The summer started with the Disney World trip, followed by the first two weeks of my Reaching for the S.T.A.R.S. Summer Basketball Academy. The first two weeks went extremely well, with almost 30 girls in 4-12th grade signed up. The sessions are 1 hour long and the player can sign up for an individual lesson or they can be a part of a group of four. I love working with the girls and it is so exciting to see them grasp and learn some new trick or concept. Now I also understand my coach's frustration with me, and how easy as a coach it is to get super picky. I'll work on both in the weeks ahead. Following that, I had two weeks off-the first was spent up at Lake Kabetogama in Minnesota, tubing, fishing, and hanging out with friends and family. My parents and Grandma also joined in the fun. Of course, the fun really started when we spent the weekend before the actual 4th with fam in the Twin Cities, playing volleyball, badminton, and watching the Twins play. After returning from the Lake, I had about a two day turn-around to pack and head off to Grenada on the Rozetta Baptist Church Youth Group's mission trip to Grenada...
Grenada was amazing. The people there were absolutely heartwarming. We were spoiled really--Kerry and Terri Psinas were our host leaders and showed us the ropes. We stayed in an hotel called the Grand View Inn, right on the Caribbean Ocean. We had a beach just a short walk down the mountain from us, and had one afternoon to hang out there. Monday through Friday we ran a Vacation Bible School at the church our team worked with--we were with Terri, plus another group from Arkansas. The group with Kerry was made up of people from Ohio, New York, and Indiana. Our VBS started with 73 kids and ended with 93; their VBS started with 36 kids and ended with 123!! Our time with the kids was a true blessing and over 30 children accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That made the trip worth it right there. In the afternoons we would do a bit of behind the scenes sight seeing and then have a few hours to rest and relax back at the hotel. In the evenings, Pastor Jim Bennet would preach at a crusade at one of the churches and we would join in the worship service. Below is a picture of our missions team:
It's a bit tricky to see but from left to right is me, Rachael Allaman, Alexis Foster, Justin Allaman, Kara Stumphy, Caleb Keeting, Lauren Gerst, and Diane Stumphy. Pastor Jim Bennet is also on the team. We made many friends and really came to love the Grenadian people. Justin and I were leaders for the group of 10-13 year olds. They were a bit of a handful, but more so in that we didn't want them to get bored, not that they were any trouble. Their desire to write down the RIGHT answers all the time was humbling--was I telling them the right things? Thank God for the Bible...just think if we had to make it up as we went along!
So Grenada was awesome, traveling all went very very well. The island was on eastern coast time, it is the southernmost Caribbean island-90 miles off of the coast of Venezuela, and it is 12 miles wide and 22 (?) miles long with 600 miles of roads on it! Thank you so much to those who contributed to the trip and supported me and the group. Letters and DVDs will be sent out within the next week (I hope!).
Upon arrival back to Henderson County, it was time for the fair, starting with watching one of my dear friends, Hannah Alecock, as she competed for the first time in the fair pageant. Props to those ladies out there in their dresses and doing those dances in that hot sun, but at least it wasn't raining. Monday, basketball lessons started back up again, for the four week session this time. Wednesday I played in the beach volleyball tournament (which is not half as fun now that it isn't mud...which is why afterwards, I participated in a mud fight as well...and washed off in the cow showers!). We made it to the Final Four and had a really fun time.
As time is winding down on the summer, rather than be in a state of denial like last time, I am really trying to make sure I do what I need to do to mentally prepare. Part of that means making sure to spend some extra one on one time with different people. So the other day I spent the day with my "little brother" and we scarfed down at Pizza Hut: between the two of us--wings, medium pizza, breadsticks, cinnamon sticks, and drinks. Now that was a good meal. Then we went to see Despicable Me--good movie, kind of slow at times, but had some really goofy funny moments. That matinee movie was followed up by some to die for smoothies from the java shack (get strawberry peach! I promise!) and then some Wii Mario something or other. Then we watched the Emperor's New Groove and eventually ended the night with the oval race at the fair. All in a good day. My latest event was to go camping with my mom and two "little sisters". That was an adventure considering it poured on us and partially flooded the tent. Still definitely fun though.
And speaking of adventures, part of the reason I am up and going so early this morning (I actually woke up, pumped and ready to go at 3:30!!) is because today I am going up to Chicago on a surprise trip to Wrigley Field...to PLAY on it!!! I am super excited! We will get a tour of the clubhouse and everything! The Cubbies are on the road, so when the cat..s are away... :)
ESPN wrote an article on the Harv men's basketball team: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/blog/_/name/katz_andy/id/5383325/amaker-big-plans-crimson
But the best part of the article is this quote:
"But really, is there a better name in the collegiate ranks than Harvard? In the Ivy League, there is no reason why Harvard -- at its level of prestige -- couldn't be a regular contender in men's basketball like it had been in football, hockey and women's basketball."
Oh Yeah Babay :) So pumped for this next season...seems as if we have a rep to uphold. I'm out. Have a great last week of July and enjoy the dog days of August. Let's see what this year holds!
O&O,
M
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