God is good.

So tonight I almost had a heart attack. I made a mistake that would have bummed out a ton of people, but of course God used it for good, better actually. He is forever teaching me that His plans are better than mine. That despite all my planning and supposed control, things WILL spiral out of my tiny grasp into His bigger hands.
Tomorrow a bunch of girls and I planned to go to six flags to take a friend who had never been. We "planned it perfectly" so that those with passes could get others a discount. I completely forgot that I had made a commitment to baby-sit for someone the same day. Which of course, I didn't remember till about 10pm tonight. So for a little over an hour it was a crazy rush to get someone to replace me. We were so close to canceling the trip and bum out six girls. Then Leslie says she didn't want to go to six flags in the first place so she is going to babysit! So that solved one problem. Unfortunately, she was one of the season pass girls. To shorten the story, we finally decided to give her season pass to a friend. Leslie apparently didn't want one of those either. So in the end, everyone got taken care of better than I could have hoped. Leslie gets out of sixflags and gets to make money in the process, I get to go, mom doesn't have drive us, and a very deserving girl gets a cool surprise present. God is good

oh right...

hello my few followers. Sorry, I've been so neglectful. It would be awesome if I had a really cool excuse about being busy with exciting stuff, but alas, my life isn't that interesting these days. I do have a couple posts in the making, have no fear, they'll be up soon. Next week is my church's second ever VBS and MY MOTHER is in charge. That's right ladies and gentlemen. My. Mom. Our house looks like a storage facility for disney's "The Sword in the Stone". It's been crazy. So I suppose that's my excuse. When I do get some downtime, I usually watch Doctor Who or sleep. So I suppose that obliterates my excuses huh? I hope you are all having a grand summer so far and soaking up every minute!

New Orleans

While on our way home, we stopped in new Orleans to eat. We didn't get to see the city, it was jazz festival weekend, so it was super packed... "ain't nobody got time for that" ...we still had two states to drive through. 
We did get to stop at this little place called Sammy's. Man it was good. I thought I had eaten gumbo before...I was WRONG. It was so deliciously different, I dont even know what that cheapo wanna be gumbo I had before was THINKING. The whole atmosphere was different. In Georgia you get used to the slow paced kindly southern folk who hold the door for each other and will give you a nickel if you're short at the checkout. That tiny restaurant we stopped in was nothing of the sort. It was fast paced and crowded. Not fun to be caught in, but fun to watch from the sidelines. There was literally a lady who yelled "if you don't know what you want, STEP OUT OF THE LINE." I ordered quick as I could and stepped back to watch. It was crazy but everyone seemed to be getting what they wanted. Our group was a little lost, but all the other people seemed to be having a fine time. Just another Saturday afternoon lunch rush for them. I hope I can go back and spend a little more time there. And not just for the food either. 

taste of atlanta

I MUST GO TO THIS.

 

Mexico...

I've tried to explain this trip so many times and it never comes out quite right. The truth is, this trip left me speechless. Its taken me awhile to process it. There is just so much to tell that can't be said right. It was an experience I'll never forget. I'll do my best to tell the tale as best I can. 

 

 

 I'm part of a group at my college called Christian campus fellowship (ccf). Every year or so the take a group to Mexico to work with Casas por Cristo. It's a really cool organization that works with local pastors to provide houses for families in need that the pastors are already ministering to. They are literally the hands and feet of what these pastors tell their people every day.  

 

This year Leslie and I were able to go. The whole trip was about a week, but we only spent three days in Mexico. What did we do the other four? Drive. Yep, we drove to mexico. At first I was a little skeptical, especially because I didn't really know most of the group. But throw 11 people (9 students, two staff) in a 12 passenger van for 40 hours, and you get to be real close. Literally.  

 

I think that the road trip part was my favorite, but of course so was the actual build in Mexico. On the road we did everything from catchphrase, to random radio sing a longs...even chess. I learned a lot about those 10 other people on the way there, and on the way back it was even more fun, because now we knew each other and had jokes and stories to share.  

 

In Mexico we were able to build a house for a family in need. The mom had applied for the house about six months ago. She applied mainly because one of her sons had a brain tumor which prevented him from walking. It was hard for him to get around in the house they were living in. It was poorly built. I don't have a word for how sad it is...but the son died before we got there. He passed away on the day he was scheduled to have surgery to remove it. I can't even imagine what it was like for the mother when we came to build the house...too late. I don't know what God's plan is with them or His reasons for why that happened, But I sure am going to continue praying for that family.

 

 

I loved working with everyone, we really got to know each other. People always talk more when their hands are busy, and boy were we busy. We finished the house in two and a half days. Only by God's grace I tell ya.  

 

I could write five more paragraphs, explain every awesome  moment, but I won't. How about we sit down one day and get tea or coffee and I'll tell you about instead? In the mean time, I hope you are all gearing up for summer.  We gotta soak up every second of sunshine. Yes, its cliché to quote "Life is like a box a chocolates..." but I say Georgia weather is like a box a chocolates, grab the good ones while you can.

 

 

before

 

 

 after

 

study break

I love studying when no one is home. Usually, especially if mom is home, study breaks mean I have to do something else. like chores. When I am home alone, study breaks mean running around the house, dancing to loud music, and random baking. This time I was really in the mood for biscuits, (they are my second love, after avocados) but I also wanted something sweet. So I added sugar to my biscuit recipe and voila! It was fun trying to make them as quickly as possible and trying to distract myself while waiting for the eternal 15 minutes to pass to eat them. I barely measured anything, hoping and wishing that my rushed eyed measurements turned out well. Well I was not disappointed my dear friends. These slightly sweet biscuits were delicious. I've noticed that when ever I'm in the mood to bake something, I always make biscuits, maybe I should branch out...or not.

 

These pictures of Alexander are just because...

 

20

Well...I turned twenty... I suppose that deserves some sort of acknowledgement on here. Especially since I tend to post a lot on "growing up".
It's kind of exciting. I feel like my life is REALLY going to start now. I know that technically I won't be doing anything different, but I feel really a part of the adult world. Before, I was a teen in college. Now, I'm in my early twenties in college. Doesn't that sound completely different? To me it does. I don't know what God has in store for my life, but I can feel myself heading towards it.

My friends did an excellent job with gifts this year. I almost cried at every one. Two of them gave me tea. But not just any tea. my Absolute favorites. And you would think, that's no big deal, well I didn't tell you they ACCIDENTLY chose my favorite teas. I think that's birthday Karma*. My dear sister Leslie (yes, I just called you dear >:) Leslie ) made me a chocolate cake from SCRATCH. With whole wheat, drowned in chocolate. It was fantastic. However, the top food gift that I received, ( can you tell I have a thing for food? People give it to me as presents) was a batch of All Natural, somewhat Organic, made from SCRATCH, Oatmeal Crème pies. Oh man, those took the prize. They were incredible. That girl, Taylor, is Amazing. Thank you Taylor.

              

 

 

Other incredible gifts were

Les Miserable DVD, which I opened after right after seeing it for the first time. Emotional much? Goodness, that movie is emotionally exhausting. I love it.  

A watch, I had no idea how incomplete my life was without one.

AND PETER PAN! well not the actual boy, I still have yet to find him, It was an annotated version  of the book, with a bunch of extra's like J.M. Barrie's life story, original notes and drawings, original screen play(I know right!?), and other cool stuff. Perfect for a nerdy girl who is a tiny bit obsessed about the boy who never grows up.

 

Thanks to everyone who made this entire weekend oh so fun. I'm truly blessed.



 

*p.s. I don't really believe in Karma, it was just really cool .