Santa! Santa! Santa!

• Today is Christmas!

  When I was a young child it seemed like it took FOREVER for Christmas to get here. But now, every time I turn around it’s already Christmas time! I love it but, it also makes me a little sad because time FLIES. I’m getting older and I kinda don’t like that. lol. BUT…it’s all good!

  My day was amazing as my Christmases usually are. I’m so thankful to have such a BIG and happy family. We’ve all had our ups and downs but, in the end, they are all such blessings…the good times AND the bad. I have 3 sisters and 1 brother. They are all my half siblings but, they’ve been there since I was born so they are real to me. Its that whole “his hers and ours” thing. That ALWAYS seems to confuse people (i usually end up drawing my family out in stick figures to explain it). My parents have THE biggest hearts. They would do anything for anyone. Seriously. And i’m not just saying that because they are MY parents either. Anyways, back to my siblings. I never really LIVED WITH any of them because they were pretty much grown or living with their other parent (me and my 3 sisters have the same daddy and me and my brother have the same mama) so i’m kinda sorta an only child. Hence the reason i’m so easily entertained. Hey, when you have no one to play with at home you have to learn to entertain yourself! Haha. ANTYWAYSSS, (gah ADD!) every Christmas we always wake up and open presents at my house, me mama and daddy, and then we make our rounds to the other kids houses. My oldest sister, Kerri (36), has 4 kids. My brother Arty (36) has 3 kids, my sister Vicki (33) has 3 kids and my other sisters Cathy (27) has 1 (the new little baby i’ve been talking about NON STOP lately). SOOOO as you can see, we have a fairly large family! I love it SO much though.

  Ok, moving on.

  Today was indeed special because well, of course it’s Christmas, but it also marks 5 years that John and I have been dating! Now to me, thats a LONGG time. Don’t get me wrong the time has defo flown by and it feels like just yesterday we were a “cutest couple” in our high school newspaper. Five years ago today, we had our first Christmas together. We weren’t dating because I was set on “staying single until after Christmas” (fyi-because I “dated” a guy that was literally psycho and i was tired of boys and NOT looking to date). Yes, I was young. Well, I was 15. He was 18. My parents had a rule that he had to be gone from our house by 11pm on weekends and 10pm on weekdays. He didn’t come over during the week much though…i was veryyy busy with dancing or cheering or some kinda sport or activity 24/7 so we pretty much just saw each other on the weekends. So….it was Christmas night and he was leaving my house. We had a glass door on our house at the time and i was telling him bye standing in the doorway. I remember him saying “Ok its 11:01 and i know i’ve got to be gone from here but, I can’t wait any longer..?” Of course I smiled but me being the joker I am said “Huh? I haven’t even heard you ask me anything!” Then is when he pulled the whole “Will you go out with me?” question. Yeah, cheesy i know but, he was super shy and that was the way to ask someone out back then! It was sweet to me ;) So, five years later here we are. Never broken up, happy as can be, we get along SO well (dont get me wrong we’ve had our disagreements but they never last), we laugh non-stop, and we are best friends above all else. Now we’re 5 months away from seriously sealing the deal with some wedding vows!! Yes! Im SO excited and i am so so SO thankful that I have found my “one and only” already. It’s such a blessing from God. I know we are young but then again, we really aren’t THAT young. We know what we want in life and we are ready to start our lives TOGETHER, with careers, and waking up to each other every morning…coming home to each other at the end of the day, and sooner or later having some “mini us” :)) I Love him with all of my heart and I would literally give my LIFE for him. I couldn’t go on without him. When you have someone that’s been apart of your life for so long and means so much to you they BECOME a part of YOU. I know i may sound crazy but believe me. Its true. And its truly incredible! I LOVE YOU!

  Okie doke, speaking of HIM, he is on his way over so we can exchange gifts and have some fun. Wii, here we come!

  I hope you have all enjoyed your Christmas thoroughly and don’t forget what and why you’re celebrating! God Bless you all!

  MUCH <3

  Cory

  
  

WARNING!

Ha! Okieee dokieee. Now for some of my random thoughts. Im warning you all though, it's honest, brutal (in a good way), straightforward, and MY OPINION. I'm not looking to start a "war" from it either so if you're offended I am sorry. I don't want to be rude but, im just gonna go ahead and tell you, you may not wanna read my blogs cause they WILL hit some "spots". Just know....this stuff came from my heart and is a message from God. Im not trying to be all "spiritual" and "thou art holy" but, its time these things be brought up and discussed and this is where I feel the need to do it.

