One Very Proud Daughter

I am taking a quick break from studying for finals to share some really exciting news with you all. I promise there are pictures, like really great throwback pictures. I hope you all have a great next few weeks; I will be hidden away at the library. Alrighty, now for the actual post. 

From day one I have always been a "Daddy's Girl," no question about it. I look up to my dad more than anyone else in the world. Having the unique experience of not only being a daughter to him, but also one of his athletes has been a great experience. Having a parent as a coach can really put a strain on a relationship, not knowing when to stop being a coach, or when to not be a parent can be a really hard balance. Luckily for my sister and me my dad has always been able to manage this balance well. 

A great example of this would be how he handled my knee injury. I am sure many of you who are reading this know about my knee injury that I battled for most of high school. I have had two different surgeries, but still little relief. The most frustrating thing about the entire situation is that I always felt like everyone thought I was making it up. (I promise I wasn’t and I’m not) My dad always believed me and trusted me, for that I will always be grateful. The most discouraging moment came when I had to stop running my junior year. (Guys, I just want to insert here for those of you who may be wondering, I was NOT a fast runner by any means, like at all, but I really loved it, so like this whole injury thing not a big loss to anyone but me. Okay moving on.) I was so scared that I was letting my dad down, and that this injury would in some way hurt our relationship. After a very emotional season, my dad managed to teach me that I could not rest my identity in running, he told me I had far more to offer the world than my athleticism. (Can we all take a moment to thank the LORD! Seriously if that’s all I had to offer, I would be living in a cardboard box the rest of my life, again not that great of a runner.) After my second surgery, I was able to return for my senior cross country season. Slow and steady I made it through the races. Even though my times had slowed dramatically from my freshman to senior year, my dad loved me the same! I am again so grateful for his patience, and care, and love for me. 

Okay, enough about me I am going to get to the point of this post. On October 31^st my dad coached the Southeast of Saline girls cross country team to a state championship. I have never been more proud than that day. With tears of joy I hugged (more like tackled) both my little sister and Dad as we celebrated their win. Just the other day I got a call from him and he informed me that he is being recognized as the Kansas class 3A cross country coach of the year! Seriously, I am so happy for him and I could not think of a more deserving coach! (I might be a little biased.) In January, my family will be attending a banquet in honor of him and I cannot wait! In order to do a little celebrating I have decided to steal some photos from the SES XC Alumni Facebook page and post them here on the blog. Enjoy!

So, that super tall guy on the back row is my dad, and the guy on the second row third from the left is my Uncle Cade. This was the 1986 State Championship team.

This team here got third place at state in 2005.

In 2006 the boys took second place at state.

Again, in 2008 another second place.

The girls also got third that year!

Back in August the first ever SES XC Alumni race was hosted, I got to run against both my dad and Uncle. My team won, I really had nothing to do with that but I participated!! Oh, and can we please not judge how bad I look in this photo, it was really early and i had no coffee in my system.

Look at that stride. But really Dad, this was the finish, "On the toes and go!"

Again a repost of CJ and me at State. It is a really great thing you can't see my eyes that well i'm sure I still had tears at this point.

The 2014 class 3A girls State Champions!

The two coaches celebrating their win.

Listening and Acting at Last

This post has been so hard for me to write. I have started at least four different times, but I just can't seem to finish it. I think part of the problem is that I need to admit some failure I am experiencing in my life. Admitting failure is not something anyone enjoys doing. So here it comes, I am failing Chemistry. Okay, I am not really failing, but pretty close with a D, and for someone who has got A's and B's her entire life it is very similar to failing. So in order to sum it up I am not doing too great.

CJ and me after the SES girls won state!!! I can confidently say I was the proudest big sister/ daughter there.

Whew, now that I got that off my chest I can continue. Some of you might be wondering why I would ever want to share that, let me explain. If you remember back to my last post you know that I changed my major from Dietetics to Agronomy. I am back today, again to share I will be changing my major. I know, I know, I sound 100% crazy, and maybe I am.

This is me at Bluestem (a local coffee shop) attempting to write this post.

