Just an Update

    At Parkside I was super good at keeping my anxiety levels down during the Spring Semester, coming home for Summer Break scared me though...A lot.  Coming home for breaks always seemed to heighten my anxiety.  Winter Break hadn't been too good to me.  Because of worrying about how my anxiety levels would be during Summer Break it caused my break to start out with those same anxiety levels I had been worried about.  When the first week of Summer Vacation is going to be spent with friends at a Leadership Conference, it kind of hurts (especially when you had been doing so well).  The pride kept within me told me I couldn't tell anyone I was struggling.  I wanted to be "brave" throughout the whole thing, and not letting myself be brave hurt a bit too.
      I did tell though, and even though it probably didn't make sense it helped to let someone know the inner-demons I was facing.  I went to church the weekend after the Conference and one of my friends reminded me that I wasn't alone, and that everything would be okay.  His words must of been healing because ever since then, I've been doing super good.  I'm not constantly in fear of when the next panic-attack will come, and not surrounded by paralyzing fear all the time.  An irrational fear I had was driving alone which I used to enjoy.  I've been driving long-distances now without fear, even in the dark which used to utterly terrify me.  I have felt so free recently :)  Whether that be because of the amazing friends I have come across this year that I can be 100% myself around, or God's love for me, I've been the happiest I've ever been, and I get so much more out of every single experience now.

Life Quotes

"When I speak, sometimes I get too excited and I trip over my words or words will get mixed up and spliced together. Everything makes sense in my mind, but then it all wants to come out at once and when it does, it’s a mess."
- A basic representation of me, when I want to tell someone a story or something.  It doesn't end up being as cool as I think it will because I mix up the words, also when I'm excited I tend to talk more loudly then needed.

“Women are more likely to be attracted to personality and men are more likely to be attracted to physical appearance.”
- I found this quote on a psychology website.  It honestly is so messed up that society is this way.  Where women see men as real people, and women are sexualized, so men focus on the women's appearance more than personality when finding someone they think is suitable for men.  For me if you have a personality suitable with my own, it honestly doesn't matter what you look like, your personality will bring your features out.  Also looks shouldn't be so important, because one day we're going to lose our attractiveness and grow old.  I honestly think society stresses looks on women to much, and if your not looking on point (perfect) everyday, you basically don't have much of a chance for anything.  On TV it always talks about a guys accomplishments, but for women it only matters how attractive they look or how much of a "slut" they appear to be.  With so much being pressured on women its no wonder a lot of us are so insecure.

-This is so so important to me.  I try so hard to make sure everyone around me is having a good time, and I try to use my sense of humor as much as possible.  Making others laugh/smile is literally the best thing ever to me.  I try so hard to make people feel welcomed, and be as approachable and as friendly as possible.  There is so much hurt in this world already, that if I could lessen that, its a great thing.

-Recently I've been feeling so insecure about the way I look.  Something I hadn't experienced in a really long time.  I've been comparing the way I look to a ton of other girls, and admiring the way they look.  When your in a bout of insecurity though, you tend to feel so many negative feelings.  I have honestly been thinking I'm not that pretty, and that has definitely hurt me.  I love myself so much that when I think destructive things like that, it definitely hurts me.    I wish that everyone was just under the impression that absolutely everyone is beautiful so people didn't have to be so stressed out about how they looked.

 -This quote is so cute.  To me it explains how sometimes you have to let your weakness/problems be known instead of keeping everything inside.  If you keep everything inside, it keeps hurting you, it you let it go it might initially hurt, but you'll feel so much better when its out.  It also explains that you can't go through life alone.  You'll need people by your side, to live the best life possible.

In the future I might post about my favorite song lyrics and what they mean to me or Scripture Verses or a part 2 to this one.

A Celebration of Fathers

   So I'm the sucky child who didn't get my dad anything for Father's Day.  So here's a post instead about how great he is.

