being an adult...

is crazo. the last few days have provided plenty of entertaining stories, and a few mishaps along the way.

let's start with Bridezilla, as I like to refer to her. So tuesday morning was my first day to work the store. which means my first encounter with a customer, and my first exchange with the cash register. Enter: Bridezilla. You know the type... skinny blonde girl, looks like Lauren conrad, comments on how much she likes the smell of the genuine leather (princess alert number one). Skinny blonde girl is getting married this Saturday. (princess alert number two... and Bridezilla has been loosed). So after shopping frantically for the right beach bag for Hawaii (princess alert number three), and trying on the same necklace in front of the mirror three times (number four), Bridezilla is ready to check out. she lays down a bridal notepad... coool... and her necklace and I began to ring her up. However, since its my first time with the cash register I accidently hit a wrong button and her total comes up $10.00 more than it should be. This shouldn't be a problem.. if I knew anything about what to do when this happened. which I don't. Bridezilla's teeth are beginnging to show.

I call Mrs. Sandra rather than try to figure it out, however I must have pressed some wrong button along the way because the machine is now frozen. cooool, again. Bridezilla begins to growl... in the form of tapping her fingers on the counter and rudely shoutingasking "DON'T YOU KNOW HOW IT FIX IT?!?!" (p.a. number five). So I'm flustered and panicky, pressing void and escape and princess is saying "Maybe I just don't need this bag... I have to get back to work I'm in a hurry here!!!!" Oh Really? You seem so calm and serene, surely you have all the time and patience in the world... Bridezilla. After a few more buttons, ah ha! it works... I start to type in the amount, which she rudely says out loud as if to imply I might put the wrong one it.. Thanks princess... And we're in business. While getting the receipt she snaps, "Umm hello I need a bag?!" Oh yes princess, let me get my spidey gear out and snatch you one with my third hand I have. no worries. So princess grabs her things and leaves, to which I kindly reply "Have a great wedding.. your husband's a lucky man...." Ok I didn't say that last sarcastic remark I just wanted to kill her with kindness instead. Thank you Bridezilla for my first customer experience, you make me want to do retail forever.

Day two: much more smooth, thank you Jesus for small favors.

Day three: we don't like the odd numbers. I walk into the store to find water, on the floors, everywhere. Hmmm you don't belong with these purses. After examining the source I discover the floor boards seem to be leaking. Awesome. So I begin to mop/squeegie/wipe up water with all means available until finally the little asian man from the Nail salon next door comes over, admits his store is leaking, and quickly comes in to clean for me. thank you sweet Asians, you are the bomb. ssadly, no free manicure was offered, but I may just ask if it happens again.

Retail, how I love you....

dude, where's my summer?

Last week I had the privilege of joining Shades on their high school youth camp. This "CAMP" is not the usual relaxing getaway with a few kids, no its more like... let's see how many teenagers we can fit into an "old barn pavillion" and see how far they are willing to hike to their cabins in the woods after jumping off big swings, doing the zip line, playing hardcore paintball, and getting hardly any sleep for planning skit night. Camp is AWESOME. God shows us each and every summer in a new way and consistently challenges these students (283 this year) through the reading of His Word and the valuable teaching and worship they receive each morning and night.

I had the opportunity to go as "Scott's assistant". Our youth minister Scott is awesome, and since I was technically staff this camp, I got quite a different experience. I spent my days going non-stop, putting that little pink energizer bunny to shame. In the mornings I was up early getting a head count of the groups for rec times, then talking with the camp staff to plan accordingly. I made the 30 minute drive to Walmart at least once a day, spent the day running around distributing children to their various rec locations, and at night made the nightly pizza run to pick up the 80 pizzas and load them into the cargo van to feed the hungry children. It. Was. Insane. I have never been so busy in my life! But I loved every second of it. Although I was completely exhausted by Friday, I wouldn't have changed my job for anything. It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to just serve full out in such a huge way, and God completely blessed me by opening my eyes to a new side of ministry that most people never see. I kept thinking how grateful I was for these people who do this everyday of the year... wow!

this little cutie came to surprise me at camp, and it was the best day of the week!

one of the campers had a suitcase mishap, so we spent the afternoon at the laundromat doing his entire suitcase of laundry. I was thankful to have a FRIEND with me... get the reference?? :)

this would be a normal visit to Walmart... 15 cases of Gaterade, 12 cases of water, 50 pizzas, 200 tacos... you know, gotta keep the munchkins fed!

skit night is always fun, but there were extra surprises this year. such as Paula Heath's guest appearance..... aka Ryan Wilson.. And the 9th grade boys raving on the stage and collapsing the entire stage! It was quite a night.

the best part of the entire camp experience, the beautiful sunset and the mountains. I am a sucker for sunsets, but the views up in the mountains make it impossible not to understand God's beauty and his breathtaking creation.. Our God is so cool!

