whenindoubtday

mmmm home... we all decided calling base 'home' fit very well. we were only gone 3 nights but a giant wave of relief hit us when we got back to our cabins... silly us... getting all attached after only 2 months... and now FMS is done and graduated so the base is super quiet! and we have double the work duty load... but that is just alright.

this weekend was really fun... camping was amazing.. 5 guys in a 6 man tent does things good. kristen finally slept better, but only cuz john-mark gave him his sleeping bag. we didn't really do... all that much. it was a lot of relaxing and moderate work..

the drive was pretty swell. 5 hours through beautiful north island nz valleys 'mountains' and forests... not as many crazy twisted roads as last weekend, but just enough. i slept a lot... but my back is still killin me so i always end up super sore. we got there around 1ish on friday, set up camp, met some surfers, skaters, the people who ran the dealy... it was put on my christian surfers (pretty much snowboarders for christ, but surfers) and we were there to just help out with whatever and do whatever.. unfortunately the surf suuucked but it was still a ton of fun, going out into the ocean 4 days in a row.. our tents were just off the beach, so going to sleep with waves crashing onto shore was soooo soothing.. so yeah friday surfing the waves were probably the most ridable of the weekend, but i couldn't get up at all cuz the board i was on had absolutely no wax, so i'd stand up and slip off it like i was riding a bar of soap. sucky.. but i learned wetsuits are amazing, they don't give me a rash, and it keeps me warm. sweetness... we had a massive ping pong tournament as well. it was kinda fun.. it was first to 7, so you had to play good... it sucks cuz all of our DTS signed up at the same time so we all had to play each other straight off the bat and eliminate ourselves. sucked.. all our good players.. i took out steph, then i took out nick, then john-mark.. all really sweet players gone in the first 3 rounds. then i played another dude who we didn't know in the 4th round, but i flippin lost cuz i kept hitting the ball over the table or into the net. i coulda beaten him.. stupid games only up to 7.. but who cares! that guy won the tournament anyways. a guy who has a ministry in fiji talked, and then we went about our night. (not having to be in a cabin by 11 was really sweet for once... oh freedom..) we finally had a campfire. mmmmmm

saturday the surfers (lucas kristen jacob and i) went to a golden aged surf comp, where we grilled bacon and eggs for a few hours. that was our work duty for the weekend.. grilling by a sweet beach watching surfers compete... oh so hard... we had a good day. then came home and went surfing ourselves, with no waves... sigh. we played more volleyball as well. then... we went to the YMCA in whatever town we were in (okura mebe..) and we planned on playing 2 on 2 basketball, buuuut 75 people from the camp came so we just set up a huge dodgeball tournament ... soooo fun.. i blew out my arm.. but my team was fun an we kicked butt, but we didn't win. same with the indoor soccer tourny after.. that was so fun but was over so fast cuz we lost... sigh.

sunday we had 'church' in the morning.. chris gave a pretty solid talk about ... salvation. oh yeah! happy easter it was. we went surfing again with no waves... i tried a short board.. but you know, no waves.. no surfing.. flip what did we do the rest of the day?!?! me'n nick made supper (ie stirred pre made stew until warm enough to serve.. such a hard life..)theeeen.. no wait before that we played beach volleyball... then after supper i took a quick 'nap' so i could wake up in time for the evening service. rims came in an said 'oh, good idea.' and he set his alarm for 7:30 so we could both go... it was 6:30 when we crashed. at 9 lucas came in an woke me up, telling me i missed the whole thing and was about to miss the bonfire.. i didn't believe him until rims said he tried to wake me up but couldn't so he just kept sleeping... and he didn't get up until the morning (13 hours for the flying dutchman..) but i went to the huuuuge bonfire (huge for me cuz i've always wanted a huge one and i've never actually been to one) so jess, joanna, arby, nik, john-mark, nick, and i ran into the ocean for a late night swim and it wasn't even cold! it was super nice. then we chilled by the fire until we were dry then we had a shower party.

then today we woke up, went surfing again (to which the waves were almost good, but then not really (they were really steep so everytime i tried to get up i'd nose dive and bail and then get tossed around for a few seconds. sick.. BUT i am getting a tolerance for salt water, as well as i'm getting way better at swimming and paddling without getting super tired. that makes me feel mighty good about meself..)) and then we packed up, drove home, and i was conscious for about an hour of it. home sweet home, dizzy, and ready for more lectures. booya