What happens in facilities management...

That's Lark in front, thinking about the injustice of the housing department, then Sarah Bedke (yes, she's sleeping), Jodi holding back tears, a girl named Rebecca who looks dangerously close to going unconscious, and Brother Anderson last, contemplating the meaning of life and love. Just one little glimpse of this class you all wish you were a part of!!

(We were actually watching the old version of "Romeo and Juliet." If you get a different story from anyone who might have been there, it's because they fell asleep and were dreaming.)

Abby's Amen!

Okay so this story only the girls will remember because it happened in Relief Society.  So we have all had our turns falling asleep at some point during church, especially working up at Badger! This time it was Abby's turn.
It was getting towards the end of Relief Society and Abby was sleeping, the lady giving the lesson was reading a quote.  As the lady finished her quote saying, "Amen" Abby finally woke up and thought they were saying the prayer.  So Abby, not realizing she was reading a quote, responded back and said with a loud voice, "Amen!"

Abby's Address

Does anybody know Abby's current address in Norway? I could only find her MTC address.
Tif

The Benson Family

Hi Badger Staffers!

I just happened to stumble on this blog...who knew that the 2008 staffers had a blog!

First of all, Congrats to Will and Tiffany! being parents is pretty much the most amazing thing ever! even more epic than the poster Abe took a picture of.

It was so great to read about what everyone is doing in life. For those of you still in Rexburg, Cherish every moment you have at BYU Idaho it is a blessed place.

Josh and I are doing well. We find ourselves far from our Idaho home, but we are striving to build Zion in Sunny Arizona. We have been living in Scottsdale for a few months now. Our son J. Will (short for Joshua Willard) is 14 months old and he is the joy of our lives! For those who may not know, J. Will was born with Down Syndrome. He is adorable, sweet, and very loving.

Our lives have taken many unexpected turns since we last saw you all; at this time Josh is preparing to apply to medical school. He hasn't decided if he wants to go the distance and become a physician, or to become a physician assistant. If anyone has advice for him, I am sure he would love to hear from you.

We love you all

The Bensons

Coming to Utah????

Come see me ;-)

Coming up to Rexburg

Hello all. This is short notice and probably everyone is fleeing town for Conference weekend, but Will and I are headed up that way to take my little sis on a college tour and convince her that BYU-I is the place to be. If anyone is going to be around, we would love to see you. We'll be there Friday morning.
Tif

A New Post for September

I just thought I'd post a picture because I noticed that no one has posted since August.

Why? I don't know; it's not as if we've run out of stories to tell!

Anyway, I have to wonder what Lark shall say when she finds I've posted this picture of her. Mmmm....witch's brew, anyone?

Lark, creating witch's brew in BYU-I approved housing. Oh, the scandal!

P.S. It's really not witch's brew. It's just root beer, in case you were wondering.

So I never thought I'd say this, but I am no longer an Olive Garden Employee. Yes it's true. After serving an honorable year at the restaurant, as of 9:00pm on this day, August the 28th, I am a free woman. I know! I made sure to eat one more breadstick and discounted tiramisu before I clocked out. I start work at my new job on Monday as a recruiter for ITQuest in downtown Provo: my first real job (thanks to Rachel and her family :-). To be completely honest, I shed a silent tear as I tied my tie one last time.

Some of the other things I will miss are:
My 25% Discount
Henrique (sexy man)
The workers in the back playing Mexican music and singing along late at night
Stupid people (ok, so I won't really miss them)
Learning a new skill and doing it well
Breaking plates and spilling on people
Getting phone numbers
Instant gratification (cash in my pocket every night)
My freakin' awesome grandma non-slip shoes
Breadsticks!
and of course, all the things I learned and the friends I made along the way :-)

Sometime, in the near future, I plan on having an Olive Garden Clothes Burning Party. Perhaps next week, after I'm done with work, I will pay a visit to a unsuspecting fire pit. I will raise my glass, say a few words, and send those clothes right where they belong.........heaven (of course).

Dear Olive Garden,
I love you.
You will always be in my heart and on my hips forever.
Your faithful friend,
Mackenzie

My Time!

