First Half of June + Upcoming Excitement

June has been an exciting month so far and it's only going to get more exciting! Let me tell ya 'bout it.

I saw my friends.

This month started off with a spontaneous trip to Lexington for my friend's 20th birthday! She and I are going on 6 years of friendship (4 as really close friends). I also got to reconnect with some friends from church and meet their new (to me) 6th month old baby!

College is a time of much socializing, true. But it takes a lot of effort to keep up with high school/childhood friends when everyone reaches this phase and is going in twenty different directions. I'm learning that sometimes quantity isn't as important as quality. Genuine little chats every once in a while are so so helpful and necessary to keep up friendships that you know will last forever. That's the important thing.

There is ALWAYS going to be initial guilt/awkward feeling when reconnecting with old friends. Part of that is unavoidable because not knowing what's been going on in a person's life that you consider a close pal can make you feel just a little like a bad friend (which isn't true). The bigger part of that feeling is that you (I mean, me) are just being silly and ridiculous. Ha! Don't let yourself think that because you haven't talked to a friend in a while they must hate you forever. Come on. Life simply starts looking different when you're growing up (as it should) and you just have to feel out new ways to adjust. So get over your silly fit, text them that one goofy-faced emoji, and coordinate a time to go hop on their couch and start making fun of each other like you used to. You will be oh so glad you did (and totally not remember what you were so worked up about in the first place).

So what happened last week? We're going to skip over that for a moment and fast forward to what's coming the last two weeks of June cause I'm pretty stinkin' excited. I'll give you a hint - both of them have the word "vacation" in it. 

VBS is coming.
The last full week of June (the week of the 23rd) is going to be a B L A S T. I am going to be leading the music for Hopewell's Wilderness Escape VBS! This will be my third year working in music ministry for Vacation Bible School and it honestly gets better every year. There is nothing quite like getting all themed-out for VBS and having the songs stuck in your head 24/7 for weeks after. Nothing.

I am SO pumped about the songs the kids will be learning this year. One of them has already blessed me so much! It's called Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (or Redeemer). Heard it before? This song caught my attention listening through the CD when I first got it and I later realized it was an old hymn. I couldn't believe I didn't know it. Apparently it was even sung at the Royal Wedding! The only versions out there are either really old sounding or instrumental (however, there is one by Indelible Grace Music that's okay!). I think Samuel and I need to learn it and record our own. Maybe we can work that out. :)

Do you know anyone else who has recorded this song? Please send it to me if you do! I LOVE the version that is meant for VBS actually, haha, but if there's another recording I would love to know about it so that it can find a home on my iPod.  
Do YOU know/love this song?  I want to know! Here's the one from our curriculum for this year. It's only a 30 second clip, but, ahhh! Don't you love it already?

 

Did you say vacation? 

YES. Guys. I get to go on vacation for the very first time with my boyfriend and his family to CAPE COD (which I have never been to!!!). I am screaming with excitement on the inside. Rebecca's boyfriend's family, who lives in Massachusetts, has invited us to stay at their house on the Cape for a week! We are going to spend time with the Macketanskys, a few days on the Cape, and possibly visit Boston too! From what I hear, it sounds like there is going to be a lot of beach games, tie dying, 2 birthday celebrations, and a plethora of movie nights. And ice cream, I think. So basically, it's gon' be an awesome week. I am looking forward to the car ride almost (almost) more than the beach. Is that weird? It's true. I will probably be sore from laughing so much after spending 14+ hours in the car with the James family. I definitely plan on sharing pictures with you when I get back and a video from our week. And hopefully I'll come back refreshed, tan, thankful, and with some good stories. ;) 

One more thing.

I should probably mention that the final for my summer class is Monday, June 23rd, too. Seriously a crazy week! I am amazed at how FAST this class has flown and how relieved I am to have it out of the way. All the more reason I am excited to have VBS and my own vacation post-summer class to celebrate the end of general education courses.  The fall will be a whole new journey as I enter the School of Education! 

Back to last week.

Last week was filled with a lot of running around and errands. I took this week as a practice run for the "vlogs" (video-logs) I want to make for 1) VBS and 2) my vacation with the James family.  ;) You can check out my week in the video below to follow me around and see what all I did last week. iMovie is like a monster of its own, so I'm still learning the ropes. Like I said, this was just a practice so that I don't waste footage for the other two events I want to document, but I really enjoyed putting it together! 

If you made it through this post, you win (...my thanks;). I just felt like you needed a good updating, plus I was so excited to share my upcoming excitement with you!  

Yay for summer and all of the many activities it holds!