Some People....

I have been traveling. A lot. In fact, i haven't had a full weekend home in a month. I get back in town on Friday and am flying out again Sunday afternoon. This past weekend was no different. Due to my travel plans I had to miss the final session of Conference, bolt to the airport, wait to be picked up by the shuttle bus, circle the parking lot a few times, only to realize my terminal was going to be the last one on the drop-off route. Instead of being at the mercy of this driver, who refused to be a part of the Universe of Harvey, I got off at Terminal D, checked in on American with minutes to spare, then book it to the opposite side of DFW Airport in time to be one of the last to board and literally the last one to stuff my bag into the overhead compartment. Everyone else had to check their stuff. Whew...I made it! Despite all that, I was pretty calm and collected, looking at it like I squeezed every possible second out of my weekend as possible.

We were making our way out to the runway when the pilot came on and said we had to go back to the gate for some missing paperwork. That's when, let's call him Jerry the Jerk, piped up behind me. Something about American Airlines screws him over every time, there's nothing wrong with the plane or the weather, just AA's incompetence, blah blah blah. The guy sitting next me said Jerry had been like this ever since he first arrived at the gate area, making a big scene at the desk. Jerry then proceeded to pound on the flight attendant call button and berated the poor lady with demands for answers along with his professional opinions on the current situation followed with "How are YOU going to compensate ME for YOUR mistake?"

We ended up getting to Laguardia a whole 15 minutes after our planned arrival.

OK...I bring up Jerry to contrast with another person I observed that same trip. Fast forward 24 hrs. I had spent most of the day laboriously training a supplier up on Long Island. Being exhausted I decided to just head to Chili's right next to the hotel...usually not a big fan but they can grill up a decent slice of salmon. Just after I was seated entered a father and daughter who sat in the booth just in front of me.

The dad looked like your average middle-age business type, but I could tell there was something different about the daughter from the start. She was probably in her early 20s, a bigger girl with her short brown hair done up in pigtails. As she walked she was bobbing her head constantly and had her hands up to the side of her face wiggling her fingers. The best way I can describe it was she looked like she was doing sign language gibberish. I pretty much instantly lost interest in the book I was reading on my iphone and focused in on them. I know, kinda creepy eavesdropping but I love people watching and being an expert at reading people (and a borderline know-it-all), I thought I knew exactly how this was going to play out. Dang, was I wrong...

I quickly learned her name was Carmen because her dad was constantly addressing her. "Carmen, calm down" or "Carmen, stop staring" or "Carmen, put down the knife." While he studied the menu, I noticed Carmen didn't even glance at it; she was too busy coloring.

"Dad, I only have green, blue, and orange crayons but I don't have a red one. Are there orange peppers?"
"Yes sweetie," he said, still deciding on what he's going to order.
"Do they taste like peppers or do they taste like oranges?"
"More like peppers"
"I'm going to make my pepper an orange pepper but it's going to taste like an orange"
"So, you're going to have a pepper-shaped orange?"
"No Dad, it's still a pepper"

Amanda the waitress came up and took my order then when over to their booth to take theirs. He ordered something for him and then he looked at Carmen who blurted out, "Chicken fingers!"

He asked, "Is there a way she could get BBQ sauce instead of ranch dressing?"
For the first time, Carmen's head stopped bobbing as she whipped it around and focused on Amanda; anticipating her reply as if the entire fate of the tri-state area depended on her answer. I could see in Carmen's eye that she thought she was on the verge of something magnificent, something almost too good to be true and it all hinged on Amanda.
"Oh, I think I can make that happen," Amanda said with a wink to Carmen.
It was as if someone just told her Your mom is going to pull through surgery just fine. I'm pretty sure BBQ sauce is a standard option, but the look on her face, and the fact she didn't even breathe for about 30 seconds as she processed all that was happening was priceless...