This week I am housesitting for some family friends and running her store, Bags & Then Some next to Hobby Lobby in Riverchase.. come by any day between 11-3 and maybe I'll give you a discount ;) It's been a fun week already just feeling like a grown up. I stay at the house with the sweet dog Annie, we water the plants in the morning and turn over the tomatoes in the sun. I lock up at night, give Annie her medicine, open and run the store.. I'm an adult! Ok not totally, but that's what it feels like this week and it's pretty fun in all honesty.

The summer has flown by. Considering half of it was spent in winter, I guess that makes sense.. but it's hard to believe in just a few weeks I'll be packing up to head back to Jackson. I am so eager to see all that God has in store for my life, for my position as pledge mom, for my friends... God has been doing a lot in everyone's lives this summer, I've seen that already and I know when we get back it's going to be an incredible semester! Life is good :)

meet me in St Louis.

What do you get when you add 16 hours in a car with 4 Collins, hot hot heat, a little rain, and a bunch of tourist attractions? OUR WEEKEND TO ST LOUIS!

Thursday morning we loaded up the car and set off for Missouri, the mid-west I guess? We met Bo at the Seminary and embarked on what became my first and favorite visit to St Louis. We had delicious dinner at this Chicago style deep-dish pizza place called Pi. The restaurant was SO COOL, it had brick walls, some wallpapered with damask (my favorite), and awesome black and white pictures around. We had fun just catching up and hearing about Bo's life.

typical Bo fashion, cheezin' it up!

Friday we went downtown to get tickets for the Cardinals game, got breakfast, then spent a few hours in the pool. It was my first true summer pool experience since my last month in Africa was winter! We got to see where Bo works, then went to the Cardinals game (they killed the Dodgers 8-2!). I also had my first subway/train experience when we loaded the train and did not get off until many stops later.

don't worry, me Bo and my dad all bought the same shirt...

Standing Room Only is not as fun as it sounds. and it doesn't really sound fun anyways.

but once we discovered the floor seats on the upper level, we had a good ole time.

family outing #a lot of the weekend...

Saturday after wonderful blueberry pancakes, we spent the day out and about. We went to the arch downtown and it was incredible! I never really understood what the big deal about a half circle was, but standing underneath and looking up at this gigantic aluminum arch was honestly pretty cool!

it's bigger than you think!

check it

Saturday night we went to this restaurant called Blueberry Hill. which can only be described as a more gritty Cracker Barrel.. like if Cracker Barrel met up with a rock band/chain gang and resulted in this place. Then we had the famous Ted Drewes. I didn't understand why frozen custard was such a big deal, until.. THE BIG APPLE. Frozen vanilla custard, with apple pie crust, whipped cream, and it was like heaven!!!

it was totally worth sweatingwaiting for in the direct sunlight.

Overall it was an awesome weekend. The weather was perfect, and we got to spend so much time with Bo which hasn't happened since Thanksgiving. Funny things always happen with him, such as his confusion to my dad's question wondering "If the deer were tame", to which Bo asked... "You mean... like can they do tricks?" Tame... trained... whichever :)

suit yourself, sweetie pea!

yesterday was one of the most fun days I have had in a long time. I went to babysit the Alligoods. Hannah is now 7 but I have babysat for her since she was wearing diapers. Avery is 3 I believe, and has taken a few years to warm up to me. But yesterday as soon as I walked in, Avery ran up and hugged my legs so I knew it was going to be a great day.

it was hot, hot, hot! outside so we decided to load up and go to Chickfila for the play place and the ice cream. These two precious girls are not your normal toddler and 2nd grader. Hannah and Avery both were using 3-syllable words at age 2 and are smart as can be, which makes for some funny sayings and expressions, such as Avery's "Suit yourself, sweetie pea!" as she walked out of the play place.

I forgot how simple pleasures like ice cream can make the worst thing better, such as a busted lip from falling down the slide.

