Finding Him in Chaos

It's been a great summer filled with family, friends, healing, and of course soccer.  Technically, I consider my summer over once preseason starts on August 1sty but even at August 24th I  feel as though my summer is just now ending. After traveling off and on for most of June and early July, I was able to spend the rest of July doing anything I pleased. I went to Cheyenne Frontier Days with my cousins from Nebraska, I went to a rodeo with my dad, I successfully avoided weddings, I slept in and stayed up late, I cuddled with lots of kiddos and new babies and even caught up with a few friends. And though life's many changes got the better of me at times, I managed to keep my spirits high and rely on others and Christ to fill me back up when my emotional tank seemed to be running on fumes (which is something that has always been a struggle for me. I hate being dependent on others even if they don't mind at all). AND I GOT MY BOTTOM BRACES OFF (It's been a over 9 years and the tops are coming off next month)

My friend's new baby :)

My cousins sporting all the Wyo gear I sent them

With school starting up again and a full course load I'm  beginning to feel some pressure to kick my butt in gear and start crossing off the things on my to-do list. I need to get some bills sorted out figure out what my work schedule will look like come school time, and I have a few other relatively important things to check off before school gets too crazy but God is providing me with peace and it's so evident that His plan AND timing is better than mine. So at this point going with the flow has become my modo and I'm enjoying almost every minute of it... except when it gets me in trouble.


So for those of you who remember the parking ticket I got a while back (my freshman year)  this may entertain you a bit. I'd like to say I haven't had any parking tickets since then but that most definitely is not the case. I've had several and let's just say I've paid my fair amount of fines to go with them. Yes, yes, yes you'd think I would learn but in all reality every one has been an honest mistake like
       - parking without a city permit on the streets near the classroom building
               *who knew all the cars on the street in Laramie  either paid or are risking tickets? not me...
       - class going long by 30 minutes and my meter (which I over paid just to be safe) still ran out and managed to get ticketed in the 5 min walk to my car
       - parking under the football stadium (where there are no signs dictating parking laws) while I went into the training room for an ice bath.

I'm definitely missing a one or two but you get the point... I need to be more careful! But let me also say thank you to whoever it is who put money in my meter after it had run out during class once (I had forgotten to grab enough change and knew I'd be 15 minutes short but when I got back I still had and hour left :) ) Well the whole point of me telling you about parking tickets is because I got another one yesterday for 150.00 dollars! I think is the most expensive one I've ever had was the one my freshman year for 75.00 for parking in a fire lane (read the story it's a good one). Let me explain...

It was move-in day for anyone staying in the dorms and there were University of Wyoming officials at all entrances to the dorm and dining hall area (the dining hall is called Washakie). As a student-athlete, our preseason breakfast was at Washakie and as I drove into the dorm area I was greeted by an official who gave me 30 minute parking pass since everyone else was unloading their dorm room from cars. I asked if I could park anywhere and smiling at me the UW official said, "as long as there is an orange 30 min parking sign in front of it you can park there." He then pointed at the spot in front of Washakie's doors next to two metered parking spots and said I could park there if I wanted. I noticed it was handicap parking but since there was a temporary sign that said 30 min parking AND he showed me to that space I figured it was ok. I mean he wouldn't of told me to park there had he known I would be fined. I received the ticket at 7:17am and my parking pass that was displayed on my dash enabled me to park until 7:55 am. I understood that it was a handicap spot but because the UW official told me I could park there and the temporary signs were up, I assumed there would be no issues.

I'm appealing the ticket which I've only done one other time which was again for my ticket freshman year (which I was denied). Though I've heard that if you get denied the first time and then submit a written appeal you almost always get the ticket and fine voided :) Still not a fun process but I have hope...

ANYWAYS we have two games this weekend (today and Sunday) and are traveling to Utah to play Sunday. So I'll be out of town and my to-do list will get ignored for another few days but I'm okay with that I guess :) GO POKES!