Top 10 of 2010

One of my favorite postings to do for my blog has become somewhat of a tradition-the highlights of my past year. 2010 will be a year that I will never forget. It was my first full year out of school and there is no way I could have planned what all this year held for me. God has shown me big things through disappointments, surprises, and fulfilled promises. I love where God has me at this point in my life and cannot wait to see what 2011 has in store. So here they are, my top 10 of 2010:

10. Surprisingly, losing my job was one of the best things to happen to me this year. I learned so much about what I don't want in a job, how grateful I was to be surrounded by encouraging friends and family in the midst of my disappointment, confusion, and questioning, and if I didn't lose my job at the Youth Network then I wouldn't be where I am now. And I wouldn't trade where I am now for anything.

9. Not that material things define who I am, or at least I don't ever want them to, but it sure is nice to have a steady income to be able to afford some luxuries. 2010 brought my a new car, a new computer, new phone, and something i probably take for granted the most is insurance through the church. I started to feel a little bit more like a grown-up this year because I could afford these big purchases and that's always a nice feeling...paying the bill for them every month is a different story!

8. In April, I started interning with First Pres and I had no idea that that would lead to a full time position starting in August of this year. This year's summer was such a fun, encouraging time getting to know the students in the youth group and really figuring out what my passions are. It was the closest thing to being at camp like spending time with students and seeing the staff, and even getting a chance to play on the lake every now and then while still enjoying some free time to myself. Highlights of this summer's internship were
tubing on the Hiawasee, the Mystery Tours on Sunday nights, and hands down, my favorite thing was the missions trip to New Orleans.




7. Another unexpected, but rewarding event of 2010 were the 2 weeks I got to spend working at Camp Vesper Point this summer. I thought that 2009 would hands down be my last summer on staff at CVP, but God yet again taught me to never say never. Family Camp and a week in June as a counselor reminded me the joys of teaching the Gospel for the first time to young girls and that its the little things that campers will remember, like being mud sisters for example.


6. A less specific event, but overall highlight of this past year were all of the opportunities I got to visit friends outside of Chattanooga. All of these roadtrips reminded me how grateful I am for my friends and that distance does make the heart grow fonder. Being in Kasey's wedding allowed for lots of trips to Bowling Green, throw a couple of trips to Nashville, Athens, and of course Marietta makes for a lot of driving that were well worth the gallons and gallons of gas spent to see so many wonderful friends.






5. This summer, the Harwoods asked me and Katy Fisher to house sit for them and I LOVED getting to live with my best friend all summer. Our bucket list always gave us something to do and it was so fun to come home to someone that I enjoyed their company and conversations.


4. 2010 was a year that I will always remember for moving several times. But with all of this moving around, I appreciated the hospitality of those who took me in without question or complaint. Last January I was at the Liners, then to Taylor's apartment in March, (an arrangement that was only meant to last 2 weeks that turned into 2+ months!) the housesitting at Harwoods with Katy, and now my apartment with Erin. Moving around that much is something I would never wish on someone, but all of that "pack and go" mentality made me appreciate those who opened their house and made me that much more grateful to finally have a place that I can call my own.


3. Time spent with family has always been so valuable to me and 2010 gave me lots of opportunity to do that. Because Chattanooga is only an hour and a half away from Marietta, 3 hours from Athens, and Kirby and Daniel are a short 30ish minute drive from my parents' house, I had so many chances to see them! Charlotte turned 2 years old in April and I loved getting to celebrate that with her. My favorite family trip was our trip to Disney just a few weeks ago. That will be a trip that I will always remember and cherish!




2.One of the most life altering events of this past year was getting my full time job at First Pres. This job has been the biggest blessing and so much better of a job than I could have created for myself. When I moved to Chattanooga in 2009, I fell in love with the church and knew I wanted to be as involved as I could be. Through interning with the Children's department at the beginning of the year, that turned in the internship with the youth in April, and eventually led to a full time position in August, I wouldn't have seen this coming this time last year! I LOVE the students, their families, the people I work with, and what the church stands for. 2010 was a big year for First Pres as a church--Tim Tinsley became our head pastor and Robert Row was brought on as our Youth Pastor. I have loved seeing the change that 2010 brought for our church and I know that God has big plans for 2011 and could not be more grateful that I was chosen to be apart of it all.




