Blogtember 2015: Life Snaps

Today's post, much like today's prompt, is going to be short and sweet. 

This season is full of reflection, change, choice and discernment. Figuring out how to make camp a career. Knowing that my hometown is where I want to live. Living away from my closest friends is challenging in so many ways but also an incredible experience. To know that distance is a number and  regardless of physical presence I have amazing friends who are there for me no matter what happens. This season has been spent on high alert for 'God Moments' and writing non-stop about what I'm seeing and feeling. This season is full. And most of the time I feel content and at peace with this moment in time. 

Five Favourite Things

Cactus

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli was one of the first books that I read that really stuck with me. More than just a favourite book the characters, interactions and philosophy of the story has stuck with me since elementary school. In a lot of ways it's influenced who I am. In high school I was lucky enough to be part of a stage production of the story with my best friends. I used a quote from Love, Stargirl as my yearbook quote when I graduated. And whenever I come across somebody who shares a love of Stargirl I feel an immediate connection to them. My love of the book has lead me to develop a serious fascination with the desert and cactus. I've been on the lookout for a perfect cactus plant to have as my own and I finally found one a few weeks ago at Wal-Mart of all places for $3.97. It now sits on my desk and looking at it makes me happy.

Sunsets

Call me a stereotypical white girl if you must but there's nothing that forces me to take a minute and bask in the beauty of nature and the world than a sunset. Every sunset is different but they're all 'God Moments' I'm so awe-struck by the perfection of the colours blended together as the sun sets. Sunsets are also one of my favourite things to photograph. I love the contrast of black shadows against a pink/purple/orange/yellow/blue sky. Someone once told me that if I was a colour I would be "sky-blue-pink", which of course is the way to describe all the colours of a sunset. I took that to heart and the nights when the sunsets on a 'sky-blue-pink' are among my favourites.

Photography

I'm not a master photographer. I don't have scores of families begging me to take their photo or companies hoping I'll photograph their latest product in the best light. But I love seeing the world though my camera lens. I have a friend who is super into photography and he's always making comments about how I don't share my photos. Every time he says it I'm confused. I share some on here but other than that I don't feel the need to fill albums on Facebook or dedicate an entire Tumblr for my photography. I certainly don't pass around my journal for everyone to read and comment on so I won't do that with my photographs either. It's something I enjoy doing, it helps me be creative and notice the things around me from different perspectives. It's for me.

Daisies

Daisies are my favourite flowers. If I was brave enough and I could convince my future husband to agree I would name a little girl Daisy-May. I'm very specific in my daisy love though, I have no time for those artificially neon coloured ones. It has to be the real thing. Yellow middles and snow white petals. The wildflower type are my absolute favourite but I appreciate the garden variety as well. 

Frozen Hot Chocolate from Second Cup

I got a little deep with my first four favourites so I'm throwing this one in here too. I love a good dose of caffeine. Hot Coffee. Iced Coffee. Iced Cap. Frappachino. They all have their place in this world. My favourite fancy coffee shop treat though is a Frozen Hot Chocolate from Second Cup. I'm not even 100% sure why this is. I don't consider myself a chocoholic, I enjoy hot chocolate on occasion when it's cold outside but I almost always choose coffee or tea. There's something extra delicious about Frozen Hot Chocolate though. Plus I rarely get to have it so when I'm in the vicinity of a Second Cup it makes the experience all the more magical!

Also linking up with Amanda at Meet @ The Barre!

Called To Be Woven

I had one of the best weekends I've had in a really long time. It seems like it's been so long since I've experienced God Moments but this weekend I seemed to be surrounded. I found them in the most unexpected places, but I am so grateful that I did. 

I'm grateful for the peace of not knowing the specifics, but knowing that I need only to keep listening and watching and following 'the call'. 

I'm grateful for coffee on rainy Monday mornings.

I'm grateful for fulfilled promises.

I'm grateful for songs that give me goosebumps. 

I am full of hope, praise, celebration, faith and delight that I know there are big things ahead. 

I am grateful for passion and opportunities to use that passion to make a difference. 

