worst blogger ever

So, I'm just realizing that it's been over a month since my last blog post. I promise you all that I'm still alive!! I never thought that I would be this busy while living in the woods, but here I am, busier than ever! It's been an amazing last month, though. From Kappa Delta Convention in Tucson, Arizona to my first Antiquing adventure in Asheville..... it's been crazy. for realz. I just wanted to upload some pictures and let you know that I'm thinking and praying for you! As wonderful as this summer has been, I really can't wait to get home and settled back into life in Lafayette. I miss you all so much!!

Greatest long weekend ever.... KD National Convention. Really, it was SO cool!! Not only were we with the leaders of every Kappa Delta chapter, but we also got to see Sister LeAnne Tuohy (and take a picture with her)... AND we won some pretty ballin' awards.... Including the COUNCIL AWARD (Best Kappa Delta chapter in the nation)!! Wow, what an amazing trip.

More recently.... there was a beautiful rainbow at camp. Seriously, it was magical. This picture is me and my amazing photographer friend Alex. Such a blessing!

Okay, somewhere in the past month MY SISTER GOT ENGAGED. I mean, really. that was crazy. Anyway, here's a screen shot of me "being in France with Anna." Please note the thumbs up version of myself that was able to make the trip with her. 

 Also sometime in the past month.... the Benzinger kids from Haiti came home (oh, yes... I forget that this was the same night as Anna's engagement. whoa man)! man oh man, what an exciting day/night that was. David and Olguin Benzinger walked into the Atlanta airport to 50 or so smiling friends and family. There were tears and laughter and so many hugs. I'll never forget that amazing experience. Here's Alex Willy posing for the iphone camera after David and Olguine got off the plane. So sweet.

Also in the past month... St. Mary's came to Covecrest! What a blessing that whole week was. It was so good for me to see my St. Mary's family. I love those people so much! This is Robin and one of our teens climbing the Jacob's Ladder on the ropes course. They looked like acrobats on that thing! Holy cow!

Okay, that's it for now. I promise a more in depth post sometime soon. See you in Lafayette in a little over a week!!

E

a few things I've learned since I've been here...

So, I figured that since we're about halfway through my time here at Covecrest, it would be great to blog about a few things that I've learned since arriving here. What a journey it's been so far!

God has created us to live in community, and sometimes, no matter how hard we try, being independent means relying on others. I feel like this was the very first lesson that I learned when I got here.... like, within the first hour that I was on the property. As Molly and I drove up to the house that I'd be living in for the next 3 months, I remember saying, "Oh, don't worry, I'll be fine by myself!"That was me trying to be my normal independent self, thinking that I could do everything on my own. What I didn't know was that just 30 minutes later, I'd be thinking about how wonderful it would be to have roommates and not be alone (I'd get roommates within a week or so, so praise God!). It didn't take me long to realize that God was reminding me that we aren't made to do things on our own. We were made to live and work with others, which leads me to the next thing I learned...

I know God is working when I'm most uncomfortable. I mean, this pretty much speaks for itself. Independent Emily has lived in community for the past 7 weeks. You better believe that it was hard at first... and so uncomfortable. But God is so good, and I've finally realized that I can enjoy living in community and having alone time; I don't have to pick one or the other. Long story short, I am so thankful for the community here at Covecrest. It's pretty rockin'.

Humility > Perfection. After many a lesson in humility, this girl has finally learned that there is no room for perfectionism over here--or anywhere, really. Seriously, I worried and worried and worried some more about getting everything perfect in the office and the barn, but time and time again, I would mess something up--not because I was distracted or bad at it, but just because I'm human. So, I'm learning to be humble and accept it when I can't get something right. It's still a work in progress, though, so I'll keep you posted.

We have worth because we are children of God, not because of what we do. I feel like we all need to be reminded of this sometimes, and I definitely needed to be reminded of it a few weeks ago. It goes hand in hand with the humility lesson... I had to realize that although I was working for a beautiful mission, it's not what I do that gives me worth, it's who I am as a daughter of God. Whoa, that's good stuff!

God is so good. Self explanatory.


