All Those Things In-Between

I posted this on facebook with pictures on Facebook if you have that.

So many things have been happening lately that I feel I need to sit down and write them out so I can actually process what has been happening.

Towards the beginning of this month I spent a week as a counselor with high schoolers from First Evangelical Church down in Madras, Oregon. I had a great time. It was also very introspective for myself. I realized that I had been the very high schooler standing in front of me 6 years prior. It is so crazy how times flies! Anyway, as camp went on I more often than not felt that I needed to be listening to the messages just as much or more than the students I was suppose to be counseling. The last few months have been very challenging and frustrating to me because of the inability to make permit decisions because I didn't know where I would be going to college. So I would be sitting through the messages at night wondering how my life was or wasn't reflecting Christ's. Honestly, when they called for those to come forward for recommitting I half wondered if I should go up. All I can say here, is that I feel like I have been coasting and that I need to change.

The other side of our time spent in Madras was having lots of fun or maybe I was enjoying it too much. We had to name not only our small core group, but also our "ship", which was comprised of 3 small groups. First off, I want to say that I had a very creative and imaginate young group of men. This being said they quickly named our group the "Ultimo Dragon Eaters". Citing that anything that could eat a dragon had to be pretty gnarly. I would have to agree. From there, we were encouraged to joing with our "ship" and come up with a team name. Sitting in a circle with the other groups, we struggled to come up with a unified vote. Finally, we all pushed for a final vote. Sadly, I must mention here that my vote for The Flying Dutchmen was shut down. However, the Vikings, The Treasure Hunters, and the Duckies of Doom were put up for a vote. In a move unseen by my young friends, I swung the vote away from the Vikings and voted for the Duckies of Doom; which, I must say is one of the most hilarious group names I have ever heard of! Needless to say, all the young men in our group were dismayed and complained that it sounded too weak and feminine. HAHA. Besides not being able to stop laughing, I simply argued what would the other groups say once they were beat by the 'Duckies of Doom'? This didn't help either.

It will suffice to say that the DUCKIES OF DOOM TRIUMPHED and WON the TROPHY!!!!!! GO DUCKIES!!!!!!

So I had a great time at camp! However, once I got back I had to take the WEST-B the next morning. I can tell you that taking a 3 1/2 hour test is near torture. I don't think I have had to sit in one place with so little of movement for so long! About two thirds of the way through the test, I thought I getting a little faint and light headed despite drinking water. I had to stand up and get a pass to go to the bathroom just to stay awake! I made it through okay and I am pretty sure that I did well. I have another test on the 4th of August, but I feel a little more confident since it will be my subject area.

The very next day, my friend Erin Plaxton showed up! Luckily, I had gotten time off and had rested from my near fatal experience with the WEST-B. :) Erin showed up, but only after getting lost in Vancouver. It was rather hilarious! She managed to end up almost in downtown Vancouver, instead of Battle Ground. I think it was a little my fault though. So we grabbed some Starbucks and headed out to church. Afterwards, we had an amazing Mrs. Mills "dinner" around 1pm and were quickly full.

The next day I drove all over Clark County showing her my 'stomping grounds' and then we went miniature golfing. I just have to say that I had 3 holes in one! Erin, however, managed to win a free game afterwards.

We also went up to the falls near my house and hung out. Afterwards we to rent the movie Shooter, during which time, my room was attacked. Erin and Katie had been scheming and totally toilet-papered my room. Yeah. Mainly Erin coming along to allow Katie the time to attack my room. I, of course, stole Katie's laptop and forced them to clean it up. However, I was attacked and barely escaped. True story.

Right after Erin left on Tuesday, I was backing to planning Luke's bachelor party with the help of Jeremy. We kept on trying to figure out what was going to work. We decided on white water rafting in Canada and camping since we figured knew that Luke liked the outdoors and white water rafting can be really cool. We drove up Friday hoping to make it into Canada that night, however, events - traffic - forced us to wait until morning to leave. So we set about planning to eat at the RAM, which, in my opinion, is absolutely amazing! After Luke arrived from Tri Cities, we went out had some of the best food! The next morning we set out for Chilliwack, Canada. After some small miscommunications, we managed to make it to the border. However, since some of us were 'first-timers' we were stopped and searched. Yeah.

We finally made it to Chilliwack around 11:30 and started getting ready for the rafting trip. I didn't know quite what to expect from the place. Honestly, it looked slightly dilapitated and like that place from that Disney movie The Parents Trap. Nevertheless, we unpacked and set up camp. The good news was that it hadn't started raining yet, truly a blessing! We walked over to hear all the disclaimer informationg and sign those waivers that say, "If you die, it isn't our fault." The Canadians were an interesting bunch to say the least! I found a lot of their stuff hilarious, however, since they all needed to have their mouths washed out with soap I cannot repeat what they said. Our guide, Mark, was pretty funny and our rafting trip went well since he is veteran on the Chilliwack River having led groups for the last 14 years.

We ended up knocking over other rafts instead of saving those falling out. OOps...We literally knocked the one group so hard that they slammed up against a rock that threw their guide out and half their crew. That was kind of funny though. That night, after going to Starbucks - I know, I know -, we went back to camp to make a fire. Unfortunately, it had started raining around 6pm and didn't let up all night and continued into the next morning. We set about making a fire that ended up taking us an hour to sustain itself! It was crazy, we poured fuel, used wood to fan it, and blocked the rain with out bodies, but the rain was out to stop our fire. Lesson learned - don't start fires in the rain with wet wood. Yep. All in all, our bachelor party went well!

I ended staying up in Seattle Sunday night in order to get more information from the University of Washington - Bothell. For those of you that don't know, I have been attempting to get into their Masters of Education program and move up to Seattle. I managed to show up with no appointment and get one - not bad! I talked to the Amelia Bower, who is the advisor, and managed to work out something that looked like I might be able to start this fall. I felt pretty good about it too. I was home about an hour after getting back from Seattle when she called back and said that it wouldn't be possible after all, but that I could wait until Fall 2008. So a long story short, I will be going to Washington State University - Vancouver this fall.

I am, however, excited about classes and will be starting August 20th. Plus, a decision has been made and I feel a lot less stressed. There are still a lot thing going on and I would appreciate prayer!