November [thus far]

 This is a brief synopsis of the month of November...so far. We had company the second week of November: Grandma Suzy and Grandpa Bob and Jess and Kevin came up, and at the end of the week, Uncle Wayne, Aunt Valerie, and our cousins Nolan and Justin came up.

While Jess was here, we girls hearkened back to the ole days when the 4 of us tromped over hill and dale and tree trying to get lost and so forth in our woods. We walked and talked about boys and stuff and took pictures. 

Grandpa Bob took the grandkids out to lunch at Bob Evans:

Friday night, when Uncle Wayne et al came in, we had a big family dinner. Then we sat on the steps and took a picture.

The next day, everyone came to our house for our Thanksgiving Dinner. It was delicious :)

 The sport of the day was arm wrestling...

We also ate pie. (Hi, Justin!)

They matched. Without even planning on it.

Certain of the cousins played a prank on Kevin that involved tinted chapstick, known for all intents and purposes as lipstick...

A couple days ago, Annetta and I went to Lake Erie with Rachel. It was, ahem, rather chilly...

And for any of you who might not have heard (actually...I don't even have any blog stalkers, I don't think...so you all know. but whatever.), Jess and Kevin are somehow engaged or something, so there are pictures. Here's the link to my album (HERE), and below are a few of my faves. 

Okay, the end. I must needs proceed with this 8 page paper :P

Texas Trip

Howdy! So, you know, I had big plans to do an epic post, with tons of pictures and tons of words and stuff. But then I started editing pictures, and I ended up with 98 ones that I liked.And suddenly I didn't want to upload them all to blogger and write about them. So here's what I'm doing. I'm putting the link to my fb album RIGHT HERE and then I will write a big long post that tells the story. So you get the pictures and you get the words, just not in the same spot.

We left last Wednesday, at about 6 am. We had packed up, made lists, made food, and basically gotten details ironed out before we left, so we loaded ourselves up, set Garmin westward, and headed off. Josh and Katrina were really excited about seeing "the mountains of the west" but of course they were a long way off. We were headed out to MO to pick up Rachel, and as we had made our travel plans, we assumed we would need to stop a night between here and there. But, we forgot one detail: central time. We had thought about it in connection to other things, just not with travel time. So, we made it all the way out there by Wednesday night, spent the night, and the packed and left by 8 am the next morning. Then we drove all the way to Big Sandy, Texas.

It was about an 8 hour drive, so with stops, it was maybe 5 when we got there. We drove through OK (sadly did not see any tumbleweeds), and then finally into Texas. We passed a lot of cattle ranches, slept on and off, and played some games. But finally! we arrived. And in typical Erika fashion, I got bit by an ant minutes after arriving at the conference. The first thing we did was find our primitive campsite. Now, a little background story first:I really, really wanted to see a cactus in Texas. Like, I really, really wanted to. So it was so cool when we finally selected our campsite, pulled up, hopped out, and practically stepped on a cactus. It was just sitting there, waiting for me to come and adopt it. And it was the only cactus I saw the whole time. I planted it in a pot and I'm hoping it adapts well :)

We finished registering at the convention center, and set up our campsite. My mom, Josh, and Katrina slept in a tent, and Annetta, Rachel, and I folded down the back bench seat in our van and slept in the back hatch/trunk. Yes, we fit. But barely :P

That evening, they had an opening session which we attended. Then we trekked back to our campsite, slew some of the monster spiders in the bathroom, realized it was futile, switched shower stalls to a less populated one, and then went to bed. (Yeah...Texas has daddy long leg spiders almost as big as my hand. They are creepy and awful and they like the bathroom and I hate every single one of them). In the fb album, you will note some interesting pictures that we took before falling asleep.

The next morning, we awoke and heard the melodic sound of wind whipping around and the air was freezing and the sky was gray. Clearly, our first thought was, "what in the world will we wear?? what did we bring that is warm??" That was a common theme. I ended up wearing two pairs of jeans, socks and shoes, a tank top, a long sleeve shirt, a short sleeve shirt, and a hoodie on Saturday...that's how cold it was. But it was adventurous and we survived.

Friday morning we attended the conference sessions. I think they were basically all group sessions. They had some special music groups and then speaking. After that, it was lunch time! So all we had to do was stroll down to the dining hall, get food, eat it, and then stroll back up to our next session. However, we did not know where the dining hall was. And it started raining lightly as we walked. We finally found it, went through the line, and sat down and ate. It was really good, too. Then we hiked back to the next session. My mom took the kids to a Bible story hour, while Rachel, Annetta, and I listened to Shalom Brand (one of the Pearls daughters) speak on Preparing to be His Helpmeet, which is one of the books No Greater Joy has written and sells. It was interesting, and while I am not wholeheartedly endorsing it, I really liked it. After that, my mom and the kids joined us for another session led by Mrs. Pearl and Shalom on homeschooling and stuff.

