Summer glimpses

As some of you may or may not know, I spent my summer at an intensive missions program called Harvest School in Mozambique.  I studies along 350 students from all over the world and 250 more Mozambican students who were in another school with the same ministry taught in Portuguese. Our school represented 41 different nations and it was so incredible to study alongside people with all kinds of different stories and backgrounds. 

I have been home eight weeks now and have been thinking back to this summer.  It feels like a dream.  In the midst of my three months in Mozambique, time felt like it was at a standstill.  Upon my return home though, it felt like time went by in the blink of an eye.  Almost dreamlike.

Over the next few months I will share more of my time in Mozambique with you.  As I unpack it in my brain (we learned so much I have been told from former students it will take 2 years to process), I will share it with you.  For now enjoy these snapshots a friend of mine captured that highlights our daily life.

   

photos by Fatima Boatwright

Summer glimpses

Snowy Adventures

Last weekend I got to road trip to Indiana with this handsome fellow for an early white Christmas.  I think that was the closest thing to a white Christmas I have ever experienced, seeing as Tennessee doesn't get much snow.  It was such a blast and so much fun to open presents with his mom with the fire lit, the tree glowing, and snow falling outside.  A dream come true.  {If I could add an emoji right here with the hearts in the eyes I would.]

Also, this was my first real sledding experience.  And let me tell you, I was terrified.  I can talk some big adventure but when there is danger involved I tend to get a little nervous.  We went to the biggest hill in town and let me tell you, it was huge! We ended up going night sledding because it was too warm during the day Saturday and the snow started to get slushy, so we waited until about 10 o'clock at night until it froze back over.  As you can see in the bottom picture, I look like a marshmallow.  I was actually fluffier and bigger than all the boys after all my layers were put on, but at that moment it was that or freeze, so warmth won over.  If it was daytime and lots of pictures would have been taken I may have chosen some of my cuter (less warm) options, but it was cold and dark so the marshmallow attire took the prize!

Snowy Adventures

So. Many. Stairs.

Currently reminiscing on my vacation a few weeks back.  I was able to take a week and a half off  and enjoy this beautiful weather by taking a trip up to Indiana with David.  This is where he is from so he had quite the plans for us while we were there.  Seriously we went on adventure after adventure.  I suppose that is the perks of growing up somewhere, you know all the ins-and-outs of a place.

My favorite thing we did was climb 110ft fire tower.  And I. Was. Terrified.

You know how sometimes the anticipation of something is worse than the actual thing.  Yeah well that happened with this climb.  I think I almost freaked myself out more in preparation than the actual 5 minutes it took to climb it.  Needless to say there was no reason to be scared and it was amazing.  It had the best view of thousands of colorful trees in the Hoosier National Forest and we got to see #4 of our sunsets together from up there.  It was quite the adventure and it makes me want to do a google search on fire towers and hunt them all down.  Here are a few snaps from our fire tower extravaganza.

So. Many. Stairs.

Sunsets and Such.

Here are some more snaps from our weekend in Knoxville.  One of my favorite things to do with David is find lookouts to watch the sunset.  We have a lofty goal of how many we will see together, hmmmm maybe 1000.  Yeah I know, but its totally going to happen =].

It was so good to have the girls join us too.  They make me laugh, a lot.

xo, Kelsey Belle

Sunsets and Such.

A Little More NYC

I busted out my camera for David and my Chattanooga adventure, to realize that I still had some NYC pictures I had forgotten about. Here are a few more snaps from our adventure about a month ago.  I think its about time for an adventure again.... good thing I am headed to Colorado in two weeks!

 

xo, Kelsey Belle

A Little More NYC

Chattanooga Birthday Extravaganza

Sunday, David & I made a trip to Chattanooga, TN to celebrate the grand life event of him turning 20.  This is big news guys, we are finally in the same decade!! Woohoo! I'm 23, he's 20 now..get it? Ha.

Well anyways, I always have loved big celebrations of birthdays so of course we were going to go big for the boy I love so dearly! Special day for a special guy.  Cheesy I know, but I can't help it...lovey doveyness is in my DNA.

We had the most fun exploring Chattanooga together.  He is the best companion for adventuring, I just have so much fun with him.  We started the day by biking Walnut Street bridge, scarfing down hot dogs and ice cream and exploring some shops.  David has a strange thing for incense, and we actually found a store that sold some not so musky smelling ones.  Incense are still not my fave, but its an endearing quirk of his, so hey.  We found some paths and biked more through the park alongside the river.  After stopping at a little coffee shop we headed over to the infamous Cardboard Sledding Hill and it was just as fun as it was hyped up to be.  If you're ever in the area you will have to check it out.

