and then take a left on memory lane,

sooo on the last day of camp, i was about to leave, and i thought, "well this week just wasn't exciting enough, i think i need to dislocate my knee." so i did.
sarcasm. i had NO intention of screwing up my knee, but i did anyway, so here i am, almost a week after camp, still on crutches and still bored to tears...no joke, i actually shed tears over my boredom. and in this boredom, i decided to look through some old photo albums! maaan those bring back memories :)

oh wyatt, broken arm and STILL jumping through bushes...some people never learn.

i can never get enough of those little sunglasses! wy, you were always the stylin' one.

if you haven't done this in a while, i highly recommend you do...who knows what memories you'll dig up!

ta ta for now!

eh

life in full swing

I'M BACK :)

from new england teen camp, of course, where i had he most amazing time of my life. like it's almost dissappointing because there's probably only a limited amount of these fantastic moments and i just had a week of them...who knows how many more i'll get?!

anyway, this camp; a week of fun, of learning about God, and a week of fellowship. a week of super awesomeness! the theme was "authentic" and it challenged each of us to be just that. we learned about being open with people and how important that really is. we talked about the authentic standards we need to have, and we talked about God's authentic and indescribable love for us.

honestly, i don't even know where to begin, other than the fact that i have a lot to change in my life. it's crazy! but i guess a good place to start with that is at least to be open with people. then your feelings are out! maybe you'll realize what your issue is or maybe the person you're talking to will, lol. either way, you could learn a lot from yourself, others, and most importantly God, simply by humbling yourself and being real with people.

this year, i don't feel like i came back super excited from camp...like not that "i'm going to conquer the world!" feeling, but it was more of an anticipation to go back to reality with God as my focus. with God i can do anything. with God i can live in peace, with contentment, with unending love, with forgiveness, with security. with God i can change. i couldn't ask for anything better.

camp buddies



reunited...and it feels so good!



mad tired.

i could talk for weeks about what went down at camp, but i'll spare whoever's reading this and finish off by saying that we all need a relationship with God. humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and do great things for Him!

eh.

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."

1 John 4:16

i heart summer!

this summer has been outstanding. it started out with my attitude being a bit "glass half empty" however, since then i have not only learned a lot about God - which is awesome - i've learned a lot about myself, and the things that i can change in my life to make it more about God and less about moi. i'd say in the last month and a half, there's been quite a few changes, and i see more coming soon!

it's not even over yet! the best part of my summer is yet to come...in FOUR SLEEPS! teen camp baby! OH MY DEAR i am so excited it actually physically hurts. this is going to be a fun filled week with TONS of learning, a lot of reflecting, good times with friends, and awesome food!
this song about sums up how i feel about this summer.

i think my version of summer is a little more peppy and enthusiastic, but you get the picture. summer. is. awesome.

beach, sand, perfect tans,

day walks, night talks,

sleepless nights, pillow fights,

spending every day

hoping summer will never, ever go away.

eh!

fiesta!

oh happy days.

today my lovely friends zoe and patty came to visit meeee!

we ate food and talked and patty clipped her toe nails. good one pat...we played dora candyland, which of course i POWNED at, made it to the fiesta first every time. oh my goodness, i just love my friends.

THEN we decided we were just too good looking so we went webcammin'! jokes we're not that good looking haha. but we did enjoy ourselves. look! we all made a patty face, then an ellie face, and then a zoe face. we even got emilie and her princess poodle in there!

ellie face...those faces are me to a t obvs

patty face!

lol zoe face...

we're cool.

as you can see, my friends and i, we're too cool for school. no joke though, they're actually awesome, and even though they're both youngsters, they are constantly setting an awesome example for me.
zoe, you inspire me to be a more compassionate and understanding person. always thinking about other people and their feelings. patty, you have honesty and integrity, and it always amazes and inspires me.
love you girls!
eh!

jammin' all day :)

down with webster. stereos. faber drive. hedley.

SUMMER RUSH.

yesterday was an awesome posssum day. why? because summer rush came to town! wooots! it was long, it was hot, it was loud, it was squishy, it was a blast.

1. i got to go with my very good friends: autumn, kristie, audrey, and meara!

