the big 21

Today is my birthday, bet you didn't know that! I am 21, yeah, it feels, well, like nothing. It's just another day here at camp, and it happens to be my birthday. But, Dave and my Mom made it feel special, and that was great. I read all my cards that friends and family had sent, that was nice. I think it would be a bigger deal if I were in The States, maybe, but I'm not, so no biggie really. I wish more people had remembered, but, I really have a problem remembering peoples birthday's, so i guess i understand. Sorta a boring day, gloomy too, but, I'm glad that i'm finally 21, a legal adult in the US...wuhoo! I know that everything after this summer will change. I will no longer be the person I always was, why...well...because I'm growing up, and making plans for my life. I might not even live in NC, or the US for that matter! I love that I'm growing into what I always wanted to be. I love that I love the people that are surrounding me. I love that my family is important (very important) to me. And most of all, I love that God matters to me, and His plan, is going great! I'm SO pysched about what will happen in my life in next year! I dunno what it is yet, but, I know it will be great. And there is my pumped up story for today!

the long and short of it

Graduation went great! The speeches were awesome, and yes, it was sad, (but I didn't cry, although I did get chocked up). Mom being up here was AWESOME! We had lots of time to talk, and just catch up on things. I showed her all around camp, and just places around our area. She left yesterday, and I DID cry that time, but I'm glad she came. I'm in Toronto now w/ Dave, and we're having a blast. Yesterday we just walked around all the second hand clothing shops (he FINALLY got a new pair of jeans). We got some fruit at the road side fruit stands. We're staying a youth hostel in China Town (it's really quite cool). We went to the near by park and just layed around and read for awhile yesterday, it was nice. Then we went to this GREAT authentic Chinese restaurant (awesome food), and a neighborhood pub. Today we're walking around lots, who knows! Tell ya about it later. Gotta jet!

SO MUCH TO TELL!

The rock climbing trip was great! We got in some really awesome climbs (Dave got in 4 lead climbs) and some awesome cliff jumping! Yeah, I'd probably have to say the cliff jumping was the highlight though. Here's the story. The last day, after we'd finished climbing, we decided since the cliffs were right on the edge of the lake, to do some jumping. We climbed up just ten or fifteen feet at first and jumped a few times. That was a lil scary, but cool. Then that wasn't enough. We went up 40 feet (that's the highest I was going) and jumped...WHOA was that EVER scary!!! It took me a couple of minutes to even get off the thing. Then, Nathan and Eric went up 60 feet. Yea, NOT ME!!! Needless to say Nathan (our camp intern, and Candice's lil brother) said his bum was in some pain after a couple off of that height. But, it was still awesome! Martin (the 40 yr old Aussi) even did it...he was great! So that's it for the trip news.
I was reading e-mails from my family (mainly my lil sis) yesterday, and I just started to cry. I miss them SO much! I miss their faces, and smiles, hugs and laughter, and just being able to be there for them. I miss seeing my nieces and nephews grow up, and my lil sister and brother too (MAN...B is in high school....she's a SOPHMORE!). I miss just being a part of them. Dave was SO supportive; he just let me cry for most of Sunday. Then, I decided to call me mom. It was great to hear her voice, and THEN, she told me she's coming up HERE for my LDP GRADUATION...THIS FRIDAY!!! I started crying again IMMEDIATELY when she told me that! I miss you guys at home SO much! I can't wait to see my mom, and just get news and pictures from home. Well, that's my escapades for the last couple of days. This week is the last week of LDP, so it's gonna be hectic. We'll see how it turns out!
P.S. The movie "Along Came Polly"--not that great. It just made me feel embarrassed for the characters the whole time! The only thing that was good was the ferret.

The last trip

I'm off to my LAST LDP trip! It's just a short 3 day climbing trip to Bon Echo. I can't BELIEVE it's already been 10 MONTHS! It's really flown by, it seems like just yesterday it was November and all of us were sick from one illness or another (for the whole month). Weird to think we actually have to start thinking about NEXT YEAR...it came up really fast. The GOOD thing is...all of us are working here at Camp Medeba (www.medeba.com) for the summer. I'm the high ropes/rock climbing coordinator, Dave and Dee are LIT leaders, Martin is the mountain biking coordinator, Candice is the Tuck shop (snack/memorabilia) coordinator, Dana is office staff, Jamie is the bus driver, Eric is head lifeguard, Chris is Program Director, and Scott is on maintenance. SO, we won't have to leave each other right away anyways, we'll prolong that till the end of August. Well, I'M OFF...to bond together for our LAST TRIP...i'm gonna cry, ok not really, but it's sorta SAD! K...pulling myself together for the group, ~sniff~ gotta fill my water bottles before i leave...HYDRATE OR DIE!!!

