Leprosy.

So this week I'm at the University of Puget Sound (UPS) in Tacoma, WA!! I got to come up early with my friend Tyler so we could meet with the campus and set up. When we got to my dorm, Tyler got my big heavy bag and took it to the door where I told him I could take it the rest of the way. My room was on the top floor, 64 steps up. No elevator. I did not realize this. What a joy it was taking my lovely bags to the top!!

After spending the night all by myself in a huge dormitory on a campus that looks like Hogwarts, I was ready for the rest of the counselors to get there! On Saturday we trained all of the new counselors and then partied it up at BC Ryan's house. Sunday was great. We got to the church building to find out that the ward was at a regional conference and we had to hurry and scramble to find another one. But the best part about Sunday was my weekly meeting with Amanda and Tyler. As I was chatting with two of my favorite people, my arms were insanely itchy. Like ridiculously itchy. I couldn't even concentrate and talk because they were so itchy. Tyler and Amanda were laughing at me and we were all just dying - we figured that maybe I had bed bugs in my dorm room. So I changed my sheets and maintenance checked and it wasn't bed bugs, we concluded that I was probably allergic to something and was having a reaction. Well, it's Thursday night....I still have these bumps all over my hands and feet and legs and back!! Oh, and they itch like crazy no matter how much anti-itch cream I put on them! It's so bad that the kids don't want to sit by me in the meetings. They get freaked out when they see my poor hands and arms all covered in my disease. Yes, I'm a leper. I feel like that kid in elementary school who had warts all over his hands and nobody wanted to touch him. Hopefully these bumps go away soon because they be stressin me out!!

Vladmir.

So, my first week of EFY last week was one for the books. I was in charge of "Variety Show" and couldn't be more excited to see what the kids were gonna do! We had a girl perform ASL to Party in the USA, a unicyclist, a magician, and then there was Vladmir. Oh Vlad!! He was hilarious. His family moved to America from Russia when he was pretty little and now they live in Arizona. He is short and stalky and has braces, quite the 14 year old. For Variety Show we got Vlad to do a dance from the movie Hot-Rod. He even got fliers to make it more realistic, except there was one problem. This dance has quite the suggestive moves seeing as all the dance entails is hip-thrusting. I explained to Vlad that he could only move his arms and it took him a while to get the hang of it, but he finally did. Right before the show he got cold feet, but I gave him a pep-talk and he did it. He was the star of the show....and of the week. I miss Vlad.

Old Man.

Greetings loved ones!! Just a little bit of an update....this summer I'm a Building Coordinator for EFY- basically I'm a counselor to the counselors and I plan the activities. Last week me and my team of BC's and the Field Coordinators were in Forest Grove, OR at Pacific University. It was quite the experience. The coordinators, Tyler and Amanda, picked me up from the airport and then we went straight to the University for a meeting with the team. In the middle of our meeting an old man walked into the room asking if we knew where the attic was located....Huh? This man was about 70-80 ish....then he proceeded to tell us that 50 some-odd years ago when he was living and going to school at PU someone stole his sheets and that he wanted to check the attic for them. I nick-named him "Mr. Lost His Sheets." Later that same afternoon we were in another meeting training the counselors when Mr. Losthissheets came in again! He burst through the door and walked right up to the front of the room and proceeded to show us and tell us all about the brand new medal around his neck! Then he swore a few times and left. Wow. Now I wish I could say that this was the last run in with Losthissheets, but it wasn't. As a campus tour was going, the kind sir was up in his dorm room changing his shirt, so naturally he decided to "shake-it" in front of all the EFY counselors. It turns out Losthissheets was there for an alumni ceremony and the building where we were at was where the "nap rooms" were. Yep. They had nap rooms for the alumni weekend because they knew that the old people would be getting tired and need a little napper....I just knew that this was only the beginning of a fantastic week.

The Golfing Asian.

After church on Sunday I decided to take the dog for a walk. (It seems that a lot of my stories come from experiences with this dog.....and they tend to be a little racist. My bad.) There is a new trail that goes along the east side of the West Bountiful Lakeside golf course, just west of where my dad grew up, and it's where a railroad track used to be that I played on when I was little with my best friend, Rachael. Yes, we played on railroad tracks....get over it. Anyways, as we near the golf course I see a little Crasian (Crazy Asian). She is in her mid-twenties, wearing long leggings with a flowing skirt and top with no shoes. It was very windy that day so she was already a mess, but then she started to run. We all know that golf is a legitimate sport, right? But you don't see people run in this sport unless you are watching or re-enacting the character played by Adam Sandler in "Happy Gilmore." Every time this Crasian would hit the ball, which was seldom and not very far, she would then run at full-speed to go and hit it again. I was fascinated. Was this her first time playing? Do they have golf where she's from? Why did that man she is with think it was a good idea to bring her golfing? Were they on a date? I don't know any of the answers to these questions, and frankly I don't care because every time I get sad I can think back and imagine the Crasian playing her very own rendition of the sport of golf.

