Choir Members

If you were once apart of the Institute choir, you may enjoy this tribute. Click Here.

Title

The title of my blog has not, in fact been modified. Yes it's in Greek, but the words are the same...as far as I know. We're relying on online Greek translation. What it's SUPPOSED to say is "Red Adventure." Watch out for modifications as my knowledge becomes more proficient in the future. For now, may I remind you I've had one class of Greek.

One Hundred.

This should be some sort of momentous occasion...because this is Post 100!

Uhh, the end.

Talent, Skill and Early Morning.

No, really. 4:30am...ready...go! Up Ensign Peak at 6am, watch the sunrise...the camera REALLY doesn't do the view justice. This is partly what it looked like. Truthfully, I've never taken the time to watch the sun rise or set completely. The sky doesn't just change from dark blue to light blue with red and yellow. The change is gradual, spreading red across the sky, then fading slightly. It's like a 4 movement symphony (do they exist?). It begins soft and gentle, building to a loud chorus. It calms again, slow and mild. Suddenly, the rays break through and light the sky with magnificent rays of gold and red. Slowly parts of the valley are illuminated, like sections of the orchestra starting up, until the whole valley is singing in glory of light.
This must be experienced first hand to feel the glory and warmth of a new day. Wandering down the side of the mountain, don't forget the small, less traveled paths. Wondrous sights to behold...
It's the Ensign Peak Amphitheater. No joke. Thanks to generous donations. The Ensign Peak Vista was heavily disrespected and covered in trash. Go community service! It's cleaner now, I promise.

The morning would not be complete without the joy of jam packets. Feast your eyes upon the prowess and savoir faire of jam packet maneuver.

That's my girl!

In the process of getting my 2 year old niece ready for a bath, I said "One of your buttons is stuck," after struggling with a shirt button. She looked at me and said, "Ahh, nuts!"

Happy Birthday Harry.

A friend and I used to celebrate Harry Potter's birthday every year on the 31st of July. Since the progression onto college, we haven't been close enough to get together on that day. This year, she sent me a lovely package!It's been a few weeks, but I found the time on Thursday.
Green, such a magical color.
The middle of the cake, complete with sprinkles and jelly beans.
The basic frosting.
The finished product!
And, the final taste test. She approves! "More green cake?"

Neville.

My car. aka, freedom! More or less with gas prices. Those who are acquainted Neville, know how cool he is. Today, he is mine. He's a wonderful gift from my dad who has paid him off for me, and I will hold his title in my own two hands!! Thanks Dad!

-Proud mother.

EFY - From the View of a Learning Counselor. Epilogue.

EFY has been referred to as "Spiritual Boot Camp". Thursday's are the best days in my eyes. It is the Sunday Dress day; Men wear white shirts and ties, women wear a dress or skirt and blouse. The day begins like the others, with a Participant Devotional and a Scripture Study lesson. Then we split the men and women to go to separate activities. The women were given a lesson on being a true princess; In reality, all daughters are heirs to the Heavenly King. As a counselor group, we read and discussed "The Living Christ." The rest of the day is focused on feeling the Spirit with a fireside by the Session Director, a YW/YM activity. In the middle of the day we had our Variety Show which is a bit rowdier, but it's mostly to keep up the participants energy. We end the day with a testimony meeting.The kids bear sincere, pure and wonderful testimonies. Even my quiet ones who don't say a whole lot were brave enough to stand in front of 40 other people and say what was in their heart. This is when you can see some of the results as a counselor. To know if they've learned anything, or at least were comforted by the Spirit. These kids come from all walks of life. My girls were diverse in skin color and personality. Some of them revealed truths from their past or their present situation, that floored me. One of my girls, who answered many of the questions and knew much about the gospel, was in fact not a member. She lives with her dad and step-mom, or at least goes to church with them, but her biological mother doesn't support her, therefore prevents her from being baptised. All had testimonies of the gospel. As I learned this week at EFY - a testimony of the basic principles of the gospel is the most crucial. Digging deep into spiritual truths is wonderful and we must always be increasing in knowledge, but if we neglect the basics: constant prayer, scripture study, charity, paying tithing, attending church and partaking of the sacrament, we will loose our foundation which will cause our testimonies to fall. It is of UPMOST importance to not forget who you are, why you are here, and where you are going. If you remember each of these truths; that you are a child of God, sent here to obtain a body and proove your devotion to God, and that you have a chance for everlasting life, joyful and at peace for eternity, then life just seems to fall into place.

