Not a whole lot to say today, but I feel like I should blog because I'm so far away from my friends. Camp is fun. I'm glad that I chose to come back here for the summer. The staff is hilarious. And energetic. And creative. And great with kids. Ya know, the typical camp type people. My roommates, Jody and Cori are way fun. We all have the same middle name, Lynn. And they aren't messy which I like.

My campers are really cute. They all have great smiles. They like to laugh. And they really like Jake, my male counselor last week and this upcoming week. We planted a garden this past Wednesday day. Each child has their own tomato plant. I went out to water them this morning...some of them look like they are on their way to being dead. YIKES! The soil just isnt' very good up where they put the garden. And the water supply consists of me filling buckets in a creek and hauling them 50 yards....so needless to say, they may not get enough water. Oops.

Today is Saturday. A day to rest, rejuvenate, and plan for the week. And that's what I'm doing for sure! Oh, I like getting mail at camp. But in the four weeks, I've been here, I've only gotten one piece of mail. Hint. Hint.

Last week, I sprained my ankle on the slip n' slide - the first step I took onto the dumb thing! Then this past Tuesday, I took a chunk of my leg off and left a fist sized bruise...new picnic tables that have screws sticking out. And I got a spider bite on Wednesday. But I'm alive. hehe.

Okay, I'm signing off now. Go read someone else's blog.

on being old

Its wierd. Like a sickness. Or a disease. Something you aren't used to. Something you think will not actually happen to you. (I mean this in a much lighter tone than the one I am setting). Getting old. It seemed to happen to me over the course of 24 hours. I went from the youngest person among my friends to being the oldest woman on a staff of all college students. What a small battle I had internally...do I act a little bit more immature than what I am comfortable with in order to gain their friendship? Do I remain at my maturity level and feel annoyed by them frequently? Do I share from my plethera of experiences and offer up suggestions or do I remain quiet?

This battle only lasted a few hours as I quickly realized I would not only be cheating myself, but also God, my program director, and the staff if I were anyone but me. My age has most certainly been both a blessing and a bit of a challenge in the short time I have been at camp. But the Lord is teaching me to get over myself, let Him figure things out for me, and to be more flexible. He's already used me in ways I didn't think possible and stretched me in ways I didn't think would ever be stretching for me AND the kids haven't even arrived yet!

Praise the Lord for being old. For the work He continues do even as we get older. for now, I'll try to think about reverting back to being the youngest in August.

Tulip Time Pictures

Hello mudder...hello fadder

Yep, I'm off to camp today. Early mornings, late nights, campfires, and lots of kids. I'll be sure to blog my experiences as often as I can. In the meantime, write me letters!! (for those of you that have my address).

maven goes to the park

Outlook Not So Good

I remember as a child frequently walking the two blocks to my friend Amber's house where our Saturday afternoons were swallowed up by playing house, school, "Guess Who", all sorts of imagination games, and driving her grandma crazy. Sometimes, usually toward the end of the afternoon, we would run out of things to play so we would pull out the (drumroll please) Magic 8 Ball. The questions we asked it were so silly. "Is so and so the cutest boy in our class?" "Will I get an A on my next test?" Many times the answer was very straightforward. "Yes." or "No." However, the phrase "outlook not so good" would occassionally make its way to the surface. Normally we would just reask the question without even a thought to the meaning of that phrase.

Fifteen years later, that phrase continues to show its face. It smiled in on me not all that long ago when I was lying in bed asking God a whole series of questions about my future (mostly in the job world). This time my questions not so silly. "Will I have a job?" "Will I be a teacher?" "Should I be pursuing something else?" Just as I finished my slew of questions, "Outlook not so good" popped into my head. I almost laughed out loud. Even though I was talking to God, there is no way that is what he was replying to me. For real, when you are walking with God how can the outlook NOT be good? The situation may not be good. MY situation has been hard and scary and has contained a lot of unknowns. But the outlook has never been bad. The Lord has promised to take care of me and He has been MORE than faithful in His promise this past year. YEAH!

on fiances and singleness

My car was made just before they started installing CD players, therefore, I listen to the radio when I'm out driving around. Over this past year, I have slowly fallen in love with Natasha Bedingfield. Her music is an enjoyable mix of hip-hop and pop. Her lyrics are clean and catchy. And her message is powerful! Currently she is most well known for "These Words", which is about finding the best word to say "I love you" and "Unwritten" which speaks to the fact that we have some control over our life and the direction it takes. These are the two songs that got me hooked on her, but I would have to say that "Single" is the song that I like the best.