Amanda left, Dad pulled out his blackberry and Carmen went back to coloring her pepper-shaped orange. It wasn't long before she was either done or got bored. The head bobbing slowly started to increase in intensity and then the hands came up again signing gibberish in the air until she was full-blown rocking out. I was thinking she was about to have an episode, but Dad just glanced up his blackberry and looking at her over his glasses smiled and said, "you're really excited for those chicken fingers, huh?"
"YES! Holy cow, YES!"
"Shhhhhhh...calm down, sweetie. They'll be here soon. Carmen, calm down...tell me about what you did with Cody today."

I couldn't figure out if Cody was a dog or a friend. Apparently she slipped into Carmenese 'cause I was completely lost and either Dad was feigning comprehension or he was fluent in Camenese.

It wasn't long before the food came. Again, the look on her face said it all. It had nothing to do with her physical appetite, but more like she had just gotten a puppy for Christmas. For several moments she just sat there, head bobbing, hands doing the gibberish thing in anticipation.

"Carmen, stop starring and start eating. Look, you got BBQ sauce."

She started to eat, picking up the little cup of BBQ sauce, bringing eye-level and then dipped a chicken tender in all the way until it couldn't go any more...seemingly memorized by it.

"Carmen..."
"Sorry Dad," she said as she quickly stuffed it in her mouth.

This routine continued until the last one which she treasured and savored. While nibbling on it, she looked up on the wall and studied a picture. You know how some Chili's have pictures of like Billy Jean and his blue ribbon at the De Soto, Texas Chili Cook-off, or some ranchers doing rancher stuff like it's an authentic Texan establishment? Well the one Carmen had her sites set on was one of a small-town beauty queen from like 1987 riding horseback in a parade. I mean, the bangs on this chick put tsunamis to shame.

"I want to be her friend."
"Hum? Why do you say that?"
"She looks nice"
"What makes her nice?"
"She's smiling and waving at me. Dad, where is she from?"
"I would probably guess Texas."
"Have I ever been to Texas?" she asked, pulling her gaze away from the picture for the first time and looking across the table to him.
"No, honey. No you haven't"
"Are there nice people in Texas?"
"Some of the nicest people are in Texas. And they have good BBQ sauce."
"Texas sounds nice. One day," now staring at the final nub of a chicken tender, "I'm going to go to Texas and talk to nice people and eat some good bar-b-q sauce."

They finished up their meal, paid the bill, and as they got up to leave, Carmen smiled and waved like a beauty queen to everyone on their way out of the restaurant.

Couple things struck me. First of all, how often do we get so inconvenienced and turn into Jerry the Jerk, blowing up at people, making demands, and being an over-all SOB? I look at Carmen's dad and even though I have no idea what his life is like, I'm fairly confident it's a bit more inconvenient than he originally foresaw and yet he never snapped at Carmen, rolled his eyes, or ignored her.

The second thing I noticed was how different I felt in both situations. On the plane, I felt anxious, frustrated, and annoyed. Most of it was directed at Jerry, but soon the circumstances in general started to tick me off. On the other hand, just seeing the interaction between Carmen and her dad for a quick meal at a Chili's on Long Island made me want to almost get up and give her a huge hug for being such a beautiful person. I literally felt myself smiling the entire time at dinner and for most of the rest of the evening, despite how tired and stressed I was. I guess what I am trying to say is we can't help but to be infectious. Our attitudes not only can govern ourselves and those we directly interact with, but also everyone around us. People's spheres of influence vary, some are large enough to light up or drag down an entire room while most others are much more limited, but I think the principle is the same.

I'm not quite sure what I'm trying to say, and for some reason I feel like I'm teaching my gospel doctrine class right now instead of blogging, but what I do know is I left Chili's a different person, a better person, because of the effect a couple people who I prematurely misjudged.

Tuna Melt Without the Drama...Sign Me Up!

