I'm Here

Well, I am. I don't have tons and tons of exciting stuff to say, but I'm here.

One of my aunts, whom I love very much, is visiting for the week... We're going down to the Oceanside beach today, for swimming (me), frolicking (Mom), and watching the waves (my aunt). Of course we'll also stop at some of the nice shops in Oceanside, especially a lovely bead shop, Ocean Sky Beads, because my aunt is a beader (and I might add, a very, very good one).

On Saturday we attended the first day of the 2007 Rancho Mission Viejo Rodeo, the richest 2-day rodeo in the nation. They have a website where you can see pictures from the rodeos and keep informed. I took several pictures, and if some of them turn out good I'll post them.

Well, that's about it for now...

More Camp Pics!

Hi! I figured I'd share with y'all some of the pictures I took during camp, plus my cabin picture...click to make it larger. In the back, from left to right: Miss Kristen (our counselor), Lindsey, Mary-Kate, Sophia, me. Sitting in front: MacKensie, Nicole, Gem, Victoria, Sarah. And we were in the cabin of CIMARRON! :)

This is Miss Kristen and me together, and this is me in my bunk...

And this is swimming and shooting...

That's all for now!

Ironwood = Life-Changing Experience

I just got back from camp yesterday. Ironwood Teen Camp 7, August 6-11, 2007, was a truly amazing, life-changing experience for me. The week was so much fun, but the best part is that it was not about the fun, but about growing closer to and glorifying God. I was challenged spiritually in ways I have never been challenged before, and my spiritual maturity has grown more in the past week than it has in a long time. In a word, AWESOME!!!!

I took a lot of pictures, but I haven't gotten them developed yet -- these are just pics I got off the website, here. I had the greatest time... The games we played were lots of fun, games like Derailment (which involved a pit of muddy water, two bridges, and inner tubes), Fool's Gold Flim Flam (which meant kicking balls and running around cones), and others. We could participate in several fun activities, which for me meant I shot .22's and shotguns, went canoeing, threw hatchets, and climbed a rock wall. Also available were activities such as wire peeps (making people shapes out of wire), laser tag, sidewalk chalk, crafts, balloon sculpting, archery, blowguns, human foosball, and fishing. Certain periods of time throughout the day were free time, where you could hang out at Rivertown, talking, playing games like rocket ball or ping pong, and buying sodas, snowcones, candy bars, or popsicles.

Every day you had the opportunity to go swimming in the Ironwood Lake -- I swam every day. Unfortunately the rope swing was out of order this week, but jumping from the dock and high-dive were fun, and the giant slide was awesome! Later I'll include more pictures...

We attended morning and evening chapel services, memorized Bible verses, had personal and cabin devotional times, and sang and prayed before meals. The whole purpose for the week's camp experience was to draw closer to God and have fun doing it -- and we succeeded! I'll have more to say later, including more pictures. IRONWOOD IS THE BEST!!

4 Days Away!

Just 4 days until camp begins! I'm excited...

And on Saturday I'll be having a yardsale. A realtor we know arranges community yardsales about twice a year, and she puts up all the signs and things -- and even brings Krispy Kreme doughnuts! The last yardsale I did, back in June, netted me $3.60, if I remember right...hopefully this one will be a little more productive.

So much to do, so little time! Things are getting hectic around here. The same week I'm at camp my mom will be in Florida visiting my elderly grandparents, so she's getting ready for her adventure at the same time I'm getting ready for mine.

We recycle bottles, plastic and glass, and aluminum cans...no, not because we want to save the earth, although recycling does cut way down on litter and trash. We recycle because they pay us money for them! Last time we took a load down to the recycling center we came home with $45. My mom and I split that, I get 2/3 and she takes 1/3, because I do most of the dirty work (climbing in dumpsters, etc.) but I couldn't do it without her. Mass recycling does have an environmental impact, as we have seen many times. When you take a lot of bottles and cans from a garbage can, the level of garbage in it goes down quite a ways. But mostly we do it for the money :-)