christmaspostchristmaspostchristmaspostchristmaspostchristmaspostchristmaspost


Merry Christmas.

Drink Eggnog. And put something even more delicious in it.

This week consisted of drifting a Ford F-350 in the mud and digging and installing a septic field. I feel like all that is man.

As I sit on a twenty five year old couch with my cup of apple manor tea in hand, I stare into the largest fireplace I have seen in real life. I am contemplating how many people have done the same thing over the years, I mean this building is over 30 years old. Not that I don't feel special doing it, I think everyone that comes to Camp Homewood feels special. There is so much history in this massive building, Rivendell. I think the best history is that which only God knows... the stirring in peoples hearts. He is the one who plans it all, we are just his hands and feet. I am ok being a hand, or a foot.

-Josh

Well. This has taken too long.

So I am back from Haiti. Haiti is terrible.. but the work we did was awesome.
I had Pneumonia the whole time I was there. Just recovering now.

I am back at camp till Christmas.

If you didn't already know I am the new Assistant Program Director. A sweet full-time possibly long term position at Camp Homewood. I am so... excited.

Oh... and if you didn't also already know. I broke up with my girlfriend. Long distance is fricking stupid. Don't ask me about it... I don't want to talk about it :D

Oh.. I think I might break up with my blog. Something along the lines of "Ya... this... really... isn't working out". or "It's not you...it's me..." or "I'll always love you... buuuut." or "I am seeing other blogs..." and then probly followed by a classic face push.
We'll see.

It is freakin cold.

The beards at this place are awesome right now.

Haiti

Well. Seeya later. Haiti time. Pray for our group please.

Pictures and stories when we get back.

Big News

I said I was taking on more responsibility this year. Well I was just hoping to. :)
This morning I was offered a new position at Homewood. Irwin and Aaron kind of made this new position up this year. But.. needless to say, I may be accepting a full time, possibly long term, position as Program Assistant this year. It would mean that I get to do the same fun stuff I love but with more responsibility and work on top. :)
Winter time i'll be working on expanding the outdoor education program and running lots of it, while cleaning up all the activity's and making them more educational. Plus more on top.. I have a page full of job descriptions. :) I have not said yes yet but I am going to pray and think about it a lot.

Ya... so that is my big news. Please pray for me in my time of decision.

In other news...

I leave for Haiti in 6 days! i am sooo excited. Second time there... i will somewhat know what to expect. But then again.. in the poorest country in the world... anything can happen.


The 3 other guys in my house and I.. are planning on going to Nicaragua for spring break this year. We will see if it actually goes through. But I am excited for that. Surfing, bumming around, smokin large cigars, and living off of fruit vendors fruit. :) But mostly surfing.


Love you all.
-Josh

19 is a weird age. I like it. Has its novelties.. has its disappointments. All in all.. I enjoy being an adult.

So I am at Camp Homewood once again as you probly know. It is wonderful! Back to the work I love. School groups are the main thing happening right now. I live in the penthouse.. with three other guys.. all younger than me.. but not by much. I am the head male. haha, head male... what a joke. I have a room to my self which is nice. it is about 10 by 20 feet... I made my own clothes rack. My mattress is.... terrible... in fact, it's not a mattress it's a foamy. Sacrifice I tell you.

I may or may not be taking on more responsibility this year... more on that later... once I figure out the gist of it.

I may be getting my skippers license this winter... it would be very good to have.


I am going to Haiti for the missions trip in two weeks. It will be the second time i've been there. Whoot. I am soo excited to help out. All my personal fundraising is done. Thank God. He is so genrous. Thanks to all my supporters! if you read this... thank you soo much. God will bless you! Keep it up!

I have fallen in love with V8... it is the best. i hate eating fruits and veggies... soo a canned drink.. boom.. roasted... beat the system.


Speaking of v8... God is teaching me a lot this year! About myself, about others, and about himself. I am so excited for the future.


Love you all!

-Josh

I am back at camp. My break at home was awesome! Life is awesome. I hate blogging. nuff said.

Heyo! Back in Kamloops for a month! possibly getting a job at western roofing.
Other than that... hmm

two weddings.

Lots of shenanigans...will...be... had...

Hello friends.

So many new experiences and trials.. and awesomeness.

This past week I was on Family camp.. I had many duties.

I wont get into them too much but the main one... leading Fireside. wow. I led worship for 150 people... 4 nights in a row... nerve racking... apparently I did a good job.
Our Fireside theme was Lord Of The Rings... soo we all dressed up and themed are skits.. it was intense... I was Legolas... I bought a wicked sweet tunic hahah. It looks kinda homosexual but...what ever. :)

There were another 5 baptisms today of Homewood staff.. Soo exciting!!
A couple of my close friends. What an awesome experience.. watching people commit their lives to God.. wicked awesome!

