Auburn tornados

Two days ago, a tornado went through Auburn, Alabama as well as through some other towns. It also went over Lake Harding where Alix's aunt and uncle and parents live. Both of their houses are fine, but Jo and Danny's neighbors (the aunt and uncle) weren't so lucky. Their houses are pretty much destroyed. It amazes me how their house survives while neighbors on either side didn't. Alix says that she really believes that her grandparents (Robbye's (Alix's mom) parents) were watching both over Jo and Robbye's house. But Robbye and Tom (Alix's dad) work in Lagrange and were working when the tornado hit. So as Robbye is driving home, she does not even know if she has a house to come home to. Fortunately, she did. Boe (the dog) and Aubie (the cat) were fine as they stay outside while Robbye and Tom are at work. I was in class when Alix told me that her mom didn't know if she had a house to come home to. I couldn't believe that we had just been up there this past Saturday and I couldn't fathom it being the last time we were there. But it's not. It has made me realize, however, that no matter how stressed we are, we should always enjoy each and every moment with friends and family. It could be the last memory you make with them and you want it to be a happy one.

This is a short entry but I have a final to work on and I had to get this out of my head and onto here. Back to work I go!

Taking Chances

Okay I wrote like 32 posts one year. I'm bound to at least do that many this year....I don't have many days left, so maybe I shouldn't set an extravagant goal...

ANYWAYS. My favorite artist of all time, hands down is Terri Clark. She's a Canadian country singer who released her first album in 1994. I pretty much have all the cds with her name, except for the recent one, Roots and Wings. Now, there was a gap between Life Goes On in 2005 and the Long Way Home in 2009. Yes, she release Terri Clark Live and The Millennium Celebration but for the most part, no new music. BTW, just for your useless knowledge part of the brain, my favorite album is No Fear. When The Long Way Home came out, you could tell her sound had changed (for someone who is hearing impaired, noticing such a different is a big deal!), other than the fact that you could hear it, she also said it! I kind of reluctant at first because I was such a fanatic about her sound before. So, I will admit that I didn't give it the chance that I should have. Now that Roots and Wings is out and I already like two of the songs already, I decided to give The Long Way Home another chance. I'm glad I did. Some of the songs speak to me in a way that it probably wouldn't have before. Merry Go Round in particular is about that life is not about getting ahead, that savoring the moments with friends and family are important. And the sound is just amazing.

I guess my message for this is that I need to give things a chance sometimes. I don't always take the risks that I probably should, just because it is outside my comfort zone. As I'm getting older, I'm going to eventually settle down and have kids and then I will really be outside of my comfort zone. I mean going outside that zone doesn't and isn't always a failure. I mean this past summer doing Perspectives...working 12 teenage girls who couldn't give a rat's ass what you think (that was my thinking at first, before I actually did it)? I was scared, I won't lie. But it turned out great and the girls found friends in not only the counselors but as well as each other.

I'm ending this here so I can stop rambling :)

new untitled poem!

Okay bear with me. The poems I've been writing lately come from nowhere and mostly don't make sense to anyone but me. BUT, I couldn't explain it if I tried. Anyways, I wanna know opinions and suggestions anyone may have for me.

(Untitled for now)

Faith. Reasoning. Irrational.

Faith is reasoning.

Reasoning is irrational.

Irrational is faith.

We are all connected, intertwined.

Connected through faith or lack thereof.

Intertwined through beliefs.

Six degrees of separation, it does not exist.

We all believe in something,

whether it be faith or reasoning.

Who really cares?

Can't we just all get along, peacefully?

Perspectives Camp

During the summer, I was able to work a great group of girls who were in need of guidance. For two weeks, fellow counselors and I, spent time with these girls. I could tell that each new day brought change. In the beginning, we had some issues. They were somewhat resistant to the whole thing and had no problem letting us know this. Some of the girls knew each other already and didn't like each other. There were cliques the first few days. No one wanted to associate with the others. Eventually, that got put aside and with each new day brought change. I can't speak for the girls in this program but I know that I can speak for myself. With each new day, I felt change. not only in myself, but in the girls as well. I felt like we were reaching out to them and getting through to them and changing them (I'm told that I did change at least one life). It was good and we had fun and of course, I took almost 1,000 pictures (seriously!) over the course of two weeks. But camp is now over.

It's been a few months and I do think about the girls quite a bit. Some I know are doing well, some I know are not. I just wonder for all the others, if they have been changed by this. I like to think so, but without being able to talk them, I don't think I will know. I wish I wrote more on this blog, because I feel like I have so much to say and I can't because this post would be way too long to catch up. Although I found friends in the counselors, we are not that close. But, I wish we were because they experienced this with me and they know what we went through in those two short weeks.

I can say two things. One, the woman who ran the whole thing, is so amazing. She came up with this program because someone asked her to. She's a marine (should she ever read this, thank you for your service), but she knew that having a boot camp style thing was not the way to go. I feel so blessed to know and that I feel that I am a better person for knowing her. And two, the camp was amazing. We did and do great things and I do keep in touch with some of the girls. I really look forward to doing this again next year with a new group of girls and I hope some can come from this previous year.