2. we saw andrew thereee!

3. we got right near the front and jammin' was the way to go!

it was a super long day, and by the end of it not only could i not sit down (my legs hurt so much) but i legit thought i was going to die. probably won't be going to a concert like that again for a little while, BUT it was definately a day to remember.

 

yussss hedley!

faber drive

down with webster....make a W!

eh.

holla!

OHAAAY
so i was talking to my friend maria this morning and she showed me this video! it rocked my world. here it is!

eh.

let's get motivated!

i'm in a mood to get things done. i don't know why, because i'm usually a mega procrastinator. i think i'm good at TALKING about getting things done, lol, but never actually taking action to do it.

i'm talking about anything and everything. everyday chores, laundry, painting my nails and that kind of thing. but i'm also talking about the stuff that i'm always thinking i should do - like go through and organise my ipod songs and reorganizing my room - and things i know i need to be doing - like growing spiritually, actually building on the relationships i have, setting examples for my friends, getting deeper in my bible....those kinds of things.

these opportunities have always been open to me, but i think now i've finally realized that if i want my life, my relationships with others, and my relationship with God to change, then i need to change them myself. God has always provided for me. now i need to take action!

so this morning i woke up and thought "let's get motivated!" when i feel far from God it's because of me, not him, not even the circumstances i'm under. just me. my attitude, my motivation, and my eagerness to learn is what makes or breaks my relationship with God. he's always there for me when i'm ready to come back...that's so exciting!

anywhoooo that's what's goin' on with me. there's soooo much room for growth in my life, i just need to look at my opportunities and make something of them!

take action!

lataaah!

eh

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to sparate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord"

Romans 8:37-39

it's pourin' rainnnnn

MEGA FAIL.
i was watching barney the other day and apparently they have a new guy on there! he's dark orange and i thought it was kind of wierd that he looked like a dinosaur. i was like, "why would they put a dinosaur character on there? that makes no sense...i mean, baby bop is a..." and then i realized it. baby bop IS A DINOSAUR...and so is bj!

and then it hit me. barney is a dinosaur.
barney. is. a. dinosaur.
a purple dinosaur. oh my goodness.
can you believe that was my favourite show when i was little?! i had a barney housecoat and everything!

sad sad sad ellie. i realized just how lame that was when i told my little brother that barney was a dinosaur. and then he told me that that was common knowledge. so i told my friend and she said the same thing.

so barney is a dinosaur, and a cool one at that. personally, i think it should be a little more obvious but whatevs.

as you can see, i'm oober bored. it's pouring rain and no one wants to play with me! :( so i thought i'd blog about the one semi interesting thing that has happened to me lately.

OH and i think that the fact that i was watching barney should both explain my summer and make anyone who reads this feel pity for me and text me right away so we can hang, LOL.

new kid in town!

eh.

God. ALWAYS. provides.

i have this friend who is not like me. she's younger, i'm older. we have different families and different backgrounds. we have different likes and dislikes. she's a country girl and i'm a city girl (what she likes to call us). she's home-schooled and i'm, well, not. she's quiet and imaginative, i'm loud and logical. she has an elf dress.....yeaaaah.....haha. don't be insecure zoe, i love the elf dress. :P we have different friends, different hobbies, different tastes, different talents, and really the only thing that's the same is our eating habits!

but somehow, some way, God always brings us together. He's given us both struggles, hearts to learn, and someone to lean on. she's the person i love to talk to. she's trustworthy and fun. whether it's a worry of mine, something on my mind, something i'm excited about, a question or an answer, she's always there to hear it. needless to say, i learn a lot of listening skills from her!

i think we all need a friend like that. i also think God provides a friend like that for everyone, we just have to be open to it! it might not always hit us in the face. mine didn't. but i think that's one of the reasons i'm so greatful for this friendship. it's something we worked on together, and every time we get to spend together is a happy reminder of it.

we both realized that to make it in this battle we needed every Godly relationship we could get, and God couldn't have provided this one at a better time. so thanks to zoe for always being there when i need her, and thanks to God for providing for me even when i didn't think i needed him.

it's funny, because when you take the time to get to know someone, you may just find you have a best friend!

love you zoe!
eh.

us being us!