Yes Please!!!!

"Lord, turn [me] every which way but loose." - Beth Moore

A few thoughts

A few thoughts on life and faith....

I believe that during the course of every Christian's life, there are times of major growth as well as times where things seem to just level out for a while, and maybe even go a bit in reverse. Last spring semester, I really felt like my walk and my faith was sort of at a plateau-- not going forwards or backwards but just sort of standing still. I was not totally sure why, but I really wanted to get back to that place in my walk where I was growing, learning, and yearning to grow closer and nearer to God. In that desire to grow, I really prayed for it and also started looking for ways to learn more through books and blogs. Over the past 4-6 weeks, I really have read some amazing things by truly amazing writers who have really got me thinking, wondering, and growing. In effort to share what I have found, I thought I would share little pieces that really struck a cord with me and really moved, convicted, or exhilarated me.

Oh... and I know those of you who know me are shocked that I am actually reading something other than what I have to read for school... I know... SHOCKING! :)

From the book Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure by John Piper (very good read)

"When delays and detours and Frustrations and opposition ruin our plans and bode ill for us, faith in future grace lays hold on the sovereign purpose of God to bring something magnificent to pass. That is the key to patience."

Also from Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure, a quote from C.S.Lewis

" The pleasure of pride is like the pleasure of scratching. If there is an itch one does want to scratch; but it is much nicer to have neither the itch nor the scratch. As long as we have the itch of self-regard we shall want the pleasure of self-approval; but the happiest moments are those when we forget our precious selves and have neither but have everything else (God, our fellow humans, animals, the garden, and the sky) instead." - C.S. Lewis

From the book Fresh Brewed Life by Nicole Johnson

"We are the beloved of God. We will go through trials, but we can submit to them so that our faith, the most precious thing we have, may be authentic." (this quote in the book is coming from 1 Peter 1:6-7)

" When we give ourselves to God-- mind, body, soul, and spirit- He changes us. We cannot change ourselves. We don't have the spiritual stamina to change ourselves..." - Nicole Johnson

From Perry Noble's blog... (old post from May 1, 2008)

"If you are in Christ then you are the King’s daughter…and you do not need to settle for the boy who can’t accept responsibility…you need to wait for the man who is WILLING to fight for your heart." -Perry Noble

"The king is entralled in your beauty" -Psalm 45:11

Liked this...It really hit home for me.

I read this over at MckMama's blog and thought I would repost part of it here. So true... so convicting and scary yet so very exciting to know HE is leading somewhere greater than we could ever imagine!

"No matter how careful our planning, we can rest easy in the knowledge that God's plans are greater than ours, even as we watch the plans we had set in motion unravel. When we face these stormy days and nights, we may be taken aback by the fiery intensity of it all, but God is never surprised. He's like the universe's best boy scout: always prepared. God is ever ahead of us, even when we lag behind, mouths agape as we see where He is leading us." - Mckmama

More music to my ears

In this post, I did my first Music to my Ears post... and told you I would update with new songs I like... so here are a few more!



1.Meredith Andrews The River


Chorus:
Welcome to the river come drink come away come find your very life
Welcome to the river of God where your brokeness is washed away
Find your healing find your freedom in the river of God




2- Newsboys Adoration



Chorus:

Come, let us adore Him He has come down to this barren land Where we live And all I have to give Him Is adoration. Come, let us adore Him He has come down to the world we live in And all I have to give Him Is adoration

3- 33 Miles Stand Amazed

Chorus:

When all the lights go down and the world is quiet

No one is around, I wanna be the same man that'll serve you then

Like I serve you now. That my convictions never change.

O let my need for you remain. As real as the moment I was saved

So I will always stand amazed.

PS... sorry about the formatting. It is like the paragraph spacing has changed, but I dont know how why it has changed. So... it will stay strange for this post!

