Talk about a heat stroke...

Today was a scorcher! But it was a fun day nonetheless :)

Kelly and I woke up to the sounds of Juliana "talking" in her sleep. It was cute, haha :) It only took a few minutes for the noise of the fan to wake her up as well so we were all up and getting ready at about 9:15. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast at Panera before going our separate ways. I dropped Kelly of at her car and Juliana off at the pool before coming home for a brief nap. (Haha, I'm such a grandma! Taking a nap before 12:30...) Once I woke up, it was time to head to church!

Today's work consisted of carrying in and assembling platforms that will, when completed, be risers for the youth choir. Those things were heavy, but we had a good amount of help :) Teamwork makes the dream work! Haha. The only rough thing about that was the 99 degree weather outside and having to walk back and forth out there, but we got over it. We also got to enjoy a Chick-fil-a late lunch! Yumm! Haha, oh the perks of helping out :) Tomorrow we'll be painting, so that should be fun!

Kelly and I went to the mall after helping out. We were curious as to whether or not Justice (aka Limited Too) would have any cute one piece bathing suits we could fit in to, haha. Now you're probably thinking that we were silly for even trying such a thing, but listen. We tried on some bathing suits that actually ended up being a little big in the mid section, but the problem was that my torso was too long for it! Ugh! Haha. I mean, Kelly found one that actually fit pretty well, but it too was a tad big in the mid section. Needless to say, it wasn't a huge success. But hey, I'll keep looking!

I had dinner with my dad tonight, which was fun. I accidentally slammed my elbow into the counter, but the bruise is tiny, so it didn't hurt much past the initial hit :) After hanging out there for a while, I went to Chelsea's to review our tryout material. Okay, at this point, I'm really worried about going over jumps. Mine are terrible, and it is clearly noticeable. Haha, I'm praying that those girls will have mercy on me! But yeah, so that was fun :)

The rest of my night was spent lounging on the sofa while watching House. I am quite tired, and I think I'm ready to get some sleep :) Farewell blogger friends! See ya tomorrow :)

Nyan Cat.

Hahahahaha. Just watch these, please! Especially the second one :)

"I go, 'Ohhh!'" :D

Sunday school was nice :) We went through Romans 13, mostly in small groups. Like I said last week, I thoroughly enjoy helping out in there! This is how it ended:

Thank you Jeremy and Chandler for placing Ben in an opportune spot for a photo-op :) He was such a great sport!

After service I got lunch at Stony Point as per usual before heading back to church. While youth choir rehearsal was going on, I was on a mission to spray paint until we ran out, in which instance I was sent out to find more. Haha. Well, we've bought out three different Ben Franklin's and at least one other hobby store. Tomorrow the hunt continues....

Juliana, Nikki, Kelly, and myself got dinner at B-Dubs! Not only was the food delicious, but we had such a great time! We were there for literally three and a half hours! I love it when that happens :) Before we left, Nikki embraced her inner child and hit up the gumball machine!

Teehee :) I do love her!

Once we left, Juliana and I hit up red box, waited for Kelly to arrive, and then walked over to Juliana's to 1) grab her sleepover things and 2) get in the hot tub! That was good stuff :) We even got to sing along to a few country tunes (Juliana's fave)! The agenda after walking back to my house consisted of:

• Rockband.

• Hot beverage time.
• Gnomeo and Juliet.
• Photobooth!

{I love my Kells and little love :) Tonight has been so fun!}

And now that we've all had very long days, it's time for lights out! Kelly and I told Juliana she can wake us up at or after 9. Haha. Goodnight loves!

Maybe one day my life will get more interesting.

But until it does, you all are stuck with another bullet list. My sincerest apologies...

• Dern-tern work from 9-2 during youth choir rehearsal.
• Mac and Kathryn found these gems in the office closet.

• When on a few shopping errands.
• Found styrofoam-safe spray paint.
• Found "poetry club" style wardrobe for Adam and Mac's interpretive dance.
• Got free silly bands from Ben Franklin!
• Got lunch with Kathryn :)
• Chipotle. Yum!
• Accompanied Kathryn while she took some pictures of dance rehearsal.
• I can't wait to see the end result!

• Talked to my aunt on the phone for almost an hour.
• Our discussion topics included her first car, getting old[er], and middle child syndrome.
• We both have/had MCS; she feels for me.
• Went to dinner with Taylor :)
• Casa Grande!
• Went on a walk with Jenn and Laila (Candice's dog).
• Hung out with Jenn for the evening.

Sorry for the list again. I work on writing more when I know I can actually get 8 hours of sleep. But I really enjoyed today :) I hope you all enjoyed your Saturday as well :)

P.S.- I'm on the lookout for a cute one-piece :) If you have suggestions, send the links my way!

Goodnight!

"You look like you're directing traffic..."

Today was good! I'm going to do this in run-down format, because I have to be at church in 6.5 hours. ROUGH!

• Wake up at 12:30.
• Laundry.
• Target trip.
• They only had Tangled on Blu-ray... dumb!
• Yet they had Willow. What the heck?!
• More laundry.
• Practice memory verses.
• Tea and Apples to Apples at Heather's house.
• I love my Heather, Elsbeth, and Kelly :)
• Hangout at Elizabeth's.
• Resulted in a Waffle House run. Woop!

{Stole from Eric!}

• Came home to find that part of Heather's gift had arrived.
• Too bad something was wrong with it AGAIN!
• I hope the third time's the charm :/

Goodnight loves! Sleep well!

"Super boards!"

Sturdy, durable, and a pain in the butt to fold! It's kind of an intern thing, the "super board" ;)

Internship today consisted of:

• Devotions.
• Discussion on university religious studies.
• Looking up Bible verses on gossip (these are just a few).
• Proverbs 11:13
• Proverbs 26:20
• Ephesians 5:4
• Mission to purchase black duct tape.
• Walmart is such a disappointment. Save yourself the hassle and go to Ben Franklin.
• Making giant camera lenses for youth show prep.

Twas a productive day indeed, I'd say. I then proceeded to go to the bank and come home for an hour-and-a-half long nap. It was lovely. As easy as it would have been to just crash again after turning off my alarm, I got up to get ready for my dinner date tonight with Stephanie and Nicole (two of my SAO sisters)! After meeting up at my house, we went to Bottom's Up :) I love that place not only because they have excellent food, but also because it's so... Richmond. I don't know if that makes sense to you, but it does to me. Haha. But yes, we had a lovely time at dinner; I am so happy that I have some sisters I can hang out with this summer. It truly is such a blessing!

