Harley-Davidson

My brother finally got his Harley and it's AWESOME!!!! He and I went for a 2 hour ride this afternoon and I loved every minute of it! Here are a few pics of him and his new toy...

Beach Camp

Beach camp this year for the youth at FBC was AWESOME!!! I had to leave early to go on family vacation and I DIDN'T want to leave - I cried on the plane ride home because I wished I had been at camp. Pathetic I know! The girls were just really starting to open up to me and I felt like God was using me in a great way and I've never felt that before! I could go on and on about camp!

Always Have Your Cell!

So we went up to the lake this weekend with my mom's cousin and his wife, my aunt/uncle, and brian and lauren. I ended up taking the dirtbike for a ride last night and got a little adventurous so I decided to take trip down a road towards the end of our cove...the road just keeps going and going and at one point you could either go left or right so I went right to see where it would take me. I finally went down a steep hill and didn't see car tracks anymore so I downshifted to 1st gear to turn around and the dirtbike dies on me. No biggie - this happens every now and then if you release the clutch too fast. Well, I presumed to start it and it won't start. I'm in jeans (cause of snakes and falling, a t-shirt, and my helmet (SOOO HOT to wear!). I kept kicking and kicking and still nothing - it will NOT start or catch. I tried starting it for 10 minutes and am drenched in sweat, don't have my cell phone and am prolly an hour walk back to the house if I pushed the bike home. So, I start walking but it's slow going because of the heat and my jeans and trying to carry a helmet while pushing. About 5-10 minutes into my push back to the house I tried to start it again and it FINALLY caught. I quickly got on - not putting my helmet back on b/c it's so hot - and drove back to the house as quick as possible so it wouldn't die again. All that to say, I learned my lesson about ALWAYS having my cell phone with me in case of such situations!!

I'm at beach camp this week and daily updates are available at www.firstdallas.org/beach-camp

Six Flags

So today the youth group at church went to Six Flags from 10am - 7pm. All I can say is - wow. I am getting too old for Six Flags...the Texas heat/sun might of had some effect but the rides I think become rougher the older you get. Headaches, neck pain, etc., were all on today's menu. I do feel like a kid again on the roller coasters. On an up note, today was an awesome day to go (not sure why) b/c there were no lines! We waited in like one line the whole day and it was 20 minutes...every other ride we walked straight on! Such a fun day in the sun at Six Flags but man am I WIPED OUT!!!

And We're Off

Summer is crazy :) Not to mention sweltering hot!!! The youth has been busy with swim parties, dinner parties, etc. Last week the Senior High Girls had a sleepover here at my house and tonight is the sleepover for the Junior High Girls! So much fun.
Chapel Choir leaves for Chicago on Monday - they will have a blast!

The youth had a Flick N Float last Wednesday at the Taylor's house. Inside there was a movie going while outside people were swimming and hanging out. We had a really good turnout with about 50 kids showing up plus a few adults.

Will post pictures soon...

Great Adventures

Church design for Logo

Dirt Bike Ride

It has been a few weeks since I have updated this site. Summer of 2009 is officially here in full swing and what a busy summer it's going to be and already is!! SO much has been going on these past few weeks and I LOVE it!

I started my internship down at the church back on May 11th and am having so much fun already! The girls are all awesome, the people I work with are great, and God is good... I work from 9:30 - 3:00 Mondays & Tuesdays and then from 9:30 - 8:30 on Wednesdays (however, the Wednesday will change now that Solid Rock is over for the summer). I have Thurdays, Fridays, and Saturdays off and then work from 7:45 - noon on Sundays. I love my work schedule! We have some all girl events coming up that should be a lot of fun!

My Design for the Logo

This past Memorial Day weekend we headed up to the lake. I wasn't able to go up until Sunday after church due to work but it was fun anyway. I learned how to drive a motorcycle (well, a dirtbike but it still has the same operation). I was so nervous when I first got on because my last experience with a clutch and shifting didn't go so well in my uncle's Corvette. I just cannot get the manual down in a car. Brian explained to me how to ride and so I started out really slowly - drove a couple of laps in the yard in first gear, then shifted up to 2nd gear for the first day. On day two however, I went out to a large field by myself and worked on my shifting and braking. By the end of that session I had gotten the bike into 3rd gear and even downshifted back to 2nd and 1st gear! Let me just say that dirtbike riding is a BLAST!!!! A little bumpy and dangerous but so much fun! On the turns it feels like the back end of the bike could come out from underneath you...my brother said that it's a good thing I didn't learn to ride at the age of 10 otherwise I would have been on the motocross circuit! I just laughed - mainly because it would've been true! :) I finally got brave enough to kick it into 4th gear when riding on the street up to the gate at the lake...that little thing is fast! I'm so thankful that my brother bought it so that we all could learn - next up is either my own dirtbike or an actual motorcycle!