I will share what I am switching to here in a minute, but let's get back to the Chemistry. College is a lot harder than what they prepare you for in high school. I can confidently say that, as I have talked to several of my high school classmates and they have agreed. My low grade in Chem is not for a lack of trying. Almost every day I spend two hours studying, whether I understand the topic or not. This process began to consume me. I started to skip out on my quite times reading the Bible, in order to fit in more time to study. The big awaking came to me one day when I was studying for my test that night. My best friend Savannah, whom had also been studying with me all day, asked if I wanted to go watch a sermon with her online so that we could clear our heads, and spend some time with Jesus. Do you know what I said? I said no! I thought I needed more time to study. Thankfully the Holy Spirit lives in me and quickly conflicted my heart. I knew that praising God, and learning more about Him was and is far more important than me learning the ins and outs of chapter seven. Immediately I went back to Savannah's dorm to watch the sermon.

The view at the top of Manhattan Hill was beautiful.

This is a picture of the greatest letter of the alphabet, on top of Manhattan Hill. Just kidding, but really.

God has made it very clear to me that sciences are not my thing, and do you want to know something, He loves me anyways. My goal in life is to bring glory to God where ever I am, and even though there are several who can do that in fields of science, I don't think that I am being called in that direction. This feeling is not a cop out, if I knew that the Lord really wanted me to be in the sciences than I would do it. What I think he is showing me though; is that my efforts would be better spent elsewhere. I think this change is me finally listening and acting on His will.

I really hope by this picture you can tell who I was for Halloween.

If you haven't figured it out, I was Elliot from E.T.

This is my friend Vicki, who was also dressed up as a boy named Elliot.

So again, you are probably wondering what I am changing to. Thanks for reading this far, I promise we will get there soon, but I need to go into some back story. Some of you may know that this past summer I served as the children's ministry intern at my home church, First Covenant. Never in my life had I learned so much. I learned how to interact with children and parents, how to plan events and lessons, how to teach Sunday school and bible studies, how to care for and love each of God's children. I was taught by a wonderful mentor and an amazingly godly woman, Marsha Pavkov, as well as the rest of the FCC staff. Ever since my experience at the church, I have felt God nudge me toward the ministry, possibly children's ministry but possibly something else. I kept telling myself I felt this way because you can make anything you do into a ministry, but I really think God wants me in the ministry, if that makes sense.

This is Jenna attempting to study, as I attempted to write this post.

The past few weeks I have really been looking at my options for next semester. After visiting with mentors and parents and friends and God I believe I have a plan. Insert laugh here, this is so funny to me because if there is one thing college has taught me it is to A) Be humble and B) If I am truly living my Life for Christ my plans are not my own. But as of right this second, in this breath, these are the plans for next semester. I will be dual majoring in Family Studies at K-State, and a basic ministry degree at Manhattan Christian College (pending acceptance). Lucky for me there is already an amazing dual degree option set up between the two colleges. Even though I don't really know what I want to do when I grow up I think this is where God wants me right now and it can lead me to great things in the future.

One day Savannah and I found a beautiful willow tree to study under.

Of course we had to take a picture of our feet.

I cannot thank you enough for reading this much. I promise I have exciting blog posts coming soon. I just needed to share this piece first so that we can move on to bigger and better things.

Love,

Nicollette Paige

A Change in Courses

So, friends guess what! I am only six weeks into college and I have already decided to change my major, isn't that so exciting. Even if you are not excited, or not super excited, I am super pumped! In case you didn't know what my major was it was Dietetics (which I still love by the way). Any guesses on what I am changing to? NO. That's okay, I am switching to Agronomy. Agronomy is the study of soils and seeds, how awesome is that?

Why am I changing, there are several reasons;
1. Dietetics is ultra competitive, as in only 50% of people get an internship, and without an internship you don't get a job.
2. With Agronomy you have a 100% chance of getting a job.
3. Grades are important to me, but they are not the most important thing. With Dietetics you must never fall below a "B" or you will most likely have to retake the class. Let's face it folks I don't have the time or money to retake anything.
4. I miss Ag so much. I was involved in my high school FFA chapter so much in highschool, it was really hard for me to let that part of me go.
5. The list goes on, and on, and on!

Did any of you ever change your major, or if you are still in college have you ever thought about it? please feel free to leave a comment below or send me an email!

Love,

Nicollette Paige

A Season of Change

Hello everybody, it has been awhile. I have tried to write this post so many times, but I cannot keep all of my ideas organized. I am going to try really hard this time to actually push publish by the end of the day, wish me luck.

First off, let's all celebrate the first day of Fall/Autumn (or whatever you would like to call it). Fall is by far my favorite season; the smells, colors, and weather are all so amazing. But with every new season comes changes. When it comes to fall, you can finally wear your sweaters comfortably. Changing your sheets from the regular ones to flannel is also a fantastic change when Fall finally rolls around.

