Sunday, October 23, 2011

Weekend Away

Greetings!!

This pass weekend I finally finally finally got to see my beloved boy. After yet another month a part it was so wonderful to see him. So lemme give you a recap :)

Friday..
I woke up went to class, and drove my self on home. I joined my mother, we picked a sweet friend a birthday present, and then I had to do my training for Bath and Body Works. I've worked there for now three Christmases in a row! I love it! Seriously, the sweetest team to work with. And the company is so wonderful. Training was a breeze and I got to scope out some future holiday gifts ;) After training my mother retrieved me with Pals sweet tea, ah she knows me too well. Then we headed on over to our favorite Ulta store. This girl has a nail polish addiction so I had to pick up some more! Then we stopped at Target for some necessities (aka stocking up on pumpkin spice coffee) and Khols to purchase my apartment's christmas tree a cute little skirt. I can't wait to decorate!! Then we had dinner at my favorite restaurant, Cheddars. I just absolutely love that place. Then we met up with the birthday girl and her family at Sweet Frogs. I. Love. Fro Yo. Yummm. And Frogs stands for Forever Rely On God, how cute!! Then it was early to bed for me as I was seeing my boy the next day!!

Saturday..
I woke up early and hit the road by 8. A quick three hour drive later and I was back where I'm suppose to be, right in my boys arms. It was such a sweet reunion. Being in a long distance relationship does have benefits, like when you see each other for the first time in so long, its like falling in love all over again. aaaah. Okay, so I had to tour my sweet boy's college town, which is soooo different from Knoxville. Think cute charming small town, but not really small, haha. The first stop of the day was the farmers market. So many yummy things, I wanted to eat it all but held back. We did some antiquing and then had lunch at the cutest tea room. It was the tea room's 100 year anniversary so that was fun to be a part of. And the wait staff sang so beautifullly! I was in love.


We ordered chicken salad, and I've never had chicken salad like this before. It was served on a little spinach salad with all kinds of fresh fruit, and the tea room's signature cheddar biscuits. Yummmy!! I wish I was back there now.


After we headed to the mall to peruse a bit. We went to the school's monogram on the mountain that evening. The view was incredible up there. And we spent the evening just relaxing with each other before I drove home. I can't wait to go back and see him again in just two weeks! Ah be still my heart.

Okay Sunday..
Today I got to spend the entire day with my mother shopping. We headed to Boone, NC to do some fall shopping for me. This was much needed and I finally got some penny loafers, jeans, and a few sweaters. Such a successful day! And the weather, plus the leaves this weekend were gorgeous!! It couldn't have been more perfect. Before I headed back tonight my mother made sure I had a good home cooked meal, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and crecent rolls. I feel like I ate allll weekend long, but it was all so good!! Now its time to prepare for the week, ugh this is gonna be hard after such a wonderful weekend!! 
What did you do this weekend?
xoxo

Monday, October 3, 2011

Tuscalooa, Alabama

Happy Monday morning!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and for those fellow UT students a happy fall break.

On Wednesday once classes were over a group of 69 students, including myself, headed down to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We went as a joint group of UT's BCM, my church Calvary, and Central Bearden. The trip started off with lots of fun. Since we ran into some traffic we played maffia on the bus for the first hour or so until we got to Chattanooa. Once we passed Chattanooga we were in dire need of dinner, as it was only suppose to be two hours once we got on the bus till dinner but ended up being more like three. We arrived Wednesday evening in Tuscaloosa about 10:30 central time.

On Thursday we rose early to start the day off. There were several different groups that split up and we were pretty much all over the place. The group I went with primed a house to be painted for the weekend. This neighborhood we were in was empty, for miles and miles. Being in Tennessee I'm use to some hills and mountains, but where the tornado had touched down it was flat and barren for so many miles around. This house was the only one that was up and standing. I got to speak with the owners some and they were such a blessing! With their brave faces and grateful hearts I couldn't help but hurt for them during this time. It's been almost 5 months since the torndao hit and these people are slowly coming back. Some of the other groups included rebuilding a YMCA for future volunteers, helping a family tear down a fence, and organizing supplies to be moved. Once the day was done we spent some time fellowshiping and a Bible study. Then it was time for some apples to apples, four square, and a basketball game. We had a great time hanging out. We had prayed that day for the Lord to just wear us out, and boy He sure did, I slept like a little log on my cot!




Friday was the same as Thursday, we split up into different teams and off to completely new different sites. On this day I spent my time helping a church move supplies from the church to a module the state had granted. When the tornado hit there were lots of relief sites for victims, but now there is just this one church left handing out goods. There was a lot of heavy lifting, frustration from organizing, and tiredness but my heart was so happy to serve. This trip's focus was to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and we did just that. We moved and served to the best of our abilities. After we finished up our assignments Friday afternoon we went to visit the Alabama campus. And wow is it beautiful! I think if I could, and Daddy allowed it I would so transfer! I just loved it!! We left Tuscaloosa with some heavy hearts and I hope I can someday return and see the change that has been set in place. Please don't forget these people in your prayers, there is still lots of work left to be done.But God is so good and showing up just at the right time, He is bigger than anything I or a tornado can ever be!

Heres some photos...

so.flat.

this was an empty room turned grocery store

the boys


Brooke & Me

sorry Saban, I'm a bit bitter