..."Pocono" not "Kokomo"...

I was under the impression that "the Poconos" was a tropical place up until earlier this year.  I was not the only person under this false impression.  Actually, my cousin and sister in law were singing the Beach Boys song "Kokomo" right before I left and incorrectly replaced the place "Kokomo" with "Poconos."  They were into it to, a little bit of dancing and all (gotta love the fam)!  Well anyway, the Poconos is not a tropical place.  In fact it is a rustic outdoorsy type of place. 

I'm here now on vacation with my parents and my mom's good friend.  Because of course I need a vacation right!?!  LOL  No, absolutely not, but it is nice to be away from home again. 

The weather has been really lovely :-)

A nice fall walk :-)

Crisp air, crisp leaves, lovely colors...

I saw this man golfing and his outfit legit made me smile :-) I LOVED his festive Halloween golf attire!

So I went on a "trolley" tour and was by far the youngest person aboard...  I felt like a surly teenager.  (By "trolley" I mean a bus in the shape of a trolley.)

So you can sort of see the type of people I was with based on this picture.  I can't say it was the worst experience but it was not the best and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone my age.

We went to the Bushkill Falls on a hike.  They refer to it as "The Niagara of Pennsylvania."  Ummm... It must be the wrong season because the waterfalls were majorly lacking.

I had to do this in black and white to get better looking lighting because the sun was too bright.

It's very pretty here as you can see...



 

Walking along the Delaware River...

 

More walking but by the place I am staying...

I can recommend the Poconos as a nice autumn get away for anyone that likes going for walks.  I do see that they have activities such as zip lining, canoeing, horseback riding, kayaking, etc.  So there are some options, I'm just avoiding spending extra money so am a bit limited in that regard.

See ya, miss ya, love ya,
Me

TN wedding...

My friends' wedding was very "country chic" and fit well with the bride's personality in every way.  It was really nice to be able to catch up with other people as well as see her and him and share in the joy of the happy couple!  Here are a hand full of pictures...

The barn with its infinite lights :-)

Each person could make their own trail mix... how cute right!?!

FOY peeps with the bride :-)

Some of the Cinci peeps with the groom :-)

 

Congrats Mon and Jeffikins!!!

 

Love,

Camille

 

...blessed by others...

Hey Sweets,

So... I know some pretty amazing people.  Since being back and financially limited I was planning and then not planning to go to a friend's wedding.  The planning on not going has everything to do with how far the wedding is from my parent's house and nothing to do with how much I adore the bride and groom.  Well, an offer came up from another friend that if I could make it to a certain city on Friday she would meet me there and I could stay the night at her house then ride with her down to the wedding!  SO SWEET!!! 

Now I am writing to you all from our hotel room in Memphis, TN, and this place is really nice.  No hostel living here :-)  Oh and the hotel room is being paid for by yet another loving person who is extending grace to poor me (talk about humbling)!

I am trying to learn to accept kind acts from people that legitimately expect nothing in return, by just showing my appreciation.  I actually know kind people that are openly displaying their love through actions to me, just cause!?!  Just before I moved home several people volunteered their cars to be used at my disposal since I didn't have one anymore.  One girl actually called me and basically said, "Hey, you can use my car, when can you be home to receive it?"  So I had a car to use for a few days.  My sister was dumbfounded with me that this happened. 

I am being blessed and can only continue to thank people for being so loving and choosing to extend their kindness to me.  I am legitimately not used to being on the receiving end of these types of displays from so many people (outside of my parents and siblings).  It is truly kindhearted!

"Kindness is loving people more than they deserve." Joseph Joubert

Love,
Me

...my effort, God's outcomes...

I am so over being home now that it has been a week and my jet lag is resolved.  I was having the hardest time going to sleep at normal times and therefore waking up at normal times for the first 5 days.  Now I feel well rested and ready for life :-)

I did submit all of my licensing paperwork and only have my fingerprints left to do, which are scheduled for next Monday so that will be done.  I am hoping to hear back soon after the board receives the results so that I can start really looking for work outside of this state.  This is not a fun process, I wish that states had better communication and reciprocity so that it wasn't so complicated to move.

I am laying low to avoid spending extra money since I came back with some but not a lot.  I had to pay for my social work application, the new computer charger, my phone bill, and a couple of other miscellaneous items that have all added up quickly.  I have started looking for some little part time work that is on a bus route so that I can possibly save up a bit before moving.

It's humbling to look at jobs that I am technically over qualified for but cannot get because I do not have work experience in that field.  I also understand better people's transportation limitation when it comes to jobs and not having a car.  This whole process will be interesting to say the least.  I have taken the city bus before but I don't live in a city where they run very frequently to multiple locations, and most people have cars so the people on the bus are not the type I'm used to interacting with.  I think that this is good for me as discomforting as I find it.

I continue to pray that God's will be done and that he work things out how he wants.  I will continue to do what I am supposed to and simply pray to be content with what he chooses.

see ya!