      At a young age  I was able to do some pretty cool things, that not many kids probably get to do.  From a young age my dad bought a mini car for driving around the yard.  We have a pretty nice sized yard.  I drove it at a really young age at about 4.  I would end up driving up the side of the swing-set and tipping it over.  Luckily, I didn't get hurt from that.  We also had a four-wheeler to drive around the yard for when I got older.  In the winter I had a mini snowmobile to drive around the yard as well.  I had a lot of driving practice when I was younger.  My dad would also drive me around the yard on a golfcart.  That was always a ton of fun.  Now my little cousin wants us to drive her around on a golfcart too when ever she comes over, and I get to drive her around now.  (My dad, even set up an obstacle course in my backyard to help me practice for my driving test,)  To drive with the golfcart, not an actual car,  A few years ago as well, my dad bought a Go-Kart and decided to make a track in the snow.  Driving a Go-Kart on the ice/snow is super fun.
 
     Another thing about my dad, is that he never stops working.  He leaves our house at 4am, and doesn't get back until a little after 3pm, then proceeds to work on something in his garage or outside somewhere, whether that be making something, doing yardwork, or fixing someone's car.  I would usually go in the shop and watch, or do small jobs:  Pounding nails out of wood, picking up sticks in the yard, and planting trees to name a few.  He is the most hard-working person I know.  Even when on vacation, he feels like he needs to find something to work on/do.  He is against taking naps, which is probably why he thinks I need to do more.

   When I was younger and used to go grocery shopping with my parents my dad would always pick on me, (as if I wasn't picked on enough by my brother and his friends who literally put traps everywhere that I could fall into, and would play hide-and-seek tag where I always seemed to be it and climb trees so I couldn't tag them).  My dad was basically like a second child and would kick the bottom of my shoe as I was in mid-walk.

    One of the biggest characteristics of my dad though is his cheesy jokes.  He will continue to make puns or jokes related to one of the jokes he told throughout the week, most recently was naming every word with "den" in it after having a conversation about dens.  It could be a few days of not saying anything to do with a topic and he will suddenly come up with another word, and say it in the weirdest of times and I probably will burst out laughing.

   Happy Father's Day to a man who loves working hard, hiking, cars. and who introduced me to great Classic Rock Music.

My Leap of Faith

     God has mysterious ways of planning things, so sometimes when he tells you to do something it may seem super crazy.  I did seem super crazy to myself back in April, I trusted in him though and am very blessed because of it, because it has all worked out.
    Back in April I applied for a job that I thought would be perfect for me, working the summer program for The Threshold.  The Threshold is a place where special needs children/adults can go away for the day, and with the summer program we'd be taking kids 9-20 years of age all across Southeastern Wisconsin to do various activities.  I applied, did an interview, and was accepted into the program,
     The problem was I didn't feel totally comfortable with the whole thing.  I would just be working full time the entire summer, and barely have time to do anything else.  I didn't feel good about it.  The whole not being 100% sure, threw me off, a lot, and I began to think if taking the job could have been the right decision.  Signs from God proved this is not what God had planned for me.  So while at college I wrote a letter saying I would like to volunteer instead because I couldn't commit to a full-time job.  I was then told I'd be able to volunteer once a week, and that I should still come in for training.
    I found out by doing training for my job, one of the guys I went to school with was working there.  He had been the last one to be hired, meaning he had been hired after I refused to take the job.  I would find out the next week when I volunteered that he would be so good with the girl he was working with that God must have needed him for that job.
     It doesn't end there though.  After I went to training for the job I noticed the lady who was suppose to be on-call staff had been crossed off because she had refused the job.  I emailed my boss later that day, and she said she had an idea.  A boy had come in last-minute to be added to the summer program, and they needed another person to work, and this person only needed to work part-time.  This is what I had wanted.  I couldn't commit to full-time but I could definitely commit myself to just working part-time.
     God had a super complex plan that he brought forth and by trusting in him, I was able to be blessed by doing something I love, and keeping in touch with people I care about.  God truly is amazing.  :)

National Best Friends Day

    This is a little late since National Best friends day was last week sometime, but I'd thought I'd make a post about all my best friends and a little about each of them to honor them on my blog.  :) So here we go :D I will try to include one of the oldest and newest pictures I have taken with these people.

