Bible Study

Let me preface this post with this: *While I am religious I have no intentions of ever making this blog a blog about religion, what my beliefs are, or what I think you should believe. I probably will every so often talk about something religious like say a bible study. Please don't tell me that I should believe what you believe either, that's a big pet peeve of mine.*


At the end of last school year/beginning of the summer I started attending a bible study. My really good friend since pre-school would repeatedly invite me and I either had to work or would come up with some excuse to not go because I had never been to a bible study and I really didn't have any intention of ever really reading the bible at that point. Also I didn't think I would really belong because Jake is  Lutheran and I'm Catholic and while we may have some similar believes within the two religions I had no idea what to expect. Well come the end of May I was kind of looking for something additionally religious to get involved in so when Jake invited me I told him I would be there.  I was a little nervous but looking forward to. So come Wednesday I head over to Curt's house (he's the leader of the bible study) and I'm pleasantly surprised to see that I know a lot of people there. Also come to find out they don't really read the bible. I've never been to a bible study yet that we've dug into the bible because usually we start with people who've had questions from reading scripture during the week and that ends up taking the entire hour and half.

Well in July as we all know, I was basically not home so I don't think I ever attended one in July and come August I started working Wednesday nights so I wasn't able to. Well school started this last Monday and so I had to fix my schedule at work and I made it so I was able to take Wednesday night's off to be at Bible study. So this past Wednesday was my first one since probably June. It was exactly what I needed. You see there's two "divisions" of this bible study (which we also refer to as college young life which is a long standing organization you can check it out here. )there's a high school younglife and then college younglife and in the high school version about once a month they would have praise and worship.

On Wednesday we had our first ever praise and worship session for the college younglife. The first song we sang was this:

As soon as we sang that first line I knew I was meant to be there that night. It was exactly what I needed. It kind of calmed me and it was a great first week back to bible study!! 

In the end I'm really glad I joined this bible study. Ya see, my youth minister at my church is a nun and while I'm not quite sure if the sisterhood told her or if she was looking on her own but she got a new job, and while I'm really excited for her I'm really bummed. She's the only youth minister I've ever had I've known her since I was in 7th or 8th grade and now 7-8 years later it's hard to see her leave the church. She's built this giant "legacy" within the youth at my church and I'm not sure the new youth minister will measure up. 

This sounds super snobby but I was really involved in the youth activities and such for a long time and now I kind of don't want to even get to know the new youth minister because Sr. Bridget(the old youth minister) had such a huge impact on my life. I know it's silly and I'm sure she's a great new lady but that's just how I feel. But at the same time, I'm 20 years old and now kind of "too old" to really be a part of the youth, so maybe it's okay that I don't really want to get to know her. 

I'm sure this was a really ramble-y (is that a word?) post but I just really wanted to record this for my own memory. 

I have some more posts in the works but for now I need to really clean up my room. 

Also expect that my writing will get more erratic because school has started up again! 

Coldplay!!

Oh yes, that's right people! I was one of the few lucky ones to be able to go see coldplay!! It has always been on my bucket list, and to be able to attend such a momentous event (i only say this because they only ever do North American tours once every few years) was truly the best night of my life!!

Ain't nobody can out perform Chris Martin, oh good golly.

Me and my good friend, Sami! We met when I was in 8th grade in math class! She's a year younger, so she's real smart in math! And she's going for a neurobiology degree! 

Terrible picture, but as you walked in you were given these bracelets that lit up during various points of the show! 

OH YA KNOW, CONFETTI CANONS! NBD. 

Chris Martin! 

Playing my favorite song of all time, Up In Flames! 

I just have to say that while this was the best concert for me, I felt bad for Sami because she was stuck next to this old couple who clearly didn't know how to rock out at a concert so she felt she couldn't get crazy because she'd probably just knock them over!

Rockwoods Jamfest!

                            WOOHOO! July Recap is done! Now onto August!! 

As you might be able to tell my summer has had a constant theme to it, and that's concerts. And although everyone thinks I'm crazy I love it, and why not do it while you're young. I know a few years from now I'm going to wish I had the time or money to go to all these concerts! But let's be real I'll probably be that old lady that no body likes at a concert because they're always the lame ones sitting down, and no one really knows why they came if they're not gonna party hard.


But anyway, on August 4th my sister and I went to the country night of Rockwoods Jamfest, it's a local concert put on by Rockwoods bar and grill or something like that, it's less then 15 minutes from my house and I got them as a present from my parents for my birthday! The three performers there were David Nail, Jerrod Niemann, and Ronnie Dunn. And before I start in with the pictures let me just say that Ronnie Dunn's legs are probably the size of my entire body, seriously obscene how long they are! Also, going into this concert I didn't really know any of David Nail's songs except those that were on the radio and the same goes for Jerrod Niemann except I did buy his cd so I knew some of them but not a whole lot!

A picture of the illegal stamp we got so we could get in the VIP area! haha =]

Ronnie Dunn, Just look at those legs! 

