What's Up Wednesday : August Edition

It's the last Wednesday of the month (which is crazy) and that means it's time to link up with some of my very favourite bloggers for What's Up Wednesday!

What I'm Eating This Week...

Anything that I haven't been eating at camp all summer long! I have a major craving for some pasta with alfredo sauce, broccoli, mushrooms grilled chicken and maybe a side of garlic bread. It's been too hot for that though so I've been embracing BBQ hot dogs and burgers. I've also discovered a deep love for Chicken Tacos so I'm working on creating the best home version of those. 

What I'm Reminiscing About...

All of the fantastic things I've gotten to experience with H. & R. over the course of the last four summers we've spent together. We haven't done everything on our bucket list but we've accomplished a lot. Plus all of the spontaneous adventures that didn't make the list.

What I'm Loving...

Every summer it seems like I pick up one 'bad habit' this year that bad habit is flavoured coffee creamer. It started innocently enough with the carmel one, then it went to the tasty Double Double one and now it's escalated to Chocolate Mint Truffle...I mostly blame the fact that camp coffee is generally awful. The combination of the cheapest grocery store coffee available and making it in mass quantities doesn't exactly lead to a good cup of coffee. Coffee (and caffeine) is more or less an essential part of the camp day and the creamer made it drinkable. Once my current supply is empty I won't be buying more (unless it's a very special treat) but for now I'm enjoy every cup of delicious tasting coffee. 

What I've Been Up To...
As soon as I unloaded my car and took a good hard look at all my stuff I realized I needed to do some serious re-organizing. I've been researching the KonMari Method and I'm on a waiting list to borrow the book from my local library. I started with my DVDs because they're the one thing was was mostly contained in one place.

What I'm Dreading...

I'm actively trying not to dread anything. I am kind of sad that my friends are all scattered across Canada again and I have no idea when the next time we'll all be together. I'm sort of dreading another job hunt, but at the same time I'm not worried about it and I have some loose ends to tie up at camp. I'm confident that the right thing will come along with the timing is perfect.

What I'm Working On...

Getting back into blogging! I'm going to participate in Blogtember hosted by Bailey Jean over at Brave Love and I'd love to do 20/30 prompts for the month of September. I'm not willing to commit to doing all 30 but 20 seems like an attainable goal, especially if I can get organized enough to be prepared for some of the posts. 

What I'm Excited About...

J. and I are in the very beginning stages of planning a trip in November involving a road trip to Florida and then spending some time there before driving back. It seems a little daunting but also a lot of fun!

What I'm Watching/Reading...

I'm currently reading Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin. I'm only a few chapters in but so far I'm really enjoying the story. A few years back I watched the documentary Nursery University and was enthralled by the whole concept of competitive preschool for three year olds. In some ways this book gives a little bit of backstory to the whole phenomenon. After being away from TV for so long I've mostly been rekindling my love for the Food Network.

What I'm Wearing...

The humidity here has been intense lately (at least for my part of the world) so I've been living in sundresses and when those aren't an option shorts & tank tops are a must. And of course flip flops! Camp has a strict closed toe shoe policy for staff so I spend most of my summer in socks & sneakers. Now that camp is over I'll be wearing my flip flops and sandals until the snow starts to fall. 

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month...
Getting back into a routine. Hopefully getting involved with Girl Guides again and if that doesn't work finding another community organization to volunteer with during the week.

What Else Is New...
I think that covers everything!

Favourite Back To School Tradition...
I don't have littles of my own but someday in a distant land when I'm sending them off to school I love the idea of having special breakfast with them. I also LOVE when all the mom's go out for brunch/lunch once the kids are all in school, I think that's an equally sweet idea as well.

What I Did This Summer

I had nobel plans of blogging on a regular basis this summer but the reality of blogging without a reliable internet connection is a few posts a month. The Blogging Elite is hosting an August Adventures link up today, which is the perfect chance for me to share a sort of summer recap. 

What I read this summer...

I didn't read as many books as I would have liked, it averages out to a book a month, which is pretty disappointing. Especially considering Grace's Guide was a really easy read and I skipped one or two of the chapters because they really didn't appeal to me or apply to my lifestyle.  The Poisonwood Bible was a re-read. It's one of my favourite books and I like to re-read it every few years because there's always new details I pick up on and as I age I find myself relating differently to the characters. I finally got to read Wonder and came away with a lot of mixed feelings. There were parts of it that were wonderfully written and other parts that really made me cringe. Similarly, Say What You Will (not pictured) which I was totally in love with for 80% of the book but didn't care much for the eventual plot twist. The best book I read this summer was Call the Midwife I am eager to get my hands on the other two books in the trilogy after reading the first one. I loved that it was really easy to read a chapter or two at a time and the stories were a great mix of joyful and sad.

