"We're bringing back the jean shorts over leggings look." Wyld Life Denim Club

I'm not ashamed to tell you that I have 7 pairs of overalls in my costume collection for camp and YL. Denim is always a good choice. You can imagine my excitement when we decided to have Denim Wyld Life Club. Joutfits (Jean + Outfit) for the win.

We have Club on Saturday nights, right smack dab in the middle of the weekend. Kids roll up to the barn in mini vans and SUVs. They run inside with their friends and I'm always so excited to see them. Tonight I loved that Hannah, Evie, Mia, Payton and Kenzie were all there. These five are enthusiastic and kind and always up for anything. 

KCraig got everyone working on an "I am for..." project and the boys started throwing around the football. Classic.

You can bet we always have music playing, an invitation to an unofficial dance party. You know that KCraig is always the first one on the dance floor.

So much denim...

Tonight we officially announced that Wyld Life will be going to Clearwater Cove in Missouri this summer. It's a brand new Wyld Life camp and we're so excited. The 8th graders can't wait to return for their 2nd Best Week Ever and the 7th graders are eager to sign up.

Keeping with the jean spirit of the night, we sang and danced to "Barefoot Blue Jean Night" and "Me and My Old Blue Jeans" with all our best moves.

The boys dancing turned into this amazing long canoe paddling kind of thing. It was beautiful.

My friend Jayla brought a new friend name Jaylah. What are the odds? One of the best things we did, which could really be done at any club, was to have the kids split up with HS leaders and make a DubSmash video. The app is free and the kids had all seen videos before. Our leaders sent their DubSmash videos to KCraig so we could post them all on our YL Instagram.

We had a relay race with denim shirts and skirts...

Then we had pairs of kids work together to put on a pair of completely frozen jeans. They took cold to a whole new level.

We tried a new mixer where teams were taped together in a long line before they had to move across the gym. It was pretty anticlimactic... But at the end we told the Junior High kids to go stick their tape on a HS kid and things got a little crazier.

Tonight KCraig asked all the leaders to think about our mission-- what do we feel like we're being called to do right now? When we have a purpose statement it's easier to live that out. I wrote down, "My mission is to help people build and be a part of authentic and loving communities."

As a Wyld Life leader and Young Life leader, as a teacher and a camp counselor I want to help people get connected. I want to introduce them to new friends. In FBC at the Clubhouse and in CILTs at Tecumseh I want to keep inviting people in. How can we create a net for people?

Tonight kids like Hannah, Lauren, Mer and Sydney laughed and danced and talked with friends in this community. We listened to a Club Talk that pointed us back to Christ-- thinking about Faith, Family, Fitness and Finances. We prayed together and did some choreography to HSM together. This is what it's all about.

Life is always better lived together. The grand finale to the night was a spontaneous party at Dairy Queen with some kids and leaders. We really love that.

The October Varsity FBC Project: Riley Children's Hospital

Varsity FBC is in year two of advanced friendship bracelet making. Our team includes 44 girls from around HSE and across the Midwest. One of my goals for this year is to provide opportunities for these girls to partner together to do small things with great love. Each month I'm going to give them a project where they can make bracelets for a cause. Together we can make a bigger impact than if we were tying to do it on our own. 

This past month I invited the Varsity girls to make bracelets for kids at Riley Children's Hospital. I'm great friends with the Andritsch family after having both Grace and Audrey in class years ago, leading bible studies at their house, cheering at cross country meeting, running the Geist 5K and Bop To The Top together and hanging out at Young Life. I love this family. 

Part of their story is that two of their kids, Luke and Ava, have both been patients at Riley. That hospital and community have become a huge part of their life and they want to give back. The family now runs Team Luke, a non-profit organization that does so many different things. I knew I'd be able to partner with the Andritsch family to bring the bracelets to Riley kids. 

Bracelets for the October Project were donated by Emily Randall, Ellen Baker, Sarah WRight, Elise Ruby, Brooklyn Seagrave, Grace Freund, Mollie Krone, Maggie Lorenz, Liv Andrews, Rachel Kent, Liv Capuano, Tori Elliott, Lexie Parrott, Erin Williams, Nicole Burjek, Hannah Lyon, Taylor Pozzebon and Caroline Shumaker. 

Thursday I left school early and met up with Luke, Grace and Vicky to drive downtown to Riley. There we met Lisa and Ed from Bongo Boy Music. They bring the drums and run the show once we got the groove going. They were both so kind and obviously passionate about what they do.

Soon kids started coming down and joining in the circle to play with us. I loved that while some of them were tentative at first, soon they were smiling and joining in the music.

I'm so glad that after all these years I got to finally be part of this with Grace, Vicky and Luke today. As the kids left to head back up to the rooms I got to give them one of the bracelets from the Varsity girls. They would look through the whole pile and pick out one that grabbed their eye with their favorite colors. Each of them-- whether they were a boy or girl, older or younger-- was so excited to have it tied on their wrist. We still had a handful of bracelets left over so I gave them to a Child Life Specialist to distribute to other patients to brighten their day. I think they'll end up with just the right kids.

