FRIDAY

We had my cousin Christina’s wedding that afternoon, and this was what I wore! I love maxi dresses!

My cousins Ginanna (white dress in middle pic), Lucia (right pic), and Emma (left pic), Sophia and me at the reception! Fun Fact: Lucia, Emma, and their sister Julia are triplets!

The boys dancing!

Emma and I were excited to dance!

Colin took my iPod and got this selfie! (This happened a lot to me last weekend!)

There weren’t really any girls their age at the wedding so they danced together.

The dollar dance. All the kids got dollar bills and were so excited!

Solomon danced with my cousin Lucia, so sweet!

SATURDAY

I had a youth leadership retreat Saturday-Sunday morning. I know super weird selfie, but I was tired and was waiting for the boys to wake up.

After breakfast, talking, and devos we went on the pontoon!

So the boys went for a swim, and just after this picture the boat wouldn’t start for like 15-20 mins. Finally it did but it took some effort!

This girl grabbed my iPod and took selfies all day on Saturday!

The boys throwing stuff.

Maggie and I after our one-on-one soccer match, which ended fast due to me tripping and scraping up my leg, and to this day still have a pretty gross wound. After this we planned for the 2015-2016 youth group year! It was so fun! It is going to be a great year.

At like eleven we played Apples to Apples! If you are wondering, I lost.

Maggie and I slept in the boat house, while the boys slept on the pontoon (they actually said it was awesome!), here was my view falling asleep! And at like 1am the wind blew so hard both doors opened so I had to get up and close them. Ha!

I got up early to get ready for church, can you tell I’m tired?! We went to church then I came home, FaceTimed my friend Megan, and then chilled the rest of the day! How was your weekend?

[ONE]

It has been really cold this week. It feels like fall! What has the weather been like for you?

[TWO]

Did you see my announcement on Tuesday? I am SO excited!!!!

[THREE]

We went to youth group on Wednesday and played capture the flag. Let’s just say I am not good at that game!

[FOUR]

A few years back I got really bad anxiety about something happening to my family, so I found this prayer (sorry don’t remember what book) and have been praying it every night since-

Hold them closely in thy keeping, all the dear ones that I love. Keep them safe awake or sleeping Lord of the earth and Heaven above. Guard them oh most tenderly, they are safe if kept by He.

-Amen

[FIVE]

Sorry my post is so picture lacking. I really need to work on taking more photos.

Have a great day!!!

Linking up with Christina, Natasha, April, and Darci for 5 on Friday!!

&

Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!!

{ONE}

It’s this peaches birthday today!!! Happy 14th Birthday Belle!!!!! Hope you have an AWESOME day!!!

{TWO}

For Colin and Josh’s birthday we went out for dinner and then took some photos!! It was so fun! I laughed so hard my stomach hurt! We did the panorama mirror pictures and here is what we got!

Me with no leg! Haha!

The one good one!!

{THREE}

On Tuesday evening I helped with crafts for VBS! My fellow craft ladies! Mia was obviously excited.

{FOUR}

This song. On repeat.

{FIVE}

And I’ve got nothing.

How was your week?

Linking up with Christina, Natasha, April, and Darci for 5 on Friday!

&

Linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!

Friday morning I blogged and then my mom and I went to the bank and then looked at this little antique shop in town! Belle spent the weekend with us so we went shopping that afternoon!

That night we watched mom’s night out and ate ice cream, it was a great day!

On Saturday we had our town’s heritage days and so we went to the parade. The parade was good and here is my older brother on one of the floats! (They played “Meant to Live” by Switchfoot)!

Then we ate lunch at the park and then did our shift at our church burger stand! It was fun but tiring. Then just chilled the rest of the night and went and saw fireworks! It was a great day as well!

Yesterday we went to Solid Rock Family Church at the Parkwood theatre in St. Cloud! It was different from what we are used to, but was a cool experience! After that we dropped Belle off and then went home and chilled the rest of the afternoon. My mom and brother went to VBS and then I did a test recipe and then relaxed the rest of the day! Such a great weekend! Bring on the week!!

{ONE}

I got Caribou with my dad and brother last Friday! It was so good!

{TWO}

Also I am obsessed with these. (You can find them at Walmart for a few bucks!)

{THREE}

On Monday I went biking with Colin and our friend Megan! It was a lot of fun and full of laughter, which is my favorite!

{FOUR}

My quiet time yesterday. It was even better than it looks! So comfortable and peaceful! It was the best part of my day!!!

{FIVE}

Yes this is a favorite! I LOVE thunderstorms!!!! So when we had them yesterday they were awesome!!!!

That’s all. My friend Belle is coming over today and we are going shopping!! Then tomorrow we have our town’s heritage days, and I am helping with the church burger stand! Have a great day!!!!