Once that let out, we had about an hour to spare before supper, so we headed to the area where the dining hall, gym, and rock wall climbing are. We hung out there, then had supper, and then there were a few more sessions.

Now, during one of the afternoon sessions, Mrs. Pearl informed the audience that this was a Shindig the likes of which was trying to get singles to meet each other and then, like, get married. But we singles needed a helpful boost in the meeting each other arena, so she had an idea that she was going to share later that evening. So after the last evening session, she told us all that the next day, she was organizing basically a speed dating event, where the guys and girls lined up facing each other and had one minute to talk. Then the guys would move down one, talk, move down another, and so on until they had met every girl. And that was happening the next day. But that evening, Shoshanna announced that she was organizing some games for the singles ages 15 and up. Ever played Musical Chairs with seriously 100 to 150 teenagers? It's a blast. So is Duck Duck Goose, played with perhaps 50 teenagers. One holds one's breath (figuratively speaking) and prays that one does not get run over. Rachel, Annetta, and I partook in these activities til about 10:30, at which point we walked back to the campsite. Then we froze through another night.

Saturday morning dawned with BLUE SKY! It was windy and chilly, but there was SUNSHINE. Again, we had breakfast at our site, had some main sessions, then had lunch. After lunch, Annetta, Josh, and I went rock wall climbing (pics of that in the album too). Then, my mom took Josh and Katrina and the Garmin to Longview to pick up Stephen from his college (LeTourneau University) to bring him back for the rest of the day. Rachel, Annetta, and I went to another session in the interim.

When they got back, we went canoeing on the lake (pics from that in album), and then had supper. After supper, we went back to a conference session, listened to Josh and Kelsie Steele tell their love story, walked around, talked, ate cheese and clementines and candy, sat down a bit, and then it was time to take Stephen back to campus. Annetta, Rachel, and I drove him back, and because it was open dorm time, we were allowed to (gasp) go into the boys' dorm and (GASP) into his room! We had to wait before going in because someone in his room needed to put a shirt on (don't you love colleges like that?), but we got to go in and meet Stephen's roommate and a couple other guys. Then we drove back to the conference.

The next morning, we packed up in the frigid coldness, ate breakfast in the frigid coldness, had the adventure of moving our borrowed picnic table back to its original space, hopped into our church clothes (when I packed that skirt and shirt, I was not thinking that it would be so cold down there...), and drove to the church where Stephen attends when he's at college. It was a nice service. The pastor talked about circumstances and used Paul's life as an illustration. After that, we had lunch at Sonic, because I've been wanting a strawberry shake ever since I had one 2 and a half years ago when Jess and I went to TN to campaign for our friends! So I got a strawberry shake and it was delicious.

We got to tour LeTourneau after lunch, and then we we left! We made it almost through Arkansas before we had to stop for the night...then we drove all day Monday, and had to stop again...and then we finally got home Tuesday around noon!

It was such a fun trip. I know that we'll remember it forever :)

random lil post

I wanted to make sure I shared the link to my photo album from Lucas and Katie's wedding in case some of you were interested in seeing them, so it's here: Lucas and Katie


Second...a little life update! This Wednesday, my mom, Anetta, Josh, Katrina, and I are going to Texas! No Greater Joy ministries is hosting a conference in Big Sandy Texas (a couple hours east of Dallas), and we're attending that. We'll pick up the Thimble on our way down from her brother's house where she is currently, which we're very much so looking forward to! And we'll be coming back the following Tuesday. So, prayers would be appreciated for traveling safety and for the 3 kids, my dad, and Grandpa who will be staying here.

4 days after we get back from TX, we'll have a little over a week with visiting relatives. We're actually having Thanksgiving early--second weekend in November-- because it's not often that we see my mom's brother and his family. My grandparents from FL will also be coming up.

Ok, that's all for now!

Random Funniness

I'm procrastinating on my homework...that is if you can procrastinate on something you haven't started yet.

So...we're over a quarter of the way through the fall semester. I have hopes of doing a "Day in the Life of a Commuting College Student Named Erika," but until that happens, here's a post I've wanted to do for a while. Picture this: you're sitting in class, and it's boring. You're studiously taking notes like the perfect little angelic student you are as your prof drones on an on. Suddenly! he says something funny! Your senses are jarred-- there is Personality and Humor here within the safe confines of your classroom! Before you know it, you're snickering, and then you quickly jot down the quip he just said before you continue taking notes. And today, I am sharing these quotes with you...one prof at a time. And then I have a special link for you.

