Oh there you are Frankfort! I love you!

I'm basically going to call Saturday day one of my Frankfort life. It was AMAZING! What a beautifulalala day!! First thing, I walked to Java 429 right in town, which I have been waiting to open since the day I moved in! Then walked to the beach and sat on a bench for a half hourish and soaked in the beautiful Lake MI breeze. Awesome. Went home and did 3 hours of yard work cause I'm such a big kid ;) Ran to the beach. Walked down the beach and back. Ran home. Later I went to the store in the town over and afterward realized the sun was gonna set soon soo I went and played guitar (bc of course I take it everywhere just in case) at the beach in Beulah. Gooorgeous! That day was ridiculous and I would do it over and over and over! In fact - I will...ALL SUMMER!!!!!! Sunday was also incredible. After going to church and an amazing lunch at Crystal Mountain with a family from church, I went for a run to the beach - walked out and back on the beach for 75mins, then ran back when I got back to the lighthouse! I could have stayed outside forever...I just didn't know what else to do! So lovely though! I finally love Frankfort again :)

Quotes:
-In an argument with my student he came back with - "Bring it on girl scout!" which I just find hilarious!
-"I've been been dropping the f-bomb since I was in the 1st grade." "What? Where'd you learn to talk like that?" "School bus. The back. Duh!"
-Can't remember if I already put this quote cause it was a while ago...but a student was telling a story of a phone argument with his girlfriend and she was like, "Uh you're so predictable!" and he said "Oh yeah? Marry me. Ooooh bet ya didn't see that comin!" and then hung up! haha
-Student - "I kinda feel like there's an animal in my stomach clawing at my insides." me - "Oh I'm sorry." student - "It's ok He's havin a good time."
-Referring to a kid in the room... "I could picture him as a dinosaur, couldn't you? ...Dude you'd make the perfect dinosaur!"
-After watching a youtube video called cat on lsd... "It's like you feel bad, but it's so funny too. Dude that cat probably had the time of his life!"
-One of my students kept asking another to play something on the ukelele and when he wouldn't play anything he picked up a folder and goes, "Dude is this yours?" and then threw it on the ground. Then right away he said, "I'm just kiddin dude, but that's how mad I am right now!" and picked it up!

-I was asked to prom. About a 15 times in one day, actually...by the same kid. It was hilarious because he was totally serious and said, "Come on you could just pretend like you're a chaperone and then dance with me and take pictures and stuff." One of the later times he asked me in the hall - "Come on you've never even been to prom" Me - "Yeah, 4 times" Him - "Oh. Well then what's one more?" Me - "Oh I donno I think I cut myself off...WHEN I TURNED 24!" and then I slammed the door (totes just for the dramatic effect) and he's like - "Love has no age!" Haha oooh brother! They sure do keep it interesting! 

Did I mention that I love my job? Because although the transition has been a long one...I'm there :)

CA-AZ-HIW :)

I am completely positive that I will forget something amazing in this due to goodness overload and the fact that it's been a quick minute since this, buuuut...spring break was amazing! After a long drive to Lapeer and then my usual last minute late night laundry/packing extravaganza, I flew out to Cali Friday! Kendall, Dave, and Jill picked me up from the airport and then we picked up Brett in Corona and went to dinner. Sweeeet to have so many good friends in one place at one time! Soooo Friday night, Kendall and I got to meet tons of Brett's co-Young Americans (all of which would literally sing on the spot when asked - sweet)! Saturday morning, Kendall and I walked to McDonald's and had to ruuun back in the rain! Then just when we thought we were gonna have to jump the fence back into Brett's apartments, the gate opened for a car! Fewf. Then Kendall got her acceptance phone call for the Hondurus teaching job!!!!!! Congrats!!!!! The rest of the day, we went to YA rehearsal, which was ahhh-maaaazing! Aside from having so much respect for their dedication (since that day alone, they had class and rehearsal from 8am-10:45pm), also their talent was ridiculous! The next morning after church (w/ an American Idol guest singer that day!), Brett and 2 of his wonderful friends took us to the train station(ish)...the thing is, we were in a pretty sketchy area and had to go like 4hrs early bc of their rehearsal skedge for that day sooo...well it's just a good thing that Kendall and I have fun no matter what we're doing haha! We wandered around, went in a Rite Aid, grocery store, a bakery (for like 2 1/2 hrs I think?), a Pizza Hut, and down the sidewalks of Creepyville all with luggage in hand. Basically we probably fit into the sketchyness too well. Yeeah we got some weird looks. :/ 

