A Fall Full of Farewell Festivities Day 1

Yay for a title full of alliteration.

As you all know, I've moved to Utah. Before I update you all on how things have been going with the move, I wanted to quickly share the events of my final days in Kansas. They were some busy and fun ones!

Friday Oct 10th,
I had my last day working as a para educator at Lawrence Free State High School in the Special Education classroom. More specifically, I had spent those past 6 weeks working mostly with a particular student with Autism. I had been warned he was a challenge,(which he definitely was at times), but overall, I really enjoyed my time working with him, as well as with the other staff.

Other than having my last day of work, I was mostly excited for the events of that evening. One of my closest friends, Steve, had mentioned that he wanted to help organize one last fun evening for me, with some of my friends before I left. The result was what I like to call my very own "Fall Festival." It all started with us meeting at Panera Bread Company-My favorite restaurant! (Not found in Utah). I can't even tell you how much soup & bread bring joy to my life.

Then we headed about 30 mins away to Gardner, Kansas for the KC corn maze. My brother, Jonathan, and his wife, Cassie, met up with us there as well. We all had a great time together wandering around the corn maze (which was cut like a KU Jayhawk and basketball).
Some of the highlights of the corn maze were; Ali having her first experience using a "Johnny on the Spot," Steve jumping out of the corn and successfully scaring Erin, Ali & me just as we were about to take a picture, Jonathan buying a pumpkin, and me ending the adventure by sitting in pumpkin goo. Gross!


After the corn maze, most of us went over to Jonathan & Cassie's house where we had apple cider, hot chocolate, homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (Thanks Cassie), candy, etc while we watched a scary movie (The Skeleton Key)- I didn't think it was very scary though. And of course, as tradition, we played Rock Band until about 2am.

September 2008

Hmmm? Some have noticed that I have taken a sabbatical of sorts when it comes to blogging. This is the much dreaded post I have not wanted to take the time to write which explains why. Are you familiar with the song by Green Day, "Wake me up when September ends?" Well, I think that pretty much says it best-seriously. I hated the month of September for a lot of reasons. Usually the welcoming of fall (my favorite season) is a much anticipated time of year for me, but not this time, not 2008.

Looking back at certain promptings/feelings/inclinations/"coincidences" or whatever you believe them to be, it all started in May. I personally refer to them as tender mercies, divine intervention and the Lord being completely aware of every detail of my life. It is once again undeniable that He knows me perfectly in how He pretty much spells things out loud and clear for me, in a way only I can understand. Hence the fact I will spare you most of the personal details and just focus on the main story. Are you ready? I'll see what I can do to make it quick.

So July rolled around and I was happily bouncing around as an EFY counselor. I was at KU and received a phone call from my long lost friend, Brian. He and I worked at Camp Wild together back in 2005. Little did I know how much backpacking along the Salmon River, hiking for miles, and finding those apples to quickly make homemade applesauce together in order to "save the starving children" would impact my life 3 years later. (This was the apple escapade-Brian is in the white)
So Brian called and left a message saying there was an awesome Recreation therapy job available in Salt Lake City that he wanted to tell me about and I should call him back. I checked the message and thought, "He must not remember I live in Kansas now. Oh well, that was nice of him to think of me." And then I ran off to continue my week of EFY bliss, not thinking anything of the message again.

Brian called me again about 2 weeks later and didn't leave a message. Seeing his missed call, I was reminded of his previous message and thought, "Darn. I never called him back to tell him I'm living in Kansas now." (Brian and I weren't really ones to stay in touch. I guess you could say we stayed connected "professionally." while I was working as a Recreation Therapist in Provo, he was in Grad school for Recreation Therapy at BYU. We often turned to the other as a resource for things).

Next thing I knew, it was mid-August and I was in my last week of EFY up in Nauvoo and this time Brian had emailed me. He sent me a link with the information about the job and wrote "I'm quitting my Recreation therapy job in SLC because I'm moving with my family to pursue my PHD. I know you're in Kansas, but this is a great place to work, and I think you'd be a great fit to take my place. Check it out." So I did. I clicked on that stinkin link and my life has not been the same since!

Before calling Brian back, I just felt inclined to talk with my dear friend, Elisabeth. How do I even begin to tell you all the reasons why I love this girl?! She and I were EFY counselors together in 2004, we were roommates, we were in classes together at BYU, we were in the same major and therefore claimed dibs on one another as project partners, she's adorable and wonderful, etc etc. Ok so I knew she was working up in SLC and I was curious if she knew anything about this job opening. I simply asked "Hey what's the name of the place you're working at again?" and she told me the name and then said "Oh but Tiff there's a Recreation therapy position open with the Division of Youth Services that I wanted to tell you about." (you could say it's the "sister facility" to where she works)...I froze! Elisabeth DEFINITELY knows I'm in Kansas and definitely knows how much I love being here. The fact that 2 friends had both thought to mention this job to me- I had to look into it and the more I looked, the more I was hooked and the next thing I knew-I had completed the application process for it.