Precious. But seriously, can we just look at the middle of our two heads and look at how much hair that is! 

David Nail! 

Beer was spilt, uh-oh! 

Oh looky- who we found! The LaBonne's!! 

Unfortunately it doesn't look like anyone got pictures of Jerrod Niemann, my camera died and I don't think Caitlin took any! 

Dierks Bentley!!

Oh goodness! We're getting to the end of July here people and then I will be officially caught up on July! YAY!!


So On July 28th I went to go see Dierks Bentley with my best girl, Briana! It was outdoors, and let me just say that there ain't nothin' like an outdoor concert! I haven't had much luck with outdoor concerts this year but seriously they are just so fabulous!

Where we started the night, probably about 20-30 rows back from the stage

The fiddle player is from White Bear Lake! THAT'S WHERE MY GODPARENTS LIVE !

Where we ended the night! Literally within 5 ft of Dierks! =]]] What can I say I'm pretty great at pushing my way through a crowd! =] 

Morning after, but always obligatory picture. Lookin' pretty rough both of us, I then proceeded to work 11-7. SO TIRED THAT NIGHT! 

These were our "tickets" and although everyone had to wear one, I felt pretty legit like I was VIP or something! 

A little catch-up!

Well since I've probably picture-overloaded you all with various events going on in my life as of this summer this one will probably not contain any pictures.

 I just want to write this post so that I remember what exactly I'm feeling as my summer is coming to a close.

 -Last weekend I hung out with my sister, and literally all we did was go to Menards and Target and the rest of the weekend we just sat around, I LOVED IT! I haven't been able to just sit around a whole lot this summer usually because during the week days I'd be working and on weekends I would be at some concert!

-I may have taken two naps in one day while hanging out with my sister. But can you blame me, after practically two months of constant running around (yes, by my choice) it was great to sit and relax.

-The state fair starts up tomorrow, and I'm excited! My sister and I bought my dad tickets to the Alan Jackson concert on Friday and I think it's going to be a blast! My mom is coming as well so my dad's gonna look like a pimp! haha.

-I'm also going to the Blake Shelton concert on Saturday, so practically two full days at the fair! I'm going to be so broke!

-As much fun as this summer has been, I'm excited for school to start! It's really weird the place I'm in now compared to where I was a year ago. I miss Morris every so often but I'm glad I made the decisions I made and that I no longer attend Morris.

-I'm sick today. Well I'm not sure if sick is the right word, I woke up this morning to go to work with dad and I got really dizzy (which in itself isn't that unusual for me) but then it wouldn't go away I got dizzy again and I guess I looked really pale too, so I decided to stay home from work today. I unfortunately have to go work at JJ's today because I am feeling better, but I still feel a little weird. I'm not even sure how to describe it! I don't get dizzy but my head feels a little weird and I feel a little off balance.

-School starts this Monday, that is absolutely obscene to me! I can't believe summer has already come and gone! I'm really looking forward to school though! I'm a little nervous because now I'll start getting into harder shooting classes but hopefully with the new camera I bought (oh yes, that's right a Canon 60D) I can take even better pictures then with my Rebel xt

Before and Afters!

Well in the previous post I posted about all the work we did on my mission trip and here are the before and afters!! 

The bathroom! The ceiling was ridiculous I'm sure you won't be able to tell what we did, so on the bottom it's the caulking job I did! (and it was great, btw) and on the bottom right we screwed a piece of poly-board onto the bathroom ceiling to cover the "hole." Our original plan was to tear off the whole ceiling above the tub and then put the poly-board over it but we ran out of time! =/ 

The back gate! Also made by yours truly! I apparently don't look like I'm 20, because when I went to go use the circular saw my team leader told me I couldn't (because you can't unless you're over 18) but then I was all like "uh, bro I'm 20, plus I saw things all the time" except ya know not quite like that. But really with some help from Les (our team leader) I made this back gate! And Les was really impressed with my carpentry skills (what can I say, with a dad that's a cabinet maker I've had a little experience building/watching him build things) 

The hallway, this was the worst. and to be fair the "before" shot isn't quite a before this was after we had torn down the sheetrock. but yes, that hole was a giant leak that we repaired! 

Kitchen ceiling! 

Porches that we stained! The 'before" was the color of both of them before and the "After" is what we painted them to be! 

The roof. Per the advice of the troubleshooter we glued a piece of tin over the hole with pl400! 

And finally the screen door! 

And now, at the end of our week for our fun day we went white-water rafting and that will be in a different post but for lunch we stopped in the Rockies and got to take in the beautiful mountains at 9.190 ft! 

 my BFF Jason from the week! He lives in Eden Prairie(where I go to school!) so we plan on hanging out this fall!

 My Suessical! Oh what I would do without her!

And finally, my real life bff! we were Facebook bff's first, then became real life bff's!

July 14th-22nd Billings, Montana Mission Trip!!

