Oh what do you do in the summertime....

I'm lucky and I'm "assigned" to be a visiting teacher for my friend, Alexis, which means I get to invite myself to hang out with her at least once a month and she can't (or shouldn't) tell me no. Ha ha! Since Rebecca (my companion), Alexis and I all currently are spending our time at home on these wonderful summer days, we decided to get a little creative this time.

So this past Sunday evening we planned an exciting Monday full of swimming at Alexis' apartment complex, followed by a yummy picnic and then set to end with the VTing message. As I was going to sleep on Sunday night, I was definitely looking forward to Monday's activities.

And then I woke up...and it was raining...and swimming was cancelled....and needless to say I was GROUCHY!! I don't know why exactly, but it was one of those ruts where I just wanted to pity myself all day, even though the reality was that nothing really was wrong.

I went to the grocery store to buy my fruit to contribute to what was now going to be an indoor picnic. I admit I was not super friendly with the produce man. In fact, I was on my phone when I walked in and when he asked me if I needed help with anything, I was quick to brush him off and shake my head no. I was so crabby! I ended my phone conversation and then paced back & forth between the already quartered watermelons and the whole watermelons, debating which was actually the better buy. The produce man could probably see my inner debate and again asked if he could help me. I quickly said, "Nope. I'm great thanks"--(Tiff, you LIAR! Even the produce guy can see you're a horrible faker). The reality was, that at this point, I didn't even care about prices. I was so busy being a brat, pouting in my head, that my brain wasn't even computing the numbers.

It is also usually at this point that I realize I'm being a jerk and I start to tell myself to shake it off. That was about the same time Mr. Produce man came up to me once again and said "I want to make sure you get a good watermelon, Can I help you pick it?" All I could think was "Wow-good guy." I took a deep breath, smiled and said, "Sure."

Well all I can say is that the produce man at Dillon's on 6th & Lawrence St was probably the most excited person I've ever seen when it comes to produce. After knocking on a couple of melons, he finally found one that sounded hollow enough to satisfy him. I couldn't help but laugh when he thumped on the melon, then thumped on his own head and said "Yep, they both sound pretty hollow."

It felt good to laugh. I think I was actually still laughing when I got to Alexis' house. We had a great time. Here's our yummy spread. (Yes, fresh pineapple too)Alexis had made us grilled chicken sandwiches, fully loaded with avocados. cucumbers and please let's not forget the spreadable Swiss cheese! Rebecca had made a delectable salad with homemade croutons and introduced me to what is now probably my favorite dressing. The day hadn't started off so well, but by the end of being with these girls, I think my sandwich says it all.
PS... I called Dillon's later and asked to speak to a manager. You can only imagine the shock when I wanted to leave an employee compliment, rather than an employee complaint. I encourage us all to do that more often.

EFY Kansas July 6-12

Kansas EFY..it's like music to my ears! I love this session! Whether I am a youth or a counselor, it always was, and continues to be, a fantastic experience every year!

Here are the youth I claimed as mine during the week. We were the company named "Shaken in Mind." After being in Nauvoo with 16-18 yr olds, I was blessed with the Kansas experience of 14 & 15 yr olds. They're definitely different! Still fun, just different
I love the Lied Center at KU! We pretty much live in this building all week long. Classes, devotionals, the fireside, testimony meetings, variety show, musical program, etc all take place in this beautiful performing arts center. We are so spoiled! Both years as a counselor, I was asked to sing. Singing for the youth in the Lied Center is pretty much the coolest thing ever! Forget the American Idol finale @ the Kodak Theatre. EFY @ the Lied Center is what I'm talking about!!

This is Adrianne. She is awesome. I love her a lot. She was one of the youth in my group (The Wrath to Come) back when I was a counselor here in Kansas in 2004. She's all grown up and a counselor too now (and no surprise-she's still amazing!) We had fun being together again!

Here are some of the youth of "Shaken in Mind" during the service project. This year EFY had the kids loom hats for babies.

The banquet and last dance of the week are "Best Dress," without fail, as a counselor, I'm so busy helping the girls get ready, I never have time to do my own hair. It's become a tradition, I've decided. But hey, at least I had red shoes on! That's always fun!

I love the Ballroom at the Kansas Union. Again, we are so spoiled to be able to use such nice facilities at KU. This is where all of our dances took place during EFY.

I can't think of a better way to describe my week of Kansas EFY than with the look on my face in this picture. At times, I thought the chaos would never end. Oh the youth...gotta love 'em!

I love Jake! He was my Co-counselor for the week. We got along really well and had so much fun in the process of everything. I survived the week's chaos thanks to him!

EFY Nauvoo Session 1 June 29-July 5

EFY + Nauvoo = AMAZING!
Seriously! Can it get much better than that?! Uh, I doubt it!

I fell in love with Nauvoo the first time I went there when I was 10 yrs. old. I have had many personally sacred experiences involving Nauvoo and my love has only grown as I've had the opportunity to go back so many times throughout the years. The ultimate, for me, was in seeing a lifelong dream fulfilled with the rebuilding of the Nauvoo temple!

My passion for EFY came as equally natural when I first attended, at the age of 15. As a youth, I sucked up every minute of that marvelous week and would look forward to it with anticipation all year long. I was able to attend 5 times as a youth and I dreamed of being a counselor someday. I was blessed to have that opportunity in the Summer of 2004. Little did I know, that wouldn't be the last time.

I once said to a friend, "I love making plans for my life, it gives God something to laugh at." I stand by that statement because little did I ever know or expect that I would still have the excitement and enough energy for those crazy EFY dances after all these years and be doing the counselor thing once again this summer. LUCKY ME!

It can pretty much go without saying that I was beyond excited to combine two things I cherish in my life, by being one of the lucky ones to experience EFY-Nauvoo this year! I was definitely not disappointed.



Here are my 6 beautiful and wonderful girls (Kristin, Jenessa, Miranda, Erin, Marissa, and Megan) with whom I was blessed to spend my week. I can't think of a more fitting background to represent our time together.

We were named the "Hyde Family" for the week. Here are most of my youth, on our way to FHE to play games infront of the temple.

We used the Nauvoo Stake Center for all of our indoor activities (Classes, morning devotionals, fireside, variety show, musical program, etc). The dances were what you could call a "packed house!" I don't think my kids and I ever stopped dancing.

Brother Matthew Richardson was our session director. We were so lucky! He is an incredible teacher. His whole family came to Nauvoo with him and we LOVED learning from them. They made everything so spiritually fun!



We had lunch on the lawn outside Carthage Jail. It was a precious experience to be there with the youth.

Here are some of the other counselors and me outside the jail.

My long lost "little brothers."These are two of my boys in "the Hyde Family." All the girls at EFY were crazy about them. All I could do was laugh and give them a hard time about it. Oh, but don't worry, you can be sure they had their fair share of teasing me as well!

The last day of EFY was the 4th of July. Sadly, due to the costs associated with the recent flooding of the Mississippi River, Nauvoo could not afford fireworks this year. At first we were all disappointed, but that didn't last long. We went to see the Nauvoo missionaries perform in "Sunset on the Mississippi." The youth had a blast and were totally hyper and crazy, just as any good crowd should be! (note-the sister on the left in the blue dress, with just one arm out was actually one of my EFY girls back in 2004)


The week was beyond anything I could have imagined! I was blessed to not only have incredible youth in the "Hyde Family," but all of the youth in the session, as a whole, were fantastic! It was a week never to be forgotten. That's for sure!