Meet Amber:

I've known Amber for almost 9 years now.  We met in our music class in 6th grade, and turned out to be the only girls in that class.  I guess all the girls had taken band or choir in 6th grade.  Not wanting to work with the boys as potential partners for group projects, we would work together.  We didn't get super close until High School.  We have been through so much together including:  Discovering a sketchy place in West Bend with a "craft closet" pictured above, seeing Paul McCartney together, doing insane African dance workshops, Seeing twenty-one-pilots, and sitting together at the Allenton parade each year.  We even have matching Paul McCartney necklaces, because at one point we were both super obsessed with "The Beatles", and she referred to herself as Paul.  She used to live about 10 minutes away from me, but now she lives in Green Bay, and went to school in Idaho this past year, so seeing her was a blessing.  Amber is a very empathetic person and will put your problems before her own.  Shes had a lot to struggle with throughout the year, but had never complained about anything.  She's always been super supportive through everything, and there to make me laugh, or to just talk, and even though we lived so far apart this year, we still always kept in touch for the most part which was awesome.  I hope we can make many more memories in the future, and stay friends throughout all the years.  :)

Meet Hazuki

Hazuki and I have been friends for almost 4 years now, and I met her the summer before my sophomore year of high school.   I planned a summer party, and had invited my other friend Kelsey to the party.  She asked if she could bring Hazuki, her exchange student from Japan.  I agreed, and she brought her along.  Hazuki had come to America without knowing very much English, so not much was said between us that day.  I never thought we'd ever end up being super close, but that happened.  She picked up on English really quickly, and would sometimes have me speak words so she knew the correct pronunciation of the words.  We were basically inseparable those 10 months she was here.  People actually began to think that she was my exchange student.  Our personalities were so in sync it was almost impossible for me not to be with her.  I made sure to schedule my gym class at the same time as her, and snuck into her running group.  (The gym teacher didn't notice).  Hazuki is super adorable, and it was great getting to share the American culture with her and watched as she tried new things she had never experienced before.  She is literally the most adorable/funny girl I have ever met.   We experienced such things as spending time in the dells and going ziplining, jumping into a lake with our clothes on, and having me sneak into one of the band practice rooms with her every other day to watch her play piano, or sing songs with her.  (I would sign in with the choir teacher and she would open the door to the choir room from the other side (door with band practice rooms).  She actually came to visit last August two after two years of not seeing her.  She seems to understand me more than any other person, and shares my love of ice cream and adventure.  I know someday I will make it out to Japan, and hope we can also be stay friends throughout our lives, and have many more trips to the mall.  I wear a necklace everyday that is a half of a heart, she has the other half.  We also have matching Chinese writing bracelets along with Kelsey.

Meet Christian:

Christian and I have been friends for almost 4 years now, which must be a common theme.  We met when I was a sophomore and he was a freshman in high school.  We had been in the same Spanish class together and his assigned seat was in front of me.  To the right of him was my friend Kelsey.  We would all do Spanish group activities together along with a girl named Katie.  One of the first memories I have of him, is in Spanish they had shown a super cheesy video about Liking things, and I just burst out laughing so hard I cried and almost fell out of my desk, as Christian looked back at me and asked me if I was okay.  The next year, we kind of lost touch due to not having classes together, but near the end of the school year I got voted on Prom Court , and he agreed to be my date(friend) for Prom.  (The next year he would follow in my footsteps and be voted on Prom Court as well).  After Prom that year Christian and I became close again, and filmed three YouTube channel challenge videos.  He's the one that introduced me to Tyler Oakley, which is where my obsession with YouTube all started.  So you can blame him ;P.  In Senior Year I made sure I would be in his Spanish class so we could suffer together, and our Spanish teacher again made our assign seats identical to when we had met.  With him in front of me and me behind him.  (Different teacher though).  His Junior Year I encouraged him to do the musical/play which he did, so we had a lot of memories from that mostly of us not doing what we were supposed to, and sassing each other.  Christian is like the King of Sass, and the last part of my Senior Year was filled with us lovingly insulting each other as if we couldn't stand each other.  :P Even through all the insulting it was evident that he had a super caring heart, I can't wait to see what he does with his first year of college.  I hope we can stay friends throughout adulthood as well.

