happy birthday COACH!

(tam & tiff in Milwaukee @ kenny concert)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIFFANY! Miss you friend!

(tam & tiff in charleston @ csu softball game)

Learning...

I believe I am just in that season where I am learning about many facets of life. I have been putting in a lot of hours at work and in the library studying. The good news is that I only have 74 days until I am walking across the stage AGAIN with my MASTERS DEGREE this time. It has been a long 2.5 years, but I know it will be worth it. I am just excited about getting back to a normal life of work and playing! :)

Here are just some areas that I have been a student lately...

1. My girls: I have for the longest time in my life felt incompetent to meet and mentor anyone. But for some unknown reason I have a group of girls who look to me for wise counsel, encouragement and fun! I enjoy them so much and I try to spend quality time with each one of them at some point in the week. For me and Clair -- we tend to see each other in the Library. For me and Amber -- well we do a Wednesday night dinner thing! I am very fortunate to have these people who come to me because they feel I have something to offer. So when I am feeling down and out like I don't have anything to give they show up and I find that fulfillment in my calling to be at CSU.

2. School:As of right now writing this post I only have about 74 more days until I walk across the stage. I believe I can do it! :) No - I KNOW I can do it! :) I did get my ring in the mail the other day. Its PURTY! As for my class - Its midterm week for us and I've been in the library studying like crazy. I think I'm gonna do just fine in this class, but its definitely been draining and time consuming. What have I learned so far? Well, I have learned that a business plan takes a lot of research and details. I love details so that doesn't intimidate me. Its the research crap that I don't like. I have also learned about how organizations can and should operate under a definitive selection of values. You have to develop/create---->implement---->evaluate! Most organizations get the developing and creating part down well. Some even get the steps defined on implementing that strategic plan, but many fail to actually follow through so that they can get to the evaluation part. They just jump back to creating before they know if the current process ever worked. I see a lot of this failure in CSU.

3. Photography: I think I might have finally figured out some settings on my camera to shoot better pictures in the Fieldhouse. I have been shooting a lot of volleyball pictures...so that is exciting. I am learning more about sports photography seeing that I have taken well over 1,000 pictures just in this past weekend (cross-country, football, volleyball and softball). I am also learning more about being competitive and style for my business plan!

4. Myself: I have a lot of issues! I might go into details about what I am learning some time soon. Right now - I just need your prayers!

5. God: He is so patient! He is sovereign and will get the glory no matter what! Elevate has been a complete turn around and I believe it because of those leading others closer to God and closer to each other (Elevate motto this year)!

Last thing for this post... Today is my little sponsor child's birthday! Jhonatan Omar Silva Murrafo. Please pray for him! He just turned 8 years old today!

Seeking help from the Maker!
Tam

Trip to Jax

Went to Jacksonville, FL on Labor Day weekend with Aunt Polly to see Rita (Mother-in-Law! :) )

Here are some pics of us...

Rita in her RED car...haha!

Me and Mother-in-Law!

Aunt Polly & Rita!....SHOPPING!

We had a chill weekend, but we cut it kinda short because of Hurricane Gustav going through New Orleans. She had her family retreat from NO to Jax so we left to give them more room. I'm going back down soon though...road trip anyone?

Kelsey's Baptism

What an exciting day for someone like me...who has been praying and investing time into someone. The impact made was reflected in the decision to make a bold statement of her faith and be baptized. She was baptized at Sullivan's Island, SC on Sunday, September 7th, 2008.

Here are some pictures...

The team surrounds Kelsey

Jon w/ Kelsey after the baptismNae, Kels, Coach G, Ali and Tina

Jon & Kelsey - Sept 7, 2008

Tam & Kels

and the video!


Tam

TEXAS

Well... I survived the summer sessions with three classes. I finished strong on July 29th with 1 A and 2 B's. I was satisfied with that...

I jumped on a plane to Dallas, TX the very next morning from presenting an hour long presentation and taking a final exam. It was so nice to walk through the airport knowing that I was about to enjoy a week of vacation.

I am going to put up some pics from my trip...

July - Sweet July!

Can you believe that it is already JULY!?! Oh my word!

I am sitting in my office looking over a list of things that need to be done just for this week and its pretty long, then I hesitate to even step back further and look at the assignments until we get to August 15th -- Freshman MOVE-IN! AHHHHH!

