Oh how time flies...

Picture Update!

Me and Hannah session 2 at Hospital Hoopla. LONG time ago!
So some of us coaches decided to dress up as the spice girls for Dancing Thru the Decades. I have a brown wig on FYI. I was Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham). Apparently she always had these little glasses on so I wore my friend Anna's glasses. I had about 6 different people tell me I looked good with brown hair. So if my hair ever gets darker I guess I don't have anything to worry about.
Our cabin week 2 on Dancing thru the Decades night. They were 4th and 5th graders.
When I saw myself in this wig with these glasses on, I immediately thought of this picture of mom. I pasted the two next to eachother to see if we looked alike.
Me and Hannah, love it!
Our cabin, week 3, at the Texas County Fair on Wednesday afternoons, my favorite theme night!
My Batter's Box week 3. (L to R) Elyse, Maddie H., Maddie Y., Pilar, and Dana
My friend, Kim, from volleyball. She got this dress at goodwill, love it!
Hannah and me with Callie. She was our all-star. All Stars are high schoolers who come in and work either 4 or 3 weeks as like the maintenance crew, kitchen staff, etc. They don't actually cook our food, they just serve it. We loved her and miss her greatly!
Me and Elyse! I was able to have her last year in the cabin, and again this year. I love this girl! She is SO precious, sweet, and loving.
Our cabin week 3 before Dancing Thru the Decades. I went for the '80s look again.
My small group girls in volleyball from week 3. (L to R) Audrey, Caroline, Sam, Maddie, and Mary Caroline. The thing about camp is that if there's a kid that's a turd, I probably won't ever name one of my children that name. These girls were all fabulous though! However, there are SO many girls named Madeline, Madison, etc. They all go by Maddie too!!! When in doubt, call the kid Maddie.
Me and my Batter's Box children week 4. I wish I had more pictures of this week. They were my babies, and they were AWESOME! I've never had babies (kids who just finished 1st grade or 2nd grade) so this was a treat! L to R: Maddie, Emma, Madison, Kate (my director's daughter!), Aubree, and Jessica. Love them!
Me, Hannah, Anna, and Kelly before County Fair on week 5. They were the coaches in Mustang Ridge which was right next to us. We shared a bathroom, and became great friends!
Our cabin week 5! They were all LOC's, which means they were the oldest kids at camp a.k.a. Leaders of Camp. They were so much fun, and so chill compared to our "babies" from week 4.
The girl in the middle is Hannah Gruss, she is from California. She wasn't able to come during training week so she came and "shadowed" us/was our 3rd coach week 5. I love her, and I'm SO glad we got to know her and that she's here coaching with us for 2nd half.
Hannah and I :( our last week together!
Hannah's Batter's Box. L to R: Meg, Claudia, Hannah, Jackie, and Megan
My Batter's Box week 5. L to R: Brooke, Emily, me, Sarah, and Sloane. They were fabulous!
For mission impossible on Thursday nights we do this big mission all over camp. You run around, the kids have to do missions, and you try to get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place based on points. The kids sometimes get this facepaint stuff. We used some, and it didn't ever really dry. It was more like lipstick. So after it was all said and done, we had smeared Barney-gone-wrong faces! Good times
Me, Kelly, and Anna being dorks and enjoying our last week together.
This is my covenant group from 1st half! We have different people here since it's 2nd half now. L to R: Me, Anna, Deborah, and Anna. Front Row L to R: Becca, Laura (my cov leader), and Courtney. Love them!!! I miss the 1st half people a lot
Hannah and I before Dancing thru the Decades. I decided to go '90s this week. I tried curling my bangs under with the curling iron, but they were too long. I decided to trim them because they needed trimming anyway. It sounded like a great idea at the time, but now my bangs are annoyingly short and hard to put up...but hey I looked good! Oh, the things I do for camp!
Me, Hannah, and Hannah. Studs
Our kids and us week 5 before Dancing thru the Decades. Please note my crayola crayon shirt, overalls, and tall socks. I also had my hair in a bun ponytail. Those were the good days!
Volleyball coaches from 1st half! I LOVED these guys, they definitely made my day a little brighter. L to R: Jessica, Jamie, Amanda, Kim, me and Annie. Jessica, Kim, me, and Annie all worked 1st half together last year. We were all rookies then, it was SO great to get to work with them again. They're so fun!
This is Courtney. Every week after girls coach bible study, we would get into small groups and talk about what we learned, what's going on in our lives, our struggles, our joys, etc. Courtney was my partner, it was SO good to have someone to listen and care about what I was going through, and pray for me. She was amazing!
Me, Hannah, and Anna on our last Closing Day together!
At least I still have Hannah here with me full summer! We may not be co's anymore, but I get to be with here in GCD. I miss living with her!

