He is so faithful

Y'all I'm so glad the Lord knows exactly what we need. I'm so so glad He knows what I need more than what I think I need. Eeeeeeks hope that makes sense! Kamp has been so great. It is the happiest place on Earth and it has permanently taken place in my heart. Heres a little update for all the peeps back home and all my girls in Europe/at camp!

Staff training was a full ten days. Let me tell you, it was such a sweet time to get to hang out and work along side all of my old kamp friends. I have missed them SO MUCH this past year and it was real great getting to make some new kamp buds as well. So then the day came when we were placed into barns (yes we have barns, not cabins. deeeeal). Of course, being the creature of habit I am, I wanted barn five again. I had barn five last year and fell in love, thought it was the greatest place ever. But I was still open in being placed wherever. The  Lord opened my eyes and saw me in barn twelve this year (the oldest barn at k-kountry)! At first, I was shocked. And so nervous. If anyone says that seven year olds and eleven year olds aren't that different, lets have a chat. Forreal. Because they are.

Again, the Lord is SO FAITHFUL. He knew exactly what I needed. The kampers in my barn are SO wonderful. Their walk with the Lord already at age eleven is so strong and I am convicted everyday to be an example for them and try to keep up with them. My co-counselor is the most amazing girl ever! Chelsea Courtney and I are in charge of the "real deal" which is a nick name for our barn. Just when I thought I had kamp all figured out, the Lord humbles me and sweetly reminds me that HE is in control. HE knows best. He is so faithful in that.

I'm on my very first "2-4" and I find that every topic of conversation is completely consumed with kamp and my girls in barn 12. My sweet co from last summer, Alyssa, lives right across the street from kamp so I'm getting to sleep in some A/C with one of my sweetest friends and get to hang out for the day. Isn't it so great to have a brief sense of normalcy and relax for a few hours? We will get to hang out for the day before I come back! I love the wonderful people you meet at kamp.

Heres a few things I'm obsessed with this week. 1) FEDEL, a christian rapper. Y'all he is so cool, go check him out. 2) Light purple nail polish. Hello summer time. 3) Gatorade. Or as my dad calls it "sugar water". Just the greatest drink ever invented. YUM 4) Sweet old fashion communication. Thanks right, snail mail. Send some my way out to Branson, MO please! 5) Coffee. I drank some this morning (with tons of sugar and milk in it, sorry AE). 6) Outlet malls. PTL for stores that save money.

Joplin

I've been in Missouri the past few weeks and during staff training our kamp directors felt called to send our staff out to Joplin, MO for the day. Some of you may not have heard much about this town, but it was hit awfully by a tornado that left Joplin literally in shreds. So we traveled two hours down there for the day to serve with Samaritans Purse. What we saw was shocking. Everything was flattened. You could drive for ten minutes through the town and everywhere you looked you saw flattened houses and debris. We noticed  big X's on houses and numbers inside of the X. If the house had that, that meant that there were people in the home who passed away because of the storm. Y'all, what we saw was heartbreaking.

My team served a sweet sweet lady named Margie. Margie is 84 years old and was home alone when the storm hit. Margies roof is gone, with her back yard scattered with random belongings ranging anywhere from christmas decorations to sewing projects. Sweet Margie arrived at the house in the middle of us clearing up her back yard. She was in tears. She'll never be able to move back into the house because of all the things that had happened to it and all the neighbors she had lost. My heart broke for Margie that day. Myself and the rest of the team reassured her that we were going to clear that backyard for her, get rid of the huge tree that was looming over half of it, and help her make a smooth transition to her new home. My heart went out for Margie that day.

I know you probably don't know Margie. But I reassure you that there are hundreds of Margies. Pray for the Margies in Joplin and pray for healing.

To do lists

Is it just me or do to do lists never end? I feel like I've started several and right when I think I'm about to cross everything off of it, I think of a few more things I can be doing. But, GREAT NEWS! I'm going to be leaving to work at KAMP next week, Monday morning at 5 am. I know what you're thinking, and no, I didn't spell kamp wrong because we spell everything with a K. So all you english majors, just let this slide. I'm going out to Branson, Missouri to work for the great Kanakuk Kamps. K-Kountry is the best place on earth and my heart is SO FULL thinking about how soon I will be returning. For everyone who isn't familiar with kamp, heres the sparknotes version:

You'll get some ballin co's! Forreal, barn five for LIFE.

You take literally the funniest lake trips ever. Hands down.

You'll participate in the never ending search for crawdads

And find yourself chanting "USA USA USA" like it's your job, because folks, these stripes don't run.

