Camp Challenge 2011

We were blessed enough to be invited back this year to Camp Challenge, as you know. We arrived at approximately 3:20 p.m. Friday afternoon at this beautiful place called Mission Springs Conference Center located in the heart of Scott's Valley, way up in the hills. It was absolutely gorgeous between the redwood trees, the pine trees, the beautiful weather, the woodsy little cabins that were all over, it was just amazing. As soon as we drove up they took our car keys, told us where our room was located and handed us the room key. Then they said for us to go have fun and that our luggage would be brought up to our room shortly and that they would park our car. So we headed up to the room to check it out and boy it was cute :) They had a welcome little basket full of snacks, a teddy bear, frisbie, warm blanket, toiletries, a couple gift cards to chili's & itunes, a couple t-shirts for each of us, a whole set of body wash, lotions, etc. Our room in itself was really cute and resembled a hotel room (which was totally different than last year because it was more like a dorm room). After changing into our "yellow" shirts which all the campers wear, we ran downstairs to check out the festivities going on. The volunteers were all wearing "red" shirts, so you could easily identify who was who. We also put on our lanyards which had our itineraries attached to them for the weekend. We always had lots of choices as to what we wanted to do at any given time, we were never trapped into doing something that we weren't interested in doing. So, after running downstairs we decided to meet up with our host family (Jeanette, Cassie, and Rick). Rick was working most of the weekend, he was apparently in charge of the music. However, Jeanette was really our host and her 14 year old daughter came along to help as well. Jordan and Cassie had a little in common so they talked a little bit before we realized that it was almost dinner time, so we ran up to grab our jackets because we were told that dinner was up a large hill and we'd have to be shuttled there, and that it was going to be getting cold later on. We got to the dinner hall and it was so much fun. First, they wanted everyone to wear cowboy attire (which we TOTALLY forgot about (sad face)) and they gave a prize to the family who dressed the best that night. Then, there was an awesome BBQ dinner, followed by some square dancing that even I wish I could have participated in and I don't usually square dance! This man was an awesome "caller"? Is that what they're called? No pun intended, but I'm not sure what the title is. Let's just say, he knew what he was doing and there was some serious dosi-do-ing going on! "Swing your partner round and round..." Directly afterwards, they had set up card tables for everyone (children included) for a casino night! The staff was dressed in cute little outfits like they ran the casino and we were all invited. They passed out baggies of chips and at the end, you saved your chips because during the closing ceremonies on Sunday afternoon, they would trade in your chips for raffle tickets and you could win prizes. After playing a few rounds of "21", I called it a night and was shuttled back to my room and left John and Jordan to continue on without me. During my time at the tables, Robyn (who was also a returning guest) told me that there was a new guest that shared the same diagnosis as myself, that she had Metastatic Breast Cancer (aka METS) and that her name was Julie, that I should try and meet up with her sometime this weekend. Sure enough, I was on a mission and found her the next morning at Arts & Crafts. I was sitting at the same table and realized that she was probably the lady that Robyn was speaking of because she mentioned that she walked with a limp because of her METS and this lady did. Sure enough, Julie and I became instant buddies and exchanged information right away. Luckily enough (or you can call it a miracle), Julie happens to live in Folsom, which is fairly close to Sacramento and there's no reason why we can't keep in touch. Julie brought her cute little daughter along with her who is 9 years old and unfortunately it was during her pregnancy with her, that she was diagnosed with METS. Jessica is her daughter's name and again, just another tidbit of information is that I always wanted to name my daughter Jessica, but ended up with Jordan instead. Mind you, I love Jordan's name, but it wasn't my first choice. In this case, John won :) So, when things are meant to be, you just know it! It's funny how I was supposed to meet Julie this weekend, it was meant to be. I know that my cousin Linda will know exactly what I'm talking about :)

Next, I went to my spa treatments (I had a facial, hand treatment, and then makeup applied). I was doing this while John and Jordan were off doing the zip-line and archery. Although some people say I could have probably done the zip-lining with my arm in a sling, I still didn't feel comfortable with the thought of even going there. Besides, I don't think the medics would have allowed me to participate. Afterwards, I continued at the Arts & Crafts, then on to tie-dying t-shirts and other stuff. We walked away with 2 pillowcases, a t-shirt and a nightshirt. They came out SOO cool! Then, John had a pumpkin painted on the back of his head, while I had a cute little pumpkin painted on my hand. Jordan wanted a face painting, but chose not to because of the situation. There was a professional face painter on hand and her work was incredible. However, our host's daughter asked the face painter if she could help her and just to be nice, the face painter said (apprehensibly) yes, and so she was doing some of the children's faces who would walk up and not really care who painted them. When she saw that Jordan was in line for face painting, she wanted to paint Jordan's face and although Jordan really wanted the professional to paint her face, she didn't want to hurt Cassie's feelings by saying no thank you. Ultimately, she decided to say that she changed her mind and didn't want one after all. I think it made Cassie feel a little bad, but at least she didn't see Jordan have her face painted by the professional, I think that would have hurt her more. I'm proud of Jordan for doing the right thing and not hurting Cassie more than she could have.

Saturday night was our special night of sharing around the campfire where all the families came down and shared their stories. It was difficult, but necessary to hear about what we were all going through. It was hard to get through all the tears, but they were definitely cleansing tears.

Finally, Sunday came and it was time for the closing ceremonies. We had the raffle, shared some pictures and video of the weekend, thanked everyone for all their hard work and while this was all going on...they were washing our cars and bringing our luggage back down to our cars. It was a wonderful weekend to say the least :)

NOW DON'T FALL OVER...BUT I MAY JUST BLOG AGAIN TONIGHT ABOUT ONE MORE THING...

Peace to you all ~ Love, Genie

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Location:Willow Rock Way,Sacramento,United States