Hi Everyone,
I can’t believe July is already over. I spent most of it trying to catch
my breath! I was glad for the break on the 4th as we celebrated the
Declaration of Independence, especially since it seems like it was the only
break I got.
The 11th-14th was Stake Youth Conference. I had so much fun
going to Nauvoo with the youth from our branch. I wish that I had more of them
as part of my temporary family that I was assigned to. I was grateful that
there were a few more on the bus we rode. I found myself singing a lot with
those who sat up front. I also got to talk quite a bit to our bus driver,
Larry. He was a very nice man and it was enjoyable getting to know him. On
Wednesday night we spent the night as a YW group from Marshall together and
that was very fun. We got very little sleep, but I think we all knew that was
going to happen to begin with. On the 12th we left for Nauvoo very
early in the morning (I think it was 6am) and we did all kinds of fun things
through the 14th when we left to come home. We went to the Nauvoo
pageant, we went to the Country Fair there, we watched a short musical presentation
at the visitor’s center called “High Hopes and Riverboats” which was amazing,
we did baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo Temple (so amazing!), toured a few
of the homes and businesses around old Nauvoo, ate lots of good food, visited
Carthage, had a testimony meeting and I’m not sure what else. It was packed
pretty solidly. By Saturday we were pretty worn out from lack of sleep and
having so much activity. In fact the last few hours in Nauvoo a good chunk of
those with us just sat around and tried to keep from getting too hot. We got
back very late, but were grateful for the chance we had to go. What a privilege
it is to work with and serve the young women in the Marshall branch!
The following week I attempted to breath before plunging into Relay for
Life. It didn’t seem to work very well, but I gave it a good try anyway. Relay
was busy. Our branch raised about $1000 and that made it a success. I don’t
know if we will do Relay again however as not many people seemed to want to
come and assist us. Since it’s supposed to be a branch activity there is no
point in trying to do it if they don’t wish to. I will still be involved in
Relay one way or another, but we shall see what the next few months of
discussion bring.
The next day, the 22nd was Branch Conference. I enjoyed it,
but I was so tired that I don’t really remember much of what was said. I was
doing well just to be at Church in my opinion so I hope the things I listened
to will be brought to my remembrance as I need them in the future.
That week I
concentrated on getting my schoolwork done. I had done few to no assignments in
either of my classes which fortunately for me didn’t matter because the
instructor doesn’t care when they are turned in as long as it’s before the
class ends. I wrote around 11 lesson plans that week and was supposed to do 12,
but I couldn’t figure out what to do for the last one. I will work on doing
that on Monay.
Beginning on the 29th was Marshall Band camp. I am on the
committee to make that happen so I spent a great deal of time at the school all
week long. I will be replacing a couple whose son graduates next June so I was
busy trying to learn what they do so that I can do it next year. At first I
thought I was going to be able to do it myself, but I realized that I’m going
to need at least some help from Andrew. Poor guy always gets drug into whatever
I volunteer for.
Today we had a youth temple trip to Detroit. It was hard to get out of
bed. I thought I would try to get some sleep on the way over and back, but
ended up driving while Andrew drove someone else’s car. Gratefully I didn’t end
up being drowsy until the very end when we were dropping off the other car. I
always enjoy going to the temple and today was no exception. We took a nap when
we got home and that was nice as well.
I bought several cuts of fabric over a month ago that I have yet to be
able to do anything with. I’m hoping that this month I’ll get the chance to do
some sewing. I wanted to make some new shirts. One of the fabrics I might turn
into a skirt though-it just keeps telling me that’s what I should do with it. I’m
surprised that fabric can talk-but this one is really doing just that. I keep
trying to tell it that I want it to be a shirt, but it tells me that I should
make it a skirt and it will be cuter. I think I’m going to give in. It’s a very
pretty stripe and I don’t mind having it as a skirt or as a shirt. I think it
might be saying something about my level of exhaustion to know that I’m losing
a battle against some fabric. Hahaha
I guess that’s about it. I’m glad that I’m nearly done with my schoolwork
for the summer. I have only a few classes left and that too is nice. I will
also enjoy a few weeks of not having class to attend before I start back into
the fall semester the end of September. I’m also glad that all the really big
things for summer are over. I will be very busy in the fall semester as I am
taking 22 credit hours. Good grief, sometimes I wonder what I’m thinking. I
just want to finish school so much and move onto doing something with my
degree.
Andrew is very busy with his job. He is in the beginning stages of
joining me at Baker, sort of. He is going to be doing his degree online instead
of on-campus. I don’t remember what he picked for a degree anymore, but I’m
glad to see him moving forward. Hopefully he will not have too many classes to
take once his degrees transfer over.
Megan has enjoyed a busy summer and all that came with it. We register
her for high school on the 20th. I can’t believe she is in high
school. Soon she will be eligible to learn to drive. Another sign of her
growing up all too fast. She is such a joy for both Andrew and I but we are sad
to know that our time at home with her is swiftly coming to a close. She is a
wonderful daughter and so thoughtful of all around her. We love her very much
and are proud of all she does that is good and right.
I better go for now. I hope you are able to enjoy summer a great deal.
