Retreat! I have tea!

I sat down to blog this morning and, for some reason thinking next week was Easter Sunday, that's what I started talking about.

I almost finished the post before I realized my mistake. So that will be posted next Wednesday. Then I had to figure out what on earth I'd write about instead, and I remembered I never talked about the retreat!

Short story: it was fantastic. Great teaching (hard to call it "preaching" when it's 30 people crammed into the lounge section of a hotel suite), good fellowship, lots of fun and craziness, and even a mini birthday party in my room the first night.

The entire time, Jessi and I were marvelling over how we survived an entire week like that during youth conference. Because I felt dead by noon on Saturday.

We went to the mall, where there's a Teavana store, but I only bought a tea canister for some tea I already have at home. (My friends know me very well, because tea is also one of the gifts I got.) The only other thing I got was a scarf to match a bubble gum pink skirt I picked out when Wes, a friend and I went to our mall before leaving for the retreat.

We played laser tag Saturday night. 3 rounds, and I think they were each 15 minutes long. The group was split into two teams and it was a free-for-all getting the colored vests. Jessi, myself, and our roommate managed to grab green, which was the team with all the hardcore gamers like my brother. We won all three rounds.

No thanks to me. My maximum accuracy was 29.7% and my highest rank out of 27 people was 11. I mostly helped guard the base and provide a human shield of sorts so Jessi wouldn't keep getting hit and deactivated. One game, she got second. Yes, I'll take my credit.

By the end, my thighs were killing me from crouching on an angle and leaning around corners like a wannabe commando. And who knew leaning in and out could be so intense and sweaty? I was getting pretty good by the end of it. Definitely something I can enjoy. So long as my team has people on it who know what they're doing to make sure we win.

I learned afterward that black tea to me is like someone on crack. Who knew?

Here's what happened.

The first night we went to a restaurant. Their main thing is BBQ, but I got a salad and soup combo. And sweet iced tea.

I haven't had black tea in a while. I prefer green or herbal. However, I was kind of craving it. I ended up downing three full glasses (and they didn't go overboard on the ice like some places).

By the time we got back to the bus to go to the hotel, my head was buzzing and I felt dizzy. I wasn't sure why; I figured it was fatigue or something.

Then, of course, we had a service in the hotel suite. Still thinking the light-headedness was me being tired (I'm usually settling into bed by 10), I just wanted to go to sleep.

Then we had the mini party. That was fun. Next time, I need to insist my friends not get me something that I actually really want. Maybe it'll avoid homeschool awkward me from cropping up. I mean, come on, I'm 19. It wasn't that bad.

Around that time, I realized what was wrong with me. (The dizziness, I mean.)

"Jessi, I had sweet black tea."

"So?"

"So...that stuff has caffine in it." (Like it's a drug or something.)

(Starting to laught.) "Yeah?"

"And I haven't had black tea in forever. I haven't really even had soda in, like, two years."

I told Wes later when I wandered down two floors to say good night. (Unlike youth conference, our whole group was neither all on the same floor or on two adjacent floors dividing boys and girls. I felt so grown-up and lost.) He just gave me his, "Really? You're kidding me," look.

The next morning, I wanted to try out my new tea. I decided to skip the black tea flavor and go with a pomegrante one instead.

That's about all I have to say without rambling, and it's almost time for church, so I'll leave you with this: have you ever noticed that the clouds look darker when you're standing under the sun?

No, I don't know what that's supposed to mean. Just one of my poetic observations.

Visions of Autumn

Is it just me, or does autumn seem to be synonymous with "wishy-washy"? At least in Michigan, the other three seasons can each be defined by a certain picture. Spring is wet and colorful, with a bit of gray slush on the roads and flowers popping up through the snow, as well as the occasional flood; summer is warm and bright and full of activities and adventure; winter is cold and full of snow and the sound of cars spinning on icy roads or of shovels pushing into snowdrifts. However, I can't pin autumn with a stereotype. Every day I look outside and say, "This is the epitome of autumn" and the next day I say, "No, this is". Maybe I'm the one who's wishy-washy.

For example, the last few days have been gray and drizzly and cold. The trees, shifting from vibrant green to warm red and gold, with the backdrop of looming gray clouds, is one image of autumn. But then there are days like today. I stepped outside to check the mail and was greeted with golden sunshine, blue sky, and birdsong. I like this vision of autumn far better, and right now I'm wishing I had a camera so I could capture it.

Autumn is the season where you blink and it's suddenly there. One minute all is green and warm and the next the grass is brown and the trees are red and the fields are gold.

I've never been able to decide which season I like best. Lately, I've heard people say they prefer autumn over the others, but I don't think it's that way for me. I like autumn, sure, but I much prefer watching flowers bloom and crops grow to watching the plants wilt and fade. Mom grimaces at the thought of spring, no matter what time of year we're in, but I think spring is my favorite. (Considering my birthday is right at the beginning, I may be a bit biased, but still.) I like the rain washing away the snow. I like seeing life sprouting up all over the place. I like the first glimpse of warm sunshine on a world returning to color.

I don't know what's put me in such a poetic mood. Maybe it's the fact that I greeted the day early with tea and cinnamon swirl bread. Maybe it's because I finally, really started Book 2 and I'm finally excited about it. Maybe it's because I spent the last hour browsing awesome pictures on 365project.org. (Like this.) I don't know. Anything is better than the mood I was in when I wrote yesterday. (Glad it made you laugh, Grandma.)

I guess I should get back to writing. One page down, too many more to go.

Which season is your favorite? What's your perfect vision of autumn?