Curious George even ended up with a bracelet by the end of the drum circle. Small things with great love. It's what we're all about.

"I have more friends this year, which is disgusting. I just don't have time for it."

Today I told my class that when they're older they won't remember their teachers for what they taught, just random things about them. Like for me, they'll remember me getting steps and friendship bracelets. A girl raised her hand and said, "Don't forget about your scrunchie and socks with your sandals." 

You probably don't know that I was a cheerleader. It was only for 6th grade because there were no cuts (I couldn't even do a cartwheel). I ended my cheer career after only one year because the girls were far more dramatic than cross country runners and our cheer uniforms (black tennis skirts, gold polo tank tops) were easy to resist.

Indiana Elite cheer is a completely different world. Tonight Cookie, Cecilia (aka Side Show Cecilia) and I showed up to watch Maddie's team's run through of their new routine. I know at least half of every team because of teaching so I love it. The girls were awesome and worked so hard. Maddie rocked her back brace and threw around her little flyer nugget like a pro. 

I love these wise words. Totally my kind of advice. It showed up on my Time Hop today and it's still just as true as it was 3 years ago. Reach out to your people today.

These Random Acts of Kindness are the best. You just never know where you'll find some kind words. Not sure who wrote this note that was left on my chair, but it made my day.

"When Sarah Wright makes a friendship bracelet while listening to you, it's like Neosporin to your soul."

People are always talking about how the colors of Fall are the most beautiful. They love the reds, yellows and oranges of the leaves as they change. But my Fall colors (and Winter, Spring and Summer colors for that matter) always include all of the colors. My colors are always the colors of bracelets-- dozens of strings knotting together in intricate patterns. 

Thanks to my FitBit and new obsession with getting steps, my friendship bracelet addiction is not nearly as intense as it was last year. I've not yet reached 100 bracelets this semester when means I'm behind last year's mark. I've got to step up my game. But for today I'll be happy with these new pretty bracelets that are going in the summer stockpile. 

KCraig sent out an awesome article today called Be Know For What You're For, Not Just What You're Against and asked us to think about what we're for. What are we passionate about in this life? What are we living our days for? Here's my list:

I am for friendship.

I am for adventure.

I am for being together.

I am for embracing what you love. 

What are you for? Does your life reflect that?

7th graders are currently working on 20 Acts of Kindness for their English class. Today I got to find this AOK on my desk from one of my awesome kids. I get to help with a caper for this assignment tomorrow and I can't wait. 

It's #tecumsehtuesday and only 46 days till the 2015 Winter CILT Reunion. One of the CILTs posted this picture today, which I've never seen before, and it looks like I'm Miss Wright right in the middle of the Green Cathedral. I love it. We've got 34 of 120 CILTs signed up so far but we'll get up to 100 by the time December rolls around.

Top 6 CILT Memories Today:

1. Walking up Liz on her birthday under a ruler chandelier to the sounds of Longhouse girls singing Super Bass and Riptide

2. Glitter bombing Session 2 with four bottles of glitter and then finding that glitter all over Tecumseh the rest of the summer

3. Meeting Session 1 when I returned from Wyld Life Camp and immediately being so excited about all 40 of them

4. The boys' Leaning Tower of Corn Dog Sticks Session 2 that became the kindling for our hobo dinners that night

5. A crazy game of Capture The Flag at the Gish with Session 1 when we were hiding in the woods

6. Hearing Liz scream, "SAR-AH! SAR-AH!" in only the way she can whenever she wanted my attention

Highs of the Day
1. Chips and Salsa with Ryan to talk about life and Young Life and how he gets to go to Storyline TOMORROW
2. I had to drop something off at Maddie's and her mom invited me to stay for dinner with the family-- the Halkyards are the best

Honorable Mention Blog Title:
"Wait you're a runner?! I've never seen you go faster than a walk in the nine months I've known you. This totally changes my whole perception of you."

"Yeah, they're going to sleep here tonight in the bunk beds." The Madison Letter Fall Tour

Ain't no party like a Young Life party. Especially when that party starts at McAllister's with KCraig and girls from both of my cabins last summer. We're good at eating and talking and just being together. We're already dreaming about going to Timberwolf or Wilderness together next summer and I'm starting to feel the anticipation.

Every time you go to a Young Life camp there is a special musician. Two summers ago we fell in love with Tim Halperin at Sharp Top, this past year it was Clayton Jones at Castaway. Clayton announced at camp that he would be going on tour as The Madison Letter and would come to any YL area for a living room concert. You know we were all over that offer.

