legacy

I just got back from a funeral that was surprisingly emotional for me. I met Mr. Bob Venable several times at camp, we have had a special bond with the Dan Venable family (David is especially close to Carter), Marianne and Maggie were both my campers, Hannah is awesome, etc. But, those relationships aren't what struck a chord with me today. Mr. Venable has left an incredible legacy in this town. He was practically the patriarch of Camp Vesper Point, and he certainly gave his lifeblood to that ministry. His love for the ministry of CVP was mentioned repeatedly, and it just stirred my soul. Obviously, CVP has had a profound impact on my life and the packed room was evidence of all the lives that have been touched by this sweet man and the ministry he so fervently treasured. Two wonderful men shared beautiful (and one other not so beautiful) testimonies of their personal relationships with Mr. Venable, and you couldn't help but tear up from the touching stories of compassion and thoughtfulness he consistently displayed. I can only pray that someday, somehow, by God's great grace, I can affect lives like he has.

*And, wouldn't you know, we sang It Is Well with My Soul?
**I saw a couple of my pastors dressed up. Probably the only time that will ever happen!

fonder hearts

I got to hang out with Ginny a few nights ago!

It is always so sweet to spend time with this friend.

So, even though our reunion weekend fell through, I've gotten to see all of these girls in 2010:

Leigh in NYC

Blair in Nashville

Kara for Abby's wedding

Batch at Cracker Barrel

Blessings beyond blessing!

come together, right now...

Last week we had such a fun group of old CVP friends over for dinner! It was awesome that Megan (from Nashville/India) and Cate (from Selma/Orlando) who are both serving in ministry, were coming into town for a night! Megan is just home for the summer before going back for another year of ministry in India, and Cate is gearing up for a second year of ministry with Campus Crusade at Disney World in Orlando. Ryan and Kristin live in town, but we see them far too infrequently!

What a fun group! We laughed and laughed and talked and shared so much that night!
Thanks for coming guys, you rock.

PS- this was the night KJ was born and I was SO thankful to have such a fun distraction to keep me from trying to pass the time quicker!

BCFF

Last night, I had a long overdo dinner date with my dear friend, Batch. She is actually Laura Lonergan now, but she will always be Batch to me! She and her husband Tim live in Atlanta, and we decided it was just silly that we didn't see each other more often. We rectified that by meeting halfway (only about 1+ hr each) for dinner at ol' faithful... Cracker Barrel, of course.

After 3.5 hours of catching up, laughing out loud and pouring our hearts out, we left totally filled.

This girl is the best, and I can't even believe the way our friendship has grown and changed over the past 5 years.

One of the most encouraging things about time with Batch is that we are so similar. We handle situations similarly, we plan for the future similarly, we sin and struggle just as similarly. Fortunately, God gives us so much grace when we are together to be totally vulnerable about what is going on in our hearts, and we always leave stronger and encouraged. We left with a challenge to study scripture and seek understanding about the Lord's desires for us, and I am anxious to see how the Lord uses our commitment to learn together.

A walk down memory lane (really, just over our 2 summers at camp, there are many more pictures together from the most recent 3 years) (and these are only the pictures that are appropriate for sharing on the internet... B, you know what I'm thinking about)... 

Bourke & Batch 

Looking at these is so much fun.

a) I love Batch.

b) I love camp.

c) They are almost all completely rediculous, and we have had so much fun.

and now, Laura Lonergan & Emily Geyer currently-

cell phone picture... my camera is being repaired, so I'm stuck with just the ol' camera phone for a while

We haven't changed at all, but we have changed so much.

Love you, Laura Jean! Best Camp Friends Forever!

our favorite place

** SORRY this took so long to post! I haven't been able to get the video to upload until now! Enjoy!

Wednesday night David and I were invited to have dinner out at camp with some of our FAVORITE people on this planet. The Harrisons and Jenkins are so fabulous and we love them SO much!

Me and Shelby

The party for the night was a family camp version of the dock party, and it was so fun! The best part was watching the boat races... boats that the kids and counselors made... out of cardboard! Shelby was nominated to be her team's captain.

Me and Kelley- spectators

Frank- the Harrison team captain- ready to sail!

Team Jenkins- ready to set sail. Shelby was not really excited about being the one to do this, but she was a trooper!! We laughed before she got started when she asked "do you think I'll get really wet?" Oh Shelby...