Dear Badger Staffers,
Oh, how much I miss you all!! I really do!! I think about you guys a lot, and I think about how much fun you guys still have with whoever is still left in the rexburg area! Or at least the western part of the US! Sometimes I wish I could go back to Rexburg and be with you all again.  I even tried to be the chef for Badger during the summer but it didn't work out and now that I look back over the summer I see why I was suppposed to stay here in Hawaii.  I have made a bunch of friends here and I have had great experiences that have been shaping me to be the person I am supposed to become.  Sorry if this letter doesn't flow really well i'm just going with whats coming through my fingers at this point.
I have been reading the blogs here and now, whenever I remember or get lonely, I read the blogs and it brings back a lot of good happy feelings that make me smile, and cry! But crying in a good way! :) I really do love you guys and there is always a place in my heart for each one of you.  Each one of you had a big influence on me during that summer.  Even now I realize how much you all were really the best of the best.  We are all the cream of the crop. Because the people I met in my life and get to know I realize don't have the same standards or views about the gospel and/or love of the gospel like all the Badger staffers have.  You guys have no idea!!
But there was a few reasons for me writting this: one to actually finally post something, and to let you guys know what has been going on with me and to keep in touch, and most importantly to remind each of you how amazing you are and how much I believe that every single Badger Staff member, the Lord has a great plan for each one of us.  Because Badger has so many lessons for people to learn and grow from.  And I know that all the people who work at Badger have a great mission in life that only they can do!! Its true!
Also, a little brief update.  I have been in Hawaii for a year now and I'm planning on staying till I gradute.  I know that is what i'm supposed to be doing.  Also I may come home only for a week though, but we should plan another reunion for when  I graduate in April, and Jeremy and Abe should be back from there missions. the only person mission should be Abby! But I woud love to have another reunion maybe next may or June??? Anyways, I love you all and hope your not bored with this letter. I will try and think of Badger memories because I have a lot.  I love you and thank you all for make good choices in your life to be the person you are!!

New Pictures from Elder Kim!

Abe is coming home soon! It's gonna be great! Anyways, here are some more pictures and a little message from him:

Hey Ashley!

Sorry about the lack of words over here on this side of the border.
I'm running out of time here, but just wanted to let you know it's all still good in the hood.

Oh and enjoy the pictures! One of them reminded me of all of you and the epic time that we had.

Peace, love, and happiness

Elder Kim

Just a Little Announcement

I remember at Badger one morning I felt sick and stayed in bed for a little while--some of you speculated about things. Two years later that speculation is coming true. I gave an insensitive text to most of you announcing one of the most important things that has happened in my life thus far, but I figured I would make it more official... Will and I are going to be parents! The baby has been in my belly for three months and we find out Sept. 1 what it is. I'm due Feb. 3.

A Change of Heart...or Hearts Rather.

I was reminded of this by Ashley's last post. I remember when I was on group with her, as she began to allude to, our kids especially the guys, had a different view on relations with the opposite gender. I remember one night in particular, I was excited to get to bed. All of the kids were filing off one by one from the camp fire. Until there were a few of the young men left. We started talking to them. One in particular started a conversation with us that led to his life and things he felt about the choices he was making. He stated that he thought it was just too hard to act as a man should around women or at least they way we were talking about a man's responsibilities.
As Ashley said, we did well on group together because we had already built a foundation of friendship. We had a lot of fun. But I feel we were chosen that week to be where we were also because of our individual background.
"It's easy for you guys to make those decisions. You have grown up around members your whole life." was the effect of some of his responses to the types of things that we were saying that would make him happy in life. As we know, Ashley grew up in a small town in Nevada leading to not so plentiful amounts of Mormons. She did a great job instructing in a way that was very upfront without being uncaring. I grew up in a comparatively large diverse town in southern California also resulting in a lesser percentage of LDS youth. Who better then us at that time to be there to tell him that he can do it. Even if he felt alone. He really can be a man. We talked for a while. Needless to say, I was not sad that I did not get to bed as soon as I hoped.
I wish all could have been witness to the call we male counselors put out in the devotional at the top of the hill in the girls absence to the male youth to dare them to be men. In the testimony meeting that night as i was fighting sleep as usual until one of my own got up, I was energized as this boy got up and bore testimony that he was ready to be a man.
Thank you women for being examples and for teaching the girls to be something that the men should fight for. Even if they did think we were married, hopefully we were good examples of a higher interaction.

P.S.Willie is a better person than I. The a fore mentioned experience with our love birds made Willi remember their names but drove them from my memory :)

So much love...

So it's been 2 years since the magic went down and I still love you guys and remember it like it was yesterday. I moved to Highland, UT with my family so....yeah...party time! haha just want you all to know that I'm thinkin about ya!

