Great Escape

Last week, I went to camp with a group of 22 middle school students. The Great Escape we were going to was located in Mississippi, so we had a seven hour car ride to get there. On the way to Mississippi, we made a pit stop in Talladega. We took a little tour around the track, I got to show all the kids how redneck Alabama is.
We did lots of fun things at camp. We swam in the lake, did a ropes course, rode some horses, and learned a lot about God.
I love these kids so much. Before I started my internship, I wondered how I could EVER form a close relationship with them over the course of a single summer. But now? I miss them SO SO much. I learned so much about ministry and building relationships, and about myself this summer. It’s crazy when I look back on the last ten weeks. Absolutely crazy. But, it was so much fun. I learned so many new things (Like seriously, would you ever have thought that THIS GIRL would go down THIS WATERSLIDE? I didn’t think so.)
These students made my summer amazing. They made me laugh so much. I never thought I’d be yelling at middle school girls to make sure to put their pants on before they walked out of the cabin. I never thought I’d be telling them how it wasn’t really the smartest idea to act out that scene from Titanic on a canoe. Middle School girls aren’t always the best at using their brains and that thing called common sense. But, that’s why I love them so much! :)
 
In other unrelated to camp news, I am HOME (meaning Alabama)! This means that some more consistent blogging may be headed your way soon (please note the MAY. I’m apparently awful at blogging this summer). I’m also trying to get caught up on a summer’s worth of blog posts in my Google Reader and get all unpacked from my summer adventure. But, no worries. All will be back to normal soon (I sure hope. School is starting SOON!) and I’m sure I’ll have lots of new Alabama adventures to blog about. I’m rethinking the direction of this blog, what I want it to be, what the purpose is and all of that fun stuff…so look out for changes! They’re on the way! Yay! :)

Turning 22

Last weekend was the start of my birthday festivities. On Friday, my family came into town to visit. It was so much fun to spend that time with them and show off my “new little town” to them. I mean, I really love Roswell. It has so many neat little things in it. I mean, there’s a Super Target. How much cooler do you get than that??!

Friday we went to a little place called Your Pie for lunch. It’s a neat little place where you get to create your own pizza. Then, we went and checked in to our hotel and spent some time at the mall before we ate dinner (and had desert at Cheesecake Factory)!

Saturday, we got up (nice and early) and went on an adventure to a small and not really known town called Doraville. It kind of made me think of Dora the Explorer, except it had more of a Korean presence than Hispanic. :) Daddy and Max just got their ham radio licenses and there is a Ham Radio Outlet in Doraville. Mom, Desi, and I kind of felt like we were in nerd world. After we finished shopping at nerd world, we went over to the mall in Buckhead and did a little window shopping. Then, we drove back to Roswell and grabbed some lunch at Chipotle (my favorite!) and hit up some thrift stores. It’s quite possible that I converted my youngest brother to a thrifter. He kind of liked the cheap Nike tennis shoe thing. Saturday night, we went to Chickfila for dinner and then we had some cupcakes that we picked up earlier that day to celebrate. Yay for cupcakes (even though I had to pretend to blow an invisible candle out)!

Sunday morning, my family got to join me at RPC for Sunday morning church!! I was so happy that they would get to experience worship with me and see how these Presbyterians do worship. I also got to introduce them to all of my girls and the people that I work with. It was really fun. For lunch, we went to a place called Roux on Canton Street. I had fried chicken and it was really yummy.

I was really kind of bummed about them leaving on Sunday, because my birthday was Monday. I was kind of disappointed about being “all alone” for my birthday. But, I have to say that twenty-two may have been my favorite birthday EVER! All of the people that I work with did so much to make my special day “special”! When I got to the office, I had a birthday balloon waiting for me at my desk.

My parents sent me some pretty pink and purple flowers, and Sally even got me some highlighters. I think she knows me too well. :)

For lunch, we went to Party Chic on Canton street. It’s a cute little girly place downtown. I had a yummy piece of quiche and a cupcake for desert. (Their cupcakes are the BEST. I had an Oreo one and it was SO GOOD). After lunch, we went bowling with a group of Middle School students. It was so much fun (even though I’m not really good at bowling) spending time with the students. Two of the girls even brought me cupcakes and a card. I’m telling you, these students already know me too well. :)

So, all in all, twenty-two didn’t turn out too shabby. I don’t really feel any different though. I mean, there’s nothing special about twenty-two. I just feel really OLD now (especially when the students that I work with were born when I was in 5th grade!). But all in all- I think this year is going to be a good one. :)

Chattanooga

Okay. Chattanooga recap. I decided that the best way to tell the story of the week would be to share lots and lots of pictures.

I have the best air mattress ever. Ever. It's super small (fits inside that tube) and the "holder" forms a hand air pump. Since it's so small, it's not too hard. :)

I was in the Gray group with another leader from our church, four kids from RPC, and a few more from the other churches that were there. We were "yard crew", which meant we mowed grass, used weedwackers, and trimmed bushes. The widow in the picture below warned me that the end of the world was coming and told me to remember to vote Republican in November when I went inside to use her bathroom. It made me laugh. :)

I think we mowed 10 lawns total. We also did some other stuff at two other houses (like with trees and vines and stuff).

Picture proof since I know that the thought of me mowing grass is hard to imagine. 

On Friday, we worked for half of the day and then we went to Ruby Falls. It was a ton cooler inside the cave than outside.

So yeah. That was Chattanooga. :)

4th of July

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. Granted, right after I wrote my last post, I left for a week in Chattanooga with a group of middle school students. We got back last Saturday (post coming soon on the trip!) and I've been playing catch up all week, PLUS I've had since Wednesday off. Lots of random Target trips...and no blogging. Promise I will try and change this, but life is so busy right now. I can't believe that I only have three weeks left! That is crazy.

But, on to the purpose of this post- fourth of July was this past Wednesday. I was kind of missing my family, because we always go to the lake in the 4th with some friends- and that wasn't happening this year. But, I was determined to make the best of the situation, and it turned out pretty good. I went with the family that I am living with this summer to see the fireworks. We "picnicked" (aka tailgated) on a hill near the Publix parking lot ( you know you are in the South when...). For those of you that know me, you know this was a huge deal. One of my biggest fears is fireworks (weird, I know). But, I decided I just needed to confront that fear head on and do it. They weren't my favorite thing, but it wasn't too horrible. I even did some sparklers (once again, if you know me, this is was a huge deal).



One thing I've realized this summer is that fear really causes us not to live life to the fullest. I want to live- truly live- and to do this means facing irrational fears sometimes and learning that the "bad things" really aren't so bad after all. :)