Just like the seasons of weather, there are real seasons that you go through in your life that require changes. Recently I have been experiencing a new season of life. College has brought on a lot of changes. I have learned that during these changes the most important thing to do is to trust in the LORD.

Trusting the LORD should not be a hard thing, yet it is for most of us. I have been thinking about the story of Isaac and Abraham. For those of you who haven't heard the story, or can't remember it, I will give you a quick summary. Abraham was a servant of God, he waited for 100 years to have a son that God had promised him. Not so patiently, he waited. Then, boom bam his 80 year old wife had a baby. When Isaac was young, God told Abraham to climb a mountain with him and offer Isaac as a sacrifice. I know this sounds crazy, but hold on! When they got to the top of the mountain Abraham was about to kill Isaac, trusting God with all of his heart, and God saw that, and told him to stop, and he supplied a lamb for them to sacrifice instead. When I think about why I had problems trusting God, it does not even compare to A) climbing a mountain (do you know how hard it is to climb a mountain), and B) Seriously though, killing my son I had just waited 100 years for.

God is sovereign. He knows exactly what is best for us every moment of the day. After I finally listened to what I was being called to do, the peace that fell over me was so amazing. I cannot even describe how it felt. If you have ever felt convicted of something but for some reason you think you know best, I encourage you to listen and go where He is leading you.

Okay now that you have listened to what is going on in my life, I will share pictures, which we all know is the most exciting part.

For those of you who know about my obsession with Ad Astra in Salina, Arrow is the closest thing that I can find to replace it. If you are in Manhattan now, or if you ever decide to visit I highly recommend it!

This is the bridge that you have to cross in order to hike the Konza Prairie. If you have not been to the Konza before, just wait until you see the rest of the pictures and you will want to come and hike it.

At this point on the trail it seriously looks like you are in Europe, with all of the colorful fields.

This was taken right at sunset, which was beautiful.

This hike is quite the treck, but nothing compared to Abraham and Isaac.

This is a sunflower field right by the stadium, that Jenna and Andrea (my roommates) decided to take pictures in.

One day while doing homework on campus, i realized K-State might possibly be the world record holder for the largest spork.

This is home to the best donuts on earth!

This is home to the best donuts at night time!

Thank you all for reading. I hope to post more often, it has just been really busy lately. If you have any great story's about trusting God please feel free to share them through the comments or in an email. Have a great start to Fall!!

New Home

What a whirl wind this past week has been. I got all moved in to my new house on Saturday. My parents and little sister were amazing, they helped me get  settled in. Keith Short, who is a good buddy of mine, and his parents also helped transport my stuff down to Manhattan. I could not have got everything here if it were not for these wonderful people.

Several people have been wondering why I decided to move in so early, let me explain. I really want to find a great church before school starts, or at least start visiting some. I also wanted to get completely settled into my new home. I finally finished putting everything, and I mean everything away today. Another reason for the early arrival was the fact that I wanted to start meeting new people ASAP, and I have.

Seriously, moving down early was one of the best decision I have made. The people that I have met so far have been such great help with giving advice and direction for this next year in my life. Seeing how these new friends are letting their lights shine for Christ is truly inspirational, and I only hope I am doing the same.

For those of you who will be joining me in Manhattan in a few short days/weeks I cannot wait for you all to experience this amazing atmosphere, you will all love it. 

Just in case you were/are waiting to see the big reveal of my room (not that anyone is but...) here are some pictures! Also, please comment if you have any great ideas for me to do while in Manhattan, or any fun college experiences, I would love to hear all about them.

This is where I will be doing most of my studying.

This is my dresser, which is my pride and joy, because I built it myself. (Thanks to the help of several others.)

The beautiful quilt on my bed was given to me by my amazing grandparents.

This is my mini library, it is probably my favorite part of the room.

Time To Take Flight

The day has finally come. It is time to take flight. In one week I will have moved all of my stuff from the only town I have ever called home, to my new “home” in Manhattan. I am about to start my second chapter of life, college. Many adventures are sure to happen; friends as well as memories will be had. I have never been more excited and more terrified at the same time. I never would have guessed that I would be nervous to begin the journey, yet the feeling resides in my stomach right now. Possibly, it is the fact I will be away from family for the first time, or the over whelming fact that school will be harder than ever, but most likely it is because, life has gotten really real, really fast. The next few years of my life will shape and grow me more than I have ever been shapen (not a word, oh well) or grown before. This blog will be a testament to my flight that I am beginning to take!