1. And drum roll please for the number 1 spot in my Top 10 of 2010.....The birth of my beautiful niece Felicity!!! She is such a precious gift to our family and I have loved seeing her grow this year and I am so blessed to be apart of her life.


So there it is, 2010 in a nutshell! And here's to a great 2011!

Christmas Catch Up

I have seriously failed when it's come to picture taking this past week. I got a little tired of always being the one telling people "Hold on! Wait! Let me get my camera out!" I always regret not having taken pictures after the fact, but there's not much I can do about that now for this Christmas season.

It hardly seemed like Christmas Eve when the 24th rolled around because of my crazy schedule; I had no sense of what day of the week it was! Charlotte, Katie, and Lee came to Marietta to swap their cars back after the Disney trip so I got more time with my little red-headed niece. It was so fun to see her opening presents this year. It's hard to believe that this is her 3rd Christmas and every year, she becomes more and more independent and expressive.

After catching up with high school friends that afternoon, I was looking forward to seeing my other niece (and her mom and dad too!) My mom wasn't feeling well so my dad and I went to church at the 6:00 Candlelight service without her. It was so weird not being at First Pres, but I have always loved the Christmas Eve service at Johnson Ferry and this year was no exception. By the time we got home, my stomach was growling and I was ready for our traditional Christmas Eve homemade pizza! When my mom suggested we have chili instead, I looked at her like she had 7 eyes...if she knows anything about me, she knows that I love keeping up with traditions.

Little Felicity had a cold, so she went to bed almost as soon as they walked in the door on Christmas Eve. We opened presents on Christmas morning as a family (which is different from normal, but sometimes you just have to work around the little baby's schedule rather than your own!) Not that Christmas is about the presents, but it's nice to get them from loved ones. Kirby and Daniel got me an apron from Anthropologie and my parents got me a housecoat, house shoes (I'm an 80 year old lady trapped in the body of a 24 year old), a Patagonia vest and LOTS of gift cards. (yay!)

I considered Christmas Day a success when I didn't change out of my pajamas for a solid 36 hours. But the cherry on top was the White Christmas that Georgia had! It was so fun to look out the window and see the snow coming down and even better when Kirby, Daniel and I had a snowball fight and built our little snowman friend, Linus.

Best Week Ever

This past week has been a whirlwind and easily one of the best weeks ever!! I will do my very best to keep this as short and sweet as possible, but if you know me or have read even one of my blog posts, short and concise are not the first words that come to mind.

Last Thursday, I left the office and headed for Nashville for one of my favorite Christmas traditions--The Behold the Lamb of God concert at the Ryman Theater with Andrew Peterson and others. This is my 3rd year going to this concert and it just gets better every time! Something that I love just as much as the music itself is that this serves as a mini-camp reunion. Alex, Forrest, Chris and myself have gone up together the last several years and I have yet to go that I haven't seen at least 4 or 5 other CVP friends from summers past.

Literally as soon as Andrew Peterson sang the last note, I had my coat on and was out the door, running through the streets of the city like a crazy person. It was 10:05 and the Garth Brooks concert was supposed to start at 10 PM. Fortunately for me, the 7:00 GB concert was getting out and we were trying to get in, so once I found Joe in the mass of people, we made it inside with plenty of time to sit before Garth made his appearance. It was hands down one of the best concerts I've ever been to in my life. Top 5 at least. I knew every single one of his songs and you could tell that he was loving every minute he was performing. I am so glad I have a best friend like Kasey to give me such a great birthday present!Kasey and I drove back to Bowling Green so I could squeeze in a few hours of sleep before getting back on the road to head South. Sloan was in Nashville and thanks to her commendable stalking skills (aka my overly -media-broadcasted life of facebook, blogging, and twitter), I got to meet up with her for a breakfast at the apparently famous Pancake Pantry. There was a line out the door in very chilly weather, but the line moved fast and the wait was more than worth it!! It was good to see her and I can't wait to see her with several more PC '05 girls in less than a week! I made it to Kirby's house just in time for a quick visit before she dropped me off at the airport. Note to self for future travels: check the liquid amounts that are "acceptable for carry on items" before packing. I had to check my bag before I had too many liquids. Ridiculous. Even more ridiculous was the $30 is cost to check a tiny little bag. But, I made it safe and sound to Orlando late Friday night! Kristel was nice enough to take me in for the night and spend a greater part of the day entertaining me on rainy Saturday. It was so good to see her and catch up!And then my Disney vacation began! My parents and I stayed in Port Orleans Riverside Resort that was beautiful! My dad's agreement with me was that if I bought my plane ticket and Disney World Park tickets, then he would cover my lodging and food. Turns out that Disney costs a pretty penny....in case you were wondering. But it was all worth it!