There is something called the "EFY Fire." Kids will leave feeling the Spirit with new resolution to work hard and do the best they can. Lives are changed that week. Many go home, and within a few days are back to their old ways of living within the world and falling with every gust of wind of untrue doctrine. Something I told my girls is that EFY is not true. Counselors are imperfect. BC's and coordinators are imperfect. Even the session director and all those who make the EFY program possible are imperfect. What is true is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. HE is who will lead and guide you through your life and get you through sore trials and harsh temptations. Remember that even the establishment of the church is imperfect. But the gospel that it supports is true and living.

I encourage all those who are of age to participate in EFY, or if you can, volunteer your time to be a leader and counselor to these precious youth who so badly need a teacher. Someone to readjust their position on the path of life, and push them towards the iron rod.
Oh yeah. Don't forget to have fun. Life's amusing, no?

Small Ones

This morning I woke to the sound of running feet. Up they went to my porch. Amidst the various chatter of children, another small set of footsteps came running. "Wait for me!" cried the binky filled mouth. The door bell rang...then rang again. My eyes didn't bother opening. There was no way I was going to answer the door having just woken up. Those on the porch tired quickly of waiting, and jumped off the porch. Again, the small set of feet was left behind and cried again, "Why won't you wait for your tiny little brother!?"

Blog of Note

I had a dream that "Rufus Adventurus" was put on the blogs of note list. I just checked, and it isn't. *slightly disappointed, but realizing that she needs higher goals in life*

EFY - From the View of A Learning Counselor. Day 4 and 5.

Well, I didn't blog about the last two days because, frankly, I was so drained it was all I could do to crawl into bed at the end of the day. The kids would leave at 9pm, then the counselors would meet until about 9:30pm, and after talking a little to other counselors, driving 20 minutes, I would arrive home at about 10:15ish. Each night I had to prepare a "Counselor Devotional" as well as other various lessons. My lights were never out before midnight. Each morning I would get out of bed about 6/6:30am. Needless to say, this little body of mine wasn't happy with me by the end of the week. Tonight, all I can give is my apologies and promise to finish blogging the EFY experience when I am more coherent. Oh look, something shiny...*head hitting desk and a loud snore*

EFY - From the View of A Learning Counselor. Day 3.

Today was the best day so far. More unity, more talking. Just a good day. I'm tired. Good night!

EFY - From the View of a Learning Counselor. Day 2.

I woke up exhausted this morning. But duty calls, so in the shower 6:10am. I seem to be overestimating the time it takes me to drive to the Institute and arrived 15 minutes early. Boo. Ya. I waited for the rest of my BC group by closing my eyes and pretending to sleep. That didn't last long and soon I was with my youth. One girl gave the morning devotional on Music and Dancing. All but that girl and her friend were silent. I was a little worried about that. The day went on, and they scattered for morning classes. I saw 4 or 5 of them until lunch time when I had to leave the youth for variety show duty.

The variety show is on Thursday, and I am helping judge the acts - who we'll let perform. Wow. There were two boys, siblings in fact, who are incredible musicians. One writes his own songs, then sings and plays the guitar. GOOD songs too. GOOD guitar voice. His younger brother came in and played a popular song on the piano...title escapes me...and sang to it. When we asked him how he learned, he said he watched a video on You Tube and figured it out. Oh! "It's too late to apologize..." That song. That boy sings well too! Others came in with some interesting acts...a very, very short hip hop dance. 5 moves total maybe? A flexible girl who is also a body builder (she said she's not quite old enough to do it officially though. . .) There are more auditions tomorrow (including my group doing a lip sync!!! I'm like a proud mommy, even if they don't make it.) which will determine who performs officially.