We ended the day with a grand finale at Sunset Rock.  Let me tell you, this place totally blew our expectations out of the water.  We enjoy watching sunsets together, so it seemed to be fitting to end the day this way, but we were expecting some rolling hills and a pretty sunset.  Instead we were on the side of a cliff and it was stunning.  The hike to the spot is literally one tenth of a mile, so it isn't too strenuous to get to this spot.  And gosh, it was just so worth it.  I can't wait to venture back to watch another sunset with this boy.  We have 996 to go of our 1000 sunset goal =].

Here are a few snapshots from our day:::

xo, Kelsey Belle

Chattanooga Birthday Extravaganza

New York City, Round Two

A few weeks ago, I decided I needed an adventure and headed off to visit two other fellow dreamers living it up in NYC for the summer.  There wasn't too much strategy involved in planning this trip, really I just bought a megabus ticket and took half a week off work and thought, lets do this dance!

Turns out I was able to talk another friend, Leah into hopping on board.  She bought a bus ticket the day-of and all of a sudden I had a travel companion! The spontaneity gave me a great feeling to start out the trip with; I just knew it was going to be good.

And I was right, what a fantastic week spent with people I love.  We ate, we talked, we laughed, and we soaked up every second of our little getaway.  It was a much needed break in different ways for all four of us.  I desperately needed to get away from my desk job and to be reunited with friends I hadn't seen all summer. Leah needed the added bonus of a spontaneous adventure.  And Hannah and Laura just needed some familiar faces in the midst of a freaking huge city to come and say, I love you, I know you, its good to be together.

Hannah and Laura are some brave girls.  I call myself an adventurer but I truly am impressed by their willingness to explore the world.  Laura took off for the summer to work for a design studio and Hannah took a position as a nanny about an hour from the city.  Both went into this alone and daringly embraced the city alone!  I admire them for their boldness and I think their is some beautiful personal growth that comes with learning to enjoy things alone.  As for me, I haven't gotten there quite yet but suppose I will soon enough when I head off to Sydney in January.

Here are a few snapshots from our adventure:::

xo, Kelsey Belle

New York City, Round Two

Adventures in Auburn

I had THE most special weekend with some spectacular friends.  My heart just felt so much joy, and oh-so-full.  I have never been to Auburn, Alabama and when my friend Kelsey mentioned going down there for a grad school interview- I hopped right on board.

You see, Auburn is home to some very treasured people to me.  One of my old young life girls Kelsie, now one of my dearest friends, is in her freshman year of college there studying marine biology. AT LONG LAST, I got to go see her in her element.

Along with Kelsie,  Auburn is also home to two gals I spent a month with at Summer Camp last year.  Happy & Anna are two BEAUTIFUL ladies that opened up their home to me and Kelsey (yes there were three of of Kelseys-note the spelling difference).  Happy, Anna, and I have shared countless nights of laughter, joy, and great pillow-talk conversations.  We had a blast serving alongside each other and even though we live five hours apart and hadn't seen each other since July, we picked up like we saw each other just last week.  I have a feeling we will be doing this for many years to come.

I had some guest appearances from other dear friends Logan & Drue.  I didn't know I would get to see these gems, but I did and it made for an even more delightful day- as if that's possible!

The day was mostly spent eating & drinking coffee & simply being together.  I snapped some photos of our explorations through Auburn.  We stopped by campus, stopped for lunch at Big Blue Bagel, and then continued our conversation at Overall Company where Kelsie, Happy, & I enjoyed coffee and popsicles.  Well I was the only one who enjoyed BOTH. I just couldn't decided so yeah, you know me.

Isn't Overall Company the cutest?  It was such a big space and wish we had a coffee shop like this in my town.  I would be there ALL THE TIME.  We followed our coffee date with a little thrifting & antique explorations. And of course I got a ton of ideas for stuff I could make myself.

Do you do that? Look at something, take a picture, and say, "I can totally make that!"  Well, I'm just letting you in on something....actually following through on that statement only happens about 25 percent of the time for me-if that.  But hey it's a good thought in passing AND it keeps me from spending money on everything in site in the moment.  We ended the day with picking up Kelsey from her interview and thankfully she got to join us for dinner.

What a great weekend. I think about the friendships I have with these girls and am filled with an overwhelming sense of thankfulness.  They are simply great and each one has wonderful facets about them that highlight characteristics of our Creator.  They shine and radiate the love of Christ and I really would be at a loss without them in my life.

Thank you Jesus for time well spent with those I love.


By the way, Happy & Anna are roommates and have the absolute cutest home that I will be sharing on here later this week.  Also, Anna has a blog called Seventeen Days Apart.  She shares it with her cousin and its super cute and I have a feeling you might be able to see more of her art showcased there sooner or later.  If you noticed that Ballerina painting in the second photo it didn't take you long to realize she's a rockstar artist.

Anyways, Hope you have had a restful weekend.

xo, Kelsey Belle

Adventures in Auburn