"And don't be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God's place for you. Live, obey, love and believe right here." 1 Cor 7:17

Our dear CILT Session 1 friend Avery used to live in Carmel but currently lives in Texas. She was back this weekend for a wedding so we had to figure out a way to see her. The Yuska sisters Rachel and Ashley hosted a brunch at their house and invited all the area CILTies to come this morning. 

We hadn't all hung out since CILTs and it was so good to be reunited with Maggie, Sloan, Avery, Ellie, Kate, Rachel, Chloe, Maggie, Ashley, Sam and Grace. 

Instead of sitting at a restaurant for just an hour, we got to cook together, eat outside and then play in their yard. It was perfect. When I spotted the tree house you know I had to climb up and check it out.

Grace was ready to try out the tire swing even though she was very concerned about swinging into the tree. Avery fell off the hammock multiple times but kept trying to get balanced. I loved that all these girls were just so relaxed and having fun together--not worried about homework or tests or work.

When we heard that Avery was coming back there was no question that we'd find a way to see her. Avery is one of those people that just makes you feel so loved. She's incredibly sweet, resilient, genuine, bold and care free. After we posted pictures on Instagram other CILTs commented how much they wished they could have seen her too.

I'm so thankful that my friendships with Kate, Ellie, Rachel and Maggie can continue here in Indy. Whether we meet up for dinner or I go to one of their meets I love when our lives overlap. They're all such fantastic people and I'm better for knowing them.

It was a low-key-crafting-and-netflix kind of afternoon but I got to go to dinner with Julia and Hannah. These two are so incredibly wise. This year is turning out differently than what they expected and I so admire the way they are both handling it. They are trusting that God is still in control and that he has great plans for their lives, even if they're different plans than what they had predicted. They both live with such joy, integrity and optimism. I love them even more than Chipotle burrito bowls and milkshakes for dessert.  

"Yes, there's a hoop skirt. And pockets. Got it from David's!"

Saturday afternoon I road tripped to Brazil, Indiana with a detour to pick up Molly Henry on the way. Today our good camp friends Alex Allison and Rachel Conrad got married. The ceremony and reception were out at Rachel's grandparents farm and it was such a beautiful day. Our camp friends took up two rows of seats. We loved the flower girls that dumped petals and wandered around. Olli stood up on the chair to get a better view and "conducted" the music as everyone entered. 

Rachel looked gorgeous and Alex was dapper. The best part was right before Alex could kiss the bride he turned around, put on chapstick and then went in for the kiss. Such an Alex move. Ellyn is their official third wheel so of course she got a seat on the aisle and the first picture with the newly married couple.

I grew up as a camp kid going to counselors' weddings with my parents. Once I was part of the staff I started going to the weddings of my co-counselors. Over and over again I see proof that there ain't no wedding like a Camp T wedding. I love this extended family.

It was so good seeing Liz, John, Brittany, Jamie, KJ, Joel, Nick, Tom, Katrina, Sophie, Olli, Ellyn, Molly, TByrd and Bri as we celebrated Alex and Rachel today.

The wedding color was Starbucks green and there was a Starbucks iced coffee station to match-- so fun right? I loved the mini cupcakes, dessert buffet, both toasts and the song selections for the first dances.

The Camp T crew all hung out together. We ventured out to the island and then danced in the lawn. When we didn't want to play traditional tag, Molly made up Look Tag. Whoever looks at the person who is It has to be It next.

Alex and Rachel got a sparkler send off and Ellyn took all the extra matches for her scrapbook.

This wedding was a great fix for being camp sick. Hanging out with all of these friends is the best.

 

p.s. You might have noticed Ellyn's wearing glasses. When I asked about them she said, "Oh yeah. My eye sight isn't that great, I'm supposed to wear them in class but I never do. I wanted to make sure I could see what was going on today though."

Friday Night Adventure

Early this morning I met with the 2nd group of 8th grade bible study girls at Audrey's house. I love this group and they've grown in numbers this year too to include Meric, Maddy and Rachel. They're sweet and fun and I always have a blast with them. Audrey told me, "Miss Wright, this is the best book I've ever read. I couldn't stop reading it last night." I'm so glad they're already loving Shauna and Cold Tangerines. 

The original plan this Friday was to go to the IMA with Julia, Katy and Hope. But when Julia got her 3rd concussion this week she had to back out of our plans to run around. Her family was heading down to their lake house just South of Indy and her mom invited us along as a surprise. Luckily Katy and Hope could come on the adventure too. We road tripped down listening to old school Hannah Montana the whole way. Julia was shocked when we showed up at the end of her dock.

The Dewolf's have been visiting their lake house all summer but they just go a boat today. We got to go on the maiden voyage around the lake. The radio was playing, snacks were plentiful and all the kids got in the water to swim around.

