Camp Memories

I just got back from spending all of last week up at camp and had a great time. Our camp has been in transition for many years and it was great to be back up at TaTa Pochon, the place where I began my camp journey 10 years ago. I wasn't sure that the week was going to work out but after a series of hiccups me and 90 kids, 24 counselors and 2 dogs found ourselves in Big Bear. One of the best parts of camp this year is that I was able to bring Jack and Charlie to enjoy the week with me.

Camp was filled with great kids from all over the LA area and a few from Orange County. My favorite group was the smallest kids who are all so very cute and full of energy. When I was at flagpole getting the kids ready for lunchtime two 7 year old girls came up to me and said, "Stacy, are you married because you are so beautiful!" Now, if that isn't the sweetest thing I have ever heard in the entire world...after I said I wasn't they continued, "Well, do you have a boyfriend?" I shook my head, no. "Well then we will find you one because it is not possible for someone like you not to have one." I laughed and they then proceeded to point out all the guys at camp asking, "What about him...or him...or maybe him he's cute." Never mind the fact that every guy they picked out was barely over the age of 18, I guess that goes to show that when you are 7 years old someone older than you is just older than you. And someone 30 matched with someone who is 18 isn't quite a match made in heaven but nonetheless I appreciated their effort and concern for my relationship status.
Jack and Charlie surprised me greatly. You have to understand that Jack tends to listen pretty well since he is 10 years old, Charlie however is a firecracker and when he is free he tends to have A.D.D. in full force. On the first day at camp I kept the both of them on a leash at all times, convinced that if they were let off the leash they would find a squirrel to chase deep into the woods and I would never see them again. On the second day I let them off the leash while I was in the cabin and tried my luck. To my absolute surprise not only did they not run off, the stayed on the cabin porch and quietly stood there as all the campers walked by them. From that moment on they were free to roam camp as they pleased going from camper to camper to get scratched and get affection. They even got to cuddle with Evelyn in the morning on her bunk.
By the time we got home Jack and Charlie were dirty as ever, tired like they've never been and most importantly VERY VERY HAPPY!
The week of camp is filled with a lot of fun activities and themes throughout the week. Some of the themes we had up at camp included a Crazy Hat lunch, Pajama breakfast, Baby Lunch and a Birthday dinner.Down the mountain at home, there are things many of us take for granted. A warm shower is one of those things. Showers at camp are rare and when you can steal a minute to take one you consider yourself blessed. I came to the Birthday Dinner all freshly rested and super clean from a shower. I even had some time to wash my hair and it was feeling wonderful and dirt free. The Birthday Dinner is a fun time where each kid sits at the table marked with their birthday month and at each table there is a special birthday cake for everyone. After the main dinner was over I walked around the dining hall to pass around knives to cut their cakes with. Unbeknowst to me Louie, the camp cook was plotting to smash a cake in Chris, a counselor's face since it was his birthday the following day. As I got to the last table to hand them their knife, which was coincidentally right next to Chris, Louie smashed a cake full force into the side of Chris' head and the shrapnel of the frosting and cake fluff hit me...I had half a cake in my newly washed hair and all over my clean clothes...but the good part of the story is that for the first time in 10 years I took 2 showers in one day at camp!To understand how important camp is to me I have to tell you about the Raggers program. The Raggers program is a symbolic very meaningful program that encourages youth and adults alike to set challenges for themselves and work towards those challenges throughout their lives. There are multiple colors of Rags with each one representing a different challenge. I happen to be on my Red Rag which I got last year. The Red Rag symbolizes Sacrifice and for my challenge I set the goal of getting our core group to go back up to TaTa Pochon, the camp that me and all the counselors I have been going up to camp with for many years began at. We haven't been to TaTa Pochon since 2004, when the YMCA of Orange County cut the camp from their week offering. We then found ourselves at other camps each summer but missed TaTa tremendously. I don't know how many more years of camp I have left in me but I knew that it was very important for me to try and make going back to TaTa a reality for our group.
The picture above is of Chris and Daniel, two counselors who have been going to Y Camp with me for ten years and were even going to Y Camp before I ever even knew it existed. Chris and Daniel started going to TaTa when they were at Brywood Elementary School. They are now both in college and still coming to camp. These two guys are amazing and I was so happy to be a small part in making the week possible for them. I went up to camp saying that this was my last year, that I needed to close this chapter of my life and begin taking a week off of work to take a "real vacation" instead of using it to go up to camp every year. But after the campfires, the laughs, the meals, the chapel's...the kids....I can't say that I won't be going up next year to my camp home and to my camp family. It's just too hard to let go of and still very much a part of me. When I am at camp I feel like I am living my truth, I feel like I am at my best. My smiles are genuine and I feel them in every part of me, my heart is open and I feel like the world makes so much more sense up there. Camp is a place where every day you feel loved and appreciated by everyone and I am not sure that I'm ready to let that go just yet.