PLEASE watch this video. Shelby in the black/white and Frank in the blue shorts. And, don't mind me and Kelley screaming slash laughing our heads off in the background. This made my week!

Post-race. Cutest picture award!!

I love my husband! We are SO blessed.

They love each other.

Jenkins cuties!

Buds.

Not only did we get to hang out with our favorite families, but we also saw many of our camp friends! I love Anna (and Kristin, but that picture remains trapped in my camera... I can't find the right cord!)!

Riley bug!

And we took a fun picture with 3 generations of Jenkins family counselors (but we skipped a few years).

2005- Emily (kind of. I think really Ginny or Sue were their counselor, but I shared them and the Harrisons!)

2008- Anna

2009- Allison & Kara

As we traveled down Lee Pike that night, we ventured also down memory lane. One year ago, we were scurrying around the southeast for wedding showers, moving, starting new jobs, etc. We literally didn't have a free weekend for 3 months. Now we are completely settled, completely loving life and completely blown away by God's goodness! The Lord led us to Camp Vesper Point in 2005 and it changed our lives forever! Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!

CVP '09

We got a special mid-week treat last night when our friends Ryan and Anna came over to hang out! They are both spending their summer working at CVP, and we are so thrilled to get to see them (and the rest of you CVP09ers) throughout this summer!! Ryan spent the night with us, and we hope he's the first of many. Last summer when we moved to town, my biggest hurry in finding a house to live in was so we could be a host family for camp staff. One of the greatest blessings thus far in both mine and David's lives has been hospitality- namely during our time at camp. We really want to be a part of that ministry!! So, camp people (or any people) please come stay with us!

Though our time working at camp has come to a close, we still have such a special place in our hearts for that place and the ministry that takes place there every week. Please pray for this summer at CVP:

• that kids would come to know Jesus and lives would be changed!
• for patience and endurance for the staff as they minister to and love on kids 24 hours a day
• for wisdom and discernment for Jerry and the leadership staff
• for safety at 3216 Lee Pike

I pray...
"that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Ephesians 3:16-19

PS- If you are interested in using camp for a retreat during the off-season (not summer time), let me know!

a few days late

In my haste to blog about UTC and Jimmy Fallon this week (which you can't really blame me for... how awesome is it that NBC is all about UTC?! We're gearing up for our office viewing party in just a few hours. Can't wait!), I neglected to give you my infamous weekend recap post. So, here it is. On Thursday.

I don't remember Friday. PASS.
Saturday was great! We met up with our some of our favorite people at one of our favorite places. (Sarah, Jason, Matt, Becca [Hart, not Rocha, Hart was in town from Furman, Rocha was out of town in Chicago] & Keith)(Crust). We had a blast as always, which included a riveting game of Catan. David won (though everyone tried to band together and defeat him), and all was right with the world.

Sunday was super, super fun! We went out to dinner at Ichiban with our buds and then had a big ole' party at our house afterwards! Seriously, there were 16 of us I think. The occasion for our celebration? The Towns were in town! It was SO much fun to see them and hang out. Fortunately, it was a nice night so most of the boys sat outside and chatted while the girls did their chatting inside (I don't know where else we would have put that many bodies otherwise).

The girls picture.

The boys picture. A little bit different. Way to not be awkward, RayRay.

(not pictured in these pictures: Chris Scott, Deb Jones & David Nye, Mattearley and Keith)

Obviously something was missing from the girls picture above. Josie and Ellie! They were busy reconnecting with all of their friends and couldn't break away. BUT they want to see us as much as we wanted to see them (ok, maybe not quite, but whatever...) so they came over Tuesday afternoon. They played with Harley and we all chit chatted and took pictures :).

I love all of these girls!

I'm sure we did other stuff this weekend too, but if I don't take pictures of it, I don't remember it. I do know that Matt was in town for a few days, and David resumed classes after his spring break hiatus. We're going to Oxford tomorrow and we're SO excited. I am a little (ok, a lot) nervous about 6 hours in the car with the dog. Any canine travel advice (other than don't have a dog or don't take the dog... that talk is getting annoying)?

In case you forgot... GO MOCS!

Debo

I had dinner last night with the most precious friend. Deb worked with us at CVP in 2006 and she is wonderful! I worked in the office that summer, but I got to know her through our small group. She has such a passion for the Lord, and it is so encouraging to spend time wit her! She is living in Chattanooga and going to grad school at UTC for some Englishy degree. We definitley don't hang out often enough, and last night was a good reminder of that! Deb, you're awesome! We love you!

