Ever Thine, Ever Mine, Ever Ours.

Last night that cute boy asked that sweet girl to marry him.

What started in the fifth grade is going to last a lifetime.

I am so incredibly happy for these two amazing friends of mine. They are so deserving of each other.

Congratulations Kyma!

(Kyle & Emma)

I am and let’s go try on dresses!

A New Career Aspiration (If You Will)

Is there such a thing as professional camp counselors?

Are there such people who major in Camp and spend time in classes about proper community bathroom etiquette (shower shoes, people!) and how to get the most out of the allotted two-hour lunch/nap time block?

If so, sign me up, because I wore flip flops in the shower every time and figured out that if you eat in a speedy 30 minutes, you can get 1 1/2  hours of sleep and are better prepared for afternoon sports down the hill.

And in my opinion, that’s all you need to know to be well on your way to semi-professional camp counselor.

I don’t do anything halfway though, so last night while down at the lake for the bonfire, I crept into the woods with a friend, a flashlight, and a roll of toilet paper to pee.

If peeing in the wilderness doesn’t bump you up to Professional Camp Counselor (with a 401k and benefits) I don’t know what will.

Okay, okay, you aren’t convinced yet—I can tell by the look on your face.

What if I told you that most days I didn’t wear makeup and sweated pretty profusely?

(Camp makes me attractive, let me tell you.)

Would you consider me professional if I told you that I love to use camp lingo, like ‘mess hall’ and ‘KP cleanup’?

I also attended countless counselor meetings, the baptisms of ten beautiful children of God, had devotionals with the girls in my cabin, snuck down to the lake with fellow counselors, had several heart-to-hearts, wrote & received Love Line Letters, and made so many wonderful memories.

What a resume.

Alright, I can tell you don’t think I’m cut out for PCC (if it’s even a thing. Did we ever decide?) and that’s okay.

I’ll just have to spend the next several summers proving you wrong.  

 

 

I am and as much as I miss camp, I am loooooving my bed.

Out of The Woods & Into a Picture With Me

Counseling at church camp is sort of like running a marathon—exhausting, but rewarding.

Kids are hilarious. From the moment we drove down the gravel hill into camp, they were perusing for end-of-the-week bonfire dates.

They were all about pranking, bending the rules, and girls girls girls or boys boys boys.

And oh! The drama.

She set them up, broke them up, took so-and-so’s date, dumped that guy, can I move cabins? blaaaaaaaaah.

But they were also delving into their spiritual lives—asking questions, singing, and praying.

It was a beautiful thing.

As for us counselors?

We had our fun too.

Today I am laundering, (re)packing, and resting up for another week of camp.

See you then!

 

I am and it felt good to take a shower today without having to wear flip flops.

The Barton Magic

I grew up going to a church camp tucked deep into the woods of southern Arkansas.

The camps destination isn’t what makes it special. It’s not the lake and it’s definitely not the prison-camp style cabins.

It’s the sweet feel of the spirit—or the “Barton Magic.”

I love it, and for my four years as a camper, I lived for it.

This year I was asked to be a counselor for the camps third week session. I was ecstatic! Give me the Barton Magic, please! Give me camp!

Then I went to Alabama and fell in love with some teenagers who begged me to counsel second week session of camp.

“I’ll try ya’ll, but I don’t think they’ll need anymore people.”

After all, second week session starts on Sunday.

Lo! And Behold! They did need help and God delivered that help in the form of me, Autumn.

Two weeks at camp, longer than I ever spent as a camper.

I am beyond thrilled.

I cannot wait to dip my feet into the lake I was baptized in, to spend late nights laughing with my cabin of girls, and I definitely cannot wait to be swept up into 14 days of pure Barton Magic.

 

 

I am and don’t forget about me while I’m gone.

Tonight

Tonight was dinner with the girls; blackened chicken salads, pita & hummus, and sweet teas all around.

Tonight was talking; catching up, bashing some boys, and giggling about some boys.

Tonight was me getting hit on twice; once by the guy at the register and once by some sketchy guy outside by my car. (Yes, I do have nice legs. Thanks for noticing.)

Tonight was HP7.2 (that’s slang for Harry Potter 7 part 2); sitting behind a girl who texted the whole time, being afraid to open my Sour Patch Kids because it was so loud, and seeing a few guys tear up.

Tonight was awesome; peanut butter shakes, free water, and long car talks.