And a few fun things...
I still love shopping good sales... as evidenced by my trip to the outlets this morning. I might have lived in the woods for the past 7 weeks, but I still can't get enough of signs that say "40% off lowest marked price." Be still my heart!
I have a terrible time saying no to desserts when they are put in front of me. Explained: the wonderful kitchen staff makes delightful desserts with every meal. And they are placed right in front of me... how's a girl supposed to say no??
I've realized the power of a cute flower in my hair. What's a girl to do when she has to wear the same tshirt outfits over and over again? Flowers... all day everyday.

I love you all! To my St. Mary's peeps... can't wait to see you SOON SOON!!
E


Oh, PS.... just wanted to share these tie-dye shirts that some teens at the barn did last week. They were AMAZING. Best tie dye EVERRRR.

 

just in case you were curious...

So, I just wanted to share the link to the camp photos with you all. It's very rare that I ever make it in a picture since I do lots of behind the scenes stuff... but, I wanted to show you all what camp is like! And, one of my best friends that I've made here, Alex Eugenio, is our photographer for the summer and she is awesome! Enjoy a little sneak peek of what covecrest is like during camp through her beautiful pictures on the Life Teen photo page.

Also from this week, our musician has been playing this song all the time. It really is beautiful and I just had to share it with you all!

Lots of love and prayers--
Em

veni sancte spiritus!

Hi friends!
So, it's Pentecost Sunday, and since Life Teen's theme for this year is "veni sancte spiritus," this place has been happening! This morning, the little chapel at Covecrest was full of red to celebrate the Holy Spirit. So great. I just wanted to share a few pictures with you all---

First of all--- one day this week two of my best friends here, Erin (from Lafayette!!) and Alex (She's our photographer for the summer), had an impromptu boxing match with Styrofoam packing material in the middle of the office. Again, I love my job.

Another night this week, Dom and Jesse, 2 wonderful full time missionaries made me, Molly, and Rachel (Molly's wonderful wonderful roommate) ice cream pie! Seriously... this stuff was ADDICTING. I love these guys!! Molly has become great friends with them over the past year, so they were so amazing and welcoming when I got here.

One last thing, on Thursday morning, when I got to the office at 6:30 a.m. to send off rafting groups, I found this in the office! Some of the sweet summer staffers treated us office girls to roses, a sweet card, and dark chocolate. I felt so loved! Really, I keep having to tell myself that this is real life. I love my job!

Covecrest has been so amazing so far. I can't believe that tomorrow starts week 3 of camp! We only have 2 more weeks left with this group of summer staffers, which makes me sad and happy at the same time... this group of summer staffers are amazing. With only 2 more weeks in this session, it means that I'll be in Arizona for KD convention soon, and I'll see more Lafayette friends right after that!! St. Mary, St. Pius, and The Cathedral/STM are coming the first two weeks of the second session... and, I can't wait to see Brandon and Alex (summer staffers from Lafayette). Yay!! Can't wait! So many wonderful things happening! God is so good.

Love you all---
Em

what a week!

Hi Friends!

I have been thinking about you all so much over the past few days as things have slowed down a bit and I’ve had the opportunity to have some skype and phone dates with wonderful Lafayette friends.. yay! The past week has been so blessed in so many ways. Since we’ve made it through our first week of summer camp, I have been through everything that I’ll be doing in the office during a camp session at least once… which has been a huge gift. I finally feel like I know my way around the tasks and to do lists that the office at Covecrest entails. Yay! Also because I’ve made it through the first week, I’ve been able to work on the balance of living community life and working at the same time. I feel like I can now look at the time I have and see when it’s important that I work, when it’s important for me to hang out with the other summer staffers, and when it’s important to just be, and enjoy the time that I have to relax. It really has been amazing for me this past week.

Also this past week—day 2 of the barn! OH MAN, it was so much fun. I can already tell that Tuesdays at the barn will be crazy and hectic, and Fridays will be more chill and relaxed. I loved being there this past Friday, and I was even able to step away from the management/cashier side of things and teach a middle school boy and girl how to make rope rosaries. They were so precious when they finally got it. I can’t get their sweet smiles out of my head. I know that it’s moments like that that will really make this summer at the art barn successful… and maybe even allow for many more summers at the barn in years to come.

