Scattered

My mind is everywhere at the moment.  I barely have a spare minute to breathe, let alone sleep it seems.  I worked breakfast and lunch today, taught 2 hours of swimming lessons, and taught a dance class.  I have to be ready for supper in 20 minutes and serve after that.  Wow.  Dilek (one of the newer Turkish girls) was called home by her family, for reasons I didn't ask to know, and I cried.  I didn't get to know her that well, but her, Damla, and Ozgen have taught me so much Turkish!  It is wonderful.  If I cried over Dilek, imagine when I leave Katie and Vivi and everyone else.  I am going to go crazy and bawl for days.  I needed to start this post yesterday because I had important things to say about Sunday....but now I can't remember what we did on Sunday or Monday or Tuesday really.  Well, last night we had a Toga party...yeah floral bedsheets from the cliff house!!  It was fun and I am quite tired today.  I never get on facebook, practice my trumpet, or respond to people's letters and messages.  I am just so stinkin busy all of the time.  I finally called my grandma today because I hadn't contacted her all summer since I arrived here.  I feel awful, but at the same time, I am glad I am 'cut off' in a way from the world.  I love the feeling of being free from my everyday life and experiencing new things.  That is exactly why I want to travel the world so badly.  This post has no specific topic or point, hence the name scattered.  These are all simply things on my mind that I needed to get written down.  Oh!  At the Hoot last night, we jumped into the lake while it was storming outside.  It wasn't really raining too bad, but as we were running down the dock, I was holding Abbie's hand and she said, "I don't think my mommy would approve of this!"  And I said, "Mine either!!"  This reminded me of when it would rain outside when I was little and my mama wouldn't let me play in the rain.  This was slightly worse with the crashing waves, lightning, and thunder.  Oops.  But it was fun, so that's the point right?  Okay, I am off to supper and off to having a relaxing night for once hopefully.  Love.

Pelican Lake!