This has got to be the good life.

 

I amand yes, that last line is a OneRepublic reference.

 

p.s. Random picked Lyndsey as the lucky canvas winner! Thank you everyone for entering the giveaway! I’ll email you Lyndsey.

(proof is in the pudding)
pudding –>

 

(I get weird when I’m this tired.)

Spotters Ready?

Apparently I have serious issues with trust falls.

You learn something new everyday, I guess.

Really though, I couldn’t do them, and then I was the last person to do them, and then everyone was watching, and I was embarrassed and freaking out about those stupid, stupid trust falls.

Anyway, dude (Lonnie) held a pencil in the air and had me follow it with my eyes and before I knew it my awesome spotters were catching me.

So there’s that.

 

 

I am and maybe I just didn’t feel like putting my life in two 14-year old girls’ hands. Not an excuse? What’er.

They Are Sunshine To The World

You totes should have been with me on this youth group trip to Huntsville, Alabama.

See these kids? Coolest in America, with brilliant personalities, hilarious conversations, love for God, and Bieber Fever.

On Thursday we participated in a ropes course. These kids were fearless! They climbed the tallest obstacles and JUMPED off of them (harnessed of course). I stood at the top of the same pole for 15 minutes screaming “Why did I do this?!”

Some chaperone.

The course was intense and I tried A LOT of new things, like rock climbing and zip-lining back down to the ground.

Friday we took the group to the Space and Rocket Center. It was really cool.

We rode the Space Shot about nine million times and then I sat down with a few girls on the floor of the Dinosaur Exhibit where they grilled me with questions like, “Who do you like?!”

I probably shouldn’t have told them, but in the spirit of trusting them (we did trust falls) I cracked.

Hopefully that poor guy doesn’t find out.

I stayed with three girls at Joshua’s (full name, does that mean we’re best friends now?) grandparents house and they were bombspice.

Seriously, Mama Martin cooked us bacon every morning. Boss.

Other fun memories:

DJ Autumn
”cool mom”
winning Mafia
Rolo McFlurrie’s with Milks!
Mrs. Corder
Playing sardines in the dark church
”Hotumn”
The Situation Game
Grace’s “situations”

I loved every minute of the trip.

I am and don’t forget to enter the giveaway! It ends Friday.

Such a Giver

 

Hey you pretty little blog reader you!

I’ve got some exciting news and some not-so-exciting news.

I’ll start with the not-so-exciting news: not everyone can win the giveaway.

Oh, shoot. Now I gave away the exiting news:

It’s giveaway time!

It’s true, I’m giving away some merchandise, only because you’re cool and stick by me even when I blog about the Morms.

So what is this giveaway?

UPrinting is giving a lucky Al’s Narratives reader a:

one (1 ) piece 16” x 20” rolled canvas print with 2-inch border or no border

1 Business Day Turnaround

*Free shipping*

Available for download!

 

To Enter:

Should you find yourself wanting to WIN A FREE ROLLED CANVAS!, you need to:

1. Be a (public) Follower of my Narratives. It’s not painful, I promise. (Well sometimes when I blog about Utah people get painfully bored but hey, small price to pay, right?)

2. Be a US resident and 18+ years old

EXTRA ENTRIES:

2. Blog about this giveaway and provide the link in your comment.

3. Like UPrinting’s Facebook page.

4. Tweet about this giveaway! Make sure to @mention me (@autumnlindsay)

Please leave 1 comment telling me where you would hang this canvas! Also, list each “Entry” you did in the same comment.

 

Disclaimer: This canvas printing giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting. No monetary compensation was given  for hosting. Check out UPrinting.com for more details about canvas sizes.

 

 

I am and this giveaway stuff is exciting!

Alabama According to Al

 

The road trip home from Florida taught me many things about Alabama.

1) There are random stoplights everywhere.

2) There are 50+ million Dairy Queens.

3) It’s cool to say “Roll Tide” after everything.

Elaboration time:

1) On this Holy Ground that I sit on, at the hour of 10:40 PM, I do declare that Alabama’s road system is bunk. Get me into the Civil Engineering office, residents of Alabama. There are stoplights every 500 feet for a good two-hour driving stretch. It is kind of ridiculous.