It's been nigh unto four months since my last blog update. While it may not seem it, it actually has been on my mind. You know when you're like, "man, I really need to call Marty" but then stuff comes up and you get distracted and before you know it, days turn to weeks which turn to months and things get awkward and you feel like it's been sooooo long since your last talk that you should now have something profound to report but you don't so you go another day without calling and then use reallllllly long sentences to justify it all? Well that's basically what I've been going through in regards to my blog post. So without further adieu, (btw I almost got 'adieu' without using the spell checker), so without further adieu, I announce to the world.....I had a tuna melt tonight for dinner and it was so stankn scrumptious.

In order to spice up this post, I leave with a not so yummy, but ever so funny, video of how a simple tuna melt can go terribly wrong. Here's to blogging!

Eric Forrester....No Rest for the Righteous

I never watch the news anymore. It's not that it's never positive--because they always throw in those 'feel good' stories amidst the war, corruption, and crime reports--but it's more that I simply don't have time. Well last night I was actually watching 24 live instead of waiting for it to be recorded and then going back so I can skip the commercial breaks. After 24 it led straight into the 9:00 news promo in which they said a Fort Worth 17-year old aspiring eagle scout/athlete/honor student was shot when he went home for lunch. Sometimes you can just tell when people are LDS and this was one of those times...I just knew this poor kid was a member.

So I kept watching. The first story was on this shooting and the news anchor said the victim's name was Eric Forrester. 'Wait a minute,' I thought...'is that my Eric from EFY? No...he's best friends with Kenyan so he has to live in Mansfield. It has to be another Eric.' About that time they showed his Facebook profile picture and I could not believe I was looking at someone I care so much about. I was in utter shock. I couldn't breathe, and when I could I broke down.

All the youth that attend EFY are special, of course, but there are a few who make real and lasting impressions on you. There are the natural leaders like Bryce, the awkwardly funny Stephen, the over-hyper/borderline-annoying but ever so lovable duo of Kent and Matt, the quiet and humble Andrew, the jolly Jordan, the 'I always have to wear something orange' Evan, the clueless Austin, the ever so innocent Derek, the peacemaker Ron, the 'I'm so tough and cool but really not' Matt and many others. Kenyan and Eric fell within this group with their quiet reserve but evident resolve to live the Gospel standards.

They were part of the magical Denton 2006 Servants of All company. In the years following, I kept my eye on them, even if they didn't know it. I knew who their counselors were, how they were doing, if they seemed to have a good time, etc. I usually didn't like to interfere, A) because who knew if they were still interested at all in talking to a big nerd like me and B) we had fantastic times together back in the day, but it was a new summer, new session, and they needed to enjoy their time with that company and counselor.

I'm trying to think if I ever heard Eric put more than six sentences together. I'm pretty sure I heard him bear his testimony, and if I did it wasn't anything earth-shattering or spectacular. What impressed me about Eric was he didn't need to say anything for you to know his beliefs and standards; his testimony was given in the way he carried himself. He just exuded goodness. Still waters run deep applies perfectly to Eric Forrester. Every time I saw him it made me smile. Could it has been the permanent goofy look that was always on his face or just the fact he was so good? Definitely both.

The last time I saw Eric is truthfully one of my greatest memories. On July 17, 2009, at my last session ever, the session director Brother Huso unexpectedly turned the microphone over to me for the Friday night closing comments. I rambled on for like 5 minutes about how much I loved the youth...yadda yadda yadda...they are amazing...yadda yadda yadda...it has been my utmost pleasure to have worked with them and their counselors, bore testimony we are involved in a great work, etc etc... I don't remember a whole lot of the specifics of what I actually said but I do remember exactly where Kenyan and Eric were sitting...just off to my left way in the back by the bleachers. After the closing prayer, when everyone was supposed to be leaving for their company devotionals, I was talking to a few youth right next to the stage when I saw Eric out of the corner of my eye. Tears were running down his cheeks and his voice was quivering when he told me that whatever it was I had said really hit him. I was so taken back by it I didn't really know what to say or do. He turned around and left to go back with his company and I broke free of the other kids around me to catch up with him. I gave him a big hug and said 'I am so proud of you. I love you, man. Be good'

With that, Eric went his way and at 10:18 a.m. this morning on April 13, 2010 he was pronounced dead at a Fort Worth hospital. Last week his mom had just posted his senior pictures to Facebook, he apparently attended prom, and was most certainly looking forward to the last few weeks of high school. One news article even mentioned how he was preparing to become a Mormon missionary in addition to the long list of honor roll, swimmer, boy scout, cellist etc.

