My parents came in town this past weekend to visit and stayed until this morning. The weather was perfect the entire time they were here and it was great to be able to spend time with them.

They arrived on Saturday night so that night me and a few of my friends decided to "camp out" on the back porch of the cabin my parents were staying at. Of course, the night we choose to camp out it was rainy and 32 degrees! We still had a great time though.

(Lauren and I camping)

The next evening my parents made a huge pot of taco soup and I invited 13 friends over for dinner, fellowship, and pumpkin carving! It was nice to introduce my parents to some of my good friends at school.

("family photo" of my roommates and I)

(Gator pumpkin!!!!!)

The rest of the time my parents were here visiting, we spent time together hiking around the property of the cabin, sight seeing and walking around downtown Chattanooga, and meeting up with family friends. I enjoyed having my parents in town visiting. They are such a blessing to me! I am very grateful to God for them and for the close relationship that I share with them.

Fall Day and Fall break!

This past weekend was Fall Day in Knoxville with the Hedger's and also Covenant's Fall break. Ben flew in to town on Friday morning and got to come to class with me and see my house and my school. We enjoyed a few hours together in the gloomy, dreary Chattanooga weather on Friday afternoon, then drove to Knoxville to see his family!

We spent Friday night with his siblings, having dinner and playing games together. Matt and Shannon had Ben and I over for dinner and Shannon made broccoli and cheese soup which tasted just like Panera's soup! After dinner and games, Ben and I spent the night at Scott and Ashley's house with Nicole, Sam, Lance and Kiwi (the dogs). We all had a great time.

Saturday was Fall Day, a tradition Scott and Ashley started. I was so happy to be apart of it! The weather was very chilly and I was unprepared for it. We made some delicious food, played corn hole, and carved pumpkins. It was such a fun day filled with memories I will never forget!

(Ben's sisters and I on Fall Day)

On Sunday Ben and I left Knoxville around 9:00am and headed to Chattanooga for church at Calvary Chapel. We met Lauren there and after church started our road trip journey to Orlando!

(Ben and I on the Hang Glide Bluff)

We spent 3 full days in Orlando, shopping, at Disney World, at the beach, and hanging out with my family. It was Lauren's first time in Florida and she had a wonderful time. And it was so great to spend more then just a couple of days with Ben! :)

(My handsome brothers and I )

(At Disney world!)

(Ben and I) (Heather, baby, and I! )

Happy 50th Birthday Daddy!

This past weekend was my dad's 50th birthday! My mom planned a surprise party for him, and I flew into town to surprise him!

The party was a success and the whole weekend was a ton of fun! I was able to spend Friday afternoon till Monday morning home with my family. I am so grateful to God for blessing me with such an amazing family! They are so great! Around 60 people showed up for my dads party on Friday night. Highlight: I FINALLY GOT TO MEET HENDRIX!!! Hendrix is my cousin's little boy that is now six months old. Because of me being out of state for school, this past weekend was the first time I got to see him in person. Hendrix is absolutely adorable, and such a little cuddle bug! It was great to meet him finally, and to see Kate (his momma), Teya and Bryleigh, and so many other people that I miss so much when I am away at school. (Hendrix, Ben, and I ) (Kate, Hendrix, and I )

(Teya and Bryleigh) (Daddy blowing out his candles!)

Another highlight: HEATHER LOOKS SO CUTE AND PREGNANT!! My sister-in-law is 21 weeks pregnant, with a little girl, and she is definitely starting to show! And she has a beautiful pregnant glow to her. I am so excited for Heather and my brother. Babies are such a gift from the Lord! I look forward to seeing her tummy continue to grow, and I really cannot wait to see how wonderful of a mommy she is going to be!

(Heather, baby girl, and I!!)

I came back in town on Monday afternoon to such gorgeous fall weather!!! The days here have been absolutely beautiful with clear sunny blue skies and temperatures in the low 70s and high 60s during the day. On Monday night the thermostat in my car said 49 degrees!! Fall is on its way! : )

knoxville!

I-am-going-to-start-with-apologizing-for-all-of-the-dashes-between-words.

The-space-bar-on-my-computer,along-with-the-delete-button-and-apostrophe-button,-randomly-stopped-working-the-other-day-so-now-I-have-to-put-dashes-between-each-word!

I-spent-last-weekend-in-Knoxville-visiting-the-Hedger-family.-It-was-Mr.-Hedgers-50th-birthday-and-his-lovely-wife-and-children-planned-a-surprise-party-for-him.-The-party-was-a-blast!!-It-was-50s-themed,with-costumes,candy,-and-great-50s-decorations!-The-Hedgers-are-such-a-great-family.-They-have-been-such-a-blessing-to-me-already-and-I-am-so-grateful-to-God-for-bringing-them-into-my-life!

This-weekend-is-the-big-FLORIDA-vs-TENNESSEE-football-game!!

GOOO-GATORSSSSSSS!

here-are-some-pictures-from-last-weekend.-Enjoy!

Jeremiah 29:11

...Its been a very long time, and without going into detail, since I last blogged God has radically changed my life! !

I am back at school now and have begun my fall semester classes. I am taking eight classes this semester, which all seem to be very interesting so far. Each of my professors are great, and their passion for Christ and for teaching is truly evident in their lives. I think my favorite classes this semester will be my Art/Music/P.E. for Early Grades class and Christ and Culture class. 

Along with starting a new semester and having new classes, I have also moved off campus! I moved into a house with three other girls about four and a half miles from school. Our house is absolutely adorable, and we are loving cooking, cleaning, having our own space, and being more "independent"! It has already been a huge learning experience. 