I needed camp more than ever this year...at a time when so much love has been taken away from me I needed to go to a place that I could depend on making me feel better and making me feel special. Camp has always been there for me and for now, I am there for camp.

Acy's

More Wedding Pictures

Old School Pictures

Some of these pics are older than others but my brother put together a great slide show for the wedding and here are some of my favorites from it. The picture above just cracks me up...

Carrots, Eggs & Coffee

My mom sent me this cute story...probably to cheer me up and help me through the times when I seem to be throwing a pity party. I thought it was cute and worth sharing.

A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee...

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up; she was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, ' Tell me what you see.' 'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but aftersitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? Think of this: Which am I?

Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a
fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying. You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you;

To those who have touched your life in one way or another; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life. May we all be COFFEE!

Wedding After Party

After the wedding was over Tracy threw a wedding party at her mom's house in Newport. The place was sick! It had a living room overlooking the ocean and all the windows in the living room recessed so it turned into a sort of outdoor living room. We were all tired but tried our best to rally.

The bouquets are delicate?

Remember how I mentioned before that we handled the bouquets with the up most care before the wedding? Well, after the wedding Jaycie proceeded to treat them as a football/carnival game and we punted them, threw them around and did mock wedding bouquet do-over throws. And surprisingly, they held up pretty darn well, who knew!

Reception Pics

Me and my mommy

One of my brothers closest and best friends, Jared. Just to give you and idea of how far we've come the picture below was taken around the time that we first met Jared.

He use to be teeny teeny tiny and I use to have big ole glasses so luckily things have changed for the both of us.

Ray, who is a great friend to Julia and Erik AND a great friend to me. Ray has come to most of my comedy shows and is always there supporting me. Josh is Tandi's husband and hilarious and wonderful. Tandi and Josh just got married a few weeks earlier.

Not that I am one of those annoying people who immediately say to a newly married couple, "When are you going to have children?" But I have to say that when the day comes where my brother has children he is going to be an amazing father. I have known that for a long time just because of how wonderful and amazing he is as a person but watching him with his new niece was so great to see because it just reminded me how wonderful he is with kids. She was having a ball dancing with him although it wasn't totally clear who was leading.

Tandi and Me

Bob, Geoff and his wife Natalie and Doug's daughter Casey.

I have known Doug since I was 16 years old and worked at his company, Page One. Erik, my brother also worked with Page One and Doug has become a great friend over the years to us both.

Pre Wedding Fun!

Some of the most fun I had with the whole wedding process was getting a chance to hang out with Julia, Tandi, Jaycie and Tracy. I hadn't seen Jaycie and Tracy in close to or maybe even more than 10 years so it was amazing having a chance to reconnect with good friends. On Friday night we spent the entire night drinking champagne and reminiscing about high school. We stayed at the Marriott overlooking Newport Beach so it was even cooler being able to hang out with high school friends in the town we grew up in. When we went to buy alcohol for the hotel room it was funny to think that this was the first legal purchase of alcohol that I had ever done with this group. It is so amazing to see that a group of crazy girls have grown into amazing women that I am blessed to have as a part of my life.

In high school, when Jaycie, Tracy and I would meet guys and introduce ourselves they always thought we were messing with them. If it weren't odd enough that all of our names rhymed we were inseparable in high school and it became a funny joke that our names sounded as if we were cheerleaders. If you knew these girls today, and in high school for that matter they are FAR from cheerleaders. Which is why I love them sooooo much!

I made the bouquets in the morning out of flowers that Tandi, Jaycie and Tracy scoured Orange County for the night before. I didn't have any greenery to put into the bouquets so on Saturday morning I went on a hunt at the hotel and cut them out of the trees surrounding our room. What can be better than a bouquet with a back story! We were so cautious with the bouquets and I think we were convinced that the slightest jolt to them would cause them to wilt and die and we would be left with having to carry wilted brown flowers down the aisle.

Julia looked amazing of course. The first words that the chauffeur said when she saw Julia was, "wow you have such a flat tummy" to which her sister replied, "Isn't it amazing, you can't even tell that she is 8 months pregnant."

Wedding Rehearsal

Tandi, Tracy, Julie, Me and Jaycie at Erik and Julia's Rehearsal Dinner

I am so sad that Tandi isn't in this picture with us because then it would have been perfect. This pic was taken of our group in high school....me, Tracy, Jaycie and Julie hanging out in the back parking lot at Uni.