Truth be told, every Thursday night at EFY I cannot make it through the EFY Medley without bawling. When the boys start to sing We'll Bring the World His Truth I stand there and picture each one in a shirt and tie on bicycles or knocking doors or posing for baptism photos. Eric is never going to wear a badge saying 'Elder Forrester' as he shares his sincere testimony with others. He is never going to get to open that big white envelope from Salt Lake City containing a call signed by a prophet of God. Even with my testimony in the Plan of Happiness, the first thing that went through my head was, 'How could this have happened to someone so good and how can the Lord take away someone with such love, strength, and commitment?'

I understand fully that God has a plan for us all, but I was so impressed as I went onto Kenyan's Facebook page to offer my condolences and I saw that while most teenagers are stereotypically self-absorbed or at least fall victim to the world revolves around me syndrome, he had such a mature perspective on things. In his status he quoted the final verse in Come, Come Ye Saints:

And should we die, before our journey's through

Happy day! All is well!

We then are free, from toil and sorrow, too;

With the just, we shall dwell.

But if our lives are spared again

To see the saints, their rest obtain,

Oh how we'll make this chorus swell-

All is well! All is well!

When someone passes, we say 'Rest in Peace.' It's kinda funny, because it's actually the opposite. While we have been deprived of Eric's talents for a short while, I know he is going to be put to good use on the other side of the veil. There is too much work for someone of Eric's capabilities to do much resting in the spirit world. The fact he was taken so tragically and suddenly doesn't help with the pain, but how blessed we are to know that that pain is relatively short-lived and that He who has suffered all pain is there to comfort us.

I was around Eric Forrester for literally 20 days, but how enriched my life has been because of examples like him.

I had a dream...of Olympic Gold

They say we dream like 3-7 times a night and that during an 8-hr sleep, 2 hours are spent dreaming. So that means I've dreamed a lot of dreams in my time, and for some reason the ones I remember are way crazy. Does everyone have dreams of being chased through a forest by a beaver who is only trying to return a spatula she borrowed or is that just me? Then there's the re-occurring resurrection of a pilot on a hijacked plane and more recently the ant that somehow became a man and he got a crush on one of my friends and I was pretty sure he was an ant but I wasn't sure so I followed him around. But then he tried to kiss my friend and I was like 'you can't kiss her, you're an ant!' And so I pulled him away and then he tackled me screaming 'I'm not a monster! I'm not a monster!' I tried to struggle...but against his freakish ant strength there was no hope. I woke up flailing and was like 'what the heck was that about??' Seriously, they say dreams are supposed to mean something to our subconscious, so what on earth could that possibly mean?

And my most recent dream boggles me completely. I woke up and went over it several times to see if any of it made any more sense while awake. Nope, not so much. The year, 2014. The place, Sochi, Russia and the XXII Winter Olympic games. The first thing I remember was being at the US/Canada hockey game with a childhood friend and she a freakn Miss Know-it-All in my dream and I was really annoyed by it. There was hardly anyone at the game, and I was like 'Where is everyone?' and she responded 'hockey isn't that big in America, and especially not in Canada.' And then the score was tied 2-2 at halftime, and I said 'there are three periods in hockey!' and she said 'not in Olympic hockey' and gave me a look that made me want to punch her face but then all of a sudden they were serving warm gooey oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Oh my goodness they were sooo good and I had to have another one so I started to run after the server with my friend yelling at me 'you can only have one cookie in Russia!!' What...is there a cookie quota in the Mother Land...what's up with that? For some reason this was one of my more memorable moments of my dream.