After ice cream the girls wanted to go see GiGi, their new adopted grandmother, aka my mom. So we drove home to see GiGi and Shelley (or in Avery's words, Scruffy) and once again... those simple pleasures were awesome. Hannah quickly climbed up on GiGi's lap and began knitting. And I mean knitting.. in five minutes she was doing the four step process herself.. she's a smart one!! It was funny to turn around on the way home and see a little girl, in a car seat, KNITTING! like grandmother, like granddaughter I guess :)

After babysitting me and GiGi went to this new Mexican restaurant called Frontera Grill by the new Target. We had lunch with Weldon and got to catch up and share stories of her trip to Brazil and mine to Cape Town. It was so much fun seeing her and hearing about her life. What a great summer day!

when in Auburn...

do as Paullison does! This weekend I went with Ethan to spend the weekend in Auburn with Allison and Paul. It was fun for a lot of reasons:
1Seeing good friends who we never get to spend much time with.
2Spending a weekend on a real college campus ;)
3Eating the most delicious Hibachi food ever made. Fast food combined with Japanese steakhouse is brilliant.

This week is back to normal life at home. This Thursday I'm heading with my parents to St. Louis to visit Bo! I have never been able to go because whenever we make plans, something always comes up. We're planning to go to a baseball game Friday, hear him teach on Sunday, and just catch up with my big brother. Next week is camp with Shades! Summer is good and going fast :)

new favorites

This week has been a fun reminder of how much I love church, ministry and the friends that come from those relationships formed. This year at school I was able to get to know Kristin Dutt much more, and just enjoy every single second I get to spend with her. She's hilarious, witty, smart and so genuinely interested in people's lives that it's hard to do anything but have fun when I spend time around her. After she graduated she moved to Birmingham and took the girls high school minster position at Shades. Ironically, this is my dream job I would give anything to do, so it's been fun to watch her transition into that.

Yesterday I got to listen to her teach a lesson/share her heart about relationships and purity according to Godly standards. I was so encouraged through her honesty and her insight into the Word. Tonight I got to spend the evening with her and Ethan having Purple Onion, Yogurt Lab, and sweet time at her new apartment. We played Jenga, cards, and the question game just laughing and enjoying the company of a new friend. I am so thankful that she's around and cannot wait to see all the ways the Lord uses her at Shades. I'm even more excited to spend a week at camp with her... New Wind and camp all in one month? Welcome to Shades, Kristin!

friends

God has been so faithful to encourage me the last few days through my friends. Coming home has been an easy adjustment through the help of my friends lately. I spent two nights with Kendall just hearing how the Lord is working in her life. I spent the day shopping with my mom who has constantly encouraged and supported me through this whole Africa process. I had dinner with Kaitlin and Mrs. Stephanie tonight and was reminded of how God can work in any situation, at any time, in the hardest circumstances. I had a chat with Liz Wainscott last night and was reminded of how God is always enough for us when we wait patiently for His timing and follow His plans.

I've also been reminded of other qualities of our great God through peoples blogs. I got behind on following everyone while I was away, so I spent yesterday afternoon catching up. I love the use of written words, it's probably my favorite form of communication or expression, so to read people's hearts in words is something I treasure. And when those words are words of God's faithfulness, tales of His provision, and challenges to seek Him more... well I consider that the greatest form of encouragement one can find! I am so thankful so my friends and how God knows He can always speak to me through them.

Two of my favorite women in the whole world.

always laughing. such a good best friend :)

sweet friends at Roly Poly

home.

We made it! Praise HIM. The flight home was pretty alright, considering I slept fourteen of the sixteen hours. Tylenol PM worked wonders as I spent the entire flight fast asleep, and woke up Friday morning in the States. We drove back from Atlanta with Ethan's parents and I have adjusted incredibly well to the time change--no jet lag at ALL. Again.. PRAISE HIM!

So I've been in the process of post-travel adjustment, just recovering and coming back to normal life. It's kind of weird, and somewhat more difficult than I imagined. Kendall came to visit Friday night and ended up spending the night Friday and Saturday. I spent the evening with her and my good friend Bradley from high school just visiting and catching up. Since I've stayed so busy, I haven't had time to just sit and collect all my thoughts about the trip, but I think that may be a good thing. Since I was sad to say goodbye to my new friends, especially Melanie, I think I just needed some time to spend with my family and friends at home to remind me how good it is to be home. It's been wonderful to see my parents again since they were the ones I missed the most!

This trip was incredible, and more than I could have ever imagined. I think it's going to take me a while before I can put into words all that I learned, all that I saw and all the ways it has affected me as a person. I am eager to put those thoughts into practice and to begin seeking God with a new appreciation of who He is. I think the one thing I learned the most is about God's character, His many names and qualities. I know that understanding Him is something that translates into life any place and any time, so I cannot wait to see how He continues to reveal Himself these next weeks and months, post-Africa. God has been good through this entire process, and I am so thankful to have been able to grow with Him in Cape Town!