Badger Creek DVD

How can I get a copy of this priceless gem?

And also...

Who is going to be in Rexburg this coming fall? We should do fun things like knitting mittens or something. I actually don't know how to knit.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Letter From Elder Perkins!

I also have gotten a few emails from Jeremy. Here is one for everyone to read and enjoy:

Things over here in Chicago are awesome!!! I've been in the suburbs for about 3 months now but I served the first year of my mission in downtown chicago, i rode my bike around the sears tower, through little Italy and Chinatown. Little Mexico is sweet too, I got to ride public transportation inbetween and underneath the skyscrapers all winter long and go street contacting in Grant park over by Navy Pier. I've seen a lot of ghetto and had some interesting experiences, haha :). But had some great success too. There is no doubt that this is the Lord's work. Funny story though, they made me a zone leader a while back and part of that responsibility is to teach at zone conferences. So Last week at our conference, I drew a picture of the power pole on a chalkboard and told some of the experiences that we had and I related it to missionary work and how faith applies in the aspects of our lives. It went really well, I keep using all the old badger creek stuff that I learned as object lessons and analogies when I teach. Its been very effective. Badger Creek was an amazing place, I loved it! Did max ever finish that DVD of all the badger pictures? Would it be possible for me to get a copy of that?
Take Care ashley, Great to hear from you,
Love,
Elder Jeremy Perkins

Letter From Elder Kim!

I've been staying in touch with Abe through email for a little while now. Here is the last email he sent me. Sounds like he's doing really well:


What's also exciting is that we had a baptism. Let me tell you about it after a quick update.
All righty then. Well, the weather here in Toronto has been weird latley also. In the past week or more we have had a lot of rain. A lot more than last year. It'll be wierd, one moment it's sunny and nice the next it'll be pouring rain. For example. Yesterday there was only a 40% chance for rain then it rains all night. I'm not saying that rain is bad, but it does make missionary work a bit harder. Not to mention it makes it more humid when it starts to evaporate. I hate humidity. Well, this week has been a little eventful. Towards the beginning of the week it was normal missionary work, tracting, talking to people and such, then towards the end of the week is where it starts to get interesting. One of our members was moving and they asked for our help, to make a long story short we helped for a long time. Then the next day we had to do a softball practice with our branch because we had a stake softball tournament thing on saturday the next day, and that took a whole evening. Then on saturday we had the tournament in the morning which lasted all morning, and the sad part was it got rained out. We got one game and a half in before the stake leaders in charged cancelled it due to rain. But, it was all fun.Then on Sunday, we had a baptism!Lim, Duk Nam. He's super sweet. He's a older guy who really was looking for the truth. The baptismal service went great and the members and he all talked and fellowshipped eachother very well afterwards, which I'm super happy about. So funny thing at the baptism. We filled up the font to the water level we needed, but the plug wasn't functioning properly so water was leaking out. By the time I got in the water with Bro. Lim the water was only up to my thighs, not even groin level. So that means a low dip for him. I'm glad to say that it all worked out fine in the end. Even though it was a low dip we only had to do it once. So that was our week. Pretty good. Now we have to go out and find new investigators. Yay.Oh I guess some other updates. G20 is here in Toronto right now and what's going on here is a lot of bus and subway routes and a whole block downtown have been locked down for security measures and so traffic is horrible at times. Since we can't listen or watch the news as missionaries we here that there are a lot of protests going on there and a lot of people arrested. We are avoiding having to go down that direction because we dont want to wast all that time in the car. Another thing, I heard that korea and US is out of the world cup. Oh well. Well that's all for me. Hope you have a great week. Hope you enjoyed. Write back!
Loves, Elder Kim
ps. hope you had fun at badger creek. I miss that place and all you guys. I got our badger dvd slideshow a few weeks ago and i got to watch it. Needless to say, it was awesome!!


Not only did I get this, he also sent me pictures! Yay! Still the same facial expressions...

I LOVE getting mail.

Badgers, I don't know if you're familiar with the Missy Higgins' song, "Going North," but it's been running through my head a lot lately. I report the the MTC this Wednesday and I am STOKED! Good things to come. I love you all and I'd love to hear from you. Write me and give me updates when you get the opportunity--better yet, just make the opportunity to write. My address info. of on the side here, and on facebook too.

I'm learned so much from you all and I wish you all the best. Seriously.

