Christmas GIVE AWAY - for a great cause!

Here's the GIVE AWAY LINK

Hey everyone, a friend of mine is putting on a Christmas basket give away. The basket items all together are worth $400 and all you have to do is donate $5 to get your name entered into the drawing. EACH $5 gets your name out in the drawing. NOT TO MENTION!!!! All the money goes to helping them bring their BABY HOME from Ethiopia!

I don't know about you.....but I'm ALL in!!

My September 11th

I had just entered into fourth grade. It was my first year in a public school, let a lone a new state. My family had moved from South Dakota to Virginia, a long four day trip. I was a couple days into my classes and had already suffered from the boy sitting next to me vomiting on my shoe the first day of school. For the most part I do not remember how my day started, most likely the usual way of waking up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, and heading to the bus stop (to paraphrase one of our favorite singers, Rebecca Black). But, what I do remember vividly was how quickly the environment at school had changed when the news feed reported an attack on the Twin Towers. Coming from South Dakota, I had no idea what these two buildings were and I was ignorant of what the Pentagon was since I had lived nowhere near New York. I could gather, however, that to my classmates and teachers these buildings were not only important, but personal. Many had family members working in the buildings or new of friends who had family members in those buildings. Fear and anxiety began to permeate.

With the sudden news, parents came to pick up their children early from school. My mother picked up my sister and me and we drove home. I still was having a hard time grasping what was going on around me. When we got home the TV was on, showing the video footage of the first twin tower on fire from where it was hit. My mother tried to explain to me the importance of the buildings and what the news meant by terrorist attack, but the only thing I could really understand was when my parents told us we need to pray for the people and families undergoing such a tragic experience.

My thoughts and prayers are still with all those who experienced a loss or pain from this heartbreaking day.

Hope

Our pastor's message today was on keeping hope alive.

He mentioned something that I thought answered a lot of people's "why" questions. One of those questions being "Why aren't there stories in the Bible of people who were prayed for and weren't healed, or of a baren mother who hasn't become pregnant?"

The story of Sarah and of the woman who reached out to grasp the hem of Jesus' garments in HOPES that if she were to only touch his hem she would be healed-- these along with others in the Bible, help build up our faith and hope.

Our God is the God of hope.
Romans 15:13New International Version (NIV)

 ¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We can hope and hope BIG. And for that I am extremely grateful to my God for.




Here's a testimony I'd like to share of a women in our church.
She's been married 16 years and in those 16 years has adopted 3 children. As she was spending time with the Lord during her quiet time, she was telling Him that she's Okay were her life. She's Okay with how everything is going. And the Lord said back to her, you're Okay? Or you've just stopped believing?
She fell to her knees and raised her arms asking God to forgive her for her unbelief and for the Lord to restore her faith and hope. 30 days later, she was pregnant!

After hearing the testimony, I realized I had begun to tear up. I was so happy for her and her family and for what they were all about to share with each other. And just moved by the power of God. And I'm sure that story, just like Sarah's, gave hope to some women in the congregation that have been asking God "why?"

For me it was an extremely powerful message. Hope is one of humanities strongest emotions and I've been encouraged to hope more.

The Good 'ol' West

So this summer Rachel and I didn't think we were going to be able to visit our family in the midwest. Our Auntie (aunt colleen) lives in Minnesota, our Aunt Amanda lives in North Dakota, and the rest of our family lives in South Dakota.
            We basically make a triangle.
Luckily, we were able to find cheap plane tickets. The scoop: Auntie had to drive three hours to pick us up from the airport. But in order for Rachel and I to come Auntie "hired" us to work for her business, Apex that her and her friend, Lisa, started this year. For two week we painted, cleaned, and cleaned some more. Though we were putting in 8 to 10 hour days, the time was enjoyable and we were able to see family.
 I would (and I'm sure I can vouch for rachel too) do it all over again. There's nothing quite like seeing family. So now we're in South Dakota with the rest of our family and Auntie got to come too. It's just like when we lived here 10 years ago. Hard to believe it's been that long.

I'm glad for the time I have with them, even if it is for a short while and I'm working the whole time.

Freshman Year

   
 Today I am officially done with my freshman year in college. Wow it sure did fly by!
It was full of lots of things! Playing for the soccer team, meeting and making lots of great friends, tears and laughs, and of course learning.

lots of fun

crafted!

I got a lead in the school play
Crimes of the Heart as Babe

had friends visit

Everyone always says that "college is the best time of your life don't waste it", so I didn't...

soccer

took lots of naps

and elected Vice President for next year

got in to two clubs

 

attended lots of ceremonies

lots of studying

   

and spent quality time with my twin sis

 AND Countless other things and events. But pictures are worth a thousand words (or so they say) So I figured I'd throw some in. Who knows where the next chapter may lead or be. But this one was a lot of fun and one I will treasure and never forget :)

Over Spring Break

 So over spring break A LOT happened! I'll only touch on a few events but needless to say it was not dull at all! :)
First off, I was pleasured with the presence of my friend Xiaotong Jiang (or Pheobe...her English name) an exchange student from China. I had had a class with her last semester and over winter break we exchanged e-mails and I asked her if she had plans for spring break. She didn't, so I invited her to stay with me...FOR THE WHOLE WEEK! haha scary I know. But she braved it out.

