This past week was TIA (teens in action) camp. I never attended TIA camp when I was old enough and now I'm too old. But...on the bright side I was able to staff TIA this year which is basically just as much fun.



We all got a chance to see the Supermoon on Sunday while taking a break from decorating for camp the next day.

We went on a night (horse) ride! The only light to guide us was that of the lighting bugs; and Pace ran me in to tons of trees because of this. ouch.

We may or may not have had a very large dance party. :)

All of the staff cleaned up and dressed up for the Thursday night Banquet. That's when we serve the TIA campers an amazing meal.

Since we didn't have many rides this week Abigail (middle below) decided that it would be fun to have a "wrangler only ride". It was so much fun! We made Vines of ourselves trotting sitting backwards in our saddles. We trotted sitting side-saddle. We did all the things that we tell our campers not to do! It was great!




Things that I learned this week...

Have the courage to step out of your comfort zone...and have fun!

Make time to have quiet time with the Lord!

PRAY! Prayer is a very important thing! If I only take one thing away from this summer that's what it would be. "I'm an alien 'bout to phone home..." -Lecrae

Grace

Writer's block has hit me, so forgive me for the rambling and randomness of this post.

Last week I didn't have to be at camp till Tuesday; which was ah-mazing getting to spend a little more time with my family at home and resting up from horse camp. Last week we didn't have any public camps just a two-day private camp at the end of the week. Since there wasn't any camps we didn't have any rides all week (except for Friday, and I go to my other job on Friday). We did a few "wrangly" chores around the barn and trimmed limbs on the trails. Whenever we weren't doing wrangler duties we helped decorate the chapel for the public camps the rest of the summer.

The theme for this year's camps is "Shipwrecked" so the plan for the chapel was a jungle mural, a "waterfall" that we could walk through, a half-way 3D shipwreck, and a lighthouse that we could walk through. I never realized how much mental work goes into painting and paper macheing! I am usually physically drained at the end of the week, but this week I was just mentally drained. You wouldn't think that decorating could be so stressful, but I assure you that it is. We had things go wrong, and changing of plans (and everybody knows how much I hate for plans to change at the last minute).

I would like to give a standing ovation to Meagan (camp director) and the interns. They were in that chapel decorating from the time they woke up in the morning till midnight or later every night of the week with little or no breaks! Not only did they do that, but they did it with a good attitude and lots of patience.

Also I have had a sinus infection all week. Which completely took a toll on my tiredness level, and mood. Thankfully I have a great camp family (because that's what we are, family). They were my mommies all week. They reminded me to take my medicine, and drink lots of water. They made me go to bed early and take longer breaks during the day. I don't know what I would do without them.

We made it though! With lots of coffee, Lecrae dance parties on stage with mics at 10:00 at night, and a lot of praying, we made it. The chapel looks awesome! I can't wait for boys' camp to start next week!

Grace

• armadillo hunt. This is a long time camp ritual, but I have never participated.
• make a video of my summer. This one will be easy.
• work on loping. I can lope, but I look really stupid when I do.
• saddle in less than 5 minutes. This one will make my bosses and myself really happy.
• finish reading "life without limits". This one is pretty self explanatory.