colleen and elizabeth come to visit!

be prepared for lots of photos today.

my girls elizabeth and colleen came this weekend to see me and it was so fun! 

we went uptown, got some whits, and then spent the evening at Easton.

we did some shopping and then got some dinner.

then we spent all night talking!

we went to church this morning and that was amazing to be able to show them my church family, whom i love so much.

it was my first time back since vaca (so 4 weeks) and boy have i missed everyone!

{and i'll have you know that a certainly gentleman was fighting for my attention almost the whole time. and i was honestly pretty oblivious. oops.}

and that made me think that maybe my mom and sister are right about me not giving enough to guys when i'm interested. i've got a lot of praying to do about this. i was just so glad to have their input.

{whits!! my 3rd time this week.}

{well hi there cute clock in town}

 {hello beautifuls!}

and the best part?  it was natinoal cheesecake day!  

why is that so important, you ask?

well all cheesecake was half off.  

delicious cheesecake for $3.90....SCORE!

and yes, it was DELICIOUS.

need you ask?!

cheesecake factory cheesecake is to die for!

secret: i never liked cheesecake till i tried theirs. one bite and it was all down hill from there!

{yes.  we all must model our cheesecake now!  i got hershey's}

{eliz got pineapple upside down.  YUM!}

{and white chocolate blueberry.  MMM!}

{i love these girls to death!}

 

{pics at anthropologie?!  why not!}

{and i just loooove this sign!}

i tell ya, i am so blessed to know them and be able to spend the year living with them.

it's the one thing i am looking forward to this year.

colleen and eliz--it meant the world to me that you came down.  thank you SO much for everything!  it was such an honor to show you my home and share another little piece of me.....i cannot thank you enough.  i love you to the moon and back!

happy sunday!

wild wanna be.

today i ran lots of errands and got numerous things {and sadly spent lots of money}.

i also had lunch with briana, my old youth group leader.

it was so nice to catch up with her and share what's been on our hearts.

they're hoping to take the youth group to Haiti next summer, and i am hoping to do my cross cultural trip there next summer.

wouldn't that be funny if we all crossed paths there?!

tomorrow, eliz and colleen come and i'm pumped.

but can i be honest?  i am a big nervous, too.

i have a great house, but it's nothing elaborate or huge.

eliz has a pool.....need i say more?!

but i am looking forward to some good girl talk and hope they enjoy themselves.

and i know that there is a reason they are coming this weekend to visit.

will you please pray that we have a great time together in fellowship?

i love to clean...have i mentioned that before?

well, i do!  so i did lots of that today in prep for our guests.

i just bought the newest sara bareilles CD (which apparentally is a year old.  so i'm a bit behind on the times.....oops!).

it has some amazing songs, 2 of my favorites being 'breathe' and 'the light'. put that thing on repeat and i'm a cleaning machine!

and i will say. after a day filled with accomplishments, i feel great!

a bit tired, but great! 

it's FINALLY friday!! and i hope your weekend is off to a great start!

in just a couple weekends i will be celebrating my legal-ness.

which, btw, i bought a rockin' zebra print dress for that occasion.

it's killer and i can't wait to wear it.

i told my roomie we're going to go wild.

maybe i should clarify my definition of 'wild'. 'wild' is probably not worthy of describing that. maybe another word of lesser uumph would be better?)

i've never been tipsy and only had alcohol once without my parents.

does that give you a better chance of our 'wild'?

by wild i mean i will have a drink, cause i can. and maybe dance a bit.

so... wild (wanna be) we will be!

happy weekend!

amazing women and the sincerity of and reassurance from kids.

my women's bible study is the bomb! 

like, honestly.  i love those ladies so much.

we met tonight and had some GREAT discussion.

we're going through women in the bible and we've done Eve and Sarah.

who knew there was soo much to learn from them!  well there is.

it was just so nice to see everyone again. and makes me that much more sad to leave soon.

cassie was so funny, as usual. and linds was all over.

it was a very ADD style bible study, but that's the style i love!

we even talked for a while about the Duggars (19 kids and counting).