{Stole from Steph!}

I do love them :) And, as for the remainder of my night, I went to Elsbeth's to watch a movie with her and Kelly. We watched "Away We Go," and I would definitely say it was a cute movie. To me, it kind of seemed like an adult version of Juno. It's not a bad thing, trust me :) But yes, afterwards we had numerous thought provoking and humorous conversations (some more random than others, haha). I love Kelly and Elsbeth, they bring a smile to my face :)

But yes, now I am home and ready for bed. Goodnight all! Sleep well :)

"Ewww! Did you see that high-V?!"

Haha! Our motions might be a tad rusty, but Chelsea and I haven't lost our cheering skills. We got together today to get stuff ready for HHS cheering tryouts next week (which we are running). Yeah, we were able to make up 2 chants, a cheer, and a dance (over eight 8-counts long!) in less than an hour. We felt pretty sweet, haha :D To put things in perspective, neither Chelsea nor I have cheered in over a year, so this was kind of a big deal for us, haha.

After a speedy meal with my dad and Jenn, I was off to church! We attended a Family Life meeting before heading up to youth group. I know I've already said this, but I. LOVE. BEING. A YOUTH LEADER. So much! I love praying for, dancing around with, and just interacting with current and soon-to-be friends :) We did prayer time tonight in partners, and one of my little loves prayed for me. It was so sweet, and I am so blessed by her caring soul :) I think the awesome thing is that even though I'm there to lead them and whatnot, I am being so impacted at the same time. And I know that might sound really cliche, so I apologize for that, but it's true. It's a beautiful thing :) I just love it!

Now, I realize that some of you are reading this and are in youth group and only a year younger than I am, and I don't want you to think I'm like patting your head going "Aww, you're so little!" No, please understand that I'm not going there, haha. I'm just really excited about the new relationships I'm forming with people, particularly middle school girls :) I really hope I get to work closely with them this summer! They are an awesome group, from what I've seen :) And I think they like me too (at least I know some of them do), so that's a plus! Haha :)

What better way to finish off a fun-filled day than with some Cookout and a hangout at Elizabeth's :) Watching Workaholics and Tosh.0, oh yes. Love you, friends! So much laughter and so many good times, it's great :) Goodnight all!

Dancing in the street!

The dougie, body rolls, shimmies, pops, hip swings, the pretzel, Brazilian footwork, and much more :)



I seriously feel like I am living a perfect summer :) I absolutely LOVE working in the youth department with my internship, I love the people I'm surrounded by, and I love that we can all be crazy together doing just about anything :) Beat-boxing on tables, dancing on the sidewalk of Patterson (see list above!), never-ending hugs, waving at passer-bys, throwing light-up bouncy balls and frisbees across four-lane roads... Yes, today was good :) I love my life! Every beautiful little piece of it :)

Carytown and campfires :)

Today was beautiful, and I got to spend it with so many incredible friends :) Good golly am I blessed!

While I was getting ready this morning, not only did I change my outfit at least three times, I also danced around my upstairs while singing Selena Gomez's "Who Says" into my hairbrush. Hey, I love Selena Gomez, and I am in no way ashamed of the things I do when no one else is in the house, haha :)

This afternoon was spent with my darling Heather :) We indulged in some Sweet Frog before cruising up and down Cary Street and meandering through various stores and boutiques. I haven't really ever explored Carytown, so this was a lovely experience for me :) Some of the vintage shops are so intriguing! In one of them, Heather and I found these headbands with giant headbands with what were essentially mini-bouquets attached to them. They were so great that it actually called for a Polaroid shot :) I love that Heather has a Polaroid camera, haha. I was also very impressed that she was able to get us both in the shot despite having to do the "Myspace camera hold!" Skill, I tell you :) To round off our glorious Heather-Stephanie time, Heather treated me to some RealiTea :) I had never been before, but I will certainly be making future visits. It was delicious :) Thanks you, Heavs! I love it when I get to have Heather time; it just makes my heart oh so very happy :)

I went straight to dinner at my dad's house. And after hanging out with him an Jenn for a bit, I came back to the house to work on my journal I may or may not need [at this point] for internship. Then, it was time for a hangout at Kathryn's! Woop woop! I have a feeling our summer is going to be filled with fire pit circles, s'mores, and movie watching :) But I mean hey, I'm not complaining! I love getting together with a large group of friends and just hanging out and being ridiculous together :) Some highlights:

• The endless hotdog-eating jokes (boys, of course).
• Jackass 3D (and trying to figure out which pranks can be replicated).
• Josh R. cooking a hotdog in a Rockstar can.
• Eric Z. shoving two HUGE marshmallows completely in his mouth.
• Watching Josh H. get flipped out of a hammock. So priceless.

Well, I need to be up in about 5 hours, so it is time for sleep. Goodnight, loves!

The first long Sunday of many.

After less than 5 hours of sleep, I woke up nice and early so that I would make it to church by 8:30. We helped set up for preschool before heading upstairs for middle school sunday school, which by the way I loved getting to help out in. A good portion of the time was spent in small groups, and Laura and I got to lead a group of 4 lovely young ladies :) Each of them was willing to share what they got out of the verses and how it applies to their lives. Seeing them analyzing and discussing the Word was so encouraging for me. They are so young and have beautiful little hearts :) I may not know them very well just yet, but I will by the time this summer is over; that is my goal! Precious little lambs :) That honestly might have been the highlight of my day :) I hope I get to do more of it!

After watching some preschool kids for a bit while their parents dropped them off, the dern-terns were free to attend service. Today was grad sunday! Seeing all of my senior loves walk across the front made me have another one of those "proud mom" moments :) I just can't believe they're all either graduating or have done so already! What?! We're all in the college bracket now??? So crazy. But I am so happy for them :) This world better look out, we've got some strong and ambitious individuals entering the scene ;) Ahhh! I do love them!

Lunch, as per usual, was at Chipotle. Yum! I got to sit with a large group of friends, and that made me very happy :) And even though I was in the middle of some very.... shall we say interesting man conversations, it was quite funny. I even got to sit next to Alex! I love that I'm starting to actually see him now; I missed him alot alot! But alas, it is summer and we are all free to hang! Woop woop!

I finally got the SAO newsletter sent out today, praise God. I didn't get everything in there that I wanted, but I could only wait for so long. Either way, I'm glad it's over with. I took a short nap before going to my dad's house for dinner. Jenn and I hung out with mom for a bit when we got back, which was pretty nifty. Okay! So I think I'm going to hang my hammock up some time this week, or at least I want to. This huge hammock that I bought in Brazil last summer has just been sitting in my closet because I had nowhere to put it. Well, It may very well be getting hung catty-corner across my bedroom above my bed! Haha. Jennifer thinks it'll be a safety hazard, but the worst that could happen is I bang my head on my bed frame. Yes, it would hurt, but I'll just pray that doesn't happen!

