So maybe...

I should post again! :) It's been awhile.

Where to start? My days have been crazy and as I guessed, the blog has been put on the back burner. Sorry, y'all!

Two weekends ago I went home for the first time in a long time! It was great to get to sleep in my own bed again! I mixed up a bunch 

of cookie dough to freeze and bring back to the sorority house my sisters loved that! We pretty much revolve around cookies. There's a batch baked at least once a day. And there's always raw cookie dough being eaten. Unhealthy, I know. but OH so good! One day, my friend Leslie and I went on a photo shoot at the local park. We had an absolute blast and got some really crazy pictures!

 I got to go to church at my home church. Which was nice, but really weird! I'm so used to the wonderful church I'm going to up here. I thought they were very similar, but in fact their very different!

I came back for 3 days of classes and then headed back home! I basically just chilled at home. Saturday morning I headed up to GT to hang out with Leslie and attend my first ever college football game! It was quite the experience. I'm a UGA fan, so being in enemy territory was very interesting to say the least! Experiencing life on a big campus and actually living the differences of small college life/big college life was really cool but bordering on culture shock! We had fun none the less. Did the whole nine-yards. Ya know, climb down the alcohol covered bleachers in a mass of people to rush the field. Stand in a sea of even more people just because and to watch the crazy frat boys tear down the goal post. It took them a good 20 minutes, btw. Somebody yelled out "THOSE ENGINEERS!!" 

My best friend, Lauren, was in town this week! Her schools fall break was this week so she flew down from up north. I didn't think I was going to get to see her, but she worked it out and drove up to see me yesterday!! I was able to show her around our itty bitty campus and we hung out for a few hours. It was soo nice to see her! It's been hard not having her just a few miles away! :( 

This past week went by really really fast. It was pretty rough though. I've been smacked in the face by the real world a lot recently and it's really starting to wear me down. But I know this is where I'm supposed to be and I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. So I'm hanging tight and continuing to listen for guidance from my Heavenly Daddy.

Next week is going to be super crazy, too! Initiation starts tomorrow night! Yikes! I'm really excited though! I can't wait to be officially part of the first. finest. forever. I LOVE it!!! On the topic of greek life.. this week was greek week! During greek week we have all kinds of contests to earn points. The sorority with the most points at the end wins! We had a banner competition, sidewalk chalk competition, powderpuff football, trivia night, toga night, and a talent competition! Here are a few pictures: 

for Toga night we all dressed up like we were in a wedding! We won most creative :) We had another sister dress up like an "expecting toga lady". It was hysterical. She won craziest toga.

this was our banner. The lady is supposed to be our director of greek life, Debbie 

Here's our powderpuff team! We tied our first game, so in order to make it fair and to keep the games going we took some of our girls and some of our opponent, Tri Delta's girls to make one team! Thus we were TriPi :P and we dominated!!

Here's some of my sisters with our chalk art! I left JUST before this picture was taken but we had a lot of fun making it! The goal was to draw something that promoted greek unity. We made one crest and combined a piece of each sororities crests to make a big one! Unfortunately we didn't win, nor did we even place. But that is a topic that must not be discussed in the house ;) We're a little bitter about this :P

Sooooo that's all for now! All of my sisters are coming back from Greek Gala now so I'm going to see how it was! I skipped out on it :) I'm not much for parties and my diamond, grand diamond and I had a diamond date instead! :D

I'll update soon! Hopefully! :)

<3 me

Procrastinating...

I've been doing quite a bit of it lately. That and eating.. I can't decide which is worse! 

Actually, I haven't been procrastinating too badly. I've been too busy to truly be procrastinating.. It's more like switching to a different assignment when I get bored or frustrated on one. 

I dropped British Literature yesterday!! SUCH a relief. That class was ridiculous and I didn't even need the credit! I should've been taking EH102, but my adviser put me in British Literature. It's a very, very tough class and I was putting sooo much into it but my grades weren't showing it and my other classes were hurting on its behalf. So I'm hoping that by dropping it I will be able to focus more on the classes that I actually need and will be able to bring those grades up!

