Fun In The Sun-One Final Summer Hoorah!

I know no one reads this, but I like posting anyways! This past week I was pretty much in the sun the entire time. I went to the beach with my family (see Previous Post!) Sunday through Thursday night and had a blast!! It was so fun to have all of us there together and spend time together. I loved every second of it! Then Friday morning I got a lot of chores and housework done before the rest of the family arrived home and went to a wedding reception (Congrats Scott and Kathleen!!). The next morning I ran some errands, hopped in the car, and went to Lake Norman with some friends. We ended up taking a boat ride and joining the YSA for their dinner, Liz and Jennifer tried water skiing, Megan got stitches in her foot, and went back to the house for a nice evening.
   The next morning, we went out on the Lake around 10:30 a.m. Most of us put on sunscreen around then and didn't re-apply till 2:30. Bad decision!! We attempted knee boarding, which turned into belly boarding, and had such a blast! Kevin was the only one to actually knee board and almost died doing it. Then we just chilled in the lake in our life vests (Mine was a child's and made me look like a princess as it was pink and purple and teal and Liz had the beautiful fishing vest...) and took turns on the Jet Ski! The time was wrapped up with more knee boarding, watching a little of the Olympics, delicious dinner and snacks, and one final boat ride. I'm pretty sure all of us are in pain today with our skin as red as ever! Sitting down makes me feel like I'm on fire and don't even get me started on how bad a bra strap feels.
    We got home pretty late last night, but this morning I still wanted to go to The Center this morning. This post is going to get off topic now, but it's just a little something I thought about today. Sometimes you just wake up and you don't feel close with the Lord. But you just really want to be close to Him. And sometimes it's really hard to get there. But there are certain places and certain things that will bring you closer no matter what. For me, it's going to the Center for New North Carolinians and seeing the kids and helping out. I don't play a big part there. I really don't play a part at all. Summer camp ended last week and I'm not an intern so I don't really have a place, but I still go over and help out when I can. I just love being there. Today I helped an intern sort books they had into keep and give away and throw away piles since the center is moving locations in a few weeks. We then set all the give away books on the picnic tables and had the kids come pick out a few books each to take home. I ended up reading "Junie B. Jones and the Stinky Smelly Bus" to a first grader named Grotti. She is so cute and wouldn't let me stop reading the book! I ended up reading 8 of the 11 chapters to her before I needed to go, but wished I could have finished the book with her. Our deal was she had to read a sentence a page for me to read the rest of the page to her. It was tough work for her, but she did it! Being with those kids and helping out over there just feels so good. When I came home, I really did feel closer to Christ. I have a picture on my desk and it's my favorite one of Christ, where He is in Africa and is holding a little African Boy. It's called "The Worth of a Soul". It was such a reminder to me today that even though I don't make a huge difference when I go to the center, maybe I made a little difference in Grotti's life today by reading with her. And that's what it's all about-the little differences in peoples lives each day.  I love it.

Bruise from the Knee Board

More Bruises!

Reeeallllyy painful sunburn!

This burn is probably the worst on my thighs

I Love Lists Wednsdays: Things I Can't Get Enough of This Week

Things I Can't Get Enough of This Week-The Beach!

1. This little boy - Archer. Always has food in his mouth!

2. And This little boy - Henry. Always wants to play in the water:)

3. These Friends 

4. This Family

5. Goofy Faces

6. Beach Night Storms

7. FOOD. Between steak, white chocolate oreo fudge, oreo's in general, cinnamon apple rolls ups, smores bars, and all sorts of delicious things, I think I've gained 10 pounds. 

8. THE BEACH! 

-Among other things:)

The One Thing I CAN Get Enough Of: SAND.

I Love Lists Wednesday: 5 Favorite Smells

5 Favorite Smells:

1. Vanilla

2. Baby Powder...and babies:)

3. Old Spice... :)

4. Rain

5. Brownies

P.s. I know it's a day late..don't judge.

