Camp-of-the-Woods '10

Everyone says New-York is so magical and alive. They are so right. I LOVE NY!
My family and the Good family all packed up and flew out to Albany NY on Friday. I had a LONG day Friday because we woke up at 4:30 am to pick my sisters up from camp. And I didn't get to sleep till 2:30 am the next day! Thats 22 hours straight of being awake and traveling. I never once had time to close my eyes. Jet lag to the extreme :)
When then stayed that Friday night in a hotel and had to wake up at 7 to catch a ride up to Camp-of-the-Woods. That was about a 2 hour drive. So after ALLLL of the traveling we ARIVED!
So far it has been a blast. Meeting lots of cool people and enjoying the nice weather. The high has been high 70's and in the night it drops down to 40's! Talk about PERFECT weather.
This is one of those places I have always loved growing up going to and I look forward to raising my kids by coming every summer. I met this one couple that played in the band here when they were 15... and they were in their 90's!!! Truly amazing.
My dad rented a boat for the week so we have been doing lots of tubbing. There is also a HUGE gym with tons of games that we have been enjoying. But I would have to say my favorite place is called the TeePee. It where you can go and get all kinds of candy and ice-cream. I have been getting the twist soft serve. By far my favorite.
So this is pretty much life at Camp-of-the-Woods. My favorite place to vacation and has been for 8 years.

Boys....

I think the title pretty much sums up this post. I them 'em and hate 'em. Buttt.... there is this one guy in particular. I really like him. Like he is the perfect guy. Gorgeous, tall, muscular, christian, and his dad even owns a chick-fil-a :)
The only little problem (okay huge problem) is that he has a freakin girlfriend. This pretty much is the story of my life. I don't know how I can keep talking to him without liking him more and more. He is a flirt and totally knows how to make my day. His girlfriend in my opinion is not the right fit for him. And I'm not even saying I am... but I know he could do better than her. The only song that keeps coming to my head is "You belong to me" by Taylor Swift. And these three lines keep popping in my head...

"If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see?
You belong with me"

Tons of "only if's" keep going through my brain. Like "only if i was prettier", "only if i was as skinny as she is", or even "only if i was her". And I know God is hurt by all these thoughts. I should never wish of hope for something I'm not and never will be. I'm not his girlfriend and may never be. But by wishing I was skinnier or prettier is not going to help the problem. Running back to God is the only was I will ever be able to conquer this.

I'M BACK!

I have taken a break from blogging and realized I have missed it so much! So much has happened in my life since my last post. Some friends have slipped from my grip but it was all for the better. I have gained so many more friends from my new job! I now am employed at Chick-fil-A at Wesley Chapel. I absolutely love it there! You may be wondering why I'm not working for my dad at the arboretum.. well I just decided this would be a better fit for me. Since then I have been making money and been crazy busy. But its good for me. I am trusting God with everything now. He knows whats going to happen in my future and me worrying about everything isn't helping. I have realized girls are so emotional and dramatic. I have tried to stay out of as much drama as possible.
Let me make a list of what all has happened in my life recently:
1. I have become best friends with girls I disliked a year ago.
2. I'm tan cause... ITS SUMMER!!!
3. I'm officially DONE with sophomore year! :)
4. But.. JUNIOR year here i come.
5. Mark graduated.
6. Mitch came home!
7. I had a blast in Florida last week.
8. Im now a shopping addict.
9. I leave for NEW-YORK tomorrow!!! I am supper excited.
10. I need to go get ready for work :)
So thats pretty much it. I will now blog more often cause after all... I LOVE IT!

Lost.

Losing a friend sucks. I have felt like i have lost many friends recently.
One I lost because she got a boyfriend and is so consumed with him. When she came over she only texted him and wouldn't put the dang phone down.
Another girl I lost because she cheated on my brother. I told her everything. One bad choice ruined my trust for her.
A friend that I trusted so much that I lived with her for 7 weeks now just ignores me. You know how hurt I am because of her.
These three friends I used to call my best friends. Now they are just added to the people that have hurt me.
Forgiveness is open when they apologize. I'm pass the point of comforting them. They should know what they did and ask for my forgiveness.
This basically sums up my past week. I pray we get snow tonight so no school tomorrow. I need a break badly.

Prayer

This week at church the pastor was teaching us how to pray. This may sound elementary but I truly learned SO much! He wasn't telling us word from word how to but rather how to build the right foundation for prayer. He gave us 10 things to think about when praying. I have them on my computer dashboard so every time I get on I read them. I plan on memorizing them so that when I pray I can pray with the way God should be prayed to. He isn't our, "dude" as pastor stated, but rather a friend that died for us so that we can have eternal life. I know I want to pray right, how about you?

