A week in review

Whew...I made it home. This has been the most time-warped week of all time. It seems like that month of camp preparations took forever, so it's weird to be on the other side of it harking back (even if that harking was just this morning).


I am sun-kissed and mosquito bit, but other than that I'm in a good way. I can't believe how physically draining this week was. I wore my pedometer (thanks Amie) and this is what it looked like when I got home today (just from last night and today). I logged some serious steps this week, but came through it blister-free and only a little bit sore. (Hooray, my hill walking before camp must have helped.)

Camp was a great experience. I am so in love with all of those girls. It's weird to feel that way (it seems so adult-like), but it's true. I think I'm old enough now to be in-between being a young woman and a seasoned-mother so I can see both sides of this journey, and can appreciate the importance of the camp experience. I don't remember valuing camp much back when I went. I know I had fun, but going there as a leader is a whole other experience. I felt responsible (lucky I shared that responsibility with several other leaders) for their safety, their spiritual growth, their fun, and their camp experience. They all seemed to love it, so I think it went well, but man that's a lot of work and effort to make provide them the experience. In one of our planning meetings before camp the YW President was reviewing all the devotionals and spiritual aspects of camp and said, "If they don't have a spiritual experience it will be because of them, not because they lacked any opportunities." I thought that was a cool thing to say (she said it seriously) because though we don't try to manipulate anyone into having a spiritual experience, the main purpose of camp is to provide an atmosphere that fosters spiritual experiences while having fun.

{All of us just before the hike,
I'm the 2nd from the left}

Here are some highlights from the week...

• The girls being very sweet to me and calling me "Sister Jill"
• Finding out how funny and individual they all are
• Smores every night
• Sleeping well on my air mattress (though I snored)
  
• I survived an all-day hike from hell. I was red-faced and sweaty (and often thinking ill of the very peppy camp director who planned it and led the way), but I made it without humiliating myself too badly.
  
• Blissful showers after being filthy
• Great food that seemed like fuel instead of just food
• The sky so filled with stars they seemed like they were high voltage
• The sound of the leaves rustling on the trees
  
• The girls loving the gratitude journals I made for them (and the devotional going great)
• Almost tipping the canoe and feeling like a total canoe spazz
• Being one with the bug spray (everyone used it so the Costco pack did me proud)
• The mountains had the most wonderful cool breeze that felt like such a reward while hiking
• Testimony meeting was great
• Missing my home and family

Sister Julie Beck of the General YW Presidency is our bishop's sister and came to our camp yesterday after the camp dedication. She gave an impromptu devotional and let the girls ask her questions. It was very cool.


So I've been wondering all week about my reason for being there, and I'm still not 100% sure why, but I have a few theories.

1. I feel motivated to exercise more and train so that my body can do the things I want it to do (especially since they're already talking about me going next year).
2. I want to be a better mother after being around those amazing girls and seeing several of them (6) with their mothers (who were leaders). They are so strong, confident, and spiritually sound that it made me want to be the kind of mother that raises children like that.
3. I took 512 photos! I documented the crap out of camp, and everyone is so excited about the pictures. I'm hoping they will prove to be valuable for the girls. (Maybe to see themselves a certain way or to remember moments they wouldn't have been able to document otherwise.) Click here to see some of the photos.
   

The only unfortunate thing for me was that my cold seemed to shift into high gear and tormented me. I was coughing, sneezing, and blowing my nose all week. I went through 6 mini packs of tissues, used a lot of the box of tissues we had at camp, then moved on to very rough napkins. My nose is raw. I don't know if something up there was aggravating me or what, but good grief it was rough. I literally had a tissue or napkin in my hand the entire time. By yesterday my nose hurt so badly that I was wetting napkins and just blotting. Grim indeed.

It's good to be home. I took a very long and productive shower, ate a little something, then napped for 3 hours until Randy and Landon came home. Thanks so much to my mom, Michelle, and Amy for watching the kids this week!