his family (all 9 of them that were there)! It turned out well and we had a wonderful time together. We then opened presents since Michael & Amy were leaving the next morning. We both got some awesome stuff from his family (and a chunk of money which we spent on a Gamecube and some games...haha). Christmas morning Matt & I got up and had our Christmas together...he got me a diamond necklace! Whoa, I totally wasn't expecting that! And I got the Full House season 2 dvd--how exciting! We had a wonderful time celebrating together and then we headed to church to continue the celebration of our Saviors birth. We had yet another amazing service focused solely on God's greatest gift given to us...His son. We spent the rest of the day with his family and had a nice relaxing Christmas. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if my family could have been here. My dad was sick and they couldn't make it down. I miss them terribly and can't wait to see them this weekend!

*In other news, they are starting a new Sunday school class at Westminster for "Young Married/No Children" couples like us. We have been asked to serve as leaders in this class and we are so excited about this opportunity. We love the Sunday school class we are in now and are going to miss it greatly but what an amazing opportunity to start a new class and minister to young couples like ourselves. God is going to do amazing things in this class!

*While Paul & Kelly were in California last week, Matt & I took care of good 'ol Kerry & Fiona. Let me recap the crazy things these cats did during the week: Kerry pooped a nail and a ribbon and pooped on the bathroom flour a million times (poor cat just can't seem to get potty trained), Kerry & Fiona knocked over the white roses 3 times, broke the wedding candle, peed on the treeskirt, dug up the potted plant, peed on the carpet by the closet and knocked down the banner on the wall twice. It was a crazy week with these cats--but we love them to death!

I've written all this while at work at the gym, so I guess now I better get back to work and clean up so I can get outta here.

Too twisted for color tv...

Wow, it's been over a month since I've updated! Let's just say things have been mad crazy in my world. I've basically been either in class or working every single day (yes even Saturday & Sundays...it sucks). Since I last updated I celebrated my 22nd birthday. 22 feels old. I feel like an old married lady. Haha.

I'm entirely looking forward to Thanksgiving. I'm taking 6 days off of work! We're going to the beach with Matt's family for a few days & then going to Lake Waccamaw to visit my parents. I'm looking forward to pumpkin pie & my favorite...chocolate chip pie!

I registered & got all the classes I need for next semester. It's hard to believe that I only have one more semester of classes & then my internship. It's crazy how time flies! It feels like just yesterday that me & Ang were living up on the 7th floor of Wofford & going to Denny's at 2 am.

We had to take Tigger to the vet the other day because his ears were just nasty & emitting gross fluids. Turns out his ears are infected. He is doing well with the medicine & we went for a recheck yesterday. His ear canals are clear and looks great! Yay! Tigger is the best looking 20 year old cat ever!

Matt & I went on our first marraige retreat a few weekends ago with our ABF (sunday school) from Westminster. We had an amazing time and learned so much! We feel so blessed to be a part of such an amazing group of couples seeking the Lord.

Since it's so close to Thanksgiving I'm going to list things I am thankful for...

• my family (Mom, Dad, & brother)
• Matt & his family
• my cats (Tigger, DJ & Peaches)
• my Savior
• my education and all I am learning about how to help others
• Westminster & Legacy Builders ABF
• warm, sunny days
• fleece blankets
• coffee & green tea
• all my amazing girls at IXF
• friendships that endure time
• the Word of God
• music
• my digital camera & ipod
• Hawaiian Breeze Glade plug ins
• the smell of fresh laundry

That's all for now.

Mackey out.

an early morning of yoga

This morning, for my 8 am comparitive religion class we went to Peabody and were led in some yoga excercises. This was fun and relaxing, but I sure learned that I can't stand on one foot for 30 minutes!

Praise God I have this Saturday off! Matt & I are going to go to the SC State Fair! Yay! You know I've been every year since I was a toddler and I cannot miss out on the funnel cakes, elephant ears, corndogs, fries, and of course my favorite ride, the Feuer Ball! I love love love the fair. If any of you guys are in Cola and wanna join up with us there let me know!

