So I am back from both of my camps. My church camp was two weeks ago and *AlfaFilly went with me this year. I think we had an AWESOME experiance. I was the oldest at the camp and was treated like a student leader alot... Some kids thought I was a leader and others thought I was 13 (I am that short). I led worship in my small group (that was my first time leading worship in a "formal" enviroment). What can I say, I was not great, it just was my first time. All I can say is that my second time was 10 times better XD We studied the book of Philippians and I have to say, there is so much in that book that I need to go back a few times. It's an outragously good book guys. It's short but it's full of content.

I had to leave alittle early from my church camp though. My church camp ran from...Monday to Friday. I left on Thursday night to get ready for Camp Electric in Nashville. I left at noon on Friday for Nashville.

I arrived on the college campus (Trevecca University) of where Camp Electric was being held. I felt at home already XD. I got to stay in the dorms and wow...it was not a good first impretion. I am serious, it looked like a prison room. White bricks. Bathroom sink on the wall. The window was broken. Tile floor. The first thing I said was, "...I am staying in a prison cell..." Honestly, I didn't care that much since I was staying for only 5 days. If I was staying for a year, I would have at least painted the walls.

My room mate was really nice. She was from the north so our cultures were VERY different. She had never tasted a corn dog. She didn't know what biscuits and gravy were (let alone she didn't know what a biscuit was). She didn't know what grits were. Ooooooohhh....she had so much to learn. The South is where the REAL grub is at ya'll XD She was there for vocals (she was a rapper). And duh, I was there for guitar.

All of acoustic guitar instructors had toured with Sonic Flood at one time. One had worked with Steven Curtis Chapman, Aaron Shust, and I think even Madessa. Another had I think done some work for DC Talk back in the day. They were pretty much rotated Nashville musicians. My last instructor, Trenton Swertzentruber, was really funny.

In the morning we had "classes" (more like group dicussion with the artists). The first morning, Bluetree talked to us (the guitarist was only 19 <8D). The second morning, Noah Henson (guitarist for Pillar), spoke to us. The third morning, two guys whose names I can't remember but I remember one is the guitarist for Sanctus Real. The other was a rotater as well but he toured with some big names.

Concert wise, the first night was Kutless (they are really nice dudes...the second night was TobyMac, and the third night was Barlowgirl, the fourth night was Pillar. The first concert, I couldn't see ANYTHING! I am so short that I couldn't see the stage! So... I had to start getting there early to be up front. It paid off. If I didn't get up front, I usually pulled the "short" card on people. I would be all sweet and such and I would say something like, "Look...I can't see anything...can you help me get to the front?" Everyone was nice enough to let me get ahead of them. I wasn't taking advantage of anything. The truth was...I COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING OTHER WISE! XD And I didn't want to stand on a chair since I tend to headbang and jump alot during concerts. Plus...it would have been rude to the people behind me.

Spiritually, it was REALLY refreshing to see other people as passionate about God as I was. I found some things in my heart that I needed to work on as well. In the long run, going to this camp made me want to get better in my talent and in my heart. I thank God with every ounce of my being for letting me go to both of these camps. Some of ya'll that are close to me know how hard it was for me and my family to go to Nashville. My dad got in a car accident two weeks before Camp Electric and we were left without a car (my dad is fine btw). Thanks to God, my grandma jumped in and we used her car to get to Nashville.

Those are just the highlights. I am making a video so I won't have to tell my story 1000000 times. So if you care, ask me for the link to the video.

I pray that I will be able to go next year. I want to take the worship team up there with me.

Anyways, I'm short on time guys! See ya'll!

~Mia =0-0=