If you only knew how many pieces of paper I have used to jot down my long term "to do" list in the dark hours of night whilst (yes, I did just use that word) listening to Squirt breathing. Somehow the papers vanish  in thin air, or I toss them, but I won't talk about that. Maybe if I have them written down on something that I can't toss in the trash can I will remember what I would like to accomplish. So here is the list of things that never get completed.

1. Be a better person. (Yeah, I know, its kinda dumb that I need to remind myself of this, but its true.)
2. Keep calm. (As I've said before, I have awful keeping calm skills."Keep calm and carry on", yeah that should be my motto.)
3. Read my Bible every day. (I usually do this one, but I still need to be reminded.)
4. Don't say everything that's on my mind. (I tell everyone everything that has happened to me every time that I see them or have a chance to talk to them. And I've noticed that no one really cares, that's what I have a blog for. :)
5. Act older than my age. (This one is kind of weird but its true. I only act like every other peer of mine, I should be more mature than that!)
6. Be a better friend. (I know for a fact that I am a great friend, but one can always improve.)
7. Treat others as others have treated me. (This one is also a little strange. When I went to work at the camp this summer the people there (all of them at least 2 yrs older than me) treated me as if I mattered. I need to do that to the people that are a few years younger than me.)

Grace

  I had an AMAZING time this week! I marked three things off my bucket list, tried a new (new to me) fast food chain, tried out a new photography "recipe" out, went to the highest elevation this side of the Mississippi, and stepped out of my comfort zone and bought a neon yellow shirt! The pictures that I'm posting are unedited, because I'm so excited to post them, and because I haven't bought Lightroom yet. :(






















Grace

  On Monday my mom, Caleb, and me headed out for NOC white water rafting tours. After almost getting lost from Mama's handwritten directions, we finally made it to the last leg of the "never ending" journey...and that's when it got weird. We had successfully made it to hillbilly country. When I mean "hillbilly", I mean shacks with 3 dozen broken, rusted vehicles scattered in the front yard! It was awful! Then we finally reached the NOC building! To describe how "hillbilly" it was; when we drove into the parking lot be saw that the NOC owns a goat! Okay, so they have this specialty breed of goat to eat these vines that are overtaking the place, but still.

Then after we waited around and listened to a really nice elderly man give a demo, (during the pouring rain) we suited up into moldy wind breakers, body odor ridden life jackets, and probably lice infested helmets. Then we all piled on an old, faded, blue school bus and headed down the narrow, bumpy road. Then the real fun began.

We waited around for the guides to throw the rafts in the water. Then we all jumped in and sat down on the side of the raft. Then we started down the calm river. For about 10 minutes I said to myself *in Lance's famous voice* "this is really dumb", and after that is when the white water started coming into view.

The first rapid was okay, but not very intense. Then the second one came and little brother #1 fell out of the raft! He was safely rescued by P.D. though. Oh, who is P.D. you ask? Well, I don't know his real name him and his wife just reminded me of my favorite 2nd cousins P.D. and Stephanie. :) Also in our raft was "hairy dude" (that's the name me and Caleb picked for him), but I don't like to think about him much. Oh, and our guide (also the nice elderly demo man).

The trip was great! They stopped and let us jump of a tall rock into the river and also do some swimming. All in all, even with all the not so good things it was an AMAZING day. :) 

 I was reading one of my favorite blogs the other day (Allix B. Photography) and I came across a video that the blogger made about her vacation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1eD4_GfBxE. I love this video, I love the way she put it together, I love the music that she put to it. She inspired me to make a video of our up coming vacation. I can't wait! With a little help from my friends, I came up with these to put the video clips to.

The Outsiders-NeedToBreathe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3e-DWGxeBA

Keep Your Eyes Open-NeedToBreathe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91iXRMkmFbs

Only Have One-JJ Heller http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thQQIUNEhls

Glow-Moriah Peters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_bUm7Le0fI


Do you have any suggestions?

Grace

 Scavenger hunts. If they complete 1 1/2 of them then they get a surprise! (toy from the Dollar Tree)

 Activity and coloring sheets that have something to do with North Carolina

 When we leave for the trip its going to be dark so I'm giving them these to play with, glow-in-the-dark sword, flag, and butterfly wand.
 I also filled their bags with electronics,
 A Travelers Diary,
 more electronics,
 These are some of the prizes they will receive if they complete their scavenger hunts.
Aren't these cute? Build your own cupcakes! I printed these out and laminated them and put velco on them so they would stick together.
Build Your Own Cupcakes:
 http://vol25.typepad.com/vol25/freebie-build-your-own-cupcake.html