i sometimes end up taking high school freshman to YOUNG LIFE CAMP....!

its been two days since we got back and i have to say that weekend rocked my world... in a great way. as i reflect on things i could have done better to serve my girls and stare at my unpacked bag sitting on my bedroom floor i just thank God for the opportunity to be able to live life with these girls. so lets start out at the beginning i am a young life leader for king high school in corpus christi tx, every year we take freshman to a camp called polar bear. its a weekend long camp for them to have the chance to be totally shut out from the world (theres no cell service its funny to watch them kind of panic, but i love not having a phone for the weekend) and learn about this great God that wants to be there and love them through whatever is thrown at them. this weekend in my mind was supposed to be me getting to know my girls better and doing cool things with them but, there were boys and they are freshman girls that are away from there parents and are pumped to be free!!!! moral of the story we did little hanging out and more what i thought of me bird dogging my girls and following them around like a lost puppy. haha. but God works in cool ways and on the way home (a four and a half hour drive) we talked for an hour and a half and didn't even turn on the radio. i was super pumped to be able to hear what my girls thought of the weekend and what there walk with Christ looks like. even though they ditched me all weekend yesterday they showed up for CLUBBBBB!!! (yay they still want to hangout with me) it was a relief! and i met the coolest young life leaders from san marco!

                                 these are my two freshman girls that are sometimes to cool for me ;)

                                            us with are plus two's from san marcos

                                          time for a group photo!!!!!
                                           

my super cool rad fellow young life leaders from san marcos 

right after the paint war

if you were wondering where we were in that group photo

-where my girls you may ask??
- hanging with the boys or running away from me! (best young life leader award goes to me) 

i swear I'm not to cool for this 

i sometimes get talked into backing packing up a mountain...

we drove to a camp called sunlight, which was outside of pagosa springs colorado to climb the san juan mountains!  this trip was one of the hardest things i think i have ever done in my life... imagine carrying all your items need for seven days in one bag. ummmm what??? that was a foreign idea for me but some how i ended up going. something they tell first time backpackers is only bring things you really need so i brought a new shirt for everyday, a few to change into in the evening, a few pairs of shorts, a few pairs of socks, two shoes other then my hiking boots, a pair of sweats, and a few jackets. well lets just say that all of that didn't fit into my backpack. so our guide came over to help me narrow out (thank goodness she did) i guess i didn't realize i was going to have to carry this backpack up the mountain till i had to lift it.. may i remind you it weighed 50 pounds. doesn't sound like a lot till your climbing up the mountain. lets just say i will never bring that much stuff backpacking ever again... after walking 15 miles round trip i learned a lot about my self and things i actually needed haha.

 we stayed at this lake for a couple of nights and are food was supposed to be fish from that lake but we didn't catch any...

the most beautiful waterfall with the most beautiful people!

i sometimes end up going on tour for one night

when you ask a senior in high school what there favorite memory in high school was you probably would hear things like: prom, a sports game, or homecoming. if you asked me what mine was i would with out hesitation say the one night i went on tour. then i would proceed to explain that there is a fundraiser every year that supports a orphanage in amarillo texas and they raise money by having volunteers put dance routines together and acting like idiots. (which is right up my alley) my junior year of high school a group of my closets friends got the pleasure of participating. we chose the song "Bad Medicine" by Bon Jovi, and we had a great choreographer that made everything as easy as possible to learn. after one sunday afternoon practice we got placed as the final (we were that good). after a great performance with little error ( madi taylor sitting on the keyboard and hardly pulling it back together to finish) we got a standing ovation. going on tour one night and dressing up and acting goofy with my people is one of my favorite memories in high school.

i sometimes... end up hanging off the edge of a cliff at the grand canyon.

my first spring break of my college experience i had a choice i could go to a rave in south padre or i could go to the grand canyon with a few people i kind of knew but would consider strangers at the time. i obviously chose to go the the GRAND CANYON!!! little did i know but this choice was life changing for me, i met three girls who in a short 16 hour drive became some of my closest friends to this day.  

of course we stood out on a ledge (we like to push the limits)

my girls!!! regan and i look a ton alike!! starting from the left hannah, alyssa, regan me!