The end is in sight!

Okay, it's been awhile since I updated! I've been pretty busy these past few weeks, and I'm usually so tired after work, I just crash.

So I only have 3 days of work left! It's really sad having to say goodbye to some of the kids I've gotten close to. I've been having everyone sign one of my camp shirts, and on another one I'm planning on writing a whole bunch of camp memories and jokes. My favorite co-worker, Kristina, had her last week a week ago cause she's going to study in London, and it was so hard to say goodbye to her knowing it was unlikely I'll ever see her again. Our last three days of camp are a field trip to the natural history museum, swimming (again--I am so sick of swimming!), and the end of the year BBQ. I taught the kids a new song this week that we used to always sing at girl's camp, and I also introduced Ultimate Frisbee (since all of our dodgeball balls have popped!), both of which the kids picked up fast and now love. Some of our field trips in the past few weeks have been: Knott's Berry Farm, Ice Skating, mini-golf, Seaside Lagoon (which is like a pool but with salt water and sand, and it is the most disgusting place ever!), and to the YMCA twice for "electronics day" (where they could bring their ipods and DS's and such).

The Barlow parents were gone for awhile, so it was just the 5 of us kids at home. About a week or so after they left, we ran out of food. Our grocery list looked a little like this (commentary in the parenthesis was Jacob's):

• Cereal (not just the kinds Taylor likes)
• Ice Cream (Mint Chocolate Chip is a personal favorite)
• Pop-Tarts (Not the sick brown sugar kind)
• Juice
• Fruits (no bananas)

The fruit was my idea...yeah, we starved that week, haha. Thank goodness for fast food.

I went to singles ward last week with Kim and Jacob, and I found people there that I knew! There were a couple girls from Tigard, one of whom I had been friends with at girl's camp, and then a guy who was in my social dance 180 class last fall. I also went to a singles dance with Jacob, Andrew, and Jacob's friend Mike. It was cool because they had an in-n-out burger truck there the first hour so we got food.

I saw Wicked again this week! It was at the Pantages theater in Hollywood, and the cast was AMAZING! The guy playing Fiyero was the same one mom, Grandma, and I saw three years ago in San Francisco! It was cool to see him in it again.

I got a letter from Ken this week that was a little scary! He just transferred to a new area, and on his way to his new place, they got in a car accident! A couple police cars were chasing another car, and one of the police cars spun out and hit the car Ken was in! No one get hurt, thank goodness, but scary all the same. Then, later that day, while he was unpacking his stuff, they had to evacuate because of a hurricane! Whoever said stateside missions were safer never factored in Houston, apparently!

So this next week will probably be all goodbyes and packing (except Thursday--we're going to Disneyland one last time!). I'm sad to be leaving, but I'm so excited to go back to school and see all of my friends and family again! Next Saturday I fly back to Salt Lake, and I'll be staying with cousins for a few days before I go to Provo. Can't wait to see you guys again!
Oh! and some pictures!

Manhattan Beach

Fine dining in CA :)

Me at the driving range on a Wednesday night!

Kristina and I at work on her last day!

Quakes and Pranks

So some of you may have heard about the earthquake here today. It was a 5.8 on the Richter, which is pretty darn high. They said it could be felt in San Diego and even in Las Vegas! Thankfully, we were all safe and there was no damage that I could see in our area. It was crazy though! I was with Kim's group today at a water park because they were short on counselors. I was in the pool swimming with some of the kids and talking to another counselor, George, who was sitting on the side of the pool. All of the sudden, George stopped talking and was like, "Did you feel that?" I had no idea what he was talking about, and then he was like, "I think we just had an earthquake!" We had to round up all of our groups around the park and try to get calls out to the director. Finally we were able to get through to Bryan, and he had us leave the water park and go back to the YMCA building (where we have meetings, not where we have camp), because a lot of parents wanted to pick up their kids. The kids hadn't eaten yet and none of them brought lunches because you're not supposed to bring outside food to the water park, so they were starving and they didn't get to eat lunch until 2:45, when we had ordered pizza. The rest of the day, Kim's group and my group watched Ratatouille. Bryan had me go in another room with the oldest group (the middle schoolers) because they were also short on counselors (actually, every group today was short on counselors, it was such a weird day!). So I was with all three groups at some point today, it was kinda funny. But we all survived the earthquake, so don't worry!

