Catch-up (not to be confused with the condiment)

Well, here's the long awaited blog post!!

For some reason blogger has been very unwilling to cooperate lately, so this blog took a LONG time to finally get posted.

After school let out the end of July I went back to Seattle and started work at Camp Sealth on Vashon Island, where I've worked/been a camper for the past 11 years.  Someday there will be an epic post containing camp memories, but for now I'm just running down the basics for you.

I worked this summer in the Kitchen as the Assistant Head cook for two weeks. My boss (who had also supervised me summer 2007 when I was the dining hall coordinator) informed me that she would be leaving and was training me to replace her!! That training required me to learn how to cook three meals a day, plus snacks, plus special diets (i.e. vegetarians, vegans, gluten intolerant, PKU, allergies, Kosher,etc) for 400 every day!!! I did have three prep cooks, but as far as the actually cooking on the stove and in the oven, it was all me.  Needless to say, supervising a kitchen at the age of Nineteen is HARD (by the way, when Dad was the Head cook in the Army he was only Nineteen...weird, huh?) As well as being responsible for having food on the table, I also had to make sure that everyone in the kitchen was doing their job properly, anywhere from myself to the dishwashers.  It was tough, especially since they were experimenting with a new system of food service that wasn't that efficient this summer, and most of the people in the kitchen were sixteen-eighteen. We worked with what we had, and in the end, no one got food poisoning, the kids had full tummies, and i got paid $13/hr for a 40+ work week. So I was satisfied. 

We also had great help from one of the former Food Service Managers, Yoda, and she was amazing.  I love her to pieces. 

Alex and I also got into a car accident, so I've been going to the chiropractor for the last several months and hopefully a settlement will happen here within the next few months.  Could it possibly pay for a volvo?  Who knows.

The above picture is me with my old KA (kitchen assistant) Pluto (Delaney).  I was her boss last summer, and I was so glad to see her back at camp again this year. 

I did do some stuff with the family while I was home and I will post pictures later, including pics from Aidan's birthday party!!  I was sad I didn't get to spend more time with Mom and Dad while I was in Seattle. I think next summer when I come home I won't work. I do have a scheme for next August, but you'll just have to wait to hear about that... ;-)

Before I went back to Idaho there were a few catastrophic events, including a trip to the hospital, but for the details you'll just have to call me or email.

The next few pictures are of me after I moved back to Rexburg. My new roommates (who are awesome, in case you were wondering) invited me to go to Yellowstone with them!! So here's a few pictures from that trip...

This is us at the little town before you go into the actual park, they had tons of gift shops and good food. That's me kissing the Bison.
If you can see across the river behind me here in this next picture, you will see an Elk laying down in the grass on the little island.  I named him Gilbert. He's actually A LOT bigger than this picture gives him credit, and I was shaking the whole time walking out to the bank of the river, afraid that he would come running across and gouge me with his monstrous antlers.
Here's me inhaling Old Faithful.  The...eruption? is that the right term?....was really small the time that we sat there for, but it sure was cool.
After our trip to Yellowstone we went to a Demolition Derby!!  I decided to dress like a hick, hence the hair...it was pretty sweet.  I'd never been to a demolition derby before, it was intense and TOTALLY AWESOME.

The next few picutres are from a trip that Lisa and I made to Boise.

Let me back up...

In case you weren't aware, that Jon guy I'd posted about a few times turned out to be a great enough guy to steady date (what an old fashioned saying!) We dated for about two months towards the ends of the summer, and it was great fun.

Jon got his mission call to serve in Lubbock, Texas and entered the MTC two weeks ago.  I am so pleased with the decisions he has made and I feel so blessed by the great example he had set for me. While we were dating we decided to try together to take President Hinckley's advice and "Try a little harder to be a little better". We set goals together that were things that we both wanted to accomplish and worked hard towards them. We both wanted to read our scriptures and say our prayers everyday, we both wanted to get in better shape, we wanted to monitor our media consumption, particularly R movies, and we wanted to get better grades.  We worked out together, studied the scriptures together, and helped each other to make the harder decisions when either of was feeling a little less-than-motivated to do good. It was great to have a cheerleader to help you out, and someone to break the rules with, too. What an awesome boyfriend to have, and an even greater friend. I'll post some pictures of us later, or you can see some on Facebook.

Hahaha....this first picture is of these AWESOME shoes i bought just before the trip.  They are vibram fivefingers, and they are amazing.  When I wear them I feel like I'm barefoot, but my feet don't hurt when I walk over hard rocks or anything like that.  They are SOOO comfortable and they make me feel like a little kid out in the backyard wherever I go.  I feel much more in touch with the earth.  Plus, they help your posture by keeping your toes spread out and supporting your arches.  Overall, they're amazing. This was taken in the car-ride on the way back from Boise.  We took the scenic route through Arco and Craters of the Moon.  It was very pretty.
This next one is poorly lit, but still cute.  This is Lisa and Jon while they were making pancakes for breakfast one morning. Jon is a great cook.
This next picture is of Lisa and I in Downtown Boise searching for Starbucks.  We hadn't been to civilization in a while, and we needed our dose of Seattle Coffeehouse.  Jon works at the Saturday Market in Downtown Boise where he sells bread for a bakery he works at.  It was so fun to have a day in the City.  Lisa and I, who are both quite partial to Seattle, actually really enjoyed ourselves in Boise.  We likes how small downtown was and how friendly the people were.  All in all, a great trip.
This is right before we spotted Starbucks!!

Well, there's lots more catching up to do, so I'll post again soon, hopefully Blogger will cooperate more easily next time.

Stay tuned or pictures of Mom's visit to Idaho, pictures of our Apartment theme nights, and maybe even some cows from the livestock center!!

Sure love ya'll.