From World History 2, I bring you Prof Beardsley!
-random student in class, talking to Prof Beardsley about Jordan :"What did he just say? He says a lot of stuff that I don't understand and you agree with!"
-Prof Beardsley: "Mmm, yeah, polygamy...that's problematic!"
-Prof Beardsley on arranged marriages: "One of your classmates comes in with his parents and throws some chickens and cows at your parents and the next thing you know, you're engaged to be married! ...That is awkward!"

Epic and Romance:
-"You may think college life is quite epic - but do you have to kill monsters?"
-"You swallow a pregnant woman [and] you have a problem!"
-"He's naked - he's like a pickle, basically."

Western Civilization, Dr. Arnold:
"...and while [Alexander the Great] was there, he was conveniently named a god by an oracle..."
"I don't know why I like to say Alcibiades - I just do."
"Become a geek - you'll love it!"

And Mr. Skinner from Introductory Sociology:
"When I was a little boy-- this would be sometime between the discovery of radiation and dirt--..."
"This is a really bad [photograph], because security guards were chasing me all over and I was furtively taking pictures."

Funny quote from Jordan: "I have glue remover, but it doesn't work on cement!"

The only class not represented here is Political Science. It is the most boring and confusing class in the entire history of my education. I sit and try to paste an expression onto my face whenever he glances my direction. The subliminal message I try to send with these facial expressions is along the lines of "I'm actually alive" "Oh wow! That was so interesting!" or "Fascinating. I wonder why it did that." What I am actually thinking, underneath said facial expressions is "I wonder how asleep I can be before I'll actually fall asleep" "I have no idea what he just said" to "he just asked if anyone has questions...would he be offended if I asked him to repeat the entire lecture? The entire semester of lectures thus far?" So with that in mind, I think you'll understand why I have no humorous ditties. In Fenton 168, humorous ditties flee, crying, when Prof Jankowski walks in the room.

And for the funny link. Backstory: those of you at the game night on Friday might remember me saying that I'd put up a link in lieu of explaining the story to you there, as it might sound a tad sketchy. This a guy's guide to wearing shorts. Lydia, Hosanna, and I were sitting together when I found this, and we about died laughing at the last one "Not even shorts?" So the joke on Friday was that I saw a student wearing bright green fluffy boot/shoe things, and I looked at them and thought to myself, "Not even shoes?" Here's the link: http://www.primermagazine.com/2011/spend/primers-complete-visual-guide-to-mens-shorts

Visit to Maryland

Once upon a time, it was almost Labor Day weekend. And I suddenly had an epiphany which involved me realizing that Labor Day weekends involve an extended weekend for college students, i.e. Jessica and me. So I promptly decided that a visit to Maryland should be in order. Details were worked out, and Friday afternoon saw me zipping home from college, loading up the car, and leaving with my mom, Annetta, and Lydia. We had a fairly uneventful trip down...it's like 6 or 7 hours away, so it's not too bad.

 Anyhow, I took a bunch of pictures, so here they are.

First, a picture of their house.

And this is me, sacked out on my air mattress. The girls were so sweet and let us use their room while they stayed at their grandma's home (which is basically in their back yard).


 We went on a walk and got some cool pics...

 ...all the girls






Kevin gave us a 4-wheeler ride, which was fun and I didn't even fall off, which was good.


















 This butterfly was being photogenic.

And of course I snapped some pics of Jess and Kevin...

 And yes, for the astute among you, the above and below picture is the same one...I edited it two ways and couldn't decide which I liked better.

The next 4 pictures are a series of attempts to make grass mustaches. Apparently harder than it looks ;)

 And then Monday afternoon we loaded ourselves back up and headed home!

And a summer went by...

Well technically, there's still summer left. It's not over. Definitely not. But still, a lot of it has gone by, as evidenced by the people who are flocking to college, the cooling weather, the pretty leaves beginning to appear on deciduous trees, and in fact, the calendar. I hope you guys had a great summer. Mine, as you've seen rather sporadically, was also great. Busy, but great.

My last week of camp went well. I was particularly excited because Sunday evening before the family campers arrived, I was informed that some friends of ours would be camping that week (for those of you in the homeschool circle, this would be Cheyenne Ada's family, minus [sadly] Cheyenne Ada herself, but including her eldest sister + husband). It was the first week that I had actually previously known campers, so I was excited to have some familiar faces to talk to!

