So I'm not sure if people are still checking this since we are pausing our picture project for the summer, but I wanted to let our faithful followers know that since I am going to be in Arkansas for the summer (as opposed to home in Texas), I've created my own blog to keep people up to date with what's going on. Aubrey will be home and I know that she had talked about doing a blog with her mom, so we'll let you know about that.

My blog link is http://alwaysawaybackhome.blogspot.com/ Check it out. Or don't. Whatever floats your boat. :) I just wanted to throw it out there.

I hope your summer is going wonderfully!

We'd love to hear about what's going on in your lives! :)

-Brittany

Day 33: FINAL DAY

So as you can see, we ended up going a tad bit over 30 days, which is what the blog is entitled to do, but we started 3 days early and wanted to end up finishing out the semester with everyday included! We hope that this has been enjoyable reading/viewing pictures for all 2 of you that read it. Haha just kidding. . . we may have 3. Wink. We appreciate all of you who have been faithful followers and would just like to say, "Stay tuned!" We will be doing a "365 Days with Brittany and Aubrey" starting in the Fall semester. It is quite a commitment, and we may skip a few days and have to come back, but we have decided that it is all worth it in the end.

Have a wonderful Summer, and we'll update you with highlights of ours starting in the Fall!

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalms 46:10

Surly we can continue to stop for at least a few minutes a day to document what God is doing in our lives.

So once again, "Stay Tuned!!!" :)

-Aubrey

Day 32: The Day Of Graduation

Today was our official last day at Ouachita until August. It was a bittertsweet ending, but couldn't have ended perfectly! Because we're in the band, we have to stay on Saturday for graduation to play for the graduates. It was an absolute perfect day for a graduation! Ouachita has a cool tradition that graduations are held outside in front of Cone Bottoms, our administration building. My cousin, Rachel, graduated today, so it was extra special for me! Plus my family got to be there! It was a lovely time to send off the students who are now officially college graduates! I'm so excited for those that I know who graduated today and to see what all God has for their future and what all they do with their lives! Congratulations Class of 2010!!

[Way to graduate, Rachel! So proud of all you've done!

Can't wait to hear all about physical therapy school! :)]

Aubrey, being the wonderful music-loving, soon to be band director that she is, volunteered to play clarinet in the graduation band! We got to play sitting next to one another with Becca left without Aubrey in the Flute section. :) And despite a few squeaks we all made it through Pomp and Circumstance beautifully! It was so fun to play next to Aubrey!

-Brittany

A very special happy Mother's Day to our moms and all the lovely ladies in our lives! We love you so much and wish you a very happy Mother's Day!

Day 31: The Day we Killed ourselves moving

Today was a very very busy day. Poor Brittany had two finals left to take, and we both began moving out of the dorm even though we had to stay until Saturday for graduation. We both got up rather early to begin the extravaganza, and didn't end until very late in the afternoon. Brittany's parents came to help and to also go to graduation to see Brittany's cousin graduate. They were a huge help to me as well when it came to somehow fitting last minute things in Big Bertha (my mom's Tahoe. . . haha). THANK YOU :)

Here are some pictures of the empty dorm and us with Rebecca smiling rather large when everything was officially in the car:

Tonight Brittany went and hung out with her family and I had the pleasure of going swing dancing with Travis and a big group of people from OBU in Hot Springs. It was a lot of fun, and he is a great teacher!

Tomorrow Brittany and I will both play clarinet at graduation and then we are DONE with our sophomore year! Holy cow! Where ever did the time go? The Lord has truly blessed us with meeting each other this year. I could NOT, I repeat, could NOT have made it through this year without you, Brittany. I love you! You are an amazing friend and such an inspiration to me! I can't wait to be your roommate again next year and see what God has in store! :D

-Aubrey

Project 30 Hall Of Fame

Since today is officially day 30, that means it's Hall of Fame Day! We asked a few days ago which posts were the favorites of our viewers. Here's the results!

*Day 27, Gamma Bench

*Day 26, Last Sunday At The Frog

*Day 23, Kappa Serenade.