In Arizona, there was something I didn't even know existed anymore. Yup the sun. Along with warmth. The glorious 80-90s every day of the week and it felt heavenly! Stoked that bringing some home in my back pocket worked! I probably couldn't name a single one of the places that we went, but Kendall took me alllll around Tuscon (which to me is like its own state...that's way too big for a city)! We hiked 3 different places, went shopping, did some cooking, went to an open mic (with a girl who was sooooo insanely talented!), drove to different places with sweet views, watched some movies, ate some popcorn, went to her work - nannying precious little kiddos, figured out her flight home to Miiiiichigan, went to an art fair, and basically just had sweet time together, which was the whole point to begin with :) 

Ooooh and there might have been this little thing about our favorite band, He Is We!!! We were driving into downtown Tuscon Friday morning when we heard something on the radio about He Is We playing in downtown Tuscon that night at Sapphire Lounge. We were like whaaaaat? So I called and confirmed that they were indeeeed playing that night at 6. The thing is Kendall could get off work anytime between 5:30-6:15 and it was 25mins from the show, which was 25mins from the airport and I was leaving that night. Things weren't lookin great. But then the clouds opened up and God said, "I love you Kendall and Sarah!" The kids' dad was home at 5:30!!! We shot over to the concert sooo quick!! "I haven't seen anything move that fast since that illegal mouse race!" haha..anyway, another group played 2 songs and then He Is We went on...a few details: It was FREE. On a ROOFTOP. At SUNSET. In downtown Tuscon. With like 50 people. And we were like 10 feet away from the mics. It was basically pure goodness! Afterward, they also signed posters (and my pick:) ) for free so we hung around a bit for that and then scootscooted over to some food and then the airport! The end. Ooooh wait NOT the end!! Because then I get into the airport, and who in the world is at my gate, but HE IS WE?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I was in shock! I texted Kendall and she of course thought I was April Fools-ing her...no no my friends. Real deal. I'm not a big star struck type of person, but let me just say that here, sitting in front of me were the 2 people that make up the group that musically inspires me more than any other at this point in my life. So needless to say, I was pretty stoked! After catching my breath, I went over and they said that their flight had been canceled so I should hang out with them! I had to think about it, but decided that there probably was no better way in the world to spend the next 10 minutes! I got to hang out with them and just chat about random things...parents, them guessing my age (high school...uh geez typical), our jobs, sketchy areas, weird fans (like one that licked Trevor's shoe and another that threw up after Rachel hugged her!), what they were missing bc of the flight cancellation, etc etc. Soo cool! When they called boarding for my flight and Trevor was like "Oh suuure rub it in that you still get yours while our flight is cancelled!" haha anyway, then we said bye and they said see you in MI (which ps...who wants to go May 4th in Lansing?!)! Then I boarded the plane, sat down, and continued to pretty much shake for the next half hour haha! Woooooow! Thank You, God :)

So like I said, spring break was amaaaaazing!

11:18 :)

My cousin had a beautiful healthy baby boy - Tripp - last night at 11:18pm!! I'm headed to TC right after work to see him and cannot wait!

Things are going really well lately! For work...I put on a community photo contest as part of the Frankfort Water Festival and it got a lot of publicity and participation, which was sweet! This last weekend we helped before a Seth and May concert and then went to the concert - aaaawesome! They are so talented and harmonize so incredibly! Not to mention their percussion guy is...wow! It was really cool! For anyone who knows Seth and May, you probably know what I'm talking about, but those two are so great! They're incredibly talented and SO down to earth. If only more musicians could be more like them! 

Also for work, I got to start a weight lifting class with female athletes and it's been SO nice to train people again! The track coach emailed me last week asking me to be his assistant coach (which sadly can't possibly work since I work for an after school program haha). I will be as involved as possible though - and it was cool that some girls' had asked him to ask me! 

We've been talking about summer programming for work and have decided (broadly) on running a summer camp for JR high kids that will run for 3 weeks, then take an adventure camping trip in the UP, week off, 3 more weeks, then maybe one more camping trip...whiiiiich I will be the chaperone for :/ Eee! Haha oh I can't wait for summer! So anyway, work has been good...I love my students and they make it more and more worth it all the time!

