When you are bored

...decide to do some canning of course!

 I ended up with four jars of applesauce and six jars of apple pie filling. 

Putting those old and rusty 4H skills to use.

This Boy...

...is so talented that he turns average days into adventures.

Oh, and he sometimes feels like the 3rd wheel when my camera and I are off enjoying sunsets... so then I turn around and find this! 

 .laugh attack.

The Best Summer Yet

"Sometimes you will never know the value of of a moment until it becomes a memory..." -Dr. Seuss

Such an amazing summer cannot be summarized in a single blog post or even in enough words, so I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

Workshop. Two weeks of training to get ready for campers... how to build fires, play sports, and care for campers in everyday situations. I did not feel "ready" at the end of it, but the nervous excitement prior to campers coming was felt by many so I guess we were as ready as we ever would be!

Week 1: The Tan Tigers

Week 2: The Tan Tornados 

Week 3: The Tan Tigers (again :P haha the girls always came up with the tribe names)

Week 4: The Terrific Tan Turtles That Talk Til They're Tuckered

Week 5: The Blue Hortons

Week 6: The Blue Sweaters

Week 7: The Blue Elephants

Week 8: The Blue Fluffy Unicorns Dancing on Rainbows

I absolutely loved counseling! The quirky moments the goofy giggles and the deep conversations... it was such a joy to be a part of these girls lives for a short week. The days were full and often long, but the weeks were fast and the summer went by in a blink. Consistently, my favorite days were Saturdays. Because by then it usually felt like the tribe had clicked and we were able to just all hang out and play and laugh :) At times I felt like I learned more than I taught, and it was probably true! I learned a lot about my selfishness, and about compassion and serving where it is needed, not always where I wanted. I am so thankful for the ways God brought things to my attention over and over again, even though it wasn't pleasant. I am so thankful for the friendships that developed this summer too. What a blessing to serve alongside such wonderful people. I was blessed over and over again by seeing fellow summer staff women and their Christlike examples in situations. It encouraged me and pointed me back to the cross. I was so thankful for the quick, in-passing conversations that happened with my fellow counselors too, uplifting and such a gift when they did happen! All in all it was an amazing summer, this post doesn't do it justice at all... I will miss camp, but am very thankful for opportunity I had to be a part of something so marvelous. Now on to the next great adventure :)

Post Camp Problems

I got home from camp mid Sunday morning, I unpacked my van, took a shower, hopped into bed and cried myself to sleep. I don't know why I was crying, it might have had something to do with only getting 2 hours of sleep the night before, or feeling like home just wasn't home, or thinking about everything in normal life and how un-normal it all felt. I woke up and my dad made me go to Sleepy Hollow State Park with the family and some friends from church. It was great to be forced out of my pathetic hole in the ground and see friends and family. I got 12 hours of sleep, which was double what I had gotten on any night all summer! I felt great when I woke up but decided that there are some lingering effects from living at camp for three months.

Such as the following:
You have no idea what has happened in the world for the last 3 months... and you are totally ok with that.
You get hungry at 8:30am, 12:30pm, and 5:30pm (and 9:30pm :P).
You are listening to music in your room and when someone walks in you quickly turn it off, forgetting that it is actually ok to let your siblings see your laptop and hear your music.
You realize that it isn't a sin to carry your phone in your hip pocket and not in your backpack.
You are crazy thankful for your closet and how much room is in there but have issues deciding which shelves to put clothes on.
You remember that wallets are interesting inventions made to carry around to stores...
And that when they ask for your number in a store, they are asking for your phone number and have no idea what you are talking about when you look at your wrist and blurt out your wristband number.
Your little sister talks about sneaking into your room at night, while you are sleeping, and cutting off said wristband so that you "never go back to camp again."
You realize that carrying around a backpack to Walmart just isn't quite as cool anymore.

There are some other lingering effects... and a lot about the end of camp that I will hopefully post about soon, but for now I'm enjoying family time and some Monday Night Football!! Pretty great that the Steelers and Redskins are playing... meaning I get to watch my favorite team ANNNDDDD I get to see two of my favorite ex-Spartans! Such great timing! :)