A-Hiking We Did Go

The day started off with one of the yummiest breakfasts I've ever had. The youth group and I went to Milk & Honey cafe in Beltsville and WOW was it delicious. Lots of food and amazing quality. Pricey but so worth it, especially if you know how to order. I love these people and good food makes everything better. Nestor left us afterwards and the girls took a trip to Great Falls. We jammed in the car and then just explored. It was so nice. The falls were lovely and the trails were fun, if not a bit muddy and buggy. I laughed a lot and it felt good to be outside and seeing great things. I truly wish my cramps hadn't been awful. I would've enjoyed it a lot more and I'm sure the girls would have to. But they were incredibly patient with me and understanding. Shout out to supportive ladies helping you through the tough times. After a few hours we drove back home. I felt bad that I kinda cut our day short, but I'll be honest getting home was the greatest feeling ever. A nice hot shower did the trick and I was all better pretty instantly. I thought about other plans I could make to take advantage of the day but honestly? My body deserves a me day. Kinda needs it honestly. Good food. Good friends. Good sunny skies. And lots of doggos. I'm so happy with this day.

Not that I'm necessarily happy that my nephew was sad haha never that. But Karla got a video of him. I guess he was thinking of me which is already so heartwarming. He was whining saying he wanted me. In all honesty he was probably just cranky and sleepy and hungry and wanted to be home. But he said he wanted me. I've rewatched this video a million times. My precious nephew.

Good Lake Day!

The Youth Group went to Deep Creek Lake today! It was actually lots of fun and I had a wonderful time.

• I was stealing hats first thing in the morning. Yay hats!
• We got some decorations taken care of during the care ride
• We chatted and had lots of deep emotional venting going on (as seems to be a new motif with this group)
• We had a lovely, quick service
• There were puppies EVERYWHERE AND I GOT TO PET SO MANY OF THEM
• We went on a super pretty walk
• I got to hang out with some of the youth who I don't really get to talk to as often
• We all got to sing lots
• Samira made a pretty flower crown and we all got to play with it! YAY HATS!
• The water was nice and cool and we played with a cutie little shrimp
• I basically just enjoyed a nice, relaxing time with these really cool people for one last time before we all head back to school.
• God is good and this world He has created is stunning.

Youth Group Day

A whole afternoon. With people who matter. Who are willing to listen. And just get it. And make your heart happy. And you feel useful and welcomed and like this is who you need and where you need to be. That is a lovely thing. Lovelier when you get to wear shorts of course, but eh, you win some you lose some. I vented a lot today and related a lot today and I'm just so glad to get stuff off my chest and remember that I am not alone.

IBBG Youth

I went to church today! Since I'm home for the weekend. And during our service, the youth group performed. It was nice to see them all performing, especially since we don't do it often. I got to smile at them from the audience. And I actually knew the songs so I sang along quietly. It's just nice to know how far we've come as a group and to physically see everyone standing together. And singing for God. I'm happy. And I'm happy I at least made Aby laugh while she was up there hehe.

To The Place Where I Belong

First off, we need to talk about the S.T.A.G.E blog. Precious babies are enjoying their wonderful time in Edinburgh. I'm jelly. But also super happy for them. Reading the entries gives me joy. Partially because I'm seeing all these pictures and thinking I WENT THERE! I'VE NEVER SAID THAT BEFORE OMG. I CAN ACTUALLY SAY I'VE BEEN THERE. And mostly because this is an INSANE experience and I'm hoping that they love it and learn a lot from it. It's good for them.

Speaking of good for you. ONTO AUGUST BLOGGING!

Day 1:

• Bless these people, they really do not understand how to travel. We're so inefficient. It's so cute.
• A conversation plane ride and I'm wide awake!
• California weather is hot but oh so nice. The breeze feels lovely and there's no humidity!
• West Coast Baptist College has a beautiful campus. Not necessarily the place for me, BUT it was so nice and everyone was very sweet and accommodating.
• We caught a glimpse of Lancaster Baptist Church's Vacation Bible School and man did these guys go all out! Shows what can really be done when people put forth the effort (and money).

Day 2:

• Evangelizing! Honestly, I don't think that's where my gifts lie. But it was good to do it all the same. Especially knowing that someone's heart actually was touched and we helped someone get through a hard time. We also had some pretty AWESOME guides. 
• We had a tour of this place and it really was nice. Again, not the place for me, but anywhere is more likely to have better music resources than McDaniel. I can see why other people would certainly be very happy here. I'm glad I came because I've now seen Angelique in this environment and know that she will definitely benefit from this school.
• Also really glad that this has the little ones thinking about college. As I predicted, tour guide called me out on asking all the big questions. Good. I made the kids pay attention. And most of them seemed to decide that this was not the place for them BUT they certainly have an idea of what to look for. I've planted a seed. Hallelu!

