Today was registration at school which means summer is about to be officially over. I am pretty excited to start off my senior year. I have good classes with some pretty cool teachers, and Katy and Amanda happen to have a lot of the same classes as me. I am really glad Justin and Amanda and Dylan are gone too... just JOKING. :] Thats probably going to be the weirdest not having all the seniors around. Especially in the mornings before school, listening to music in the cars and throwing stuff out our windows into each others cars. I am used to kids leaving my second period class for senior meetings, now I will be leaving my class. I am used to going to graduation every June, and now I will be the one graduating. I am used to having the last week of school empty, but now I won't even have to go the last week of school!!! :] Its pretty weird, but really exciting. Then after that... maybe Auburn? Hopefully. Or maybe Corban. Or maybe I will just be a bum and not go to college. hah. JUST JOKING. I don't know, I guess I'll figure it out.
All this time away from home has really done a number on me. I spent so much time just NOT sleeping, I was completely over-tired. Fortunetly that didn't have an effect on my experience at camp. Everyone who has ever been has only amazing things to say about the three day camp: you'll laugh, you'll cry, the food is gross, the hike is hot, the ropes course is awesome, the classes are long, you'll talk to people.
As for me: I laughed. During our trust building activities, meals together, and just playing games in our free time... I got to know a lot of people from school I would usually not choose to hang out with for three days. I don't think I have laughed that hard that much in a long time. I cried. People shared so many stories that broke my heart. They have so many hard things going on in their lives that I can't believe I EVER complained about not being allowed to go somewhere on a Friday night. The food WAS gross. :] Katy and I li ed off of Ritz cracker dinosaurs and chocolate chip poptarts. I also LOVED the oranges. Mmmm the way to my heart is through oranges. I love them!!! The Hike WASN'T hot. One bonus to staying in the Alabama heat for two weeks was coming back to the Washington summer. While everyone here thought that Friday afternoon was too hot to take a 2 mile hike, I thought it was enjoyable. The ropes course was AWESOME. Th elower ropes course was where I learned to really trust a lot of my classmates. The higher ropes course was where I got to show people they could trust me, and I was able to push myself to climb some interesting trees. My hands were sore that afternoon from the cables, but it was SO worth it. The classes were long. Gosh they were long. I felt bad, but my exhaustion caught up with me as I fell asleep through an entire movie. I didn't feel too bad though, Mr. Bell fell asleep too :]. I talked to people. I had a lot of time to just have genuine conversations with people. It was great. When a couple guys came into our cabin and asked us [me and some other girls inmy cabin] why we believed and followed God when we couldn't see Him, I got a chance to tell them about the wonderful things God has done in my life.
The whole camp overall was a great experience. On the second night, Mr. Matz informed us that we could stay up all night if we wanted. By then I was so exhausted that I took a shower and fell asleep at 10:30PM. I kind of felt like a little kid since I was the only one sleeping, but my bed was SO comfortable. :]]
If it wasn't obvious from my last few blogs... I just spent two weeks visiting the state of Alabama. It was my second trip there, and WOW. August is definately different from March!!! I felt the heat when I stepped out of the Birmingham Airport, I was reassured that I was no longer in Washington. Of course... at 11PM it is not completely scorching, but it was still much hotter than any night I was used to at home. The following weeks would be a huge difference for sure.
I have never known anyone that moved 3000 miles away. Not friends. Not family. Kind of crazy, but its true. Anyway, I expected something to be different when we talked to David at the airport. Or when we saw Farah the next morning, but it wasn't. It was like they still lived 2 minutes away, and I had seen them just a day ago. Of course a couple of months apart is not a long time, but when you are used to seeing someone every Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday [and usually sometimes in between], it is a big difference.
Anyways, when I went to bed the first night, I could hardly sleep knowing I would get to see Farah and the boys in the morning. I am pretty sure I woke up at 7:30AM [for me it would have felt like 5:30AM], and sat on the couch waiting for Farah to pull up in the driveway. It seemed like days... but finally she pulled up and we met her at the door. We hugged and everything, said how much we missed her, and then headed for their house. Now Dax, I am pretty sure he was as excited to see us as we were to see him. He never stopped talking for the first hour we were there [I guess he was making up for all the times he was put on the phone to talk to me and just said "ummmm"].