Meet Camara:

I met Camara about 4 years ago, also when I was a sophomore in high school.  Camara had been a senior.  We became friends almost instantly.  For Stage Crew for the musical we started working together the Sunday before opening night, and before the end of the week, we had gotten super close, and she claimed me as her daughter.  I later added her as my mom on Facebook.  Whenever we used to see each other in person, we would shout each other's names or I would call her Cameron Diez, and she would call me Alexa Vega.  Throughout the years, she has offered me great advice, someone to call in times of need, and a person to put a smile on my face.  Throughout the years we have done such things as:  Having a picnic at a park which included Big Macs, seeing the Fray at Summerfest, and seeing "The Phantom of the Opera" in Milwaukee.  It has been so inspiring seeing you go through your college years.

Meet Angela:

Angela and I have been friends for almost 3 years now.  (Apparently I'm really good at matching my best friends, without planning it)  We met on Facebook.  I knew she had gone to my school and that she had been friends with one of my friends at the time Selena, but I didn't know much more than that.  At the end of my Junior Year we had joined the same group on Facebook, and bonded by talking about "Mrs. Jesus Sandals."  "Mrs. Jesus Sandals" had been one of the main supervisors of the students (forgot what her actual title was) and her favorite thing to do was to yell at people for no reason.  If she didn't like you, she made sure you knew it, which was like 90% of the student body minus the popular kids.  I think she secretly wished she could of been one of them.  Her Selena and I hung out one day in summer, and we became friends through that.  When I was Student Director my Senior Year, she had been one of my Stage Crew members, and during tech week we shared a package of raw cookie dough.  I would meet every morning in front of her locker, so we could talk.  Angela is a child at heart so we could always do things like visiting parks, and going on the playgrounds.  She was also super smart, and won't take anything from anyone if you get on her bad side.  :P  She also makes this dessert called Chocolate Salami which is fantastic.  (It looks like Salami but doesn't contain any meat :) ) It's super amazing.  

Meet Laurette:  

Laurette and I have been friends for almost a year now, even though it feels like I've known her for years.  Laurette and I met on the 2nd day of school.  For freshman they had us pick activities we wanted to do throughout the day.  We both decided we wanted to decorate plastic flamingos.  Laurette had been walking with Makayla who had been an exchange student visiting from Australia.  Foreign people really interest me, so I began asking her questions, then asked for her and Laurette's number.  After I got involved with Cru, I invited her to Cru study tables, and other Cru events and meetings.  She fit in with the Cru group right away, and wasn't afraid to go to Minneapolis with me for a Cru event called TCX.  Laurette had been there every step of the way with me through college.  Through the tough things and the great adventures.  Visiting the dog park near campus, and going on Panda Express dates, or eating at the Brickstone (cafeteria at Parkside) everyday.  Laurette is a super encouraging, positive, and determined person.  She never fails to put a smile on your face whether using her sass, or just being an upbeat person in general.  Shes the type of person that will always be there when you need it, or to go on an adventure with you.  I can't wait to participate in Shenigans for our sophomore year at Parkside. :)   

Meet Jeremy: 