I spoke with my friend, Karina, last night. She's the one that lived in New Orleans. It was great to talk to her and hear that she is okay. And the Friendship House (the transitional housing center for women & children that she works at) got out with not too much damage. Of course there were some people that came to their Bible studies every week and others they ministered to that didn't make it out alive. Please continue to pray for this ministry and those involved.

Pray for Matt as well. He's having a rough time with teaching. Pray that he will find himself and have the strength to go on and do the best he can do.

I got my iPod nano!!! This thing is freakin awesome. I'm loving it! It's definitely a fun toy to invest in!

The African Children's Choir is coming to Westminster next Friday. I'm really excited about this--I saw them when I was younger and they are just amazing. If you don't know who they are, they are a group of African children from ages 5-12 years old who lived in poverty. The tour the world singing and sharing their lives. As most of you know, it is my dream to go serve in Africa and seeing these kids just encourages me more and more. These kids have been given such an opportunity to shine the light of Christ around the world and impact others. It's amazing.

You said, "ask and you will receive whatever you need."
You said, "pray and I'll hear from heaven and I'll heal your land."

You said Your glory will fill the earth like water the sea.
You said, "lift up your eyes; the harvest is here, the kingdom is near."

You said, "ask and I'll give the nations to you."
oh Lord, that's the cry of my heart.
distant shores and the islands will see

another day gone by

A few minutes ago I was walking across campus over here to the computer lab. As I pass Byrnes I see a guy sleeping on the concrete steps. This I do not understand. There are plenty of couches/comfy chairs on this campus. How hard is it to walk a few hundred yards to Bancroft or across the street to Dinkins? But this guy chose to sleep on the hard concrete using his bookbag as a pillow. Whatever.

Guess what? Matthew bought me an iPod nano!!!! Yippee!!! I have been wanting an iPod for quite a while now (ever since Kristi got hers I've been jealous) and now they have come out with the iPod nano. It's an iPod that is quite small (a little bigger than a credit card). And it holds 1,000 songs! And pictures! Matt ordered it off the website (he got a teacher discount) and it should be here in 1-2 weeks. I cannot wait! If you want to see it you can go to the apple website: http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/

My life is still rediculously busy. I wish I had more time to spend with Matt & our kittens. You gotta do what you gotta do though.

Now I've got to run to class. I have a Philosophy quiz this afternoon--aaahhh! I don't think I'm gonna do so hot. I just get all the theories and people and everything mixed up. We'll see.

Stream of Consciousness Writing...

(Once again this will be bullet style)

*The life of Mackey=Getting up atleast by 7 am-going to work or class by 8 am-working one of my two jobs or class until about 9 pm. Oh yes, gotta love this life! Add being a newlywed and two baby kittens to the mix as well! :) It's all good though.

*Most of my classes are going well. The only class I don't really enjoy is Philosophy (I mean who really cares about that crap?).

*Matt & I got two baby kittens almost two weeks ago. Peaches and DJ are there names. They are tons of fun but they sure like stink up the apartment with some major poopage! Once I get my digital camera back (my parents are borrowing it) I'll post pictures. If you really wanna see the sweet balls of fluff you can come visit us!

*Matt's dad will be coming back from Iraq at the end of October. It's hard to believe that he's been over there for a year! It'll be nice to have him back.

*I think I've convinced Matt to go to the Jeremy Camp/Bethany Dillon concert in Greenville on Saturday. I love love love both of them...they are such inspirational people who are real about life and it's struggles!

*I got my hair all chopped off! It's all short & spiky...lots of fun to mousse up in the mornings! I love it--I think I'm gonna keep it this way for a long while!

