Where to even begin. I haven’t blogged all summer really. Waiting to make one big entry at the end. Well, the time is coming where it is almost the end. This summer has been by far the best summer vacation I’ve ever had. And when I use the word vacation, I mean vacation. I have had amazing opportunities this summer and I’d like to share all about it.
My first and second week of summer break, I traveled with my entire family to Outer Banks, North Carolina. It was a fun trip, but nothing too amazing happened for me there. I did however get to talk with my aunt about what her job was. She is a nurse at a rehab center and gets the opportunity to work with teenagers who have come from a horrible family life. Most of the teenagers are there for rehab due to suicidal thoughts and injuries from self harm. I was able to share with her the amazing organization I think we have all heard of, To Write Love On Her Arms. I showed her the story and told her all how it got started. She said she would definitely take the organization back to her other workers to tell them about it.
My third week, I got to spend it with the lovely Mary Scott. She’s a good friend of mine from Raleigh, NC. It was amazing being able to meet her. God truly does place people in your lives for a reason. Mary Scott first became my friend on facebook. Some may think that’s creepy, but I thought it was awesome that we found each other. We both wanted to get to know each other more based on the fact both of us have been praying for tour with the Silver Ring Thing. We have texted every single day since the first day we became friends. And we are continuing that chain until we’re sick of each other. [which isn’t gonna happen]. It has been amazing having a friend that is there to pray for you no matter what is going on. Good or bad, she’s there for me and I like to think I’m there for her too whenever she needs it. I love her dearly and I love her amazing heart for the LORD. It’s been awesome having a sister in Christ. That week, I was also given the AMAZING opportunity to share my testimony for Silver Ring Thing. It wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. Until later on. Having to go back into the state of mind of before and relive it in my head was a challenging thing to do later on. Your past is there for a reason, to learn from it. And man have I learned alot. A favorite saying of mine is this. Don’t let the past dictate who you are, but let it be a part of who you become.
My fourth week, I traveled to Tampa, Florida to visit my best friend since age birth. Seriously...we’ve been friends forever. I have a photo of me and Chelsie from my first birthday. Chelsie is sitting next to me trying to blow out my candle. At first, I was kind of nervous about going. It’s been so long seeing her (about 3-4 years) that I was nervous we both changed way too much and it would be weird. As soon as I saw her at the airport, I knew that nothing changed. Hugging her and her mom (my second mom since I was little) was the best feeling ever. It felt as if she had never left and we’d never been apart. Everything was the same. Our friendship is so strong, and I realized that alot this trip. I was able to be myself without any problem. We joked like we were 5 again. It was an amazing experience getting to see her new world. I got to see her school, her friends, her home, her ridiculous malls, her lifestyle, and her family again. Her little brother used to be the quietest kid I knew, so I was curious as to how he would react to me being there. HE TALKED THIS TIME. He’s seriously the cutest kid ever and like a brother to me. And I must say, it was fun having a little bro to pick on for a week. THANKS PHIL FOR LETTING ME PICK ON YOU! But throughout this whole week, I was also faced with challenges. God really was there to help me out when I needed it. The enemy was on the prowl that week after sharing my testimony. My testimony has alot to do with self image. Being surrounded by beauty the whole week was a challenge itself. Insecurities coming back, I really had to focus to stay strong. And surprisingly, I just received the verse of the day text that fit perfectly with this blog. Thanks Laura for that text! “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new one has come!” -1 Corinthians 5:17. I thought this fit the topic pretty well. But anyway, in the end, I really realized how God pulled through for me. I know that I am beautiful inside and out, because I am a creation of God. and I am so thankful for Him changing my life.
