WORK CAMP HERO!

Wow! Work camp in Hobbs was so much fun! I was so scared about having a lame crew but CREW 10 was amazing! It consisted of Norvell, our adult in the group, Weslie, a 21 year old from New Mexico, Darius, an 18 year old from Nebraska, Me!, Taylor, a 16 year old from Connecticut, and Nichole, a 15 year old from Nebraska! This camp was supposed to have around 400 people but guess what?!!! Only around 100 were there...and it was okay! Actually more than okay because no one felt over whelmed about having to share a shower room with 250 girls...ha! that would have sucked! We slept in the gyms. There were 3 different ones in this building and the third one was left to play in! We invented EXTREME ROCK BALL...and TRY TO SHOW YOUR SKILLS TO SOMEONE WHO HAS WAY MORE SKILLS THAN YOU SOCCER. So the drive there was good. We had Brent and Charlotte as our sponsors and neither were bad at driving :) We stopped at Balmorhea State Park to camp so we could have a late start with only a 2 hour drive to the school we were staying at: Hobbs H.S. It was pretty nice! We swam in a spring fed swimmin hole (ha!) that was like Barton Springs but decent to swim in after it had just rained and was still a wee bit chilly. We were early to the school so we went to Churches Chicken and ate lunch...very...um, alright...they had no sandwiches CRAZY! The lady asked if we were in a sorority, I thought that was funny! So, when I met my crew that Sunday night I fell in love with them and their involvement with the tasks we were asked to complete in our discussions, we even added stuff to get to know each other! We arose in the morn at 7 and since I got place of Devotion Leader I didn't have to do much of anything but get ready, eat, go to morning worship, then jump on the bus to go to the work sight. We shared a bus/van with Crew 11. Our MC Josh was amazing! Most definitely the best out of my four years! Great humor and very personable...we love you JOSH!!! Our crew got the honor of going to three different sites this year, the first was Essie's house (it needed the kitchen, bathroom, ceiling of living room, and windows out back painted which got finished early Wednesday morning), the second house was Crew 11's site (we jumped in to help finish painting the side of a house), and the third was Chris's house (Crew 9?) (walls had to be replaced and spackled and painted and a skirting had to be put on the outside of the house). I took over the spackling in the bathroom and at Chris's house...I was named PRO thanks to our site coach Shawn to the point when we showed up at Chris's house they put me to work on the dry wall in the kitchen. Essie, our main resident liked to be a laid back lady watching MTV and jail time shows...it was so funny when i realized that she was watching America's Best Dance Crew! But oh my, when you put Mr. Norvell and Ms. Essie together they tended to draw out our devotions with their "back in my day" stories. Oh, and turns out Chris's house used to be a Meth House! Crazy! But yeah, on our half day on Wednesday we went to a movie (Get Smart is so darn funny), bowling (the place was old and smelly and the lanes kept messing up...but we had so much fun!), then we went to a little Mexican Restaurant (where some local couple paid for our dinner, 12 people! It was so sweet!). That night was also the Variety Show where i recruited Tim, Em Fart (Tharp), Lesley, and Andie to play recorders with me...The Texan Recorders are back in town! Cry Night, Thursday, was really awesome. There weren't any stations to go to like in the past but that's what made it more personable and more comfortable. We threw stones in the sand and sat back to ourselves and forgave and listened to the lord...then it started to rain and I ran out in it feeling free...but then cold ;) Later that night while Lesley and I were playing with a basket ball, I jumped up and ended up slipping and busting my knee and elbow on the floor...I just laid there for a while (surprisingly not crying) then some kids circled up with us and we hung out while dodging basket balls being thrown in the basket we were under. Towards the end of youth group devotions the fire alarm went off and we went outside to be safe...A "double L" C sang camp songs from Chrysalis...then when we went back in, the lights were all out except for emergency ones so Tim had his flash light checking to see if we had epilepsy...then we had a rave to the tune of my voice and the flashlight shining...we gained lots of friends that way :) So, we all had a great time. Our ride home on Saturday was only around 6 hours and now I feel like a new person, not shy to go and do stuff. Like I really wanted to go eat BBQ at my neighbors house and I really wanted to go to my Grannies house to talk a bit. Love Out Loud Lasts! and I have to remember that! That was the theme of the camp: Love Out Loud...it was so inspirational! So now...I must prepare for cousins visiting from Belgium! YEAH! I've missed them! [Pictured is all the Emily's at the camp]