Jeremy is my newest best friend, and we've been friends for almost a year now.  It feels like we've been friends for a long time since we get along with each other so well, and laugh at the same things.  I met him the 3rd week of school by going to my first Cru meeting.  Jeremy had been the one who greeted me at the door.  I would of discovered Cru earlier but was given the wrong information about it on the first week of college.  His intense happiness originally through me off, and I didn't know what I was getting into my first week of Cru.  Later that week he was on my dorm floor and told me about a bible study him and Robert were doing later that day.  Which I ended up going too. I learned that his excessive happiness and love for God was actually a great thing. The first time we hung out we bonded over Coldplay music.  Since that day hes introduced me to many great artists I hadn't heard of including: Kara's Flowers, Guster, and The Colourist.  We would later become obsessive over twenty-one-pilots, and dissect the lyrics together.  After having a lot of drama with the guys on campus early in the year, Jeremy had been the first one to restore my trust and faith in men.  We became Cru greeters together in February this year and some Sundays he would even go to church with me.  His church that he had usually gone to, had happened to be the one behind my church.  Jeremy is a great guy to have deep conversations to or just to tell anything to.  He shows empathy, and interest in anything you say.  Him and I have so many inside jokes that we are literally able to talk in code and confuse almost everyone around us.  Saying such things as:  "Just Zip it Up!", "So Cute Bye Bye!, and "Put the Fire Out!" We also try to add puns into our sentences, and spin around my kitchen for a forgotten reason?  He is always able to make me smile, and think in the same weird way I do.  I can't wait for all the future memories we will create.  We also have matching twenty-one-pilots "Stay Alive" bracelets.

I love you guys all so much.  Thank you all for being there for me, and making me the best person I can be, and teaching me so many different things along the way.  You guys are the best! :) <3

Six Flags Adventure

             It wouldn't be an adventure without something going wrong,  So I met Jordan at a Park-and-ride that both of us knew how to get to.  (There was a problem this week with not being able to find park-and-rides.) Jordan is not the type of guy to be late.  He was 20 minutes late because he had problems printing everyone's tickets.  One of the computers died right after he typed in his payment info, and the one he finally printed the tickets on printed super slow.  But then he showed up.  It hadn't felt like I was waiting at the Park and Ride for that long.
                On the way to Racine to pick up Jeremy and Laurette we talked about important things like what our favorite soup flavor was, what our favorite soda flavor was, past jobs we have done, and haunted houses.  We came to the conclusion that elderly people like to eat things such as cottage cheese/ George Webb because it smells at bad as they do.
              We picked up Jeremy and then had a hard time finding Laurette because she had given us the wrong address.  I called Laurette and put her on speaker and she said how she had seen Jordan's car drive past.  Jordan watched as a person walked out of a house and was like Laurette I think I see you.  It turned out to be a little boy eating an orange.  Jordan shouted:  "That's not you, it's a boy eating an orange."  In which I busted out laughing.  We finally picked up Laurette, and had a bunch of story times on our way.  We also came across a gas station that didn't actually exist...
               We got to Six Flags, and Jordan was super excited.  I was excited when I heard that they had "The Swinger" at Six Flags.  When we parked there was a herd of seagulls.  Jordan said that if we would put french fries on top of his car we could go on a little flight.
                I soon noticed how big the rides actually were, and it kind of scared me a little bit.  I never thought I would be able to say I rode on such rides as "Batman" or "Superman" but those who know me know that once I set my mind on something, I'll do it.  There will always be a little hesitation in the beginning, but in the end I will do it ;)
             We started out with the smaller rides first.  A ride shaped like a squid was our first ride.  I purposely screamed and made terrified faces.

We would find out later, that Jordan's keys had fallen out of his pocket on that ride.  He had taken his phone out of his pocket to take pictures such as this, and his keys must of fallen out in the process.
     Next we go to go on my childhood favorite, "The Swinger", I was so excited there were many screams of excitement, and klanks, and grabbing peoples legs with my feet before the ride.

