Day 12 & 13

Day 12

Today was a little bit different. We woke up and had to pack bacause we were driving . We drove from Phnom Phen to Seim Reap. That was a 5 hour drive. While we were in the car Janna handed out letters some had pictures but others did not. Those where letters from home. That had just made my day. Hearing what my parrents had ritten forus befor we had left knowing we would get them part way through our trip. That had boosted my confidence. We came to "The hotel." We got to go swimming for 10 min before we went to dinner to cool off. Then we went out to dinner. The food was amazing and all of the girls split dinner. We got to eat a little bit of everything. Then we went to the night market. The night market was so cool. There was 4 boundarys that we could stay between. Then we all had to get a buddy. My buddy was Anna. We did'n shop for the same things but we were in the same store or we told each other where we were. I got most of my shopping for my family members. I think that they will like what I picked for them. I felt like I was much happier.

Day 13

Today was a long day. WE got up at 3:51 because we thought we needed to be downstairs by 4:30. It turns out that it is 5. We left so early so we could see the sun rise. We had to go and buy our day passes to see all of the temples. It was not the best sun rise because it was a cloudy morning. I got to see a bunch of pink clouds though.

The first temple we went to was Taprohm. That was a temple that had trees grown in to them. I thought that is was so pretty. You could see the roots and they where huge.That was my favorite temple.

Next was Angkor Wat. That was where we went to see the sun rise. It was also cool my second favorite. It had 3 different stories. The first was the underworld, then the earth / land, and the top floor was the heaven. It took 37 years to build and was not finished because the king died.

After that we went to Bayon. That was very interesting to see how the people carved each block to create all of the faces. There were faces looking at you where ever you looked. This one only took 5 years to build and it is complete.

Next was the Bop Kuon. That was the temple that was started being built, then stopped, and finally started building again. It is the 3rd largest temple in Cambodia. All three of the buildings are made of the same thing which is lava rock, lumber, and mainly sand stone.

The last temple that we went to was the Phineanakas. It also had 3 stories and statues of elephants and lions. Both are symbols of power. They placed the lions at the bottom of the stairs and the elephants were on the second floor on the corners and some of the elephants were carved into the rock.

That was a long day of adventure and learning. One less day in my adventure but I learned so much in that one day. This is the perfect quote for the day," follow an old path and youuuu find the expected. Blaze a new trail and you will have an adventure.

Day 10 - 11

Day 10

Yesterday was a hard and a different day. We got to sleep in until 7:30. Then we got to go to the market so we could get supplies for the party. We had to get food then other gifts for the kids. I had made 3 bracelets so I could hand them out to the kids. When we got to the orphanage we took all of the food to the kitchen and all of the supplies to the office. It all started off with all of the kids handing out the bracelets that they had made during the week. Then Mallory and I handed out string to the kids because they love to make bracelets. Roaut went looking for a board with 2 nails in it so he could make more bracelets. He could not find the board so he grabbed 2 nails and a hammer and hammered them into the table. That was so funny because he would start hammering the nails in pause, look around, and start hammering again. He looked around because he did not want mama to see. Then the kids showed us their performance. There were 5 dances. Here is the order of the dances Hip-hop, The chicken dance, a traditional, I like to sing, and a work dance. That was my favorite part of the night. Then we had our own dance party. I thought that we were good dancers until I saw them dance. They are insane. Spinning on their head, doing back handsprings, and just flat out dancing.

Then it was time for dinner. we had brought them supplies for them to make fried chicken, salad and drinks. The kids were so thankful for what we had brought. Little did they know while they were being served and eating we were putting together a poster full of pictures that we had took while we were at the orphanage.

Then our dance began again. This time we had to leave and go into the office to start blowing up the glow in the dark balloons and cracking the glow sticks. We all were caring 2+ glow sticks and a glow balloon. We all came running out of the office with the glow supplies and were cheering and all of the kids started cheering also. All of the kids wanted one of the glow things. Some of the boys that got the glow balloons put the balloon in their drawer. Then the poster was revealed. The kids had the biggest smile on their face when we uncovered that poster.

The last part of the day was the hardest. That was the good byes. The thing that truly broke my heart was when I was hugging Neot and he was trying so hard not to cry. I said to him," It is alright to cry." HE just broke down and it is the hardest thing seeing the kids cry when they NEVER cry. Even when one of the kids gets a nail in his foot. It took us an hour to get off of the stage and then another 15 min to get out to the tuk-tuk. The kids were hugging us like we were the last thing left in their life. They ran after us for about a mile holding my hand was Roaut. He was truly AMAZING. I now know what it feels like when you get your heart broken. We all cried all the way home and that is a 40 minute drive.

