Big Sights

Yesterday, my grandma and I began the day in Lancaster, PA on a Amish buggy ride, then we enjoyed Hershey Chocolate World with my friend Tori, then we drove through north/central PA and Western NY before settling just outside of Rochester, NY for the night.

And let me tell you - even though that was a long drive, longer than we anticipated, the mountains of Pennsylvania and New York were breathtaking last night in the sunset and dusk. I believe it was the Alleghenies we were driving through, and I was in awe. Huge peaks rose on the either side of us and the road curved in a large, wide arc to go around giant formations. I felt small, and that felt good. It's okay to not be the center of the universe. It's okay (and good) to contemplate the hands that formed those mountains out of nothing. Wow. 

Summer 2013: Camp and Road Trips

I arrived home from summer camp on Friday evening, after spending ten weeks in beautiful Northeast Alabama, where I loved on precious young ladies between the ages of six and sixteen. Here are some pictures from the summer, below. (Some photos courtesy of camp, some mine.)

In other news, I'm crossing off a number of goals this summer! I have visited a new state: Alabama, and I will visit more next week on my upcoming road trip with my grandma. (More posts about that to come!) I can also cross off number 20, since I joined the American Camp Association right before I went to camp.

Read more about my summer at camp here.

I won the Golden Crusader Award!

Sundays at Camp!

ACA Membership! 

This summer marked my first time....

• Being an actual camp counselor
• Driving more than five hours by myself
• Working on a ropes course / learning how to belay
• Eating Oreo Yum Yum! 
• Putting thirteen year old girls to bed (& then singing loudly to wake them up in the morning!)
• And much more! 

Looking forward to finishing this summer strong with a road trip with my grandma. More posts to come.

Summer and Number 7

Good News! Today, I received the contract for my summer job. I will be a camp counselor at a Christian girls' camp in Alabama for nine weeks this summer. I have praying for this for so long that I am just bursting with excitement about this opportunity!

Not only will my summer job provide me with a time to be with preteen girls, invest in their lives, develop life skills, and grow closer to other counselors, all within a Christian environment - but it will also 1) Provide much needed funds to be able to go to Thailand in 8 months! and 2) This goal will complete another state for number 7, as I've never been to Alabama before, as far as I can remember. I can't wait.

In addition, my grandmother and I have nailed down dates for our summer road trip to Canada. For my birthday, she gave me a road trip, and we have decided to go on our trip in August so I can work the full summer at camp. We will have seven days to drive up through states I've not yet visited, like Pennsylvania and West Virginia, to Canada, where neither of us have not yet visited, back down through Ohio and Michigan. We really want to see Niagara Falls, the Liberty Bell, and more of the East coast. And that will cross off number 18!

I hope this summer is as full of adventure as I'm planning. Stay tuned for more updates!

Journals from Around the World

One of the traditions that I started when I went to Asia last summer was to collect journals from each country I visit. As of today, I only have three journals, but my collection is growing. Here are the three I have so far...

Purchased: PageOne Bookstore, Hong Kong
Cost: $16 HKD (appox $2 USD)
"Meng Xiang" (dream)
"Somene wanted to be a teacher when he was little."

Purchased: Phimphone Market, Vientiane, Laos

Cost: 19000 Kip, approx $2.39 USD 

"Stop Global Warming"

"make quality make design style BSP"

Purchased: Cozumel, Mexico

Cost: $6 USD

"Cozumel, Mex."

It's made from "huun" (maya word that means handmade paper)

I hope to keep adding to my collection from every country I visit in the future!