How has a week come and gone since I last blogged?  Seriously.  My time here keeps speeding up and I want it to slow down.  Here is a 'short' version of my last week or so...
I left Fair Hills on Friday morning and drove to Watertown for Mark and Jenna's rehearsal dinner for their wedding.  It felt very odd leaving this place and made real the fact that I will be leaving for good in just over a month.  The drive was about 3 hours and I was very much ready to be out of the car when I got there.  It was great seeing college friends!  Mark and Jenna of course, Aaron, Kelli, Paul, Vu, Andy, and a few others.  I also made a few friends there which was really great!  After the beautiful rehearsal dinner at the Goss Opera House, I made my way to my mom's house in Brandon to surprise her and my sister.  I called my sister and told her to look outside when I got there and she didn't know what was going on.  She freaked out and woke up my mom and it felt great to surprise them.  Especially when they hadn't planned on seeing me for another 5 weeks!  It felt good to sleep in my own bed and see my kitty too :)  The next morning I surprised my dad and Julie and bought a wedding gift quick before heading back up to Watertown.  Since it was deathly hot outside, I drove to my apartment in Brookings quick and showered there.  I got to visit with my friend Jared that lives downstairs while I wrapped the wedding gift, which was so nice!  The wedding was beautiful and it was amazing being able to play while Jenna walked down the aisle.  I played the Trumpet Voluntary on piccolo trumpet by Henry Purcell while her friend Megan played piano.  I really hope I get to play for many weddings in the future!  The wedding dance was fun and I loved being able to hang out with Kelli.  I have missed her and Aaron so much!  A family opened up their house for us to stay at that night.  Kelli, Aaron, Maggie, Andy, Paul, and Mark (not the groom) stayed at this gorgeous house on....wait for this....PELICAN LAKE!  I can't get away from Pelican Lake that easy!  Isn't that ironic that I have been on Pelican Lake all summer at my camp and I go away for two days and stay on freaking Pelican Lake....that is so crazy!  I left late morning the next day and was so excited to get back.  I went down to the dining hall first because lunch was finishing up.  I hugged everybody and when I saw Vivien, she was sooo happy and hugged me for so long.  She told me not to leave again.  Love her so much and am definitely going to visit her in Hungary next summer.  Hannah said it felt like I had been gone for a week.  It is so true though, when somebody even has a meal off, I feel like I haven't seen them in days.  I honestly don't remember what happened on Sunday night.  Every day mooshes together here.  I think on Monday night Katie, Matt, Pat, Kat, and I went into DL and went to McDonald's and Walmart.  We called it our adventure :)  Kat is a vegetarian and was craving a burger, so that was the initial reason for our run.  Shhhh don't tell anybody that she ate one!  Matt and Pat took us to their cousin Caitlin's house to show us her 'cow' and I was expecting a real cow.  It was definitely just a decoration wooden thing in front of her house.  It was cute though!
Tuesday is Hoot day, so it is the best day of the week!  We had room checks on Monday and our cabin won a pizza party for a clean room!  Hooray!  I feel like a kid.  Haha.  Hoot was so much fun and it was so deathly hot in there that the lake jump felt so good.  Claire and I went on the mat because the raft always sinks with everyone on it.  We rocked it out.  After the Hoot we all hung out, as usual.  Wednesday consisted of me working every meal and having a Hoot recording session with about 10 of us to record songs that we sing in the hoot for a slideshow.  I also practiced with Aaron because we are singing (and I am playing guitar) to Lucky for the staff talent show on Friday!  I am so excited, but nervous, because it is my first time singing and playing guitar in front of an audience!  Ahhh so exciting!  I also taught dance yesterday and we are going to perform in the talent show tonight.  I taught four girls Lesli, Meghan, and my dance from our first IMPACT.  Also, 23 of us went to a casino last night about 50 miles north of here.  I rode with Matt, Pat, Katie, and Mollie.  It was fun and I really only lost a $1 and $5 to a drink I bought.  It was fun.
....
Well that was a bit of a break.  Sorry, I had to work lunch and then I had 2 hours of swimming lessons.  I was quite sad because they were doing staff torpedo rides starting at 2pm, the same time that I had to start swimming lessons.  So I am giving my first lesson and all of a sudden I hear a lot of choking, but there is a mom there, so I let her help her kid.
Sitting with RJ at the moment and talking to my wonderful bestest friend Caitlin.  I miss her terribly.  It's funny because I want to go home to see her, but I don't want to leave my friends here.  It's so conflicting.  Especially since I know that I won't see these people ever again most likely...ugh.
Okay, back to my story.  (It is actually the next day now....and I just got done with 2 hours of swimming lessons.  Oy vey.  I can't finish this post!)  All of a sudden, I see this kid puking on the side of the pool and I watch it get into the water.  Uhm, gross.  His mom comes over and was like, "Who do I notify if my kid just puked in the pool?"  I was like, "Uhm, let me go find someone."  So I go inside and Landon and Cathy both nosed-goes doing anything about it, so they called the lady that cleans the pool.  I had to make everyone get out of the pool and Landon locked it up so that nobody could use it.  This was literally a blessing in disguise because at 2pm yesterday, it was the only time that the staff could have torpedo rides.  It is like a big banana tube that is pulled behind the boat.  So I was able to go on, which was really exciting!!  So I ran out to the dock and told everyone the gross story.  The torpedo was sort of terrifying.  You ride until you fall off and the fall is not graceful.  Katie fell on my head the first time.  My leg and foot bruised, and somebody's head or something went in between my legs...ouch.  Last night, I was just not in a very good mood and I had to dance twice at the talent show.  I taught four younger girls my Free Fallin' dance (a minute of it) and did my Jar of Hearts once again.  The girls did so amazing, I felt like a proud mama!  Today, so many people commented on how phenomenal my dance was and how the emotion I put into it was perfect.  I have never had so many compliments!!  So nice.  I did hit my fouette turns pretty perfect though ;)  After the show, I skyped with Caitlin for awhile and sat with RJ (as you heard earlier).  Then later, Matt, Pat, Katie, and I went star gazing on the roof of the lobby.  Shhh don't tell anybody.  Nobody is supposed to know about it.  It was gorgeous though because you slant towards the lake and the stars are so bright.  I am so tired today though, I really need to learn how to go to bed before midnight.  Today was a decent day, or has been so far!  I am playing guitar and singing together in front of an audience for the first time tonight.  I am singing Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Calliat with Aaron.  We sound decent, but I am nervous because my guitar skills are nothing to brag about.  I hope it goes well :)  I am thankful for wonderful friends (love my roommate Vivien!!!), beautiful weather, ice cream that I steal after work, a body to dance with, a voice to sing with, hands to play the guitar, fans to keep me cool, children, and life.  Think about what you are thankful for today.  There are so many wonderful things about this life that we don't thank God enough for everyday.  So take a minute to sit still and look at all of the wonderful things around you.  Love.