A quote from Jack Skidmore," Don't cry because it is over, Smile because it happened."That is my favorite saying.

Day 11

Today was a fun day and a learning day we first went to a cooking class. Then we went to the Royal Palace. Finally we went to a couple different stores.

The Royal Palace was so crazy. Some of the things were just used once. For example the throne it is only used when the king is announced that he is now the KING. It look as if it was made of pure gold. How people know that the king is home is he raises a blue flag. He has been king for 7 years and the King has no wife and no kids. There are many buildings but only one of the buildings are his. In his building there are 15 different rooms. He was the youngest son and he got the name because his brothers were into politics. And how the People that work and live at the palace have to wear the same thing but different colors. In one of the buildings the floor is made out of pure silver. There are 5,300 tiles. Which is 7 tons of silver. Therefor people call it the silver palace. In one room their is 90 kilograms of gold and 2,086 diamonds. The items that use that are the Buddha statues.

Then we went to dinner at the FRIENDS restaurant. That is a restaurant that takes kids off of the streets and teaches them how to make things and cook. They cooked our dinner and they made all of the supplies in the store next door. Most of the things were made out of paper or silk. That was very interesting. Today was a fun and learning experience.

One less day in my journey but one more day that i got to experience.

Day 8 and 9 or 7/5/12 - 7/6/12

Day 8

Today was a different day. We started off with a room check and the cleanest room got to go to the market and get things for the orphanage and for themselves. Sadly our room was not the cleanest so we got to go to the orphanage and start cleaning. First we had to clean the stage then we broke in groups. Mallory and I did the adults bathroom, Bret and Alex did the kids bathroom, and Ava got to clean the tables. As soon as the other group got back we had just finished.

Then all of us went to the pig pen and picked up the remains of the roof that they just took down. With the wood from the roof they cut them in half and used ten of them to fix the fence because the orphans hung their clothes on the fence and it was collapsing the fence in. There for we had to prop up the fence with that wood.

Then Lunch.

After lunch we had a water fight/ slip and slide. They had a huge tarp and we had the water fight on that then some of the orphans dumped the soap on the tarp.Kids were sliding across, some were throwing the water on the tarp, and all of the others were staying dry.

For the last thing that day we did every ones nails. All of the girls wanted their nails painted but then all of the boys did not so we forced them to do it and they ended up liking it except Niron. I painted his nails and all of his friends were saying," Your such a girl." So he just wiped it right off.

Then back to the hotel to change for the Olympic stadium. We first had to walk up a huge hill to get in then we ran down the stairs to the track. We had to walk to the other side to find the entrance. Then Bret and I ran 2 and a half laps then we had to go and do the aerobics. That was so fun yet so hard. We were all laughing and having a great time. Then Bret and I went back to the track and ran 2 miles. That was a great way to end your day

My journey is one day shorter but I have so much that I learned.

Here is a quote that i liked for today," What would it be like if you lived each day, each breath, as a work of art in progress? Imagine that you are a Masterpiece unfolding, every second of every day, a work of art taking form with every breath." By Thomas Crum

Day 9

Today was a really fun but sad day. It all started off with us arriving and Bret and Alex said," We are going to finish the roof." Then we got there and they had already finished the roof. So we had to clean it so the pig would not get sick. So we were all in the pig pen cleaning and Li decides he is going to spray Alex and clean him off as if he was a pig because he was on his hands and knees. Then Alex got a hold of the hose that we just put and and he sprayed Li. Li was not expecting the water being sprayed in his face. Then we all realized that they had finished installing the running water so we all went to the places that there was running water and those places were the 2 bathrooms and the 2 Kitchens. We were all so happy and all of the kids were so thankful. Then we got to play with the kids for the rest of the day. Except for when the pig came. It was a girl pig and we named her Lola. She was a FAT pig and looked so healthy. Lisa-Marie picked the right pig.

