Saturday, May 31, 2008

Bringing it into focus

So today was the first Saturday here at camp, and it was definitely nice to have a break around here.  Living with my roommates is anything but boring.  Last night I went to bed dreaming of sleeping in until 7:45, only to wake up at 6 am to hear about 5 people getting up to deep clean the trailer we are living in.  All I kept thinking when I looked at the clock was that I didn’t know that 6am on Saturday morning even existed.  Despite my desire to get out of bed and lovingly rebuke them with the back of my hand J , I resisted the urge and slept off and on until about 7:30.  Saturdays are the days that everyone comes a gives the camp an overhaul cleaning to get ready for the next week.  It was a pretty light day today since we’ve been cleaning all week and campers have not yet arrived to make messes J.  We were done before 10 when we all got together for a massive and amazing brunch.  Then we hung out for a bit before Charles and I went to town.  “Going to town” consists of driving about 45 minutes to Shreveport and enjoying the Walmart, target, and mall.  I even bought three heavy sweaters (of course, I bought them to wear at school) at Old Navy for three dollars a piece.  They were three dollars because it is summer in LA, and that means it’s about 95 degrees out right now.  Maybe they got the boxes meant for Anchorage….Anyway, now we’re back at camp just hanging around and I’m going to go swimming tonight.  Charles informed me that there was a dead scorpion in the pool last night…I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the wildlife here…

 

The other thing I wanted to tell you all about was how my focus has changed since I’ve gotten here…I got here and I was pretty frustrated about how everything wasn’t going the way I wanted it to.  I was being pretty selfish.  I even had a friend call me so I could just unload.  The next day, I sent them a text thanking them for listening and they returned a text telling me that they hoped I had a great summer with no regrets that would hopefully make a difference in someone else’s life.  That’s all it took was for someone to remind me that this is not all about me, but about what God can do through me in the life of campers….i’m trying to remember that all summer…

 

Keep praying J and my email address is coming on Monday!!!

Friday, May 30, 2008

My first week at camp

Well, this is the first time I have made it to a computer since arriving here at camp.  It is also the first day that the general email account has been set up.  I will be getting my own email address by Monday, at which time I will let you know what that email address is.  A few highlights from my experience so far…upon arriving to camp I found that I was going to be rooming in the “waitress trailer.”  The waitress trailer is where all the waitresses live…in one room.  That’s right…I live in the same room with nine girls besides myself.  At first the thought was not something I liked to entertain, but I have gotten used to it, and I really don’t mind living in such close quarters.  While I’m here I have a variety of jobs to do, including waitressing, cleaning (primarily laundry), and working in the craft shop.  It has been interesting.  One thing that happened that I can not even begin to say I enjoyed, occurred last night when one of the girls in the trailer called me over to kill our friendly neighborhood cockroach…it was HUGE!!! About 2 inches long… We don’t grow ‘em that big in PA (or WI for that matter).  This week has been pretty good though, and after the initial shock, I am thoroughly enjoying my time here.  I got to go swimming in the pool last night with all the tree frogs…that was interesting as well…anyway, I should prolly go now so someone else can use the one computer that all 55 of the summer staff use.  I will be emailing everyone as soon as I get my email address.  And just to let you know, I can’t read the comments u might leave on this post, but feel free to comment away, and I’ll read them when I’m at amber’s wedding in June!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

This is a Test

This is a test of my new blogging system that i will be using for the remainder of the summer. At least while im at camp. Right now i should be packing. I say "should be" because instead, Charles and i are sitting on the couch enjoying our last few hours of internet access before we are cut off from the civilized world. Ok, so its not that bad, and i really am looking forward to camp. I've just got mixed emotions about leaving my friends here, and leaving the ability to talk to my friends from school at any time. But tomorrow morning we're jumping in the car and taking off on a whole new adventure. This should be interesting. We did manage to get directions today. And we still have a thousand things to get done before we leave...so i will write to you all again...but next time...i'll probably be in Louisiana.

Putting things in order

Well, here i am. I'm getting everything in order for camp. I leave in less than 36 hours, and i have so much more to do. I said goodbye to everyone tonight. That's always the hardest part. It's never fun to leave people, especially when you're leaving them and sailing off into uncharted waters. When entering the unfamiliar, i am one who clings desperately to the things around me when i should be clinging to God. This is going to be a different trip. My connections to home are being limited. Internet is basically cut off completely, except for email. Phone is limited to weekends. I can't hold on to home this time. I can't get frustrated and just call up my friends. The only One i can really turn to this time is God. I'm so thankful i have Him for this.

Anyway...lots going on in my head right now...im going to try to get some sleep and sort everything out in the morning.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Why did the weekend end??

