alright, alright, alright, alright, alright HEY.

my little friend posted about efy on his blog. i'm trying not to be depressed about it, but i'm not working efy this year. okay, so i went and dropped off treats for a friend at games night last night, and stopped by the v show today on campus. i missed the show, but got to see some DEAR friends.
it got me thinking of my efy life and how lucky i am for so many people that i've gotten to know over the years that have become dear friends and examples in my life. so let's start the tour, shall we?? (ps...i'm starting from year one and working up to the goodness that was last summer...)

let's go back to DAY ONE of efy. yes, you heard me right. we met in the bathroom while we were trying on our counselor shirts trying to get the right size. the rest is history. Lyric and i were in the same bc group that week, and we've been besties ever since. Lyric is on her mission right now and comes home this summer....and i can't wait for her to get here. we would sneak away at efy during those "stressful times" for secret ice cream bars and dance parties. one word: love.

what a week this was, and i never would have thought i would have gotten another best friend out of this one. this is the only week my companly EVER won the cheer off...and it was ah-maz-ing. bff steve has been there for me through thick and thin. weird to think he's married with a little girl on the way.


i don't know that i have words for this picture. Dev and i are still dear friends. all the girls are in love with him, and let's be serious....i like going to dances with him because he gives me all of his hottness of attention instead of all the cute little blonde thangs, and i love him for it. he gives the best hugs of all time.

really though. ad is the best bestie anyone could ask for. i laugh when i see this picture because we both look so little! i would have never thought when we took this picture that ad and i would have so many "adventures" (yeah, adventures....) with this kid. ad is the best secret keeper of all time, and i'm afraid he knows ALL of MY SECRETS.

oh the nicknames you get at efy. there is a very elite group of people that call me trick. dee is one of those people. this was the one time i celebrated my birthday at efy...and dee and kell bought me my first pair of pierced ear earrings. i got my ears pierced that weekend and felt like a grown up. :)

love these people. love working at byu. love efy.

another dear friend i met at efy. marissa is on her mission and gets home this summer ON MY BIRTHDAY. perfect timing, eh? we are basically twins. and we went on an awesome trip to new york together. with that many people in a hotel room, someone is bound to see someone naked. whoops.

enter year dos. i worked a few weeks at byu as a counselor before i headed up to area sessions to work as a bc. those weeks were fabulous. this week was insane, and i loved my co co's. and yes, preston is wearing my vest.

enter area sessions. and j-rad. and megan. and tiff. okay, everone up there basically became family. heaven help us all...

i managed to make it down to provo one more week during the summer and worked as a bc on one of the teams. i met the sugar cain, who ended up being my coordinator partner the following summer. small world, eh?

i know this picture is not officially efy, but let's not forget that i went to disneyland every summer after efy, thanks for mark and his genius. classic picture. classic friends. and this is also to remind myself and other people how skinny i was. holy moly.

words for this pictures? none. letters?? CPK. i love these girls, and the trips we make to CPK to gossip our eye balls out. not the bad gossip, but the good healthly update your life kind of chat. meg ended up being a roomate and bestie, and sis craig is enough to make you laugh your face off. both are dear friends.

this was my dear team from year dos...plus a few. love them. miss them. even people that dance with hula hoops. (heaven help us alll.....)

enter year tres. coordinator training. ry and i had NO CLUE what we were doing, and quite frankly i was scared to death. i think i had tricked ryan into thinking i knew what was going on. sucker. loved these people. sad i didn't get to work with all of them all summer long, but ryan and i made our way up to slc.

in case you were wondering, magic happens in slc. these are my girls. we are in the secret bathroom...you know, the one the youth don't really know about? if i needed alone space to have an emotional breakdown (or secret boy conversations), the secret bathroom was the place to go.

i was lucky enough to have a few friends come work as counselors for our sessions. andre came up and brought me special peasant presents home from guatemala. yes, they are magnets. yes, they are on my fridge. yes, andre would teach his youth the dances from high school musical because he was an EXTRA in the movie. i love being friends with famous people....

these gems are from year dos, but came to visit year tres. my southern love. oh girl.....

my beloved team, with 52 in the back. my goodness, we had alot of fun in the site office. and yes, if you look closely, there is a bag of bbq chips on my desk. when i got stressed, chips solved my problems. basically, i ate my feelings...which is - unfortunate.

what a tour!! i love efy. i miss it. i miss the people. i miss pizza night. i miss blake the chef (not really, but still). i miss the youth. i miss dances. i miss v show. i miss the excitement of it all. i miss teaching. i miss dressing up on tuesdays and thursdays.

i don't miss brightly colored polos. (bless you if you are working this year...green and khaki?? oh my.) i don't miss games night. i tried to love it for three years. just not my thing. i don't miss efy love. baby mama drama. i don't miss participants setting me up with their brother (it seemed like such a good idea at the time.) i dont miss that blasted cheer, and i don't miss being so tired....

but when i think about it...the things i don't miss... i really do. efy was a good phase of life. i learned ALOT about myself, people, the gospel, teaching, leadership, delgation....and by year three, ryan and i learned what it was like to be married. (basically)

so, if i know/knew you from efy....thanks for everything. you are a dream. you helped shape me in your own way to become who i am today. if you are still working efy...i am JEALOUS. enjoy every second of it, and give your youth treats. they deserve it.