Sweet Summertime {june}

I have been going to Carowinds a lot this summer. Here are just a few of my favorite skyline pictures. Carowinds is seriously stepping up their amusement park game. 

Thunder Road, soon to be no more

Fury: the tallest and fastest giga coaster in the world, 'Merica.

I've also attended a couple of graduations for cousins. Here is graduation #1

and #2

I had to take a trip to ru sans while I was home. It's basically like a mandate. 

All you can eat sushi. Oh yeah. 

Went to Wal-Mart with my brother. He decided he wanted to start reading and was looking through books. I left to go get something else, and when I came back I found him like this. 

My cousin got married!! 

And my dad photobombed, but that's pretty much a daily occurrence whereas the wedding was not.

I visited Student Life...again. The first time wasn't planned, but this time was because Green team came to Myrtle Beach! 

Plus, there were a couple of extra reasons for me to go to this camp...

1. You can't really tell, but Rend Collective was the worship band.

2. I got to go to the beach. I love the beach. 

3. My missions staff from last summer was reunited!!!

This was definitely the top reason on my list for going. I love love love these three. Serving with them was a blessing I don't think I'll ever be able to fully comprehend. These are some God-fearing, self-sacrificing people right here. I love them oh so much. 

To say it was good to see them is an understatement.

Mackenzie came through town to take the MCAT. To celebrate/just because, we went to Amelie's. We sat there for a couple of hours just talking. I was not expecting to miss her as much as I did this summer. I can't wait to be back with her in Clemson...and to live with her! Living together will make hanging out so much more convenient. 

So I ended up not getting a summer job. I babysat at the church a couple of times, but my main form of income was donating plasma. They pay the big bucks! 

I've gotten a lot of looks and responses along the lines of "your crazy" but it pays money and saves lives, so it's clearly a win-win!

Happy Father's Day! Daniel Priddy is for sure one of a kind, and I wouldn't trade him for the world. As I get older, I can see a lot of myself that comes from him, especially in the humor department. He constantly shows me how to live life with joy, and not to hold so tightly to plans or schedules, etc. In past years, I have watched him seek out the Lord like never before, which has been, well, beyond encouraging for me. He is oh so wise and such a great teacher. 

Love you Dad!

I got to hit uptown Charlotte with Melanie! She's been interning at the Billy Graham Center this summer, so we decided to spend some time in Charlotte. 

It was HOT. But this whole summer has been. So we quickly ended up inside eating food, which was totally fine with both of us. 

After dinner it had cooled down a tad. We walked around a bit and I made her pose for some pictures, which was quite an experience. I'll save her and not post them all, but this is one of my favorites, in my favorite part of Charlotte. 

I got to spend a day at the pool with these ladies!

And then we got to babysit Lucy! Oreo wasn't really sure what to do with such a tiny human.

Mom and I went to Clemson to pack up my apartment since everything has to be moved over to my new apartment while I'm in India. It was kind of sad, but I'm also excited about where I'm living next year!

That day was Marie's birthday, and her mom graciously invited us over and cooked us dinner. We went down to the lake and took some sunset pictures. 

But first, let me just say how extremely thankful I am for Marie. She has selflessly mentored me for two years, pouring in to me and pushing me like no one ever has. She lives and breathes the gospel unlike anyone I have ever met. She is truly an amazing woman, which she is quick to attribute fully to God's grace in her life. 

I'm losing her next year. While I believe in God's goodness and sovereignty, and I'm happy for her future in California, it would be a lie to say that her leaving Clemson isn't a loss. Because it really, truly is. Thankfully, I'm about to spend a month with her in India, so I don't have to dwell on that too much just yet. 

Bottom line: I'm mega thankful for her life. Happy Birthday Marie!

I gotta brag on this one for a moment too. She's truly the best mom a girl could ever ask for. She knows me better than I know myself. Sometimes I like to convince myself that isn't true, but it always is. She is the most selfless woman I know. I would seriously be so lost without her. 

