Today

I had the best intentions of really taking today's prompt head on and take a photo an hour and have a totally riveting blog post. As you will soon see that was an epic fail, but without further ado my day -in point form - because I am awful at remembering to take pictures. 

I woke up at 8:30-ish and decided to hang out in bed for awhile and watched yesterday's episode of Ellen. Around 10:00 I came downstairs and made myself a cup of coffee which I enjoyed while reading a few blogs and e-mails. At 11:30 I decided I had to start being productive so I got my suitcase and various bags that I had started to pack and established a central packing location in our dining room. I tried to be organized about it and pack outfits rather than clothes, but in the end it just wasn't happening. I took a break for lunch at 1:00 and threw together a pizza out of some leftovers. By 2:00 I returned to packing and was able to get all of my shoes, clothes, toiletries, bedding and some other random things packed before supper. We ate supper at 5:30 (corn on the cob) and after supper I walked 5 km. When I got home it was 7:45 so I tidied up my room a bit and packed another bag with old magazines to use for crafts. This took a lot longer than necessary because I was simultaneously watching a documentary on Netflix and texting while I was cleaning and packing. It's now 9:50 p.m. and I am waiting for Criminal Minds to come on at 10. When that's over at 11 I'm planning on having my quiet time before bed, making a list of things I have to pick up in town and then I will most likely read for a bit and watch a show until I fall asleep. I am terrible at falling asleep, but I usually manage to get to sleep before 2:00 a.m. 

And if you read through that without falling asleep I am truly impressed! 

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!

My Apologies

Dear Future Donna,

I'm sorry that instead of hauling out my suitcase that is currently hiding in the closet behind 3 old prom dresses and really starting the packing process I am leisurely watching Live with Kelly & Michael, sipping on some Pepsi. I realize that if I want to be fully packed for camp on Thursday night so that I can go camping with the Girl Guides Friday and Saturday and hang out with D. Saturday night before leaving for camp early Sunday morning, I should not be sitting in front of the TV/computer. Unless I am working on PowerPoint presentations for Staff Training or watching TV as background noise while I finish assembling staff welcome bags. This is turning into more of a guilt trip than an apology...which is good, because now I am feeling the need to rush this post and go be as productive as possible before I have to leave for Brownies at 5. Let's see how much I can accomplish in 3 hours (including getting dressed in something other than jogging pants & tie-dye t-shirt.)


Love,
Present Donna

As usual linking up here!

Missing

Today's writing prompt is "What do you miss?" I wasn't sure where to go with this...I feel like I'm in a constant state of missing people, places & things, then being reunited with those people, places and things only to miss different things. Missing is a vicious cycle. Usually I would write about missing camp, because I spend a lot of time missing camp. However, this time next week I will be at camp!! So I'm going to write about something different.

I love details. The little things make me the happiest. Proof that I love the smallest/silliest things? This is my favourite stain on the carpet in the youth group room.

The youth group I helped lead when I was in university had a youth group room in the attic of the church. We often joked it was just the dumping ground for all the things nobody else wanted. Highlights include a couch with a broken leg, a TV stand that had to be broken to fit up the stairs and then reassembled once it reached it's destination, another couch that has delightful red velvet upholstery and my personal favourite, the carpet. 

I'm not really sure how old the carpet is, or what it's original colour was but it's currently a dark mustard yellow, with a twinge of green and brown and maybe some beige. It's seen a lot of things. It's absorbed a lot of spilled pop and juice and crushed popcorn kernels and paint and general dirt. And even though it's usually vacuumed once a week or after ever major youth group event there are just some stains that won't go away. And I love it. It feels (felt) like home and peace and comfort. I obviously miss the youth a lot and the other leaders. But I also miss going up the stairs after a long day and being greeted by familiar couches and carpet and bright green walls.

10 Words

Today's Challenge is to sell yourself in 10 words (or less):

• passionate
• creative
• thoughtful
• caring
• stubborn/determined
• faithful
• compassionate
• quirky

My Saturday morning stared off in my favourite way: Coffee, Everything Bagel wtih Herb & Garlic Cream Cheese and catching up on blogs. In an hour I'm leaving to go sell Girl Guide cookies with my Brownies for a couple of hours and then go through camping gear before taking a group of Girl Guides camping next weekend. Our last Brownie meeting is Monday night so we're having a pizza & ice cream sundae party which means I also need to make a trip to the grocery store. And finishing crafting end of the year gifts for the girls, and find some cute 'Thank-You' gifts for my two co-leaders. And have I mentioned I leave for camp a week from tomorrow?  Which means a whole lot of packing needs to be done, plus finish planning sessions for Staff Training...I feel like my to-do list is multiplying by the second. It will all get done All of the important stuff will get done and if a few things don't get crossed off the list then it's not the end of the world!

#Awkward

The topic today is most embarrassing moments. Talking about embarrassing moments really should have been listed on the things that make me uncomfortable post. I feel embarrassed/awkward about things on a daily (sometime hourly) basis. I have never understood people who are brave enough to share their embarrassing moments with other people. My plan of action is always to carry on with my life and delete the moment/situation from my memory ASAP. Optimism isn't something that comes naturally to me, I have to really put effort into finding the positives and looking on the bright side of life. Reliving situations and events that make me feel embarrassed has a snowball effect for me, I start thinking about one time and then suddenly I'm all the way back to a vague memory that maybe happened to me in grade 1...but it could have also happened to my best friend?

So since I've been assured the blog police aren't going to come knockin' if I don't follow the rules exactly I'm going to keep my most embarrassing moments to myself. 

I had planned to make up for it by posting some of my favourite moments from this week but a quick glance at the clock just made me realize I need to get off the computer and get ready to pick my cousin up at school then drop by the farmer's market with Mom before heading to the church to set up for an event tomorrow.

Moments

 

My moment of the day is watching Grey's Anatomy. The original characters (Meredith, Derek, Cristina, Alex) will always be my favourite but I'm really digging April's storyline related to her faith!