July Travels

Whew! How are we already a week and a half into August?!?

In the span of about three days, our July calendar went from fairly empty to slammed!

Stephen and I have been on the go for the past few weeks. We are home now, which is nice, but also means summer is just as quickly coming to an end.

I've been at a lesson planning seminar all week, have two work meetings next week, and then official work days start the 18th. I felt like summer would never get here this year and now I feel like the school year is starting way too quickly. Time really does fly when you're having fun!

We started our travels out with a quick day trip to Grandma's for a family reunion. It's been a long time since the whole Hemric clan has been together. It was great to see everyone!

Then, I left for the beach with Steph and Laura for a few days. We make the perfect trio for the beach. Buy a few groceries, rent a couple Redbox movies, lay on the beach all day, and watch movies. Relaxing and low key! My favorite kind of beach trip! Oh! And, of course ice cream!!

Stephen and I were both able to be home for a few days before we flew to Murfreesboro, TN for the weekend. The Summit has a church plant in Murfreesboro that recently moved into their own building. So, I got to tag along with Stephen on a work trip to support, encourage, and celebrate with them. It was great to meet a lot of new people and catch up with some old friends who moved when we planted the church. This church knows what it means to live in community with one another. It was such a blessing to spend the weekend with them!

 Before we left, we got to spend the day in Nashville. We visited the Grand Ole Opry Hotel. Such a cool place!!

After Murfreesboro, Allyson and I went to Grandma's for a few days! It was nice to get away with Ally Poo and hang out with Grandma and Pa! Pa got to taste a Smore for the first time. And lots of canning happened!

From Grandma's, I went to Boone to spend the weekend with Steph and Savva. Another low key weekend hanging out with great friends and an adorable pup!

Savva was working on building a 60 foot, two story deck on a house at the top of the mountain. Steph and I drove out to visit him one afternoon. You just can't beat the views in Boone! Even on a cloudy day!

While I was visiting the western part of the state, Stephen left for Elevate Summer Camp with The Summit. I joined him a few days later with the middle school crew! We stayed at the Ocoee Retreat Center in Tennessee. There was paintball, a lake, a water park, and a high ropes course for the students to enjoy. And, we took them whitewater rafting one day! Summer camp is always a lot of fun and bonds students in a way no other event does, not to mention the awesome growth we saw in them with the Lord!

 My awesome group of North Durham girls!

 White water rafting was a blast! And, I'm proud to say none of the girls in my raft fell out!

 We started each morning off with The Ben & Jeremy Morning Show, which included hilarious skits!

 Got to hang out and serve with awesome leaders!

 The wave pool and water slide...that's me and Stephen coming off the end there.

We made it home Sunday night around 7pm. Then, it was off to my lesson planning seminar Monday morning! I plan on enjoying my last week of freedom next week before school starts back up in full swing.

Oh yea, and finish catching up on laundry. This is just 5 of the 7 loads of laundry after all of these summer travels! :/

 I guess all good things must come to an end...even summer break...