One of the games that we got to play was ooooooooooooooh. That is a game where you have to say ooooh until you get back to your line and you have to tag the other kids. Meanwhile the other line is trying to capture you. How you win is you don't stop saying ooooooooh until you tag some one and make it back to your line. We played that for a while and then all of the kids tried to teach us their dances. I could not figure out the dance so they took me out of the dance. But the good part of that is that I got to get lots of pictures. That was probably the best way to end the day. Until I heard that today was the last time I will get to see Srey Pi. And Until all of the kids were saying," By, See you Tomorrow." I kept thinking to myself  that is the last time I can say yes to that question. Just thinking that almost made me cry, Tomorrow I will be balling my eyes out because that will be that last time we will see them. Unless we get to come back.

One day Left at the orphanage and I wish that i could have spent more time here helping the kids out. One more day into my journey but one less day to overcome in my journey.

This is a Quote That I like for this trip," DO IT NOW! Today will be yesterday tomorrow." by E. C. Mckenzie.

Day 6-7 or 7/3/12 - 7/4/12

Day 6 or 7/3/12

Today was a very productive day, we got to the orphanage with our normal welcome greeting. We got to play and say hi for a couple of minutes before our productive day began. We walked to the back and started collecting bricks and washing them although we had 700 we only had to wash 271 because those were the only bricks that we gathered that had been used before. We had to make piles so we could tell what we had done and had not done. The brick water was so dirty you could not even see the bricks in the water. Then we had to mix cement and sand to make mortar. Then the workers showed us how to lay the bricks so we could try to make  a correct and sturdy wall for the pigs. I ended up trying to lay the bricks and they ended up taking them out again. By the end of the day I got the brick system down right as we were finishing the wall.

Then it was time for lunch but I did not get to eat lunch because I had to start de-licing the girls heads. We only had time to do 5 girls heads and only 2 boys. The girls hair were harder and took longer to get out but the boys have more bugs. I got to do part of Srey Mey's hair and Luvang's hair. There was so much lice between the two girls hair we had to rinse the bowl many times. By the end of that the girls hair looked so clean.

Then all of us had to go back to the pig pen to cover the whole wall in mortar. As soon as we finished we all took a step back and were so impressed on what you can accomplish in one day. Then it started pouring so hard the tarp broke and water was coming inside in all directions. Putting boards and buckets to catch the water. Before we got the buckets in place some of the water came through and made the mortar wet again. We all thought that we were going to have to do the whole thing again. once you took a step outside you looked like you just got out of the shower. The roads were flooded and we had to drive off of the road or else we would have got stuck. The rain was my favorite part.

Then we got to play with Srey paul. She is soo cute I did not want to go and she had to go home. She was saying tia tia tia and that means home. So I walked her home through the rain. But then right as she got home she came running back so she was crazy.

Day 7 or 7/4/12

We got out of our hotel and I was all decked out in my red, white, and blue. We can still celebrate the 4th of July even if you are half way around the world. While we were driving to the orphanage Mallory dropped her water bottle. Luckily we had one extra BIG water bottle.

We got to go to the yard and we got to cut the lawn with machetes. Then we had to dig up all of the roots so we could create a clothes line. The kids are hanging their cloth on the fence and the fence is not strong enough so the fence was starting to fall down. So Nikko came up with the idea of the clothe line. It took all day to de-root the yard. There was a huge difference between the beginning and the end. Once we finished that we had to redo part of the pig pen because of the rain. It only took about 5 minutes.

Then we had another rainstorm causing us to not go to the olympic stadium. But it was better that we did not go because we were all tired and gross and we got to get massage. It was only 5 dollars for one hour and a full body massage. That was so nice from squatting all day.

That was an end to one of my days on my journey. One more day in to my journey and one day less.

Day 4-5 or 7/1/12-7/2/12

Day 4

Yesterday we did not go to CPO. We did not go to CPO because Sundays are days off. So during the day we went to different orphanages to give out our supplies. But first we had to go to the Market to get the kids to food they needed. My favorite part was watching other people try to bargain in Khmer. No one knew enough Khmer to understand so everyone was acting and writing. That was my favorite part of the day but the worst part of my day was the smell, seeing the fish being descaled while they were still alive, and seeing all of the meat was sitting out baking in the sun with flies

