Oh, hey again!

So, I haven't posted since July. Oops.

I have been crazy busy since July. So many things have happened. I won't bore you with the details because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who thinks those details are worth hearing about. I just basically worked at my regular job(s), house-sat and dog-sat. I went to the beach with the people I nanny for. That was heavenly. Lots of birthdays, a wedding or two, two funerals for my last Great Aunts, and tons of fun and laughter in between. Life is good, friends. Life is good.

A big thing is that I'm co-leading a small group of 7th grade girls with a friend of mine. And when I say small group, I mean we have one of the biggest groups with 13 girls! But, I could not have asked for a better group of girls! They constantly surprise me and they are constantly making me laugh and think about my life and my walk with The Lord. I think that's the way it should be. We like to keep them on their toes as well. And while this isn't the most godly thing, the same co-leader friend, Meagan, and I went to the P!NK concert here on Sunday. (Best. Concert. Ever.) The girls think we are so cool because we go out and do things like that. Heck, we took a couple of the girls out to dinner a couple of weeks ago. And as we were dropping them off, we mentioned that we were going to go to Meagan's house to make donuts. One of the girls was just in awe. "Y'all are going to make donuts? Y'all are so cool." Hey, if us making donuts is cool--I WILL TAKE IT! There are times when I don't feel like I'm cool to them. And that's when they always surprise me. They say something encouraging or give us hugs or something. I just love them all.

We had a sleepover in early August before school started to celebrate the start of our small group. We had frozen pizza, candy, popcorn, and movies. Everything that middle school girls love. They let their personalities run wild that night! It was so fun to see them in their element. Everyone was out by 2AM, except for me and Meagan. We outlasted the girls. We rock! Meagan and I sat on my kitchen floor talking about the night and what we wanted to do in the morning. Meagan, the girls and I chatted the next morning and just tried to set the tone for our group for the year. And the years after that...

You see, our church does this thing where you get in a small group and you have those leaders and that group from 7th grade until you graduate. I love this concept. You get to be a family. And we already are. These girls could not be more special to me. I love each and every one of them.

We had a Thanksgiving meal this past Sunday. What a success! Let me point this out right now. I HAVE THE BEST SMALL GROUP. I HAVE THE BEST GIRLS! AND THEY HAVE THE BEST PARENTS. I gave the parents assignments on what food to bring and everyone came through. I was so pleased with the turn out. Every family came, except one (soccer tournament in TX). It made my heart happy to be in the same place with the girls and their parents. Every parent is/was so appreciative of us taking time out of our lives to mentor their daughter(s)--(yes, we have twins). And I couldn't be more grateful that God has given us this group. These wonderful girls and wonderful parents make this worth it. God is good. ALL THE TIME! I can't say it enough. So blessed. Seriously.

I will be posting more often now. I've gotten the writing bug back! Maybe I'll even post about my cruise from February. Geez, I'm so terrible.

Have a great rest of the week!
-katie