Living For God Conference {and other happenings}

Early in July we were able to attend a conference called 'Living For God' Wow!! So many profound words spoken and so many deep thoughts shared. Steve Deace, Scott Brown, Kevin Swanson, and Phil Kayser were the four main speakers for the three day conference. 

There wasn't a HUGE turnout but God always uses small things to bring big changes.

"History is the work of God in judgement and redemption."

::Kevin Swanson::

There was such a dynamic difference in the way each of the speakers presented their messages. From calm and gentle to #thereisnowayanyoneisgoingtosleep... Kevin Swanson was definitely the latter. :]

His messages are always so inspiring!!

Yep, he's pretty much the definition of "dynamic"

"No man can rise above his worldview."

::Steve Deace::

I have to say... I was prepared to not have a lot to glean from Steve Deace's message but... wow!! He has changed the way he delivers the truth so much in a VERY positive way!! I very much enjoyed his messages. So insightful!

"Failing to learn the lessons of grace has greatly ruined our nation."

::Phil Kayser::

This man... #somuchwisdom I enjoyed every bit of it. Even the parts that flew over my head. :]

Some of my favorite people are the ones years younger than me. 

I had so much fun with this lil' boy and his sister. 

Cause every post needs an awkward selfie.

This kid. #nowordsneeded

Aaaaand sometimes you really can't distinguish the ten year age difference.

Yours Truly turned another year closer to becoming a immature  mature adult.

It was such a blessing to have some of  my girls over to celebrate. We had a whole cartload of fun and I love each one of them to pieces!!

 Thank you so much ladies for a fun-filled birthday and for gracing me with your dear presence!

As I look ahead on the rest of my seventeenth year I pray fervently that Christ would use me for His glory.

There are so many things that I regret of my sixteenth year. So many things that I said and did. But with God's grace, I fervently hope and pray that this year will be a year of unmeasurable grace and exceeding mercy. I would be so humbled if you all would offer up a prayer for the direction of my seventeenth year. That God would use it fully for his glory.

It's almost intimidating thinking about all the things that I need to learn and so many character traits I need to acquire. #lifeishard But isn't God so good? Mmmm... I believe very much that He is!

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Have a G O R G E O U S   Thursday, lovlies!!

In a nutshell... Full of pictures

A LOT has happened this year... and I haven't even begun to catch up with the events in photos.

But nonetheless, here are a few that I managed to sneak in on my "pretty consistent lack of photos streak.":]

This was such a darling wedding! So God honoring and sweet. One of the groomsmen fainted. It definitely startled everyone. You only hear about those things. You're hardly ever in the midst of it. It was kinda cool  interesting. :]

One of the tables at the reception. Isn't that darling?

SPEECH!  Where do I begin. This is the major reason why I haven't posted much the beginning of the year. We've traveled more in this year than we've ever traveled in two years! #nojokepeople 

We traveled to Minnesota 3 times, Kansas, and Omaha Nebraska.

Above is a picture taken during a speech presentation. I think this was the semi final round. 

One of the things that made the Tournaments so fun was that ALL the competitors wore business suits.

So cool seeing all the young men in suits with ties and the girls with a-line skirts and suit jackets. We all looked VERY professional. (Which is the point. :])

Another highlight was meeting new friends. There's something about being surrounded by a bunch of other competitors that know how you're feeling. The butterflies, the jitters you get when you're waiting for your turn to walk into the room decked with three judges. The adrenaline rush you get when someone yells "POSTINGS!" the lack of sleep experienced the night before the Awards Ceremony. Let me tell you, I have grown SO much from being a part of speech. The above picture is of a fellow competitor. She was only twelve and she made it to semi's! There certainly was TALENT at those tournaments.

During the tournament in Omaha Nebraska, the darling Beasley family graciously hosted us. It was such a blessing not to have to worry about hotel costs. After the tournament we spent some time with them. Oh man! We had a B L A S T scoping out pizza places that were actually open at 10:00 ish at night, eating pizza at 11:00 at night, and then playing Dutch Blitz past midnight! 

