"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your
one wild and precious life?"
-Mary Oliver
This summer is truly going to be the most adventure packed, fun filled, rockstar summer of my 21 years. I spent a lot of time during this school year praying that the Lord would place me where He wanted me this summer. I was offered a few great opportunities through camp counseling positions and trips but the Lord didn't give me peace about them. So, here I am a few days into summer not exactly sure what the next three months hold but 100% confident that the Lord knows and that His plans for me are going to be better than anything I could have planned for myself!
Summer day ONE:
“Parle vous Francais?” I wrote down the last answer on my French final, grabbed my bag and dashed out of the campus library. My university got smaller in my rearview mirror as I cruised down I20 in my navy blue Forester, packed down with shoes, clothes and my favorite books.
I pulled into Kenzie’s front yard a little after the sun had gone down. All the lights were off but the door was open so I tentatively went in. I figured everyone was hiding and waiting to scare me. I was so wrong. After fumbling through the living room I finally found a light switch which revealed that I was utterly alone. A phone call to Mackenzie left me comforted that they would be back in a few minutes. But, then the comfort feeling left when I got a prank call from some guy named Johnny, that left me in dire fear until everyone came home. We had a blast hanging out, laughing and watching movies. I highly recommend “Contagion,” excellent movie that will have you thinking for days.
May 10th:
Kenz and I gloriously slept in until 10:30, we jumpstarted our morning with a quick dip in the pool before getting ready. Ryan picked us up around noon and we were off for a day of adventure! I found the greatest pair of denim shorts at Goodwill that I am probably going to wear every day this summer :) We also had an impromptu photo shoot at Half Price Books.
That night we had a family potluck dinner at Kenzie’s grandmas! Abbie made BBQ chicken, Kenz made mac & cheese, I made scalloped potatoes and salad, Ryan made chocolate chip pumpkin muffins and Josh brought ice cream and a veggie tray. It was truly a dinner to remember because every single dish almost became a catastrophe in their preparatory phase. Thankfully though, it ended up being scrumptious.Then we spent an hour and a half trying to find a movie that we all agreed on.
May 11th:
Kenz worked on a summer class while I did a “walk away the pounds!” video then we got ready and Ryan picked us up to have lunch with his mom in downtown Dallas. We had a blast and even got to tour Channel 8 News station! Then the three of snuck into Horn highschool to visit their favorite teachers (we are fugitives in the making!). We stayed up laughing into the wee hours of the morning thanks to the lovely, hilarious Jill James and her beau, Austin.
May 12th:
This morning came early but it was worth it for the fun that lay ahead :) This was also the infamous day when I backed my car into a mailbox...opps! So, with a slightly scuffed up fender I headed to Amanda’s for our Girls Getaway! We cruised to Houston and stayed in a beautiful room thanks to Greg! We had quite the adventure at Target on the way to our cousins beautiful wedding. We got back to our room late and fell asleep to the movie “Miss Congeniality” OHHHH, and this was the night beautiful, baby sister Hannah went to prom!!
Beautiful, fun loving, sister.
This truly will remain one of the best days of summer vacation! SO MUCH LAUGHING! Amanda and I woke up and hit the road to head back to the Big D. Our first stop was at the Sam Houston Statue.
Next we hit up the ‘Texas Prison Museum.’ We had seen it on our way to Houston and had wondered ‘what on earth would they have there?’ well, after spending two hours there we can tell you! It was an eye opening experience, some of the things they had on display were quite comical, some made you really upset and some were sorrowful. They had “Old Sparky” on display, which is the retired electric chair. It was fascinating to observe all the consficated items from inmates. They had weapons made from soap, paint scrapings, forks and spoons. They had even made tattoo machines, sling shots and pistols! It was truly incredible.
My "I'm a happy tourist" picture
After we left the prison museum, we enjoyed Manda’s plethora of cd’s. She has everything from the Jurassic Park soundtrack to Bobby Darin to Sugarland. It was a beautiful car ride :) Now we are camped out at her house, Greg is watching the Rangers game, she’s cooking us dinner and I’m packing to get ready for my trip to Virginia. Later tonight I’m going to Mackenzie’s to enjoy 36 more hours in the Lone Star state before I fly out to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Lovin’ life!
