Consol Energy Center

This past Saturday, we went down to the open Penguins practice at the new Consol Energy Center with our friend Matt Dodd and had a great time! The new arena is awesome and we got to watch the scrimmage from seats we would probably never be able to afford! I was interviewed by a news anchor and made it on Channel 4 News Saturday night and Sunday morning, which means I am pretty much famous now!

DC and Annapolis!

We took a short getaway to Annapolis this past week and it was a great trip! We stayed over in DC with Abbie for the first night and got to see her new apartment and American University campus. Then we headed to Annapolis and met up with the McCubrey's for dinner and Connor's game that night. We enjoyed breakfast with them and then said goodbye. Nolan and I explored the city a little and took a narrated boat cruise, which was informative and fun! Abbie came back and spent the night with us. We enjoyed some delicious seafood! Here are some pictures from our trip:

Our hotel had an incredible view--right on the water! We ordered a huge seafood platter for dinner to share!

Lunch on the water

Downtown Annapolis

We all went to see Connor's game. The field was right on the water and it was a gorgeous night. Navy won the game which was exciting!

Boat tour of Annapolis

We were able to take Connor out to lunch before we left.

Miss this girl so much!

Summer Reading

Today is the first day of September, which means summer is pretty much over (although it's still in the nineties so it feels like summer!) I did a lot of reading this summer, and read some very good books! Here are the books I read, and would recommend!

This is a quick, but extremely powerful book about the holocaust, told from the perspective of a young child. The contrast of a child's perspective of incredibly serious things is very interesting and thought provoking. I highly recommend this book (and the movie based on it).

One of the best books I have ever read is by the same author as The Kite Runner so I finally decided to check out this book too. It was a very interesting look into the struggles of life in modern day Afghanistan. This book brings out a variety of emotions for readers: joy, laughter, sorrow, sadness. I highly recommend this one!

Think No Evil is a look inside the Amish community, and particularly the recent school house shootings, and the aftermath of this tragedy. I was very convicted as I read this book about forgiveness and I think that a look into Amish culture really helps us to understand what true forgiveness looks like.

There has been a lot of hype around this series of books, so I had to dive in and see what it was all about. I have to admit I had a hard time getting into it, but powered through and finished. I eventually got into the story and really enjoyed getting acquianted with the characters. I look forward to seeing what happens in this mystery series.

I already blogged about this book, and thought that it was excellent. It was written from the perspective of two sisters, one in captivity in North Korea, and one at home trying to get her out. My favorite part of this book was how current it was and the fact that I actually got to hear the real story behind what little information the media was able to give.

My First Homemade Pie!

I've done brownies, cookies, and cakes plenty of times, but this weekend I decided it make my first homemade pie with some of the peaches and raspberries from the Farmer's Market. It turned out pretty delicious if you ask me!

Ministry Transitions

In youth ministry, the month of August marks several transitions: some students going off to college for the first time, others returning to college after being home for the summer, 8th graders joining our high school youth group, and new 6th graders entering the youth ministry program for the first time.
Last night, I hung out with some of the incoming 6th grade girls to get to know them and make their transition to youth group a little smoother. I took three girls to paint pottery and out to Rita's Italian Ice (a first for all three of them!) These three girls are hilarious and so full of energy, I had a lot of fun getting to know them better! Now I can't wait for them to join us at middle school youth group!
Here are a few photos from our evening:

Home Sweet Home!

After several weeks of living a nomadic lifestyle, Nolan and I are finally both home together at the same time for a while! We enjoyed housesitting at the McKenna's for a week, especially because they have a pool, air conditioning, laundry and a dishwasher (all of which are luxuries to us!)

It's hard to believe that summer is coming to a close and that all my youth group students are almost back in school! When I came to Mt. Carmel, there was a very large group of high school freshman in the youth group, and now these students are seniors! It has been so exciting to see each of them grow in their faith through their high school years so far and I can't wait to experience their senior year with them!

Soon the craziness of Fall will set in for both Nolan and I. We are very excited for the Pitt Football season since we have season tickets this year!

Mission Week 2010

Last week was our Micah 6:8 Project at Mt. Carmel. Instead of our youth going away on a mission trip, my youth group stayed at the church for the week and worked on three local homes in the community. We did a variety of projects ranging from painting, dry walling, digging trenches, breaking up concrete and building steps. In the evenings, we visited several churches and ministries in the community, and on Wednesday night, we had a fun night out at Panera and to see Despicable Me in 3D.
This was an incredible week for our youth and for our church as a whole. The week ended with a community cookout where we invited people we had met throughout the week, our church members, and most importantly the families whose houses we were working on. We had dinner, worship, and heard lots of stories from the week!
Thanks to everyone who helped make this week possible! I am very grateful for the team of people who worked so hard!