a few weeks in

I'm not sure whether going back to school after Christmas is worse than going back to school after the summer. Christmas break is such a tease to me. It's a wonderful time of the year, and so many of my friends are home. You eat good food, you make lots of memories, you turn a year older, etc. And then just like that it's over. In the summer, it's weeks and months of doing that, so I'm kind of ready for the routine again. Either way, I'm still partially in denial that I'm in the third week of spring semester. Part of it has to do with a canceled class and MLK day. Hopefully next week will be normal, and I'll be back in a routine.

Anyway, I've been enjoying people and life as much as I possibly can despite having to go to class. Pictures below prove this statement:

Casie, Jack, and Joe took me out for birthday ice cream. LOVE that family. 

;)

I went to camp last weekend, and it SNOWED.

Running ground school for the ropes course in 30 degrees will make you look like you're headed to the arctic. 

I also spent some time learning more about my job for the summer!!!

Have you ever heard of Graze? It's a company that sends you healthy snacks. You get your first box free. It was SO good! I really enjoyed these snacks!

"I Like You" by Ben Rector, my most recent favorite

Birthday Celebrations

Sometimes my birthday can get overlooked because of Christmas festivities and New Year's Eve celebrations. But reality is EVERYONE in the WHOLE world celebrates my birthday so it makes my birthday so much more fun! I spread out my birthday celebrations for about a week, and each and every celebration was so fun!

We spent New Year's Eve and Kaila's boyfriend's house. Once the clock struck midnight, Patrick found this piece of cake and lit some candles and everyone sang to me. I laughed and laughed because they all knew that I don't like cake, and then once I blew out the candles, I handed the cake back to Patrick to eat. 

I went to Carrabba's for birthday dinner with my parents. THIS chocolate delight was DELICIOUS!

The fab five were at it again for my birthday dinner. We headed downtown to The Cotton Patch, and it was such a fun time with these girls! After dinner, we headed back to my house where we talked for hours about education, the government, our futures, etc. We felt like old ladies discussing these things, but I'm so grateful for these lifelong friends. 

Kaila surprised me with a trip to Atlanta for my birthday weekend. Through me being nosy and a friend kind of spilling the beans, it ended up not being as much of a surprise as it should have been. BUT it was tons of fun. We shopped a lot, ate lots of good food, played fun games, froze in Piedmont Park, didn't get enough sleep, and laughed a lot. I'm already looking forward to my next trip to the ATL. 

Christmas 2013

Christmas this year wasn't too crazy, but that's okay. Sometimes it's nice to have calm, small holidays. I enjoyed the time spent with my family, and I'm glad that two of my grandmas were there to celebrate with us! What a blessing for them to have another Christmas.

Cuteness. 

We spend Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family. This is the newest member, sweet baby Hayes! How precious is he? (This is just before he peed on me. Real life.)

We ended Christmas with dinner at Waffle House!

The Sunday after Christmas a few of us went to Lights of the South, refusing to believe that Christmas really is over. 

Had no idea Addison was back there :)

Love this sweet friend!

New Year's Eve isn't supposed to be too crazy either, but I'm okay with that, too! And the birthday celebrations are about to begin!!!

2013 Year in Review

2013 was a fab year. In January, I wrote this, "21, you've been nothing short of fantastic so far! I cannot wait to see all the fun things that come with your year!"

This year was incredibly fun. I made and met some incredible new friends, God worked in magnificent ways, I fell in love with a beautiful place, and I continued on this journey that God has called me to. There are some things I wish had taken place during 2013, but they didn't, and I'm just going to have to be content in where he has me this year. So, without further ado, a look back on some of the highlights of 2013! 

January: I turned 21!

February: I led my senior girls in their last DNOW! 

March: Drew got married, and my BD and his wife got saved!

April: Kaila and I went to Atlanta, and I threw Hannah a bridal shower. 

May: I went to Hilton Head twice, and Hannah got MARRIED!

June: I went to camp!

July: I was still at camp!

August: I went back to camp for a weekend, and I went to Florida for Labor Day Weekend. 

September: I went to camp again (clearly I fell in love with camp this year).

October: I started my student teaching (and SURVIVED it).

November: I spent a lot of time with the Dukes at camp, and I hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner! 

December: I hosted the FIFTH Annual Tacky Sweater Christmas Party!

2013, you really were great. I made some awesome best friends, I slept outside two times too many, I stood by one of my best friends as she got married, I drove to Asheville and back too many times to count, I had two of my best semesters in college, I read as often as I could, I cooked a 20 pound turkey, I was a student teacher for five weeks, I made it a full summer at camp, I watched my birth dad and his wife get baptized, I became an even bigger fan of phone dates and spur-of-the-moment visits, I spent more money at Gap then I should have, I joined a new church, and I made as many fantastic memories as possible. 2014, I cannot wait to see all the joy and fun you bring! 

Fifth Annual Tacky Sweater Christmas Party

On Thursday night, we had our FIFTH annual tacky sweater Christmas party. I can barely believe that this was the fifth time we did this. How have we been doing this five years? I feel incredibly old. (You can read about Year 2, Year 3,  and Year 4.)This was the lowest turnout we've had, but it just shows how old we're getting. People had things to do with their husbands (okay that was only Hannah), and plenty of others were either out of town or just busy with life. To be completely honest, I'm not sure if we'll get to have one next year. So many of us will have graduated (not me) and we'll be well into adulthood. One of my friends just accepted a job in Texas, and I have other friends applying to grad school. IS THIS REAL LIFE? I feel so old. Okay, moving on....

Typical. 

Love these ladies!

Thanks, MB, for making us take a "fake" laughing picture :)

I have no words. 

I just want the world to know that my sweater is about the 12 Days of Christmas (best one I've ever had; shout out to my mom for getting this one for me!)

Love this sweet best friend of mine!

Hope you are enjoying the tackiest, merriest time of the year!

the season of sweatshirts

Y'all, fall is upon us. Really. I've worn a sweatshirt or long sleeve t-shirt the past couple of days (no need to mention that it is freezing in every classroom on campus), and it has been fantastic. I'm planning on breaking out all of the fall decorations this weekend, and I'm excited about hopefully completing a couple of DIY projects (Pinterest inspired, of course) to add some new decorations to my house. While I haven't broken out the scarves and cable-knits yet and I'm anxious to do so, I am a little sad to say goodbye to summer. Here's a few snapshots of life post #labordayvacay...

While fall is definitely my favorite season of the year, I'm going to miss sitting outside in the evening and watching the sunset. I hate how early it gets dark now!

This was taken when I babysat for one of my favorite families a few weekends ago. 

Did you dress up like a pirate and get a free dozen of doughnuts from Krispy Kreme? No? I didn't either, but I have an aunt who is willing to look ridiculous for the sake of free doughnuts. And I didn't complain!

My aunt was in town for a few days, and it was so fun to spend time with her (as it always is). 

This guy showed up at my house on Tuesday night for Bible study since he was back in Augusta for the night. What a FUN surprise!

Andddd I got this today! In less than two weeks, I'll be in the classroom, doing some teaching. I'm excited yet scared to death at the same time. 

Just a quick update, but I knew if I didn't do this now, I wouldn't for a long time! Enjoy a few of my newest favorite songs...I know I'm like super behind on these but they're still some of my favorites