Family Camping Trip in Kentucky

My family is spread out in several different states. Daniel and I live in Indiana, my parents and youngest siblings live in Alabama, two of my sisters live in Tennessee and one of my sisters goes to college in Texas. This makes it difficult for us to all get together at the same time. So this summer we decided to plan a trip where we could ALL get together. What did we decide to do? Go camping…in tents… not RVs!!! 

I have 4 sisters and 1 brother…here we are! From left to right: Danielle, Sophie, Morgan, myself, Walker, and Laura

 and when you add in my husband, Danielle's fiance Stephen, and Laura and Morgan's boyfriends Cameron and Jason, plus my parents…that made for 12 of us going camping!

 We booked 2 camp sites at Rough River Dam State Resort Park in Kentucky. We all met at the campground on Friday. The forecast was rain all weekend. We all prayed and prayed that the rain would pass and thankfully we only got a little bit of rain Friday night and Saturday morning. We also were blessed to have a campsite with lots of trees that helped block the rain. Friday night we made hotdogs over the fire and of course we made s'mores for dessert. We also listened to Daniel and Jason play guitar and sing. 

Walker roasting a marshmallow...

My handsome hubby...

We also celebrated my oldest sisters birthday…Laura 

Saturday we got up and made breakfast over the campfire…croissants rolled in cinnamon and sugar…yum! After breakfast we drove to a neat walking bridge where you have a view of the Rough River and part of the falls. It wasn't quite what we expected but it was still nice.

Isn't my hubby sweet?

Then we played some sand volleyball which with my family can get pretty competitive…no one likes to lose…especially the boys. After the volleyball game we went down by the lake. Some of us swam…others (including myself) did not swim for fear of the blue algae…yuck!

My dad and my brother...

My mom on the lake beach…

Daniel and I...

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 Then we all went hiking and the boys all had to take turns swinging on this awesome vine… 

After our hike we played a couple rounds of knock out and then we all headed to the swimming pool to cool off. The water was a little cold but it was still fun! After swimming we headed back to our camp site and made hobo meals and corn on the cob over the fire which was delicious! For dessert we made banana boats over the fire and those were amazing… I may or may not have had more than one :)

Sunday morning we made pancakes, eggs, and sausage and then we sat around the fire and sang worship songs and did a group devotion on Ephesians 3:20….thankfully God hears our praise and we are free to worship Him no matter where we are! After devotions we hung out around the campsite talking and throwing the frisbee around before taking down the 3 tents and packing everything up. Then we made some pitta pizzas over the fire for lunch….easy and yummy! 

Then we celebrated Walkers birthday a couple days early…. the boys enjoyed the blue icing...

Then we said our goodbyes and took one last group photo…this is our typical selves…

Overall it was a great camping trip! I love spending time with my family and what better way to do it than in the great outdoors?!!!

5 Minute Friday: LONELY

It's 5 Minute Friday! Today's word is LONELY…join in writing at 5 Minute Friday by Lisa-Jo Baker

GO...

Lonely sounds like a sad word. How can anyone feel lonely when we live in this crazy, hectic, non stop world filled with people every which way we go. Yet, so many of us…probably most of us have felt lonely before or do feel lonely on a daily basis. I know I have! My husband and I moved to Indiana..all of our family and friends live in The South! I often feel lonely when I hear about my group of friends all getting together back home and I feel like I'm missing out. I feel lonely when my family gets together for Birthdays, Holidays,  my brothers ball games…I'm missing out, I think it's not fair..I feel lonely! Thankfully that feeling comes and goes and isn't constant or permanent!  I have an amazing God who has blessed me with an amazing, loving, and entertaining husband! My God has blessed me with some special people here in Indiana! God has blessed me with access to technology to stay in constant contact with my family and friends back home. And finally, God has blessed me with his perfect love! I have confidence in Him knowing that no matter where I am He will never leave me. 

STOP!

Memorize Scripture…It's Necessary!

I recently picked up a book called 100 Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart and started reading it. I haven't gotten very far in it but it discusses the importance of memorizing scripture, how it's vital for us emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. For some reason it suddenly clicked…oh yeah, I should be memorizing scripture! Why have I not been doing this? The Bible is our guide and our manual on how to live life. It's the best way to get to know God better. We study and memorize rules, things in school, and stuff for our work. Why aren't we memorizing Scripture? Sure we memorized stuff in Sunday School as a kid, but are we still doing that? Maybe you have, but I know I have not been doing this.  We are taught to live by God's Word... but isn't that harder to do if you don't know it by heart. Now I'm not talking about memorizing the entire Bible…that's just not realistic, but I am saying we should memorize verses of the Bible, especially those that are good to share with others in time of grief, hardship, worry, joy, sickness, fear, and to use in evangelism.  I thought to myself,  how can I  live by and share with others the best book ever written and the best, most important news ever if I don't know it by heart? God's Word is the most important and life changing thing! I don't want to just study it from now on, I want to KNOW it and MEMORIZE it! I understand memorizing does not come easy to everyone. However, we have a God who is good and powerful! If memorizing is difficult for you, PRAY! Ask God to help you! He will! I know it! Daniel and I are challenging ourselves to memorize a new verse each day. We are supporting each other and helping each other in this. Find someone to help you! I challenge you to MEMORIZE scripture... not because I'm saying you should…but because it's important so we can better live by it and have it fresh in our heads to share with others!! 

