Girls Visit For Spring Break!

Me again!

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to have my friends come down and visit me for their Spring Break! It was SOOOO great to see them! We had an awesome time together. I just feel incredibly blessed to have friends who would drive 10 hours just to come see me! Here is the rundown of what we did!

Friday:
Friday was a long day for me! I was so excited that they were coming the school day seemed to drag on forever. Then I had to keep waiting even after school until they got here around 11:30 pm which seemed like forever! When they finally got here, it was a wonderful reunion with lots of hugs! We unpacked their vehicle and got all settled in and stayed up way too late catching up!

The Ultimate Sleepover!

Saturday:
We slept in and made ourselves some breakfast! After much debate, we decided to go check out the lake, Bagnell Dam, and do some shopping at the outlet mall!
I have never been down by the Dam, I have to say it was pretty cool!

Sunday:
On Sunday, we headed to Haha Tonka to do some hiking! I have been hiking there 4 times and it never disappoints. We decided to do the island trail which has a lot of stairs, so our legs were good and sore the next day! On the plus side, the selfie stick got a lot of use!

Later that night, we decided to head to Fort Leonard Wood, which is about an hour and a half away from Eldon to pick up Preston Miller who is stationed there for about another month for dinner. We decided to go to Buffalo Wild Wings! It was really nice to see Preston and catch up with him! Plus he probably looked like a stud with all of us girls!

Monday:
Monday was our adventure day! First we made a pit stop at Kohls to do some shopping because who can resist Kohls? Not us!
Then we headed to Brumley to have a picnic lunch and check out some old swinging bridges! I had never been there so I didn't really know what to expect. They turned out to be really cool! We walked across both and drove over one. We were too scared to drive across the second even though we saw a couple trucks go across them pretty fast, they seemed a little bit sketchy. You could even go underneath the bigger one which was pretty cool! After we were done checking the bridges out we had a little picnic!

Driving across the bridge

It was a nice relaxing last day!
After checking out the bridges, we came back to my house to make my roommate Alyssa a birthday cake and hang out with her for a little bit!

We had a great time! I am so glad they were able to come visit! Thanks, girls! :)

Aubrey :)

4 Things I Have Learned from 4-Year-Olds

This week (March 5-12) is AmeriCorps Week! I have taken it as a time to reflect on my service so far. I can’t believe it is already March. This year has seriously flown by! I can’t believe the school year is almost over already. I can honestly say that I will miss the kiddos I have had the pleasure of working with every day as well as the people I have worked with.

I have learned a lot from these little people so far, mostly things I never expected to learn from them.

Here we go 4 things I have learned from 4-year-olds!

To literally dance like no one is watching

During the winter, we were stuck inside a lot for recess. That meant we had a freeze dance party! Watching the kids bust a move and not care at all who was watching them or what other people thought of them made a lot of the winter days bearable. Their moves were unforgettable and unique to each kid. They didn’t care if they looked silly, they were having a great time. Caring what other people think has always been a big issue for me. I never want to let people down or make myself look foolish. My preschoolers have shown me that it’s ok to look silly and dance like a crazy person!

The little things are really the big things

I will never forget our field trip to the fire station earlier this year. For most of the kids, the most exciting part was being able to ride a school bus for the first time! They couldn’t believe how big the bus was on the inside and that we didn’t have to wear seat belts! Seeing how excited they were about something that seemed silly and boring to me really made me think about all the great things that happen on a daily basis that we don’t get excited about!

Another “little thing” that makes my day is all the huge I get! Especially when I am having a not so great day and one of the kids comes running up to me at the playground and almost knocks me over with a giant hug! Even though I almost fall to the ground, seeing how excited they were to see me makes it all ok!

I also get many drawings and scraps of paper on a daily basis. I love getting these pictures from them. Most of the time I have no idea what the picture is but I just smile and thank them for their hard work! Some even make it onto the walls of my room!

They are the funniest people on the planet

They truly are the funniest and most honest people on the planet. You never know what is going to come out of their mouth next. A lot of the time, it’s so hard for me not to burst out laughing about the things that come out of their mouth. Hearing the jokes that they make up on the spot and they think are absolutely hysterical are one of my favorite parts of the day. The best joke I have heard so far is: “Why did the chicken cross the road? To poop on the trucks windshield!!!!” :D

Sitting with them at lunch is quite enlightening. I get to hear all of their nonsense jokes, all about their dogs, their favorite toys at home, and who they are going to marry. Oh to be 4 again!