Coming home for a couple weeks was okay. I was able to intern some and make some amazing friends at SRT. Having to see them go back home was really hard. I miss Holly Kane, Melissa Douglas, Tarah Caldwell, and Rachel Perry a whole lot! Also being home, I had a photoshoot with the awesome photographer, MichaelWill Photography! I highly recommend you check him out. His work will blow you away. He’s an amazing dude and also my Bible Study leader and the speaker that got me saved! Praise God for that. Check him out at www.michaelwill.wordpress.com
My next trip was to Charleston, South Carolina with my church youth group. It was my first mission trip so I was pretty pumped about it. Being able to share God’s love was something I was looking forward to. The week before mission trip, I helped my own church with a Vacation Bible School. The week of mission trip, I found out our working location was going to be a Vacation Bible School with inner city kids. If you know me personally, you’d know I’m not a huge fan of kids...I’m extremely good with them, but I’m not a fan. God really challenged me to open my heart and love on the kids. We also went to the beach. We wanted to do something more for the area. So, our group and the group we were working with at the church thought of something we could do. We went around the beach and passed out free cold water bottles saying God Bless to every single person. We didn’t get rejected once. At the end of the day, we passed out 150 water bottles. And had some awesome conversations along with prayer requests to take back with us. Another amazing experience about that week was our group. Our working groups were also our roommates. I got placed in a room that I didn’t know anyone really well. I was nervous about how it would turn out. But it ended up being the best experience because of the amazing girls I was with. My leader was my youth pastor’s wife. I knew my youth pastor really well, but I never got the chance to meet her. So it was already an amazing chance to get to know her and I love her to death! The girls and I really bonded and I got to know them really well and in the end, I now think we will all go to each other if we need anything at all such as life advice. They definitely made it the best week for me.
“This one time, at band camp...” Yes, lovely old band camp was my next trip. We went to Washington and Jefferson College for a week. Let me tell you, marching band is not as dorky as it seems. We worked 12 hours a day in the intense HOT sun. I think I lost a total of 10 pounds in one week. Being captain of the majorette squad has been fun but challenging at times. But for the performance, I had a wonderful surprise guest come, Missy from SRT. It meant so much to me to see her face in the crowd:] We also started to have our senior perks for band. That is so weird to say...I’M A SENIOR! It’s about stinkin’ time. The band parents made us a cake that had our picture on it. That’s when it hit me hardest that this is my last year. I’m excited, but sad at the same time. I never thought I’d say that. But it’s true. Also being seniors, we did senior skits. They went really well, and it definitely was fun getting to act for the first time in my life. Surprisingly, I was better at it than I thought. I was able to keep a straight face! That was an awesome thing for me to accomplish. I have a feeling it is going to be a good band season. Long and exhausting, but good.
The next week was my 18th birthday! SWEET. I had fun with my adventures of being 18. I did some fun stuff with the dudes who I haven’t seen in a while. Spending time with them was a good time. We went to get cigarettes...because I could. DON’T WORRY. I WILL NEVER SMOKE. I went to the mall and got my ear pierced...because I didn’t need a stupid parent signature. Later, we drove around in a limo to visit some friends working at KFC. Then, it was band time. After band practice, I went back to hang with the dudes. We went to record a youtube video. It kinda failed. But oh well. And for reasons left unsaid, we ended up homeless. Me and Samy called DJ at 3 a.m. and thankfully, he opened his house for us to stay in. The bad luck coincidentally happened on Friday the 13th...WEIRD. But after a fun day and night, it definitely was filled with fun adventures and fun times.
My life kind of died down after that and isn’t so hectic and crazy. Except for now, because I am currently typing this in a hotel with Tiff. We are in King’s Island. On a mini vacation. We are at a waterpark called Great Wolf Lodge. In the hotel, it has a thing called MagiQuest. I paid 30 dollars for a pink wand. You go around the hotel finding certain objects and use your wand to say you found it. It’s quite amusing. And also hilarious considering we are playing the game with 7 year olds. You can never be too old to have fun. It makes me feel like a kid again. And when we got back to the hotel, we turned on the tv and Princess Tiffany and Savvy are in the top 5 for most of the categories! WOO! Also, while playing the game, a girl came up to me and commented saying she liked my shirt. My shirt is a Silver Ring Thing shirt. I was like, HECK YEAH! It got me pumped to have someone in Ohio comment on it. REPRESENT. Another fun event that happened was an EXTREME bubble bath. We filled the jacuzzi tub with bubbles...overflowing bubbles. IT WAS SUPER LEGIT. I couldn’t tell when the water ended and the bubbles started. It was a good time.
So, I think this is all there was to update about my life. It’s getting hard to think because this blog is so long. And if you are still even reading this far, props to you. I will fill you in when I have more to write about! I want to leave with a new saying I learned and I love dearly. “Change your thinking, change your world.”