While pulling out the hammock, I found my recorder (the instrument) from the fourth grade! Haha! I can still play Ode to Joy without any real effort. Yeah, muscle memory! Of course, after that came a serious of obnoxious noises that left my sister and I laughing hysterically (which of course meant leakage from my eyeballs). But other than that, tonight's been pretty chill. I do believe I've completed the happy hands choreography I was asked to come up with. I'm going for awkward with a touch of humor, so we'll see how this goes. Haha.

Also, I love this remix!


Goodnight loves!

One fine day :)

What a lovely day filled with lovely memories for some of my closest friends :) "Why?," you ask. Well, I had 4 beautiful friends of mine graduate today :) Heather, Elsbeth, Annemarie, and Ellory are all officially done with high school! So exciting :) I am so incredibly proud of them!

I had the pleasure of getting to see Elsbeth graduate this morning, and it was a really nice ceremony. It wasn't long and drawn out, nor boring for that matter. It was short and sweet, and we got to cheer for our darling Els as she received her diploma :)

Stole from Elsbeth :) Taken by Elizabeth!

Upon departure, Kelly, Gabe, and I went to Sweet Frog. I finally got to try the green (thanks, Annemarie!) tea froyo; it was delicious! I threw some almonds on top and YUMMM! So good. On a separate note, Gabe and Kelly are too funny. Goodness do I love them :) We spent about an hour and a half getting froyo, shoe shopping, and missing a few exits on the interstate, haha. Twas good stuff indeed!

Two o'clock rolled around, and it was time for Heather's graduation party! Eeeep :D It was a lovely gathering of people, and I thoroughly enjoyed it :) I got to see a lot of people whom I love, and I got to celebrate with Heather [and Annemarie!] on their big day! At one point Sarah, Kelly, Jeremy, Casey, and I were in the front yard playing with a bubble-wand and chasing down bubbles as we popped them with our pointer fingers :) Haha, we're all college age [or college grads], no big deal :) Put simply, it was a beautiful time with beautiful people :)

This evening was spent babysitting for a family who I haven't really seen in at least a year. The kids are still as cute as ever, and praise the Lord they are still well behaved and nice towards each other. They were so good for me, and I was extremely grateful for that :) After watching Phineas and Ferb, playing Super Mario, playing "Monster" [aka a never-ending game of tag], taking turns on the swings, shower time, and a little Harry Potter, it was bed time. And so from 9-11:30 I just chilled on the couch practicing my memory verses and reading a bit of scripture. With this whole rumor of the rapture, I decided to read Revelations, since I never really have before. I didn't get through the whole book, but I did read 15 chapters. That is some intense stuff, a lot of which is kind of hard to wrap your head around. I was very fond of these verses, though.

¹⁴ “'These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ Therefore,

   'they are before the throne of God
   and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
   will shelter them with his presence. ¹⁶ ‘Never again will they hunger;
   never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
   nor any scorching heat. ¹⁷ For the Lamb at the center of the throne
   will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
   ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"

{Revelation 7}

Quite frankly, I am exhausted. Unfortunately I will not even be able to get six hours of sleep because I need to be at church at 8:30. However, I am going to take this moment to once again say how proud I am of my loves who graduated today! This is such a big milestone in each of your lives, and I know that God is going to use you in beautiful and glorious ways! I love you all! God speed ;)

P.S.- I meant to post a link to Harry's blog last night! He's been my little sister's best friend for ten years, and I love him to bits and pieces :) He is an amazing artist and person, so you should follow him if you so desire :)

"This is the perfect place to tan..."

"...because it's all bushed in." Oh, I do love my friends ;)

Today went a little different than planned, but it's all good! In the free time I had early this afternoon, I finished the SAO Alumni newsletter, I'm just waiting for a picture to be sent to me and it can be sent! Then, I got to skype Brandi for an hour and a half! I do miss my love! I'm really glad that I can still kind of see her though, even though she's all the way in California. Skype really is a beautiful thing!

After a trip to Starbucks, Jenn, Mom, and I headed over to the CFA Visual Arts Spring Showcase at Henrico. I'm always blown away by the artwork they produce! I wish I possessed their skill :)

 Jennifer Dawkins: Unknown (Mixed Media)

 Harry Trinh: Common Ground (Mixed Media)

Jennifer and Harry's silk screens they designed :) I purchased them :)

After the show, Jennifer, Harry, and I went out to dinner. And what better to eat than SUSHI! Yumm :) And yes, it was the third time I had sushi in the past week--no big deal :)

Harry and Jenn are so funny; I do love them!

To conclude my night, I joined about a dozen of my lovely friends for a late night bonfire/movie night at Elizabeth's house :) After sitting and chatting for a short spell, we decided to go get materials to make s'mores! We may or may not have piled eight people into Elizabeth's four-person car..... ;) The food was enjoyed, wise-cracks were exchanged, stories were shared, and it was just a lovely time :) We even got to see Eric Z. for the first time in FOREVER! One the clock hit one o'clock or so, we took the pow-wow inside to watch Due Date. It was a pretty funny movie, I'd say. I think my favorite part though was smashing nine people on Elizabeth's couch. Mmmmmm, cozy :) Hahaha, well Kelly and I kept each other warm, at the very least! The movie didn't end until after 3, so now Kelly and I are sitting in my bed trying to wind down and get some sleep. Tomorrow officially starts in about 5 hours. Bahhhh! Goodnight!

I feel like I need to send an edible arrangement

to the people who set up the gym for Sunday service every week. Seriously, I gained a whole new respect for them today. God bless them, for real. The task itself sounds simple, but it really is a long and tiring process. I now know this because today, at the internship, four of us were asked to set up the gym. It sounds really simple. Well, we set up and arranged over 200 chairs, and that was only for the back half of the gym (since the front half was still set up). Then we elevated the stage back to its normal height since it was still in preschool production mode, took down risers, moved partitions, and relocated some trees that were on stage. Oh, and we put communication cards, brochures, and pens in place. Now, please don't think that I'm complaining right now, because that honestly is not my intention. Rather, I'm glad we got to experience that. I got to third service every week, and I never once stopped to think about what it takes to prepare for it. I have a whole new appreciation for those people! Fo sho.

