Hey everyone I'm so sorry I've been dormant for the past, you know, like MONTH but I've just been busy hanging out with amazing campers and these other people on the mountain that I see everyday!
We're on week three of camping and no two sessions have been alike, it's wild. The first week's campers were older campers, all of them absolute sweethearts. It was a great introduction to camplife.
Many things have changed since I started working at camp, but two that changed that week was: I now call everyone pet names ALL THE TIME. Hun, girlfriend, bud, sweetheart, girly, brother, sister, ma dear; it never ends, and; I am now a first-rate coffee addict in the morning.
Week two were younger campers (15-25) and it was constant go go go. One of my campers (a young girl that I ended up working with one-to-one due to physical needs) was wheel-chair bound. She was 14 years old and a typical teenager, obsessed with Twilight and Justin Bieber, these love interests seem to be popular among young female campers. Anyway, last week I learned just about everything there is to know about personal care for those in wheelchairs (and about driving electric wheelchairs, but it's going to take a while before that one is down for sure.)
One boy that came to camp stood out in particular for me, and I know I just don't speak for myself when I say he was a blessing. He was a typical 17-year old boy, by loving to make loud noises and having very little balance and the strength of thirty men, he was a challenge to keep safe. Someone always had to be with him, and throughout the week everyone had the chance to spend some time with him. He was always happy, even when saying his favorite word of "NO!"
Dude worked really well with him, being his counselor. In fact, during the talent show, they both skipped up to the stage along with Ferret and did a "bird-calling" act. This camper was always alert and knew what was going on. You could beat a rhythm to him, and he would beat it right back, the same call and response with bird calling. I really wish I could have worked and played more with him, he was amazing.
Along with the ninety different things we did last week, one of them was a hike. Mango, Ferret, and I lead a group of ten, all teenage boys, it was fun :) I could seriously hike with special needs kids all day, everyday. I love it to the max. The only girl was "Sarah", she was such a sweetheart. We saw a slug in the middle of the trail, and after I pointed it out to her, without saying a word, she bent down to pick up the slug and move it to the side of the trail so no hiker would step on it.
My heart has been touched by all these campers. They either will tell you they love you verbally, or by randomly hugging you from no where. They all have their separate personallities, but something they all have in common is that they all love, and love unconditionally. I sometimes wish everyone in the world would love so effortlessly.
It's been easy to show love back these past two weeks, but already I know I have my work cut out for me with this camp. They are higher functioning individuals, and more obsessed with drama than your afternoon soaps. Within an hour of arriving, one of my campers already had made a "boyfriend", and for the past two days it's been a rodeo to try and keep them apart. It's fun :)
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
left-over grilled cheese.
Today is our day off!...and I'm watching boys play modern duty call of warfare, whatever, whatever; it's just like home. :)
Coyote was nice enough to take a few counselors into Salem yesterday to experience like, private showers, and eating out, and video games. It's a nice break, and I'm going shopping with Mango and Rice this afternoon. Turns out I need a watch after all, too bad Spiderman watches don't have alarms.
If you've been following along, you know that all last week was lots of TRAINING and guest speakers. I don't think I have learned so much, information and about the lives of others and myself, in one week. My favorite aspect by far were the speakers that came in. What I loved about each of them is that they were each close friends with Grasshopper and Muskrat, they weren't well-researched guest speakers that so often bore me to tears. They were deeply faithful and loving people, all with amazing attitudes. The two speakers that touched me the most were Mark and Barb. One of their sons had been a camper at UBC since he was twelve, his first time away from home. They reminded me so much of my own grandparents and uncle, and many of their stories I smiled at because they sounded so much like Uncle Mark's own stories. They talked of their struggles and their blessings through their son; the father spoke of when their son was born (around Christmas time) and how the sermon at church was about baby Jesus and how tiny he was but how much impact he would bring, the whole time tearing up. Of course, I cried my eyes out. It was in that moment I realized one of the reasons why I look up to my own grandparents so much is because of the amount of love they showed Mark (and uh, everyone); it's incredible. That same love those two parents that came to speak shook me.
Last week I taught my first class, a campfire-making class of all things. I know it went well because we successfully started a fire; here's to hoping my teaching career in the future can be as successful.
Along with this, watching the movie, "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle", a film about a man who was a musical savant, it made me really excited about my future career in music and helping others. I was reminded of how powerful music is.
Campers get here Wednesday and I'm so excited!!! Tomorrow we're tying up lose ends for camp preparation. I'm hoping the weather continues being as beautiful as it has been the past few days, it's been like, a week without rain, crazy!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
training (part deux)
Today, highschool volunteers that will be helping out with the Easter Seals camp in July came to receive training and familiarize themselves with the camp. We have done SO MUCH in just one day. Between making a pb and j sandwich blind, learning to save a chocking patient, camp songs, and team-building activities, so so MUCH. I'm learning things, not obvious, about ways to better myself with the population we're working with. I can't think of any right now out of exhaustion, but I always like learning new ways to execute a situation and to make people feel more comfortable.
We've also had speakers come in, and more will tomorrow. These people are amazing. Just amazing. I'm so inspired by their greatness.
Today was SUNNY! I started my day wearing pants, then by late morning I was wearing shorts and a teeshirt, and by 4:30pm, I was back in pants, plus a hoodie and jacket! Welcome to Oregon.
Also today, I took my third CPR class of the year (sure, why not!)
Happy birthday, Dad! (and parents' anniversary...thanks for reminding me, Livie)
Annnnnnd, that's all I got for today. Don't be fooled by the meager size of this blog, if I were to go into detail on everything I did today, it would take me hours. So for now, goodnight!! :)
We've also had speakers come in, and more will tomorrow. These people are amazing. Just amazing. I'm so inspired by their greatness.
Today was SUNNY! I started my day wearing pants, then by late morning I was wearing shorts and a teeshirt, and by 4:30pm, I was back in pants, plus a hoodie and jacket! Welcome to Oregon.
Also today, I took my third CPR class of the year (sure, why not!)
Happy birthday, Dad! (and parents' anniversary...thanks for reminding me, Livie)
Annnnnnd, that's all I got for today. Don't be fooled by the meager size of this blog, if I were to go into detail on everything I did today, it would take me hours. So for now, goodnight!! :)
training (part one of...lots)
This week I have learned about 16 ways to get out of a choke-hold, and received certification in both archery instruction and food handling; and it's only Tuesday.
