Graduation

In eleven days I will no longer be a current student at Tennessee Technological University. Instead, I will walk across the stage, receive my diploma and become an alumna of Tech. 

It has been a great 3.5 years at the school. I have made many new friends. I met my fiance at Tech.

I have learned a lot and changed some while here.

I am proud to become an alumna of Tech and ready for the next chapter of my life.

I'm engaged!!

This past Friday, Timothy proposed to me!!
It was awesome. And here is the story:

On the evening of Friday, October 1, 2010, Tim and I left Cookeville and headed to Gerst Haus, a German restaurant in Nashville, TN.  It took us an extra hour to get there due to a bad wreck on the interstate.  Despite this, we enjoyed our ride and spending time together, with a few frustrations of due to the amount of traffic throughout the detour.

                We arrived at our destination and were able to be seated pretty quickly. This was Tim’s first time to Gerst Haus, and my first time going since sometime in high school. We were excited that it was a night for the live polka band to be there. Tim and I ordered our appetizer and meals.  While we were eating he mentioned to me that when we got to my parents house that night he wanted to show me his website through his major and the fortune program he created. I asked if we could pull it up on my phone and he said “I don’t know, let’s wait though.” So we continued talking and eating.

We left the restaurant, full of good food and headed towards the ice skating rink on the other side of town. On the way there, we passed the public square in front of Nashville’s town hall and courthouse. We parked the car and began to walk around looking at the different fountains that surrounded the area.  We walked around the courtyard to another fountain. As I was taking pictures, Tim as for my phone so he could try and pull up his website. Once he got it up, he told me to put my name and press submit. I did this and when the page loaded, I read “Ruthe, my darling, Will you marry me?- Tim” – at the same time Tim was getting on knee with a box and asked me out loud to marry him. I was surprised!! My first response was “I’m going to cry…..yes, yes I will!” Tim put the beautiful engagement ring on my finger.

I ended up not crying after all. After a little bit more time at the courtyard, we went back to the car and headed out to go ice skating as fiancés!!

Early Morning Thoughts

As I sit here on the balcony of our hotel in Gatlinburg, I can't help but think how awesome God is.
Our balcony overlooks a creek and it's constant babbling is like an endless song of God's creation, accompanied by birds chirping, leafs rustling, and periodically the noise from the main street of Gatlinburg.  How a hotel room by a creek can you make you forget that you are in a busy town is amazing to me. In my mind, it's just a reminder from God how beautiful His creation.

I can't wait to go into the park today and be surrounded by everything He has created.

My summer so far....

....has been rather eventful and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!!!

Once school got out in May, I worked on campus till the end of month. I also began working on packing stuff up at my old place as I was moving at the the end of June, and knew I wouldn't have much time to pack during the month June. Plus some relaxing and hanging out with friends when I could.

The end of May came and so did training for Lighthouse Christian Camp. Three days at the camp with all other staff members were Bro. Michael and returning counselors tried to train us as much as they could to prepare us for the upcoming weeks of camp.

And then the routine for the next month began. Home Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. At camp Sunday evening through Friday afternoon. There is so much that happened during these weeks, that at the current time I am not even going to try to write about it. Other than to tell you it was an amazing thing to see God at work in the lives of the girls I counseled and the young women I worked with.

I am so blessed to have made the friends I did while working there. All the girl counselors and support staff that I came to know and love while working the month of June are all special and awesome people. (As are the boy counselors that I haven't spent time but training with).  I also now have plans to take my first trip to Minnesota to visit Miss. Julie, who was my cabin buddy for all but one week of camp!  And thanks to 7 of these amazing people, I was able to move into my new apartment at the end of the month in less than 2 hours!!!

This month has been busy as well. I cant believe that it is already July 22! I have been very busy this month as well- with traveling to Clarksville and going to Gatlinburg with Mama and Mag. Having Mag over for about a week and the various things to do in between that. Next week, my grandparents are coming back from Africa for a month and then later in the week Tim and I go to Clarksville to celebrate Mr. Carlton's (Tim's grandad) birthday. Then this month will be over!!!

But despite being busy, it has been a wonderful summer so far.

My Little Sister

My little sister's birthday is tomorrow...I can't believe that she is turning 5 years old! The time sure has flown by, but I wouldn't trade her for anything. I love being able to spend the weekend with her, even when she does get cranky. I can't wait till she is a bit older when she and I can do a bit more stuff together where she really enjoys it.

I love you, Maggie!

The Smoky Mountains

This past weekend I went camping the Smoking Mountains. This was the first time I had gotten away from Cookeville for more than an afternoon since the beginning of February! And boy did I enjoy it immensely. It was so nice to get away and relax. The campsite was pretty awesome. From the view of the door of the tent was two streams joining into one! This trip made me realize how much I have missed camping.

First Post

So it is 10:45pm and I am tired...but I decided to make a blog to begin sharing items of interest to friends and family.

At this point I am not sure how often I will post, but I will return!!