Last Friday my Alpha class and 2 seniors and 2 sophomores went to the Ronald McDonald House! (RMH is our philanthropy) We drove down to the RMH at Egelston and served a meal for the families staying there. I've got to say that that is THE nicest RMH I've ever seen! I stayed in one a year ago when Ryan was in the hospital and it was nice but this one was arguably as nice as the Marriott! For those who don't know

, the Ronald McDonald House is a place where families can stay when their children are in the hospital undergoing intense treatments that require them to be away from home for an extended period of time. For instance there was one family there whose daughter has leukemia. They had already been there once before but were back for a second round of treatment. The next treatment on the schedule could potentially take 100 days to complete! So instead of having to pay for a 100day hotel stay they can stay at the RMH for 20 bucks a night. This includes meals! It's such a wonderful organization and you don't know how much it means until you're put in that situation. I stayed at the RMH in Chattanooga for only two nights, but in that two nights I saw people who's lives were falling apart because of their children's illness but they were able to cope because they were given a nice place to stay, warm meals and were surrounded by those going through the same thing they were. It was a therapy of sorts. Those families become your family and you grieve and rejoice together! 

Having been, sort of, in their position once it was easier to see just how grateful they were for a warm meal and a smiling face. To be able to serve those families made my heart sing and I want to go back soo badly!

Part of our philanthropy is to collect pop tops! So! If you guys would like to help us support RMH you're more than welcome to keep your pop tops in a jar or something! Just let me know if you want to help and I'm more than willing to come pick them up when you're ready to turn them in!! 

One week until Fall break!! You have nooo idea how excited I am! I finally get to go home! I've been home once in two months! And even then it was for less than 12 hours! I can't wait to sleep in my own bed and see friends! Not to mention a break from school! :)

Anywayyy just a quick update to let you all know I'm still alive!

Hope to post again soon!!

Me

I did it...

I went Greek!!

I know, I know.. I said I wasn't going to do it! "It's just not me!" But I did. I found a place where I belong and life is already different, but in a very good way. I'm pledged to Alpha Delta Pi (alphadeltapi.org), a sorority founded on Christian womanhood. The moment I stepped foot into the house I felt at home and the sisters are incredible, I feel like I've known them for years. 

There's a whole lot of detail about what went on during recruitment week- too much to share on here. But I didn't go all the way through recruitment. I dropped out a little over half way through because I wasn't ready to make a decision. My decision was well thought out and prayed over. 

                     Elvira, Alex (my PiPal) and me!

A lot of people are totally against Greek life- sororities. I was too, but Greek life on my campus is wayyy different than greek life on other campuses. Our sororities are very, very small- the maximum a house can have is 32 people. That's smaller than a PLEDGE class at Georgia Tech (I know this because a friend went greek there). Greek life is part of the tradition on our campus. It's not something we take lightly.

Needless to say I will be extremely busy from now on! I will try to post when I can but it probably won't happen often! Between homework, class, sorority stuff, "me" time, and I'm on overload! But I wouldn't trade it for anything and I'm actually thinking about adding more! ;)

School is going really well. I reworked my schedule- priorities included and I feel like I'm heading in the right direction! I've cut wayyyy down on my internet time (which is also a reason I won't be posting as much) and added more intense study schedules. We'll see how it goes!

My friend Alli came to tour campus on Friday! It was fun to have somebody from home come to visit and hang out and LOVE it here, too!!!

Hope everyone is doing well!!

me!

SURPRISE!!!!

This past weekend my biggest planning event ever took place! I'm sooo excited to share it with you guys! For the past 3 months I've been planning a surprise for my best friend who is going to school in Virginia. See, her 19th birthday was yesterday and I knew that being in a state 12 hours away would be hard so I wanted to make it special!