It's training week here at camp, and I love it because I'm learning so much. That's been the common theme since first landing here on the mountain, not only am I being certified in many important skills, but also learning more about so many populations and personalities of people. All of our counseling team is finally here. There are five men and seven females, and out of the seven females, Butter and I are the only caucasians. There are three Bolivians, one Arizonian, me (Kansan), one Portlander, and a Trini (from Trinidad, you know). I LOVE PEOPLE BEING HERE. After being the only person living at camp for a while, it's nice always having people around and something going on. Like, right now there's five people in the respite house and two of them are dancing.
Yesterday we spent most of the day being trained by Grasshopper to be level one archery-instructor certified. Archery is really popular with the campers, and I'm so excited to improve myself and teach those skills to others. Also yesterday, Baggy educated us on crisis aversion and self-defense. All of us first-time counselors wore huge eyes until about the third story they told of campers acting out when Baggy and Bug reassured us that incidents like that
Today, so far, a health inspector came in to teach about proper food-handling, and each of us took a test to become certified this morning. However, the greatest lesson I have learned this week definitely came from Retro today.
Retro was a counselor at camp about 20 years ago. She had been diagnosed with arthritis as a teenager, and began working at camp when she was 21. About 8 years ago, her arthritis became progressively worse, and caused her to be wheelchair-bound. So ultimately, she came to speak about seeing both sides of a disability, from going to working with the population, to being disabled herself. Retro spoke of how many times people would frustrate her by patronizing and speaking down to her, as most people do to individuals that are disabled. She has such an amazing, strong personality and such a witty sense of humor. As she shared, she's definitely not afraid to embarrass people and put them in their place if she feels offended. I thought it was so great inviting her to speak with staff before camp started. She drove the point home that all people are people, and are no less just because they're disabled. I really, really wish society would see this. I can't tell you how much it angers me when people belittle, underestimate, or talk down to those with a disability. There's no faster way to rile me up (sorry, but not sorry, I get it from my mother).
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
lighthouses and lemon-sun days
I saw my first lighthouse and touched a wild starfish this weekend!
Saturday was a "day-off" where us chicks just about watched movies and painted nails all day. Butter and I had to explain what a "chick-flick" is to Blueberry. I love explaining things to Bolivians.
BUT SUNDAY: We woke up early and headed towards the coast. I've now been officially assigned to shot-gun every field trip that Bug leads. Luckily this time I didn't have to worry about DJ-ing the radio - Bug brought two CD holders full of CD's from Willie Nelson to 90's hip-hop.
We headed towards Lincoln City first, the beach that was a typical "beach", lots of soft sand and coast. It was one of those rare, sunny days in Oregon; we hit it big. Next, we rolled down I-101 to Newport to visit Yaquina State Park. It was amazing, I was able to see my first lighthouse AND walk to the top. Plus, the beach at Yaquina is all cobble stones, perfectly round, smooth, black stones. We went down to the tide-pools, luckily arriving about 15 minutes before the high tide had fully came in. Tide pools are one of the coolest works of nature I have ever seen. I love love love tide pools. The ocean has so much life, so many creatures, and for a few hours every day we're able to peek under the covers of the ocean and see all the life teeming by the shore. I touched everything I could, and couldn't help but laughing out loud every time an anemone would grip my finger quickly when I touched it.
After Yaquina, we went into Newport and did some crabbing by the docks. I am now an experienced crabber now!
It was a great day, and we packed in every Oregon coast experience in every way that you can think of.
Side note: I'm sorry if the grammar in this post stinks, I'm pretty beat from a day of training that you'll eventually find out about. I know this wasn't very descriptive of my trip to the coast, but many photos are to come, I promise!
Saturday was a "day-off" where us chicks just about watched movies and painted nails all day. Butter and I had to explain what a "chick-flick" is to Blueberry. I love explaining things to Bolivians.
BUT SUNDAY: We woke up early and headed towards the coast. I've now been officially assigned to shot-gun every field trip that Bug leads. Luckily this time I didn't have to worry about DJ-ing the radio - Bug brought two CD holders full of CD's from Willie Nelson to 90's hip-hop.
We headed towards Lincoln City first, the beach that was a typical "beach", lots of soft sand and coast. It was one of those rare, sunny days in Oregon; we hit it big. Next, we rolled down I-101 to Newport to visit Yaquina State Park. It was amazing, I was able to see my first lighthouse AND walk to the top. Plus, the beach at Yaquina is all cobble stones, perfectly round, smooth, black stones. We went down to the tide-pools, luckily arriving about 15 minutes before the high tide had fully came in. Tide pools are one of the coolest works of nature I have ever seen. I love love love tide pools. The ocean has so much life, so many creatures, and for a few hours every day we're able to peek under the covers of the ocean and see all the life teeming by the shore. I touched everything I could, and couldn't help but laughing out loud every time an anemone would grip my finger quickly when I touched it.
After Yaquina, we went into Newport and did some crabbing by the docks. I am now an experienced crabber now!
It was a great day, and we packed in every Oregon coast experience in every way that you can think of.
Side note: I'm sorry if the grammar in this post stinks, I'm pretty beat from a day of training that you'll eventually find out about. I know this wasn't very descriptive of my trip to the coast, but many photos are to come, I promise!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
tube fish and industrial-sized enchiladas
PAPERWORK. This has been my life as of late.
This week, we have made multiple trips into town to prepare to send out campers their confirmations (did I mention there's like, over 500 of them?) This requires comparing what they still need to send in (balance, physicals, etc), folding and stapling, sealing and putting on a label, and finishing it out by alphabetizing by zip code. Typical office stuff.
However, Wednesday was a great day because I was in the kitchen all day! Yes I am being serious! The job of Muskrat, Copper, and I, was to clean and reorganize the kitchen, a task we quickly found out was more a one and a half person job. When I was admiring a Rubbermaid container of hazelnuts, Muskrat told me that if you saute hazelnuts in cinnamon and sugar then stick them in the oven it's majorly delicious. So, because I wanted/needed something to do, she told me right then that I should do it. Despite that fact I didn't know what I was doing, let alone had just first seen a hazelnut five minutes ago, I gladly accepted her challenge. Move over, Nutella, because those nuts sure were delicious.
Now, people that know me well and my habits in the kitchen understand that when I bake/cook something, the series of events that follow are similar to the story of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".
Soooo, after fixing hazelnuts, I then proceeded to make brownies, enchiladas in a 19-gallon pan for eight people, and salad. Industrial kitchens are the bomb.