This weekend was one of those weekends that i'll remember for a while. One reason is that I'm home so little now, so when i am we all try to get together and do something. Well, this weekend was it. Friday night, Charles and i went over to our friends apartment, ate, and just hung out for a while. Saturday, I got up and started getting ready, only to get a call that our church work day had been postponed for weather. So we stayed home and watched a movie. Later, we went out shopping, and then we were going to go to a college and career activity...i started getting suspicious around 11 when mom and Charles were whispering to each other in the kitchen. Then mom was calling him way too much and i knew something was up. My suspicions were confirmed when i arrived at my own surprise party. I felt bad because i had completely figured it out. o well... Then came sunday and after church, about twelve of us when out to the mall and bookstore. We spent the afternoon generally roaming around the mall. Then after church, we went to to a school to play baseball and headed over to trishas and dave's house for food and to watch a brian reagan video. It was a great day and a ton of fun...tonight, we're going out again, to see prince caspian...pretty excited about that...:-)

Friday, May 16, 2008

The time in between...

So, I did get to go to Walmart lol...printed some pictures, bought some frames and a photo album, and a few little necessities for camp, but i have so much more i need to get...ugh. Thankfully, this trip i didn't get caught behind the "die pictures, die" cropper lady. I think i would have cried...lol. My mom is still of work because of her little hospital trips, so we went out to lunch at panera. Sarah was working, so i thought we could go visit. There is one thing that has been consistently confusing me since i got home. Where's the warm? I mean i'm home for the summer, and i'm wearing a hoodie? How is that supposed to work. I guess i shouldn't be complaining much since this could mean that Louisiana is a little less sweltering, but I miss flip flop weather...not that i'm not wearing them...i mean, rachel and i wore them once it hit 32 in watertown, but my toes are still getting cold.

I leave for camp a week from today. It's crazy...I finally have plans to do things, and i'm leaving. Yep, thats right, i have plans for the next few days. So, i might finally have something to blog about instead of babbling on about meaningless drivel.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

For my working girls

This post is for my girls that have to work all summer bored out of their minds, but have access to a computer, so they stop by occasionally to read what's going on in my extremely boring life. Well, guys you can keep reading all summer!! I only have access to email all summer while im at camp, but blogger has this amazing blog from email feature. So i'll be sure to keep you updated whenever i get a chance :-) As for my life in the past 24 hours. Its been boring. Besides church, the most exciting thing that has happened is that Charles and i went for ice cream last night. See, growing up, Charles and i had this sibling telepathy thing really perfected. Its been a few years since we were really that much in tune, but yesterday must have been one of our on days. All day i wanted...even craved icecream. Actually, i craved a reese's cup blizzard from Dairy Queen. As almost an unwritten rule, we go to DQ on sundays after service when everyone can go...we do not go on wednesdays...no one goes on wednesdays. It's a sacred place reserved for sundays only...ok so maybe i'm blowing it a little out of proportion, but the point is that we never go on wednesdays. So when charles told me he wanted to hit dq on the way home...i was shocked...yeah for sibling telepathy. And i got my blizzard :-D Ok guys, so that was my effort to make an ice cream stop as exciting for you as i could....and for tomorrow's post...i think i might go to walmart today!!!!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

pics...

My brother and i...this is the pic we took for mothers day
My friend Ted and i at the teen activity...us college students gotta stick together. And as for his face...he was cold...
Mike, adrienne and i...ya i know we're dorks
Krissy and i at the infamous mother daughter banquet...she was sick on monday
Adrienne and i at the banquet...i'm looking like a fruit...o adrienne was sick on monday too.

quick update

I never got a call last night, so i stayed up until 4:30 before giving it up and going to bed. Dad just forgot :-\ Anyway, the still don't know why mom was bleeding, but now they're saying that she might have to have her gallbladder removed. She's feeling ok, already out and about on errands. Actually, dad looks more tired. They sat at the hospital for so long that the hospital gave them a fifty dollar gift certificate to the gift shop. Kinda like sorry you were in the ER and you couldve died cause we were so slow at helping you, but u can go get something from our extremely overpriced gift shop on us. Just made me laugh this morning when i got up...after i yelled at dad for making my lie awake all night worried, when he promised me a phone call. O, and im feeling much better too...

