Entering adulthood at 18

I can not for the life of me remember my 18th birthday. Things started getting brighter that spring. Stu and I ended up getting back together and prom was coming up. Also, Martha had given birth to her first child Daniel and she flew over to the States right before prom and stayed til the day after I graduated. Ashlee and I were SO excited about prom. Mom actually picked out my prom dress at Marshalls and I LOVED it. I wore it around the house tons before prom arrived. Then the big day came. Ashlee and I went over to Christina’s house and she did our hair and makeup. Stu had borrowed a car and came to pick me up, but not before we took about a million pictures at both our houses. We went out for dinner, but the real fun started when we got to prom and met up with all our friends. Stu wasn’t a big dancer and that was the night that I realized that I actually WAS a big dancer. Our friends danced and danced and danced. It was so much fun. Stu’s mom wanted to have a big all night party for us after prom and had hired a kareokee machine and made tons of food and had gone all out decorating the house. The problem was that we were all EXHAUSTED by the time prom was over. And if anyone has seen me when I am tired and am not allowed to sleep, it is not a pretty sight! So we got to his house and after about an hour we all fell asleep. The poor lady was ready to party and we were all party poopers so she went around trying to wake us up, but finally realized it was a lost cause.

Finally graduation was near. One super sweet memory was that one morning I was awoken by the other Mercy Ships youth “kidnapping” me taking me and the other Mercy Ship seniors out for breakfast at the Dinner Bell.

That summer Ashlee and I went to a dance camp at the YWAM base. We had such a blast and started a dance team at the church. I LOVED being able to perform again and I loved dancing.

I was unsure what I wanted to do after graduation so I started a semester at Tyler Junior College and took a dance class, an intro to business class, an intro to teaching class, and a photography class. I LOVED my photography class. It was back when we still learned to process pics in the darkroom and my class was such an eccentric mix of students and we really bonded.

I found out that the Rick and Brenda Lewis, Jesse and some of the other staff of my first X-treme Summer trip had started a YWAM base in New Haven, CT, were starting a school called the Forum which was a 7 month program. I had applied and been accepted to do my DTS on the Anastasis, but when I found out about the school in New Have, I applied and was excepted. The thought of leaving TX and my friends, boyfriend, and family behind was both scary and exciting. I knew it was an oppurtunity that I couldn't pass up.