a very special day...

Today is a very special day for the Bumgarner family. Today we celebrate two very important happenings.

First we as a family celebrate the life of my Mother's mom, aka "Nana". It has been four years since she has left this Earth for Heaven, but every day we feel her spirit among us. I have some fabulous memories of my Nana and I will carry those memories with me forever and ever. I learned so much in the 16 years that I knew her. We love you and miss you Nana and know that you are watching over our family each and every day.

The second important thing we as a family are celebrating today is the birth of a very special member of the family. My nephew Bryson Lee Creech was born on this day 8 years ago. I remember holding him on the day he was born. Boy has time just flown by. He is growing up so fast and I love watching him turn into the little man that he is today. I am sure that you have heard the expression, "It takes a village to raise a child." Well I consider myself part of that village. I have lost count the number of bottles I have fed, the number of dirty diapers I have changed, and the number of nights we have stayed up to watch cartoons on TV. I sure do love that kid and he is one awesome little boy. Happy Birthday Bryson!!!!



the city that never sleeps...

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go with my best friend Katie and some of her family to NYC to see a play and some of the sights. It was so much fun and it was just what I needed after a busy semester at school. I don't get to see Katie that often since she lives 6 hours away in VA, so to get to spend some quality time with her was the best. You know you have a true friendship with somebody when you can go a long time without seeing them and then just pick up right where you left off when you get together. I love her and she is the best!!! 

 The view from our hotel window. We stayed at the Double Tree in Times Square. It was very nice and the beds were amazing. I would totally stay there again. Plus this fantastic view made it even better. This would be a prime place to stay if you were coming to NYC for the new year bash.

Katie and I in Central Park. Did I mention she is the best. Thank you again Katie for inviting me along with you on the NYC adventure. (Oh and take a look at my new hat. It is a Yankee boggin. SO AWESOME!!)

On another note, this Christmas break has been super busy and will continue to be busy until I have to go back to Raleigh to start another semester. Along with the NYC trip, I have been spending good quality time with family and friends that I have not seen in a while, going to Charlotte to watch the Wolfpack play in the Belk Bowl, and doing a two-part internship at the local hospital in the OR. Sometimes the long days on my feet wear me out, but I am learning so much and getting to see so many things. I am so blessed and I thank my Father God and the many people around me that make it all possible.

Another post will come tomorrow to celebrate a special member of the family's birthday. Until then I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas break and I continue to pray that your journey is blessed.

i love this time of year...

       I absolutely love this time of year. Not so much the cold weather (I am a total summer girl), but more of the spirit that comes out in people and all the little traditions that you get to start with both your family and your friends. Yesterday (Thursday), was such a wonderful day and I just had to share a few highlights with you all.

       This week is the last week of classes for the semester. Next week kicks off exams and I soon will be home for the Christmas holidays. To celebrate the end of the semester, and the start of the Christmas season, the girls and I went out to eat at the Cheesecake Factory last night. Thanks to our awesome former roomie who lived with us for a couple of months at the beginning of the semester, we were able to enjoy a great meal with some leftovers to take back home and enjoy later.

        After dinner we did some extra shopping and picked up a few gifts for others (and for ourselves!), and some decorations for our tree in the apartment (more on that later!). I loved hanging out with the girls last night. It is such a blessing to have true Godly women as my friends and that we are able to invest in each other's lives. I am truly blessed.

         The boys came over a little bit later to help us decorate the tree. Thanks to Michele, whose Dad grows trees, we were able to have a fabulous tree in the apartment this year. We originally planned on watching Grey's anatomy last night, however to our surprise it did not come on. Instead it was CMA's Country Christmas. I think that was actually a blessing in disguise because it set the mood perfectly while we were putting the final touches on our tree. Now all that is left to be done is to wrap our presents that we each have in our rooms and place them under the tree. Then the apartment will be officially decorated for the holiday.

      I am so excited about ending the semester and getting home for a while. I can spend some good quality time with my family, catch up with friends that I have not seen in a while, and work at my internship (which I am very excited about). All in all I think this month is going to be simply amazing. Below are some pictures that highlighted the evening yesterday. I hope you enjoy...



Left-over Chicken Tacos and Reese's Cheesecake

Chase and I helping decorate the tree

CMA's Country Christmas. LOVED IT!!

The final product. I think it looks pretty amazing.

       On a side note for just one second, I wanted to update everybody on my Bible reading progress. I only have about 10 books left to read and they are the more shorter books in the Bible. I am so happy to have been able to stick with this goal and finish strong with it. I have learned so much over this past year and I have learned the true importance of setting time aside each day to be with the Lord. The new year is starting soon, maybe you would like to take the Bible reading challenge? Its a big thing to take on, but oh so rewarding. Pray about it and consider it as a new year's resolution or goal.

       I pray that everybody is doing well in this last month of 2011. I hope that the stress of the holidays will not get to you too much and that you will always keep in the back of your mind the real reason for the season.  I love you all and I hope that your journey is blessed!



the extra boost to get you through the week...

I know I have not posted in like forever. I have been consumed with school, family, bible study, and studying for finals coming up very very soon. However I was finding myself a bit unmotivated today. The middle of the week is always such a hard time to keep your motivation up. I find myself listening to this song whenever I need a boost or some encouragement. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song like crazy. I don't know why I do, but for some reason the lyrics just captivate me. I hope you all enjoy this little mid week boost. And as always, I pray that your journey is blessed :)

time at home...