There was pizza for dinner and then Julia, Hope, Katy and I all whipped out our friendship bracelet string to knot together. They're all Varsity and such great braceleters. We couldn't spend the night so Hope, Katy and I headed out after the s'mores were finished. There was less singing and more conversation on the way home as the lightning illuminated the sky.

A Friendship Bracelet History

This afternoon Friendship Bracelet Club met for the first time this school year. About 80 girls and 2 boys gathered in the LGI room after the final bell. I don't know if you've been around 12 and 13 year olds lately, but they're loud and hyper and awkward and awesome. I love that this is my life. 

This is the start of year number 6 of the FBC. I can hardly believe it. 6 years is a long time. Today I'm thinking back on all the different people that have been a part of my friendship bracelet history. 

I remember when Mary Brody and I were pen pals for several years while I was in college. She was one of my favorite campers I've ever had. We'd send each other long letters and I can still picture her neat, round, small scrawl across the pages in straight lines. When I was a Junior at Hope, living in the SIB cottage, I found an envelope from her in my mailbox one afternoon but it felt thicker than normal. I opened up the flap on the back and out fell the most beautiful bracelet I'd ever seen. It was huge and unlike any I'd ever seen before. I had to just stare at it for a couple minutes before I tied it on my wrist.

At least once a week I show up at the sporting events of my Junior High or YL kids. I love when I can get people to come along with me. Several years ago I was going to a middle school track meet between HSE and Carmel and I got my friend Allison Stamer, who had just returned from IU, to come too. She told me she had a surprise for me and pulled out a bracelet from her back. It was the first earthquake pattern I'd ever seen. The rainbow strings zig-zagged in and out of the bracelet like seismic waves. My jaw fell open.

A couple days later, Allison sat beside me and coached me as I made my first earthquake bracelet. Little did I know that this pattern would become one of my favorites.

I was horrible at making bracelets as a child. Even though I grew up at Camp Tecumseh I just didn't have the patience or the skill to make all of those tiny knots. I stuck to gymp and was happy to avoid the easily tangled string. It wasn't until the middle of my time at Hope, my Pathfinder counselor years, that I started to make bracelets. I would make them during our SIB Lit Meetings in the basement of the cottage. While we talked about sorority business and upcoming events I would tie 4-knots over and over as I worked on a 3-braid or a diamond.

My Senior year of college during Pledge I became a friendship bracelet factory. In just two weeks and three weekends I churned out 26 bracelets, one for each of our new girls. It was the most I had ever made and I was so excited to give them to all of the babies. The night they were activated I remember going around and tying the bracelets on each of their wrists. Those girls became my "friendship bracelet class" and I loved going back to visit them the next couple of years.

Molly and Kendall Brunner are one of my favorite sister pairs at Tecumseh. They weren't in my cabin until they were CILTs but somehow we became friends when they were still River Village campers. Every summer I'd eagerly await for them to get to camp and then find ways to hang out with them at the pool or during Trading Post. The Brunners became two of my Friendship Bracelet role models, so much so that we call a certain pattern the Brunner Bracelet.

I remember when they were in HS that they would each carry a ring of half-finished bracelets on their backpacks and soccer bags, ready to work on them whenever they had a spare minute.

My first year of FBC was my very first year of teaching. I was new in the school and not many students knew me so our club attendance was very small. There were about 15 girls that came that first year and I loved that group. Natalie, Saba, the Millers, the Magers, the Lexies and a few more girls made up the gang that started the legacy of FBC. I still vividly remember them bringing baggies of snacks, singing Jonas Brothers on top of their desks and playing Capture The Flag outside when it was warm enough. We didn't know then that one day FBC would be exponentially larger and that their purple FBC sweatshirts would become collector's items.

KCraig taught with me for the last five years, has been my best friend in HSE Young Life and become a friendship bracelet addict. Just over a year ago I taught her how to make a 3-braid bracelet and she hasn't stopped since. If we had a school or English meeting after school you could find us making bracelets. At YL leadership every week you could find us making bracelets. During coffee dates at Starbucks you could find us making bracelets. I love that even though she has probably made over 100 bracelets at this point she is still making that same 3-braid pattern every single time. KCraig hands the bracelets out like candy and if you get the chance to meet her you'll probably get one too.

Even though Friendship Bracelets are a very campy thing I don't actually make any friendship bracelets while I'm at camp. Between writing Parent Letters, keeping up with the blog and trying to sleep, there is just no extra time for braceleting. I call the other 42 weeks of the year Friendship Bracelet Season and build up my stockpile for summer so I can pass out bracelets to all of my friends at Tecumseh.

I've gotten really good at multi-tasking and at this point I can bracelet without looking at the strings as I work. This means I can bracelet while I watch TV, at YL, during church and anywhere else that I can pull out my string. At this point, I'm so used to braceleting that I can't sit still for very long without going crazy. My friendship bracelet count from FB Season continues to go up each year-- 52 in 2012, 100 in 2013 and a whopping 200 in 2014. Who knows if I'll be able to break that this year.

