YW Camp 2022

Earlier this spring, I was asked to be the assistant stake camp director for our YW camp.  It's a calling that I would have been petrified of in days past,  but I'll be honest, at this stage of my life,  I was actually pretty excited about it.   My life was relatively calm at that time and, as long time blog readers might remember, I had callings in YW for several years (5ish years in Vienna and 2ish years in Pennsylvania), so I was excited to be able to get back to doing something I felt passionately about.  I love working with young women and I love being a part of something that helps stretch young women to their full potential.     

Little did I know  when I committed to doing it, though, what absolute chaos my life was soon to become.   In the weeks leading up to camp, we traveled out of the country, to Hawaii, my Dad got put on hospice care, I was in charge of a family reunion, we hosted a bunch of  people at our house, I was getting two kids ready for their summer adventures, I hosted a baby shower, and basically I was about as busy and overwhelmed as I could be....all the while trying to process the difficult emotions that come along with your Dad dying and to fulfill my responsibilities as ASCD.   

Looking back at that time now, I think being too busy might be better for me than being too open-ended with my time. Many of the days leading up to camp were 100% filled from morning to night, but somehow I not only "made" it, but I felt useful and fulfilled.    I really don't like feeling like I don't have any free time, but I also really don't like feeling like the time I spend is not meaningful.  Since I don't really have any friends in Utah, my calling is light, and I strongly feel like it's not the right time to get a job while Ellie is still at home,  my life tends toward self-inflicted busy most of the time {hence the resurgence in blogging again}, rather than actually being busy.  

When camp came along finally, it was just what I needed.   It was time to unplug, enjoy being outside in a gorgeous setting, and just be.   Most of my camp related responsibilities were for BEFORE and AFTER camp, so I found my time at camp to be not stressful at all.  I got to enjoy meeting young women and getting to know the other stake leaders.   I have felt quite lonely since moving away from VA three years ago, so getting to know people  in a laid back environment was lovely!   

I became somewhat of the allergy expert for the kitchen staff and got to put the knowledge I'd gained cooking for people with severe allergies to use....

I made these gluten free ice cream sandwiches (with the GF cookies I had made at home) to be a special treat for the GF girls...

It ended up being a weirdly rainy few days (for Utah at least), so a lot of our activities were interrupted ...

The vibes of camp were laid back though, so it didn't feel super stressful to get sidetracked.   We didn't enforce a dress code and, since the yearly certifications were gotten rid of a few years ago, we didn't really have to force anyone to participate in anything they didn't want to.  I had the opportunity to put my arms around a few struggling girls (figuratively) and, again, I just enjoyed the opportunity to just "be".  

I felt like I really connected with a few women and I thought I might have found my first Utah friends, but, alas, they ended up seeming to  be interested to be Sunday friends only...like everyone else I've met in Utah.  

We had a blast at the lip sync night.   The brand new stake presidency put on a great performance...

And we had a couple energetic choreographers that made sure the stake leaders' performance was polished and very fun!  {I'm in the red tophat and mint sweats} 

I very much enjoyed being a part of YW camp, but,  in the two weeks after camp ended,  I went  back to being super busy and my Dad passed away, so the let-down was huge.  I'm happy to have more friendly faces to greet around town now, but I am definitely  still searching for "my people" here.   That's okay, though.   It's been reaffirmed to me a million times in the last year that we are exactly where we're supposed to be right now...

Tagging Along on a Work Trip: Barcelona

A lot has happened since I started this blogpost back in June, but I don't want to miss blogging about this trip while it's still fresh(ish) on my mind, so this will be a quick highlights post of our time in Barcelona....  

MAY 2022

NOTE:  Here's Part 1 {Amsterdam} and Part 2 {Lisbon, Portugal} from this trip.

We arrived late morning on Monday, May 16th and made our way straight to Parc Guell.  Parc Guell was one of the highlights my visit to Barcelona in 2016, so I was very excited to introduce it to Glen . 

It was pretty hot that day and it ended up being more of a hike from our hotel than it looked like on the map, so we were quite tired by the time we got there...

but, fatigue notwithstanding, we did very much enjoy the Gaudi architecture and still ended up hiking to the top of the hill above the Parc. 

  Kristina, Adam, Spence, and I had trekked up there on our trip in 2016 and LOVED the 360-degree views of Barcelona from up there!    

Once again, we were not disappointed with the views! 

I don't remember exactly what we did after that point, but I know we found food and wandered a bit more before settling into our hotel for the evening.   

The next two days were Glen's work conference, so I ended up wandering around town one of the days with Glen's co-worker's wife, Vanessa, and one of the days by myself.  

It's quite an experience exploring a foreign city all by yourself, but I was pleased that I felt confident and not at all fearful about being by myself.   

 Sadly, it's been long enough that I don't remember all the names of the places I / we visited, but here are some highlights...

In the evenings, Glen's company took us on private tours and fed us fancy food!   One of the nights was a walking tour of Old Barcelona and a private tour of Casa Battlo!   

I had seen Casa Battlo from the outside a few times in my Barcelona explorations, but being able to see some Gaudi architecture from the inside was quite a treat!   

I loved hearing about how he used light and color as an integral part of his designs.   I'm someone who thrives on having lots of natural light in my indoor spaces, so it intrigued me to see the clever ways he introduced natural light into what otherwise would have been dark spaces.   

We also enjoyed seeing how no detail was beyond his notice and even the roof was beautifully executed! 

After the tours were done, we headed to Torre D'Alta Mar--a Michelin star restaurant--for the fanciest dinner we'd ever eaten before!    The restaurant was located on top of this tower....

The location meant that the views overlooking the city were pretty spectacular...  

This dinner was a true European experience that didn't even get started until 9:00pm or so and didn't finish until after midnight. Overall, the food was good, but totally not our style. 

There were several courses, but Glen being allergic to shellfish and me to gluten, meant that we were getting fed alternate dishes at most of the courses, so who knows what we would have thought of the food if we could have eaten what everyone else was eating.    We went back to the hotel that night totally exhausted!  

 

The next day's adventures included a private tour of Sagrada Familia, which was super cool.  

I'd read so much about Sagrada Familia and had seen it from the outside several times, so being able to see the incredible details in person was a truly unforgettable experience!   

Gaudi put sooooooo much detail into every aspect of the design and it's mind-boggling to think they've been working to make his vision come to reality for over 100 years now! 

There is so much religious symbolism...

Look at that detail!   And it's even more incredible in real life!  

We ate another very late meal {paella} that night...

The next day we headed home, happy and exhausted.  

My stomach was upset for days afterward, so we think I may have accidentally eaten some gluten somewhere along the way.  Overall, though, it was a great get-away before our family trip to Hawaii and what was soon to be one of the craziest few months of my life.  

 DISCLAIMER:   These pics may or may not be in the order they actually happened.  Trying to recreate a trip three months after the fact, is proving to be more difficult than I imagined.