Big Big News!! Sit Down For This One...

Ya' know those moments when you are so proud of your child and so excited for them that you feel like you're going to burst and you just can't do anything but cry?  Well, right this minute is one of those moments. 

You see, my big girl, my absolutely fearless big girl, went and got herself elected as... drumroll please... Freshman Class President at Frontier High School!! That's right...  Freshman Class President!!
When her dad and I told her to jump right into all that high school has to offer and to embrace the next 4 years, we didn't realize she would do it quite so exuberantly!

I am often in awe of this first-born of mine - for many reasons:  her athleticism, her wittiness, her straight-forwardness, her confidence, her absolute loyalty to friends...  and this moment is no different!  Let me just tell you that never in a million years would I have chosen to attend a high school with not even one person from my Jr. High - a school with 667 freshman- and then run for a student body office!  And DEFINITELY not President!  I would have hidden behind my backpack for a good 3 months!  She, on the other hand, figured, 'Why not?' and she put herself out there... with confidence.  She hoped she would win of course, but knew that with 5 others running, her chances were slim - and yet still she tried. 

And it's NOT the winning that makes me proud... it's the trying.  It's that moment she said, 'Why not?'.
It's a strange, but fun, feeling to often be surprised by her actions... this child of mine who is so much more like her dad than like me.. and I know that her fearlessness and desire to try new things coupled with her little bit of sass will have her accomplishing great things. 
In her English class, the students had to design a poster with a quote that they loved.  She chose:  "The talents and abilities we possess are gifts from God, but the way in which we use them is our gift to Him."  Pray with me that she uses her fearlessness to do great things for Him!

A little backstory:  When she told her dad and I that she wanted to run for class president, my stomach dropped - I was afraid of the disappointment she would feel if/when she lost (I know... I'm a bad mama!)  but then she told me that since president is a big job,  the teacher advisory board votes, instead of the students, to avoid it being just a Jr. High popularity contest - there are 3 LARGE feeder Jr. Highs to Frontier.  Well, with that bit of information I felt a scant bit better.

But, she had quite a bit to do in order to run.  She had to write a short essay as to why and how she felt she could make a positive impact on Frontier.  Then she rocked out a 5 minute speech ( an amazing one) for the advisory board, gave it while dressed in the most darling Banana Republic 'presidential' attire imaginable, and then answered questions during an interview portion.  Hmmmm...  This has Jr. Miss prep written all over it :)
Our fabulous friend Kim made amazing tees for her friends to wear and she had darling BIG, GLITTERY posters...

And to top all that off, she came home with the news that she still had to give a speech in front of her class - remember those 667 students I mentioned earlier??!!  Students who wouldn't be voting for her office, but nonetheless, she needed to speak to them.
I would have NEVER EVER, at the age of 13, been able to even walk across the stage in front of that many of my peers, much less speak for two minutes about why they should support me as a presidential candidate.  And all the while knowing that about 650 of them had no idea who I was!

BUT...  SHE WON!!!!!!  She is dying of happiness and I am so proud of her that she jumped right in!  And, not just feet first,  but a whole- body, diving- under- the water, not- yet- coming- up- for- air, type of jumping into High School.  And if this is the only thing she ever tries, then that's just good enough for me.  But I have a feeling it's only the beginning for my biggest girl!

And, oh Lord help us when she tastes a little bit of presidential power :)   Stay tuned!

P.S.  When I told Jake that his his sister was the feshman class president, his response was so classic.  He smiled for her and then stated very matter-of-factly,  "Well, when I'm in High School I'm gonna be the president of the whole school."