The Best Week This Summer

   This week has been the absolute best week this summer and I dare every other week to try and top it! It's been the little things that have been adding up. Honestly, at the beginning of this summer I spent the mornings in bed, the afternoons at work, and the night with some friends. I expected nothing of this summer, just resenting the fact I wasn't in Australia and nothing was going the way I wanted it to.
   Here's the funny thing-you always get what you never expect. And you get so bummed out! I was so angry that things had not gone the way I had planned, and even though I knew God had a plan and this was part of it, I was really upset that I couldn't be in charge. It took a lot of little reminders to break me back down to where I need to be and you know what? It feels so good.
   This is why this week was so good:
1. I've been volunteering with the Center for New North Carolinians and doing a summer morning day camp for the refugee youth. First off, I was placed with middle school kids(NOT where I wanted to be, but it turned out..amazing.), and I have grown to love them so much. Second, it's been an incredible humbling experience for me as you would imagine. Third, those little kids I spend a few moments with each day love and embrace me and run up and just want to play games and hug me and kiss my cheek and braid my hair and it's the best feeling ever. The older kids I get to talk to like this..
2. This week the Greensboro Downtown Public Library has come in and we've been writing books. Monday we made paper, Tuesday we made the covers by Marble Art, Wednesday we sewed the books together, Today we wrote the story, and Tomorrow we go to the library and read the books and have pizza and such. By far my favorite was the marble art, today, and I'm pretty sure it will be tomorrow. Today, we sat a few kids who were having trouble focusing on themselves and their stories by themselves. One was a boy named Ben. Ben is 12 and is so sweet. Earlier this week he dubbed me "Good Driver" since he loves my car (I walk in every morning and hear him say "Hey Good Driver!"). He's not as outspoken as the other boys, but there is something about him that appreciates more than the other boys do. I sat with him and talked to him about why we were doing these books. They were supposed to answer the questions "What Country is your family from?" "Why did you come to America?" "What is your family like?" "What do you like about where you live?" "Describe your country before you moved here.". He thought it was really dumb until I started to tell him that people like me, who really are interested in his story and his life would love to read this book. We ended up talking over all the questions and answering them until he was comfortable writing down his story. I am so excited to see and read the other children's books tomorrow.
3. Institute this week really stuck with me. No kidding, I think the people in the class thought I was such a goober since I commented so much and practically smiled my face off the entire time. I realized that Heavenly Father truly loves me. I've always known it, and all summer I've been trying to really dig it in, but it never just stuck and hit home. I was reminded why I'm here. I have been given so many gifts, and one of them is having the gospel. And having that gospel means I have a duty to share it and I know Heavenly Father loves me so much that He gave me this to start with and knows I can get the job done. I know He loves everyone else as well and because He knows I can share it, I need to share it in whatever way possible and give His light to others, so they know He loves them and in turn they can go out and show others the love and gospel as well. Really, I just forgot that this life is not for me. I let go of everything I ever wanted.
4. I DID let go of everything I wanted. I know what I would like to happen in my life, but really I am open to whatever the Lord wants. I've remembered to be more Christ centered and pattern my life on His.

   I'm not saying that nothing bad has happened this week. I've had terrible nights sleeping, cracked my iPhone beyond repair, and have not felt great. But every night when I say my prayers, I can't help but smile and end up thanking God for absolutely everything and forget to ask for anything. I've finally remembered that life is fun and life is good. It's just taken a while for me to remember:)
   Soooo pretty much this week has been amazing. And I love life. And life is just so dang good. HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY.

I Love Lists Wednesdays: Top 10 Favorite Quotes:

So I'm kiiiind of a quote freak. I consider myself not too well with the words, and I always seem to find someone else who says exactly what I feel better than I could, so here we go with my Top Ten List of Favorite Non-Movie/Non-Song/Non-Scripture Quotes!


1. "For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you can make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again." - F. Scott Fitzgerald


2. "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman


3. "Love me when I least deserve it because that is when I really need it."- Swedish Proverb 


4. "I am still determined to be cheerful and to be happy in whatever situation I may be, for I have also learnt from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances." - Martha Washington

5. "You can do anything, but not everything" - David Allen


6. "I'm going to make everything around me beautiful-that will be my life" - Elsie de Wolfe


7. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain 


8. "Your journey has molded you for your greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don't think that you've lost time. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time." 


9. "Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and twice as beautiful as you'd ever imagined." 


10. "Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." - Steve Jobs