I have been home this weekend. It has been so relaxing and such a change of pace from the city. I can never say this enough, but I love the view from my front porch no matter what time of year. It always reminds me of this:

Be still, and know that I am God

That is all I have for now. Just enjoying the time I have at home with family. I pray like always that your journey is blessed.



fall, fair, and fun...

This past week the weather has really begun to change here in the city. It has been abnormally warm here recently so I have been waiting for when fall would show up, and it finally did. The fall weather was perfect timing for the plans a bunch of us had this week. As you probably know, the state fair is in town. I love the fair and everything that is associated with it. From deep fried foods, to lots of blinking neon rides, to exhibits and fireworks, it is all amazing. The fair has a really cool deal one night where if you bring four canned goods you can get in. The cans go to the local food bank, and you can also get into the fair for 1.60 instead of 8 dollars regular price. It is a win-win situation and so worth the crowds that night to go. While at the fair you have to eat some not so healthy food. It is a fair rule in my opinion. I indulged in a Krispy Kreme Burger, and then later on some deep fried oreos. They both were oh so good. I don't care that I now have to run every day for the next week, it was well worth it. Doesn't the picture below look scrumptious?

I was so happy to be able to go to the fair with all of my friends. They are so much fun to be around. Unlike last year, we did not attend a concert after dinner and I think that was a good choice. We ended up having a great time looking at exhibits and riding the Ferris wheel together. My roommates are awesome.



The Ferris wheel was the only ride we went on because the tickets were a little bit expensive. Once I got over my fear of the car rocking back and forth a little more than I had remembered in the past I took some time to enjoy the sights and sounds.

I think the most exciting thing that happened at the fair was the fish adventure. The boys really wanted to win a fish. They bought some ping pong balls and long story short, they ended up winning three!!! They were so excited and we ended up going to walmart at midnight to get fish supplies. It was hilarious and made the night so much fun.

 The fair was great and I had so much there. It was the perfect fall festivity. The only thing better that would really wrap up the fall activities would be pumpkin carving. Well lucky me Friday night was date night for Chase and I. It was our 3 year and 2 month anniversary. Yes we are weird like that and celebrate monthly with a little date. But that is what makes us, us and I would not trade it for anything in the world. Anyways, our date night Friday consisted of eating pizza and carving pumpkins. Chase had never carved a pumpkin before so it was a special event. We decided not to go the traditional route in our pumpkin pictures. Instead of scary Halloween stuff we both ended up picking cartoon characters. It was awesome.

Chase worked so hard on his. He had a couple of setbacks, however is engineer like brain solved those problems super quick and his pumpkin ended up look spectacular. he did such a great job for his first time around. As you can see I ended up making Snoopy and Chase created the minions from Despicable Me.

This weekend is going to be one of those lazy college weekends. Football and homework is what I shall be doing. I have a really big test on Monday so please be in prayer for me on that. I hope everybody is having a great weekend and really getting out there to enjoy some fall festivities. It is such a beautiful and fun time of year. Most of all though, I hope that your journey is always blessed.



learning about love...

Since the last time I posted on the blog world a bunch has happened. As you can tell I have changed the background and layout of the blog. It was time for a change and I have to admit, it was so much fun to go through and pick and choose a new design. I am pretty content with it. I went home for fall break and had a great time with friends and family, took a bunch of mid-terms that fried my brain, helped out with my church's kids retreat, and interviewed for my second summer at passport. Also, after about a year and a half of searching and emails and phone calls I have finally found an internship for my major! I needed this internship to graduate and I was become frustrated and worried that I was not going to find one that worked for me. But silly me for not trusting fully in the Lord. I now have an internship at my local hospital and over this upcoming Christmas and Spring breaks I will be shadowing in the OR. I am so excited and cant wait to start.You can now see exactly why I just have just not found the time to blog my thoughts. However I have a semi-easy week right now and have some fun things planned for this week so be on the lookout for more Sara Bumgarner happenings!!!

In the middle of this crazy busy month, a certain concept has been on my mind and I wanted to share it with you. This past semester at the church I attend here in Raleigh while I'm at school, they are putting on a relationship series in the college class. The overall concept of this series to to teach us as college men and women how to treat each other, and what a Godly relationship looks like. As I am in a serious relationship myself, and also have many other types of relationships with all types of people, I was quite interested in what they had to teach me. So far this semester we have learned about the good news of God and how he loves us, What Mr. and Mrs. Right looks like (and what they don't!), how men and women are different by design and how each of us should act in accordance with each other, and how to love being single until God calls you into the next phase of your life which is known to us as dating. To me this series has been very insightful so far. It has taught me how to love others more deeply, how to focus on the love that God has for me, and how to invest in my dating relationship in a way that is pleasing to God and to the advancement of our relationship. I know that sometimes relationships and the Bible can be a touchy subject, especially when it comes to the roles of the man and the woman. However the college class really summed it up well for me and clarified it in a way that I think is pleasing to most people. In a relationship men lead, provide for, and protect the woman. He keeps her best interests in mind as well as the interests of the Lord in everything that he does. Women in the relationship affirm, receive the strength and support, and help strengthen the man as well as the Lord, in everything that she does whether that is in the home or in the workplace. In other words, men and women should work together for their own relationship and their relationship with God. I think that is pretty awesome and it has really helped not only my dating relationship, but also my relationship with my family and friends, as well as with God. I am so thankful to have a great church away from home that still encourages me and teaches me and lifts me up. God is so good to us. Below are some pictures of the relationships that I have and that I thank God for everyday. What relationships do you value the most?