The first orphanage we went to was SFODA which was and orphanage across Tonle Sap river. While we were driving to the orphanage we had to get their by tuk-tuks so ii was with Li and the other kids were with Jack. Once we started our drive we got a call from Lisa-Marie saying," We were driving and our Tuk-Tuk broke down. It is alright because Jacks friend was heading that was so Jack got his friends Tuk-Tuk." Meanwhile we drove to a different orphanage. After we got there we started playing with the kids and then we got a tour. Each of the kids got their own bed and some of them got a bike. The girls room was on the right ans the boys on the left. It took the other group 1:30 min to get to the orphanage. Once the other group got there a different family came to visit and they brought all kids of goodies. They gave at least one thing to every kid and there are about 60 kids. The kids also went to eat lunch. In the kitchen and where the kids eat were all of these amazing pictures that the kids made themselves. how the money was distributed is 50% of the money went to the kids, 30% went to supplies, and 20% went to the orphanage. Most of the kids got one painting but I did not. Instead I got bracelets for my friends and family I only got 5 of them. We left the bag for the kids to choose themselves.

Then we came back to the Tattoo Guest House to eat lunch. Some of us went up to our room to cool down or repack for the day. We rarely come back to the hotel during the day. Most of us just ate and enjoyed our meal. We had 20 min to do what we wanted.

Then we went to the internet cafe so we could do our blogs. we had 30 min there and I did not have enough time to finish so I had to finish it at the hotel. Some people got to go on their Facebook  or their Skype when they finished their blog i did not cause I did not have that opportunity.

After that we went to the market again but a different market. Since it was 2 in the afternoon all of the flies were out. The meat was covered with the flies and the store owner was waving a plastic bag over the meat so the flies would go away for a second. Therefore they had to do it all day long. While we were in the market we saw fake I-Phones and fake phones.

The next orphanage we went to was PIO and PIO was on the edge of the Trash dump. It did not smell but when you looked outside you saw trash and that is it. They used to have the orphanage and that was it but then they added the school. Then that school was starting to fall down so they got so funders and they ended up building a nice school that is 4 stories high. The building was painted yellow, it was bright and cheery. While we were there we learned how to make origami, to color and to draw. The very first supplies that we handed out were paper and markers. All of the kids ran as fast as they could to get the paper.Then we saw the orphans do their dance and then we had a dance party and anything you would do they would copy. Lisa-Marie said,"This is your last song. Then 5 songs later we ended up going home. All of the kids said ,"I come with you in your suitcase." That just broke my heart. We got out to our Tuk-Tuk and the kids were holding on while we drove away and all of the kids ran until we were on the real road. That was the most fun that I had on the trip.

Day 5

Today we went back to CPO and we hung with the kids for anout and hour before we started our cleaning. My job was cleaning the bathroom with Camryn. Then Danial came and he was the man that buit the well. Then the Neighbor visited which was Srey Paul and she was the cutest little thing that i ever saw. she absolutely loves water. So we played in the Water the whole day. then we had to pick up the trash so we could build the cloth-line. We also had to find all of these bricks so we could build a pig pen. We found 271 bricks and we needed 700 so the rest we had to buy. Tomorrow we have to go and find the pig because today we went to look and we could not find the pig farm. so we ended up just getting the supplies for the pig pen and the cloth-line. Then we had to pick up more trash. Then we got to play with the kids and the younger kids played in the water and the other kids played a humming game. I played in the water with the little kids. Then we had a DANCE PARTY!!!!!! Then we had to come back to the hotel. We got our normal good bye greeting and a little boy that lives across the street  ran the fastest and the furthest.

That was the end of day 5. My journey Has passed one more day like it is a minute. Thank you for your time and support. miss ya.

day 2 and 3 or 6/29/12 - /30/12

Day 2 or 6/29/12 Friday was a day full of hard work and laughter. The day started out with us arriving in the tuk-tuk to the orphanage and the kids ran out to us and are normal greetings. Then all of us went inside on the stage and druze in some coloring books. Srey May and I colored angry birds because in Cambodia angry bits are the new cool thing. Then Mallory and I went to the volleyball court to play volley ball with the boys and they are so so good. We played vollybally for and hour or more.

Then we went to the garden to help out. Two kids stayed and played with the orphans. In the garden we had to upturn the soil and make a bed for plants to be planted. We all got special tools to re-surface the soil. We worked on the garden for 2 hours and it was sooooo hot we were all sweating so much. Although it was hot there was a final result. All of the hard work had paid off. That made everyone so happy.

