Once again, its been a while since I've blogged, so now I'm back. So after the Oregon Teen Conference wrapped up, myself and Mike who is one of the level two's were sent straight into another conference in our home state of Connecticut. I must say that our travel day was a very adventurous and hectic day, to say the least. We arrived at the airport in Portland at around 4 a.m. to catch one of our planes to take us on our trip to CT, only to find out that the flight had been delayed until 8:30 that morning. The people at the airport put us on standby for another flight that would get us to CT around 6:45 that night, but of course, it was a full flight and we were unable to get on it. From that point on our day was basically rushed. We ended up missing the first part of the CT conference, which I was disappointed about.

We ended up landing in CT around 12:30 a.m. and then we still had a journey to get to the hotel, which we arrived at around 1:30 a.m. Despite all the troubles getting to the conference, the conference itself was another learning experience because the way this conference was facilitated was very different from the Oregon conference. I was a little disappointed about the work that myself as an All-Star and a representative of Foster Club got to do at this conference. I felt like there was more that I could have done for the youth at this conference if I was given the opportunity, although I have to say that I'm sure the youth walked away from that conference learning a lot. I'm glad that I can say that the flight back to Portland went a lot smoother and I was so excited to go back home to all my fellow All-Stars, I missed them!

I was so happy to be back at the All-Star house and actually have some time to relax and catch up on some sleep because I didn't really get much of that during the conferences. All the All-Stars got to take the rest of that week easy, which was very surprising seeing as how we work for Foster Club and they are always on the move and doing projects, but it was nice. Besides our first conferences the All-Stars had our first holiday together, the 4th of July (I can't believe its July already). It was definitely an experience that I wouldn't have experienced if I wasn't around my fellow All-Stars. The day was long but we all had a good time. There was a BBQ at a former Foster Club staff's house that all the All-Stars and FC staff attended. It was nice to relax and kick back with everyone and just have fun. Later that night we all went down to the beach and had a bonfire and a cook out and got ready to watch the fireworks. We made smores, listened to music, and just genuinely had a good time together. The fourth of July in Seaside was something crazy for sure. It was like a war zone on the beach, people dug trenches and were shooting their own personal fireworks off all over the place and the ashes fell everywhere. The actual professional fireworks were talked up so much, everyone was saying they were two hours long and they were an amazing site, and I was very excited for them. I have to say that I was not pleased with the fireworks show though, i've seen better to say the least. =( There was so much smoke in the air because everyone was setting off their own fireworks that we couldn't see the fireworks very well, they also weren't up very high in the sky either, and they only lasted about a half an hour. Even though the fireworks show was not amazing the bonding that happened around the events that went on that day was amazing. Everyday I learn more and more about my fellow All-Stars and we all become closer and closer. =) Now that the holiday is over and the first few conferences are over we are getting into our work. For the next three weeks we are working intensively on our platform projects which for me is reforming part of the foster parent training online on fosterclub.com =) The next three weeks are going to be crazy filled with work and very little time for fun, which is okay because I'd rather help reform the foster care system than sleep. =) Then from what I've been told August is filling up fast with conferences which is also exciting, except the only sad thing is that the faster August comes means the sooner the summer portion of my internship with Foster Club ends and I have to leave my new found family. =(