Today was also mine and Taryn's 6 monthiversary... wow...
Not gonna lie.. it has been almost the best 6 months of my life..
I took her to the Tsa-Kwa-Luten resort for some cheesecake and then we sat and watched the sunset and a few cruise ships go by... quite delightful!!

Sunday.. day off... go to church.. maybe play some ice hockey.. should be a good day.

Monday... 4 camps start again.. oh boy...
I am on Jr.Boys Woodsman camp.. soo you wont be hearing from me for a week.
There is also a Jr.Teens sailing camp, a junior girls ranch camp, and then Taryn is counseling Jr. Girls Harbour. Should be a delightful week.

Anyways...


Need my sleep...

I love you all!

-Josh

A new week.

Well, single mothers camp was very relaxing and enjoyable. Mainly because i didn't really interact with the mothers at all. I was on work crew. A bunch of the men went out to the future golf course on quadra and gathered a bunch of alder trees that had been felled and loaded them onto a trailer. We pretty much have all of the firewood for the winter done... which is very delightful! I am so tired and sore. wow.

We had a Counselor verses CIT soccer game two days ago. I played terribly. I punished myself by running back from the soccer field..which was atleast 3 kilometers... my legs can't even move.

Family camp starts today. 150 people are coming. It is going to be packed for sure. I am leading fireside... which means skits, funny songs, and worship songs. I still need to think of a theme. oh boy. I am also teaching sports class hahah. Helping with 9-12 year old chapels. leading the bottle rocket making and launching, and serving at the adult dinner. YES! it is going to be busy week, I am excited.

I get next sunday off again. Then I will most likely be going to woodsman for another week. then another day off... and then I am Directing Adventure Sailing camp... which is like 16-20 year olds... oh boy... I am soo excited!!! then only a few weeks left of summer. dang. I will be home for 2 weeks in september. I don't know which ones yet though. Hopefully get to be home for my birthday and for Mike and Katie's wedding.

October is the busiest month at camp.. soo it should be pretty insane cause we will barely have any staff... then I need to come home before November starts because the Haiti trip is early November. I am SOO EXCITED to go back to Haiti... the people there are flippin awesome and I miss them. Not done my fundraising by any means.. but God WILL provide soo it's all good!


Just want to say. I am doing good. You don't need to worry about me. Please pray for me though, it makes me feel good... haha, and the man upstairs will be proud of you.

I love you all.


-Josh

Could my life get any better?

Well... it probably could...somehow but.. I am not seeing how at the moment.
Camp life is fabulous. I haven't talked to my friends out side of camp in forever(sorry).
I guess this is why it is important to blog.

Soo two weeks ago was Junior boys woodsman camp which I was a counselor for. It was a delight. Lots of sun... swimming... foot injuries... and throwing fully clothed kids into the lake. (unfortunately I made him cry but... w.e. he needed to be taught a little lesson about humility.)
The boys in my tent were very interested in..wormy wars... and pillow fights more than memory verses and tent times but... they already "had all the answers" soo I wasn't too worried.

One day break after that camp. My phone is still broken. The internet is soo slow that Irwin had to cancel everybody's internet soo that the office's internet would work. Phewwy.