Golf

A quiet Wednesday night.  Last night after the Hoot, we had an 80s party and it was so great!  Katie and I got ready together and looked pretty legit.  My camera is still lost, so I took the liberty of borrowing her camera throughout the night.  I am so worried and frustrated that it is lost.  Ugh.  Today was nice.  Worked all three meals and taught swimming lessons.  The pool was chilly and the wind was really blowing, so I pretty much froze.  After lessons, I ran up and changed and went into town with Aaron and Katie.  We went to DL Fusion and I can't remember if I have told you about that.  But I had an aloe shot, arnold palmer, and a cake batter smoothie.  So good.  And once again, I felt so healthy afterwards!!  After supper, I went to try my luck at the closest to the pin competition.  I was the last one to go and I connected well with both of my shots, but they went too far right.  I heard a few screams and hit a cabin on my second shot :/  Oops!!  I then played four holes (finishing my round from like 3 weeks ago...) and a man joined up with me.  His name was Eric and he was very nice!  Talked about how he hadn't golfed in awhile and he asked me about my golf game and education and life.  It was nice to golf with someone randomly!  I ended up shooting 11 over.  Bah.  Not horrible for my first round this season I guess.  Oh and that was only 9 holes...ugh.  Now I am sitting in my bed and Vivien just arrived back from visiting the Tomlinson's.  They are the people that got her to work here and Austen can speak fluent Hungarian!!  So great for her :)  Off to Katie's cabin for a bit.  Playing guitar now.  Can't wait to play and sing for everyone when I get home!!!

Kayak

At the moment, I am sitting in my quite cool cabin after working lunch.  I am sharing a family with Katie this week and have a family of four to myself as well.  My family of four has a grandmother, mother, and her two kids (Kate and Will).  My table of 10 consists of all of the kids to Katie's table of parents.  Awesome.  I have all of the teeny boppers that think they are cooler than everyone and everything around.  Oh well, it's going smoothly so far :)  Yesterday was pretty great.  Worked breakfast, went to zumba (which is taught by my lovely roommate from Hungary, Vivien), played in the marching band, worked the picnic, taught swimming lessons, laid out, swam in the lake, worked supper, and then finished off the night kayaking.  At the picnic on the deck, the guy that 'runs' our marching band is a trumpet player and a band director in the area and he plays for the guests while they eat.  I asked him if next week I could play some duets with him!!!  I'm so excited to perform.  Every opportunity will definitely help me be able to perform in front of people with more ease.  I laid out and swam with Cathy while a lot of others were out on RJ's boat.  Kayaking was amazing.  It was my first time, but it wasn't too difficult or anything.  I went with Derek and Katie (Vivien was supposed to come but she didn't make it out in time).  The lake was very calm and the sun was setting.  On the way back, I kinda paddled off ahead while they talked behind me.  It was nice having a moment out in the middle of a lake to just paddle and think.  Especially while the sun was setting.  How cool is that?  It was just gorgeous....and I was inspired to write a song, so we'll see if that gets finished ever :/
Today I was tired when I woke up.  I worked breakfast and then decided that I needed to get out of Fair Hills for a bit before lunch.  I drove to DL (Detroit Lakes) and went shopping for a bit.  I didn't buy anything, don't worry.  Picked up Subway on the way back.  It felt good to just drive around with my music blaring.  I even got to talk to my sister on the way home :)  Good luck on your quizzes sissy!!!  Love you.
Now I am waiting until 230, when the waterslide starts!!!  They set up this HUGE sheet of plastic on one of the holes on the golf course and then put the sprinklers on and a hose at the top and you slide down incredibly fast!  You get really muddy and dirty, but it looks like so much fun!!  Can't wait to try it!
Aaron wants to sing in the talent show together sometime.  That means I need to find a duet...and a possibly easy one to play with guitar :)  So pumped!!!  Should be fun.
Okay, off to play guitar for awhile maybe and find a good song.  Pray that I find my camera....it's been missing for a week and I am so depressed about it.  I just got it for Christmas :(
Kait.