Society and the world these days have a way of over analyzing things, the Bible for one, and completely taking it out of context. Stop THINKING so hard amd start FEELING. Contrary to popular belief, it's not always "mind over matter" :)

I understand that everyone DOES NOT feel the same way I do or even have the same beliefs as me. If you havent read my "twitlonger" post, i would suggest that you do that before reading this post. You'll understand much more. But if there is any doubt in anyone's mind that there IS a God then first off, you're very badly mistaken. Second off, there's a book that explains everything you need to know, read it. (thats the Bible btw lol) Also, I encourage you to read the book of Revelations. Just do it, you'll see why.

Is a life of partying and so called "fun" really worth an eternity in hell? stop and think....
People don't hesitate to makes sacrifices in everyday life for the things they WANT, so why hesitate about eternal life?

Rude comments, bitterness, "threats", harshness...none of that can bring fear like the fear of God. It's so easy to be mistaken as "strong". There's a fine line between strength and weakness. PRIDE is a deadly thing. IT can kill the spirit, don't let it dwell within you. Pretending to be strong is weaker than anything. Face the facts.

Practice what you preach..BE DIFFERENT. "Sin" is NOT the new "thing". Numbers dont mean a thing. Just because half of the world thinks that it is, doens't mean its right. You're so willing to "step out" and be somebody, so do it. But I wanna see you try to be somebody without God. Good Luck!

And...these are just some quotes. They're (along with everything i've written) so relateable because ive BEEN THERE. I've been that person so im speaking from experience.

"Excusing things as an act of 'coincidence' rather then God...our favorite excuse"
"A defensive demeanor is a sure sign of one's conscience rumbling"
"Who cares if you get the last word, as long as you got the RIGHT word"

And thats it!

How God works...amazing

OK so after I wrote that uber long tweet and made my phone battery like DIE -_-.....I went to bed happy and woke up happy. Its Christmas Eve! :) I was sitting on the couch at my sisters house feeding my new 3 week old baby nephew and I received an email from a friend. Now, this friend has NO clue what's going on in my life and we don't see each other very often. We haven't spoken in months (other than a few emails and facebooking) but he sent me an email that made me grin bigger than Santa ever could! It was exactly what I'd been going through lately and it was such an encouragement so I just thought I would share it.

Hear what The Spirit is saying... Swallowing My cup is your testimony. Yielding your life to Me hasn’t been easy and you have grown weary. Often you have questioned, “Do I have it right, Lord? Is this going to work?" Nevertheless, in spite of it all you have remained faithful. I commend you; your faith has remained strong no matter what has appeared upon your horizon. You have removed the rocks, both small and large. At times, you did hesitate and your indecision temporarily delayed My blessings. However, you did not stumble over it and continued to help others along the same path. Although your season of preparation has been arduous, the ground has been well prepared. Now wait, My love, with expectation. The seed you have sown I will multiply a hundred fold. Renewed strength will come as you perform the tasks set before you. Just do them. Plow straight ahead and don't look back. The best is yet to come.2010 will be "Glorius"

“Then he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23 NLT)

.....It may not mean very much to you but, it definitely hit the spot. It was NOT coincidence, it was GOD.

xoxo

"Twitlonger" from my mind and heart racing at 4am

This is a tweet that I wrote last night when I was wide awake from 2:30 until about 5am. Beware...it's honest. I dare you to read it though :)

"Religion" and "christianity" is not a competition. That's how it's portrayed these days though and, it really bothers me. NO ONE is "better than" someone else or a "better christian". It just doesn't work like that. Now I myself, am a "christian". I don't typically like using that term about it tho because its been so loosely distributed these days that we've almost let it lose its true meaning. I'm a follower of Christ, point blank. Think what you want to of me, I personally don't care. In the end, it won't matter what people's opinion's about me are...I'll be judged by God and God alone. So, no stress! :) Anyways, I've been struggling personally now for some time, a few weeks, months maybe. I've done/said/thought some things that were NOT suitable for the life and the path I've chosen to take. I'm admitting that. I fail, MANY MANY times. And I will in the future as well. But God SOMEhow gives me the strength to get up and go again. Faith isn't an easy thing to deal with. It puts you in some really hard situations for sure but, they aren't impossible believe me.

And before this turns into what some are gonna feel as a "sermon", its not. I'm sorry if you feel that way but, just cause I'm talking about God and faith doesn't mean I'm "preaching". Everyone is entitled to their own opinion without it being "forceful", so let me do the same please. I would NEVER try to force religion on someone. Everlasting faith is a GIFT. Have you even been forced to take a gift? Literally forced? No. Its one's choice to take this gift, if you choose to not accept, so be it. There IS a hell...it's not just some "myth" or story. Fyi. So, I decided to share about the gift I've received..doesn't mean I'm trying to change somone OR make them believe something. I care because I love people and I want them to make the right decisions but, in the end, I'm not gonna stress myself out to the max over people that aren't receptive. I've got my gift (yeah, sounds real "self absorbed" huh? Totally didn't mean it like that) and I'm happy. You can only "help" to a certain extent. Don't try to make your life someone else's. They can and WILL choose what THEY want in the end. Been there, done that, learned from it.