Sunday was spent with just me and my parents at Epcot. It was much chillier than Florida should ever be, but we sucked it up and enjoyed our day riding rides in the morning, eating lunch at "France", getting some snacks in "Germany" and strolling through the rest of the countries. That night, my mom's knee was hurting so my dad and I went to Downtown Disney for our dinner reservations at Captain Jack's and even made time to go back to Epcot to ride one or two more rides before calling it a night. Monday and Tuesday were our days with Charlotte (Lee's parents had her on Saturday and Sunday at the parks). Monday was a day spent at the Animal Kingdom. We went on the safari, which Charlotte loved seeing all of the animals, attempted "It's Tough to be a Bug", but the special effects scared her quite a bit. My parents rode kiddy rides with her while Katie, Lee, and I rode some of the bigger attractions like Dinosaur, Primevil Whirl, and of course Everest. For all Disney resort "residents", they offer Magic Hours at the parks on certain nights which meant that Magic Kingdom was open until 3 AM on Monday night! While I was waiting for Katie and Lee to meet me after their dinner date, I watched the parade and Christmas Show at Cinderella's Castle. Although I felt a bit like a creeper because I was standing myself with lots of kids running around, I really enjoyed the "magic" of Disney and realizing you can never outgrow, or never should outgrow the feeling you get when you're there. Even though I was running off only 5 hours of sleep my last day at Disney, I was so glad I had stayed at the parks until 2:30 the night before. Since we rode some of the "big kid" rides that had shorter lines the night before, I didn't mind waiting in line to ride Winnie the Pooh and It's a Small World. Charlotte was so fun to spend the day with too--She never ceases to amaze me how smart she is for a 2 year old and how opinionated she is too!
I probably could have done a few more days at Disney World, but I don't think I realized how exhausted I was until I stopped moving!! I went out with a couple of high school friends last night and felt like a zombie as the night winded down.

These next few days will be focused on lots of time with family and hopefully some chances to spend with old friends...and lots and lots of being lazy! I am so blessed to have so many wonderful family members and friends that I got to see this past week. I felt like all of my worlds were colliding--seeing old camp friends and one of my best friends in one night, a sorority sister the next morning, Kirby and Felicity to take me to the airport, staying with Kristel who discipled me at Georgia, lots of time with lots of family (and Mickey) for several days, and high school friends to finish what I can simply put as the best week ever.

How much can I fit into 24 hours?

Sorry that this will be a pictureless post, but in all honesty I was too busy rushing between events to even think about pulling out the old Canon. But here is my 3rd and final post of the day so you will be officially caught up on my past week.

Saturday was a day that I had been looking forward to for quite some time, but in the same moment dreading because logistically I didn't know if all of my plans would work out as planned. Samantha Stevenson came in on Saturday morning just in time to go to the mall (ugh) with me and my roommate to do some scattered Christmas shopping and other errands. After we braved the mall's traffic, we made it our goal to get in and get out of there as soon as humanly possible. By the time we got back to the apartment, lunch time had already come and gone. So we snacked until it was time to leave for camp.

The camp Christmas party is always a highlight of the Christmas season and has been for me for the past FIVE years...whoa, wait? I've been involved with CVP for 5 years? Hm...When did that happen and how did I get so old? Either way, I love getting to eat yummy food, spend time at one of my favorite places with my favorite people. But something I always overlook is that the people from camp that I really want to see, are the ones that I have kept in touch with regardless. So after some delish dinner (Thanks to Heather), I did the "small talk" bit and watched friends as they unwrapped their White Elephant gifts. By then, it was time for me to go.

So I rush to change out of jeans into a dress and drive from Soddy Daisy to the Tivoli in downtown. I had several students and former campers that were in Saturday night's cast of the Nutcracker and I LOVED IT. It was so Christmasy and fun!