Also, quick story. I meant to write this in my last post, but I forgot. At camp, they played a prank on me and another counselor, Angie! It was pretty good, I must say. They got me bad! We were at the aquarium, and we were supposed to be leaving. My group had to go to the bathroom, so we were running late. On our way to the bus, we met up with Angie's group. Angie said, "Paulina just called me and said they moved the bus, so we're meeting on the other side. So we walk there and see the bus, but there's no one else there. We were so confused--we were 15 minutes late, but there's no one on the bus and no one around. Angie and I kept talking, I kept saying, "Where did they go? They had to have been on the bus to move it over here (the bus driver had been with Paulina's group). Why would they leave?" Angie was freaking out, trying to call Paulina, and saying, "She's not answering, what are we supposed to do?!" Then one of the kids says, "I think I see someone on the bus!" So we all turn and look. Right at that moment, everybody pops up yelling! They had all been lying on the floor of the bus! At first, I wasn't sure what had just happened, and I guess my confusion showed on my face--when I finally got on the bus, everyone was laughing at me, saying that my face was priceless, and they love to tease me about it. I thought it was great!

6 MONTHS!

That's right! Ken is at the 6 month mark! I can't believe it's been 6 months...it feels like he just left, yet it also feels like it's been FOREVER! The picture above is from over a year ago, the very first time we hung out outside of class. I can't even believe how fast this year has gone by!

Coming back to the more recent past, here's been my last few weeks or so:

At camp, we've done: Universal Studios, Olvera Street (almost like a Mexican version of Chinatown), 3D movie (Journey to the Center of the Earth), California Science Center, Aquarium of the Pacific (where I was brave enough to touch a shark and some stingrays!), and the L.A. Zoo. I was really excited for the zoo, but I had a bad combination of kids in my group that day, and they complained the entire day and didn't want to look at any of the animals--all they wanted to do was hurry through so they could get to the gift shop, which they spent 20 minutes in, then spent the last hour and a half playing cards near the entrance of the zoo. Olvera Street was one of my favorite days! The kids bought a ton of these confetti eggs (hollowed out
eggshells stuffed with confetti) and you crack them over people's heads. Being a counselor, I was a prime target--and it was a blast! I was covered in confetti, and I am still finding confetti in my first aid fanny pack! (yes, first aid fanny pack. We're required to have them with us at all times, and they are the biggest eyesores ever, we hate them. They were extremely useful though the couple weeks we kept having kids with bloody noses!). I saw these bracelets there that I liked, but I was too busy watching the kids to buy anything for myself. One boy in my group (that always says I'm his favorite counselor!) heard me say I liked those bracelets, and he bought me one! It was so sweet. I also always wear another bracelet, one made out of lanyard that one of the counselors, Lindsey, made for me. She's my Twilight buddy out here, me and Kim and Lindsey are going to get the 4th book at midnight this Friday! :) Also, I decided to walk to work a few times this past week (it's about a 20 min walk) just cause it's a good workout (as if chasing 40 kids around everyday isn't enough of a workout already, haha).

At church, Kim and I gave talks! Her family was out of town for it, so it was kind of weird standing up there giving a talk to a whole bunch of people who don't know who I am at all. My topic was "a living prophet". It was interesting because a couple of Kim's non-member friends came. Kim's topic ("love one another") was a little more transferable, but having a living prophet is one thing that really make out church different. It was cool cause one of her friends wanted to ask the missionaries questions afterwards, he took notes on our talks and everything. Also, after the meeting, I had a lot of people ask for quotes I used in my talk and someone even asked for a copy of my whole talk! Overall, I felt good about it, even if I was nervous (it was also my first non-youth talk!).

Other fun stuff I've done: I went and saw Batman with some people last weekend. It was AMAZING, I loved it. The one thing that really bothered me though was Maggie Gyllenhall. I thought she was terrible as Rachel. Never thought I'd miss Katie Holmes!

Today we went to Zuma Beach, and did pretty much nothing. I think my legs are the darkest they've ever been in my life now!

