Saturday at the Bluff

Saturday afternoon Layne, Anjelica and I spent a few hours on an adventure hiking through the woods and enjoying God's creation. After we finally found the correct path we just climbed some stairs (this was like a cliff) and walked along the side near the river until we came to the bluff, a beautiful opening between the trees looking out over the river (not to be confused with the other "bluff" we stopped at first). It was nice to spend time outdoors and have good conversation with two of my favorite people!

Random Excitement

Summer always has its slow times and busy times. I have spent most of my summer in a non stop blur of excitement. Therefore when I am able to catch a moment where I'm not going at 100 mph, I read or accomplish something.

The past couple of weeks I have not sat down at all, but I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The Bailey's, our friends from Georgia, came for a week. When they are here we always have something to do. We just pulled out our ping pong table again, so entertainment was easy to find. We all love to play cards and games too. I baked a lot. I always find that fun, so the week could not have gotten much better. :P While they were here we invited lots of friends over and had a little party. We danced, played ultimate frisbee (my team didn't win, but I almost fainted on the last round because it was so hot!!), ping pong, cards, and just enjoyed being together.

Thursday (the day the Bailey's left) our theatre had its first annual Gala. It is a formal theatre event where actors/actresses are recognized and given awards. It was a huge success, especially for out first time. I'm so excited for next year. Everyone looked fancy. I am going to put the pics on Facebook and post one with all the "Rosie Award" winners on another post (I haven't uploaded them onto the computer yet).

On Friday my younger brother, Ethan, tested for his low brown belt and passed. He is doing incredible in karate and lovin' it! =) It was a long tournament because so many people are testing but we had fun.

Saturday we had the Messingers over. I think my parents have known them for a long time. I love their family! We played our new favorite game with them. If I posted what it was, you would want an explanation and it just wouldn't work so I am not even going to say what it's called. I guess you will just have to wait in suspense and play with us sometime. ;) We LOVE it though, and play so much. Nat and Doug come over a lot and play with us.

Today we went on a mini road trip to Eastwood (it is in east Texas, past Dallas). My dad found some land out there he liked. In the near future his dream is to own acres and acres of land with a big main house, and 5 mini cottages (there are 5 kids in my family, so each of us he would let choose the style and it would be "our" cottage). His plan is to use it for family reunions, weekend getaways, and to rent it out. It would be a really neat place for people to go on retreats, go for a simple family vacation, a girl's weekend, etc. He has been praying about it a lot. This is no small/cheap idea, but God for sure answers prayers and if this is something that my dad is supposed to do, God will provide. He always does. We for sure know a lot about that. =)

Well, there is an update on my life and all the random excitement it has held!

Yardwork

So I was going to do all these posts last weekend and I didn't. I wanted to post about Easter, then we had major Saturday work day, then a fun Saturday night. Yeah, none of that got posted. I totally forgot to post about my older sister's(Rachel) and my dad's b-day. March 28 was my dad's b-day and April 3 Rachel turned 20. Well happy birthday to them! Love you both! =)

Here are a few pictures of what kept us busy last Saturday and lots of work on other days!

Dad turned music on and we got to work =)

Our garden was over grown so dad and ethan mowed it out. We all pulled weeds and level out dirt. Then we put down black tarp to kill the grass so we don't have to keep mowing inside of he garden. Eventually we want to lay pebbles everywhere so it looks nice. =)

Doug(our family friends living across the street) hauled a truck load of dirt from our friend's house and dumped it in the field next to their fence, tore the fence down and just shoveled dirt into their garden. We would just walk over there with buckets and grab some. I thought the whole set-up was pretty funny so I took a picture.

Lucy chasing London...

Me and London :)

It is finished for now! =)

Exciting Visit From Awesome Friends!

Wow! Busy, busy, busy! School has been a pretty, big load but I am managing okay. When other events are added though I have to be careful not to go into overload mode and freak out! :)

The weekend of February 20, our family/friend/neighbor, Jimmy got married! It was a sweet, beautiful wedding. There are a ton pictures on facebook of an exciting weekend spent with the amazing people God has put in our life. =)

Our Weekend!