Hannah, Luke and Blaire opened for The Madison Letter tonight at Young Life. Our amazing committee transformed the room into our own little coffee house. We're good at creating a memorable space. Soon enough the room was packed with leaders, 8th graders and High School kids from every grade. 

I snagged a look at the set list while walking around to see kids before the show began. After camp I couldn't wait to hear Tailor, Stop and Don't Wanna Miss It again.

I loved seeing so many of our kids here at the same time. Many of them brought new friends along to check it out. Anyone that went to Young Life camp last summer didn't want to miss seeing Clayton again.

Seriously, this was just so cool. I love that I get to be part of a team and community that dreams big, the loves our kids well, that wants to create memories together and keep pointing them back to Christ.

We had coffee and hot chocolate for everyone-- you would have thought you were hanging out in Central Perk by the number of friends here tonight.

Julia Washburn wanted to come so badly she did her math homework the whole concert. Her parents should be so proud.

Clayton and Tyler put on a phenomenal show. Whether people had seen them before or not they were impressed. Tailor was obviously a crowd favorite, Stop was still one that just grabbed us after hearing the story behind the music and the dance party to Shut Up and Dance couldn't be beat.

We were the first stop on The Madison Letter's 11 city tour. I think we'll be hard to beat. Love this YL fam and our friends Clayton and Tyler.

David Bock will tell you we love this (and he loves being on the blog). I'm such a fan of Julia Washburn and so glad she put all her clothes away so she could be here tonight. She's a rock star.

Emily and Amy missed their area's YL to be at our concert tonight. They're friends with Haleigh too so we all got to hang out together during the show.

Jib, our YL cabin from Castaway, loves The Madison Letter and #TMLFallTour2015. Julia, Sam, Kaitlyn, Anne, Kegley, Genna, Liz and I were missing the rest of our family tonight.

It was an awesome night at Young Life with great friends like Liz and Ellie who make life better. Thankful for christmas lights, scrunchies, circles of friends, songs to sing along to, dance parties and heart to hearts with Haleigh and Chloe.

"Nothing good happens at this time of night. I like to be in bed. Cozily. With my face washed."

Maddie has been my neighbor across the parking lot for the last year and a half. I love her and I love her family and I will miss seeing them so often. I will really miss carpooling with Maddie, going on walks, having her show up at my door announced and talking in the car when I drive her home from YL events. She's a gem. Friday they moved into the new house they've been building. I love unpacking and organizing--two of my favorite things in the world-- so of course I volunteered to help. Maddie and I finished her whole room, picked up the rest of her clothes from the apartment, ate dinner with the fam, flattened boxes and unwrapped glasses and plates and platters. 

Meg showed up to surprise Maddie and see the new house. They became friends when we all did Work Crew together and I love that they just think the other person is hilarious. Cookie planned on a quick visit but ended up just hanging out with us the rest of the night.

Eventually our BFF Han, home from Bama, showed up to be Maddie's second surprise guest of the night. Han loves Maddie too and wanted to see their new house. It was like so many of my worlds were colliding as I got to hang out with these three friends at once. Han, Megan and Maddie are three of my favorite people and they make my life so much richer.

Saturday I drove to Nashville, IN (just outside of Bloomington) for a wedding shower of my dear friend Rachel Ardery. We've been friends since she first started working at Tecumseh back in 2007 and has been so important ever since. She's getting married in December and I'm so excited for her.

A whole collection of Rachel's friends and family made the drive to celebrate her today. I was thrilled to see her mom Patty Ardery and Karen Glanders-- two women I deeply admire. I loved being reunited with a crowd of old camp friends Grace, Dani, Rach, Mary, Paige and Emily. It was so good to sit and laugh and talk and catch up.

The HS Volleyball girls have been in the thick of tournament season an I've been trying to get to every game I can. While I was at the shower they won their first Semi-State match against Crown Point in a close five games. I got in the car and drove just over 3 hours north to make it to their next Semi-State game at 7pm. I sat in the stands with Julia as we screamed and cheered and ate ice cream sandwiches that tasted like Trading Post time at Tecumseh.

Unfortunately our girls lost at the end of the 4th game and it was just so, so sad. We love Carol, Olivia, Kenzie, Kegley, Anne and the rest of the girls and have been rooting and cheering for them for months. I love the way they work together as a team, how they encourage each other and never give up. They played so well and should be so proud of themselves. 

Haleigh Devoe's birthday is on Halloween but her family had a birthday open house for her at the Barn on Sunday. I invited all of the girls from Spinnaker, our Wyld Life cabin, to come too and so many of them showed up. Haleigh has been with me in HSE Young Life since day 1. We make quite a dream team together whether we're at camp or club or these days in the classroom. I'm such a fan of her and so thankful for her heart and adventure. 

Sunday night I reunited with Hannah and Maggie from Session 2 for pizza. We talked about Day Camp applications and college dreams and fears. This pair is so sweet and I loved ending my weekend with them.