AEF (don't ask me what that stands for?)

Me on the Ropes Course (the one on the left hugging the pole)



Me on the Rock Wall



This is us!

That's Worthington on my left and my roommate, Helena (or Swank as she's known here) on my right. Shannon, who I mentioned before, is behind me to the left.

We just returned from our little camping trip out into the woods. Okay, not exactly woods. Mostly a white chat area with about twenty tents on concrete pads settled near an air-conditioned bathroom/shower, and a pavilion that is large enough to seat 330 people. Did I mention the tents were all air-conditioned? :)

Our experience really was not bad at all (as I'm sure you're already thinking). We did three major activities: litter instruction, EMEDs, and ropes course. Litter instruction is where they train us in how to go out into a field of dead or semi-dead bodies, load said bodies onto these stretchers, and hurry them into the awaiting emergency vehicles. However, they didn't actually have us practice this task, which sort of defeats the purpose if you ask me, but I wasn't complaining. Instead, I enjoyed the two hour nap we got in the morning because this training was so short. Then in the afternoon, we did EMEDs. This involved setting up a hospital in a bunch of tents where we got to "play" hospital along with security outside:

Don't fret, those aren't real guns; nor was that real blood.

I opted, as always, for the easy role: victim of depression. This academy award winning performance came with NO BLOOD and merely some suicidal ideation. I was able to work up some tears (not hard to do these days), and I managed to avoid getting too messy. Because my character only required my acting skills (and no make up), I utilized my waiting time wisely: taking an afternoon nap. Yes, friends, AEF was quite good to me. I slept more here than I have in the past three days!

We also did a ropes course where we walked out on a beam exactly like a telephone pole about four or five stories high. You can see the beam and a person walking in the background of the group picture. Most people held on to the harness for dear life. I managed to get brave enough to hold on with only one hand. We also did a ropes course, a rock wall climb, and repelling. Again, as the "old woman" of the bunch, I was very proud to be able to do the wall climb almost all the way to the top. Only two other girls were able to get that high, and several of the guys couldn't make it either. I'm sure I'll pay dearly tomorrow when my back and forearms are killing me. Honestly, it was a really great experience! A huge confidence builder. There's nothing like standing on a three by three platform attached to a pole with 20mph winds blowing and knowing you're getting ready to walk out onto a wire.

The worst part of the whole experience was eating MREs for five of the seven meals. Have you ever tried to drink coffee out of a ziploc baggie? It can be interesting. I became very resourceful and saved my styrofoam cup from dinner last night so that I could use it this morning. The weather was great for July in Alabama! The high was upper 80s, low about 70.

Okay, gotta run... Worthington and I are going to.... run! :)

Sorry about the crappy formatting on the pictures. I'm having trouble figuring out how to embed all these pictures. Anway, you got the point!

Love you guys!!!!