What's Been Goin' On

• Last weekend I was on the Steubenville Youth Conference. I went as a chaperone with AYM, and what a beautiful experience is was. This was only my second time attending Steubie, but there seemed to be something special about this weekend...to me anyway. The teens seemed to be so filled with the spirit, they just bubbled over with a contagious joy. It's not like it's unusual for people to be abundantly joyful on retreats like this, but it was just beyond anything I'd ever witnessed. I'm really proud of the teens. They have so much courage and love. They've really embraced their faith, something I was no where near ready to truly do throughout most of high school. They struggle, of course, everyone does, but even through their struggles they just shine from His glorious light.
  On Steubenville

• Emily finally came home! She's been in Honduras for most of the summer, and I've been pretty nervous. There was a pretty big earthquake down there soon after she got there and then the military coup just a few days before she was supposed to be coming home, but she's here now. Readjusting has been (understandably) difficult for her. She's been in two completely different worlds, living two completely different lifestyles, and it's tough to find your way and reconcile them with each other. Personally, though, I couldn't be more excited. I just about tackled her to the ground in a Steak 'n Shake parking lot when we finally saw each other. Life just feels so right when Emily, Jenny and I are all together.
  

• So in the past week I have been to Grant's Farm 3 times. It's kind of completely ridiculous. The first time, we took my neices and nephew. It was a lot of fun, but it was REALLY hot. I got a free snocone, though (thanks Rob!), so it was totally worth it.

Joey, Megan, Taylor, and Colleen being kinda goofy

The second time I went with the youth group. We were supposed to play softball, but the fields were closed because it was kind of rainy so we just decided to go to GF. Also, a lot of fun, but we were yelled at for being loud...go figure.

The third time was with Chris Shaver and Kevin Becvar. We were just hanging out before Chris leaves for Denvar for the next year...also visiting Molly at work. She really appreciated all of our comments during the tram tour. All of the trips were bunches of fun, but it was just kind of ridiculous that I kept ending up there.
Kevin feeding a goat

• Finally, I went to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...wow. It was intense and kind of hilarious. Though I am pretty upset about some of the changes that were made in the "book-to-movie" transition, I absolutely loved it and cannot wait to see it again. Yes, I know I'm a dork. It's all good.

I know there'a an overabundance of pictures in this post, but I'm a big fan of visual aids.

Love and prayers