After the first day, the rest of the week somewhat blurred together. We hung out with Bryan and Karen one night, went swimming in Shea's pool, babysat Corey and Emily, answered phones at the office, went to Wednesday night church with Matthew, and had about a million different options* of what to do each evening. Saturday came up way too fast, and Amanda had to head back to Washington. We took her to the airport and comforted our sadness abotu her leaving by going to the movies with Matthew and a bunch of his friends. :] Later we pondered ideas of what to do while sitting outside an ice cream shop and, after a long and much later talked about conversation with some guys we met, decided on driving to the houe of crosses. It is a creepy place [their equivelent to our Camp One Road] that has thousands of crosses all spread out across one man's lawn. Also there are creepy signs and stuff. Just weirdness. [[*Options were basically a big part of every day. We had a hard time deciding on what to do, where to go, and where to eat. Of course Matthew always gave us 15 options, which made the decision even harder.]]
Something I really enjoyed about our trip was being able to go to other churches. Sunday morning we visited Journey... a church that is a lot like Riverchase in the sense that they are a very new church, without a building of their own, and they even have donuts and coffee. :] The pastor was really cool, but I really missed our music. Journey had a lot of cool ideas that we could totally borrow. That night we went to Mt. Hebron, which was a lot more traditional. They had a church building, with pews and all that stuff. They also had a sweet youth house that is used for youth events and bible study and all that cool stuff. Although they made fun of me for the way I say bag, and for calling what you shoot a basketball into a hoop, the kids there were pretty cool. And the youth pastor, a friend of David's, was pretty awesome as well.
I'd have to say that my favorite thing about being in Alabama is Auburn. The way so many people talk about it with such a passion is awesome. In March David showed us around, and this time it was Farah's turn. Being on the campus again made me want even more to go there for college next year. I recognized the exit off the interstate, and I was suddenly in a better mood [not that I was in a bad one before]. We parked at the BCM, and got lemonade at Toomer's corner. Farah showed us around and told us a lot of stories. It was great, and even better, we went back a second time. This time it was for a concert that the band mentioned in the title was performing at. I think that day was the hottest I remember. The band played outside of a church in the parking lot, and the sun was just going down. It was GREAT to be able to go inside the second they finished playing.
One day, Katy and I made a huge mistake. We were at Shea's and were extremely bored, so we decided to WALK to the Isbell office. Now, its like going from Village Green to Safeway. But it was a million degrees outside. By the time we walked into the office to see Karen at the front desk, I thought I was going to literally die. Of course I didn't [or I wouldn't be here], but it was just too hot. It was then that Matthew decided to borrow David's jeep, and allow us to use his car for the rest of our time there [YESSSS. I was so happy!!!!!!!!]. Considering that even when I was back at home, I hadn't driven in a couple weeks because my piece of crap car broke down. Being able to drive places gave us a little bit more freedom. Although we had no place to drive... the freedom to go SOMEWHERE was still there.
The last two days of our trip were probably the most amazing. Or maybe it is just that I can remember them more vividly than the rest. ANYWAY... Six Flags. I have only been to California once. Never been to Disney Land. Never even been on a plane before going to Alabama. The closest thing to Six Flags the the TWO wooden roller coasters that are located at Silverwood in Idaho. You can only imagine how excited I was to get into Atlanta on Sunday morning. We woke up at 5:30AM, and drove most of the morning. I know that God made us go on Sunday for a reason... and that reason: THE WEATHER. It was cool. Yes cool. Not even a bit humid, and the crowds... well they were almost non existent. As I said in my other blog, we rode every roller coaster except one, most of us lost our voices from screaming. It was awesome. Extremely awesome. Monday, although we didn't ride roller coasters or anything, was equally awesome. Spending the entire day with Farah, shopping and all that fun stuff, was amazing. I was os glad to just be able to spend time with her. We went to one mall for Cole to get pictures taken [they were so CUTE!!], then drove through Auurn of Montgomery's campus [another possible college oppertunity], and went to my favorite mall East Chase.
I thought Tuesday would be a lot harder than it actually was. I was sad to be leaving the Isbells. ALL of them, David Farah Bryan Karen Dax Cole Shea Matthew... and the Isbell parents [who we only saw a few times]. But I was also excited to see my family. And friends. And sleep in my own bed, not a futon, and not with Katy [no offence Katy, I loveeee you]. The flight home seemed like it took 7 billion hours, and what do you know, the airline even left my luggage back in Alabama. Thanks Delta :]. My parents and Amanda picked me up, and we drove back to good old Orting, WA. I sadly brushed my teeth without Matthew and Katy, and went to bed in MY bed :]. My luggage was brought to my front door at 9AM, and I concluded my one big summer trip!!!
