Hooray for Friends!

This weekend, I had the opportunity to go see some friends up in Kansas City for the first time in over a year. It was awesome to see them and get to hang out, even though it was only for a day. I got to see my good friends Jamie Stock, Kaleb Westerman, Meg Burch, Jordan Kreutzer, Kyle Ray, Matthew Mehl, Keith Ewy, Catie Byers, and I even made a new friend, Kaitlyn McManus! We had a blast hanging out at Jamie's house and then going to the Winter Jam concert, which we almost got turned away from. But none the less, we had a lot of fun playing ping pong, dancing, telling campfire stories, and playing catch phrase. It was awesome!

It was weird to think that I hadn't seen some of these people for over a year, but when we got back together, it felt like we were picking up right where we had left off. I definitely know that these are some great friends. We all met at Chrysalis (besides Matt, Meg, and Jordan) and we've shared a lot of amazing memories together. I know that these are friends that I can trust. I seem to have a great set of friends everywhere. I have my Chrysalis friends, my Southwestern friends, my Leoti friends, and my PT friends. All of them mean the world to me and I hope that as we grow older, we won't fade from each other. I'm hoping that in twenty years, I can still have a great conversation with them about life and past events. I feel kind of cheesy, but my friends really mean a lot to me! Thanks for all the memories, everybody! You all mean so much!

PT Round 3!

The wait is over. I'm going back to PT for the third time!!! I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous about getting accepted, mainly because there would be more applications. Americorps finally allowed PT to extend there maximum amount of terms to four. But either way, I'm still going back!

PT has been a wonderful experience for me in my life. It's given me a lot more experience with kids. It's given me a better perspective of under served children. It's given me sooooooooooooo many new friends! I absolutely love what PT has given me through the past two summers.

Now, as I have the opportunity to go back for a third summer, I have to make this summer the best one yet. It will be hard to top the past two, but I think with the help of some other returners, we could make this one to never forget!

I LOVE PT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So cool!

My girlfriend is pretty awesome AND she found something technological that I hadn't seen before! Apparently, I can see how many people have viewed my blog and how many times it has been viewed. I can also see what countries have viewed it. Pretty awesome, huh?

Well I haven't blogged in a while (slap hand) and I seem to do this regularly haha. So I'm going to try and blog more often. I'll give a short update as to where my life's at right now:

• Junior Physical Education Major at Southwestern College
• PROUD uncle of two nephews and two nieces
• Still dating the lovely Molly Komlofske. Currently at a year and a half on Feb. 7th
• Thinking about moving to Vietnam for mission work
• Totally kidding about that last one haha
• Probably going to do Project Transformation again this summer. It's so good!!!

Ok, so that's where I stand as of this point. Have a good life full of good friends, shelter, good health, great role models, etc. Can't complain!

This year could be a little crazy. I've got a lot of tough classes that could really challenge me, plus they could involve a lot of observation. I'm taking 18 credit hours this semester, but most of my classes are pretty interesting. Student teaching will be next spring, and that's really sneaking up on me. It's almost time to step out into real adulthood. I don't know exactly how ready I am for that, but whether I am or not, it'll happen soon. Too bad people can't just stay at college and live the college life without classes. Now THAT would be pretty sweet!

Anyways, today is a beautiful day and I'm going to play some ultimate football with some friends! I'll try to post more often, so check every now and then!

Can I come back?

My last day of summer program at PT has ended. Wednesday was my last day as an intern at Casa Linda United Methodist Church. I have had such a wonderful experience with Project Transformation. I have grown so much in my emotional and spiritual attitude. I have loved working with all of these interns and will miss them deeply. At this point, I can't fathom going back to college or working anywhere else because PT has become such a natural lifestyle for me. I feel so comfortable at PT and know that I could do it for the rest of my life! Unfortunately, Americorps decided to shut us down at two terms. Grrrrrr!!!!!

Entering into my last day, I knew that it was going to be a little bit of mixed feelings for me. Last summer I worked with the Elementary so I knew most of the kids downstairs. As for this year, I'm working with the youth. At the end of the summer, there is a week long event called Urban Camp where all the youth are invited to join us for one last hoorah! Knowing this, I wasn't really that sad for the day because I knew I would see most of my youth the following week. Nothing really hit me until it was about time to leave and I saw my Elementary. So many had heads down, eyes full of tears. As we released them one last time, I got so many goodbye hugs but probably got the biggest hugs ever from some of my younger girls, Paola and Salem, two of the cutest girls at Casa Linda! Each gave me a huge hug and started sobbing like crazy. All I could do was hold them and tell them how much I was going to miss them. After each had their turn, they waited outside for their parents. All I could then think of was "What am I going to do without them?"

As I then started to clean up one last time, I started to reflect. I know that I have made my impact on my Casa Linda kids. I feel that the kids got to know me as a very positive, friendly, and goofy role model. I love my kids to death and wish the best for them. I know that I can't come back and work with them so I have to do what I have been told. I must understand that the seed has been planted and I must move on with my life and let that seed grow. It's going to be very hard for me to not be able to come back next summer, but I trust that the next interns will take great care of my kids. I will continue to pray for my kids and for the future interns. May God bless them all in their paths ahead!