today, while babysitting, i was with meika.

we went to the pool and louisa took a good 5 minutes to stop hugging me at first. how precious!

jenny had her surgery and did great! 

but rebecca {age 6} and i had this convo while talking about hospitals/surgery/my job:

me: 'rebecca, did you know i am going to be a nurse someday?'

becca: '(gasp!) what kind of nurse do you want to be?'

me: 'i want to be a pediatric nurse.  that is one that helps kids who are sick.'

becca (with BIG eyes): 'you will be SO good at that!'

i tell you it was possibly the cutest thing ever.

her heart was so sincere and honest. and it melted my heart.

i guess you can say moments like that give me clarity {which i had been asking for.}

as sick of babysitting as i am, you can never beat the honesty and sincerity of a kid. 

she was also asking me today about Adam and Eve having belly buttons.

what a smart kid she is. and how i will miss what i do this semester.

so in honor of my becca boo, some photos from vaca. 

sorry if any are re-posts!

 {this was about 7 am. helllllo world!}

{in the car to hilton head!}

 {more pics at grammy's in SC}

happy thursday!

i have (yet again) the day off tomorrow.

i will be running errands like crazy :].

hope your week is going GREAT.

p.s...did i say i was in hilton head the last week of vaca? cause that's where we were! and now you know!

first day back.

today was my first day back from vaca and it was slightly rough.

my patience was really low, which is really odd because i had good patience on vaca.

i missed a lot while i was gone--and that might be an understatement.

aidan has 2 new stitches, lost his first tooth, and other things.

it makes me sad. but life goes on, right?

i was slightly hurt because aidan has a party weekend.

and i only got an invite today.

which i know isn't a big deal, but she sent them out via e-mail a couple days ago.

how quickly i was forgotten, right?

i better get used to this because this is how it will be come august/september.

we played queen marabel again and rory found me these beautiful flowers.

the most beautiful in all the land, to be exact.

at one point, while inside, i asked rory how my flowers looked.

he told me they were dying and needed some sunlight.

he then proceeded to turn on the light in the room. LOL.

so you know how i wasn't sure if i ever wanted to bbsit again {that's kinda how i felt toward the end of vaca.  hormones stink!}?

well, i got word that the family i nanny for is going out of state next week. which is a blessing since i can't go.

but i'll be house sitting, so that will make up for some of it.

it will be a nice break.

and can we just acknowledge i feel like a loser saying how exhausted i am?

anyway, the week is half way over! 

tomorrow is bible study, then eliz and colleen come visit this weekend!

it will be the first time they will see my house!

gville better get ready for us.

old friends.

i have had the last two days off and MAN has it been nice.

i have laid out and read a little bit.  how wonderful does that sound?!

today i went to kirstens pool and we swam and hung out.

then me, kirsten, and em went to whit's for some custard.

carmel sea salt was the flavor of the week.  deeeelicious!

while we were uptown we ran into our friends joe p and sarah m!

it was so nice to talk to them and catch up.

we had some really great convos, with some great laughs.

and our convo was just as ADD as i am--i love it!

makes me feel better than i'm not the only one who has ADD convos.

it was so funny. at one point, like 3 stories had been started and we kept rotating with the whole: 'but you were saying...'

good times with old friends.

we ended up talking about my 21st birthday--which is coming up here shortly!

{1 month and 5 days, to be exact. not that i'm counting.}

they had all kinds of tips for me, since i don't ever drink.

and at one point, i ran into a woman who i have babysat for in the past, carol.

she used to be a nanny {for like several years right out of HS} and i had talk to her a lot about that when i was considering taking a year off and doing nannying before college.

so as she walks by she says: 

'so i got to ask...are you glad you went to college?!'

to which i respond: NO!

then i clarified that i just wish it was over with already.

and her response?  probably the best i've heard in a while.

brace yourself......she says to me:

'i think you need to go to more parties.  that's what you need!'

all dead serious. it was so freaking hilarious!

but in all reality, i am going to try to spend more time this year having fun.

not in a party way (since that's not really my scene), but with little things.

like a warrior dash, seeing Jersey Boys, going to an indian's baseball game, and other things like that.

rach and i made a list today so we can have more fun and not work our lives away.

we will see how well it all plays out.

back to work tomorrow. and honestly?  i'm not ready.

i'm burnt out. done. kaput. 

but what's even more depressing?

