2010

I woke up early this morning after nearly a week of doing so at camp. At around 7 o'clock was the best time to shower; there was always plenty of hot water and the showers had lots of pressure. I made it my daily routine to carefully get up, trying not to wake Ryan, throw my cut-offs on and tramp across the dewy grass as I held my shampoo, conditioner, towel and underwear in a small pile.

I returned last night at around 10 o'clock; I had organised the bus and we dropped Ryan at his host parents who have moved to Omaha. I found a note left by my mum with plenty of 'xoxo' scribbled on it. They had fallen asleep after a few late nights, which left me creeping around the house as I tried to unpack.

As I went through my bag, my clothes were covered with subtle reminders of how awesome camp was. My jeans were washed brown, my jandals covered in dust and my bible had sand in the pages.

It had been one of the best new years for me yet. New Years eve had an awesome cover band with Dean Rush and Brendan Hall; the entire tent was moshing. I saw fear in the eyes of a few very small girls as the crowd was surging. It was so great.

I also made new friends and caught up with old ones. There isn't anything better really. I thought pretty hard about this when I saw a boyfriend with his head in his hands, slumped over, while his girlfriend patted his back. She lives overseas and he wont see her for a few months. It's pretty important that we value people and try make the most of the time we have with them - so thanks to all my friends.

This morning, I'm preparing to go to the airport and farewell a really good friend; Ryan Chapman. We tented together and he often sun blocked my back. I started to ask him to do it more and more often as I realised how much it seared him. 'This doesn't make you gay Ryan,' I would often assure him. He only ever laughed lightly in reply.

Our New Years was spent sunbathing on the pure, white sand of Cooks Beach, as we watched King of the Ring competitions, wakeboarding and volley ball. The weather was absolutely fantastic and I lay on the sand wishing that Getaway wouldn't end. He is returning to America today, his plane leaves sometime around 3 o'clock. It's pretty sad that he is going, but I'm sure that I'll see him again some time.

I just had such an awesome time over New Years and I only hope that it carries through into the year. I thought how much I loved the simplicity of a life lived for others last night, as we tried to take a perfect final photograph on the way home from camp. We stopped in the Redwood forest, where the tree restaurant is and jumped up and down; trying to suspend ourselves midair as the camera perched on the car. We noticed that we kept appearing to have just landed; we began jumping later and the problem got worse. In response, we counted more seconds after the timer flashes and all still appeared on the ground. We creased our brows in concern, until Ryan remarked with Confucian insight, 'If we haven't jumped yet, we need to jump.' We laughed so hard at our own stupidity. I hope the rest of the year is as fun and that I can meet many more great friends.