My dating relationship with the wonderful Chase Smith

My relationship with my family

My relationship with my friends

My relationship with the younger generation as a mentor

(this picture was taken this past weekend at the retreat witch went so well and the girls, along with me learned so much about how to pray)

One more little side note that I wanted to share before I left. Tomorrow I am getting my hair chopped off. I don't cut my hair very often, so this is a big deal. I love my long hair and I see it as a great attribute for me, but it is down to about my elbows and it is starting to become a little hard to manage. So after tomorrow if you see me I will be rocking shoulder length hair!! I am so excited to be adding yet another change to this crazy month.

I hope everybody is doing well and that their week is off to a great start. I will continue to pray for y'all, and as always I hope that your journey is blessed!!!



learning to live simply...

I promised y'all in my last post that I would talk about what I am learning in Bible study this semester.

Before I do though I must make a disclaimer:

 I was apprehensive about Bible study this year. I am new to this Bible study, while the majority of the other girls have been in it together for over a year. However both of my roommates are in it and invited me along this year. I am so glad I chose to go along because these past couple of months have been so wonderful and the girls in the group, along with the leaders are such powerful women of God. I am glad to have them as a part of my life.

OK, back to the post. This semester we are going through a book together chapter by chapter as a group. It is entitled "Becoming a Woman of Simplicity" by Cynthia Heald. Below is a picture of it. I recommend all college girls and working women to read this series.

This is just one of a series of books written by the author. All of the books in the series are focused toward women and how they can live out their lives in order to draw into a closer relationship with the Lord. "Becoming a Woman of Simplicity" aims at teaching women the power of living a life simply devoted to Christ. What a perfect read for super busy and stressed out college students. It seems as though each week, as our group tackles a different element of simplicity, it is though the author as well as the Lord is speaking directly to me. So far we have covered living simply with God, Christ's acceptance allows us to be free of the worries of the world, learning to not love the things of the world, remaining devoted to God through troubles, and learning to concentrate on really knowing God. All of these things, once learned lead us to live a more simple and less complicated life. Isn't this so cool? Although all of these principals are so simple and it seems like we should know them already, the truth is...we don't. That is why this semester it is one of my goals to truly live a more simple life. No I am not going to go off the grid or anything. But I have made a promise to myself that I am going to limit my exposure to the media world and focus more attention on getting school work done, and more importantly focusing on my "me time" with God. Who knew being a simple girl could be so rewarding, fun, and liberating? Like I said earlier, check this book (or any of the other books in the series) out today and dig deep into what God has in store for you as a woman of faith. One of my favorite quotes of the book so far is this:

      The world had never known a man like Jesus-absolutely good, unfailingly gracious, the visible expression of the invisible God. And what was the world's answer? A cross. As the cross was the world's answer to Christ, so the cross is the believer's answer tot he world. The world will sometimes mask its face and pretend friendship for the Christian. It will offer its pleasures, money, methods, and applause-but always at the price of compromise. The Christian's answer is the cross. (John Phillips)

Such powerful words but they ring so true. Can you tell that I am in love with this book?

One last side note pertaining to this before I leave. I am beginning to catch up on my Bible reading since I have set aside more solid "me time" with the Lord. I have now finished 2nd Corinthians and have started on Ezra. Ezra was such a humble servant and lived his life simply devoted to serving the Lord. How ironic that I would be reading about him as I am in the middle of this Bible Study. God is so good!

As a peek into my next blog post...

My college class this semester is putting on a relationship series. Each Sunday we are taught about a new dimension of how a good relationship built within Christ works. I have learned oh so much and my heart has been spoken to a bunch in the past couple of months. i cannot wait to share with you m thoughts and observations of my own relationship and of those around me.

Until next time, I pray that you are well and as always I hope that your journey is blessed! 

a night out with my favorite boys...

This past Sunday was AMAZING!!! Remember a few blog posts back when I told you that Chase had bought me tickets for the Brad Paisley concert? Well the time had come to cash those suckers in. I have to confess something before I go any farther. I am in love with country music. It is what I grew up on and what I will always listen to until the day I die. Yes I do listen to all other types of music (even rap thanks to my camp staff this summer) and I enjoy other types a lot; however nothing makes me more happy than a good ride in the car with some country blaring on the radio. Anyways back to Sunday. Below are just a few pictures that I captured while we were at the concert. I sang the entire time and had the best time I have had in a long time. I just live concerts. I am surprised that I still had a voice the next morning.





The line we had to wait in. It was incredibly long but well worth the wait. We got there at 4. The pre show started at 430 on a cute little side stage, then the main concert with Jarrod, Blake, and Brad started at 7. It was a long night but oh so much fun.

 Chase and I chilling in our seats in between Blake and Brad. He is so great for putting up with me at concerts. I get a little excited and like to sing loudly and take tons of photos. We had pretty awesome seats, and along with my great zoom I could capture up close and personal pictures of the singers.

 Another view of where our seats were thanks to Chase. Notice the tarped platform to the left in the picture. I had no clue why it was sitting there until about 30 minutes into Brad's performance. During one of his songs he began to walk out into the crowd and ended up standing on that platform. I about died right there in my seat. Of course I took many pictures.