If you want, my mom is setting up a blog for my weekly mission letters. The link to the blog is listed on this page, and the url is:
http://hermanastevens.blogspot.com/
...ha. I just realized the link is Hermana Stevens (hermana is sister in SPANISH). That's cute that my mom thought she knew where I was going :)


KRD 999 clear...well, just for a while

My Many Husbands

I've been reading everyone's stories and I was starting to reminisce. (I want you to all know that I spelled that right on the first try, very proud of myself) Willie inspired this post with her last post. I don't know why but it seemed like the participants were obsessed with dating and marriage. Must come with the age; although I'm pretty sure that isn't what I was always thinking about when I was 15. Maybe that's why I'm not married yet...hmmm, something to think about.
I'm pretty sure I had a participant ask me if I was dating or married to one of my fellow counselors every single week. Willie reminded me of the time when one of her participants asked her if I was dating Max. When she asked them why they came to that conclusion they said "well she was sitting by him at lunch..." Oh dear.
But the best one by far is when I was on group with JP. When we were setting up our handcarts one of our participants came to me and asked me why I wasn't sharing a handcart with JP. After a question like that I was obviously worried about this boy's thought process so I asked him why we would do that. He answered with, "well aren't you guys married?" I quickly told him no and without even pausing he then said, "then you're dating right?". Once again I told him no but I don't think he believed me. Because it must have been so obvious to everyone in the camp that we were dating. We talked to each other, we could laugh together, and I'm pretty sure we sat by each other during a lot of the meals. So according to their definition if we weren't married then we were obviously seriously dating. I guess we can't blame the participants for thinking that we were all married; it only makes sense, right?

Love Is In The Air...Dang It.

Ok, don't be fooled by the title of this message, I am all for love except when it is between participants. So, I was talking to a counselor I worked with in 09, by the way 09 was fine and all but 08 was great ;), any way we got on the subject of sleeping habits. He talked about how he never would wake up in the night at Badger, and how is kids probably ran a muck during his pleasant slumbers. This statement reminded me of the first week of OYA when I was on group with JP.
We had two lovely kids in are group named Jessica and Clayton, yes this memory is so vivid I can remember the names of my kids. They had been flirting with each other all week, and it was known they liked each other, but nothing that me and JP couldn't handle until Wednesday night. It was probably 1 in the morning and I had to go to the bathroom, so grudgingly I got out of bed. I was at Gully camp and for some reason still had not been able to locate the secret outhouse up there, and was required to trek up to Mountain Man. As I was just a few steps from camp I noticed a strange object on the ground, it was large and resembled two people. You guessed it there lying on a blanket was Jessica and Clayton. I was shocked. I quickly asked, "What are you two doing?", I admit I might have slipped into my "Willie Got Hit By A Bus" voice because I was startled by this discovery. Clayton responded, "just looking at the stars." Well, I calmed myself enough to quickly tell them that wasn't appropriate.
They then asked me what I was still doing up. I stated that I needed to use the restroom. JP was awakened at this point, and I left it to him to make sure they returned to their respective teepees. I continued to head to the bathroom, and tried to comprehend what had just happen. The best part of the story that once I got to Mountain Man outhouse I was so worked up I didn't even have to use it anymore.

Canoes and Shoes

So, I sat down at my desk today and slipped off my shoes and thought, oh how I love taking off my shoes. This thought reminded me of how we had to wear shoes in the pond, that rule never was a problem for me, I don't want to know what is on the bottom of that pond. :-/ Any who, my train of thought then turned to canoes and our canoe trip down the Teton River. I for some reason remember there being an abnormal increase in the mosquitoes population that day, a couple of tipped canoes, a lost lunch, and one Korean with a full body welt at the end of the day. I also remember Ashley, Mackenzie, and I being in the same canoe, and how we were so proud of ourselves we hadn't tipped are canoe the whole trip. Shortly after that moment I wish I would have knocked on wood, because lo and behold 2 seconds after our brief self appraisal we hit a strainer. This strainer cause are canoe to do a complete 180 in a vertical fashion. Thus, we were all wet, we were shocked and me slightly disappointed with the rivers cruel way of showing us it controlled our future till we were out of the water. I loved that trip and loved the adventure it provided.

Four-Wheeler Adventure

This is a very long post. Ye be warned.