I fiiiinally sang in public a few nights ago!! My church asked me to sing and play for a womens' night fundraiser a while back and I hesitantly agreed (kind of)! I basically said that I would do it (in hopes that I could convince myself before the day of), but also told the woman in charge not to tell anyone, so that I had the option of backing out even up until the last minute! Somehow between what feels like years of trying to just get over it, lots of prayers, and the most encouraging friends/family around...I did it! I doubt that I'm totally cured...but am stoked that I did it, I didn't forget anything, and it went well overall! :)

Other than that...SPRING BREAK STARTS FRIDAY!!!! I'm going home Thursday night and fly to Cali to see Brett Friday!! Bonus - David and Jill are picking Kendall up in the morning and me up in the evening and we're going to dinner before heading to Brett's! Thennn Kendall and I will be taking a train back to Tuscon Sunday and I'll be spending the week with her and flying home Friday overnight! Woweeee I'm so stoked to see two of my besties!! Praying for more springy weather and none of that white stuff when I return :) SPRING! SUMMER! SUNSHINE! BEEEEEEEACH! Sweet times are just around the corner!!

Here are some recent quotes that made my day...

Just after our drum instructor did a killer solo...one student said, "Do you just keep an imaginary box of awesome next to you and just pull stuff out?"

One of the kids I babysit jumped in my arms at church last week and said, "I just caaan't stoooop loving you!"

Not a quote - but still so great...The little boy I babysit, 3yrs old, basically hates me in public and is fine with me when I babysitting...I think it's because I represent his parents leaving, so it's pretty much law that he has to hate me. At a concert the other night, I was sitting next to him as he fell asleep in his mom's arm. He looked so precious and peaceful with a little smirk on his face and eyes shut. Then he opened his eyes just long enough to give me this awful glare/angry face that he often gives me, then shut his eyes and smirked and looked completely satisfied and peaceful again. This happened 3 times! hahaa 

One student to one of our drum class kids, "Do you ever think about just bringing a lady friend in here and seranading her with the drums? Like 'here I wrote this for you!'"

One of my kids always listens to screamo, so one day another student and I were mocking it and he said, "Hey can we harmonize screams?" Naturally we tried. It was weird. I'd do it again though.

While playing a beautiful little number on the guitar, this student told this story in a calm, nostalgic tone... "So there I was, sitting on a rock in God's beautiful creation and pondering over my purpose in this world. Then I said, "God what do you have planned for me in this life? What should I do with my time and talents?" Then God looked to me and said "AAHH!" (The "AAHH" was this awful screeching noise that totally ruined what seemed like a beautiful memory! Fake! hahaaa what a jokester!)

Two kids were playing bumper pool and making bets. One kid kept losing and his overall punishment added up to having to wear a girls' tanktop, short jorts, doing the stankyleg, while the other kid took pics that would of course go public via the good old FB. The winner felt bad and eventually just said that the other kid could just carry his books for him. The next day he forgot so the kid went into the other kids class to get him to come carry his book hahaa..Now I know this might sound like bullying, but you have to know the relationship and personalities of the guys I guess!

"WHAT who ate all my Gushers? ...Oh yeah it was me." The turn around between being super mad then remembering he had ate his own Gushers...priceless! 

A student said he was going to enter the water photo contest by submitting a pic of him drinking from a drinking fountain. That alone was great (and did, by the way, get a lot of votes!) but then this other kid said,  "Just you drinking from a fountain? I'd just take a picture of this blue ball...water's blue aint it?"

A kid came in with this joke..."What's 5+6?" Everyone said 11.."nope 9...see" ...he proceeded to write the word NINE one line at a time so that it took 11 marks to make it. The rest of us are like ok we get it, but one student goes, "No but 5+6 is 11, I know it is!" He was so confused!

love&gushers

PS For all of those worried about my sanity, the purple room is gone! Yay for YELLOW :)

Miracles, Glue, and Love

I haven't written on this thing in ages it seems, so I guess here's why...