During this last camp week, I actually wrote down like a page in the back of my devos book, with the intent of using said scribbles as material for a blog post. Here they are, with my after-the-fact explanations in brackets:

-Monday night, serenading Strawberry Hill with Moose on the Loose [a camp song. It's about a moose. He drinks juice.]
-Considering after said serenading that it probably would be considered a distraction. [Distractions here being the ultimate offense. Not penultimate, but ultimate. For real.] Oh well. One cannot live one's life under the shadow of "what if Joel had been there?!"
-Chris, Hannah, and I did two wagon rides [i.e. led the silly songs during the 20 minute wagon ride]. Lots of fun. Nathanael [tractor driver] even joined in, singing and doing the motions (while driving)-- including putting his hands up on the roller coaster [a small hill. It's BC's version of a roller coaster.]. We all screamed at him. I later saw a couple people who said they'd been on my wagon, and they indicated that it had been fun.
-Capture the Flag: scrapes and bruises. Stupid road. And we didn't even get first place.  [Internally wincing here. Ouch.]
-Plumbing leak: still under investigation. Getting very close to solving.
-that awkward moment when you get an encouragement note and you can't decipher the handwriting...
-Sunday night craziness: "Doin' him well...delish!" Next morning: "Last night's conversation is starting to set in..." I'm here for you, friend...
-Jo [roommate] talking in her sleep, sitting up in her sleep: "Okay, I'm done talking in my scary voice now!"
-changing messy diapers-- Carson :( [Thankfully he was wearing a one-piece outfit the day his diaper got so full it fell off, otherwise it would have been worse than it was. And that was pretty bad.]

That last item leads nicely into my next topic: nursery. Vanessa, Emily, and I were the chosen ones. Chosen nursery ones, that is. See, when we have family camps, we offer a nursery for the smallest munchkins so that their parents can enjoy chapel, the other adults can enjoy chapel, and the speaker can enjoy chapel. The first week, we just like had one child, and he was cute and angelic and good. And I even got moved out of nursery into the 2-5 year old chapel because at Bethany Camp, we don't need 3 staffers to one child. The second week we had 3 kiddos, I think. We had a little girl who sat on my lap for most of it, but she was good and didn't cry. And we had two boys, one who was very big and liked to throw things, but they were good and played well together. And the last week (week 4) we had like 3 kids who seemed to take turns coming, and they were good and only cried some of the times. Buuut, the third week. Oh, the third week. My goodness...week three.

So, like, Monday night, week 3, we set up the nursery for the first chapel. And I use "we" in the sense of "the maintenance boys." It was their job to set it up for us twice a day. So they set it up, and we were like all excited to meet the new children, cause we'd seen some of them move in and they looked small and cute and bursting with infant goodness. Enter child 1. And child 2. And a screaming child 3. And suddenly child 1 and 2 are screaming also, and as children 4, 5, and 6 are handed in, they likewise join the cacophony. Except the littlest one was only 7 months old, so he didn't really cry, but he did need to be held, or watched if he was sitting up, because he had this nasty habit of face planting at the most unexpected times. And then he cried.

 I don't think they stopped crying at all that evening. We sorta had a constant roar for the hour and 10 minutes of chapel. And the kitchen staff and maintenance staff and media staff were moved with compassion and pity and came and offered words of encouragement to us as we soothed unsoothable babies, and then they were moved with a sense of becoming deaf and moved away. In fact, on Tuesday, after the morning chapel, the maintenance team gave the nursery workers a gift. Really, I think it was the best gift I have ever received. Here, let me show you a picture.



 Now, if you're anything like me, you're staring at this small yellow packet and wondering what in the world it is. But if you turn it over and read the directions on the back...


...it all makes sense.

I am happy to say that by the end of the week, we had minimal crying. They would cry a bit when they were dropped off (possibly for old time's sake), and then would get distracted by toys, windows, flies, or other objects such that they could play until they got picked up. It was a challenge, but please understand I'm not complaining. I hope you see the humor in it (as I'm starting to)! It was one way we could serve the families throughout the week, and even though it had its moments, we were glad to do it.

To give you a slightly better idea of what a family camp week day looks like, I took a picture of Thursday's schedule.

As you can see, we have various activities in the morning that we sign up for at our 8 am counselors meeting. Babysitting is a big part of family camps, and the afternoon activities are listed too. Thursday evenings are a little different than normal, because the adults have a special dinner while the kids have a picnic (and teens eat in the bistro). Then they have an auction, where they sell items that families donate, and the proceeds go directly to a specific camp fund. 

To close, here is the link to my Summer 2012 facebook photo album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.512283412118855.133151.100000116021992&type=3&l=c12c80a973

Have a great week, everyone!