*Day 24, Taco Tico Extravaganza

*Day 18, Aubrey's birthday. (This one got two votes!)

*Day 15, Brittany's Parents Came.
*Day 14, Swings

*Day 5, Train Park

Thanks for sticking with us through these past 30 Days! It's been such a fun month, and God has definitely done some great things in our lives. We're planning on continuing until at least the end of school (two more days until summer!), so stick with us until then, and we'll let you know what's the plan for the summer. :)

Day 30: The Day We Celebrated Becca's Birthday!!

Today is officially day 30!!! What better way to celebrate than to share in Becca's birthday celebration a couple of days early! We went to Little Italy, which has wonderful Italian cuisine. It was a lovely time for the five of us to get together in between studying for finals, packing, checking girls out as an R.A., and of course, playing some great Mario Kart!

Happy Birthday Becca!!! It's so wonderful and amazing to be friends with you! I hope your 20th year is phenomenal!
Love you Becca!

-Brittany

Day 29: The Day We Studied and Such

Today was the third day of finals week. Brittany was lucky to have no tests, but the sweet girl had to spend the day studying for 2 more tests she has left. Luckily she did have a break to go to church. She teaches the middle school girls at Park Hill Baptist. She has such a heart for girls and people in general. It is so great to see how God is using her.

I had my percussion final today and then had the pleasure of going to the Eubanks to eat lunch before another test in the late afternoon and Tiger Tunes practice. The Eubanks are a sweet old couple I met at First Baptist Church last semester. I went over to their house to eat one Sunday and have now gone over several times since to just hang out. It is so much fun to talk with them :) Mr. Eubanks is a very talented musician and is even helping me fix up an autoharp my friend, JK, here at Ouachita gave me! BIG SMILE. Mrs. Eubanks even has a garden, complete with an electrical fence to keep the "critters" out- HAHA. Such a sweet, Godly couple!

Being the sweet person she is, Mrs. Eubanks had made me some "rice krispy cornflakes" to take back to the dorm. Brittany and I enjoyed them much : D Excuse our appearances, it was about 1:30 am in the morning when we took this. Smile.

"Others will divorce you, abandon you, and ignore you, but God loves you ALWAYS!" -Max Lucado

-Aubrey

Day 28: Our Hands

If you have been reading our blog from the beginning, you will know what our purpose of this project is. We wanted to take time out of each day and enjoy the life that God has created us. We wanted to stop the busyness for a few minutes and have fun. We also wanted to show a little bit of what God has been doing in our lives. Due to a schedule of running and cooking, and lots of tests, we didn't have time to slow down and enjoy the day together, (I know that I have thoroughly enjoyed the day!), so I decided to do today's blog post over something that has really been convicting me and teaching me lately. This is an excerpt from a online Bible study that I've found. The study isn't complete online, so if you go looking for it you won't find all of it. It's still good stuff, just not fully there. From what little I've read of Her Hands, I have learned a lot. Below is the part that's spoken to me the most lately. I know it's long, and I'm sorry, but please read the text below. It will be well worth the five minutes it takes. [And just because the verse and excerpt talk about women specifically, it still can definitely apply to guys!]

Proverbs 14:1

The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

"We will be women who build, or we will be women who destroy. We will be wise, or we will be foolish. We will pass down a legacy of obedience and blessing or a lifestyle of sin and rebellion. Those things are guaranteed for every woman. Those are our only choices. I will have to decide. You will have to decide. Which woman will I be? Unfortunately we aren’t the only people living in these houses we are either building or destroying. Other precious people reside there as well. Scripture warns us that foolishness is destructive. Our foolish ways of thinking and living will cause us to destroy our own lives and the lives of people around us. There is good news. Scripture says that God sent His Word to heal us. There is hope for believers. Because of the cross, and God's grace, we can be women who build. God has graciously given us the opportunity to truly live a life that honors Him. God’s Word can reteach, retrain and restore us. We can be women who pass down godliness and blessing for generations. God desires for women to be pursuing the godly characteristics outlined for believers and specifically women in His Word no matter if we’re married or single. As soon as we’re believers God desires to grow in us the fruits of purity, submission, gentleness, kindness, and self-control."