In other news, the Barlow family was out of town for a family reunion (except Kim) so we had the place to ourselves. They brought back Jacob (he's the one just older than Kim) and one of his roommates, so after our week of peace, the house is crowded again, but I love it.

I can't wait to see some of you again in a month! As much as I've enjoyed CA, I'm ready to get back to BYU and small-town livin!

Time to update!

Hey everyone! It's been a couple weeks since I last posted, so I decided it was about time now. My life primarily consists of my job now, but it's such a great job, I don't mind too much. This past week at work was really good actually. We had this BBQ the day before the 4th of July (no camp on the 4th), and in meetings before, I'd heard stories about how the BBQ is one of the days that seem to drag on for forever because there's not too much to do and the kids are all restless and it's just a crazy day for everyone. I was talking to my supervisor about how we had a night at girl's camp where there were a whole bunch of games set up in a rotation and told her some of the games we played. She really liked the idea and took it to the camp director, Bryan, and he approved it! So during the first half of the day, instead of trying to make it up as we went along, we had a bunch of games to do! The kids loved it. One of the other counselors in the Explorer group came up with the idea of having a talent show after lunch, which the kids also loved. So basically, the Explorer counselors kind of ran the show, and Bryan was really pleased with it. He told my supervisor that it was the best one they had ever had! Also, we have staff meetings every two weeks, and at our staff meetings, they recognize one person from each group and give that person a gift card for Starbucks. This week, I got recognized for Explorer!

Some fun stuff we've done at camp the past couple weeks: Rollerskating (possibly my favorite day so far!), Soak City (Knott's Berry Farm water park), IMAX movie at the California Science Center, Dodger's game, Laser tagging, and A LOT of swimming!
Okay, enough about work!

Last week, Kim's brother and sister-in-law, Adam and Kandis, came to visit with their two kids, Kenedee and Lincoln (yes, they named their kids after assassinated presidents--though the assassinated part wasn't intentional!) Kenedee is about Forrest's age, and Lincoln is only two months. I loved having Adam and Kandis here--they are very similar to Blake and Emily, so it was almost like having my own family members visit! And Kenedee and Lincoln are so cute, I loved playing with them. We all went to Disneyland the Saturday they were here (except Taylor) and had a great time! (I also took another trip to Disneyland yesterday with my friends Andrew, Perry, and one of Andrew's friends, Armando, while Kim was at a wedding). During the parade, we were sitting near the front of the crowd, and Kenedee was standing up. Alice, from Alice in Wonderland, walked right up to her and said, "I like your bow!" Kenedee just stared up at her in complete shock, it was hilarious.

Every Barlow kid calls in on Sunday and tells their dad what they did that week. He then writes it up in their weekly family newsletter and sends it out to everyone. I was always included in Kim's section, but this past week, I was given my own section! We thought that was funny, and I feel very honored to be included. We also received a thank you card from a friend of ours in the ward that just went into the MTC and on the card he wrote, "Dear Barlow Family (that includes Michelle),..." We all got a kick out of that as well!

Also, though I'm guessing most of you already know this, Heidi had her baby this week! Sister Barlow is there in Wilsonville helping out, and Brother Barlow flew there just for a day on Saturday to see the baby, and also for their granddaughter Haven's baptism. Haven is Kim's sister Amber's daughter, and what I didn't know before was that Amber (last name is now Dahl) is in Tualatin Stake! They live in Sherwood, they're in the Cedar Creek ward. The baptism was right there in the stake center, they drove right by our neighborhood and everything! So many coincidences with the Barlow family!

Okay, so last but not least, the 4th of July! We went to this city event called the "Starlight Bowl" which is up at this outdoor theater-type place kind of in the mountains and they had live music, and then a fireworks show. It's a big event for the city, since fireworks are illegal otherwise.

That's pretty much it for now! I'll try to remember to upload pictures sometime soon!

Kids are hard work!

Well, I've survived the first week and a half of camp, but just barely! It feels like it has been so much longer than that though. Having to put up that much energy for 8 hours everyday makes every day feel like a week itself. Even though it is soooooo exhausting, it is also so much fun! I have to say though, my favorite day so far was Friday, when we went to see Prince Caspian. That was the best because the kids were entertained for a couple hours without me having to do anything. Watching movies with kids is the best though, because they have the funniest reactions. They all thought everything the mouse said was hilarious and would just die laughing.