Longgggg story short I flew up there Saturday morning! And boy did we have a great time!!

I'm going to do this post in pictures :) because I don't have the energy to write out a whole post ;) We had a lot of late nights while I was up there but it was totally worth every second of missed sleep!

here's me on the plane :) I had to write that note backwards cause my camera takes pictures mirror image 

the surprise!!!
Zach (my partner in crime) me and Lauren!!!! 
we took a splendid trip to the beach and had a fantastic time! I loved meeting all of Lauren's new friends; they're a great group!

Mrs. Denise, Me, Lauren and Alli cooking!

Lauren's mom, sister, our friend Alli and Alli's mom drove up Friday night to surprise Lauren too!!! We had a fun seeing each other again! It's been like a month! haha that sounds like such a small amount of time but it felt like years!

Saturday was my surprise day! I was hiding in Lauren's dorm room when Alli, Mrs. Denise, Mrs. Rhonda, Bethany and Lauren got back from a college tour! After that we headed to the beach and had a fun time getting beat by waves and playing volleyball. As we were leaving we saw about 12 dolphins out where we had been swimming! One of them jumped up and did a twist in the air! Beautiful! That night we came back and had a delicious meal baked by the wonderful Mrs. Denise and then surprised Lauren with decorations and cake in the boys dorm room.

Sunday morning we went to church, out to lunch and shopping and went back to the dorms for a yummy meal of lasagna that Mrs. Rhonda had prepared for us. We ate and talked and then headed to the beach to worship! We stayed out til about 2 oclock, had a dance party in the parking lot and then went back to the dorms for some games! We ended up going to bed around 4:30!!! :O

It was such a fun weekend! I didn't want to come back to school!

I love it here though.

Just a few updates:

Today we had convocation and a really impressive author came to speak to us. Her name is Carmen Agra Deedy and her story telling skills are phenomenal!! Her challenge to us was to not be timid but to embrace every opportunity as it arises. "Timid women seldom make history"

Tomorrow is the start of recruitment. :/ 

I'm pretty sure I kicked butt on my global warming essay exam. We'll see how the professor grades it though.

Life here on campus is going splendidly. I've loved every second of life here!

I think my friend Alli is going to come visit the school this weekend- I'm pretty excited about that! I love to have visitors! :) And mail *hint hint* ;)

Anyway, that's all for now!

 I hope you had a great Labor day weekend!

*here's my verse for the day/year- 2 Timothy 4:3-5 "³For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ⁵But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."

Hope you guys had a great Labor Day weekend!

"..I think I can, I think I can.."

Today I feel like the Little Engine Who Could.

I am up to my ears in homework, the to-do list just keeps getting longer, due dates are coming closer and nothing is getting marked off of my list. Each assignment has so much to it that there's no way to finish it in one sitting. For instance, next Tuesday in Biology I have an essay exam. That shouldn't be too difficult, huh? Well, this essay exam has three questions. Those three questions are:  "Is global warming taking place?" "Since global warming only amounts to 1-2degrees C, what evidence is there that this amount could be important in its environmental impact?" and "If global warming is taking place, is human CO2 production responsible?" Pretty hard core questions, right? Well the professor is requiring us to research *ahem, I have more to say on this*, come up with 10 pieces of evidence for each question, formulate responses and regurgitate them (without notes) on our exam Tuesday morning. On top of that being rather difficult, I happen to disagree with the professor on some of his stances so I have to make sure my evidence and presentation are strong. 

.. I think I can, I think I can..

On top of this assignment I have to read 70 pages of Beowulf, two chapters in the Bio book + answering 25 questions and studying for a quiz, two lessons of college algebra, a blog post about my political typology (received from an online quiz), reading a chapter each from both of my freshman seminar books, and a myriad of other little things all before this Friday. 

.. I think I can, I think I can..

3 more days of class until the weekend.. a long weekend.

.. I think I can, I think I can..

