sweet lasts

goodness..this seasons of lasts is about to come to a close. I cannot believe I move to Auburn in 8 DAYS. that's insane. I feel like I need to talk about all my little emotional last moments in this blog..but I'll spare you guys ;)

anywho. I just got back from my LAST family trip before I head off to college. some of our good friends were staying in North Carolina this week and invited us up for the weekend to go white water rafting and such. being the scaredy cat that I am, I tried to opt out of the vicious Ocoee River, but Donnie Quinn wasn't going to let that happen. SIDE NOTE: he never has been one to let me stay away from my fears..roller coasters, white water rafting, horseback riding, vegetables, and any other pathetic fear you can think of. he let me cry through all of these as a child, and, of course, I loved them at the end. that's the great thing about dads. making you face your fears and what not. oh, and yes. I was scared of all of those things. I was am the most paranoid person ever when it comes to anything involving an adrenaline rush. we have a lot of pictures of me crying at theme parks.

enough about my paranoia..let's see some pictures.

we stopped for a little while to see the river and watch some rafters.

look at my cute little bro..he's gunna be already is a little heartbreaker.

he's actually not taller than me..I still have 2 inches on him. but I feel like I'm going to come home one weekend and all of a sudden be looking up to him. scary thoughts.

"I don't wanna smile anymore..take a picture of me looking like I'm taking in the nature." typical 12 year old for ya..

they tried to teach me to skip rocks..I know how, I just really suck at it.

looks like I'm about to take him out..but don't worry, I'm probably just trying to not listen to him teaching me how to skip rocks :)

love this woman. cannot begin to believe that I leave her so soon..

and these guys too :)

so after many failed attempts to skip rocks (with a few successes), we hopped back in the pilot and drove up the mountain to a cabin with the most beautiful view I've ever seen in my life.

this beautiful sight was a wonderful reminder of my Creator. my Sunday school teacher for the past 3 years always says that one of the ways God reveals Himself is through nature. my heart sank when I was taking pictures of this view. I found myself wishing I had brought my Bible so that I could sit and meditate on God's word. I've been putting God to the side lately and second to all the busyness that has surrounded me this month. this longing to spend time with Him just reminded me how important it is to draw near to Him. especially during this season of change because He will be the only thing that will stay consistent. so thankful for the way the Lord reveals Himself to us so clearly. and that even after we've gone astray for a little while, we can always run back into His open arms.

after the sun went down, we gathered around the campfire and sang our campfire song.

made s'mores (MY FAVE)

and just sat around and visited for a while

until all the kids went inside to watch some Glee on Netflix (Clayton got me HOOKED on Netflix. glad I can use his account!)

after a very late night filled Glee and The Office, I finally went to sleep.

and woke up bright and early to the smell of pancakes.

then we headed to the Ocoee. I packed my fears up and got into the boat.

I wish I had pictures of all of us in our rafting gear, but sadly, I had to leave my camera in the car. it ended up being a very fun bonding experience! (of course) that water felt SO GOOD. jumping into a beautiful mountain river is so much better than jumping into a lukewarm neighborhood pool. #love (yes. I just hashtagged in my blog. do something about it.)

anywho. after changing out of our soaking wet river clothes, we got on the road back to Birmingham. so thankful for this last weekend with my sweet family! technically we still have one more..but I have a feeling it won't be nearly as relaxing as a trip North Carolina..(packing packing and more packing)

I'm going to try to blogument (document through the old blog) this last week in the Hoovs..yeah. blogument. I just went there. and it was lame. don't think I'm going to go back..sorry bout that, friends. basically, I'm going to do my best to blog a few times this week (in the midst of my little mess this week). if I don't meet this challenge, you can definitely expect a move-in day blog next Sunday.

I'm headed to a best friend sleepover with my good ole Chelsey Beth. nights like this make me smile. knowing that they'll be endless in a little over a week makes me do this:

mmm..gotta love Photo Booth pics.

peace out, sweet friends! :) 

cupcake wars, gallery walls, and birthdays

these are a few of my favorite things..

random post..3 topics (in the order they were listed)..try to keep up.