It was a blast! Right away we got busy! I set out to give her a good experience and allow her to see what the life of a Buechler really is about (aka nonstop). The day we arrived back home, Rachel and I had our longboard packages waiting for us! We couldn't wait to test them out the next day.

But that same night we ended up having a bonfire at the house and Pheobe had her first  S'more! She loved it! The rest of the week followed with a few more firsts for her too. She learned how to ride a bike (and she didn't even use training wheels to start. now that's impressive). She saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. She went to church for the first time. She had her first sleepover. AND she cooked a chinese meal for 10 people for the first time (DELICIOUS)! Needless to say we were quite busy.

                          

(phoebe, me, luke)

One evening though, we weren't to sure what to do and somehow we got to talking about paper airplanes. Well I asked her if she knew origami and she did. And after that....we spent 8 hours straight folding papers and making beautiful art. (She was mainly teaching me haha) We had so much fun! During that time, we had a great idea....that we would make a bouquet of flowers for Teresa Rieke, who at the end of the week was holding a girl's night that we were going to go to. By the time we were almost finished we realized it was past 3 in the morning and called it a night. We put another hour in the next day and our creations were complete!

                      

The top picture is the one we gave to Teresa (we themed the colors and the vase, but kept the flower type the same)

It was a great spring break and I had a wonderful time!! Beaching it, longboardin it, origamiin it, having fun with fam, and making a great new friend!

Making Decisions

A lot of times I decide not to do something because of fear that what I decide to do is not the best option. (That’s probably a reason why I haven’t chosen a major yet in school. So many things seem so interesting to me.) I always find myself thinking, “well what if something else comes along and it’s better, but I’m stuck with what I’ve chosen?” The problem with thinking like this is that most of the time I end up stuck where I am and never actually deciding on something.

Don’t get me wrong though, I LOVE spontaneity!! It’s one of the things I love most. I mean to just all of a sudden hop in the car on a whim and take a road trip on a nice day or get an urge to go on a long bike ride to enjoy the weather …those are some of the things I absolutely live for.

I gotta live life, take chances, laugh a little. [Now trust me I’m no stranger to these 3 tasks of life. More so the first and third. I like to think I’m a chance taker…and I am, but with some precautions which is not always a bad thing.]

^^Proof^^

I think for me, what gets me is the decision making. Setting my foot down. Giving a yes or a no answer. It’s gotten better as I’ve grown older probably do to maturing and just the ability to think more clearly (or so I like to think haha) But even if that isn’t the case I know that I've been given a sound mind. And when I’m not sure of the answer or decision that I need to make, it’s perfectly okay because there’s someone that I know very well who does. And that’s when I realize that my qualms are nothing to fret about that everything is planned out for me already. And it’s okay to hop in the car and head to "who knows where" and enjoy the day I’ve been given.

What are Words

Music speaks volumes. Call me a romantic, but I’m sure not hopeless. This story…touched, inspired, and gave me hope.  Now I haven’t been following American Idol, so this was the first time I heard of Chris Medina and his story.  Yes, I teared up at the story and of course at the song, but his love and commitment shows what it really means when you get ready to say “I do”. I’ll let the videos tell the story though.

The Story

The Song

O Sheetz

So there's a place here that's a safe haven to all college students in the weeee hours of the day or night. (normally night) This place is called Sheetz. Its name rings in my ears and gives me a tingly feeling all over. Oh how this destination has saved me many a night of my midnight cravings and coffee fixations.

Now those of you who are not familiar with this place:
First, I cannot imagine anyone who isn't.
Second, if you aren't. That needs MUST be changed.
Third, well what are you waiting for?! Go and find a Sheetz!

But in the case that one may not be able to come near such a wondrous place I shall explain its magnificence. It feeds your car and your belly! It is not your regular gas station. Oh NO! It is the gas station of all gas stations. Once you go in you are hit with a slew of jaw dropping items to choose from and it's all at the tip of your fingers (or touch)! You can order your food off of a touch screen! Anything from pizza, giant burritoes with everything you want in it, the most delicious nachos ever, to smoothies, and the most delectable coffee drinks just to name a few. Not to mention it has the regular tempting donut station as well as aisles of junk food filled with chips and sweets that are just waiting to boost up your cholesterol.

So here's to you Sheetz. The safe haven for starving college students that are up way too late on nights in which they should just go to bed.