Last night.

Last night was the big fundraiser my work put on. Everyone in my office has spent months sending out letters for donations, procuring and mapping out the location, choosing the food, securing volunteers, inviting people to come, and doing all of the little things (like printing and double-checking name tags and creating booklets and planning a program and figuring out when the big rent-a-truck is going to be coming to the office) that go into creating an event for over 500 people. I was up at 6am yesterday just so I could make sure I had enough time to breathe and gather all of the things I'd need for the day before I had to be at the venue. We built signs and huge, people-sized golf tees and put up miniature golf holes, and I even spent a few hours counting golf tees into an aquarium for a "guess how many" game. (There were 5, 463 by the way. Thankfully, I had a third grade girl named Abbi helping me or else it might have made me go a little batty!)

By 4p.m. we had already been working for over the normal "work day" of eight hours and that is when my job really started - the students arrived. These were the people we got to 'man' each golf hole and I got to entertain them by telling stories, trying to give them the information they needed to know to successfully do what we needed them to do, providing them with pizza and snacks, and teaching them a few of my favorite icebreakers. They were a very spirited group and after running from hole to hole every few minutes, making sure they had everything they needed, I was exhausted. Then it was time for me to help out at registration, where I met more board members than I had at the board meeting I attended! I'm still a new face to the organization, so I shook a lot of hands and listened to a lot of stories and met a few people whose names I am going to try to remember. I think I'll make flash cards with their name and business on one side and their photograph on the other.

That last sentence was a joke but it's not a bad idea.

All in all the night was a hit! We had record numbers of attendance, raised a large sum of money for the 5 programs we run, and everyone commented on how much fun they had all throughout the evening. I never once tried the delicious-looking food, and if my friend Katie had not been there I'm sure I would have missed out on the free old-time photobooth as well, but I love helping at big events like these; the energy of people coming and the excitement of seeing so much preparation actually culminate into a night people thoroughly enjoy and appreciate is really thrilling and fulfilling to me.

And now today, I rest. It's been a hectic few days and I'm giving myself the day off. I went to a place that is starting to feel like a community this morning and had brunch with some pretty ladies. Soon I think I will head out to a coffee shop and create my list of things to do before my next birthday. (That's something I missed mentioning here, too. I'm 23 now!)

I hope you've all had a fantastic weekend and are taking some time to rest up for the week ahead!