Sorry I haven't been too informative lately. I will be coming home this Saturday!!!!! I get a week off. More info to come!!!

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE EVERYONE!

Comments

I was informed that unless you were a member you weren't able to comment on my blog or something like that. I think I changed it, so if you want to comment feel free. I just got on to write this real quick, I will do my best to update everyone later.

Half....Way....Done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Belated Father's Day

I didn't get a chance to blog last weekend. My 24 hour break just gets away from me somehow!

Anyway, I just wanted to say Happy Father's Day to all those dads, especially my wonderful dad!

-Thank you for always putting up with me when I was younger, and my attitude.

-Thanks for not always just wearing my bottom out, but sitting down and lecturing me like Willie Purtee used to do yall kids.

-Thanks for saying things like "just go with the flow" and "watch your tone Rachel Elizabeth" probably 30,000 times over the course of my life so far.

-Thank you for teaching me to ride a bike in 1st grade down the road to the Kelso's and back.

-Thank you for letting me try every sport I could ever have wanted to including dance, gymnastics, softball, soccer, volleyball, cheerleading...and for paying for them!

-Thank you for taking me to numerous J.O. tournaments pretty much every weekend from Jan-May for 9 years!

-Thank you for actually watching those countless volleyball matches even when I had a bad attitude, or for coming to my school games straight from work in your suit and tie.

-Thank you for always telling me to "police my room" each morning before school, and teaching me to be clean. (I actually tell my kids that every morning here at camp, ha)

-Thank you for teaching me hard work, not only by your words, but by your example.

-Thank you for teaching me and making me mow the yard, rake the leaves, and clean the pool.

-Thank you for building us a playhouse, letting us have dogs, providing us with food, shelter, and a comfy bed to sleep in, toys, games, tv's, everything we ever wanted with little to no thanks in return sometimes.

-Thank you for always bandaging me, and taking care of me through my whiney, accident prone years.

-Thanks for teaming up with mom and making me do stuff like play the violin for 8 years...and for listening to me practice even though I'm sure it wasn't that good!

-Thanks for teaching me about commitment, and that once I start something I'm to finish it and do it to the best of my ability.

-Thanks for teaching me about integrity, and how to do things the honorable and right way...not "playing the politics" or using your name to accomplish things.

-Thanks for letting us play Pretty Pretty Princess with Laura and me, and putting on plastic jewelry.

-Thanks for always saying "I love you, you know that?" every morning and night when I woke up/went to bed.

-Thanks for always saying "you know, there's some kid out there who would give their right arm for _____" because I wasn't always that appreciative of what I had.

-Thanks for saying the "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep..." prayer with me when I was younger and listening to me go through the entire family (cousins and their dogs included) when I'm sure you were dog tired from a day at work.

-Thanks for answering my many questions when I was younger like "what are the yellow striped lines on the road for?" and explaining them to me.

-Thanks for always verbally praising me for when I did good. I think my "words of encouragement" love language is because of you.

-Thanks for being such a great, Godly example to Laur-o and me when mom was sick and after her passing.

