Journey of 1,000 Miles . . .: SHS Choir Tour

So, on Thursday (March 27) I had the great opportunity to meet up with one of my friends from BYU-Idaho! Her name is Moom and she is currently student teaching at the same high school I was student teaching (Skyview High School). We met up for Frozen Yogurt in Provo and had a fun conversation. Toward the end of our little get together Moom told me that one of the chaperones for the choir tour trip had dropped out. I told her that I was sure they would find somebody else! She smiled at me and suggested that I go with them.

Now, I'm not going to lie, I totally wanted to go! When she said that I felt my heart rise into my throat with excitement! I could go see my Skyview kids again and watch them perform! I could go see Joie and Nick! Everything sounded like it would be an awesome trip! But, despite all of those things running through my head I told her that I couldn't go. I was crushed by my own words, but it was true! I had been booked for that entire week (which was April 2-6; the following week from when we had this conversation). Moom continued to try and persuade me . . . but I was staying firm with where I was. After about thirty minutes of talking about it I finally caved and told her that if Joie said yes and if they were driving down through Utah then I would go. Moom excitedly exclaimed that she would be talking to Joie that night. After I took Moom home I didn't really think anything of it (honestly, because I didn't believe Joie would say yes).

The next afternoon I receive a text from Joie saying: "Sarah! Moom just called me, you need to come on tour with us!!" I could feel my stomach start to tickle with excitement, she said yes! We text back and forth for a few minutes about how Nick could potentially pick me up in Utah. I told her that I would continue to think about it and get back to her. Joie told me that she told Nick that he needed to talk to me and we left it at that.

A little while later Nick and I had a conversation. He was trying to persuade me to go and we were trying to figure things out. I, again, told him that I wasn't 100% sure if I was going to go or not. It was only $200 (instead of the $600 due to fundraising from the other chaperone) and there were a lot of educational opportunities. Then, an added bonus, I got to see some of my favorite people in the world! However, I was going to have to cancel two days of work (two full days of work)! I honestly didn't know what to do! I was praying about it, pondering on it, and I just couldn't decide!

That night I went and saw BYU's production of Pride and Prejudice (which was brilliant) and I ran into an old friend, Seth. As we were talking the topic came up about this tour and how I was debating on whether or not to go. He insisted that I go! "Never give up an opportunity to have an adventure!" I'm not sure why, but that hit me really hard! I continued to think about what Seth said. By the end of the show I had made up my mind to go! I text Joie, Moom, and Nick before I could change my mind! They told me not to tell the kids so that I could surprise them!

Things started falling into place! One of the jobs that I had booked and was going to have to cancel fell through, so instead of missing two days of full work I was only missing one! I received a little bit of a bonus from Kelly (my work) and I'm still not quite sure why! We arranged to meet up in Nevada and everything worked beautifully!

The day we left was excellent! I couldn't be more excited!! I could hardly contain my excitement, which made for a really interesting sub job! My drive to Nevada was quite hilarious too! The entire time I kept singing to myself about how excited I was to go on tour! There was this fantastic plan that Joie, Nick, and Moom had come up with to get me on the bus. The kids got off of the bus to go to the bathroom, get snacks and what-not. I was to wait in my car until Nick and Moom came and got me. Then I hid in the bathroom on the bus. Joie started reading names off of lanyards for the students and chaperones. There were three Sarah's there and I was the last one! When my name was read, I came out of the bathroom. The screams that echoed in that bus left my ears ringing all night long, but it was so worth it!

I am so grateful for the chance I had to go on this trip and for the wonderful achievements my students got to experience! Skyview participated in the Heritage Festival and took silver in their region! I'm so proud of them! You guys are the best! Here are some pics from the tour!