In other news, my second week here, an amazing priest named Fr. Tom from St. Anthony of Padua parish in The Woodlands came to help with our training week for the summer staffers. He was fantastic. Long story short, he found out that Molly and I were from Louisiana after he visited with us about good old Louisiana food. (oh, what I would do for a good rice and gravy meal right now.. seriously. Yum).  Anyway, he said that he would bring back some Cajun food when he came for week 2 (this week) of camp, but I didn’t really believe that it would actually happen. So, week 2 starts today and Fr. Tom and Deacon Mike (from St. Anthony of Padua, too) got here last night… When I walked in to give Fr. Tom a hug, he told me to go check out the fridge in the kitchen. Molly and I walked in to find a big bag of goodies from HEBERT’S. There were squeals and jumping up and down, for sure. Boudin, boudin balls, and crawfish etoufee.. all for us to warm, share and enjoy. Whoa. What a blessing. This Cajun girl had a little bit of heaven here at Covecrest tonight. So, don’t worry Mom… I’m being fed well!!

Pray for us this week! It’s the first session of Life Teen groups, which means high school teens will be here for a week of EPIC ADVENTURE. It’s making me miss everyone at St. Mary Life Teen in a big way. I can’t wait to see them for week 6 of camp!!! St. Mary peeps… YOU’RE GONNA LOVE IT!!!! I’m praying for you so hard and I can’t wait to see your smiling faces soon soon.

Love to you all—

Em

First day at "da Barn"

Well, it's Wednesday at Covecrest (my day off... woo!), and camp festivities are in full swing, Including  arts and crafts at the barn! We opened up the barn for the first time yesterday and it was a blast. Yesterday morning, we were running around like crazy people making sure that last minute things were done... putting Mod Podge out, prepping dye for tie dye, setting beads out, all of those fun things. I remember looking out the window and seeing a middle school girl running... RUNNING.. to the barn and thinking, whoa, she's excited. After that, I feel like I looked down for 10 seconds and when I looked back up there had to have been 60 teens there. It was crazy! Teens everywhere-- making bracelets, rosaries, journals, and frames... and playing music with this week's musicians, Jackie Francois and Greg Boudreaux. It was pretty amazing. I snapped a few pictures with my phone when things started to slow down a bit and some of the crowd thinned out... joyful faces all around enjoying the barn. 

I was one happy girl.

God is so good. Love you all.

CAMP STARTS TOMORROW!

Friends,
So I've realized that I'm not the best blogger ever, but I feel like that's okay... it has been so nuts over here! (I feel like that has been the start of every blog post thus far). Anyway, camp starts tomorrow and I am so nervous! Pray that I have all of the paperwork in order for the groups and their leaders tomorrow... I'm one of the first camp people that they encounter when they get here, so it should be interesting! Our first day at "the barn" is on Tuesday, which is SO exciting! We finally finished setting everything out tonight, so it's pretty much ready! I just wanted to share some pictures and tidbits from the past week--

Last time I wrote a blog post, I was scared out of my mind when some of my friends shot a nerf gun at my computer screen. I love these people. 

Yet another reason why I love working here: mid-afternoon parachute breaks. For the Edge camp sessions, the theme is "Extreme Adventure," so we have all sorts of "extreme" sports equipment lying around for their stage environment. When this parachute came in, we decided to make a parachute dome----elementary school style--- and listen to Justin Beiber while inside. Mind you... this is in the middle of the office.. during normal business hours... and we were almost late for evening prayer. Again, I love this place.

These are some of the wonderful girls that are here for the summer painting some of the tables for the barn. The girl all the way to the left is one my roommates, Kaitlin (in the middle) is a missionary here and has been a wonderful sister and friend to me over the past few months since we've met, and Colleen, all the way to the right is a summer staffer for session 1. She is SO cool, and we've become friends since she moved here 2 weeks ago. Precious girls.

Okay, reason number 3 why the office is fab... for a skit during edge weeks (middle school kids), 2 missionaries, Dom and Nick, are doing ongoing skits throughout the week that include "extreme" things. Their costumes? T-shirts with each other's face on them.. along with out of control workout gear (think spandex, headbands, running shorts, socks. it's.. extreme. hah!). When the shirts came in the mail, Molly and I just had to make sure that they worked, so we wore Dom and Nick t-shirts for a good hour one day this week. I wish that we could have gotten video of people's weird reactions to our sudden outfit change.

And finally, some art barn pictures! I just wanted to share my favorite thing that I've crafted so far as an example for the teens to make. I love it! No pun intended, of course. 

 annnnnnnd, LOOK AT THE BARN!!!! IT'S AWESOME!

 and I'm convinced that this is the best view at camp. This is an closeup picture of the music area.... 4 guitars, 2 ukeleles, a djembe, and 2 cajone drums = AWESOME JAM TIME WITH SUMMER MUSICIANS!!