 Out of all the pictures I took I believe that this one is my favorite. I only had to zoom like two clicks to get this up close shot, which makes it even more real. Ah I still cant get over how cool this concert was. Thank you Chase Smith for such an amazing anniversary gift. He is way too good to me.

Well that was my weekend. i am still recovering from the lack of sleep, but it was well worth it. I am now looking forward to the release of next years concert dates of my favorite artists. Maybe this can become an anniversary tradition? I would be perfectly fine with that!!!

I hope all of y'all are doing well. I know that I am very busy these days and I am sure you are as well. Know that I pray for all of you who follow my blog, and I hope that you will do the same for me. I am currently in the process of getting opportunities lined up for next semester and the summer. Nothing is set ins tone yet about what I will be doing, but I ask that you continue to pray that whatever happens is a result of what God wants to happen in my life. He is so good and I love him more and more each day. Look out in the next few days for a post about what I am up too in my Bible Study this year. It is pretty great and I want to share it with everybody. Love y'all and I hope and pray that your journey is blessed.

there is a difference...

This semester I am taking a class called World Prospects: Population, Food, and Hunger. It is a class about third world countries and how their populations are expanding, yet their food is not, and what we (America) can do about it.I took it originally because I needed an easy general education course. However after I walked out of the first class I knew God had something in store for me through this class and that it was going to challenge not only my mind, but also my heart. The class is taught by this little old man who has traveled the world many times over and has thousands of stories and souvenirs to share. Not a class goes by when we do not get the chance to meet another family from Africa, or touch a native plant from the Philippines.

Our assignments in this class other than our tests are all what our teacher calls "out of class experiences". We have had to write family value papers, find our ecological footprints, and analyze the millennium development goals. I have learned so much and it has only been 5 weeks. The two big out of class projects though are to do 15 hours of community service, and write a grant proposal for a service project that will help a developing country. I have not yet decided what to write my grant proposal on, but I have a few ideas. The real reason I am writing today is to talk about the community service.

I had a really hard time deciding and finding where to do my community service hours. There are so many possibilities through NC State to be involved in and I was slightly overwhelmed. Then one day in class we learned something that sealed my decision. My teacher spent one whole lecture explaining the difference between aid and development. Aid is something short term (like disaster relief) while development is more long term (like teaching skills). One problem in developing countries is that developed nations are only providing aid and not development, so the developing countries are not getting better.

It was then that I decided to do my community service at the food bank in Raleigh. Yes the food bank provides short term aid in the form of food. Yet they also provide long term aid in the form of programs and government intervention. When people come in to get the food they are directed to programs that can teach them life skills and get them back on their feet and walking in the right direction. Every time I go in and give a few hours of my time I leave with a deep feeling of contentment knowing that I am helping provide development to many people around Raleigh. Just to be able to spread the kind of love God gives to everybody all the time every day just makes my heart happy.

Yes this post was kind of boring and not super exciting, but it was something that has been on my heart and my mind for the past couple weeks and I felt like I needed to share it with everybody. There really is a difference in the kind of service you can do for people. It is like that old saying, "You can give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, or you can teach a man to fish and he can eat for a lifetime." How many fisherman will you create in your lifetime?

I love you all and thank you for listening to my heart. I pray that all is going well and of course that your journey is oh so blessed!!!!

a very special day...

Guess who turned 21 this past Tuesday?!?!?!?! No, not me...Chase!!

I just wanted to wish Chase a happy belated blog post birthday. I have been busy the past couple days with school and birthday stuff that I was not able to get around to the blogging world. His birthday was fun though. Since we were not able to go home for the big occasion we celebrated here in Raleigh Sara and Chase style.

We began the afternoon at the DMV office where chase renewed his license and got his "under 21's" off. He is officially official now :) Then we went to Dick's Sporting goods because mom had send him some moolah to spend there. He ended up getting this awesome north face sweatshirt (Ill have to take a picture later and show it off). We ate dinner at Ruby Tuesdays (cause that is how we roll) and then went back to campus to take some pictures and open gifts. I got him a cool neoprene laptop cover. He liked it and thank goodness it fit his laptop because I had no idea what size it was. The greatest surprise though were the cupcakes. I made Chase carry around this cooler all afternoon but he was not allowed to open it. When it was finally time he was so excited to sink his teeth into the yumminess. I also thoroughly enjoyed them as well.

Anyways that was his birthday and I am so happy for him. I cant believe we are growing up. It is all happening WAY TOO FAST!!! Slow down a little bit life would ya? Thanks that would be much appreciated.

That is all for today. I have a couple more blog ideas in mind that are very important and I want to share with you but will have to wait for a later time. So keep a lookout for them in the very near future. Praying that all is well with your souls and of course that your journey is blessed!!!!

waterpark fun...

This past weekend my sister invited my mom, dad, chase, and I to come with her and the kids to Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC. I had been once before and knew just how much fun it was so I jumped at the chance to go again. From the time we arrived late Friday night, to the time we left Sunday morning we played hard nonstop. I absolutely love my niece and nephew and getting to spend that rare quality bonding time with them is something I always look forward to. I unfortunately did not get to take any pictures of the trip. The water park itself is wet from one end to the other so I was NOT going to take my camera in there. But if you have never been to Great Wolf Lodge you really need to consider going. Most of the water park is geared to smaller children and pre-teens, however there are about 4 water slides that are especially for older kids and adults. We tried them all and believe me when I say one or two of them really had my heart pumping.