Found out a day before... that I was Directing Sailing camp... oh joy...
I was soo nervous. I had Co-directed before but that was for 5-8 year olds... this would be for 13-16 year olds.... My fears were soon calmed after a bit of prayer and preparation. Sailing Land director just means that, as soon as we get to each destination... I am in charge of getting the kids to shore, designating pooping spots, setting up tents away from those spots, leading fireside, leading devo's in the morning, and leading hikes and swim times. I think I stepped up to the plate... felt good about the whole week.
The kids got here Sunday.. we did some orientation stuff... knot tying, rowing skills... boat safety, man overboard drills.. and all that jazz. Had a sick fireside... I lead worship... weird. I have been playing soo much guitar lately... unreal... I am not getting much better... but just furthering the skills I already have. First night I talked about Luke Skywalker and The Force... and how God isn't just "a force" that protects and governs us.. but he actually interacts back and wants a sweet relationship with us. After fireside.... the problems began... found ut one of my campers had turrets... oh joy... found out that the skipper who was going to be on my boat... was not really a skipper... well... he was, but.. didn't have much experience at all. Needless to say we actually had to leave without Quinton (kid with turrets) mainly because his parents didn't know what they were getting him into on sailing camp.. and because it wasn't safe for him to be on the boats for 8 hours a day... and some other... unmentionable reasons... BUT
I loved him and our sailing staff loved him so much that we needed to see him have to camp experience. Soo we worked some things out with the Harbour camp that was happening at the same time and happened to be close to his age group. Soo he did get the camp experience and did get to see Gods amazing love, but just not on sailing camp. Mission Accomplished.
The Homewood Sailing crew of Ben Louter(counselor, Bossin) Sarah Fairley(counselor, Bossin) Erica Lippit(Quartermaster..aka.. cook) Myself(Land Director,Counselor, and Bossin) (A Bossin is a skippers kinda right hand man.. soo if he goes overboard the Bossin is in charge of the sailboat.) And four Skippers (Paul Hiebert, Kelly Hiebert, Kyle Schuurman, and Ken Armstrong) plus all of our 19 campers headed out monday morning at 8 for our first destination. Ken Armstrong was my skipper... *shudder* If you know anything about sailing... you would know that when a sail boat Heels over... it means you are getting alot of wind and therefore will go fast... well... Heeling over is one of the funnest and scariest parts of sailing... mainly the funnest... well... whenever our boat...The Rossinante, would heel over... Ken would freak out and put us in Irons (straight into the wind) losing our speed and causing the sails to flap vigorously. Needless to say.. our boat motored alot of the way... and were always last. BUT I don't need to talk about the negatives.
The 4 boats (Rossinante, Mar-mel, Makana, and The Wind Dancer) made it to the first destination, Roscoe Bay... on time and safe. Roscoe bay was soo beautiful... thousands upon thousands of Moon Jellyfish... Black Lake..freshwater to swim in... wow... and a sweet mountain to hike... unfortunately a girl got a green stick fracture on the hike but...w.e. she toughed it out. We did devos on top of the mountain and I talked about how God calls us to a great Adventure... fitting. I think so.
We left Roscoe bay... headed to Walsh Cove.
Walsh Cove... awesome jumping cliffs and beautiful rainbows. Sweet God story...
Woke up in the morning...went to go put some stuff by the rowboats... woah... 2 of our rowboats were gone... dang.. where we tied them up.. the tied had come up a little bit higher than was planned for that day..teehee.. my bad. well.. I was freaking out.. cause it would take hours to load and unload with only 1 row boat... soo I was stressin... and yelling... oh boy...
k... slow down Josh... take a deep breath and pray... soo I did and well...
God always comes through. we found the rowboats... by some miracle... a little ways down the cove... higher than the tide line... how? don't ask me how boats go higher than the tied can possibly go but... w.e. I was happy. hahah
left Walsh to check out a sweet waterfall and go to Von Donop Inlet... but we took too long at the waterfall and had to come back to Walsh for a second night. God blessed us with amazing weather the whole time.
Walsh then to Teakerne Arm.
Teakerne Arm is very beautiful aswell.. also a fresh water lake near by.. and a waterfall... we all got some crazy cuts on our feet from oysters and barnacles.
Got home on Friday and the kids left on Saturday. Wow... such an amazing week.

Wish I could say more but... the position my laptop is on my legs and the way my legs are against my bed has caused both my legs to fall asleep and it really hurts. :D

We have a greek themed staff retreat and it is.. pretty sweet!

I love you all! But must go...


-Josh

ps. I have the best Girlfriend ever... hehe

Hello
Summer is too busy for blogger.
Goodbye.


ps... I love you all
I am Directing sailing camp tomorrow... flippen eh!

Success

Eager Beavers is done and I am not gonna lie, I am a great director. :D
I am also a lot more humble in person. Eager Beavers lasted 4 days and 3 nights... and over the years there have been any bed wetters, tears, fist fights, and even poops on a couch. Well... this year we had one bed wetter (7 less than last year), one pee-er on the field(one less than last year) and no poopers. There were many fist fights but for good reason and none that weren't resolved by myself. I didn't realize how tiring sixty three, 6-8 year olds can be until now.

I was the chapel speaker aswell. I stressed about this lots before hand. When the time came I upped my game and got the main points across. The kids were aways restless but I kept the chapels short and sweet. Talked about creation the first day... sin, mistakes, and why we do the things we do, on the second day. Third chapel was about Jesus' life, death, why he came, and how he can be our best friend if we only ask him. Now, to 6-8 year olds these are the most confusing topics in the world... soo we illustrated them with awesome skits and songs. :D
On the last day we asked the kids if they wanted bibles and we ended up giving out over 50... soo exciting.

I wish I couldn't properly explain the amount of growth I've gone through in the past couple months. Holy.
I am looking forward to the next couple years of my life. heck... the rest of my life!

... one step at a time Josh... jeez... :D

I am directing day camps aswell!

A week of 9-4 day camps, soo evenings off... delightful! this time it's 60, six to twelve year olds. a little bigger spread. Should be a good week.