After we took a couple of pictures with the church camera, I headed back to my car in the rain (changed in the car, sketch....I know) and headed over to the "CVP Christmas Party-after party" most of my closer camp friends were there and it was so much more relaxed. Saturday turned into a looooong night with little sleep, but it was so worth it to spend time with friends from camp that I rarely get to spend quality time with.

My alarm started buzzing way earlier than I would have liked come Sunday morning, but I rushed and got ready for Sunday school.

I had dinner with Erin and my dad at Cracker Barrel and spent some time with Ryan Davis and Katie Woodruff on Sunday night before the wintery weather really settled in and by the time my head hit the pillow that night, I was out! I slept almost 12 hours on Sunday night and I am not one for sleeping in late!!

This past weekend was one of my highlights of the Christmas season thus far and we're not even halfway through December quite yet!! I am very impressed with those of you that read even 2 of my 3 "catch up" blogs from today. I always remind myself that this blog isn't for the readers (although I appreciate those of you that do skim my blog every once and a while), but instead for myself; To capture and record the ups and downs of my life, especially during this crazy time period in my life as a single 20-something girl braving the big, bad "real world" in Chattanooga and in youth ministry. I love my life and want to be able to look back on these times with fond memories--hence, my blog to help refresh those fond memories of mine.

Time off? What's that?

I really do get time off...and when I'm not taking time off and work something like 50-60 hour weeks, it's usually because I want to, so please hear that. But this past weekend seemed like I had an extra dose of time off and it was something that was so needed and so refreshing.

After sleeping in until 9 or so on Thursday morning, I cleaned and went in for a lunch/youth staff meeting to talk about things that went undiscussed during our normal Tuesday staff meeting. I stayed at church for a while because I had a Camp Committee meeting on Thursday night (which went on fooooorever. I love being on the committee, but I was losing focus fast by the time we hit the 2 hour mark!)

Friday was a day I cherished. I got to visit my "little sister" Rachel Carleton at Covenant. We went to Starbuck's and got to just catch up and laugh. It's so refreshing to talk to her because she's so honest and that truly is a rare quality to find.

After our sister date, I went to meet up with Ally Baxley. Ally worked at camp this past summer and she is just so spontaneous. She and I have experienced so many similar things and it's fun to share stories. I feel as if I've known her for longer than the less than 8 months I really have known her.

I rushed from Lookout Mountain up to Signal so I could babysit a stuffy-nosed William Barker. We had pizza, ate popcorn, drank apple cider and watched Cars before we read several bedtime stories. His 2 older sisters were at the Nutcracker with his parents, and being the youngest and the only boy, he very rarely gets to choose which movie to watch and what books he wants to read, so I know he appreciated the special attention. Mary (his mom) texted me later to say that William "thinks I am very nice" and that just made my day to hear that! :)

Christmas Parties and Christmas Pranks

I'm planning on posting several entries today, but rather try to fit it into one looooong post, I'm going to break it up. You're welcome.

Last Wednesday hardly counted as a work day considering I went two parties--both of which had to do with my job. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?

We had the All Church staff Christmas party at the Tinsley (head pastor's) house and it was catered by the lovely Lynn Jones. Just think about delicious lobster bisque, shrimp and grits, roast beef sandwiches, fresh veggies, and stuffed mushrooms. Fancy and delish.

After the party (complete with a Christmas bonus check-yippee!)I ran by my apartment to grab my Christmas pajamas, stopped by Wal Mart...and no, I didn't go to Wally World in my pj's in the middle of the afternoon, although I was tempted to. I went to Carolann's house to help get ready for our Girls Only Christmas Party.

Lots of our wonderful parents brought appetizer like foods, the girls showed up in their Christmasy pajamas, and we made homemade cards and felt flower hairclips and pins. It was so much fun! With the Christmas music playing in the background and the tree lit up, it was one of the first times this season that I just felt the true Christmas spirit.



Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention...the boys "pranked" us...and by pranked, I mean they ran into the house, grabbed some food and ran out. One of the middle school boys thought it would be a great idea to grab a handful of ranch? and then throw it at Carolann...Yeah, he had to stay for a little while to clean up his mess. But while he was doing that, boys were throwing wet cotton balls to mine and CA's cars which stuck and froze. I had some cotton balls that littered the roads for the next few days.