PS- David calls Deb "Debo" ... I think it annoys her :)
PPS- sick picture of us... but oh well

sweet reunion

Last night we had the JOY of hanging out with our dear friend, Ginny Harr. As I drove her home, I got all sappy and sentimental thinking about the progression of our friendship. We met working at Camp Vesper Point in the summer of 2005. I had already buddied up with Laura Batchelor (now Lonergan), and together we were scoping out potential friends (I just realized you've probably never heard this, Gin!). She immediately filled me in on a really cool girl she had been in boat driver training with- Ginny. From then on out, it was decided, we would be friends. Well, it didn't take long. That summer was the best of my life, hands down. Reflecting back on it, it is hard to believe that I spent a mere 6 weeks in Soddy Daisy, TN that summer, and yet it changed my life in such a profound way.

I learned how to share my testimony and more importantly- how to share Christ with kids. In fact, by the grace of God I led campers to Christ (sitting in the gravel under a lamp post, none-the-less). I ran around and played my heart out. I wore garbage back shorts, a tshirt and a one-piece bathing suit every day. I showered infrequently. I had a camper "brake" both of her feet. I swam the buoys. I laughed until I cried. I had consistent quiet times. I was challenged. I met my husband. I made amazing, life-long friends.

Amazing, life-long friends are something hard to come by. As Ginny and I sat teary-eyed in my car last night, I remembered what an amazing blessing that summer was. Never again will I live communally with great friends for the sole purpose of loving on kids and sharing Christ with them. I can hardly believe that 3 years later, these friends (pictured below) are still people I treasure, and though our email chain has broken and phone calls are all to infrequent, my time with Ginny last night was proof that we can pick up where we left off.

Ginny lives in New York City (but her parents are in Chattanooga, hence the holiday visit), and I hope she comes back soon because our time together was way too short!

August, 2005

The gang. The 6 of us were best buds that summer. I still love, love these girls and miss you guys. Reunion soon?

Fast forward to last night- Me & Gin present day

PS- Before Ginny came over, Sarah and Jason came over for dinner! I don't want to down play how fabulous it was to hang out with them, and especially to hang out with Sarah after the boys left. We LOVE them!

Google Picasa

I'm having fun learning Google Picasa for an upcoming project at work and I thought I'd use some wedding photos as my guinea pigs. Here's the first one from our play day at camp the day before the wedding (oh ps- I know the date is wrong, I'm just too lazy to change it):

this one will be long

So, I've resigned myself to the fact that keeping this blog up-to-date is going to be difficult for me! This post is going to be long because I should have updated it several times before now... oh well, here we go:

We'll start off with last week, so here are some pictures (stolen from the one and only, Shelby Jenkins) from our visit to CVP for family camp:

Here she is, folks! Me and Shelby, my wonderful friend and hostess while I'm homeless. I love, love, love this woman! I couldn't be more blessed by living with the Jenkins!

Here I am with my "new friend" Anna and the kiddos! I worked at camp in 2005 with Anna's brother Daniel, and I've known about Anna since freshman year of college when my fabulous friend Kara sported her freshman/senior sister shirt from high school! How fun to be friends now!

Anna and Emily Grace let me (and David) intrude on their family for the night. There's nothing like a CVP dinner!


Probably one of my new favorite pictures! Shelby, Emily Grace, Anna, Ellie, Maddie, Laney, me and Dave. Oh, Vesper Point... we love thee.


And, last but not least... the family pyramid. That's right, family. They are so sweet to love me!

Ok, so that was last week. Whew! I bet you're not even reading any more :). Well, maybe you are, Sarah!

Now, on to the weekend! On Friday, my family drove up from Columbus (GA) and picked me & David up to head to Ohio! It was a long drive (especially crammed in the back seat), but it was such a great weekend. We spent tons of time together and really enjoyed it! The shower on Saturday was soo nice! It was extra special that Sara (who is home from Thailand for 7 weeks) got to come and we spent some good time together in the car. There were so many of David's family members there that are so wonderful and that love me so much already. I'm so blessed to be inheriting such wonderful family members!!