Day 3:

• BEACH. Mind you, I don't love the beach. At all. Far from it. But the weather was so nice and the view was pretty sweet and these people just had my laughing the whole time. 
• Service. I learned to plant a seed and shine my light. I think everyone who goes to church hears this once in a while. I can't describe it or reiterate it as the guest pastor did. But his personal experiences and stories, as well as his wording and evident love and kindness just touched me. It made it obvious to me how much my testimony and the impression I leave really mean. We even got to speak to him and his beautiful wife afterwards. I seriously love how kind people here are.
• More kindness. We found an old friend of Hermana Delmi's after the service. He and his wife were lovely and funny and automatically showed us so much kindness. They even invited us to dinner at In n Out Burger! It's a thing. I've finally tried it. Check that off the list.

 Day 4:

• Six Flags all day
• We actually did have a lot of fun. Again. Not so much because of the activity. It really was just because of the people I shared the day with.
• I took a picture with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Foghorn Leghorn!
• So much Harley Quinn and Superman stuff everywhere. I was a happy girl.

Day 5:

• We're still really bad at this airport thing. But we have improved significantly.
• All our seats are separated. I am placed next to a kind older gentleman who is actually very funny. He talks to me about how much he hates So Cal and just prefers Virginia. How his family is from the city, and how he left his parent's home at a very early age (as opposed to kids from our group), and now he and his wife live in the country! We spoke about food, tourism, attractions, his daughter, and college. It was very pleasant.
• Right as the plane started moving, a stewardess explained to me that some girl near the front was very distraught about her seating arrangements and was hoping to trade seats with me (I'm assuming it had something to do with family). So instead of being alone in the 22nd row, I was alone in the 8th row. This time, however, I was sitting in Economy Plus. More leg room! 'Cause I totally need that, right? Haha. I also sat between two pregnant women who were both very sweet and would joke every now and again with each other. Overall, I'm hapyp witht he flight. Didn't sleep so I'm exhausted. But I'm happy.
• Now I'm home. And I'm so so so so so glad of it. (Also. Finally saw new RWBY episode. SO GOOD)

Every day all the time:

• Very personal moments with these wonderful people. Moments that helped me learn where the people I cared about were in their lives. Stories about our pasts. Jokes about the future. Absolutely idiotic moments. Advice and prayer. And so much understanding. And an overarching feeling of love that I truly needed.
• Parodies of all kinds of songs
• Jokes about Joshua trees

California, Here We Come

WOW. It's been a while since I've written here. And that's completely not okay. Not sure if this is the BEST idea 'cause I know I'll be very busy soon. But I'm deciding right now that (sans the 1st and 2nd where I am without computer), I will write an entry every day for the month of August. Like the old days! Get back in the swing of things. My life could use it :)

I'm writing today because tomorrow morning, at 4AM to be exact, I'm headed to the airport! And then I will be on a flight towards LAX. I will be spending the remainder of this week in West Coast Baptist College with my youth group. This is bittersweet, admittedly. I don't know why, probably because there's a lot of ways this could go. But I'm positive! It'll be a good experience for me. Plus, I leave home all the time, and I already know what dorm life is like. This will be a breeze. It'll be nice and warm and we will all have an incredible experience. Sure, I'll have lots of episodes and videos to catch up on -sigh- but that's completely okay. I'm gonna make the most of this crazy time. I'm not even so excited about the destination. California is okay, but it doesn't amaze me. And again, I know college life. I'm more so excited for the blessing this could be in my life and the lives of my friends. Speaking of, I'm pretty sure some of the younger ones are gonna be looking at this school in the future and will just think "ooh pretty campus, I'll apply here!". So the little Upward Bound goody two shoes that I hid somewhere in my distant memory is probably gonna come back out and start asking about visitations, library hours, class sizes, parking, meal plans, etc. Ahh. College tours. I have not missed you haha. Pray for me. Wish me luck. I'll see you in a few days <3

Tempted to post the song that this post is named after.

BUT I've been playing this non-stop and I for one actually really like Coldplay.

So. Priorities.

PS: This is my 500th post. And tomorrow is the 2 year anniversary of Smilation. How CRAZY is that?!