*Matt & I are doing a bible study on Sunday nights through Westminster. It's all about digging in the Word. We do lots of Scripture memorization and applying the Word to our lives. We're loving it. This Bible study is making us sit down and focus on the most incredible tool God has given us to know Him--His Word. Spending time in the Word has been such a refresher for us, during our crazy busy week!

Guess I better go check on the kittens and scoop some litter!

a quick vent

Can I mention that I HATE how spam has taken over the blogging world!!! Dang comments full of spam!

back in the grind of things

Here I am sitting in Dinkins at the "Wireless Cafe" haha. Us Parks people are poor & don't have the internet so I have to be a dork & come to campus to update my blog. Lots of things have been going on lately. I feel like updating using bullets today so that's exactly what I'm going to do.

• School is going pretty well. I like most of my classes. My class by far is my Social Work class on mental illnesses. This is my passion. I even look forward to sitting in the class for 3 hours every Wednesday night! I must be crazy!
• Hurricane Katrina has dealt a blow to me personally. I am so burdened by the people on the Gulf Coast (especially New Orleans). Many of you know that I lived in N.O. a few summers ago and worked with the homeless there. That has been my dream for a while now...to live in the ghettos of N.O. and minister to the homeless there. I was hoping Matt & I could go this summer but now we'll have to wait and see what is happening there. Even more personal than that, I have a really close friend who lived right in downtown N.O. She worked at The Baptist Friendship House, a transitional center for homeless women and children. At this point I still haven't heard from her and am very concerned. Please pray for my friend, Karina, and the others who worked & lived at the Friendship House.
• Matt & I are going to get a kitten soon...maybe two. :) Matt's friend, Bobbie, has 5 kittens and Matt & I are going to get the runt of the group. His name is Peaches and he has the biggest belly I've ever seen a kitten have! We may also get another one of the kittens. We'll see. I'll post pictures when we get them!
• My parents have now moved to Lake Waccamaw, NC. They are doing well and settling in. I can't wait to go visit them!
• Lately I have been struggling with a lot of bitterness from the past. There are so many friends that I once felt so close to and now that I'm married I feel like they don't care about me anymore. I sit here reading people's blogs & away messages and it just makes me sad that I'm not a part of their lives. I feel like the old married lady that's still in college who nobody wants to hang out with anymore. I know we can't live in the past but it hurts me that many of my friendships have simply dissapeared in the last few months. It makes my heart hurt. I am glad that God has blessed me & Matt with such great friends in Paul & Kelly. Sometimes it seems like they are the only ones left in our simple little world.

Now I'm off to Matt's school to help him get some stuff done around the classroom. Then it's back to my Mental Illness class!!!

Back to the WU

Thought I'd give a quick update since I've been slack. Classes started back today and fortunately I was able to come. I thought I might have to take this semester off for financial reasons, but God is good and here I am. I had Comparative Religion this morning which I'm really excited about (even though it's an 8 am class) and I just got out of Public Speaking, which won't be too bad (hopefully). I'm headed off to Philosophy in a few minutes and tomorrow night I will go see Dr. Manetta in Mental Health Services in SCWK. I'm so excited about that class...fits right in with my passions!

Matt is doing well. He's been teaching 1st grade for a few weeks now. He's got some rough kids but he's getting the hang of it. I'm a proud wife.

Both of my jobs are awesome & I'm loving them. I've just got to really learn how to balance my time working 2 jobs, going to school, church activities, & of course being a new wife. This semester should be a challenge but I'm looking forward to it all.

I'm heading out for Philosophy. Hopefully I'll update more soon. Peace, Love, & Chicken Grease!

it's a mad mad world

Let me tell you, my friends, last week was a crazy one (this one's gonna be bullet style).

