Broadcasting Life

back to the real world

i can't believe the best time off my life is now over. spring break in OKC was more than i imagined. i never imagined that i would be a part of a family of 18 and i know we will always be close. together we all put up a house. in OKC. we laughed together. we fought together. we all love each other. i miss them all already and it has been about 24 hours already and i'm just itching to see them tonight! it was funny when we first realized that we were a family. it was the end of the week and we were on our way back home. sitting at a village inn in omaha, nebraska, and we had all just got our food. while we were eating, we all start passing food around the table, all sharing with each other. lo j then looks over and just says, "we look like one crazy family!" and it's true. here's some other reasons we all are a family:

-we drive for 18 hours, going straight to okc, only stopping for food and bathroom breaks. we all got pretty confortable using each other for pillows and we had no problem with it.

-we all had the same common goal. "let's get that house up! the family's moving in at 5!" as we stare down at the slab of cement foundation. we got straight to work!

-we can bicker at each other like no other. we are always teasing each other, coming up with witty comments for each other ("can you guys look behind the van and tell me how much room i have before i hit the car behind me?", "you have mirrors." nate so got evil eyes for that one..."that's it! everyone out! ESPECIALLY NATE!) (square, put down the camera and get to work!) (how odd is it that nate said most of these comments?) i think we were all ready to pummel nate at the end of the trip...but we never would because we all have love for each other...even nate.

-we all learned how to work with each other. building a house requires team work. if you would look up team work in the dictionary, you find find a picture of BSU habitat for humanity. that's how well we work together and i'm proud to say i'm part of the team.

-we have a million and one inside jokes. every thing from "let's nail that stud!" to "that's manly" to "the sun is round. there are flies on the walls." to "rubber ducky, this is rusty nail. do you read me?" and in a low voice, "caandy caane." yeah...good times!

-we're all comfortable with showing the love. every now and then you'll hear one of us say, "i love you!" and the hugs are always going around.

-we all have nicknames. or a stripper name. not that having a stripper name has anything to do with being a family but hey, we're all comfortable with calling each other by our stripper names. and then laughing hysterically at it.

-we had a lot of us reveal our true selves. especially nate, ann and pete. the quiet ones at the beginning of the trip turned out to be the ones we couldn't get to stop talking. and that's not a bad thing, we're glad that they finally opened up!

-we find out our true talents. such as rapping vanilla ice, commentaring a b ball game WHILE playing bball, being stoic, gluing on nails, painting a wall, driving a van, using power tools, running a video camera, garbage surfing, shower relays, stipping and working the pole, immitating each other, being manly, looking snazzy while being on the work site (whether it be color cordinating, curling your hair, dressing for the eighties), or navigating.

-learning we can all dance like no other. we shaked our groove thang at the hockey games (ann shakin it like a polaroid picture, so not stoic) (cotton eyed joe) (lo j teaching kearney,neb. the YMCA), in the van (ekren and baby got back?), and at the site.

-most of us felt like crying when we had to split from each other after being with each other for a week...and i'm sure we're all dying to see each other tonight.

these are just a few of the many reasons. i think we all wanted to stay longer. we'll have to plan the reunion tour. if you want to learn more about what we did, i'm in the process of posting the trip journals here.