Well this mission trip was kind of bittersweet for me! It was my last mission trip that I could be a camper, and this program has changed my life. I've gone on four trips through CHWC. Each year meeting incredible people, this year though I still don't really know my feelings. The people in my group this year were a little harder to get along with right off the bat, I mean eventually we all became close but in past years my group hit it right off and we were almost inseparable for the week. I also hate that as my five mission trip I had some expectations going in. Luckily they all were fulfilled.

Anyway, our job for the week was basically overhauling this trailer. From the outside it wasn't in terrible shape and even when you walk in it didn't look terrible but eventually you found flaws and in some cases just had to walk down a hallway and see the roof leak and knew that we were there for a reason. What we were able to finish consisted of this: Sealing the roof on the outside then tearing down the old sheetrock and and all the old insulation and then putting new insulation in and putting new sheet rock up, putting sheetrock up on this wall in her kitchen, and painting the kitchen ceiling, re-screening the front door, washing down the trailer, making a back gate for her fence, staining both porches, and repairing the bathroom ceiling and caulking the entire bathtub (done by yours truly!) It was really gratifying to know that we did all of this for our resident (her name was Mary, and she was so sweet!) By the end of the week as we were finishing up all our projects Mary sat inside and literally cried tears of happiness, she couldn't believe that a group of teenagers wanted to take a week out of their summer to come and help someone they didn't know!

With this year being the last year I can be a camper I have full intentions of trying to be on staff, and for me I feel like if I don't get picked this year, I probably won't try again simply because two summers from now I will be graduated and I'm not sure what that summer has in store and although I know plenty of staffers that are on staff after graduating I just feel pressure to get a "real person" job. (although, all pressure is coming from myself.)

With that said, here are some pictures recapping the week!

Why yes, we all had matching "tattoo's" 

Mary, our Resident is the older lady on the far right, and her granddaughter is the one on the left. 

PJ Anderson, our musician for the week and the musician for our first CHWC 4 years ago in Rockford! 

the Tampfire! 11 girls all got their periods on the trip! It was pretty hilarious because we rented a van out there but since Mark was the one who's name was on the lease or whatever, he was the one that had to go to Target and buy the tampons for all the girls. Too much info? Maybe? Oh well, it's my blog I'll post what I want. =] 

This is Matt, he was a staffer and we literally had one of the girl campers CONVINCED that we were best friends. That we had grown up in the same town, and that we went to the same schools, and even college too! Believe it or not we're actually the same age. Yes technically you can be a staffer at 20 but they prefer 21 yr olds. 

Well since this was a pretty picture heavy post on the people we met, my next post will be the before and afters of our work and the pictures I took in the Mountains of Montana, which I believe were the rockies? I'm not sure. 

Post Catch Up!

Well Today all I've done is blog! So I'm almost caught up to today! All of July has officially been blogged about and there are four posts scheduled over the next three days! So look for those! I will continue to blog tomorrow to become fully caught up so there should be at least five maybe six new posts coming up this week! Yay! for catching up!!

Just thought I'd let you all know, that I'm officially "back" and that you can read all about my adventures of the summer this week!

July 8th, Brothers of the Sun.

Well the weekend of July 6-8th it was a busy one for me. I spent the night at a hotel for the block party and then I was home for maybe two-three hours and then left with my best lady friend Briana for the Brothers of the Sun, Kenny Chesney/Tim Mcgraw concert! For the record these tickets were won from MOA. We both entered this giveaway and I ended up winning. How that happened I honestly have no idea, I never win anything but it was worth every non-spent, up-in-th-nose-bleeds-section penny I've ever spent!

Also, let me just say Tim McGraw is the only man I know that can pull off all white, and that it was hot as hell that day (literally I think Minnesota weather this summer has been like the first level of hell or something) REAL STEAMY.

And now Pictures commence!

You should have seen Jake Owen's back. It was so hot that his entire shirt was drenched with sweat! 

We made friends with the drunk guy next to us, okay he wasn't that drunk but he was pretty funny to talk to. His name is Jordan and we became BFF's. He also won tickets from MOA. 

My BFF. 

We got to talking about how WE ALL HATE THE DUCK FACE. So naturally we had to take a duck face photo, right? right. 

Us after the concert. 

The scene before the concert started! 

BBP Day Two

On the second day of the block party we went and saw just two bands, Graffiti6 and O.A.R. I originally wanted to see the Lumineers but due to some poor navigation skills of my friends trying to go visit a sibling they didn't get back until late in the afternoon/evening so we missed them. Oh well, Graffiti6 and O.A.R more then made up for it. Graffiti6 has become one of my favorite bands now, and they lead singer is just SO good! 

We may have gotten bored waiting for O.A.R to come on. 

Unfortunately we got stuck with these really drunk 50 yr old women in front of us who kept "fist pumping" if you can even call it that and kept knocking ashley in the head while doing it. I also started to get really overwhelmed with the crowd because we were in such close proximity to each other so we ended up leaving a little early. All was okay in the end though.