-Thanks for loving me during my time of rebellion when I was a teenager.

-Thanks for STILL giving us lectures about being clean, and money management.

-Thanks for your "no news is good news" policy, and letting Laura and me have adventures in life and trusting us.

-Thanks for buying me a white convertible sebring with a black top when I was 15 because that was my dream car I wanted.

-Thanks for always helping me put on my pantyhose before church each Sunday when I was a little kid, I know now that I have to put them on myself how difficult that was.

-Thanks for sitting me on your knee every morning in the bathroom and telling me to say "eee" and "aah" while you helped me brush my teeth....no cavities still :)

-Thanks for always letting me peel your sunburns after we came back from the beach each year.

-Thanks for waking me up gently every morning for the first 17 years of my life even though I was grouchy EVERY single morning...waking up on my own is definitely not as much fun!

-Thank you for rubbing my back and singing Winnie the Pooh to me to help me go to sleep when I was younger...and for waking back up and continuing to rub my back/sing when you fell asleep first.

-Thank you for being protective of us concerning boys when we were in jr. high and high school. Yes, fear of potentially telling you I had a boyfriend kept me from having one sometimes, but I am thankful nonetheless.

-Thank you for driving on all the family vacations we took, and taking the seats out in the van to put the portable tv in there so we could watch movies and lay down.

-Thank you for taking care of Harley half the time, and ALWAYS taking care of Buddy and Rolly even though they were "mine and Laura's" dogs.

-Thank you for somewhat building our house with Papa Willie. I was only 3, so I don't really remember it, but I know you worked hard like you always do.

-Thank you for always being a great example of Christ's love for me and Laura.

-Thank you for always loving my mom and being faithful to her.

-Thank you for showing me the value of family, and that I should always be thankful for them.

-Thank you for being my dad and for all that you've done for me. I am so blessed!

These are some of my favorite pictures over the years with my dad.

This is us eating Laura's 22nd birthday cake. Dad had done something funny for the camera and this was us laughing after.

Our family this past thanksgiving taking Christmas pictures.

The Purtee family eating in Memphis for Laura's 21st birthday.

Dad helped me vote for the first time. Yes, I'm a nerd, and I wanted to document it.

Me, Dad, and his mom (Granny) at my senior sports banquet.

Some of our family at my senior sunday. They came to support me even though I went to a different church than all them.

Laura, Lana, Dad, and me at my senior homecoming game.

Me, Lana, and Dad at homecoming senior year.

My senior homecoming pep rally.

My senior cheer camp. Dad with the video camera, always supporting us and catching every minute of it.

I received an award my junior year in Little Rock. Dad took off work, and went with me for the presentation.

Our family in Memphis eating for mom's birthday my freshman year.

My mom's family at Thanksgiving my freshman year.

This picture is poor quality, but I love it! Dad used to mow the yard with me on his shoulders, and I would fall asleep. Laura popped up in the shot. After carrying kids around on my shoulders here at camp, I now know how annoying and difficult it is to have this dead weight that fidgets and doesn't help hold themselves up.

I wish I had a picture of me on the big wheel tricycle, but this Barbie jeep will do. I used to ride down the drive way on it, and rather than me walking myself up Dad would always push me back up.

I just had to include this picture because I just love it so much. It's mom and dad on a church choir trip I think.

The Purtee children at Christmas 05. Mom and Dad were able to come home from M.D. Anderson in Houston.

Dad and Mom always supported me at my boring, long J.O. tournaments.

Camp Keepers

At camp, we do these things called Camp Keepers. It's when a kid says something either funny, meaningful, outrageous. Basically, they're moments of camp we'd like to keep...hence the name.

Camp Keeper from Week 2:

During the gospel presentation this week, we were talking about Jesus' crucifixion and all that took place. One of my fourth graders said, "Yea and they like hammered nails into his head and stuff too." I think she was confusing the nails in his hands with the crown of thorns on his head. Kids say the darndest things!!!

