Youth Retreat 2012

This past November, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel with my new church to north Minnesota. I say north instead of northern, because we seriously were on the tip of the state, almost in Canada. :P At first I was really nervous for the trip because I didn't meet a lot of people yet. Like I said, I was new to the church. Looking back on the trip though, it was a trip of a lifetime. I had so much fun. I absolutely loved the simplicity of life up north. Let my pictures tell you about some of our adventures...

Adventures around Lake Superior.

{Almost} all of the girls that went on the trip.

Trips to different light houses... some being at 10pm at night, with no light, standing on a 3-foot slab of concrete, with no railing, surrounded by water...

The option of going in Lake Superior in November.... let me remind you were are in Minnesota. I didn't go in. 

Food combination testing...

Yummy pizza places

Hike to Gooseberry Falls

P.S. This is my 200th post! Thank you to ALL of you who follow and comment! You inspire me so much!

Friendship Photoshoot

Over Christmas break, I had the wonderful opportunity to take some pictures of five girls from my school (three of which go to my church as well). This wonderful session just had to in the back of our church! Out of the five girls, I've played on the same volleyball team with four of them. This was/is the first of my winter sessions {I have more coming!}. I wasn't 100% prepared for this session, but I was ready enough as I could be. I arrived just a few minutes earlier than they did. We had a few inches of snow the night/day before, so there were snow plows in the parking lot, and wonderfully snow-covered trees. It also happened to be snowing at just the right speed, not too slow that snowflakes can't be seen, but not too fast where you can't see the girls' faces clearly. It was definitely a God thing. Once we all were ready, we headed to the back with our already-cold bodies, and ugg boots. There our adventure started. At first I got just some basic pictures, but then we enjoyed being a little creative. Enjoy!

You have no idea how many laughing pictures I got. I'm still smiling when I see them.

Candid!

Twins!

That building in the background? Yah, that's my church. :)

I brought these white bows that made this shot really fun.

I had SO much fun with these girls and I'm excited for another "friendship" session this weekend!

Which picture is your favorite?

My Year in Review | Photos and Words

January

counsins / brothers / winter cooking / basketball watching

February

babysitting / valentines / sledding with friends / hair feather/ watching friends in sports / brother signing

March

awkward cousin photoshoots / National Lutheran Schools Week / best friend / volleyball team at Dairy Queen / teachers making pancakes for us / roller blading / State wrestling championship (1st place!)

April

confirmation / track meets / best friend / last school band concert / last school volleyball game

May

track meet / baseball games / Festival of Nations / annual lock-in / prom / last choir concert / 8th grade field trip / volunteering at Camp

June

Zach's graduation / my graduation / my mom's graduation / salutatorian speech / first Twins game at the new field / goodbye parties for friends

July

campfires / fish / lake / wedding / first phone / 4th of July / fireworks / brothers / trips

August

state fair working / county fair ribbon-winning / flower picture-taking / bird watching / babysitting

September

birthdays / adventure seeking / cousin time at the lake / dog-loving / portfolio building / football games / 1st day of school / first pepfest / Girls of Grace concert

October

volleyball / cousin's confirmation / brother's playoff game / adventures with the cousins / early Christmas / Fields of Faith / half marathon watching

November

Grand Marais / youth group trip / Gooseberry Falls / Thanksgiving / Student Council lock-in / my birthday

December

snow fall picture / band gift exchange / church youth directors / my old school's Christmas concert / best friend / siblings / winter pepfest / new mascot / aunts / extended family / cousin with our friend's baby

Minnesota State Fair 2012

It's never too late to talk about the fair, right? Like last year, I worked at a food booth named Chinatown. If it isn't obvious, we sold Chinese food. Our shift was from about two in the afternoon to about eleven, with a few little breaks in between. A certain percent of our profits from the booth went to a camp that I went/go to. I always find it really fun to be helping out such a good cause while hanging out with friends. It's my way of saying 'thank you' to Camp Omega for all of the times I've had at camp. We were there on one of the hottest days {again, like last year...}, but we survived with water by our side. :) Fair food was fun to eat, but I couldn't eat it for more than one day.

Sorry for all of the old pictures in posts, but since I have them, I might as well write about my adventures on this blog, because that's what this blog is about: my journeys with Christ.