Time will pass quickly for me because not only am I working on getting Elevate, FCA and Orientation stuff planned, scheduled, and marketing ideas underway, but I am taking TWO classes still. I survived last month which was a rough ride, but God was good to me. :) So I am going to persevere through this summer. Plus, I have plenty to look forward to...July 4th weekend at home with my family, keeping Jachin for a weekend by myself, trip to the dentist, and then even more important...I'm going to TEXAS! Oh yea! And as if that trip alone isn't enough...its my BIRTHDAY and we're going to see John Mayer & Colbie Caillat in concert in Dallas, TX! I think I am willing to endure for that trip!

I guess the more solid foundation that I am standing on right now is that I am looking to the LORD for my source of strength and encouragement. Even in my doubts and incompetencies I have found that the Lord is looking out for me. Like I told you before I have been down a rocky road over the past eight months, but it has overall been interesting. :)

For all of you OTLs reading this...get your rest and idea caps on...We're going to have a tough week to tackle in August. For all of you others reading...please continue to pray for me and the things that are happening.

Summertime...

Taking it back to the good ole' days...And bringin' it to these good days! :)

Yes - I am addicted to NKOTB again just from their new song Summertime. You need to check them out because they are bringin' it back. haha! (www.nkotb.com) I know my summer co-workers are totally in love with them AGAIN! :)


Anyway, I am suffering through these summer classes and I am simply one day closer to have another degree and able to put a few more letters behind my name. I am so thankful for some of the people who are continuing to listen to me complain about reading more articles and writing more papers, and yet still loving me and telling me to hang in there! :) When I got halfway through the program I promised the Lord if He would get me through this program I would not sign up for anything else. (We'll see how well I keep that promise!)

I have been trying to cling to God's word and just worship him with all of my thoughts. I have been struggling these past couple of days to just remain pure in my thoughts and to not allow Satan to tempt me or convince me that I am not worthy to be a Child of God. And often times I allow thoughts to bring down my spirits...completely dictate who I am around and to people. Even though, many people can identify this in their own life, very few actually act upon it and make the necessary changes. I let thoughts like..."You're never going to have a lot of good/close friends because you are not cool enough," or "Tam, why don't you just give up and put your wall back up because they don't care about you!" These are the lies the Devil tries to throw at me. I have been battling these thoughts this week. I am thankful for my friend Kels who has been praying so fervently for me and sharing Scripture with me.

She sent me Romans 12:3, "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Its funny because Jon has been preaching on Faith (what it is, what motivates that and what kills it). It has been really encouraging. I think one of the major thing that stuck out this past week while he was talking about Faith was just how PRIDE is a Faith killer! The Lord sent hardships into Paul's life to keep him HUMBLE. (2 Cor 12:7-10) Paul prayed that the Lord would remove those hardships which he did, but God just ended up sending more hardships in the place of those he removed. I like what John Piper said, "weaknesses are not sins, but experiences, situations and circumstances and wounds that are hard to bear and that we can't remove either because they are beyond our control or because love dictates that we not return evil with evil."

Anyway -- that is kind of where I am standing in life this week! I am praying for next year to be an exciting and stretching year for all of us. I know I want to continue to grow and build character and leadership...I don't want to be complacent. I challenge you to take the same adventure.

I must acknowledge that last post I left one person out of my "people I miss" list... and that would be Lee Farmer (my cheese! ;-))
"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." - Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

Signing off...

The beauty of the Lord

So its pretty obvious that I am not very good at keeping a blog, but I do think about writing. I just don't do it. :-/

In the past month and a half, the Lord has been stretching me greatly in my walk with Him, but also in my friendships with other people who the Lord has caused me to cross paths with. I have this one girl who I was so blessed to meet this past school year and now I am mentoring her. Let me tell you... I never would have imagined the things I would have to pray through and face, but God is so good. I don't just say that flippantly, but with so much truth in my heart! On top of work, mentoring, and church stuff... I am still in summer classes. I am in two right now and will have a third one during July. AH!!! I am growing so weary, but I know that I am at the end of the tunnel and beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Praise GOD!