And maybe, ONE DAY, maybe you will get to meet the Ms. K-Kountry. Hey, I said maybe

It really is a special place where the Lord is SO evident. He is constantly reminding me of how faithful He is and I am so thankful to get to return to the KOUNTRYSIDE. These next few posts will probably be all about kamp until I return July 18th. Prayers would be so great and so would letters!

Rollerblading, quite the venture

Currently, I've been looking at all of my cool friends pictures who are studying over in Europe and I think to myself, what can I do in Auburn while everyone is away? What is something that's fun, "adventurous" if you will? And then a potentially dangerous idea pops in my head. Roller blading. How is this dangerous, you may ask. Well for one, any stick, rock, or crack in the side walk is the kiss of death. I mean that. Because here I am, roller blading and minding my own business, when I approach a hill. I'm already nervous about this hill, because my brakes aren't working as well as I would've liked. And I begin to pick up speed, and again, my breaks won't work. And I am drawn back to my first ski trip where I had NO clue what I was doing and I was that girl flying down the slope because I couldn't stop. Which then draws me back to my "Intro to Skiing" class I took when I was 17. You should snake back and forth right? So I did. I went from one side of the road to the other and right when I thought it was working, I trip over a stick. Kiss. Of. Death. What came after was a little rolling, yelling, and plenty of "No, no, I'm fineeeee I promise!" Needless to say, my mom wants me to get wrist guards and maybe some knee pads. We'll see about that....

Until next time,

Adventuring in AU.

Dear Katy, thanks for being a sweet sister and holding my hand as I go down hills. You saw what happened last time. I appreciate that compassion.

What. A. Champ.

Good news folks. I definitely know what gravity is.

Free fallin

So yesterday was one of the scariest days of my life. And I'm so glad it happened. A few months ago, Cecilia and I got the great idea to go skydiving. We convinced two of our friends, Joe and Jonathan, to come with us. Finally, we made an appointment to carry this out and drove to Cullman, AL and actually did it! I know what you're thinking, YOU. HAVE. LOST. IT. But, it's not true. It was amazing. 

Ah-mazing.

 

Dear shoe,

Wherever you landed, I hope you were greeted with a warm reception. 

Sincerely, I only had you for a month. Thanks a lot.

PTL for knocking one thing off my bucket list. P.S. give some hugs to the great moms you have! Happy mothers day! P.S.S. In honor of this post, heres the two songs I was singing in my head the whole way down. True story.

P.S.S.S. who's up for hand-gliding? Holla at me.

On the Brightside

Sophomore year is ending. And as sad as I am about that, I'm so excited about this summer and what it has in store. My least favorite thing in the world to do is saying bye to friends. Least. Favorite. Thing. Ever. So as I'm saying bye to my sweet friends, I'm just going to brag on them and share just a little bit of what their summer has in store! My two roomies for next year, Cecilia and Anne Elizabeth, are working at a camp called Desoto, in North Alabama together teaching mountain biking and being really cool! My roommate from this year, Helen, IS GOING TO CHINA. For the whole summer! So so excited for her, she gets to visit her sister and brother-in-law! Sweet Davis is going to be working in South Carolina at a ballin beach making that $$$!! My two sweet friends Katie and Caroline are nannying all summer in Birmingham, and Carol's getting to enjoy her very first Alabama summer. It's great! MARIE PARSONS IS GOING TO ENGLAND. Sorry, it wouldn't be appropriate to say it in any other way. I'm so pumped for her! Mollie and I are returning to K-Kountry out in Branson, MO. Words cannot express how excited I am!

My talented friend, Sarah Kathryn Heinss, is graduating from Auburn and moving to NASHVILLE!! Holy smokes I'm so excited for her! She is one of my sweetest friends, who is beautiful inside and out! Yesterday, we took some pictures around campus (because again, she's so talented) and here are just a few. If you want to get your pictures done, she's expanding her film business to photography! Go check out her website/blog!

Just two of my favorite things at Auburn: Toomers lemonade (duh) and Samford Lawn. Even though I'm from here and I get to be around both all the time, I find my heart really missing them when I'm gone. Take a minute and go look at SK's blog, she's stinkin awesome :)

As this school year comes to a close, I am so beyond thankful for the first half of my college experience. Even though I'm half way through, and I guess a new member of the "upperclassmen", I'm thankful the Lord tells us to live day by day. So though it may seem like life is going way too fast, I'm just going to sit back, enjoy what the Lord has to come, and drink some Toomers lemonade. Until then, folks. 

Also, how cute is this video? Really cute, that's what. 

All things miniature