House Sitting and Dog Watching

Friday afternoon after I got home from Girls Camp, SM and I went to Maryland to house-sit for a former professor. Really we were there to take care of the three dogs. Luckily it wasn't too much work...and SM enjoyed throwing the ball with the dogs.And throwing the ball some more. I think the worst part was in the evening when we walked the dogs so that they could do their business. SM had to pick up the poop since I don't do that kind of thing.
But we were able to use their pool on Saturday. We enjoyed a few hours in the water.
Sunday morning we headed back home so that SM could go do his home teaching and so that I could get my lesson ready before church. I was very excited to go home and actually sleep in my own bed, since it had been a week since I had the opportunity.

And now I'm home...starting the packing process. Should be lots o' fun!!

Girls Camp

Last week I attended Girls Camp as one of the camp cooks. It was a very fun, great, tiring and exhausting experience. I was there from Monday to Friday...but didn't have to cook anything on Monday (since we went into town and ate at Wendy's...not all the girls were up at camp that day).

I felt like I was always either preparing food, serving food, cleaning up food and then preparing again for the next meal. I have been to this camp two other times and this job was definitely the most difficult.

This is a picture of the area where the girls have thier testimony meeting. Of course, the meeting is in the evening and it is dark by the time you leave, but it is so beautiful during the daylight.

Wednesday was the day that all the girls went on their certification hikes. It also rained the whole day. It started by just sprinkling but picked up and bit and continued at that level until about four that afternoon. Because of the mud and wetness, the skits that evening were performed in the dining hall instead of out at the ampithear...which is just an open area with logs for seating. I loved having the skits in the lodge because I could hear and see everything that was happening.

Here I am, taking a self portrait on Thursday July 24th. We had an afternoon full of pioneer games and outside games. The girls were in groups that would rotate through the different game centers.

Here the girls were making tin can lanterns. They thought of a design and then used the nail and hammer to create the design. Electric candles were given to be placed inside the lantern.

There was a water relay game where the girls had to wash the shirt with a block of soap three times, then pass the wet shirt down the line of girls where the last girl would squeeze out as much water as she could to fill a jar at the end of the line. Needless to say, most of the girls got wet but the weather was beautiful and they seemed to enjoy themselves.

This was the watermelon seed spitting contest. The girls really got into this once the leaders stepped up in front of them and had the girls see if they could spit the seeds onto the leaders. It really was hilarious to see some of the girls try to spit seeds. I could tell that they had never done it before.

And you can't forget the pie eating contest. (The pie was just a paper plate filled with whipped cream with a cherry on top). This was a very fun event even if not everyone wanted to participate.

And you can't forget the stick pull. Here I am pulling the stick with one of the other camp cooks. She's a woman full of so much strength and energy. In the picture below you will notice that she did pull me over. I was very impressed...especially since I know that she is sixty-one years old.
Some other events included a ring toss and a game of horseshoes.

And this is us in the leader cabin late at night. We were exhausted but usually stayed up talking late into the night. One of our leaders in a massage therapist. She brought up her table and her car buffer. The combination was heaven. We each had our turn at being "buffed."

And that is camp...in a nutshell. There were lots of other things that happened but that is a quick overview of my week.

Final quilts

I finished my split rail quilt that I recently learned at my ward quilting class. It is very bright and fun! We are supposed to be learning another quilt this weekend. I have a very busy week planned but hope to have the opportunity to at least go and see what they are doing and then do it on my own...later.
While I was walking this morning, I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of some of the summer flowers.

Some sewing projects

This last week I've been sewing like crazy almost every day. I think it's because I'm going to girls camp next week and so I won't be home for that whole week. That weekend we are house watching/dog watching for a former law professor of SM's and so we won't be home for the weekend...except to water the tomatoes. And I feel the pressure of moving looming in the future. I actually told SM I'll start packing for our across country move when I get back from girls camp and house watching...so, I feel the need to get most of my sewing done right now.
Right now, I have only these three baby boy quilts to show, but I've actually sewn some recieving blankets that I need to crochet the outer edges before they are done. So, I've done a lot of sewing, just not too many finished products to show for it.
And today I was working on a split rail small quilt, but as I attached the backing, I realized everything has shifted and so I'm spending hours pulling out the stitches so that I can start over. Oh well, that's just one of the things that happens when sewing. I really was trying to finish two quilts today but it looks like I might not get either of them done.