I also wanted to update everybody on my Bible reading. That is the entire reason for starting this blog and I have not given an update in a while. Since the beginning of school about 3 weeks ago I have finished the books of Luke, 1st Chronicles, Amos, and Ecclesiastes. It has been kind of slow going while I'm getting settled into the new school schedule, but now I am back in the swing of things and loving my time with the Lord every morning.

Other than that not much is going on in the life of Sara. School is school and homework is homework. Labor day weekend is coming up and a good dose of relaxation will be on the way. Who knows what kind of adventures I will get myself into!! I hope that everybody is doing well and I always pray that your journey is blessed!!

a whole lot of living and a little bit of love...

Sunday August 21st marked a special day in the lives of Chase and I. We were excited to celebrate our three year anniversary together! Although we have known each other since sophomore year of high school, I am blessed to have been able to have the opportunity these past three years to grow and nourish our relationship together as a couple. A lot of people say high school relationships don't last. However if you have God firmly rooted in that relationship, the tables are turned and anything is possible :) I am so glad to have Chase in my life. For our anniversary we celebrated Chase and Sara style...simple yet full of surprises. The pictures below will give you more insight...

We went to a soccer game after church (I meant to get a picture of us looking cute but I totally forgot) and it was so terribly hot. I got sun burnt pretty bad. But it was still a whole lot of fun being with friends.

Then we went back to Chase's room to cool off and rest before our adventures that night. I indulged in some Little League World Series...

...while Chase worked on a little bit of homework that needed to be done.

After a quick change and some much needed "pampering" from being all hot and sweaty we headed out to dinner. Before we ate we traded gifts. We only really do gifts on our anniversary, birthday, and Christmas (although Chase likes to break the rules sometimes and surprise me...but hey I'm not complaining!!!) so I was really looking forward to this. I had been thinking a long time about what to get him. But first it was my turn. Chase got me tickets to the Brad Paisley concert in September. I have been a little down recently because I have not had the chance to go to a concert in a long time, so this was the perfect gift.

I got Chase a SPROUT watch. If you have never heard of them you should really check them out. They are made out of all recycled materials and they come in all sorts of different colors. Chase had been wanting a watch for a while but couldn't make up his mind, so I took charge and picked one out for him. Needless to say he loves it and it looks really good on him.

We then went out to eat at our favorite place in the world...RUBY TUESDAYS!!! The food is so good and relatively cheap which is perfect for two hungry college students.

After a little shopping for Chase to get some new athletic gear we made a trip to the frozen yogurt shop. Can you say Yummy? I could eat this stuff all day long.

We finally finished up the night with a movie together. We chose Captain America. Yeah I know its not an "anniversary type" movie, but Chase and I had watched a few chick flicks together recently so it was time to change it up and little and watch something with some action. It was very good I must say.

I loved our day together and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us. Chase is such a great Godly man and I am honored to have him in my life. God sure knew what he was doing when he sat us down next to each other in class that day in high school. Sorry if you are sick from my sappy post, but I just had to share. That's what blogs are for right? Stay tuned in the next couple of days for what went on this past weekend. The adventure and fun never stops in the Bumgarner household!! Until then I pray that everybody is doing well and that your journey is blessed.

i am alive, well, and back on track...

I am ALIVE...
Yes I do realize that it has been 15 days, and little over 2 weeks since I have last posted. And yes if you truly know me you would know that bugs me. However, these past two weeks have been so jammed packed full of "stuff", I have had little time to do anything extra with my time. I finished up the summer with a trip to Alabama with some of my passport friends and others to a retreat to wind down the summer. It was simply amazing and loved every minute. I also learned that I can drive absurd long amounts of time on the interstate without getting tired. It is something i thought would never happen since whenever I am a passenger in a car ride longer than 30 minutes I am out for hours on end. Two days after the retreat I moved into my apartment in Raleigh where I will be residing for the next two years while I finish up school, and four days after that I began classes. I love it here in good old Raleightown and I am so glad to be out of the dorm. Here are a few pictures of the place...




the dining room space

the kitchen (my favorite spot in the apartment :) )

bathroom

crazy colorful bedroom which I love

...side note : those wall hanging were handmade by my mom and I. I saw some like it on Pinterest and fell in love. They were super simple. Get canvas and put painters tape down to make a design then paint over it. So simple and so cute. I love them.

I am WELL...

I am well in the sense that I am content with life and have succeeded in integrating back into the real world. I still think about camp from time to time, and I really cannot wait until this summer rolls around, but right now I am in school mode and that is a good thing. I am proud to know that I can shift from one life mode to another without any big problems. Yay school and yay camp...just not at the same time.

I am BACK ON TRACK...

How am I back on track you might ask? I am finally getting into a normal schedule and routine again. That is one of the big things I love about school and camp both...schedules!!!! I love to know when and what I am supposed to be doing. It makes me feel...I don't know...important, or in charge. Anyways, the past couple of weeks have had no real routine to them. Wake up whenever, do whatever, make it up as you go. I am not that kind of person and I am so happy to be back to a time when I have a schedule of classes and work in front of me. It makes my OCD a happy camper!!!!

That is all for now. I have a special post coming out in the next couple of days that is really near and dear to my heart...so be on the lookout. I hope everybody is doing well that your journey is being blessed daily. Love yall so very much!!!!

a simple friday...