As I said before, God has radically changed my life. My walk with Christ is stronger then it has ever been before and I have found myself falling more and more in love with Him each day. I am very grateful for all God is doing, and I am so excited about this time in my life. My prayer is that my eyes stay fixed on Jesus and that He continues to be my focus, my center, and the source of all my peace, love, strength, and joy!  A verse that has ministered to my heart in so many ways recently is Isaiah 43:1 which says, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!" Each and everyday I continue to find myself utterly amazed by God and His goodness. 

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11 

open me!

would You open up my eyes, so i can see

would You open up my ears, so i can hear
would You open up my mind, so i can know
would You open up my heart, so could love You more

i want to serve You, my God
i want to give everything

i want to serve You, my King
i want to serve You, my Lord
i want to give You everything.

here i am with my arms open wide
asking for You to come up, up inside
won't You make me new, won't You make me true
Jesus, won't You make me like You.

will You touch my eyes so i can see
will You touch my ears so i can hear
will You touch my mind so i can know
will You touch my heart so i can love You more

happy memorial day weekend!

Memorial day and July 4th have always been two of my favorite holidays. There is just something so great about being out in the sun and water all day with family and friends, grilling out hamburgers, hot dogs, and barbecue chicken, indulging on baked beans, corn on the cob, and potato salad, baking american flag cakes with my mom, having water melon sippin' seed contests, and watching fireworks! 

This weekend was a blast! On Sunday night my family went and stayed out at one of Disney's new resorts called The Treehouses. These villas have been newly 

designed and restored and Sunday was our first time staying in them.  Of course, however, just as we arrived to the resort it began to pour outside so our somewhat plans had to be altered. We ordered in pizza, played games, watched TV, baked american flag cakes, and enjoyed our time together as a family. Despite the rain, it was still a ton of fun! 

On Monday, Memorial day, I unfortunately had to work while my family got to play outside by the pool all day with some of our good friends, and enjoy the memori

al day festivities. : (  Work was fun though and it went by fairly fast, and soon I was able to join in on the fun! On Monday night we moved out to Disney's

 Beach Club Villas for the evening. That too was so much fun! Disney's Beach Club is one of my favorite resorts out at Disney. We got to lay out by the pool and swim all day today, and I got to enjoy all the left over food from yesterday : ) 

tuesday.

I started a new (part-time) job yesterday at The Curl by Sammy Duvall. The Curl is a surf/water sports shop located at Downtown Disney's Pleasure Island. My little brother has been an employee there for a couple years now and his boss has always tired to get me to work there as well, and so finally i gave in! I had my first day of training yesterday from 2:00 - 7:30 and it was pretty fun. All the people there seem to be really friendly and easy to get along with. My next training day will be on Friday and that will be from 6:00pm- 12:30am.... I'm not looking forward to that shift! 

This job will be my first "real" job in five years so I'm a bit nervous about how things will go. In the past five years I have been a nanny, a kindergarten teacher for an after care/summer camp program, a tutor, and just a regular babysitter, so it will be a little different getting used to working retail again. I am excited to be working with my brother though! 

Also yesterday, AMERICAN IDOL!! 

My family are big American Idol watchers, supporters, and voters. Ever since my brothers and I started to grow older, get jobs, and have busy schedules, American Idol soon became the show that brought us together during all the busyness. As a family we designated Tuesday and Wednesday nights as "Idol Nights". On these nights we all gather at my parents house and have dinner together and watch the show. We ha

ve been doing this for four or five years now, and actually we all truly cherish our Tuesdays and Wednesdays together!  

Until last week, I was away at school and therefore unable to be apart of "Idol Ni

ghts". Each week my mom would catch me up on the contestants that were eliminated. At the beginning of the competition I was pulling for Megan Joy and was really hoping that she would be the next American Idol. I thought she had a great voice that was very unique, and I thought she was sweet, pretty, and had a fun/cute personality. Oh well though! American and the judges thought differently! After Megan left, my next

 pick was between Danny Gokey and Kris Allen, both eventually being in the top 3!!!! Sadly though, Danny Gokey got eliminated last week. He too, had an incredible and unique voice, and my heart went out to him especially because of the recent death of his wife. Danny is also a Christian, and the Worship Leader at his home church in Wisconsin. Now that he is gone though, I am a full supporter of Kris Allen! Kris Allen is a newlywed, and he is also a Christian and a worship leader at his home church. I love that so many devout followers of Jesus Christ are becoming American Idol contestants! And they are doing so well on the show too! Praise God! 

Tonight is the finale of American Idol and as silly as it sounds, I am act

ually a bit nervous!! P R A Y for Kris Allen, because I am sure he is nervous too!!! 

...if only

I found this little note and thought it was adorable, and SO TRUE! 

In a perfect world I would have.. 

A real breakfast, EVERY MORNING, with no adverse effects on my weight or health.

Fresh coffee in the coffee pot. Always. 

Dark chocolate. Everyday. 

Linens pressed and folded daily. 

Clothes pressed, organized into drawers, and hung up in my closet. All the time. 

Real hot high heels that are also extremely comfortable. 

12 more hours in every day. 

8 hours of sleep every night. 

A good belly laugh. Every day. 

More vacation time. 

: )

summer!

I'M HOME!!!!!!!!!! : )

The school year is finally over  and summer is HERE! I am so excited about being home with my friends and family. I will be babysitting this summer, working at a surf shop with my little brother, and also working at a summer camp on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It will be a b u s y but fun summer! 

I miss my roommates already : ( 

The summer will be difficult being away from them. 

I thank God for Covenant College and the opportunity to go to that school. Covenant has been such a blessing to my life.