I am a pro skateboarder btw... haha. yes.. I bought a skateboard and hit up the Quadra skatepark every other day... I like to think of myself as an old school skateboarder... I enjoy tricks where I stay on my board hahaa. You may see some sick facebook photos soon.
I have had more injuries in the past 2 weeks at the skatepark than I have had in the past 2 years I think. :D hahah oh boy.

My tan is...un-......real....

I bought a watch. weird. mainly because my phone is broken, which I reduced the plan on btw... soo don't text me because well... I wont be able to read it.


Tim, Cade, Matt, and Mark Wobma came to camp on Quadra this weekend... which was delightful... got to visit them for a bit. went to the sand cliffs and hucked some flips. Delightful.
Love them. To bad they aren't here forever.


Soo Taryn is officially here for the rest of the summer..... :D
I went to her grad commencements ceremony the other day.. which was... soo boring haha 3 and a half hours... but you know what.... I can handle it... gotta put up with these things if I want to be a good boyfriend. hahah.
Got to meet all of her living grandparents, some aunts and uncles, and some family friends. It was... a bit much... haha. They are a bunch of wine-o's :D hahaha... which I can handle. what I can't handle is talking politics with a bunch of half sober 60-80 year olds. :D Soo I pretty much just acted like I knew what i was talking about and went with it. ahah soo enjoyable.


. Anyways. i need to go shmooze with directors and staff. Lunch. mmm.

Love you all!

-Josh

Director Josh.

Yes. First camp of the summer.. I am directing. Holy Crap.
Am I grown up or what?

I am Co-directing with Sarah Fairley which means I will be in charge of the guys and her, the girls.

We are also directing day camps which are all of next week.

This will be alot of planning and praying but I know the reward will be flippin awesome. This is also kinda preparation for next year when I will probly direct almost every week. I am soo excited. :D

I can't even begin to describe the growth I have gone through in this past year. Holy smokes. Thank you God.

Please pray for me as I prepare to speak to sixty, 5-8 year olds for 3 chapels and 3 firesides... aswell as organize everything for the 4 days they are here. I hope their aren't any bedwetters.

My phone is officially broken... I will be stopping or severely cutting it down over the summer. The screen is broken so I can't see anything on it... can still make calls out though. hmm fricken Motorola Rival.

Staff training is interesting. There are some interesting characters. Some, I don't get along with, some i do. My patience is being tried by their lack of Homewoody knowledge, common sense, and straight up maturity. Some people are just not cut out to be leaders, and it is the truth. Not to be mean. God just uses people in different ways. Some people need to be led in order for their qualities to shine through. The mornings and evenings have been filled with devotions and relationship growing sessions... I enjoy them.

We had the "relationship" talk the other night...


It was quite funny. I find myself surprised to say that Taryn and myself are one of only a very little amount of non-married couples. hmm. I like it. :D We make a good team.



I Love and miss all of you guys... sorry I don't have time to facebook, email, or call any of you.
Send me a facebook message please, or better yet... an email.


I sent out my support letters for my Haiti trip the other day... I am excited to see what God is going to teach me about support and trust. If you get one... please support me in any way possible... I have soo many things on my mind right now and barely any time to stop and think about the future. pfffsh.

GOD WILL PROVIDE!

:D

Love you.


-Josh

Heyo friends and family!

If you didn't know.. I was home in Kamloops for almost a week! It was delightful!

Got to visit my family and do lots of fun things with friends.

Celebrated an early fathers day with 18 holes of golf... the father won...obviously. :)

Went golfing with Andrew and Tim aswell... I won this game though... 85 to 86 to 87...wow... close game.

{Played some ball hockey for the Wild and for the Penguins.

5-1 win for the Wild...I scored two goals... chea!
3-2 shootout loss for the Penguins... I had a goal and an assist... sorry I couldn't help get their first win... atleast got the team a point.

It was great seeing everyone again and I love you all.

I am ready for summer. rejuvenated and rested... ready to destroy kids! :D

So I am back at camp and thrust into work right away.. this weekend is Father-Son weekend and then coming up is Homeschool Family Camp! excited for both actually!

Love you!

-josh

Sup Homies! I will be home on Sunday! I am SOO EXCITED! Hopefully we find some wicked things to do!
I am taking the Island Link Bus to Nanaimo and then the ferry and then the family will be picking me up at Horseshoe bay!

Might play 2 games in the kamloops ball hockey league... we'll see! hopefully

I would like to spend time with all of you! buut... my family is more important! :D

See you guys soon!

Well as you probly know I am over the flu.. it was kinda only a 2 day thing which I thank God for! Nobody else got sick as well.

We won our first ball hockey game of the year last night! so delightful! I setup my roomy Sammy for the Hat trick! it was delightful! A thriller of a 4-3 game!