So, I could sit here and give my whole testimony but, NOT gonna attempt that on my phone. I'm thinking about blogging it later. But, I have strong beliefs, strong faith (YES I do make mistakes and I am so far from perfect that its ridiculous and I never will be) and I will never just "keep quite" about it. I'm sorry if you're offended..in no way shape or form am I intending on that. And if I have, PLEASE come to me about it. I'd be happy to explain or talk it out. I love people SO much. Seriously, if you "know" me you should be able to tell that. I care about my friends (even the ones that aren't my "best friends") to an extent that if I think they are not doing right then yeah, I'll go to them about it. I DON'T preach/teach/force anything on them, I SHARE. And not once have they not been appreciative. As a friend, I'm willing to hear what you have to say as well. Who said everyone agreed on ONE thing? No one. Ok wow, rambling. Anyways, gonna finish up now. Basically I just wanted to say that there IS a God. There IS a heaven and a hell. It's not something you can play with. If I need to "back myself up" I can. The Bible says it all. I don't want it to be a "war"....IM JUST SHARING. Take it, read it, think about it. If you hate it all, well, disregard this whole tweet and I'm sorry. It IS your CHOICE. But don't overlook stuff because this world has an amazing talent at masking things. I won't even start on that though.

I love you all...and always will.
Cory

RANDOMMM

Yeah so it's been a WHILE since i've blogged last. Myy badd. School has been keeping me super busy lately..like WAY busy. College can be a bit overwhelming at times but, it'll all be worth it sooner or later! Fair warning: this blog will be very random and i will be playing idea hop scotch so...beware!

First off, I just wanna say thank you to the people that commented me on my last blog. Whether it was a comment on here, twitter, or in person, whatever, thank you SO much. It means more than you'll ever know.

Ok...so me and one of my roommates got home about 8:00 and decided to go on a bike ride. We ended up riding COMPLETELY around the town that we live in (which is pretty big) and it was a bit scary with all the traffic..not mention it was dark. We were getting close to our house and like 3 cop cars fly by us with their sirens on. I immediately freak out cause they were "going in the direction" of our house. Thats just how I am though and i've alwas been like that. So we keep peddling our little hearts out. Get closer and and see the cops AND ambulance pulling outta the first entrance (we live on the 2nd) and then they go to the 2nd entrance. So now we're really freaking. Anyways we turn in and see all the cops and the ambulance and all. Come to find out, some idiot drunk guy was driving crazy and hit all the mailboxes. Needless to say, he got cuffed. It was really scary in the beginning but, it turned out pretty exciting/entertaining after we realized no one was hurt. Oh the joys of college life! :P

Um...so currently on my mind is Miles :( She is bery sick. I think it's the season or something because I know a lot of people have been sick lately. I've been battling a pretty bad head cold/sinus infection for a few days now but, i'm hoping it's getting better. But anyways, yall keep her in your prayers, she really needs it. God is good and He will take care of us though...just gotta give it to Him! <3

Next idea-WEDDING PLANNING. Ahh!! Only 7 months now!! This is sooo crazy to me. I can't believe it's coming so quick. I wish I could explain the feeling it gives you but, its impossible unless you've experienced it. And im sure you will someday :) But, I have got to get on the ball! I have a really big family and a TON of friends and same goes for John. So we're gonna have a pretty decent size wedding. lol. I think I have like 12-14ish bridesmaids/groomsmen. That's a lot. But i dont care...I only get to do it once so ima do it how I want it! Oh yeah! We have a wedding website by the way. I almost forgot about it..and it hasn't been updated lately but I will get on that pronto! www.mywedding.com/johnandcory check it out :)

hmm...My eyes are uber sleepy right now. And I have a killer week ahead. Tests tests tests. I probably shouldn't wait so long to blog because I have too much running through my head I can't seem to sort it all out to type it. lol. But anyways, i guess i should mosey on to bed pretty soon. Thanks for taking the time to read guys. I love you all and you're amazing!
REMEMBER: God is the bomb.com!!

OH OH-P.S.- If you're on twitter make sure to follow @mismile (Miley's personal twitter for fans), @theheartofmiley (#1 Miley support and updates), and @DeeDevonne (Demi Lovato's personal twitter for fans)

Hollerrr
Cory
xoxo

Explosive Mind...

