It's been one LONG year!

We have made it to the end of our first year with this new troop number, our first year using the church as our scout home, our first year with me as the leader, out first year doing awards ceremonies, our first year having lots of parents involved, our first year making a couple thousand dollar cookie profit, our first extremely active year.

This makes me tear up just typing it. So much has changed in a year.......

• I was in a troop with a main leader and I was one of 3 assistant leaders
• 2 of the other assistant leaders decided they didnt want to lead anymore
• The main leader decided to leave scouts all together
• Me and one of the other assistant leaders, who was going to quit leading, decided to co-lead the troop
• The other assistant leader decided to come back to help out
• The last assistant leader decided she wasnt going to help out again
• Then the other co-leader decided she wasnt going to lead again
• Then the assistant leader decided to come back and help out for sure this next year
• Then the co-leader decided to come back to help but didnt want to co-lead,  just wanted to be an assistant leader again. 
• Before recruitment we only had 1 daisy, 3 brownies and 2 juniors
• After recruitment we then had  4 Daisies, 13 Brownies, and 2 Juniors
• Now the end of the year we have 4 Daisies, 10 Brownies, and 1 Junior; some which are about to bridge to new levels! 

Not all of the girls have stayed in the troop, which is normal, every troop loses a couple girls a year. Some just weren't interested in scouts, other girls had parents that were too busy, other girls stopped coming for reasons I don't event know because of parent's failure to communicate with me. But you cant go into Girl Scouts, or leading any organization and expect to please every parent or girl that comes through the troop. 

You in the end have to be 

• Fair towards all the girls and parents
• Honest about everything you do
• Friendly when you are dealing with girls and parents no matter how your day or week has gone 
• Helpful to all the parents that need more explanation, you to do something a different way, or those who need more of your time
• Considerate that the moms are just human like you and sometimes you have to make an exception cause life happens
• Caring towards every girl and parent that comes to your troop
• Responsible for what I say and do towards everyone in the troop, meaning if I said or did something that ended up being wrong then I need to be accountable for that
• Respect myself- you cant do everything all the time, you do have a family and life outside of Girl Scouts
• Respect others-Your leaders, your girls, and their parents deserve respect because everyone is different and just because you are "The Leader" doesn't make you better than anyone else in the troop. 
• Respect Authority- Respect your service unit and your council! They have rules and ways they want things done for a reason, Girl Scouts has been around for quite awhile now. They are doing things the way they do it because for the most part that is what works. Follow their rules so that you can do what is best for the girls in the troop. 
• Make the world a better place by doing all that you can do to teach these girls and enrich their lives so that they are more confident with who they are and what they can do in life! 
• Use resources wisely- don't be afraid to ask people if they have things they want to donate to the troop, don't be afraid to reuse things, think outside the box to find a way to use what you have for what you need! 
• Be a sister to every Scout- This is probably one of the most important ones! I really do consider Girl Scouts to be a second home. You have to embrace the moms and the girls as if they were your own family! You will be amazed once you start treating everyone like they are family how much more receptive everyone is and how much more you enjoy being around everyone in the troop. 
• And know that you have done a good job, no matter how big or small your troop is, or how many girls quit that year. 

This year has been such a blessing to me in more ways than I ever could have imagined, and I truly do mean that from the bottom of my heart! 

• Not only have I been able to help girls which I love to do, but I have met so many amazing women and moms. 
• I can remember all the places we have gotten to go, and the memories that we have created. 
• My daughter has made best friends this year in Girl Scouts, which I hoped and expected would happen. 
• What I didn't expect to happen was that I would find best friends through Girl Scouts, but I did and I am so grateful for them. 
• I have also grown as a person going through this past year in this position. You can ask anyone that has grown up around me whether its family, friends from high school, church, or just acquaintances; I have been an awkwardly shy person my whole life. I was the kid who sat in the back of the class completely silent, was terrified to make a phone call because that meant I had to speak to someone, and awkward at stores or anywhere I had to speak to someone. I seriously got so nervous before any type of public speaking where there were more than 5 people that I would sweat like crazy, my hands would physically shake, my stomach felt like I was constantly on a roller coaster, and I actually felt sick. 
• Talk about a position that will push your comfort zone boundaries, this is it! 
• My very first official troop event to get the year started was an awards ceremony. Not just any awards, it was all the old girls and all the new girls combined. I told all the families to invite grandparents, aunts, uncles, close family friends, or anyone that is proud of your girls! You know it sounded nice at the time to make all the girls feel special, and it was nice, and I wouldn't change it for the world! But the previous super shy girl got to that event and realized that I had told that to 19 families to invite a bunch of people.....and they all did it. Talk about my nerves going crazy, they defiantly were. I had to get up in front of all these people that I didn't know, which ended up being close to 40ish, and talk. 
• Then only one month later, I had a meeting for all of the moms to go over all the information for cookies. And 75% of the moms were new to scouting and knew nothing about cookies. I had a lot of the same nervous feelings about that too. I even remember telling my best friend the day of that meeting I was so nervous about  talking to all these moms like this. 
• But then we had awards in December and I wasn't quite as nervous
• Then again in march and my nerves had gotten even better. 
• Then the beginning of May, I drove 2.5 hours away and went on an adult camp out for the whole weekend, with not even one person that I knew. And surprisingly wasn't nervous about it, I would have enjoyed some of my friends there, but I wasn't nervous!
• Now here we are with our next big awards ceremony coming up in less than 2 weeks and I am not feeling very nervous, I am actually really excited! 
• So YES, Girl Scouts has made me a better person which I can turn around and help these girls out in even more ways now! 

I now get to sit here the next couple weeks and plan a super fun Tea party and Bridging awards ceremony for a wonderful group of girls who have worked hard this year in so many ways. The girls and the moms deserve this fun party to celebrate the fantastic year we have had!