3 weeks from today till i move in.

UGH.  even more so not ready for that!

where has summer gone?!

home.

i made it home.  thank goodness!
we spent the last week in hilton head, SC .

i had such a great time away, but i'm ready to be home.

the ride wasn't too bad and we made pretty good timing.

last night at the hotel was pretty rough but we're all home now.

i have several days off this week and will get some much needed time to refresh.

here are some highlights from the week.

even though i was so ready to be home, 

is it weird i miss them all already?!

louisa keeps asking where i went.  how sweet is that!

this is the same sweet girl who screamed bloody murder for an hour in the car today.

uhh how ruude!! 

anyways, pictures. more to come as i get them from their camera!

in case you didn't notice, i was feeling the black and white theme.

but here is one in our salty dog shirts. don't we look good?

this was literally right before we headed onto the road for the long trip home.

i got to drive my NEW car today!

hip hip hooray! 

it is cute, and will take a bit of time to love it.

but i know i'll get there before too long :]

happy sunday!

tomorrow, tomorrow, i love ya tomorrow. you're only a day away.

well, tomorrow is the day we leave.

and although the drive will take us two days,

i'm coming home!

{me and louisa lou at the beach.}

catan winner.

since being at the beach i have been introduced to a new game.

it's pretty awesome, if i do say so myself.

the game?   

the settlers of catan.

it's amazing and so fun!  

but until tonight, i had never won.

i was the 'newbie' and was still getting the hang of it.

also, i would get so close and feel stumped and like i couldn't go on without just coasting along. hadn't been able to finish it off.

but tonight...i WON.  

actually, i slaughtered.  booyah.

{this required documentation! i'm the red guy.}

the beach was beautiful today.  but what else would you expect?

see what i mean?

you know you're on vaca when you don't know what day it is.

and that has been happening all week long.  

although it's kinda a love/hate relationship, if you know what i mean.

happy 'hump' day!

just another day in paradise. kinda.

i'm tired, i'm tired, i'm tired.

can i say it one more time?  I'M TIRED!!

today we had a great morning at the beach and the kids were really pretty good.

did some sand castle building, body surfing. the usual beach stuff.

came back at almost 2 pm, hung out, and then went to dinner.

and we were at dinner till almost 9 pm.  for real? that's late for two, two year olds {any maybe for this 20 year old, too!}

my patience is getting thin and my arrogance is through the roof.

this is a serious issue i'm finding.  would you please pray for me?

i'm really struggling with realizing just how arrogant i have become {in regards to parenting.  since i've raised so many children...HAH. see?  how stupid.}

today i got my first bit of burning. 

and ironically, it was the first day i put on sunscreen!

not to mention, there was a bug in the kitchen tonight.

we were taking the food inside from the beach bag {which had a couple bugs sighted inside} and i literally thought: 'a bug is going to crawl out of this cheez-it box. i just know it'.

before i could think twice, so be it! a bug. i literally dropped the box and let out a tiny scream.

jenny and mark came to my rescue, and i spent the next 5 minutes cracking up, while sitting on top of a stool, as they tried to catch and kill the fast little booger. but you better believe he is dead now!

some pics from our night out. 

i'm so exhausted...and so over the whole 'mommy do it!'

but, louisa is becoming my buddy more and more.

but one minute she likes me, and the next?  she screams if i touch her.

um, i'm not a fan of this game.

{well, hello pirate friend}

{um, does it get any cuter than this?! the answer would be nope!}

i'm trying to hold on here.

i'm off to bed. maybe sleep will help me get ready for whatever tomorrow brings!

life is good today.

today was a great day at the beach.

i had my toes in the water and in the sand. 

not a worry in the world--well, not exactly. but you know what i mean.

life is good today.