CUPCAKE WARS - not only is cupcake wars like my favorite show ever..it's also a family-favorite past time. this week my sweet bestest friend since BIRTH, Devin, is visiting. look how cute we were...(just do me a favor and ignore the bowl cut..and the stickers and awk places the pictures have been cut. all pictures were taken of a scrapbook I made when I was 6.)

anyways. so last night after spending lots of time in hobby lobby and target with my mom, we decided to have cupcake decorating wars between the three of us. I wish I had some pictures of the decorating process, but I was in the zone with my cupcakes. so here are the finished products..

mine - the randoms

Devin's - Sesame Street theme

Mom's - beach/animals/humans/not really sure

my dad was the judge..Devin's Oscar the Grouch won Best Overall and she won the war all together with a total of 14 points. I had 13 (I could only use my top 4). and Mom got a whopping 4 points. yikes.

it was a super fun and super yummy time. I love my family :)

GALLERY WALL - for about a year now, my mom has been begging asking my dad to put together a gallery wall at the top of our stairs. we've looked at paint samples and I made her frames for Christmas..and my dad and I FINALLY put it together last weekend to surprise her for her birthday! she and my brother were out of town so we decided to go for it.

Inspiration:

(mom picked this out in a magazine well over a year ago..I found it on Pinterest)

Before (kinda):

Progress:

Dad painted, I designed.

After:

I love it. she LOVED it! wish I had a picture of her when she saw it. I want to put gallery walls EVERYWHERE. they're kinda my fave.

BIRTHDAYS: not only was it my mom's birthday, but it was also my very best friend, Chelsey's. we celebrated by going to Iguana Grill. after stuffing our faces with Mexican food, we enjoyed some cupcakes and took some pictures. I don't really have pictures (no memory card in the camera. ya kidding me?)..so I'm stealing a few from FB courtesy of MK.

whole group. SO thankful for these sisters! and we love us some Chelsey!

gotta get a suitemate picture everywhere we go. 18 DAYS LADIES! FIST. PUMP.

and since I don't have a picture of Chels and myself..here's one of her and MK.

precious friends. so glad I get to live with them!

apparently after all this excitement, Chels went home to take a nap (after a trip to crash a boys' event at the student building)

and giving David a fish..because it was not safe in Amy's office.

meet the Fish Fairy :)

best student's ever? I think yes.

later that night we went to eat with her family

highlight? her brother got her a penguin pillow pet.

BEST PRESENT EVER.

way to go Trent.

we concluded the night with a best friend movie night and crafting up some bulletin boards for her dorm.

Chels, I am so glad you're my best friend. I couldn't ask for a better one. I am so thankful for your heart and your encouragement and your willingness to always be there for me. LOVE YOU PRINCESS! hoppy burfday..even though it was a week ago :)

life is good

I apologize for the super cliche title..but it's the only way to sum up this post.
a week spent at the beach and in Auburn = life is good.

surprisingly enough, I didn't take any pictures at the beach. I think I have one of my mom being silly in the elevator. my week was spent eating super awesome beach food (the Taco Bar in Seaside = AWESOME! waddup, best shrimp tacos ever!), working on my chaco tan (picture below), spending way too much money at the J. Crew Outlet (well worth my entire Oasis paycheck), and watching the sickening Casey Anthony trial..I'm going to allot myself one small paragraph to rant about discuss this issue.

how sickening..the hype has kind of died down now, but when I heard the verdict, it made me sick to my stomach. I think she knows exactly what happened..whether she did it, or her boyfriend, or one of her "invisible friends". I just don't understand how her baby, who she supposedly had an "awesome relationship" with, can be missing for 30 days and she doesn't do anything about it except look for her tattoo herself and party down. I don't understand. I am by no means condemning Casey Anthony to Hell as some have, because I too sin. I am saved by grace and I do pray for her salvation and recofnition of where she has fallen. but her carelessness for her child in this case just made me sick. HOWEVER, there is good news, Caylee's real Father   not Casey's baby daddy   but her REAL Heavenly Father, has her in His arms in Heaven, where there is more justice and freedom for her than there would be if the verdict had come out differently. even if we aren't sure how she got there, the Lord called her home at her very young age to a better and ETERNAL life with Him in Heaven where she is free from the abuse and negligence of her earthly mother. okay, I'm done.

on a happier note, check out my chaco tan.