The rain

I woke up to a huge storm this morning. It was lightening and thundering, just pouring sheets of rain like there would be no tomorrow...and it was awesome. I love waking up to the sound of rain on the roof, and the smell of it wafting through the window. It was so awesome I only hit my alarm clock TWICE. So, then I got up and sat in my favorite chair and just watched the rain. Dave and I are reading the book "The Purpose Driven Life" together, so when he came down I read today's chapter to him. It's nice to be able to share what God's teaching you w/ someone, AS God is teaching it to you. I don't do it very often, but I always feel like God's giving me a HUGE blessing when I do (I guess He's sorta saying, "WHY DON'T you do this more often?"). After we read and talked about the chapter (today it was on praising God), we prayed together. Do you know how good it feels to pray with someone? It's the feeling of true love for one another, because that person cares so much, they are sending your prayer requests up to God! It was awesome! First the rain, then, it sorta felt like God's spiritual rain, it replenished me for the day, quenched MY thirst, and gave me strength for another day! A beautiful, muggy, buggy, glorious Canadian day. And so my day began...

I SAW IT!!!!

I FINALLY got to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakban!!! It was GREAT! Yes of course they left lots of stuff out (have you SEEN how long those books are???), but it was still awesome and SO worth seeing! DO read the books though, they're so sweet. We went and saw it at this place called Kinmount. It's a privately owned movie theater/museum and a lil weird...but hey, it's only 4.25 on Mondays, I'M not complainin. Example for the weirdness; there's this one theater that has all these naked manikins, we call that the porn theater (and there's pictures of like naked movie stars and stuff along the walls...so yea...it's a lil weird). They have the biggest collection of old movie camera's though...they just line the walls of this place, ya really just have to see it to experience it. On to bigger things.
So yea, we have a group of 5 to 9 year olds in right now. Ok, these kids cry at the drop of a hat right? K...getting use to the that...but...I mean, really, why are these kids at a HIGH ADVENTURE camp, when they really can't do canoeing, high ropes, rappelling, rock climbing, orienteering, or riflerey. Ok..but they're signed up for it, and so, one tries...and then cry...and all the rest are like "NO WAY!" And so it ends...and we play w/ the parachute and the ball once again (they NEVER get sick of it!). Yea, but they're SO CUTE though...like 3 feet tall! So the cuteness, it makes up for it....sometimes.

four months

Today Dave and I have been dating for four months. It's funny, it doesn't really seem that long. Every day with him seems to get closer to forever. Ok, that sounded bad, but it was suppose to be good. What I mean is, every day that we're together, brings me closer to wanting to be together forever. My mom and I talked about it when i was on spring break in April, she said she thinks I'll know by the end of the summer whether we're meant to be or not; I think she's right. When I woke up this morning, he was the first thing I thought about. I have a theory, so tell me what you think about it k? When you count down the days and months when you're dating someone, and when it feels like you've been dating forever, you aren't just enjoying "being" w/ that person, you're enjoying the relationship more than the person. But, if you just wake up one morning and think "Wow, we've almost been dating four months," it seems that you've just enjoyed that person so much, that you've lost track of the time when that joy wasn't there! That's how I feel about Dave. I'm in the TUCK shop here at camp (the snack store) using the internet, and he just came in. It's the lil things that he does that make me love him. He just cleaned the bathroom for me, so that I could go take a bath because I've had a long week and I'm exhausted. That, that's love, and he loves DOING stuff for me...and that makes me love doing stuff for him! Love is good, no matter the cost, love is worth every penny! There's nothing quite as hurtful as the lack of love or the loss of love, but there's NOTHING quite as extraordinary as love itself.
AND--->>>>> isn't it great that we've been dating for FOUR MONTHS on the day the 3rd HARRY POTTER CAME OUT!!! lol...had to add that in...we're going to see it MONDAY!!!!

SO PUMPED!!!

Ok guys, I told you I was SUPER PYSCHED for the new Harry Potter movie, but today, I reached a NEW level of pumped. I went to the OFFICIAL Harry Potter website (which you can get to if you go to "links" below), and read ALL SORTS of stuff about the movie AND upcoming books! JK Rowling actually answers questions from different people about whatever you want to ask! I was SO excited I could BARELY sit in my seat; I clicked everything in the website! I know, I know, you think I'm a Harry Potter freak, but, THEY'RE FUN
Anyways, I went mountain biking w/ the kids today, it was a lot more fun w/ 8th graders than w/ younger kids (at least they fit the bikes!). Then we went canoeing, which was an experience in itself (I ended up pulling a girls canoe back w/ my own canoe). Why is it that every lil (5th - 10th grade) girl, every time they get excited says "OH MY GOD" like ten BILLION times??!!?? I was SO tired of hearing that by the end of the day! Kayaking and rock climbing went ok, except one girl refused to paddle anymore AFTER getting all the way across the lake (I told her to get comfortable then, cause I wasn't pullin her, she decided to paddle). Yes, I am so compassionate...and so it ends.
P.S. I'm officially addicted to Spider Solitaire...I WANT to beat 1194 for the beginner level!!! I've only played it for like...an hour today, I'm not in over my head yet!