This was all at the end of August. September came, and I had many emotionally unexpected and stressful things happening in my life at the time. Then I received a phone call from Salt Lake County requesting an interview. Part of me was kicking myself, knowing I had "doomed" myself by applying for the job. I knew I was beyond qualified for this position and having both Brian and Elisabeth on board as my cheerleaders, I knew there was a good chance I would get the job. This would inevitably lead to one thing; I would have to make a decision about accepting it, which, obviously, would mean I would be leaving Kansas.

September 14th & 15th I flew out to SLC and had my interview. I took the quick trip extremely seriously and really wanted to be fair and unbiased in evaluating how I felt about being out there. While I was in Salt Lake, I stayed with the family of one of my best friends, which helped a lot! They know me well enough and were extremely supportive and understanding in my time of stress and deep thoughts. It helped a lot to be able to talk sensibly with them about the reality of making the decision of possibly leaving Kansas and moving out to Salt Lake (right nearby them, in fact). I realized after the interview that I didn't feel good nor bad about the job, but I felt like I would be ok if I were to move there to Salt Lake City. That was huge for me!

About 2 weeks after my interview, on Sept 25th, I was offered the job. I accepted it the day after. So, I will be working as a Recreation Therapist with the Salt Lake County Division of Youth Services. This is basically a short term emergency facility for youth 12-18 who are in crisis, or who have been pulled from their homes and are waiting to be placed in either residential treatment or in foster care, etc. I'm excited to use my degree again, to work with youth and to be getting paid really well on top of that!
Things have fallen into place in ways I never could have imagined. Everything from me getting out to Salt Lake, as well as getting my things moved, having a place to live, when to start work, etc. I am constantly amazed by it. I know without a doubt that I am NOT in control on this one-AT ALL. Someone else is steering the wheel. I honestly am "just along for the ride" even though I have NO CLUE where that ride is taking me. I guess the most important part is that I'm willing to just stay in "the car" and trust "the driver."
I'll be the first to admit I still have no desire to be leaving Kansas. I feel like I just got here. In fact, I get that choked up lump in my throat anytime I start to think about leaving my family, my friends, my ward, my hometown and really the Kansas City area in general, but no matter how much denial I try to live in, the car is packed for my brothers to drive out in a couple of days and just like the song goes...my bags are packed and although I can't say I'm "ready to go"...I am leaving tomorrow... and yes, I'll be on a jet plane. This may be goodbye for now, Kansas, but honestly-you'll always be my home! And as we all know..."There's no place like home!"

American Idol Concert Aug 29, 2008

Kansas City Welcomes home DAVID COOK!!!


My family have been pretty intense American Idol fans since season 2 back in 2003 (We still say Clay Aiken should have won that year). So we were pretty happy this year when the two finalists came down to David Archuleta, the wholesome Mormon boy from the Salt Lake City area, and David Cook, the down to earth "rocker" from Kansas City. For the first time ever, I honestly didn't care who won. In fact, I was actually in Salt Lake City during the finale in May-voting like crazy for David Archuleta. And just the week before I had been screaming for David Cook during his "hometown visit" at the Kansas City Royals baseball game. So long story short-There was a lot to look forward to when the American Idol tour came to Kansas City!

Mom and I went together. We had floor seats toward the back, but Mom thought it would be fun to sneak up as close to the stage as we could get without getting into trouble. After all, the seats up there cost the same as ours and it would be a shame for there to be any empty seats. right? She's hilarious. Needless to say, we got caught and the security/usher lady just looked at us like we were crazy teenagers. I love my adventures with Mom! Life is never boring!


Overall I wasn't super impressed with the set up of the show. They seemed to really drag things out. There were definitely some of the finalists who I was pleasantly surprised to discover were much better in person than I had ever thought them to be on the show, (namely Michael Johns and Brooke White), but let's be honest...we were there to see the Davids!
We definitely were NOT disappointed! Kansas City was good to David Archuleta, but WOW I have never heard an arena scream so loud, as when David Cook took the stage. It was awesome! Locals are always rather proud to be from Kansas City (because this place is pretty much awesome!!!) So it was fun to join with the people of KC and welcome home our American Idol (and lose our voices in the process) Once again-another fun night with Mom!