Turning Point

Hard to say we're already done with PT! But alas, it is true, PT is now officially halfway over. We received our second paycheck yesterday and we are getting ready to start our three day weekend! Goodness, it seems like just yesterday I started program. Time certainly is flying!

So I'm reflecting back on my first half and this is what I'm coming up with:

1) Youth can definitely be a handful! I forgot how immature, rude, cocky, uncaring, and ridiculous they can be!!! Kinda makes me wonder how bad I was in junior high haha. Even though the youth are incredibly different than elementary kids, they are definitely a challenge. I enjoy this challenge with these kids. Every day they teach me something new. I've built some strong relationships with some of them already and there are still a select few that I really want to reach the inside of. I will say this though, pray for these kids. I was told of a problem one of our youth is having in their personal life and I'm really hoping that they can turn that around. We're trying very hard to reach them and be very caring and positive. Unfortunately, we can only get the youth through the day then they're back home where the problems probably originated. So keep them in your prayers...specifically for guidance.

2) My team is a lot different than last year. Last year we probably had about the closest thing to a perfect team I could have imagined. This summer, my team seems to be a little more diverse with attitudes and morals. I love my team to death, but I must admit, I'm struggling to stay patient and calm, especially during meetings. I don't want any kind of drama, so I'm working really hard not to let my emotions get to me. I would also ask for prayer for me though. I'm having another great experience and I want to make sure to avoid conflict at all cost.

So those are my two main concerns with the summer. I'm having a great time and pray that the rest of the summer goes smooth and steady! Before I know it, I'll be headed back to Kansas! Crazy, huh?

Project Transformation...Round 2!!!

That's right, I'm back in the big state of Texas again for the summer doing Project Transformation. I couldn't resist coming back for a second round! Last year, when I was down here in Dallas and Molly was up in Kansas doing her internship with Epic Church, it was pretty tough not being able to see her at all. I had told myself that if I was going to return to PT, I wanted to bring Molly along with me. So once it was time to start searching for summer jobs, I started talking about PT A LOT!!! She kept telling me, "O, we'll see" but that wasn't good enough for me! I stayed persistent with it and soon was able to convince her to apply! It was an even greater feeling when I heard her say "Yes, I'd love to accept the position!" on her phone interview! (I was eavesdropping in her living room while she was in her bedroom haha). So Molly is here too and having a great experience with her kids. It's nice to be able to take a walk after we're done for the day and share stories.

Ok, ok, before I start getting all mushy gushy talking about my wonderful girlfriend, I'll get back to my experience this year. I am back at Casa Linda for the summer (woohoo!!!!), but THIS time, I'm working with the youth! I know what you're thinking...Kyle will be needing a lot of prayer this summer. And you're right haha. Working with the youth is quite a bit different than the elementary. They're in that weird stage between kids and young adults and they don't really know what they're maturity level is. I can answer that....NONE!!!! Our kids are great, but good grief they need to learn how to behave...and listen...and follow directions...and keep their hands to themselves....ummm, I'll stop there. Anyway, it's a real challenge this year especially since I'm the only returning intern at my site, besides my site coordinator, Sheena.

I'll definitely take that prayer anytime. These kids will definitely be trying my patience throughout the summer and I'm really going to have to stay in control. God gave my the strength last summer with the elementary, so I'm counting on the same for this summer with the youth!

When was the last time I blogged?

Once again, I catch myself not blogging for quite a while. It's not because of business or anything, more that I kinda forget I have a blog haha. Well anyway, let's recap what's been going on lately.

I just finished my sophomore year at Southwestern a couple weeks ago. It's crazy to think that I've already spend two years at that place. And now I'm halfway done? No way! Is it possible to stay at college for the rest of my life? Hmmm, let me know if there's a way. I'm still on the route to be a PE teacher and that's going really well. I'm enjoying my classes and feel that I'm in the area I should be in. I love working with kids and feel that God has blessed me with that.

I'm now at "home", whatever that is, in Mulvane. Kinda stinks for me considering I know absolutely NOBODY in Mulvane besides Mom and Dad and all my friends are either in Leoti or busy somewhere else. This leaves me alone in this cruel, dark world full of pain and misery. Haha just kidding, it's not that bad. I normally find something to do to pass my time, like go on a walk with the parents, which is what I did tonight.

On the 28th, Molly, her best friend, Trista and I will be heading down to Dallas for Project Transformation. I did this last summer and absolutely loved it! When I got back, I talked it up pretty big to Molly and somehow persuaded her to apply. She then mentioned it to Trista and she also applied pretty quick. I'm really excited for this summer and I know that God is going to do some amazing things in our lives!

I'll try to do a better job of posting more frequently, but no guarentees. Until next time, this message was brought to you by Kyle Incorporated.