I'm focusing on my Creator, the Sustainer of life, and the One who gives me strength. He's made Himself so evident to me thus far in the college experience and I know He'll give me the strength, wisdom, patience and will-power to make it through this and the difficult times that are still to come. 

.. I know I can, I know I can..

To be or not to be.. that is the question

to be or not to be a sorority girl that is.

For the past few months I've been tossing around the idea of joining a sorority here on campus. I've flip flopped back and forth between 'yes' and 'no'. Many of the RhoGammas (the girls who disassociate themselves from their sororities to help us freshman get an unbiased opinion about the sororities and greek life) have encouraged us to do it to meet people. Soooo today I handed in my application. This is a new thing for me.. stepping out of my comfort zone. My dad was in a fraternity and today I found out that I have at least 11 other aunts/greataunts/cousins who were/are also in sororites. 

I do not plan on joining this semester. My plan is to drop out before the final two bids are given, that way I'm not bound to any sorority and I can rush next year if I decide to. 

I personally don't find myself to be a sorority type and doing this only to step out of my comfort zone, get to know a few people and experience a part of college life that so many take part in. 

Tonight we went to the Sing Song in sorority circle and got to hear all of the sororities on campus sing their songs. We had a great time listening to the songs, seeing all of the girls and it was a great break from homework!

Speaking of homework I've never gotten plagued with so much homework on the first week of school! It's quite absurd. I'm pretty sure it's because I'm not in the typical 'freshman' classes seeing as I was dual enrolled last year so I'm just a step ahead of the rest of my class. I've literally been doing homework during every break that I have! Tomorrow is my day with only one class so it will definitely be used as my homework/catch up day!

until next time,

 me.

Ohh boyyy..

Day two of classes and I'm already overwhelmed! 

Monday mornings start off with College Algebra- my least favorite subject. The professor is really nice, really energetic and her main goal is to get us to understand the material. I'm hoping that my past frustrations and incapabilities in math will disappear this year!

 Directly after math I have American Government which I'm actually really excited about! I've never been into politics and could care less about all of it, but now that I'm on my own and can have a say in the ongoings I find myself very interested! My professor is crazy, funny and wants us to form opinions. So, she said her goal is for us to never know what her political opinions are. She will bring up topics that challenge us to think,  give us the facts from both sides, take us down paths to discuss all the options. She's vowed to allow us to give all of our opinions in a safe, opinion allowing environment and encourages us to bring up any reliable sources we may find- she will correct us if our information is wrong. Only thing is this class involves a lot of reading- both text book and internet sources and my brain doesn't stay focused or comprehend information well when reading. We'll see how that goes!

My british literature teacher is quite odd. Her lecture yesterday came across as scripted and she doesn't really have a personality. I'm pretty sure her class is going to be my toughest. It involves a lot of reading- reading of olddd books and poems, which I'm not a fan of,  and analyzing which doesn't come easy to me. Not to mention I go to this class directly after lunch, so I'm ready for a nap by the time I make it across campus and to the classroom :)

I've also got my freshman seminar class where we'll discuss how to learn in college, about the school, and our focus course is called Who/What do you think you are? It's all about female stereotypes. Our first day was really interesting so I'm hoping the rest of the semester will be too!

Another class I have is Biology. I didn't take bio in high school so I was really looking forward to taking it this semester. I'm one of only 4? freshman in the class, the professor is kinda quirky, and the material we're going to cover is very controversial. My professor does have a resume overflowing with prestigious degrees, companies and discoveries, but I find his beliefs to challenge my faith. Many of the comments that were made- whether it be him or a classmate sent red flags shooting up in my head. It was just the first day, so as class progresses I'll be able to figure out what they're trying to say. In just a few minutes I'll be heading to Bio Lab where we'll be watching Al Gore's video on Global Warming...