What I ate this summer...

I've never been a big breakfast person but this summer some of my favourite memories revolve around shared breakfasts. N. and I spent a lot of time at her cottage during break and cooking breakfast each morning while we watched Canada AM and got caught up on the outside world became a ritual. Breakfast always involved bacon, hash browns and coffee. When we didn't make our own breakfast we ventured into town and ate at the local breakfast/lunch spot. When we were in the city one break I had the most delicious Pink Lemonade drink on a patio. I love how many new restaurants I tried this summer! And when there's no restaurant in sight pizza and pop at the picnic table can make for a delightful dining experience. 

What I saw this summer...

I saw countless amazing sunsets and blue skies. I spent days sitting in the sand and being surrounded by water. I hung out with adorable duckings at the near by park and watched a guinea pig family at the zoo. I watched campfire flames and roasted marshmallows with friends. 

How I felt this summer...

This summer ran the full gauntlet of human emotions. I was challenged by difficult situations and felt scared, worried, frustrated, angry, sad, relieved and happy. Taking a step back from it all I am grateful. The challenges taught me a lot about how to deal with professional/work related issues and improved my problem solving speed. I got to spend two months with my best friends. I worked with some fantastic human beings. I won't say I loved every minute of my summer but I can say that I found something to appreciate during every moment of the chaos. 

Coffee Chat - Post Camp Edition

For the last four months this has been my view first thing in the morning (and often last thing at night). This summer was challenging. It challenged me to choose priorities, to carve out 'me time', and realize that sometimes I really need to say 'no' to doing more. I wasn't always successful with those things. My days started between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m., those same days ended close to midnight. 

One of the head counsellors summed up this summer best when he proclaimed that the highs were really high and the lows were really low. We had some spectacular moments when campers flourished and left camp with more confidence than when they came. There were also moments involving serious medical crises that made everyone sad, stressed, scared and sometimes angry at the world. 

I was fortunate enough to spend almost two months spending time with H. and R. next summer H. will be in school and only God knows where R. and I will be a year from now. I like to think we took advantage of our time together spending hours exploring the city, an afternoon shopping and another at the beach. Multiple nights sitting around a campfire and even more enjoying some good old fashion Girl Talk. Four years ago when I set out on my new camp adventure I never would have believed that two of the people I met there would become my closest friends. The three of us are different in so many ways that all seem to balance each other out and I love every minute of sharing my life with them. Even if most of the year we share it with a lot of help from iMessage and Skype and a little assistance from Canada Post. 

I don't have any "what comes next" plans and for the first time in my life I don't feel crushing and overwhelming panic/anxiety about that fact. I'm in the process of planning a road trip with J. in November. I'm working on finding a Girl Guide group to lead again and I've also been researching how to get involved in some camps that are closer to home. 

I don't have a mile long list of goals that I need to accomplish over the next few weeks. My priority is to relax, restore and re-energize after the summer. And let's be real, that means I'm going to watch a lot of Friends DVDs, try to sleep in past 7:00 (although so far that hasn't been successful), go to the beach and read a book and get back into a routine.

Eventually I will need to write my end of summer report and check off some things on a grown up for to do list but for the next week all that can wait. And I'm very at peace with the waiting.

The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. - Lamentations 3:25

Linking up with Life of Meg for Mingle Monday.

Coffee Chat July

This is what my desk looked like Thursday morning (Day 7 of our camp session). To quell any confusion about the Starbucks cup on my desk, it's a travel mug, the nearest Starbucks to camp is 2.5 hours away. On this particular morning my desk was covered with a travel mug of coffee, Finding Nemo DVD from movie night, my work computer, my personal computer, a list of campers who ordered t-shirts and photos, a list of things I needed to get done and a pile of homemade crayons that needed to be distributed to the campers who made them. 

The month of July seems to have gone by in a flash. There are only two more sessions of camp left which means in less than a month another summer will be in the books. If we're going to meet for coffee this month you'll have to come to me. Hopefully the weather would cooperate and we could sip our coffee down on the dock. 

I'd tell you that the past few weeks have been full of high highs and low lows. There are moments when everything is going perfect and I feel incredibly blessed to get to work here. Then there are moments when the group collectively forgets to tell anyone we're running low on toilet paper...and then bursts into the office at 7:30 a.m. to declare that the entire camp is out of toilet paper except for one roll in each of the cabins...and so an emergency town trip was made for toilet paper. 

