Friday Five: Looking Forward To It

This is my last regularly scheduled edition of Friday Five for the next three months while I'm at camp. Here are five things I'm looking forward to this summer.

1. Change. I've worked with summer camps the past five years, but the same ones each summer. I really think I'll enjoy doing something completely different.
   
   
2. The weather. I can't tell you how excited I am about waking up to 45-degree temperatures every day. I know the days are warm, but they are not 100-degree warm. Makes a difference.
   
   
3. Nature. I love the outdoors. Grew up camping. Since college, I haven't had that much opportunity to go camping or hike, but I'll be doing plenty of that this summer. My goal is to go hiking every morning for my exercise. I'll be eating camp food all summer, so I will definitely need to exercise. And exercising outside is my absolute favorite.
   
   
4. Canada. I'll be leading a small group of 12 people to Toronto, Montreal and Quebec during my week off of camp. I'll be exhausted, but I'm really excited to see these cities. I might even be able to catch a tennis tournament in Toronto.
   
   
5. God's work. Summer camp was in important part of my spiritual development, and I know the same thing goes for hundreds of teenagers that will pass through camp this summer. I'm looking forward to seeing how God works in their lives, in the lives of counselors and my life.

I'll try to update my blog periodically throughout the summer, and definitely after my trip to Canada.

Friday Five: Tagged

It's time for another installment of Friday Five, and I've been tagged, so I'm expanding the original tag.

What FIVE skills or hobbies would you learn if you had unlimited time, money and tools?

1. Become fluent in Spanish and French. With my unlimited time and money, I would live in a Spanish or French-speaking city to truly learn another language. As it appears I'll be moving to Costa Rica in five years for a year-long medical mission trip, I can learn Spanish there.
   
   
2. Travel. I want to visit every country in the world. I would have to have unlimited time and money to accomplish that. I'm making progress on visiting every European country, but not so much with the rest of the world.
   
   
3. Cooking. I cook a lot for someone cooking for one. But I can't improvise or cook without a recipe. I would love to be able to do that! I also limit what I make due the cost of rare ingredients, so having unlimited money would mean I would never have to reject a recipe for that reason again!
   
   
4. Photography. I would love a expensive, fancy camera that took great pictures. I'm tired of my camera that befriends blurriness. I would combine my hobby of traveling with this skill and focus on travel photography. I've always wanted to visit a place I know well, like London, and focus on photography instead of sightseeing.
   
   
5. Learn to sew. I just sewed on a button for the first time a couple of years ago, and that is the only sewing I've ever done. I think it would be fun to make my own clothes, clothes that fit me perfectly.

I tag Wendy and Wendy. The original tag was for only three skills or hobbies, so you don't have to come up with five. Five was pushing it for me.

Friday Five

1. I want one of these cars! I live in a small-ish town, and I could totally drive to and from work, the gym, the grocery store and most shopping establishments in this car. I wish it was a little more affordable.
   
   
2. Still watching Battlestar with my friends. On season two now. It's great to spend time with them since they are moving and will be gone when I get back from camp this summer. Sniff, sniff. On the downside, I spent money on groceries for the week, and I've only cooked once. My Netflix movies aren't getting watched, and the books I checked out from the library on Friday are collecting dust.
   
   
3. I'm leaving for camp in three weeks! I should probably start preparing or it will sneak up on me, more than it already has.
   
   
4. I have mixed feelings about this "Office" spin-off that is going to premier after the Super Bowl. I love the "Office" but lately, haven't felt like it's really on it's game. Doesn't seem the ideal time to start a spin-off. Will one of the characters leave the show for the spin-off or will it be just like the "Office" with a different set of characters? Not convinced. I'm also not convinced that Pam is going to say yes to Jim. Did you see her reactions to the marriage conversation and the fake proposal? She didn't appear excited or ready. Maybe the writers are just messing with us, and she reacted that way so we would think she would say no to this forthcoming proposal, and when she says yes, it's an even better moment. Or she is going to say no because she just got out of long relationship and isn't ready to take that leap again. Who knows. I did love Jim flashing us that ring. He's adorable!
   
   
5. I ate some delicious grilled bacon-wrapped shrimp covered with Fischer & Wieser Mango Ginger Habenero sauce. Their Papaya Lime Serrano sauce is great too. The sauce is crazy expensive, but the ingredients are pretty straight forward. I think I'll make my own version and save money. None of the ingredients are words you can't pronounce, so if you see Fisher & Wieser in the store, jot down the ingredients and make some yourself! I had the sauce on grilled tuna, and it tasted great. The sauce is made in the Hill Country, so it's local.