My Last Day

Today is my last weekday before classes. It's 10 a.m. and it's already been good. Got up and drove Andrew to school and helped him study his spelling words on the way. Swung by Eden Park and walked and read my Bible by the little waterfall. It is a beautiful morning. And I'm going to do the wash today, play the keyboard, tidy up my room, order a few more books, work on my portfolio, and work at Panera tonight. Sounds kinda busy, but it's okay. Just enjoying my last day home.

Some verses that have been on my mind lately:

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.' The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:22-26 ESV

Have a blessed day! :)

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Ps. 8:3-4 ESV

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?"

We walked outside and looked into the black sky. It was half past twelve. We watched for a few moments and then decided to walk into the back yard. The grass was still wet and cold from a rain shower earlier that evening, but now the sky was as clear as glass. And then we saw it - a ball of fire streak across the sky and then into oblivion. A blink of the eye and it would have gone unnoticed. He raced inside and turned off my bedroom light and then brought the trampoline out into the middle of the yard. We crawled up onto the still wet trampoline and lay down with a sky full of twinkling stars as our focus. Every few minutes we would see another streak of a meteor. Each time it was a wonder. All you could do is gasp and point. "Look over there! Did you see it?" As we lay there, we talked about life, God, friends, the future. We chuckled and laughed. We exclaimed over the stars. We saw two giant meteors right over our heads - God's own fireworks. Finally around two in the morning, we waited until we saw "one more" and wet, cold, yet warm inside, we went off to bed.

God gave me him as a brother, but I have chosen him as a friend.
I love you Andrew.

Oh Me...Oh My...It Can't be August!!!

...but it is. :( Summer is going oh so fast. I'm trying to fit it all in. More pictures :)

We had a baptismal service a couple of weeks ago. Several of our kids wanted to be baptized! I love these kiddos!

Noah

Issiah

Last weekend we went to Hocking Hills. Had fun snapping a few pictures:

This is my favorite. We were down in a canyon when I took this.

My very fun fam!

Serious roots!

And more cool roots!

And then a couple of weeks ago, Mandy and Cory came to visit. They are our cousins from Kansas. We had a great time! :)

We went to the bean field across the road to take some pictures. :)

Lot's of fun! :)

-- Well, school starts soon. I must accept this! Lol. Please pray for me...I'm considering doing a AA in Music in addition to my B.A. but there are a lot of things to think about. Trusting God though...He's my shepherd and I know He'll provide and guide.<

-- Two big days tomorrow...but looking forward to hanging out with some friends, spending the night with my aunt, babysitting some cool kids, two days at summer camp, and a night working at Panera. Gotta get ready.

-- One more thing...I love teaching my kids at church! They are such a blessing! Tonight I told the story about Mary and Martha and how Jesus wants us to spend time listening to Him. There will always be work and busyness, but we (I) must spend time at the feet of my Savior!

-- Blessings! :)

The Return of the Mangy Mailbox Monster

Our poor innocent little mailbox...now broken and torn by the horrible monster. Why must he choose our little mailbox...aren't there millions of others that he could assault...but no...it's ours over and over again. I think this is probably the third or fourth time he's eaten ours for a midnight snack. My neighbor just shook her head and tossed me the mailbox lid that had flown over in her yard. The monster has gotten hers too several times...and their neighbors. I'm pretty sure I heard the attack last night...the noise of the truck barreling down the road...the point of impact...such horrible sounds. I ran to the window...but alas...it was too dark to see the destruction. But the morning light showed the sad little mailbox lying helpless in the driveway amidst the falling rain.

Pictorial Recap

Hey everybody!! Life has been busy the last few days...but a lot of fun. Here is what I've been up to:

(This picture won't go down to its spot so it will be first...lol ) Monday night I took my brother bowling as a very belated birthday present, and we got a sweet deal! Two hours of bowling for the two of us + shoes for $10!! The guy accidentally gave us another hour! Cool huh? We played 7 1/2 games! :) It was very fun!

I set out Thursday (July 9) after work and drove to Charleston, WV, and spent the night with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Then Leanna and I got up and hiked through the woods Friday morning. We had lunch and then I headed down to NC to visit Katie and her family. It was a wonderful, first road trip by myself! :)

On the trail ... I fell through this bridge on the way back...hehe.

Millie found all the mud holes... :)

The woods were so green.

My cousin Leanna and I on the top of the mountain.

At Katie's, we enjoyed taking walks every night down a side road.

Jenna and Thumper

Katie took me to a tea house! It was so special! :)

Katie and I - sisters at heart :)

(This is out of order...) The pretty sunset on my way home from Charleston. Yes I was snapping pictures as I was driving - but I lived. :)

Katie and I made pavlova. We ate a lot of this dessert in Ireland!

Yummy Pavlova!

All the girls - Me, Kirsten, Katie, Mrs. Kaufman, Katrina, and Jenna. It was a blast having sisters for the weekend! :)

Last weekend, Lucas was back in Cincy so we went on a date Friday night and out bowling with friends on Saturday. It was so wonderful being with him! :)

Lucas' group, Faith, was at my church Sunday morning. They did an awesome job! It was a very special service. They came to my house for lunch, and then they were off to AYC.

I've also been working at a Summer Camp this summer. I usually help drive kids to parks and on field trips. We have lots of fun together! This beautiful field of sunflowers is across from a park that we go to, so we got a few pics! :) (Oh and we had two more adults with us...don't worry! :P)

This fellow was way taller than the rest!


So happy!

