Jingle Jam

My mom won tickets to star 94's Jingle Jam concert & she invited me!! I wasn't sure who many of the artists singing were until they actually were singing their hit songs, but it ended up being a lot of fun! Who knew this british guy named Ed Sheeran was a teen heart throb (seriously, I had no clue I could experience the screams I heard when his name was even mentioned), and who knew the latest American Idol winner, Phillip Phillips was someone I actually really enjoyed listening to.

For any of you that don't know what Jingle Jam is, it is a concert that is put on by star 94 radio, and they ask 6 artists to perform 5 or so songs, and the last person sings a whole set list. This lucky one that sang their whole set was none other than Ed Sheeran. Seriously guys, ha I had no clue who this guy was and yet my ears were ringing the screams were so loud. Now, the 6 artists that performed (in order) were: Andy Grammer, Grace Potter, Alex Clare, Phillip Phillips, Jason Mraz, and Ed Sheeran.

We got to sit in the club level!!

Grace Potter killin it.

Phillip Phillips

On top of the awesome people watching at a place that supports many different tastes in music, the middle-aged women dancing around us to the one and only rockstar Grace Potter all the way to the "Ginger Jesus" Ed Sheeran...I('m serious guys...that quote was on a poster by two teenage girls), it was quite a show & I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was when J Mraz asked everyone to turn their phone lights on, it was soo pretty.

Now I will leave you with a new favorite song of mine...

Enjoy.

Lately

Life lately has been quite peaceful; filled with lots of sleep and the people that warm my heart. 

Everyone meet my boyfriend. 

Wearing some sort of santa/pimp hat, casually drinking starbucks with an oh-so-loved shirt of his that has "plenty of holes to tell plenty of stories", so he says.

This wonderful boyfriend of my mine just so happened to take me to the Nutcracker and sit through a ballet where I soaked in the elegance, grace, and beauty of it all. There were around 30 little girls as mice, gum drops, lamb chops, and so on...and we couldn't get over how adorable they were. James was cackling so hard at one point, this lady turned around to see what was going on (apparently The Nutcracker isn't supposed to be funny). These little girls were waving at their parents, running back and forth, and just looking as precious as they could be.

The next day, I packed up my car and headed home for a long but needed month of Christmas break. James came along for the weekend, and we ended up going ice skating with a college group from a church that his best friend is an intern with. Although ice skating isn't something I die to do, it was definitely memorable...

As you can see, they are professionals, and they were getting plenty of looks from people petrified they were going to run in to them.

Baby, it's Cold Outside

I wish. Where's the cold weather? I never thought I'd say this, but I want the chill in the air that makes it feel like Christmas!!

Finishing my first semester of the Early Childhood Cohort...I feel so free!! This semester has probably been the hardest semester of my life along with many different emotions. Things changed a lot this semester, but I'm hopeful to see the outcome of the changes starting Spring semester along with when I get to be with my Kindergarten babies!!

I am SO excited to be home with my family and have sporadic hang outs with my sweet friends that live near me, or near enough to meet up. I am excited for all the Christmas movies (thank goodness for ABC family), and decorations all throughout my town.

I get to be an elf on the square, you guys, it is going to be so much fun. Picture it...

Sadly, I don't have to wear an elf outfit like zooey, but I do get to watch the joy of little kids visit Santa himself.There are so many things I am excited for over the next month, and I can't wait to start the festivities on Friday. My wonderful boyfriend is taking me to see the Nutcracker, and then it's all uphill from there.

In the meantime, I will be listening to my new favorite Pandora station: She and Him

Zooey is full of Christmas spirit.

Happy Halloweeen

In the spirit of Halloween, I'd like to say...

Halloween is an exciting day for me because of all the candy.

My mom actually would take my candy away and I could only pick three things a day, because otherwise I'd eat. it. all.

Carving pumpkins has never been my strong suit, but I try. And then I get frustrated and only have holes throughout my pumpkin.