Yesterday was a special day in our family. My niece turned 6!!!!! Bryson and Bailey are two wonderful kids and I am so happy to be able to help them grow and learn. To celebrate we ate pizza (cheese of course!!!) and ate chocolate cake. Presents were also in the line up. She received many gifts but her favorite had to be her easy bake oven. Who knew something so simple could keep a child entertained for hours on end. It was so cute to watch her do her thing.

After all the festivities ended at her "party" we cleaned up and headed back home. However we came home with two more passengers than we left with. That's right, we got to take the munchkins with us. They were so excited, but truthfully I think I was the person who was most excited. I love these kids and they always make me laugh. Mom and Dad had to work so it was just me and the kids for a fun filled day. Thank goodness the weather was not scorching hot like it has been the past couple of days. After some cartoons we decided to venture outside and take some pictures with my new camera. This one below ended up being my favorite. Just look at those smiles, I love them so much.

We have a creek at our house that is not too deep, but perfect to walk around and explore in. When I was younger I would spend hours in there just looking around and playing. Now I get the opportunity to watch the kiddos do the same thing.

After lunch we had a special treat. We had been cooped up around the house all morning and we were itching to get out. So off we went to the main street ice cream parlor "Good Ole Days". This place is cheap but oh so good.

Finally, we rounded out our afternoon with a good long stay at the park. Between the giant slide, swings, another creek, and the play set everybody was greatly entertained. It was so relaxing and i laughed so much at all the stuff they came up with to entertain themselves. My personal favorite was "who can make the biggest splash in the creek" contest. Good thing I have leather seats since I drove home 2 sweaty and muddy children.

We are now all back home cleaning up and resting. I believe a dinner outing is in our near future and then a nice movie on the couch cuddled up with my two favorites. I love how some of the most simplest of days can turn out to be the most fun. I would not trade this day for anything in the world. Did I mention how much I love these kids already?!?!?!?!?! Anyways...hope everybody is enjoying their happy Friday and I wish you all a great weekend. Love you all and I hope and pray that your journey is blessed :)

hello real world...

So this post is long over due. I have now been back home from camp for almost a week now. I got home Saturday night and have been enjoying family and friends ever since. I also have been catching up on all things real world such as sleep, news, pop culture, and books. I must confess, while all of this stuff is great and I enjoy getting back into the swing of real life things, I find myself often thinking about camp and the summer. Like Tuesday night I was watching TV and it dawned on me that I should be dancing to Firework or the Cupid Shuffle. Or yesterday I had a burger for lunch and I found myself thinking about how I should be having a sandwich. It makes me laugh every time something like that happens. Camp really did change my heart and perspectives on things. It was such a great experience and I am already looking forward to next summer and all it has to bring. I have one more camp thing to do before I am totally thrusted back into real life. It is a program called Seh la Vie. It is a "detox" of sorts for all people who have worked in missions or camp this summer. It helps you take in and process all you have learned and experienced this summer and gets you ready and prepared for life outside of the camp bubble. I am really looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun and I think i will learn a ton. I leave Sunday and will return Wednesday so please keep me in your prayers.

On another slightly related note I wanted to give you a quick update on Bible reading. I was not able to get a whole bunch of reading done at camp, but I got a good bit done so i am proud of myself. I am now finished with 2 Samuel, Colossians, 1&2 Kings, Jonah, and Philemon. They are all superb books and I am really enjoying this entire process. If you have never done this, I highly recommend it.

One last note before I leave you for today. Yesterday I made a big purchase with part of my summer paycheck. I gave in and bought myself a "big girl" camera. I have been wanting something more than a point and shoot for a couple of years now, but never had the money or the nerve to make that expensive of an investment. However yesterday I had both(along with some Target gift cards) and I finally got what I have been wanting. I love my new Nikon and I am sure it will get used enough to pay me back over and over. To test stuff out, Chase and I had a mini photo shoot in the front yard yesterday evening. Mom and dad bought me mini tri-pod that can bed around things and I LOVE it. It is going to come in handy I can already tell. I will leave y'all with a couple of my favorite photos from yesterday. Enjoy and as always I pray that your journey is blessed :)

on the glider...like the barn in the background

my favorite of the day I believe
just me being me

you might think i am crazy but...

I have realized since being at camp this summer that I am in love with letters. Like old fashioned, snail mail, pen and paper letters. Over the past several weeks I have received letters, cards, post cards, and notes from all sorts of people. Friends and family mostly, but some I have gotten from bible study groups or people in the church who I don't know really well but they still can find time to love on me and send me their best wishes. I love mail time. Just the suspense of whether or not there will be an envelope with your name on it or not. Call me crazy but I think the idea of sending somebody a letter is so cool and I am going to try to make it a point to start sending out more letters to the people I love and care for. So watch out people, once I get home and can pick out some cool stationary, you might just be getting a little something from yours truly :)

On another note camp is going GREAT!!!!! Spending time with the staff and the different campers each week is so rewarding and so much fun. The sad part is there are only two weeks of camp left before it is time to pack up and go back to reality and real life. It will be fun to see everybody again and get back into the swing of things at school, but boy i sure am going to miss camp life. I see why people keep coming back to work at Passport every summer, its just so amazing that you never want to leave.

Ill leave you this time with a picture. All of the staff spent their free time yesterday in Savannah, Ga. We went to Tybee Island for a while then walked around river street and ate dinner at a great place called Tubby's. Before we went to eat though, we took so photos down by the river. This one is of most all of the girls on the team. It was actually cool enough outside that we were all not sweaty and in tee shirts for once. I love this photo. It shows the love and coolness of our team and I love that. Enjoy your week everybody and I sure do hope and pray that your journey is blessed :)

you know your a Passport Staffer when...

