S'more

Behind my old tan house on McClure road is an open opportunity to have as much fun as you want, and as a kid I took advantage of that. I loved going out to just use my senses and explore. I would see how many different animals I could see or hear. I would listen to the birds hum their songs, and hear the chipmunks run aimlessly through the woods, cracking sticks every step of the way. Who knew such little animals could make so much noise! Sometimes I even thought they were bears! I never did see…

I remember playing all day in the water begging to stay in for “only a few more minutes” when our parents called us out of the water. I remember sitting around the smoky campfire roasting my marshmallows to a burnt crisp, eating gooey s’mores, listening to the crackling of the flames, and singing songs with our closest family and friends. I remember how the pitch black night could be seen from the R.V. windows, and how I tried my absolute hardest not to look outside in fear of seeing the…

The Adventures to Florida It was a hot summer morning, my mom was at work, while my dad was at the house purchasing plane tickets. I had no idea that we would be going to Florida this summer. As much as I wanted to be excited I wasn’t. It was a tough decision I had to make with myself because if I wanted to be on the volleyball team I had to stay and commit to volleyball camp. The only thing that really upset me was that our trip to Florida was on the same day as volleyball camp. Having to…

Hi! I'm Mynnette, but I go by Mynn. It's easier to spell for most people, not to mention pronounce. I was born in Provo, Utah and am the oldest of nine children. My parents were both born and raised in Utah, but we moved when I was around two. Even though I have lived in Kansas for about 20 years, but I feel like I grew up in the Seattle area in a city called Kent. I currently live in Derby with my husband of 11 years and our fur baby, a sweet little rescue girl named Hundie. She is the…

Blue Ridge Journey “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” I asked. My family went to Harrisonburg so we could go camping in a cabin. It was a hot summer August day. “Look! Look!” My siblings all yelled one after the other. Out the car window you could see the ancient blue-capped mountains. The mountains were so blue they looked like a picture with a blue filter. We stopped at an aged brick tavern my dad went to when he was in college. It was magnificent, but the food was…

Motionless, silent, I floated amongst the algae and the cool calm water embraced me. (Opening Adjective) Before the tale of the frog king begins, a little history lesson is in order. Around ten years ago, my family owned a sixteen-acre property in Grand Haven. The land consisted of two large ponds, both filled with countless fish, turtles, and other fascinating organisms. On the adjacent side of the farthest back pond, a tall tree house stood looming over the land. A kind of watchtower of the…

These chain of events all start at Coltin and Walker Chapman's camp out in Republic during the summer of 2008 to 2009 or 4th grade summer to 5th grade summer. The drive out to Coltin and Walker’s camp always feels like forever because you just want to get there and swim or going on four wheeler rides. It's different because as a kid all I wanted to do was play video games but when we went out to their camp that was the last thing in my mind. I'm going to talk about the 4th and 5th grade years…

some neighboring campers set off fireworks that made the extravagant, stary Wyoming sky even more beautiful. As the night progressed the family ended up playing some unmentionable, but absolutely hilarious games around the campfire, we cooked some s'mores, and told stories that made us laugh till we cried. These are the nights I live for. Everything was perfect. We had great weather, nice neighbors, and all our worries had washed down the drain. Nothing could’ve ruined this trip or so we…

Hanging out with Shelton almost everyday this past summer had its perks. We did a lot of fun and spontaneous things. 10 pm one night Shelton and I came up with this great idea to watch the sunrise up Mauna Kea, so we got our things ready, took a short nap and made our way up the mountain around 3 am. Unfortunately we were unable to get the full experience of watching the sunrise, as we had to leave early because I had a soccer game to attend at 8 in the morning and Shelton had to work on the…

A Taste of Domesticity in Stokes State Forest Throughout my four years of high school, I had never had a friend come back from a post-prom weekend in Wildwood and describe to me what sounded like a “good time.” The stories they told always had the same synopsis that centered around drunken fun and even drunker stupidity. Hordes of juniors and seniors slept in small dirty motel rooms. They spent way too much money on alcohol, and they often got swindled into paying hundreds of dollars to stay…