Looking Back on 2011

I feel like it's some sort of requirement for everyone who blogs to post something on December 31st about the past year and everything that happened and what it all meant and blah blah blah.  And, I mean, I totally did that last year!  I just looked back at my post from December 31st 2010, and I totally talked all about the things that had happened during the year and how much my life had changed and all that stuff.

But I'm not really feeling it this year.  I mean, sure, a lot of great stuff happened this year: I did BEDApril again; I tried to do BEDAugust; I won NaNoWriMo again; I tried to do VALID and was actually doing pretty good until my computer crashed again (Have you checked out my new video yet?); I completed another year of university and living on my own; I went back to camp for another amazing summer that I loved.  But I feel like most of this is already old news, for two reasons.  I mean, there's the obvious fact that I've already you guys all this stuff already.  But the second reason is that, none of this is new stuff.  I mean, all my accomplishments this year were things that I did again.  They're things that I did for the first time last year and whenever, that I tried to do again this year.  2010 was the year my life changed; 2011 was just the year that I did it all again.

And there's nothing wrong with that!  I mean, not every year has to be a year that your whole life changes and you try all kinds of new things and all that stuff.  I think, for me, 2011 was less about experiences and new things and more about the people.

I am truly blessed to have my life filled with amazing people who love and support me.  I have my family, my close family friends who really should be family, my friends from school, from people I've known since the second day of university to people I just met a couple months ago, and my friends from camp.  Over the past year, I've gotten closer with people I've known for a while, reconnected with people that I had lost touch with, and met a whole ton of new people.

So I guess what I'm saying is 2011 wasn't a year for huge, new experiences, but it was a really good year.  Looking back, I have no complaints whatsoever about this past year... except maybe about the weather.  But alas, no use dwelling on the things I have no control over!

Flights taken in 2011: 21
Days left of break: 4

love <3

PS.  This week, my mom called me her sister's name, and my dad called me his brother's name.  Clearly both my parents know exactly who I am.

VALID and Anonymity

I'm procrastinating.  Get over it.

So, as I mentioned at the end of my last post, I made an announcement on my youtube channel on Thursday.  If you don't know what it is yet, you can click here to check it all out.

So, this month, I am doing something called VALID (Vlog A Lot In December).  I'm used to taking on ridiculous challenges, but this is something very new for me.  Although I love to talk, and I could probably talk for days, there's something so different about vlogging than blogging.  When I've done BEDA, if I didn't have anything to talk about, I would just write words and whatever happened would happen.  But when I vlog... I think it's that people can see me, and can see my face when I'm saying that I have nothing to talk about.  It just makes me so much more vulnerable, and like every video has to be excellent; there's pressure, pressure that I can't really explain.

This is definitely not going to be an easy challenge* but I'm really excited about it.  I feel like it's going to push me outside of my comfort zone, and hopefully I can learn and grow from it.

I also wanted to talk about anonymity.  I have been putting original content online for over a year and a half.  I have been writing this blog since April 2010 and I have been vlogging since october 2010.  I never get into the really personal parts of my life, because that isn't the business of the whole Internet, but I've still put quite a bit of my life online, a lot more than most people do.  And yet, I still feel like I have a veil of anonymity: for the most part, as far as I know, the people who read my blog and watch my videos are people I know in real life.  These people already know me and I have no problem being me around them.  The other, maybe 10% of the people who read and watch me, the people who don't know me... they really don't know me.  I don't feel accountable to them, they really don't know much about me.  I feel like I can do and say pretty much whatever I want online, because I have this anonymity.  I'm unsure as to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, though.  I mean, I'm not going to pretend I haven't dreamed of being "youtube famous"; I've had fantasies about having millions of subscribers and everyone knowing who I am.  But at the same time, when everyone knows who I am, then they expect things from me.  I can't fully be myself online anymore, I have to be what these people want from me, and who they want me to be.

So I guess the question is, is it all worth the price of fame?  Which is better, being completely anonymous but being able to post whatever I want, or being semi-famous, but having to post what other people want, not what I want?  What do you guys think?

Flights taken: 20

Exams until Christmas break: 3

Days until Christmas break: 11

love <3

*That's why it's called a challenge, Seana.

NaNo, Answered Prayer, and Announcements!

I've been wanting to put a new post up here for about a week,* but I've been to busy.

And what have you been too busy with, Seana?

Well, I'm glad you asked, italic writing.  I'm in my fourth year of university, and now it's getting down to the busy part of the semester: I had a big term paper due last week, which you guys know about.  Plus, final exams start next week.  And, I mean, of course I haven't started studying yet** but it takes a lot of time to pretend that you're studying!  And, on top of all this school stuff, I have been trying desperately to finish NaNoWriMo.  I am quite happy to announce that, about half an hour ago, I officially won NaNo 2011!!

I'm not going to lie, for a lot of the month, I was seriously concerned that I wasn't going to win.  I mean, for the first week and a half, I was doing really good: every day I was at least a couple thousand words ahead and I thought I'd have no problem winning.  I'll admit it: I got cocky.  And then, the second week of November, my laptop totally crashed.  I thought I was going to completely lose my novel (I didn't!) but it took almost four days to finally get it working again.  That meant four days of no novelling.  Even though I was ahead of schedule, not writing for that long put me quite behind.  I tried as hard as I could, but I was never able to catch up; school stuff, like term papers and lab exams kept getting in the way.  On Saturday I was only at 39,000 words, and I actually thought it would be impossible for me to get to 50,000 by today.  And yet, somehow, I did it!

NaNoWriMo is definitely not an easy thing.  No matter how good of a writer you think you are, or how ahead of schedule you are at the beginning, it is hard.  It tests you and pushes you in ways that you didn't even know were possible.  But, the amazing thing is, no matter how much you start to hate your characters or your plot, or writing altogether, eventually it ends, and you've accomplished something amazing!  Whether you write 50,000 words, 80,000 words, or only 20,000 words, you've still written something amazing, and you've still pushed yourself.   Now you have a novel that you wrote, whether it's long or short, you still wrote it; you still accomplished something!