Hmph. I honestly don't even know where to start. My mind is racing, literally. First Off, i have a few "first offs" 1) I am NOT prefect by no means, nor will I ever claim to be. 2) This may not be your typical topic of interest for a blog site but, get out of your comfort zone-READ IT. 3) NO, I won't use this as a place to "preach"--I just have a lot on my mind right now. And 4) If you don't agree with the things I say, thats perfectly fine-everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Now...So its Wednesday night, I just got back from church and it was an awesome experience. Something to fulfill that void that can sometimes be overwhelming when you move to a new area, and begin a TOTALLY differernt life. I pretty much just have a ton of random things to say that I hope will touch someONE...ANYONE. I was itching to share this SO bad I could barely focus on the rest of the message tonight (ADD much?).

First off- YOU are NOTHING without GOD. Never forget that.
--You're not who the world says you are, you're who God says you are. Don't let the lies of satan and this filthy world consume you. And if you ever do get to that point where you're consumed by them and can't seem to get away...don't freak. Sometimes being at the "end of your rope" is the best place to be...because then you have no where else to turn. Look UP. If you feel like a failure, don't worry, its normal. Instead of pondering and sulking in your own failure, seek the Glory that God gives you. He won't force you to take it...but He does offer it and you do have the choice. >>Deutteronomy 8:6 "Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him."<<
p.s. God is thebomb.com!

OK...phew, moving on.
I'm not sure why this is on my mind but i just felt the need to talk about it. =] So, im getting married in just a short time...8 months!! OMG it seems crazy to even think about but, i'm so excited. I've been engaged to the most wonderful guy that I have ever met for almost a year and 7 months now. Yes i know, its been a long engagement but, we're both still in school and young so we have to make sure we make "mature decisions" and be very responsible about it. This Christmas will be 5 years that we have been dating-never broken up and very rarely do we fight. Now, don't get me wrong, we have our fair share of disagreements but, we're both super sensitive so we can't stay mad very long (believe me, i try). I love him more than he will ever know. He IS my prince charming. We have a very special and unique relationship. I don't know how everyone else's relationships are but, i feel like ours is different. It's not always about having everything peachy and going exactly the way YOU want it but...it should bring you such contentment by making the other person feel that way. Regardless of what the circumstances or consquesnces may be. Sacrifices aren't always easy to make but, they're usually worth it. My friends are all SO SO SO awesome. I'm blessed beyond measure to have them in my life. I'm literally tearing up right now just thinking about it. I treasure friendship more than most things..sometimes a little too much maybe?? I refuse to let someone talk about my friends. I will defend them at ALL times, even if I do end up wrong in the end (then i'll take care of it with that person lol). Woah, way off track. Like I was saying, my friends are all so super supportive of my relationship and it makes it soo easy. [if you're reading this, i love you more than you will ever even begin to think about!!!] I was talking to some friends just a few nights ago, just being completely open and honest (NOT a hard thing for me to do..if you know me then you know exactly what I mean) and within minutes (like 2 tweets literally) I was on a cloud. Friends always know just the right things to say at the right times..thats TRUE friendship. I'll show ya...

"P.S. @corysamples is an INSPIRATION to me! She is getting married soon and is pure. She's waiting for her wedding night. GOD bless her!! Xox"

"She is SO gorgeous, and her purity and loyalty and patience and love truly makes her SHINE. I love you SO much @corysamples! You inspire me!"

...I NEVER regret the decisions i've made for myself nor will I EVER lower my standards for anyone but, sometimes you just kinda lose focus as to what and why you're doing what you're doing..?? That tends to happen to me every now and then because it's been so long of a relationship. (times--he is totally blowing up my phone with texts right now--"HANG ON, you distracting me from my writing!!" lol) Anyways--BUT just the crazy awesome conversation that we had and those two simple yet SO touching and encouraging tweets just gave me a serious boost that I needed and I wasn't even aware of. Thank YOU sooo much && i can't tell you enough how much I LOVE YOU. (who said it you had to be friends longer than a few weeks to get there?? psh.)

And for you GIRLS--Don't be fooled by what this world portrays as "in" or "cool". Set you're OWN standards, make you're OWN decisions, NEVER feel as if you have to justify what you think/feel/believe, and DO NOT stoop to a lower level or settle for less just for a short "pleasure" (and no i don't necessarily mean sex).

Okkk....I think i'm done. Sorry SO random and hoppy topic-y. More blogs to come and they'll most likely be more entertaining than this one...not SO serrrous! I love you all & you are beautiful. ... SHOUT OUT to my Y5 girls--YOU ROCK MY SOX OFF!!!!! <3 yall forever and always!!! *CLAMP*

Hollerrr
..cory..

First times are always scary...

YAY! Whoop de do!! Finally made me a blog cause ya know, I don't have ANYTHING else to do with my time- I don't go to school full time attempting to get a degree or anything :-\....so why not blog it upp?! Anyways...im soo new to this and im not exactly a pro blogger yet so this is kinda scary. Don't worry though...i'll have TONS of crazy thoughts and feelings splattered all over this thing before long (THAT could be scary). I catch on quick =]

Have an awesome && blessed day lovelys!

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