Remember the fish pond we worked on this week? The trout finally arrived about an hour ago, and people, if you have never helped transport 800 fish from the back of a truck to a pond via long tube, let me tell you it is one of the single most hilarious events of your life. The first load, we used a long, blue tube. However, most of the fish got stuck at the end of the line right before exiting into the pond, so we had to squeeze them out like toothpaste. Plus, several fish somehow broke free from the tube, and were slapping around on the ground before we grabbed them and threw them in. Again, imagine this happening with three Bolivian women from the city and already you're smiling.
It is COLD here. I hear/see how hot is is back home and I'm so jealous. Right now it's 53 outside, but probably a good 45 in the respite house. But it's supposed to be lower 70's this week, so let's hope for a warm-front! :)
This week, we have made multiple trips into town to prepare to send out campers their confirmations (did I mention there's like, over 500 of them?) This requires comparing what they still need to send in (balance, physicals, etc), folding and stapling, sealing and putting on a label, and finishing it out by alphabetizing by zip code. Typical office stuff.
However, Wednesday was a great day because I was in the kitchen all day! Yes I am being serious! The job of Muskrat, Copper, and I, was to clean and reorganize the kitchen, a task we quickly found out was more a one and a half person job. When I was admiring a Rubbermaid container of hazelnuts, Muskrat told me that if you saute hazelnuts in cinnamon and sugar then stick them in the oven it's majorly delicious. So, because I wanted/needed something to do, she told me right then that I should do it. Despite that fact I didn't know what I was doing, let alone had just first seen a hazelnut five minutes ago, I gladly accepted her challenge. Move over, Nutella, because those nuts sure were delicious.
Now, people that know me well and my habits in the kitchen understand that when I bake/cook something, the series of events that follow are similar to the story of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".
Soooo, after fixing hazelnuts, I then proceeded to make brownies, enchiladas in a 19-gallon pan for eight people, and salad. Industrial kitchens are the bomb.
Remember the fish pond we worked on this week? The trout finally arrived about an hour ago, and people, if you have never helped transport 800 fish from the back of a truck to a pond via long tube, let me tell you it is one of the single most hilarious events of your life. The first load, we used a long, blue tube. However, most of the fish got stuck at the end of the line right before exiting into the pond, so we had to squeeze them out like toothpaste. Plus, several fish somehow broke free from the tube, and were slapping around on the ground before we grabbed them and threw them in. Again, imagine this happening with three Bolivian women from the city and already you're smiling.
It is COLD here. I hear/see how hot is is back home and I'm so jealous. Right now it's 53 outside, but probably a good 45 in the respite house. But it's supposed to be lower 70's this week, so let's hope for a warm-front! :)
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
rivers, rain, and red knitted-hats.
First off: thank you to anyone that has sent me mail in the past two weeks. I love snail-mail and it makes my day whenever I get anything!!!
Secondly: Sorry I've been seriously slacking as of late. That tends to happen when you're busy, but don't fret! I'm about to tell you all about it!
We have been very busy on the mountain preparing the camp and all its many activities. This includes, but is not limited to; cleaning up every building, planning activities, organizing and choosing songs (my project yesterday), making up fanny packs and manuals for staff, checking first-aid kits, and our big project lately: the fish pond. For the most part I'm a big fan of this task because I get to play in the water and smell and touch everything. We started on Friday and it was a perfect day to do so, the first day in Oregon that I got to wear shorts! However, it has been raining this whole week, and the fish that will be dumped into this pond are scheduled to arrive Friday, so it's been all forces a-go rain or shine (and it was very cold outside today).
Fortunately, this weekend was a very fun-filled one. On Saturday, Bug, being the brave man that he is, took us five women up to Seven Falls to go hiking and eat a picnic lunch. We were surprised with it being National State Parks Day, meaning free admission! It was another sunny, beautiful day. We loved to take pictures, so it took us about three hours to hike a mile and a half. :)
On Sunday, we decided to see our friend, Simba, at his church in Portland. I seriously feared going to church wearing the clothes I had brought (t-shirts and jeans, what else, I'm a camp counselor). Especially with the five other beautiful and ever-stylish women that would accompany me there. Fortunately, that morning Blueberry came in with an armful of clothing to borrow and fixed me up right to look very "coqueta" :) We left a 8am (well, it was a little after 8:00…) and drove TWO hours, the longest Muskrat said she has ever driven to a church service (make that for me as well). The service was good with many nice people. Afterwards, we headed over to the Sunday Market in downtown Portland. I love the Sunday Market. I love just about everything that Portland has to offer, but I really dug the Sunday Market. There were lots of good foods (I got some falafel yuuuuum), and venders selling everything from candles, jewelry, and pottery; to henna, bongs, and skirts. Plus live musicians. All by the river.
So that's what's been going on as of late! I can't tell you what else is going on this week or even tomorrow, except that it's probably going to rain. :)
Saturday, June 2, 2012
The Bolivians Have Landed!
Happy June! This week has been BUSY!
On Wednesday, Grasshopper, Muskrat and I took off for Portland to stay at Muskrat's mother's house. We stayed in Portland because Grasshopper and his daughter had to fly out of PDX early on Thursday for level two archery training in California, while Muskrat and I would leave later that morning for Newberg to teach a CPR/First Aid/AED/Infant CPR class at a nearby camp. On our way there, Muskrat told shared some experiences she had accumulated over her life. This woman is amazing; I hope I can have half the stories she has someday.
The class was to counselors at a Christian camp, and most were college students. One woman who helped put on the camp talked with me during break, she asked where I was from and told me her husband was from Kansas and his sister taught elementary special education in Hays! Crazy!
After teaching the class, we headed to PDX to pick up the first Bolivian woman that would work at the camp this summer, Ximena. It took us TWO hours to get across Portland because of the traffic (note we left the camp at 3:30 and Ximena's flight was scheduled to arrive at 4:30). When we finally got to the airport at 5:30pm, we looked all over for her, but her flight didn't appear on the arrivals board. We had no idea where she was or where her flight was, luckily, Bug was able to find out her flight had been postponed two hours, so Muskrat and I grabbed some much-conveted supper.
Ximena's flight came in around 7:00pm, and thank goodness her luggage had arrived as well in once piece. We had a few hours to kill (Blueberry and Stephanie's flight wouldn't arrive until 10:30pm), so we drove around Portland and visited all of Muskrat's old hangouts when she was a child. Portland has the largest park within a city (even larger than Central Park) in the world. It's wild. One minute you're driving through upperclass neighborhoods, then you find yourself in heavily wooded forest. Several Oregonian cities have an annual flower festival, and each city is dedicated to a specific flower; for Portland it is the rose. We drove to the rose garden to smell all the flowers and look down on Portland's city lights (well, those lights that weren't blocked by trees). Also, apparently in city parks at night, when the lights are way down low, it's like all the couples in the world come out to make-out. We passed several of these snogging lovers and laughed. Ximena told us in Bolivia when they see people doing that they say, "Don't eat bread in front of the poor!"
