[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!!

So we all have things others might not know about us. Here are 10 things you probably don’t know about me…

[ONE]

I am a loud chewer. It’s genetic. Just saying.

[TWO]

So my parents are both from the south so I have southern blood in me, well one thing I do is get cold from the air conditioning. Yes I know. Really weird. Even if it is like 90 degrees I still get cold in the car.

[THREE]

I am a very picky eater. I don’t eat eggs, fat, and fish (with the exception of tuna from a can). I can’t think of anything else right now but I am sure as soon as I hit the publish button I will think of something else.

[FOUR]

When I tell stories I ALWAYS end it with “it was really funny” and my family makes fun of me for it.

[FIVE]

I have my own audience. Maybe some of you knew this, but I say things that I think are so funny you will laugh until you cry, and my family are like “that’s not funny”.

[SIX]

I don’t like things being uneven. Like when I am working with my Dad and painting bricks, I always try to end with an even amount of bricks.

[SEVEN]

I am a VERY messy baker and cook. I love making food but then have to climb Mt. Dishes afterward.

[EIGHT]

I am really bad with scissors, X-acto knife, etc. I can’t for the life of me make a straight line.

[NINE]

I LOVE canned frosting. I know you are like “WHAT?” but it’s true. I’m just being honest.

[TEN]

I’ve already started to listen to Christmas music. I think we need a solid 3-4 months of Christmas. Can I get an amen?

So there are my ten things. What are yours?

So I love being there for others. I love when people trust me enough to tell me things they wouldn’t just tell anyone. I love listening and encouraging others. I love when people share things with me that are joyful. I love sharing my life experiences and knowledge about things. It has made me realize that that is probably how God feels.

In Exodus 20:5, it talks about how God is a jealous God. He is jealous when we share things, good and bad, with others before Him. He want’s us to tell Him everything. He feels the same way I feel when others tell me things. He loves knowing we trust Him so much by telling Him things we wouldn’t tell others. He loves when we confide in Him and seek His discernment and wisdom. He loves when we share not only the hard things in life, but He LOVES when we bring Him our joys and happiness and then praise Him for them (James 1:17). And that is how it should be. We should always confide in Him. He should always be the first person we run to to share everything. It also speaks to me about how we are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). How He reveals who He is through us. How we have God hidden in our hearts ready to be dug up and revealed.

Although my willingness to listen to others has been abused in the past, I want to say God will NEVER get tired of me or you talking to Him. He takes delight in caring for His children and seeing us turn to Him. He loves being there for us and being our safe haven. He loves us.

So today I encourage you to talk to God. Talk about whatever may be weighing you down and whatever you may be dying to share with someone else. Tell Him your joys and dreams too. Let Him be the one you share it with. He’s there waiting and ready to listen.

{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!

Happy Thursday!! Today I am talking books, so here are my favorites…

The Hunger Games

I love the books but also love the movies! Tell me what popular franchise do you love?

My Chocolate Year

I love this book, and have probably read it 5 times! It is a really easy read and funny! It also is a little sad, just to let you know.

Holy Bible

Being a follower of Christ, the Bible is one of God’s gifts to us. I went to CHIC 2015 and Louie Giglio spoke and talked about how the bible (Holy Scriptures) is the breath of God and is our oxygen. So I have been trying to be in the word more lately. I love that the bible can be our answer book and give us great comfort as well!

Red River of the North (and all the sequel series that follow this one)

I love the setting of this series! It is a fictional story of a small town called Blessing in North Dakota! The books are pretty easy to read and really fun! I love them and the next book is coming out this fall and I am super excited!

What do you like to read?

I don’t know about you but sometimes I need to be reminded that God loves me. I sometimes feel unlovable and think,”How can God love me?” I now realize that it is Satan’s way of deceiving us. As my mom always tells me, “feelings and thoughts can’t be trusted. They can deceive you.” The enemy was deceiving me with a feeling, because he didn’t want me to know just how much God loves me. And at times he deceives me by saying God couldn’t love me because of something I had done. So I didn’t accept God’s love, I felt like I couldn’t. See a pattern? Feel. So I just wanted to remind you today that God Loves You. With a love that casts out fear. A love that can’t be crushed. A love that nothing in the world can separate you from. A love that takes your burdens and fights for you. A love that never gives up on you. A love that will never stop pursing you. A love that brings peace in the midst of a storm. A love that brings joy out of sorrow. A love that allows you to love others. A love that can brighten even the dullest day. A love that can bring beauty out of ashes. A LOVE THAT NEVER FAILS. I could go on and on. God’s love is something that as humans we will never be able to fully describe and never fully understand but I wanted to share this today. I needed to be reminded of that too. So go on with your day and accept the love that God has for you and love others. Happy Tuesday!

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!

{ONE}

We had a wedding last Friday, which was a lot of fun! This is Gillian (middle), Rachel (left), and me at the reception!

{TWO}

I have been chilling a lot this week due to last Saturday, so I have seen a lot of this. What are you guys reading?

{THREE}

Graduation parties are starting this weekend for us, with my older brother Colin’s in a few weeks! I am really excited for those! Graduation parties are one of my favorite things about summer!

{FOUR}

I am SO excited for our internet to come back at our house! It has been out for over a week, so hopefully we get it back soon.

{FIVE}

I have worn the top knot everyday this week and I feel no shame.

What have you been up to?

Welcome to my third installment of my Favorites Series! Today I am talking quotes! (Note: I got all of my pictures from my Pinterest board “Quotes”, my username is this1blogelise). Here we go…

1)

Love this! I want to be that woman that always starts her day with Jesus!

2)

Have you ever had that feeling like the person you just met you were looking for?

3)

This is a great reminder for me to always be carful of who I am around. It also reminds me to be that person that helps other’s being.

4)

Great reminder. The Keep Calm posters are usually stupid but this one is the best!

5)

This reminds me to always be kind.

6)

I want to always be in love with my life. I mean you only get one in this world and I want to always make the best of it!

7)

I love this because it reminds me that I’m human and it’s okay if I mess up, but to be real instead and move on.

8)

I love this one for all the time, but especially hard days or weeks. It reminds me to enjoy the afternoon cup of coffee, or my favorite candy, lipstick, or something I enjoy. I think something as simple as coffee can brighten a dull day.

9)

I love this quote from William Shakespeare! It is sweet and cute!

10)

I love this! Always make time…always.

What are some of your favorite quotes?

Next week we are talking movies! I think all my family and friends are going to know all of these! See you then!