In her book Cold Tangerines, Shauna Niequist writes about a blue bowl that she collects pennies in. After reading that chapter I found my own blue bowl to collect pennies in too because I like copying her. But at some point it stopped being a bowl full of pennies and started being a bowl full of old bracelets. Now the mountain of faded and worn strings reminds me of old friends-- girls from Young Life, from Tecumseh and FBC. I can still remember who most of the bracelets are from. These little bracelets are treasures, reminders of so many people that have been a part of my friendship bracelet history.

Lists of the Day

Highs of the Day:

1. KCraig visited HSJH during lunch today

2. No Pants Wednesday with Cami and KCraig

3. Getting to see Cecilia, Audrey and Lulu upstairs

4. Buzz around school for FBC starting tomorrow

5. Hanging out with Erin King tonight and catching up on life

6. Camp T meeting with the Senior counselors for the field trip-- great seeing so many old friends

7. Teaching a group to play One Froggie and 5

8. A letter from my Blazer homie Erin Williams

9. More people signing up for Varsity

10. Even though I wasn't there-- hearing about and seeing pictures of the first Wyld Life Campaigners tonight

Top 10 People Who I Wish I Could See From Camp Today

1. Natalia (Rest Hour songs, witty comments and great dance moves)
2. Stevo
3. Mary Cate Meyer
4. Kelly Wentland (her birthday is tomorrow!)
5. Devon Kennedy
6. Kristen Johnson
7. Erin Williams
8. Maggie Shadid
9. Erin O'Awesome
10. Meghan Quinn

Top 10 Random Things I Love About HSJH

1. The 8th grade DC Field Trip
2. Passing periods with Hodgin
3. Thursdays when we have Taco Triangles and chocolate chip cookies
4. A whole week at Tecumseh for the field trip
5. FBC on Thursday afternoons
6. Seeing Garret, Henry, Audrey, Hannah and Lulu on the announcements
7. The Amazing Race every Fall
8. Riley Spirit Weeks
9. Switching students at semester
10. Friday morning bible studies with 8th grade girls

Top 10 Things You Might Not Realize Are A Really Big Deal At Tecumseh

1. Getting cookies instead of Turbo Tubes at lunch
2. Finishing all your PLs before dinner on Friday night
3. When Braves get a whole cabin of Blue Bands
4. Being in Teton or Arapaho as a Pathfinder
5. Getting to the fruit bar in time to get strawberries
6. Earning your 3rd year Green Jacket
7. A cabin with no Night Meds
8. Getting a bench in the middle section of chapel or closing campfire
9. When a camper from earlier in the summer sends you mail
10. Having tacos on your night on and being off for baked ham

"I mean she's really, really nice... but I just don't think she's weird enough to want to be my friend and do weird things like eat gross foods."

This afternoon I got to go to one of my favorite Cross Country meets of the whole season-- all of the Hamilton County schools race against once another. I got to see girls from HSE, Geurin and Carmel all at once. I love watching them race and getting to cheer them on. Darian plays soccer for Carmel and their coach always has them show up in support at this race. We always make sure to see each other here.

My friend Rachel, from Session 1 CILTs, is a rock star because she plays soccer and runs for her school. Tonight she got to race for the Varsity team and I loved getting to see her. 

As the teams ran by I saw more people I didn't even realize would be there like Chloe Laplante, Frances Miller, Rebekah Nagy, Sydney Smith and Olivia Benz--they're all awesome. Cross Country takes grit, perseverance, determination and mental strength. These athletes run year round and put in an incredible amount of miles.

The best part of tonight's meet was that I got to hang out with my friend Grace the whole time. She's a Varsity runner but because of an injury she wasn't racing tonight. Instead we ran around the course together to cheer people on. Grace is one of my favorite human beings and I hope I can grow up to be just like her.

"Homies help homies. No matter what."

Just like everyone else, I love Labor Day because we get to sleep in on a Monday. This Labor Day was extra great because after I woke up I got to go meet with some Young Life Senior girls for breakfast at the Pancake House. Sam, Peyton and Kylie were in my first class of students in 2009, Hannah has been in YL for three years now and I more recently met Devin and Cassidy.

I loved getting to hang out and be friends with these girls this morning. We talked about real life together and I was struck by how great they are. I love that we've still got a whole year to hang out before they graduate. We hung out on the sidewalk for a long time just talking, not ready to go home yet. I'm thankful for that comfortable friendship with these girls and all the fun that's bound to happen this year.

I got a bit creative this weekend and used Lindsay's Letters for inspiration.

Liz Huston, a freshmen, and I got to hang out and go to dinner tonight. I'm such a fan of this girl and love whenever we get to hang out whether we're going to dinner, getting stuck in the airport on the way to Washington D.C. or going to christian concerts together. We ate lots of chips and salsa, talked about Freshmen year and planned our next great adventure.