That being said, I would like to congratulate everyone who did NaNo this year, regardless of how many words you're finishing with.  I would also like to encourage everyone who didn't do NaNo this year to seriously consider doing it next year.  You don't have to write 50,000 words to accomplish something and be proud of yourself.

In other news, I would like to share a story of something that happened to me last week.  As I mentioned earlier, I am in my fourth year of university, and things are getting pretty stressful.  I do have to admit, though, that this semester hasn't exactly been my most stressful: I only had four midterms for the whole semester, not a lot of assignments, only one paper, and not even a lot of labs.  I don't know how I was lucky enough to get such a stress-free semester, but I certainly appreciate it.

However, last week was probably my most stressful week of the semester.  I had this huge term paper that I didn't start until two days before it was due, plus I had a huge lab exam the same day the paper was due, and I seriously didn't think I was going to have time to study for it; I was preparing myself to wing it.

The day before the paper was due and the lab exam, last Wednesday, was probably my most stressful day.  I didn't go to class, I stayed home all day and worked on the paper.  I called my mom, crying, several times, asking desperately for help.  Finally, around supper time, I was so stressed out and I realized that I needed to get out of my house and away from my paper, at least for an hour or two.  So I went to a bible study that I'd been going to all semester.  As soon as I walked in, my friends can tell that I'm stressed out.  I tried to not a big deal out of it, but... well, I was really stressed.

Anyway, they all prayed for me, prayed that everything would go well the next day, that I would finish the paper and the lab exam would go well and all that jazz.  I should also mention that the radio and Internet were telling us that a huge snow storm was coming our way, and was probably going to hit overnight.  We were joking about getting a snow day and how great that would be.  I distinctly remember saying "If we get a snow day, I will literally cry tears of joy!"

So after the bible study, I went home and worked a little more on my paper.  Finally, I went to bed, still really stressed out.  I woke up the next morning and heard on the radio that there was all kinds of snow and all the public schools were closed.  I checked my email and saw that I didn't have to go into work, which was excellent, because it gave me about three extra hours to work on my paper, that I didn't think I'd have.  I then checked the university website, and it said that the school was closed for the morning, and an update later on the afternoon.  My lab exam was in the afternoon, so I didn't get my hopes that high; the university hardly ever closes for the whole day.

So I worked on my paper in the morning.  Around 11, I checked the university website and saw that was closed for the afternoon too!  It was amazing: I had all day to work on my paper*** (it was an online course, so I still had to hand it in) and got an extra week to actually study for my lab exam!

To me, this was a huge answer to prayer.  I needed something to help me, and a snow day came along.  This, to me, was incontroversial proof that prayer really works.

Well, this is now a frakking long post!  I am now going to go celebrate winning NaNoWriMo by working a six-hour shift at the pool, followed a fondue Christmas par-tay with some faves.

Also, I have some pretty exciting coming up soon, you should probably check out my youtube channel sometime tomorrow afternoon... I mean, maybe, I don't know.

Flights taken: 20

love <3

*Pretty much since my last post, I've now realized.

**Procrastination is my middle name.  True story.

***I also ended up getting an A on it! Procrastination works!****

****No it doesn't.

Motivation... I Needs It!

Yea, I know it's been a while, but can you really blame me?  I'm doing NaNoWriMo and final exams are two weeks away.  Let's just... move past it.

This morning, I made a terrible discovery:  I'll tell you about it:

I was at work this morning, on my break, stressing out about my term paper.  You know, the one that's due in two days, worth 45% of my grade... and I haven't started.  Yea, that one.  Needless to say, I was freaking out.  Then I thought, "As long as I pass the class, it doesn't really matter".  I then realized that I have just over an eighty in the course and, with 55% of the course work done, this means I have about 45 out of 55.  So, if I didn't even do the term paper, at all, I'd get 45% in the course.  So, I realized, I barely have to do any work to pass this course.  Now, this realization is both good news and bad news.  Good news: I am now barely stressed at all, knowing that as long as I hand something in I'll pass.  Bad news: no stress means that I don't even really care anymore and am likely to half-ass the whole thing.  I mean, I would still like to get a good mark, to bring up my average and stuff.  But, as I don't plan to apply to any other kind of schooling after I graduate, as long as I pass, I get my degree and I'm a happy camper.  Plus, this course is an elective, I don't need it to graduate, so it even more doesn't matter that I get a high mark, as long as I pass.

So, the moral of the story is, I will be putting next to no effort into this term paper (which I still haven't started; I'm sitting on my bed, drinking coffee, and watching my fifth episode of Friends...yikes) and I am now not stressed at all.  Uh-oh.

Flights taken: 20

Days until this semster is over: 23

love <3

NaNoWriMo 2011

Wow...it has been way too long since I've last posted.  Sorry guys! Nothing all that interesting has happened, though...I went home to Toronto for Thanksgiving weekend three weeks ago, and I've been midterm-ing it up ever since.  I actually have a midterm this afternoon, but clearly I'm not that worried about it.

So Monday is Halloween!  Are you guys excited?  Do you have any fun plans?  What are you dressing up as?  I'm actually severely disappointed with my costume.  Usually I have really great costumes but this year... I just had no ideas.  Last night I finally decided I was going to dress up as Cinna, from The Hunger Games, mostly because it's a really easy costume and it didn't require me to go buy anything to complete it.  I'll post either pictures or a video of my costume...hopefully it's not a huge fail.*

In other news, the day after Halloween is November first (duh Seana) which is also known as the first day of NaNoWriMo!!  I am so excited about NaNo this year.  For those who don't know, it's a month-long challenge to write a 50 000-word novel.  Sounds crazy, right?  That's the best part!