The bunkhouse is close to full! Sleepin with 7 other guys... yay... last night was... terribbllle...
There was somebody snoring... and I didn't know who it was. Soo I was yelling random names to see who wouldn't reply... well.. that didn't work... soo I guess throwing clothes and harmonica cases at people didn't work either... I had to sleep in a differant building it was so bad... lost a good 2 hours over that one... dang..

Blaring T.Swift in the bunkhouse = Delightful.

The magnificent 7 guys have been having "work out" sessions late at night the past week or so... "work out session" pretty much just means standing in our giant bathroom with our shirts off listening to music and talking about terrible campers and possibly doing one or two chinups..


This coming Monday we get our second day off this month... I think we are going camping... could be delightful!


Taryn will be at a soccer tournament in Kelowna this weekend if any of you want to creep on her... she gets a hat trick almost every game soo, she shouldn't be to hard spot :D

anyways...

Life is great!

Miss you all!

Love you all!

-Josh

Well, I have the flu. I threw up 10 times last night, I think that is a record for me. Not to mention the stuff coming out of the other side of my body I have been quarantined to The Chateau... for 48 hours... this sucks... I feel useless... guess it is for the best though. I will be watching movies between bathroom breaks...

Life likes to throw these curveballs to test you eh? well... I am not going to let it get me down...

-Josh

On my way.

Well... I got my first pledge for my Haiti Fundraising! YAY! from my old roommate Kris! I am soo excited for this trip in November... soo excited...

There is a wedding here at Homewood tomorrow... which we don't have to help with... so we get the day off! the one of two days off this month. dang. We are now officially spring staff...as we get paid 50$ a week and now live in the bunkhouse. pray for me...as... I get even closer... with my fellow guy staff... hmm..yes..

Taryn was here today... it was delightful... we did exciting things... they would bore the dedicated blogger though soo...i'll leave them out... :)


Ball Hockey in campbell river... is soo fun... unfortunately... my team is alot worse than i thought it would be...turns out... the good players we were supposed to have... got payed off to ply for the jerk team The Sting... really sucks... we'll just have to beat them and make them wish they hadn't been payed off haha.

I need my rest for my day off...

I love you all!

-Josh

Well... I had a big blog post for you but... I got distracted by Mike Coulter... darn him... he is the best! I love his outrageous stories!

I would appreciate some prayer. Thanks. Kinda going through an interesting and difficult time.

Well, Sam and I had our first exhibition game tonight for ball hockey in Campbell river... I'd say it was a success, we each had two goals and 3 assists each... soo we meshed pretty good!
Looks like our team will be the Jets. Which is wicked cause really... who didn't like the Winnipeg Jets?
Our team is made up of a bunch ex nhl-ers...soo we are pretty ballin... ya know.. Paul Coffey, Dave Andreychuk, Tiger Williams... just a bunch of oldies like them... nothing too flashy.
Another exhibition game on wednesday and then the league starts up on the 26th. I am verrry excited!

Well... I am just finishing my first of two days off. Pretty much just watched movies and Lost all day... well... not pretty much... I did... until hockey tonight. What a life...hahah

Praise God for spring staff. We thought we would be short but it looks like we will be getting a bunch.

Moving out of my house into a differant one next week... I am quite exciting... this place is gross... haha especially the bathroom... 3 guys..sharing the same bathroom... not good.

I am working on some sick flow.... come summer time... possibly the longest hair I have had... we'll see how this goes.... no I won't be dying it again...:D
possibly Mulleting it though. 30% chance of that.

Stubble... I feel like the hair that has been hiding under the skin on my chin has possibly taken a liking to this summer weather we have gotten... I actually get to shave once a week. :) haha just a little Josh fact for ya.

well.. I gotta peace out...

Oh ya... if you didn't already know, I am going to Haiti in November...soo.... send me money. :D the only people that don't have to send me money are those going with me... actually... you can send me money too. k? sounds good.

Love you all
-Josh-

I think I am allergic to pollen, dust, and grass.... this isn't good. It is so sunny it is ridiculous! I have been wearing shorts and a t shirt for the past 4 days... workin on my tan pretty good!

I had a fabulous Easter break! Thanks to everyone for visiting me and being around while I was home.





My lack of interest in this blog is appalling..... sorry

Home

Well, I made it home safe and sound after many hours of travelling. I love Kamloops... really... the brown-nis is kind of a turn off but I love the sagebrush and the ponderosa pines and the dusty, rocky hills. I love all the people and everything they do.

I brought way too much stuff back with me.

Bought some sweet new shoes from west 49... they were 40% off soo it was alright... thanks for convincing me Honeybear!

Homecooked food= AMAZING!!!