Well, hello there!

So...kind of a lot of stuff has happened since last post:
-second youth camp week
-encampment
-family camp 2
-Jordan's graduation party (and getting to see Arielle for the first time since her wedding back in December)
-family camp 3

-Jessica heading back to college

So let's take this topic by topic and just do a basic rundown type thing, starting with...

...Second Youth Camp Week
Oh my goodness. So the first week I had five little angelic girls. Sure, we had our moments, but they were good little campers. For the second youth camp, I had 9 kiddos, and we had our issues. It was a lot of fun, but let's just say that communication, being kind with our words, not crying, not missing our mommies, and being encouraging were some main themes. It was honestly rather overwhelming, especially that one night I was trying to do one-on-ones with them and we kept on getting interrupted with medical issues, homesickness, and fighting. I am so thankful for Vanessa, the counselor in the other room n our cabin. She's pretty cool :) And Wednesday afternoon, LauraBeth came back to camp after a missions trip, and she co-counseled with me until I left Friday morning for encampment. She's pretty cool too, and a lot more experienced than I am, so it was great to have a second person there. Coincidentally, I think I got the closest to this cabin of girls (as opposed to youth camp one)...we had great conversations and games and activities. Okay...let's move right on to...

...Encampment!
I left camp Friday morning, and Maj M and I drove out to Scotia. We arrived sometime around 2 pm, and I sorta moved my stuff in, met the two other cadet med staffers, had dinner, listened to a presentation on handling conflict, and hung out and rested. Saturday, the inflights arrived! For inprocessing, we pretty much stood at our little station and asked the cadets about their medical information. We had paperwork for all of them, but we still wanted to be able to put a face to a name and double check everything.

For the rest of the week, we pretty much did your standard encampment schedule: classes, drill, tours, mealtimes, drill and general knowledge inspections, sleeping, showering, etc. The med staff pretty much took care of sick people, and followed flights around to be on hand should the need for a medic arise.  We did have some legit sick people, but a lot of it was heat related (passing out, headaches, dehydration, nausea-- those symptoms mean you need to drink more water, rest, and get in  a cool place, folks!) The rest of the encampment staff was great. I was impressed with how flexible the flight staff was with us-- "Hey flight commander, this cadet is going to lay down...be back later!" "Okay, sounds good!" And they made definite efforts to hydrate their cadets and keep them cool. And they were concerned for their cadets and would check up on them during their off time and stuff, which was sweet of them.

Probably the most interesting happening was the epic thunderstorm. It had to happen Tuesday night (I think it was Tuesday), because that was the night I was wiped out, exhausted, and crashing. "Evacuate...we're going to the dining hall!" Oh great. So we evacuated our tents and cabins and were transported down to the dining hall where we stood around getting organized for a couple hours, and then slept (with sleep being a general term here). But hey, you know, it was interesting experience, and I didn't die and (bonus points) nobody else did either!

It was really cool having Hosanna there too. I mean, we've gone to a couple CAP activities together, but it was just really nice having her there for a long activity with me. It was just cool to share it with her. And speaking of her...she has the distinction of being the encampment honor cadet, out of 210 inlight cadets!

Moving right along, we shall next explore (*scrolls up to see what it is I'm talking about next*) aha, family camp 2! Yep, the families came, had a good time, and left. (I'm getting good with being concise, yes?)

Jordan's grad party was awesome...food, volleyball, friends...good times! The reason this paragraph is short is cause I have picture that should go in here, but seeing as I'm excessively lazy this afternoon, I shall create another post in the near future with photographs and so forth.

Family Camp 3 was last week. It was during this week that I began to ponder the deep issues. Being at camp does that to ya...you start thinking and wondering about the important stuff. You know, you see or hear something that gets the ol' noggin humming, and you think about it and ponder it. Let me explain by asking you the question I've been churning over: why is it that mothers talk to their small children in third person? Consider this sentence, overheard at the pond: "Mommy's not going to take you on the boat because Mommy's afraid the boat will tip over!" And I'm standing there thinking, why? Why the third person? Does Mommy think her child will forget who she is halfway through the sentence and sit there going, "who in the world is this woman talking to me??" And then it gets worse when Mommy starts using the child's name too: "Mommy doesn't want to take Austin on the boat, because Mommy's afraid the boat will tip over...does Austin want to go swimming instead?" Because you know, children can't understand personal pronouns! 

And then there's volleyball: "Hit the ball! Yeah...hit it! Hit it!!" Like...what do they think I'm planning to do with it? Eat it? Yeah, I eat volleyballs all the time and have to be reminded to hit them. Am I overthinking this?

