The BlueBirds

This was my group the week of 7/14

I LOVED THAT WEEK. 

so good. 

Monday after practice (they were softball girls) we had our usual meeting about rules and stuff. I told them how happy i was to be there and that they were there! and i just had a good feeling about this group. 

after dinner we voted about a name and it was completely unanimous, "THE BLUEBIRDS!!!"

uhmm, okay?

i never ever would have suggested that, but alright. 

some people are just real passionate about birds, i guess.

we ended up watching an old disney channel movie because they were worn out and just wanted to chill.

Wish Upon A Star it is. 

i lay on the floor. with mah fanny pack as a pillow. 

mmm that pale leg, though. 

alright. 

so Derek and Rachel made THESE videos for our campers. they're hilarious and you should definitely go admire their skills on a giant screen. 

one of the videos mentions that in the dorms you'll get a chocolate placed on your pillow every night. and one of my girls literally brought chocolate to put on everyone's pillows every night. 

see what i mean?

adorable. 

it was a good week. 

tuesday morning I forgot my glasses when we went to breakfast and i spent the entire half hour squinting at people and consequently looking really angry. my girls finished eating early so i sat with Derek and Dylan. Derek likes to mess me with at meals. It helps both of us. Derek gets to get his pent up frustration out on someone harmlessly, and i get to stay humble. 

That morning, he thought it'd be really funny to pour ketchup in my syrup to that i couldn't finish my french toast sticks. 

thanks, jerk. 

hahaha. 

it was actually really funny, and Mitch gave me his left over syrup, so i was good. but i just really wanted to include this picture because it's a perfect example of what Derek does to me every day. but it makes me feel cool, actually. hahahaha. Porque he's cool, and my brother, and he doesn't shove Tater-tots in anyone else's face or chew on other people's split ends. so there's that. 

I just wanted to emphasize that i had EIGHT.TEEN. GIRLS. that week. 

18. 

eighteen girls.

hi. 

18 girls. 

let me just say it one more time because i don't know if i spoke loud enough. 

EIGHTEEN CHILDREN TO TEND.

okay. 

i felt like i was leading a small army. 

we could have overthrown the Provo city hall and taken over. 

at least the walk to the softball fields from the dorms was super short, so i couldn't have possibly lost any of them on the way to practice!

half of my girls were 12-14 and the other half were 16&17, so that was interesting. my little ones were NUTS. Tuesday morning they tore pod-things from one of the trees on our way to practice and were scratching my back with them. haha. it felt really good, so i didn't mind. i love having my back scratched. but then they started sword fighting and someone's eye was about TWO SECONDS from being punctured, so i asked them nicely to put them away. 

Tuesday night was a BLAST. 

half my girls came to the dance with me, and i dropped off the other half at the talent show. muhaha

 model status, though. 

 also, please enjoy this phone-grainy photo of the twin towers. 

again, i say:

#DerekandDylanForevah

long live the bromance.

SIX PEAKS IS MY FAVORITE DAY OF EVERY CAMP.

I don't know why, because half of them have been rained out, but i just love chlorine, alright? i don't know. and this is the first bathing suit i've ever had that i've felt 100% A-okay in. (thanks, Rach)

and my girls were so fun this week, that i was way excited to go with them. 

While getting off the bus, some of my girls were separated and got off way before me, but i hadn't pointed out the meeting place or explained the pizza rules, and i was starting to hyperventilate because i knew once they were off that bus, they'd be long gone into the park.

But then, i saw the girls who'd excited early just standing there patiently waiting for the rest of us and i seriously wanted to cry because this week was SO. MUCH. EASIER. than the previously week. these girls. i said a quick "thanks you" prayer and snapped a picture, too, before we got off.

 MINUS THE AWFUL EXPOSURE THANKS TO STUPID PICASA

i love this picture porque i love love loved these girlies. some of my older ones. so fun and happy. 

2 post-6-peaks stories: 

1) we waited for FORTY-FIVE minutes for one girl. I'd gone back into the park 3 times to look for her, we'd all called her, no luck. 

so I jokingly said to my girls, "hey, i bet that if we all pick a piece of trash, Heavenly Father will send ______ to the pavilion, and we can go back."

so we all picked up trash. they gave their trash to me. i went and threw it away. and AS I WAS TURNING BACK AROUND, THERE WAS THE GIRL. 

i busted up laughing at all my girls' faces. 

they definitely thought i was a prophet. 

2. My friend David was a counselor over the diving boys, and they were near us while waiting for the buses. the boys were all doing flips and stuff to impress the girls. then this little dude gets up and is flippy flopping all over the dang utah valley. 

my younger girls were smitten. 

he got all but one of their numbers, and they all took pictures with him. 

he looks nine, but i promise, he's 15. 

yup, 15. 

also, i've been super surprised/blessed to have a ton of non-LDS girls in my groups. I actually really like the mix of mormons and non-mormons. it makes our nightly devotionals way better, because there's actual discussion and questions and i get to really talk about my favorite things!