Silver Diner

Took my youth group to Silver Diner! Most of them had never been. Noobs. BASICALLY it was the best time I've had in a long time. It hurts to say goodbye. Yes, I'll be back in 2 weeks. But seriously, these guys are so there for me. Truly. I don't know if I could've survived this summer without them. It hurts. But at least we had tonight. Filled with laughter, good food, and the people who truly just understand.

Cristina also joined us tonight! Karla and the baby made their appearance and had dinner with us (sort of :$ ). I'm so glad everyone got to see them. And I shall be spending tomorrow and Thursday here as well. So you know I'm in for the best last week.

After Hours

Reason 364 (Oh snap!): Basically everything after work made today a pretty great day.

• YAY TWITTER AND FANGIRLING 
  
• VBS ended today and it was really awesome spending time with the kids and seeing all the parents and just having fun. What I find great is that I even told people how much I would love to lead the hymns and fun little songs for the kids. Second day, the woman in charge of that didn't come, so I, along with Idalis & Abbi, were asked to lead. And we did it every day since. I got what I wanted. And I loved every second. I truly had fun with it.
• The youth group had a Titanium jam session, which is always fun. Once you realize no one can hit that high note.
• We practiced a new song for tomorrow. I'm so excited. Idalis and I WANTED to do a song together for our 7 years of baptism, but it kinda became this big group thing. It sounds good. I really can't wait. I love singing in church with my favorite partner and our boys backing us up!
• I am off! To catch up on the Internet Icon Season finale and the new Attack On Titan episode!

Let's be real. We all know what tomorrow's post will be.

Sidenote: Missing Blogs!

Reason 314: "Good morning, gorgeous. :) For Father's Day we would like our youth group to perform a skit & I would absolutely love if an expert, like yourself, could help Jennifer & I organize it. Let me know what you think. Have a great rest of the day!"

D'aww, they love me. Sounds like fun! Yay theatre in church! :D

And now, Neji is a turtle.

SIDENOTE: What is happening to my blogs?!!? First off, I went to our tumblr and it was... different? There were no posts. And the layout is funny. I don't. What? Also, I followed Mama Kowaleski here on blogger and now her blog seems to have been deleted? Cries for days! I loved reading it!

We're Huggy People

Reason 309: My friend Samira graduated! She was the friend who made this. So we, the youth group, had a little party for her. I mean, party in the fun hanging out sense. Similar to the one we had for her brother (Fabrizio), myself, and Diego last year. And it was seriously ridiculous amounts of fun. I know I talk about this group a lot. But just having them there for me to laugh with, talk to, and fangirl over Cristina about is such a blessing. Oh, the ridiculous amounts of laughter. Plus, I spent the day with Keila! My favorite little girl. Seriously, she and I are besties haha. In to years, it'll be Idalis' and Chris' turn!

I'm not a Ke$ha fan and we all know this, but I know that you love her. So, let's talk about why I can't get her song "Crazy Kids" out of my head?

Send JJ Right Over!

Reason 302: So we went to a kids party with everyone from church. If kids parties aren't fun enough, we played Red Rover. We had a BLAST. Mind you, it's a pretty violent game. But it's mad fun. And the kids seriously got so into it. I love hanging with these people.

WARNING: THIS IS NOT ABOUT KARLA!

A baby was born today! A little baby boy. He's my cousin's baby, the one who (supposedly) had the same due date as my sister. He was born today, healthy and happy. Sorry, no picture. I wouldn't post one without parental permission. But I can promise you he is precious. He will be quite handsome, just like his daddy. Welcome to the world, Baby Guzman!

I Love to Singa

 About the Moon-a and the June-a and the Spring-a!

Reason 228: Maybe I can go home for Easter? If I can, I get to sing with my youth group! Oh you would not believe how much I miss it. I yearn for it. Hooray possibilities

Also, POGO released a new video! If you don't know who he is, he's a musician that takes audio clips from movies, shows, etc. and adds his own music. And this new video? Has to be my favorite.

Some more of his awesomeness:

• Alice (Probably his most famous mix)
• iCarly
• White Magic
• Wishery
• Mellow Brick Road (In the spirit of Oz! Complete with cute animation)
• Jaaam
• Expialidocious
• Bloom (My old favorite)

Sunday

Reason 15: Family in Christ. I have spent my entire day with the youth group at my church. Pizza. Apples to Apples. Taboo. Mini-Golf (my first time. hole in one on the first hole WADDUP!). Water balloons. SUCH an amazing day. It's incredible to feel this love among brothers and sisters. It's a family. And I'm so grateful for their presence in my life.