Ah yeah that's right
All you single people out there
This is for you

I'm not waitin' around for a man to save me
(Cos I'm happy where I am)
Don't depend on a guy to validate me
I don't need to be anyone's baby
(Is that so hard to understand?)
No I don't need another half to make me whole

Make your move if you want doesn't mean I will or won't
I'm free to make my mind up you either got it or you don't

[Chorus:]
This is my current single status
My declaration of independence
There's no way I'm tradin' places
Right now a star's in the ascendant

I'm single
(Right now)
That's how I wanna be
I'm single
(Right now)
That's how I wanna be

Don't need to be on somebody's arm to look good
(I like who I am)
I'm not saying I don't wanna fall in love 'cos I would
I'm not gonna get hooked up just 'cos you say I should
(Can't romance on demand)
I'm gonna wait so I'm sorry if you misunderstood

[Chorus]

Everything in it's right time everything in it's right place
I know I'll settle down one day
But 'til then I like it this way it's my way
Eh I like it this way

Make your move if you want doesn't mean I will or won't
I'm free to make my mind up you either got it or you don't
'Til then I'm single

This is my current single status
My declaration of independence
There's no way I'm tradin' places
Right now a star's in the ascendant

Not only does this song literally say "I don't need a man to validate me", but it also doesn't come across in the extreme feministic "more rights for women" kind of way. It's okay to be single. It's okay to not date. It's okay to want to wait.

Sadly so many women fall into the mindset that they must be with a man to have purpose and meaning to their lives. That they can't be someone without first being WITH someone. So they are constantly going from one boyfriend to another, never single for more than a week, and in the end left feeling more empty than the beginning.

How great it is to see someone in the popular radio world taking a stand...trying to empower women (in a different way) ....to make a statement (even if it is a small one). Too bad this isn't the most popular of her songs on the radio!

On a different note (fiances): I have a former student who is now 6 years old. He attends the school where my roommate currently teaches. Recently some friends had a BBQ where both my roommate and my former student were in attendance. Now this particular student has a problem with remembering big words, but not using them at the appropriate times. The following is a conversation between Tanya (my roommate) and my former student and his mother.

Student: I remember you. You're Ms. Salmond's fiance!
Tanya: Roommate. I'm Ms. Salmond's roommate.
Student's mother: Roommate sweetie. Roommate.
Student: Fiance! Fiance! Fiance! Fiance!

confessions of a twenty-something wanderer

On this rather warm (for April), kind of humid night, I have some confessions to make. Once upon a time, I won this award (2 years in a row) called "Lifelong Learner." Well, my lifetime has only been 24 and a few months, but I'm definately still learnin'. And most recently learnin' some things about myself. Don't laugh too hard...it might hurt.

CONFESSION #1: I own 43 t-shirts. I just discovered that tonight as I finally faced the drawer that doesn't close...hehe...I counted the shirts AND got the drawer to close.

CONFESSION #2: Somehow and at some point, I sneakily became one of those people that consistently forgets to zip up my pants. Either that or the zippers are failing on multiple pairs of my pants. One of these days I'm going to meet the love of my life (or Jamie Cullum) and realize five minutes later that my zipper was down...which, to my horror, is the way it happens each time.

CONFESSION #3: Living with a roommate who is very different from me has opened my eyes to how annoyed I get at little things...like the dishes not being put away in the right place, or the refrigerator not being organized, or not having juice to drink in the morning. Nothing that is wrong, but everything that for some reason bothers me. I think I should win a new award called "Most easily annoyed by stupid stuff".