The Rollercoaster of Life

I have often heard people compare life to a roller coaster at an amusement park. I am even one of those people. In fact, roller coaster is the the only earthly thing I can think of to describe my life. Starting gate to the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. Turning left, veering right. Up, down and all around. The fear of cancer, the fear of doing and going somewhere totally out of my comfort zone. The shear joy of a clean cancer report to finding out that Sarah Boyd (before we knew she was SB) was on her way. Despite all the dips and curves, thrills, and scares, I know I can live life to the fullest and not be lost or afraid. I can live my life in Him knowing that when I get to the finish line, life will have been greater than I could have ever imagined and more wonderful than any dream I have ever had. And even greater than life here on earth, will be eternity with Him.

As for life right now, I am definitely on a high. This semester has started. I have not been this excited about a semester in a long time. I have not felt this much excitement about life, maybe ever. Truly giddy with excitement. God has greater thing planned than I can ever imagine. I can live knowing that a spectacular picture is being painted buy the hand of my awesome God. Wow! I am so blessed and so thrilled to be serving God through my life!

What a trip!!!

Wow! What a trip! It was a whirlwind of a week, but a great one none the less! I have learned so much, seen so much, and been influenced and changed because of all that I have seen and done!!!

Thanks, Lindsay, for letting tag along for a great adventure!!!

and of course... a few last pictures of our trip!

1- Lindsay in Gronigen on Sunday evening.

2- Amsterdam-- Specifically Dam Square, which is where our hotel was. We were only there for about 14 hours. So we did not really see any of the city since we did not get to town until about 7pm. But... at least we stayed in a great location and could have dinner at one of the cafes on the square!

3- Lindsay and I in Gronigen... same time she was having her coffee above :) (probably should have taken my glasses off.... oh well. too late now!)

Gronigen Day 2

Today was my last full day in Europe on this adventure. Our day was a busy one, but a very good one and we learned and saw sooooo much! Today we spent our entire day (930am to 430pm) at Martini Hospital in Gronigen.

Martini was the only hospital we visited that we actually had a positive response from. Lindsay had been in contact with Atti, the head neurology nurse. Atti was a wonderful lady, who was so sweet and so eager to help us. Atti set up a whole day that included meeting with her to see how the neurology unit worked/operated, a meeting with the building construction manger, a meeting with infection control, and then a tour of the entire facility.

We were able to see and learn so much that will be wonderfully valuable for both my research as well as Lindsay's research on the semi-private patient room. Martini is such a different hospital from any hospital I have ever seen in the US. The attention to the life cycle of the building, design of the exterior, views to nature and access to natural light, as well as the overall design of the facility was incredible. I think American health care designers could learn a lot from European designers and hospitals like Martini.

Here are a few pictures from our day at Martini!

1- "Famous" facade of Martini Hospital. This is the southeast facade that has a double skin facade where there is the facade of the building and a second glass facade about 24" out from that. The glass acts as a sound barrier as there is a busy road there, but also acts as a heat gain controller. During the summer (like when were there) the censors open rows of the glass skin when the temperature between glass and building gets to 21 degrees C. That creates a stack-effect ventilation where the hot air rises, drawing cool air up along the face of the building cooling the building. During the cold winter months, the glass facade helps keep the building heated and warm!

2- Here you can see where the glass opens to allow the double skin facade to vent.

3- One of the foot traffic areas where visitors and hospital staff can go from one side of the building to the other. The glass windows on the left of this picture look out to the court yard that is created by the two connected wings of the building.

3- The walls in the hospital are all wall systems that are easily movable and changeable should the building use ever change. They are also magnetic (yet dont feel like metal) which allows patients to display all of their cards and what not.

4- The main entrance of the hospital (at the end of the road). I love that the Dutch ride their bikes everywhere!!!

5- Typical 4 bed room. The typical unit in Martini is comprised of 32 beds-8 private patient rooms, 4 4-bed rooms and 4 2-bed rooms. The boom with the screen on it at the top of the picture is actually for entertainment. Each patient has their own entertainment screen and telephone.

6- Typical private patient room.

7- The workers from the lab use scooters to get around the facility (which is HUGE) and has over 500 in-patient beds plus houses outpatient doctors unit as well as outpatient oncology!