Thankful Thursday

Via Pinterest

 

 

Today I am Thankful for...

A new iTunes playlist ready for tomorrow's road trip

Crisp autumn air

New seasons of How I Met Your Mother, Survivor, The Middle, Grey's Anatomy, The Amazing Race & Criminal Minds

 Memories

Spicy Chicken Pizza

Buzzfeed, Thought Catalog and blogs that keep me inspired and entertained

Yoga

Wool Socks, Leggings, Hoodies & Baseball Hats

Encouraging messages from friends

Freshly painted nails

Instagram & Snapcat

God Moments

Sweet Dreams

Faith

Joy 

Twists & Turns

 Describe a distinct moment when your life took a turn...

Kids, I've been telling you the story of how I met your mother, and while there's many things to learn from this story, this may be the biggest. The great moments of your life won't necessarily be the things you do, they'll also be the things that happen to you. Now, I'm not saying you can't take action to affect the outcome of your life, you have to take action, and you will. But never forget that on any day, you can step out the front door and your whole life can change forever. You see, the universe has a plan kids, and that plan is always in motion. A butterfly flaps its wings, and it starts to rain. It's a scary thought but it's also kind of wonderful. All these little parts of the machine constantly working, making sure that you end up exactly where you're supposed to be, exactly when you're supposed to be there. The right place at the right time. -How I Met Your Mother

 I've said it before and I'll say it again; I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I suspect most of the posts today will be about meeting the love of your life, getting engaged, getting married, becoming a parent, losing a loved one... the big moments in life when you just know everything has changed. A few moments crossed my mind when I read today's topic:

Going to camp for the first time.

Becoming a counsellor.

Losing camp.

Moving away to university on my own.

Meeting any number of people who I know consider a close friend.

Finding a new camp home.

ect. 

But really every decision and detail of the day, the big ones and the small ones are leading me to where I belong.  So even though I haven't (to my knowledge) met the man I'm going to marry yet, or gotten engaged or become a parent there are so many other daily twists and turns that don't seem like much in the moment but it in the big picture, it's all about the details. And in the season of life I can't quite see the big picture, but I know that the details are coming together, leading me somewhere and change is right around the corner.

Happiness

Today's prompt is pretty simple 10 Things That Make You Happy!

3 a.m. conversations

I love having real conversations with people. It doesn't have to be a serious topic sometimes a heated debate about the best Crayola crayon colour (it's Cerulean Blue) can be just as much of a bonding experience as discussing the moment you found Jesus. And there's something extra special about those conversations when they happen late at night. Maybe this is just me because I've spent so much time at camp over the years, but all of the best conversations happen late at night. As a camper it's probably because you spend all day doing things and then at night you get a chance to really talk to your cabin-mates. And as a staff member it's because you're really doing things all day (and all night) and the best time to chat is after all the campers are settled and you and your co-counsellor are hanging out in the counsellor room, or you aren't on sleep out, but you do have 12 camper awards to make and colour before morning.

Perfect Mornings

There's just something about starting the day off right that makes the whole day better. My perfect morning first consists of waking up without an alarm and feeling like I got a good night's sleep. Then checking my phone, scrolling through Twitter to catch up on news before checking my e-mail and reading the Internet Cafe Devotion of the day and then getting out of bed. Followed by showering, getting ready and then enjoying coffee and 1/2  an everything bagel with herb & garlic cream cheese. Maybe reading some blogs while I eat or if my some miracle the above steps happen at camp chatting about the upcoming day with my director or if the stars really align sitting with the campers during breakfast.

Snail Mail

Getting mail is the best! One of the only good things about moving home after university is that I get to send & receive cards and letters and packages to my friends still living in my university city. There's something special about opening an envelope and seeing handwritten (or typed!) letters. One of my summer goals is to write more letters to friends. Since the internet connection is pretty unreliable. We had a staff member last year who was always writing letters and receiving mail and I want in on the fun! 