I try to deny the fact that I'm short but... this picture prohibits me from even entertaining the thought that I'm not short. :]

 After speech Josie and I were able to go on a road trip to Chicago with these ladies. EB's mother drove us. We had such fun! I'm pretty sure we solved most of the world's problems. It's amazing how much you can cover in a drive to and back from Chicago. Random: The hotel we stayed at was absolutely UH-dorable. It had a loft! #garretsandloftsforthewin!

While EB and Amanda were photography a wedding Josie and I got to hang out with Mrs. A. See the above photo. (I do realize how perfectly unflattering my face looks in that photo.) We had a blast! We were all over the place! And we came back with fun stories to tell EB and Amanda. 

We spent some time with this lovely family of five.

Love her!

Tis the season for open houses! 

It was such a lovely time at this Open house. Barn dancing! #iwasjazzed!

Aren't they adorable! Josie and I have been working at the Cory's farm. It has been a blessing and actually pretty fun! By the way, the lovely Wissmann family will be having a concert at the Cory's farm. June 14th. Contact them if you have any questions. 

And I'll end with a picture of the Bontrager ladies. I can't get enough of these girls! Love you ladies!

::::::::

This post doesn't even cover half of the things that have happened these months but it was a start. 

How has your year been going? Do tell all!

:::A "pinteresty" day:::

It was a gorgeous day coupled with a beauteous wind, when three young ladies traipsed outside in hopes of a "perfect pinteresty" shoot...

::::::

Hmmm... where do I begin to describe this fantabulous day???... :]
I think one of the things that made this day so awesome was the fact that it was my first time using manual mode on my camera during a shoot [hollah!]. Woot woot!
::::::
The forecast had predicted rainy with overcast sky's for that day... It was really foggy in the morning too. But I prayed for a clear day and God was good... He even brought out the sunshine. Not a raindrop fell...
::::::
So many interesting things that happened that day! i.e- I had the brilliant idea of taking a couple pictures  of EB, with her guitar, in the ditch (there were some pretty weeds flowers in there :) A red car pulled up to the intersection of our street and just sat there for literally five minutes or more... we were all already thinking up an escape plan. I think someone said something to the effect of "Come on... we don't need to worry, if worse comes to worse, EB has her guitar!"
::::::
We all quickly learned how heavy a guitar in it's case can be and how heavy a trunk full of flutes, photo frames, and vintage cameras can also be while carried up and down roads.
::::::
EB's comment to me after I had made her sit in the middle of a fairly busy road for some pictures. [with a smirk/smile] "It's your turn now, Kaylee... I bet you'll look cute in the middle of the road too!"
::::::




Note: I took all the pictures of Elizabeth- my sister, Josie, took all the pics of EB and I together. And the picture with all three of us in it, my mother took.

Note: Long post ahead... and this isn't even all the pictures I took, people! [smile]

The night before our fun escapade I had googled to see if there were any abandoned tracks around where we lived... sure enough I found a long track that went through town. The next day we drove there and this is what we found... (see picture below) Apparently that was a very old google earth photo... :} 

Okay...gotta tell you the story of these train tracks. I know we look calm in this picture... but we're actually not exactly that. Dear mother (who was ever so gracious to drive us to this rail) had warned and prepped us that we needed to be very careful because a train could come along any second... and one did... we all decided after the train rolled by that it wasn't worth it... I suggested we go ask if there were any abandoned tracks around... so EB and I, in our Sunday's best, traipsed into a small building and we I asked if they knew of any abandoned tracks around and they kindly offered a studded track just behind their building. We were jazzed to say the least.

Picture taken by, EB

I'm posting this picture here so that EB doesn't feel bad about the two of her playing the guitar coming up... just thought I'd let you know. [wink]

Hmmmm... what a day... what a day!

I'll post a link to EB's blog as soon as her pictures of this day are posted!

Any favorites???