Memorial Day Weekend: Friendships, Fremont Lakes & Fireflies

It was another one of "those" weekends, a weekend spent alone. And not only a weekend spent alone, but an extended weekend. It seemed like people were so excited about their plans this weekend, that no one even said good-bye to me when they left on Friday. Jon, being the last one to leave, was the only one to stop and check in with me before leaving, saying that I was welcome to drive this weekend.

Friday night and much of Saturday was spent trying to decide what to do with my weekend. I had asked about five people to hang out with me, but all of them were busy this weekend. I didn't really want to go to Omaha because of the extra gas and that driving in the city still is kind of nerve-wracking to me, but I was willing to go there if I could find something cool enough to do there. But as I was looking up things to do, I realized that there would be a bunch of people coming here next week and staying for two months, and that many of these things would be more fun to do with other people. Museum? More fun with other people. Zoo? More fun with other people. Skydiving? OH MY GOODNESS THAT WOULD BE AWESOME TO DO WITH OTHER PEOPLE! I got on the summer staff's Facebook group and asked if anyone would be interested in skydiving. I expected Jeremiah and Shawn to go for it, being that they're such adventurists. Not only did they commit, but it was nice to find that a couple other people want to go as well. So right now, we have five people committed to going, and I'm hoping we can find a sixth person so that we can get a group discount!

One of the people that wants to go skydiving is Chris Dady, whom I've never met before. But after I posted about skydiving, he and I ended up instant messaging each other for a couple of hours. It turns out that he wants to go to the zoo too, so we're making plans to go there one weekend. Most of our conversation was about the craziness of the summer staff, what camp is like, and things along those lines. I think this we'll  have a great summer staff; I'm really looking forward to them!

Sunday morning I went to church, chatted with a couple of friends, and then treated myself to a Jimmy John's sandwich and a haircut. It was my first Jimmy John's in months, as well as my first professional haircut in months. After that, I decided to check out Fremont Lakes, which I heard was awesome but I hadn't even gone that direction before. After I bought a day pass and started driving around the park, I realized that a lot of other people thought the lakes were awesome too, especially for Memorial Day Weekend camping. I was still in my church attire: a knee-length dress and flip-flops. There were lots of people swimming, but I figured there were plenty of other things to do. I parked next to a little trail, and started walking. It was sandy, so I decided to walk barefoot. Then after a little bit of walking, I was getting burrs and other pokey plants stuck to my feet, so I put my sandals back on, but that didn't completely stop my feet from getting attacked. So after a little bit more walking, I decided to turn around. I knew I should go home and grab some swimwear, water shoes, and snacks. So that's what I did. While I was walking back to the van, I noticed this little guy on the ground:

And then as I kept on walking back, I realized that there was a ton of cacti! This isn't the desert!

After I went home and was driving back to the lakes, I realized that I had had my towel ready to go, but forgot to grab it on my way out. Oh well, it was too far to turn back now! And even though I had to air dry after getting wet, I had a lot of fun.

I swam... 

Enjoyed nature AND the fact that I didn't have to mow this lawn...

Watched the jet-skis, boats, wake-boards, and tubes out on the lake and kind of wished I could do those activities...

Walked around a good portion of the park...

Watched as the sun began to set...

Took some pictures...

And read on this peaceful little dock.

I spent several hours at the lake, and the only thing that encouraged me to go home was the combination of me getting hungry and the fact that there was a light sprinkling. I'm glad I left when I did, because it started to rain harder on my drive home, and right when I got back to camp, I heard the first thunder of the evening. However, on the way home, I had to stop and take a picture of this beautiful rainbow! (It's actually a double rainbow, but the second one is hard to see.)

I had predetermined that Monday would be a hardcore cleaning day. I had laundry to do, my room was still in transition mode, and there was a weird smell coming from an unknown place. Now my bedroom is nice and clean (although I can't say the same thing about the rest of the basement, but I'm going to need some help moving the furniture and everything around). After dinner, I set up my slackline. I haven't done it in weeks, so the best I could do tonight was four steps unassisted! (I used the crutches for balance a lot!)

As it started to get dark, I was still slacklining, and I heard owls hooting. That was pretty cool. And it was better than earlier, when all the birds were laughing at me for being so bad at slacklining!

Around dusk, I was still focused on the line, when out of the corner of my eye I could see a flickering light in the woods. When I looked up at it, it turned off. I knew I had seen this light, but I was supposedly the only person at camp! I stood frozen in fear for a moment, and then I saw the light flicker again, a few feet away from where I had originally seen it. After I saw the flicker once more, I wondered about the possibility of it being a firefly. I've only seen a firefly once before, when I was in Virginia. I had never seen them in Nebraska before, so I went inside and Googled "are fireflies native to Nebraska?" It appeared that they were (I don't know what I would have done if they weren't!), so I went back outside to continue slacklining, and as soon as I walked out the door there was another firefly by the porch! In fact, as it got darker, there were several fireflies, so I decided to quit slacklining and grab a jar and a camera to try to catch these things. 

