graphite and medeba

a few weeks ago i had the chance to return to my first love and my second home. i spent most of my younger years at graphite bible camp in bancroft, but since i've been in university and now working, it is rare that i get to go back, even just to visit. i can't tell you how much i love it there... there are so many memories packed into that place. i went back to graphite for a college and careers retreat. i got to see so many long lost friends and co-counsellors from previous years (and even one of my klbc teachers cause he was the speaker!). as soon as i arrived on friday night i felt at peace... back where i belong. i was just in awe of how big the sky is there! that was the first thing i noticed when i stepped out of my car. you just cannot appreciate the beauty of nature when you live in the city. life itself is so much different. and the snow was so crisp, not like the sloppy stuff here... so much more fun to play in! while at camp i got to play broomball, soccer in the snow, go tubing, tobogganning and snowboarding (ramps and rails included on site). i also went snowmobiling at high speeds through the bush and across the lake (even caught some air off a few ramps!), and played floor hockey in the gym... so much activity for one weekend! i love it so much. it makes me feel so young and really good about myself when i get that much exercise. there was alot a lot of joking around too on the weekend... most of which revolved around my brother. it started on friday night with my brother getting up at 2am to ring the camp bell (which echos across the lake and woke up a bunch of people). he then went into the kitchen and duct taped the refrigerator door shut. this kind of thing happens on a pretty regular basis during the summer, so the camp director and cook easily saw the humor in it and laughed it off. kenton knows the boundaries... in fact, he's probably the one who drew the lines! unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for kenton, since he likes the attention) everybody knew exactly who did it without question, so there was no mystery in it. on the saturday kenton and his friend teamed up to try to subtly pry some information regarding the girls dorm... then in the middle of the night, as pretty much expected, the pranking began. they snuck into the girls dorm, more specifically the room i was staying in with a few other girls, slide a pot just inside the door, lit some firecrackers in the pot, and took off running (and laughing uncontrollably). it was definitely loud and woke up the entire building very abruptly, but it was a good one! props to him! : ) haha there was quite a mess of ashes left in the room afterwards, but apparently it was a well thought out plan... kenton was in charge of making sure the fire alarm didn't go off, and his buddy was delegated the task of ensuring the carpet didn't burn. also in tales of humor, kenton co-wrote a song entitled "click click double-click" during the weekend, which came about from a dinner table conversation regarding the online dating experiences of those who were sitting at our table during that meal... including the time kenton found kim on Lavalife (LOL)! the video coverage can be found here. i find it quite entertaining... but maybe you just had to be there.

this past weekend i got to go on another college and careers retreat at camp medeba near haliburton. it was completely different, but just as awesome. there was less activity and structure to the weekend, and the jokes were lacking and pranks were non-existant, but the prayer and worship (with the Mike Albano band) was amazing... not to mention Gary Weekes' messages. and i got to spend so much time girl-talking (including many tears)... much needed! and had the chance to strengthen a number of friendships. i also got to go on the zip line twice, and we went tubing, and had a campfire and smores before bed. unfortunately because of the warm weather, i didn't get to go on the ice climbing wall : ( the one good thing about this weekend as opposed to the previous is that after it was all over, i got to go home with all my friends and hang out with them some more... i didn't have to leave them behind to go off on my own direction, making goodbyes difficult as i did at graphite.