insert brilliant blog title here - blogger's block

I will be drinking more diet coke than ever this summer. why? this is why.

the kangaroo gas stations have these awesome cups for $7 and then you get free refills for the rest of the summer. we got one yesterday afternoon..we've been 6 times..I can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing..but diet coke just tastes so much better when it's free and from a "kanga" (what the cups have come to be known as among my friends and family) LOVE THIS.

anywho..I have spent the last 4 days with my girls, katelyn and caroline (and reagz for 3). like I said yesterday, I don't think I've ever laughed this much. so thankful for them. when we went our seperate ways today, it was kinda sad. I cannot imagine what it's going to be like 2 months and 3 days from now when we're going to be seperated for more than a night. don't like that at all..

my bloggin' brain is kinda down today..so I apologize for that. we may have to change this goal to at least 3 times a week..I don't think that would be a problem for anyone, huh? hope not :)

please continue to be in prayer for our choir..we have our second-to-last rehearsal tomorrow! I turned my ankle during the first song at the last one! oops! let's pray for now more injuries and for focused and prepared hearts! join me?

good morning!

I'm trying to figure out why my friends and I keep planning to do stuff at 9 AM...wednesday we went to breakfast at 9, yesterday we worked out at 9, today we met at panera at 9, tomorrow we're going to ZUMBA at 9 (but I am SO excited!)

waking up early always pays off though..after another yummy breakfast at panera, we headed to the thrift store to look for thrift store prom dresses (a chi alpha choir tour tradition) and couldn't find anything tacky enough for the occasion. the search continues!

we ran around the church a little bit and went to watch the last day of my dad's basketball camp. little kindergarteners in a free throw contest = the joy of my life. they so PRECIOUS and excited when they win!

watched some funny SNL videos..they're my favorites.
christmas surprise
football taping

and concluded the first half of our day with the best lunch ever.
spliting a pan of sister schubert's sausage rolls 4 ways may need to happen more often because those things are from HEAVEN. favorite food of all time.

we're coming back together shortly to watch the justin beiber movie and then finishing off our day with a dollar movie.

my days are full. my heart is beyond full. I love these precious girls! what will I do without them in Auburn? I think I'm going to take them with me..I have never laughed as much as I have the past week. so thankful for these best days ever.

do something fun with your friends today. be active, watch funny videos, eat a pan of sister schubert's , whatever suits your fancy :)

too many parking lot dance parties

another fun day with friends! imagine that..

working out (then rewarding ourselves with cinnamon crunch bagels), choir rehearsals (where I twisted my ankle..on the first song and was out for the remainder of rehearsal. AWESOME. sarcasm.), then to yomo and parking lot dance parties.

however, the frequency of our parking lot dance parties this summer has taken a toll on my little sentra's battery. after woppin' and dancing to some beiber, we started to go our separate ways. only to find that our constant source of insanely loud music was dead..we had jumper cables..did we know how to use them? nah.

donnie to the rescue!

caroline's a mechanic now in case you were wondering..

I am so thankful for the funny and wonderful memories we have already made this summer. dead car batteries, dancing in yogurt mountain, so many inside jokes, etc. etc.

these girls bless my heart every day. they are a source of encouragement and love when I am discouraged and need it most. feelings get hurt and discouraging things are said by others..but why does it matter when we know that we have each other and even more importantly, that we have a King in heaven who loves us unconditionally? no matter what this world thinks of what we wear or how we act! I am so very thankful for sweet times with such encouraging friends tonight and the lessons we've learned..even from discouraging people.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

friends, fellowship, and frisbee

my absolute favortie days of summer are the ones where I wake up early, have a full never-stop-going day, and think that this morning was yesterday. today was one of those days.

I woke up early and has breakfast with sweet friends. we may have been too loud for some of the ladies in Edgar's, but so what? it's summer, and we're having fun.

after that we went to play frisbee..for reagan. it was..fun. but SUPER hot.

here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

we were inspired by Stick It

we stopped playing..sorry 'bout it, reagz.

side note- can you tell I'm enjoying my new camera? :) LOVE IT

after lots of fun with my girls, we got to spend a night fellowshipping and worshipping. it hit me today that I am not going to be part of Hunter Street Student Ministry next year..while they plan all these new great changes and trips and retreats and what not, I'm sitting there getting excited until I realize I won't be there. I love this ministry with my whole heart..I don't know what I'm going to do without it. I never want to leave. HOWEVER, I am so confident in the work that the Lord is doing in our midst, and though I might not be there to reap the harvest of the work we're beginning this summer, I cannot wait to see hearts and lives changed and awakened to our Lord and His desire for us to come together as a body of believers! He is doing wonderous things through the staff and students of Hunter Street. I'm so thrilled and excited to pray for and see this ministry come back to life! we started a 4-part series on courage tonight by Francis Chan. we discussed having to sometimes stand alone in our walk with the Lord because it's not necessarily the "cool thing to do"..I am so thankful for a ministry and group of sisters in Christ whose desires are to win brothers and sisters for His kingdom so that they will also believe in God's unfailing and unconditional love for us..even if they don't think it's "cool" right now. will you join me in praying for our student ministry and the growth it is experiencing?

speaking of prayer, I have a request :) please pray every day for our student choir, Chi Alpha. in a little over a week, we will be loading up buses for Washington, D.C. to be the hands and feet of Jesus. please pray for:

- the students' and leaders' hearts - that they will be prepared and ready to share the gospel and that they will also see their own need for a savior and continue to grow in their walk with the Lord through this tour. I pray that the people we are serving will see the overflow of Christ's love in us, that we may love on them in the same way.