After that beast of a ride, Jordan noticed his keys were no longer in his pocket, so the search was on.  Being stuck in Illinois probably wasn't the best idea/leaving the car there over night.  He looked around "The Swinger" but there was no luck.
        It was a good thing that "The Swinger" had been the second ride we had been on versus the 8th etc.  We then went back to look at the area of the 1st ride.  The 1st ride had been shout down until the night when it would be lit up.  The guy who had been running the ride, came in and looked with us, and was actually the one who ended up finding Jordan's keys.  That was great because it literally could have been anywhere in the park.
           Next up we rode "The Whizzer"  which is probably the least intense of the roller coasters at Six Flags without being a kiddie ride.  Jordan would describe it at the end of the night as like a nice cool jacuzzi of rides.
           We then went on a huge circular ride that is like a pendulum. We would go on that ride again later in the night and it would be way faster, and go higher.  There were still a lot of little kids when we originally went on it.
         We tried to go go-karting next in which I would of lapped them all, but that cost extra, and ain't nobody got time for that.  Luckily there was a roller coaster that we were all were too short for that we went on called the "Little Dipper"  we renamed it the "The Little Zipper"  Just zip it up.

Jordan was sick of all these non-life altering roller coaster rides and suggested we go on a real ride.  I jokingly replied:  "Like the carousal"  Which is exactly what we ended up going on next.  That carousal was pretty fancy.  It was 2 stories tall.  The guy running the ride seemed to find it humorous how big we were.  We all elegantly did our princess-waves and salutes, and tried not to actually gallop away.
      Superman was the next ride.  To be honest it looked super terrifying, I had heard stories about how terrible it was, and the fact you were on your stomach was kind of intimidating.  But like I said above I knew I would end up on it.  The whole knowing your strapped in super tight and the rides over super quick is pretty much a comfort for riding any roller coaster as I would find out.  I didn't actually think I would like roller coasters, but this ride proved me wrong.
        Laurette, Jeremy, and I watched as Jordan went all by himself on Superman.  He got on to ride again and I went and took the seat next to him, then Jeremy followed.  My heart pounded so hard, and I thought about things such as what if I panicked so hard I went unconscious:  I had saw it happen on a show.  Jeremy let out his fear through a silent but deadly fart, and I fainted while strapped in my seat from the smell.  Ha ha just kidding.  Superman was literally so much fun.  There was one kind of scary part where you fly upside down.  Jordan was super proud of me for actually going on the ride and told me that he had known I'd be the brave one.  (Of course xD)
    Next up was Batman, which I got on the first time this time.  The roller coaster started in a building so you couldn't convince yourself out of it as easily because you couldn't see what was coming.  Batman was probably the most scary/intense/awesome ride in the park.  There was constant twists as well as going upside down and whipped all around.  Needless to say it was amazing but I needed a group hug after all that action :P.
     We went on the circle ride twice more then walked over to the Raging Bull, which I would have went on but I felt a headache coming on and just didn't feel good at that point so I didn't think it would be the best idea.
       We finished off by going on "The Whizzer" twice.  There's something so mystical about going on roller coasters at night.  As the ride was going up Jordan played with my hair.  (Surprised his hands didn't get caught in it, it must of been pretty snarled after being whipped around all day).
          We took one last selfie and then we headed out.  None of us had eaten dinner so we made a quick stop at IHOP (don't know how its spelled).  After eating Laurette sprawled out on the couch by the doors that lead out of IHOP,  Jordan picked her up and took her out to the car.  xD Never thought that was going to happen....
         On the way to Racine we listened to "Impossible Soul" and Surjan Stevens.  After we had dropped Laurette and Jeremy off.  Jordan and I talked about religion, church, twenty-one-pilots, as well as a story about the balloon animal man which Jordan made up right on the spot before dropping me off.  I got Jordan to listen to Blurryface because he was looking for music that would keep him awake.  Thanks to Jordan we were able to go to the park for a discounted price, and the park had been closed off for only Target people and their friends, so there had been like no lines for the rides, which was pretty awesome.  It was a truly great experience for me.  :)