This semester is going to be a process for me. A process of becoming deeper in my relationship with Christ in order to fully defend what I believe. While delving into the Bible to find the backing for my answers to challenges I'll be trying to view things with an open mind- to see all aspects but still remain grounded in my faith. So my request for you today, is that you pray for me as I face things I've never had to face before. I know that it's during the college years that many fall from Christianity and into the ways of the world, but I don't want to become part of that statistic. I need your prayers to help me to remain steadfast during this time, to fully understand what it is I believe, stand up and defend it, and to be a shining light for Christ but doing so with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)

These next few weeks are going to push me to form my opinions on politics, on science, on my role as a woman, on my calling, on my religion, on ME. And that's always been something I struggle with.

My school is all about empowering women to be all they can be. They encourage us to think, to become, and to achieve. I just hope that they really do allow us to think for ourselves and not push an agenda on us. That they allow room for discussion, disagreement, and opportunity to resolve. 

Just 3 days before I left God put this verse on my heart. At the time I didn't know why He'd put it on my heart, but after my first day here I found the significance and power in the words and I've been clinging to it ever since. Proverbs 3:1-2 "¹ My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, ² for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity." and 3 because I like it..  ³ "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck,  write them on the tablet of your heart."

I covet your prayers and support during this time of growth!!

love to you all,

 me.

Official!

Two posts in one night! This probably won't happen again ;)

We just got back from our "Gold Refined by Fire" ceremony where we learned all of the traditions of the school and were made "official". we signed our names in the book of "honor" and burned our goals in the pit of fire. We sang the school songs and heard from the upper classmen and the "secret" group on what the honor code means to them.

I absolutely love that this school is all about tradition. It makes my heart sing! 

I wish I could just video record every second of every day so I could show you guys what life here is like. It's truly indescribeable and I'm loving every second of it! Even the major squeak in the bathroom floor and when my roommate spills milk on the carpet ;) We're both quiet and shy but we have a good time!! And she likes butterflies, too!! That's one of my God things! I have a huge infatuation with butterflies. <3

Anyway, I just thought I'd give another brief update about my night!! Can't wait for the days to come! 

The Journey Begins..

This is my first post as a college freshman!! How crazy is that!

I would've posted sooner but I was having problems with my internet (as well as a bunch of other things) but as of this afternoon everything has gotten sorted out! Thank you Jesus!

Move in yesterday went smoothly. Dad and I left the house just after 7am to drive up here and made it right on time for check-in.  We headed to my hall, checked in, got my key and it didn't work. haha. Nice start, right? Well these 3 fabulous ladies helped us move all of my stuff in and we started to get settled.

Here's a picture of the room before we started moving everything in

We managed to get almost all of my stuff situated before my roommate arrived.

 both got all of our stuff in it's place, took part in the sessions for the evening, ate a good meal in the dining hall and got to see part of the "Lucky 13" festivities. We were both exhausted and wanted to get to bed early.

During our Opening Ceremonies we got our motivational speeches, talks from the president and staff, and were told that our class has been dubbed the "Lucky Class of 20-13". We've got a lot to live up to! 

We also took our class picture during opening ceremonies. It was supposed to be taken outside of the steps of the beautiful Bailey Hall but it was raining so we took it inside on the stage. It was quite the experience cramming all of us up there! But it was fun non-the-less. 

Today we woke up bright and early and headed to breakfast. Ty had MAPP testing at 8:30 so she and a bunch of the other girls headed off for that and I went to test out my mail box (by the way, I'd LOVE mail ;) if you want my address email me!) then to the Academic and Computer Orientation. After that I registered for classes. I'll be taking 16 credit hours this semester.. Biology w/ lab, College Algebra, Brit Lit, the freshman class, Self-defense, and American Government. For some reason I can't take any business classes towards my major this semester. Unfortunately.  I was also able to fix my internet and passwords to all of my college stuff so now I can log into all of my accounts!