Ms. Dana (the Summer Camp Leader) and I

So that is what I've been up to. I've been very busy with work - Summer Camp and Panera, but I'm thankful for the work and usually it's a lot of fun too! I can't believe summer is nearly over. :( I guess summer will never quite be like it was when I was a kid since I have two jobs now. Wow...that's depressing. But...I'm gonna try and enjoy every last moment of blessed "summerdom." And be sure that I'll share all that I do with you! :)

Smile - it's still summer!!! :D

*Sigh* - Finally!

Finally - a time to blog!! So much has happened over the last few weeks. Let's see... a quick recap.

--June 19-21 - My brother and I spent the weekend at Aunt Brenda's! Our own little vacation 20 minutes from home!! We got new tennis rackets and played tennis every night. And we did other fun stuff too! Love you Brenda! :)

--June 24-26 - Helped out (whenever I wasn't working) at Camp Hope, our church's own Children's Camp. It was a blast!! I had so much fun hanging out with some cool 6-12 year olds. What a special group of kids!

--June 27 - Had a delightful time babysitting three sweet kids!

--June 29 & July 1 - Got to hang out with my awesome boyfriend! :)

--July 2 - Mom and I went to an Isaacs concert - wow what an perfect night! So special.

--July 4 - After working at Panera in the morning, the fam celebrated the 4th at Smokey Bones...yum! :)

--July 5 - Gave a little power point presentation about my Ireland trip in church Sunday night. Enjoyed reminiscing!

-- Summer Camp - and amongst all these lovely things I've been working at a Summer Camp at Liberty Bible Academy. It's been wonderful...I usually work from 12pm-4pm about 3-4 days a week, but yesterday I helped out all day by driving some kids up to Boonshoft Museum in Dayton. And next Wednesday I'll be driving up to the Creation Museum. I feel very blessed with such a cool job!

-- Panera - and for my second job of the summer... I've been working 10 -15 hours a week...and I still love it!

And if this post seems unusually cheery and happy it is because:
1.) My Independent Study is DONE *and the crowd goes wild!*
2.) Tonight after Summer Camp I'm driving to Charleston, WV to spend the night with my aunt, uncle, and cousins and then Friday I'm driving to North Carolina to see my friend Katie!!! It will be my first little road trip solo and I'm very excited!!

So that's been my life the past few weeks. I've had some ups and downs, but God is so faithful! I'm learning to base my happiness and fulfillment in HIS love! What an awesome God!

today's thoughts that might be random

Biking in the rain is SO fun. Actually it was. I've got another 10 miles under my belt. Add that to the 9 or so miles a week or so ago that makes 19 - yes I can add! Lol. I'm going for - oh - maybe 200 miles this summer. Yeah that sounds good. :) I will just have to imagine that I biked them on Mackinac. Wow - I miss that place.

I found a little coffee shop called Grinders Coffee Company right outside of Maineville on Rt. 22. They play 93.3 - a Christian station. But they close at 3:30 pm so my independent study work was cut short. But I'll go back - I'm glad I found a little coffee shop that's not a chain. Lol. It'll be my little hang out.

If you want to hear the most random bell chimes - go to Loveland at 12 noon. We were laughing so hard - I'm sure someone was tampering with it. It was out of control. LOL.

I need to go to King's Island. It's been WAY TOO LONG. Yep pretty sure a ride on the Vortex would really help my headache right now. Lol.

I miss my boyfriend. :(

Okay gonna do more independent study work and then - news of all news - I'm getting a FACEBOOK. But only when the independent study is done.

Farewell fair friends. :)

Picking + Cleaning + Sugar + Pectin = Freezer Jam

When your fingers smell like strawberries - you know it's been a good day. :)

Delightful "Summerness"

I was driving home and decided that I HAD to have a s'more. So I popped a marshmellow onto a graham cracker and put it into the microwave for ten seconds and then yelled, "Look at it blow up!!" Yummy - so good.

Yup it's summertime!

Actually this whole week has been blessedly "summer-like." I shall recount the ways using nifty bullet points!

• biking with the fam
• sleeping in...waking up...and then sleeping some more
• Vacation Bible School - singing, praising, teaching, laughing...just a lovely time
• planting a flower
• washing dishes upon dishes
• washing clothes
• making supper
• reading a fiction book (The Wheel on the School)
• reading a inspirational book (Completely His)
• reading the Bible - with no time restraints!
• shopping at Wal-mart
• watching Remember the Titans
• walking with mom at the park
• playing tennis with Andrew at a different park
• visiting a dear friend, even if it was just for an hour
• making a drink stop at Sonic during happy hour
• eating a blizzard from Dairy Queen after VBS (thank you Mom!)
• texting people quite randomly and then not so randomly (lol)

Yup - it's summertime. And I absolutely love it!

Summer is Here! :)

I'm sitting here trying to think of what to say - my mind swimming with so many memories. I've been to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland - which was a trip of a lifetime. And then the first part of this week I spent in Illinois with Lucas' family and had a delightful time! Jo and Rach if you are reading this...I miss you both! :) What I wouldn't give for a coffee drink at JoeSipper's right now with you two! :) And then this morning, Lucas took me out to breakfast and we said our goodbyes for about 24 days since he'll be traveling with his trio. So, yeah...it's been a wonderful three weeks - full with delightful memories, but now I must get my life organized for a busy summer. VBS is next week and then I start Summer Camp at LBA the next week, and then we have Children's Camp at Church, and there went the month of June! Crazyness! :) But I'm definitely looking forward to the change of pace that summer affords. Enjoy those bright sunny days!