This past weekend was a blast!

Friday night we went to Hunter's football game. (He is #45) They won 28-0! Yay! We had lots of fun, and we were able to hang out with the Sellars because they came to watch Hunter's game. Straight from Hunter's game we left for Jacksboro to go camping at Fort Richardson. The Pruetts, Tates, Grimms and us all stayed Friday night to Sunday together. These are families we have known since before I was born. It was good to ALL be together again!

I don't think the kids sat down barely at all. We hiked and explored all weekend while the adults sat around and talked. They needed to relax. I was just happy to get away from everything that would have to be done if I was home and just have fun! At one point James, Alyssa, Kelsey, Hunter, and I all went exploring on this big rock wall. We tore down thorn bushes, maneuvered through caves, and climbed the rock walls. The view was amazing, but sadly I forgot my camera when we ran off to go hiking.

We also went to look at the barracks and all the buildings that are still left of Fort Richardson that are in the state park. There was like a main cabin, a prison, a bakery!, a morgue(creepy), and several other buildings. It was pretty neat and we all enjoyed seeing it.

Other times we just walked around the camp site or sat around the fire, drank coffee/hot cocoa/apple cider, and talked. =)

I would definitely go back camping there! My family loves camping and we will hopefully be going again in the next month or so. I'm not sure where though. We will see but I will post pictures of that when the time comes.

Sunday when we got back we had Ean Sellars party. I can't believe he is already 6! I saw lots of little kids I was once babysitting. Sad day...it's hard to live far away from everyone! I miss all the families and cute, little kids.

P.S. - I don't know how to post pictures arranged any differently. :/ So it will always be my pictures than what I write...

"Sunday Cooking"

So Sunday I was cooking pretty much all day. It was a blast. No one was home so I just went at it. First, I made breakfast for myself. Bacon, cheese eggs, a banana, and caramel apple cider! Secondly, we had a worship concert Sunday night with Barry and Michelle Patterson, and we had to bring desserts and a salad for dinner so I told mom I would make it all. I made brownies with caramel in them and cookies with chocolate chips and white chocolate chips! Then of course the huge salad but hey I was cooking for about 20 people. It probably had every type of vegetable. I don't think my family goes one day without salad. =)

By the way, I am still getting used to posting pictures so they might not be in the right order or who knows what. ;)

Saturday..

Yesterday my mom and brother(Hunter) drove to a college in Abilene with some other friends to check it out. They went to the football game in the afternoon, and their musical later that night. They will be back sometime this afternoon. :)

While they have been gone, we've kept ourselves busy. Ethan had a belt test and is now a blue belt! =) I tagged along with my dad to go to an audition Ashtyn had. We sat and sat and sat some more, but Ashtyn enjoyed the opportunity.

Last night Rachel and Joshua came over for dinner. They brought mashed potatoes and their meat, so I cooked up broccoli and then chicken for us. We hung out for a while, and then dad, Ethan, and I had to run to the grocery store to get a few things for a big salad and the desserts I am making for tonight. We also grabbed a movie and ice cream and went back home. All of us watched "Imagine That" and enjoyed the delectable ice cream(one of my favorite desserts). We had lots of fun and it was good to hang out with Rach and Joshua!

Life...

The weather has been so delightful! :)

Normally I am freezing, but this year it has been so nice. I love wearing sweatshirts and jeans and drinking coffee. My new favorite thing to do with my coffee is add a hot cocoa mix and a little creamer. Yum! Other times though I like french press coffee just a little sweetened. Rachel brought a thermos of it to Hunter's game and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Hunter had his first loss of the season on Friday. They were 6-0, and were so pumped for the game Friday, and it was homecoming! All the guys were bummed, but they are still 6-1!