After I got home from the internship and chilled out for a while, I got dinner with mom and Jenn before going to run some errands. Well, the first pitstop was to put gas in Jenn's car. Okay, I don't know if I ever mentioned that (as of recent) my little sister's car likes to not start whenever you turn it off for a shrt period of time and then try to turn it back on. Well, generally if you wait 10-15 it will start.... Not this time. No, we waited over 20 minutes, and the thing was not budging. And it's not the battery because 1) it's brand new and 2) jumper cables did nothing to help. Luckily, Kelly was willing to pick me and my sister up and take us to out house. For that I was so thankful! I was worried that I was going to miss my date time with her tonight! Yes, Kelly and I enjoyed some gelato before going to see Water for Elephants, which was SUCH A GOOD MOVIE! Heartbreaking moments? Check. Suspense? Check. Romance? Check. Superb Acting? Check. Amazing plot? Check! If you haven't seen it already, you totally should :) I'm so happy I got to spend the evening/night with my dear Kelly; I have missed her so!

And this is a shift in topic altogether, but I really wanted to share it with you. For devotions this morning, Ashlyn mentioned God's jealousy for us. I realize this concept had become all too cliche for any one of us who goes to a church that plays "How He Loves," because if your church is anything like mine, it is played A LOT! (And believe me, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I love that song!) But I've been singing that song for a while now and even though I understood that verse, I never really got it. You know what I mean? I knew what it didn't mean (having heard Oprah talk about her "revelation" that God was jealous of her), but understanding exactly what God's jealousy looks like never really hit me. Well, today Ashlyn put it in a perspective that was just one of those "BAM!" moments. Have you ever gotten jealous because maybe one of your close friends started to spend more time with a new friend than they do with you? Have you ever been filled with jealousy because you can't spend time with someone, but someone else gets to? Umm, I know I have! Often, actually. That sort of jealousy eats me alive sometimes, to the point where I almost get borderline angry. Well, that's just a human-version of how God feels. Every day we consume ourselves in work, school, friends, facebook, television, texting, twitter, etc., and we often neglect spending one-on-one time with God because we're doing something else. I know I am so guilty of this, and honestly, it's hurting my relationship with God. I can't imagine the heartache it causes Him to have His children forget/neglect/refuse to spend time with Him. His love for us runs so deep; His heart probably experiences a greater pain than we could ever know. He wants us to spend time with us! He wants our love and He wants our hearts :) Lord, I want to be able to give it all to you! I want to be that vulnerable! Of course, I will be needing Your help.

Goodnight, loves :)

My first official night as a youth leader

was so great :) I definitely feel like I am where I'm supposed to be right now! I love seeing familiar faces of lovely friends and getting to know some new faces. I love dancing like a fool with girls who don't mind doing it with me. I love taking them by the hand to help me pry a group of boys apart. I love watching them worship, and getting to worship alongside them. Seriously, seeing that room tonight during worship was so amazing and full of energy :) Yeah, I even loved having to stand up front and having hard-boiled eggs smashed on my head, haha. Hey, such is the life of a WEAG youth leader ;) As Kelly said, "Hey, I mean you kind of signed yourself up for it." Love that. Tonights talk was about sex. And even though some of the girls found it awkward, I think Nikki did a lovely job. Some may think that topics like that are sort of taboo, but hey, these things need to come up at some point or another--especially in an age where "16 and pregnant" has become a cliche and the term "sexting" has its own wikipedia page. I even got to answer a few questions from one of the girls. Needless to say, I felt more comfortable tonight than I did monday in terms of taking on the role of a "leader." I loved the experience, and I loved the fellowship :) If I have learned anything from my time at church (and this includes my entire time there since February 2009), it is that people can be truly compassionate, relational beings. I love being able to just start talking to someone without any serious awkward moments of silence or anything. I love that one little girl came up to me and just said "Hey!" I love that I talked to an older boy who I've never really talked to before and he, knowing somehow that I went to JMU, shared with me that he was going to Bridgewater next year. It's little things like that :) I can already tell that I'm going to learn so much this summer, and I hope to make myself vulnerable enough to where God can really mold me as He sees fit. I'm getting stoked :)

After youth group tonight, I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with an awesome group of people :) Sure the waiter forgot about me, brought me too many wings, charged me for the extra wings, and never gave me a refill, but hey, hakuna-matata. I had a really nice time :) And even though most of them don't know me extremely well, they treated me like a friend, and it really meant a lot to me :) We laughed a lot, and talked about each other's abnormalities. Haha :D

I got to talk to my darling Hannah tonight :) We essentially talked for 2 hours via telephone/skype. I love her, to bits and tiny pieces! I love that she never gets sick of me, and that she puts up with my somewhat defensive tendencies ;) I love the similarities between us that become more and more apparent as we become closer, and I love that I get to call her sister :) She makes me so incredibly happy :)

And in case people were wondering what I did prior to youth group (believe it or not, some people actually are interested in what I do during the day, haha!):

• Sweet Frog with Kristina :)
• We had a woman come up to us and basically ask how we were able to eat ice cream and still be thin. Hahahaha! Long story short, I informed her that it was actually fat-free frozen yogurt. Haha.
• Got the car inspected.
• I actually need two new tires and the rear-engine mount looked at. Womp!
• Cleaned the rabbit cage.
• Dinner at dad's.
• I had to eat it in ten minutes... I'm a profession scarfer.

Goodnight loves! See ya tomorrow!

Look what I found on a Chick-fil-a website!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YESSSSSSSSSS :D

National Cow Appreciation Day 2009! Good times :)

The internship started today!

And although I am a little intimidated by some of the rules and whatnot, I am pretty darn stoked :) I've already done my assigned reading, and my verses for this week are all memorized! Now let's just hope I don't get all nervous when someone asks me to recite them and end up forgetting everything. That would be rough; I'm not trying to have my [already tiny] paycheck docked. But yes, after going over the syllabus and getting our ID pictures taken, we went to the funeral in the sanctuary. The service was really very nice. No, I did not know the man who passed, but I know one of his granddaughters (she basically runs the youth department). Everything that was said was just so positive and uplifting. I hope that my funeral has that sort of feel to it; it's a nice change from the more depressed-mourning funerals I've been to. I liked that this service was more-so celebrating the life he had on earth, and rejoicing in the fact that he was now living eternal life with Jesus. I don't know how else to say it; it was nice.