Then we were all coloring and someone found a crayons gun and they started shooting the crayons at everyone and then there was a crayon war. We were all running around laughing and having such a good time. For me that was the best part of the day. But then all of the crayons were gone because they had fall through the cracks in the floor. So we all had to crawl under and pick up all of the crayons. That was the end of the crayon war. While we were having the crayon two of the girls had to clean the bathrooms because they needed to be cleaned. Once we finished picking up all of the crayons and the two girls finished both of the bathrooms we had a limbo game going on. For most of the time the little kids would walk through they did not even have to duck they just walked right on through. Even with their advantage Camryn won. It looked like she was laying down and walking at the same time. Some of the kids slipped or fell. We also go tons of great laughs.

After that Camryn, Mallory, and I got to go and talk to Sopia. Sopia was a 28 year old man that has been at the orphanage since 2004. But when he was 4 he was walking with his friend and a land Mine blue up causing him to be blind. But in his mind he likes the color blue and red. He LOVES to play music. He is also a music teacher. Sopia says," I am sooooo sorry I can't see you and I will never forget you. Will you ever forget me?" We all sayed," we would never forget you or your story." then he sayed,"that's good and I miss the other group but mostly jack and he is a good boy." I could talk to Sopia all da but I only got 1 hour before I had to help out with the other kids. That was the end of the second day and my journey is still going but one day shorter.

Day 3 or 6/30/12

We drove up to the orphanage and we got our normal morning greatin greatings; which are all the kids running out saying, " Hi, Hi, Hi." then we went inside to the stage where all the kids play and we got to hang out with the kids for about 5 min before we had to start our morning work which today was planting the plants. The plants that we were planting were called pei. It is a leaf that you put in soups or make tee. How we planted the plants were we dug a whole and held the soil back while we took the plant and folded it into a U shape. We had top do 3 across and a ton down. I think we had planted well over 100 plants. then in the next 2 rows we had to dig the soil so it made a little divit in the center so we could put new leaves and sticks in to fertalize the soil. On top of that we had to plant the plants. so in the end we ended up doing 4 rows of planting. We were all exhausted after doing that but when we took a step back and looked back on what we had accomplished it gave us that extra push that made us finish the day.

Then we got to play with the kids. The little kids LOVE candy; but the middle kids like to color and draw; and the oldest kids like to play vollyball. So through out the day you do all of the different things you can. The kids there are so creative because they use sticks and create all different kinds of games. like the one where they take two sticks and hit them on the ground going in on 2 and out on 3 so the pattern is 3,3,2 and people jump in and out. we got everyone through the game durring the day. the kids will also sing while you did the jumping, and the kids have a whole dance they created wioth the sticks.

we got to talk to Sopia again today and he taught us some khmere and he told us he only gets to see his family once a year. that made me so sad and he rarely gets to leave the orphanage. Then we were talking monkey child was poring water on his head then pored it on nikko that is how the WAR began. buckets of water we being pulled up from the well. At the end we were all soaked execpt the adults. There were so many laughes.

Then after we ate lunch we went to the slums. You do not know the true definition of "slums" until you go to see how they live. While we were there we got to go to the school and the library of the orphans. I loved the school and how they were learning English. The teacher would say a word and the kids would say it after and he would see if they could spell e word if not he spelled it. While we were still in the slums we got to see Srey Tok's house. We saw her godmother and we woos went to Srey Mey's house and we got to see her parents. She was pulling me ahead of the group to show me first but I had to stay with the group. Then when we were walking through Srey Mey's house out the back door was a path to the orphanage. I thought that it was so sad seeing how most of the parents live. I wish I got to see more of the slums. It made me so sad but gave me a better perspective on life and the stories behind the kids lives. Then we played monkey in the middle and vollyball. But while we were playing it started raining so hard so all of the kids ran out and started taking their shower by the well. One of the kids decided to dump a bucket of water on the ground and everyone was sliding through the mud. Then Bret was running from Nerot and he did not see the mud and was running full spread and takes a huge digger. Then he is all muddy for the tuk-tuk ride home. Right before we were about to leave everyone got together and started singing and it sounded so pretty. While they were singing Srey Tok fell asleep in the middle of singing a song and she was so cute. That was the very best way to end the day. Then we got in the tuk-tuk Lisa-Marie made all of the wet and dirty kids sit on one side and the dry and clean on the other. We got our normal goodbyes which are the kids running after us and Nerot made it the furthest. My journey is still happening and I love it and there are many more days to come but one less as yesterday. Thank you for you time reading my blogs. Miss ya

6/28/12

WOW!!! is all I can say. This has been a wonderful journey so far. today has been amazing. It was full of suprizes. Waking up at 6:30 and not knowing what you are doing for the day. Today was also the first day on our journey.