Oh how I loved Badger’s yellow four-wheeler. I never volunteered to drive the Badger truck, and I only drove the vans two times over the whole summer; but the four-wheeler was a different story. I would always try to think of excuses to zip around the ranch on that bad boy. During the second week of OYA Jodi was GL and I was WCL. It was Thursday and the kiddies were heading up for the trek (which was also our first trek experience because it had snowed the week before). Sarah, Jason and I were uber-excited to get some of our tasks done while everyone was gone, but at Brother B.’s request, we reluctantly agreed to accompany OYA on its maiden trek voyage. We needed to be extra careful on this particular trip because the truck needed to take up all the food on the TREK TRAIL because the back road was too treacherous with all the snow.

My job was to take up the rear on the four-wheeler with extra containers of water. Nice! Long story short, I’d never seen the trek trail before and I was scared beyond all reason to drive the four-wheeler on those deep ruts. I also ended up staying overnight to help out with something. But the next morning I wanted to beat everyone back to the Ranch to get some last minute work crew jobs finished before clean-up. I asked Brother B. if I could take off on the four-wheeler, and with the go-ahead, I drove off alone.

I think the trek trail had one—and only one—fork in the road. When I got to that fork I couldn’t remember anything from the day before. So, being me, I naturally took the wrong road. I remember driving along a really unfamiliar path. There were these huge houses with the longest driveways leading up to them and tons of dogs barking at me. Finally I decided that I’d taken the wrong path and I started turn around. Now here’s when the problem arose. The road wasn’t wide enough for me to turn all the way around…and (I kid you not)…I’d forgotten how to put the four-wheeler into reverse. I know, stupid.

So there I was, this dumb 19-year-old girl in the middle of a dirt road on a four-wheeler deciding what to do. I didn’t know how to put it into reverse, so I thought I’d take my chances turning around on the tight road. That was a bad idea. Instead of making it full circle to head the other direction, I got about 180 degrees to my left before I drove off the road, over a small log, and into some Aspen. Great. My front two tires made it over the log before it ran into the tree. My thoughts at this point? “Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Yeah, it was. I let out a big sigh and thought, “well, I guess I can push it back over the log facing the right direction…maybe…”

I put the four-wheeler in neutral and got off to push it.

Problem #1: The Aspen I drove into made it really difficult to push the four-wheeler because it was completely up in my face and just really in the way.

Problem #2: Those dogs that were barking at me were taking it a step further; literally. They were barking and had proceeded to walk towards me, and they didn’t look very friendly.

I pushed. I pushed and I pushed and I pushed that stinkin’ four-wheeler. “Come. On. MOVE!” I gritted my teeth and I kept sliding further and further back as I put my feet deeper into the ground until I was literally rolling around in the grass and leaves with an Aspen tree in my face. I began to panic as the dogs were getting uncomfortably close and growling. “Agg! Stronger!!!” I told myself. “It’s GO time!!!” I gave it another earnest push and I felt the front wheels start to go back over the log. “Yes, yes, yeeessssss, yeeesssssss!!!!” The four-wheeler finally came free and I jumped on to make my escape from the threatening dogs. “FREEDOMMMMM!!!” It felt so good to be driving back up the road to the fork where I messed up.

As I was driving away from the dogs two things happened. First, I remembered how to put the four-wheeler in reverse. This realization made me laugh out loud. Oh the irony. Second, I called Brother B. on the radio to see if the group had left the camp site. I didn’t have to wait long until they met me at the fork in the road. I still remember the look he gave me upon explaining that I’d gotten lost and that I didn’t want to explain why I was so dirty and why there were leaves in my hair. The look was a beautiful combo of confusion, frustration, amusement, and humor. A classic look I received more than once that summer.

My lesson learned from this incident? Never forget how to put the four-wheeler into reverse. I may not remember how to tie the knots for the rope courses, I may not remember the horses’ names, and I may not remember who was GL what week, but I can fervently assure you all that I remember how to put the dang four-wheeler into reverse!

Thunder and Lightning.

I just had a random memory today of one night on the weekend when a thunder storm rolled over the valley. We got chairs and sat them out side of the bathrooms under the roof. I don't remember specifically what we talked about but I do remember the simple pleased feeling I had at the amazing display we were given and the good company.

THE Most epic Soccer game ever played in the History of man (Except for the mud one)

So I just wanted to let the badgers know that During Quest, Sarah and I took the Questies in to Jackson and we played a game of soccer...It was not near as legendary (that's for you Abby) as our game. But I will say that given what was taught to us through our time at Badger we used out processing skills to make it a surprisingly more fun game than it started off. Sarah and I played hard and the kids started to catch on all because of the lessons of having fun that we learned at Badger.