After leaving church, Kathryn and I had a lunch date at Noodles and Company :) As we enjoyed our Pad Thai, we talked about how excited we were to be working with the youth and how especially stoked we are for choir tour! (Of course, there was some reminiscing on our youth group/choir days as well!) We were there for quite some time! Partially because we love to talk, and partially because of the monstrous downpour that was occurring outside. Either way, I really enjoyed that :) Bahhh! We're going to be spending so much time together this summer! So great :)

My dinner date this evening was with my darling Stephanie :) I introduced her to real quality sushi, and I am happy to say that she likes it! I am so glad, too; haha. I always feel bad when I go to a restaurant with someone (particularly a sushi place) and they hate the food, because then they're just kind of stuck, you know? But no worries, she gave it a thumbs up! They also gave us 4 free pieces of the sweet potato roll as a sort of appetizer. Ummm, SO GOOD! I may have to order it next time, just saying. But aside from the food, I was so incredibly happy that I got to hang out with Stephanie! Going from seeing her every day to barely seeing her once a week is so rough! I'm just thankful that she lives so close!

What also made me happy was that Steph came to 1822 with me tonight! By the way, 1822 was awesome tonight! It was a worship night, and I loved the music set, the prayer time, and just the message in general about not making yourself carry your burdens alone. And by lifting up your burdens, you are allowing God to pour into you by reaching out to Him. It was good, really good. I'm also happy that I got see and introduce Stephanie to a bunch of people whom I love dearly :) Even if people were climbing one another, pretending to kiss each other, and mauling people with hugs-from-behind, I think she liked everyone (or as much as you can like a person after only having a first impression), haha! She may even want to come back! That makes me happy, too :) The more Steph-squared time I can put in my life, the better!

As for the rest of my evening, I spent it at Elizabeth's house with a rather large group of people :) This summer really is like last summer; we're all just one year older! It's so great :) Daniel and I made a McDonald's run. We watched what is probably the worst quality zombie movie ever made (thank you, Fearnet... this is why we watch you). We gave a 13 year old girl (who was a stranger) life advice over video-chatting, and toward the end we decided to watch Old School. Throw in lots of joke-cracking and dry sarcasm, and you have our night in a nutshell! Haha :) I love it!

Well, I rolled in the house about an hour ago (aka 2 AM-ish), and I think I am now ready to call it a night. I woke up at 7 this morning, so I'm pretty excited to sleep until noon tomorrow; haha! Goodnight darlings :) Sleep well!

Sweet Frog and Selena Gomez

Today, I got to hang out with someone that I have not seen or talked to in months. I was able to get froyo with my dearest Lindsay, and it made my heart so happy :) I had missed her a great deal while I was away at school, so I am very glad that we were able to get together :)

After our Sweet Frog endeavor, I went to the bank and did some grocery shopping. I now have nutella and almond butter at my house :) YUM! (Thank you, Heather, for introducing me to almond butter!) I was basically stocking up of things for breakfast and lunch on the days that I have the internship. I am pretty stoked for my ham, cheese, and red-pepper hummus panini-style sandwiches! Mmmmm! Haha, I feel like I shouldn't be this excited over food, but oh well :)

I visited my neighbor, Sam, today! I can't believe she's going to be done with her culinary program in December! Hopefully she'll get the externship she interviewed for, and after she completes the program she'll be legit job hunting! That's so crazy to me. And to think, I have at least another 4 years of school.... Oh dear. Haha!

It was leftovers night at padre's. We actually ate at a very decent hour, and we had plenty of time to just sit and talk before I had to leave. I like dinner table chats with my dad; they are never really dull or anything. We always keep it at lest somewhat interesting. And since we're both talkers, it's rare that we have any weird gaps, which is good :) We may not always see eye-to-eye, but I do love my padre :)

I attended the middle school social tonight :) It was rather fun, and complete with bubbles, chalk, croquet, hop-scotch, and other various games. It's weird for me to picture myself in a legit "youth leader" position, probably because I'm mildly intimidated by others who have been leaders for a while. But hopefully, in due time, I won't feel that way anymore. Even still, I had a good time :) I drove my little Juliana there and back, and my goodness do I love that girl :) We may or may not have jammed out to Selena Gomez, sang Rascal Flatts songs, head-bobbed to rap songs, beat-boxed, finger-danced, and tried to get people in neighboring cars to wave back at us.... (Well, the last part was Juliana, but yeah.) Haha! So great, so great :)

Tomorrow marks day one of the internship, and we will be attending a funeral. It's not that I mind. However, I do wish I had known the man at least a little bit. Funerals are always sad, and I hope it isn't awkward since I'll essentially be a stranger. Well, I guess we shall see. Goodnight, loves!

It's not about the money.

This is something I feel like I have to constantly defend myself with, especially with my parents. It's not so much the little things like fighting over meal checks (although I suppose it can apply there, too). It's more like, for example, wednesday when I was talking to my dad about the internship at church. He had asked me how much it paid, and I told him it wasn't a lot. And even though I had already told him how excited I was to be working with youth and to be working at church, he responded with, "Well that's not good." I told him the same thing I said in the title of this post. It's not about the money. He still seemed like he didn't much approve of my decision (or rather, he felt as though I could have done something better), so I told him about other opportunities I have/may be given for this summer that I can do to make extra money. However, I think he misunderstood me and thought I would do those things instead of the internship. Tonight, he asked me if I had given more consideration to teaching dance at the arts camps this summer at church. Umm, NO! I already told him that wasn't happening. (And those of you who have taught dance there before, you understand the caps.) His reason for asking? The payment. I am not doing this internship for financial reasons. I want to be a youth leader, and I want to be to these kids what my youth leaders were to me. Because honestly, they got me through some of my roughest patches (especially senior year), and their encouragement and advice kept me stable. I want to be there for them and be someone they can talk to. I really want to build relationships with them. So, sorry that I won't be raking in the green this summer; I don't go to bed at night dwelling on my bank statements. No, I fall asleep thanking God for the people in my life that He has blessed me with, and giving thanks for the opportunities He's given me. In the end, money doesn't hold much value--at least not for me.

On a lighter note. I had a lovely time at church this morning, and lunch this afternoon! I was rather productive in gift finding! I made four dates for this week! And I talked to Hannah for two hours on Skype! Thus, I am going to bed a happy girl :) Goodnight all! Lub lub!

P.S.- I really like this song. Thank you, Hannah, for giving it to me :)

Miracles DO happen!

No matter how small :) This makes me so happy! Eeeep :)

(I can't resist including this song on here..... Haha!)

"Can you believe this song is going to be 'oldies' one day?"

Hahahaha! **Insert Katy Perry's "ET" here.** (No but seriously, that's weird to think about.)

