Ah, it is half way through the first month of the new year friends, 2011 is in full swing…how lovely :) I’m so ready to see what God has for me this year, what plans and trips and friends He has, what dreams He wants to plant. But before i completely dive into blogging about this years events, i feel it is only right to go over what happened in 2010. It was a very eventful year for me, i feel like i was in constant motion in some way or another; it was a very complex yet simple year, and i always want to remember it, for it was vital to me. So, here is in order, part one of my review of the notable events that took place in my 2010. I hope you enjoy reading along :) Cheers to the passage of time!
January:
January was greeted by the first concert of the year; Red, Pillar, The Wedding, and Me in Motion. The show was held at The Riverside Multiplex in Victoria, a gritty local rock venue, which looks way snazzier on the inside than it does on the outside lol. The show was incredible! It was mine and Crystal’s first time seeing any of the 4 bands, and they rocked the place! Red was my favorite of night; so electric and intense! Their songs “Let Go” and “Death of Me” had a very emotional meaning for me that night, and singing them out in a packed sweaty crowd was amazing! Great way to start the year, I say!
(Rawk fists in the air for Red!)
March:
In March i spent a few days up in Brenham to visiting my cousins, and seeing their church. At the time I was checking into the churches school of ministry, so I sat in on a class and got to meet and have lunch with the students. Such wonderful people, and they embraced me so sweetly! I had a great time getting to know them for the short while I was there. That night I went to my first “Tailgate Party” that the church was holding at Blinn College, it was freezing outside! But there were Smores and a big fire pit so that helped :) I had a fun getting to laugh and talk, and just hang out with the many different people there that night. I made some new awesome friends in the process, definitely worth standing out in the cold! Thanks to my cousin Brittany for talking my anti-social self into staying for the whole party lol :)
(hanging by someone’s truck with my cousin Robert Kyle and others at the tailgate party…i look cold lol.)
While in Brenham I had the chance to spend the day with my awesome cousin, Robert Kyle, who I don’t get to see very often, we took in some lunch and a movie (Alice in Wonderland), and toured his town, it was lovely :) I so miss getting to hang with him, he’s awesome :) That night, which was a Friday, we went to see a band, Jesus Culture, on the Campus Awakening Tour held at a church in Bryan. What a service! I had never felt the power of God so strong than I did in that night! I’m not used to worship services that are that Holy Spirit led! I remember a moment in the service where the band had us hold hands with the people next to us and pray for them, I was standing next to my cousin Robert Kyle and his friend Kayla, so we took each other’s hands and prayed…it felt like a special moment. And there were many special moments that night, like feeling the Holy Spirit’s presence while the band jammed an almost reggae groove at the end of the night. But the moment I will remember the most is when I received a word from God…now, I don’t really do the whole “God told me to tell you this” thing, but this was in line with what God had been placing in my heart for months, and it checked out scripturally. In short, during the service I asked God that if there was something He wanted to tell me, that he would let someone come up to me, as opposed to me going up and getting prayer for “a word”, like everyone else was. God answered my prayer, and in turn, changed my life and way of thinking; it brought me to life again. And when I’m losing perspective I remind myself of what God said to me that night. I needed that Word, and I needed those days in Brenham, my heart had been so tired and hard, and it needed refreshing, and praise God, thanks to my cousin and her husband for inviting me and opening up their home to me, I got that.
A couple weeks later that month, thanks to my cousins, the Brenham church came to my church and blessed us by sprucing up our church! They painted, and decorated, and repaired things…all while singing songs and smiling, yeah, they rock. They created us a rockin black youth room, gave our plain dining room walls a bright sunny color, and gave our church a little kick start. I got to help make lunch for them while they worked, and as funny as it sounds I loved it, because it allowed me to in a small way bless them back. We had one incredible service the night before they left, with my cousin’s husband leading worship, and their church praying prayers over us, it was beautiful and so special. I think one of the most special things is when family members pray over you, and when you are surround by whole church with their arms extend out to you blessing you; it was a lovely moment.
(dinning hall with some fresh sunny paint!)
(Rockin youth room!)
April:
April is the month of The Rock and Worship Road Show
In April I went with Crystal, our parents, and Pam to The Rock and Worship Road Show in Dallas, this was the second year we all went, and it’s become a kind of a tradition we all have to go to the tour when it stops in Dallas. What an awesome and beautiful show that night! God really showed up that night; I felt His presence so strong I was just in awe! The lineup was MercyMe, David Crowder, Family Force 5, Francesca Battistelli, and Fee; with such an eclectic mix of artistes you ended up switching between dancing your tail off (Family Force 5 baby!), to lifting your hands and swaying in worship…all the ingredients for my perfect night :) This was a hard show for me in all honesty; the show the year before was very special…it was the reason I fell in love, so going again this year, and being out of that love and still hurt from it, was very emotional. But, God made that night a night of joy and peace for me, I had a blast dancing my somberness away, and I said a peaceful resolute “Goodbye” during an acapella rendition of “Amazing Grace” led by MercyMe and the thousands of people in the stadium. It was beautiful.