An addition to that experience at the end of our staff training. Sometimes I tend to go through phases in life where I feel alone. Before I came to the ranch I was going through a similar experience. The whole week we trained, these feeling were disappearing. I had many of these moments but I specifically remember feeling the excitement during that game of being around people who cared about me. They were having so much fun with me, ME! And they are all such amazing people. Not one was lesser then another. I truly felt and still do feel a part of something great. I can't explain the feeling that took my heart over as we had so much fun. True pure fun. I can only trust that this was a feeling felt by all then or many times over throughout the summer.

Thank you so much.

P.S. As I recall, All of those who actually played soccer were on the same team! But I was really glad about how well I held out. And on the way to Playmill, I remember riding in the vans and I looked through Tiffani's music selection. She was one of few people I knew who had Five Iron Frenzy music. She also introduced some of us to Stephen Speeks which many of the Girls in the car attested to would woo any mortal woman.

Getting Sentimental...

I don't believe I ever said “thank you” to all the Badgers who made such a difference to me. I'm feeling sentimental and emotional right now, and I thought I'd attempt to write some “thank-yous.”

Here are a few things I remember from Badger Creek:

Pam, I still have the sweet note you gave me the week my dog died. That meant so much to me at the time. So many people say things like, “It's just a dog!” But he was more than that to my family and I. Thank you for that bit of comfort during a hard time.

Ben, I remember the day I lost my family's other dog at Badger Creek. While I wanted to go look (and do a ropes course...) you grilled all of those steaks...quite a task. I really don't like grilling steaks, and I'm certain I would have burned them all with my mind elsewhere. So, thank you, thank you for making sure I didn't make carcinogenic steaks for the people of Badger Creek.

Megan, thank you for yodeling for my family. They still remember that, and talk about the beautiful, blonde yodeler. You really made their day, and, in so doing, made mine. I also thank you for taking it well when I hid in the fridge and scared you.

Sarah-Willi, thank you for going canoeing with a bunch of little kids. They needed it, and they remember “Sarah-Willi! The bestest canoe driver at Badger Creek!” I am also thankful that you took my immature comments about “opportunities” and “thanking my leaders” well during the testimony meeting. I am glad that you are good at covering a laugh with a pretend cough.

Ashley, I am somewhat of a slave-driver. I am glad you took it so well when I wanted to deep-clean the kitchen during that last week, especially since I remember you not feeling well. I also thank you for the times that you called me to go on trail rides on Saturdays. That was very helpful to me, and I really appreciated it.

Christian, what can I say? Even when I felt like a pile of mud, you made me laugh, especially when you didn't mean to make me laugh. Thanks for watching the kitchen while I was gone, and for moving all the drink coolers during that week I was a slave-driver (or was that every week?). Thank you for eating all the leftovers I piled on your plate, and with a smile, too!

Sarah, all I can say is: “I wanna be with you!” Seriously, though, I'm glad you and Lark were there for me on my first day back. I'm glad I came back in time to tell you that you didn't have to scrub all the pans; I still can't believe you guys did that! I value our friendship, and I will never forget you coming to my family's home with “Badger flowers.” Thank you.

Abe, though you are on your mission and may not read this, I am thankful for the opportunity to work with a foreign-exchange student. I don't know if this is the correct spelling, but: I love you, Chon-hee! (I'm half-asian, too, don't you know... :) )

JP, although I was really terrified of getting water poured on me, I had a lot of fun trying to stay away from you after I had poured water on you. Seriously, though, I felt like I was in a war zone. I'm glad you took it well when I did soak you. And, to Jodi (I think it was), I am sorry that I accidentally got a ton of water on you that one day at the lodge. You poor, innocent bystander.

Max, you are the kindest mafia-man I've ever met. Thank you for making kitchen duty so fun, especially when I really didn't care to be there and was being a real sulky-sue about it. I am also thankful to your mom for labeling all of your belongings; it made kitchen clean-up easier. And, after Badger Creek, it sure was comforting to see a familiar face at a BYU-I ward. :)

Jason, thank you for being “Greg Wiggle” for my siblings, for keeping the kitchen in order while I wasn't there, and for generally being an all-around good guy. I have to say, I was unsure how my “Motab in the Mornings” would be received. I'm glad you liked it! You and MacKenzie were wonderful to have that first week in; although, I wish I hadn't eaten so many pies! Thank you.