If I'm being honest here, I've been awake for only about 11 hours now. I know, crazy right? I cannot believe I slept that late, but it is what it is I suppose. Today was a lazy one, to say the least. I laid around on the sofa watching TV with Jenn, and we only left to get a late lunch and some dinner (both of which were quick grabs that we brought back to the house). Thankfully, though, I got to spend the evening with some awesome friends :) Chandler picked me up and we went to the Byrd to see Hall Pass with Kathryn, Kim, Elsbeth, Matt, Julie, Destry, Michael, J. Blair, and David :) Fun times! Chandler, Michael, Elsbeth, and I even ran into Christian while he was on duty! Haha, he hopped out of the police car to give us all hugs and say hi. I thought that was pretty cool :) We all tried going to McDonald's afterwards, but it was closed. So here I am at my casa, about to call it a night :) I got my first e-mail about the internship today, and I think now might actually be a good time to start writing down those memory verses.... Haha, and so it begins!

Well loves, I hope you all were able to have a restful day :) If not, then I hope it was productive! Sweet dreams!

Ahh, what the heck! I need to just include this music video on here! :)

Beautiful things :)

The more I live my life, the more I realize just how beautiful people are :) Seriously, the friends that God has placed in my life continue to amaze me on a day to day basis. Each of them is so incredibly wonderful :) If ever there was a reminder as to how glorious our Father is (and believe me, there are plenty!), my relationships with friends would definitely be one of them :) I'm sure I've said it before, but they are truly my biggest blessing :) I love you all!

I visited my CFA dance class today, and I was immediately greeted with hugs and smiles :) The girls were working on their senior pieces, and they are looking wonderful! Every now and then, one of them would come and chat with me. It was so nice to hear about their college plans and to see how their life was going :) Some of them are bound for very big things, and it's amazing to see how confident and excited they are about it. Ahh, it just makes me so happy for them!

I got to see the dance production at my church tonight :) Where to even begin... First of all, the beauty that radiates from my loves as they dance almost makes me cry! Each of them is just so lovely, and they are using their gift to give praise back to the Lord! I love watching my friends dance; I could watch them all day if I could :) I feel like a proud mom. I know I said that earlier, but it's so true! I wish I could express to you how incredibly proud I am of my friends, but there are some situations where words are not sufficient. The production was wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed it :)

And there are always the little things, you know? I got to catch up with a boy today who I haven't talked to much since senior year homecoming. There wasn't any real tension or awkwardness, and he seems to be doing very well for himself. He's sweet :) I had a sushi date with Elizabeth tonight. My precious love, she is so good to me :) She picked me up and surprised me with a new rendez-vous location for my birthday! I do love her :) After the production, I went out to ice cream with my loves Kelly and Heather :) Laughing to tears and just talking about anything, I love it :) Spending the remainder of my night at Elizabeth's watching Tosh.0 while playing with Elsbeth's hair and just relaxing (with Daniel, Kathryn, Whitney, Destry, and Rachel, as well).... It's little moments that may be viewed as seemingly insignificant that can bring you the most joy. I know for me, just being with my friends puts me a state of true bliss :) I love my friends; I love my life :) Praise God! For all of it :)

Blogger lives!!!

PRAISE!!!!

Last night I had all these things that I wanted to write about, and now most of them are out the window :( However, I will give you all a run-down (or more of a run-through, i suppose). After waking up at Elizabeth's casa, Kim, Eric, and I left to go to our respective houses and get prepared for the day. Kim, Elizabeth, and myself rode down to Belle Isle :) River day! (And yes, we were aware of the lack of sun...) We met up with Maegan (our friend we made at Waffle House! I'm sure you recall me mentioning her a few times.), and she brought her dog, Phoenix! He was cute :)

{Oh yes, and so was Kim :) Teehee!}

So yeah, we basically just hung out on the rocks all afternoon. Eric and his friend Stewart joined us a little later on. Well, I have some very weak tan lines, and I thoroughly enjoyed the endeavor :) After coming home, I changed clothing before grabbing dinner for my mother and I. Once that was all finished, I made a run through the Starbucks drive-thru and spent the evening at church with all of the lovely ladies in the dance production :) I love hanging out with them, and I can't wait to see the full show tonight! I have such talented little loves :) I feel like a "proud mom," haha. (I felt like my sister, Lauren when I said that!) But yes, the rest of my night was spent IMing Rafael, skyping Nicole, and fb chatting Stephanie and Hannah :)

Okay, I'll stop the tangent now. Lve you all!

Bug invasion and lemon overflow.

Today was gooooood :)

I woke up this morning around 9:30 so that 1) I wouldn't be a mega-bum at Heather's house and 2) because I was anticipating my semester grades. Well, I only have 4 out of my 5 grades back (UGH WORLD RELIGIONS!!!), but so far I have two A's and two A-'s, which isn't too shabby I suppose! So yeah, once I finally pulled myself together, I joined Heather downstairs where I enjoyed a lovely breakfast and we both had a spot of tea :) Yeah, from there we just hung out a bit until about 12:30 or 1. After my departure, I returned Tangled to Red Box and did some relaxing around the house until it was time to pick my mom up, drop her off to retrieve her car, and then head over to padre's. He, Candice, and myself enjoyed a lovely dinner that was followed up with Carvel birthday cake :) Yummm! That was nice, that was. From there, I went to watch Carlton's base ball game with Elizabeth (yay, reunion!), Kim, Julie, and Destry! Aside from the crazy amount of bugs that were swarming everywhere, it was fun! Ahhh, we embarrassed Carlton so much, haha! I mean, we're just very enthusiastic fans...... Teehee :D Then it was off to Elizabeth's! Eric, Elsbeth, and Kathryn came by as well. Eventually, we (Elizabeth, Eric, Kim, and myself) ended up at Waffle House :) Maegan was so excited to see us! She hugged me and proceeded to carry my almost through the door that led behind the counter, haha! Speaking of Maegan(!!), we're hanging out with her tomorrow at Belle Isle! Woop woop! It's going to be great :) But yes, we had a lovely time at Waffle House. I love that Maegan essentially knows our usual orders, and she never fails to hook me up with lemons for my tea...

{The half-lighting effect is because Kim's flash went off while I was taking this... Crazy!}

Bahhh :D And now, we're all just kind of chillen at Elizabeth's. It really is summer :) Also, GUESS WHAT?!?! I officially got the Family Life summer internship at church!!!! YAYYY! I got the official email tonight, so that was exciting :D Kathryn and I are going to be spending lots of time together this summer, and I am so stoked! Eeeeep, eeeep, eeeep! So yeah, this news brought me great joy :) I'm so stoked to be a youth leader! Bahhhhh :D

On another, very random, note, I want these letters....