I couldn't find her, but suddenly I was atop a mountain all decked out in ski gear. The thought went through my mind, 'what am I doing up here? My entire skiing experience can be summed up in a less than successful weekend in Winter Park, CO my Jr. yr of high school.' Sure enough, someone told me to 'Go!' so naturally I went. And boy did I go! As I was flying the commentators were saying such nice things about Harvey Uminski and his career-best time. It was only after I reached the bottom did I realize I had the top qualifying time in the Women's Downhill event.

That's when things took a turn for the worse. Not only were people laughing at me for being a girl, but apparently I offended the Russians. Something about how I brought disgrace to their games. All of a sudden I was racing down another mountain, this time not for Gold, but for my life. On my tail were several KGB operatives intent on silencing one American troublemaker. Now, I'm not quite sure how putting a bullet in my head like all the other Soviet-era troublemakers would return honor to their 'soiled' games but that's just how they do things in Russia, apparently.

So just then, on the mountainside was an Institute building, exactly like the one Denton. Holy cow, I didn't know the Church was all that big in Russia, let alone that they have Institute buildings randomly across the country. I looked in and they were having FHE. Thanks, but I think I will take my chances with the Commies.

They were closing in...my heart was beating fast...I knew I was just moments away from spending an eternity frozen in the ice of a frozen Siberian wasteland. Poof! Gabriel Allon of the Israeli secret service and my favorite fictional character swoops in and was on the slopes with me and wasted those KGB scum. I stopped to thank him, but more were on the way. He told me to go but as I turned, Harvey, the Olympic favorite to win Gold, slipped and started to roll down the hill. Oh the irony! Allon pursued, and just as I was going over the side of the mountain, he grabbed my arm. Wouldn't you know it, my coat ripped and I fell...then I woke up in a cold sweat.

So. What does any of that mean? Should I pick up skiing in order to get in shape for Sochi by 2014? Am I destined for Olympic Gold or just greatness in general? Why would the Israeli secret service send their top agent to protect me? A more disturbing thought...why would I rather face Soviet assassins instead of sitting through FHE or why would I be competing in a women's event? Well at least it wasn't figure skating. Not sure there are any answers. For now I will just continue to enjoy whatever it is my subconscious has to throw at me.

Harvey's EFY Memoirs...finally

Six summers of my life have past since I stepped off the plane from Las Vegas. For six summers I have never truly celebrated the Fourth of July. For six summers, I called places like Maple, Clark, Prassell, and Thomas home. For six summers my sweet mother has tried, many times in vain, to reunite the entire U-Crew for just one weekend. For six summers my life has revolved around dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of teenagers. And after six summers, I do not have a whole to show for my all my work with EFY...just several pictures, a couple journals, a few fondly regarded quotes. It's called 'Especially for Youth,' yet sometimes I wondered if I was being selfish. I think after it is all said and done, I got a whole heck of a lot more out of the program and my experience than my youth or counselors could have ever possibly received from me.

I still remember walking across campus in the spring of 2004. I was in front of the business building when I got a call on this crazy new contraption known as a cellular phone...it was my sister Margie, and she said they needed more counselors. Knowing how weird EFY kids were, I was really really...really averse to signing on. While I've never had the constitution or patience to deal with cheering and whooping and hollering and babysitting, I found out it actually pays more than my college job. So ever the opportunist, I agreed to apply for the Denton session. I eventually added the other Texas sessions, and since that time much of my life has been wrapped up with this crazy program. So, I thought I would simply spend a few moments, and by few I mean several, going over highlights from each year.

I'm not sure why I felt compelled to write all this out. I already have journals and memories, and I'd be surprised if anyone ever invested enough time to actually read this, but perhaps it's a form of therapy. Who knows? I originally started this as one single post, but it grew to be forever long so I decided to post each year separately. If you do happen to attempt to read these posts and have your own memories to add or correct a story, go ahead and throw down in the comment section.