                                                     

5-Minute-Friday: Story

It's 5 Minute Friday! That means you have only 5 MINUTES to write anything about ONE word. Check out 5 Minute Friday by Lisa-Jo Baker to get the word of the day each Friday and link on!

Story

Go…

Three things pop into my head when I think of story…

1. I think of HIS story, THE story, as in the Bible, God's word…the most perfect story ever. I think of how that one story of one perfect mans life changes everything. It is the only story that saves us and matters every single day. It's the one story that everyone should read, yet so many don't. 

2. I think of how I'm living in a fairy tale story. I don't have glass slippers and I'm not living in a castle. I don't need those. I do have my prince charming though!! He's strong, handsome, smart, loving, kind, and simply amazing! He's my dream come true and I wouldn't want any Disney story to replace the one I have with my husband. 

3. I remember story time when I was a little girl with my mom. Each night before bed my mom would read a book to me, usually Berenstain Bears. She then would let me pick out the book I wanted her to read to me the next night. Those precious memories are ones I hope to pass on when I have kids one day. 

Stop.

                                                                 
       
                                                                                               

Things I Learned in July :)

1. I don't like sharing my husband for a week. The first week of July we took our youth group to Texas for the National Youth Gathering and while I was with my husband daily...I was also sharing him with the whole group! We slept in separate rooms (to be expected of course) but I never had alone time to just talk to him and see how each other were doing. Even though I was with him…I missed him and our alone time together!

2. Don't make rash decisions or purchases…take the time to think and PRAY about it!

3. Everyone handles grief in their own way and it is not our place to judge them. Instead I learned to pray for them and encourage them even if it's not the way I personally grieve.

4. I feel so much better when I TRUST God and be PATIENT instead of worry and want things in MY timing. When I pray and truly seek God's will and just wait quietly…I'm so much more relaxed and at peace with everything.

5.  I really do feel better when I eat healthier and exercise! Junk food and couch sitting makes me feel lazy and slow all day!

6. I like blueberries! I've never really eaten them before July and now I'm eating them like crazy!

7. I started my blog in July! I always wanted to but never thought anyone would want to read it. I realized that it doesn't matter what others think…I'm doing it for me because I enjoy writing!! I CAN do things just because I want to!! There's no need to try to please others all the time.

8. I have the most amazing husband…well, I didn't just learn this in July...but July was our 2nd anniversary and I was thinking about how he never ceases to amaze me. I love him more each and every day and he is constantly teaching me new things and showing me his love :)

9. Last but not least…to LIVE LOVED means to live each day fully knowing and embracing God's love for us...HIS PERFECT LOVE! Never let a day go by without thinking about how amazing God's love is, how awesome it is that He forgives us, and how un-limitless His grace is! This is what they talked about all week at the National Youth Gathering and it was such an awesome reminder that we are SO LOVED by God and we should act like it!

I'm sure I learned a lot more but these are the things that came to mind right away.


To see what other bloggers have learned in July check out Chatting at the Sky

2 years!!!

Today marks our 2nd wedding anniversary! Woo hoo! It's been great honestly. Marriage is not always easy but it's been by far my most favorite thing. Daniel and I have been through many changes over the last two years. We got married July 29, 2011 in Huntsville, AL. We went on our amazing honeymoon to Couples Sans Souci in Jamaica. It was gorgeous and perfect. I would highly recommend it to anyone! Then we returned to Huntsville for a couple of weeks and then moved to Troy, AL so that I could finish my last semester of Nursing School. We rented an add on apartment to a house from a friend I knew. It was perfect for our short time there. After a long and stressful semester (much props to Daniel for being so supportive and dealing with my school stress quite well) I graduated in December. We then moved our stuff back to Huntsville and stayed with my parents through Christmas and New Years. God blessed us and provided a Hyundai Santa Fe with low milage at a great price that we were able to pay in full with cash! We then packed up a moving van and moved to NE Indiana which is where we are today. We moved here for Daniel's DCE Internship. We stayed in a small apartment on a corn field for a year…literally our back yard was a corn field! The church then hired Daniel on as full time DCE after his internship and we moved out of the apartment into a little white house in town with much more space than our apartment. We are renting, but we love our little home! We are able to have Hershey with us now…before he wasn't allowed in the apartment so we had to leave him back in AL with my parents.  Our time in Indiana hasn't been the easiest. We miss our families tremendously, our friends, and The South and its warm weather. We also aren't used to living in such a small town. However, our time here has also been a huge blessing! Daniel and I have learned so much and have grown not only closer in our marriage but closer to God. God also provided me with a great nursing job with amazing co-workers! We are so thankful for all of our friends we have made here! This town really has some amazing people that have made an impact on us both. God has taught Daniel and I in our 2 years of marriage to be content no matter where we are or what the circumstances are. God has always provided everything we've needed…and so much more! We've learned to praise and serve God at all times and that His plan is always perfect even when we don't see it that way at first…sometimes it takes a while!! I don't know what God has planned for the next 2 years of our marriage but I sure am excited to find out!!