Our basic schedule is morning assembly (we sing songs and talk about what we're doing that day) and then the kids have the option of either doing the craft of the day or playing a game (almost always, it's some type of dodgeball game). After that, they divide into their age groups and have snack time. Then we play games or have free play within our groups, then lunch time. Then we have our activity of the day (Tues. and Thurs., for example, are our swimming days, so we head to the pool then). After the activity, it's snack time (again!), and then more free play, usually on the play structures.

Our first week went pretty smoothly, very few problems with our group. And then it was week two. Monday was absolutely disastrous! That day, we went to a different park that had these gardens and was really a very nice park, but we were mostly just on a field. First, what made it bad, was that the kids were complaining SO MUCH. We couldn't get them to quiet down to listen to instructions or anything because every couple seconds they would interrupt, whining about everything under the sun. We tried playing four different games with the kids, which we would start, but one by one, kids just started sitting down and quit the game. We gave up on organizing a game and let them have free play (ironically, a lot of them started playing one of the games we were trying to play before), but that's when chaos broke out. Apparently, at this age, the kids are starting to get into the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing. There was one boy that two of the girls liked, and the smaller of the two girls, this tiny girl named Charlie, was getting jealous and started pushing and scratching and pulling the other girl's hair. It was this big drama and almost all the girls got involved, and we had to entertain the rest of the kids while Paulina had a chat with the girls. Apparently all the girls would try to talk at the same time so she grabbed a lanyard and told them they could only talk if they had the lanyard (that's another thing--EVERY kid here is obsessed with lanyards!). That day really seemed to drag on for forever, I couldn't wait for 4:30! The next day was a lot better though, tempers cooled and the whining wasn't very bad.

Couple days ago I had to work overtime because we went on a trip to Magic Mountain (Six Flags). It was one of the most stressful days EVER. I was in the "fast group"--a group of 7 kids who were fine going on any roller coaster. Of the 6 they went on (yes, only six rides from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.--kids have to eat and drink a lot and go in every gift shop) I only went on 3, because if a kid doesn't want to go on, I have to wait with them for the rest of the group by the exit. One kid chickened out on 2 rides, and one got a stomach ache at the end, so she sat out. I was constantly counting the kids and telling them not to climb on bars and to move up in line and to keep up the pace when we were walking. One of the kids in my group is very friendly, and he'll strike up a conversation with anyone and everyone. I repeatedly had to make him stand by me so he wouldn't talk to all the strangers in line. His favorite thing is when he finds someone with a visible tattoo, he likes to ask about it...yeah. Being completely responsible for 7 kids that are only 9 or 10 years younger than me was a little rough. People we see when we are swimming or on trips always ask me how old I am because I guess I don't look like I'm old enough to be taking care of all these kids.

Believe it or not, I have a life outside of work. We started a tradition of going to a driving range every week with Kim's friends because on Wednesdays, they give girls a free bucket of golf balls. The boys usually use most of the balls, but they make us girls hit some. I am in no way, shape, or form good at it, but I'm better than I was the first week. After golfing, we always go to Starbucks and get hot chocolate. Also, last Saturday, we went to Huntington beach with some friends and had a bonfire. It has been SO hot here--it reached 109 degrees this week--so my skin is getting darker and my hair is getting lighter, being in the sun all the time. It's been so much fun!

Alright, I have to go eat dinner, but I miss all of you tons!

work, play, and everything in between!

Ok, time to update! So we did a lot of fun stuff when our friend Bryce was here, including Disneyland, Universal Studios, Santa Monica Pier, 3rd st. Promenade, Olivera st., Zuma Beach, and we even got a special tour of Disney Studios from our ward chorister, who works there, and got a lot of really cool movie posters for free. On our tour, we also got to see some of the costumes from High School Musical 2, and we even snuck onto the set of a t.v. show ("Brothers and Sisters") cause they weren't filming, and also into 2 of the sound stages where they filmed "Pirates of the Caribbean". It was a lot of fun, and we were so grateful to Sister Miller for the tour--most people have to pay a lot of money to get a tour like that, and they don't get nearly as much detail and no free posters, and definitely no sneaking on sets--and we got to go for free.