Another thing from this week that I found amusing:

On Tuesday, I had my FOB (means "feet on bunk", it's basically naptime for the campers) off. When you have FOB off you can go out front, use your phone, get on the computer, etc. I was blogging for a bit, and one of my fellow girl coaches who I don't extremely well asked about my blog and what the web address was. I told her, she then got on it and was looking it over. When she saw the big, main picture of me and Mick she asked, "Oh is that you and your brother?" I laughed, told her it was my boyfriend, and then she felt bad/slightly embarrassed. I told her not to feel bad because we do look alike, and then we laughed about it. Good times!

Week 2=DONE!

"The days go by slow, but the weeks go by fast"-Me. I made up this little proverb/phrase of wisdom. It's been so true here lately. My days are long and slow, but I blink on Opening Day and it's Closing Day!

I can't believe session 2 is over! I had a great week. I had girls who just finished 4th grade, there were 10 of them, and they were awesome! Two of the girls I had last year in my other cabin, and one of them I had her older sister last year also. They were all super sweet! I had a really awesome experience with one of them, Emma. She got sick about Tuesday with a fever, headaches, and ear aches. I'm pretty sure it was sinuses, allergies, and a little virus. I got to spend a lot of time with her in the Med Mound this week (the nurse's station), and it was a really awesome way to get to know her better. She confided a lot of stuff in me, and I was able to comfort her when she was upset. It was just a great example of the type of community God's designed us to live in. I could be her support system for the week (what 10 year old girl in this world doesn't need a support system!), and she got to hear stories about my growing up, how I went through the same things she was, and how I learned from them.

Volleyball was great this week! We had 38 girls so we brought in a girl who normally does soccer for the week. She's doing volleyball 2nd half of the summer so she knows what she's talking about. In our volleyball small groups, 3 of my 6 girls were in my cabin last year. One was also in volleyball last year, and the other 2 were newbies. They were all going into 7th grade except one, she was going into 6th. They were so fun to be around, and hang out with. I love being with the older girls, you get to have semi-adult conversation with them. We thought of some ways to make volleyball more interesting and fun this week learning-wise. It's hard to teach them, I know that's the most boring part! It always was for me. We brought in "coach ramirez" who was one of our coaches dressed up and had this awful Spanish accent. She pretended she knew what she was doing, but was really saying everything opposite and wrong. Then we were able to teach them by showing her the proper way to do things. I thought it went really well.

It poured Tuesday night! I have never heard thunder and lighting like I did that night, it sounded like a war was going on outside. It rained from about 9:30pm to 6am Wednesday morning. I loved it because it helped me go to sleep. I didn't wake up until about 5am that morning, but there were lots of people who barely slept. I guess that's the beauty of being a heavy sleeper :) Because of the storm, Wednesday was a crazy day. Wednesday's schedule is normally different just because we do the gospel presentation that night, so that alters our whole day. We got to sleep in an extra hour because the storm caused electricity problems. It was a great day...stressful, but great!

Today, Saturday, a big group of us came to one girl's ranch in Shiner. Shiner is about an hour 1/2 away from camp so my friend, Kim, and I drove together. The girl we're all staying with, Courtney, is in my covenant group. She's AMAZING! I love being around her and getting to know her. Anyway, she lives on a ranch. I pretty much consider a ranch in Texas to be comparable to a farm in Arkansas. It's a big area of land, they have horses, chickens, and other animals. They raise deer though which is really cool. Their house is HUGE, she has 3 brothers and sisters, and they were all home-schooled growing up. They're a very sweet family. The brother, who is only 1 year younger than me, said "yes ma'am" to me haha. Courtney' mom and dad cooked brisket, scalloped potatoes, bread, yummy salad, and ice cream for us!!!! They won't let us chip in for food costs. They're also letting us use their TWO washers and driers to do our laundry. They're definitely one of those families that uses their resources to love on and bless others. They're wonderful! Anyway, we're starting a giant game of sardines (there's about 20 of us here and they have enough beds for all of us if that tells you anything), so I'm going to go play.