Rafting down the Shenandoah River

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to post with this post. (I actually left my camera home...for those of you who know me, this is not my normal self.)

Saturday morning, SM and I had some friends meet us at our apartment, then we all piled into the van and headed away from here. I say away, because I'm not exactly sure which direction we went...but I think it was away from the East Coast because we ended up at Harper's Ferry, at a place near where the Shenandoah and the Potomac Rivers merge into one river. Knowing where we were really wasn't important to me. What was important was the water!

We had such a great time floating in tubes down the Shenandoah for about a mile, then jumping out, walking back up and doing it again, and again, and again. The water was really high and so I didn't have to worry about crashing into too many rocks. (On a side note, I have gone tubing down the Shenandoah two other times where the water was much lower and I did have to worry about crashing into rocks). The weather was very pleasant and the water temperature was really nice. In fact, at one point I jumped out of my tube and just floated down the river in my life preserver and really enjoyed the freedom I felt in the water. (Another side note, there were quite a few fish jumping and when you were on the shores you could see schools of small fish swimming near the beach areas).

The whole day was glorious and I really enjoyed myself. The worst part of the day was when I got in bed that night, every time I closed my eyes I felt like I was riding the river again, but of course, my dreams decided to make the river into a water fall and so I kept dreaming about speeding down a river to the waterfall. That was awful.

I'm in love with fabric

This weekend Joann's had a 4th of July sale on some of their fabrics. I didn't know about the sale but had a hankering to go get some fabric to make a split rail quilt (which I've finished the top but need to run to WalMart to get the batting to finish the quilt). While at the store I found out that the flannel was on sale...cheaper than buy at WalMart and so I bought a few pieces.
And then on Saturday I just couldn't help it, but I went back to buy some more. In total, I spent $90.00 dollars of my allowance. I have never spent that much on just fabric in such a short amount of time. That's probably how much I usually spend in a year. But I absolutely love the new designs and thoughts that I have for these projects.

I made a special effort to find "little boy" colors because it seems that a lot of my friends are having boys this fall. I'm going to try to get a few quilts done before I we move so that I can give them as gifts. As a side note, I've spent most of the day preparing my material so that I can start using it. Such preparations include washing it, drying it, and ironing it. Phew, preparations can be tiring.

My Favorite Holiday

The fourth of July is my favorite holiday. It has special meaning to me broadly...I love the freedom's that this country offers to it's citizens. I love my religious freedoms and my ability to share those with others. I also love this holiday because of specific reasons. This is the day that my grandparents were married. Without their marriage and children, I wouldn't exist! I also love that the 4th means a family reunion. Before I was married it meant a family reunion with my mother's extended family. Now that I'm married it also includes a family gathering on SM's side of the family!! When SM and I are away from our families for the 4th of July, it means a gathering planned with our friends...such as this year.

For the 4th of July, we started the morning off bright and early by arriving at the church at 6:30 am to help cook pancakes for the Ward 4th of July Annual Celebration. After spending three and a half hours there, we came home. I played on the computer a little bit and then put together a frog-eye salad while SM played the Wii all by his lonesome. Then at noon we headed over to our friends house where we spent hours eating, playing games, talking, and chasing kids. It was full of lots of love!! SM stayed to play games all afternoon while I came home and read a book until it was time to start the evening festivities.

The evening festivities began by driving to the top level of the metro station in our town. We brought camping chairs and a folding table to continue with some games but the weather had different ideas and a steady drip kept us under umbrellas most of the night. In fact, we arrived at the top of the parking structure around 7:45 pm but the fireworks were postponed until 10:00 pm because of the rain. But FINALLY the fireworks went off and they were lots of fun. I forget how loud they are...and always wish I remembered to bring ear plugs. The fireworks were great this year...but the rain made it less enjoyable. In fact, a few friends left before the fireworks even got started because they had tired and wet kids so they took them home early. The only bad thing about being stuck on the top of a seven layered parking garage is that when the fireworks are over...you can't exactly get into your car and go anywhere. There are too many other people slowly leaving and so you are stuck waiting for the crowds to clear. Once again, this is not really a problem if it's not raining because you can just continue playing games. But for our 4th of July, we stood around watching the traffic on the ground and trying not to get wet. The good thing about the rain is that it is not cold rain. With the humidity, it's just part of the warm blanket that surrounds you as you step outside.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July...I did! What a fabulous holiday!!