Probably most people reading this know that one of my closest high school friends died Jan 31st. Tom initially went into a coma that I thought he would come out of. In fact, I'd say I was sure he would come out of it. Sitting in the hospital, knowing that there were literally people from that room to the other side of the earth and back praying for this very guy, made me as sure as I could be that a miracle, which was Tom's only hope, was going to happen. Tom did not get the miracle we had begged for... He didn't get what we had hoped and prayed for and "knew" was best...and this began the hardest week I've lived. I don't say any of this as if I had it the worst of those affected by Tom's death...or the worst affected from any other death that a loved-one has ever suffered in history...nonetheless, in my little 24 years of life, this was the hardest loss that I've ever known.
On the other side of all of this, however, God took the one miracle that we had prayed for and multiplied it by four (and counting). Tom's organs saved the lives of four people...FOUR people are living because of him. It just blows my mind. This incredible, caring, honest, funny, musical, hard-working, loving, faithful person gave even beyond his last breath. Amazing. I'm so thankful to have had the opportunity to know such love. At this point, the beauty in what he did by donating his organs, is not quite enough to justify it for me or for a lot of us that love him. That's me being a selfish human who wants what I want when I want it though...and not fully appreciating that God is bigger than what I pray for. He took a request for one miracle and quadrupled it. Eventually this will be enough. The positive will outweigh the negative. The beauty will trump the pain. And I will have learned to more fully appreciate the gift of life and of death. For now, however, I still selfishly look at this and say - why take such an incredible person away in order to save the others? Couldn't there be someone else? Someone who was old or sick or already dying? Not someone who just had a horrible accident, but was otherwise strong and healthy and full of life for years to come...but again, that's me being human...but today that's all I am.

This has gotta be one of our first pictures!

I am again beyond thankful that I even had the opportunity to glimpse such a life, much less be a part of it. Tom has been the glue in our group of friends for years. He always got all of us together at any and every chance. The week between his death and funeral, our friends got together every single day and night until we were exhausted...to be near each other, to comfort each other, to share memories, to just not go it alone. Tom wouldn't have had it any other way. Actually, when we were all in the hospital I said, "Ok Tom, we're all here. You can wake up now!" (figuring/hoping that this was the ultimate stunt in getting us all together!)
It was scary for me to think that now we had to hold our group of friends together...I think it was scary for all of us. I feel that through Tom's death, I have become more aware of just how precious every moment is with my friends and family. I hope to be more careful of spending my time in ways that I will never regret down the road. I don't ever want to look back and wish that I had made a phone call or a visit...because I know that Tom wouldn't have missed these chances, and I could only hope to live and love like him.

I hope that anyone reading this takes this advice...To any reasonable end (or even a little unreasonable sometimes!) - Do not let money stop you from spending time together. Do not let busyness stop you. Do not let a 2 minute walk across campus stop you (soon this could be a 2 hour or even 2 day drive when you graduate). Do not let homework or work or even sleep stop you. I'm not saying to drop everything and just lounge around and hang out - but I am saying prioritize your life in such a way that there is room for every possible moment with the ones you love. Drive the extra mile...or 50. Pay the extra gas money and just go. Lose a little sleep. Spend a few cents on a stamp and mail a letter. "Say what you need to say." Make someone's day - not because it's a holiday or because you owe them, but because their happiness drives you to be more for them. Listen. Really listen. Make people worth your time and be sure that they know they are worth it. Just love. And when you do, do it as if you are making sure that this person will know beyond a doubt when you hang up or walk away or say goodnight...that you LOVE them with every ounce of your being.

 

Finding Purpose

For some of you, this is the exact message I sent to you on FB earlier this week, so feel free to skip this blog :) 