I did NaNo last year, and reached the 50 000 word mark on the 29th, and ended my novel with just over 60 000 words.  This year is going to be slightly more difficult, because I'm now working as well as being in school.  But, the way I see it, the minimum of 1667 words per day really isn't that much.  I mean, it's not like I need to be writing for something ridiculous like ten hours a day just to reach the goal.  A couple hours a day is all it really takes.  And, of course, on days when I have more writing time, I can use it to get ahead and maybe finish even earlier.

Are any of you planning on doing NaNoWriMo this year?  Let me know if you are, and add me as a writing buddy!  And, if you've ever had even the slightest inkling of wanting to write, I strongly encourage you to do it!  I mean, even if you don't think you'll make it to 50 000, that's OK!  50 000 is just a number arbitrarily picked by the people at NaNoWriMo.  Even if you can only make it to 10 000 or 15 000 words, that's still 10 000 or 15 000 more words than you would have written if you had never even tried.

So, the moral of the story is, I am a huge supporter of NaNoWriMo and I strongly encourage everyone to try it, no matter what!  Also, starting next week I will be going into hibernation for a month, but hopefully I'll come out of it with another novel under my belt!

Flights taken this year: 20

love <3

*No one is going to have any idea who I am. This sucks.

Footloose Friday

I was just on Facebook, procrastinating from finishing the paper I have due in a couple hours, when I saw the Footloose fan page mention something about the remake that's coming out soon (today? I don't know).

The original Footloose is one of my favourite movies ever.  Like, in my top five of all time.  That's a pretty big deal, especially given how much I love movies.  But I don't really know how I feel about this new remake.  I mean, is it going to be like Dirty Dancing, where the remake is absolutely nothing like the original?  Or are they trying to make it exactly like the first?  And if it's the latter, how exact is it going to be?  Like, same dialogue and everything, just with different actors?  Or same storyline, but slightly different?

I guess I just have really mixed feelings about how this new movie is going to play out.  I'm not even sure yet if I'm going to see it.  Like I said, the original is one of my favourite movies ever, and I really don't want to ruin it with this remake.

How do you guys feel about remakes?  Have any of your favourite movies been remade (or had sequels made) and you were disappointed?  Let me know!

Flights taken: 17

love <3

Have to Blog!

I spent pretty much all day sitting on my couch, doing pretty much nothing (read: procrastinating).  As I was walking from my room to my couch, to continue doing nothing, I had this sudden urge to blog.  I'm not sure what I should blog about, as my life is beyond boring, but I still feel like I need to blog.

So...tell me about your lives!  I feel like this blog is always all about me, me, me.  I hardly ever hear from you guys.  So now it's your turn!  Tell me something interesting about yourself.  Tell me how your September has been, and then tell me something about yourself that I don't already know!  If you are reading this blog, you have to leave a comment, telling me these things!*

Yea...that's all I got.  I really, really wanted to blog tonight, but I genuinely have absolutely nothing to talk about.  It's only the second full week of school and I'm already insanely busy, between school, work, and attempting to have something that resembles a social life.  I'm also vlogging here and here, so you should probably also head over there and check it out.

Well, that's all the babbling I can do!  I'll see you guys around some time :)

Flights taken: 17

love<3

*Obviously you don't have to do anything, but it would be fun!

We Remember

[This post was written on Sunday, September 11]

You know how when you think back over your life and there are certain days, and certain huge events, that really stick out in your memory?  Things that you'll probably never forget?  For some people, these might be things like prom, your wedding day, the birth of your children.  But there's also the bigger things, like the attack on Pearl Habour, in 1941, or the day JFK was shot, in 1963.  For my generation, it will always be September 11, 2001, or 9/11.

I was in grade six, probably in the second week of classes.  It was time for morning recess, but I had to stay in and finish something that I hadn't done during class (missing recess was a pretty common occurrence in my life).  Recess was usually fifteen minutes and it took me about twelve minutes to finish whatever I was doing.  I asked my teacher if I could go outside for the last couple minutes of recess.  She told me that there were only a couple minutes left, it wasn't really worth it, but I could go out if I wanted to.  So I quickly put on my shoes, and as I was running out the door, I heard the principal, over the PA system, asking all the teachers to go to the staff room, because there was something going on in New York City.

I then remember recess continuing for what seemed like a good half hour, forty five minutes.  In my memory, that's how long recess became, although I don't know if I actually had a watch, or if I was just guessing.  Either way, we had an extremely extended recess, while all the teachers were watching the news in the staff room.

When recess was finally over, we went back into our classroom and our teacher tried to explain to us what was happening.  I remember not understanding why this had happened, why anyone would do this.  I also remember knowing I didn't understand why it was such a big deal.  I knew it was a big deal, and it would have a lasting impact on all of us, but I also didn't fully understand why.

Now it's been ten years and I'm still not sure I get it.  Either way, today is a day to remember.  Remember all those who lost their lives.  Remember the families of all the victims.  Remember those who risked their lives trying to help, trying to save anyone they could.

Sometimes things happen that we don't understand, that we can't explain.  We spend a decade looking back and wondering, why did this happen?  Why did these people lose their lives?  I don't know the answer, I don't know why.  But I do know that the best thing we can do for all those people is to remember.  As long as we remember, their memory lives on.  As soon as we start to forget, the terrorists who did this start to win.  So please, never forget September 11, 2001.  Always remember.

Flights taken: 17

love <3

Because of Camp

Camp ended a week ago and to say I’m going through withdrawl would be a huge understatement.  I wake up every morning, expecting to be at camp and am genuinely disappointed when I realize that that is not where I am.  I miss being outside all the time, the ocean, the heat, the Sun.  I miss the other counsellors more than words can even describe.  Basically, I want my whole life to be camp, all the time.