After leaving the park, we headed back to PDX. A few days before we went to Portland, I realized I had left my signed copy of "The Fault in Our Stars" on the airplane I had taken from Denver. I checked in with lost and found to see if they had picked it up, but was informed that after like, five hours, they send "useless" objects like that to a giant storehouse in Alabama. Nice.
ANYWAY.
Blueberry and Stephanie arrived safe and sound! We were so happy to see them! We left the airport around 11:30pm, and our amigas were HUNGRY. So we stopped at a 24-hour diner in Salem at midnight, naturally having the waitress take a group picture of us.
I kept Muskrat up on the way home by quoting "Princess Bride" with her to keep her up. We rolled into camp at 2am and crashed HARD. The next morning we ate breakfast at noon.
On Wednesday, Grasshopper, Muskrat and I took off for Portland to stay at Muskrat's mother's house. We stayed in Portland because Grasshopper and his daughter had to fly out of PDX early on Thursday for level two archery training in California, while Muskrat and I would leave later that morning for Newberg to teach a CPR/First Aid/AED/Infant CPR class at a nearby camp. On our way there, Muskrat told shared some experiences she had accumulated over her life. This woman is amazing; I hope I can have half the stories she has someday.
The class was to counselors at a Christian camp, and most were college students. One woman who helped put on the camp talked with me during break, she asked where I was from and told me her husband was from Kansas and his sister taught elementary special education in Hays! Crazy!
After teaching the class, we headed to PDX to pick up the first Bolivian woman that would work at the camp this summer, Ximena. It took us TWO hours to get across Portland because of the traffic (note we left the camp at 3:30 and Ximena's flight was scheduled to arrive at 4:30). When we finally got to the airport at 5:30pm, we looked all over for her, but her flight didn't appear on the arrivals board. We had no idea where she was or where her flight was, luckily, Bug was able to find out her flight had been postponed two hours, so Muskrat and I grabbed some much-conveted supper.
Ximena's flight came in around 7:00pm, and thank goodness her luggage had arrived as well in once piece. We had a few hours to kill (Blueberry and Stephanie's flight wouldn't arrive until 10:30pm), so we drove around Portland and visited all of Muskrat's old hangouts when she was a child. Portland has the largest park within a city (even larger than Central Park) in the world. It's wild. One minute you're driving through upperclass neighborhoods, then you find yourself in heavily wooded forest. Several Oregonian cities have an annual flower festival, and each city is dedicated to a specific flower; for Portland it is the rose. We drove to the rose garden to smell all the flowers and look down on Portland's city lights (well, those lights that weren't blocked by trees). Also, apparently in city parks at night, when the lights are way down low, it's like all the couples in the world come out to make-out. We passed several of these snogging lovers and laughed. Ximena told us in Bolivia when they see people doing that they say, "Don't eat bread in front of the poor!"
After leaving the park, we headed back to PDX. A few days before we went to Portland, I realized I had left my signed copy of "The Fault in Our Stars" on the airplane I had taken from Denver. I checked in with lost and found to see if they had picked it up, but was informed that after like, five hours, they send "useless" objects like that to a giant storehouse in Alabama. Nice.
ANYWAY.
Blueberry and Stephanie arrived safe and sound! We were so happy to see them! We left the airport around 11:30pm, and our amigas were HUNGRY. So we stopped at a 24-hour diner in Salem at midnight, naturally having the waitress take a group picture of us.
I kept Muskrat up on the way home by quoting "Princess Bride" with her to keep her up. We rolled into camp at 2am and crashed HARD. The next morning we ate breakfast at noon.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Photo-evidence!
I finally have pictures up you should go check them out right now!!!
The reason why I just now am getting photos up is because today we were in Stayton most of the day, so I had a stable internet connection where I could upload photos.
Also today, I went for an amazing run this morning on the road leading to camp. I pass waterfalls, I smell the trees, I stop to poke slugs in the middle of the road. No wonder people are so motivated to work out in Oregon, just going for a run is an experience.
Before I organized medical files and researched bottle rockets online, Coyote and I were in charge of home-steading a garden. Stayton is real neat and has public land set aside for anyone who wants to have a plot of ground to garden in. Plants like squash, peppers, cabbage, and tomatoes (what we planted today) actually grow and will be used for the camp. It was great getting dirty and smelling the warm earth, I can't wait to see the results granted we didn't screw up too much!
When we got back to the office, we were greeted by pizza (veggie for me mmhhmm) and finished out our day by doing various paperwork. Before we left, Grasshopper called and let me know I had a letter waiting for me when I got back home! I was giddy with anticipation until we returned back to camp.
Tomorrow we go to Portland!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The reason why I just now am getting photos up is because today we were in Stayton most of the day, so I had a stable internet connection where I could upload photos.
Also today, I went for an amazing run this morning on the road leading to camp. I pass waterfalls, I smell the trees, I stop to poke slugs in the middle of the road. No wonder people are so motivated to work out in Oregon, just going for a run is an experience.
Before I organized medical files and researched bottle rockets online, Coyote and I were in charge of home-steading a garden. Stayton is real neat and has public land set aside for anyone who wants to have a plot of ground to garden in. Plants like squash, peppers, cabbage, and tomatoes (what we planted today) actually grow and will be used for the camp. It was great getting dirty and smelling the warm earth, I can't wait to see the results granted we didn't screw up too much!
When we got back to the office, we were greeted by pizza (veggie for me mmhhmm) and finished out our day by doing various paperwork. Before we left, Grasshopper called and let me know I had a letter waiting for me when I got back home! I was giddy with anticipation until we returned back to camp.
Tomorrow we go to Portland!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Leadership Camp (May 25-28)
Yesterday wrapped up my first camp week, and I had some awesome campers. This week's camp was called Leadership Camp, it was for individuals that will have the opportunity to come back this summer and assist those that are mild to severely disabled. It was a small group, and out of the six, four were very high-functioning. All of them had such kind hearts and were definitely not afraid to share what was on their mind :)
Such examples: (keeping in mind Upward-Bound is a Christian-based camp)
"Lori" is a girl deep in the faith. She always carries around/quotes her Bible and isn't afraid to belt out any gospel song that is currently on her brain. One day as I was talking with another camper, she noticed my St. Joan of Arc necklace...
