Vids 7 - The dance compilation

Vids 6

Miss Teen South Carolina 2007

Leprechaun in a tree in Alabama

Grape Lady

                                          

Sid from Toy Story lives next door to me

I came home last night at 11pm to find this leaning against my door. I swept them aside and they were gone by the time I left this morning at 830. Its kinda freaky.

Ice breaking stats

This came up last night so I thought I'd share my 2 cents. The start of every conversation is, undoubtedly, the toughest part of the conversation. I don't buy those who say ending a conversation is hard, just leave. Some conversations are harder to get going than others, especially the first time conversations. So how do you break in and get going. Well its tough and everyone goes about it a different way of dealing with it. Sometimes someone else makes the first move, sometimes something presents itself to give you a hand and sometimes you just have to tough it out.

I'm about to drop a mind bomb.

That's right, here's my golden secret. When it gets tough I've got some go to ice breakers. The first and best is the whistle test. It is a proven statistic that (enter percent >50) of women can't whistle. This sort of challenge won't go unmet and not only will you be able to engage the person in front of you but you may engage the entire room. The second and less effective method that I will share is the milk test. No women like to drink milk. None. Its not really a challenge but it at least get someone talking, even the whole room. It is less effective because you have to leave the room and essentially the room to get milk to test the theory, but you get the gist.

This came up last night because there really is no limit to what you can do to break the ice. For example, my friend James has chickens. 10 chickens that is. He didn't get them as a conversation piece but they are nevertheless.

UPDATE: In talking more with James recently he shared a tidbit that could come in extremely handy. Upon meeting someone who claims you have met before, and you have not the slightest clue who they are, 2 out of 3 times you can play it off with one simple phrase/question. You simply come up with something about their hair looking different that last time you met (pretty much only works on girls), but remember it only works 2 out of 3 times.

Vids 5

A little music, some laughs, and an enormous amount of true friendship.

Camp Hobe Kids

This was my fourth consecutive year volunteering for Camp Hobe and as I enter my second year of medical school, I fear that it may have been my last for a while. Rest assured, however, that I will return. It is one of the places that I enjoy above all others. I am going to attempt to qualify that statement because it is difficult.

There are certain events in each of our lives in which the sentiments of our experiences can not be shared with or conveyed to anyone who has not experienced the event for themselves. Someone will ask you, How was ____?, to which you respond, Oh man it was _____. But there are, inevitably, sentiments that cannot be conveyed. Other people just don't get it and they are incapable of understanding because they haven't experienced it themselves (I'm even having trouble trying to explain the concept). I have had many experiences like this in my life. My mission for one, medical school for another, Camp Hobe easily fits into this group.

Let me give a brief overview before I try to explain my own feelings. Camp Hobe is a summer camp for children who have cancer and their siblings. Its a week long opportunity for these kids, who may not have this chance at any other time during the year, to be kids. To run and swim and play like any "normal" kid. And they can do this because of an army of volunteers from the organizers and fundraisers behind the scenes to the counselors, nurses, and doctors who are at camp for the whole week. The first week is for kids from 6 -12 and the second week is for teens from 13-18. There is also a day camp for kids from 4-6 which lasts Monday and Tuesday of teen week and the kids go home at night, come on, they're really young.

I did Kids Week my first time and it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot and had enough fun to apply again the next year. The 3 years after that first time I have been at Teen Week and I love it! Kids week was fun and there are people who fit in there better than at with the teens, that was not me. I love the teens, all of these awkward young kids trying so hard to look cool while they do these really foolish looking skits and activities. Its incredible! I love camp for so many reasons:
singing stupid camp songs as loud as I can, teasing everyone all the time, fun activities, not combing my hair, making kids dance who don't want to dance, dancing with kids who maybe don't ever have anyone else to dance with, little chocolate milk cartons, meeting other counselors who care about these kids, and being outside.
But the reason I love camp the most is because of the change that takes place inside of me. It seems incredible that I have to learn the same lesson every year, but unfortunately I do. I hope someday that it will finally sink in for good but I think I will be dead by then. Going to camp is so humbling for me. All year long I go through what I deem hardships and trials and I complain and balk at decisions I have to make and it all makes me sick to my stomach sometimes. When I go to camp and I'm with these kids who are half my age and have already passed through the eye of the needle, I can't help but be humbled and a little disgusted with myself. Those kids are so amazing! Some are missing limbs or have enormous scars or are super slow or without hair or are skin and bones or 100 lbs heavier than they once were and every single one is out smiling and having a great time in spite of it all. Cancer is just something that happened but they don't let it get in the way and the sibs are the same, and everyone is friends with everyone else. No one is excluded.

I hope that I always have the chance to return to Camp Hobe or at least have the experience to be around  Christ-like children like these, and I hope everyone else can too.  It'll change your life if you let it.


PS. If you have a chance, do a search for Camp Hobe and read-up on all the blogs moms have done about their kids going to camp.