Television always made catching fireflies seem so easy. Maybe there just weren't enough fireflies out tonight to catch them decently, but they were pretty good at escaping from me! I eventually came across one bug that seemed to have a broken lightbulb. Instead of turning on for a few seconds and then turning off, he acted more like a turn signal. There must have been something wrong with him, because he was the first and only firefly I could catch. I took him inside to get a good picture of him. Now I know what fireflies actually look like! 

I tried to catch more, but no such luck. It was  really beautiful evening, though. It wasn't stormy, it wasn't even really humid, and there was plenty to enjoy about the wildlife. Besides the glowing fireflies and hooting owls (a combination which caused me to sing Owl City's "Fireflies"), there were toads, birds, and some animal I saw come out of the woods. It was dark so I couldn't exactly see what is was, but it was about the size of maybe a fox or a cat or a skunk. I tried taking pictures of it, but it didn't show up in the picture and the flash didn't scare it away. However, when I turned around and walked in the opposite direction, THAT scared it enough for it to run back into the woods. 

So that was my weekend. What I thought would be a horrible, dreadful, boring weekend turned out to be one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. How was your weekend?

Middle-Aged Nurse Reflects on Past Year While Looking Ahead

On Monday, Eli and I went back to college! Jeff had asked us to help out his evening EMT class as they took their National Registry Practical. There was pizza in the deal, so of course we took him up on the offer! It was kind of crazy to be back in the old classroom. I thought our class ending with nine students wasn't very much, but this class only had four! Just like I was the only girl in my class, there was also only one girl in that class, so we could relate. We started out eating pizza, and Eli and I told the class about our adventures with the National Registry Exam, in hopes that we could give them a few pointers. Then Dr J and Eli stayed in that room to test on CPR and oxygen therapy while Jeff and I went into the other room for the medical emergency test. I played a body builder who felt a crushing chest pain when she was lifting 225 lbs. The first two people to test went as expected (Dr J and Jeff referred to them as "the twins" because they were always competing with each other to get the better grade). When the third person was describing his patient, he said "middle-aged woman complaining of chest pain". I didn't want to say anything to disrupt him from his exam, but I must have given a funny look. A few seconds later, Jeff said "actually she's in her early twenties, but go on". We had a good laugh about that, and when the next person came in, we were waiting to hear what he would say to describe me. He actually missed that part, so when he was leaving, Jeff asked "Wait, how old did you say the patient was?" He glanced over at me and responded "Uh... mid-thirties?" So for the past week Jeff had been teasing me about being so old!

But besides having a new running gag around camp, the EMT class was a helpful refresher since I'll be working as the "nurse" this summer. This basement is already getting set up to become the summer clinic. Eli moved out already, my room's rearranged so I could fit a couch, the other side of the basement has a bunch of health equipment in it, and the large living area is a total disaster zone! It's kind of saddening to me, because it's like, this is it, internship's over, time to move on. But I guess it's a good thing I'm sad, because it proves it was a good year (or at least an INTERESTING year!). Check this out:

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I figured out today that this year, the amount of states I have been to has increased by over 50%! But that's just scratching the surface. Here are a few more highlights of the year from a more spiritual level:
-I learned the ins and outs of several types of ministry.
-I learned to distinguish culture from Christianity.
-I got a greater glimpse of what God wants me to do with this life he's given me.
-I gained a more glocal (global AND local) perspective on serving God.
-I learned to just be open and let God do amazing things!

I was in charge of coming up with the theme days, which naturally led me to coming up with theme games. Months ago, when I first found out we were going to have an adventure-themed summer camp, I imagined the theme days to be things you'd come across on a road trip, like fast food, tourist traps, and campgrounds.  Yet somehow, when I actually was asked to come up with the themes, it just seemed like a natural fit to do continents, maybe so I could share my newly gained glocal missions perspective with the campers that would come through. I'm not sure if that's why, but since I've spent so much time writing theme games, sitting in on meetings about the themes, and now decorating the chapel with the themes, I just really want to travel! But it looks like the only place I'll be travelling right now is the chapel, where Shawna, Bailey, and I have been hard at work to decorate. (It's STILL not done yet, but it looks pretty good!)

