Campfire Worship

If you look up the Rend Collective Experiment on YouTube, you'll find a lot of pretty fun folk rock worship music.  Their music and vision inspired our college ministry's leadership team to put on a night of worship for the local college ministries. One of our church members has this fantastic property (often used for weddings) and generously allowed us to use it for our event.  It was a cold night, so we had a big fire going, outdoor heaters, and lots of hot apple cider.  It was such a fun night!! The music was great, the atmosphere was beautiful, it could not have gone better.

the inside of the pavilion

some of my sweet friends in the college ministry, Shelby, Keely, Grace, and Liz

my dear friend Alace

with Gemma and my younger sister

Fall Break

Jeff and I had lofty plans for fall break this year - we were going to go to the State Fair on that Thursday, and then we were going to head towards the coast to spend a few days camping.  Unfortunately, two days before break I found myself on the floor, unable to get up without Jeff picking me up.  I had somehow strained the muscles in my back, and I was in a whole lot of pain.  So we decided that since I couldn't carry a pack, we would postpone the camping until another weekend.  Instead, we hung out with my family, went to the State Fair on Friday, and I got to go to a fantastic  conference with a good friend of mine on Paul Miller's book A Praying Life.  It wasn't the break  I had expected, but it was fun and relaxing.  Given my school schedule over the next month, I especially needed that.

Jeff got to hang out in an old helicopter

An ent! Climbing over a power scooter too...

Deep fried pumpkin pie.  Yes.  It was delicious.

One of the sweet college ministry girls decorated this cake and won honorable mention for the amateur cake decorator division! 

This is Mary.  She's our college minister's wife.  She also has a PhD and teaches chemistry. She is one of the coolest people EVER.  Here, she's demonstrating what happens to a balloon when you put it in liquid nitrogen at a chemistry booth at the State Fair.

our view from the Ferris Wheel

And of course, gotta have a picture to celebrate two years since Jeff proposed!  Love my husband :)

A Busy Semester

Most semesters, I get to the halfway point and feel like it's going so slowly.  This semester is different.  I don't think I've ever had a semester go by so quickly.  We just finished week 8, and there are only 7 weeks worth of classes left.  It's been really busy - almost every weekend since the start of school, we've been doing something, frequently out of town.  I'm taking extra classes this semester, and I'm still involved in a lot of church things.  All this means that I wake up on Friday morning and I have no idea what happened to the week.  I like it!

it's been a really fun semester over all.  Some of the highlights so far: weddings, a beach trip with the college group, two awesome friends coming to visit, arts and crafts, the farmers market, an outdoor worship service, and pumpkin spice lattes.  I love fall.  The colors, the smells, and especially anything/everything pumpkin.

enjoying an early morning walk on the beach

I caught a crab!

hey, Macy!

my dearest friend, Anna Lisa, who was also one of my fabulous bridesmaids

sketching out some hand lettering for my Grammie Esther's 90th birthday

the finished card

learning to tie bows, wrapping with fabric, and hand lettering on the card... this was one crafty wedding gift!

got some fantastic fresh locally made mozzarella cheese at the farmers market!

new favorite. Chai Spice peanut almond butter.  freshly milled, from Big Spoon Roasters in Durham.  perfect with Gala apples!

outdoor worship service, complete with a proper bagpiper! 

a great night.  my sister was singing! (she's on the right)

might be my favorite thing about fall. I love love love pumpkin spice lattes...

Bring on the next half! Next week is fall break, which means state fair and (hopefully) some camping.  Once November rolls around, I'll be registering for classes for THE LAST TIME HALLELUJAH.  It's the homestretch.  Next thing I know, it'll be Thanksgiving and time for cramming and exams.  As excited as I am for what's coming, I'm also just really enjoying my day to day.  It's a good feeling.

Weddings

Clearly, I have hit that point in life when a lot of my friends are getting married.  We got to celebrate Ruth's wedding over the summer, and once school started, my sweet cousin got married.  This past weekend, one of my closest friends from high school got married, and in a little over a month, another one of our good friends from Jordan is getting married.  What joy!  So here are some pictures from the last two that I enjoyed so much:

we got to hang out on a beautiful private beach in NY

a little fuzzy, but you can still see that big smile!

making their vows

my sister was a bridesmaid! and she made that dress by herself! crafty runs in the family :)

me and my sweet cousin, Kayla

we have a completely normal relationship.

This past weekend was Macy's wedding. Macy's name isn't Macy, it's Ben, but when he introduced himself at YoungLife camp in 2007, he said "I'm amazing" and we heard "I'm Macy."  We've called him that ever since.  Macy and I became really good friends throughout that week, and we kept in touch after we left.  We would take turns making road trips to hang out with each other.  When I got married, Macy had arrived in the US that morning from a trip to Israel, got straight on another plane to Texas, and showed up at the church just in time.  He also came by to visit a few weeks ago at the tail end of a fundraising trip (he's going to be an area director for YoungLife in PA), which was fantastic.  This time, it was my turn to hit the road and see him marry a beautiful, fun woman in upstate Virginia.  It was an outdoor wedding - on his grandparents' property right on the Shenandoah River.  I was so caught up in the ceremony that I forgot to take pictures - it was that beautiful. I was so excited to celebrate his marriage with his friends and family.  I did manage to get a couple photos after the ceremony:

my ridiculously tall date / younger sister... (I was cheating with 3 inch wedges)

marriage: the great adventure!

the party tent!

his wedding...

my wedding... Sharptop Cove buddies since '07!

The End of Summer

After my last summer school class finished, Jeff and I packed up the car and began the long drive out to Texas. The drive out was, technically, my first time in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana - but since I slept through all of Mississippi, I don't really count it as a place I've been to. We spent two wonderful weeks with his family there - swimming, eating, and just enjoying being around each other.  I got to spend lots of time with my adorable nieces and nephews - we got to run around, make whirlpools in the pool, paint rocks, and build wooden airplanes together.  We were sad to leave, especially since I was not at all ready to go back to school.  On the way back, we got to stop in a beautiful suburb of Nashville to stay the night with some of my extended family, whom I haven't seen since their wedding nearly 11 years ago.  It was a great visit, albeit too short, and I loved meeting their six children. Here are some pictures from our trip:

the only state sign I managed to get a picture of...

I got a mint on my pillow!

going for a ride

I think my hubby preferred driving to riding in the sidecar...

the boys loved being thrown in the pool!

this kid.  I can't handle his cute expressions.

what kid doesn't like to play with fountains?

went for a pedicure with my mother-in-law

Matt Nix Band in concert!  It was awesome!

I love me some In-n-Out.

painting rocks for the garden

my painted rocks

Haley and her sweet boy :)

the boys built airplanes!

with his Gpa :)