Let's get real.

I'm officially over 5 months behind on posts. 

Don't think that I've forgotten. I remember it all the time, but the massive amount of things to write about sends me running from blogspot to Facebook over and over.  

But all along, I have intended to catch up.  And I will.  Somewhere around September when my camera charger was in Augusta and the camera was dead here, I lost my habit of taking a picture everyday.  But I still have pictures! Lots of them!  And many many other storys, links, songs, and quotes that I'm looking forward to posting.

And it really has been an amazing semester.  Maybe I've felt so overwhelmingly blessed here at Auburn that trying to put it down in type just overwhelmed me more.

But a week from today, I will be in Augusta, more than likely sitting on the couch, in the gray area between lazy and bored, and then the procrastination will end, and my catching up will begin.  Even if I'm not done until February, I want to have all of 2011 documented right here.  

So...I'm working on it (:

July 1: Road Trip!

After a long day at work, Mary Frances and I recreated our epic road trip of summer 2010 from Augusta to Chattanooga/Lookout Mountain to spend the weekend of the 4th at my aunt and uncle’s cabin.  

Frances and I can rock a road trip. A 5 hour drive at the end of a 10 hour work day seems like a stupid, torturous thing to do, but I knew that it would be completely tolerable with May Fay! We sing songs, we take pictures, we talk about random stuff, we make videos that would make you think we are still in middle school.  Tons more fun that a car ride should be! thankya for being my driving buddy franfran

June 30: Sparklers!

Today, Crazy Science camp played with "homemade sparklers" or basically just burned magnesium over a candle and watched the exciting sparkler-like reaction.  This was an ideal experiment fourth and fifth graders, especially the boys because they got to feel responsible enough to do their experiment with fire but  still got to burn stuff.  I felt like I was back in chemistry lab and got to burn a strip of two myself.  More importantly, it made awesome slideshow and brochure pictures that were very entertaining to take!

June 29: Webkinzzz

Check it out.  There is a child underneath all these stuffed animals!  Tonight, I went to babysit for Skylar who I taught harp to my junior and senior year of high school.  We had so much fun playing together! After swimming and going for a walk, she took me upstairs to show me her Webkinz collection.  She has something like 160 of these little stuffed animals.  They all have names.  She loves every one.  But, wow, one hundred and sixty! 

Can't quite wrap my mind around it.

June 28: Camp Wildcat love!

Can I just say, Alyssa has been absolutely amazing this summer.  It's been so great to get to see her and hang out every day at work, and every single day she blows me away with how great she is with these kids! 

Let me brag on her for a minute.  She is the head of Camp Wildcat all summer - Camp Wildcat is a VBS type camp that kids can come to for a half or full day.  Week to week, Alyssa has between 6 and 12 kids that are all hers (plus an assistant sometimes). Alyssa comes in every morning before 8am and stays all day through 4 when the kids home, and then she goes back into her room to clean up the various explosions and messes of the day and stays as long as that takes.  Then, add all that to lesson and craft planning and preparing.  She has a different theme of lessons every week and a different lessons and crafts everyday.  And on top of all of that, her kids adore her, and I can see her positively influencing their lives and attitudes everyday! I'm just blown away.  Lyss, call me if you ever need someone to brag on your teaching qualifications, because clearly, I think you are going to be an amazing teacher one day!

P.S. This is how cute Tripp was today.

June 27: Bachelorette Party!

This has been one of my favorite parts of the summer! Every Monday night, Mary Frances' house is filled up with people just to watch a little trash tv.  A bunch of high school girls and college girls plus a decent handful of guys and Ms. Thayer of course!  We have so much fun mostly just commentating and laughing at the guys and cheering for our favorites.  It's an unspoken, weekly party, and as unwholesome  as the Bachelorette is, we love Mondays so much!

June 26: Tripp!

Favorite picture of the summer. (not actually taken today, cheating a little, but still)  

Can you tell how much we adore this kid!?