A lot of people are asking me....(some excited, some nervous, some sad, some don't really care...) where are you going when you're done? Just so everyone knows - I am staying at CSU until the Lord moves me on. I have verbally committed to work through May 2009. Only the Lord will be able to open the door for my next journey. Until then I am holding on to the rope and preparing myself for a ride. So for right now, no one should be concerned. Just keep me in your prayers as I seek the Lord's direction.

People I miss:
1. Kelsey
2. Alena
3. Molly


Prayer Requests:
1. My best friend and her husband, Kaye and Ben, are in South Africa this summer serving with Campus Outreach. They are leading a group of guys and girls there. Just pray for their safety, impact and financial support.

2. That I would continue to grow in my walk earnestly. I want to be see the Beauty of the Lord, but many times I hinder my own self. I know if I fall in love with Him then I will begin to see His good, pleasing and perfect will.

3. For my Master's courses to not stress me out. I am so close to be doing done. (december, baby!)

4. My time with my mentoree that I am pouring into right now. She is awesome! Please pray for her walk and for her to be receptive to the Holy Spirit, not so much to ME.

So, I missed posting anything last night because I totally crashed hard.

To fill you in yesterday we we went around and saw some of the island and went to the Sunset Bar. This place was super cool because you can sit there and eat GREAT food and then watch the planes as they come up and land. Its funny because we actually watched some Youtube videos showing people standing out there watching and getting BLOWN over trying to take pictures. We saw a lot of people out there watching and taking pictures, but I never got way out there. Below are some pics from there though...

Then we just drove around and ended up going to the shopping strip in Maho by Casino Royale. Man was this an experience...I had to parallel park first off. Then we went to this jewelry shop with Aunt Polly. Let me just tell you that "Bob Barker" worked hard for that sale yesterday. After an hour and a half of bartering with Aunt Polly she finally bought one dang pair of earrings. It was so much fun though just pushing this guy to come down on his pricing. (HAHA!) This is the guy and him working hard on Aunt Polly... and then me and him! I still don't know his name.

Finally, we came back to the condo to hang out and took showers. We went down to the restaurant down by the pool for dinner followed by a short trip to the Atlantis Casino right near the house. Can I just say I am not one for those slot machines, but I watched Mr. Chuck and Mr. David play at the Black Jack tables. Once we got back -- I crashed.

Today, I finally woke up around 9:30 a.m. Whew -- It was so nice to sleep for that long...and I didn't even have a headache this morning. (YAY, right Kels?) Then I went to lay out by the pool for about 2 hours. I even got in the HOT TUB. Then we headed out to explore the island. I let Ms. Betty drive today so I could take some pictures of the island scenery and we made it completely around the island in about 2.5/3 hours. Funny things to know about this island: 1. the roads are narrow and have lots of ruts; 2. the speed limit is in kilometers and so are the speed odometers; 3. you beep as a friendly gesture here OR use as a TURN SIGNAL; 4. If you ask for directions your answer you receive will go something like this..."go straight ahead and you will see a sign."

Anyway, some of the pit stops we made today were in Marigot where they have the market. This is where we found the coconut guy with the pina coladas. It was an interesting stop. Then, we continued on to Orient Beach...this is better known as the NUDE BEACH. I was not going to go out there on the beach just because my Granny would have been embarrassed to know I had been there. Mrs. Elaine stood with me up at the start of the beach while Aunt Polly and Ms. Betty walked down the beach a ways. I was simply admiring the sand sculpture of the LAST SUPPER that was done by a guy from Europe. While we were talking about it this NAKED man came walking up talking to us. LOL! Mrs. Elaine just kept talking to him and then Aunt Polly and Betty came back up. I thought Aunt Polly was going to have a stroke because I was standing there with this NAKED man. We didn't stay too long there and we continued on straight ahead looking for more signs. We ate at Carlo's by the Atlantis Casino. The waiter there was def. cute, but my luck he didn't have similar sexual preference. Once back to the condo (which we were not sure if we would make it) Aunt Polly and I walked down to the beach while the sun was going down. Below are some pics from today's adventures...
Tonight we went back to the jewelry store to see "Bob Barker" to pick up Aunt Polly's one pair of earrings. And we experienced another night in the Casino -- this time the Casino Royale (the better one?) It was alright, but nothing to brag about. Signing off for the day...enjoy!