Lori: "What kind of necklace is that?"
Me: "A necklace with a saint on it."
Lori: "Like a Catholic saint?"
Me: "Yes...like a Catholic saint"
Lori: "Are you Catholic?"
At this point, I tried to go back to the conversation I was having with the other camper to avoid conversing about denominations, but Lori was incredibly persistent.
Lori still searching for her answer: "Hummingbird, are you Catholic?"
Me: "...yes, I'm Catholic"
Lori: "Oh...that's okay." She said somewhat disappointed.
She never brought it up again, and didn't seem bothered by it. However, on the last day, right before she left, in front of the camp directors, and her foster parents, as she was leaning in to give me a hug she asks:
"Are you really Catholic?"
Me, flooded with embarrassment: "Yes..."
Then I proceeded to give her a hug.
I am such a HEATHEN.
I'm learning just how touchy religion can be at a Christian camp. One day, a counselor went on a rant about religion while there were campers at the table working on a craft. He turned to me and asked, "So, what denomination are you?"
I shrugged my shoulders and told him, "I'm a follower of Christ, and that's all you need to know."
The other counselor in the room joined in and said that that was a good answer, and told interrogative counselor in the most polite way as possible to can it because UBC is non-denominational.
People, I don't care what you believe. Denominations mean nothing to me, it's your life. Just be a good person and be able to sleep with yourself at night. Seriously.
ANYWAY.
Learning continued into the world of individual care...one of the moderately disabled women "Daisy" kept us up for most of the first night by being very verbal in her sleep. Kiwi luckily had Muskrat come around midnight to give her another dose of melatonin. I'm so grateful Kiwi came all the way from Corvallis to help out this weekend. She's in pre-nursing and was a counselor last year. She get's the job done the first time and was awesome to have around. She's a rockstar.
I definitely learned to be more patient for campers to come through Daisy. She has dysphasia, so she had to be fed. One meal as Kiwi and I were taking turns feeding her, she sneezed a mouthful of food all over our own plates. The next morning as we were dressing her, as soon as we took off her night pants she relieved herself on the floor. It's moments like that when you have to smile and be grateful she decided to urinate AFTER the fact your face wasn't by her ankles.
One activity (out of several thousand) that we did this week was "three headed monster"; when three people stick their heads out of one sheet. The object of the game is to complete sentences and ideas by one person saying only one word at a time. Three counselors demonstrated at first, campers asking questions, then campers had an opportunity to be a three headed monster. One question that was asked was what their favorite verse in the Bible was. They did really well (let's face it, these people know more scripture that I do) and quoted John 3:16. Everything went smoothly until... "For God so loved the world that everyone who believes in Him..." and one girl said, "will", as in "will not perish" However, the camper that was to say a word after her, ever so deep in his reverent thought with his eyes closed said, "Shall" as confident as can be.
So it sounded like, "For God so loved the world that everyone who believes in Him will SHALL"
Everyone cracked up. :)
We won't have campers for a while on the mountain, but I'll be training in the coming few days!
Such examples: (keeping in mind Upward-Bound is a Christian-based camp)
"Lori" is a girl deep in the faith. She always carries around/quotes her Bible and isn't afraid to belt out any gospel song that is currently on her brain. One day as I was talking with another camper, she noticed my St. Joan of Arc necklace...
Lori: "What kind of necklace is that?"
Me: "A necklace with a saint on it."
Lori: "Like a Catholic saint?"
Me: "Yes...like a Catholic saint"
Lori: "Are you Catholic?"
At this point, I tried to go back to the conversation I was having with the other camper to avoid conversing about denominations, but Lori was incredibly persistent.
Lori still searching for her answer: "Hummingbird, are you Catholic?"
Me: "...yes, I'm Catholic"
Lori: "Oh...that's okay." She said somewhat disappointed.
She never brought it up again, and didn't seem bothered by it. However, on the last day, right before she left, in front of the camp directors, and her foster parents, as she was leaning in to give me a hug she asks:
"Are you really Catholic?"
Me, flooded with embarrassment: "Yes..."
Then I proceeded to give her a hug.
I am such a HEATHEN.
I'm learning just how touchy religion can be at a Christian camp. One day, a counselor went on a rant about religion while there were campers at the table working on a craft. He turned to me and asked, "So, what denomination are you?"
I shrugged my shoulders and told him, "I'm a follower of Christ, and that's all you need to know."
The other counselor in the room joined in and said that that was a good answer, and told interrogative counselor in the most polite way as possible to can it because UBC is non-denominational.
People, I don't care what you believe. Denominations mean nothing to me, it's your life. Just be a good person and be able to sleep with yourself at night. Seriously.
ANYWAY.
Learning continued into the world of individual care...one of the moderately disabled women "Daisy" kept us up for most of the first night by being very verbal in her sleep. Kiwi luckily had Muskrat come around midnight to give her another dose of melatonin. I'm so grateful Kiwi came all the way from Corvallis to help out this weekend. She's in pre-nursing and was a counselor last year. She get's the job done the first time and was awesome to have around. She's a rockstar.
I definitely learned to be more patient for campers to come through Daisy. She has dysphasia, so she had to be fed. One meal as Kiwi and I were taking turns feeding her, she sneezed a mouthful of food all over our own plates. The next morning as we were dressing her, as soon as we took off her night pants she relieved herself on the floor. It's moments like that when you have to smile and be grateful she decided to urinate AFTER the fact your face wasn't by her ankles.
One activity (out of several thousand) that we did this week was "three headed monster"; when three people stick their heads out of one sheet. The object of the game is to complete sentences and ideas by one person saying only one word at a time. Three counselors demonstrated at first, campers asking questions, then campers had an opportunity to be a three headed monster. One question that was asked was what their favorite verse in the Bible was. They did really well (let's face it, these people know more scripture that I do) and quoted John 3:16. Everything went smoothly until... "For God so loved the world that everyone who believes in Him..." and one girl said, "will", as in "will not perish" However, the camper that was to say a word after her, ever so deep in his reverent thought with his eyes closed said, "Shall" as confident as can be.
So it sounded like, "For God so loved the world that everyone who believes in Him will SHALL"
Everyone cracked up. :)
We won't have campers for a while on the mountain, but I'll be training in the coming few days!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
God Bless Oregon
Oregon rocks. It's like Colorado, and Louisiana, and Ohio combined. Except it's not, because it's Oregon.