I played the sweetest game the other day. Hockey...with Canoe paddles... and a soccer ball... while on horseback! It was one of the scariest...funnest.. most tiring things I have ever done. Not to mention the horses were useless at it! The first horse I was on(Luke) was soo scared of the ball that it was bucking madly... ya... I stayed on....s'right... I had to switch horses or i would have died...
Learned some sweet tricks on the horse too... like standing up while riding... and doing a backflip off the horse :D something called Scissors aswell...
Don't worry... I am only a little bit cowboy... that's right ladies... swoon...




-Josh

One Week

Hello again friends!
I had a fabulous weekend... how about yourselves?
We had the women's group from the baptist church in Campbell river this weekend and they were fabulous! Their organizer is my good friend Kim Stevens... she is my C River Mom... I stay at her house most weekends. She has kids my age that help at camp summers and some weekends now so we are tight.
Taryn came down for the weekend as well because she had a soccer tourney in C-Riv... it was wonderful...she got to stay at camp for 2 nights but we stayed up too late enjoying the starry night sky... it has been quite clear around here lately, which is very nice. I am tired. boo.

I get to come home in exactly a week... I am so flipping excited... I am getting fed up with things and some people here. Should be a good break. This is the longest I have been away from home in my life... it is weird. I am enjoying it alot actually. Other than figuring out how to do grown upy things myself.... like criminal record checks and paying for speeding tickets(oops)


Seeya in a week Kamloops!

Josh

Today... I taught... 5...hours... of...canoeing.... oh my word...

10 days till I get home... soo excited...


-Josh-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORS0SLk78rE&feature=related


Try not to cry.... I do :)

Hello friends!

Camp is good.

lots of tree cleanup right now. Some guys came to chop some dead trees down and it is crazy.. they cut the tops of the trees off and they just plummet and skewer into the ground...it's sweet.
Soo far we have lot of holes in the ground from these massive trees. and a large hole in the road...

Couple more days of cleaning things and a group comes in Thursday.

A regular month soo far.
I get to come visit Kamloops from March 29th-April5th ish... I am SOO excited.

This past weekend I was in Campbell river visiting. I had the weekend off. Got to stay at the Stevens house. Hung out with Taryn+ other great people. It was awesome! plus some...uh... terrible parts... ask me about them if you want, some time.

Tomato soup and grilled cheese for supper! YAY!

Hello friends!
I don't really know how to start these things anymore soo here goes...

I am at camp.

er... you already know that I guess...

K.

Every wednesday here we have been plying some ball hockey at the only gym on Quadra.. it is fantastic. We get some pretty good guys out! Full goalies...full equipment... it's nice cause I can slapshot! :) We play games up to 10 goals...usually takes an hour every game... they are heated games...very intense... which only pushes me to do better...needless to say I haven't gone a game without a hat trick yet... normally 3 on 3 hockey with 3ish subs... This past night I got 5 goals the first game and four goals the second game and setup the winner...
This reputation though...comes with it's downsides... I get pushed around alot more... slashed...alot.... pff...
This past week I had a 250 pound man fall on top of my head...with speed... rubbing my face against the gym floor...needless to say I have a very nice shiner! my elbows are ready for him next week! :D

We just finished with a group called GLEEM... They were grade 8 Korean exchange students. It really reminded me of back home and Focus club and things like that and made me really miss what my Dad does at TRU. Dad... I tried my best to teach them proper english and I followed your example and was funny and hilarious and made them laugh! One thing that I was paying attention to and had noticed before at Focus events and such is Asians and their lack of Chivalry and interaction with the opposite sex. Hmm...
I feel that as an canadian/american culture we have lost our sense of Chivalry too... back to that later though.
I was teaching Obstacle Course for this camp and with the Koreans I planned some "team builder" exercises to see where they were at and help them mesh together. Needless to say we got to "The Wall" which is a 9 foot wall that you have to get your team over... by supporting, pushing, lifting, and such...
Well I sent the guys up first because well...they were bigger and I thought they would be a help...well...the opposite was found out... They got up there and were useless...hahah
They refused to help the girls up... like they were scared of even touching them...
Later on playing some run around games... the guys refused to interact with the girls... pff pish posh i say...
Soo anyways it just reminded me of myself in the older days :) and how Girls had cooties and were gross... they do still have cooties but... aren't soo gross :D
I also thought about my own interaction towards the opposite sex... maybe it's just me but until the past year... I was not chivalrous at all...
I am slowly learning to open doors for the woman and respect them with uplifting words and such...cheesy maybe but i think it pays off in the end!
I do like to pretend and joke about the whole traditional women views and such.... like they should stay in the kitchen...clean everything... laundry...bedroom... all that funny stuff. When it really comes down to it though... I hate those views...alot... I can't wait to do laundry and cooking WITH my future wife... it'll be a great time... maybe even throw some children in the dryer...er... the mix... most of these things take two people anyways... Cooking... one person to eat the food one person to make it... Laundry...one person to wear the clothes..one to wash...
Bedroom... one person to... ...:) hehe You get the point.
I am striving to respect the females. Especially my girlfriend... that is pretty basic though. :)


Anyways.