Have we built today, or destroyed? Have we encouraged one another or been caught up in our own schedules to care about the people around us? Have we thought of others as better than ourselves or do we think, in a round about way, that the world revolves around us? Have we glorified the Kingdom of God in our interactions, thoughts, words, etc.? Just something to think about.

-Brittany

Day 27: The Day We Had A Rondeveau Around Ouachita

Today was the first day of finals. Brittany and I both got up at the crack of dawn to finish studying, and we both did pretty good on our tests! Now to scramble everything together for round II tomotom. . . oh boy!

Tonite after dinner we went around campus and had a fun roommate photo shoot. Brittany and I have been brainstorming all day over what we wanted to do for today's post, and we decided to go with what we love most- Ouachita! God has blessed us both so incredibly much. He couldn't have chosen a better university for us to attend. PLUS, this photo shoot could not have been possible if it weren't for Travis Blanton- THANK YOU :) It meant a lot.

This one's for you, Mrs. Green :)

Here we are in front of the buildings we practically "live" in. Brittany has tons of classes in Lile Hall and I have tons of mine in Mabee Fine Arts.

Berry Bible :)

Thanks again, Travis. You are silly. ;)

"The twists and turns of life have a way of reminding us we aren't home yet. This is not our homeland. God has 'set eternity in the hearts of men' (Ecclesiastes 3:11). "

- Max Lucado

Have a blessed week! Take time to listen to what God is trying to tell you- even when you're SUPER busy! :)

-Aubrey

Day 26: The Last Sunday Of The Semester

Today was our last Sunday for us all to be in Arkadoo for the semester. Hang around us for any amount of time at all or read our blog, and you'll quickly realize that El Parian is our favorite restaurant! We got to celebrate our last Sunday as sophomores at OBU with our lovely roommates, Becca and Angela. We all went to Park Hill together and had a wonderful service (led by our cool youth, might I add) and ended with some of our favorite food! We can't express how much we love "The Frog," as we lovingly call El Parian! What a wonderful day to end the semester, begin preparing for finals, celebrate how great our God truly is, and take a moment and remember how much He loves us!



-Brittany

Day 25: The Day Brittany studied & I should have

Today was the first day we somehow managed to NOT take a picture of us together for the blog. Brittany went shopping in Hot Springs for a friend of hers who is getting married and didn't take any pictures, and I went to Benton with my friend Travis, John, and Travis' parents to celebrate Travis' 21th birthday! So very exciting! Okay. . . I know I put 21TH, but there is a story behind that. . . his mom bought him a cookie cake at Walmart and they put 21th instead of 21st. HAHA. It was hilarious. It was really good to meet Travis' family and I wish I had a picture of all of us to put on here, but I don't! Next time! :)

Anyway, that night Brittany came back and watched a movie and then was actually responsible and studied, unlike me. Haha. Those of you who know me know that I don't normally do things like stay out late when I have TONS to do (or stay out late at all, for that matter!), but hey, a girls gotta have some fun every once and a while, right? I ended up hanging out with my friends Cayla, Jonathan, Nick, and Travis through the wee hours of the morning watching Avatar, playing in puddles from the "tornado" and going to Waffle House. It was all worth it in the end!

So here are some pictures from the evening. I apologize profusely that Brittany isn't in any of them, which is the reason we originally didn't even create a post for this day. I'm not here to brag about me and what I did or anything, after all this is mine AND Brittany's blog! We decided that it was just sad to miss one day out of the 30, especially since we had been so diligently keeping up, hence the creation of this post. Thanks for reading :)

Here I am with sweet Cayla. I absolutely love this girl!

"Life's not about waiting for the storm to pass... It's about learning to dance in the rain." -Vivian Greene. This quote really spoke to me and reminded me just how great our God is. We are going to make it through the storms in life, but we have to trust Him and be willing to get up when things are hard. Here we are playing in the rain:

-Aubrey