Gronigen

Hey Everyone!

Today has been a somewhat boring day.... we mainly just traveled. We work up this morning in Deventer, packed and headed to the train station. We caught the train from Deventer to Zwolle and then Zwolle to Gronigen. We got to Gronigen about 1pm and took a taxi from the train station to our hotel. Our room was not quite ready, so we sat in the sun room at the hotel and waited for about 30mins for them to finish in our room. Once it was ready, we freshened up a bit and then headed out to find lunch! We had lunch at another little street cafe. I had a great sandwich with some sort of ham, goat cheese and marinated tomatoes. It was SOOO good! After lunch we walked around town. Gronigen is similar to Deventer except a bit bigger. It is probably about the size of Greenville or Columbia. This evening we walked around a bit more and then stopped at one of the cafes for a soda. All of the stores are closed (maybe because it is Sunday... we are not sure as most stores in Deventer were open this morning when we left). So, we have come back to the hotel. We will probably watch a movie or something.
Tomorrow we will be at Martini Hospital all day. They have been so gracious as to set up tours for us of the facility as well as meetings with different departments. It should be an interesting day! After we finish at the hospital tomorrow afternoon, we will catch the train back to Amsterdam. We will spend the night in Amsterdam and then catch a plane back to London. From London, I will immediately catch a plane back to the States, but Lindsay will remain in London for a few more days!

It has been a great trip and I have loved seeing these places and being in Europe. However, I am very excited to be going home as well! I am ready for a home cooked meal, being at home, sleeping in my bed. Plus I am really excited about this semester and what the future holds!

Today may be my last post for a few days... I am not sure what tomorrow's schedule will hold as we will be leaving Gronigen around 530 or 6 and then wont get Amsterdam until about 8.... so I will update with more pictures and more stuff, but it will probably be when I get back to the US!

Pictures of Today in Deventer!

1. Deventer Hospital- entrance/drop off area

2. Overall shot of Deventer Hospital

3- The cafe where Lindsay and I had dinner tonight.

4- View of the river tonight... people were just sitting, relaxing, and enjoying life!

5- Sunset over the river... and a hot air balloon!



6- The market in the square this morning... they were selling everything from "antiques", flowers, fresh fruits/veggies, necklaces, etc... Everyone was out and about and enjoying the day!

7- Lunch being serenaded by the men playing the drum and the accordion!

8- Me and Linds by the river... this was actually yesterday....

9- Typical street in Deventer... this was a residential area. In the more commercial areas, the buildings are 2-3 floors instead of 1-2... so they are little bigger, but look very similar.

10- Another view of Deventer street... everyone rides bikes... young, old, big, little. and if you are too little have your own bike, you some how ride on your parents in either a seat or just balanced on the bike.... :)

Deventer day 2

Today we spent the whole day in Deventer. As I mentioned in the previous post, Deventer is a pretty small town, but it is a bit bigger than we realized. This morning we made our visit to Deventer Hospital. We had been told it was walkable... it was walkable... but it was about 5-6 km... or about 3-3.5 miles. We walked over there and got pictures of the outside, but did not go inside. Lindsay had already been told they would not give us a tour, and since we, as Americans, seem to stick out like sore thumbs, we decided not to try to get inside. From the outside though, the facility was very different from American facilities and was more of an architectural statement than any hospital in the US I have ever seen. We decided we had gotten our exercise for the morning, so we caught the bus from the hospital back to the train/bus depot. From there we walked back into town. (the hospital sits on the very edge of town... on the opposite side of town from where our hotel is) We stopped and got a quick bite to eat while we were walking. After lunch we came back to the hotel for Lindsay to get some work done and I took a nap. After a little break, it was back out for some more walking around and sightseeing. The city is such a cute little town with picturesque views, cobblestone/old brick streets, classic dutch architecture. So despite that there is not much to do here in terms of big museums or what not, we have loved walking around and looking in all the shops and windows. Plus the weather is SPECTACULAR!!! The highs have been between 70-78... so the weather is great and the cool breeze through the alleys and streets feels wonderful! Tonight we had dinner a cute little Italian cafe. In typical Deventer fashion, we sat outside overlooking the street/walkway. (In the city proper, there are very very few cars... so all the roads are one way and are more like big sidewalks that periodically have cars on them but mostly just serve the pedestrians and bicycles). It is fun to people watch and just sit back and relax! It is a slower, relaxing pace. The servers are not eager for you to leave. People have drinks before their meal, and then slowly have a 2 or 3 course meal, and then have drinks or coffee or tea after dinner. It is a wonderful break from the fasted paced world of the US. We are back in the hotel now (it is about 915pm here) and about to split a bottle of wine and watch a movie. We have the windows open and periodically the street performers come by the cafe just a few doors down and play the accordion and clarinet. It is wonderful to hear the music! Such a treat!

