My trip to the BIG APPLE

I was New York City bound on November 19th! It was my first time in the Big Apple.  NYC was absolutely amazing and fortunately, I get to go back in two months for my highs school senior trip! Out of the hundreds of pictures I took on my trip, here are a few for you to enjoy.  :)

The Christmas decorations in Macy's were absolutely beautiful.  It is the "world's largest store" and contains nine different floors to shop. It was crazy how many Christmas trees there were in Macy's "Holiday Lane!"

Central Park was one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen! I could spend days there and never want to leave.  Pictures cannot even show anywhere near the experience of seeing this beautiful park.  If you go during the winter, you must ice skate in the outdoor rink. I did and it was a blast!

Times Square is so much fun. I could happily sit in Times Square and just enjoy looking around at everything.  If you make a purchase at American Eagle Outfitters, you get to have your picture on the big screen in front of the store.  

It was so fun to see this famous American statue.  I was amazed at how large it is!  I loved getting to ride the boat out to the Statue of Liberty and watch as Lady Liberty appeared larger the closer we got to the statue.  

If you ever go to New York City, you must stop at the restaurant "Serendipity" and get a frozen hot chocolate.  I had seen the adorable movie Serendipity that came out a few years ago and after watching it, I have always wanted to go and get a frozen hot chocolate.  Let me tell you....it was so good!!! You must try it!

New York City was one of the greatest vacations I have ever had! I cannot wait to go back to NYC!

Camp Agape: Fun, Friends, Faith, & Hope

Hello Everyone! Today when I checked my email, there was an email that I was so excited about!!! It was an email from the camp where I have volunteered at during two past summers. It was simply just an email telling past volunteers when the dates of the camp where going to be and if they were interested in volunteering again this summer to fill out the volunteer form.  

Camp Agape is a bereavement camp in Texas that is  for children who have suffered a loss. The camp is completely free for children ages 7-12 who have lost loved ones like a parent or sibling from cancer, car wrecks, murder, suicide, or any other accident.  Some of the campers come from Fort Hood and have lost someone who has served our country.

I have volunteered at this camp two different times. It has been an amazing experience for me to help some of the kids.  It is so easy to get caught up and focus on ourselves with all the fast paced life and stress Americans have, but when you go to this camp you are reminded how fragile life is. Whenever I think about Camp Agape, I am reminded to not get caught up in the little daily stressors of my life and that really in the spectrum of life it is not important. I am encouraged to focus on the things that matter in not only this life, but more importantly the perfect life to come!

When I was 12 years old my dad was diagnosed with cancer and died a month later.  I think this has allowed me to better help the kids at camp, because even though the circumstances of their loved one's death might be different, I can somewhat relate to the feelings they are experiencing.  I cannot wait to go back to this awesome camp this summer!  

Here are some of amazing little girls campers that I got to spend time with at camp.

If you want to learn more about the camp you should check out the website:

http://www.campagapetexas.org

♥ Puppy Love ♥

My high school has a week where after Christmas break, instead of going back to school, all juniors and seniors participate in an internship.  For my internship this week, I am going observe at a local animal hospital.  I am extremely excited, because I want to be a veterinarian. So I will blog soon about my experience, but to kick off the start of my internship I thought I would post a few pictures of my two gorgeous dogs! I have two golden retriever brothers named Max and Sampson. I love them so much!

Me and Max

I absolutely LOVE this picture! Definitely one of my all time favorites! 

Is he completely adorable or what?

We love taking naps together! 

Forever & Ever & Ever & Ever...

One of my goals for  this year is to study and read the whole Bible.  I was extremely excited last night to begin this with my new Bible I just received for Christmas.   I decided I was going to start with the first book of the Bible, Genesis.  I have probably read chapter one of Genesis over 50 times from hearing the creation story ever since I can remember. But only after reading two verses I imminently had to stop, because one phrase consumed my thoughts. The phrase is found at the very end of verse two and proclaims, "the Spirtit of God was hovering over the waters." I had to stop and reflect on this statement for a few minutes.  It is impossible to comprehend what it was like...There was no man, nature, earth, planets, or even stars.  It was only the Spirit of God.  It is  amazing to think about that there has never in time before me been where God's Spirit was not present or ruling.

Then today at church, I was reminded of how He has not only been present and ruling every moment up to the present, but He will rule FOREVER!  It is easy for  Christians to say this all the time, but when you really think about what you are saying, words can not even describe how amazing that is.  It was during our worship song "Glory to God Forever" (Steve Fee) that I was pondering on the words as I sang them, rather than just reciting them.  This song talks about before He created the world He was King, He reigns right now, and He will rule forever!

I encourage everyone who reads this post today, to really think about how God has and will always rule every moment of all time.  It is impossible for our brains to even comprehend how God has ruled every moment and will rule all of eternity, but I encourage eveyone to try and think about how extraordinary He is.  I know I was completely at awe and overwhelmed with His presence.

Here is a link to a video of the song I sang in church today. Think about the lyrics. It really is truly amazing! :)