During the afternoon classes, my girls were invisible. I saw a few, but had to sit near some wayward children to keep them in line. I wasn't much good, so another counselor came, then a BC. Their discipline worked...kinda. I wonder sometimes if we always take the right approach to the kids. Love usually is a better persuader than an angry face. Oh well. I couldn't calm them, so I guess what they did was better. Love takes longer for youth to accept seems to be, and a second's glare works faster. The last class of the day, I had no idea where my girls were, so I hid in a room, laid on the floor and slept. 15 minutes, there was more time, another 15 minutes! Amazing what that did, even on the rock carpet and no pillow. Back to variety show auditions. Lunch was not so filling...a lame ham sandwich just barely feeling soggy. I was stoked for dinner. I saw a plate and got excited! Fettuccine Alfredo and salad and bread! My mouth watered all the way to our spot under the tree. Bread was good. Salad was crisp. Alfredo was....chicken? tuna? a hybrid bird-fish? Unbearable. Noodles were hardly tolerable, but I was soo hungry I moved the chicken aside and slurped the noodles down to appease my angry stomach. The counselor devotional went pretty well. I wasn't sure what to say exactly. The topic was obedience, not exactly a teenagers favorite topic. My tactic is to get them to talk, and expound on what they say. Kinda works...my teaching is a work in progress. I've seen many of my group write in their journals and underline things in scriptures, so some learning is going on. YES!

The dance ended the day. From what I've heard, all my girls danced a few slow dances with boys. AWESOME! I danced in my own special way...after taking care of water for about an hour, I found some of my girls dancing, and went to join them. They stopped dancing, more or less. I felt bad, stayed for a little, tried to be cool, then left. Gosh, I don't think I'm THAT horrible at moving to a beat. Maybe I should dance in a mirror to see what every one else sees. I'm happy in my ignorance, so maybe it's just better this way. The boy I mentioned previously, the ballroom dancer, has easily become my heart warmer. He smiles every time I see him. Such a cute 14 year old. His t-shirt tucked into his corderoys. What a cutie! During the slow songs, he was always with a girl. The first time I noticed him I asked if he was "showing his moves" and he said no. I looked at him and said "why not?!" He thought for a moment, then put his hand up and said "I promise on the next dance I will!" And he did. The next slow dance he was showing her some basic steps. I grinned at him later and said "I'm proud of you!" He smiled. Later I tried to get him to do some lame-o hip hop fast dance stuff, to which he looked at me with a 'heck-no' then a "Would you like to dance?" I said "sure!" and he taught me a cha-cha. Lo and behold, the squirt's taller than me. I spent the rest of the dance sliding boys hands up girls backs to a proper height, and pairing small males and females, sometimes against their wills...they like it I promise. One boy was dancing with a girl 2 feet taller than him, no joke. Another boy asked a girl in a wheel chair to dance.

I'm off to bed. *yawn*

EFY - From the View of A Learning Counselor. Day 1.

Anticipation was quite an odd feeling. Some of it was regret for getting myself into it, remembering the work and energy required. Some of it was fear that I wouldn't be able to handle my girls. Some of it was nervousness for a new situation. Excitement for living a week immersed in the gospel was there as well. In the end it just became a desire to be what the Lord needs me to be for my 10 special girls.

My sign was up, and the girls with "20" on their cards came. They came quietly, and almost with a look of "YOU're my counselor?!" We headed to our designated group spot for the week, and we proceeded to do the whole "get to know you" things. I'm not such a fan of the games where you find out what their favorite color is, or where they live. Who remembers that anyway? *Erin raising her hand* They weren't incredibly enthusiastic, well, more shy than anything. I repeatedly apologized for having a hard time remembering their names (working on it!) and I think they're ok about it. I should have them down tomorrow. They loosened up as we played some games and chilled. We went to meet the rest of the company (the other two groups, another female and a male group) that make up "Set on a Hill." Matt. 5:14. At that point, they still had looks on their faces of "who is this person?" The day progressed and we came to Orientation. The counselors have a special dance every year. This year's song is "Let's Get Loud." I may be able to do some things, but not dance. Freestyle/look like a dork - That's my kinda moves. My co-counselor Chris was kind enough to take me under his tutalidge. He happened to be one of the best dancers there, and was a patient teacher. Did I have all the moves down by the time we finished practicing? Heck. No. My past considered, I was alright. The BC's (the counselor's counselors) placed partners around the gym for the performance. Ha. Ha. Guess where they put us? Front and center, right on stage. My first thought was "maybe I'm doing alright." Ha. Then I remembered who my partner was. "Oh yeah. It's because HE's good. Greeeaaat." I moaned a bit about it, but really I knew there was nothing I could do. On stage we ran, jumped up on stage, and off we went. Yes, I forgot half the steps. *sigh* 'Tis the life of one who considerably lacks coordination. Later, as we walked out to lunch, I 'apologized' to one of my girls for my lack of dance skills. She just smiled, but a boy beside her said "Well, at least you tried." Indeed. Indeed...