Me

My thanks...

Hey Loves,

I just wanted to, not just quickly, say thank you to everyone that supported, encouraged and most of all prayed for me while I went on my trip.  I am genuinely grateful that I had so many friends and family members that were not only interested in this journey but invested into it.  And I do not mean only those that gave or offered me money, but those that shared their wisdom and time with me.  I know for a fact that God was looking out for me and I have no doubt that the many prayers said by me and you all contributed to his mercy being shown to me. 

This experience for the visual aspect, reality and spiritual aspects was grand!  It was beyond my expectations and enlightened me about the life I am living compared to the life I want to be living.  I am very glad that I had and took this opportunity with no regrets.  I will not act as if the whole experience was always amazing because there were definitely moments of loneliness, discomfort and insecurity mixed in with everything.  However, as a whole this was a spectacular, life changing period of time and the good most definitely outweighed the bad.

I hope that you all enjoyed reading the blog as much as I enjoyed writing it.  I also hope that you have been encouraged to make some changes in your own life for the better.  If you know anyone planning to travel to Australia, or you plan to do it yourself, I am more than willing to make suggestions or give some advice!

Thank you all again!

Love,
Camille

Last note...  When I decide to travel internationally again I will more than likely use this blog to do so, I may even post when I just do my trips to visit friends in the US.  In the mean time, I can post updates on my job search for those of you inquiring about "what next."

Grand Finale...

hey, Hey, HEY!!!

I'm not sure how "grand" this actually is but it is the finale of my trip...  These are the rest of the pictures from my trip that I was unable to post while still in Oz.  I text messaged a lot of people to let you all know that I am for sure back in the US and want to let everyone else know that I am back and home safe and sound.  I was awake for 30 hours from flight to flight, in the airports and even on the drive home with my dad.  I lasted going through about 600 of the +/-1,800 pictures/videos that I took in Oz with my mom and finally crashed in the bed.  Of course after eating some good ol' mama cooked food, nothing like it right? :-)

Enjoy the rest of the pictures (please note that I took way more pictures than I posted on the blog and am more than willing to share them with anyone interested.  Also, I purposefully did not get in the pictures.  I know I was there, I don't need to prove it LOL).

This was at the harbor in Sydney... Old school boat with the city behind it :-)

One of the many lovely flowers that captured my attention in the Sydney botanic garden...

Another lovely flower in the botanic garden...

A view from across the water of Sydney...

The infamous bridge that I forgot to walk across while in Sydney despite having walked near it a few times and taken so many pictures... duh!

Closer view of the Sydney Opera House

This is all carved wood!?!  Freaking amazing!!!

Sydney Opera House... (right before I met Shaun LOL)

The Government House in Sydney...  Really nice building on the outside with great landscaping around it!

Bridge and Opera House...

I was sitting in a rock area under a small cliff... It was a nice moment :-)

Bondi Beach :-)

Bondi Beach on the walk to Bronte Beach...

The view walking to Bronte Beach...

Wild flowers along the walk :-)

Still walking to Bronte, but you can still see Bondi here...

Making our way to Bronte still... (at this point it had started to rain and the wind was blowing hard in the hills we were walking through.  There was no shelter so we just fought the elements :-))

Still along the walk... It was really pretty obviously :-)

This is along the walk in Byron Bay going to the lighthouse...

Byron Bay lighthouse walk...

This is the lighthouse I hiked up to...  It still works and was cool to watch on the night I was walking back along the beach with Jade.

It was not very nice out this day and was actually very windy and a bit chilly, but this spot was so perfect for meditation and just... being :-)

My point of view as I did my meditation, spectacular :-)

I was sitting at my table outside drinking my nice cold cider when this lizard decided to appear... I was internally freaked out but since everyone else just ignored it I pretended to ignore it too (after I took this picture of course :-))...

This was what it looked like to walk outside of my backpackers in Byron Bay...  I sat and read in the hammocks each day after hanging at the beach.  There were a couple of turkey that would walk around here too, lol!

These are one of the sets of dorm rooms, very colorful which makes me instantly happy!

Proud to report that with practice I was able to eat 2 whole meals using just chopsticks!  Including this one with rice :-)

Somehow on my flight from Oz to New Zealand I got bumped up from economy seating.  I thought it was a mistake at first so sat uncomfortably on the edge of my seat holding my bag until I realized I was staying there.  The guy beside me, Nathan from NZ, said he thought it was a mistake too.  Thank God for spontaneous blessings :-)

...good bye... hello...

This is going to be my last night in Australia and tomorrow is my last morning in Australia.  I don't really have the words right now to say how I feel about it.  I said bittersweet before but even beyond that, I am getting back to the real world that I never missed.  My family I've missed.  My friends I've missed.  I cannot say that I have missed having to work or worry about money. 

The Jesus Calling book has really helped me and I will continue to devote time to studying from it.

See you all soon and if not I will talk to you soon.