The EFY Life [Week 3]

So we hopped in the car after Georgia weeks and headed down to Florida! Our road trip crew consisted of Kaycie, Philip, Richard, and me. We took our time getting down there and stopped to eat at a few places and when you get into Florida, they have FREE OJ at the border! WHO EVEN KNEW THAT?! ALL these years I've gone to Florida on vacations and such, and I never knew you could get some free oj at the border. so awesome. but we had a fun time jamming to some oldies, talking, laughing, and sleeeeeping. good road trip.

 The Sunday before it started we went to the little beachy area by campus and just hung out by the little drop off where the water is. Too bad it's too yucky and gross to get in so we just sat on the ledge and had a good time.

 Then that night, a lot of us went to the pier nearby and lit some sparklers to celebrate the 4th (since we'd be at EFY all day long) and we jammed out to the band that was playing there. And maybeeeee we did an EFY line dance in front of everyone there. We're just that cool. nbd.

 Kayc and I celebrated our 6 year friendiversary on July 4th! I sure do just LOVE this girl! And so glad we've been friends for so long! EFY does good things. 

 It was a fun week as counselors all started getting to closer to one another,

and of course-dancing at hot sweaty dances.

And have I mentioned that I have the COOLEST team this summer?! Seriously, I am SO lucky I got to work with these amazing people for 5 weeks! We all got along so well and had a lot of fun together! 

 I LOVE games night in Flordia! It is definitely the best place we've had games night at for EFY. So pretty! 

Becks and I were twins on Thursday with our matching skirts we bought a few weeks before. So of course, we had to take a cute picture with the palm trees too!

 I did the Variety Show that week with these fabulous counselors! It was a lot of fun! I'm not biased but I think my Variety Show was the best out of all the weeks and I had the BEST helpers :)

 And the infamous rain came in Florida ALL day on Friday! So what did we do?

well first, we took are traditional jumping picture and..

 we played in the rain during free time with the kids. It was a BLAST!

 And once again, time keeps going by faster and faster and the week in Florida was over! We said goodbye to A LOT of counselors that week, which made me sad! But it had already been a great summer! I couldn't wait for the next 2 weeks!

The EFY Life [Week 2]

it was onto week 2 of EFY in Georgia and we were just as pumped for a new week (and hoping for better weather)! 

Delivering the treats during FHE is one of my favorite times! We hop in the back of our van, blast the backstreet boys, and ride around to the different groups to give them some yummy fruit roll ups! We instantly become the kids favorite people when we walk around with those babies :) Then after we are done with our deliveries, I would go to a group to play some games with them! I loved playing the games and getting to know the youth a little better since I don't have any of my own! The counselors were always so nice to let me play :)

And we had a sunny (and hot) night for games night! Games night is always wild and out of control. I'm constantly yelling and trying to teach 80 youth at a time the certain game I'm in charge of. But I don't mind it too much. It's always entertaining to see what the kids will come up with! And by the end of the night, I don't feel like talking anymore. And all I want to do is eat pizza! :)

Becks and I decided to make a tradition every week to take a games night picture. Yes, we sadly only had 3 together, but they were fun! 

The only downfall of week 2 was that we lost a counselor so Philip had to fill in which meant we were short a BC that week. And our session was FULL so it was a little stressful. But we managed. We just missed having Philip with our team that week! 

So this little man statue is famous with the kids at EFY in Georgia. It is right outside our auditorium and the kids love taking pictures with him and imitating his pose. I have been to this campus 7 years in a row and have NEVER taken a picture with this man until this year. Better late than never right?

This was kinda my favorite thing about class duty. Matt always liked having the gazebo because he was in perfect eye view of all the kids going to classes, he was shaded, and he brought his chair and some music to entertain himself. He knows how to live it up on class duty. 

And then there were 5. Ammon had to head down to Florida a day early so he left early Friday morning, which left Jorden with the 4 girls on the team. What a lucky man ;)

And then our time at Brenau University has ended. Forever. It's so surreal to think that I won't be returning next year after coming EVERY year since 2005. This fine place (Crudup Hall) is where Kayc and I met in 2005 as participants sharing a bathroom. 

This women's college will always hold a special place in my heart.

Next on the agenda: FLORIDA!

is this real life?

do you remember this post?

yep, me too. seemed like it was FOREVER ago that I found out I was going to Palmyra for a special EFY session as a counselor!

well guess what?!

the time has come and I am flying out to New York today!!!!

I am unbelievably excited!

Last time I visited this place I was just a baby... k not really a baby cause that little girl is Lexie in the picture below. But I was in 8th grade so to me, I was baby. 

So this experience is going to be such an INCREDIBLE one! It'll be a lot different from my visit before, even though that one was still awesome. 

And I am so thrilled I get to actually be a counselor and have my own group again! Slightly nervous, but excited at the same time! Seriously, I think this week will change my life. 