• Last Tuesday my boy Matt got in a wreck. Oh yes, you gotta love those 4 car pile ups in Charlotte. All is well though--the Lumina is smashed (actually totaled) but Matty is just fine.
• Wednesday was Matt's b-day. I really can't remember what we did--pathetic huh?
• But then, Thursday began the madness. Thursday afternoon I rode to the big town of Sumter with Kelly & Wendy for Kelly's lingerie shower. That was a crazy time with 33 ladies & millions of panties and so forth.
• After the shower began the wedding madness. How much fun it was to follow my Kelly around & be her "assistant". We got pedicures and had lots of girl talk.
• The wedding was so beatiful. I cried and cried. I'm so excited for Kelly & Paul.
• After their wedding I had to head to Lexington for Rene' & Nathan's wedding. Unfortunately I didn't make it in time for the ceremony but I did get to the dessert reception. How good it was to see old friends this weekend (Erroneous, Shlebs, Tam Tam, & I even got to see Pierre!).
• Fast forwarding to this week. Monday was my first day working at Impact. I had a ball & am so excited about working there! To those of you wondering, yes, I am now working 2 jobs. I'm still doing ABA therapy with a child who has autism & I'm a "fitness instructor" at Impact XPress Fitness. It's gonna be an exciting year!
• Yesterday Matt had an interview for a 1st grade position at Rosewood Elementary. He got the job on the spot and started new teacher orientation last night. School starts Tuesday so he has less than a week to get his classroom and everything organized. Pray for him. He is extremely overwhelmed by this transition. It'll be awesome though!

Guess that's all for now. Have a good one.

horses and gators

Last weekend Matt & I went up to Lake Waccamaw, NC with my dad. He has been working at the Boys & Girls Home there for two weeks now. We were excited to go see what it's all about. We had a great time hunting for gators in the swamp (I spotted two!) and feeding the horses. I am so excited for my family. I am a little sad that they won't be so close (3 hours away instead of 3 minutes) but I know God has placed them where He wants them. My dad loves his job and it is such a blessing for him to be there. God is good.

Matt is looking for a new job. There is a possibility of a job at a really nice child development center in Fort Mill. That would be wonderful since it would be a lot closer. Matt is just getting burnt out driving to Northern Charlotte and dealing with all the drama at his job. Pray that he will be able to find a job that he will enjoy.

This continues to be a crazy busy summer for us. I'm looking forward to school starting so I can have more of a routine. I will be shadowing a child at McFeat all day on Monday/Wednesday/Fridays and I'm thrilled about that. It will be fun.

Today is my best friend Kelly Douglass' birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

9 more days until Paul & Kelly's wedding and Nathan & Rene's wedding! How exciting!!!

HELP!!!!

My screenname on AIM (Ragamuffin4abba) got deleted so I had to make a new one (SmacksParks). I lost everyone's screennames so please send it to me! Thanks!

Let Freedom Ring

So I just tried to post some of the wedding pictures on the blog & it's not cooperating. So you all just have to be more patient!

Hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July. Ours was nice. Paul, Kelly, Matt, & I spent the morning at Ray's Splash Planet in Charlotte with a kid we know. It was lots of fun! If you haven't heard of this place, it's an indoor waterpark. Really it's for kids...there is one big slide for adults though. We had a lot of fun splashing around & playing! After that we went to a cookout in Fort Mill. A family at Kelly & Paul's church was having this cookout & they have an awesome house on a pond. We played croquet, volleyball, and went boating. And I can't forget the delicious barbeque. When it got dark we shot off fireworks. When we left the cookout we went to Carowinds to see the fireworks there. It was fun, but we were tired so we left before they were over. We bought some fireworks of our own that I think we may shoot off tonight.

My parents are heading up to Lake Waccamaw, NC tonight. My dad is starting his new job tomorrow! What a blessing that is!

If you want to see my pictures on snapfish just let me know & I'll send you an e-mail inviting you to see them.

The Great Adventure

I decided to come back to blogger instead of my blog on thenest.com. It's just easier and more people are on it.