SO much more legit than it was in this blogpost

here are some more random pictures from the beach.

 our "WE'RE FINALLY AT THE BEACH!" picture

Clayton and his BFF Ben wanted a picture with their ice cream..12 year olds..

however, I am a proud Big Sister of that little boy in the glowing hat.

after wearing my chacos to get something out of the car, he decided that he wanted some. 

so we got on eBay and ordered him some. there were tears of joy..okay, not really. but I was super happy! and they were here when we got home..

he loves them. and today he's at the lake with them..$10 says his chaco tan after one day will be more legit than mine after 2 months..stupid tan brother.

anyways...

after 5 BEAUTIFUL days in Blue Mountain Beach, my mother and I drove through the backroads of Florida and Alabama to get to my sweet future home for orientation. I am so in love with the town of Auburn and the school and everything about it. it's totes my fave. I cannot wait to be there in...

28 DAYS!
whaaaaatttt?! in less than a month, I will move into Helen Keller Hall with my sweet friends.
this summer has flown by, and I have super mixed feelings about its end.
missing my little underclassmen girls already :(

it was fun getting to meet new people and learning what I already knew about Auburn. gotta love those legends and traditions.

as soon as I arrived, I met the sweetest girl. big YAY for making new friends!

I am so thankful for the instant friendship between Kirby and myself! same major, too. funny how things work out. go elementary education! (SIDE NOTE : oh yeah! I decided on my major for those of you who read this post and are interested)

all the activities and skits and stuff were really fun..however, would you like to know what can make CWE even better?

wearing the EXACT same outfit as your best friend. BOOM. unplanned. both thought about calling. but no. we proudly represented Steve Moakler, Nike, Chaco, and myself (Totes by Lace..want one?) together. I wanted to tell everyone that we were fraternal twins and our parents still dressed us the same. but we kind of forgot we matched..needless to say, we got some funny looks and questions. "did y'all know each other before this?" "yes..we've been best friends for 4 years"..lost count of how many times we had that awkward conversation..

another thing that makes camp war eagle 10 billion times better...getting your perfect schedule! no 8 o'clocks and done before 2! FIST. PUMP. all I had heard prior to CWE were horror stories about the stress of making your schedule..and when I get stressed, it's like taking the average person's stress level and multiplying it by 3,000. yeah. however, I am confident that the Lord had His hand on me during the schedule making sessions. no stress. I only almost hyperventilated when they were counting down for us to start registering. after they said go, I registered and waited for the errors to pop up saying I had to pick different classes. NO ERRORS! praise the Lord! He is good! what a blessing! Kirby and Chelsey and other friends all got their perfect schedules as well. my mom told me later that the 3 moms huddled together to say a prayer for our registration process. so thankful the examples they set for us through their actions!

after our stress free registration, we headed to the business fair. aka - tables with free stuff. YES.

6 koozies, 3 frisbies, 3 tshirts, 1 cup, 1 water bottle, 1 sticker, 1 roll of toilet paper (again, love those AU traditions!), one keychain, 2 pens, 2 football schedules, 1 shaker, 11 coupons to various restaurants and bookstores, 1 notepad, and 1 mini snickers. Not Pictured: 1 pair of sunglasses, 1 water bottle, 1 panera Chocolate Chipper cookie (aka THE BEST EVER), and more coupons.
the Auburn business fair will forever be in my heart.
free panera cookies and free tshirts = my jam.

and then I came home.
and so concludes the post about Lacey's summer vacation and college orientation.

peace out.

P.S. I may or may not be doing my first crafty post tomorrow..be on the lookout for it :)