Let the Adventures Continue

Two weeks ago, I found myself asking "is this real life?" many, MANY times.

After my awesome week doing an Impact camp, I met up with a fellow staffer who also happens to be my teammate IWU named Emily to run a mini camp for a school right outside Atlanta. We were excited that we would have lots of time to explore, and we began doing so before camp even began. 

Last Sunday, Emily and I hit up Puppies Galore before getting some Starbucks in the afternoon. WINNING.

That evening, we made an attempt to go to church. Seriously, we tried really hard. Passion City Church in Atlanta is one of the most amazing churches I've ever been to with a great pastor (Louis Giglio) and an awesome worship team (lead by Chris Tomlin), and apparently everyone in the Atlanta area thinks so too. We pulled up at 6 on the dot (when the service started) and were directed to a parking garage (not a single space open in the parking lot) where a van was waiting to take us to the actual church. Once we arrived and met up with our boss and his family, we literally stood in a line outside the sanctuary JUST TO GET IN. They finally let us through the doors where we had to stand in the aisle through half of a worship song before we realized there was not enough room to even stay for the service. So, we ran through the monsoon that randomly cropped up to go eat at Longhorn. Like I said, we really did make a valiant effort.


Monday was the start of camp. We were working with a talented junior high squad who had a great attitude, so we had fun working with them. But after camp ended is when the real fun began!


Emily and I decided to go to Ikea in Atlanta which was so fun. I pretended to be a mom cooking in the fake kitchens and Emily just took a lot of pictures. Then I bought a giant cinnamon roll.


After the adventure in the giant Swedish furniture store, we found ourselves in the part of Atlanta that all the hipsters/scary people hang out in. People with dreads smoking EVERYWHERE. It was a little terrifying when we got yelled at by a shady guy, but we found a really cool vintage store that made the trip worthwhile.

The buildings were painted cool!

Ahhhhh.


The next day was the last day of camp ALREADY!

I had a lot of fun working with these girls but was bummed that I only had two days to really get to know them! 


After camp ended, we spent the rest of our days hanging out by the pool, watching scary movies, and eating things that were very bad for us. (Cinnamon bread, peanut butter and chocolate goober, and chocolate cookies we stole from the hotel's front desk.)


Good week.

The Grand Columbus Adventure. (A Successful Weekend Part 1)

After a week of laying in the sunshine and devouring several good books, I was beyond excited to take a mini road trip to hit the town with my beloved friend Liz! Liz and I, along with our buddy Hannah (who we miss very much!) pride ourselves on discovering hidden gems in the form of quirky shops that sell quirky things, consuming exceptional food, and finding an adventure to be had no matter where we go. 

(Read all about one of our previous excursions here!)

After a drive in which I encountered giant farm machinery, frustrating construction workers, and a dispute with my GPS, I finally arrived at Liz's front door, eager to begin a day packed with excitement!

The first item on our agenda was a stroll through downtown Columbus. We found a goldmine of cute little stores to peek into between enjoying the sunshine of the day.

Among these shops was a wedding dress boutique called Big Rock Little Rooster. The couture gowns took Liz and my's breath away! I'm not planning on getting hitched for a loooong time, but when I do find myself with a ring on my finger, Big Rock will be the first place I go in searching for "the" dress.

As we continued to walk, the heat and the scent of summer in the city began making both of us hungry. Stomachs growling, Liz and I headed for the North Market. I had no idea what to expect when we pulled up, but once we walked inside I was instantly in awe! The North Market in Columbus is basically a giant building filled with every kind of delicious food known to mankind. Literally! The market consists of dozens of vendors selling dishes from all over the world, along with produce and other groceries. 

Liz and I had a feast of a lunch. We couldn't decide on just one dish, for there were simply too many options to chose from! Therefore we decided to munch on a slice of pizza, pad thai, sushi for the midday meal, and topped it off with scoops of Jeni's ice-cream for dessert.

Delicious. 

After lunch, we headed to Easton. Unfortunately, I still fall into the category of "poor college student" since my summer job has not yet begun, so most of the afternoon I spent looking at beautiful things and wishing with all my might that money wasn't such a hard thing to come by.

By the time we headed out of Easton, Liz and I were both exhausted from shopping for hours  on end, so we drove back to her house to formulate our game-plan for the rest of the day and eat dinner with her family. 

After eating dinner, we headed to the other end of town to check out a cool organic grocery store (Liz and I obviously share a love for food) and play with cute animals at Petland! Unfortunately, the puppy we chose seemed to have some kind of anxiety issue and wouldn't play with us no matter how hard we tried. 

One last photo to top off the great day.

This is us excited about our future lives as next door neighbors in cute apartments in the city, shopping everyday and frequently eating sushi on our lunch breaks together before going back to our super high paying jobs. ;)