Hello My Name Is...

Well hello out there! I have finally made the plunge into the wonderful world of blogging. I know, I know... you are all just as excited as I am. :) I have been wanting to start a personal blog for a while now, ever since I took EDM310 at South (which totally introduced me to all this cool blogger stuff).

So why blogging you may ask? Well, I think it is for my own personal enjoyment and benefit more than anything. I love journaling about things going on in my life and taking pictures of anything everything, and I am so excited to be able to document it all in a fun, productive way. I'm kind of known as the photographer in my family (not because my pictures are good or professional like a real photographer, but because I follow everyone around and take pictures of them doing just about anything.) They are all like "Stop with all the pictures!," and in response, I'm all like "You'll thank me one day when you can't remember anything and all you have are my pictures to look back to." That usually works, and I get to take my pictures. But anyway, all that to say I love taking pictures, and I now have the blogging world to share them with (yay!).

Would y'all like to learn a little bit about me? Of course you would, why wouldn't you? Ha, Totally kidding, I'm really not very interesting at all, but I'm so glad you're here to visit! So here goes nothing...

My name is Claire, and I'm the brains behind this operation.

I'm a 21-year-old college SENIOR (can't believe it!) at the University of South Alabama, and I am double majoring in Secondary Education and English. I will graduate in May, and I could not be more excited. In August, I will start what they call my "methods block" semester where I will be at a high school for half the semester and a middle school the other half of the semester, but just on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I will have class on Mondays and Tuesdays, and I'm off on Fridays (can I get an amen??). In the spring, I will start my student teaching, and then in May, I will walk across that stage and officially be a licensed teacher, woohoo!

Currently, I work part-time in a summer camp/daycare, and I am the volleyball coach at North Mobile Christian School. Last season was my first year to coach, and let me just say... I LOVE coaching! Having the opportunity to work with awesome girls each day has been such a huge blessing. Last season, the girls blew me away with their talent, and we ended up going undefeated (not losing a single game or match) and winning it all at in the finals. Can you say proud coach?? Those girls rocked! I am SO beyond excited to be coaching again this season, and I have nothing but high hopes for this group of girls. I mean no pressure right? Go undefeated and win it all first season as a coach (nothing I did, totally all them with their amazing talent/hard work). I'd say we have some big shoes to fill this season, but ya know what, if anyone can do it, this season's girls can! I'll keep y'all updated on our progress throughout the season.

Now I'll tell you a little bit about my family. I have an AWESOME mom and dad! (No seriously, they are amazing!) I honestly don't know what I'd do without them. They raised me up in the ways of the Lord, always made sure we were in church as a family, always provided everything I needed (plus so much more), taught me countless life lessons, laughed and cried with me, prayed with and for me, always came to every one of my volleyball games, and just were the best parents out there (I'm a little lot biased, I know, but they're truly great). Here they are, aren't they just precious? :)

I also have a wicked cool big brother, David. He and I have always gotten along (like really, really well) and worked well together. He is four years older than me, so he has always been a role model in my life. I'm so thankful for his kind spirit and his always-willing-to-help attitude. He's so smart, like for real. He's an awesome businessman and so successful and great at what he does (investment banking by they way). He is married to my wonderful sister-in-law, Morgan. She's amazing too, and I love hanging out with her. She and I "get" one another, haha. We are both hyper, slightly OCD, and always wanting to have fun. Without further adieu, I'd like to introduce David and Morgan, my big bro and sis. (They are such pretty couple, aren't they?)

Last but certainly not least is my amazing boyfriend, Chad. Chad is so stinkin' sweet, you guys. Like I seriously don't know how I ended up with such a precious guy, but all I can say is thank you to our sweet Lord for blessing my life with the absolute best guy in the world (made just for me, yay!). I know they say (whoever "they" are by the way, always wondered that, haha) opposites attract, but Chad and I are like the same person. Accept for the fact that he's a boy, and I'm a girl (thank goodness, right?). We are so similar it's crazy. We love all of the same things (for the most part anyway), enjoy doing the same activities, and most importantly, we share the thing that brought us together in the first place, our faith, love, and trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ. The absolute best thing about Chad is that he builds me up in the Lord, encourages me to delve deeper into God's Word, is my accountability partner and my prayer buddy, and the spiritual leader in our relationship. Chad and I have been together since we were 15 years old, sophomores in high school, so we've been dating for close to six years (six years in November.)

Chad is also a senior at South majoring in Mechanical Engineering. He's seriously a genius you guys, probably the smartest person I know. Can I brag on him just a sec.? Well, sure I can, it's my blog right? Yay! But anyway, he still has a 4.0 in mechanical engineering at South. Did you read that correctly?? A 4.0! Not many college students can say that, nonetheless an engineering student (I've been with him countless of hours while he is studying, and I want to cry just looking at his homework, haha). I'm so super proud of him because he recently got a job at Airbus (his first real big-boy job, woohoo! And what an amazing first job it is I'd say.) So this is my sweet, loving, hilarious, awesome, HANDSOME boyfriend, Chad. Total hunk, right? :) (Stay tuned later for a post about our story of how we met, started dating, etc.)

Let me end by telling you a few other things that you may or may not want to know about me: 

I love the beach.

I love going out on our family boat.

I'm slightly OCD on some things. (Not officially diagnosed, haha)

I'm super organized. You should see my planner. It's color-coordinated. :)

I'm obsessed with chocolate. Unfortunately.

I love candles. My room is full of them.

Ice cream is my absolute favorite. 

I have to eat dessert after dinner. Well, not have to, but I like to.

(Gosh, I just realized I probably should lay off the sweets, hehe).

I do love to workout though. Not running. I hate running... lol

I'm slightly extremely competitive. At everything.

I love working with teenagers (Hence the whole gonna-be-a-teacher thing).

I teach the middle school Sunday School class at my church (Lafitte Baptist).

Summertime is my absolute favorite. Fall brings in a close second.

Christmas is my favorite holiday.

I love going to the movies. 

I love shopping (This is where much of my paycheck ends up...).

I love to read and write.

I love Christian music.

Speaking of Christian music, you might be wondering about my post title. One of my new favorite songs is "Hello My Name Is" by Matthew West. It's awesome; you should check it out. We all have a name we go by, right? This song talks about how there are so many things in life we let define us (i.e. regret, defeat, mistakes, etc.), and how we should not let these voices and lies define us anymore because we are children of God, the One True King. We are no longer defined by the wreckage behind because the One who makes all things new has proven it's true. Hallelujah and amen!

"I've been saved, I've been changed, I have been set free. Amazing grace is the song I sing. Hello my name is child of the One True King."

(Check this song out below; you won't regret it.) 

Love & Blessings, 

Claire

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