I'll warn you right now, I'll probably have a million pictures from this next week! 

it's game time. :)

The EFY Life. [Week 1]

you could say that we were all excited and ready for week 1

... but I don't think we knew what we'd have in store for that week! 

first off: it poured rain the Saturday before EFY began and therefore, it flooded our gym. where we have dances and other activities. we found out it wouldn't be fixed by Tuesday nights dance so we had to come up with Plan B... or I guess C cause our back up plan wasn't available for that night. So, we had our dance in the auditorium! It was absolute madness fitting over 350 kids on a stage, back stage, and a little on the ground. It was a miracle that we all fit and it didn't seem too crowded. Mir-a-cle. But it was a fun and crazy dance! 

it was such a fun week having Baby Brother at EFY! I loved spending a lot of quality time with this studly brother of mine! And I got to watch him try to flirt with the girls, it was amusing to say the least :)

Just when we thought the dance the night before would be the only problem, in comes pouring rain an hour before games night was supposed to start. We were excited to put Plan B into action.

so don't worry... we went to another auditorium for games night. MADNESS. We first watched everyones company skits before we decided it'd still be okay to play some games outside as long as we didn't see any lightning. 

and that we did. i thought it was fun to play out in the rain. this great boy was also here the first week. he is one of my friends from BYU's little brothers so it was fun to see his face again this summer and spend a little time with him! 

this was definitely another first for my efy experiences! it was as crazy as our dance the night before, but it was a good time! and the youth and counselors were such great supporters so that helped a lot! 

and i liked being out in the rain for games night! I like playing in the rain in general! Plus, these new polo shirts retract water so that was nice not feeling totally and completely drenched.

Thursdays are always a great day! I love getting to teach a little bit to my counselors girls and be away from the boys for the morning. But I did love seeing my brother during the day, the tender soul that he is! 

And Kayc and I were maybe obsessed with one of the MC's! He kept us laughing the entire show! Maybe we were just really tired and delirious, but we thought he was so funny! Definitely entertainment for us!

And just like that, Friday came so fast! I rounded up these 4 kids to be my "disney kids" to sing a song that night at the dance! I loved spending a little time with them and I think they did a fantastic job too! :)

We had AMAZING session directors that week! We loved the Tomas! They were such a fun and inspirational couple! I really enjoyed getting to know them that week!

I was sad that week 1 had flown by cause I knew that's how the next 4 weeks would go! Even though that week had a few hiccups, it was still a great week with some amazing youth I got to meet and work with! 

Newly Weds Come to Georgia!

[yes, I am still way behind. like beginning of june]

So a week after the wedding, and their honeymoon, Callie and Brandon came to visit for a little over a week! we had a lot of fun being all together! We had to do some yard work some mornings, but other then that, we played. 

the 3 oldest are so mature that we come home from playing some tennis and ate some cake directly out of the pan. we've learned our manners at college. 

 we also took a necessary trip to the lake one afternoon, which was pretty relaxing besides the part where the boat stopped working so the boys started to pull us in.

 it was fun to watch Lex in a swim meet one night too! she did an awesome job! it definitely brought back all the memories Cal and I had when we were on the swim team back in the day. 

 That weekend, we had the Georgia wedding reception. We spent all day in our clubhouse getting ready for it too with all the decorations, chair set ups, 

 and yes, we put all of that fruit on those trees. Most time consuming thing ever, but it looked super cool right? Too bad no one ate them as much as I was hoping. But we also had a delicious crepe bar too! 

 The Georgia reception was a lot of fun because we got to see a lot of the friends we've had since my parents moved to Georgia and friends we hadn't seen in awhile! 

 We also took a trip to Six Flags, which is always a fun, yet tiring time! 

 And to end their trip, we went to a Braves game their last night! It was a must that Brandon went to a Braves game so I'm glad we got to squeeze one in!

And then the next day they were off to their new adventure in Minnesota. 

It still seems so surreal to me that they are living a married life in a totally new city. I feel like it won't hit me until I get back to Provo and realize that they aren't there! But they are loving it up there and I couldn't be happier for them! I cried like a baby the day they left, but I can't wait to go visit them sometime in the near future! 

let's jump back a month.

wow... i have been SLACKING in the blog posting. lo siento to those who like to religiously follow my blog- i act like i have fans. let's get real.

soooo... over a month ago, Miss Becky Shepherd graced my presence and came to visit me in Georgia for about 5 days before we began our EFY adventures. i was so glad she got to come experience the south a little bit! it was SO much fun to have her with me!
here's what I learned while Becks and I were inseparable for those 5 days:

she loves the atlanta braves and has purchased her own shirt

 she likes to be outside aka pool time every day... my kinda girl.

 she'll be adventurous and try new things, even when it may be the nasiest fast food joint ever.

 she pees every 5 minutes... but for real, she does. [sorry becks, are you embarrassed that i just announced that?] delete that.

 her and becker (my dog) share a bond because they have the same name... Becks. tender right?

she is a chatter box in the morning.
she likes to sing, and sing the wrong words to songs.
she'll laugh at my jokes.
she is a crack up!
you know how she has to pee all the time? she sacrificed her spot in the front of a bathroom line to help me up when I tripped and fell flat on my face. such a sacrifice. she must really like me.

the list could probably go on and on since we spent an entire month together! sadly, we have now been separated for a week and i don't exaggerate when I say that I miss her a lot! she really is such a great friend! i don't know what I would have done without her during this efy stressful life, but i'm glad she was a part of it, helping me along. she is always there for me- i know i could turn to her for anything and she would just sit there and listen to me complain or give me some advice. or crack jokes with me- wait, what? i'm so glad we've gotten so much closer this past month.

anyways, we had a fun time together this past month and i can't wait to reunite with her in a little over a month. until then, it'll be texts, phone calls, and skype sesh's with this lady. love you becks! miss you everyday.