So, in the spirit of missing camp, I came up with a list.  The Foundation often does videos of kids where they say “Because of camp…” and then say something positive that has happened to them because of camp.  I decided to make my own “Because of camp” but a slightly funnier, counsellor version.  So, because of camp…

•          You unwillingly know all the words to every Justin Bieber song
•          It’s easier to count the patches of skin without bug bites than the actual bites
•          Going to bed at 10:30 is not only acceptable, it’s encouraged
•          Your days become entirely centered around when the next meal is
•          Not smelling like bug spray/camp fire/ocean is a legitimate treat
•          The most exciting part of your day is having the cleanest room and possibly winning a “big prize”
•          Scissors and tape are like gold
•          You’re constantly losing your voice from singing camp songs…or yelling at campers
•          You forget that there actually is an outside world beyond camp
•          “You’re fine” becomes your automatic response to any complaining campers
•          TV? What is that?!
•          Giving things to (and getting things from) your secret buddy is more fun than words can describe
•          How good your day is depends on what’s for lunch

This is my “because of camp” list.  For those of you who are camp people, do you have anything to add to the list?

Flights taken: 17

love <3

BEDAugust Fail!

I'm sorry, I really am.  I tried as hard as I could this month to post every day, but alas, I was not even close to being successful.  Now, I could give you all kinds of excuses (I work 24/7 with not a lot of time off; I'm in the middle of nowhere with bad Internet; I have a terrible memory) but that's not what I want this last post to be about.  Let's just say that I'm much better at BEDApril than BEDAugust and leave it at that.

So tomorrow is the last full day of camp for the summer.  Friday morning all the kids leave, Friday evening we have our staff banquet, and then Friday night and Saturday everyone leaves.  The summer is almost officially entirely over and I can't handle it.  As I've said many times, this summer has gone by way too quickly.  But it's not just that.  It's also that I've had another life-changing summer and I'm not quite ready to go back into the real world yet.  I mean, I feel like a completely different person than I was three months ago, thanks to a lot of people I met this summer, and I'm so happy about that.  But at the same time, I'm nervous that when I get back to my real life, I'll lose all of that.  I'll forget everything I learned this summer, and the impact those girls had on me will be for nothing, and I really don't want that.

This is was just a really complicated, really intense summer and I'm not quite ready for it to be over.  I'm also not quite ready to say goodbye to some people, knowing that I'll probably never see them again.  I don't think I can handle that quite yet.

Flights taken: 13

love <3

Vent Sesh!

Do you ever have those days when you feel like no one hears anything you say?  Like, you open your mouth and words come out, but the people you're talking to just hear "Blah, blah, blah."  Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

That's what I feel like this session.  My campers are really great, most of the time, but listening is not their strong suit.  It feels like all the time, when I talk to them and ask them do to something (or not do something) they look right in my eyes, hear what I say, and then go and do the opposite of what I just said.  It's super annoying, very upsetting, and beyond disrespectful.  It's also one of my biggest pet peeves.

Sorry I'm venting, I just had a really bad evening with my girls and need to let it out.

I'm done now! How was your day? :)

Flights taken: 13

love <3

Three Months

Three months ago today, I arrived at camp for the summer.  Three months ago.  This summer has gone by so quickly, I can't even believe it.  A week tomorrow I'll be home, summer and camp will be over, and it'll be almost time for school to start.  It literally just blows my mind that this summer is so close to being almost over, I can't even stand it.  I hate when things end, especially when I feel like they're ending before they should be.  Although I am starting to feel the effects of working all day every day for three months, I don't want to leave camp, and I really don't want to say goodbye to the other counsellors.  We've become like a big family and I truly love them.  This is going to suck.

Flights taken: 13

love <3

PS. Sorry this post was kind of short and depressing.  I've had a really long, kind of bad day and I'm just not feeling it right now.  I'll make up for it tomorrow!

Irene

Have you guys heard of Hurricane Irene?  It was in the Carribbean a couple days ago and is now making it's way up the East Coast of the US.  It's supposed to hit Boston early Sunday morning, and could then go inland, or it could keep going up the coast and come extremely close to camp.  We've already set into play our "contigency plans" just in case the storm is really bad and we're stuck inside for an extended period of time.  This basically means that today and tomorrow are chalk full of all the really big activities, Sunday and Monday are full of movies and indoor things, and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are probably going to be almost entirely waterfront activities so that the kids don't miss that stuff.  Basically this session is officially really weird and I hope we don't actually get hit with the hurricane.  I'm expecting lots of wind and rain, but hopefully no actual tropical storm.  Sound good?

In other news, today I went on the giant swing again, and went all the way to the top.  I freaking hate that swing, it scares the bejesus out of me.  And yet, I have now gone twice in a very short period of time, and gone to the top both times.  Yikes!  It's almost like...I'm becoming...not afraid of heights! Gasp!!!

Nah, they still terrify me.  Don't think this changes anything.

Flights taken: 13

love <3

Half-Mast

I'm back to being in the middle of nowhere, so the Internet is back to sucking.  Thank goodness there's only a couple days left of this, because this is as painful for me as it is for you, trust me.

So there's something I want to talk about.  For those of you who are Canadian, or who know anything about Canadian politics, you'll know that Jack Layton passed away on Monday morning.  He was the leader of one of our political parties, the New Democrats.  In our federal election that was held at the beginning of May, the NDPs won official oppostion (the second most seats).  Normally second isn't a big deal, but this was the first time NDP had won that many seats, so for their party, it was a huge accomplishment.

Yesterday when I was at the airport, to fly back to camp, I saw that all the flags were at half-mast.  Of course this is a very common occurence when someone big dies, so I wasn't really surprised to see them there.  I suppose I was just really touched that the flags were at half-mast for him, which of course doesn't make any sense, because of course they would be at half-mast, just like they are for everyone else who's well-known and who dies.

Rest In Peace, Jack Layton.  Canada lost a really great guy.

Flights taken: 13

love <3

Broken Piece of Crap

The battery on my laptop is almost dead, and my charger is no longer working, at all, so I literally have two and a half minutes to write this entire post.

