The End

Well the summer has finally come to an end. I'm sad it's over but so very glad to be home. This last week working in LA was a phenomenal opportunity. I have loved being able to work with inner city kids. They are absolutely ADORABLE! It's crazy to think that 8 weeks ago I had no idea what I was getting into and now I can't stop singing camp songs and playing guitar! I learned a lot this summer and have been so blessed by the opportunities I had this summer. I met some AMAZING people who have changed my life and I can't wait to return next summer. My favorite group of kids to work with this summer were the 6 and 7 year olds I got to lead Bible study for this past week in Inglewood. I also loved, loved, LOVED the people I got to work with over the past three weeks.
{Much love from a girl who was blessed this summer}

Summer Recap

We started with two weeks of training. One at El Camino Pines, a weekend at Huntington beach, and one week at Yolijwa! Then it was six weeks spent with kids!!! Day camps were my favorite place to work this summer:)

Here's where I spent the last six weeks and a little bit about each adventure!

Week 1: Hope Lutheran in Temecula

I loved, loved, loved this church! I really enjoyed my team this week as well and found one of my camp best friends Beth! We went running everyday together :) My favorite camper of the summer was here as well. His name is Nolan. He is 7 years old and is the best camper a counselor could ever ask for!

Week 2: El Camino Pines-Mini-week

This was my first week on-site. I only had 4 campers. It was a tad challenging for me because I didn't know how things went on-site but it went well and I had an amazing co-counselor, Ariana! I got to work with other amazing staff members in our Bible study group. My favorite group of campers(as a cabin) were here this week and they were 6 eighth graders that were suuuuuper sweet and so fun to be around:)

Week 3: El Camino Pines- Confirmation Camp

I never thought I'd say this, but I actually enjoyed working with junior high students! Maybe I just got lucky and had amazing girls but I really enjoyed myself this week! I had two great co-counselors, Hannah B. and Stephanie. This week I had my favorite hike of the summer and an indoor pack-out! LOVED IT!!

Week 4: Mt. Carmel Lutheran in San Luis Obispo

I was very blessed by this church! I got to stay with my other camp BFF Josie. She is wonderful! I was kinda sick but I got to play lots of guitar this week!! We did not do our programming, we were simply there to help with their VBS. It was a great church with AMAZING people! We stayed with a wonderful family who took us to the farmer's market and we got a comfy bed and own bathroom. Talk about luxury! SLO is a BEAUTIFUL town!

Week 5: Salem Lutheran in Glendale

This week was AHHHH-MAZING! We were so blessed by the congregation. I got to stay with Grandma Lee this week and it was really fun! The kids were so great this week too:) We also got spend lots of time with my favorite pastor of all times, Pastor Sarah. She is 8 months pregnant and the cutest thing in the world! She lives in an adorable house with her husband who is wonderful! They took us to the Griffith Observatory, had us over to their house for a few nights, and to a tv taping of The Sing-Off! We had A LOT fun this week! And I loved my team:)

Week 6: New City Perish in Inglewood

We stayed with a wonderful lady named Willa! She was so great! She took us grocery shopping and we ate lots of yummy things this week. She didn't like to cook so we made her dinner every night:) There were 5 high school volunteers who helped us this week and they were sooooo great! Our team was really good and we had a lot of fun:) It was a great way to end the summer!
It''s crazy to think about but the summer has now come to an end and it's back to school in 9 days for me!
{Much love from a girl who had a *magical* summer}

Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood!!

This week my team and I are in Inglewood in LA. We are doing a day camp for inner city children. It has been such a blessing to work with these kids and it has only been one day!! We are staying at the home of the one of the church members and her name is Willa. Willa worked for the LAPD for over 30 years and is retired. Now she works at the church as the secretary and pretty much runs the church if you ask me. She is amazing!! She doesn't like to cook very much. When she was told that I don't eat gluten, she asked what it was and said she would take us shopping. We promised to make her dinner every night. We bought a ton of healthy, gluten-free, organic food at the store!! Here's what we got:
For breakfast:
cereal
yogurt (A new found love of mine this summer!)
bagels
eggs
bread (for toast!.)
fruit (grapes..for $0.98/lb!!!..strawberries, bananas, watermelon)

Lunch is at the church (but I take something gluten-free to eat!)

Snacks:
popcorn
chips and salsa
PB&J

Dinner: we planned out all our meals for the week:)
Sunday night was taco night! We made homemade guacamole! YUMMY!!!
Monday: Tonight was excellent! Anthony, Hannah, and I made a huge green salad and brown rice pasta with ground turkey, veggies, and organic garlic tomato sauce. It was delicious!!
Tuesday: We are going to have chicken breast with brown rice and corn on the cob.
Wednesday: Chester turns 18!!! We are going out to dinner with his family:)
Thursday: Hannah is making pork chops with mashed potatoes and asparagus! I am very excited!
We have a nice little system down and we all work together to make and/or clean up dinner!
We are having so much fun and eating super healthy this week! I have my whole team on a gluten-free diet and they like it!!
{Much love from a gf girl who's eating healthy and loving it!}

Jesus is My BFF

This summer I have had lots of time working with kids ages 4-7. I absolutely LOVE the 6 and 7 year olds! It has been so amazing to hear little kids proclaim that Jesus is their best friend, God is better than Santa, and that they would stop everything they were doing if Jesus walked up to them!! It is really cool to hear children proclaiming things like that! I love that I have been able to have this experience and been able to love on God's precious children this summer!
 Matthew 18:3 tells us that unless we have the faith of a child, we will not enter the Kingdom of God. It is so beautiful to see and hear the innocence of children. It reminds me that all I have to do is remember that God loves me and is better than anything in the world! I also need to remember that there is no reason for me to have full faith in the Lord of my life. Jesus is my BFF and will never leave me and I want to drop everything I'm doing to follow Him when He calls.
{Much love from a girl who has been blessed by God's children this summer}

Taking My Clothes Off in the Middle of the Mall

This summer our entire staff has shirts that are black and have our theme on them in lime green. Last week I was in Glendale(at Grandma Lee's church and got to stay at her house!!!) and my team and I went out to dinner one night. We were given money by a kind member of the congregation so we went to Red Robin. The restaurant was in a mall and we had gone out late at night with our black and green staff shirts after working at the church. As we were walking through this huge mall, a lady stopped us and asked us where we got our shirts. We said we are from a camp and she can't go somewhere and buy it. She offered us $15 to take it off and give it to her. We agreed to give it to her for free. Since I was the only person that was wearing another shirt under my staff shirt, I took my shirt off in the mall and gave it to her. It made her very happy! I was sad to part with my staff shirt:( but it made a CA tourist happy and she was going to take it back to her daughter.

{Much love from a girl who took her clothes off in the mall}