Adventures with Friends

The theme of this week could best be expressed with the words friends and dancing! I am blessed with so many wonderful friends, and this week I spent all sorts of time with friends. Friends that I have known since kindergarten, college friends, friends that live in small towns, friends that live in the city, and friends that I met in England. To kick off the week, my sister and I decided to go rock climbing!! After we convinced the people working there that we actually were over 18 so that we could climb, it was really fun! However, we learned that rock climbing is a little harder than it looks...we could only master level one!

Adventure number two: Rodeo Dance

Where I'm from, the Elks Rodeo is the social event of the season. Directly following the rodeo is the rodeo dance. It is held in the county fair barns and features live country music. When I heard my friend was going, I put on my cowboy boots and joined the fun! Because the dance is the social event of the season, I also got to visit with several classmates, all of us had attended kindergarten through twelfth grade together. It had been about a year since I had seen them and it was so fun to catch up with each other's lives. In school, I was on the livestock judging team; our team consisted of the same four people 4th grade to 12th grade, and the majority of us were at the dance. Last summer, one member and I had our kareoke singing debuts together at a bar. I learned that his kareoke career has taken off and he is performing...he even has some video's on youtube...check it out "Daren Miller." The end of the night was the best part, as we drove to "the cliffs" and watched the stars. I had forgotten how they populate the sky in NW Oklahoma and how calming the sound of nature is...truly wonderful!

Adventure number three: Emily's Wedding

Student teaching in England allowed me to make many friends. Maybe it was living in such close proximity, seeing unforgetable places, having limited internet connection, renaming ourselves with travel names, growing as individuals, relying on each other, or surviving hostels and subways. Whatever it was, I have some great friends from this experience. One of the members of the "Feltwell Crew," Emily, got married this weekend. She was beautiful and the wedding was wonderful. All of the girls of the Feltwell Crew were there; we gave an Irish toast and danced the night away.

I have had a great weekend being with friends. Here's a toast for all you friends out there!

A sunbeam to warm you, Good luck to charm you.

A Sheltering angel, So nothing can harm you,

Laughter to cheer you, Faithful friends near you,

And whenever you pray, Heaven to hear you.