In the morning, we will get up, check out of our hotel, and head to Gronigen. We will sight see in Gronigen tomorrow afternoon. Monday, Martini Hospital in Gronigen has planned a day of tours, meetings, etc at their facility, so it will be a total work day. Monday afternoon/evening when we finish at Martini, we will catch the train back to Amsterdam for one last night together before I head back to the states and Lindsay spends a few more days in London.

As we will be traveling tomorrow, please continue to keep us in your prayers.

I will post a few pictures in another post once I get them off of Lindsay's camera!

Deventer Day 1

Today has been mostly a day of travel. We left early (430am early...) from our hotel in London. We flew out of London Heathrow at 7am and landed about 45 minutes later in Amsterdam. From the airport we caught the train to Deventer. (Map below is not the greatest, but you can see Amsterdam on the left side, and then the box points to where Deventer is)

Deventer is a small, picturesque town along the east bank of the IJssel River. It is a cute little town. There are more bicycles than cars, all of the restaurants and cafes pour out on to the street, and everyone seems friendly. We do seem to be a novelty... when we went into the cafe/bar to pay for a dinner tonight, the guys sitting at the bar were so shocked to hear Americans. They asked us all sorts of questions and seemed so surprised we were here! We sat outside and enjoyed dinner and talked for about an hour or hour and a half. It was great! After we left there, we came back to our hotel, which is actually an apartment. It is far nicer than the place we stayed in London and 3x's as big. It actually has a kitchen and living space plus the bedroom and bathroom. I will be sure to take some pictures and include them here or on facebook.

Since we are both so tired from a somewhat late night last night and a super duper early morning today, I think we are going to relax this evening and try to hit the ground running again in the morning.

Here are some pictures from today... we don't have many as most of the day was spent traveling!

1- Our hotel- Our hotel is the white taller building sort of in the center. We are staying on the third floor. The right 2 windows on the third floor are our living room.

2- Looking across the river to the only part of Deventer on the west bank of the river. And yes, a (old) windmill.....

View out our living room windows to the right towards town... we ate dinner at one of the cafes like the one seen here. The place we went to was actually just around the corner and out of this shot.

4- The view to the left from out living room... right to the river!

5- This is our living room, office area, dining room (to the left) kitchen, bathroom beyond the red door to the left. The bedroom is off of the kitchen on the right!

London: Day 3

Hello Everyone!

I hope this post finds everyone doing well. We have had yet another great day in London. It is hard to believe the London portion of my trip is just about over! This morning we met with some very very nice architects at the Nightingale Associates here in London. We met with them for about two hours and it was wonderful! They were very interested in Lindsay's research on the multi-bed patient room as well as my research on Post Occupancy Evaluation. They also wanted to know more about the private patient rooms as that seems to be what the UK is moving to. It was great to sit down and really just have an interesting dialog with great folks! They were eager to help us and we have offered to help them in any way possible.
After we finished meeting with them, we did what any two girls in London would want to do-- we went to Harrods! I had decided I wanted to buy something girly and special so bought myself a bottle of perfume. Linds and I both think it smells great so I was excited! After our walk through Harrods.... looking at all the Oscar de la Renta and Gucci, Armani... ah. Amazing. but way way way way way over my head! So after walking some through the store, we headed to find a quick bite to eat. We found a local place called Eat and had sandwiches there. After lunch we came back to the hotel for a little while. (We both accidentally fell asleep.... whoops-- we are worn out!) We woke up about an hour later and headed to go do a little more sightseeing before meeting Erin for dinner. So, we walked about 10 blocks up the road to St. Peter's Cathedral. We walked inside and had a bit of a look around. For me... it seemed so crazy that I was standing in a building that I had only seen in books and pictures in my art and architecture history classes. It was amazing. After that, we decided since it was getting close to when we were to meet Erin at our hotel, we would start walking back. Erin had invited us to her house for dinner, which was so wonderful. So we stopped on our walk back from the church to get a small token of gratitude... a cute little plant, which of course I don't have a picture of!

