"Thank God for all I missed, because it led me here to this." -Darius Rucker

This morning I woke up to my favorite sound in the world... thunderstorms! However, after a few moments of laying in bed smiling, I sat up and started freaking out because we didn't have a back-up plan for what to do when we couldn't go mountain biking! Our plan for rainy days was to contact REI to see if they had someone to belay while the kids did indoor rock climbing, but we didn't talk to the store the day before, so we knew that was a no-go. After doing about a half-hours worth of research online about free activities in Dallas, I headed down to breakfast to see if any of my fellow interns had any helpful suggestions. After asking about ten people and striking out, I talked to one of our house pastors, Esther (who is also a Gamma Phi!) and she suggested borrowing intern's gym cards and taking the kids on a tour of SMU and playing indoor soccer and basketball with them. It was such a great suggestion that we did just that! We went from SMU to Walnut Hill UMC to Chapel Hill UMC then back to SMU for the day! Since the sun was out since it had just stopped raining, we took that opportunity to play volleyball on the outdoor sand courts next to the gym. Then after sweating for a while, we headed inside to play some Knock-Out (aka Lightening) on the basketball court then played half court then took a break for lunch....and right back inside to playing full court basketball, then ended with kickball! What a day! As random as it was, I think everyone there would say that it was much more enjoyable then biking out in the heat all day long :)

On a different note...check out this cool wall in a taco place a few friends and I hit up last Sunday for lunch! So cute :)

Last night, a few kids and I crashed one of the team's (Pleasant Mound) bonding time! We all spent the night at a bowling ally laughing, hanging out, and just relaxing after the long... yet first day of work for the week. It was a much needed time away from SMU for me. Although I absolutely love being there and living in community with so many friends, I sometimes feel as though a change of pace is necessary to stay sane. It was such a great chance to get to know some kids I haven't talked to as much as others, as well as strengthen relationships with the ones I have. All in all, a wonderful evening and a spontaneous way to start off the week....ESPECIALLY after having a trying of a day biking as I did. But I don't want to make it seem worse than it was, or re-live it by complaining, so I'll just say this; I am so blessed to have had such positive role models in my life as a child. And I am so grateful that I grew up in a loving environment with loving parents that helped mold me into the strong, caring, passionate individual that I am today. God bless my parents, and everyone out there doing what's right for those they love.

I heard this amazing quote this weekend: "What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for today?"


Listen to this --> The Living Proof by Sanctus Real :)