This week has been an adventure...well, especially Sunday. Sunday morning started off with me fainting in Sunday School and later on Matt falling flat on his face at Cracker Barrell. Let's go back to the fainting part. We are in Sunday School and praying for a couple who is moving. We all are circled around laying hands on them and had stood there about 10 minutes. My arms begin to feel a little tingly (sp?) and the next thing I know I wake up in a chair shaking and everyone is asking me if I'm okay. I've never fainted before and it was a scary thing. We think it's just because it was hot, we were standing for a long time, and I hadn't had much to eat that morning. We hope that's all.

So after church Matt & I meet up with Paul & Kelly at Cracker Barrell. Matt is hobbling along on his crutches up to the front porch and misses the curb. He hops for a while and I laugh because he's hopping like a loon. Well then he losses his balance & falls flat on his face...luckely he fell in hte grass. It was very scary & he hit his head hard. I thought I was going to have to take him to the hospital. But he was okay.

A million other crazy things have happened like our hot water spurting out of the faucets and overdrafting our account to make this week an adventure. Man, this whole married thing is tough!

The good news is that Sunday night Matt started walking on his foot again and it's getting stronger every day. So now I don't have to be the old maid anymore--he can do things for himself now!

I'm working on putting up the honeymoon & wedding pictures on Snapfish.com. I'll let you all know when they are up.

Oh yeah--some REALLY exciting news is that my dad got a job!!!!!! He's going to be a minister of music to the kids at the Boys and Girls Home of NC at Lake Waccamaw. He may be able to start as soon as this Tuesday! My dad is going to go ahead up there and my mom & brother will stay here in Rock Hill the rest of July to pack and get things ready while they look for housing in Lake Waccamaw. SO EXCITING!!!!!

Now that I'm married...

Matt & I are starting a new blog together...so you can enjoy reading about our life. You can find it here http://blogger.thenest.com/blogger/3232088840593150/Default.aspx

So this may be the end of this blog...we'll see.

the day after tomorrow

the day after tomorrow i will be married. and then heading to good 'ol charleston. compliments of anita & impact express fitness matt & i will be taking a cute little stuffed monkey named coconut on our honeymoon. we will take pictures with him in charleston & take them back to the gym & show them to the ladies. :)

guess i'll write when we get back from charleston.

in the home stretch

we're in the "home stretch" (as kelly and paul would say)...4 more days until the wedding. this time next week matt & i will be hanging out in charleston. what fun!

micro-scanny-wave

So to explain my title...Matt got a gift certificate for $70 at Target from his co-workers. We decided to go spend it and were originally planning on getting a vacuum (the one we wanted was on clearance). Well, we get to Target and look around for a while and put the vacuum in our buggy and walk down a few more aisles. What do we see?! A microwave that scans the barcode of your food & automatically knows how long to cook it for. How cool is that?! Actually, we had seen it a few weeks ago but couldn't afford it. Matt really wanted it & I thought it would be pretty cool too. So we returned the vacuum to the shelf & got the microwave (which was also on clearance). I know you guys are all jealous now. Matt & I are the cool kids on the block with our micro-scanny-wave!

Things are going well. I'm feeling better about the wedding stuff. I'm excited about all the people coming--people I haven't seen in years that I love are coming (the Matejas, the Stonekings, Paige, the Campbells...and lots more).

Last weekend a bunch of us went to the Second Chance prom put on by Ace & TJ at 95.1. The group consisted of me, Kelly, Joce, Erin, Tamica, and the gym girls...Anita, Marrissa, the redneck woman, & two other ladies. We had an amazing time dancing with seer sucker suit man and just being crazy. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

I just found out that the kids I'm supposed to be baby-sitting this summer are going to be in Texas with their grandparents for the entire month of June. So that means I'm currently looking for a job. If anyone knows of anything let me know. As of now I've got an application for the new Dunkin Donuts opening on Celanese.

Two weeks from now I'll be at my rehearsal dinner. Oh yeah...that's crazy.