Summer 2015 Photos

These are NOT all the photos from Summer 2015, but I felt that this was a good selection.

This is a picture of my housemates, Mike and Brittany. We are a bunch of crazy, fun-loving, adventurous people. I love them dearly! This photo is super funny in that we had just bought this charcoal grill and were having a hard time lighting it. It was a Memorial Day Cookout that ended up being over an hour late starting because of how little we knew of how to start it. Now we can do it pretty quick!

Picture of the Buffalo shore, right on Lake Erie.

This is a picture of Lois. A friend of mine. We decided that we needed to swim in Lake Erie and decided that this spot was a good choice. However, we kept debating about whether or not we were allowed to swim because of a sign confusion. It was placed in a weird spot stating that the waters were not safe to swim in. However, there were others there in the water. We decided to go in and actually go swimming. It was pretty cold, not going to lie. A week later we came back, and there was a clear sign stating that no one was allowed to go into the water at this area. WHOOPS.

The first free concert in Buffalo for summer 2015 was a Matt and Kim concert. The music was great, and had some great openers. However, once darkness came, the concert quickly became chaotic. These four ended up staying up front through most of the chaotic-ness, which involved the crowd pushing against the barricades and being so close together that it was hard to breathe, and fights breaking out. Lesson learned here? Don't get right next to the stage for a free Matt and Kim concert. Chances are you'll get crushed and pushed, and have a hard time escaping it.

This is a photo from participating in Color Me Rad at Darien Lake Amusement Park. It's a great run, and the profits go to a charity located in the area. It was a great run, and allowed us to spend the day in the amusement park riding roller coasters.

The two photos above are from the STS9 concert at Artpark in Lewiston NY. It was a cool lightshow, and the band played some great tunes.

This is a photo of me, courtesy of one of my students Nadia. She artfully depicted my blue colored hair perfectly :)

In July, my housemates and I (mostly Brittany) decided to foster a dog from an animal shelter. Meet Roxy, a 5-year old pitbull (pretty sure a mix) that was at the shelter for just over a year. She is super sweet with people. We are currently working on getting her behaved around other animals. We love her a bunch though!

Sunday brunch with some amazing people that I work with!

Photos above are from a sailing trip on Lake Erie with my co-workers. It was a great trip, and we ended up swimming in open water on Lake Erie. It was SO AWESOME!

Group picture of some summer camp staff on a staff trip to Darien Lake Amusement Park. I loved riding on the roller coasters. We pretty much rode them all day. My two favorite rides were the Boomerang and the Viper. It was a great day!

This is a panorama photo of the beach at camp. The clouds were rolling in, and I thought it would make an amazing picture.

A Cradle Beach Sunset.

Grilling kabobs and corn outside to celebrate the last few days of summer.

Some aerial artists dancing to music using sheets during their performance. They were amazing, especially since they were able to twist and maneuver using the cloth and their bodies to keep themselves in the air.

It's About That Time of Year Again!!

It is September. Can you believe it?? How the heck did it already get to be September?!? I feel like this summer flew by so fast! Not going to lie, it felt like a long time being away from my apartment, but when I think about what I did this summer, I feel like I did SO MUCH in SO LITTLE TIME! It's pretty strange.

I have now been away from summer camp for. . .let me think. . .about 6 days. So pretty much a week. I did go back to the camp's site yesterday for a meeting, but it was SO QUIET. I kept expecting the summer staff to show up and hang out for a bit before all our preparations for the next group of kids showing up started, but obviously they wouldn't be coming. Summer is over, and all the staff are either working normal year-long jobs, or going back to school. It's very strange to think that they won't be back for almost 10 more months.

I kinda MISS it. haha

I would've probably guessed that it would happen. Towards the end of summer though, I couldn't wait to go back to my apartment and be in my own space. Now though, I want to go back.

It's like how the saying goes, "You never know how much something or someone will mean to you until it is no longer there or available. You never know how much you'll miss it until it's gone."

Technically, camp is not "gone." It's just a long changeover. A long period until we begin again for summer camp work. It'll come back.

Also, the first day of school was today in the Buffalo Public School District. Very exciting. I really missed my kids. I also missed my teachers as well. I had FANTASTIC teachers in the earlier part of this year. I spent most of my time with Ms. Krause and Mr. Wells (Probably my two most favorite teachers, mostly because I got to know them and learn from them the most). I really enjoyed working in the other classrooms as well, but felt I was most needed in the two previously mentioned teacher's classrooms. Mainly because they were by themselves, and the other two classrooms I were in had co-teachers. Regardless of that though, I loved all my teachers.

My students that I work with will be moving up from the 3rd grade to the 4th grade (for the most part). I haven't seen them in so long. I saw a few over the summer at camp, but haven't asked them or seen them since they were there. And not all of them went to camp. So it'll be great when I can work with them during lunch and ask them how they've been and what they did this summer.

Today, I went with a few people that I work with (Rachel, Mason, and Lois) to Chestnut Ridge Park. It's a very nice park to hike around in, as they are mostly famous for the Eternal Flame (a flame that burns in a natural gas opening near a waterfall). We ended up walking to a different location though. We were looking for a swimming hole that Mason had previously seen on one of his hikes during the summer. It was a nice hike (about 20-30 minutes) before we found the swimming hole. However, it wasn't as deep as what it was earlier in the summer. It may be due to the fact that it hasn't REALLY rained in a few weeks. We still waded in, and enjoyed the brisk cold water. Rachel ended up carrying half a watermelon on our hike, and we pleasantly enjoyed it's contents at the swimming hole. YAY Rachel for bringing yummy fruit!!!

So other than starting school this month, I've just been trying to reconnect with people haven't talked to in a while. I have seen several people this past week, and it's been awesome! I also need to call several more before life happenings happen and I don't have the time to do so. Hopefully I continue to do so the rest of the month!

Other than that, I am planning a long weekend trip to the Adirondack Mountains. I'm so excited!!! I've never been there, and I've been wanting to go for a while. I'm SO excited to see the leaves change color while hiking up some mountains and seeing the AMAZING views! I'll definitely put up photos on here once I come back.

Anyways, I have attached a few photos here from our Chestnut Ridge hike to the swimming hole. Enjoy! I'll give updates soon!!

Love and hugs.