Upstage Much?!

I would just like to say that I hate you, Michael Jarboe, for upstaging me. I tried really hard to be cool and show you guys China, but here comes Jarboe with his episodes and his own logo...that's ok though. Hopefully I still have some fans who want to read my blog. (I really don't hate you. I actually love you and think you are the only one who could possibly pull off the Caught on Tape)

So a lot has happened in a month. I apologize for not posting until now, but I literally have not had enough time at all. Here is the slideshow that I have prepared. This is from my vacation to Destin, Springboard training, and the actual Springboard sessions, including a sneak peak of Staff bonding time, and my 4th of July. If you don't want to read the whole blog, the slideshow is the abridged version of my month.

The trip to Destin was a ton of fun. I'm pretty obsessed with the beach. This is the third year that I have gotten to spend my birthday at the beach. My dad's company has a conference every year at the same time. This year for the big 2-1, I got to go deep sea fishing. This was the first time that I had ever done anything like that, and I won the tournament, receiving a gift card to the Bass Pro Shop. The rest of the week consisted of me almost losing my sunglasses in the ocean, my sister finding them, birthday cake at The Crab Shack, my sister reading, a new pet hermit crab (Armstrong), tanning, mingling with my dad's company members, swimming, running in to one of my sorority sisters, and having to get out of the water because of sharks.

The day after I returned to the booming metropolis of Shreveport, the Springboard staff worked with other staff members of campus to clean up. We weeded flower beds and other outside yard jobs in order to make everything look spectacular for the incoming students. The next day we headed south for training weekend. At the Woodworth Methodist Center we bonded as a staff and got information needed before the sessions started. The weekend was filled with warm fuzzies, partner bonding time, teambuilders, creative candy mazes, emergency procedures, small group session outlines, breaking ice, 2 birthday celebrations (Rob and Talia), and some clothes pins. We were so excited to get to meet all of the new students.

We returned and got everything ready for the first Springboard session. The staff couldn't wait to meet everyone. The sessions were 2 days and were on the Tuesday/Wednesday, Friday/Saturday of the last two weeks in June. The first session came and went. We discussed the pros and cons of how we had the schedule and changed some things around. We did this after every session to make things work better. In between the first and second session, I went to Monroe, Louisiana, to my great-uncle's funeral. He was one of the most selfless, giving people you will ever meet. One of my cousins actually wrote a bill into the Louisiana Legislature to commemorate his life and accomplishments. They do this for family members of people who work for the state government. The bill was read while the legislature was in session. I thought that was pretty neat. In between the third and fourth sessions, we were getting a little stressed, so we went to Cross Lake to chill out, but the weather thought we needed to get out of the water. While we were out there, Jared, Wesley, and William got in, each doing showing off their mad skills. William really wanted to go tubing, and we found a random tube floating on the lake, so he jump on it as we attached it to the boat. He had fun. After the two weeks were over, we met all of the incoming first year students and had a blast doing it. We learned how to work like geese and that you can do a lot with clothes pins and a noodle.

After the Springboard sessions were over, it was rest time. Oh wait, I don't rest. I worked in the Student Life office all last week, traveling to Monroe to get my hair cut on Wednesday. On Friday, there was a fish fry out at a church friend's house. My family went out there (with my "adopted brother," Jason Kay who is living at my house for the summer while he works in Shreveport). After eating a lot of fish and some homemade ice cream, my friends Rachel, Erin, and I went to the CenturyTel Center to catch the last few minutes of the Battlewings game (Bossier/Shreveport's arena football team) before the JEREMY CAMP CONCERT! We met up with some other friends while we were there. The end of the game was intense, and we ended up losing in the last second, literally. The concert was pretty much amazing. After, I went to go get his new CD, and he came out to sign autographs. He signed my new CD and then took a picture with us. I also talked to him about the first time I saw him in concert and he remembered. That was pretty cool. The rest of the weekend was filled with preparing for Vacation Bible School. I will be gone all of this week because I'm taking the youth to church camp. The next week is bible school and I am one of the teachers, so I had to work on my room before I left for camp.

Well, I hope my actual text blog hasn't been too boring for you since I'm not cool like Jarboe. If you haven't watched his blogs, please do so. They are hilarious. Until next time...

Peace Out
Ashley