More happenings and events to come soon!

Final Weekend in CS

This weekend was my last weekend in College Station for a while and possibly for good :( It all depends on whether or not I get a job elsewhere for this fall. It was such an amazing weekend to end on. I had the pleasure of having some friends come into town (they were here for a tennis tournament). They are always such a joy to be around and have me laughing constantly! - I know, I know, that's not hard to do but they really do. It is so good to catch up with people and just to hear about what's going on in one another's lives. There's something about having a deep conversation with people that encourages my walk with Christ.

The picture below is just one that I decided to take when I was driving home from the tennis match.

These friends that came into town got here on Friday evening and left on Sunday afternoon. And I must say that someone ;) is such a good little tennis player!!! She looked made for that A&M tennis court - perhaps one day in the near future!

Sunday evening, my roommate Lara, her friend Brad, and I went out to Lake Bryan to have dinner at The Hook (now known as Lakeside Icehouse - dumb name) to celebrate the semester coming to a close. It was such a nice evening outside and the atmosphere is always awesome there. From food, to watching college kids try and pull their boats out of the water (why college kids even have some of these incredibly nice boats is beyond me), to the live band and pleasant weather. All in all, the weekend was a great way to finish out the semester and College Station.

Home Again

After a week in Burleson, Sage and I are back in College Station. I had to go up to Dallas on the 17th in order to attend the RISD job fair on Saturday morning then as soon as that was over, Sage and I headed to Fort Worth. She spent the week with Erin, Nick, and Samson, while I spent the week at my aunt's house helping her with this years Children's Advocacy Center Auction and Rodeo. We did a LOT last week - painted cute cowboys for the silent auction tables, painted a HUGE three-piece board for gift card donations, stayed up till 4:30 the night before the auction making sure everything was finished and ready to go, watched movies, ran errands, etc. It was a lot of fun!

Friday night was the auction. They had roughly 1000 attendees at $100/plate! Many celebrities were in attendance as well. Some of them included Reba McIntire's sister, Bandy Murphy (from toughest cowboy), Chad Eubank (toughest cowboy & CAC board member), Barry Corbin, Buck Taylor (from Gunsmoke & Tombstone), Walt Garrison (former Dallas Cowboys player), etc. Think there were around 30+ celebrities.

Saturday night was the rodeo in Cleburne, Texas at the Sheriff's posse grounds. About 5,000 people attended this outdoor event which was awesome! I love rodeo's! All of the proceeds went to the Children's Advocacy Center of Cleburne. It is such a good organization.

Anyway, I had a great week, as did Sage but we are glad to be back in College Station for our last two weeks of school before summer.

Craigslist Toys

So over the course of this semester, I have aquired a few new toys - some were needed, some were not. :) Oh well - I got REALLY good deals on all of it!!! If I ever need anything I always look on craigslist first - because someone is bound to be selling it. I LOVE CRAIGSLIST!!


2006 Samsung 47" HDTV with stand

Motorcycle/Scooter Carrier

Elliptical Machine (3 months old)

Sage got a new backpack (not off craigslist)

Updates

I am now officially the Girls Youth Minister Intern for the summer at First Baptist Dallas and I am too excited for words! I've already started planning events and making lists of possible events for the girls to partake in! The youth minister, Justin, told me during my interview that he could potentially see this turning into a full-time position for me on staff! I was blown away by that because I haven't even started yet...I just sat there and thought - you have absolutely no idea if I will even be good at this position or not yet! The potential for that is very exciting! Guess it all depends on whether or not I get a teaching job next fall...whatever I do, I will still be continuing graduate school - just taking 1 or 2 classes/semester online while working. It seems like there have been lots of changes lately... change is good though!

I went to the Highland Park teacher job fair last Saturday - there were a LOT of people trying to get teaching jobs in the elementary schools! They only have like 3 open positions at the moment at the 4 schools...and since they generally don't hire teachers with without experience I knew I wouldn't have a chance at getting a job there but it was good experience to go and interview anyway! I have a friend who is trying to do everything in her power to get me a job in HP but we'll see....she's so very sweet to do that for me!

I'm still in Dallas on "spring break." Been here for like 2 weeks going on 3 this week....I was supposed to go back last Thursday for my night class but the parents encouraged me to watch it online and stay in town for the job fair - so I did. Anyway, Sage and I are headed back to CS on Wednesday - it will be nice to get back into a schedule and to be home.