Rough week

This has been a pretty rough week...and its only 12:30 on Tuesday night...or Wednesday morning if you want to get technical, but i haven't even thought about sleep yet, so its still Tuesday. I guess to explain my week, i have to slightly recap starting on Saturday. Saturday was our annual mother daughter banquet. It was great, we had a wonderful time, and it was a lot of fun. We ate meatballs, penne pasta, salad, and various desserts. I wouldn't usually go over the menu, but it comes into play later. Sunday was an amazing day...church was great! It was so nice to be back home, and see everyone, and Pastor preached some pretty great messages about mothers and the proverbs 31 woman. After the morning service, Charles and i took a picture in front of the church for mom for mother's day. We haven't done a pic in about six years, so it was time. When we went to walmart, i was stuck behind a lady at the photos in seconds kiosk that cropped the death out of all of her pictures...she would take a decent picture and crop out ever semblence of the background. It was sad really...but anyway, she had around 50 pics...so i stood there patiently while she killed her pictures. Then put my order in while hers printed. Well, just before she as done printing, the machine ran completely out of picure paper...so they had to fix that. Needless to say, i should have just done one hour...it would have been faster. But don't worry, that really has nothing to do with why my week has been rough. Monday morning i got up when my mom had to go to her doctor's appointment for the allergic reaction she had to some medication. Around two o'clock, Charles called and asked how i was feeling...I kinda thought it an interesting question for him to call home from work about, but i told him i was feeling fine. He then informed me that over 80 ladies who had gone to our mother daughter banquet had gotten super sick. Remember that menu? well they think the meatballs were bad. Throughout the day, i felt a little queasy, but mom and i both kept everything down. Many of my friends, however, spent all day monday violently sick. So this morning, i was looking forward to sleeping in and generally doing nothing again...ok so i wasn't looking forward to it (ive been boredout of my mind) but it was my plan. I awoke to my phone ringing...it was my dad telling me to pray for mom, sh was going into the ER cause ppl at work thought she looked yellow. I kinda thought dad was blowing things out of proportion...i mean ppl don't just turn yellow. A couple hours later, Charles called and told me mom either was going through liver failure, or she had hepatitis...i immediately got a little more worried. Then Charles called back...mom had hepatitis. Now when i think hepatitis, i think deadly disease. Thankfully, it just means inflamed liver (which still isn't good, but better than fatal disease). Turns out it was most likely caused by a prescription shes on. She came home, and she was fine...but i was feeling pretty terrible...just some random chronic stomach pains that still haven't completely subsided, so i decided to lie down and go to sleep. My parents decided to go out to dinner...fine with me...i was sleeping and i didn't feel good. They came home...bringing me food...for which i was thankful, but most of it is still sitting in the fridge. A few hours went by, and i decided it was time to head to my room, to possibly go to sleep, but prolly just stay up listening to music and messing around with some pics i've recently taken. A few minutes later dad yelled that they were going back to the hospital...mom was bleeding...and they were going by ambulance...which scared me...so right now im sitting on my bed at almost 1am waiting for a phone call from the hospital...my stomach hurts and i kinda wanna sleep, but i can't...gotta admit im scared...

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

I'm home...for now

I got home last night....one week after getting out of school and driving to Rachel's grandparents house. Rachel's grandparent's house is where i left my camera. After kicking myself repeatedly in my mind, i picked up my phone, called my mom, and prayed that she was in a generous mood. I proposed that for my birthday (coming in less than three weeks) they could buy me a new digital camera because mine was old, only four megapixals, and stranded in chicago. Mom said yes, i was rejoicing. Our flight to NC was fun...especially when we got there and had no clue which airline we were supposed to check in with. We got in line with our extremely heavy suitcases and our carry-ons, which were probably heavier than our suitcases. We felt like pack mules...Finally, we made our way to the kiosk thing and i put in my card...up popped my name and destination...rachel and i put down our bags and did a celebratory dance. I then realized all the annoyed people behind us that just wanted to check into their flights and i hurried through check in. I checked my luggage and waited for rachel, who also started to check her luggage. First suitcase up,the guy looked at her and said,"half pound over," we held our breath, waiting to see what happened next, but he just smiled, attached the ticket, and threw it on the conveyor belt...we exhaled. Second bag up, three pounds over...once again holding our breaths, and once again the guy smiled and we exhaled. The flights went well, and i didn't have to sit next to anyone scary...actually, i didn't have to sit next to anyone at all, which was great. I would show you pictures of all of this...if i had a camera at the time. (i am including other pics that i want to show you that were taken before the end of the semester and after my last post)



NC was fun...we went to justin's baseball game, ate japanese, ate cookout (drive-thru burger place-we took this to the school for justin, alli, and corey), went to church, tried to make a bonfire with wet wood and entirely too much gasoline, and hung out at rachel's watching movies and eating ice cream....we also hit a coffee shop, the orthodontist, and walmart...where i got a new camera. Then, i failed at taking pics in my remaining time...well...i took some with rachel in the car but they didn't really turn out well.


Saturday, i headed to crown...it was crown. i saw ppl, and remembered why i transferred. Andy's dad paid us twenty bucks for cheering for andy...who graduated with his masters. go andy! Lauren and i ran all over doing stuff...we went downtown, held snakes, drove to maryville...sat alone at our table at Cali's...got to see amber for 2.7 seconds at chik fil a and took fun pics...which i will show u. Then tuesday morning, charles and i jumped in the car and headed home....we got here, went out with mom and dad...i came back chatted with some ppl online and then crashed into bed around 8 and slept all night...I'm here for 2 1/2 weeks and then off to camp...so i'll post when i can, but i don't know how often that will be.