That said, please, do come with me as I mosey on back down memory lane...

2004...Stand in the Light

Ahh....so it begins. And little did I know it would begin with a company like unto Consider the Lilies; the only Denton company where the boys outnumbered the girls 2-1…and we were the lilies. Fantastic. After being a coordinator, one who has the opportunity to assign the names to companies, I can truly appreciate the beauty and wisdom in that choice. Even after all these years, I can still remember the names of each of my ten boys...you have Jordan and Kevin, Chris and Cameron, Cam and Matt, Morgan and Quinn, and Jed and Ron. See, I still even remember who roomed with whom. I don't know if it was just because it was my first week ever and I was blown away with the awesomeness that was working with the youth, or if it really was one of my greatest groups ever. I'm leaning towards the latter. Even with having to leave the variety show early to go take my Economics of International Trade mid-term, I couldn't have asked for a better week or a better group of boys to kick off my EFY career. They pretty much sold me on EFY for years, and probably the rest of my life.

This is where the EFY ninjas made their début. It was actually a tradition borrowed from Spanky Hansen, my BC. It was Friday night, after lights out and I was telling a couple of my boys to go to bed when Spanky walks out from the stairwell and pokes his head in. Well instead of yelling or correcting them, he instead asked them to grab their participant shirts and then proceeded to instruct them how to turn themselves from 17 yr old boys into ninjas. A few minutes later, after retiring to my room, I hear a commotion from across the hall. Sure enough, there was Jed, Morgan, Quinn, and Ron still in their ninja garb doing whatever teenage boys high on pixie sticks and Oreos dressed up as ninjas do at 12:30 in the morning. Every single group of boys I had after that were apart of this fine tradition.

Denton was also where I realized how much the cheer-off meant to me, and the bitterness that comes with second place. I watched as my kids came up with an incredible cheer, one that involved four groups of boys encircling one girl. Each would, in turn, circle out and the girl in the middle would spring up and sing ‘Lilies’ all sweet and pretty like, harmonizing with the other “flowers.” It then proceeded into a rousing arrangement of Popcorn Popping changing the words to fit Consider the Lilies and EFY and then concluded with the ingenious chant:

(boys) Lilies!
(girls) Are strong and white.
Lilies!
Stand in the Light.
Lilies!
Have lots of fun.
Lilies!
Are number one!
(boys) Consida! (girls) Wha Wha!
(boys) The Lilies! (girls) Wha What!
(boys) Consida! (girls) Wha Wha!

(boys) The Lilies! (girls) Wha What!

As good and blissful as that cheer was, we were robbed by a bunch of ruffians bouncing around all over the place screaming “Focus on the Locus, put your money on the honey!” for three minutes. Starting the next week in San Antonio and continuing on throughout my EFY career, I made it perfectly clear to my boys each week it was my expectation we win the cheer-off. Yeah, that didn't happen that summer. We didn't even come close...quite a let down. My testimony in prayer was shaken….

This was the summer of the greatest counselor dance ever, set to Let's Get Loud by Gloria Estefan. This was also when Julia Rex preformed the memorable There Is a Green Hill Far Away on Thursday evening. I had the grandson of Elder Richard G. Scott in my SA II group. After Clint asked what I thought of Elder Scott, I remember doing a really poor impersonation of that special witness, to which Clint responded that he was his grandfather. Oh…well…that’s a little awkward…

And this was the summer for so many of us first met...Jeff Nicholas, Sandi Wright, Derick Lee Grayson, Donny Taylor, and many many more. It was also Richie's last as a participant. Did I have any idea where this crazy ride was going to take me? Nope, not a clue. One of my greatest memories was finishing up with my first week, on a spiritual high and everything, and I walk back into my house at 1000 W Hickory to find some strange girl in my bed...the nasty remnants from a party my roommates threw the night before. I threw my stuff down, called up the elders and told them we were going to have correlation a little bit earlier than usual cause I was so frustrated that I had to face the world so soon. I washed my sheets in the hottest water I could get and, no lie, got new pillows and scrubbed my mattress with carpet cleaner.

