Reckless Abandonment

What do you think of when you hear those two words?  I will always think of a girl's weekend, the book of Ruth, and what it means to truly follow Christ.  Last weekend the girls in my youth group loaded on a bus and set out for Gatlinburg for a weekend of laughter and praise.  {and more than a few odd faces}

We stayed in a huge cabin, sharing a room with anywhere from four to eight girls, which honestly can be quite chaotic and crazy, not to mention slightly dangerous.  Maybe the people who built these things shouldn't have put ledges close enough to the beds to jump off of.  Just saying. 

We hung out and rode the bus, which I have to say is amazing.  I'm pretty much in love with bus trips.  Yeah, I'm weird.

We even got dressed up and went for a fancy dinner.  And I did it all with my best friend and sistah, Holly.  Isn't she just BEAUTIFUL!  And do you like my bangs?  I love them!

This has to be my favorite picture of the weekend.  It's just so genuine and un-posed.  It truly showed the emotion of the weekend, not to mention the beauty of these girls!

Yeah, we were weird too.  And we like to "hold" people.

And all the while there's me with my camera snapping pictures at really odd times. 

I love the sunflare in this picture.  It makes her look like a model or something.  And let me just say again that these girls are gorgeous inside and out!

And because I'm the "resident photographer" I got volunteered to take these lovely ladies' pictures.  I must say it was my pleasure because they entertained me more than I did them!

And we ate, who can forget that?

Worship was so amazing.  The girl who lead it had a voice that sounded like Adele's and the songs she chose really spoke deep into my heart.  We sung a song called Break Every Chain and every time I heard those words;

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
To break every chain
To break every chain
To break every chain

I just wanted to forget the world and lift my hands in praise to the One who can break every chain that holds me back---all the worries and jealousy that mar my life.  It was absolutely amazing to take a timeout from my chaotic life and just stand there with no distractions and thank God for the blessings He's given me and to ask him to direct my path.

The book of Ruth really spoke to me too.  Ruth had gotten a taste of God during the years she had been with Naomi and her family and she wanted to know Him so bad that she was willing to leave everything comfortable and known behind her just so she could grow spiritually.  I just thought that was so eye-opening.  God has been changing so many things in my life lately and it's just interesting to see that He uses changes like that to show me that I need to continue growing and that if I have to get out of my comfort zone to do that, I need to.

I also really learned about being a leader in this kind of setting.  On the last night it was like things just snapped for many of the girls and people just started sobbing all over the place.  I felt like God was telling me just to go and hug and pray with my friends and with people I didn't even know all that well.  It definitely made me think about what being a leader in the youth group really means.

{doesn't this look like a double exposure?  It's really just a picture though the glass door!  It's crazy awesome!}

And honestly, what's a girl's trip without a little OneDirecton? (or a lot) {and maybe a little JB?)

I'm not kidding, I had his song Boyfriend stuck in my head for days because they played in on the bus like eight(y) times!  haha!

And overall, I just got to know a lot of really amazing people I had met before but never really known.  I had a pretty amazing weekend.  Have you had these kind of experiences before?

Easter in a Tent

This Easter was different than the rest, probably because of the big tent in my church's parking lot.  That's not exactly normal.  But who said Arrowhead was normal?

We planned for one thousand people and we ended up topping that number.  It was so exciting and unique to see everybody worshiping in a tent and to see all the volunteers work together so well.

I handed out bulletins, worked the Ipad, and took pictures.

(by the way, I want this girl's hair.  and style...)

The band was great, as usual.

God really moved through the tent, you could tell just by looking around and 30 or more people came to Christ for the first time.  That in itself was amazing and exciting.

My favorite kids in the whole, wide world!

I loved my outfit so much!  It is so vintage looking and totally me!
Dress: Forever21
Shoes: Thrift Store
Cardigan: Unknown

Yeah, Easter was pretty exciting.

phoneography

Or for me better known as Ipodography.  I am pretty much in love with Instagram and I post on it almost everyday.  It's nice to have a camera at my fingertips for those times when I see weird things, want to take a quick picture with my friend, or want to catch a moment when I don't have my Canon.  Now it does not take the place of my beloved Canon by any means!  But it is nice to have.  And you even get to have people heart your picture...awwww.  haha.

I use Instagram to take pictures of my outfits and jewelry.

