It's finally fall!

There is something about fall that I love. Maybe, it's the fact that I can drink my morning coffee without sweating or just because Salted Caramel Mocha's have arrived. But, I don't know.

This past weekend, I could definitely say it was a fall weekend. On Friday night, I sat in my jammies and watched Grey's Anatomy reruns for hours. One of those things that is just not exactly acceptable in summer...sitting inside. The next day, I got to spend time with my mom, my dad, and my sister. We drove an hour away to where my cousins live. I finally had the honor of meeting my sweet little second cousin, Chloe.

I mean isn't she just precious!

I might be a little obsessed with her ;)

...and I was holding her when she was smiling at Papa. Priceless. Seriously, look at that baby smile!! We are definitely related :)

Here are some of the cousins of the McGuire side of the family.

(Me, Chloe, Marleigh, & Frankie)

I have to say. Normally, we have so many kids around when the whole family is together but it was really nice to have the "oldest" with the "youngest". :) I loved every second of it.

We were about to leave when my cousin mentioned that an Apple Orchard was right up the street. Immediately, we packed into the car and drove down the street!! I love apple picking. And apples in general. There's something super fun about picking your own apples. 

 Frankie was so excited to pick apples. He grabbed his own apples and picked away!

He is just the right height. :)

But...sometimes your big cousin just needs to help you pick the best ones!

I love eating the apples right after they are picked. Right in the middle of the orchard...that is where they taste the best in my opinion!!!

Once our bags were filled to the rim, we headed to the little store.

Inside, there were fresh apple doughnuts. My favorite. They are the World's Best Doughnuts. Hands down. Don't they just look scrumptious?!

Frankie loves his doughnuts and was really excited to have his before his lunch ;-) Perks of having big cousins!!

Overall, Saturday was a fall-filled day!!

When we got home...we put all of the apples we had picked into baskets because that makes it feel more like fall and because I wanted to count them :) We picked exactly 80 apples!! How does that happen?!?! 

Enjoy your fall....and don't forget to go pick your apples ;)

Goodbyes are NEVER easy.

So, I know I planned on blogging these as a series but with catching up on blogging. I putting a lot of goodbyes into one! Sometimes things don't go as planned and I am definitely learning that!

Summer was coming to an end and school was about to start again. I knew this time was coming but I didn't want to think it was real. I was going to have to send off my best friends to college. And I was going to be stuck in Columbus. (Can you tell I was excited/still am?--complete sarcasm)

My sweet friend, Shannon!

My dear friend, Bonnie!

My best friend, Audrey!

I thought I would bawl my eyes out when they left but I didn't. I thought a lot of things were going to happen but they didn't. I guess I think too far into things sometimes. But for real though. I miss them all the time and love planning visits to see them...random Skype dates too :) (SERIOUSLY THE BEST INVENTION EVER)

Wedding Season - Part TWO

AH. The time came for two of my favorite people to get married. On September 1st, my dear friend (I call her mama) Katie married her best friend Dave. They both love Jesus so much and are amazing role models for living your life for Jesus together. I was blessed to be a part of this celebration. 

On Saturday morning we got our nails done!! 

(Bonnie, Katie, & I)

Rehearsal Dinner Pictures:

Aunt Maggie & I. (She's not really my aunt...actually none of them are. BUT, I call Katie mama and these are her best friends SO they are "aunts" to me)

(Katie C, me, Katie B, & Bonnie)

Auntie Amanda.

Sweet Anna!!

Aunt Katie!!

Abby and I!!

Mama and I!!

MY COLE LADIES.

(Katie, me, & Abby)

Bonnie, Katie, & I.

The Rehearsal Dinner favor. Adorable coffee mugs!! :)

WEDDING DAY!

9.01.2013

The beautiful Bride.

Mr. & Mrs. Mason!!!

Madison & I at the reception.

The Cake. Love the letters!!

Mama otherwise known as the prettiest bride ever and I.

Can you guess who caught the bouquet?? That's right me :)

*Disclaimer....I'm not planning on getting married anytime soon ;) Let's get through senior year and college too!

Wedding Season - Part ONE

Weddings, how I love weddings. I think weddings are on my top 10 all time favorites things because I love celebrations. This year, I had two weddings within three weeks.

Towards, the end of summer my family and I traveled to NYC for a family trip and then went to Boston to celebrate my cousin Robbie marry the love of his life, Andrea.
Here are a few NYC Pics:

Yankee game with my family.

 FAO Schwarz had this adorable minion!

My sister, Marleigh, my mom, & I in Times Square. 

My parents surprised me and took my sister and I to go see the Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon. I had been dreaming of seeing this musical since it came out. I listened to the soundtrack over and over and over again and FINALLY I got to see it!! Thanks to my mommy and daddy :)

Back to wedding season...right?!?!

