As you can see, it's now 23rd December and I have yet to send a single card. I have received two (and they were beautiful and amazing, thank you!) but my time has been eaten by working two jobs and having some exciting times in the last week and a bit...
So, instead of including my Christmas letter within my Christmas cards, I thought I would post it here so I can share it with all of my friends both here and overseas! (It's a little longer than would normally fit in my cards - I had a lot to say this year haha!)
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I started 2014 with excitement - in January I was hired to work as a lifeguard and swimming teacher at Camp Walden in Denmark, Maine (yes, the camp from 'The Parent Trap' with Lindsay Lohan. We didn't have an isolation cabin and our uniforms were white and brown not white and green, but according to friends just looking at my photos made them think of the movie!)
The next few months were a blur of work, flight bookings, purchasing gear for camp (Do you know how hard it is to find brown shorts in May? DO YOU?) and trying to get my life sorted so I could run away and seek adventures.
June, July and August = Camp Walden. Nothing in my life had prepared me for the instant "at home" feeling I would find across the other side of the world, even while stumbling through camp when I first arrived in a jetlag addled haze. Words cannot describe how much I loved everything and everyone at Walden - unless you ask me and then I will bore you senseless with stories and songs and stupid inside jokes that no one but Waldenites or my Bunk 9B girls will get!
Camp was followed by an amazing two weeks in Montreal and New York with Mel and Brent. While one of them was on crutches with his foot in a protective boot and the other was pregnant we had an amazing time and I'm so grateful I was able to spend this time with my brother and sister making memories we will keep with us forever #rogerskidsontour
Then, I met up with the most amazing group of Spiderpigs you'll ever find, and we began our epic Topdeck Coast to Coast trek. I got to travel across the USA with an awesome group of people - we explored, we partied, we got lost, we bought obnoxious tourist crap, we WERE obnoxious tourists, we were humbled by amazing places and people and we watched a heck of a lot of movies and tv shows on the bus! In short, I could not have chosen a better way to see America or a better group of travel companions.
I started a second job not long after I returned to Australia as a lifeguard at a local pool that just reopened (a job that I actually found and applied for while I was in New Orleans - thanks to the fambam back home who sent me emails with important documents as well as fielding phone calls from my future employers and passing on information!). I've been working 7 days a week for the past 7 or 8 weeks but I'm looking to cut back in the new year - I need some free time to spend with my niece Zoe who was born on the 18th December! She is ridiculously adorable and I'm so excited to watch her grow up - the little wriggler has already grown so much and she's only 5 days old!
I had such a blast in 2014 with all the amazing things I did and saw and the fantastic people I met, but I can't wait for 2015. I was asked to return to Camp Walden, so of course I said yes! I'm so excited to be working with the swim department again and being a part of what is sure to be an amazing 100th summer for Walden! EAO!
Wishing you and your loved ones a safe and happy Christmas and New Year!