I am linking up with Christina, April, Natasha, and Darci for 5 on Friday!!

&

I am linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!

DAY FOUR:

This was at base camps on Tuesday morning. It was so dark I almost fell asleep.

After lunch some of us went to the hotel to swim and take naps. I couldn’t swim because of my seizure but I was able to put my feet in!

I downloaded this podcast and really liked it!

We just chilled the rest of the afternoon and then went to dinner and then MainStage.

Judy Peterson talked that night and she was AMAZING!

And FOR KING AND COUNTRY PERFORMED!!!!! (can you tell I loved it?) They were the band I was most excited to see and what was great is we were on the floor so we got really close! It was the BEST concert I have ever seen. It was amazing. And I am a little jealous because Colin gets to see them next week.

It was the best, and it was hard to settle down from that!!

As we were waiting for the bus, some of the people from our group had a water fight.

DAY FIVE:

I ate so many of these that week! They had unlimited ice cream bars at lunch and dinner! It was awesome!

I went to take a nap after lunch and then Arlene (leader) and I went to the Hub and hung out!

We did the Congo, and learned more about that! We ate the “snack” provided, and I put air quotes because it was more of a meal. A delicious meal. We then met up with some others from our group, and hung out at the Hub a bit more. We went to dinner and then headed to MainStage! Out of all the nights, Wednesday was my least favorite, I wasn’t able to get into it really. I think it was because I was exhausted.

DAY SIX:

We went to basecamps and then went in this tower (forgot what it was called) and that was fun! We had lunch and then some of us went back to the hotel to rest (I just grabbed a change of clothing) and the others had a ultimate frisbee tournament! When I got back the the Hub I just chilled and watched them play. 

My amazing graffiti skills. Haha I joke.

That night it was Rend Collective and Louie Giglio!! Both amazing! At the end they had the CHIC band play and they threw out like 100 glowing balls and it was so cool! Everyone was praising God and having a great time!!

We went back to the hotel, ordered pizza and just chilled.

DAY SEVEN:

My outfit for the bus ride. Super cozy! We left at like 10 I think, and got on a crammed bus. We took naps (we were EXHAUSTED), played games, watched movies, and talked! I did peoples hair which was fun! We stopped for lunch and I got Chick-fil-A which I haven’t had since December #MNprobs!

We had some pretty bad storms during the day and night. That night I slept through all of them!

We got back to Monticello and drove back to church and finally went home, we were tired!

Overall it was a great week!! It was amazing to see God work through us this week!!

{ONE}

First and foremost, addicted to this song! I have played it so much my older sister is sick of it!

{TWO}

As I said above, my mom and brother get back today and I am so glad they are home!! I missed them!

{THREE}

Had my friend Belle over on Wednesday, and we went youth group, and that is where we got this photo…

One of our youth leaders brought his daughter and we watched her and then decided to take photos! It was fun!!

{FOUR}

I love the photos I got of the lake and sunset at youth group this week!

{FIVE}

I love this wallpaper I saw on Instagram!

What have you been up to?

Linking up with Christina, Natasha, April, and Darci for Five on Friday!

And also linking up with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites!

Have a great weekend!!

{DAY 1}

So we had to meet at our church to leave for Monticello, MN at like 9 so we we got up at about 6:30 to get ready. Once we go to church we packed up went over different things, took a group photo, and left for Monticello!

Maggie and me in the van to Monticello.

Once we got to Monticello we ate lunch and then hung out until it was time to meet the buses.

Left Photo: My older brother, Colin Right: Maggie and me on the bus.

Blurry photo but we watched Tim Hawkins on the way. We played Charades on my iPod which was a lot of fun!

I got bored so I braided my hair.

We stopped in Madison, WI at a mall for dinner, but first had to look for umbrellas.

Susie trying on the fun glasses at sears. After about and hour at the mall we made it back to the bus and off we go. We watched movies and some of us attempted to sleep. At around 11 pm we stopped at a gas station to fill the bus up and picked up snacks.

Ready to go to sleep! There were pretty bad thunderstorms that night which were cool! But even though I took Zzquil, I still was up really often, but I survived.

{DAY 2}

The next morning we stopped at Cracker Barrel in Kentucky. Right before we left Kentucky we found out that instead of staying in the dorms at the UT campus, we were going to stay in a hotel. It was nice but there were pros and cons:

Pros:

Private bathrooms

Pool

Cons:

Shuttle buses

Bad breakfast (it wasn’t that bad but wasn’t great either)

Finally there!!! We had to wait till 3 to get into our rooms so we hung out in the lobby till like 2.

We then decided to walk to the campus for the opening party. Thankfully we got a ride with a shuttle bus that was on it’s way to the hotel!

The view from the bridge above.

During the opening party, Anthem Lights performed!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so exciting!!!! And just because, here are some photos and videos!

