Tails of a College Cheerleader

Got all my cheer gear! We're completely
Nike'd out with backpacks, shoes and clothes.

Well, who knew Hunter would actually grow up and go to college?

Ok, probably everyone due to the fact that college has been my conversation topic of choice since I was two.

Dad and I moved the majority of my stuff into my dorm on Tuesday, August 21 so I could be (mostly) moved in by the time cheer camp started the next day - Wednesday. I dropped him off at the airport on Wednesday morning, got breakfast with some of my new freshmen teammates and ended the day with a meeting and team dinner for the first day of cheer camp.

Speaking of cheer camp....

Camp was probably one of the roughest things ever to hit me mentally and, more so, physically. We started actually working on Thursday morning where we started it off light - yeah, right. Our personal trainer, who I have a love-hate relationship with because the workouts are tough but she's one of the coolest people I've met so far, kicked all of our butts with a 6-mile morning run to start off the season followed by a little more conditioning. We continued the remainder of the day stunting with an amazing stunt coach - John Blake - who didn't just kick our butts, he kicked a little bit of everything with the most intense stunting sessions I've ever been apart of in my life.

The freshmen on the team! 

Before lunch, due to a little lack of food and my weird blood sugar issues, I slyly threw up in a nearby trash can on the way to lunch without anyone seeing (score!). After dinner, we ended the day with team bonding games and what we liked to call Story Time, where Coach Rosie put 10 minutes on a timer and one at a time girls shared about what makes them...well, them - their life story, their faith, their cheerleading history, etc.

Friday ran very much the same minus the puking, plus a black eye.

Just a few bumps and bruises from cheer camp.

Saturday, we stunted early in the morning instead of working out. And then, my favorite part of cheer camp, we all loaded up into cars and drove out to Hermosa Beach to do beach workouts with our trainer Bri. On the beach, we literally had a crowd watching from the pier as 20 cheerleaders in sports bras and Nike Pros worked out on the beach with their trainer blowing a whistle. After the workout, we had the day to enjoy the beach (my first time in the Pacific Ocean!).

Cheer camp lasted until Sunday, August 26 and ended with the whole team attending church together.

What's Going On Now:

At this point my mama flew in to LAX and I'm currently in the midst of running errands (more dorm supplies) and shopping with her! I'm so happy that she could be here and she'll be staying through orientation. So, that's what we've been doing so far! Orientation starts on Friday and that's when all the fun and activity will start. And when my really quiet hall of just me and my RA will fill with a ton of girls moving in.

I'll keep you posted on more! Keep praying for me!

2,160 Miles: Day 2

...And We're Off Again!

On our second day across the country, we departed from North Platte, Nebraska with the intention of just driving as far as we possibly could. This mindset left us deciding to make it all the way to Las Vegas - our original Day 3 destination. I'd say it's pretty impressive that we made it from Grand Rapids, MI to Las Vegas in 48 hours. But, that's just me.

Colorado

The Drive:

• 15 hours
• 1,014 miles
• 5 states: Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada
• Approx. $90.00 for gas

Other Info:

• HOLY COW! Driving through Colorado was absolutely amazing. There was nothing more humbling than driving through God's massive creation. I mean, sure I've seen the ocean and so many other parts of His world, but there was something spectacular about feeling so so so small in comparison of it and simply surround by it. 
• For a long while, Iowa was pretty boring. Absolutely no color anywhere - mostly just a lot of dust. But after a few hours in, we were surrounded by the greatest color of red. There were giant rock structures,  lots of curvy roads. It was just great. 
• Driving through Arizona at night through the mountains was purely terrifying. All you saw around you were the dark, giant masses of the mountains, and the roads were especially precarious and (as it had just down poured in that area) slippery. 
• WE LOVE VEGAS! We got in late, so got ice cream and fell asleep watching the Avengers. Perfect end to a really big driving day. 

Utah

Vegas, Baby!

We made it to Vegas! I'm going to post more information about the second leg of the journey a little later in the day, but first a little sun and spa for dad and I!

The photos are of Colorado, the most beautiful state I've ever driven through. The mountains were unreal.

And of course, the picture of my dad is him holding up his giant ice cream sundae we got from ILLY in our hotel in Las Vegas.

2,160 miles: Day One

...AND WE'RE OFF!

After much anticipation and counting down, my dad and I finally hit the road this morning! Our destination: Azusa California on Tuesday, August 21st. We left Grand Rapids, MI this morning a little before 7:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) and arrived in North Platt, Nebraska at 8:00 p.m. (Central Time). We made it way farther than we thought we would. We planned on stopping in Omaha, Nebraska but actually drove five to six hours past it. Tomorrow, we haven't really decided an endpoint. Before we started the trip, we planned on stopping in Denver, CO, but because we drove so far today, we are only 4 hours away from Denver, instead of the originally planned eight. Right now, we're going to get as close to Las Vegas (our scheduled 3rd night stop) as possible. 