Things that Glow in the Dark

I'm not sure why I have such a love for things that glow in the dark, but I do! I will proudly admit to still having glow in the dark stars on my ceiling, my glow in the dark Nalgene is one of my favourite possessions and it just makes me happy!

Sharpies

This is the camp person coming out in me. Sharpies are wonderful, they come in all different colours and sizes. They write on everything! You can always use a Sharpie. During the summer I usually have one stuck in my hair for easy access. 

Reality TV

I'm a purist when it comes to Reality TV. I love Survivor, The Amazing Race, Big Brother. I have never once watched an episode of The Bachelor/ette and I don't understand why American Idol hasn't been cancelled. I also love 'reality TV dramas' like Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers. Teen Mom used to be my guilty pleasure, but I stopped watching this season because instead of being entertained and sympathizing with the Moms I just felt uncomfortable watching them. I do still indulge in almost all of the TLC reality shows...except the wedding ones. OK, so maybe I'm

 

God Moments

I think I've talked about this before but it really is one of my favourite things/things that make me happy. Everyone has their own definition of God Moment, for me it's those tiny details in daily life that are just so tiny and perfect that the only way to explain them is that it's God at work. It can be anything from hearing your all-time favourite song on the radio even though it hasn't been popular in 10 years or finding the perfect gift for a friend. It's always a humbling and peaceful moment when things just work out.

Neon/Glitter

My love of neon started off innocently with brightly coloured socks and a florescent Lulu Lemon head band, then I bought a few pairs of neon Nike running shorts and now I've acquired a couple of neon shirts. Bright colours make me happy! And I think summer is the perfect time to wear them, so I'm embracing my new found love of neon colours. Glitter goes with this too, there are few things in life that can't be improved by adding glitter! 

Rainy Days

Specifically rainy summer days, when it's warm enough to go outside and play in the rain and jump in puddles for approximately half an hour before you get too cold and have to go inside. At which point you go inside and get a warm shower and put on comfy jogging pants & a hoodie and spend the rest of the afternoon snuggled up on the couch sipping tea/coffee reading or watching a movie. 

Brushing My Teeth

For some reason brushing my teeth is an instant stress relief for me! It's so simple and it just makes me feel so much better about life.

I think this has been my favourite prompt of the challenge so far! I love thinking about the things that makes me happy and reading about what makes other people happy!

Somebod's Singing Lord, Kumbaya

I spent this weekend at Brownie Camp with my five favourite Brownies. I am such a proud Brown Owl, I feel like I could brag about how awesome they did for days. In the beginning none of them wanted anything to do with camp but then all five of them decided they would give it another try. (I'm not exactly sure what went down at last year's Brownie Camp but my girls did not have a good time.) Some of the Moms were pretty nervous too so I had given them my number and told them to feel free to text to check in to see how things were going. As I was getting the girls ready for bed I got a text from a Mom checking in and when I let her know what was happening (girls were getting PJs on, getting facials and then going to bed) I got the sweetest message back.

Little things like that make me feel so much better about life and I consider them a reassurance that I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing in life.

The second (and maybe the most important) highlight of my weekend can be summed up in these 3 pictures.

For a little back story the camp that we had rented for Brownie Camp was one that I had been at before, the last time about 6 years ago when "my" camp rented it for a few weeks right after we lost our camp. So before I went I selfishly/secretly hoped and prayed for some sort of 'sign' that we had been there before. That 'my' camp had existed and in some small way continues to exist. I wasn't really expecting to find anything, I mean it has been six years. And if I did find anything I didn't expected it to either be super ambiguous (oh, I bet this random cup in the cupboard was "ours"). And I was proven wrong. The first thing I 'found' was a piece of painters tape with the name of a former counsellor/director written on it and taped to a griddle in the kitchen. I can guarantee that piece of tape has been there for six years. And then I found a mug that was clearly a relic. And the cross just served as a reminder that I love camp, specifically I love camp ministry.

I left camp Sunday afternoon feeling so much better about life.

And best of all with a new "Five Year Plan" taking shape in my head. And I have no idea how it will unfold, but it's there and it wasn't before and it's a feeling that can't be explained with words.