Welcome and Welcome back!

So I woke up this morning at 6 a.m. (Yes! I know -- I don't ever see that time of day when I am home and not about to fly out of the country!) My aunt and two of her friends headed out of Darlington around 7:15 A.M. for Charlotte, NC to fly directly into St. Maarten's Island. So let me just say that these women have no shame and they talked about too many topics I never cared to know about. (haha!)

So we made it to the airport safe and in one piece and finally found a parking space. They decided to talk to every person possible between the car and getting through security. They even invited the US Airways check-in guy to fly down with us when he gets off on Thursday. LOL! Holy cow. I was not so embarrassed there...YET! With Aunt Polly squealing about every plane that took off we made our way to our own airplane.

That was a pretty long flight (3.5 hours) to St. Maarten's. I read most of the way down here so I am trying to be a more learned kid. I was hoping to have a window seat on the plane so I could take some pictures of the landing, but that was not the case so I just got to feel it. (ha!) On arrival, we got our baggage and then took a taxi back to the Sapphire Beach Club. We got situated at the condo and then decided to relax on the balcony for a few minutes.


Finally, we decided we were going to drive for a little bit and so we did…Yes, I am the Designated Driver for the trip. Holy CRAP! The people around here just beep their horns to let you know they are turning. There is no signage with the speed limit. And the roads have WAY to many craters! I’m going to know how to drive like an islander by the time I leave. It’s a different world around here. Everyone is just really chill and laid back. The stores are kind of sketch and out dated, but its been fun. Aunt Polly kept asking us to look for this place called, Uncle Harry’s.

Well, we found it – it was a unique place and we went in. The cheapest entrée was $19.75. Needless to say, this place did not measure up to our monetary value. We definitely drove past the airport about 6 times already and not real sure we meant to. Finally we found a 7-Alive. You read it right, not 7-eleven, but 7-Alive! It was super sketch.

We then came back to the condo and settled in for the evening…watching the end of American Idol. Now I am just sitting here writing this and I am zapped. I won’t be seeing midnight or later tonight. ☺ More to come tomorrow oh how I am sure of that…

St. Maarten's Island...Here I come...

Here I come is right... I am on my way to beautiful St. Maarten's island tomorrow. I am super stoked because I have never been out of the country but I am also going on like 3 years without a REAL vacation break from work. I hope to load some pics on here so you guys can keep up with the great things I get to see.. yes I am rubbing it in!

I look forward to sharing my heart and experiences with you.

Getting Back to the matters...

Yes - -I am going to get back into it...

Summer goals:

1. Spend more time prayer walking CSU campus
2. Spend certain amount of time on studying a week
3. Workout 3-4 times a week

I hope to express some of the thoughts and challenges on here for people to read and learn....about me and the LORD!.

happy summer people!
tam

This is the beginning

So,

I have one of these on Myspace, Livejournal, and I am sure some where else. I guess I am going to try to keep up with this one more. Clark and I talked about sharing more of our lives on a blog with the people at CSU. I pray God would receive the GLORY and that He would dwell in me through it all.

When do I begin for this post?

What am I doing?
I am excited about what I am learning and doing right now at CSU. I have been super busy and a little under the weather with a sinus infection. What else am I doing? Well, I am working like 55 hours a week. I am taking one MBA course on Monday nights. I am doing photos of the football team and the other teams also...something I set up with Blake (SID guy). Then, of course, church where I am now running sound. I love it all.

What's on my heart?
Well these past two weeks I have had a lot on my heart. I am learning how to deal with people even more out of understanding and love and not so much out of reaction! I have been putting myself in this bubble trying to do work that I have lacked on my social time with friends and potential friends. Also, I don't know how or if the whole "single" thing is changing at all. I have talked with this one person who I have liked for a very long time. But the only thing I get from him is "just have FAITH Tam!" How frustrating when you just want an anwser! God keeps sending people in my path to tell me to just let things happen and not to read into anything. I know God wants the BEST of BEST for me. So I don't want to corrupt that and I don't want to screw that up at all.

What's to come?
Well this weekend is going to be a downtime for me. PTL. Pray for my roommate Katie for she is in FL for a funeral. I plan on getting organized some this weekend. I need a ME weekend. I have Jami Smith coming this coming week which I am STOKED!