Abby, I lament that I never did get to work in the kitchen with you while using British accents. I think that would have been great fun. I really would like to get to know you better, especially since I now realize we share the same excitement at having clean teeth. :) I hope they have good toothpaste in Norway.

And...

Dearest Jodi,

You do not yet have an email account. I hope you get one soon, because I love you. This is a very sad attempt at saying something to you “Jodi-style.” Please forgive me.

With love and affection,

Rachel

Also...

I know I did not get to everybody. For one thing, a lot of what happened during that summer gets all jumbled in my mind, and I can't seem to remember who said what or who was there, et cetera. All of you have made a difference to me; words seem pretty inadequate whenever I try to think of something to express my gratitude. Plus, it is very late. I'm not sure why I'm still awake at this moment. I also realize that this post is getting very long.

All in all, Badger Staff of 2008 was the best staff Badger Creek had ever seen!

Pudding

Okay, so I don't know how many people know this about me...

I really detest making that instant pudding. From the first time Jeff brought the unnaturally bright-green pistachio powder, I knew it would be my worst enemy.



I mean, nothing edible should be that shade of green.

The summer had been going well, our times at Badger coming to an end, when, from the depths of the giant maroon van, Jeff emerged with two packages of pudding. I narrowed my eyes, trying to communicate the distress these packets of dust were causing me.

"No," I said firmly.

"What?" Jeff whined. "These aren't even that hard to--"

"No! I can do many things, Jeffrey Downs, but I am not going to make pudding again!"

"Just one more time?" he wheedled.

"Fine." Taking the packets, I stormed into the kitchen, laying them beside the mixer. "I won't forget this, Jeff!"

He shrugged, muttering something about how it's not his fault, but I wouldn't hear it.

When the time came to make the pudding, I decided to do something that I knew deep down wouldn't really work.

Why don't I make both packets at the same time? I thought.

Well, as Max will attest, this did not work out. What I thought would be a way around having to make two packs of pudding turned into the pudding massacre, perhaps to even rival the potato massacre that I missed.

Needless to say, the next time Jeff came with pudding, he was forced to make it himself.

On a side note, I am rather fond of Jeff and don't think poorly of him at all! (just wanted to make that clear)

Also, if someone has evidence of either the potato or pudding massacre, I would love to see photos or video footage.

Remnants of Badger-literally

Lately Will and I have developed a bad habit of having a quick FHE at ten in the evening before we zonk off in bed. This last Monday, I was so tired that I opted to have FHE directly in bed. We broke out my old pocket hymnal for the opening song. Lo and behold, a song was already bookmarked for us--the bookmark was a smashed mosquito--remnants of Badger Firesides. Not quite as picturesque as pressed flowers, but who can really forget the mosquitos? It's pretty disgusting when you can catch them within the pages of your hymnbook.

Flexibility

So there are a lot of times at Badger Creek that require us to be flexible. Flexible can have many different definitions. We were probably called upon to be flexible in the adaptable sense more than body flexible, but I am talking about bodies being flexible in this post. I don’t know what it is with me doing posts about the Jasons in response to watching you-tube videos - I don't even watch you-tube often. So, for those of you that don't know, JP is an expert yoga-ist (I know that is not a word, but I don't know what to call a professional yoga doer). He doesn't even have to practice - it is just natural. I am unaware of how many of you have had the privilege of witnessing JP's flexibleness, but it is crazy - and cool at the same time. If you have not seen it, beware that it has the potential to make you laugh -it might be a good idea to be near a bathroom- 'nough said. So, JP I have a new challenge for you...it is about 2 and a half minutes in...



All I can say is it is a good thing these ladies are not available for JP to date...I don't know if their children wouuld be able to stand up...They would probably be so flexible they would just slither around...j/k, but seriously.

JP why do you have to be so cool?

Jason Lewis smells...REAL GOOD!

Jodi showed me this commercial the other night and it reminded me of Jason Lewis. I remember Emily and I thought he smelled so good after he showered. We would both just sit in the lodge and smell his arms - almost EVERY time he showered. He would never tell us what his body wash was called, but we figured out that it was some kind of old spice. Jason, I just don't know how you were able to escape the ladies when you came back to school and were showering every day...you smell good, real good. Enjoy the commercial!

Called to Serve

Well, it came. After a lifetime of imaging my mission I finally have clear image of where and when. And so (drum roll please), I report to the Provo MTC on June 23 to begin my 18-month mission for the Norway Oslo Mission. That’s right. NORWAY. No joke.