This week is our last family camp, and the end of the summer camp season. We have a staff outing to Darien Lake this weekend, which Annetta and I might be attending. Jessica left this morning to head back to college. Daddy and Josh are driving her down. They're stopping at Kevin's home for a couple days and then Daddy and Josh are coming back.

There. Whew. Life update! With no pictures at all! I told you I was lazy this afternoon. Wait...I have one picture for you. This is me with Vanessa (on the left) and Joanna. The three of us are roommates for family camp (cause we obviously don't sleep in the cabins with the families), and they're great...I'm going to miss them! https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/s720x720/309077_396072157126879_2042847328_n.jpg

On that happy note, I hope that everyone is having a great summer! The End.

Family Camp 1 and Youth Camp 1

Oh hey...I should blog today before I go off and vanish for a couple weeks. And this time I will try to hyperlink the pictures for you.

So two weeks ago (like, not last week but the week before) was our first family camp. It's where a bunch of families come and basically have their family vacations at camp. Here's a quick, one-paragraph summary of that week: Our support staff kept all of their positions, and those of us who are counselors (hint: that's me) were given assignments every day. During chapel time twice a day, we were all assigned either to the nursery, the 2-5 year old chapel, or the youth chapel. That way, the parents could focus on their adult chapel without worrying about little kiddos. I spent most of my time in the 2-5 year old chapel. We played some games, sang some songs (Father Abraham, Jesus Loves Me, those kind of songs), listened to a Bible lesson, and made a craft. Then, during the activity times, we were assigned a specific activity that we would go run. Thatway the parents could split up from their little kids if they wanted to, and they could go play soccer while small munchkins made sand castles or drew chalk art on the basketball court. And during mealtimes, the counselors were interspersed amongst the families to assist where needed. So that's that.

Last week was the first youth camp. Let me explain a tad how the youth camps are run. We have two camps running concurrently, split up by age, and these two camps are on totally different schedules. The 3-5th graders are called Discoverers, and the 6-8th graders are the junior highers. So we've got our 4 little kids cabins and like 6 big kids cabins and we keep th elittle kids and big kids separated. I had a cabin of 5 Discoverer girls. They were all 8 years old except for one nine year old. Here we all are on Day 1: http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p768631268/h9b083e4#h9b083e4

Here they all are, getting ready for their swim tests: http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p768631268/h3c87a042#h3c87a042 In order from left to right, we have Mackenzie, Haley, Jade, McKayla, and Alicia.

So...our theme for this summer is Superheroes. Which means that each cabin makes up its own superhero at the beginning of the week, and then later on in the week, they have the kids dress up their counselor as the superhero, and then take pictures of it...and then put them online. Last week, my cabin's superhero was unfortunately Crazy Penguin. I'll let the picture say the rest :P http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p556944517/h1f450759#h1f450759 And this is all of us Discoverer counselors, portraying our superheroes, Jordan as Banana Man, Vanessa a Raunbow Woman, me as Crazy Penguin, and Luke as Oak Man: http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p556944517/h1f450759#h786b77c

We had a pizza party one of the nights: http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p556944517/h2703f486#h2703f486

Playing gopher ball... http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p556795851/h2997aeee#h2997aeee

This is a water game that somehow turned into "Get the staff!!" I got soaked. Completely. http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p548221800/h32849c20#h32849c20

Obstacle course: http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p548221800/h20cf8dff#h20cf8dff

This is Mackenzie and me going down the water slide, snapped milliseconds before I plugged my nose. Those slides terrified me, but Mackenzie and I went down like 7 times and now I can stand at the top and jump onto the slide instead of sitting at the edge and just sliding. I am making progress :)  http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p548221800/h21a8bb82#h21a8bb82

Okay, here's a funny story. So during staff training, Joel warned us that some time during youth camp weeks, he would usually take the counselors to the little superette in Sinclairville for ice cream and a chance to relax and hang out without all the kids. That happened on Wednesday evening (actually, no clue what day it was, but I think it was Wednesday), when Joel told Jordan, Luke, Vanessa, and me to get n the van. He was just like, "Get in the van." And then he hopped in and took off going like 60 miles an hour roaring off to Sinclairville. We figured out what was going on halfway there or so, walked in, grabbed some ice cream, and made our way to the back where they have little tables set up. And because it's Sinclairville, their decorations consist of stuffed fish and deer heads mounted on the walls. The one directly above our table was white. Joel was making conversation, and he pointed out that the deer head was white. So I, being all logical and stuff wondered out loud how long that thing had been hanging there to get that white. Those of you who know more about deer that I do (like...all of you) may now start laughing as hysterically as Joel did. Apparently, there are albino deer who come into this world white. And so that one was an albino deer that got shot and stuffed and hung. So, joke of the week. Haha.