When Erin got off work, she met us at our hotel, which she goes by on her way home. So we met up with her, got back on the bus and headed over to her very cute little place! We made tacos and ate in her garden. It was very cute and the food was wonderful!! It was great to just sit in her garden and enjoy life and have more girl talk! We left her house about 930 and headed back to the hotel because we have a very early morning. Our flight leaves Heathrow about 7am and since that is about 45 mins from here and they told us to be there 1.5-2 hours early... get the picture. My alarm is set for 330am our time, 10pm EST. Yay.
Here are some pictures from the day!


1. St Peters

2 (and 3)- Harrods!!!

4 and 5- At Erin's house making dinner and eating in her lovely little garden!

More pictures will be posted in the next few days to facebook too because Blogger is not really liking the pictures. So I am going to only put a few on here for the rest of the trip and put most of then on facebook! :)

Love to all and please continue to keep us in your prayers for safe travel as we fly to Amsterdam tomorrow morning and then will catch the Eurail to Deventer and then onto Gronigen in a few days!

London Day 2

Hello Friends and Family!!!

Today has been a fun day. The weather today has not been as wonderful as it was yesterday, but we made the best of it and had a good time.

Our morning started a little later than planned (someone I am traveling with, who shall remain nameless) apparently turned the alarm clock off when it went off at 730. So..... we woke up about 915 when this person's friend, who lives here in London, called! So. After we got ready for the day, we got on the tour bus (our bus passes from yesterday were good for 24 hours... so they were good until this afternoon) and rode over to visit Evelina Children's Hospital. They were less than friendly.... and more or less asked us to leave. Disappointed we did not get a tour or really even see the hospital, but we made the best of it and went on our merry way!
We decided to walk from Evelina towards Buckingham Palace. Yesterday's tours took us by the palace several times, but had not seen it from the front. So we walked across the Thames River, passed the Parliament and Big Ben (who I was corrected... Big Ben is the bell itself not the tower...), past Westminster Abbey, and on to Buckingham Palace. After many pictures along the way, and many more at the palace, we walked up the long mall towards Trafalgar Square and our hotel. We stopped and had a quick bite to eat at a local deli. While we were eating, it started raining (and of course it was when I forgot my umbrella in the hotel room). So, after that we headed back to the hotel. Lindsay needed to send an email and we also just wanted a little break. We took our short break, ran out for a quick errand and then came back to the hotel for a few.
This evening, we met up with Lindsay's friend Erin, who was SO sweet, to watch her intramural softball team play a bit. She has been sick, so she was not able to play, but we had fun chatting with her! After we left the softball games, we headed to the pub they usually hang out at. We had dinner while the team finished their game. We had great girl chat and enjoyed a good beer and dinner. About an hour and half later, the team showed up. We stuck around for a few and then headed back to the hotel.
I think it is fair to say that today has been a good day, but we are both a bit tired as we are still adjusting to the time change. Tomorrow morning we have an early day as we are meeting with a local architecture firm at 930am London time, which is only 430am EST. After that, it will probably be more sightseeing since tomorrow is our last day in London. Friday morning we will check out of our hotel at about 430am and head to London Heathrow to catch our flight to Amsterdam. From Amsterdam, we will catch the Eurorail to Deventer and then, a few days later, on to Gronigen.



Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure! I Hope that everyone is doing well. Please continue to keep us in your prayers for safe travel. We are having a great time though!!!



1- Lindsay and I on our way to Evelina... over looking the River Thames and the Parliament Building. (The hospital is literally across the river from the Parliament building)




































2- After Evelina gave us the boot... we walked across the bridge to get a closer look at this building, the Parliament Building.

3-Buckingham Palace (no sights of the queen... she is off to Balmoral for the summer)

4-View down the mall towards Buckingham Palace and the fountain that sits right in front of it.

5- Evelina Children's Hospital... from the outside.

6- Lindsay on the tour bus heading over to Evelina.

7- Wellington Circle- Side view of the Arch at the circle. The statue on top of the arch is the Angle of Peace landing on the Chariot of War. I really liked it. It overlooks one of the many parks of the city.

8- Detail shot of the sculpture of the Angle of Peace landing on the Chariot of War

Laura and Lindsay's European Adventure- Day 1

So Yesterday (Monday), my good friend Lindsay and I left for a quick trip across the BIG pond for a little more than a week! Our flights were all screwed up, but none the less, we made it! Here we are just pulling out of London Heathrow Airport in the little taxi heading to our hotel in London. (Do realize we both only got a few hours of sleep on the plane and were grose and tired from traveling all evening and night! So dont judge the way we look!)

This is not our taxi... but this is what ours looked like! :)

Because our flight out of Atlanta did not leave until about 11pm Monday night, we did not land until noon London time (7am EST) on Tuesday. So... we were exhausted when we landed. BUT... we decided we would go and check-in to the hotel, get showers and freshen up, and then go out and explore some. We found the perfect way to see the city out expending too much energy-- A Bus Tour!! We rode all over the city in the top of an open-air double decker bus! We saw all the major sites of the city and got a good overview so we can decide what we want to go back to and see in more detail! We did the complete loop and ended back about a block from our hotel. After our tour, we went to dinner at The Bistro, which is was a strange little local restaurant. But it was very good... and relatively cheap. So it was a good fit for us!

Here are a few pictures from our tour!

1.) Trafalgar Square

2.) St. Thomas's Hospital (where Florence Nightingale really formulated and trained nurses in the ward-- for Architecture and Health people, this was exciting!)

3.) Parliament Building and Big Ben

4.) View of London proper.... Tower Bridge is just around the bend in the River Thames.

5.) Last but not least... here we are again, post shower on the bus tour. We still look tired, but at least we were clean!!!

More to come tomorrow!!!

Leaving on a JET plane!!!

I am leaving on a jet plane! Headed across the pond for a (quick) European adventure!

I ask for prayers for safe travels!

I will be sure to update through the week as we travel!!!

Music to my ears....

I listen to music... pretty much all the time. I listen all day at work... I listen when I am at home, in the car, cleaning. Whatever I am doing, usually music is on. I usually listen to Pandora Radio on my laptop or from my cellphone where I have created a variety of stations with everything from country, to pop, classic rock, and contemporary christian and praise. If you have never used Pandora before, it is amazing and you should try it!!! It is an Internet radio station that you type in a song, artist, or group and it will play their music plus music that is similar in topic, rhythm, beat, etc. So good! You can give songs thumbs up and thumbs down to tailor the station to your wants! Its very cool!

Anyways. One of the stations I created and listen to most is my Travis Cottrell station. Since I heard Travis perform at a Beth Moore Living Proof Live event a few years ago, I have been hooked! I have had the station long enough that it is pretty tailored to what I want and like. So I thought I would share some of the songs that have really hit home for me and remind and help me focus and praise my Lord. Some of these artists are incredibly talented and their song's lyrics are simply wonderful!