1. Prayer is your highest appeal not your last resort
2. When we seek the Lord together it multiplies the power.
3. Prayer is a conversation in the courts of a king.
4. Build your prayer on the solid foundation of God's sovereignty.
5. Whatever you do, do not build your case based on what you deserve.
-we deserve to be in hell
6. Build a case based on God's agenda not your own.
7. Remind God of what he has done for others and what He's promised to do for you.
-it doesn't inform God but it hepls transform you.
8. Do not always pray for God to make things better-Pray for him to make you bolder
9. Expect God to move in response to your prayer.
10. If you are going to ask be ready to act.

Crawl

So I have this obsession about a new song I heard. I can't stop listening to it. This song was written by Chris Brown. He wrote it to his girlfriend, Rihanna. He hurt her and was band from seeing her. This song pours out his heart towards her. It seriously melts my heart every time I hear it. Here are the lyrics:

[Verse 1]
Everybody see's it's you
I'm the one that lost the view
Everybody says we're through
I hope you haven't said it too

So where
Do we go from here
With all this fear in our eyes
And where
Can love take us now
We've been so far down
We can still touch the sky

[Chorus]
If we crawl
Till we can walk again
Then we'll run
Until we're strong enough to jump
Then we'll fly
Until there is no end
So lets crawl, crawl, crawl
Back to love, Yeah
Back to love, Yeah

[Verse 2]
Why did I change the pace
Hearts were never meant to race
I always felt the need for space
But now I can't reach your face
So where
Are you standing now
Are you in the crowd of my faults
Love, can you see my hand?
I need one more chance
We can still have it all

[Chorus]
If we crawl(if we crawl)
Till we can walk again
Then we'll run (then we'll run)
Until we're strong enough to jump
Then we'll fly
Until there is no end
So lets crawl, crawl, crawl
Back to love, Yeah
Back to love, yeaaah

[Bridge]
Everybody see's it's you
Well I never wanna lose that view

[Chorus]
So we'll crawl (if we crawl)
Till we can walk again
Then we'll run
Until we're strong enough to jump
Then we'll fly
Until there is no end
So lets crawl, crawl, crawl

So we'll crawl (ooh)
Till we can walk again (till we can walk again)
Then we'll run (we'll run)
Until we're strong enough to jump (until we're strong enough to jump)
Then we'll fly (then we'll fly)
Until there is no end
So let's crawl, let's crawl, lets crawl
Back to love
Back to love yeah
Back to love

If you want to listen to it go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eLRpf6kwHs

I will miss her...

Thanksgiving has been very eventful with mixed feelings of sadness and happiness. We did the regular traditions on Thanksgiving Day. However, the day after took an unexpected turn. We got up at 4 am to do the early bird specials. It was exciting and very thrilling. You wouldn’t believe how greedy people can be. Ashley got pushed into shelf and her arm has been swollen for days! It’s just all about mapping out where you go and what you’re getting. It has to have a strategy behind it. Well about this time I found out one of my friends lied to me and I got really disappointed in her. An hour after I found that out my mom got a phone call. She immediately got silent and walked away from the chaotic store. I followed her and after realizing it was a death I started questioning who it was. We both were trying to hold back the tears the only difference was she knew who it was and I didn’t. That was a very scary feeling. She hung up the phone and said, “Ma-Maw, it was Ma-Maw.”

Ma-Maw was my great grandma. She lived a long, hard 89 years. But somehow with all her struggles she went through she always had love in her heart. She never wanted anyone to go through any pain, experience half the things she did, or lose as many people as she has lost. About 10 years ago she lost her beloved husband, Pa-Paw. He lived a very long fight with his medical problems. God put him to ease by allowing no more pain and taking Pa-Paw to live with him. Both Pa-Paw and Ma-Maw were very strong Christians. All six of their kids were grown up in a very loving home.

After we got the shocking news we planned how we were going to attend the funeral. The funeral was on the borderline of Mississippi and Alabama. Which was 4 hours from where we were, Tallahassee. My mom had to fly to California on Sunday so if my dad took us my mom had to find some way to get home. My aunt and uncle left a day early to take my mom back to Greenville. From there she rented a car and drove to Charlotte. My dad, 2 sisters, and I all drove all over the place on Saturday getting the appropriate attire for the funeral. We drove from Florida to Georgia to get a tux from my uncle for my dad to borrow. Then back to Florida to stay the night at my grandparent’s farmhouse. Sunday morning we drove to Mississippi for the funeral. I met family I have never even heard of. The funeral was hard and I cried like a baby. But settled with the fact that she is in a way better place and dancing with her husband whom she hasn’t seen in 10 years!