I spent today being kind of a tourist, and did some sightseeing downtown.  I actually felt like the biggest tool, because I've lived in this city for three years.  But it was kind of fun seeing the things I don't normally have the time to see.

In other news, my computer is a broken piece of crap and I really have to go.

Flights taken: 12

love <3

Absolutely Nothing!

Today might have been one of the most relaxing days of my entire life.  I slept in, I hung out with the other counsellors before they left, I went to the mall for a little while, got some lunch, came back to the hotel and just hung out some more.  Other than my couple hours walking around the mall, I feel like I did next to nothing today.  Most people I know would hate to have a day so full of nothing, but I loved it.  I really need some time to relax and do nothing and catch up on my sleep.  There's only one session left of the summer and I really want it to be a great session.  I know that if I don't get the rest I need, I won't have all the energy I need to make this last session really great.  So, I am spending this break being a total loser and doing absolutely nothing, and I am more than OK with that.

Flights taken: 12

love <3

My Bad...

The Internet was down for the last two days.  I live in the middle of nowhere, OK, it's not my fault!

So all the campers left today for another session.  It was a little bittersweet, actually.  I mean, ten days is a long time to spend with the same eight kids, so there's always some kids you're not sad to see leave.  But at the same time, there are of course the amazing kids that you want to keep forever.  I had campers who fit into both extremes this session, plus some in the middle.  Also, there are eight counsellors who left yesterday/today/tomorrow and who aren't coming back for the next session.  People who know me know that I hate when things end and I hate saying goodbye.  Like, really hate it.  Needless to say, I cried a lot this morning when I had to say some goodbyes.  I just want things to not change, which obviously isn't rational but still.

In other news, I am now back in St John's for three days!  I brought back a group of campers with two other counsellors today.  The other two are leaving in the morning, but I'm staying until Wednesday to bring back more campers to camp for the next session.  Basically, I'm just really excited to have a few days in a hotel, by myself, where I can just relax, sleep, whatever.  I mean, I live here all year round, so I have no desire to do anything tourist-y.  There's a couple friends I want to see, but even if I don't see them, school starts again in just over two weeks, and I'll be seeing them nearly every day.  So I'm not going super out of my way to see lots of people.  I just really want to sleep and do nothing for two days, so that I can get all my energy back for the last session.

Flights taken: 12

love <3

Race

I have to post early today, because we're leaving for our overnight camping trip after lunch and won't be back until tomorrow morning.

I'm doing the "staring at a blinking cursor" thing again.  I don't know why this month is so hard for me, but almost every day I struggle with what to blog about.  I want to blame camp, but it's not like I'm not busy every day.  I mean, we're always on the go, from when we get up at 7 am until the kids go to bed at 10 pm.  There is no shortage of things happening each day.*

Those of you who know me know I did NaNoWriMo last year (2010).  Well, I have *finally* started editing the novel I wrote.  I know it's been way too long, and I should have edited it months ago, but, well... once November was over, I had no motivation any more.  I mean, for thirty days, it was a race against the clock, but once December hit... no more race.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm telling you any of this, but the point is, I want to have my novel completely edited and done by...September 17!**  Will you guys keep me in check and make sure that actually happens?

Flights taken: 11

love <3

*Although, we do a lot of the same things every day.  And, I mean, I doubt a lot of you want to hear about the silly and ridiculous things my campers say/do every day.

**I picked that day because it's my dad's birthday.  And I thought it was a month from today but it's not.  I don't know what day it is, apparently.

Time

I absolutely do not have enough time to be doing this right now.  I just left my kids cabin, less than ten minutes ago, and I have dorm duty in fifteen minutes.  And, of course, there's no Internet in the dorm, so I have to post now.  Great.

Also, as usual, I have nothing to talk about tonight.  Nothing very interesting happened today.  Biking and archery this morning, open waterfront in the afternoon, and then skit night after supper.  Just another day, I suppose.

Flights taken: 11

love <3

PS. I suck and I have nothing to talk about and blaaaaah.  I'm sorry.  Give me stuff to talk about? Kthanksbye. :)

The Swing!

Those of you who know me will know that I am terrified of heights.  Like, an immobilizing fear.  I cry.  God, I hate heights.

Some of you may also know that the camp I work at has a giant "swing" for the kids.  They get hooked in, hang in the air, get pulled up on an angle to their desired height, pull a string and swing down.  I've done the swing before (four times last summer, once this summer) but I've never gone higher than halfway and I've never really enjoyed it all that much.

So this morning, my boys' activities were the swing and the climbing wall.  We were at the swing first, and all the boys had had a turn and we still had twenty minutes left before we were supposed to switch.  One of the other counsellors, Shine, hadn't done the swing yet this summer and really wanted to do it.  None of the other counsellors there wanted to go, so for some unknown reason I agreed to go with her.

Like I said, I've never gone higher than halfway on the swing before, but this time I was kind of freaking out and not really paying attention to how high we were going and, well... we ended up going all the way to the top!  Ahhhhh!

Here's some photo evidence that it actually happened:

 

Flights taken: 11

love <3

Compliment

Do you ever have those days when one person says one nice thing to you, and it makes you feel good for the whole day?  Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

So this morning, at camp, we had open waterfront, and I was life guarding on a tubing boat.  So I'm walking with a group of kids towards the boat, so that they can go tubing.  One kid looks at me and asks who I am, and I respond with "I'm Boomer!"  Another kid then says, "Yea, she's the funny one!"

I'm the funny one!  A kid that I don't even know, have probably spent little to no time around, is referring to me as the funny one!  I have been on this confidence high all day just because some kid thinks I'm funny.

So today, I ask you all to say something nice, sincere, and genuine to someone.  Just give them--anyone--a real compliment.  You never know how much your nice words might affect someone!

Flights taken: 11

love <3

Help!

I really hate those days when I spend minutes just staring at a blinking cursor, trying to find something--anything!--to write about.  Unfortunately, today is one of those days.

Seriously, I've got nothing!  Please leave some suggestions in the comments, I'm desperate here!!!!