{Yes, that is zebra and purple sequins:) }

Wahh! Let me stumble on a pile of money! Haha.

Goodnight loves!

Fondu night with my Heavs :)

Last night was lovely :) Heather, as always, out-did herself :) We enjoyed some absolutely delicious cheese fondu, with brocollini, potatoes, sweet potatoes, granny smith apples, and gluten-free bread to dip in it :) Once we finished all of that, we watched Tangled! That movie is so cute :) I've seen it three times, and it was just as good as the first time! I love it :)

Bahhh :D After the featured presentation, is was time for the chocolate fondu!!! Let's just talk about this for a second. First of all, heather made homemade nutella for this. Yes, we had chocolate hazelnut fondu. Umm, YUMMMM! Haha, it was so good! And for that, we had strawberries, blueberries, gluten-free pretzels, and pears to dip in it! It was all good. Of course, there was quite a bit left over, but neither of us were shocked, haha. Next time, we're totes half-ing the recipe. At any rate, last night was so great! I love my Heather :) Thank you, lovely, for the night of birthday festivities! I LOVE YOU!!!

I had truly missed my Fizzle Gizzle dates

with my darling Nikki :) We got lunch today, and it was lovely :) I do love her, SO MUCH!

From there, I went to the bank to make a deposit, and shortly after decided to take a nap. By the time I woke up, it was time to head over to padre's for dinner. It was just the two of us, so we had a lot of grilled shrimp to eat. I won't mention how many were consumed, it's mildly embarrassing, haha. At any rate, I left there to go home and change out of my shorts (too chilly!). I ended up taking Jenn to go get some dinner before driving over to Kathryn's house! It was so nice to see her! Not only that, but tonight's hangout was legitimately reminiscent of last summer :) It was a group of nine of us watching a movie and just talking, making jokes, going down memory lane, and things of that nature :) I love being home with my friends :) I can't wait until Elizabeth comes home! Than everything will be complete! Eeeep :) I was thinking today about how blessed I am to have such a large network of friends that I'm so close to. Not everyone has that, and I really shouldn't take it for granted. I really am fortunate, and I am so thankful :) Thank you, God, for surrounding me with so much love :) Bahh! I love my friends :) Do I sound like a broken record? Haha. I know I say that a lot... I apologize for the redundancy :)

In other news, I had an epiphany while I was in the shower, and I found my SAO sunglasses! Please understand, I have been looking for them ever since I came home on thursday. Thus, this was a big accomplishment for me, haha.

Anyways, I love you all! Goodnight :)

I will always love Disney :)

I said the other night that I had watched Lemonade Mouth and legitimately enjoyed it. Well, this is one of those catchy songs that I may or may not be putting on my iPod :)

Don't judge :D

Oh, and I like this one too..... :)

My 19th Birthday

was lovely :) And for lots of little reasons :)

• Church, and all the love it encompasses :)
• The too-kind nature of my best friend :)
• Getting lunch with my good friend, Justin :)
• The 150+ wall posts I received :)
• Lots of sweet texts/voicemails/phone calls :)
• Even my darling Brandi, who was driving across he country, called me :) It made my heart oh so very happy :D
• Grabbing Stizz for some loves :)
• Relaxing and laughing hysterically at dance rehearsal at church :)
• Loved spending time with Heather, Nikki, Kelly, Annemarie, Juliana, Brenna, and everyone :D
• Birthday cards from the fam! Gotta love 'em :)

So yeah, that was basically my day in a nut shell! It was a pretty chill day! Nothing too crazy or exhausting (for me anyway). Now, I realize today was also Mother's Day. Believe me, I didn't forget. However, I always lack some enthusiasm on Mother's Day, and it's because I hold some resentment towards my madre due to several upsets in the past. I'm trying to get rid of that bitterness, and I've asked God to help me do just that. I'm not sure if I'll ever have that relationship with my mom that I want, but I'd like to try (or rather, I'm asking God to help me want to try, if that makes sense). At any rate, today made me think not just about my own mom, but more-so all of the incredible mothers of some of my closest friends that I love so incredibly much! I wish I had given them a token of my appreciation today, because they more than deserve it for their loving kindness towards me. I had one of said mothers tell me today that she counted me like a daughter, and I could of cried. I can't tell you on here how loved I felt right there. Ahh! I adore my friends' moms! More than they will ever know. Next year, I will be much more proactive and plan ahead! They will get tangible representations of how much I love and appreciate them, even if it's just something small :)

Thank you, everyone, for making today a good one :) I love you all! Goodnight :)

P.S.- This is the necklace Heather gave me as part of my present :) I adore it! Isn't it cute?!

Guambies :P

Today was lovely :) A rather large dose of it, really! After waking up and pulling myself together, Hannah, Stephanie, and I went to Bottoms Up for some lunch! It was quite delicious. For those of you who know me, you know that I never let anyone pay. Well, sneaky little Stephanie decided to snatch the bill away from me and then tell our waitress it was my birthday so that she wouldn't let me pay! Grrr. My little Stephanie is too sweet. And even though I did NOT appreciate the scheme at the time, I was nonetheless thankful. (Love you Steph!!!) After lunch, the three of us took a little stroll down the Canal Walk, all the while taking pictures with Hannah's camera (of course). I loved that :) On the way back we tried to avoid 95 traffic, and I mildly freaked out because I didn't know where we were. But it's okay, everything worked out! Haha. Stephanie left upon returning to my casa, and Hannah left soon after. I was sad to see them go, but I am so happy I got to spend time with them this weekend :) After taking a nap, Jennifer and I watched The Voice and Lemonade Mouth (a Disney Channel Original Movie). I love both, let me just say. First of all, I love Christina Aguilera, so The Voice was kind of a given. And as for Lemonade Head, I am NOT too old to love the Disney Channel or the cheesy things that are played on it. I love Disney, and I always will :) My evening was spent with Kelly and Elsbeth! We watched a humorous SciFi television show where this group was in search of zombies from Guam (Gaumbies!), and then we watch Tangled! That is SUCH a cute movie! I love it! And now, I am about to go to bed. and I am going to bed a very happy girl. It is officially my birthday, and these texts and wall posts are making me feel extremely loved :) I LOVE MY FRIENDS!

Goodnight all :)

People are HATING

on Lady Gaga......

One Youtube-er said:

"Lady Gaga is an evil unholy demonic corrupt wicked puppet of Satan...dont let her brainwash you with thinking evil is good and good is evil...shes leading souls to hell, avoid her at all costs, youve been warned."