I have so many cool stories from the non-LDS girls that i've gotten to know at camps this summer. 

in my bluebird group there were 6 non LDS girls. a whole 1/3! i was happy. 

after devotional on Wednesday, one of my girls approached me and asked if we could talk. 

we'll call her Jill. 

she told me that she had been having really bad nightmares. and that she hadn't really been sleeping because she was scared and would have creepy thoughts as she was trying to fall asleep. she didn't want that to happen at camp, because she'd been having such a good time. 

I gave her a big giant hug and got choked up as i told her that i had the exact same feelings when i was her age, and how still sometimes now, i have bad nightmares. 

we talked about the movies she watches, because she'd mentioned all the horror films she loved. 

i told her those probably weren't helping the situation. 

she confided that her mother laughed at her when Jill tried to explain her nightmares. 

that made me sad and angry. 

I sat down with her and we read a little bit from the New Testament, because Jill mentioned that once or twice she had read from the bible to calm herself and it had worked. 

and then we prayed together and i promised her that everything was going to be okay. 

we talked for a little bit more about what she could do to distract her mind. i suggested some songs that help me think of happy things. 

and i walked her to her room, arm in arm. 

and i decided that if this was why i had horrible dreams and night thoughts for years, so that i could be there for this one girl, then i'm grateful that i went through that, so she didn't have to feel alone.

so i told her that.

______________

And then i wondered if this is a tiny bit like how Jesus feels. 

he felt all the things i've ever felt, and that would be awful to feel all at once! But because He did it, He's able to comfort me, because He's been there, too. And I wondered if He feels that surge of love for me when i come to Him and ask for help. If He is grateful in that moment that He's felt the same thing so that He could give me hope.

I like to think that's true. 

______________

it was a sweet little moment.

I LOVE MY JOB. 

Thursday at lunch they had pizza, and it was the bomb .com, so obviously i had to document it. and Shanna, because she's a babe. hullo. 

ANOTHER AMAZING THING THAT HAPPENED THAT WEEK:

i sat in the cannon center at dinner on Thursday with some of my girls, and a really annoying group of older boys was sitting a table away, laughing way too loudly at something on their phones to be up to any good.

a few minutes later, we saw a girl trip and fall, dropping her tray and braking all the dishes on it. 

~there is a stupid, STUPID, STUPID tradition in the Cannon center to clap when people break things. i think it's rude, so i always ask my girls not to do that.~

these idiot boys started clapping and LAUGHING at the poor fallen girl. she whimpered and started picking up the broken pieces until a worker came and took over, giving her a comforting pat on the shoulder. 

I swung my head around and gave the still snickering boys my most evil glare. 

and then, this tiny little old lady who works at the Cannon Center hobbles up to the boy's table and whispers, "oh, i see that you're laughing at this girl. would you mind coming with me?"

so they follow her, still cocky. 

she went in a door and came out with a giant grin and an armful of brooms. which she handed to the boys and said, "since this amuses you, you're welcome to help us clean it up." so they swept, tails between legs, 

AND. 

I. 

DIED. 

my jaw hit the floor with a thud surely heard all the way to Orem and i threw my head back, cackling like the wicked Witch of the West. The old lady smiled at me and went back to work, which only made me even happier. so i took a picture. It's blurry because i was genuinely shaking with laughter. 

the sweet, sweet, justice. 

Thursday's dance was hoppin' as well.

I forgot a dress, but my older girls loved me and all contributed a little piece to my outfit, haha. we all looked smokin' hot if i do say so myself. 

were I a poet, 

this is where i would write a

haiku for Rachel 

cause i adore her

and want to be just like her. 

she is the bees' knees.

and look at us, with complementary color schemes. 

babes, these two. 

shameless selfie because i LOVE my glasses. 

haha

one of my campers saw a picture of me without glasses and said, "Oh. you know, you actually look just as good with and without glasses. you're lucky."

and i agree! hahaha. 

i ruv dem. 

#dancinfordays

the DJ played "You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray. 

UHMM, OKAY. 

YOU CANT STOP DA BEAT, THOUGH. 

ugh, so good. 

we.

went. 

crazy. 

and i love that Derek knows all the words with me, haha. and i LOVE that the whole song is one GIANT crescendo. holla. 

so sweaty. 

that was our last night! :/

It's surreal every week when the hall is empty again. 

I remember packing that Thursday and being genuinely bummed that these girls were leaving. they were so wonderful. and just in general that week was so good. 

the end of that week also marked the end of my FOURTH WEEK. and i couldn't/can't believe how different i feel. even in just four weeks?

is this possible?

is this real?

is this going to go away?

i'm sure that the floating on a cloud will peter out when i'm home and on a different schedule, but i hope this new Melissa feeling doesn't  go away. i like being this happy. 

honestly, i know this sounds cliche, but truly, i know that i'm so happy because I've been trying so. hard. to be as obedient as possible. and as genuine as i can be. 

because i'm really really good at wearing masks. 

but i feel liberated. 

i feel new. 

i feel incredibly blessed, every day.

i think they call this "Joy".