So, on our way home last night, David got a call from Jerry, the camp director out at CVP (you know, our fav place?). One of the jr. counselors, Hannah Venable (who David and I happen to love) had gotten in an accident on her way back to camp, and Jerry wanted to see if we could help her out. Well, of course!! It took us longer than we would have hoped to get to her rescue, but she was relieved to see us when we got to her at the North Valley Medical Plaza in Dunlap, TN (a place you never want to go). We met her grandparents there, got her luggage from the dilapidated car at the wrecker and returned her to camp. She was pretty sore, had a seat belt burn and a sprained wrist, but she was confident that she needed to go to camp. I would have to agree. There is no greater place to be loved on, taken care of and encouraged! Hannah is precious and David and I were glad to just get to spend some time with her (and her parents when they arrived from Franklin)!

One more thing: I just found out that my dad's side of the family is coming to the wedding! This may not sound like a big deal, but it IS. I have never seen my grandmother (dad's step-mom) outside of Charlottesville, VA (hardly outside of RoundHill Farm, where she lives). Plus, the Coopers, my aunt, uncle (dad's step-bro) and 3 cousins are ALL coming! I can hardly believe it!! I can't wait for them to share in this part of mine and David's lives (plus, none of them have ever met David). Yeah for family!! Oh, PLUS, this is the first time ever in my parents' 30 years of marriage that we are "cross-pollinating" as my dad said. The Bourkes and Buckleys in the same place! That didn't even happen at their wedding. How nuts?!

Thanks for reading :). This is fun!

*insert witty title here*

Well... here goes nothing! I've been talking about starting a blog for a while now, mainly because everything in mine and David's lives have changed or are changing over the course of the recent months. Granted, I don't know who will actually read this (other than probably Sarah... who needs a nickname, by the way), but I guess it's good for me to chronicle our lives anyways. Maybe we'll keep it up (and by "we" I mean "I") and use it to communicate with both of our families. Maybe.

So, I guess I'll talk about where we stand in life right now? Is that good? Who am I even talking to?...

Well, currently I am sitting in my office at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where I am the new Director of Development for Annual Giving. Sounds pretty great, right? Well, it is, and I'm sure it will be better once I know what the heck I'm supposed to do all day every day. For now- I'm blogging. But seriously, I really enjoy the people (though it's quite a change from all of my Samford friends, who I miss!!) and I think it's going to be a good job. Also currently (like literally, right this minute), David is in an interview with Steven D. Bell. Pray that it goes well! This is a second interview, so we're hoping for results!

As far as our living situations go... we are so blessed with amazing friends. David is living with the Falcon, and they are really enjoying each other's company (especially while FWalk is lonely now since Alex is gone). It's cool for them to spend this pre-wedding time (for both of them) together. Next week Forrest (who, by the way, I have yet to see!) will be finished teaching his summer school class, so they are hoping to get to run together a good bit and do some serious packing & cleaning!

I am living at "casa de Jenkins", and it's awesome. They are at family camp at CVP right now, so it's sad being there without them, but they are so generous to open their home to me (for like the millionth time). I've been feeding the demon cat and David has been coming over in the afternoons while I'm at work to water all of their plants. We have a good system going. I'm going to stay at their house at least through their upcoming trip to Disney World (pretty much the end of June), so I can a) keep my stuff in the same place for 3 weeks in a row, b) actually spend time with the family who's house I'm occupying, and c) continue to feed the demon cat while they are gone.

As far as our future housing situation goes, we're working on it. David and I are meeting with our wonderful realtor this afternoon and we're checking out 2 very viable options. We are trying not to get our hopes up since we've been burned twice in this process now... so, more to come on our progress as it develops.

Ok, now the fun stuff! David and I went out to CVP last night and it was such a blast! We wanted to have dinner with the Jenkins since I'm staying at their house without them and I miss them. Plus, there are tons of fun camp people that it is always great to have an excuse to see! Also, David wanted to see the Venable family while they were in town from Nashville. Sooo... we accomplished all of those things. We had a great time hanging out with all of our CVP friends and just being at that special place. It was a really special treat that my new friend Anna is the Jenkins' counselor this week, so she and I got to spend the night together too! As we were leaving camp we were (and still are) so thankful that we can really see how we can continue to have a relationship with camp even though we have to enter the dreaded "real world". We feel so blessed to have CVP as part of our lives since obviously, it (well, the Lord) is what brought us together and it is the reason we are starting our lives here in Chattanooga.

Ok, well, that's all for now. I'll try to play around with this thing a bit more, and maybe you'll get some pictures eventually. Again, since I'm at work, my resources are limited, but once Shelby gets back from family camp- I'll have some great ones to share!