2) I was craving a Blizzard like nobody’s business the entire week we were in Florida. But for bathing suit and beaching purposes I denied myself. Finally, on the way home I said ENOUGH! Give me the DQ! But then it was really early when we left, we couldn’t find a DQ where we stopped for lunch, and I was resigned to DQ for dinner. Except by dinner time we had passed every Dairy Queen (and each time we passed one I yelled “Dairy Queen!”) in Alabama and were now in another state—Tennessee. Don’t worry, the story had a happy ending after all, but the moral of the story is: Alabama, share your Dairy Queens.

3) Roll-freakin-tide. By the end of the trip through the whole state of Bama (that’s what the locals say, I’m just being current) our sentences were something like: “Another red light. Roll Tide.” or “DAIRY QUEEN! ROLL TIDE!”

Or sometimes randomly I would say, “Decatur Alabama, Roll Tide” in my deepest southern accent like my friend Emily says.

All of this to say, I’m leaving for Alabama in the morning and won’t be in this blogging universe for a few days.

Instead, I’ll be sitting at stoplights, eating Blizzard’s and saying Rolllllllllllllllllllllll Tiiiiiiiiiide.

Or something like that.

 

 

 

I am and can you hold down the fort while I’m gone? I’d bring you a Blizzard but Alabama is holding them hostage.

Q&A Session

Hello my dear 82 Followers and countless lurkers. (Hey Mrs. Patty!)

I have had a few questions lately that I thought I would answer.

1. Do you prefer Al or Autumn?

I don’t care either way. When I started this blog I thought it would be neat to have a penname and so I chose Al because my name is Autumn Lindsay. Al, Autumn, Autumn-Bottom, Hazel (my mom calls me), Ugly (my roommate calls me) (Hey Porky!). You can call me any of those and I’ll respond.

2. How did you lose 30 pounds?

Don’t get mad at me, okay? For awhile I was only eating around 800 calories/day and running between 4-5 miles at least three times a week. And taking Hydroxycut. Eventually this unhealthy cycle caught up to me (at around –20 pounds) and I nixed the pills and started eating at least 1,200 calories a day. It’s been an interesting process and transformation.

3. What exactly is a Child Life Specialist?

For those of you who don’t know, my major is Child Life Specialist. For whoever asked me, here is your answer: “Child life specialists are pediatric health care professionals who work with patients, their family and others involved in the child’s care in order to help them manage stress and understand medical and various procedures.”

I will help children facing chronic illnesses and long-term hospitalization to better understand and cope with their illness. It’s a fascinating field that I’m thrilled to be a part of! Read more here.

4. What photo editing program do you use?

I get this one a lot, which is cool because you like how I edit my pictures. It’s nothing fancy, though. I just use Picnik. My favorite effect is Cross Process, and I usually up the Temperature and sometimes add a few other things. The fun part is experimenting and making each picture unique.

 

If you have more questions, ask away and I will add my response in this post. If not, well, I’ll try to not feel super lame.

H-O-T Commodity

I’m still alive but when I tell you about the last few days you are going to proclaim me insane and then gently put me to bed.

It started on Wednesday. I was asked to help chaperone the youth group lock-in for the night. It was fun, really fun. You know what they say, you can take a girl out of the youth group but you can’t take the youth group out of the girl.

Or at least that’s what I say, as of today.

I left the church wide-awake and running on a large Vanilla Coke Zero from Sonic at 8:00 a.m., drove home and completed a few online homework assignments, and then went to work.

The warm air made me sleeeeeeeepy, people. I told myself then and there that as soon as I got home, it was bedtime. No dinner, who needs that food stuff anyway?

But I’m a hot commodity and upon getting home, I received a text asking me if I was going to the college devotional. And I had planned on it, but sleep was begging to be had.

In the spirit of denying oneself (and me denying my sleep is big) for Jesus, I went to the devotional, almost fell asleep during a few prayers, but was thoroughly enlightened and glad I went.

I stopped for a smoothie on the way home. It was the first thing I’d had to eat all day and it was 8:00 p.m. Apparently I forget to eat when I’m busy.

When I got home I studied for the two finals I had today, called it a night at midnight, and woke up at 5:45 a.m. to babysit my nephews for a few hours.

THEN, I took my two finals and am now getting ready to go out for the night.

a) WHEN DOES SLEEP COME?

b) I tend to over-commit myself.

 

 

 

I am Al and I’m hosting a giveaway when I reach 100 Followers,
but you didn’t hear that from me.