Nauvoo Trip with Mom Aug 21-23, 2008

My Mom is awesome! She is so much fun, it kills me sometimes. For the first time in my 28+ years of life (or at least that's what Mom says), She and I decided to take a little road trip/mother-daughter get away to Nauvoo. We had a blast!
It's true, I had just come from Nauvoo after finishing my last EFY session, but seriously folks, is it possible to get sick of that beautiful town? I think not! In fact, my summer of EFYs had come to an end and after focusing on the youth for so many weeks, it was time for me to focus on my own needs and make some life decisions. So Mom and I headed straight to the temple. Have I ever mentioned just how much I love this temple?!?!


Our family has been to Nauvoo many times. We all had gone up for the pageant in July, but it was great to play personal tour guide for Mom and point out some fun stories I had learned from EFY. We saw some sites and watched the "Emma" movie, and on top of that, we were able to see Vocal Point!!!

Now let's be honest, if you read my previous blog about EFY Nauvoo Session 2, you'll remember that BYU Vocal Point was in Nauvoo "on tour".

I had already seen them perform during EFY week, and I knew my Mom would LOVE seeing them. Then again, who wouldn't?! They're super fun, they sound amazing and well, it's always an added bonus when this happens:

It's all about who you know, but SSSSHHHHH! Don't tell anyone!

It's true, I know a handful of the guys in the group. Two are brothers-Eric and Scott. I have known their older brothers (Alan & Michael) for going on 10 years now. Their Dad was also my institute teacher in Orem at one point.

And then there's my friend, Buck. Isn't he fun!? He's amazingly talented. It's pretty much awesome! People like that are just cool. Buck and I actually met 4 years ago when we were EFY counselors together at BYU. We've crossed paths every so often and been able to chat over the past few years. We even ran into each other this summer at the MTC during Mission Presidents' Seminar. Small World! It was fun to see him again. He's hilarious!

So Mom and I joked we had become Vocal Point groupies because we actually went to the show both nights we were in town. By the end of the trip, Mom was declared "Super Fan," as she'd rattle off the names and some fast facts of all the members of the group. She always made sure to focus on the really important facts, like which of the guys are still single, etc. I think they definitely got a kick out of us.


We really lucked out too since they had moved the performance both nights to the indoor stage at the Visitor's Center due to potential rain, which meant we didn't have to swat the bugs that gather there by the Mississippi River. LUCKY US! Overall, it was a great trip! Mom and I should have done something like that together a long time ago!

EFY Nauvoo Session 2...Aug 11-16

My life is truly blessed! I knew the first time I experienced EFY Nauvoo it was a special experience, but little did I expect to be given the opportunity twice in one summer.














We arrived in Nauvoo early enough to be able to attend the last night of the Nauvoo pageant. I cry everytime! Honestly folks, it's Nauvoo, how could I not get a little choked up?!








To say I was excited to be back in Nauvoo was an understatement!
I had even started to make friends with the animals in town. And although I know this is a picture of an ox, I can admit an EFY first for me, I had a COW!!! (If you don't know EFY lingo to know what that means...just ask me)

I love this picture. There were about 220 of us at this session of EFY and it was quite the site to see the gospel being studied by the youth in such a beautiful and sacred setting along the Mississippi River.





This is where we, the "Rockwell Family," had gospel study together every morning.

The youth of the Rockwell Family were fantastic! We all had so much fun together. Even though it was just a matter of David being double-jointed, we definitely took advantage of the opportunity to go for the shock effect with the health counselors.

I honestly can not remember the last time I laughed as much as I did with these 3 Co-counselors (Ben, Tommy & Alyssa). We got along so well, and absolutely loved working together. To say we had family unity was an understatement, because we could not get enough of each other. I think I forgot there were even other counselors at the session because I just loved this Rockwell Team so darn much! (This picture is when we told the youth we were just going to start randomly posing. Oh and Alyssa is re-enacting what Tommy came up to her and did at the dance during the song "You say it best, when you say nothing at all"-awkward)














Here I am as proud "Mama Tiffanie" (in the blue) with all of the youth of the "Rockwell Family". I seriously loved these kids! We are standing infront of the land once owned by Porter Rockwell, close friend and self-appointed body guard of the prophet Joseph Smith.

The week could not have been brought to a better end than with an amazing show by BYU's accapella group "Vocal Point." I know a guy or two or three in it and as you can see, the kids seriously had a great time! (If you look closely, my COW is in this picture)

I had debated for a couple of days whether or not to work this session of EFY and I am so glad I chose to accept the offer! I could not have asked for a more amazing group of kids who loved Nauvoo, loved each other, and loved us as crazy counselors. (And I'm not lying when I say we were a bit nutty). When the week came to an end, it was the first time since going to EFY as a youth that I didn't want the week to end and I felt like I could have just stayed there loving every moment with those people. Awww! EFY--you bring such joy to my life!