I am finally home for a while. This summer has been so crazy! It has been a while since I have written anything on here, so this might get a little long.
The rest of Summer Scholars was really fun and I miss the people I met there. I stayed at Michael and Caroline's house for a week after that was over. It was so much fun spending time with them all! Ryan and Calvin are fun. They are going to be so big when I get back from Japan! On the Fourth of July, we went to the parade in Provo. That was fun even though we didn't stay for the whole thing. It was a lot longer than the one in Bessemer! I was a little disappointed that I missed marching band this year though.
I left Utah on the 5th. My flight left at a very early 6:30 in the morning from the SLC airport. Everything with my flight went well. My luggage was almost 15 pounds over the limit (ooops) but I had a really nice lady checking me in and she let it slide. I think it had something to do with the fact that I was traveling all by myself and I'm only 16. Anyway, once my flight got into Chicago at about 10:30, I got my luggage and was off to figure out Chicago's train system. I took the train to downtown Chicago, then found my way to Grand Central Station to get on the AmTrak up to Milwaukee. At this point, AnnaMarie and Tyler, who were supposed to pick me up, were on a plane that was late from California. I was a little confused when their friend Erika was at the station to pick me up instead of them. She took me over to the airport where we picked up AnnaMarie, Tyler, and Katie.
I stayed there in Milwaukee for a few days, then we all drove up to Ironwood. Two days later (on the 10th), I left for the Grand Rapids Rotary Conference. I didn't sleep very much, but I had a really good time. It was good to see everyone one last time before we all leave for our exchanges, and it was awesome to meet more people from, back from, and going to Japan! I also received my guarantee form while I was there! I already had most of the information from talking with my host dad, but it was still exciting to get it! On Sunday, we drove back from Grand Rapids and said goodbye to all the inbounds and other outbounds.
On Monday, June 14, I left for Girl's Camp! It went through Friday and was really fun. I was a youth-leader in charge of the fourth-year girls. Fourth years go across the lake one night during camp and actually camp in tents, so I got to lead that with a few other youth-leaders. We made a fire and had s'mores and then we got to get everyone up nice and early so we could all canoe back in time for breakfast. Being a youth-leader is awesome because you get to lead all the camp songs and be crazy! I love Girl's Camp. It's sad that this might be my last time. Maybe I'll be back in time for it next year. That would be Christy's first year, too.
I finally got home on Friday, and I got a call from Sister Anderson. She asked if Rosalie and I would want to babysit her kids while Brother Anderson was a scout camp. She lives in Ashland, so I just went over to her house on Sunday after church. I stayed there until Wednesday. It was fun to spend time with her kids and with Rosalie. I'm going to miss them when I leave.
So, now I am finally home for a while! It feels so good to sleep in my own bed. Now I have about 4 more weeks here, then I take off for my big adventure!
