College Life Leadership Retreat

College Life has kicked off with the beginning of a new semester, and man, is it AMAZING!!! God has put such a fire in both Eric and my hearts for this year and the big things the Lord has in store, but even beyond that, He has built up a student body of leaders who have stepped up to lead this movement. They have become some of my dear friends, several which are in the Biblestudy I lead and I have been able to watch them grow and lead. It's so humbling to watch!!! These pictures are from this past weekend when we took our Leadership Team on a retreat to Southlake, TX. We had a great time planning, brainstorming, sharing and playing together. The CL Leadership Girls. They are awesome!
Courtney and Lauren, two of my Biblestudy girls.

Carol, Lauren, Jenna and Tyson. Ready to kick the morning off with some prayer and planning.

Jeremy sharing with us. We did a little guesstimation and figure that there are 15,700 students are not plugged into some sort of church or student ministry. So the push for us is to find those students! We're gonna go get 'm!!:)

Wishing there were two cups...

I had coffee alone this morning. And it just made me miss having a roommate. Eric doesn't drink coffee with me when he's home, but at least he's home! Both Rachel and Darby are coffee drinkers and I would almost every morning put on the pot for two. Living alone is not very fun, and neither is drinking coffee alone. On a high note though, only 2 1/2 more weeks before Eric COMES HOME!!! I can't believe our time apart is finally coming to a close. I can't wait!!!

The Maple Leaf State

Vacation with the family! Ahhh, it was so fun. For those of you who don't know, my family shares a cottage on Aylen lake in the middle of Ontario, Canada with my uncle and his family. We have grown up spending a week every summer, tubing, fishing, blueberry picking, relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet. It is an amazing place. Its absolutely gorgeous and I feel the presence and beauty of God in a new way everytime, away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Here are some pics from two weeks ago when I was there.On Blueberry Mountain. There weren't many, but its a lovely hike and fun to tramps around in the woods a bit. Sooooo, yeah. John brought two friends with him, TJ and Zach. They are loads of fun and the cause for quite a few laughs. The boys decided that they were going to order what we like to call, the European swimsuit. Basically a speedo, but a little more coverage. It was pretty funny. They found this stand up a tree trunk and decided they needed a pic. It was made for quite the photographic memory.
Mom and me on our canoe ride. It's tradition! I remember as little girl waking up early and doing this with her. Its a wonderful memory.
Hanging out on the boat on our way home from a game night with some lake friends.
LOVE THEM! I miss them all the time and it was so fun to spend a full week with Rachel and 4 days with John. John had to leave early to report to VT for ROTC.
And this is my 55 yr old mother, wakeboarding. SHE IS INCREDIBLE! She popped right up and did it like a champ. She's amazing.
Hahaha, this is the first time I have EVER seen my dad on a tube. It was my mom's birthday so we convinced Dad that he needed to ride with her as a present. It was pretty comical watching him get on the tube and after being instructed that I was not to take them out of the wake, make any waves and there was to be no splashing (how do you tube and make sure there's NO SPLASHING! You're on a TUBE! IN THE WATER!) he tubed the whole way home from the bay we had had breakfast at. He looked miserable hahaha! He kept his head down, eyes closed and just hung on. It was pretty much the funniest thing all week.
This is the way tubing is suppose to be done.:)
Dance party in the kitchen with Dad.
The boys deflating the water trampoline. It was a great week and I reeeally hope next year Eric can join me. He loves it just as much as I do.

So a LOT has happened since Sam and Lindsday left. The morning Brandon came and picked Lindsay up from my house, was the same day all of Darby's bridesmaids arrived to my house. I had all of them spending the night after the bachelorette party that was taking place that evening. We partied it up in Oklahoma City and then came back to my house where we had fondue for dessert, gave Darbs presents, and then had one big sleepover. It was so fun but definitely started off the wedding weekend a little sleep deprived!

This is Taylor Harwell, one of my dear friends who Darby asked to coordinate the wedding day. I was her helper, and I'll say we did a pretty good job.:) No major hiccups and we still had time to dance a little and eat cake.
The aisle!!! All the bridesmaids helped Taylor and I set up the chairs. Its a lot harder to do then it looks!!! There were several tries in order to get them straight and parrelle. It was a gorgeous place to get married.

The "entrance" of the aisle. It was really pretty.
The BRIDE!!! Its not the best picture, but she still looks stunning!

There they are!!! It was so perfect and so beautiful. The wind wasn't even a problem - which is definitely a concern for an outdoor wedding in Oklahoma.

Another close up.

The cake was gorgeous!!! Totally Darby - full of color and not too formal.

All the goodies on the dessert buffet.

The decor - everything was so colorful and so fun!

Taylor and I with the musicians for the evening - her husband Nathan and our friend Arash.

Finally me with the bride. This was after a reeeeallly long day and about an hour of dancing, not the nicest shot of me, but of course, Darby looks beautiful.

It was such a fun day and really neat to be able to see Darby and I's hard work pay off. Her and Wes have a great group of friends who have surrounded them continue to support them. It was a blessing to meet both of their extended families and get to know them better through celebrating one the most special days of their lives.

Breath of fresh air

So its been like two weeks since I've posted last. But thats cause MY TWO BEST FRIENDS CAME INTO TOWN!!! No big deal. Oh my goodness I can't tell you the amount of laughing, talking, consumed coffee and Braum's icecream that took place at my house. It was one of the best weekends of my life.
Sharing life with these girls, even though we are separated across the entire nation, (no joke, Cali, Oklahoma and Virginia) and even though we are been horrible at keeping in touch on a daily basis, is one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced. We are SO different and yet hold so many things in common. The earliest we went to bed in the 5 days they were here was probably 1:30am. We actually put on a pot of coffee every night around 10:30pm. And you're wrong if you think I'm talking about decaf.
We talked about ministry, our struggles in relationships, marriage, our daily walks with Jesus and the Gospel. It was so refreshing to my soul. We were real with one another, speaking Truth into each others lives. These girls are so apart of me. I treasure them beyond words can express.
Thank you for coming to my home and seeing my life here in OK. I have no idea where I would be without the two of you pouring into my life and speaking the Gospel into my heart. You are a gift straight from Jesus to me. I love you both with all my heart. Can't wait for next summer!!!