I'm just feeling so blessed to be at this job with sweet kids and sweet friends! Woo summer programs 2011 (:

June 25: 6th Grade Progressive Dinner

Tonight, I got to be a part of one of this year’s prefects cool ministry to the 6th grade girls at our school (Julia’s class) by driving for their progressive dinner (one of my favorite kinds of parties!).  We started at my house with fruit and appetizers, then moved to another house for dinner, then finally to one more house for dessert.  Along with these changes of locations came changes of clothes to mirror how we change as we develop in our Christian walk.  The girls started out in work out clothes to symbolize our lives before we come Christians.  Then at dinner they changed into semi-dressy churchish clothes to symbolize our walks as Christians. And finally for dessert they changed into their nicest dresses for decadent desserts on fine china to symbolize heaven.  Along with the meal and the changing clothes came great devotions from some of the high school girls leading the night.  I was so surprised that through these talks and just the conversations we had been having all night long how much these high school and middle school girls had been ministering to me.  I got so much out of these simple talks just about what it is like to live as a Christian.  God speaks to us in amazing and unexpected ways and I felt so blessed to be a part of such a cool night tonight.

June 24: favorite

June 23: Cat House?

Brace yourself for my most bizarre picture so far this year.  This is my neighbor’s cat house.  Yes I said Cat. House.  An air conditioned room with bunk beds, lounge chairs, and even a screened in porch with a cat door that automatically locks itself from 5pm to 6am.  Cra-cra!

This week while the neighbors are out of town my mom and I are taking care of their nine cats which entails letting them in and out of the cat house at specific times every morning and evening, giving them new food and water, cleaning the litter box, but most importantly, just counting and calling them all because just keeping track of nine cats that all look pretty much the same.  This experience alone will keep me from ever being anything close to a crazy cat lady.  I like cats, but they aren’t people and I don’t like pretending that they are! Ha (:

June 22: Um, Hi, precious!

Tripp.  Oh my goodness, we are all obsessed! Probably camper-of-the-week for the rest of the summer.  He's only four, but doing baseball this week with his brother so he won't have to be in Camp Wildcat for the morning and the afternoon. That's a long day for a little guy!  He is super sweet but has this witty little attitude sometimes and it's just too cute.  

Loving camp still, and we all just can't get enough of these sweet kids!

June 21: Les Miserables

Reading, reading, reading all summer long!

I've finally finished Les Mis which I've been slowly but surely tackling for all of June.  It has fallen apart in the process - first just the cover, and then broken up into sections little by little every time it laid out in the sun and melted.  

What a wonderful book!  Understandably a classic and it's about time that I read it.  

And for the remains of this poor book, I have crafty intentions! Possibly a wreath? More to come!

June 20: THE Ice Cream Dessert

Caution:  This may change your life.  I'm not one to choose favorites among desserts; actually, my favorite probably changes every time I'm asked.  But this ends all my indecisiveness.  It's simply known as "The Ice Cream Dessert" - it needs no other day - and Anne Caroline taught me how to make it when I first visited her in Montgomery the summer before freshman year.  Since then, I've brought it back to Augusta and made it several times, and when I do make it, it doesn't last long (: Mary Frances and I made it tonight for Bachelorette night at her house. So yummy! 

Here's what it is:

start with a layer of ice cream sandwiches on the bottom of whatever size dish you want

next, a layer of cookies and cream ice cream (Blue Bell is the best) - use the whole carton

then, a layer of cool whip

finally, crushed up Oreos topped with chocolate syrup and caramel

stick it back in the freezer and cut and serve like a casserole!

It doesn't sound like that much, but ohhhh my goodness, all together, it is just magical!

June 19: addicted

I usually try to avoid anything that highlights how much of a type A personality I have, but today, I can't help it.  I've always loved my planners, and the amount of excitement I have over this new one for the coming year is a little pathetic.  It's cute and very granola plus has all the things that I'm secretly particular about like big boxes for each day on the two-page week spreads and even lines put aside for to-do lists.  

It's a big deal for me to admit this obsession to whoever is reading, because it's usually something that I keep to myself and play down because I think it's weird.  But I'm embracing it today - maybe the cuteness balances out the type A a little bit?