Time Travel

I'm going to try to go back in time and update this blog a little bit. I can't remember April much, so I'm just going back to May ... which was actually quite eventful.
First of all, in mid-May, I began my training with the Great Life Foundation here in Salt Lake. It's experiential training to help rid oneself of "baggage" and gain the tools to just live life to the fullest!! I've seen the fruits of it in the lives of many people around me here -- I've seen people go from various addictions and suicidal tendencies to living life with optimism, control, and love. It's quite amazing. My experience with Level One was intense but wonderful. I gained a larger "family" of 46 people with whom I shared the experience. It's amazing how close you can get to "strangers" in 4 days. I feel so much more in control of my life now, and while I'm not perfect yet, I look forward to moving on to Level Two in July and further tap into my own greatness. For more information, go to www.greatlifefoundation.com.

Immediately following Great Life, our school took all 7-12th graders to Aspen Grove for 2 1/2 days for Youth Conference. It was exhausting!! In the best ways possible, of course. Anytime you get 60 or so teenagers in one spot, there is bound to be drama, and this was no exception. We had a big conversation with the high school boys about what constitutes appropriate conversation and what doesn't. It seems to have had a big impact on several of these young men as well. It's so great to be at a school that sincerely cares about the students' spiritual health even more than their test scores and other such items that turn out to be of such little importance in the long run.
I added a picture or two of the trust walk we participated in. That was a really great experience. The student council tied string between trees to serve as a guide for the students. The route went through a very wide open path, but it wasn't without it's "dangers" in the form of undergrowth, fallen trees and the like. Normal stuff you would find hiking through any forest. The trust part came in when the students were blindfolded and sent up the path one by one with only the string to guide them. Oh! I forgot to mention that at a few spots, two strings would be tied to one tree -- one leading along the correct path, and the other would dead end somewhere in the undergrowth. At each juncture, a "tempter" would be there trying to get students to follow the dead end. Throughout the entire trail, there was also teachers and the entire student council to give assistance when needed. The blindfolded students were to follow the string the best they could, and if they felt lost or needed help, they were to kneel and raise their hand. Help was never that far away. Relating this experience to life, it was great to be reminded of a few simple facts.
1. No matter how many dead ends we try, we can always find our way back.
2. There will always be people trying to tempt us off the right path; we have to be vigilent.
3. There is quite a lot of unseen help waiting for us simply to ask.
4. The reward for completing the task is well worth it (in this case, it was BYU brownies -- YUM).
Aspen Grove is such a great place to go for family reunions or just vacations. It's minutes from Sundance Ski Resort; has great cabins and lodges (our lodges sleep 30+); has cafeteria service for larger groups (no cooking!); and has a myriad of fun activities -- mini golf, badmitton, tennis, basketball, shuffleboard, raquetball, volleyball, a playground, hiking, a little old-time village, etc.

Finally, at the end of May, the school year ended. We had a big Field Day for the last day of school which was really fun and quite a stress relief. Then, it was just pack, pack, pack as we are getting ready to move our school to a new building for next year. I don't know where we're going to put everything for the summer, but right now our gym is a great storage unit for hundreds of desks, chairs, filing cabinets, boxes, overhead projectors, whiteboards, etc. etc. etc. It's kind of crazy nowadays. We are so excited to be in a new building, though, that it's well worth it.