{just like the zac brown band song.}

i feel my body is being kissed by the sun and i'm in Heaven.

plus, i saw someone write 'be happy' in the sand today. i wish i had had my camera to take a pic cause it was adorable.

i have been getting up at 6:30 am to go to the beach and read the Bible, or read and run.

it has been so amazing and i feel so close to God there.  

and i'll tell ya, it makes getting up a whole lot easier.

this morning God was teaching me a lot about my pride.

and how it is much higher than it should be.

{a pic from my morning run. how beautiful is this?!}

{an evening walk on the beach. i was proud of my artistic ability here.}

{me and my maymay! after an evening walk on the beach.}

{little angels. soakin it up!}

{um. no words needed.}

i can't wait for more beach time this week.

now we're watching the bachelorette.

and about to eat cheez-it's and chocolate chips...aka my new favorite snack.  

don't hate on it unless you've tried it.  it's delicious!
 

can we take a minute to just observe that jenny has cheez-its and choc chips, i have a bag of carrots, and mark has wheat thins.
this is night one for me eating healty.
totally worth documenting.

it feels like tuesday, but it's only monday.

soooo happy monday!

darn migranes!

today was not the ideal first day at the beach.

i got up early and ran 3 miles, with some quite time on the beach.

i'll tell ya, i need to live close to the beach some day.

just seeing it made me want to break down in tears.

its soo amazing and beautiful. makes me feel God in a way i never can elsewhere.

well today i started getting a headache.  no big deal.

well then it turned into a migrane.  biiiiig deal.

i ended up staying for a couple hours {with everyone} and then got so nauseous that i needed to leave.

i spent the next 4 or 5 hours in misery on the bed.

i felt awful and eventually got sick--but only once.

finally my migrane went away and i just have a slight headache.

and i feel HORRIBLE that i am so useless.

i feel i am just another kid they have to take care of.  guess i need to get over that.

but moving on, here is a pic that i love.

jenny and i have come to the conclusion that when we're cold, hot towels just out of the dryer to the trick!

{look at us. we're too cool for school.}

i just want to feel better!  prayers would be awesome right now.

and i'd love to get tan. i can pray for that too, right? 

goodbye mountains. hello beach!

i'm alive.  just barely.

been a rough day in the car but we finally left the mountains!

we were in lake lure, NC where dirty dancing {the movie} was filmed.

we had lots of family time and pool time.

and there were a handful of cute boys along the way to look at :].

so beautiful. but i'm so ready for the beach.

it's been a bit of a rough trip, but i'm sure this week will fly by.

the twins just turned 2 and are so 2 years old.

they want to control everything. and mommy and daddy allow a lot of it.

so due to that, it's really challenging for me.

and there are moments where the babies want nothing to do with me.

then the next moment they love me to death.  which is super frustrating and causes me to feel like i am not that much of a help.

but i'm told i'm being a huge help. so whatev.

{my big girls!}

{my sweet louisa}

and quite possibly my favorite picture from the whole entire trip.

{oh, eleanor....what a ham!}

i'm so ready to get my tan on.

and praying for patience this week in the meantime.

hello world.

well we're in the 21st century and everywhere you go has wifi.

correction.  not everywhere.  specifically, where i am right now has no wifi.

so hello society!  it's nice to meet you again.

i've been in the mountains this week with little cell service and no internet.

can i tell you what?  it's been amazing.

i am a firm believer that it is good for the soul to get away from the world every once in a while.

there is a hotel at the very very end of our complex {we happen to be at the tippy top of the mountain} that has wifi.

hence, where i am currently.

i had the day off so i spent it at the pool and now online.

oh, it's good to be online!

this week has been good but very stressful at the same time.

details can come more later.

let's just say that i am waking up every morning around 6:30 am to have quiet time.

cause i have been so deprived of that!

do a little bible time and worship.  it's a great way to start the day.

i nearly gorged myself the first couple days because i was so stressed and tired.

it was so horrible!  but i am back on schedule--somewhat.

sharing a room with the big girls has been fun but limiting of my space.

was up several times last night with rebecca cause she has pink eye--i got the privilege of wiping her eye over and over. i honestly don't mind one bit!  she has been a champ.

