"Let's Talk About Girl's Camp"

"Let's talk about Girl's Camp."

Those were the first words that came out of my mouth when the Young Women's President called me a couple of months ago to talk about plans for the week long adventure.

In March, our stake announce that they would be changing ward boundaries and when they moved us all around, they released everyone from their current callings, giving them to different people.

  

I got the calling as Ward Camp Director. 

When I first was asked if I would accept it, I was excited and anxious.  Anxious because I didn't have the best experiences at girl's camp, but excited because I felt like now that I was Director, I could make camp better for the girls I was looking after.  So I accepted the calling and a few days later, the Young Women President called me to invite me to a meeting where we would discuss what plans they had before I replaced the old Camp Director.  I won't bore you with the details in the planning.  Just a lot of phone calls, one fundraiser, shopping for the girls, and returning to mutual on Wednesday evenings.

Then the day finally came where I packed up what I needed, said my goodbyes to Peter and Murphy, and headed to Bear Creek Camp in Boone, Iowa.  Getting there brought back all of my girls camp memories and with those memories came back the anxiety and homesickness that I had when I was younger.  However, being more mature now than I was then, I brushed those feelings aside for the time being and focused on simply trying to find my cabin and getting to know the area before the rest of the girls showed up.  

The camp was smaller than the 'grand' Utah campgrounds I've gone to, but it was still very pleasing on the eyes.

Then I saw my cabin.  

I think Utah turned me into a cabin snob.  When I was at Bear Creek Camp, I expected the cabins to be the same as the ones I was spoiled with in Utah.   While they were very different than what I was use to, the girls and I did our best to make it as comfortable as we could.

My bunk was the one with the blue suitcase on it.


I took lots of pictures of the girls participating in various activities and completing certain tasks for their certification, but I didn't feel like asking all the parent's permission to post pictures of them on the internet.  So I'm afraid you'll have to settle for some nature shots.

I'm not going to say that I hated girl's camp, because I didn't.  I enjoyed my time in Boone and I loved all the nature around me as well as the Spirit that was there.  I have no regrets going.  But I will say that at the end of the week, was very happy to come back and be in the comfort of my own home with my husband and my dog.  Not to mention sleep in a real bed! 

An Electrifying Evening!

One night, Peter and I were out getting some last minute items for my Girl's Camp escapade.  When we left the store, we were greeted by some dark clouds, heavy winds, and a lot of lightning.  I hadn't seen anything like it!  It seemed like the sky was illuminated every four or five seconds.  When we got home, I grabbed my camera and headed to the front porch of our building.  It started raining heavily, but with the porch covered, it didn't prevent me from taking pictures.

I must say, I was quite impressed by the results.  If I do say so myself :)

Same bolt

Amazing what can happen when Mother Nature shows off a bit.

Update #1- Hotel Barnes Houses Homely Bird

Hey, folks.  It's been a while.

I am terribly sorry that so much time has flown by since my last post.  We've done pretty well in keeping ourselves busy while being here in Davenport.  Purina has Peter working non-stop and I am getting ready for Girl's Camp and comforting hysterical nursery kids on Sundays.

Three major things have really happened since April (I only call them major moments because I actually have pictures of them).  The first one being that we took in an ailing bird one night.

One of the first things I learned about Peter when we first got married was that he is a very curious person.  If there is something that piques his interest or catches his eye, he'll pursue it, research it, experiment with it, or in this case, pick it up and bring it in our home.  It's a great quality to have and the knowledge he has gained from his curiosity makes him one of the smartest people I know.  This particular evening just proved what I already knew.  

He wanted to go out and get himself a late night treat.  I decided to stay behind and get ready for bed.  He was gone all of three minutes when I heard a knock on the door.   I opened it to see Peter standing there, his hands clasped together, and a smile on his face followed with a, "Guess what I found!"  

I immediately pulled away, thinking he was going to pull some sort of sick joke and throw a mouse or a snake in my face.  But it was a different disease ridden creature.  