The day of the wedding we had some free time to do what we wanted. So, my Uncle Bob decided since all of my family was from out of town we would go to the Patriots Hall of Fame in Boston. It was super cool even though I am not a Patriots fan!!

Now, this is pretty cool.

With my little cousins, Desmond & Brogan, at the Patriots Stadium!

The Bride...my new cousin, Andrea! 

My sister and I at the reception.

I wish Robbie & Andrea the best! I love you both SO much. You guys know how to throw a party...that's for sure!! Thank you for letting us dance the night away with you.

Summer 2013

So, lets just pretend I wrote this one the last day of summer...okay? ;-) Life is finally starting to settle down...not really but I finally have time to BLOG! So, I am a very happy lady today!! :) Here's a look on the rest of my summer!!

Well, after Vacation Bible School came one of my favorite days of the year!! The 4th of July! I am blessed to have an awesome community that celebrates the 4th of July in such a special way!

Parade with my friend, Bonnie.

Party in the Park with my girls, Audrey & Bonnie.

And, after the 4th of July summer flew by! The Saturday before I left for Daytona I went to Katie's Bridal Shower!! She is such an amazing woman and she is beautiful inside and out.

Her wedding will be blogged soon :)

DAYTONA 2013 - Student Life at the Beach Conference

Every year, since the end of my freshman year of high school, I have attended this conference in Daytona, Florida. This is conference where I met the Lord and it holds a special place in my heart and will forever. I look forward to traveling miles and miles in 12 passenger vans with other high schoolers and fabulous leaders. I look forward to the sermons by Louie Giglio and worship led by Chris Tomlin and Brett Younker. Yeah, talk about amazing. This years theme was KINGDOM. 

UALC at the Beach

(My whole church group who went!)

Miss Madison & I

Bonnie & I

The fabulous Daytona leaders for 2013!!

(Dave, Katie C, Christen, & Katie B)

My roommates for the week.

(Abby, me, Katie C, Bonnie, & Madison)

CAMP 56 2013

Oh Camp 56, how I love you. Last year, I was asked to be a helper to a head counselor at Camp 56 (a camp my church puts on for 5th and 6th graders in Southern Ohio). I said yes and had a wonderful experience. This year, I was asked to be a head counselor. I was beyond excited to spend a full five days with 5th and 6th grade girls. Not only that, but I was able to share my faith with them and love them. I had so many beautiful girls who love Jesus. Their joy was incredible. I miss them and pray for them all the time.

My co-counselors.

(Gina, me, & Madison)

Miss Madison & I

One of my dearest friends, Shannon was a counselor in the other 56 girls room.

CEDAR CAMPUS 2013 - PEACE

This summer, I had an amazing opportunity to go to Cedar Campus (A family Christian camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan). The Schuster family invited me to go with them and so I became their daughter for the week. Before Cedar, I had prayed a lot about my future (college, occupations, and other things girls think about ;-) ). 

When we arrived, the kids and I hopped out of the car and ran to the beach. It was beautiful. I didn't take too many pictures because I turned my phone off for the week and spent a lot of time with Jesus and so many friends who I love. There are so many things I love about Cedar...here are my top 10 (it's super hard to narrow these down!!)

10. The Sauna (seriously one of my favorite experiences)

9. The Honey Pot (includes Choco Tacos)

8. Gloria Taylor dock....you can have a lot of great conversations on that dock...well, I know I did!

7. Talks given by Russ Nagy (theme was Peace) & Worship led by Dave Fullen

6. Family game....The prophet song was created after this fun night!!

5. Conversations (especially because I'm extroverted ;) )

4. ANY SENIOR DT ACTIVITY (High School Activities)

3. Water Polo Game

2. The People (includes meeting new people)

1. Time with Jesus

Here are some pictures of Cedar!!

THIS IS THE GLORIA TAYLOR DOCK. :)

I just love this look. So pretty and preppy....nautical...okay, now I am dreaming. :)

Sail boats. One of the best activities at Cedar

Water Polo Game :)

Senior ladies of the Senior DT's!!

(Abby, me, & Marissa)

Cedar Campus Family

(UALC)

KEEGAN'S CONCERT

After I got home from Cedar Campus, I joined two camp counselors from Camp 56 and we went to Keegan's (a guy 56 leader) concert. He is in a band and so Shannon, Abby, and I decided to have a girls night and go to dinner and then go support our friend, Keegan!

Me, Abby, Keegan, & Shannon after Keegs concert!!

Abby & I.

Shannon & I.

I had a fabulous summer and I hope you did too :) Now, onto more posts that I need to catch up on!!