The joy of the summer!

This weekend has been glorious!! G.L.O.R.I.O.U.S. I left kamp on Friday morning and drove down to good ol' Waco for a wedding. It was a good excuse to get out of Missouri for a bit and I've actually been MISSING Waco lately. It's weird to say that, but I have. The wedding was incredible...it was two of my good friends from church in college. They've been dating for I guess 3 or so years now and finally tied the knot! It was so beautiful and so fun. The best part was that SO MANY people were there! I loved it! I saw people that I did't expect to see. It was like a mini Baylor/church reunion. I also got to spend some time with my favorite Waco family, the Smarts, and my old roommate, Kelsey. I can already tell that I'm going to miss this place next year. The reality of going to the Kanakuk Institute next year and living in Branson, MO, is starting to sink in....we'll see.

As for kamp, things are going well. The picture above is obviously from 4th of July, one of my favorite days of the summer!! And these are some of my favorite people at kamp and the ladies that I'm priviledged to work with day in and day out. The 4th was a day of celebration--everyone wears red, white, and blue, we have a HUGE picnic (this year complete with a bratwurst bar), and an hour-long fireworks show with K2 and K7. So fun! Another highlight of the past term was that my little brother, Austin, was a kamper at K2! I got to go and visit him several times throughout the term. It has been so fun to watch him grow up and it makes me so happy to see him thriving, especially now that he's at the bigger high school kamp. He absolutely loved it!

I left to head to Waco at the end of a kamper term and also the end of a staff term. So, when I return to kamp tomorrow, a LOT is going to be new. New counselors, new kids. The past staff that we had was incredibly and are going to be greatly missed, but I'm looking forward to the new energy and perspective that this staff is going to bring. A lot of them have never been on staff before, so it will be exciting to see them learn and lead.

I'm doing OK energy-wise so far. I know that my body has to be exhausted, but my mind is still mentally prepared to be there for another month. I'm praying for energy and focus, against laziness, etc. There are some things that I'm looking forward to changing in the way that I approach my job and some new things that I want to implement. I want to finish well! Thanks for your support and insight, friends. Love to you all!

And CONGRATULATIONS MR. AND MRS. FOSTER!

Life at Kamp...we're halfway done!

Hello blogging world!

I realize that it's been awhile since I've written last. Today for my day off, I'm in Fayetteville visiting some good friends and it has been absolutely wonderful! It is so relaxing. The day off today was very needed, although kamp is going well. We are almost halfway through 3rd term and after this, there are only two terms left! I have realized that time is flying by and I can only hope to savor the rest of these moments. A highlight of this term is that Austin, my little brother, is a kamper at K2 right now, which is right next door to K-West. I've gotten to see him once so far. It's fun to see him at the high school kamp right now. He's so grown up and he's absolutely loving it! Another highlight is that one of my K-Life small group girls from Waco is at K-West right now! I had no idea that she was coming until opening day and it has been so much fun to see her there! I have always wanted my girls to come to kamp, so you can imagine my excitement when one actually did. I'm excited to see what she thinks about it when it's all said and done.

After this term, we will have a staff changeover where some staff will be leaving and some will be going home. It is definitely going to be sad to see some people leave, but it will be refreshing and fun to have new faces around as well. At least on the girls' side of kamp, a lot of the staff coming in will be new. It will be fun to get to see them learn in this new environment and love on and encourage the kampers who will be coming in.

Right now I am praying for energy and drive to finish strong through the rest of the summer. There are so many exciting things happening every day, but it can be hard to keep the energy up when so much is repetition. I'm striving to make the most of every moment, enjoy conversations, work hard at my job, but also make time for myself to find rest and relaxation. I want to walk away from this summer having enjoyed my job, but also knowing that I did it well.

I just tried to add some pictures, but wasn't able to figure it out. I have been able to use my new camera that I got for Christmas to take some great pictures of the 4th of July and the western party. The 4th was an amazing day! Everyone dressed to red, white, and blue, we had an incredible picnic dinner, complete with a bratwurst bar and fruit salad. Then we went to K2 and had an hour long fireworks show! It was incredible!

There's a first time for everything.

With first term well on the way, I've had lots of little learning experiences. Coming back from my trip to Dallas, I felt like I was constantly playing catch up. My section of cabins that I'm responsible for as a KPS is cabins 1-4, so my goal is always to know those counselors and be a support for them as well as know the kids as be there for them as well. Cabin 1 is our only cabin on the girl's side that houses 1-week kampers. So, cabins 2-4 are usually our youngest 12-year-olds at kamp. They are usually fresh from K-Kountry or K-1 and are wide-eyed and excited about being in a new place. They are so much fun! Although I always think I can be doing better at my job, it has been fun to get to know those kids. There are also so many girls here this term that I recognize and know from last year. After I got back from Dallas, it was cool to look around and realize that I already knew a chunk of girls that were there. It has been cool to see how they've grown and matured and continue to build on relationships that started in the past.