Since I'm leaving for India, well, in like 4 hours, my family had a date day of sorts. It was really, really fun. We went bowling in Charlotte, watched San Andreas, had dinner, and then, of course, popped into Carowinds for a ride or two. 

Last night, Catalyst Student Ministries had a game night at the Walking Park. It was super fun and a great way to spend my last night in America. There was 9-square in the air, spikeball, corn hole, ultimate frisbee, and much much more. 

Afterwards, my family and I wet to Bruster's, my favorite ice cream place. We used to go here all the time, but it has been quite some time since our last visit. It hit the spot!

So, like I said, I'm leaving for India soon. Really soon. To be honest, I'm kind of freaking out, but I know that the Lord will equip me for that which He has called me to. No matter what ways I'm stretched, He is a constant rock to which I can cling, and I plan on doing a lot of that. 

I will *hopefully* be blogging about India more regularly than I do while in the States, so be looking out for that!

Sweet Summertime {may}

I have majorly procrastinated on the whole blogging thing. When I don't have as many responsibilities, I am much less disciplined. I knew that about myself, but this summer has fully reinforced that character flaw in me. 

This summer has been a tough one so far. Good in certain ways and on certain days, but over all tough. It's the first time since...well, since I can remember, that I haven't had so many responsibilities I thought my body would explode. At first the rest and the nothingness was oh so nice, but after about I week I was sick of it and the "blah" feeling set in. 

I am so thankful for the time I have gotten to log with my family and other people that feel like family to me, but it also reminds me of how incredibly important my local church family is. How important strong, gospel-centered community is. Because life without it is bad news. We definitely were not created to live this life all on our lonesome. 

Any who, there have been days when I did a little more than nothing, so here's a photo dump of sorts of the month of May.

My last final was April 30th. That's right, I was done with school before May. 

It still blows my mind. 

As soon as I was took my last final, I loaded up my kayak, texted Mackenzie, and we hit the lake. 

I can't image a better way to kick off summer.

I headed for Greenville for an Indian dinner with friends. My schedule got a little mixed around, so I ended up spending some time reading in Falls Park in downtown Greenville. I would love to find myself here more often.

Next up: College Leadership Retreat

I spent a few days in Clemson before heading home for the summer.

Mackenzie, Jake, Miles, and I went to play disc golf at Chattooga Bell Farms. It was miserable outside: high humidity and gnats galore. The boys were rushing to finish the game before sunset and it just wasn't enjoyable. So Mac and I ended up leaving them to take pictures of the sunset. 

I went home a little earlier than originally planned in order to partake in the second ever "Priddy Party," a term coined by the 5 kids, ages 4-8, from 2 different families in our church. A Priddy Party is when these kiddos come over to our house and stuff their adorable little faces with junk food (amongst other things) so that their parents can have a kid-free date night. 

I love these two families so much. When I heard they were coming over, I immediately moved up my departure date from Clemson...especially when I heard that baby Lucy was joining the party. 

I also came home early to celebrate this awesome mother of mine. What a blessing she is to our family! I think we'd all agree we'd be lost without her love, wisdom, and sass. 

Ok, so here's what the rest of these pictures entail: In short, lots of people that mean a lot to me. 

Part of coming home for the summer is catching up with those that I love. 

I have also been hanging out with students from the FBCFM youth group. One night they decided to go midnight bowling. I don't think I've stayed up that late since I was a freshmen in college (not that that was so terribly long ago, but I definitely felt the late night!). 

I also took a couple of road trips. 

 I went to a wedding in Spartanburg with some of the girls from my student life team. Later, I took a road trip to Alabama to visit Sara. 

I got to surprise three teams that were having a camp at Shocco Springs in Talladega. It was so good for me to get to go there and see camp going on and students worshipping our great God where I spent four weeks serving last summer. My heart was really aching for Student Life and it was just what I needed. 

Then Sara and I explored downtown Birmingham and found some pretty awesome shops. 

On the way there I stopped near Clemson for lunch and on the way back I stopped in Columbia, again, all to see people that my heart loves and dearly missed. 

And that pretty much sums up the month of May!