First Week in Jacksonville, Florida

 The Minutemaids :)

By the way, we're holding Minutemaid juice..

there really was a reason for us posing holding bottles! ;)

 Okay, so too funny!  Amanda & I are out taking a walk on

Saturday afternoon, just enjoying the beautiful weather..

we were walking along when we looked and both saw

that there looked to be a bird of some sort floating in the

pond in front of the church.  We decided to go over and

check it out.  Once we got even closer, Amanda exclaimed,

"An exotic bird!  A Pelican!"

Well, we anxiously hurried to see exactly what it was,

because it was hard to tell from a distance.

We both died laughing when we got closer & realized

our "exotic bird" was actually a Cheeto bag! :)

 We were sitting trying to get some things done during the

day at the church on Saturday, when one of the girls spotted

 a "little friend" hanging in the curtain.  At first they thought it

was dead, but upon further investigation, we found it was quite

alive! :)  Annaleese enjoyed catching him and playing with him. :)

 The teens met for a Scavenger Hunt at the church on Saturday.

I enjoyed watching all the random pictures of their findings! :)

 We stayed with the Murphy's.. a sweet, older couple

from the church.  We enjoyed our nightly chats with

popcorn and hot apple cider or hot chocolate! :)

Just snapped a few pics of their cozy home..

Can you tell they like lighthouses?!

I thought of you, Aunt Woody! :)

 Our room for the week.. Carly and mine, that is..

well, at least for the first part of the week, and then

Carly was pretty sick, so she ended up with her own bed

and Amanda and I shared for the rest of the week!

 We had a pizza party after church on Sunday night.

Here's Amanda and me with a few of the girls from the church..

 We were out recruiting & I had to get a pic

of the sky.. it was AWESOME!!!

 Hanging posters on Monday night.. :)

Carly helped with the ones higher up, as you can tell

it was a bit hard for us to reach them.. :)

 Chillin' after hanging posters..

 So, Tuesday we had this horrible rain storm, but we still

went out recruiting, of course!  It was kinda fun treading

through puddles with about two inch standing water, but

it just made for a bit chilly feet later on.. :)

 Carly & Me

 As I mentioned, Carly got pretty sick..

but, no worries!  "Nurse Amanda" was there

with medicine, chicken broth, and water! :)

 This picture is taken in honor of Carly.. :)

She loved this "bush thingee type Palm Tree".. :)

 More Palm Trees!!!  Gotta love em'! :)

Wednesday chapel "Splash Ball"! :)

Poor Carly.. she was sick this week.. :(

Someone left this Bible on the registration table..

I thought it was pretty funny.. the name on it, that is.. :)

KJV Bible owned by a James King :)

Ranger girls ready for Tube Tug..

War night comedy :)

Carly was such a good girl and drank the "concoction" that

Mrs. Van made for her.. :)  She said if it wasn't so expensive

then she would've dumped it down the drain! ;)

Janna's dinner time entertainment! :)

(Classic picture of Stephanie!)

The co-captains with Trey Toler.

Greg & Trey Toler.. very sweet teen boys

from the church and school.  It was so weird

to see them all grown-up!  This was the church

that I went to in 2007 while traveling on practicum

during my Sophomore year of college..

Who knew just years later I'd be back again?!

And this is more of the Greg I knew before.. :)

Leesie loves cuddling with Miss Carly :)

Well, Leesie does love to cuddle! ;)

The War nights.. I think we ended up with a high of about 70!

The girls seem to enjoy Miss Carly.. I think they're gonna miss her..

I think we'll all miss her.. :(

The co-captains!

(Notice anything funny about this picture??

Hint: It has to do with our shirts.. :))

Seth & Marty being.. Seth & Marty! ;)

 

One night we were sitting in our room and all the sudden

Amanda exclaims that she smells something horrible!

I couldn't really smell anything.. well, it ended up being

a plant that was by our bed!  Both Carly & I couldn't

really smell it, so I even got down right next to it and

tried to smell it.. still, I barely could!  And Amanda

was about dying!  We concluded that she has a good "sniffer"! ;)

I enjoyed Goldfish for a late-night snack :)

Trying to quietly put them back now.. :)

Seth fell for it!  The "cup of water on the hand" routine! ;)

Here's "Sam"! ;)  Well, at least the boy that Summer

called "Sam" when we were there on Practicum! :)

Brianna & Me

Lisa & Me

Us girls with the youth pastor's wife, Ashley.. she was awesome! :)

The captains & co-captains

L to R: Alex & Tizzy (Rangers), Marty & Carly (Seals),

and Seth & Amanda (Recons).

Amazingly, the Recons & Rangers tied for second on

the final night!  And the first place winner.. well, pretty obvious! ;)

(pardon the bad picture.. it was late on Friday night!)

Taking posters down on Friday night..

Carly enjoyed her big tape wad! ;)

(Reminded me of traveling with you, Summer! ;))

Late night pizza party! :)

When it's this late at night.. we end up doing some crazy things.. ;)

A "palm tree bush" picture in honor of Carly.. :)

Pictures by the Palms..

Leaving the Murphy's.. we had a great week and will

miss them along with our popcorn and late-night chats!

Amanda LOVES Australia, and we would go by this

Kangaroo Gas Station everyday on our way to and

from church, so we would enjoy pointing it out to her..

 

When we got to church on Saturday morning to leave,

I realized that Amanda had gotten something on her shirt.

It ended up being sap from the palm trees!

So, I tried to help her out.. :)

I get easily amused over "little things"! :)

 

We had a really great week!

The church and school there really has some guys who

are definitely leaders and I believe will be used of the Lord

in a special way.  It was neat to see how the Lord used them

and worked through them, even to be a challenge to me!

I'll be excited to hear how the Lord continues to work

in willing, surrendered hearts..