I've Been Shot.

My sweet boyfriend is in North Carolina this summer selling security systems to a bunch of people in the ghetto. Most of these people are black, in fact, he told me last night that he's starting to not like white people. He says that "they think too much, black people don't- they just buy." hahahaha
Needless to say I've been a little worried, especially when he tells me that he's in an area where there was a shooting just last week...... for the past two and a half weeks I've been thinking he's the one in danger when I found out on a walk with my dog, that I'm in more danger than him!!

I was walking my dog last week (I say this loosely because she gets so excited and ends up "walking" me) on the safe, quiet streets of good old West Bountiful, when a car drives by and a passenger in the backseat rolls his window down. It all happened so fast! One second I'm minding my own business and the next a black man with a gun is shooting me! I was stunned! I didn't wake up that morning with the idea that I might be involved in a drive-by shooting. My life flashed before my eyes....it wasn't until I heard a small giggle that I snapped out of it. I looked behind me and saw a 4 or 5 year old little black boy hanging out the window of the car with his brightly colored water gun still pointed at me.

If I can survive something like this, walking down the streets of the Bronx after dark will be nothing!!

BAD LUCK!!

So. The past few weeks have been filled with a whole lotta bad luck for me. First, the week before finals I get uber sick and find out I have mono.....and on top of that I get strep throat!! Next I find out from my adviser at school that we both overlooked a class that I need to take to graduate.....I was able to walk but I get to do an online class this summer- whoohoo!! The day after graduation, Mother's day, my boyfriend left for North Carolina for the next 3 months :( It's really sucked not having him!! He's the best!! Plus I can't do a whole lot because I'm a sicky and all I can think about is him....but I leave for EFY in 4 weeks so then I will be busy busy.

With all that has been thrown at me I've done pretty well, I've complained but I've tried to keep that to a minimum until last Wednesday night. I went up to Logan to work a few shifts at my old job. I started with the 3-10pm shift with my favorite clients, then I had to work the grave shift, 12-9am, at another client's. The first shift was kind of hard because it was sunny outside and my cute clients just wanted to watch tv and I was tired of sitting. But nothing could have prepared me for the grave shift. Before going to the house I went to Walmart and bought myself a small blender and some things to make a protein shake (I love protein shakes). I got to my client's and left all my stuff in the car and waited until after I checked on her to go out and get everything. When I went and got everything out of my car, I left my key on the backseat and out of habit locked the doors. CRAP!! So I called the Logan police and the dispatcher said that the police officers don't carry the equipment anymore to unlock car doors and that I'd have to call a locksmith. Shoot-dang. I called a Locksmith. Really?! It's gonna cost 50-75 bucks?! No way man! So I called one of my best friends in the whole world and asked if he could come and help me. He did. He even brought one of our other friends. After a good hour and a half in the cold night with freezing winds.....a miracle happened and they got my keys out!! Seriously it shouldn't have worked, but every time I went in to check on my client I said a prayer!! I was so grateful for those boys!! They were my heroes!!

So, by 5AM Thursday morning, I was feeling really sick so I called the manager and she came in at 6 AM so I could go home. I was staying with my best friend, Jess, where she was house-sitting. Of course she wasn't awake at 6:15 AM so I called, texted her, and knocked on the door...no response. I was so tired that I just decided to get in my car and sleep until she woke up ;) While I was sleeping I missed a call from my sweet boyfriend who was checking to make sure everything was okay after he woke up to all of my frantic texts about my stupid keys!! But it gets worse! Jess came out and woke me up so I could go in and go back to sleep in the house. I was very tired and got my blanket and bag and went in. Once we got in the house Jessica asked about how I locked my keys in my car....I froze. I dropped my things and ran out to my car. Sure enough I had done it again. My doors were locked and the keys in the ignition. REALLY?! I about died!! I was so dead that I went to sleep and decided to worry about it when I woke up.

I called a locksmith and talked him down to charging me only $25 to unlock the stupid car. He felt bad for me when I told him my story and took pitty on me. I was okay with that. These 24 hours were pretty rough, but I got through it and was ready for anything else that was thrown at me.....except when I got an email informing me that the U2 concert on June 3rd has been postponed because Bono had to have back surgery. Icing on the cake. I cried. I've been waiting for this concert since I was 6 years old. Boo. All I can say is that if it is rescheduled for while I'm in Oregon/Washington this summer, I will not be a happy camper!!