Hey my Pearls!
I really appreciate all of your wonderful support on my last post. I haven’t shared that with too many people, but it is reassuring that I’m not the only girl out there going through it. Thank you guys for always being there for me! I know I can share a very sensitive subject with you and you’ll be there. Thank you!
Gosh I’ve had a busy life this past two weeks or so. I know I promised you a recipe, but I haven’t finished typing up that post yet, so it’ll have to wait til my next post.
I just got home from a few weeks of back-to-back AMAZINGNESS. I went to Teen Conference with Kelz and some of our other friends; then the night we got home was Prom, and THEN right afterwards, we went on a trip to Illinois and Missouri for a week. I just got home at 11:30 Saturday night. When I checked my emails the following morning, let’s say about 700 UNREAD emails were piled in there…..that doesn’t even count the ones I’ve read and need to respond to and such. I’m catching up with you guys and your posts – it just might take some time!
But I will — I promise!
Here’s some of the things from Teen Conference!
Me and Kelz! (you can check out her post here)
Our theme was ALOHA — Anxiously Living Our Heavenly Attributes.
We had a BLAST! We had SO many activities, so we were always having a good time.
First off, we went Horse-back Riding!
My horse’s name was Karat, as in Karat Gold. At first, I thought it was spelled C-A-R-R-O-T, but I soon found out otherwise.
Can you believe that?! He stuck his tongue at me!!!!
After the horses, we had Archery!
Aim Kelsey! Aim!
FIRE Ana!!!!! Just like Robin Hood!!
Next we did high ropes.
When we got there, all the high rope challenges were REALLY high up — like, at least 30 feet above the ground.
There were three challenges: The Leap of Faith, the log you walk across, and the Hourglass (three ropes crisscrossed that you have to get across). The Hourglass was definitely the hardest physically, but the Leap of Faith was by far the hardest mentally. You had to jump and trust your harness to save you. I knew that if I didn’t do it first, I would never be able to do it.
The object of it is to climb to the top, stand up, and leap and try to grab hold of the trapeze bar dangling six feet in front of you.
After they harnessed me in, I began to climb. I was crying even before I started my way up. I guess crying is a way that I get my anxiety out. I did it when I went ice skating last year. I do it when they take blood. It’s not that it hurts. I just cry. I always have to tell people that I’m fine — I just cry. Nevertheless, I pushed myself to do it. I knew that this was an opportunity which if I didn’t take, I would regret it all my life.
So, I did it.
I climbed to the top. Everyone was cheering me on. I stood up one leg at a time and walked to the edge.
Can you see the look on my face? I count down from 3. (I knew if I started at 1 and went up, I would never jump on 3. So I counted down.
3. 2. 1. JUMP!!!
I grew that day. The Leap of Faith was more than just a leap. I had to step out of my comfort zone. Grabbing the bar wasn’t the hardest part. Jumping was. I had to overcome my fears and just do it. By jumping, I succeeded. That leap changed me for the better. I missed, but I came down a different person. I accomplished something I thought I would never be able to do. I jumped.
Have you ever done something you never thought you would be able to?
xoxox,
Tags: camp, change, conference, friends, fun, horse, Hourglass, Ice skating, Illinois, Missouri, Recreation, riding, Robin Hood, Ropes course, Sports, step, teen, United States


























Oh man, that is probably the worst picture of me everrrr. Bad angle, weird smile, something under my eye… but you look cute! haha.
Oh man, that day was the BEST. You were sooo amazing! I am just so excited for you. I know what you mean about changing. I felt sooo different after doing that! I felt like I could do anything.
aww looks like you had such a great time!high ropes/obstacle courses always seem to have a way of bonding people and making them stronger!
I’m the same when I’m anxious, I get all teary and emotional. I think you did amazingly jumping like that, very brave!
Thanks Ally.
That means a lot to me.
Wow, seems like the past weeks were amazing for you! You deserve it
You are soo brave, I am not sure I would be able to do something like this, I would cry and close my eyes and stand there like a column… You are great!:)
Even though I did it didn’t mean I didn’t cry. I was crying the entire time! Before I even started climbing I started to cry. And I also had to count down from 3, because I knew if I counted 1, 2, 3, I would never jump (or never get to 3). So I did 3, 2, 1! and just did it. I still don’t know how I was able to jump, but I did.