Sorry that this is a mostly pictures kind of post! Can't wait to share all the wonderful stories from camp, since it'll start tomorrow! In fact, I'm hearing screams and cheering coming from outside the office right now, must mean that the group that was coming in early has arrived! How exciting. I can't wait to meet all of these wonderful teens and group leaders, and to break open my booksack full of 12 (yes, that's right... 12) camp tshirts that will be my uniform for the next 9 weeks of camp.
Love you all--
Em

fun things over the past few days

My sweet friends,

Man oh man, what a week this has been! It's been so exhausting but so wonderful at the same time. I know that I promised a long blog post, but of course, it got crazy before I could sit down and type it all out! Just to keep you all updated, I wanted to share a few pictures and fun bits from the past few days.

First of all, Madison (10 year old precious gal.. she's the one that did the presentation on Greece the other day.) and I made a summer wreath for Molly and Rachel's house on Sunday. Talk about cute! Madison and I were in our element. This girl is so fun.. she's been the best help with all things art barn related. This week, the two of us are getting together to make examples of all the projects the teens can do in the barn. I can't wait. Also on Sunday, we (Molly, Neil Pettit--he visited this weekend-- and some of the missionaries) went to lunch at our fave Mexican restaurant-- Manrique's. Seriously, this place is awesome. I think I'm obsessed and I've only been here a week and a half. ... of course, it also could simply be the fact that it's not camp food, so it's a good treat. Whatever the case may be, it's great.

 

Also this week, I received the registration packet from the Cathedral in Lafayette.. of course, this made me smile because (1) it was from Lafayette, (2) there were lambs on it... of course, and (3) Ms. Laura is just precious. 

So, Monday and Tuesday, one of the ladies that is really helping a tremendous amount with the barn this summer came to stay at Covecrest to help me get set up. Thankfully, after she left on Tuesday night, we had everything organized and priced... ready to be moved in to the barn, which.... drum roll please.... looks like this!!

Yes, I know, very rustic... and barn-like. The Tyvek paper is staying... I'm telling myself it just gives it character! lol. But what I'm really excited about is the inside.....

Even though it's definitely an unfinished building, it is so amazing. This picture is what the teens will see when they walk in. There's going to be a funky sitting area in front of that picture window for jam sessions with the camp musicians (so fun... we're in the process of buying instruments). Over the window, we'll have a big sign that says "In the beginning, God created..." (Gen 1:1). I can't wait to see it. In the right corner, we'll have our checkout area... and everywhere else will have big beautiful tables full of supplies for teens to create and create and create some more. This girl is excited. I'll keep you posted with more pictures once we move stuff in and get furniture set. 

Another thing I'm excited about: these awesome chalkboards that we made from wooden plaques at Hobby Lobby. I'm stoked. We'll have these hanging/displayed with quotes/prices/instructions everywhere around the barn. Annnnnd, all of the paper signs that we are making for the barn will have this same look-- they'll be black, and the same shapes. So cute.

One last thing--- I learned how to laminate things this week. 

OH MAN. I might need one of these for real.

It was love at first sight. 

Okay, time for this girl to get some rest. Love to you all.

Em

my first friday at covecrest

It's Friday!! First work week of Covecrest and life is fantastic! Just a few highlights from yesterday and today:

1. I learned how to do registration paperwork for summer camps. Of course, this girl loves it.
2. I drove down the mountain to St. Helena's (the local church) for mass this morning with Molly and Chris Benzinger (mission coordinator). AND, I even remembered almost all of the turns without needing help. yessss!
3. I had my first Manrique's Mexican restaurant experience. Dad, you would LOVE. We're going when you come visit. 
4. I opened up probably 15 Art Barn boxes today, and IT WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS.
5. I made a demo Art Barn cup today. Now that was fun!

6. Molly and I adventured to a store that's probably the Caroline and Company of Clayton, GA... which was precious, but the reason why it was so exciting was that they sold Beaucoup Designs jewelry! Of course, I took a picture and sent it to Anna. Shout out to the MB!
7. I'm sleeping late tomorrow AND I'm going to Hobby Lobby. OH, you know I'm happy about that!!

