“Jordan! Is it really you? Your home?!”
– my mother’s response after seeing me for the first time in 18 months.
Fourteen hours after June Summer School ended, I was on a plane headed to surprise my family. Once I did, you can imagine the shock in my mother had. Lots of hugs and tears ensued. The surprises would keep coming. Grandma H was coming the next day so we surprised her as well. A birthday party for my nephew would a day after that that my siblings weren’t anticipating their brother to be at. It was a lot…
Throughout my time, we did lots of things. We watched multiple AAA baseball games associated with the Kansas City Royals, including a walk-off homerun in the bottom of ninth inning! We enjoyed incredible fireworks show from the comfort of our balcony curiosity of all of Omaha. Of course, no trip to Nebraska would be complete without an adventure through the cornfields. I can’t forget about the movie nights with my mom. Our movie decisions were not good but created plenty of conversations! I even got in a little running on a trail with my dad, which brought back the good-old days. I almost forgot, we lost power for 20 hours thanks to a powerful storm. My cat was even nice to me during my full stay. I don’t take time with my family granted these days. I’ll cherish those weeks forever.
After a memorable two weeks, it was time to head back for the Get Your Teach On National Conference. What an inspiring, exciting, powerful, (name a positive adjective) Conference! Being on the Magic Squad allowed me to see GYTO from a new perspective. There are so many selfless individuals that help make the magic for the presenters and attendees. It was so uplifting and fun to interact with the attendees and make their experience so magical. Days were long but connecting with the attendees gave me so much energy. They filled my cup. Seeing my friends present put the biggest grin on my face, just ask Shane Saeed. Here are a few of the memories:
· Josie & Abby telling me to the white card with name on it
· Dancing like Cotton Eye Joe in front of 200 attendees
· Creating the Ghostbusters 5th/6th grade Room with my team
· Taking a picture with a future Spider-Man who had light up shoes like mine
· Almost splitting my pants in the last session for Joanne Miller
· Making so many new friends, connecting with old ones, and just laughing
After the conference, I’d get a few days of rest, which my legs and voice appreciated. Then I’d head to Busch Gardens with a former student family, only to have our experience get rained out, but 1. We’re pass holders and 2. we had a delicious lunch and saw some animals despite the weather. 3. We had our world-famous taco night. The show went on.
To finish off the month, today I went to the beach. It took a little encouraging from my friend. But I’m grateful she did. It was good to be back at the beach for the first time in 6 weeks.
July had its storms, but it was definitely full of an array of fireworks!
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