To be a kid again

I think one of the most important things I have learned from my preschoolers is how to really be a kid again. As a kid, I couldn’t wait to grow up. Now that I am a “grown up” (kinda) I would love to be a kid again! Watching these guys play at recess and run around in their little make believe worlds makes me so happy and really wish I could be that age again. Sometimes they “invite” (more like force), me to play with them. At first I was very reluctant, but eventually I gave in. I have played zombies, zombie dinosaurs, jail, tag, and hide and seek at recess. I have to say it is quite fun to be a zombie dinosaur. Or to play hide and seek with 20 kids in a big open play ground- hiding can be quite a challenge when they all want to hide with you. It’s so funny when we start a game of hide and seek with 4 kids, soon I have 20 kids running behind me looking for a hiding spot. Playing these games has enabled me to get to know the kids from the other classes as well which I love!

There you have it! 4 things I have learned from 4 year olds!

I have to say being in AmeriCorps and working with these 4 year olds everyday has taught me way more than I ever imagined. I am so glad that I made the life changing decision to take the giant leap of faith and move to Eldon for my year of service. It is one I will never forget!  ‪#‎IAmAmeriCorps

Aubrey :)

Hiking in January?!?!?!?

Hello everyone,
Me again! Sorry, I haven't posted in a while, but there hasn't been anything to post about!
Last week we had our first "snow day." Although it was nice to have a day off, we don't get any scheduled days off so now we have to make that snow day up :( which means no long weekend for presidents day :'(. And on our snow day we only got about a half inch of snow..... the next day we got about 3 and had school! lol Anyway..... snow days here are nothing  like home!
Other than that, there is really nothing new with me! I can't believe I have been back in MO for almost a month already, and I am already half way done with my year of service. It is going way faster than I ever thought.
This weekend it was 65 degrees! My friend Colleen and I decided it was a good day to head to HaHa Tonka State Park and do some hiking and hammocking! It was a beautiful day! I can't believe it is January 30th and 65 degrees! So bizarre, but I'm not complaining! Here are a few pictures! We got lots of compliments on how fun our hammocks looked- they are amazing!

 It was so funny to see ice at the state park when it was 65 degrees!

Colleen leading the way.... not so sure this was a real path....

Aubrey :)

2015

2015 has been a whirlwind of a year. So many wonderful things happened and I want to take some time to revisit them and share some things I’ve learned over the past year!

The beginning of 2015 was really nothing special.  A lot of internal struggle for me as I tried to decide where in the world I would attend college the next fall. I gave myself a lot of anxiety over this decision that was completely unnecessary. I ended up deciding to join AmeriCorps instead of attending college in the fall; I am positive that it was the right decision.

Most of the exciting things of 2015 happened from May-December so I guess I will skip to May!

May 17: I graduated high school! What a huge milestone! Senior year went way faster then I ever though it would and I had a wonderful time! Now I feel old!

May 30: Fowler girls track and field take 2^nd place at the state meet! Although my season didn’t end the way I wanted it to, I couldn’t be more proud of our team and the way we ended our season!

June 28: My last Steubenville youth conference. Steubenville will always hold a special place in my heart because it has really helped me grow in my relationship with God, especially the week long LEAD retreat! And this year I got to share the experience with Marisa!

July 10: Fall Out Boy Concert with Em! One of the best nights of my life! I am still obsessed with Fall Out Boy and they put on an amazing concert. I am pretty sure there is nothing better in life then rocking out at your favorite bands concert with your best friend by your side! J

July 14: My first trip abroad! Sometimes I still can’t believe this even happened. I had been dreaming of this trip since I was about 5 years old. It took me a while to decide where I wanted to go but then I remembered 5 year old me watching The Rugrats go to Paris and telling my mom I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go to Paris or France (LOL). She told me she would take me to both. I thought that was the best news ever. When I remembered that I knew I HAD to go to Paris!

This was the trip of a lifetime. I am SO incredibly blessed to have a mom who would take me to Paris and Germany! We had such an amazing time and managed to spend 2 weeks together without killing each other which is quite impressive! We got lost in more countries then we can even count, ate amazing food, and disgusting food- cold fish and goat cheese crepe- we got on a ferry when we had no idea where we were or where the ferry was going. That is probably my favorite story from our whole trip to be honest.  Like mom always says “How can you be lost if you don’t know where you are?”

This trip has also given me a pretty bad case of wanderlust (a strong desire to travel.) I have so many travel destination boards on Pinterest. I want to go everywhere! The world just amazes me and I want to see as much of it as I can

August 1: Saying Goodbye

This was one of the hardest days of my life! Telling everyone goodbye was 10000x harder than I ever thought it would be. I can remember driving out to Heather and Rooney’s house where all the Silliman’s were for the Silliman campout. I was crying driving out there just thinking about having to say goodbye to everyone. I was a mess when I actually had to start saying bye to everyone.

