happy birthday daddy!

yesterday was the most beautiful summer day. it was extremely hot, but the sky was carolina blue and there was a nice breeze to offset the heat. yesterday was also my dad's birthday and we celebrated accordingly.




this is the birthday card he received from me. hes my #1.


i finally got him to finish putting together the bikes he bought at Christmas and we went for a bike ride - my butt still hurts from this experience.


last night i babysat for a family in town that just got a new puppy. it was probably the best and easiest babysitting job ive had in awhile due to the fact that the kids were awesome and the puppy was the sweetest.




of course i brought the leftover bubbles and they thoroughly enjoyed them. bailey (the puppy) was chasing the bubbles and trying to eat them - very entertaining.






we also spent a couple hours trading silly bandz - they were pretty impressed with the amount that i had, but i didnt even come close to comparing to their collections. my personal favorites: the blue whale, the pink starfish, and the yellow giraffe. ive also recently picked up some tie-dye colored bandz.

meet brooks

this is my baby nephew - my buddy. some call him little man. some call him boyfriend. hes probably the cutest baby ive ever seen and i love him very much. he's 10 months old, has two teeth and is extremely close to walking. he pretty much eats anything he can get in his mouth, but he especially loves his paci. he also enjoys patty-cake, peek-a-boo, and baby einstein.













his favorite things to say are "mammammaa," "dadaaaadda," and "bbbbwwwzzzz" - which is the sound that he makes when he blows his lips together.





on thursday, my mom and i dropped him and meredith off at the airport for his very first plane ride! although he had the sleepiest eyes, i could tell he was really excited.

blessed and highly favored

and the Lord said, "If your faith was only as great as a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this tree, 'Be rooted up and planted in the sea;' and it would be done." Luke 17:6

many exciting things have happened this week! i finally planted my tree sapling (thanks leo) although it was looking a little dead by the time it made it to the flower pot.





im hoping that a lot of water and sunshine will magically bring it back to life...



i went to steph's baby shower in raleigh, which meant seeing lots of fun people i don't get to see very often. ive missed my second mom/sister, tara! and i cant wait to meet the little princess, saylor - congrats steph!





i also got the chance to go by the new house i will be moving into at the end of the summer! i was so excited to see the SOLD sign in the yard and the demolition that has already started inside.



plus i already got my key! thankfully, it has bling. i can't wait to move in with stacie! thanks for everything snipes family - love yall! :)

an official alum

it happened. i have finally graduated from college and i feel incredibly old. it wasnt until after packing up my life this past week and driving all the way home (i know, so far) that i realized how much i am going to miss Elon University and the people that lived there with me. throughout my four years in college, i met a variety of students and faculty that made a huge impact on my life. i will miss so many things about Elon, but i know that God has huge plans for my future and i can't wait to see where it takes me!

"for I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

this summer i will be doing a lot of traveling and i have decided to keep a photo blog so that i can share all of my adventures along the way. im not much of a writer, but i thought that showing my new artsy picture-taking skills would do the job for now (my graduation gift was a new camera that i have yet to figure out, but im really enjoying the process of learning and hopefully ill be a pro by the end of the summer).

for now, i will leave a few of my favorite pictures from graduation day. congratulations graduates - i miss you guys already.