I capture beautiful moment I want to remember like my niece Irish dancing in our front yard under the amazing blue sky.

Snapping quick pictures of an even quicker baby.

Pictures of the sky as I rush out the door in the mornings.

And adorable, snazzy cars!

let's just say, I love photography in any form possible...especially if I can make it look older than it is.  haha.

Thank you everyone who reads my crazy posts about nothing and everything.  You all make me so happy.  By the way, if anyone knows of a good tutorial for installing and using actions in Photoshop Elements, please let me know!  I am completely lost!

P.S. Happy late April Fools!

what i wore...

This weekend we went to Goodwill and besides finding oversized sweaters and really fun striped sweater (I'll show that one soon) I got this really artsy, fun shirt.  I love it so much.  And when you add a hat, well, it just makes it better.  I wore this to a basketball game and with my camera I felt like the most artsy person in the world.  Or at least in the room!

shirt: Goodwill, pants: unknown, hat: friend's grandmother, boots: Anthropology.

I'm in love with my new haircut.  It's so cute and so much easier to deal with!  

I redid my room over Christmas break and I made a photography wall and I discovered last night that it makes the perfect self-portrait wall!

Look it's me!

I'm starting a thirty day photography challenge and this is the first two days; self-portrait and what I wore.  I hope that wherever you are that your day is wonderful!

Salut!

i'm a freshmen :)

yes, you heard me right.

And this is what this freshmen wore on the first day of school.

minus the guitar of course.  i love playing the guitar.  love it.  i just learned how to play the song, Hallelujah and i love it!  i'll have to post a video of me singing it for you all sometime.  :)

oh, and don't you just adore polaroids?

i spent a lot of time with my new best friend Hadley this summer!  i've only known her for around six months but i feel like i have known her for years!  love her!

this picture was taken with my sister's new Ipad {yay} when Hadley was over some time this summer.  we were trying to do our cheap imitation of freerunning and look like gangstahs at the same time.  we are so cool.

 

 i also got to go back to Doe River Gorge for a day with a bunch of my friends!  we did a bunch of ziplining and yes, i even got blobbed...you should have seen my face...that's all i'm saying.  

when i got out i started taking pictures with my new ipod {i'm in love} and this is what came out.  isn't it interesting?  i love it!

 and then my friend, Morgan joined in on the action and we took some really cool sunglasses photography.  and yes, i was in a way copying D.J.  sorry...i couldn't resist, his phone photography is so amazing!

that's it folks!  i'm going into the third week of school tomorrow.  I adore my class---all eleven of them {i go to a tiny school but it's a jump from eight} and i think i'm really going to like all my new subjects and my teachers.  

one more thing.  i probably won't post for a week or two.  my class is going on a retreat to Wesley Woods on Thursday and Friday and then i leave to go camping.  Oh, how i love camping.  i promise to bring back lovely pictures to show you all when i get back!

cheerio!

from blah to yeah {from the racks of the GW Boutique}

 My family loves the GW Boutique (a.k.a. Goodwill.)  We don't have the best Goodwill in the world but every so often we come upon something pretty awesome.  Now, I admit that this does not look awesome--in the least.  It is definitely a blah moment.  So, my mom was pretty lost at where my sister and I saw any sort of potential for this.

 It has--ahem, had--these awful shoulder pads. *shudder*  Why those things were ever "in" is beyond me.  Who wants to look like a football player---unless you actually are one?  It just never made sense to me.

 

 It was missing a button as well.

The Plan.

And it was turned into THIS!  Thank goodness we dumped those shoulder pads is all I have to say!  haha.  I wore it as my Fourth of July outfit. 

short+top mixture thing-Goodwill, bag-Liz Claiborne from Goodwill, necklace-Cameo from my grandmother, shoes-Hartstrings

 What do you think about it?

Do you have any clothing makeovers?

Do tell!

so "glab" i'm back

Well, as Kenzie so apply put it--I'm "glab" I'm back.

So much has been happening lately and school is almost out!  

YAY!

Yes, I know that Easter was weeks ago but still.

Aren't they all just so cute?

My Easter dress and my sister's totally amazing vintage bike.

LOVE!

Isn't he just a cutie?

Group hug!

Isn't this just adorable?  It's a mess and probably hasn't been used in years but it is so cute!

Self-portrait!

I love graffiti!