Goodbyes

So I did a terrible job of updating this blog throughout my summer - and for that: I apologize.

I am currently sitting in the ABQ "SUNport" waiting for my delayed flight. Yesterday was staff banquet and lots of goodbyes. Didn't think I would cry as hard as I did, but leaving my Sonlight family and home is pretty hard.

After banquet - a four and a half hour drive from Pagosa to Albuquerque with Nick and his new puppy Kieko was interesting. Diet Coke saved my life. The dog was adorable. New Mexico prolly is a lot prettier in the day time. And Leah Elizabeth Wesselman is a saint for allowing us to sleep at her house for 3 hours in the middle of the night. 

And this is what I look right now after all that fun.. hotttt:

I'm at a coffee shop...

...on my day off - listening to instrumental james taylor that is playing in the cafe. Today I am going to see HP, and check out Pagosa's own Rennaissance AND Pirate Festival. Jealous? It shall be interesting, just like everything else in this small random mountain town.

love 

p.s.

mom could you check my mac warranty? my screen has decided to start turning white and not working. sad day.

Sonlight Facts

10 Facts about camp:

- This year is Sonlight's thirty year anniversary

- I live in a staff cabin with two other girls (although most others live with only one other person if at all) deemed "the closest"

- Sonlight is known for its awesome food that is definately making me fat

- We have anywhere from 35 (crazy small) to 65 kids per week. Its perfect because I can know everyone's name.

- We are launching a new program this year, X2, which is a high school leadership week that runs at the same time as our Junior Camp.

- We have two camp dogs, Benji, and my new favorite: Tope... a little mexican puppy mutt. 

- We sing songs at campfire about bananas, baby sharks, and hippopotamuses.

- Games we play with the kids include capture the chicken, indiana jones, dodgeball, and fishin' impossible.

- While Sonlight has a full-time paid summer staff, we also rely on numerous volunteers who come for a week or more at a time. They do anything from counseling, speaking, dish washing, or healthcare.

- On Fridays we have our infamous messy games... which includes "Yuck", dyed mashed potatoes, leftovers, a foam machine slip n' slide, and millions of water-balloons.

Moab

Disclaimer: This blog post is going to be long and boring with no point really but to describe my trip to Moab. Sorry you guys. haha

Staff had a long weekend for the 4th... a few of us decided to head to Moab, Utah. It was awesome! Me, three other girls (Liesl a counselor from California, Andrea a counselor who goes to school in Michigan but lives in Illinois, and Lindsey a cook from Texas) and then three guys (Nate Cole and Nate Johnson - two counselors from Oklahoma, and Nick) drove over Thursday night after cleaning camp.

The two nights we were there we ended up sleeping on some random campsites we found down dirt roads. I'm not so sure it was completely legal to do without permits but we never got into trouble. It was so nice and warm that we were able to just sleep under the stars (which were beautiful!).

On Friday I went mountain biking with the girls, later in the day we went on a couple hikes in Arches National Park, and we all went out to eat for pizza. During the afternoon it was super hot so we found some random green park in the middle of town and slack lined, slept, and read there for a while.

Saturday us girls went skydiving!! It was so awesome and surreal - I thought I would be scared and that my stomach would drop but once we left the plane I was pretty calm. I jumped tandem which means my instructor was attached to me, which was kind of awkward, but I got lucky and didn't have the creeper instructor like a couple of my friends did. Later in the day we went back to the park, went swimming and tanning by the Colorado River, did a short bike ride along a paved river trail, and then drove home back to camp after dark.

It was a great weekend, except when I got frustrated with the boys, but all around we all loved hanging out together outside of camp.

lindsey and me before our jump

Me coming down in my parachute

Some beautiful Moab scenery along the CO river as we drove in the morning to the aiport

Love you guys!!

Stress

Last week was overwhelming. Everyone was really tired, and we were kind of understaffed so we all had a lot on our plate. 

Being program and a counselor was pretty stressful - I felt like I had nothing planned before it actually took place. It was hard to be with the kids 24/7 and then run program and other things that I normally have time to plan out. By the end of the week I was feeling worn out, lightheaded, and nauseous, but miraculously we made it through to the weekend. I feel like my exhaustion got in the way of being excited for the kids, but I tried my best to put on a good face. I hope I didn't let anyone down.

i get paid to do this

Me dressed up as an "Amazonian" after our Fishin' Impossible game.

Stories from the Week

This past week we had high school campers. I was purely a counselor, and Nick was Program. It was pretty nice to just be responsible for my 7 campers, and not the rest of the group. 

We went on our hike up Alberta and Treasure Peak, both around 12,000 feet. Funny story - when we got to the bottom of the peak we were minus five campers. I guess they took a wrong turn on the ridge (there was no trail, we were kind of bushwhacking) and weren't at the road when the end of the group arrived there. I am thankful for the staff we had on the hike that day, because we went straight into protocol and found them within the hour... they popped out on the highway where one of our staff was patrolling. Still pretty stressful stuff.

I also had a camper (not in my cabin) who confided in me that she was dealing with intense depression after the death of a good friend. I am thankful that she was able to open up to me, and also humbled that she trusted me for guidance and support. I talked to our speaker for the week and he gave me some good ideas and resources for her situation. I pray that she is able to seek the help she needs and reach out to others when she gets home.

Next week should be interesting - I'm not only Boss of Fun but also a counselor. We have two different camp programs going on, junior camp and X2. X2 is a high school leadership course and junior camp is 3rd and 4th grade. I'll be handling Junior while Nick handles X2. 

Love you all!

-Heather

(Hopefully I'll be able to update about once a week)