Here is what our complete journey looks like:

Our Drive Today:

Logistics: 

• 15 hours
• 914 miles
• 5 States: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska
• Approx. $85.00 for gas

Other:

• Crossed the Mississippi River!
• While driving 80 mph on the highway (shh, don't tell my mom...in my defense it was a 75 mph speed limit.......), I almost got passed by a semi-truck. That is one seriously fast truck. No big deal, just a million pounds of death machine passing me. Needless to say, it was terrifiying.
• I decided that Iowa is absolutely gorgeous. The hills, the farms, the grass, the windmills, and the beautiful blue sky, it was just beautiful. 

Keep praying for us! We were so fortunate to have made it this far without any issues, and we know that God's hand is on our car. Please pray that it stays that way! 

Dorm Decorations:

Paint Swatch Calendar

I found this on Pinterst! It worked out so well, and I'm so excited to put it up in my dorm. Instead of buying a whiteboard or bulletin board calendar I'll use this!

Dorm Decorations

I got this idea from graduation open houses:

So many people had their photos strung up on strings with clothes pins. So, I bought some thinking I'd do the same. Then, when I was going through things in my room to either pack/throw away in preparation for college, I found all my old nail polish. Throw the two together and viola! You have cute dorm decorations. I'm going to hang photos, notes, etc. up on a string or ribbon in my dorm!

Watch out for more dorm decorations coming soon! 

Come To The River

Check Out The Video Of My Baptism Here:

 http://youtu.be/jo_Aj3RcDpQ

Blog post number two! I just wanted to continue to share a little bit about myself and what this last summer consisted of for me. While working at Hiawatha Youth camp in the U.P. I decided to get baptized. It was something that I had never done and therefore wanted to do, and it was something that (thankfully) my parents had decided to let me choose when to do on my own.

After making the decision to fully commit not only my present life to Christ, but also my whole future to Him and to what He has planned for me, to get baptized in Piatt Lake, the lake that the camp is on. I was blessed enough to have a close family friend who is a pastor baptize me in front of the Hiawatha staff and my parents, which made it even more special.

Here is my testimony that I shared before the big dip: 

As a senior in high school, I was doing what normal high school seniors do during the fall: filling out applications and looking into colleges. I’m being completely honest when I say that God was the farthest thing from my mind when I was applying to schools. I only thought about what I wanted and what college would give me the most success in my future. I had my plan set into place, and no one, including God, was going to mess that up.

But God had His own plans for me. When I went to my first Azusa event, I only went as a courtesy to a friend who was actually interested in going to Azusa. When one of my parents’ friends implied they were wrong for letting me even consider go to a non-Christian school, I was severely offended that they thought they could have any say in MY future. Then, when I went out to visit California to tour UCLA, Stanford, USC and Azusa Pacific (in that order), I had no desire to go to Azusa, I didn’t want to look into their journalism program. It’s campus and size paled in the face of the giant schools who surely could give me a better education 10-fold the one Azusa could provide me.

When my disinterest was the lowest is when God stepped in to kick me in the butt, but I still didn’t notice Him at work because I was too caught up in my own pride. When Azusa waived my application fee, I didn’t flinch. I attributed it to my high grades, my success. I finished my applications and acceptance letters started coming in, I brushed off the fact that a.) I got into early admission and b.) got one of the largest academic scholarships that Azusa can offer.

But finally, when the rejection letters came in from the schools I had planned to go to was when I was humbled enough to see what His plan and purpose was. After a few weeks of being bitter and angry about Him not letting me have what I wanted, I finally opened my hands and let it go. Because even if I couldn’t see it, He was doing all these things for my good because Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

My purpose in being baptized today is to start fresh, to be redeemed. Today, I am cleansed by His spirit. And from this day on, I pledge and dedicate myself to live for His sake and purpose and not my own.

About Me!

As of late, I have been incredibly inspired and it has been suggested by a few close friends that I should start a blog. So, here goes nothing!

My goal in blogging is to work on my writing on an almost daily basis, to share ideas, to inspire others, and hopefully learn a little something about myself and my life through it.

So for my first entry, I'll tell you a little bit about myself:

1. I'm a cheerleader to the core. I've been cheering since fourth grade and now have the amazing opportunity to be a college cheerleader!

2. I have worked for three summers on staff at a Christian youth camp called Hiawatha Youth Camp in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I was a camper there for six years as well, so it has been my summer home for most of my life.

3. During the fall of my junior year of high school, I was able to study abroad in the Bahamas at a semester program called The Island School. Many of my blog posts will be centered around this experience and it will be explained more later.

4. I graduated this year! Yay class of 2012.

5. I will be attending Azusa Pacific University (located in southern California). There, I will be studying journalism and cheering for the APU Spirit Squad.