 I've never missed dressing up for halloween...even in highschool

 In elementary school we didn't go trick or treating, but we went to a "reformation celebration" at my church

 As you can see, I had no problem with midriff, at church, at the age of five.

When you are a Younglife leader and you attend farm-o-ween you WILL end up getting pied in the face...which is fun too. But whatever you do on Halloween have fun and get back to the classics of bobbing for apples and playing games!! My friends and I are in to that sort of thing.

I'm excited to attend our halloween party hosted by this beautiful messy faced girl.

Dress up. Be scared. & Eat some candy. Lots of candy.

& Have a happy halloween!!!

On the Lookout

"Knowing that your future is absolutely assured can free you to live abundantly today. I have prepared this day for you with the most tender concern and attention to detail. Instead of approaching the day as a blank page that you need to fill up, try living it in a responsive mode: being on the lookout for all that I am doing. This sounds easy, but it requires a deep level of trust, based on the knowledge that My way is perfect." -Jesus Calling

Being on a YoungLife team allows you to go on weekend getaways to have bonding time with the team. Our team decided to go to Lake Allatoona and stay at one of our fellow team members lake house.  I wasn't really sure what to expect and I wasn't really sure I wanted to go. These past couple weeks have been extremely tiresome, and have almost made my body ache because I have been so busy. I started to develop headaches for no reason. I would try to sleep them off, and they just kept coming up. All I wanted to do was to rest. Rest, but not have anything on my mind while I rested.  This wasn't going to happen, because I have been swimming in work & outside projects. I felt almost as if this "getaway bonding trip" was just another thing on my schedule I had to take part in. I didn't have a lot of emotion about the upcoming weekend as Friday rolled around, and we were headed for Atlanta. I packed up, loaded up on gas, picked up a friend, grabbed lunch, got my bangs trimmed, forgot my purse at the salon, went back and grabbed it, was scared to death by an innocent homeless woman that knocked on my window, drove through atlanta, got my emissions done, surprised my mom at work, took a quick trip to the mall, and then it was smooth sailing to the lake house.
(2011 YL lake trip)

Okay, so maybe I had a lot of things to do before I finally arrived, but I don't go home very much so I thought I'd check it all off at once. When I arrived, I was greeted with smiling faces, loud music, and the smell of yummy food. We spent the night eating, playing embarrassing games, and spending quality time with each other. The next morning came, and I came across my devotion that said the excerpt I wrote at the beginning of this post. My day changed in an instant. My view of the day changed in an instant actually. I went on a morning walk around the lake with a really wonderful friend of mine, and it was absolutely breathtaking outside. The air had a morning warmth to it. You know when you walk outside, and you can feel that it is going to be a warm day, but there is a slight chill in the air? That's how it felt. It was such a refreshing feeling spending my morning in the fresh, warm air.

HOKAY.
Some of you might be thinking: (if you're on my younglife team) "We didn't go to the lake this weekend", or (if you're my hair cutter) "I didn't cut your bangs", or (even my mom) "You didn't surprise me at work." welllllllll....all of these things happened, but back in March. I know you're probably wondering why this is just now being posted, but I was going through my blog and realized I had never finished/published this post. So I read through what I had written and thought...interesting, I really really needed this. You know when you read a letter from someone, or read an old journal entry, and you think, "Wow!", if that wasn't God's perfect timing, I don't know what is. So here it is, my post about my younglife team's getaway that ended with stronger friendship and deeper understandings of each other. The more I dive in to this year, the more it is easier to get too busy for the important things. Important things are different for everyone, just make sure YOUR important things are what is held high in your day to day routine.

Now on to some Pumpkin carving!!!! Happy almost Halloweenie!!

It's Fall, Ya'll!!

Fall is here, and I am so excited!! Scarves, boots, cardigans, pumpkins, Starbucks, blankets, and beautiful changing leaves!! I LOVE FALL!! I am so excited that there is a chill in the air, and we are getting closer to Halloween and Thanksgiving...which means we are also closer to CHRISTMAS!! I can't get ahead of myself though...I have a lot going on before Christmas break.