The next morning before leaving Dallas we went and found what is now all us girls’ favorite spots, Society Bakery, and Opening Bell Coffee. Love these places! Society has the best most decadent cupcakes I have tasted! Their moist and fluffy cake and thick and creamy frosting makes them stand out from all the rest! Their peanut butter cupcake was like heaven and I could have eaten five in a row! It’s a small place, but very warm and quant, where quality is huge and the baked goods, as well as the staff, are sweet! Opening bell is the very epitome of “indie coffee shop” in the best way! Down in the basement of a building, the atmosphere is cozy, vintage, and very indie and almost grunge. Board games, sofas, local music for sale, an intimate stage and the great music playing (M.I.A baby!) made us swoon, and the coffee is…BETTER THAN STARBUCKS! I said it yo! Their sandwiches rock cats as well! (Spicy chicken salad!)
May:
In May I turned 21! I was blessed enough to get to spend the anniversary of my birth with my family and my best friend and her family in my favorite city; Austin, Texas baby!
Austin is the city I would choose to be in everyday of my life, so naturally I wanted to be there for my birthday, and the city did not disappoint! (It never does darling :) My friend Amanda’s sister, Amber, was having a graduation ceremony the day before my birthday so we went to Austin a day earlier so we could attend the celebration. What a beautiful event it was, and i was so honored to be able to share in it!
The Next day for my birthday my family and I spent the day in Austin with Amanda, Amber, and their parents, so fun to have both family’s together! We started the day by going to a little cupcakery/bakery called Sugar Mama’s Bake Shop and getting some yummy cupcakes, and admiring the cute retro décor! We then went on to the Botanical Gardens and took some time to explore the beautiful flowers and plants, and take advantage of the scenery by snapping some shots of us all. Then it was on to Zilkler Park where we enjoyed a sweet and relaxing picnic; my parents bought a little chocolate cake from the grocery store so I wouldn’t miss out on a actually birthday cake lol, and Amanda and Amber presented me with the cutest little pink cupcake journal, and a sweet and beautiful cupcake painting that Amber did herself…I love them both so much!
After our picnic Amanda’s parents found out they were having a play on the other side of the park, so we all decided to walk on over. It was a free production of A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream set to 60’s music! How whimsy and fun! We all enjoyed sitting in the grass taking in all the people who with their hippy style looked so Austin! Lol. The play was incredible and entertaining, the music and costumes were so lovely and rocking! And they had fairies! Lol I was in awe! Lol. The night ended by going to a little place called Taco Express, for some really bad coffee and the most Austin sounding live music! This place made you feel so local Austin, with the grungy hole in the wall southern feel, watching the cars pass on the highway right above, it felt electric. The band that night had one heck of a female bluegrass vocalist, and as they played covers of The Beatles I loved how people would just stand up from their tables and dance ha, so fun! It was the perfect Austin birthday night, and I got to spend it with my favorite people…how blessed was I :)
The next day I went to CoCo’s Café and picked up some freaking yummy strawberry banana bubble tea! I LOVE BUBBLE TEA!! Coco’s makes their own pearls for their tea, it makes for great quality drinks! After that we popped in at a couple of shops on SOCO for a few minutes before meeting up Amanda and Amber. We girls then got all dolled up and got delicious cupcakes at Hey Cupcake (and got hit on by the cupcake guy lol), and went to dinner at Olive Garden. Once in for the night, we stayed up late watching a movie and chatting, and then attended church together the next morning…it was lovely :)
July:
July was the month that I tried my hand at helping out with my churches summer camp, Camp Lost Pines, in Warda, TX.
I found out I am not, nor will I ever be, a camp type of person lol. But, I had a lovely time getting to know all the other staffers, and make some great new friends and connections. I have been in the church my whole life, but I really don’t know many people in the COGOP that are around my age group, so it was amazing to see that they do in fact exist…and have tattoos and piercings as well lol. My friend Damaris happened to be going to help at the camp as well and we shared a room together; i loved getting to talk and laugh and grow closer to her during camp! I also shared some great conversations and laughs with the other staffers, I wouldn’t trade those moments for anything…it was what I needed. I remember the last night I was there Damaris and another girl (who was actually my childhood pastor’s granddaughter lol) laughed for hours in our bunks! I don’t even remember what was so funny, but it had us rolling in laughter!
I went to camp to get over myself and meet others; to serve and make my summer mean something eternal, and I got that by helping out at the intermediate camp for 10-12 year old kids. Those children had my heart by the time they walked in the room! The little girls were the sweetest things, they would just come up and hug you for no reason, and they looked up to you just because you were older…so precious. One little girl wanted to draw me lol, and another wanted to always sit next to me and talk about makeup lol; that was the girl who melted my heart, I had the privilege and blessing to tell her how beautiful she was and I got to give her my undivided attention…I think it blessed me more than her though :) Children are such special beings, and getting to see them pray and worship the Lord, and laugh and get excited was just beautiful!
As far as what I did, I was a “floater” so I just did things here and there, like filling water balloons, posting signs and passing out wrist bands, watching kids during recreation time, and helping set up for meals. T’was fun :)
My camp experience was mixed though, I loved meeting the people I did and am glad I now feel like part of my church, but…sadly some things that happened just left me a bit disillusioned, frustrated, and miffed. All in all though, it was okay, though I don’t know how likely it will be that I’ll be going back lol, but we’ll see :)
(Photo credit:Camp Lost Pines)
Read on for continuation; August – December…:)
~Cecily Priscilla
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