Heather at Home: July 2011

So, it's summer now and my vacation from blogging is over I suppose. I didn't intentionally set out to take a break from blogging it just sort of happened. We stay busy in the summer with graduation stuff, camps, mission trips, etc. and so when we do happen to be home we want to do absolutely nothing! On top of that our church caught fire at the beginning of summer which has thrown us out of whack for a little while. But churches are just buildings and can be repaired.

I thought the best way to catch up on the last few months was to do one of my favorite things-make a list. So in the last few months.....

-Daniel was a camp speaker in Birmingham, Alabama for a week.
-We took our youth group to one of our favorite places/home/family, Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters for a week of camp.
-Daniel's teenage cousin stayed with us for two weeks.
-I have dived head first into yoga classes at my gym and am in love with it now.
-We went to a friend's outdoor wedding in the rain and it was beautiful!
-Just got back from another camp with the youth group.
-Celebrated Daniel's 27th birthday!
-I got laid off from my job due to budget cuts and then got re-hired and moved to a different school but same position...and I am not very excited about going back to work.
-A whole chapter of my teenage-adult years ended when I went to see the last Harry Potter movie ever :(
-I began reading "Radical" by David Platt and it is challenging me and how I live in huge ways!!
-I have gone whitewater rafting, super slip and sliding, canoed myself across a lake and back, swung off of rope swings, laid on a dock in the sun and under the stars, been bitten by mosquitoes, have too many bruises to count and lived in bathing suits, sunscreen and bug spray for months....and loved every.single.minute!

Here are a few pictures from Snowbird:

I could write for days about these pictures,and I have about 300 more that I didn't post! However, the greatest thing about it was that we saw student's lives changed! God moved in their hearts and we are already seeing the fruit of it from some of them!!! Praise God! Snowbird is by far the most fun camp out there, but that is not why we take our students there. It is because they are challenged spiritually unlike any other camp I have ever been to or seen. They talk to the students like adults, and don't sugar coat baby bible stories for them. It's amazing what happens at Snowbird. Check out the website, download a few pod-casts and see if it challenges you too-it does for me, every time!

One thing I haven't mentioned yet which is the biggest thing that happened this summer in my opinion is our 5th anniversary! It was two days ago on July 29th. I am so proud to have been married to Daniel Paul Ritchie for 5 years!! It wasn't the most romantic day ever, unfortunately. Our church had booked it's kids camp during that time so we were traveling home that day from camp and after unpacking, getting kids home and our luggage in the house it was almost 2pm. We collapsed, took naps, showered then headed to Raleigh to pick up our dog from my parents house. Since we had to go to Raleigh, we decided to have dinner and dessert there as well. It was a hot summer night but we made the best of it. I couldn't imagine being married to anyone other than Daniel, he is my best friend and there is no one I want to spend time with more than him. Here is to 5 years and hopefully 100 more!