Rewinding to the beginning of orientation, I sat next to a pleasent fellow in my company. We discussed his various tastes. One of them is ballroom dancing. Each time he wanted to ask something he began by saying "Question..." and I would say "Yes?" After we talked about different types of dancing and how ballroom is the best kind he said "Question..." "Yes?" "Are youth allowed to dance with counselors?" then looked at me shyly. *smile* Oh, the sweetness of young men. I'll let you know what happens at the dance tomorrow.

The rest of the day went pretty well. The youth gave some fantastic insights after the FHE games (examples to follow on a later date) and my girls became more united. I have used up all my energy for the day at this point. Time for bed for this one pooped counselor!

The Weak Things Shall Be Made Strong

"Everything that is done in the Church--the leading, the teaching, the calling, the ordaining, the praying, the singing, the preparation of the sacrament, the counseling, and everything else--is done by ordinary members, the 'weak things of the world.'
"We see in the Christian churches their struggle to fill the need for clergy. We do not have that problem. Once the gospel is preached and the Church is organized, there is an inexhaustible supply of faithful brothers and sisters who have that testimony and are willing to answer the call to serve. They commit themselves to the work of the Lord and live the standards required of them."
-Boyd K. Packer, "The Weak and the Simple of the Church." Ensign, Nov. 2007, 6-7

Devotion and willingness to work is not a weak thing. A mortal is not strong enough to withstand the devil and his minions. But banded together within the church, serving and providing strength to each other, firm in the testimony that Christ lives, one cannot fail.

Donavan Frankenreiter and Bugs

We'll start with the bad news first. Bugs seem to be the curse of my life. I was in the park eating a lovely sandwich from Great Harvest. I decided to wait for awhile to finish eating, so I wrapped it up and set it on the ground. Enjoying the rest of the concert, I remembered my scrumptious sandwich. I picked it up, set the wrappings on my lap and picked up the sandwich. I noticed an ant on my hand as I lifted the sandwich to my mouth. I turned my hand over and realized it was COVERED in ants. I dropped the sandwich back into the wrapper and put it back on the group, shaking the ants from my fingers, hand and arm. I looked down, and noticed ants covering the bottom of my shirt. They found the sandwich so tasty, they wanted to invade my stomach and remove the rest. I leaped up, and pounded my shirt, knocking them to the ground (midst a laughing audience). Later, I was sitting innocently on a tree eating a Bob's Brainfreeze, and bee was trying to have a stare down with me. I took a wild swing, missed, but he flew away. Take that bugs.

Donavon Frankenreiter. Truthfully, in the past I haven't been such a fan of acoustic guitar. Jack Johnson started to grow on me when my sister bought an album of his. When I was invited to attend a concert by DF, and heard a bit of his music, I was instantly a fan. He's a bit more of the "rock" than Jack. His voice is like a whisper with a scratchy flair that is soothing yet foot tapping inspiring at the same time.

Good times. (as I was typing this blog, I found an ant on my shirt)

Analytics

There is a service provided by google called "Google Analytics" that tracks the visitors to one's website. Inserting a chunk of html will record what city the viewer is in, how long people stay on the site, which pages they see, etc. It also will show how they found your site, if they directly typed in the url or were linked from another page. The best feature here, is it gives you the words they used in a google search that brought up your page. Here are some keywords people used to discover my blog:

• hair cut desparate need of
  
• red buckets on heads (this person stayed on for 9 seconds)
  
• red head pale nylons
• chances of having red head children
• home made red head
• when in bed small spider on face
• barely evil red head name
• why red heads do not tan
  
• dream interpretation of red elephant
• mormon elder in love with red head
• ortho home defense max matress (they stay for 2 min 42 sec! take that bugs)

I'm not so sure how I feel about some of those labels, if I really need a hair cut that bad, or look like I have a bucket, or that I am "barely evil" but hey, at least they come and see!

Observation: Sign

This is a new structure in the middle of a three way street. The road was just fine before. Low-traffic, and never any problem. Someone got rather creative. Too creative. Apparently most people ignore the sign and drive wherever they want to.

My Favorite Birthday Presents

As many of you know, my birthday was not too long ago. I received thoughtful gifts from family and friends. One gift was bestowed by many. These were my favorite gifts of all.

The hugs.

I remember each one, and am eternally grateful.