Chick-Fil-A, Chewing Gum, and Caramel Macchiados

Thursday morning I had a doctor's appointment in Springfield. My ears had been popping really bad and I didn't know if I had fluid in them, swimmer's ear, or what was going on! 

Side note: my file hadn't been changed to my "adult doctor", so I ended up going to my pediatrician, that I've gone to the past 8 yers. sups awk and embarrassing. I told my mom that was my birth control for a while :p

I ended up just having fluid in my ear which was making my jaw pop in and out of socket. It also was because my fender bender caused some whip last and screwed it up for a few day! So my homework/prescription was to chew sugar free gum and blow bubbles at least 30 minutes a day. Best homework assignment I've ever gotten!! 

After I was done, I wanted to visit my daddy's brand new office building! super huge and gorgeous! We signed in, got our guest passes, took a tour of the building and met some of the executives. I was all over this! I'm a business girl through and through. PS! They have this incredible espresso/latte/cappuccino/heaven on earth machine. I made a killer caramel macchiado. so good. 

We grabbed some CFA, which is yummy and I haven't had it in over a year. so, so good. I could LIVE off their chicken nuggets and ranch. seriously.

My mom and I haven't had a ton of one on one time this summer because I work all the time! It was so good to be silly and just talk. It was much needed. I'm treasuring these times now, because in two short weeks, I head to college. 

oxox,

Emily

Top 10 Tuesday: Packing Essentials

I'm going to talk about my Top 10 Essentials for Israel. Obviously this is a little bit different from a normal roadtrip/vacation in the US. I just started my packing list today. see: packing list, not actually packing. I leave in less than 3 days. Procrastination much? 

1-iPod with awesomesauce music. Music is essential to life, therefore make it good awesome

2-Journal! I got this adorable journal from Target. I've already been writing in it and can't wait to fill it with pictures and notes! 
3-Chacos. I LOVE mine! so comfy and will be perfect for hiking Masada and walking around town too! 

4-Camera: see also, extra memory cards, batteries and a case! 
5-Passport: this is pretty important. I would post a picture, but i will spare y'all the grief of looking at it. Apparently when I went the "law" had just changed. (umm what law says that you can't smile in passport pictures but whatever!) so, i have a lovely mugshot against a big white wall for my passport profile. lovely. 
6-Money. For souvenirs of course. So far, I've been asked to bring back a scarf, a wooden camel, a coffee mug, a crossbody, woven by a little jewish women bag, and some mineral salt scrub from the dead sea for "exfoliation purposes" 
7-My Bible: I will be reading, highlighting, and marking it up so I don't forget 1 thing! I'm so excited for this trip. 
8-Bathing Suit: The Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee, Mediterranean Sea, and hotel pools! I can't wait to swim float in the Dead Sea. I think it will be pretty interesting! 
9-Sunglasses. This too is essential to roadtripping. Traveling and walking with the sun shining in your eyes is not so fun. I have my eye on these! 

10- Last but not least, Snacks! My roomie tweeted at me yesterday and said she bought me a box of Cheez-its! The girl knows the way to my heart already! She is also bringing granola bars and chex-mix. Our room will be too much fun!  


What are your packing essentials? anything you want to throw my way for international trips would be greatly appreciated! 


Happy Tuesday!


Emily OXOX

a weekend with Jr. High Kids

my weekend:

Friday morning, 37 of us headed to St. Louis for Believe12. I mentioned it in this post. I had an amazing time. This was my first time "chaperoning" an event and I LOVED it! I learned so much by just spending time with everyone. They were so fun! Here are so pictures from our car ride up. We took 2 busses and 1 SUV! Dance parties and singing loud happened almost the entire time! 

This is Julie. She is awesome. She cooks all of our food for us for every single youth event I can remember! Mission trips, fall retreats, you name it. She cooks for it. Friday night, both of us went shopping at SAMS, Wal-mart, and some local grocery stores. After quite the detour, we finally found the shopping center! It was dark, and the GPS decided to go stupid on us. We rolled our eyes and did a fair amount of laughing at ourselves that night haha! We were making memories for sure! 

This is a SMALL fraction

of the food. very small.

Worshipping with 4000 teens was 

incredible. High energy for sure!!

I never thought this would be a part of the weekend.

He is fine now. Thankful for quick EMT's and wise doctors!

My Jr. High girls made me try on these

ridiculous 5 inch platforms at Journeys!

Zebra, sparkles, and SO tall!

These is about 1/3rd of the sleeping area

for the girls alone. overpack much?

myself included! :)

I LOVED spending time with these sweet girls! 

Happy Sunday! :) 

Friday: Headed to STL

2012

       This morning I'm heading to St. Louis with the Jr. High kids from youthgroup! I'm SO excited and ready to hang with all of them!! We are going up for Believe 2012, a conference meant specifically for Jr. High age kids! I can't wait to see what God is going to do with these kids and their hearts for Him! 

       I'm looking forward to spending time with them. I can't believe that I'm a senior in high school and i once was this age. umm really? was i ever really this excited? crazy? loud? never! ha! who am I kidding? I LOVE these kids! I'm ready for late nights, loud music, a 4 hour roadtrip and some incredible memories with crazy kids!


Happy Friday! We've made it to the weekend!! 

Sunday Randoms

~I did watch the Miss America Pageant last night! It was the first time I had ever watched. I LOVED it! There were so many good stories, talents, and pretty girls for lack of a better term! ha! I loved Miss SC's suit. She rocked the white and the bikini and looked fab! I loved Miss Oklahoma's Irish Dance. I'm really not a big fan of Opera tho (Miss NY). Miss Iowa did an amazing job singing You Raise Me Up! It was so pretty! I really wanted Miss OK to win! But, congrats to Miss Wisconsin for winning Miss America!

~On a side note, I watched the MAP in sweats, ponytail, no makeup, and stuffing my face full of food!

~Yesterday, I did a mini-road trip to Springfield with some girls from church. We're having a pillowcase party on Monday night for our upcoming trip to KC! We bought fabric and had lunch together at Chick-fil-a! Branson doesn't have a Chick-fil-a :( There are rumors that Branson might be getting one in the near future! SO excited if that actually happened! haha

~Our family finally took down the Christmas tree today. It's been long overdue! This is the new record for how long our family has keep it up. January 15th.

~Speaking of overdue, I know y'all are dying to know my countdowns: 111 days till graduation and 54 days to Israel! I can't wait. They are both sneaking up SO fast! I'm glad time is flying!

~I had to give a speech in my public speaking class on Friday. Scared.out.of.my.mind. I hate public speaking, but I made it! We had to speak for 3 minutes so it wasn't too bad! I spoke on my mission trip to E. St. Louis. I've gone every year since 8th grade and it's something I'm passionate about, but still.

~I finished week 2 of C25K! Enough said. Tomorrow is a new day, a new week, with more running. baby steps.

~I'm reading Kisses from Katie right now. Incredible book. You might also fall in love with her blog! She is so inspiring and I can't wait to do a book review post on her book soon!

~Tonight, I met with our Lead team from youth group. I'm excited to see everything that God is doing and what He will continue to do through us in 2012.

I've got a crazy, full week ahead!

Happy Sunday!

Emily