We have Mother/Son weekend right now. It is exciting.. makes me miss my mommy!
I helped lead fireside! sang some songs... made a fool of myslef in a skit as per usual.
I have grown pretty close with one of the kids that lives here at camp, Seth Schuurman. He is 4
and is the cutest... he is my little brother of camp. Tonight as the speaker was talking... I was setting up for Mugup(snack) apparently Seth interrupted the speaker and burst out in front of the group "Wait! Josh isn't here!" hahah soo cute... I almost cried haha
Soo Sarah came and got me and said that Seth wanted me to be there... i went and he sat on my lap haha soo funny!!

Flip! Am I growing up if I am longing for the moment my kid says "wait, dad isn't here yet!"?
Just waiting for his favourite person in the world to show up. hhhh
I can't wait.


I am going to peace out.

I get monday and tuesday off... and then the next two weekends off!!!
I am coming home march 29th- April 4th hopefully! Be ready for me!


-Josh.

Hello friends! It has been an amount of time since my last blog post.

Camp is going well!

We have been getting spring like weather around here and I don't want it to go away.

I went for a kayak today with Sammy and Kris... it was 12 kilometers long.... quite tiring.

It is calling for snow tomorrow. Dang.

I have a girlfriend...yay! :D

I have lost 5 pounds since I have been here.

Cheese smokies... mmmm I live on these.

I have nothing else.

My blog is not giving me any love.

I have never really been a fan of Valentines day.... until this year. :)

We still had campers here today but we got the afternoon off.

I went on a hike with Taryn, Meg, and Joel up to Elk Falls. It was such a beautiful day! The falls were beautiful and so was the company. It was kind of a double date... hmm.. :D

well.... back to normal camp life. We have a lot of camps from now till mid March. I probably wont blog much.

Love and miss you guys!


I get March 29th-April5th

Camp. I think I was born for this.

Stillwood

I am sitting in a sweet cafe watching the Canucks game on high speed internet at Camp stillwood! Doesn't get much better. Last night I stayed in the hottub until 12... after playing 2 hours of indoor soccer. This conference is the bomb...
Well it hasn't all been a slice... lots of sessions during the day time... they aren't very relavent to me at the moment but they are a good learning experience!
Tonight is "Death by chocolate night" and a live auction... I think I will go to the gym and do something.... not... destructive to my body.

We headback on Thursday and are launched into a large camp of Catholics (trouble:)... 160 kids
It should be fun though they have lots of supervision.

Some friends come to help with that camp and it will be much needed.

Valenteen Weekend.... I am excited.
Alot of feelings are going to be flowing by all the campers this weekend.


I should warn you all. There has been a recent development in my life. Development being... a woman. This is all I can divulge at this moment to the public... but certain of you have more info than others... :D

-Josh

Today was a great day! Went into Campbell river and hung out with friends. Went to the Stevens house for supper! I took a special friend to the Campbell river Storm hockey game! Sadly.. we lost 6-0... shoot haha but a friend of mine got the second star in the game haha! Back to work tomorrow... the scrapbookers are here... monday we leave for the conference at Camp Stillwood! I am excited!

Love you all!

Hello friends... it's almost been a week! Not too much has happened! A bunch of camps! Some challenging ones! Adoptive families camp and a Native group from the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw School! I have been doing lots of work around camp in between camps, like maintenance and landscaping and the such... I get to drive a sweet white Ford F350 around... it makes me feel manly! Right now we get two days off! We have Scrapbookers coming tomorrow night! They are here till Sunday... On Monday all of us staff are going to a conference at Camp Stillwood(Chilliwack) for 3 days... it will be wonderfull!

Going into Campbell river today... Doing some exciting things!

I have nothing else to talk about!

Love you guys!

Josh

Friends! I have been busy... this is a consistent camp time right now!

The quilters have left... luckily... nobody is dead!

New group came... they are the Adoptive Families! families with adoptive kids...
they are here today until sunday! pretty coolio!

Lots of dishes and meal setup! Tomorrow I am teaching riflery... probly not teaching but participating..haha... everyone knows how to shoot a gun! come on...

We are going to a sweet Camp Conference at camp Stillwood next week... should be alot fun... all the staff here are going. I think it's a conference for all the camps around BC to come and have sessions and other cool things!

We have had really nice weather here lately actually! not too sunny but it has fealt like spring so much!

Got a package from my parents with a super nintendo... pumpkin loaf,... and some money in it... soo stoked for it!

well... that is it for now... nothing too excited...

Night you people out there!

The quilters are here!

People are going to die!


The Quilters are here.


