2. You are never too old for "1st day of school" breakfast. It's a tradition in the Tankersley family to go out to breakfast on the first day of school. We've done this my entire life, and I wasn't planning on stopping just because I am in nursing school. Cassidy and Joan went with me this year. So fun!
3. 6:30 am clinicals are WAY WAY WAY too early! Having a 6:30 am clinical means that I have to get up super early on Tuesday mornings....like 5:00 am. That shouldn't be allowed. I'm never a happy camper when that alarm goes off at 5! I do have a great clinical group though. I don't have a pic of all of us together...I'll work on that. Here's Joan and me on the way to clinical one morning.
4. Friday Skills Lab has allowed me to get to know this wonderful chica really well. Friday is our "Physical Assessment" lab. Julie is my partner, and we take turns being patient and nurse each week. Kinda fun. It reminds me of playing doctor/nurse as a little kid; except now I get a grade for it. Kinda cool! 
5. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and best friends are REALLY FUN! Several weeks ago, I made a trip to Houston to visit my best friend and my brother. It was such a great weekend. I drove spent the night with Christi Friday night...we ended up staying up till 3 am catching up. Then Saturday morning, we went to the zoo! I love going to the zoo, but I love hanging out with this great girl anymore. As I left that weekend, I realized I never knew how good I had it at A&M. It's much nicer to have your best friend 5 minutes away rather than 3 hours. Love you Christi! (My mom drove up to Houston and surprised me that weekend too. It was so great to see her. I don't have a picture though. Bummer! ) 
Being goofy in the car! 
Saturday night, my best friend, Christi, came in town for our friend Brittany's wedding. It was a blast getting to hang out with her one last time before we were separated :(. We have been besties since freshman year at A&M. She is now in Houston for medical school, and I am in San Antonio for nursing school. I'm not a fan of the separation! 
Christi, Brittany (the beautiful bride), and me. We were all such good friends at A&M through FCA. These two girls were two of the biggest blessings to come out of my time at A&M. I love them so so so much! 
It was a great weekend of seeing old friends and getting to have quality time with Jenn. So much fun!
"SESSION 6...Get your kicks!"
The session 6 Cut-n-Shoot Cuties were L.O.C.'s. L.O.C.'s are "leaders of camp". They are the oldest kiddos at camp and are challenged to lead by example. Our girls lived up to the challenge very well. It was so neat to see the Lord begin to develop in them a heart of service and leadership. These girls were so funny...and LOUD! There was rarely a moment where we weren't laughing. We won "Cabin of the Week", but the thing that I will remember the most from Session 6 is that 4 of our girls became believers. What a blessing!!!
"Session 7...Slice of Heaven!"
I agree with our little catch phrase for the week. Session 7 really was a little slice of heaven. We had 8 and 9 year olds, which was a HUGE change from the week before. I spent so much of my time this week saying, "Hey, where's your cabin?" and "Hey, don't you think you need to wear some shoes to specialty?" I was constantly counting heads to make sure we had all of our girls, and I was pooped at the end of every day. But seriously, I am NOT complaining. These girls were so sweet and just loved being with us. I never had to look too hard to find a hug or a sweet smile. I loved it!!
I had a really sweet moment with one of the girls in my cabin during this session. "B" came on the first day and didn't want to wear her glasses. She really needed to wear them, but she was so concerned about looking different from everyone else. I told her how much I loved her glasses, and that I would wear my glasses all week with her if she would wear hers. She agreed and looked totally adorable in them. That gave us an instant bond, and I was sad to see her leave at the end of the session.
"We love the OCHO...muy muy much-o!"
I had such a special connection with ALL of my girls this week. I got so close to my sesion 8 girls. These girls were 10 and 11 year olds, and man, we had an INCREDIBLE time together. Everything from singing "Popular" from Wicked....to Hannah Montana....to getting soaked in the rain and making tons of necklaces....to our "mandatory 'snuggle' sessions" everytime we walked to the Chuckwagon. As a whole, these girls were servants. They were always looking for ways to serve us (their coaches), other cabins, and even each other. It doesn't get any better than that!
What an UNDENIABLE summer! God taught me an even deeper dependence on Him. I learned how to love even when its hard and how to surrender even when it hurts. God is so faithful, and I am so thankful for the good and the hard times that I experienced during my time at camp. My prayer each week was that my campers would leave camp changed. I wanted them to walk out of the camp gates on Saturday morning as a different person than when they arrived. I can honestly say that I did that...I left T bar M as a different person than I was at the beginning of July. God does big things through camp...not only in the campers, but in the coaches as well. I am proof of that!