Bless Her Heart

Having a cough attack at the moment, which is no fun if your throat is already sore.  So I missed breakfast, lunch, and swimming lessons today due to my sickness.  I decided to go in for supper though because it was the last supper of the week for the families.  And good thing I did because my family of 5 was leaving early the next morning and would not be at brunch!  As I was saying goodbye, the mother had Easton (about 4 I would say) hand me a note that had money inside.  He had drawn a picture inside and the parents put in $50 :) How nice!!!  I, of course, cried.  Then, Caitlin came over and told me a little girl at her table wanted to say goodbye to me.  She was a girl that had come to my dance classes with me this week and performed in the talent show to the National Dance Day Dance from this past year that I had taught them.  Her mom told wanted to thank me for teaching her daughter her first hip-hop routine.  The daughter was a dancer and I told her to never give up and that she will be amazing someday.  My voice was pretty much shot, so I did the best I could talking to her.  Gave her a big hug.  Cried again.  Then, went back over to my table of 8, who was thankfully going to be at brunch the next morning to say goodbye, so I wouldn't have to cry more tonight.  But I walk over there and Kim (the mother) has tears in her eyes!!!  Ahhhhh, so I started to bawl as she hugged me for such an amazing week.  Little Jessa was in her arms and gave me such a big hug.  Kim said she started to cry when we sang "Pelican Lake" tonight.  We always sing in the dining hall at 6:40pm on Fridays, but I watched today because I couldn't sing.  But when we did Pelican Lake, I ran around and did the actions :)  I will be doing this dance CONSTANTLY in my apartment this year roommates, so look out :)  I will teach it to you!!  I am going to miss this place horribly and don't want to think about leaving.
So, this morning, woke up and told Vivien to tell Lez that I wasn't coming in because I didn't feel well.  When Vivien came back after the breakfast shift, she had a big plate of food and drinks and I wasn't understanding what her intentions were at first, not assuming they were for me.  But, bless her heart, she brought me back a pancake, a piece of french toast, orange juice, and tea.  She said I had to eat and drink it all.  I normally don't like tea, but she brought up a bunch of different kinds.  I picked one out and she put honey and sugar in it and brought a fresh lemon to squeeze into it!!!  What an amazing act of kindness, seriously.  I was so shocked and felt so blessed.  She is such a wonderful friend and I hope I get to visit her someday in Hungary.  Anyway, I am exhausted and it's only 9:30.  I am going to bed.  Apparently some severe storms are on their way...hopefully I can sleep :)  Hope this post finds you all in better health than I am at the moment....love!