It was very difficult but really made me realize how lucky I am to have such an awesome family that I will miss so dearly! But thanks to Skype I get to see them- especially Braylee- a whole lot! J

Saying goodbye to my friends was no easy task either. I think I hugged Em for a solid 5 minutes before I had to leave :(

August 2: The move to Missouri for AmeriCorps.

Dad and I left for Missouri around 6 am with the van full of almost all of my possessions. But this was not without one last cry as I said goodbye to mom. It was a long drive but we made it better by rocking out to some classic rock. Huge shout out to dad for driving my mangy butt all the way to MO and for helping me get all set up! I appreciate it more than you will ever know!

As we got close and closer to Missouri I remember getting very nervous and scared. I would be living with 2 girls who I really didn’t know well except for a few Facebook messages…… What if they didn’t like me? What if I didn’t like them? What if I don’t like Missouri? But it was too late to turn back now!

Everything turned out fine! I have been so blessed to live with Martha and Alyssa. They are AWESOME! I couldn’t have picked better roommates. We get along really well and have a lot of fun together!

Moving 600+ miles away from everyone I know was such a huge step for me. I’m usually not one to step out of my comfort zone (especially by 600 miles!) but moving to Missouri has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I have learned to cook for myself, pay my bills, and be an adult (most of the time). None of this would be possible without many texts and calls to my mother dearest though!

August 18: My first day as a preschool tutor!

First day of school pic on the porch!

I’m not sure who was more nervous, the kids or me! I had no idea what I was getting myself into. When I came to Missouri, I had no idea what my “job” would be during my year of service. All I knew was that I would be tutoring at a school with younger kids since I had just graduated I knew they wouldn’t put me in the high school. Other than that I really had no idea! Preschool is such a perfect fit for me! I love watching the kids grow and learn! My favorite part of the day is lunch and recess when I get to talk to the kids and they get to tell me all kinds of stories about their dog and hear all of their knock-knock jokes. I came to Missouri to make a difference in their lives, but little did I know how much happiness they would bring to mine!

August 21: Visitors for my Birthday!

Even after only being away for a couple weeks it was still nice to see some familiar faces. Mom, Marisa, Sally, and Kendra came all the way to MO to visit for my birthday! We had a great time and I even got to go parasailing with Marisa! It was a great weekend but very short!

November 25: Home for Thanksgiving!

After another long 10 hour drive I was finally home for a few days for Thanksgiving break! I even had a welcome committee! J

The weekend sure went fast, but I was so glad I got to come home!

December 19: Home for Christmas Break!

I survived my first flight all by myself! Break sure is going fast, but I’m trying to make the most of my last couple days home!

December 28: COLLEGE DECISION!

I have finally made my college decision! I have been accepted into SVSU’s Foundation Scholars Program so I will be attending Saginaw Valley State University in the fall of 2016! GO CARDS! I am very excited to start this next chapter in my life! As of right now, I have no picked a major, although I think it will be something in business/finance!

I hope you enjoyed my year recap! Sorry it was a bit long! What a great year! I am looking forward to whatever 2016 has to offer! J Happy New Year!

Room Decorations!

Hello everyone,
A quick little update for you all!
I am planning on coming home for Thanksgiving on the 25 and leaving probably the 28th. I am really excited to come home and see everyone. Only 22 days not that I'm counting or anything....
I haven't done anything exciting since camping. Halloween was super boring here. Both my roommates were gone for the weekend so I pretty much stayed home and passed out candy and watched a ridiculous amount of Breaking Bad on Netflix.
Anyway, I thought I would post some pictures of the new decorations in my room. It feels a lot more like home now that I have lots of pictures and stuff I love up on the walls.

 The new additions: world map poster from Amazon and Paris scarf thing from Em Esch

I made the clothespin picture hanger thingy myself! It was super easy! I just cut out a circle from cardboard and painted the clothespins and glued them together!

I also made a little cup thing to hold misc things on my desk. I just painted some more clothespins and clipped them around a peanut butter lid!

Other new additions: some lovely paintings from the one and only Em Esch! She sent me a lovely care package with the elephant painting and a chalkboard. She also sent some Lindor caramel truffles which I am thoroughly enjoying. So thanks again em! :)

And there we have it! My room is complete!
Also, a huge thanks goes out to Kreta and Aunt Pam for their care packages too. So, if you are reading thanks again! They made my day!:D

Aubrey :)