a summer that changed my life

I realized this morning that it's been months since i've written on my blog, not to mention even looked at it. So with FUNemployment on my mind, it's time I wrote just how life-changing my summer really was. And i can't even do it justice. For those who have worked efy, they know i am right. For those who haven't, just try to understand.



I spent 4 weeks of my summer in beautiful Cache Valley, UT on Utah State University's campus. (The other 5 weeks were spent in Provo, UT; Montpelier, ID; & Santa Barbara, Cali.) Spending time on the campus of my Alma Mater was one of the highlights of the summer. But let's just see if i can put into words some of the moments that mattered most....

10. My Team: Mama Rachel & Crazy Uncle Braden were quite the pair of coordinators! Jon (he's the Asian one...just ask him), Shane (the one who'd sneak out to golf) and Taylor ("where is my jump drive!) were the best male BC's I could have asked to work with this summer! Of course, there's Miss Meggie Margaret Winn (always said in perfect enunciation) and Lisa (my saving grace of laughter) who stood right beside me every step of the way. I love this photo of all of us in our element: Rachel and Meggie discussing logistical matters. Shane and Taylor organizing the monstrous playlist. Braden preparing for his rockstar debut. Lisa being the informative BC and texting her counselors something important. Me drinking my beloved Diet Coke. Jon is off somewhere doing his actual duties instead of posing like the rest of us... :)

9. Site office parties!! Like the time I was eagerly searching for my specific mambas with the letters to my name on them, while trying to push off everyone else doing the same thing, and ended up walking into a closet only to have Taylor lock me in with the weight of his body (terrible run-on sentence, i know!). Or when I won me and Shane the first ice cream dish but he was too busy sleeping. Eating salsa/cream cheese with Sister Roe. Watching Bear Grylls survive in the dusty Moab desert. Being interrupted from a much needed nap with the site office ringtone of Mario Brothers.

8. LOVE BUCKETS!!! Thanks to Jonny Maruji for affectionately naming this one, and ensuring that my water bottle was always chock full of ice water. :)

7. Having bronchitis for the last 3 weeks in Logan. Hacking up a lung, having the BC's ask what color my mucus was (gross!!) and trying to suppress it during nightly devotionals. What a
distraction I must have been!


6. Beautiful Santa Barbara, California! For two weeks I worked as a counselor on the coast of UC Santa Barbara. There I fell in love with the DLG (and gained 8 pounds by eating there daily!!), the game Bananagrams, and beautiful overcast mornings. Rarely did I go outside without a jacket, and games night was spectacular with mists of fog hovering over our field. (Thanks to Patrick for capturing this awesome moment!)
One of my favorite moments from Santa Barbara was during scripture study, the building we were placed next to was under construction. Not soon after we began, the construction crew began playing slow-jams...a not-so-perfect addition for background music. One of my girls came up to me after and said, "I think this is what the scripture meant when it says we should be in the world, but not of the world." She truly grasped the concept of that!


5. As a counselor, you are paired up with one or two other counselors and together you become a company. How did I luck out with so many great and amazing co-counselors!!? From each one of you, I learned so many lessons: patience, the importance of scriptures, how to go with the flow, how to love unconditionally, being yourself is the best thing you can do, those who encouraged me to be better, and many others. To Taylor Brower, Joe Cochran, Elyse Bradley, Christina Cecchitini, Mark Olsen, Kelli Meacham, Harrison Davis, and Patrick Law, I owe you the world. You have made me a better person.

4. I hate to be biased, but my favorite co-co of all summer was definitely......drum roll please..... Kelli Angela Meacham! Being co's with my sister was one of the

best moments of my summer.
During Logan stay-at-home 3 I learned just how incredible she is. She can teach the gospel and offer insights that so many youth would latch on to. She loves unconditionally. She's up for any adventure. She put up with my craziness of thinking i was an actual rockstar. We sang together, along with Lindsey Robb, for a morningside. She made me realize just how awesome my family really is. She is, in all honesty, a hero of mine. Love you girl! :)

3. Although this countdown really isn't in any particular order (just as they came to mind) I can't help but put out a personal shout out to our cruiser mix. I'm a lover of all types of music and I love, absolutely LOVE, hearing new kinds of music, new artists, and people's personal faves. Props to our tech-specialist, Jake Scott, for introducing our team to jUmP rOpE!!!. May it forever remain engraved in anyone's heart who listens to it. (It may or may not be the first song you heard when you jumped on the blog today) :)



2. The Lawrence Welk Show! Shimmy Punch, Shimmy Punch Punch!! Shimmy all over Logan! Watching Logan put on a snuggie for his variety show talent. I will forever love Shane for always forgetting his line, "With my by myself!" Please, does anybody have our team on video?? For the sake of not, hopefully a photo will be sufficient to help recreate the memories of anyone present.

1. I think this really deserves the #1 spot, for it was the best part of my summer. Watching people's lives change, including my own. As we understand our relationship with God, our Father, and his ultimate plan of happiness for us, at once our lives begin to change. Our relationships with others start mean more. Our knowledge for all things righteous begins to increase. We want to read our scriptures more, pray to the Father more, and utilize the Atonement of Jesus Christ on a daily basis. Helping the youth learn this principle, and watching the transformation within is one of the most rewarding benefits of working with efy. Working with girls like Lauren, Megan, and Hannah, among many others, i have realized more perfectly that I am His daughter. I have a lot to offer the world.