BUT i have gotten to talk to my bestie rachel--who just got back from africa!

i can't wait to see her and hear more of her stories.

God moved in some big ways there.

now i need to go shower before the fam comes back.

they have been awesome and i am looking forward to another week and a half with them!

it's tuesday.....yay!  hope it's treating you well.

and until i am re-connected with soceity again, adios!

and no. i haven't been taking many pics. oops.

oh, hello vacation. it's nice to meet you!

well we have made it to destination number 1. 

we spent a whopping 13 hours in the car yesterday, hence the no blogging.

it was a long day and we heard: 'ouuut, ouuuut!' several times from 2 year olds. yikes.

but we got here!

then today we went to the Children's Museum and had a blast.

it's been a long long day and this babysitter is pretty tired.

cause today i got woken by the 6 and 4 year old at 7:10.

gooood morning to me!

someone strangely re-activated my fb...i'm a bit puzzled!

but got a message from my friend sean and it was great to hear from him.

he is one of those guys that can compliment a girl and it's not weird or creepy. i love him like a brother and look forward to knowing him more this year!

{this was my favorite thing!}

and i've been doing horribly at my eating.

i think it is all going to the way-side for the time being. i just can't control it!

i'm so exhausted that i eat all the time to get energy.

or i'm so tired that i just need chocolate.

but on a fabulous note, my bestie rach is back in the united states!

she called me and we got to talk for a little bit.

man, how it was so good to hear her voice again!

and you know what?!  she told me she delivered an african baby all by herself.

i nearly lost it in the car and started crying. how amazing is that?

i can't wait to hear more about her trip.

i'm off to bed soon.

driving to destination numero 2 in the morning.

and me?  i'm excited for much pool time ahead!

three dates. one day.

yesterday i had three 'dates'.

don't worry, none of which were romantic.

here is the rundown:

coffee with josiah

lunch with sarah {leader from peru, 4 years ago!}

dinner with brook.

of course, i only got pics of one of the events.

josiah and i had an awesome conversation {he's taken}.

we talked about life and everything under the sun.

he is such a great guy and doing great things.

his girl is super lucky, and she knows it!

at one point, he made a comment that i am so mature, it's intimidating to guys.

which is funny cause i have been analyzing why i have had no dates.

he was super encouraging and told me to keep doing what i am doing.

then sarah.  haven't seening that girl in 4 years!!

holy cow, was it awesome seeing her. we talked about life and caught up on, you know, 4 years of life.

got to meet her husband briefly and he was awesome.

it brings back so many memories of peru and how lost i was before that trip.

and how i connected so well with her, as we struggled with the same things.

she was such a big part of that trip. how amazing to get to meet her all these years later and pick back up!

then dinner with brook was amazing, as usual.

she is such a sweet heart and i am so blessed to know her.

she said several times that i know more than most people in her life.

what a privilege and honor for her to say that! 

we could talk for hours and hours and be totally ok with it.

when she came into my house, my mom said: 'wow! you're just a baby!'

not that thing you want your parent to say to a friend. jeeze!

we tried the new mexican restaurant and it was pretty good!

the company?  even better.

then today i went to columbus with leona.

we had an amazing time and i love her lots.

we even discussed our love for black men. so naturally, a black man would check us out at the register.

and man, was he dreamy! and he paid for leona's lunch {i already paid for mine}.

he totally locked eyes with me for a long time.  

yes, just take a minute to imagine it.  it was heavenly.

we got our hair cuts and then shopped at whole foods.
some lady helped us in the tea isle and i could have talked to her for hours. i even got a couple new teas to try!
then got plants and headed home.

and me, being horrible with directions, took us to the WRONG place. in the opposite direction of where we needed to go.  how embarrassing!

now i'm packing for tomorrow, when i disappear from the world.

deactivating facebook and all.

hopefully i'll blog some.....i make no guarantee.