CONFESSION #4: I can't drink the entire 8 glasses of daily recommended water because then I have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I'm not a morning person, BUT I'm really not a wake-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-just-to-pee person either. In fact sometimes, I don't even open my eyes on the way there.

CONFESSION #5: I really do miss Tulip Time...yes, Centralites...I do. I know, its strange, but I do.

I write this blog today from the local library because the power at my apartment is out. Yep for about 22 hours now. I awoke yesterday from a blissful nap to find that the day had turned wonderfully spring...77 degrees, slight breeze, beautiful! I have been having a bit of car trouble lately so I took my car to a place where they'll do some tests for free...the corrosion on my battery was so bad that when they guy tried to take the piece off (technical terms escape me) it snapped in two. So he put a new one on. You would think this would be easy, but out of no where, the wind picked up and then the tornado sirens went off. The man just said to me "Let me know if you see a tornado" as he continued to work. THAT'S Service! So there we were with the wind whipping trash cans and branches and lightpoles all around us while this nice man tried to finish up my car. Unfortunately, or maybe FORtunately the rain came and we ended up waiting out the storm inside. (Yep just hanging out in a car parts store while the winds whipped through town.) Then he finished only to discover that my battery only had enough juice in it to make back home.

When I arrived home, the power, well, it was out. I have yet to hear any news, but by word-of-mouth (from people who do have power) there were 80 mile hour straight winds and a tornado not really all that far from where I live. And I was standing outside....duh. So here we are 24 hours later...no power...no heat (and its kinda cold out today). BUT we have hot water...so at least I can take a hot shower:) My car is still having issues despite the new battery...what a crazy life.

On another note, spring is here. My friend Jonathan pretty much summed up how I feel about it in his blog.

I will write more later about the rest of life...

I have not blogged in a bit. Life is crazy with CityLights students here. I promise to catch everyone up after they leave. For now, here is a super cute picture of my nephew to tide you over.

through the back door

The blogging world has been a bit foreign to me lately as CityLights, a new job, and a kitchen sanitation certification test have all quickly crept upon me. But people are dying to know about my life. right.

Unfortunately for you visitors of the "fishtank", I am feeling something a little different then the sharing of my life tonight.

I just spent more time than I should have on the phone with a woman who is becoming a dear friend. Yep, that's right, I said a dear friend. Another person for me to get sentimental over. Only this time, the Lord is creating such a unique and strong bond, that I loose track of time when I'm talking with her. (Kind of the same as when I talk with my mom (that's really the truth too mom!)). I remember several months ago, ask God to make my dependence upon Him complete and utter I-can't-live-a-day-without-you-dependence. How does that saying go? Be careful what you ask for? I was stripped of a job...and friends just seemed to be slipping through the cracks. My relationships began changing, and I found myself longing for the times I could slip back into my room, lay on my bed, and tell God what was on my heart and mind.

After about 4 months of that, I began to pray very specifically for good female friends. At the time, I thought that would never happen. That maybe the Lord thought my heart wasn't content enough just with Him. But He brought me three friends...they came in the sneakiest ways. One started with just a simple hug at our church retreat. Another in simply wanting to help a family. And the third....well, she took my job and wanted to ask me a bunch of questions.

Tonight as I write, I just can't get over the goodness of the Lord. How He knew my heart. He knew the timing of the friends I needed. And just when I thought I was at my breaking point, He delivered in the smallest of ways. The ironic thing is that this sort of thing happens every day, but I fail to see it. It's like it has to smack me in the face before I recognize just what is going on. Funny, isn't it.

It's late. CityLights, the new job, and the kitchen sanitation certification test still await me. I promise to write about the new job next time.

a new old one.

Trust.
You tell me to trust.
To be still.
To wait.
To commit.
To trust
NOT
in my own understanding.
You will make me like a mountain
Strong.
Indestructable.
Unwavering.
The dawn, in all it's pinks, purples, and blues
Will radiate from me.
You will allow me to rebuild cities.
To clothe the naked.
Feed the hungry.
Father the fatherless.
Love my neighbor.
But I have to be patient.
I have to be still.
I have to commit.
Your grace is sufficient in my weakness.