Anyhow, this week I will be doing the same thing...different girls, same schedule. Friday morning I will be heading off to encampment, so I'll be missing like the last 26 hours of camp, but it should all work out fine. As far as i know, I'll get back from encampment on Saturday, and then I'll head back to camp Sunday evening (that's two weeks from today). Hosanna will be leaving Saturday (I think?) for encamoment, and then coming home with me. So we'd appreciate prayers for all of this...me for camp and then med staff at encampment, end her, well, it's pretty tough as a basic at encampment...they keep you challenged!

And now I'm off to pack! See you all later!

Sr High Week

I took all of like one picture this week, and I don't even have it on this computer. BUT...Bethany Camp has a great PAO multimedia team (is that what they're called in the non-CAP world? It's the people who take pictures and post them online.). So I am currently going through five albums to try to find some good pics to share with you.

My week consisted of preparing food, serving food, cleaning up, and eating the food. It was a very food-oriented week, which was cool. Another thing that was cool was I found out on Friday that one of my good friends there is the niece of one of my mom's best friends in high school.

This picture is the guy who was our special speaker all week. His name is Mark Davis. http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p637081454/h2acfe8b#h2acfe8b

These slides go down into the pond. I went down once, and i got water up my nose and it hurt and then my lungs hurt and I coughed and stuff. But right before I went down again, they ended swimming time, so I was saved by the bell :P http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p806560733/h3097d949#h3097d949

This is a picture taken inside the bistro (that's a long e sound...beestro), whoch is like the snack and games shop. We had all our staff classroom training in here. And the guy in the white t shirt on the right was our other special speaker for that week. http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p806560733/h2561f694#h2561f694

You can kinda see the end of the water slides in this picture: http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p806560733/h32b6c12b#h32b6c12b

This is most of the kitchen staff...I think it's just minus three of us: http://photos.bethanycamp.org/p884772576/h1d4554e8#h1d4554e8 Except the guy isn't actually on staff...he just liked to serve meals to the kids.

This week is the first family camp, so we'll have lots of families coming in. I think Joel said we'd have like 115 (or 150...not sure which) total, with 86 of them being kids. I did not dare to ask how many were under the age of 5, but my guess is that 85 will be.

And with that, I'm going to go finish packing, eat some food, relax, and head on back! How are everyone else's lives going?

Staff Training Week

So! Last week (Sunday evening through this afternoon) was a long, full week of staff training at Bethany Camp. It was a week full of class sessions, games of mafia, trying to win freezy pops, learning how to play tons of different games,  and meeting lots of cool people. Sadly, I have no pictures, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

For the most part, Monday through Thursday was split between class sessions and games. We had a staff handbook that we read through and Joel the program director added on and led class discussion and stuff. And then there was a big, long list of activities that they offer, so we had to learn how to play those. Then on Friday and this morning, we did a lot of camp clean up and other projects because we had run out of staff handbook to go over. I drove a cub cadet (no...that's not a little mini cadet person; it's like a 4 wheeler. Actually, it does have 4 wheels. I have no idea what the difference is between a cub cadet, a gator, a rhino, and a 4 wheeler. Perhaps nobody does. Perhaps it doesn't matter in the slightest.) and moved a lot of chairs. Now my arm muscles hurt.

I stayed in a cabin with all the other girls. The guys technically stayed in the same cabin, but it was totally separate sides and I didn't even know they were there till like Thursday or Friday. So no wonder we had hot water issues in the morning...so glad I shower at night :P I have to go back to camp tomorrow by 9 pm, and I'll be working in the kitchen. It's senior high week, and they don't need all the counselors, so I'll be learning the camp ropes from a slightly less stressful position.

Speaking of ropes, I really do need to get a picture of the super tall and long zip line they have, and their scary swing. Some of you know how bad I am with guesstimating (whoa, spellcheck even says that's a word) height and depth and length and stuff, so I'll just say that they were both really tall. And I screamed both times.

But it was a good time...very fun and all that. I hope to be able to write a blog post during my free time (unless I decide to, like, sleep) and then mail it home for a sibling (hello, Annetta!) to type in. And perhaps pictures will appear at some point this summer. Thanks for reading!