-- I saved this as a draft and went to buy my books before the bookstore closes. *jaw drops* you wouldn't believe how much books cost!! I had to put two back because I didn't have enough money in my account. Total was $593!! That wiped out every penny I had left from graduation money :'( 

In about an hour we'll be heading to another session and our Gold Refined By Fire ceremony. Tomorrow is full of more sessions, a movie and discussion and a freshman pool party at the president's house! Should be fun!

Since being here it's been confirmed that this is where I'm supposed to be. For now at least ;)

Let's just say God is in the details and He knows how much I love them.

tata for now! 

me.

cat calls, car graveyards, cameras... an adventure!

Bright and early this morning Dawn and I headed out for a little adventure!  We dropped A off at school, grabbed some bagels then Dawn, M, and I headed to hillybilly central.

-background-When I drove to Alabama to meet up with them last week I noticed a beautiful old car on the side of the road. Dawn mentioned it while we were at the lake and said she had wanted to photograph it. We tried to find it on our way home but couldn't so today we set out on a little adventure!

We pulled into the drive and discovered we had stumbled upon a graveyard of old, beat up, amazing cars!!

***For more pictures visit my facebook!

We took pictures there for a while then headed to a quaint little town near ours to take some pictures in the historic area. By the time we got there the sun was shining brightly, the temperature was rising and our memory cards were almost full. This leg of the trip was very short, but very fun!

I finished packing for school yesterday in hopes that I would have time to enjoy my last week and I'm certainly doing just that! Our little adventure today was so much fun and such a great memory! There are great things in store for the rest of the weekend, too! I can't wait!

Only 6 days until college life begins and I'm finally getting excited!

* Wishing the best of luck to and praying for all of my friends who moved in today(or are moving in tomorrow!) Love you guys! 

The countdown ticks away

and way too fast. As of today I have 9 full days before I move out! :O

This afternoon my family and I got back from our last trip together before Ben and I head to college. (For those of you who don't know, Ben will be attending Clayton State for full-time dual enrollment and got a full-ride from the music program.) We traveled down to Tallahassee for Ben's movie premiere! A few months ago he was the lead in a FSU grad students' short film so we went down to join in the festivities and see the movie!! It was a great experience! We went to the night showing which showed the top films produced by the MFA class of 2009. Ben's film, Picture Day, closed out the night and was a great hit! Lots of people said it was their favorite and Ben had a lot of people shake his hand and tell him "Great Job" and even had a few ask him for his autograph! :P

Here's a picture of Ben, Ken (the writer and director) and Stanley the famous crane ;) 

As Wednesday, August 19th moves closer I'm filled with excitement and anxiety. I can't believe it's snuck up this fast.

This week will be full of packing, cleaning and saying final goodbyes. Well, not final goodbyes, but I won't see any of my friends til Thanksgiving :(  Hopefully we can get to

gether some in between. *crosses fingers*  I'm almost embarrassed to post this picture but because this is a blog about my college adventures I'm going to do it. This is just the beginning! Some of the fall clothes have been boxed, shoes have been put into a box, dishes and tupperware have been washed, bedding and blankets are ready to go, and school stuff has been put into it's own special box. But summerish clothes, winter clothes, books, bags, accessories and many other things haven't been dragged out yet! All of my friends call me OCD. I'm a total neat freak, so needless to say I'm dying in this mess!

That's all for today! Hopefully I will get a chance to post again this week. Like I said it's going to be really busy!

Love to you all

The Blogging Life..

has begun!

It's been awhile since I've blogged- in any way shape or form! The blogging world has changed so much since I had xanga in 6th grade *grin*
After many people requesting that I start blogging before college I finally gave in. And so it begins..
The Meadows of Cam-a-lot where ramblings, ideas, posts about college life, and pictures will be posted!!

Here's a re-cap of my summer.

