"He's a 71 year old man who smells like cat pee"

Week 1 is always a special week.  I’m not really sure why because as counselors, we’re sometimes stressed about getting back into the rhythm of things or just figuring out what the rhythm even is.  The excitement and nervousness and anticipation all collide on that first Sunday staff meeting and when the first camper’s car pulls up to the cabin.  Sharing the excitement with Bre was fun and got me excited about all of the check-in days that we’ll share for the rest of the summer in our blue polos. 

CILT session 1 had a ton of rockstar old Shoshone girls and I absolutely loved running into them all over camp and getting hugs and funny faces and people yelling my name and throwing invisible mice.  Seeing them with their adopt-a-cabins was even better.  It was like a million proud momma moments for the entire session watching them love and lead like it was second nature.  

Week 1 also allowed me to check something off of my Camp Tecumseh bucket list: sleepout on the suspension bridge.  It was extremely windy and much colder than I anticipated and I hardly slept, but it was amazing.  The stars are so beautiful here and made for a beautiful night and fun with my girls and the Paiute girls and Erin.  Erin is phenomenal and I’m so excited to keep getting to know her as neighbors this summer.  

Michelle was at camp for most of the week for staff training for day camp 2012.  She’s going to be an all-star DC and I am so excited for the opportunities ahead of her this summer and just really cannot wait to be in the same place with her for so long, let alone our favorite place in the ENTIRE world.  Maddie Bien’s sister was here for DC too and we decided to be sister friends and do songs at campfires together with our sister-ness.

Another one of my favorite little things about being a counselor is getting to be a part of chapels.  As a camper, I never understood how people were lucky enough to be a part of chapels, and I always wanted to be up there on that stage leading and singing.

Theme nights are fun and 80s nights are fun and together, they’re funfun.  So is Olivia.  I’m so glad I’ve gotten to know her and that she’s here at Tecumseh and loving every single minute, even when things are hard.  

Wanna know what's fun about staff training?

Seeing Jamie again was the perfect way to start off the first day of staff training and the summer of 2012 at the beautiful Camp Tecumseh.  I love this girl more than she knows and I'm so glad that we can even be back together at the same place for the entire summer.  Even though I'll miss her in Lake Village, I know she's going to do a great job teaching those CILTs to be leaders and lovers of Christ.  

 

Our nature day was probably one of my favorites of the entire week.  Mike took our group all over camp to each of the different sleep-out spots, on trails that I never knew existed, and then ended with a hobo dinner cookout and pictures on the giant chair.  Getting to know all of the new staff, and even returners that I didn't know well last summer, was awesome.  Being in this place just makes life easy.  Friendships come naturally and sharing and being yourself is effortless.

Watching and listening to these guys doing chapel practice at night on the picnic tables of Scheumann was one of my favorite "little moments" of staff training.  Listening to the music all together out under the stars was the perfect illustration of what this week was for me.  It was a chance to unwind from the stresses of school and the craziness of real life and be able to enjoy the simplicity of life and nature and God.

Unit and partner pairings are two of the most anticipated events of all of staff training.  It's like in Harry Potter when they put on the sorting hat and learn their fate.  Mary Lang and I spent the two days leading up to the event freaking out and having extreme anxiety about it all, only to end up with amazing partners and getting to live on the same porch together.  My partner Bre is not only my partner, but my sister.  She's a Delta Gamma at Purdue and we are sure to be DG scooping together all summer long.