The first place we went to was orientation. Orientation was at the STAR kampuchea and is the place where you learn about Cambodia, its language, and its history. Everyone went in being so excited. As a group we had an introduction, then we played a game, then Cambodia's history, and finally the language. The people introduced themselves in the intro. Then for the game we all got a stack of papers and had to build the biggest building we could in 3 min. my group was Ava, mallory, and my self. After that we learned all kinds of facts about Cambodia. finally we all got to speak khmer (the language.)

The second place we went to was the Genocide Museum. It was so so sad seeing pictures and hearing the story of our tour guide. The pictures almost made me cry. Even thinking about how someone could control all thoses people being tortured and killed. The ruler was Pol Pot. There were 20,000 people that died and only 7 survived, and there are only 2 alive today. We met both of them in the museum.

The third place we went was the killing fields. It was and audio tour. We got to hear stories of the people who were in the killing fields and only 2 escaped. The other stories were family members. The busses started out bringing 40-50 people in 3 weeks then turned to 300+ every week. There were remains of bones and clothing. when they got to the camp it was night and they were blind folded and there was loud music so the people could not here others screaming and crying.

Last we went to the orphanage . We pulled up to the orphanage and all of the kids were surrounding the car.  We all got out of the van and started talking to us. is seamed like we had known them for years. We only got to go to the orphanage for and hour and it seemed like we were there for 5 min. as soon as I walked inside i made my friend she stuck out of all of the orphans. Here name was Srey Mey. She was so nice and her smile could brighten a room. Srey Mey made my day. When we left the orphanage all of the kids were surrounding the van once again. Once we started driving away they started running as fast as they could after us.

Today has just come to and end and it was the first day of my journey. I can not wait until we go back to the orphanage exept for longer. So tired and now heading up to bed. Thank you for your support.

Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. ~Author Unknown

7 Days Until My Dreams Turn into Reality

Excited yet nervous. In my head the time is winding down. Every day the time starts winding even faster and soon enough I will be there in Cambodia helping out.  Just the thought of helping out half way across the world and changing people’s lives makes me anxious to just be on the plane heading out to help the orphans.

The nerves are building up I can’t even wait until I am there in Cambodia helping out even if it is 100 degrees and it is humid and I am sweating in places that I never knew could sweat. That’s all fine with me because if you bring it to reality you think we are only here for 17 days to change the and our way of living and I need to remember we are only here for such little time so I need to WORK. That means pushing everyone to their limits shedding tears, sweat, and blood. That means every second of every minute of every day we need to work. I also need to keep in mind how much effort and love we put in to help these kids is going to be magnified for them because this is not an everyday thing were they get to have people around them that TRULY love them.<3 <3

Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. ~Author Unknown

Ignite. Inspire. Empower.

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work." Colin Powell

Yesterday I finished most of my Cambodia shopping. When we were checking out people thought we were crazy because we were buying lice spray, bed bug spray, lice treatment, etc. It took all day and I am not exaggerating. We had to buy bug spray with a 30 deet. We could not find the 30 deet we could only find ones with a 25 deet and well we are still looking for that one because I would rather be safe than sorry. I had also gotten my shots and boy did the typhoid hurt it made my arm hurt for 3 days. And I have finished all of my fundraising.At the time when I started the fundraising I thougt I would not make enough money but I got some extra mone to send one of the kids to a good school. Well that is the easy part now I have to figure one thing out which kid to send to school. I am so excited to go to Cambodia on this once in a life time trip.

Ignite. Inspire. Empower.

"A dream Dosen't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work," Colin Powell 

“Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it.” ~Jacques Prévert

I can still remember the day I got the call. I was on my way to the Vail Preforming Arts Center to see what the dancers have been training all year for. So we were about to go into the parking structure and my sisters phone was ringing so she pulled out her phone and it said Lisa Marie. Therefore Maddie told Crissy (friends mom driving) “Can you please stop I need to answer this.” Crissy said, “OK but put it on speaker phone.” Then Lisa Marie says, “Hi, this is Lisa Marie and I am so sorry you are going to have to be away from home for a while!!!!” We are all so happy and Crissy is crying because she was so happy. :) thanks to Lisa Marie my sister Maddie and I would  be going on these amazing trips. Maddie is going to Nicaragua and I am going to Cambodia on the second trip.

"Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it." ~Jacques Prévert