Before graduation, 3 of my friends and I went on a senior trip to Daytona Beach. We enjoyed a lovely day and half of soaking up the sun, boogie boarding, getting run into by sting rays and having a great time. Then it decided to rain. Just a little tropical depression coming up the coast from Cuba. Nothing big ;) But we made the most of it! We ran around an outdoor mall in the pouring rain while shooting some epic videos, we jumped walls of condos to grill our steaks (during the storm) drank Ryan's now famous Daytona Sunrises, watched hours of Alfred Hitchcock, Slumdog Millionaire, Life is Beautiful and Born into Brothels, Ryan killed little critters on his computer game, threw a crab at Lauren and entertained us with his dancing. We had a fantabulous time! --take a look at this video! Zach brought his Flip camera along for the adventure and then compiled some footage to make this not-so-short recap of our Senior Trip! http://www.vimeo.com/5882543

The night before graduation my best friend and I had a joined grad party! We had about 50 people come to join us in celebrating with lots of La Parilla yumminess, dancing, and socializing. [shocker huh!? I bet you didn't know homeschoolers actually do socialize ;) ] My camera kicked the bucket that night.. the one that spent many a sleepover, school day, beach day in Costa Rica and walks in Japan with me. :( So, I,personally, don't have any pictures from graduation day.

Graduation was next and snuck up way too fast. I graduated with 19 other homeschoolers in a very personalized ceremony. We each had a 2 minute video and 1 minute bio that were played/read before our parents presented us with our diplomas. It was a special day! Some family from South Carolina came down and my wonderful cousin Cheri flew down from New York to spend the weekend with us!!

A week long trip to California followed graduation. Dad and I spent a week out west enjoying a family reunion, trips to the cabin and spending time the Uncle Bob, Teta Lori, Cheri, Jason, Meagan and Grandma and Grandpa.
We flew into LA, rented a car, and drove up the coast- through Malibu, Ventura County and all of those fun places! We got THE world's best strawberries at a fruit stand in Ventura then hit up Andria's Seafood restaurant where we got the best fish and chips I've ever had. The trip was full of bests.
Oh! And to make the trip even better I bought my mom's friend Jared's Canon Rebel XT the day before we left so I had a grand time figuring out how to use it and shooting pictures til my little heart was content. I LOVE photography!

After the Cali trip we chilled for a few weeks then headed up to Nashville. My parents are supposed to be moving there soon so we went house hunting and did some sightseeing for the 4th of July weekend. Fourth of July in Nashville is supposed to be one of the most incredible experiences ever.. ours was all that and more! You can't beat a massive thunderstorm rolling in right as the fireworks started! We stood in the rain with thousands of other people watching the flags wave in the wind, fireworks light up the night sky, and listening to people sing the Star Spangled Banner and chant "USA".

Following our trip to Tennessee was Ben's 16th birthday, many long, fun nights of games and chatting with friends, a trip to feed the homeless in Atlanta, photo shoots and get-togethers!

Last night I celebrated my 18th birthday with a pool party at my best friend Leslie's house. I was sooo worried because our forecast since Sunday has called for thunderstorms everyday that weather.com would show me. I prayed sooo hard that the storms would either stop before the party began and start up after it was over or skip over us all together! My prayers were definitely answered! The storm clouds would come right at us, split down the middle, pass on the sides and converge on the other side of the sky! It was beautiful to watch! The weather was perfect, the water was perfect and the company was perfect! What more could you ask for? We feasted on "Daddy burgers", mom's homemade potato salad, baked beans, corn salad and strawberry pie! I was blessed not only with the presence of my friends but they showered me with gifts, too!! So many wonderful things were given to me. The night ended with a BIG gift. The thing I've patiently awaiting for years ;) A CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My parents got me a brand new, bright blue Kia Sportage which I affectionately named Madame Blueberry *grin* My friends and I put on the song from Veggie Tales and sing along when we get inside!!

This fantastic summer is coming to a close and I'm preparing to move out and take my next big step in life. College. Shopping has been done, packing as begun and nerves are starting to set in. But, I can't wait to move on and begin greater things!!!

until next time...