Now! Some really exciting news! I got hired at the YMCA as a day camp counselor! It has been fun so far. Last week we had training all week--first aid and CPR certification, dealing with special needs children, child abuse prevention, etc. My co-workers are great, especially the camp director (and my boss), Bryan. He is hilarious and really laid back. I'm working with the 4th and 5th graders, the "explorers". My leader, Paulina, and the assistant leader, Kristina, are both really great, as are my co-counselors, so I'm really happy about that. Kim's working with the 1st-3rd graders, and they seem like a good group as well.

So! We had our first day of camp today and it was just at the park for today. It was good getting to know the kids and also getting to know some of the personalities. For example, there is one little girl in my group who is very defiant of the leaders. She asked if play dough tasted good, and I said probably not. She asked if she could try it, and I said no. Then she looked straight at me and licked it. I had to take it away from her, and she said, "I'm just going to eat it when I get home." It's kids like that that earn me my paycheck, haha. One unfortunate thing about this age group is that they're pretty smart and sneaky. One girl learned that just because one counselor says no, others might say yes. We really have to watch out for things like that. We also have 2 special needs kids in our group. One of the boys has down syndrome and he's actually in my stake, so I usually pass him in the halls at church. He is such a sweet kid though, and so well-behaved. The other one is autistic. He is so incredibly intelligent (seriously, he was telling me about his favorite book: 1984. What 5th grader reads Orwell?!), but he's one we really have to keep an eye on cause he'll just wander off. He will stick everything in his mouth too, so we have to watch for that as well. But I am convinced that it is the best job ever! Today we got to play a lot of games in the sun (it was sooooo hot out! And I'm definitely getting a farmer's tan!) Later this week, we're going swimming, going to the nature center, and even going to go see Prince Caspian! I think I'll like days at the park the best though--it's so much less stressful taking care of kids in a park rather than in a pool or an amusement park!

Oh, and last week was a big week for the Barlow family! Hannah had her 8th grade promotion, so Kim and I got up early before work that day to do her hair and makeup, and then after work we went to lunch with her and the family. And then, Taylor had his high school graduation friday night--it was a lot warmer than mine! But I felt sorry for the poor name readers--there is a large population of Armenians at the school, and here's an example of some of the actual names of the graduates: Miganoosh Silpwatanaskul, Oganesovich Hambarsonpour, and Hagop Chakavanmongkol. It was insane! I took a lot of pictures for the family after the ceremony, and we were about to leave, but then Taylor was like, "Wait! I want one with Michelle, too!" We all laughed about it later, saying that in 10 years, he'll look back at those pictures and be like, "Who is this girl?!" But afterwards we went to dinner at a Benihana-type restaurant. Oh, and a side note about living in the Barlow household: my favorite part of FHE is when we sing, because either someone forgets the words or the tune or something along those lines, so half the time we're just laughing, it's hilarious. They all really like "If You Could Hie to Kolob", but only Taylor and I know the words to the first verse. Honestly, we sing it every other week! haha.

Those of you still reading this (I know, sometimes when I write it just turns into a novel), and for those of you interested, Ken wrote me this week and told me that he and his companion got his first baptism this week! He is doing awesome down in Houston (despite the heat and humidity!) and it really sounds like he's on fire--tons of investigators and such. I've also been hearing from Chris Kiser (old friend of mine, for those of you who don't know) in the MTC. He's going to the Argentina Cordoba Mission, and he's working hard on his Spanish.

So that's the latest from me! I'm having a great time here, but I miss you all like crazy! My shift at work goes from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., so feel free to call me anytime after work, I'd love to hear from all of you!
Love you all!

These are pictures from Disney Studios:

Pictures from CA!

Finally got this all working...mmk, so since my last post, I've also taken a trip to the L.A. temple and I went to Hollywood Boulevard. Our friend Bryce is in town, so we're doing some fun stuff this week. Here are some pictures of my summer so far!

^ L.A. Dodgers game

^Me and my friend Andrew @ L.A. Temple
^Bryce and Kim

^L.A. Temple
^Harrison Ford's prints outside the Chinese Theater






^Some stars!

More pictures to come!