My feelings on this? I think surprised sums things up pretty well. But, I love it. Honest. I’m so excited and I feel good about it. My semester in Chile taking on Spanish was no cakewalk, so I must admit that I’m terribly nervous about this Norwegian language business. I don’t know how to count to ten, or how to say “hello,” or even how to say “Jesus Christ” in Norwegian, but I do know the Lord qualifies those He calls. Entonces, me voy a Noruega. Woop-yeah!

Right: My brother Eli and I with my call. Surprised faces all around. Left: The "Where in the WORLD is Sister Stevens Serving?" guess poster. (Pun off of "Where in the WORLD is Carmen San Diego, and a sweet alliteration if you ask me.) The closest anyone got was Germany, and when I initially saw that guess I thought to myself, "you jerk! Don't guess anything in Europe!"

Hope they call me on a mission...

Badgers, guess what? I'm going on a mission! My papers are already in and I should be receiving my call sometime this week (Thursday?). I feel really good about this decision, and now it's just a matter of seeing where the Lord sends me. In the meantime, I've decided that it's kinda fun to see where everyone else can see me going. So, have at it. Leave your comments with guesses and I'll let you all know the official where when I get it.

Ode to Tarp Tents

When my little sister and brother-in-laws came up to visit for a week, pioneer trek became a family affair. I don't think it was raining when we started out, but after dinner we had to quickly get shelters set up because the clouds were threatening to pour out torrential rains. Fortunately, my wilderness survival skills came in handy. We rigged up a tarp tent using what limited twine we had from our sleeping bags and shoelaces (well, not really shoelaces, but that sounds more dramatic). Our little band chatted amiably and slept comfortably amidst the storm... Will rode down the next morning on his bike. He got home in time for work but was completely mud-splattered.

Iceberg Runoff

Sometimes life on the trek would go by fast. One brisk Friday morning I took a group of about six girls to use the “facili-trees” because heaven knows that girls cannot go to the bathroom by themselves. When you are using one bathroom bag between this many girls it takes quite a while to get through everyone; my point being that it took forever and we all arrived at breakfast late. We joined the end of the breakfast line and went about getting our food and such. You know; business as usual. It wasn’t until I went to brush my teeth that things got interesting. I must tell you two critical bits of information before I process with this story.

1. Every week Kitchen Crew would have fun labeling the juices and water insides the cambros. We had all sorts of names: Bottom of the Brooklyn Bridge (water), Strawberry Fields (strawberry juice, duh), and probably something like Kazaam at one point or another. This week in particular our lovely K-Crew decided to label one of the water cambros, “Iceberg Runoff.” Gross. The name made me think about that nasty brown slush that snow inevitably turns into on a beaten path. That being said, I avoided that water cambro the entire week.

2. I take good care of my teeth. On average, it takes me a good five minutes for me to finish brushing (mind you, this does include flossing and mouthwash). At Badger I looked forward to brushing my teeth. It may have been days since I had showered, but at least my precious teeth could be clean. I looked forward to that squeaky-clean, just-brushed-my-teeth feeling like you wouldn’t believe.

Okay, these points being said, I will finish this sad tale. After breakfast I walked over to the cambros to get water on my toothbrush to brush my teeth. I looked for the water cambro I’d been using all week, but it was not within my sight. Then my eyes rested on the “Iceberg Runoff” cambro. “Come on Abby,” I told myself, “you know it’s just water in there.” So I lifted the tab on top to pour water onto my toothbrush.

My original image of “Iceberg Runoff” wasn’t too far off. A brown liquid is what came out of the cambro. BROWN!!! I froze in place. What…just…happen…?...!....?

I had poured Hot Chocolate onto my toothbrush. Disgusting? YES! Apparently before breakfast that morning, K-Crew announced that they had switched out the cambros' contents, and “Iceberg Runoff” was now Hot Chocolate. The problem was that I was late to breakfast and 100% missed this valuable piece of information.

So, after a period of bewilderment and a few distraught yells, I rinsed off my toothbrush in real water and brushed my teeth. (I don’t think the rinse did much. It was like brushing my teeth in sugar. Yuck!) Oh, and I most certainly gave a Mr. Jason Lewis and Christian Lenhart a brief reprimand for making the priceless K-Crew announcement only once and at the beginning of breakfast. Christian just told me that’s why I should come to meals on time. Hummm!

One more thing. Jason : why on earth did you not just rip the “Iceburg Runoff” off the cambro altogether?!? I’m obviously traumatized by this horrific incident!