Don't get your hopes up...this is no tutorial...just me, obsessing over things like fall, ombre wreaths...But how awesome is this?? There's a website that lists over FIFTY different DIY wreaths. Pretty awesome...I guess I'll plug it, since I took her wreath picture and all...DIY wreaths

The last couple weeks have flown by, and I think it's about to get even faster. I do want to take a couple minutes to RAVE about a wedding I was able to attend because it just so happened to be my boyfriend's sister!! It was the cutest/craftiest wedding I've been to on plantation land near Charleston, SC. Lindsay's colors were yellow and gray and they were accented fabulously about the wedding. Two things that caught my eye though...1. Kids table (who would have thought?!) & 2. A candy bar! AND every candy was either yellow or gray...perfect. Between her mom and brother singing her down the aisle, and dancing with my new 6 year old boy friend, I'm pretty sure it was a night to remember. Here are some snapshots...

YAYY! Happy newly married life Lindsay Dammeyer!!

Ps. A couple days after we drove home...the Mcconnell's got MORE beautiful news. The precious little 2-yr-old girl that has been in the process for about a year now of being adopted is HOME in the states!!! You can read about that here!!!

XOXO

O and Ps Ps. I love my greek family.

Katy

Now my last two posts have been about celebrities, but I'm not apologizing for it. These are real people, and these are my real feelings that I need to share...so heres to my love of Katy. Katy Perry that is.

I recently watched the Katy Perry with one of my dear friends Jacqueline. We ended up falling even more in love with this genius of a person and shed a few tears along the way. I've always loved her voice and her songs are ALWAYS the go to songs in my car with the windows down when I'm driving with or without people. She's always seemed a bit odd to me, but now I know why. Her parents were a little coo-coo.

Katy didn't just come up out of nowhere with a one hit wonder, she started from the ground up. One label Katy was at didn't believe in her originality, and so they let her go. One lady that worked for this label stole the files to Katy Perry and took them to Capitol Records which is where she is now signed to making the big bucks. Sucks for Columbia records.

I mean who looks good in blue hair?

Katy does.

Who looks good with pink hair?

Katy does

I will say she is a little strange at times, but I just think she is adorable.

She not only can pull off anything, she also is extremely talented as an artist. Katy Perry was the FIRST female with FIVE number 1 U.S singles from one album (second in history). I'm pretty sure the first person ever to do this was Michael Jackson. I'm impressed. Are you impressed now?

love.love.love

Meredith

Obsession

Okay. I am a BIG fan of celebrity news and reading alll about the celebrity lifestyle, and one of my favorite things to do is watch Enews with Giulianna Rancic when I get the chance to. I will admit...sometimes it seems like it would be a really fun thing to live like certain celebs just for one day. ONE DAY. Being a celebrity isn't something I'm striving to be in life...I mean it's whatever....but one time or another I dream. My guilty pleasure is watching interviews of my favorite stars and feeling as if they are really talking to me.

The past couple weeks, my friend & I have grown a slight obsession with the new shocking news of Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds having a secret wedding. Ever since she was in this movie...

and he was in this movie....

I have come to love these two hot people separately.

Ryan, is the greatest looking man in hollywood. Ryan also has the greatest sarcasm. Ever since Ryan starred in THIS movie....

SWOON

I bought this movie, and now, in my apartment we have not one, but TWO copies.

I can't get enough. Just LOOK at these two.

Flawless. And to top it off they got married in Charleston, SC where the notebook was filmed!? I mean seriously, this is just too much for me.

okayyyyy one more.

im done.

ITS THE WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!

xoxo

school

The past two months of my life have probably been the busiest, craziest, stressful, exciting months in my whole life. I started student teaching 4th grade for seven weeks with a full 18 hr course load!!!! ahhh all I can think about right now is sleep. Someone please give me sleep!!!! here are some pics to summarize some of the craziness while I work on a lesson plan......

