I would like to start off saying a few things… 1) Mom, I apologize for what you are about to read, but I promise lifejackets were worn and we learned our lesson, 2) this blog post is going to be a bit of a long one, but I promise you will enjoy the story… I know I did! 3) Island camping with your college ministry group is pretty amazing if you survive!
So Saturday started off with me going to get a tattoo and then going home to pack for a camping trip with some friends. We decided to camp on an island so I packed light and then went to go pick up the paddleboard. I got to the launch spot and we had Karen and I take the paddleboard out with Lulu in her little pouch. We quickly learned this was not the brightest decision as it got windy and boats out on the water made it choppy. We got about half way to the nearest island and discovered we were no longer moving forward. The conditions made it too difficult to keep moving forward so we just kind of hung out in the same spot for about 20 minutes while we waited for her husband, Andrew, to circle back around in the kayak. Once we finally got to shore, we realized we were on the wrong island. It was not suitable for the 10 person tent nor a good place to build a fire so we shuttled to the next island. Our stroke of unfortunate luck did not end there.
Once, we set up the tent and realized we did it wrong and rebuilt it. After the tent was built, Ally, Karen, and I were taking our gear into the tent when Karen stuck her head out to find that Lulu randomly had a piece of cheese. We did a bit of investigating and found that she got into the sandwich that Ally and I were saving for dinner! We laughed about it and built the fire were our luck continued. As I began to say it looked like my boots were on fire with all the steam coming out of them, Ally pulls her boot away from the fire with a 1-2 inch flame on her Xtratuff!! We laughed and joked about the trip so far and how we should have turned back at so many points during the trip when we saw that Johnathan’s boot began getting a little too smoky! As our giggles died down we looked around for Lulu and someone made a joke that she was probably off eating someone else’s sandwich when Ally looked down to see Lulu had snuck in between our lawn chairs and was eating our sandwich again!! Laughter erupted once more and floated up to the sky along with the smoke and sparks from the fire. It was such an eventful evening and many inside jokes were made. I don’t quite remember how it happened but Karen, Ally, Kaitlyn, and I named ourselves the Cheetoh Girls and decided we would make various cheetoh themed onesies for Karen’s birthday party next month!
All in all, God reminded me what good company looks and feels like. I have been struggling with various things in my life like time management and not letting overwhelming stress from one area affect another, but God showed me that living in the moment and creating memories is what He really wants me to focus on. Island camping with the Cheetoh Girls and the guys (Andrew, Johnathan, and Solomon were also there) was the funniest, silliest, strangest experience I had in a long time. What a great way to kick off Easter and celebrate Jesus being alive! I hope everyone had a lovely Easter and that they remembered the true meaning of what the day means because I sometimes forget it and just how significant it truly is.