Peter explained that as he was walking to the truck, he noticed something moving underneath it, when he checked it out, he noticed the bird.  He didn't feel like running over the poor thing that evening, so he picked it up, thinking it's instincts with kick in and just fly away.  But it didn't.  The poor thing struggled to get away but something was keeping it from flying away.  I didn't have the heart to kick the bird out, so I agreed to let Peter bring it to our home and between me keeping Murphy away from it and Peter finding it behind our television after it tried to make a quick, but unsuccessful getaway, we managed to make a temporary home for our new winged friend.

Of course, then Peter remembered his late night craving, and left me alone with the bird.

I wanted to take more pictures, but it was dark, and I didn't want to freak it out again.  So I waited for Peter to come back and as I waited, I decided to play with my camera a bit and took some pictures of a creature that wasn't nearly as wild as the one we kept in a box for the night.

Update #2- Catching up in Chicago

This moment was fun for me!

Drew and Jessie got a hold of us back in March (maybe it was early April, I can't remember) letting us know that they were going to a conference in Chicago and wanted to see if we could meet up with them.  We are only three hours away from the Windy City, which would make the trip an easy one, but Peter was working the night shift at Purina which would mean that he would be leaving for Chicago with zero sleep.  So, at first we decided not to go. I was a little disappointed but that disappointment was short-lived when Peter made the last minute decision that he would sacrifice lack of sleep to see his brother and meet his niece, Naomi.  

So we packed our bags, found a sitter for Murphy, and drove eastward!  

Three hours and many tolls later (Thanks, Obama!) we finally reached the city.  I am more of a city person than Peter is, so I was very excited to see all the amazing architecture and millions of strangers hustling to wherever.  Peter wasn't as thrilled.  I wish I could say it was the lack of sleep that contributed to his lack of enthusiasm, but the truth is I married a country boy that doesn't share my love of the city.

We finally found a parking spot and met up with Drew, Jessie, and little Naomi.  After we dumped our stuff in the hotel room, we found us some Chicago, deep dish pizza at a place called Giordano's. 

 That place did not disappoint.  We left the place satisfied and ready to explore the city a bit.

Jessie took Naomi back to the hotel room for her nap and when we went back a while later, Peter was reminded of how tired he was.  So we all took a little nap.

When we woke up (we being me, Drew, Jessie, and Naomi.  Peter was still sleeping.) We went out to explore a bit more and went to Navy Pier.  Drew bought tickets for the ferris wheel, not knowing my fear of heights.  I had been on the smaller scale ferris wheels, but this was the first large scale ferris wheel and I was a bit nervous.  However, I didn't want Drew's money to go to waste, so I sucked it up and got on.  It wasn't my most favorite thing to do while we were in Chicago, but I am glad that I did it.

My "why do I listen to Drew" face

I was really excited to finally meet Naomi.  I had seen many cute pictures of her but wanted to see her in person so I could give her a big ol' Aunt Jill hug.  After the ferris wheel we headed back to the hotel where I tried to take a picture with her.  Everyone that I talked to have told me she is a little body with a ton of energy.  They weren't lying.  It was quite a task getting her to sit still and take a picture and it ended with the phone falling on her forehead and her reacting like I just punched her in the face.  I'm pretty sure she forgave me.

The next day, we had to make sure we got the rest of our exploring done before Drew and Jessie had to catch their flight.  So Drew, Peter, and I went to the Water Tower.  On the way, we stopped by the Chicago Tribune building.  It was actually pretty cool!  There were different parts of different buildings all over the world wedged between bricks of the buildings.  That and the overall decorative features of the building made it really fun to look at.  

We kept walking and made our way to the Water Tower and went up to the 94th floor.  The height made my stomach turn a little but after the ferris wheel incident, I felt like I could do it.

 After seeing that beautiful view, we made our way back to the hotel to say our goodbyes to Drew, Jessie, and Naomi and head back to Davenport while they flew back to Raleigh.  

I loved Chicago!  I love being in a busy city!  And, while Peter much prefers the country versus the city, he enjoyed seeing the sites and seeing family.