- the people of washington's hearts - we know that the Lord, even now, is stirring in their hearts and minds. they may not know what's going on yet, but I pray that they will be receptive to our message, that their hearts will be open to the good news we are bringing to them, and that whatever they see in us will lead them to a God who loves them more and wants to give them more than we ever could.

- the choir aspect of our trip - again that the love of Christ will overflow from the words and choreography in our songs. that the people of washington will not only think "oh cool dance moves" but they will see a light in us that tells them there's something and someone out there that's bigger than us and our songs. pray that in the next week, and in the THREE PRACTICES we have left, that our moves and songs will become sharp and that everyone will be ready to perform. we still have a long way to go, but the Lord is faithful, and He will make sure that we are ready to further His kingdom and glorify Him through our ministry.

our theme is "Crazy Love". His love for us really is crazy. it is only by grace that we are loved by Him and able to spend eternity with Him if we believe in His son's work on the cross. Thank you Lord for loving us and saving us!

thank you for hanging in there with me through these days of blogging :) even if I post very close to midnight..oops!

please continue in prayer for our student ministry and student choir. we leave for tour on the 11th and return on the 18th.

^"14For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

a new best friend and some old ones, too

meet my new best friend

isn't it beautiful?!

one of the yearbook cameras has been on loan to me for the past two years. since I can't take it to Aubs with me, I figured it was time to invest in my own. PTL for graduation money and target giftcards!

I attempted to make a cute camera strap without using a sewing machine..needless to say, it was super janky. so until I find one I can't live without on Etsy (aka - one that won't use the rest of my graduation money), the Nikon one will have to do.

after slaving away working  on headbands (BTW-I am now in business! they are $4.50 for one flower or $7.50 for two flowers) and a janky camera strap for the majority of the day, my favorite girls came over for movie night. yay for nights with sweet friends, junk food, and good movies. I'm actually taking a break from all the excitement to blog :)

I "cooked" :)

last time my friends and I tried to cook, it was cookie dough cupcakes found on pinterest..yeah. they were NASTY. we did something wrong. so this time, I took the easy route.

they also happen to be Jane's favorite food

we took cute pictures

and compared chaco tans..jane's winning

watched some of the best movies ever. I forgot how stinking great Stick It is..way too much rock for one hand!

so thankful for time with precious best friends to laugh and share our hearts and what not.

love these girls :) cherishing this time before we all go our seperate ways..whether thats going to bama or staying home for a year or two more of high school..or living feet away from each other in KELLER. (we found out were suite mates today..there will be so much love in those rooms and the shared bathroom)

hope you're having a wonderful week so far..tell your friends how much you love them :)

bloggin day one..not so successful.

I almost missed my first day of blogging everyday..pitiful..
it's probably because nothing worth blogging about happened.
I switched from an iPhone 3G to an iPhone 4..but that's about it. big thanks to mom for cracking my screen and getting me a new one that doesn't die randomly or have vibrating seizures.

the best part was giving my brother my old iPhone (we got the screen repaired of course)
he was so surprised and excited..I took his hopeless little phone and changed the sim cards..it took FOREVER to get his other phone--sidenote: what is it with 12-year-olds and not giving up their phones? what are they hiding?--anyways..I took ran into another room and locked the door..and when I gave it back to him, he didn't even notice. he was like "THANK YOU..wait what? this is your phone? SERIOUSLY!?!"
I want to give him an iPhone every day to see that face. I wish I would have taken a picture of him.

anyways. sorry this post sucks.
I'm going to go make some headbands..like so.

want one? let me know :) I'll just be crafting away.



updates and goals

happy memorial day weekend, friends! :)

so far I've spent mine by the pool in my chacos. the tan is coming along real nice.

(pardon my ugly toenails)

anywho. let me catch you up on life.

this major season of change has taken off all too quickly.

I graduated on Wednesday. what? graduated? scary. hasn't hit me yet.

such beautiful friends and sisters! so proud of these ladies

ran to hug my best friend/soul mate Jane right after. so thankful for this sister!

how blessed I am to have such precious parents.

not only has my title as "senior in high school" changed to "freshman in college" and my school changed, but relationships have changed..the Lord has taken a relationship out of my life. He overwhelmed my heart with His love and sense of purpose. His ways are higher and His plans are bigger than mine. this change has been hard, but it will certainly be for my good and His glory! He giveth and He taketh away, and I cannot wait to see His plans for me unfold. this is all so new. but I am SO excited to experience new places, build new relationships, and grow even more in my walk with the Lord. I move into home sweet Helen Keller Hall on August 7th. whaaaatt. I am thrilled! not only because I get to spend the next year of my life with so many of my sweet friends, but I'll be like 100 feet from chickfila and starbucks. FIST. PUMP.

anywho. this summer is going to be spent with best friends and family. making memories, cherishing the time we have together, completing a super senior summer bucket list with my loves, getting ready for the next step, etc. it will also be spent meeting a goal. I don't know if it's stupid to set a goal to blog..but I am doing it. two of my favorite bloggers are Ashley at under the sycamore and Emily at today's letters. I want to be these women when I grow up. forreal though..does Auburn have a blogging/crafting major? they should. anyways. they blog almost EVERY DAY. craziness. SO, my goal is to blog everyday that I can..starting NOW. I may blog about something I did that day, something crafty, something random, something the Lord is teaching me, or something I just want to share. maybe about all five. who knows. it's a way to document the days of this special summer. it's also a way to get me to stop obsessing over others' blogs for a little bit and start tending to my own. I want to do this for the rest of my life...in college, when I get married, when I have kids, all that jazz. why not start now?

so there you have it..an update and a goal.

see you here tomorrow ;)

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ."

1 Peter 4:10-11