Reunited with my sweet friends

My big & my saving grace

drove to athens with these fools to see sean play

my sweet luc came with us to athens too!

never ending dates with my adorable friend kelsey

Lucy turns 20!!!!!!!!!

Forever roomie. Forever besties. Forever blake reynolds fans.

went to younglife beach retreat in ocean isle, north carolina!!!

THIS GIRL (left) came into town for a short and sweet visit!!!! COME BACK!! and beautiful tiana on the right :)

Always & forever with my little tatum.

Happy tuesday!!! XX

What makes me feel alive

A couple months ago when I was in Colorado, the first day, we were given a task to write 20 things on a notecard that makes us feel alive. My first thought was, well crap, I don't think I can come up with THAT many things. Right now, all I can focus on is how awkward I feel because I don't know anyone so I'm trying to think of things to say to the person next to me. "Alright, go", I hear from my coordinator.  I look up and everyone starts writing like they can't make their hand move fast enough. and then there's me. staring. at people. I started to think...what makes me feel alive? what does that even mean? And then I just started writing the things that the came to mind that made me feel peaceful, excited, exhilarated, relaxed, warm, and joyful.

These are 20 things that make me feel alive...

1. Mountains
2. Alone time with Jesus
3. Journaling
4. soothing music & fun music
5. Beach time (hilton head)
6. my crazy loving Family
7. my absolutely incredible crazy sweet friends
8. Playing with elementary age kids (early ed. major)
9. being with my sweet boyfriend
10. a good cry
11. Coffee
12. watching any type of movie with popcorn
13. thunderstorms that last all day
14. a captivating book
15. driving with the windows down
16. doing people’s hair
17. canoeing
18. hiking
19. watching the sunrise & sunset
20. fall weather

What makes YOU feel alive?!

Crooked Creek Ranch

I'm not sure how this post is going to go, but I am going to write my heart away. here goes...

The last post was how I was about to leave the comfort of friends & family and travel across the country to the breathtaking (literally and figuratively) state of Colorado. 

Now, I am back in Milledgeville, where everything seems like a blur, and I am left to think about where the past month and a half went.

Four weeks of adventure. Four weeks of meeting sweet friends. Four weeks of learning so much about myself that I would have never learned had I not took this time to see how my life was intended to grow.

 If you could understand the way my heart felt the second week of camp compared to how it felt the week after I was settled back at home, you would be amazed. You would also see how dearly I loved Crooked Creek, and you would feel the tug of your heart eagerly missing the things that I could never fully explain.

 

 

 
 

I would love to tell you each and every story that I can think of, but I don't think you want to read for that long. Buttttt, I will tell you guys that I did have two pretty epic falls. And I will add, that they were consecutively on the first two days of camp. And one more thing, I will add that it involves my backpack being on, falling backwards off a log, and rolling down a hill in front of a large group of people. I'll leave the rest up to your imaginations.

I can now pretty much make any coffee drink, now that I am a trained, official barista. I was given the best job for how I needed to grow at camp and I loved it so much. I learned a lot about things back at home & school that I grew to really understand & appreciate from an outside perspective. I learned from a book called, Bittersweet, that, "A full life isn't a full calendar". I found comfort in God this past month. This was a huge part of my journey & I found that the only way you are truly going to be okay in the long run by comfort is not being satisfied in the short-term comfort. Being filled with the comfort of God is like no other. I also learned that I am loved. Sometimes it is hard for me to accept. The overwhelming amount of letters & care packages I received was heart-warming. I truly believe my heart warmed every letter I received.

As I anxiously traveled back home to my beloved peach state; worn out with barely any sleep (but maybe 3 hours on my backpack from the night before), I rode the escalator up to the meet n greet section. To what seemed like an eternity, I made it to the top with an area filled with people; including my mom, little brother, and handsome boyfriend. This poster was the first thing I saw...thank you James. You know just how to win me over...

1. That date is wrong in the bottom right corner, so disregard. 2. Yes. That is me. I have no words for my 6th-grade self. No words. But. I missed you, James.