The leadership staff will get here on Thursday (which, in reality, is just two more people more than the people that are out here regularly anyway), and then five more people from the program staff will get here on Friday. Then everyone else will be here by Sunday afternoon, and I think the fun will officially start there. The hardest part about this year has been the loneliness. It's hard living out in the middle of nowhere, and non-retreat weekends have been the worst since I'm generally the only one here. Even when I do have access to a car, most people I know either live too far away or are too busy when I have free time. I'm sure that will change this summer, when I'll be working with people from all over the Midwest! This year has been a whirlwind of craziness; I'm sure this week will go by fast as well!

Birthdays, Barbecues, Maps and Mud

My birthday was on Thursday. It was pretty relaxed; I wasn't adamant about partying or anything. The Solmens came to came for a couple of hours before they headed to Ohio. (I kept teasing Shawna that her leaving was the best birthday present ever!) I shared a bottle of Inca Kola with the kids so that they could be all hyped up and restless while in the car all day. For the rest of the day, I continued to paint, wrote the summer's verse in seven different languages, and opened up the 21 presents my family sent me.


Saturday was pretty exciting. It was Family Work Day, so I spent the morning prepping things and helping Belinda and a bunch of kids do some gardening. We had a nice barbecue lunch. Belinda left after lunch, so I was left with the rest of the kids, who all wanted to do nothing more than ride around in the golf cart. Fortunately, Jeff had quite a few projects that could be done with the golf car, including delivering water to workers, watering the flower boxes, and dragging tree branches to the burn pile. Eventually, the golf cart went low on battery, and the kids were outraged. They insisted that I drive all of them on the four wheeler instead. Now, five employed adults on the four wheeler is one thing, but four kids plus me? Nuh-uh! Since I wouldn't drive them, they decided they would drive themselves, so I took away the key. The two boys started chasing me, but I had secretly handed off the key to the girls. When Dominick finally caught me, he searched me and, since he couldn't find the key, stole my phone as ransom. After giving up after many attempts to catch him, I was assigned to take the four wheeler with the trailer full of sticks out to the burn pile. Dominick wanted a ride, so he got one in exchange for my returned cell phone. He kept asking to drive, so I let him be in control of the gas (he was pretty slow anyway), but despite all his asking, I was not going to let him control the steering or the brakes! After watching me turn it on and off several times, he finally figured out how to start the four wheeler himself, and at that point I knew it meant trouble!

During the morning, Jeff asked me to take a few photos, emphasizing working together and multigenerations. Here they are:

After the work day, I invited Jon's kids over so that I had an excuse to dig into my birthday cake. It was fun to have them over, and the cake was delicious to boot!

Today, among other things, I made this wall:

After work, I went swimming in the Platte. The pool is finally filled and everything, but the river sounded so much more fun! It was fun; I was down there for almost an hour. I had forgotten to wear my water shoes, and instead had brought my really old, beat-up flip flops. Well, the mud was too much for these sandals that were already falling apart, so I ended up walking the quarter mile back home barefoot over the partially-maintained gravel trail. Fun! 

Plans, Plans, and Other Plans

Planning for summer camp is fun! Okay, there's nothing especially fun about it, but it's a unique change of pace.

Last weekend, we had the first-ever recorded wedding at Camp Rivercrest! (The camp has been around for 53 years, so it was a historic mark!) Eli and Bailey kind of wanted THEIR wedding to be the Rivercrest first, but from all the wedding ideas Eli was bouncing off of me after the wedding, it sounds like they will likely have the BEST wedding at Rivercrest ever. (Unless, of course, I decide to get married at Rivercrest. Then I will definitely have the best Rivercrest wedding! Muahaha.) I've only thought a little about my possible future wedding up until this point, but setting up for the wedding and working at the reception definitely inspired a few ideas. It was a lot of work that kept us going from early evening until almost midnight, but at least I thought it was fun to have all the staff decked out in their formal garb.

So after that experience, work has gotten a little more relaxed, even though summer camp is coming up fast. Here's just a shortened list of things I have to do:
-Set up the nurse's station.
-Learn how to use Camp Brain for medical documentation.
-Get and set up all supplies for games and make sure that the games can be done effectively.
-Decorate the chapel.
-Do some research for topics that will be discussed during staff training week.
-Clean out the Batcave and try to find a place for all that junk!
-Help with all the typical week-to-week things like mowing, landscaping, cleaning, and weekend groups.
And this all has to be done by the time staff training starts in three weeks!

Kirk has been working hard at painting the chapel the past couple of days, so today I joined him with my decorating. I came up with a lot of the designs for the chapel decorations, and we were able to begin making them a reality. Here's the "Before" pictures; I'll be sure to post "After" pictures when I finish!

Each bay of the chapel will be based on the different theme days. Here's part of the Latin American decorations

The rest of what I have so far for the Latin American decorations- pinatas and chili pepper lights!

We plan to plaster this wall with road maps, and then  use the Styrofoam circles to write John 10:10 in different languages.

