Back to school... the final voyage, sort of

This is my last first semester of my undergraduate degree! I can't believe that I'm finally graduating. It seems like I've been going to college since forever. Ok, now I know that doesn't make sense grammatically, but that's what it feels like! And who are you to argue with my feelings? Any way, this start of this semester has been crazy (has it ever really been any other way for me?) but I feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Finally, I'll have some sort of notification of the work I've put in. I'll have that piece of paper that says I can finish something. I honestly can't believe that this day is coming. In less than four months, I will be an alumni. I'm ridiculously excited! I am bouncing with the thought of walking across whatever stage/platform/walkway and hearing my name. *sigh* Oh to be done... For anyone interested, I will be graduating on December 19th. :)

P.S. - What do you think of the new layout? A new layout for a new semester!

Girl's Camp: Tuesday and Wednesday

On Tuesday, we (the girls and leaders from our ward) met at Sandy's and drove up to the campsite (which as previously mentioned is more like a resort than a camp, but whatever). It was pouring rain when we were packing the cars and didn't stop all day. Sometimes it would lighten up for a few minutes before continuing to pour. This didn't stop us, though. Since there wasn't any lightning, we continued on with our activities!


The main event on Tuesday for the fourth year girls (to which I was assigned) was a service project for the campsite. We went to a trail adjacent to the camp, killed the poison ivy, poison oak, etc. that was near the trail and marked it. I'm not sure we did a great job at it since they split us into groups and I wasn't really sure what exactly we were supposed to do, but we did our best. In addition to the fourth years doing this, the first years also helped out. It was a lot of fun talking about snipes and snipe hunting. :) I remember my first snipe hunt...

Any way, since we were in the woods, we didn't get too rained on (which was nice because it was kind of cold too) and after we were finished serving, the girl's broke into certification groups, then dinner.

After dinner, we had the evening program. (Let me preface this next part by saying that all of the wards did a great job on their songs and I could tell they put a lot of effort into it.) At the evening program all the wards performed their songs and our song kicked all the other ward's songs trashes!! Heh heh heh... Also, our ward banner was the best and we had a cabin to ourselves which we made awesome. Everyone wanted to be us. :) *sigh* I'm the best camp assistant director ever. :)

On Wednesday, the morning was spent doing certification and then the fourth years split into groups to do high ropes, or archery and firearms. I went with the archery and firearms group the first day. It was raining again, but it was a lot of fun. I even got to shoot a few arrows and got a turn with the bb gun. That night's evening program consisted of us singing a song nobody knew how to sing and the Pyne's (Verne and Nancy) speaking to the girls.

Unfortunately, one of the girls was really homesick and didn't feel well. She ended up going home that evening, which was sad. I wish she could've stayed the whole week. I think she would've had a lot of fun. However, the other Sister Davis showed up that night. I eventually got frustrated when the girl's would say, "Sister Davis," and we both would answer. And since I am a relative newcomer into young women's, most of the time, they weren't talking to me.

As we were talking in our bunks after lights out, I mentioned something about it to Shanon (sister Davis), and one of the girl's overheard. She suggested the names Sister Cherry and Sister Bananas. I became Sister Cherry because I had cherries all over my sleep pants and the other Sister Davis became Sister Banana I think in part because she's a blonde and in part because she's crazy! :) Even at church on Sunday, I was greeted by the girl's as Sister Cherry. It was nice.

Photo courtesy of istockphoto.com

Girl's Camp: Intro

I am the assistant director for the girl's camp in our ward. I have wanted this calling FOREVER!! After serving my 8 month sentence in nursery (which cured me of ever wanting to have children), I think the bishopric decided to throw me a bone and let me be part of girl's camp.

This past week was girls camp at a really nice place in Randleman NC. We were "camping" (I use the term very loosely) at a Woodmen of the World campsite which included cabins with air conditioning (which technically we were only allowed to run at night), a mess hall with air conditioning, large swimming pool with a deep end and diving board, archery range, shooting range, high ropes course with a zip line and a putt-putt course.

I'm still in the process of getting the pictures off my camera and sorting through the good ones and the bad ones, so pictures will have to wait, although there are several on facebook, if you're willing to look for them.

I honestly think that pairing me with Sister Starritt (who was really in charge) was inspired. We balanced each other out really well. I have never gone camping before where I had to pack everything that we would need for the campsite, but Sandy thought of everything. I brought several things that she didn't, though. I brought all the meds (which was very fortunate because we had a couple of girl's get sick over the week). I also brought extra bugspray, sunscreen and other things like that, that Sandy forgot. I think ultimately, though, I supplied the energy and enthusiasm.

I firmly believe that 90% of how wonderful, or how terrible a situation is comes from our attitude towards it. If you believe you're going to have a great time and are always upbeat and positive about a situation, then chances are, you're going to have a great time. But, if you focus on the negatives of a situation, that's all you'll think about and that's all you'll remember. Having this in mind, I made it my job to excited about everything at camp (Even the KP and bathroom cleaning duties). And it made a lot of difference! Even some of the girl's who didn't really want to be there were excited! We all had so much fun (even when it was cold and rainy or hot and humid!) and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

The newly reorganized kitchen!!

We have recently been running a bed and breakfast out of our house (or at least it feels like it!) We had some friends over Friday through Monday for Memorial and then Matt's uncle and aunt and one of their kids came to visit last night. Since there have been guests at my house, parts of my house have been clean! :) Which means you get morepictures of my house! This is one of my favorite rooms in the whole house. It's about neck and neck with the green room. *note: I finally got around to paintint those horrid orange cabinet doors. They are now completely white and fabulous looking. Any way, here is the kitchen:

This picture is taken from the sink. That doorway leads into the living room. The kitchen is on the backhalf of the house.

Turning to the right, is our baker's rack because I have too many kitchen gadets to fit in my cabinets!

Moving farther right, is the little half bath tucked under our stairs. I kind of wish it had been a pantry, but I really like having a bathroom downstairs. If you turn more to the right, you would see a doorway into the green room.

Here's a cool picture of my favorite light fixture ever! And our table. You can see the porch out the windows too.
This was taken with my back to the baker's rack, table to my right and the bathroom to my left. We just put up those little racks under the cabinets. We got them from Ikea
(I think Heaven will look like an Ikea)

This the bottom corner of the previous picture, you can see the corner of our island. This pot rack hangs on top it. Also, on the left side of the picture, you can see our side door to the driveway. The the left of that is the laundry room.

And hidden in the island is our dishwasher. Clever, no?

I like the corner sink. When I wash dishes (which is hardly never thanks to my wonderful husband) I can look outside at the trees. *sigh* I love the trees around our house.

And those are all the pictures I have for now. I think next, I'll do a tour of the upstairs, although it will take some time to clean and organize that stuff.