It has definitely not been a typical term. Coming back into kamp after changeover just set the tone. The next night, the other two girl KPDs and I drove into Berryville, AR to go to Wal-Mart. We were on a mission to buy supplies for the upcoming "girl day" at kamp and a few other things. The outing took much longer than expected, and we ended up missing all of that night's activities. Beginning my job as 7-day coordinator has brought with it a lot of new experiences as well! Since we are fitting one-week kampers into a two-week world, there are some tweeks that have to be made. For example, the kids who come on the front end of the two-week term miss out on our kamp-wide Cross Talks and Purity night. Because of that, Tyler and I (my co on the guy's side), had to develop our own Cross Talks and Purity for that group of kids. For Purity, one of my wonderful kamp friends was willing to step in, but for Cross Talk, Tyler and I had to plan it all on our own. It was a cool challenge, and something that I had never really done before. I was so pleased with the result, though! We ended up developing a great talk that met everything that I had been hoping it would. Going into it, my goal was to present the Gospel in powerful way that was also understandable for our audience. I never taught in this context to that many people, so I was a little nervous, but the Holy Spirit totally took over and worked in incredible ways. I felt great about it overall and walked away from it pumped up and excited for the next one. It was such a THRILL to teach the Gospel and to pray that hearts would be changed through that. let's just say I'm excited for the next one!

The biggest learning experience of the past couple of weeks was definitely 7-day changeover day. This is when the first group of one-week kampers left and the next come in. Although Tyler and I planned a lot of the schedule together, I found myself basically in charge of making sure that everything ran smoothly. It was funny because I don't think that most people realized that this was my job now until I stepped up to the mic on the morning on the ceremony to help pass out awards. It was much more stressful and crazy than I though it would be, even just making sure that 50ish people were where they needed to be when. The morning ceremony and send off went well, but coordinating things for the afternoon got a little crazy. It was strange being the point person to make decisions about scheduling when activities had to be arranged and making sure that everyone was communicated with that needed to be. Looking back, I loved the day, but was exhausted by the end of it! It was great to take the time after dinner off to recoup before starting another day. A fun thing about the day though was that Erin Groth surprised us at kamp for the day! She is someone who used to be kind of a big deal at kamp (and is somewhat legendary now haha...), but also just a good friend who is near and dear to my heart. It was such a blessing to have her around and get to catch up!

Also this term, we tried something new....split day! This is where the girls and guys split and we had Man Day and Girl Day...it was so fun! As girls we had breakfast in bed, a cake decorating contest, a huge pool party, extra long FOB (rest time in the cabin), and talent show where each cabin did a silly act, nail painting, hair braiding, and fondue! It was such a fun day!

That's the updates from kamp so far. Thanks for the prayers and I'll keep the news coming!

A whirlwind...

In a nutshell, it's been a whirlwind of a week. Wrapped things up with staff training week, left yesterday for a wedding in Dallas, and am now driving BACK to Missouri for the fun to officially begin!! Kampers arrived right after I left yesterday, so I'm going to go back to a new world of craziness. I've been looking a the K-West twitter (KanakukKWest if you want to check it out) and it's get me so excited to jump back into things.

The wedding this weekend was phenominal. One of my pledge sisters, Camille, got married, and it was a great last time to see some of my favorite college friends before we go our separate ways. It was such a blessing. Let's just saw I'm tired now thought....not a very restful time off, especially when the a/c in your car isn't working, but it'll be worth it.

I'm looking forward to finally getting into the swing of things when I get back. Teaching classes, driving boats, lifeguarding, and directing the one-week kampers on the girls' side. This is a new responsibility this year and I'm really looking forward to. I am coordinating their arrival and parent's day ceremony, as well as a purity talk and a Cross Talk where we present the Gospel. Should be a new challenge, but it will be fun to see what God does and how I grow through it. In a kamp full of mainly kampers that are with us for 2 weeks, being there for 1 week can be quite a whirlwind! We try to pack it all in though!

Summer 2011. Game on.

It's here already....Summer 2011. Still blows my mind, but right now I'm sitting in the basement of a kamp family, watching the Thunder v. Mavs game and hanging out with some of favorite friends at K-West. A few of us came up to kamp early to get things ready, such as cleaning the cabins and stocking supplies. A handful of boys came up even earlier in the week to really get the ball rolling and open up kamp. Us girls were lucky to come in after a LOT had already been done. Tomorrow, more staff arrive for Klinics. This is when a few people get trained in specific sports, canoeing, kayaking, and boat driving. I finally get to be trained to be a boat driver this year...I'M SO EXCITED! It's going to be great because it is something new for me to do this summer. Being the 4th summer here, it's good to have a little bit of change. It'll be fun for sure. After a couple days of Klinics, the rest of the summer staff will arrive for Work Week. Basically a week of fun, bonding, learning about kamp, and lots of work. Hopefully, it won't get too hot yet. It hasn't been too bad yet. I actually wore sweatpants and long-sleeve shirt to breakfast this morning!