Well, they say that tears can heal you, so we should let them fall from time to time, shouldn´t we?
And that´s clever, counting down from 3 instead of from 1! I always make that mistake and never reach 3
)
That’s why I counted down! I knew I would never reach three if I counted up.
That sounds like such a fun camp! Archery, horseback riding, and the leap of faith?! Sign me up!
You can come next year! I would absolutely go bizzarre if I saw you! It would be the best day of my life!!!
That’s so awesome!!!! I don’t know if I could have jumped….scared of heights! hahaha
Sounds like a really great growing experience!
I know you would have been able to do it too! I believe in you!
That is awesome Kat! Way to conquer your fear!
Thanks Kaila!
Wow, that teen conference looks amazing!! So many cool events. I did archery in gym in high school, and absolutely loved it!
For how many years did you do archery?
Ahh that all looks like SO much fun.. I hope you had a good time! Okay.. well I am glad you had a good time since I know you had one!
Oh man, congrats on taking that leap of faith. Must have been so scary, but you did it girl!
Thanks.
It was scary, but I’m glad that I pushed the fear aside and did it.
This looks like so much fun!! I LOVE horse back riding, and I have never shot a bow and arrow before! I wanted to take an archery class in school but never had the time
I’m no professional, but I still love to do archery!
I think I should take lessons from a Native American — they can ride a horse AND shoot an arrow at the same time!
oh we did that leap of faith in fourth grade at an adventure place! it was SCARY!! but fun!!! looks like a blast!!! fun 2 see u and kelz together!
I’ve known Kelsey for like 5-6 years now!! We are like best buds.
Great job lady, you sure are brave for doing stuff like that
I went bungee jumping one time and sure as heck never thought I would get the nerve to do it! But it was fabulous and quite memorable of course
I think I am going to remember this day for the rest of my life! It was a start of something new for me.
I’m glad that you were able to do it!
I love your perspective on the leap of faith. We do ropes courses at the camp I work with and they are so amazing!
How often have you done it?
Wow! That is awesome! I would be terrified. Good for you!
Thanks Tiffany!
I love high ropes! I did a similar “leap of faith” at my camp a few years ago off a 30 foot pole. It was so scary, but so much fun!
It was definitely scary, but totally worth it!
Did your pole have a platform on top? I’ve heard of some that don’t have platform — I’m grateful that thepole Iclimbed uphad one.
Ah fun! I’m jealous.
Looks so awesome! I wish I went to a Teen Conference. Congrats on jumping! It sounds sooo fun
Thanks!
It wasa lot of fun, and I can’t WAIT til next year!
I had to do a leap of faith once…and I cried, too. There was no fun platform…just the telephone pole. It was the scariest thing I ever did. Not the jumping part, just the standing on a 30 foot pole in the wind and knowing that I was relying on thirteen people I didn’t know to save me. That changed me too!
Wow. Yet another way you inspire me! Get it girl! Isn’t it crazy how you can learn SO MUCH about yourself from things like this?
That’s so cool!!! Looks like a great time!!
It was a great time! Thanks!
Looks like you have had SUCH a great time! You are so brave for jumping, girl. I’m pretty sure there’s no way I could’ve done that, haha! I’m not so much a fan of heights.
Also, in response to your last post – I was on birth control for a hormonal imbalance from 17-22, but finally chose to quit because it was causing so many problems for me. I just needed to detox and get it out of my system. I’m so grateful I did too! Girl, I hope you figure everything out. I know it’s scary to not have your period (been there too), but just remember that God is the great Healer.
how fun is all this?! i want to do archery!
I wish I could take lessons for archery! It is so much fun!
I don’t think I could’ve done the leap of faith! I hate heights. I love the horse picture
Have you ever riden a horse?
WOW!!! That looks so cool! What an amazing time for you! My scary moment also involved a leap of faith – I jumped off the highest diving board at the swimming baths when I was 10years old. I was a nutter!!
It’s pretty hard for me to jump off of high diving boards. It’s really easy for my sister to do it though.