High Up in the Mountain Tops: Wrapping Up The Summer!

Well first and fore most I apologize for not writing in forever, but that does mean there is a lot to update you on! My goal for this semester is to get a lot better about writing on here more often!

HILTON HEAD!
What seems like yesterday...Natalie and I headed to Hilton Head to spend a few days at the beach over the fourth of July just so we could say we went to the beach at least once this summer!! It was an amazing trip! We left Atlanta early thursday morning and got there in time to spend some time on the beach! It was the most peaceful thing I had experienced in a long long time! The first night we were there I went to bed at 8:30 and woke up the next day at 10:30, so to say the least school had been wearing me out A LOT. The next couple days were amazing. We had a pretty great routine to get up and eat breakfast (or lunch depending on the hour we woke up :)) then would head to the beach for a couple hours and then lounge around before we decided dinner plans.

Some of the highlights of this trip were the 7am bike ride with Natalie and Mrs. Johnston to eat the best chocolate croissant I have ever eaten. Naturally, I was not too excited about waking up that early esp on vacation to go on a bike ride. The bike ride was nice and long so that we could burn off the calories of what we were about to eat. It was early and I got a good workout and it was definitely worth everything!!
Another awesome thing we did was go on a roller blade adventure every night. It was so nice because the golf course sidewalks were sooo smooth, so it made roller blading that much easier! It was an awesome time for natalie and I to enjoy the awesome weather and just have genuine heartfelt conversations about how blessed we were and all the ups and downs to the summer. Wow. I would love to go back to one of those blading experiences.
Lastly, the Beach, what a special place. Everyday when Natalie and I were laying out we seemed to always say..."Ahhh...the beach is the best place ever" or "Wow. relaxing like this makes me realize how stressed we are at school" It was the perfect break that we both needed....unfortunately it was way too short! But I am so thankful and appreciative that I got to go to the beach at least once this summer.

Here are some pics from our trip...unfortunately Mrs. Johnston has the others:

(First day on the Beach)

(Typical Natalie doing something she shouldnt be)

(The AMAZING house :)))

(precious sisters)

(would be so lost without...thanks for all you to do to encourage me daily)

HEADING TO MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME!

While I wasnt able to spend my whole summer at camp, I was fortunately blessed to head up there for a long weekend. It was honestly the perfect timing and visit for me. I got there thursday around lunch time and was overwhelmed with hugs and the love of so many people that I missed so much (it was supposed to be a surprise but that got ruined the day before). Immediately, I fell back into place and acted like nothing had changed! I went out with my watersports family that afternoon and loved being on the most beautiful lake in Georgia. As well as being surrounded by campers who look up to you so much no matter what.

(Love you more than you will EVER know)

(Never been more happy than to spend the afternoon with yall)

(trying to be cute...)

(So much Love and Happiness in this picture)

That night was Sav and Care's night off and Kate met us up at camp for the night. We went out to a yummy dinner at Zepplins and naturally topped off the night like every night out with a Walmart and Dairy Queen trip. The next day was Friday, my favorite day at camp. For the first time in a while, I was at camp all day friday because usually watersports is gone all day so that was a new experience for me! I woke up early and went to watch Caroline and Ethan shine as LIT pds during their morning devotion. Then I just went with the flow and hung out with different people all day long. I went to morning assembly and loved jumping up and down singing worship and praising God. Then I loved just hanging out at the water front with everyone all day. This trip was truly a blessing and much needed. It was also a time that I realized God's plan for me that I followed this summer was the right one. As hard as it was all summer not being at camp and constantly thinking about what they were doing every time I looked at my watch, this trip confirmed that I had done the right thing and God's plan truly was perfect.

Friday night's are my favorite. I got to go get my groove on at the dance and then go to night program and watch everyone's hilarious Camper of the Week songs. And then sing my favorite songs that I will always hold in my heart with my best friends around me. It truly was such a blessing and I felt like I had never left camp. Yes, it was hard to be there knowing I had to come back to school and study, but I had to be positive and be thankful I could visit for so long and and truly always feel welcomed and at home!

(Best friends...)

(Your one of the biggest blessings in my life...thank you for everything you do)

(...and then there were 4)

(Closest we had come to remaking this picture)

The AMAZING girls PDs!

(So thankful to have you in my life as a best friend and role model)

My favorite place on earth.

(some of my favorite people in the world)

The BEST boss in the world!

DAD MAKES 50 LOOK GOOD!!

The next major adventure in my summer was that that my biggest role model and best father in the world finally caught up to his friends (and wife) and turned the big 5-0!! Unfortunately, I came home for this celebration very sick, but luckily by celebration time I was much much better!! Jay was home as well for the 4 days I was here and it was so awesome to be able to just hang out with him and run errands together. It felt so nice to finally be reunited with Jay since our trip! He is truly the best big brother I could ask for and can confidently say he will always have my back.

We got the special treat of Aunt Debbie and Uncle Tony coming in from VA. As well as many of the camp girls coming from camp, athens, statesboro, and roswell. It was so special to see how appreciative my dad was for these girls making the effort to celebrate with him. My dad considers these girls like his own daughters so it made his birthday that much better! I am thankful that my friends made the effort to celebrate such a special day! One of my favorite parts of the party was seeing family friends that I had not seen since I was in middle school. It was so much fun to catch up right where we had all left off!

I will post some pictures because for this event the pictures definitely say it all! But overall this was an awesome weekend and I am beyond blessed to have the dad I do. You would never know by his adventurous and living-life-to-the-fullest attitude that he is 50! My dad brings so much joy and happiness in my life and I am so thankful for the humble and selfless person he is!