Right before my plan touched down I saw so much GREEN. EVERYWHERE. I love it.
This is how my first drive went:
As Grasshopper, Muskrat, and I made our way to Stayton, we passed by a farmer, who according to Grasshopper, "just had cows", which apparently is SUPER out of the ordinary in Oregon. Grasshopper and Muskrat let out a groan of pain and said, "Oh do you smell that?!"
I have to admit, I did not smell a thing.
Also on our way back, I noticed this plant with yellow flowers that blanketed everything. Apparently, it's called scotch broom and a horrible, terrible, noxious weed. Even the weeds in Oregon are pretty.
After leaving Stayton for camp (about 30 minutes up the mountain) Grasshopper took the winding, scary roads in the rain uncomfortably fast for this chick. Of course, speeding up winding roads in torrential downpour is the norm here, duh.
We passed views National Geographic would kill for, beautiful mountains, trees, rivers, and waterfalls. They have WATERFALLS on the way to their house.
So yes, Oregon is a beautiful state and I can't wait to see more of it when the sun finally decides to make an appearance. But on a more materialistic side: today I went to my first outlet grocery store. Oh. Ma. Gosh. If only those were in Hays for poor college students like myself. Fun fact: there's no sales tax in Oregon. Also, they have various snacks and beverages that I've never seen or have heard of, which makes this whole "foreign" experience that much more exciting. I plan on picking up a bag of sweet onion kettle cooked chips and all natural energy drink next time. AND turns out Oregon is very vegetarian friendly as well.
Tomorrow campers finally arrive! I'm more excited than Ty when people come. Send me prayers and positive thoughts as I officially begin my job tomorrow!
Right before my plan touched down I saw so much GREEN. EVERYWHERE. I love it.
This is how my first drive went:
As Grasshopper, Muskrat, and I made our way to Stayton, we passed by a farmer, who according to Grasshopper, "just had cows", which apparently is SUPER out of the ordinary in Oregon. Grasshopper and Muskrat let out a groan of pain and said, "Oh do you smell that?!"
I have to admit, I did not smell a thing.
Also on our way back, I noticed this plant with yellow flowers that blanketed everything. Apparently, it's called scotch broom and a horrible, terrible, noxious weed. Even the weeds in Oregon are pretty.
After leaving Stayton for camp (about 30 minutes up the mountain) Grasshopper took the winding, scary roads in the rain uncomfortably fast for this chick. Of course, speeding up winding roads in torrential downpour is the norm here, duh.
We passed views National Geographic would kill for, beautiful mountains, trees, rivers, and waterfalls. They have WATERFALLS on the way to their house.
So yes, Oregon is a beautiful state and I can't wait to see more of it when the sun finally decides to make an appearance. But on a more materialistic side: today I went to my first outlet grocery store. Oh. Ma. Gosh. If only those were in Hays for poor college students like myself. Fun fact: there's no sales tax in Oregon. Also, they have various snacks and beverages that I've never seen or have heard of, which makes this whole "foreign" experience that much more exciting. I plan on picking up a bag of sweet onion kettle cooked chips and all natural energy drink next time. AND turns out Oregon is very vegetarian friendly as well.
Tomorrow campers finally arrive! I'm more excited than Ty when people come. Send me prayers and positive thoughts as I officially begin my job tomorrow!
Beginnings! (no, not the Chicago song, but you should go listen to it anyway)
Right now I'm sitting in a barn in Oregon listening to music from Les Miserables with Coyote and Kumquat. :)
I just finished picking out music for singing around the campfire, eating lunch of tuna sandwiches and apples, and it just started raining again. In the 24 hours that I've been here I have not seen the sun once.
I landed on time in Portland and fumbling made my way down to the baggage claim (thank goodness for signs). With my first time flying alone, I have realized that an airport is like one river that flows into eight rivers, and those eight rivers are divided into 16 more rivers. Yeah, this is the way an airport is set up. So I find it even more miraculous that I heard my name called on the intercom. Well, not really MY name (it sounded like Magolation Zody, I heard the "Zody", luckily) The intercom instructed me to pick up the nearest white phone and listen for a message. I found a white phone and eventually received the message that I had lost my driver's license on the plane and an officer would bring it to the baggage carousal from where I called. My angels were totally looking after me. Soon after I avoided cardiac arrest, I was picked up by camp directors, Grasshopper and Muskrat. They are awesome people and I'm so incredibly excited to work with them. Why am I excited?
- We went to Wal-Mart after leaving the airport, and Muskrat immediately went for the garden center. It didn't take her long until she spotted the clearance, inch from death plants. This is where she made her selection for plants to take home, the ones that were looking like they didn't have a chance. This is the kind of person she is.
- Muskrat is very tolerant of my vegetarian lifestyle, and is pretty meat-free herself. She informs me that several consolers that have yet to come are vegetarian as well. Plus, Muskrat loves spicy foods and wears crazy big earrings like me. How cool is that?
- They have a three cats, and a DOG. It is a GOLDEN RETRIEVER.
- Not only Grasshopper and Muskrat, but their entire family is deeply rooted in their faith. It's clear to see with their kindness.
Plus, they just sincerely care about everyone they come into contact with.
You may be wondering why I'm using such fascinating names; with every consoler that comes to camp, you choose a nickname for yourself. Mine, as of yesterday, is Hummingbird.
After driving an hour from Portland, we stopped in Upward Bound's office in Stayton. I started work immediately by doing looooots of filing and getting acquainted with the office staff.
Today is my first full day at camp, and we're now just preparing for campers that will arrive tomorrow!
A little info about this blog: I will update it as often as I can. Up here on the mountain we have veeerrrryyy slooooow satellite internet. Which means, unfortunately, I can't upload any photos/videos or I'll crash the system. I'll still take lots of pictures and share them when I get back, but for now just imagine me in a very green forested area and you're not far off. :)
If you want to contact me: e-mail/Facebook is about the only way, and don't expect an immediate reply. I'll check voicemails/text messages about once a week when I go into town. OR send me snail-mail!
My address is:
Maggie Zody
36155 N Fork Rd.
Lyons, OR 97358
Leaving again so soon?!
Sunday was my last day in Kansas for two months, so naturally, I went out to the farm to get my fix of the "Little House on the Prairie", life.
Kansas didn't leave me dissapointed for its last day, it was gorgeous weather. A known rarity for anyone familiar with the climate. My cousin was promoted from eighth grade this week, so Sunday he had lunch with the family at the farm.