Love to you all--- longer blog post sometime this weekend.
Em

PS, for everyone who's related to Molly and loves her dearly, she is doing fantastic. We're having a delightful time being friends at Covecrest. :)

a day of firsts

So, day two of Covecrest and I've had lots of firsts!

1. This morning, I was able to back my car out of the driveway all by myself! That was a huge first, as I do believe that whoever designed it was going for the curviest driveway award.

2. I made my first trip down the mountain (again, all by myself!) for my first trip to the Clayton, GA Walmart. While there, I found quite a treasure. Please enjoy:

Yes, my friends, this is real life... and this person is, in fact, an official member of the Possum Growers and Breeders Association, Incorporated. Score!

3. I got my first email that makes it look like I really work here...

Life is good. God is good.
Love you all!
Em

148 songs later

Hi Friends!

Wow, it seems like forever since I posted my last bit on Saturday morning. My, how things have changed over the past 3 days! Since then, I've gone to Kappa Delta Formal, packed up my room at The Glynn, driven to Jackson, then Atlanta, then Tiger, moved in to my "summer home" at Covecrest, and finished my first day of work, and first "girls' dinner" at Covecrest. I think I'm getting tired just reading all of that. hah!

I just have to mention this because I think it was fantastic... before I left for KD formal, my roommates, Alison and Sarah, followed me to my date, Andrew's, house for a petite pre-formal and graduation photo shoot (of course, we had to go there to take pictures, since we aren't coordinated enough to do the self timer on my camera). Since Sarah and I will both be missing Al's graduation, we wanted to re-create it for her, so we took pictures, and I'd say it almost looks like we were actually there...This just makes me smile.

After very little sleep Saturday night, and a wonderful, but busy Mother's Day with the fam, I left Lafayette for Jackson, stayed there for the night, then drove to Atlanta on Monday! I met Molly at the Lifeteen office, ran some errands (of course, a Hobby Lobby trip was involved), and we got back on the road to camp. And, from Lafayette to Tiger, Ga.... 148 shuffled songs on my ipod later... we were here. It was so good to not be on the road anymore. Of course, Mol and I took a picture to prove that we had made it, and I got busy unpacking my stuff at the new mission house I'll be staying in. It's so beautiful.

So, my first day at Covecrest was nuts, but amazing! Started off with holy hour and morning prayer (Corey Grimley... you would LOVE IT), then the whole community went to the Montessori school at camp and watched one of the student's final projects. Madison, who I think is 10, was so precious! She spoke better than some of my college friends would on the Ancient Greeks. It was great. After that, we hit the ground running. I sat in on a camp planning meeting, then went straight to my desk in the office (I have a desk!) and started working on art barn supplies ordering. It looks like we're getting to the end of our list of supplies to get, which means that we're getting closer to summer camp! Highlight of today could possibly be learning the new phone system at camp.... I'm getting really good at the "Lifeteen Covecrest, this is Emily" greeting. Who knows.. maybe later in the summer I'll be bold enough to switch it up.... "Lifeteen Covecrest, this is Emily Crafty Broussard, Wassup!!!" That'll be the day! lol. In other news, my to do list for tomorrow has already almost filled up my cute little notepad, which means that the day will be just as full, but just as great. Life is so good.



Okay, must get sleep! Miss you all already!
Love and prayers,
Em

PS... did I say that there were gifts on my desk when I got here Sunday night?.... one of which was a WAX SEAL SET?!? Okay, as my friends at the lawffice know, I feel like I'm about 30 years too young for it to be socially acceptable for me to be so excited about this, but really. I squealed when I saw it. THANKS NAN!!

30 hours...

Well, it's official! The only things between me and a summer in Georgia are 30 hours, an unpacked suitcase, and a to-do list that's a mile long. I'm so excited that I can't stand it.

After visiting with Ms. Janenne (St. Mary's youth minister extraordinaire and photographer) yesterday about my summer, she suggested that I start blogging to keep everyone updated on what happens. I couldn't resist the opportunity, so here I am!

For those of you that don't know, I'm leaving tomorrow for the summer of a lifetime--living and working at Covecrest, a Lifeteen camp in Tiger, GA. I'll be interning in the office and heading up their arts and crafts program for 3 months. It's a dream come true. God is so good.

Please pray that I can get everything done before 3 pm tomorrow!!

Em