Trek Day 2

       Anna’s alarm began going off super early in the morning.  After about 15 minutes and almost everyone in the whole cabin annoyed, I started to freak out that it might be my alarm.  The alarm had been going off within my stuff, but then I found it was Anna’s alarm and quickly turned it off.  I decided then would be the perfect time to take a shower at 6:30 in the morning.  In a cabin of a ton of girls there was only one shower.  We found out in the guys’ cabins there was 2 showers.  How sexist :P.  The girl’s in our cabin usually took showers at night, or right before breakfast so I figured I’d beat the crowd.  I went back to bed for a little bit, then got ready and went to breakfast. (My awesome straight hair had been ruined by the shower) L.  For the main meeting we learned about God’s forgiveness, and how Christianity is about having a relationship with God, not a religion.  Also throughout Trek they would give out prizes to whoever could answer their questions.  The emcee named off two states he had lived in, and had us guess what the 3^rd state was,  I won by saying Ohio, and shared the prize with Laurette.  The reward was sitting at a table secluded with the person you had chosen while one of the student leaders took your breakfast order and bought you breakfast.  I got a cappuccino and a chocolate donut, and Laurette got a cappuccino and a blueberry muffin.  After the main meeting it was quiet time.  Laurette and I decided to use quiet time to take a 25 minute nap.  We ended up oversleeping because Laurette’s alarm didn’t go off, so we missed Chris’s talk, but made it just in time for lunch.  After lunch you had a choice of going caving or going rock-climbing/ziplining/giant swing.  I did the second option.  Ziplining is awesome and caving just sounded a bit scary, especially climbing through the “birth canal.”  I thought it was called that as a joke, but it legitly called that.  Jeremy, Laurette, and Mike also ventured over.  We started out by pulling the rope which hoisted up people for the giant swing.  J 

After walking away from the giant swing to do a horizontal rock wall, I decided I really wanted to try the giant swing.  We did the rock-wall for a little while,  I realized converse are terrible for climbing, then we went back to the swing.  I was the first out of Laurette, and Jeremy to go.  So you can say I was the bravest ;P.   Laurette and I were so skinny that we flew right up to the top, once at the top you pulled a cord and dropped down and swang back and forth.  It was so much fun.  Laurette and I went on it again after we ziplined,  and you don’t even notice the initial jump the second time.  I let

go of my harness and just free fell it was so great.

For the zipline you could either climb up the rock-wall or climb up this pole.  If you wanted to go down the pole you had to go down peg by peg so it made sense to keep going up.  The pole was the worst part of the whole thing.  Laurette flew up the pole, and I would stop to catch my breath and because I was terrified of the height. (So many pegs).  Jeremy and a lady in her 70s encouraged me from the bottom.  It’s weird how going up a pole is difficult but the whole jumping off the platform from super high in the air wasn’t.  Laurette and I ziplined together, they had two lines.  I ended up jumping before her, she kind of just gracefully stepped off.

Jeremy wasn't going to go zip-lining, but Chris convinced a girl to go with him.   While waiting for the others to get back from caving:  Jeremy, Laurette, Alex, and I as well as a guy named Brian sat underneath a gazebo with a giant bell to signal dinnertime.  Eric came and talked to us, not knowing what the bell symbolized and ended up ringing it.  He was freaked out when we told him what it actually meant, and shouted to people that it wasn’t actually dinnertime.  Laurette almost made the same mistake of ringing it.  Also while under the gazebo Alex decided to do some wrestling moves on Jeremy.   Brian talked about Japanese characters, and Korea.  The others came back from caving with dirt which was used as war paint spread on their faces.  When it was dinner time Laurette was able to ring the bell which made her super excited.  After dinner we had a session about prayer and had breakouts about praying using scriptures.  After that Tyler, Jeremy, Laurette and I sat at a bench by the playground at camp and had deep talks about fears of anxiety and other things.  That night we made friendship bracelets as its Parkside Cru tradition.  :D  (I think it was that night….)   

