Goodbye, Summer 2015!

As I prepare to move back to school today, there are a million different things crossing my mind. Did I remember to pack _____? Where am I going to put _____? Did I pick _____ up at the store? Although there are a million different thoughts racing through my brain, one thought is forefront in my mind.

I had an amazing summer.

This summer I . . .

·        Grew as a future teacher through my Practicum II experience

·        Attended my home church, May Memorial Baptist Church every Sunday morning      that I possibly could

·        Successfully completed 18 credit hours

·        Celebrated the Fourth of July, on the beach at Topsail Island, with my Aunt Marie

·        Led the preschoolers at Vacation Bible School

·        Had adventurous Tuesday, Wednesday’s, Thursday’s with kids who I eventually          began to call “mine”

·        Lounged by the Village Pool and at the YMCA Pool

·        Spent a lovely week at the beach with my family

·        Sang in church with my mom and sisters

·        Made homemade ice cream

·        Had dinner with a forever friend

·        Spent some days and nights babysitting for some pretty awesome children

·        Went shooting for the first time

·        Spent a few nights with my cousin and her precious family

So today, as I move into my home for the next two semesters, I’ll choose not to be sad over the ending of Summer 2015. It’s been a great summer, fantastic actually, filled with family, friends, and lots of fun. I’ve enjoyed doing many fun activities and trying new things, but most importantly, I’ve loved doing each and every one of these things with the wonderful people in my life. People who love me for who I am, support me, and encourage me. Here’s to the end of Summer 2015 and the new chapter of Fall 2015!

D-Now - Called 2 Follow

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

                                                                              Matthew 16:2

This weekend I served as a Bible Study leader at a youth retreat at May Memorial Baptist Church. Being completely open and honest, I was extremely nervous going into this weekend. I'm at a place in my life where I'm working on trying to branch out of my comfort zone. This was a great way for me to get started on that goal. I knew God wanted me to be there and was working on me through this experience, so I was not only nervous, but very excited for this opportunity. Throughout the weekend we played fun games and ate great food, but most importantly worked on forming a closer relationship with God.

On the first night of the retreat, we met at Bethel Baptist Church for a fun evening. We ate a yummy dinner and started to get to know each other. The focus on the first night was "Who is Jesus?" One of the most impactful moments of the night to me was when the retreat pastor asked if Jesus was just a mutual friend on Facebook. This analogy really hit home for me. It's so important for Jesus not to just be a mutual friend, but for you to be best friends, for him to be someone you talk to and think about throughout your day/life. The theme song for the weekend was Follow You. This chorus of this song reminds us to lay all of our burdens down and follow Jesus. During worship we each wrote out burdens on a key symbolizing letting go and opening up the gate for Jesus. After worship I headed to my host home with the middle school girls. We further discussed the question "Who is Jesus?"

(Laying Down all of our Burdens)

Early Saturday morning we ate breakfast and left our host homes heading back to the church. Even though the weather turned yucky, we had a terrific day playing charades, mafia, eating tacos, and even going to play laser quest! This was a great bonding time for both youth groups. Later that evening we further opened our hearts through worship. On Saturday night, we further discussed giving up the one thing we are struggling to give up. Jesus asks each one of us to give up all of our riches and distractions in order to follow him. As we headed to our host homes we continued to ponder the idea of what does it mean to truly give it all up and follow Jesus. At our host home that evening we ate yummy snacks and discussed the saying “Do as I say, not as I do.” Instead of this, Jesus simply tells us to do as I do. How can we do as I do and remove the daily hardships of living a Christ centered life?

("Mafia")

(Moved through Music)

(The second night at the host homes! This night the girl's groups were combined.)

Sunday morning closed out our weekend. After a closing worship and worship at our own church we were to face the real challenge. It is so easy to drop everything and follow Jesus when we are surrounded by people who also are trying to follow Jesus. The real challenge after leaving such a Christ centered weekend is to allow Christ to also be the center of your life.

(The Whole Group after a SWEET Weekend!)

I pray that I have the strength to follow Jesus not only as a mutual friend, but as my best friend. I am so blessed to have been able to have been asked to participate in such an amazing weekend.

I LOVE SNOW!

In case you didn't know, I love the snow! Not only does a lot of snow mean no school, but it also means snow cream, skiing, and cuddling up with my family. The past couple of days I have really enjoyed spending time with my family

Yesterday, we ventured to Massanutten to go skiing! Aunt Marie went with us and we had a BLAST! Thanks Dad!

This trip downloaded a really awesome app on my phone, Trace Snow. By simply pressing the play button and leaving it in your pocket, the app calculates your mean speed, maximum speed, the number of jumps you had, and even shows the runs you made! Here is my night skiing....

Now, I'm back at school and ready to tackle these next two days of classes before helping with the D-Now (youth retreat) at church this weekend! Between midterms and projects I'm ready for Spring Break! 

Hope you're being super productive too and having a blast in the snow!

Happy Birthday Mom!

A couple of weeks ago, I went home for the weekend in order to celebrate my mom's birthday. As a family tradition, we normally go out to dinner or  stay in and have the favorite food of the birthday girl/boy for dinner! My mom's birthday was on a Friday so after a long week of work, she decided we should stay in and celebrate.

This year, my mom turned the big 4-5 and I wanted to make her birthday dinner super special. I made the cutest collage in the shape of a 45 to hang on the wall, blew up balloons, and made a Butterfinger (my mom's favorite candy bar!) cake. 

We aren't really big on birthday gifts in our family, but for her birthday we bought her the FitBit Charge HR. This way my mom can compete with my sisters and I on our daily challenges! We also made my mom a list of 45 Things My Mother Has Taught Me. She loved it! My mom has taught me so many valuable life lessons throughout the years and I'm so thankful to be able to call her my mom.

Overall, it was a great night and weekend! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

Hey y'all!

I have been a "blogger creeper" for awhile now with dreams of one day having my own blog. 2015 is a new year and I've decided to jump and go for it!

My hope for this blog is to be able to share my fun, crazy, life and to use this blog as a journal source. One day, I hope that I will be able to look back to this post and realize how far I've come and how many fun memories I've made.

Here are some fun facts about me for you to be able to get to know me better!

- I am a family oriented person!
- I am a sophomore at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.
- I love monograms (love is an understatement!).
- My favorite shops are J.Crew, LOFT, Gap, Lilly Pulitzer, Target, and Old Navy.
- I love all things preppy.
- I am a planner!
- I have twin younger sisters.
- I am an Elementary Education major!
- I love my small town, the people in it, and my church!
- I love a theme (party planning, gifting, etc.)!

(I'm the one in the middle!)

I hope this helps you get to know me! I'm so excited to start this journey.

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