So these past few weeks of camp have been a blast. I am been so busy keeping up with everthing that is going on, but having the time of my life and wishing the summer would last just a little bit longer. I have settled into a pretty good weekly routine of being a Passport Staffer, and this past weekend I noticed there are certain things we do as a staff that sets us apart from other people. I thouhgt I would share with you the top 10 ways to tell if you are a Passport Staffer.

10- Dancing means jumping up and down and acting silly and crazy...not that other stuff people call dancing.

9- 4th meal is always a must since you eat at 5 everyday for dinner

8- you carry a first aid kit in your backpack everywhere you go.

7- free time equals nap time

6- you have a massive pile of friend requests from campers that you can't accept untilt he end of the summer just chilling in your notification window.

5- you try to take really cool pictures so they will be chosen as photo of the day.

4- you eat sandwiches EVERY day for lunch.

3- your tee shirt matches all the other staffer's tee shirts.

2- you become a master at "side-hugging"

1- it feels weird on the weekends when you are not wearing your camp nametag.

Hope you enjoyed my little countdown. Camp is going well and I am loving it. I only have 3 weeks left and it is all going by so quickly. The staff is so wonderful and awesome. I love spending time with them and learning the tricks of the trade from them as well. As much as I am focusing on camp I am also thinking about the fall as well. School starts in about a month and I am actually looking forward to it. I am feeling good about my schedule this semester and I am moving into my new apartment as well. Many good tasting goodies shall be made once I get all settled in :) Hope everybody is doing well and that summer is going great. I am keeping everybody in my prayers. I hope that everybody's journeys are truly blessed :)

18 days....

Has it really only been 18 days since I last posted? It seems like 2 months have gone by since I have had a free moment to sit down and write. In these past 18 days so much has happened!!! First off I had some training down in Wingate, NC. Four Passport teams were there and it was such a blessing to get to meet everybody and learn the ins and outs of Passport life. That is also where I got to finally meet my team face to face for the first time. They are such an incredible group of people and I cannot wait to spend the next 6 weeks with them. We traveled down to Mercer University for more training and final set up for camp on Tuesday. I love this campus and the chapel we are conducting camp in. It is so breathtaking, bot HOT. Training week was very hectic. Lots of info being thrown at you from a billion different directions and so much stuff to get right before campers arrived. Our team is very small, only 10 of us...but we survived and bonded really well together.

Finally on Sunday the campers began to arrive. It was so much fun to interact with the middle schoolers and high schoolers and learn all about them. I was behind the camera most of the time during the week, but that did not stop me from still having some cool conversations with some really cool kids. Did I mention camp was fun? Because it was. I had one major stress out moment during the week, but I was not surprised about it. My computer is having trouble burning the DVDs for daily videos and it stopped uploading clips. I was so worried I would not be able to finish my closing video. However after an hour on the phone with our video coordinator Mark (who is the best ever!), mostly everything had a solution and I was able to continue on with my stuff.

Over all the week was AMAZING. The next six weeks are going to be tiring but oh so much fun. Next time I will catch everybody up on the different mission sites we are working on. Being able to go to all of them everyday to video is great and it allows me to see the progress happening.

I am still trying to keep up with my Bible reading. Currently I am a few days behind, but that is OK. I am still finding quiet time each day to read a little bit. It will all work itself out in the end. I sure hope everybody is having an amazing summer and enjoying their "downtime" from normal activities. Whether that is camp, no school, or a vacation form work, take the time to relax and be still and listen for God. He is always there and ready to tell you something cool. Please continue to pray for all of us Passport staffers as we try to shine God's light to all of these campers. I hope your journey is blessed!!!!

this is it...so follow me!

Deep breaths. That is what I keep telling myself every time I think of the fact that Friday is the day. Passport is finally here and my excitement is building my the second. Deep breaths are the only thing keeping me sane right now. 3 more days and I will be on my way to the best summer ever. FRIDAY!!!!!! Oh my sorry, I am just overcome with joy right now and can't keep it in. I still have a lot of packing to do and some last minute video and bible study preparation, but I am feeling good and ready. Hopefully this excitement will stay and nervousness will not kick in too strong in the next few days. I know this is what I am supposed to be doing and that God is by my side. Knowing that I am ready for this summer adventure to begin!!!!!!

I was thinking about the best way to keep everybody informed about my summer adventures. Sure I am going to take lots of pictures but I will probably be super late in getting those posted to Facebook just because that takes time to sit down and sort through the ones you want to post and putting captions on them so they make sense to everybody else. So I believe the best way to keep everyone updated would be through this blog. That way I can post one or two pictures every few days and share a couple stories before I forget them with the craziness of camp. So since this is my decision I have a request of all my readers (I know I don't have many but I then again i know I have a few so thank you). If you read my blog (regularly, on occasion, or even have just heard about it) could you please become one of my followers? I ask this for two reasons. One I would love to know who is reading, and two I want to pray specifically for my followers. It is super simple. Just scroll down the page a little bit and on the left hand side you will see a section with a bunch of squares with people on them. Just click follow and fill in your name (or nickname or codename, it does not matter). I would really be so thankful if you would do this for me. Thank you in advance for those of you who do. I will be praying for you.