So there's this 36yr old woman, Lisa, from the church I've been going to, and she is seriously so nice! When I met her, right away I was thinking, "I can tell that we are gonna be friends"...just like the song :) Last week I met someone my own age at the church band rehearsal (which I'm probably not actually going to join, so don't get the wrong idea haha)! Lisa (who happens to be an increeeedible singer for the band) is all about getting me to know more people around, so afterward she was like, we should all hang out soon. We decided to go to Traverse City for dinner/movie last night with the 3 of us and later one other 22yr old kid from church.
At dinner, Lisa asked how I was liking work and I filled her in on how very little there in to do and just said (like I keep saying) that I just hope that I get to the end of the year and can see why I was here. She said, "I think you're here for lots of reasons...it's not just going to be SEEDS. Look at this - we're all here together because of you." Then we started talking about how/why it's hard to recruit kids to the after school programs and she said she would love to help and has been trying to figure out a way to be at the school to be around kids to eventually help the youth population at the church grow. I said that I feel if I get involved with the youth at the church, it will help get more kids to come to SEEDS too bc it'll let me get to know them. Apparently, there hasn't really been a youth group since these 2 guys were in high school...and now, since our pastor is leaving :( and Lisa will soon be pretty much totally in charge of the youth, she's been thinking of how she could start one back up. She said she's been praying for some help from younger people (majorly lacking in Frankfort) and I told her that I've been praying for more to do and ways to be involved with the youth at the church...umm do you guys believe in coincidence? Cause I don't! It was so amazing! So then the 2 guys, Lisa and I sat there for over an hour, writing down ideas of how to basically rebuild a youth program from the bottom up. We're stooooked!
I seriously cannot even believe how all of that fell together. What started out as a sweet chance to just hang out with people close to my age from Frankfort, turned into a perfectly coordinated group of 4 people who all happen to want to be part of building a church youth program! Seriously, what are the chances? Between Lisa being in charge of the church's youth, these 2 guys who were in this church's youth group when it still existed (so have tons of insight on what worked/didn't, best memories, etc), and me being at the school to have first-hand contact with the kids to get them involved...dang. I just can't believe how perfect this is! More to come on this crazy adventure :) 

And seriously, thanks so much for all the prayers and good thoughts bc I'm feelin em!

Burnt Cookies and A Hippie Bed

Sooooo break is over and it's back to good ol Franky! So far, so good I shuppose! Friday, I met with the pastor of a church I've been going to on Wednesday nights and it helped a ton in deciding about going there for real. I checked it out on Sunday and it's way more traditional than anything I'm used to, but I really like the people and their mission and beliefs. I'm thinking that (aside from the fact that my options are super limited) it's most important that I find somewhere with a good community feel even if it's not what I'm used to. As long as I feel fulfilled at the end of each service, I'll keep going there...plus Wednesday nights are more contemporary so it's otay! Alsoooo when I met with the pastor, he talked to me about chaperoning the youth for a trip to New York and another to North Carolina this summer for rock climbing, hiking, white-water rafting, etc...sweeeet! Hope it works out!!

Not quite done with the move, but it's actually starting to look like I live here now wooo! Uh speaking of my apt, so my stove/oven is this tiny thing... it's gotta be from the 50s! Needless to say, the numbers on the dial are having a rough time holding on. In other words, they're totally wiped off (at least on the oven dial). Sooo I wanted to make my brother and cousins cookies for bringing my stuff up and I feel like the most stereotypical thing possible happened. I couldn't tell what temp I had it on or even whether it was the highest or lowest setting, but I could feel that it was not getting very hot. I turned the dial to the opposite side and put the cookies in and just figured I'd check in a few mins and see how melty they had gotten. Welllll not even 5 mins later, I found this -------------------------------------------------->

Sad day! I had turned it to broil dang it. So these cookies (which Mal would have loooved), were clearly scorched on the tops, but the bottoms were perfect! Luckily my second round was quite a bit less black. Stereotype of a girl in her first solo apartment burning the first thing she attempts to cook...check! 

In other dumb news, my box springs for my bed wouldn't fit through my doorway/stairway, so I have only my mattress sitting on my floor like a little hippie haha! I need to make a choice - do I stick with this so I can keep my big kid bed...or do I trade it for a small bed from home, so that I actually have a frame and box springs? What should I dooo? Ehhh life is full of tough choices. *Don't mind the purple wall :/ Hopefully I'll be painting it yellow soon!

Yesterday I drove passed this restaurant that had a sign out for singer-songwriter night...in FRANKFORT. Oh.My.Gosh. Something to do in Frankfort in the winter. There's hope! I was planning on going, but then I had to try every possible combination in my living room sooo maybe next week. Just another one of the simple things that will get me to summer! That along with these pictures that I put in my window. 

This way, when I get up in the morning and look out at the snow, I can also look at the goal! Snow...Goal...Snow...Goal. K I'll Stay another day. That's how it works :) 

Work is slow, but it's whatever...oh and I'm turning 24 in less than an hour :/ yikes! hahaa