So for this summer I'm doing the same job that I did last summer. I'll be a KPD (Kamper Personnel Director...basically a really fancy title for not that fancy of a job). I'm excited about it this year because I'll be working with some of my favorite friends at kamp: Emily and Kyle!! I'm praying that, even though I'll be doing the same job again, that I will gain a new perspective on it. I don't want it to be the same old same old, but rather find joy in the new things and an energy to do it well! Also, this is the first summer that I officially feel old. Looking at the list of people coming in this week, most of them are freshman and sophomores. And I'm a college graduate. Strange. But cool too. Anyway, I have to head back to kamp now, but just be praying for safe travel and preparation, for personalities to mesh, and for the Lord to be IN THIS SUMMER. Game On, K-West. 2011. Let's go.

The hills are ALIVE!

Our trip to Salzburg, Austria, gave me the chance to live one of my life dreams and go on the Sound of Music tour! It was so much fun to see some of the sights of the movie. These were things that have been a part of my life since I was 7. A big thanks to Lauren and Lisa for appeasing me and going along with the day-long excursion. Here are a few pics from the day:

The Sound of Music cow that awaited us at the beginning of the tour. It was amazing to me that our tour was full even in December. There are so many people, especially in the English-speaking world (ironically the tour was only given in English), that are in love with this movie, even after so many years.

The iconic gazebo! Unfortunately, I found out that this one was only used for the outside filming. The inside, like where the dancing took place, was a set. The gazebo isn't open anymore due to an injury: an 80 year old woman fell and broke her hip trying to dance around like Liesl.

We drove an hour out into the lakes and mountains district to the town of Mondsee to visit the church where Maria and Captain VonTrapp were married in the movie. From the movie, I had always pictured it as being so big! In real life, it was a lot smaller than I expected, and a lot more...pink. But it was still very beautiful!

I had to go on an adventure to find the house. The tour couldn't take us there because the road leading up to it weren't fit for a bus, but they told us where to go to find it. I had to go! So, I hopped on the bus that afternoon, got off at Hellbrun Castle, and made my way up the road to the house. It took me awhile to find it, but it was totally worth it! Since I went out there by myself, I asked a sweet old Austrian couple that was walking by to take my picture. Granted, we communicated through broken English, but they didn't seem to understand why I wanted to have my picture taken in front of it. The lady asked, "Is this your future house?" Oh, how I wish! The gates were open, so I went in to explore the courtyard, too. I wish Abbey Schwada had been there to experience it with me!

Doooooooo!!!!! I wish I could sing like Julie Andrews! This was my moment of pretending to be her. I took this picture with my mom in mind, because she always said that, when she got to heaven, she wanted to strike this pose and sing as high as Julie Andrews in this scene!

Another part of the Do-Re-Mi sequence...pretending to be Julie Andrews.

Ice skating in the Christmas market in front of the Salzburg Museum.

Posing for another scene from the movie in front of the Mozart food bridge.

Nonnaberg Abbey where the real Maria Von Trapp was a nun and where the filmed parts of the movie as well. We couldn't make it up to the Abbey due to the weather and snow on the hill, but it was still fun to see it in the background.

The London Eye

The spindle and hub of the London Eye remind me of an airplane for some reason. The spindle holds the wheel structure and the hub rotates it around the spindle. The spindle is 23 meters tall, which is the same as the size of a church spire. The spindle and the hub together weigh 330 tons--over 20 times heavier than Big Ben!

(www.londoneye.com for Interesting Facts)

London from 100 meters up!

The view from the top of Parliament, Big Ben, and the Thames River.

This is the view from our capsule from below to another capsule. The capsules need to be able to rotate on their axis in order to move smoothly around the Eye. Otherwise, the people inside would fall over or have to stand on the ceiling!

We had some extra time today since it's so cold here in Salzburg, so I wanted to post some much-overdue pictures from the London Eye. This is a must-do activity in London. It's

135 meters high. On a clear day, you can see for 25 miles around the city. It takes 30 minutes to make a full revolution, or 26 cm per second. That's twice as fast as a turtle sprinting! This way, it's easy for the passengers to step on and off. They don't have to stop the Eye for people to get on or off. If the Eye were completely full, it would carry 800 passengers at once! Wow!

We rode the Eye at night. It was so cool to see the city all lit up! I put up these pictures per request of my students at Robinson Elementary, especially Colby. (