Love everyone dearly :) thanks to those who have been writing and such. I will do my best to continue updating as often as possible! I hope week 3 goes as awesome as this week did. I can't believe it's "hump week" for first halfers. They only coach 5 weeks so week 3 is the midpoint. I can't believe I've been here for 4 weeks, and that I only have 9 weeks left! I'm like 1/4 of the way done. Like I said, "the days go by slow, but the weeks go by fast".

Goodnight to all!

P.S. Pictures to come whenever I get time that I feel like doing it.

Week 2 is in progress!

Hey family and friends,

It is Tuesday of week 2. This week we have girls who just finished the 4th grade. They're AMAZING! Not that my girls last week weren't, but I just have a heart for the younger ones. There are 10 of them, I will take pictures to show. I only have a couple more minutes, I have a break during the girls' nap time. I've been getting some lovely letters in the mail, and writing people back. Thanks SO MUCH to everyone that's been mailing me, it really encourages me. This week I feel rejuvinated more so than last week, which is odd. I kind of had the fire lit up in me again for some reason. Last week was just really weird, I was getting into the swing of things. Now I've pretty much developed this routine (I don't like change, if you didn't already know) so it's been good to get going. Well....I must go now. I will write whenever I get the chance to again. It may be Saturday. Love everybody, miss everybody! Feel free to facebook me, let me know what's going on with everyone, I'm SO out of the loop.

Picture Time!!

These pictures are all out of order, they mostly go from last to first. So start at the bottom and scroll up.

This is my co, Hannah, and I with Kat. She was a camper this first session. She has cerebral palsy, and was able to come to camp for the very first time this week through this organization that a guy, Andrew who also has CP and came to camp, started. It was such a blessing to see her be able to do stuff like the ropes course for the whole time. All the kids were so nice and accepting towards her. They cheered for her when she came up on the closing day video.

This is my volleyball small group girls. There were 31 girls this week, and 6 coaches so we each had about 5 girls. From left to right their names are: Hattie, Blake, Madeleine Ruth, Shannon, and Kali.

This is my batter's box girls before our Dancing Thru the Decades theme night.

This is our whole cabin before the Dancing Thru the Decades theme night.

This is all the coaches from the quad. Kelly, Annie, Kim, Blaire, Courtney, me, Anna, and Hannah.

All us coaches again.

My co and I on County Fair theme night. I found my outfit at Goodwill for $5. Hannah was the county fair queen.

My batter's box girls and I on County Fair theme night. They are from left to right: Emily, Jessi, Bridgette, Riley, and Anna. They're all 11, going into 6th grade, and a lot of fun!

Hannah and I on our first day of camp, so excited to get campers!

Blake and I at the Camp Travis bootscoot.

My friend Josh who goes to Lyon. His girlfriend, Mallory, is my roommate and one of my best friends.

This is my co Hannah Walker!

This is the women's director, Trish. She's from Arkansas and played volleyball at UCA.

This is Erin. She's on leadership. She played volleyball at DBU (Dallas Baptist University) and just graduated. We really bonded the first day she got here. She's an amazing person!

This is Hannah Wright. She's going to be a sophomore at ASU and she's doing first half this summer! I'm so excited for her to work at camp, she's going to be great :)

A group of us at Rio Rio when we went to the San Antonio Riverwalk during Training Week.

This is Kim and Amanda, two of my good volleyball friends. This is our silly picture we took at the San Antonio River Walk.

This is Phillip and Aaron. We went to high school together. Our youth minister, Craig, told us all about T Bar M. I'm so excited we're all getting to work together this summer.

This is my covenant leader, Laura. She's one of my very best friends from last year.

This is my best camp friend, Kim Rohlfs. We were in the same covenant last year, and did volleyball together last year. We're in volleyball together again this year, and I'm so excited for us to build on our relationship.