Alan brought his adorable daughter on stage!

I also met and got a picture with Fallon, Chad’s wife!! She looked great me not so much, but it was after a 24 hour bus ride so I didn’t really care.

Maggie stole my iPod and took a picture.

Lacey, Aidan, and I at MainStage that night! And a random photo bomber! Also how hilarious does Aidan look?

We went back to the hotel and FINALLY took showers, and chilled until about midnight or so.

{DAY 3}

Maggie and I on our way to breakfast the next morning.

This is a view of the lobby from the balcony.

On our way to basecamps!

After basecamps and on the way to lunch!

Then we went on a cave tour! We had to drive about an hour to get to the cave so here are some pictures from the ride!

I tried to get a picture of the mountains out the window, it didn’t really work.

While Arlene was giving instructions.

Now here are pictures from the cave:

It was a lot of fun! Really interesting! We got back to campus went to dinner and then went MainStage.

Lecrae spoke and performed which was cool!

Gangster Maggie.

So that was the first 3 days! Cyber high five if you made it through all that!

{ONE}

Have you guys tried Mio? I love it in regular water or in seltzer water! This is my favorite, Mango Peach. I have been on a peach kick lately, and hopefully it never stops because PEACHES!

{TWO}

Did you catch my posts from this week? If not and you want to check them out here they are!

{THREE}

Do you struggle with letting go? I will be honest, I really struggle. When I am worked up about something or really struggling with something I know God is saying,”Elise, don’t do this to yourself. I will take care of you, you just need to let it go, and let me take care of it.” Giving God control isn’t always easy for me, but I know He working in me to change that. And the peace and relief you feel after letting go is AMAZING! So today I am letting go. Letting go to the things that wear me down. Letting go of the things that confuse and worry me. Letting go of the past. Letting go of fear and doubt. I surrender. I trust that He will take care of me, because I know He loves me more than I will ever know.

{FOUR}

I wanted to let you know that I have decided to end my favorite series. So this month is the end. I want to have a little more freedom on posting that day, instead of sticking to a schedule. I still have one more week and it will be about apps so excited to share that!

{FIVE}

I love this! I know for me I get caught up in life that I forget to celebrate and appreciate the little things. For me those are:

Outdoor Activities (frisbee, rolling down our hill, etc.)

A yummy drink in the middle of the afternoon

A new follower on Instagram

A text/email from a friend

Funny stories and conversations with my family. Let’s just say our conversations can get really wacky sometimes!

A new book or movie

What are some little things that make you happy?

{SIX}

I want all these earrings! Enough said.

I hope you have a beautiful day and weekend!! God bless!

2: Family. They constantly make me laugh and support and encourage me through everything. They are a blessing from God.

3: Friends. I love being around people! Which is really funny because I am naturally really introverted and always wanted to be alone, but now I don’t really like being alone that much. Plus I can’t be alone for medical reasons so maybe that’s why? #seizureprobs

4: Rolling down the hill. Something so simple that always brings me back to when I was younger!

5: Playing frisbee. Which last week I was terrible at but have practiced a lot and now am a lot better!

6: Internet. It is pretty awesome to have it back!

7: Netflix. Also I love that now with our new internet we can have 2 people on Netflix and it works perfectly. Before we could barely have one.

8: Blogging! I love having a place to share my recipes, craft projects, and heart!

9: Apple Music. It awesome, enough said.

10: Coffee. Also I am really craving a mint condition mocha from caribou right now.

11: Bible study. I have really enjoyed bible study with the girls from my youth group!

12: Bugs spray. Because let’s be real, I get eaten alive by mosquitos. It because I’m so sweet! Ha!

13: Getting stuff done. Last week I packed for my trip, cleaned the kitchen, living room, dining room, and my room, and started laundry! It felt so good to get it all done!

14: Instagram. Love seeing my favorite bloggers and friends photos!

15: Bagels. And of course with cream cheese, which I load on. No thin spots please!

16: Bonfires. Which I love but not with firecrackers in. A boy at youth group threw some in and every time they went off it scared me to death!

17: Making others smile or laugh!

18: Going on trips. Which by the time this is posted, I will be leaving Knoxville, TN!

19: Rain/Thunderstorms. They scare most people but I think they are super cool!

20: Tori Kelly’s music. I love her music but especially because she loves Jesus and is a great role model! Good celeb roll models are literally one in a million!

21: Embracing the natural waves. I have naturally wavy hair so I lately have been wearing it down.

22: Playing music loud in the car and singing to it!

23: Color. If you saw my side of the room (Sophia and I share), you could tell that I like a lot of color!

24: Watermelon. So juicy and refreshing in the summer!

25: Good smelling lotions! I am currently loving the Bath and Body Works, Georgia Peach and Sweet tea lotion!

What things do you love? Happy Friday!