Now its off to Natural Helpers camp tomorrow morning at 7AM :].
Today I went to Six Flags in Georgia with Bryan, Karen, Katy, Matthew and John David. It was awesome and spectacular and amazing and fantastic. The best part... the weather was exactly like a nice Washington day. 75 degrees, and not even humid. Goshhh it was nice. I'm looking forward to the weather. I am excited for fall!!! [AKA the Fair and football games :)].
As for the rides at Six Flags. I went on every single roller coaster... and the Goliath [the newest one] 4 times. We only had to wait in two long lines, one for the Superman ride [amazing. You lay on your stomach and its like flying.] and one for the Deja Vu [AMAZING ride. Unexplainable]. Lets just say as I sit here on Shea's couch 5 hours later, I am still feeling like I am going down the 200 foot drop at 70 miles an hour. Hah!! Time for some sleep!!!
I guess this whole being far away from everything is kinda weird. I love being able to be with the Isbells: just driving around with Farah, picking up Dax from his class at church, and listening to David speak to a group of teenagers. I also love being with all the other Isbells: going ot Wal-Mart with Karen, being able to stay with Shea, and hanging out with Matthew just about every night. I love how everywhere I go I am constantly meeting new people and seeing new things. It amazing how people can be in the same country and things can be COMPLETELY different. A baskteball goal? Yeah I have never heard of one. At the church David spoke at the other night, some of the guys thought I was crazy for calling it a basketball hoop. Also I can't forget about the heat. Although I do not think it is as bad as everyone says, it is definately different than the summers at home. The air just seems thicker, and after walking from Shea's house to the Isbell office today, I definately started seeing how much different it could be. I keep thinking that I can just hop in teh car and drive right into town [Orting], or that any second my mom will call and wonder where I am... and if I am going to be home for dinner. I guess I will be back to normal next week, huh?
Today Dax woke us up at 10:30 to go swimming. The pool, unlike all pools in Washington, is as hot as a bathtub. So we went swimming and he [Dax] was standing on the edge of the pool talking to Amanda and I... I asked him if he wanted to jump to me and at first he was all for it, then he said, " NO... no. no. no. no. Meagan Maki there is a bug right THERE!!!!" It was great. he's scared of bugs apparently. Then we kinda chilled [literally, Shea's house is really cold inside] until Matthew got here and we went to church. First we went to the Isbell's and listened to some very random songs on the computer [about the candyman and the skin on the end of your elbow]. Later we watched Final Destination 3... which is gross. And basically every part of my body fell alseep because I was sitting on the hard floor. Sometime in there we had Subway for dinner... and found out that Matthew secretly is in love with Dylan. On the five hour drive home from this girl Jennifer's house... we listened to a really slow CD and I pretty much was falling asleep, but now that we are back at Shea's I am not tired. skdjflksdjlkdsjf.
Well last night at about 10:40PM we flew into Birmingham. First off... the heat. It was a nice contrast to Washington. When we left it was a bout 65 degrees, and when we got here late at night it was 74. I thought it felt good. But uhmm.... well now it is just extremely hot. 95 degrees. Anyways...
Last night David and Matthew picked us up from the airport. We drove in the sweet new Armada... and I sat in between Amanda and Katy who texted each other the entire ride home. THEY WERE ONE PERSON AWAY FROM EACH OTHER. Oh well. It was a fun car ride.
Today we have been hanging out with Farah and the boys. I was so gald to see them, and Dax was pretty excited to see us. He talks more than me [that is a lot], and he has a kid voice now. Now he doesn't sound like a baby anymore, he sounds like a kid. And he has an accent. Its so weird. But he looks the same.
As for Cole, well he just laughs like crazy. And tries to eat my bracelets. Its pretty funny.
Now everyone has kinda calmed down and we're just able to sit here and talk to Farah. IN PERSON. Its great, I really missed this sitting around on the floor talking. Not to mention eating cupcakes which are delicious... YAY for Katy's birthday!!!! Later we may go to this SWEET park in town. Its really big and all wooden. I know I am almost 18, but this park is the best. :]
Thats all for now... but I'll update tomorrow.
