Homecoming Texas-Style

Okay, here you go...some pictures of how Texas does Homecoming. I got the pleasure of getting to witness some of the crazy traditions at Coppell High this weekend, and I wanted to share them with you. I went to both the pep rally and the football game on Friday and saw it all! From Coppell's amazing marching band, to their drill team called the Lariettes, to their varsity football team, it was a truly entertaining day. But, what added to the normal football experience, was the fact that it was homecoming, so everyone was all dressed up in their overalls and mums, they announced the homecoming court (two of our girls were princesses), and they took a sledge hammer to an old mini van to show the opposing team who's boss. Can I just tell you that Coppell's mascot is the cowboys and the team they played, Lewisville's, mascot is the farmers...I know I'm in Texas! I'll share a few of these traditions with you: First the mum...crazy! You see Kaley, one of our Juniors wearing her red and black mum. All underclassmen wear red and black, only the seniors have silver and white. Mums are made for the girls by the guys who ask them to the dance (or by the guy's moms). They are crazy huge and take up most of their bodies. They wear them around all day and are personalized for each girl. The average cost of a mum can be around a few hundred dollars! Then there are the senior overalls...something Coppell does to show spirit. The girls dress up overalls with pictures, sayings, symbols, fabric, letters, you name it! They wear them on game days to show everyone they are seniors. Here you have some of our seniors in all their mum and overall glory...the three in the middle are Kristen, Andrea and Kenda and the one on the right is Shannon. They are all amazing girls that are stuent leaders on our Campus Team and it's been a blast getting to know them. Then you have some of the girls that are in my small group, here on the left. That's me, Caroline, Kelly and Moe. Good stuff...this was taken at the pep assembly on Friday morning, but they also came to the game with me that night.





These last pictures are ones I took last weekend at my first game. It was away at Grapevine and Coppell won 56-0. Last night's homecoming game was another victory...I think the final score was something like 47-14 against Lewisville (we left early because it was pretty much a blow-out). As you can see, Texans do football a little different than Alaska. It's been fun experiencing all of this with my students.

The High School Youth Staff

Here they are...finally. I've been wanting to post a picture of the staff for a few weeks now, and finally got everyone together after lunch for a picture. Okay, to start we are missing our creative producer for the Mix, his name is PT. Everyone else is here, though. From left to right: Me (the intern from Alaska), Brad (Campus Team West Pastor), Chase (Campus Team East Pastor-the one I work with), Paul (Campus Team Northwest Pastor), Prater (Senior High Pastor), Kathy (Volunteer Coordinator for Senior High), and Jackie (Administative Assistant for Senior High). These are the people I am blessed to work with everyday. It's an honor to spend so much time with people who share the same passion for students that I have. We had an amazing meeting this week where Prater shared the vision for the ministry and encouraged us, as his staff. We ended in one of the sweetest times of prayer I've had in a long time. There is just something about praying together for your ministry as a staff. So, now you have a face with the names!

Senior Retreat

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...life has been busy! I'm planning on making a few posts today to redeem myself with all of you faithful blog readers that have gotten bored of the same picture of my house for the past week or so :)
These are pictures from our Senior Retreat we had last weekend at Pine Cove Camp...about a 2 hour drive from the church. We took a group of about 35 seniors out for an overnight retreat. The facility is amazing...lots to do, including horsebackriding. This is my group of riders that braved the trails with me (don't you dig our helmets?). I wanted pictures on the horses, but I was unable to take my camera with me so this will have to do. This is a picture of Prater (the Senior High Pastor) speaking to the kids. The weekend was a great way for me to get to know some of the students. And, as always, they were in awe of the fact that I'm from Alaska, don't live in an igloo, drive a car instead of a dog team, and speak English (instead of "Alaskan"...funny story for another time). I know there are a number of reasons that God has called me to Texas this year. I'm slowly starting to figure out what they are. I know that the girls in my Campus Team are hungry for female leadership, which has been really cool, I know that I am paired with Chase for Campus Team East to help grow that team from the ground up, and I know that I am called to educate the students of Texas about Alaska! "Yes, there is life in Alaska." -as I show them my picture album. But really, the students of the DFW area are amazing kids and I am blessed to get to work with them this year. Finally, this is the sweet bus we had to take us to camp...the best part is the license plates (take a good look).

Home Sweet Texan Home

Here you have it...my new house in Texas! Not too shabby, huh? I'm super blessed to live in this place with Dori and Morgan. If you look at this picture, you can see the windows of my room on the front left (the big ones). I like the windows because of the white panes...super cool. Things have been great this week. I started interning at Fellowship in the High School Ministry and I already feel a part of the team. Everyone down here is amazed when I say I'm from Alaska...it's a good conversation starter. I've already been to one of the high schools for their lunches to meet a bunch of the students on our campus team, helped set-up for a huge concert they had at the Mix (the youth night) on Wednesday, counseled a student and her parent about some rebellious behavior, ran errands, etc...needless to say, I feel right at home! The guys that I work with in the ministry are awesome. I am really honored to be a part of their team and learn and experience ministry with them. I'm hoping to post some pictures of them and our office area soon, so be looking for those. I'm also going to take my camera to church and get some shots of that for you to see! I love you all and in general I'm doing good, not too homesick yet. I'm excited to see how Fall Kick-Off at Birchwood goes this week, so keep me posted! May God bless your week!

My new family!

Here we are, me and my new fam...that's me, Morgan and Dori. They are the beautiful women that God has graced me with this year. I get a chance to share their amazing home and be a part of their lives for the next year and I'm thrilled. This picture was taken today at Six Flags Over Texas. We had to take my dad before he leaves tommorow afternoon. It was a blast and the weather really cooperated with us. It was overcast today in the DFW area and only got up to the low 80's. I got a chance to visit Fellowship Church last night for the first time. I met Chris Prater, the high school pastor, and a bunch of the high school staff. Dad, Dori and I went to service (they have 2 on Saturday nights) at 5pm. Dori worked the junior high ministry during the 6:30 service, while Dad, Morgan and I got a full tour of the church and offices from two of the Campus Team Pastors, Chase (the one I'll be working with) and Paul. The youth team seems awesome and as sarcastic as I am, so we'll get along just fine! They tried to pull a few over on me by telling me my office was in the stock room and it was "under renovation" and that I had to report to work on Tuesday around 5:30am! Nice try, boys! Anyhoo, Texas is treating me well thus far. I'll be sad to say goodbye to Dad tommorow, as he's my last Alaskan goodbye and we've had some good times together during the past few weeks. But, I've got to tell you how truly blessed I feel right now...God is a provider and so many little things that I have worried about in all of this have fallen into place. He's in it all and I can't wait to see what's next...I'll keep you posted ;)