In other news, today was day two of our session, and it was great.  I have the oldest French boys and I absolutely adore them.  They are the nicest, sweetest, most amazing boys ever.  I don't want to jinx it, but I have a feeling this will be my best session this summer.*

Yea, that's really all I got.  I NEED HELP!!!!!!!! ...please??

Flights taken: 11

love <3

*I probably just jinxed it.  Oops.

Airports

Growing up, I was always that kid who loved everything that other people hated (or, alternatively, hated everything that other people loved).  And, I mean, not even really ridiculous things, but like...normal things.*

So today, I spent almost my whole day at the airport, and I realized something: I really love airports!  And I know that most people hate airports, because they tend to involve lots of waiting, and inconveniences and they are just, in general, bad news bears.  But I really love them!  I mean, when you're in one, you're usually either on your way to somewhere cool (which is never a bad thing!) or on your way home from somewhere cool (who doesn't love coming home?!).  Or, alternatively, if you aren't in an airport to travel, you're probably there to pick someone up, and who doesn't love airport reunions?!  Basically, the moral of the story is, I love airports, although I do completely understand why a lot of people don't like them.

Flights taken: 11

love <3

*As I was writing this, I was trying to think of an example--any example!  But I couldn't come up with one.  That doesn't make this story any less true, though.

Tattoos

OK, I know.  I missed yesterday.  But it's not my fault!  I came to the Blogger website last night and the website was down.  I refreshed a few times, for about ten minutes, but nothing changed, and then I had to go.  But I didn't forget and it's not my fault!

So this break, in general, was pretty chill.  Yesterday a bunch of us drove into the nearest town to do some shopping and whatnot.  That "major thing" I mentioned the other day was going to be a tattoo, and I was going to get it done yesterday.  I was nervous, but also very gung-ho about this whole idea.  I've wanted this tattoo for quite some time and I finally felt really ready for it.  Anyway, the tattoo place was really booked up, so a few of us went to get our hair done.  My hair usually goes really blonde in the summer, because of the Sun, but it's been so rainy and gross this summer that my hair was barely blonde at all.  So I wanted to get my hair coloured.  Unfortunately, when I asked for blonde, the hairdresser decided that "yellow" was a more legitimate colour.  Ugh, it was the most unfortunate part of my life.  I immediately went to Walmart and bought a box colour that was about two shades darker than where I was.  When we got back to camp, I redyed my hair.  It looks a lot better now.  It's still very blonde, but at least now it looks slightly more natural and is an actual hair colour that occurs in nature.

Anyway, after my slightly traumatic hair experience, I got really nervous about getting a tattoo and therefore didn't do it.  I still want to do it, at some point, and I still want the same thing.  I think I just want to wait a little longer before I do something that really is permanent, that I can't ever undo.  What do you guys think?

Today was an equally chill day.  We just kind of hung around camp, spent some time in the local town and did a lot of nothing.  As much as I spent most of this break being really bored, I'm really glad I got to actually relax for once.  Every break this summer, I've either been on escort or doing something really big and busy.  So this was my only actual break for the entire summer.  That makes the slight boredom completely worth it, in the end.

Flights taken: 11

love <3

Points

I'm tired, I'm lazy, and I'm hanging out with friends, so this post is going to be in point form; OK?  Here goes:

• I've been awake since 5 this morning, and it's now 4 pm.  I'm so tired.
• Today's the first day of our three-day break and I'm already bored out of my mind.  This is the one (and only) break this whole summer I'm not on escort or doing something really exciting.
• I think I might do something really, really major either tomorrow or the next day.  I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I'm nervous, but it feels really right.  I have a lot of peace about this decision.  I'll tell you about it when it happens.
• I'm really, really excited about next session; I'll tell you about it when the sessions starts on Friday.
• I can't think of anything else right now, so this is the end of the bullet points.

Flights taken: 11

love <3

Day Nine, Feelin' Fine!

Staring at a blinking cursor again.  This really isn't the way blogging is supposed to go, is it??

So today is (essentially) the last day of this session.  The campers leave tomorrow morning, and we get two days off before the next group of kids show up on Friday.  Day nine is usually a pretty relaxed day, the kids pack all their stuff, we give them their GREAT Beads* and they find out our real names.**  Basically, today is a pretty chill day, until we have to say goodbye to them tonight.  I really hate saying goodbye, I almost always cry.  Like, always.  Even though I don't feel as close to these girls as I have felt to other campers in the past, that doesn't change the fact that I spent ten days with them, and I'm still really going to miss them.  Blah.

Flights taken: 11

love <3

*GREAT stands for Goal Setting, Responsible Leadership, Environmental Awareness, Adventure and Creativity, and Teamwork and Friendship.  The kids spend all ten days trying to earn them.

**We do camp names here, but we tell them our real names at the end.  I kind of wish they never found out our real names, but it's fun to see their reactions.

Small World

About an hour ago, I was checking my email (as I usually do on my break) and I noticed that I had way more emails from YouTube than I ever get...ever.  They were nearly all notifications from a username that I did not recognize.  After looking through them, I realized they were all comments from a camper who was here at camp last session.  Fortunately, I remember who she is, and I actually really liked her and miss her a lot.  Anyway, I just thought it was so funny that she found me on YouTube when I never even told her that I even had a YouTube account, or that that was something I did.  It just goes to show how small this world really is.

Yea, that's pretty much all I had to talk about today.  My break is nearly over, so I have to cut this super short.  I'm almost done working on a new video, hopefully it'll be up tomorrow!  I just have a couple more things to record, I'm going to go do those right now!

Flights taken: 11

love <3

S'mores!

Sorry again about yesterday, all I wanted to do was go to bed and literally sleep for the rest of my life, that's how sick I felt.  I still feel a little under the weather, but that's camp for ya!