There have been fights over who gets what table and what lights!


People are going to die!


Somebody's table got stolen...


How has an old lady not died yet?


-Josh

Mountains of China

Today was good! I was supposed to work today but.. there wasn't much to do soo got the day off after 10am. The dining hall is almost done! one or two more coats of finish. Mark and Kyle are working very very hard.
Did some laundry today... bought some groceries... well..actually my roommate bought them for me without me even asking... thanks Kris!

Today was the most beautiful day I have had yet! As you can see I put some pictures up... took lots more... might put them on facebook... probly not.

Because of the days beauty... Kris and I went for a hike at 4:30.. expecting it to get dark soon we brought four flashlights. We hiked the Chinese Mountains. Now... this was not a very smart idea because neither of us have ever been up these things at all... daytime or nighttime. Soo we were expecting to get lost and have search and rescue come after us but... to no avail. We headed up the north side of the mountain in the light... saw the last remnants of the sunset over Campbell river and then started our trek in the dark to the south peak of the mountains. Headlamps on we trudged up. The peak was beautiful and there were soo many stars out. The way down was quite treacherous and we almost got lost soo many times... the trail had been washed away by a large river down the mountain from the torrential downpours we have had.
Needless to say we made it back safe and sound after many hours or scaling a mountain in the dark :D

Tonight, I made Stroganoff... the way my mother made...it was...sooo delicious!
I am currently eating said stroganoff... and watching The Bourne Identity... what an amazing day!

Upcoming camps are the Quilters on the 19th-22nd... and then the later in the day we have an Adoptive Families camp from the 22nd-24th...
The quilters will be very easy... but the Adoptive Families group should be challenging. I am involved more in the that one.
Quilters we just do food and dishes for.
The Adoptive Families camp I am doing meal setup, dishes, teaching floor hockey, teaching riflery, leading firesides and the talent show, and on the last day Sarah and I are leading an excursion up the Homewood bluff. Pretty awesome stuff!


I like blogging here... I have stuff to blog about. :)
Don't expect this to last very long.

Love you all!


Josh.

A whale of a time!

Hello again friends! I am well!
Finished the pastors group the other day. They were a good group, very organized, but really disrespectful. :)
Did lots of cleaning yesterday and today! cleaned the whole lodge. Bathrooms are annoying.
We are redoing the flooring in the dining hall and it has taken soo long! I haven't had to do too much but it has taken the maintenance guys forever. :)
Sanding the floor made such a mess... dust literally got everywhere...
soo us little guys had to do all the dirty work, hours of dusting! They actually forgot to take a bunch of stuff out of the dining hall before they sanded so we had to wipe down soo many chairs and tables that were quite dusty.
Today was slack... got up at 8 started more cleaning... coffee break at 10...
more cleaning... played with a bunch of the camp families kids! and now I am watching movies.. and debating about what I can't have for supper because I have nothing to eat already haha.

This weekends group cancelled on us. The next group is on Tuesday and they are the quilters... I like the quilters already... all we have to do is meal setups and dishes because they don't have firesides or activities! They just sit in the big room and... well.... quilt I guess hahah. Lamesauce if you ask me!

Still quite rainy around here... I feel all around moist. :)
My skin is feeling quite nice actually!

well.. now that I am talking about my skin I will sign out!
Love you all!

Josh


ps. The OC is the best...

Hello

I have come to realize that it's not the weather that can get me down but really, it's wether or not I choose to let it get me down. Yes... it is the Island. You know it is, when it's rained 3 days straight hard enough to cause rivers down the roads and puddles beneath your feet!

I am at camp Homewood. My new home for the next 6 months or soo. I got here yesterday night with my family at 10pm. Lights were all out... most people were sleeping. Kris was kind enough to welcome us and get us settled in. My room...is... rediculous... but homey.
I got right settled into work this morning barely had time to say farewell to my family. But... kissed them goodbye and wished them well.. I like to think this is me moving out sort of. Makes it seem more special to me!
I got straight into work!
Our group for the next two days is a pastoral retreat from Campbell river, and Courtney/Comox
25 people in total... mainly the families of pastors. So today I setup for two meals, did the dishes for 30 some people, mopped the kitchen, went sailing in the worst weather ever and got frozen hands, saw a grey whale glide out of the water, and watched 3 episodes of The O.C. A grand start to my new "job". I haven't taken any pictures yet and don't know if i will get a chance but it is gorgeous here right now. I wish you all could see it! I am really enjoying it so far so don't worry about me, my children. Love you all!

Josh.

Well friends... I am packing as I speak to you now...
this is a happy day.. filled with lots of emotions... not just happiness...
many many more.

I will see you all in the near future.

This will be the last post under this blog title, layout and color...oooohhh!


-Joshua Daniel Geddert.