Sickness

So, turns out I woke up not being able to breathe very well this morning.  My throat was scratchy yesterday, but I didn't think it would turn into something.  Well, I was definitely wrong.  My throat is so clogged up and my nose is icky.  Had to cancel my swimming lessons today because there was no way that I was going to be able to breathe in the pool.  Went into town with Katie and Vivien because I needed cough drops and dayquil and we decided to stop at this place called DL Fusion.  It is like a heathly smoothie shop thing, but different.  You pay $6 and get a shot of aloe (which cleanses your digestive system), a tea (hot or cold in different flavors), and a smoothie (I got an Elvis which is peanut butter and bananas).  Caitlin, I totally thought of you when I got something with banana in it :)  It was all so yummy and Katie and I kept saying how 'heathly' we felt.  I just hate having a cold and feeling like crap.  This never happens to me in the summer!!  What the heck!!  Ow, it hurts to sneeze :(
The fourth here was great!!  We went out on the boat for a bit and had some fun tubing.  Everybody had been talking about the fireworks show here for days, so I was so excited to see it.  The best spot is apparently on the 7th green and they go right over your head.  So, we got a big blanket and sat out to watch.  They were taking forever to start and we finally saw why.  A big storm was heading our way and they couldn't start the show until they knew we would be safe.  They eventually started and it was so cool because lightning was going crazy during the whole thing and made the sky just light up with the fireworks!!  So cool.  It was an amazing fireworks display, no doubt about that.
Love my families this week.  One family of 8 (yeah, they have 6 kids) is from Spokane, Washington.  Jack and Kim are the parents and then we have Emma, Iris, Gracie, Jessa, Drew, and Joseph.  The mom is American Indian, so the kids are just beautiful!!  My other family is a family of 5 (and one on the way!!).  I really can't tell you the parents names :/ But their kids are Jack, Easton, and something else....shoot I can't remember!  Jack is adorable and brings me things to the meals everyday.  I have gotten pinecones, flowers, seashells, and a seed.  He is about 5 I would say and so cute!!  There is another little girl named Eliza that has gotten attached to me.  I babysat her one day and her mom asked me today if I would be interested in nannying for her next summer in Minneapolis!  Woah!  Such a nice family :)
Well, I am so exhausted and have to work in the morning.  Hopefully I can get to sleep and feel better soon.
Love love.

Work Work Work

Yesterday was quite long.  I worked a 3 hour brunch shift in the morning.  Then, the housekeepers needed help making beds and cleaning over at Lake Five Resort (about a half hour drive), so Katie, Vivien, Aaron, and I went over there from 12-4.  After we got back to Fair Hills, we were all so hungry and tired.  Suzie in the kitchen (she is sooo nice) gave me and Katie some ice cream and chips and then we headed down to the lake to jump in.  It felt SO nice.  We layed out for a bit and then I went to shower and get ready for our new families at supper!  I have a family of 8 (6 children) and a family of 5 (3 children).  So many kids this week.  That means a lot of cute faces but a lot of messes!  I have already fallen in love with them!!  It is one of the little girls' (Jessa's) birthday today, so we will sing to her tonight and the boys will give her kisses on the cheek!  After supper last night, Vivien, Katie, and Helen (from Belarus) went into Detroit Lakes to go to Walmart and get a few things.  A few things turned into $60 worth for me, but it was necessary.  A new bathing suit, work shorts, pop, chips, a movie, m&ms, hairspray, you know...the essentials!  By the time we got back it was 11pm and we decided it was too late to watch a movie.  Instead we all came up to my cabin (Steph was back at her house for the night) and Kat came over too and we just talked until 130am....well shoot, we could have watched a movie!  I love talking and getting to know people though, so it was completely worth it.  We talked about everything, even religion.  It was cool seeing their perspective on things and I put in a few comments here and there because Kat is not sure what to believe.  It was hard listening to her not knowing what she has for her future if she had faith.  Hopefully my subtle comments and my non-forceful personality gave her a push start :)  Prayers for everybody here at Fair Hills, whether they are Christians or not, that I may teach them something or push them in the right direction before I leave here.  Prayers for me too...it is hard to stay in the Word while I have so much going on...and want to just lay out in the sun.  Much appreciated :)
Today I worked breakfast and then went on a quick run down Pelican Point Drive, which is apparently the place to run around here.  It was nice, but had a huge hill in it!  I ran back to the lobby to get a drink of water and decided to check the mail.  There was a big box with my name on it from my dad's house and I totally wasn't expecting it!!  I opened it up right there (because I couldn't wait until I went back to my cabin of course) and found some of my favorite things from Julie.  Diet mountain dew, almonds, sunscreen, a sundress, and some cookies.  It was so thoughtful and so unexpected that it completely made my day!!  Thanks so much Julie!  Now lunch is done and I am going to go lay out with Katie :)  I hope you get a chance to relax in the sun today wherever you are!!!  And don't forget to apply sunscreen :)