Summit Part 1

Where to start?  I had the TIME OF MY LIFE at Summit.  It was so, so great.  I don't think I can really do my experience there justice through the next few blog posts....but I'll sure do my best.  :-)  Summit was an incredibly faith-building experience and I was able to meet so many new friends.  Naturally I have quite a few pictures to share with you all so here's part one. :-)

One of the first things we did as a group was tour Garden of the Gods.  I had been before about ten years ago, but I totally didn't remember how beautiful and scenic it was.  We had a great view from the gift shop area. The mountains were gorgeous ~ alot like ours in AZ but better because of all the green!

Garden of the Gods' claim to fame is the interesting rock formations there. 

 Here I am with Kaylie, one of my roomates! 

Two of my roomates, Kaylie and Ashlynn.  They were so fun!  (And...homeschooled too, woot woot!)

All three of us together. :-) This was only day two so I still don't know people hardly at all.  By the end of the two weeks we were like family!

Very small group picture out front of the gift shop.  There were 70 students that attended, so I felt like we had a pretty large group - though a full class is 180 students!  With seventy I just barely had enough time to learn everyone's names by the end of the trip.  And even then I still was a little fuzzy.....:-)

Every other day we headed to a nearby park for sports time.  Summit has several school buses that they use to transport the students....obviously this one was pretty empty by time I got around to taking a picture.  Kind of weird as it was my first time on a school bus!  Now I know what it's like!  Have to say I didn't miss out on much!

During sports time there were a lot of different games going on.  Volleyball, speed volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and ultimate football.  I am not so much a sports person....but I did play volleyball one time!  It was great fun but I was horrible at it!   

Choosing teams....I think it was guys against girls at this point. 

Some of us were not very athletically inclined (ahem, that would be me), so quite a few of  us sat on the sidelines and just talked.  Lots of people would go off under a shady tree and read or journal and just enjoy the afternoon.  It was so relaxing! 

Some of the guys set up hammocks for snoozing.....I never actually got in one but they sure did look comfy!  There was rumor of putting a third hammock to make it a triple decker...but I guess they decided that would be a little risky, lol. :-)

When we had free time, some of us had a great time playing different card games.  Here we were playing Nerds, which is a lot like Dutch Blitz except you can have more people playing. 

 Kind of a violent game!!!  It is so fun though.  We had a standing joke that I was the best loser because my points always stayed in the negative....I think my final score was zero!!! 

I had such a fun time getting to know everyone!

I grabbed Angela for a photo shoot just when the lighting was perfect....she was a great model! :-)

And yes I know you've seen me wear this shirt in almost every photo....I promise I only wore it twice!!  I guess the days I took photos were the days I had repeat outfits.  Ah well.  You get the point.

Part two coming soon....:-)

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Outta Here!

And I am off to Summit! I'm sure you already know.....but I will be unable to post during my trip. 

However.  I will probably take some pictures on my phone and text them to my mom....in which case she will probably post them on her blog (click here).

Be back on the 1st!  Have a wonderful few weeks, everyone!

(And by the way....have you noticed that I just hopped over the #400 mark for posts?  Yep! This post is #402. But don't congratulate me.  It's only taken me three and a half years to get here. :-)

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The Last Few Days I Have Been.....

 racking my brain, trying to think of what I'll most likely forget to pack   //    wondering if my last tube of mascara will last me or if I should buy a new one just in case    //    charging all electronics    //  cleaning my room and bathroom within an inch of its' life so both are clean upon return    //    having sympathy for those with arthiritis (thank you tetanus shot in my very sore arm)    //    un-plugging our shower drain, which was hugely clogged by my rapidly shedding hair (I could sell wigs with what I've lost)........

.....re-doing all nails before departure    //    remembering not to pack nail clippers as they are deadly weapons as far as TSA is concerned   //   spending 45 minutes creating a paper-plate race track with two excited brothers   //    making chocolate chip cookies   //   preparing the house for our 7am waffle breakfast with friends tomorrow   //   figuring out how much spending money to bring   //   laughing when I woke up at 2am and hearing my dog whining in his sleep next to my bed (bad dream?)  //   reminding Isaac again to pull up his pants before exiting the bathroom, not after......

And I could go on and on and on.   I am so excited for my approaching trip - two more days until

bon voyage!

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Summit Ministries Promo Video

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Awkward and Awesome Wednesday

Awkward:  

~purchasing prenatal vitamins at Fry's today.   No joke!  The doctor said my hair loss may be related to low iron (kind of figured that) so he recommended taking a prenatal vitamin every day.  I felt like I should be one of those radiant first-timer-expectant mothers, waltzing through the store and buying mama-pills - in reality I'm just a 19-year old unmarried-non-pregnant-yet-losing-hair-at-an-alarming-rate girl.  In need of higher iron levels.  Hence the prenatal vitamin.

~being told (again) that I look 16.  The ladies at the CPC (very wonderful ladies that they are) were shocked that I was 19.  I'm not surprised.  Kind of used to that reaction by now though.

~ getting a sucker at the doctor's office this morning after receiving a tetanus shot and having blood drawn.  I felt like a five-year-old.  Again, in reality it was for my blood sugar levels (I always pass out with needles), not because of good behavior.  Though I was a good girl.  :-)

 
 Awesome:

~ the fact that my trip to Summit is just three days away!  I'm beginning the packing process....did two loads of my own laundry today and am trying to figure out what to bring.  There's so much I'm going to need for two weeks...."packing light" is almost impossible for a girl! :-)

~ Kix cereal.  Love that stuff.   For breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, midnight snack, 2:00 am snack, you name it, it's good anytime.  (And yes I've done both the midnight and the 2:00 am snack before, many times.  It's just......me.  I'm always hungry.)

~ Cleaning and washing and scrubbing our kitchen/living room/family room last night for a few hours.  It was in shambles (I do mean shambles) and I had had a very stressful day (or week, or year, whatev).  Cleaning RELIEVES stress for me.  Seriously.  It was just what I needed!! Listening to Chip Ingram's messages on my ipod, scrubbing a million dishes by hand, and watching a large thunderstorm roll in made for an awesome evening last night for me.

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