Did I have any idea that first Saturday afternoon training session on the fourth floor of the UNT Union what I was getting into?? My next six summers (and it would appear much of my time in between summers) would revolve around a program that basically pays about $2.50/hr before taxes. What happened in 2004 was EFY showed me that working with the youth of the church, my counselor partner(s), and everyone else involved with the program would give my testimony more room to grow than I could have thought possible. Besides the cheering and dancing and new friends and mocking my boys from the food they ate to the words they said or the clothes they wore...besides all that, just the spiritual benefits alone were enough to make it difficult not to be a part of EFY.

2005...A More Excellent Way

So I came back for another year. This year I made a stop in Indiana along with my normal Texas tour. Having recently graduated, and still being an intern at Lockheed Martin, I should have taken the entire summer to do EFY, one of my greatest regrets, but for once I had a job that paid better than workin' with the youth. If I remember correctly, this was the same year that Richie was hired to be a counselor before he left on his mission in August. I think we were even roommates in SA 2.

Indiana was fun. I met some great new counselors. In fact, my co-counselor Lori Depew, eventually ended up as my coordinating partner for one week in 2008. This was also the summer I picked up the infamous Matt Hyde, fresh off the mish, in Memphis and began that relationship. Big Al Doan also was introduced into my life, and it has been enriched greatly because of it. I remember walkie-talkies were a big thing for co-counselors in Texas, so I decided to take a couple up to Indiana for whoever would be my partner. However, I was in a triple combo with Elizabeth and Lori so I held onto one while the girls roatated. We didn't let Elizabeth have the walkie too much, though, cause every time she got on the radio, the only thing she would say was 'Breaker, Breaker, Breaker, errrrrrrrrrrrrr uhhhhhhhh....' Constantly…I mean constantly. whether you were standing right next to her, on the bus on the way to the banquet, or in the middle of the night. It was hilarious.

I am so glad I went up and did Indiana. For one, my boys were incredible. See and Hear was indeed a special group. The Mendenhalls have remained as one of my all-time favorite session directing couples, and I was truly blessed with wonderful co’s. It was also interesting to see for the first time how things are run outside of Texas. They were…different. Not necessarily better or worse, just different. The Midwest counselor group has a different culture that I really didn’t realize until just recently. After seeing EFY from the macro, program level as opposed the micro-focused on my boys level, it was pretty obvious. Needless to say, it has made me appreciate the traditions and culture we try to foster in Texas. I believe we truly are unique, and how awesome it was to be raised in this…environment…no family.

Again, Denton was an awesome week. We were blessed to have Shanna Davis in our company. She was a beautiful girl who had been in an accident a couple years before out in west Texas and after overcoming soooo much, still had difficulty getting around. It was an incredible thing seeing the entire group feed off of her energy, excitement, and sense of humor. Also, two of my participants from this group, who were not dating at the time, eventually got married..so that's special...Needless to say we were quite united. So much so that we won the ‘Spunity’ award (combination of the Spirit and Unity award…aka the best company), but.....we still came up short at the cheer-off.

We had a good cheer created by Peter Grey, possibly even a winner. I had such high hopes, but those hopes crashed and burned as I watched my company, Condemn Me Not, completely and utterly botch up their final performance. Even though I knew there was no possible way to take the prize, I have to admit I was pretty much on the ground rolling (yea, even rofl) watching our group have no clue what they were doing, running into each other, and pretty much make a complete fool of themselves in front of the entire session. Alas, I was now 0-5 and was, no lie, utterly convinced I needed a black kid to push me over the top. I just knew that was the one element I was lacking...Finished out the summer winless...Guess this means I just have to come back for another summer.