Summer Schedule

Howdy, folks! This blog post shall contain my estimated schedule for the summer, so that interested parties will be able to keep track of what I'll be hopefully doing. I will be working at Bethany Camp, besides heading off to the NYWG encampment for a week and a half. While at both, I don't anticipate having any computer or cell phone access. I imagine I'll be able to send and receive letters (at least at camp), so I'm sorta hoping that I can write a blog post every now and then and just mail it to Annetta and have her type it in. (Oh yeah...because I won't be needing my phone, I may lend it out to people in need so that I don't have to pay my uncle $22/month for nothing, so if you call or text me, be aware that although I'd love to talk to you, I might not answer or respond.) I'd love your prayers as this will be an interesting summer :) and I will be praying for all you as well, hoping that you have a successful summer!

Ok, the dates.
17 June- 23 June: This Sunday through the next Saturday is staff training week.
24-30 June: first week of camp. I have to be at camp by like 9 or 10 Sunday night, and I'm done around 2 on Saturday. And repeat all summer :)
1-7 July: second camp week (family camp)
8-14 July: third camp week, also the first official youth week. I will be responsible for munchkins...eek! :P
19-28 July: Encampment staff dates. The 19th is a Thursday, and I don't know if I will be trying to work like in the kitchen for Mon, Tues, and Wed of that week, or if I'll just take that off. But if I have time off this summer, that'll be when.
29 July-4 August: family camp again
5-11 Aug: third family camp
12-18 Aug: fourth family camp

If I manage to get myself accepted to SUNY Fredonia, classes will be starting (I think) on the 27th, so I will have a little over a week to crash :)

Ok, so for what it's worth, there it is!

Home Life Update

Life continues to happen, here at our house (and presumably at yours too, although there is little blog activity to support this broad assumption of mine :) ). I shall now contrive to give a general catch up, and then move into some pictures.

Topic One: Grandpa is now living at our house. So a little timeline is on March first, he went to the hospital. He then moved to another hospital, and then was transferred to a nursing home nearby. Then on Tuesday (May 29th), he came here to our house. We have converted the second downstairs bedroom from a school room back to a bedroom, and that's where he is. So far, he has done about 90 % of the dishes for us, so we're happy, haha. An occupational therapist named Steve came today to evaluate him, and their goal is to get him back to his home, living relatively independently.

 Jessica is currently waiting for some important people someplace to decide to have her as an intern for someone important someplace. Apparently, someone important needs an intern (a paid intern) someplace nearby, and so Jessica was recommended and she applied for the job and now they just have to say yes. In a nutshell.

I'm working a few hours per week at the local library, waiting for camp to start. On June 17th, I'll be going to staff training, and then I'll be gone pretty much completely until August 18th. I was informed  not too long ago that management at the Comfort Inn had decided to let me go (cause that sounds better than fired), so I basically don't have a life. I'm excited about this upcoming week, though: on Tuesday, I'll be job shadowing an occupational therapist, on Wednesday I'll be driving Annetta to a job interview at Bethany Camp (which we're so hoping she'll get!), and then on Saturday, a good friend of ours is having a highschool graduation party which we are all looking forward to! As far as college goes for me, Patrick Henry College did accept me, but due to changes in their financial aid policies, I'm looking to attend SUNY Fredonia this fall.

Okay...moving on to the pictures! Last Sunday, Jessica, Annetta, Rachel, and I went on a beachside picnic. Except...it sorta rained for a while, so we picnicked in the car, and then strolled leisurely along the scenic beach, enjoying the beautiful view, that is the part of the view that we could see past the large clothespins clamped firmly on our noses because Lake Erie stinks. Anyhow, on the picnic, we had brownie cheesecake, and it was very delicious. I'm sure that Annetta and Rachel won't mind me sharing these pictures with you of them eating said cheesecake.

 After our picnic, Rachel's family sporadically decided to go see Avengers at the theater, and we sporadically decided to go along. So we did and it was fun!

Moving on to Monday, which we all remember was Memorial Day... We watched a parade with our relatives, and then we had a picnic with those relatives. The next 4 pictures are from the cousins beanbag toss game. Victoria and I were on one team, and Annetta and Jess were on the other.

  Observe my facial expression here, and compare it with Victoria's in the next.

 It must be the genetics. I mean, look at those identical expressions! We're obviously related.

 And then we got a shot of the cousins. Awww....look at us being all related and stuff!

 My mom celebrated the day by reading in the shade.

  So did Hosanna. Like mother like daughter. Also, Hosanna is presiding over her Memorial Day Parade loot...the kids always go prepared with large plastic bags to carry all their candy.

We now move on to Monday evening, which was Katrina's 6th birthday celebration time.

 We invited our neighbors over, especially because Reuben happens to have the same birthdate too...just 13 years apart. 

 And I think that catches us all up!Thanks for reading!