The Freshmen and The Seniors

I want you all to put yourself right back in high school as I share my funny story with you. Try to remember your very first Homecoming dance...the excitement of getting ready, finding the perfect outfit, first date, Limo ride...and the whole anticipation of the night ahead.

(Jullien & Chelsea)



(The Football Players- Preston won Homecoming King)

Saturday was the Homecoming dance and like I mentioned in my previous post my son, Jullien (a Senior) and my step-son, Adam (a Freshman) both went. Of course Jullien went with all the Seniors. They met at our friends house, ate, hung out, took pictures and waited for their luxury bus to arrive, yes I said bus...but it was supposed to be really cool. So we hung out and waited for it to arrive. As it pulled up, it was the most AMAZING BUS I had ever seen. All the kids had to line up and fill out an information sheet while some of us pushy parents jumped on to take pictures and check it out. What do ya think? I wasn't kidding!

(Senior's waiting to get on the Bus)



(Check out the little fireplace!)

(My Hubby and Erin-Checking Out the Bus)
After they all loaded on, we headed over to the Freshman house. As we pulled up a Hummer Limo was just pulling out, there were also a bunch of Sophmore kids at the house who were going with the older brother. All the little freshman were outside checking out the limo and got even more excited for their bus to arrive...they were going on a luxury bus. We all went inside, the bus was going to be 20 minutes late. While we were sitting there I had my camera and started telling them to come and check out the pictures of the senior's bus. They were freaking out..."WOW...that's cool!" Their eyes got huge, they started to jump around, the anticipation of all the fun they were going to have on their bus was getting the best of their mature fake exterior. Finally the call came, the bus driver was just coming into the gate (the family lives in an exclusive gated community). They all bolted out the door, it was pitch black outside and all they could see were the large headlights coming towards them. They started jumping, hugging, high fiving and yelling, "Yeah, Yeah, look at it, here it comes!"

(Adam Ready for Homecoming)
It slowly made a u turn and pulled up in front of the jumping, slapping, screaming, excited, freshmen. The lights inside the bus started flashing off and on. There was complete silence as they stared in awe at their amazing, luxury bus. There it finally was...the ride that would take them to their very first Homecoming dance, a ride that would make a statement..."Yes we are really movie stars here to crash your dance!" Oh this was a special day!

(Adam, Cade and Friends)

(The Freshmen)
There it was, the kids were frozen, unable to move towards the open door. This was the moment they had been waiting for. The Luxury bus was a small transit bus painted white that said "VIP TOURS" on the side! One of the boys looks at his mom and yells out, "WHAT IS THIS THING! We aren't going to the dance in THIS!" Everyone started to yell, "This is SOOOO LAME!" The boys mom said, "Oh, go ahead and get on, it'll be okay...this isn't what I thought I'd ordered but it'll be fine, hurry and get on you guys are already late." With heads hung low, shoulders slumped, muttering mean comments under their breathe...one by one they piled into their double wide "luxury" seats. Adam taking a seat and slumping his head against the window. I jumped on to get a picture of the scene inside...which was very different than a few minutes prior. At least one girl forced a smile for the picture.

(Kids in Shock)

(A Girl Forcing a Smile...Notice the Boy in the Backs Face!LOL!)
As the freshman were all seat belted safely in their seats...a dad yells out, "This is what you get to ride in when your a freshman. Just wait till next year, it gets better!!" With that final parting comment the doors closed and the bus driver flashed the inside lights off and on...giving it quite the party bus effect!LOL! We were all laughing as they drove away.

Adam told me that at the end of the night, as everyone piled outside waiting for their Limo's and Luxury busses to pull up...his group hid towards the back of the crowd, praying that their's would be the last one to pull in front. But, when you're a freshman, things never go the way you hope...it pulled right up...flashing lights and all. They sprinted to get inside and hid under the seats, hoping to avoid being seen. Driving off into the moonlight, safely hidden in the darkness, they popped their heads up one by one, looked around, climbed into their seats and said, "Man, that was embarrassing...do you think anybody saw us? I can't wait till we're Senior's, this bus stinks!!"

A Life Changing Experience

This year I have decided to once again volunteer and would like to share my experience from last year's life changing and inspiring day...

I decided to volunteer for Working Wardrobes "A Day Of Self Esteem For Woman." I've always wanted to volunteer but just could never step outside of my comfort zone. I finally made the commitment for today, which was a full day of makeup, hair, business attire, jewelry, shoes & purses for women in shelters. They would then get to have lunch and be in a fashion show at the end of the day. The event was held at the local community college. Prior to the day’s event the women had received job training and interview coaching during a six week program. The day also held a job fair, which after the makeover, they went to and applied their new found interview skills.

It was such a moving experience. I initially wanted to sign up for the personal shopper position (you help the ladies put their outfits together). Then I decided to let them put me wherever they needed me. They decided to have me be a photographer's assistant. I was at first a little disappointed, but decided to just go with it. Well I can honestly say that I was able to see life changing transformations. When the women arrived we were told to take before "the makeover" pictures, which was hard because the women didn't want their picture taken. After the makeover, the women's attitude was SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! They were happy, confident, excited and lined up asking us to take their picture. I was able to see these women who had come to the event with low self esteem, broken, sad , embarrassed and scared, be transformed not only in looks but most important confidence and self esteem. I realized that the position I was assigned allowed me to see the happiness and change in each and every one of these 125 women in just a short amount of time.

You always hear that when you volunteer, you receive more than you give. I can honestly say that this is true! I would like to encourage each of you to step outside of your comfort zone and find a place to volunteer. You will have a life changing experience!