What?! Personally, and you don't have to agree with me, I think Lady Gaga is still a Christian. I don't know if she still deems herself a Catholic (like she was raised), but I don't think she's a satan worshiper! I am prone agree with this other Youtube-er who said (in response to the above comment):

"How could you say shes a puppet of Satan? Lady Gaga was raised a Roman Catholic. She wants a world of no prejudice and judgement. She believes everyone is beautiful... God loves all his children. He may not agree with people who may be gay but he still loves them for who they are and he would never turn against them. Like Lady Gaga says 'God makes no mistakes' So before you try to tell people to avoid her you should research your and look into what shes trying to tell people. Lady Gaga isn't telling people to be 'gay' or to be a 'lesbian' shes saying if you are, you were born this way, God makes no mistakes. He loves you for who you are. If there weren't so many people bashing and judging people for their sexual orientation there wouldn't be as much hate in this world."

No doubt, though, she is pushing the norms/people's comfort levels.

Swings and things :)

Soooooo Hannah got here today around 1:30 :) After giving her a tour of my casa, we went through the Starbucks drive-thru and set out to find a swing-set. It turns out that Echo Lake Park doesn't have any swings, so we ended up at Duncroft. Twas fun :) Yes, Hannah went into paparazzi mode and was stalking me with her camera. But hey, what else is new? We were at the park for a while before meeting up with my darling Heather at Sweet Frog! I love her :) And I love that her, Hannah, and I got to get froyo together :) It wasn't long, though before Hannah and I had to grab some dinner so that she could make it to her DR training. We went to Red Robin, and it was delicious :) Also, our waiter was super friendly and enthusiastic.... Haha. We'll just leave it at that :) After dinner I went to a concert at Stephanie's church, and it was quite enjoyable :) The music was lovely, and I of course loved getting to see the other half of my Steph-squared :) I love her :) So yeah, since then all I've really done is shower, drink green tea with mango, and watch ninja warrior :) Hannah was able to find her way back to my house (after going the wrong way down Broad.... but anywhoo), so that was good :) And now, since Hannah has to be up early, we are going to sleep. Goodnight my loves! Sleep tight :)

P.S.- I have less than 24 hours left of being 18! Weird.

Tomorrow!

HANNAH IS COMING!!!

Eeeep! I'm so excited! It's kind of like an early birthday present, in my book :)

I have nothing really to say about what I did today, considering I didn't leave my bed until about 3:30. No, I did not sleep that late. I just woke up to realize it was my "bad day," and the only way for me to feel better is Motrin and a nap. Thus, I went back to sleep. Haha. I went out to dinner with Jenn and my mom. We ate Mexican, of course, in honor of Cinco de Mayo. Fun stuff. At any rate, I think I'm going to get ready for bed. I didn't even realize it was almost 12:30! Sheesh, time flies when you're doing nothing! Haha. Speaking of which, I can't wait for everyone to be home from school so that every night will have some sort of hangout or crazy shenanigan :) We always find some way to be crazy :)

Goodnight everyone :)

Lord,

There are things I miss, things I miss more than I can say. Looking back, I just want to be in that place again, with that feeling and that overwhelming joy--doing what I love with people I love, and doing it in Your name. Can I get a replay button, please?

I'm not a freshman anymore.

No matter how many times I tell myself, I still can't fully wrap my head around it! It doesn't feel like summer to me, not yet anyways. And even though I'm home I don't feel like I'm going to be here for 3 months. Why does that seem like such a long time? Haha. I mean, in the grand scheme of things it's not, but still...

But anyways, my final this morning went really well (at least I think so)! Hopefully I'll be able to get an A on and finish the semester out strong. Fingers crossed! But anyways, the rest of my day was basically spent packing and whatnot. Hannah and Brandi came by to see me, which I loved. But I cannot believe that Brandi is going to be on the other side of the country from me for three whole months :( I won't lie, I cried saying bye to her today. I just cannot handle separation, not well anyways. That is going to be the hardest part about summer, is being away from so many people that I have come to love so dearly-- specifically my sisters...

No more late nights in Carrier, no weekly lunch dates, no quad days... at least not for a while. It just seems so strange right now, because it's become so routine to me as of recent. My status on facebook earlier said that leaving JMU was bittersweet, and can I just say how happy I am that I can say that? I have people both at home and school that I truly and dearly love with all of my heart. And even though I'll always feel sad as a result of separation from one of those groups of friends, I always have someone to come back to :) Seriously, I was worried after first semester that I wouldn't find that close group of friends at school that I wanted so badly. Now I have that, and it means more than I can adequately express :) I love you sisters!!!

I must say, my summer is off to a pretty lovely start. Even though I came home to an empty house, I was able to unpack some things and get somewhat settled in. Then, after being in Richmond for only about an hour, I drove over to church to see everyone after youth group :) So many amazing friends, several epic attack hugs, and just so much love :) I must say though, greatest hug awards go to Kaitlyn, Juliana, and Heather, all of whom ran to me and jumped into my arms :)  Haha, both Kaitlyn and Juliana even let out a little squeal/yell. I do love my middle school friends :) Once I got back to the house, I spent a decent amount of time just sitting at the kitchen table talking to Jennifer about life. We are definitely getting closer int his stage of our life, and it makes me really happy.

My litter sister is so funny, and I love her tremendously :) I'm also SO proud of her [in general, but also] because she's eligible for NHS! She submitted her application last week, and hopefully she'll find out the decision soon! Shoot, she's a smart cookie. They better let her in! Haha. No but seriously.....

Teehee :) Well loves, I will end my tangent there. I'm still running on that 30 minutes of sleep I got this morning, so I'm ready for beds. Mark my words, I will be asleep until at least 12. This is going to be glorious :) Goodnight loves!

Carrier after-hours:

Where Stephanies never sleep and insanity levels are at their peak...

 I want to hug the boys that stuck this to the wall.

However, I now look like this:

No sleep whatsoever (unless you count the 30 minute cat-nap I just took), and I have a final in less than 2 hours.... This is a most unfortunate scenario.

Dear health final,

Please go die in a hole. Okay, maybe that sounds a bit dramatic. But seriously, I have no desire to take an exam covering addictions, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, heart disease, cancer, infectious diseases, and STIs. All of this terminology.... Ugh. I wanted to be out of Carrier by 12; it is now 2:36. FAIL. Oh well, please be praying that all goes well for me tomorrow!

Spending all night in the library with Hannah and Courtney.

Literally, I will be here until my exam at 8 AM....

 (Some very kind individuals were giving people candy.)

Bring it on, Carrier!