Just one little update before I go. I am still keeping up with my Bible reading. Since last Tuesday I have finished 1 Samuel, Philippians, and Proverbs. I am now onto 2 Samuel. Please continue to pray for me in my Bible reading journey. I am learning so much from it every day. You should also think about doing it if you have never tried. Its hard work but ever so rewarding.

I hope and pray that everybody is doing well and that you summer is starting off with a bang! Be safe and enjoy this warm weather. And as always I pray that your journey is blessed!

some intense preparation...

So I apologize for not blogging recently. I have been in intense preparation for camp this past week with little down time for rest, let alone blogging. Looking back on this past week I have begun to add "blogging time" to my prayers. I so badly want to keep everybody updated on my upcoming journey this summer and I promise to try my absolute best.

Like I said I have been getting ready for next Friday all week long and I wanted to share with you what that included. I am the videographer this summer in Macon, Ga., however we [videographers] need to know the weekly bible studies just in case something happens and we need to jump in and help. After going through them a few times I have a whole new respect for the bible study leaders this summer and I have been praying for them more and more. This past weekend I also traveled down to the Passport national office in Birmingham, Al. to go through video training. I was blessed to meet and get to know the other videographers working this summer and we became fast friends. I am glad to have them as people I can turn to in times of stress and craziness this summer. We all spent a jammed packed weekend learning the video software and practicing using our cameras. It was so much fun and it made the anxiety I had about using the camera this summer shrink down so much.

The only snag I ran into this past week was in the airport trying to get home from video training. My plane was delayed about 45 minutes which was not too bad. However, when we got on the plane to take off, the left engine was not working. That began the downward spiral. After deplaning we were moved to 4 different gates. 3 hours later we finally were back on a working plane and going home. I was supposed to get home around 1230am Monday morning but after that ordeal I ended up getting home at 4am. Thank you sooooo much for my parents for picking me up and driving me home. I don't know what I would do without them sometimes.

Through it all I have been blessed to be able to find little bits of time to keep up with my bible readings. I am still in 1 Samuel and I am enjoying it. It is not a complicated book to understand and it is quite entertaining, which is exactly what I need during this busy time.

Please continue praying for me as the first day of camp training draws closer with each passing day. I am so excited about this summer and I cannot put into words how I am feeling right now. Its going to be so much fun. I pray that everybody has had a wonderful week so far and that the rest of the week goes smoothly for everybody. And of course I pray that your journey is richly blessed with all that God has to offer.

no place like home...

This is the view I see when I walk out onto my front porch at home. Is this not beautiful? This is one of the reasons why my favorite place when it is warm at home is on the front porch. It is where I can relax and take all the world in. I miss this when I am gone, but it makes it that much sweeter when I get back. I have a few weeks here at home before I go off to camp for the summer. I am taking that time to spend with my family, see friends, cook yummy food, and READ!!!! What is my favorite way to kick back and dive into a book? Well that would have to be in my hammock :) This thing is awesome I have to say. I can hang it up on the front porch and just lose myself in another world. I have just recently finished a series entitled the Hunger Games. It is a three book young adult series that is quite gripping and enthralling. I would recommend it. I mentioned way back in an earlier post that I was trying to read all of the Sparks books. I still am but I received these books as a birthday present and they were such an easy and quick read that I had to take a slight break from my goal. No worries though. I am back to reading another Sparks book and enjoying every moment!

I also have still been keeping up with my Bible reading. Since my last post I have finished reading Romans, Ruth, and Ephesians. All of the books were very humbling and eye opening. I fall in love with this daily Bible reading challenge more and more every day that I continue doing it. I would definitely recommend it to anybody who is looking to dive into their faith a little deeper. Tomorrow I start 1 Samuel. It should be fun!

I hope everybody is enjoying their weekend. I know I sure am. Whether it is a stroll down to the Farmer's Market, or a look in the Library, or a nice quiet chunk of time on the front porch, home is where I feel the best. It feels so great to be here for a while and I am so lucky to have my home in a beautiful piece of land that God created. He is so awesome!!!! Thank you to everybody who has been praying for me as well as everybody who has been finishing up school. It was much appreciated!!! I pray that everybody is doing well and that you are enjoying your warm weather before the rain begins. And of course I pray that your journey is blessed!!!!

special shout out...

Since today is Mother's Day I thought I would send a special shout out to my own mother here on the blog. I LOVE my mother with all my heart and I am so blessed to have her in my life. What a gift for a child(especially girls) to have a Godly woman as their mentor. My mom is so special and I would not trade her for anything in the world. I wanted to share some pictures of mom with you guys. Pictures do not do justice to my mom's winning personality and loving demeanor. Mom you are simply the best and I can not come up with enough words to describe how special you are to me.

Me, my sister, and mom at Disney World

The whole family at Disney. I love them all so much!

My mom...my best friend :)

She is also a pretty awesome wife. They are such a great example to me.

I am still reading through Romans right now. The words in Romans are so incredibly deep and thought provoking so it is taking me a while to get through it. I have to go back and re-read almost everything to soak in the meanings. But it is worth it because the message in Romans is so true. We are saved my grace through faith!!!! God is so good. I hope that everybody is having a great mother's day. I also hope that this next week goes well. I will not be posting for a while since I finish up school and move back home this week. It is so exciting but kind of nerve-racking also because that means I am just a couple of weeks away from going off to camp training week. AAAAHHHHH I cannot wait for this summer to start. Please continue to be in prayer for me as I continue on this journey. Praying for everybody else as well. Love you guys and I hope that your journey is blessed!!!