So two days ago, my campers and I went on our overnight camping.  Personally, overnight is my favourite part of camp, although few other people feel the same way.  Maybe it's because I've done so many in my life, and for extended periods of time, that it really doesn't bother me at all; I don't know.  The morning started off really rainy, but then it cleared up and, although it wasn't sunny, the afternoon was dry enough that it was manageable.  I don't even think I heard any campers complain, which, trust me, is definitely a first.  Anyway, the whole afternoon/evening was a ton of fun, lots of laughs were had, dozens of s'mores were eaten (but not all by the same person) and I had a legitimately really good day.

And then yesterday, as you know, we went to the beach.  I'm not gonna lie, it was an extremely long two days, which is probably a large part of the reason I feel so sick lately.  But fingers crossed I feel better soon!!

Flights taken: 11

love <3

Ocean

I feel sooo super sick right now, this probably won't be very long, nor will it make a whole lot of sense.  Oops.

Today, we took the campers to this ridiculously pretty beach about twenty minutes away from camp.  I'm sure I've mentioned it before, we go there all the time.  Anyway, I was standing in the water, just watching the kids, and I started thinking: how weird is the ocean?  I mean, let's look at tides: the water level just...moves.  All by itself.  Like, what?!  Some times during the day, the water is at one depth, and then, just hours later, the water is at an entirely different level.  What?!  Anyway, the ocean is just really cool and kind of blows my mind, but in the best way possible.  I always want to live near the ocean.

Flights taken: 11

love <3

PS. I just reread what I wrote and...I'm genuinely sorry.  I just have the worst headache ever and I can barely keep my eyes open.  Tomorrow will be better...I think!  Fingers crossed! :)

Fun Fun Fuuuuuuuun

I have been staring at a blinking cursor for a good five minutes.  I legitimately have nothing to talk about.

Yesterday afternoon, after I posted, we were supposed to have open waterfront (swimming, tubing, sailing, kayaking) but it was really cold and rainy so they cancelled it.  Instead, we did arts & crafts, sports, spa, and dance.  I got to do dance all afternoon, which was actually so much fun.  With the first group, we made up a dance to Single Ladies, which was actually really fun to do.  Then with the second group, one of the other counsellors, Arriba, taught us all the dance to Hoedown Throwdown, by Miley Cyrus, and we did some limbo.  I thought, at first, that the afternoon was going to be so boring, but I actually ended up having so much fun!

Then last night, after supper, we had skit night.  We (the counsellors) do this one skit called As Fast As You Can, where there's a table with five boxes, and the kids have to lift up the boxes one at a time and say what's under them.  The joke is that, under the last box is someone's head.  Anyway, last night, I got to be the head, so that was fun too.  Basically I just had to scream at kids and scare them.  I loved it, so much actually.

I guess yesterday was actually a pretty fun day, minus the rain and lack of heat.  Either way, I can't really complain about any part of yesterday, it was pretty great.

Flights taken this year: 11

love <3

BEDA...Again!

So today is August third.  Just a normal day, right?  It’s a Wednesday, so that means that week is half over.  But otherwise, there’s nothing special about today…is there?
 

Actually, today is kind of special, at least for those of us who blog/vlog.  Today is the third day of Blog Every Day in August.  Those of you who have been around here a while will know that I am an active participant in Blog Every Day in April.  This past April, I decided that I wanted to try to do BEDA in August.  It’s a pretty huge challenge because I’m at camp and actually work 24/7; I get an hour off a day, but I hardly want to spend all that time on the Internet.  But I’ve decided that I’m going to try it anyway.  Some posts may be extremely rushed/incomplete/incomprehensible, but just go with it.  I am going to make it my absolute goal to post every single day this month.*
 

So, what’s new in Seana’s life?  Not that much.  I’m in the middle of editing a really fun video I made with some of the other counsellors, about camp** and such.  I also have a really cute vlog I want to make; hopefully I can record that ASAP and get in online.
 

There isn’t a whole lot else going on.  Today is day four (out of ten) of session five (out of seven), so we are pretty much just flying through the summer.  In just a month, I’ll be home and the whole summer will be over.  I really hate when things go by too quickly, as if you didn’t already know that.
Well, I think that’s all I’ve got for today.  As I said, a one-hour break really isn’t that long, so don’t be too disappointed by my blogs; I’m trying my best!

Flights taken this year: 11

love <3

*Not including the first two days, during which I wasn’t even entirely sure what month it was.
**Fair warning: nearly everything I talk about this month will be camp-related.

Flying

You know how sometimes, you do something multiple times and it seems like no big deal, and then you do it again and you realize... you absolutely love it?

I'm talking about flying, and nothing else.  I've been flying since as long as I can remember, and it always just seemed so natural.  I traveled a lot as a child, to Europe and all over the US.  Because I started flying at such a young age, it never freaked me out or made me nervous, the way it does a lot of people.  But at the same time, flying was never really anything special, because I did it so often.  Even as a teenager, when I didn't travel as much, flying just seemed natural.

But then, within less than two weeks, I flew five times for work.  Five times.  In less than two weeks.  And during these ten hours (total) of time at 40 000 feet in the air, I realized something very important about myself: I absolutely adore flying.  Like, it's my favourite thing, pretty much ever.  Which is probably a good thing, because I'm going to be taking at least ten more flights before the end of the summer.

The funny thing is, most people who love flying only love it when it's smooth: a smooth take-off, no turbulence, and a smooth landing.  I, however, love it even when it isn't smooth: both of my flights yesterday had turbulence, albeit not terrible, and I was loving every second of it.  I mean, turbulence is a little scary, but I was still loving it all.

So basically, the moral of the story is that I love flying and will be doing an excessive amount of it this summer, which is probably a good thing.

