This Week's Five Things That Made Me Smile

I start so many blog posts that I never finish or that never see publication. They end up with me rambling and talking in circles or they get way too personal to post on the internet. Sometimes they start out with promise and then after two paragraphs I just don't see the point in finishing what I started saying. Sometimes I can't articulate what I want to say the right way, so I just don't try. I want my writing to mean something, and sometimes I think I focus too much on that instead of writing what's truly on my heart. I should write for me, not for other people. This is my blog, after all. But I also know that I am posting this online, not in my personal journal, so I am somewhat writing for the world (or my world, I suppose) to read. Anyway, I guess what I'm getting at is that I'll hopefully write something meaningful sometime in the near future. Until then, I'm going to focus on things that are making me happy.

There's so much going on in the world and our lives. Every day we deal with stress, sadness, anger, and other negative things. I think sometimes we let these things overtake the things that we should feel blessed that we have. We focus so much on the bad and the ugly that we forget how much good we have too. So here we go again, here you have the things that made me smile this week.

1. My Bri got married! Ever since my first real conversation with this girl, I knew she would have an important and permanent place in my life. For much of my college career she was my spiritual rock. She was my church buddy and someone I went to for advice in so many aspects of my life. The first time I met Patrick I adored him. He was sweet and funny, and of course loved football! I got the call about her engagement and literally squealed with excitement. I was so excited to get to share in her wedding day, and everything was so fun and gorgeous. It was a long night for me, as I had to go to camp afterward (which resulted in my arriving at camp around 3am) but it was so worth it! I also got to see some friends I haven't seen in months or even years! It was a great night. Congrats, Bri and Patrick Coggins!

Me, Bri and Christy at the reception. A RallyCats reunion!

Barbie, whom I haven't seen in years, and I sat next to each other at the reception

2. Most people think my hair is naturally straight because that's typically how I wear it. However, my hair is naturally wavy/curly. If it isn't done properly, it gets super frizzy and crazy in what my mom and I call "Lion Head" because it looks like a crazy lion mane. I always used to hate my hair because it does crazy things, but I'm learning to embrace it and now that I have mastered how to properly style my hair naturally, I actually love wearing it wavy! Plus it helps in all this rainy and hot weather when my hair wants to crimp and wave if it's straightened.

This is my naturally wavy hair

3. Have I mentioned how much I love manicures? Oh, I have? Well, I do. And I gave myself a new one this week after much indecisiveness after camp. I love doing my own nails and trying fun things! This time I did water marbling, which I've done before, but I did it in some summery colors on two accent nails on each hand.

Mint Candy Apple with Tart Deco and Play Date marble, all by Essie

4. I feel very blessed to have an awesome sister-in-law. Lately a few people have brought it to my attention that I talk about Haley a lot and speak very highly of her. I told a friend that she reminded me of Haley the other day and she said "I'm taking that as a compliment because of the way you talk about her!" I thought about it and she's right. I absolutely love that when people ask me about my brother's wife I can truly say I love her and she's one of my best friends. I miss her a lot and New Orleans is a lot farther than Cincinnati so I won't get to see her as much, but it looks like I'll have to be making a trip to NOLA in the near future!

Haley and me at our friend Hillary's wedding two summers ago

At her rehearsal dinner

The day she became my sister-in-law!

5. I have a job that I love. Coaching soccer is the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. I don't make a lot of money, I put up with a lot of crap from kids and parents, I spend long days in the hot sun, and I give up my weekends and evenings to be with these kids. But I absolutely love what I do and I love these kids. The high school season starts this week with our first preseason tournament and my younger teams start in August, and I can't wait. I've already got practice plans running through my head and I'm ready to knock the ball around a little myself. Soccer season is the best season!

My three teams and me all together last fall

My Camp Week

Another week of Camp Otyokwah is in the books for me, as I just finished my 8th year on staff for the junior week. I lost my voice by Wednesday, slept in a sleeping bag in a bunk bed, had kids hanging off my limbs several times a day, sang ridiculous songs, ate camp food, and trudged through mud and rain every day, but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world because I also had so many absolutely wonderful experiences.

One of the best parts of camp for me is seeing my camp family. Kevin and Kelly have been on staff with me for 7/8 years I've been here and took over as deans my 3rd year. This was their last year leading junior week and it has been very bittersweet for me. I love them like family and we have all gotten so close over the last few years that it was hard to see them go. Kevin, Kelly, Johnny and I have been staffing together for 7 years and it's sad to see it come to an end, but I know I'm not done at Camp Otyokwah yet, and hopefully Johnny isn't either!

Kelly, Kevin, me and Johnny at the end of camp

Speaking of Johnny, we first met 7 years ago during my first week on staff. We got close a couple years later and our friendship has been growing ever since. We joke that we are the survivors because we are the only two staff members left from that first year, but we really are survivors in a lot of ways. When we first met we were both in high school and life seemed pretty simple. Today we are both college graduates and have each been through some tough times, but we're still at camp and I think there's a reason for that. We laugh so much and make an awesome team, and I'm excited to see what next year has in store for us!

Johnny and me in '06 and then this summer. We've grown up some :)

Another awesome thing that happened at camp this year was that I met Johnny's little sister, Rachel. She joined the staff this year and we ended up being in the same cabin together. Within an hour of meeting her Sunday morning I knew I was going to like her a lot. By Tuesday we knew more about each other than most people would know in years. People didn't believe us when we told them we met literally two days before. We had such a fun week together both in our cabin with our girls and in our one on one time with each other. It was totally worth it to lose sleep those nights we stayed up after the kids went to bed so we could get to know each other. I feel very lucky to have gained another wonderful friend from my camp experience.

Oak 1 cabin moms on the last day of camp

The main goal of camp is to witness to the kids, of course. We spend every day teaching kids about the bible and the Christian lifestyle, leading bible groups, praying at vespers, leading devotions, singing Christian songs,  and answering questions about all kinds of things. Spending time with other staff members is a bonus. The last couple of years we have been so lucky to have a lot of fun staff members, and this year was no different. Friday night a few of us girls stayed up laughing, eating junk food, stargazing, talking, and generally just spending time together. We didn't get to bed until 5am but all the laughs and memories we have from that time make it totally worth it.

We're missing Kyrsten but here's most of the 5am crew: Rachel, Stacie, Emily and me

I turned my phone off Saturday night/Sunday morning when I got to camp and didn't turn it back on until the following Saturday. There's something very freeing about not being connected to technology and I sometimes wish I could just turn my phone off more, but unfortunately that's just not realistic these days. I've spent the last couple of days catching up on emails and phone calls (I had 250 emails and 7 voicemails when I turned my phone on...) as well as sleep. In addition to all that fun, Rachel and I both discovered Saturday night that both of our legs are covered in itchy bumps that we aren't sure what they are or where they came from. No one else seems to have them and they don't look like anything either of us has ever had before, so we've both also been drifting in and out of Benadryl induced sleep for the better part of the last two days.

I'm exhausted, sore, physically and mentally spent, itchy, and I still have no voice, but I'm already missing camp, especially all the kids and fellow staff. Less than a year until I get to go back again! Until then, hopefully some of us staff can visit each other in addition to keeping up on Facebook and via text. It's time for my next dose of Benadryl, so I'll end here for now. See you all soon!