I'd knew I'd be a fail doing this blog... I haven't updated it in forever.

So update.

1.) On my birthday we were told as a CDT staff that we couldn't all work this summer because of our budget going over. So I was to work for a week in July, and that's it.

2.) I worked at Merriewoode for three days for a mini camp session, and it was confusing, but alright.

3.) I was called by my boss to come to camp early, so of course I did. I worked that week, and then I worked the week that I was supposed to. During the second week I was asked to get my chauffeur's license, because they needed more drivers for all the trips that were happening. I did, and so I'm working this week and next.

That pretty much catches you up to right now. Today I went on a Tall Ship ride, a schooner to be exact, with the Sail Away group that contains my sister and a bunch of returning campers that I adore. Tomorrow in approximately nine hours the cook Mary, Hobbes (a fellow counselor), and I are going to embark on a North Carolina trip with five girls. This was actually the very last trip I wanted to go on, but here I am doing it anyway. It consists of driving for two days, hiking in the Smokey Mountains, zip lining (scary!), rock climbing, waterfall sliding (scary?), and hiking on part of the Appalachian Trail. I'm getting sort of excited about this trip, so that's good. I've also never been to NC, so a new adventure is always sweet. Plus I get paid to do it!

Wish me luck driving for uber long amounts of time and facing my fears of mechanical failures and heights!

Camp love,
Stump

Training weeks

Sorry I haven't been able to post lately... No Internet ever is a downer, and I've even been home for a few days!

Two weeks ago I went to Camp Linden, located in Linden, Michigan (close to Howell) to start my lifeguard re-certification, along with my CPR and First Aid training. It was very intense. What we do is train for three whole days cramming all that knowledge into our brains, which is a two-week course load usually. I got badly sun burnt the second day, and I'm finally over that pain. However, the third day we went to Brighton High School to use their pool for deep water training, and I injured myself. Apparently because I had been sick recently that had helped me to get a pressure injury in my left ear. There was blood behind my ear drum, so the ER nurse told me later that night at one in the morning, and there was a blister or something on my ear drum as well. Ouch. Needless to say, I was in a lot of pain. It's healing now, but thanks to my idiot self, I have no medicine to put in my ear (I lost it somehow) and so now I hurt a lot, and I have intense headaches behind my left ear. It is SO not fun! Hopefully I can find my prescription (most likely in Smiles' car) and get myself hooked up with some painkillers. Yay!

After our LG training, I was able to make it home in time to attend my friend's birthday party at BDub's. That was some good fun. And then...Back to camp on Sunday.

We started camp training on Sunday in the morning. It was pretty normal stuff, but the best part about it, besides the food, was that all the GSHOM (Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan) camp staff were there. So that's Camp Linden, Camp Deer Trails/Oak Hills, Camp Crawford, Camp O' The Hills, and Camp Merriwood ALL TOGETHER! It was so awesome to get to meet a bunch of people that were just like me. I even met a lot of nerdy ones like me as well. haha  In those few days of training, the fellow counselors that I met not from my camp wanted to keep me for themselves and their camp. Do you know what a great feeling that is?!? I don't think I've ever felt that wanted, included and loved that much before in my life. Sad but true. Basically, I gained a butt-ton of pen pals for the summer, so we can all keep in touch when we're at our respective camps. I sure hope I get to visit them again!

My camp doesn't start until July 11th now, so I'm home more that I would like to be this summer. Boo. Since I didn't have anything to do, this upcoming week I'm going to help out at the Girl Scout Day Camp that I used to go to when I was still in grade school. I realized a few days ago that I hadn't set foot in that camp for five years! Talk about getting old...

Speaking of age, I'm turning 21 in 9 days!!! Now I can lifeguard without any other lifeguard there if I wanted to! (Enjoy my priorities?)

Whelp, I suppose that's all I have to say for now. Enjoy your summers, all!

                                          Love,
                                         Stump


And now... One of my favorite camp songs for you:

The flicker of the campfire, the wind in the pines
The moon in the heavens, the stars that shine
A place where all men gather to make friends of all mankind
A place where all your troubles are always left behind!
So give me the light of the campfire; warm and bright!
And give me some friends to sing with; we'll be here all night!
True love is for those who find it, and I've found mine right here
So give me the light of the campfire and the songs we long to hear...

CAMP!!

Today is the day. I'm finally heading to camp. It's not MY camp, but it's good enough for me! I start Lifeguard training tomorrow, so that'll be fun yet intense. I like that I know what's going to happen, since I've already been a Lifeguard for three years. I am so happy to go to camp! I'm also pumped, because my two best friends Candace and Erin are taking me to Camp Linden (where the training is at (it's near Flint)) so I get to hang out with them one last time before I leave for a majority of the summer.

Another sweet thing about heading to camp is that I get to see my beloved COHBFFAE (Camp Oak Hills Best Friend Forever And Ever) Smiles again! I miss her so darn much!

Much love,

Stump
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P.S.- Like my new signature?!?

Camp is so good.

I went up to camp this weekend, because there were two troops staying there that we had to tend to and all that. The troops were brownies, and they were so ADORABLE! I'm generally not a fan of little kids, but these ones were kick ass, seriously. They said that most awesome things, and they were always there to help you out, or express their gratitude for your help. Early on in the weekend, this one girl Genevieve (totally awesome name, I know) latched onto me, which I'm not used to, and she just lit up every time she saw me. It was the best feeling in the world to make a kid light up when they see you. She always planned to sit next to me when we ate, and she even asked me for permission to do things, when her mother was right there next to me! Her mom said that she had a girl crush on me. Probably true. haha With teenagers, I never got that, because they're too cool or too mature to express their love to anyone, which I'm cool with too. I guess I just never knew how great it felt to be the center of attention in a group of 10 girls. It was crazy awesome, for sure.

I don't think I've ever been to camp this early in the year, where there are flowers blooming, so I was really surprised to see so many all over camp. One of my favorite flowers just littered Stag Ridge; it was so cool!

I've never actually seen Lady Slippers up close before, so I was really excited to see them all over the place.







I also decided to go around taking a couple of pictures of camp, so I'll post one of those here as well. Yay camp!

And this here is Willow. She is just so darn great. She worked with me last year at Camp Oak Hills, the other Girl Scout camp in Harrison. It was really good to work with her again, because I didn't really get to know her last year. 

That's all for now!

Eat. Sleep. Camp.

-Ariel (aka Stump)

Let's Have a Go At This

I always feel really bad when I'm at camp, because I almost never get to see my at home or at college friends. I miss them very much, of course, but I rarely talk to them, because I'm always so damn tired when I finally get a break. So I sleep, and don't talk to them much at all. Very sad.

I'd like to try my hand at blogging for the sake of my friends, so they can all know what's up with me without me telling everyone individually. That'd be so much easier!

I leave for camp training on June 7th, or thereabouts, so I'll hopefully remember to start then, or maybe a bit before, if I so choose.

Yay camp!

-Ariel