Time always seems to go faster and faster. As the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons approach, you begin to think about seasons and memories past. So much has been learned, so much has changed, so many memories have been made.

The island has been quite warm recently with temperatures in the high 70's! I still don't think I'm used to hanging out on the beach in the middle of winter, but I'm not complaining! Thanksgiving was pretty busy with retreat guests

here. We opened the Climbing Wall, led nature hikes and went kayaking a couple times.

My parents came down for a visit in October and we had a great time. We went sight-seeing with Aunt Tammy and checked out a few new places. We visited Cypress Gardens, which is where parts of "The Notebook" were filmed. It was great to be together as a family again!

At the end of October, I competed in the Barbarian Challenge with a few other people on staff. The Challenge included climbing over 15-foot hay bales, sliding through mud, jumping over cars, tramping through swamps and it ended with hurdling fire. It was a pretty epic race, but now we are onto our next challenge which is the Mud Run put on by the military base in upstate South Carolina, which takes place in April.

Leah's birthday was on the 13th of November and I managed to scheme

a whole day's worth of activity. We rented a sailboat for the afternoon and went on a sunset sail. There were 6 of us girls, and we had a blast, then we met a big group of friends downtown for a feast at a BBQ place.

I have become the residential dog-sitter on camp with a new set of animals each week. It's been crazy going from house to house and hanging out with pets. I have decided that dogs are too much work and I don't plan on getting one in the near future.

I have been praying for a couple months now about my future. I have been given the opportunity to stay another summer and school year if I choose to. I believe I have made my decision, but I want to make sure I leave enough time for the Lord to speak to me if His will conflicts with mine at this point. I would appreciate your prayers in this decision.

We booked our first "Outdoor Encounters" trip about a week ago! The trip will be a group of high school students from a local church and they will come in April. The Lord has been me many things through this program and patience is up at the top of the list.