Officially the LAST Weekend

Saturday~

Where do I even begin?? So much happened this weekend!!

First of all, Danny and the Kattermans went back to Indiana, secondly, Anna stayed at camp (so I got to sleep in the comfy lodge beds!), thirdly, the waitresses (really, all the crews, and counselors) had a party on Saturday, and fourth, Sunday was going to be a staff appreciation banquet. 

Well, after saying good-bye to Danny, I was finishing up my job and decided to update Will on our sisters' current counselor predicament. He said he would take care of it....     

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After July 4th, I had been trying to set up Heather and Chandler. At first, Heather wasn't really interested, but as she got to know Chandler, she became interested. :P Chandler would talk about her a lot, but never tried to pursue it much (guys...) During our saturday cleanup, I asked Chandler if he knew that the banquet the next day was a dating activity. He was like, "What are you trying to say?" 

Me, "Never mind...." and I started walking away; I hate when people act like they don't know understand. 

Chandler, "Wa-wa-wait! Do you think I should ask her out?" 

{Ugh...guys...}

Me, "Yes, I do."

Chandler, "Well, what should I say?" 

Me, "I don't know...you're the guy. Isn't this something that's like built into guys?" 

Chandler, "Well, how would you want to be asked out?" 

Me, "Whoa. First of all, I'm not going to tell you because you're not the one I want to ask me out; secondly, I'm not telling you because you need to be original. Be unique; it has to be you and you have to want to." 

By this time I decided to ask one of our other friends for help. 

Jordan, who's also dating a waitress, decided to help Chandler so I walked away. 

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After finishing up my job, I hung out with Anna for a little while, told her I was a little worried about who her counselor would be and if her and Charlotte would even room together! I knew that I was going to be gone most of the day with the waitresses and was sorry that Anna had to be in the lodge alone. Found out later that David had invited her to watch a movie with the rest of the counselors (at their party). 

After a little while,  all the waitresses left for our "Party". 

Our first stop included *Looking Glass Falls* 

It was beautiful (like most of North Carolina)! We even saw other guy counselors who were on the trail over the falls. 

Me, Lindsay, Catie, and Heather 

It was a beautiful, sunny day!!

Mackenzie & I 

After trying for almost a month to encourage Chandler to talk to Heather, he Facebook Messaged her on the way to our picnic!!!! Of course, all her closest friends knew, and we were trying to give her advice- "Don't text back right away!" "Make him wait like 15-20 minutes, because if you respond right away, it'll seem like you do nothing but play on your phone all day." "Answer his question, and then ask a question." and so many other words of wisdom! :) It was super fun and we were all involved with and reading the messages between them. :)

Heather is one of the blondest, but sweetest girls I have ever met!
I really enjoyed getting to know her better and being roommates. :) 

After taking pictures and enjoying the sight, we got back in the vehicles and headed towards our first destination. We came to a very well hidden picnic/park area. We had so much food!!!!!! And of course, we needed to play volleyball. :) 

Emily, Hannah, and I

After good food, lots of fun and laughter, and roommate pictures, we were on the road again to our second destination; Black Balsam. Yup, my second time here!! :) But I can't complain, it was still gorgeous! This time, not only was it not raining, but I also got to watch the sun set.

In the woods heading up the trail 

Once we got the almost top of the mountain, most of the waitresses were tired and wanted to stay there. Well, I really wanted to go all the way to the top, so about three other waitresses and I ran up there, took more pictures, and then came back down. It was breathtaking!! The first time I had come, I hadn't gone all the way to the top.

It's blurry, but it's beautiful. 

Pictures cannot capture how beautiful it looks in real life. 

When we came back to everyone else, we all sat down, sangs songs, and gave testimonies about how amazing God is and different attributes of God that became real for us this summer. 

We ended testimonies as the sun went down, singing "How Great, Thou Art" 

We had to get a picture because we were all wearing Wilds hoodies!
{Heather, Lauren, and I} 

On to our third destination. We can't really have a girls party without Ice-cream can we? So we decided to stop at Dolly's and get a treat!

By now, Heather and I were tired and ready to head back! It was almost curfew and if we were going to socialize with other people, we would have to rush back. :) 

We came back around 10:45. I figured I would just get ready for bed, so I did! I got to stay with Anna in those comfortable beds!! :) 

Sunday~ 

We got to church and went to our regular Sunday School Class!

This was our last Sunday here 

During the preaching, the pastor told our group that they would miss us on Sundays. We would miss them too... the church was small so we got to know a lot of the members.

After the service, we went out to eat at the same place we had gone our first Sunday! 

We couldn't just take a normal picture-we had to take a crazy friend picture as well. 

After 10 weeks with this crazy group, it was almost bittersweet, realizing that our summer was quickly coming to an end. 

After this picture, while we were heading back to the car, Chandler {finally} asked Heather to the banquet that evening!!!!! Of course I heard the story from Heather's side, but I also got to hear it from Chandler's side as well. :P 

That evening, we had a required service, and all the waitresses were required to sit together (unless they had a date) because we were going to have to help with the banquet.

Hannah, Emily, Audrey, and I

After the service, we all ran to the dining hall, set the dessert, salad, and ice and grabbed good seats.

The banquet food was amazing!!!! 

Our table was fun and full of laughter. 

After we were all done eating, they announced the winners of this summer's they announced the people who won best cabin cheer.

Is this another selfie? 

After that, they announced the winners of the Sparkplug Award. This award went to a male OP staff, female OP staff, male counselor, and female counselor who best represented the spirit of the wilds.
Then, Connie was rewarded for being at the Wilds for 25 years, and also honored because this was her last year working here.

When it ended, we called all the waitresses to the front; old as well as new ones.

Waitresses then and now

After we were done with cleaning up, Anna and I went over to the Tracy's and watched the Food Network show. David was at a movie night for all the blue counselors.

Rode with the Tracy's to their house. 

And just like that, our last weekend at the Wilds was over. Six more days to go......