Trek Day 1

       Mom went and bought us donuts, before we all headed up to Trek. (Laurette, Jeremy, and Tyler had all slept over the night before)  It’s always so great having a sleepover with Jeremy, his alarm is worship music playing from his iPod. :D We left Slinger a little before 8:30 and listened to a playlist Jeremy had created for the car ride on his iPod.  On the way we saw something called Willy’s Weiner Wagon.  Tyler took a picture of it. 

  We also came across a corn dog shack (Buy a corn dog, get a free stick.) and dinosaur statues.  Stopped at Culvers on the way for lunch.  Jeremy always gets a Kids Meal at Culvers.  For the free ice cream maybe?:P  Westby is super beautiful.  The camp was located in a valley between mountain-sized hills.  Our team color ended up being blue, which is perfect for our team name being the Snoop Whales.  We got to meet our three other teammates: Jordan, (Anna + Lizzy) (sisters) who were all actually from UWWC.  After meeting them we had a small introduction circle, then spent the afternoon doing team-building exercises.  On our hike up to the team-building exercises I discussed what the UWWC people do in West Bend.  When I was asked the question the first thing that came to my mind was go to Walmart.  (That isn’t a good thing to say to a guy who works at Target).  XD  The first obstacle course we did was called “The Beam”  which immediately reminded me of Trae. Trae Beem get it?  The mission of the obstacle was to get everyone in the team over the Beam which was probably about 8ft. high in the air.  I never thought we’d be able to do it.  It was pretty intense.  Everyone got over though, even Tyler who basically had to use his body strength to pull himself up.  Mike took a ton of pictures. 

Our second obstacle was the most challenging but also the most fun.  It was a ropes course over a mud bog.  We helped Mike get across one of the logs so he could feel like he accomplished something which was great.  I got overconfident with the whole ropes course thing, and with only like a foot to go, my foot slipped into the mud.  L  I was so careful.  Alex was the first to fall in the mud, and got the muddiest.  He almost lost his shoes, they were completely covered, I think Anna ended up pulling him out of there.  I never thought I’d be able to do that either, but I did a pretty darn good job. 

Our final obstacle was getting in between to wires without touching them.  Even though I didn’t feel like I touched the wire, I guess my hair did.  As a punishment they made me go through with a blindfold on and people guiding me, which is pretty impossible when you’re not even sure if your close to the wires or not.  Lizzy, who had already crossed the wires, went back to give me a pony tail for my hair.  (The wires were acting as an electric fence, so she got zapped.) 

After everyone had gotten through, we all sat in a circle again and discussed what we had learned, whilst Jeremy stabbed some dead leaves on the ground and handed them to me.  I put them in one of my hands and he kept doing it over and over.  What a great gift.  I proceeded to carry them all the way out to the main grounds, then was told it would be okay to let them go.  Once we got back I washed off my shoes and socks with a hose.  I never knew they would be able to get that clean again.  The day before going to Trek, mom thought it would be a good idea to buy me new socks.  Ha ha nope not really.  For supper we had dinner by the softball field.  So we all sat with our fellow Snoop Whales, and talked about the story behind “Snoop Whale” and the Whoo chant.  After dinner was the main meeting, which was about assurance of God.  Then we all drew pictures of things symbolic to our lives, and each took turns telling our story.  This is where everyone found out that Mike had brain cancer, and that’s why he’s been getting chemo.  It was super emotional hearing everybody’s story but very eye-opening.

  That night there was a fire to celebrate the day, on the way I tripped and banged my knee really hard, to heal I made a S’more and talked with Jeremy and Laurette.  A lot of the people at camp went to bed early.  So Laurette, Jeremy and I headed into the building before we were the only ones left by the fire.  Jordan and Tyler had a lot in common so they were talking in a little lounge area of the building.  We sat and talked with them until it was time to go to bed.  (My hair looked so on point, as well as my outfit J )