Kirk is an awesome artist! But since he'll be on vacation until June,  he drew me some continent-specific animals  so that all I have to do is paint them, cut them out, and put them on the wall. Here's what I have so far for the Chinese dragon.

I can take absolutely no credit for this- it was Jon's idea to have a car crashing through the wall. Kirk painted it and Shawna and Kirk painted the summer logo.

I had decorated my room and the guest room with these paper lanterns I found in the Batcave a couple months ago. But with these lights, they make perfect decorations for Asia!

Summer camps raise money for a specific cause; this year for an orphanage in China that Jenn has visited. I came up with the idea that as we raise money, our plane can travel from Fremont, NE and closer to Beijing, China. (Okay, I actually copied that from a fundraiser I'm currently participating in. Which, by the way, if you'd like to contribute to Ellie's Run for Africa, please do so here! Shawna painted North America, and Kirk painted Asia

A little bit of patriotism is in the North American section!

Jenn thought it would be cool to have the world at the back of the chapel. We found this sheet so that Kirk could paint it, but there was still a bunch of white space. I suggested including our summer theme verse, John 10:10.

The most completed section yet- Antarctica! Kirk made the penguin, I made the snow and the South Pole, and I was happy to find all these snowflakes stored in the winter decorations- there were so many we couldn't use them all! All that's left to do in this section is put up a map of Antarctica in the blank section with a sled dog team running through it.

So I haven't even started on Africa, Australia, or Europe, and there's still a lot of work to be done with all the other sections. The sad thing is that all of the Solmens are going on vacation to Ohio tomorrow, so we'll be missing the extra hands!

Last week, I had an interview for a nanny position. It was a little early since the job probably wouldn't start until October, but it worked out well for both of our schedules. Since it's so early, I have no idea yet whether or not I'll be hired. The next day, Jon was asking me about what I was doing after summer camp and I told him about my interview. He was surprised and thrilled that I wanted to stay local. As I was cleaning up the decorating supplies in the chapel today, he came up to me and began complimenting my design work and saying there were a lot of skills I have that I don't mention. (Maybe I just didn't know that I had them!) He asked me again if I would be interested in working here longer. He said he could probably get me something here through the fall, but knew that there really wasn't anything to do here in the winter. After the board meeting on Saturday, he'll probably have more details on what's manageable for the camp. So I don't know exactly what I'll be doing after summer, but God has plans!

I've been thinking about plans lately, from the spiritual perspective on things. Plans change a lot. I can't even count how many times plans have changed during this internship! My personal plans sure have changed a lot; who thought I'd be interested in working at camp longer, or becoming a health professional, or getting my hands dirty with outdoor work? So I think I should end this entry with Jeremiah 29:11, with a reminder of the only One who never changes and really does have plans:
"'For I know the plans I have for you' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.'"

Evenings

Not all evenings are like the evening showed in the video above (this was actually last night). Some evenings when we have groups are spent working very late. Other days are so tiresome just working 9-5 that vegging in the evening is the best we can do.

Tonight was different. Shawna has a Bunco group the first Tuesday of every month. I usually attend (although I won't be able to this summer, since I'll be on the clock 24/7... okay, 24/6). Bunco night is pretty fun. I get a ride from someone, we all gather at someone's house, we eat dinner, we play bunco for a couple of hours, then we determine the winners, eat dessert, and then I listen to the ladies talk about random and occasionally awkward situations in their lives until I can get a ride home. And all this fun only costs $1.01. (The person with the most Bunco wins gets to keep the dollar bills and the person with the most losses gets to keep the pennies... I got a nice collection of pennies tonight!) Since today was May Day, tonight's host made us all cute little May Day baskets.

So that's what my evenings are like. Daytime is much more diverse. Here is the past week to give you an example:
-Wednesday: The Catholic school brought their senior class for a day of fun. We ran low ropes, zip line, high ropes, two meals, and a late-night fire.
-Thursday: Cleaned up after the school group, started preparing for the weekend groups.
-Friday: Set up for groups, checked in kitchen stock, helped host one of the groups that came.
-Saturday: Worked in the kitchen most of the day, realized that we normally order vinyl gloves for more reasons than just latex allergies (there were a lot of water balloons and mohawk balloons around the kitchen!), got the golf cart stuck in the mud and fell in the mud twice.
-Sunday: Just breakfast duties; relaxed from noon on.
-Monday: Short day, but we had a group from Compass Ministries come out for a barbecue, zip line, climbing wall, and giant swing.
-Today: Had the morning off since we didn't get all of Monday off; spent most of the afternoon moving stuff from the "Batcave" storage cabin to the heath clinic and office. People got nervous when they saw I was driving the golf cart again. Then, there was a one-hour meeting to get information on the wedding this weekend and the retreats and events next week.