In other news, session two of camp starts tomorrow and I am loving my life.  I have thirteen-year-old French girls and, while I'm slightly nervous that my French won't be quite good enough, I'm still really excited!  Session one, I had ten-year-old boys and it was so great.  I wanted a boys cabin all last summer and I'm so glad I finally got one.  But I'm ready to go back to the girl cabins, for sure.

love <3

PS. How are your summer's going?  Relaxing?  Full of work?  Cold and wet, like mine?  Or hot and sunny?  Let me know in the comments! :)

Housewife

I miss blogging every day.  Even though there were days when I absolutely dreaded it and had less than nothing to write about, it seriously became a huge part of my daily routine.  Part of me even wishes my summer wasn't going to be so hectic so that I could blog more.*

So, for the last two weeks, I have been home, at my mom's house, where I grew up.  I have a few weeks off between when school and my pool job ended and when my summer job starts.  I really wanted to have some time to relax, do nothing, catch up on my sleep, that kind of stuff, before camp.  But here's the problem: home is so boring!

Like I said, I'm supposed to be relaxing: sleeping in, no work... and not much of anything else.  Most days, when my mom's working, I literally sit around and do nothing all day.  Sometimes I run some errands for my mom.  I've even resorted to going to places like Walmart and Target and just walking around, just to have something to do.  On days my mom isn't working, I'll usually do something with her... but there's only so much time I can spend with just my mom.

A couple years ago, when I wasn't sure what kind of career I wanted, I decided that I would just get married, have kids and be a stay-at-home-mom/housewife.  Well, I have now decided that staying at home all the time, kids or no kids, would be the worst kind of torture.  It's only been two weeks and I already want to cry, just to have something to do with my day!  I simply cannot imagine if this was my life, all day, every day.  Blah.

Fortunately, I only have eleven days left until I leave for camp, so that's pretty exciting!  Mind you, the getting-to-camp is not something I'm all that excited about (another two day road trip with my dad; same as last year. Yay.) but once I get to camp, it will all be so worth it!  Can't. Freaking. Wait.

Days until camp: 12

love <3

*Total lie.  I am beyond excited for this summer, hectic and all.

Triple Digits

Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge sucker for milestones: the first of something, the last of something...and pretty much anything in the middle!  So of course I have to make a big deal that this is my one hundredth post on this blog.

However, I am currently struggling with how I should celebrate this milestone.  I mean, for my six-months, I did a list of things that had happened, and for my one-year, I talked about how this past year has changed my life.  Maybe it's silly, but I really don't know what to talk about to make the big 100 a big deal.

Maybe it's a big deal because today is also the last day of BEDA 2011?  I mean, I actually did it this year!  With only a couple slip-ups (posting a little after midnight) I have managed to post something every single day this month.  And, considering what a crazy month this was (exams, work, family visits) it is actually pretty impressive that I didn't screw up, even once!

So maybe that's what my one hundredth post will be: a successive BEDA 2011, as well as the promise of more posts to come.  I can't make any guarantees as to when or how often I'll be posting over the summer, but between here, my youtube channel and 5ACG, I can promise that this summer will be one filled with creativity and fun.  I hope you'll all stick around for it!

Days until camp: 28
Movies watched this April: 11

love <3

Fear

I genuinely didn't think I was going to be able to post today.  I just moved today from my house to a bed breakfast with my mom* and I forgot to get the password for the wireless before I left for work and when I got home the owner was gone and waahh.  I was majorly freaking out and I thought tomorrow's post would have to be filled with major apologies.  But alas, there are still some people in the world who don't have password-protected networks and I am currently stealing me some wireless.  Woot!

So today I want to talk about fear.  Everyone's scared of stuff, obviously.  For example, I am scared of heights, birds, snakes and the dark.  I am also scared of being alone forever, being rejected, and not being good enough.  What are you guys scared of?

What I really want to talk about is the root of fear: where do our fears come from?  I mean, for my four physical fears (heights, birds, snakes, & dark) there's nothing that ever really happened to me that gave me these fears.  I mean, I didn't fall from something really high, nor was I attacked by a bird or anything crazy like that.  So it's just kind of weird to think of where these fears come from: why am I afraid of birds?  There is absolutely no reason I should be scared of birds.  And sitting here, inside, right now, it's easy for me to think "Birds aren't scary.  Tomorrow, I won't be scared of birds!" but I can guarantee if I see a bird outside tomorrow, I'll freak out.  Why?  It's pretty weird.

Days until camp: 29

Movies watched this April: 9

love <3

*We're treating ourselves and staying here for two nights before we fly home on Sunday.  So freaking excited!!

Nothing

...I have been sitting here for ten minutes, staring at the blinking cursor, trying to decide what I should talk about tonight.  I'm not even under the time crunch yet (still have an hour and a half left in the day!) and yet I still feel like I need to get my post up ASAP.

But, we have reached an impasse, my dear blog readers: I have nothing to talk about.

Today was a pretty chill day.  Filmed and posted my 5ACG video for this week, cleaned the bathroom, watched The Hangover, read a little bit and then went to work.  Throw in some food at various time and that is my day in a nutshell.

I have nothing to talk about, so that's all I'm going to post for today.  Sorry this sucks!

Days until camp: 30

Movies watched this April: 9

love <3

PS. Here's a little something special for you guys because this post was stupid:

We're some very "special" roommates :)

Magic of Movies

Last night I watched Hairspray with my mom and one of my good friends.  This isn't really anything exciting, I know.  I saw the play live on stage, before the new movie was made, fell in love and bought the movie very soon after it came out.  I've seen the movie tons of times, I know the words to all the songs...I really love that movie a whole lot.

I particularly love that the main character's mom, Edna, is John Travolta in drag.  I mean, even in the play, that part was played by a man.  I just adore that it's John Travolta.

Probably my favourite John Travolta movie is Grease (so predictable, I know) and last night I started thinking about how Danny Zuko and Edna were basically the same person.  So, of course, I thought I'd share a little something with you lovely readers:

 

Yup.  They're the same person.

I love the magic of movies.

Days until camp: 31

Movies watched this April: 6

Episodes of Friends watched this April: 8 (I packed all my seasons of Friends, so I won't be watching any more this month!)

love <3