I thought I would post some song titles, artists, and the chorus of each song so you can see what I am talking about! Here are a few of my favorites (oh and they are not in order... just my favorites right now)

1. Point of Grace Heal the Wound

Chorus :
Heal the wound but leave the scar
A reminder of how merciful You are
I am broken, torn apart
Take the pieces of this heart
And heal the wound but leave the scar

2. Selah I will Sing of My Redeemer

Chorus:
I will sing of my Redeemer
Lift my voice to praise my Lord
Ransomed by His blood and mercy
I am His forevermore

3. Casting Crowns Somewhere in the Middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves
Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle you'll find me


My favorites change regularly.... pretty much as often as the songs change. So. I will try to keep updating my blog with new good songs!

Bit of an update....

In the beginning of the summer I had so many plans and things to do with all the "free time" I was going to have away from school. Needless to say, much of those things have not gotten done but I have had one of the best summers of my life, if not the best summer of my life.

I spent most of June working on research stuff for work and studying for the LEED exam when I was not at work. June was also when we went to Blowing Rock for our annual family vacation. It was a great week of relaxing!!! The weather was spectacular. My dad had to be out of town for the first few days, so it was great for my mom and I to get some great mother/daughter time in. She and I did lots of things together, but one night for dinner, we went to my favorite restaurant of all time so that made it extra special! That night I also had one of the best meals I have ever had!!! At the end of the week, one of my great friends from grad school came up for the weekend. She is from Texas, so she had never been up to the mountains of the east coast. It was fun to go up on the Blue Ridge Parkway, see the Cone Manor, and of course eat at some of the great restaurants around town! One night we went all out and had dinner downtown at Bistro Roca and then went to Gamekeeper (my favorite restaurant mentioned above) for dessert and drinks. It was great to have her up there and a fun way to end my vacation!

After that week, I really had to buckle down and really cram for the LEED exam. Leading up to the exam I was really nervous as I had been taking practice exams and not doing very well. The night before the exam, I had studied all I knew to study and could recall the information, but still did not do well on the exam. When I crawled into bed, I prayed and told God it was up to him because I had done all I could do. The next day, I had a weird peace about the exam. I went, took it, and not only did I pass, but I got 100% on one of the sections!!! I am glad I studied for and took the exam, but it is one thing I am VERY happy to have behind me!

The next weekend was the weekend of the 4th of July. We celebrated the 4th with family and friends. We also celebrated my dad's 60th Birthday! It was a special day since it was not too long ago, his doctors said he probably would not make it that far!

After the 4th it was back to reality and back to work. I have thoroughly enjoyed working this summer. I only worked about 30-35 hours a week and with great people. It was a fun environment to work in and there was a real camaraderie amongst the group! While I was happy to be finishing work last week, it was also somewhat sad that this great group of people that I spent my days with was moving on. Luckily most will still be in Clemson for the school year with a few of the recent grads opening the next chapter of their lives!!

This week I am enjoying a few days at home in Columbia/at the lake house with my family as well as seeing Debbie and the kids. Thursday morning I will head back to Clemson to celebrate Lindsay's graduation. She has been such a great roommate, I hate to see her leave and move, but I am so happy and proud of all that she has accomplished!

Then, the big, unexpected trip of the summer, starts Monday. Monday I leave for EUROPE!!! I will only be gone about 10 days, but it will be a great trip and a great opportunity. I am going with Lindsay T, the friend of mine who came to the mountain house for part of our vacation. She was awarded a HUGE honor of an AIA/AAH Fellowship. So, some of the award covers travel for her to go study and do research. So, I am tagging along with her for the ride! We will spend half the trip in the UK and half the trip in the Netherlands. We will visit London and Oxford in the UK and then Deventer and Gronigen in the Netherlands. It should be a great, once-in-a-lifetime trip and I am super excited about it! I will be sure to do a post with pictures from our trip!

I get back the night before school starts, so I will have to hit the ground running and ready for the crazy semester that lays ahead. I have faith that it will be a good semester and that I will be prepared and ready for whatever comes my way! I am excited of all that is happening right now in my life. I can honestly say that I am happier than ever before and just excited about life!

Here are several pictures from all the adventures!!!

Last night at the lake... gotta love the sunsets off the dock!

Sarah Boyd on Saturday night! She is almost walking and is now9 months old!