My weekend has been pretty slow. Friday: Hunter's game. Saturday: We did go shopping for a little bit but took our time. Hunter had to get a few things for Homecoming, which was last night, and Ethan needed jeans because he is growing so fast! I also got a new winter coat. I love it! Maybe I will post a picture...Last night we watched Inkheart and I have to say I really liked it. In the beginning, if you are watching with "spiritual eyes", it is talking about the prophetic so clearly. It was quite interesting. =)

Today we are just hanging out so I will try to get some homework done. Or just do nothing. :) Mom has been staying with Julie(our friend who is in the hospital with cancer) a lot and this weekend with Kelli because they both go up and see Julie constantly. We are continuing to pray for Julie's healing. With God ALL things are possible. :-)

Kelli is hopefully coming over tonight to play games and hang out. We shall see...:P

The Weekend

It's been a busy weekend!

Friday I had a life-long friend's (Alyssa) 15th birthday party. Park, eating, a movie! We watched Penelope. Personally, it is a movie I do not mind watching multiple times. :)

Saturday I got to drive home from the party. =) I studied for a huge Anatomy and Physiology test I have tomorrow and then packed up to go spend the night with Portia....to study for science!! We ate, went to church ( which was really good. I enjoyed both the worship and the message), and then went back to her house to study. We were up until 11:30 studying, which I do not think was too bad. We both woke up at 8, enjoyed breakfast from Lexi, and then took our time to get ready for another birthday party we both had.

This was another lifelong friend's birthday. Bethany is now 16! I cannot believe it! This turned out to be quite an amazing party. We worshiped and there were a few ladies who spoke and prophesied over Bethany. It was neat!

Once I got home I was introduced to Kelli. :) My mom has known her about 10 days and the rest of us just met her today but she is family. I absolutely love her and she will most likely be around a lot, which excites me because I immediately liked her.

My mom, Ethan, Ashtyn, Kelli, and I ended up playing Hand and Heel. Well one round at least. After that Hunter led us in worship and we listened to Gateway's service from last week. It was about putting our passions in the right place. It made you think. There were four things that he (Chris Hodges) listed: 1) Passion for Worship 2) Passion for Prayer 3) Passion for Purity 4) Passion for People. I thought it was great! Then we prayed a while for our friend who is in need of healing right now. Every time I pray, it makes me love prayer even more. :)

So we ended up eating dinner at about 10. Haha! :-) Kelli just left and I really cannot wait to see her again. That about sums up my busy weekend!

The Weekend!

This weekend was spent at the Tates and I had tons of fun!

I went out there Friday and after dinner we headed to the football game. They lost about 51 to 30 I think. =) None of the Tates are on the varsity team but Dean is on the cheer team so he has to be at those games. After their unexpected loss we went back to their house and headed to bed, at least some of them. I stayed up and read for a while...:) Not surprising. I was able to finish a book and the next one in the Lori Wick series I am reading right now. Only one more book to read before they are due back at the library on September 8. I can do that!

Saturday morning we all had waffles, omelets, and coffee(well, the more fortunate ones of us did). Dean, Trent, and I went to feed the animals of some friends that are out of town and we hung out there for a while, watching a movie. We chilled back at the Tates for a while before a delicious dinner of Spaghetti and a chocolate shake. I also made a cake that needed to be cold so we saved it for today. Mr. Joe and Mrs. Jana wanted to see the movie we had watched earlier so Joseph, Levi, Trent, and I played rummikub. I was victorious in winning!! =)

This morning we went to church then came back for lunch and the mandarin orange cake. At first it sounded weird but it is really good! One of the best parts of the day is when we went driving. After only 3 days of having my permit I was so happy to go! We drove all the way to Decatur and back. I had to park at least 3 times and drove on some pretty main highways! Exciting! I cannot wait to go more! Anyways, tonight we went to youth. It was really good and showed me the importance of choices. It could be something really big or small, it is important, and there are consequences for the bad choices we make. Although, there IS Grace!

I am now back at home but enjoyed my time there immensely. I love hanging out with them! Well tomorrow is Labor Day and Joshua's birthday. We will celebrate but I will be doing homework. I have lots of it and it needs to be done!

Now off to unpack and read! I will save the homework and preparing everything for school until tomorrow.

Also, I would be posting pictures with my blogs but my camera has been broken since camp. I got it back in the mail but found it was still broken. Sad day. They are fixing it for free again so I should have it back soon.