Reminiscing... Camping trips

For as long as I can remember my family has gone camping. When I was really little, probably about 3, we all camped in tents and I thought that was just the greatest. I can remember being put in the tent for my afternoon nap wearing a big t-shirt of Pop's (my grandpa) and I would curl up on the air mattress with my "curly" blanket my grandmother made me. The tent windows would be zipped open and I could feel the breeze coming in and hear the ladies discussing dinner plans.

When I was about 5, I remember dragging out my purple suitcase of Barbies on a big outdoor rug and playing for hours. I especially liked to use Barbie's heels to kill the ants that approached Barbie and Skipper's living room. And I remember wearing my teal Minnie Mouse raincoat and rubber boots while running around to "help" everyone cover up their stack of wood before they got too wet.

Then we got a camper; the pop-up kind with beds on either side that extended over the sides of the camper. Now that thing was cool. The table turned into a bed. There was a "sofa" that was really like a bench, with all our pots and pans below. I loved to draw and color and "make art"; I would lay in my bed with the entire window zipped open and it felt like I was sitting in a hayloft.

By the time I was in middle school my suitcase was filled with books, cd's and my DiscMan. I would pull out a lawn chair in the sun with three or four books and read the entire day. My unruly curls hated camping so my hair was always piled in a bundle on top of my head. The only time I moved was to take a bike ride to the bathroom or to go out on the boat, but even then my book went with me. Then at night, after the campfire was out, I would go into the camper- which was a typical camper now with several sofa's-turned-beds and a regular bathroom; except we didn't use it for anything but storage. I'm still not sure why but I digress. I would put NSYNC or Mariah Carey in my DiscMan, turn it way down low and drift off to sleep. I went through a lot of AA batteries in those days.

Through high school I camped less because I wanted to be with my friends. But I would always spend at least one day out on the boat and at least one night sitting around the campfire. I was prissy in those days though- I didn't want to get dirty and I didn't want to get wet so camping was less appealing to me.

It wasn't until sophomore year of college that I really started to miss camping trips. So I started planning my own with whatever friends I could convince to go. The first one was miserable because I had never planned a camping trip before and I had no idea all the things we would need. We must have driven into town ten times that weekend. And camping in a tent was nothing like I remembered. For one thing, tents just aren't made the way they used to be. Secondly, I had an eye for bugs and that tended to keep me awake for hours. And of course I still am not a fan of mud and it's really hard to keep things clean when it's muddy and rainy.

But I've been pretty smart since I've started my own camping trip; every time I've made a list of the things that we needed that I didn't pack. And I'm not talking luxuries here, I'm talking about necessities like can openers and starting wood. It only took one time of opening a can of baked beans to realize a knife is not the best tool. And it really only took one time of scouting the trail for dry sticks and twigs to get our fire started to know that I need to bundle some up before we leave.

Today I'm posting over on designology my tips for true outdoor living: the necessity's on a camping trip. Make sure to check it out before you plan your next nature adventure.

Memorial Day Weekend

Click here to watch a funny Memorial Day Weekend Video

Dump Cake Adventures

Click here for a funny video on making dump cake... at a campground.

Moving on... Again.

This past week has been completely packed, in more ways than one. Moving, planning a baby shower, and preparing for camping all at one time is a little much to add to my already busy schedule.

I know, I know. Boohoo. I'm not the type of person who likes to have something to do at every second of the day. I relish in my me-time. I like to be able to spend time doing what I want (reading, catching up on my YouTube subscriptions since I do not have tv, organizing my desk, cleaning). So when I say I have a busy schedule, it includes doing all of those things that I want to do.

After I came to the realization last week that I had to be out of my current apartment on the same day I would be returning from a long weekend camping trip, I started going a little crazy. Moving is one of those things that I like to take time to organize and plan. However, I didn't have time to do that. I started deciding right away when I had to do things and I realized I would have to move this week and be out of the apartment by Thursday night (tonight) because we are leaving directly after work Friday (tomorrow) and electric will be disconnected Friday.

Starting Saturday, I began packing all of my things. Sunday we moved some of my large furniture like the dining table and my desk. It's complicated because I'm not taking much of the furniture to the new apartment, some of the things belong to my sister, some to my parents, and some to my grandparents. It was important to seperate all of these things into the necessary piles.

The other important thing was keeping in mind that I would be staying at my parents for about two weeks. I needed to keep out my work clothes, some casual clothes, and keep camping clothes packed up in a different place. I like to have options when it comes to dressing and it is very difficult for me to plan for two weeks worth of outfits, not to mention the makeup, jewelry, and hair tools that I had to decide what to do with. What can be packed for two weeks? Will it melt? Do I need it for camping? Will I have room for it at my parents?

Yesterday was the first day that I felt I had things under control. I have been packing up things as I finish with them and taking them to storage this week. The plan for today was to move my dresser, nightstand, makeup cart, and bed out tonight. I also have to clear out the refrigerator and quickly clean the entire place. Also tonight I need to make some food for camping that we offered to bring and I need to have all of the camping supplies gathered in one spot so Kyle can load up the car after school tomorrow. I was relying heavily on Kyle's assistance with everything since my brother has to work, my dad has back problems, and Pop isn't supposed to lift anything over like 30 pounds. Kyle then let me know last night that he would be unavailable because he was invited to a Reds game in Cincy. Grrr...

I know that I will get everything finished. I just feel frustrated that I won't have much help. And really I just wanted someone to be there to make me feel more confident about getting everything done. HOWEVER, I will do it on my own and then feel proud that I can be independent.

Along those same lines, I was able to really reflect last night on my first-time-living-alone experience. I had vinyl letters above my bed that I had to peel off. I'll attach a photo. As I was peeling them off, I started thinking about how I have been an example of this exact phrase. I feel like a completely different person than I was a year ago. Having to make my own choices and kind of figure things out myself, I have become much more confident. I feel like I have experienced so much and learned so many things by trial and error- or trial and success -which really makes me feel good.

After peeling off half of the phrase, I really thought about the person I have become.

And what I finally realized is in the last photo...

until next time... x's and o's!