If we were meeting for coffee I'd tell you about all the things I have written under the "To Blog About" heading in my planner. I'd give you a list of all the books I've read this summer and ask for your opinions. I'd gush about how in love I am with the new planner I bought that goes from August 2015-December 2016. I'd tell you that I've discovered a love for puzzles and I've found a new hair product that is making life a lot easier.

I'm still worried about what happens in September when camp ends. Except that I don't really have time to be worried about it so it's like a little mosquito buzzing in my ear. I should probably get back in the habit of setting monthly goals but I haven't given any August Goals any thought. I'd love to get back to my old eating habits and I'm dying to make blogging a daily habit but neither of those things are realistic until August 23rd when camp is officially over for the summer. And at that point it's just as well to call them September goals. 

I'd love to stay and keep chatting but I'm off to the city for a couple of days with H. & R.. And hopefully that means that a real life Starbucks/Second Cup coffee is in my near future. 

Blogging Elite Summer Swap

There are a million and one lists on my list of things to blog about and I have every intention of sharing them all with you at some point or another but right now I need to tell the world about another awesome swap I participated in with the Blogging Elite.

I was paired with Sacha over at Reloved Life. Sacha is phenomenally crafty and her blog is full of creative inspiration. I consider myself a pretty crafty person but I've got nothing on Sacha. Her blog also has lots of content about her own life plus some helpful hints about living a healthy lifestyle. I also LOVE that Sacha also lives in Canada. It's so rare to find a fellow Canadian in the vast blogsphere. 

My box was literally bursting with awesome summery things! Everything was so thoughtful including tea, supplies for s'mores and some great crafting materials. It's hard to choose a favourite thing but the mug is so perfect! I'm not sure if you can see it in the photo but it's a canoeing mug, which is totally awesome. I can't wait to drink a cup of tea out of the mug and scribble some thoughts in my notebook!

P.S. I was hopping to share some more close up photos but the internet decided to let me upload that one and that was all. Have I mentioned yet how hard it is to blog without good internet!? 

Summer Blogging

I really miss blogging.

And blogging without a reliable internet connection is near impossible. 

One of my main goals this summer was to find balance with work and hobbies that didn't involve work. Which sounded simple enough in May and although I have read a handful of books this summer, spent time with J. and other friends I haven't been great at keeping the blog updated. I am really disappointed about it, but frankly I'm not sure that there's anyway to improve. I am very much at the mercy of the internet. I would love to take time every few days to share some photos (another goal I've improved upon since last summer is I have been taking photos!) and write some words. I think I'd even been satisfied with having an hour each morning to read blogs while I sip my coffee, but most days that doesn't work.

I'm not even sure what the point of this post is, other to say that I'm still here. I'm still "in to" blogging. I am actively trying to blog about my life and stay in the loop of my favourite blogs. The summer is over half way through so an internet connection is in my near future. 

I'm going to go ahead and press publish before the internet quits on me. We're on a session break until tomorrow and this afternoon I'm off to town with my friend N. to pick up a new planner that I fell in love with the last time I was in town and grab some lunch. 

Oh Hey, Blog!

The last few weeks have totally gotten away from me. We've had two more full sessions of campers and as of 11:07 a.m. this morning when the last camper was picked up we are officially half way through the summer. How crazy is that? (I assure you it's crazy.)

Anyway, it's Friday, it's Day 7, J. is on his way to visit for the break AND R. and I picked H. up at the airport last night! Her flight got in at 10:25 p.m. and we headed back to H.'s for wine, Oreos and hot tubbing. We completely lost track of time and when we came inside it was 4 a.m., we quickly made our way to bed and and then got up this morning and returned to camp. H. had to be back in time to surprise her boyfriend before he left site and we ended up on a wild goose chase all around town trying to find him. H.'s arrival was a bit of a surprise for her boyfriend. He was under the impression that she was arriving tonight at 10:25 p.m. The whole thing went off without a hitch and now I am happily blogging until J. arrives. 

I have every intention of getting back to a regular blogging routine and getting fully caught up with all the unread posts on Bloglovin'. For today though I'm going to enjoy supper with J. followed by a movie and early bedtime. My 4 a.m. bedtime and 9 a.m. wake up time didn't exactly leave me feeling well rested.  I guess the point of this was to say I'm still here and I haven't forgotten or abandoned my little corner of the internet!