After a lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers, and anything else you can put on the grill, I climbed one of the tall cedar trees in the backyard (with the help of my dad spotting me). We all got a kick out of this tom cat underneath the tree. He kept looking up at me when I was climbing and didn't leave once. All of us figured he thought I was very large, strange bird. Poor confused kitty.
I descended from the tree and rode out to the pasture with my mom to search for wildflowers. We spotted around four kinds initially, lots of skullcap, but I was on the lookout for Indian blanket. I had gone riding with my cousin the week before and had seen clusters of Indian blanket scattered throughout his land.
When we left the first spot and drove further out, we discovered a western meadowlark nest on the ground. There was a single egg nestled into a tightly woven nest protected by tall prairie grass. Mom continued in that direction, and I went the other way to look for more flower. It didn't take long after that when I crested over a hill and came upon a HUGE patch of Indian blanket. There were so many brightly colored Indian blanket and dozens of butterflies that were enthusiastically flying with the joy of thier find; similar to how I felt standing in that field of flowers and cow patties and singing birds.
Kansas didn't leave me dissapointed for its last day, it was gorgeous weather. A known rarity for anyone familiar with the climate. My cousin was promoted from eighth grade this week, so Sunday he had lunch with the family at the farm.
After a lunch of hot dogs and hamburgers, and anything else you can put on the grill, I climbed one of the tall cedar trees in the backyard (with the help of my dad spotting me). We all got a kick out of this tom cat underneath the tree. He kept looking up at me when I was climbing and didn't leave once. All of us figured he thought I was very large, strange bird. Poor confused kitty.
I descended from the tree and rode out to the pasture with my mom to search for wildflowers. We spotted around four kinds initially, lots of skullcap, but I was on the lookout for Indian blanket. I had gone riding with my cousin the week before and had seen clusters of Indian blanket scattered throughout his land.
When we left the first spot and drove further out, we discovered a western meadowlark nest on the ground. There was a single egg nestled into a tightly woven nest protected by tall prairie grass. Mom continued in that direction, and I went the other way to look for more flower. It didn't take long after that when I crested over a hill and came upon a HUGE patch of Indian blanket. There were so many brightly colored Indian blanket and dozens of butterflies that were enthusiastically flying with the joy of thier find; similar to how I felt standing in that field of flowers and cow patties and singing birds.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Get to Heaven on a Swing-set.
This past weekend was both FHSU's and HHS's graduation. It was a beautiful weekend for graduating! I had several friends graduating, and I am so proud of them. They are terrific friends and great people; I'm so excited to see where they go next in life, I have only positive expectations for them.
I had the opportunity to play for both of FHSU's commencements (masters and undergrads). I can't tell you how amazing it was to be playing music in a large ensemble again; especially on my primary instrument. I really took that for granted since I started playing music, and I'm so grateful I'll have many opportunities to play so much music this fall.
On Sunday I went party-hopping with my sister to some HHS's graduates' parties. One in particular stood out for me. A friend of Livie's had his graduation party a few miles north of Hays on Buckeye Rd in the building of a once schoolhouse. It's crazy how you can live in the same place for all of your life and never realize places like this. I think people under appreciate small towns for this reason; they don't know there is something new to discover everyday.
We arrived around 7:30pm with the windows rolled down and my right hand out catching the wind and the sunlight from the soon-to-be setting sun. We arrived at this new-found location and did the typical graduation party thing of congratulating the graduate, grabbing as much free food as possible, and making awkward conversation with strangers.
When we walked out of the building, the sky had become even more beautiful than only fifteen minutes ago. The storm clouds looked even more deep and mighty with the sun breaking through. I was drawn to the old playground equipment in the back of the old schoolhouse blanketed with the sun's beams. There were several little kids playing on the teeter-totter and monkey bars. I couldn't help myself, and found myself seated on a swing. Livie hesitated with the dried-on bird crap state of the swings, but I forced her to plant her behind and begin pumping her legs.
We were facing west, and that open Kansas sky wasn't covered by anything. Another thing I took for granted until living in a big city: seeing the sky. There's a lot in the sky you don't realize until you can't see it, the sun, moon, clouds, and stars.
There's only a few occasions in my life when I have experienced anything that I would expect Heaven to be like, and this was one of these moments. Everything was so peaceful, yet full of life and power. The children playing, birds singings, distant conversation going on, the sun blanketing everything it touched. The dark clouds brought out the sun so much more dominately. It's strange how bright things become even stronger when put up against darkness.
As I became synchronized with swinging, I began thinking surely, this is what Heaven is like. I imagined loved ones swinging next to me, lost pets of the past playing in the nearby field. Everything felt right. I believe that God provides beautiful moments in time like this while we're here as a "preview", and He's really good at doing it.
I had the opportunity to play for both of FHSU's commencements (masters and undergrads). I can't tell you how amazing it was to be playing music in a large ensemble again; especially on my primary instrument. I really took that for granted since I started playing music, and I'm so grateful I'll have many opportunities to play so much music this fall.
On Sunday I went party-hopping with my sister to some HHS's graduates' parties. One in particular stood out for me. A friend of Livie's had his graduation party a few miles north of Hays on Buckeye Rd in the building of a once schoolhouse. It's crazy how you can live in the same place for all of your life and never realize places like this. I think people under appreciate small towns for this reason; they don't know there is something new to discover everyday.
We arrived around 7:30pm with the windows rolled down and my right hand out catching the wind and the sunlight from the soon-to-be setting sun. We arrived at this new-found location and did the typical graduation party thing of congratulating the graduate, grabbing as much free food as possible, and making awkward conversation with strangers.
When we walked out of the building, the sky had become even more beautiful than only fifteen minutes ago. The storm clouds looked even more deep and mighty with the sun breaking through. I was drawn to the old playground equipment in the back of the old schoolhouse blanketed with the sun's beams. There were several little kids playing on the teeter-totter and monkey bars. I couldn't help myself, and found myself seated on a swing. Livie hesitated with the dried-on bird crap state of the swings, but I forced her to plant her behind and begin pumping her legs.
We were facing west, and that open Kansas sky wasn't covered by anything. Another thing I took for granted until living in a big city: seeing the sky. There's a lot in the sky you don't realize until you can't see it, the sun, moon, clouds, and stars.
There's only a few occasions in my life when I have experienced anything that I would expect Heaven to be like, and this was one of these moments. Everything was so peaceful, yet full of life and power. The children playing, birds singings, distant conversation going on, the sun blanketing everything it touched. The dark clouds brought out the sun so much more dominately. It's strange how bright things become even stronger when put up against darkness.
As I became synchronized with swinging, I began thinking surely, this is what Heaven is like. I imagined loved ones swinging next to me, lost pets of the past playing in the nearby field. Everything felt right. I believe that God provides beautiful moments in time like this while we're here as a "preview", and He's really good at doing it.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
I Went Back Over the Rainbow.
I'm done. Finished. Complete.
I have never been more joyous to close a chapter of my life, and open a new one with this much enthusiasm. Ten days ago I wrapped up my freshmen year of college, easily the most difficult school year of my life. It was a trying one. I won't go into boring details, but I do want it to be clear that I don't regret my decision. My choice to attend college out of state, my decision to transfer, and any other paths I decided to take in between.
Even with this year being as hard as it was, I recognize my individual growth. I have learned so much not only about myself, but the people I want to associate myself with. This past month I've been really disappointed by the actions of people I really trusted. However, that merely has given light to those solid people in my life that are there for me time and time again. This year was one of "tough love," but I can look back and know that I wouldn't be near the person I am today, and the person I will be tomorrow, had it not been for that experience.
Yet everything feels almost dreamlike, like this year never happened. It's been an incredibly smooth transition coming back. The night I got home, I rolled into town and was immediately greeted by friends. Some people I had known since junior high school. Needless to say, I felt right at home.
But it didn't end there. For the past week I've been hanging out at Malloy Hall, and when I'm not there I'm hanging with people that are in the music department. These people are awesome. I feel like I'm in this huge, beautiful family, that includes students and teachers. For the first time in a really, really long time I feel like I belong. I can't express how grateful I am for the amazing teachers I will have in the fall. They have offered me nothing but support and generosity. So glad to be here.
I have never been more joyous to close a chapter of my life, and open a new one with this much enthusiasm. Ten days ago I wrapped up my freshmen year of college, easily the most difficult school year of my life. It was a trying one. I won't go into boring details, but I do want it to be clear that I don't regret my decision. My choice to attend college out of state, my decision to transfer, and any other paths I decided to take in between.
Even with this year being as hard as it was, I recognize my individual growth. I have learned so much not only about myself, but the people I want to associate myself with. This past month I've been really disappointed by the actions of people I really trusted. However, that merely has given light to those solid people in my life that are there for me time and time again. This year was one of "tough love," but I can look back and know that I wouldn't be near the person I am today, and the person I will be tomorrow, had it not been for that experience.
Yet everything feels almost dreamlike, like this year never happened. It's been an incredibly smooth transition coming back. The night I got home, I rolled into town and was immediately greeted by friends. Some people I had known since junior high school. Needless to say, I felt right at home.
But it didn't end there. For the past week I've been hanging out at Malloy Hall, and when I'm not there I'm hanging with people that are in the music department. These people are awesome. I feel like I'm in this huge, beautiful family, that includes students and teachers. For the first time in a really, really long time I feel like I belong. I can't express how grateful I am for the amazing teachers I will have in the fall. They have offered me nothing but support and generosity. So glad to be here.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Unknown Men in the Bathroom
My birthday always falls during spring break. Which is really fortunate because really, who wants to go to school on their birthday? Luckily, during this spring break unlike blizzarding years in the past, the weather was awesome, so it was a nice birthday gift from God! (I know I've been commenting on the nice weather and all the spring madness, and I know I sound like a flower-child, but I was REALLY ready for winter to be over).
ANYWAY.
Cody has this problem of never remembering my birthday, he does a good job at remembering it's in March, (which don't get me wrong, is a good start! :) but always insists it's on the 17th. Which, to his convenience, was on a Saturday this year. My younger sister was confirmed that Saturday at the 5:30pm mass, and Cody said to meet him behind Rarick Hall around 8:30pm for a "surprise". I had no idea what it was going to be, and he got me good.
When I got there, I called him to let him know I was parked out back. He answered and said that he was having car problems and to just meet him at his house.
When I pulled up, that eager guy was standing outside on the front porch. He lead me downstairs to a spotless basement! (that's right, let it be known there was a time in Cody's life his living room was spotless ). I was mighty impressed! I shared my enthusiasm with Cody and joked that if this was my birthday present, it sure was a great one.
It was about then, Todd came out of his bathroom! Followed by Nate...followed by Brian and Kevin! I was so surprised, and all I could do was do one of my famous laughing/freak outs.
That night was a blast, Nate had baked me a birthday cake complete with "269" candles, and Spiderman Easter eggs. We played some intense rounds of P&A, then went out to get our cowboy on at the Rose.
It was a great birthday, and I was reminded how great my life and the awesome people in my life are.
ANYWAY.
Cody has this problem of never remembering my birthday, he does a good job at remembering it's in March, (which don't get me wrong, is a good start! :) but always insists it's on the 17th. Which, to his convenience, was on a Saturday this year. My younger sister was confirmed that Saturday at the 5:30pm mass, and Cody said to meet him behind Rarick Hall around 8:30pm for a "surprise". I had no idea what it was going to be, and he got me good.
When I got there, I called him to let him know I was parked out back. He answered and said that he was having car problems and to just meet him at his house.
When I pulled up, that eager guy was standing outside on the front porch. He lead me downstairs to a spotless basement! (that's right, let it be known there was a time in Cody's life his living room was spotless ). I was mighty impressed! I shared my enthusiasm with Cody and joked that if this was my birthday present, it sure was a great one.
It was about then, Todd came out of his bathroom! Followed by Nate...followed by Brian and Kevin! I was so surprised, and all I could do was do one of my famous laughing/freak outs.
That night was a blast, Nate had baked me a birthday cake complete with "269" candles, and Spiderman Easter eggs. We played some intense rounds of P&A, then went out to get our cowboy on at the Rose.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Daffodils! (that's a funny word...)
This week I've seen so much new life around me. I see daffodils bloom, one of the first flowers of spring, and trees begin to get that green "glow", as my former English teacher, Karen Madorin, once described from their tiny buds. It's incredible to think that only a few weeks ago, the earth was desolate where now flowers are blooming. It gives me hope for my own life and the lives of others. This year has been a difficult and trying one, I've been put through more than I expected I would. But the school year is almost over. Just like the spring that came so fast, ending the winter, so will this school year in a matter of weeks. I look back now on the winter, just as I know I will look back on this school year, and think, "That wasn't so bad" I thought a Nebraska winter would be never-ending and cold, but now, in the dawn of spring, it's hard to even remember that cold. I think we all have to remember that there will always be a spring. With it will be brought hope of a new start; a new life.
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