Mertz Camping -Take 1

so I know it was like a month ago that we went camping but life got busy once again and I have yet to post about the fun experiences that we had on our fun camp out.
my history of camping has been:
*Girls Camp- 6 years
*Ward Campouts- probably just a handful
*Family camping- maybe almost 10 times in my life....
in other words....not much REAL camping experiences.

so here is what i learned from real camping:
1. get to camp with plenty of light left in the day
2. make sure you bring extra batteries, a working lantern, and dry wood
3. setting up your tent on an incline= a restless night with a slight feeling of falling
4. check to be sure you know where the bathrooms are before it gets dark
5. hand sanitizer is a MUST
6. if you are going fishing, make sure you go to a lake that has alive, swimming fish
7. close the tent doors, especially if there is a baby sleeping baby inside the tent


the purpose of this camp out was for James' 24th Birthday. we wanted to go on some sort of vacation but lack of money didn't give us very many options. so I decided I would surprise James and we would go camping with some of our good friends. I had it all planned out- where we were going, who was going to bring food, how much it was going to cost, what time we were going....everything that was necessary for the weekend stay in the wilderness.
we got up there friday night just as the sun was setting. we hurried to unload the truck and to set up our tents so we could see with the little amount of light that we had. after the tents were standing the men tried to start the fire. sadly the wood and the dirt surrounding was all wet so starting this fire took three men, 2 hours and a bike pump to get a slightly good fire going.
dinner was amazing and i am happy to announce that i, Jenessa Mertz, ate not only one hot dog, but TWO whole hot dogs that night for dinner and let me tell you they were not half bad....but i think that i will stick to my initial response to hot dogs: gross, no thank you. but that night on the mountain, with lots of mustard and the fire to roast the outside crisp, i loved those hot dogs.
for dessert, james and i made peach cobbler which was delicious! and i love that camping makes food taste so much better than at home.
we all sat around after dinner and just enjoyed the break from every day life. the one thing that i do know about camping and that i love, is that you are just separated from everything worldly. unlike any other type of vacation, you are completely immersed in natural living and that state of living helps to remind you what things are the most important. for me, that feeling, is good. *maybe that is why girls camp has some of the most amazing testimony meetings ever???***
sleep was pretty chilly and i don't think james and i have ever slept as close as we did that night  (our air mattress was a little deflated so we gradually sunk closer and closer to each other all night ha. ) but at the same time, we kept each other fairly warm and it was really nice to think about all the stuff that i didn't have to do the next morning.
james and i were in charge of breakfast the next morning and let me tell you, that was yummy stuff. pancakes with an eggs, sausage, and bacon mixture were on the menu. james did the mixture and i did the pancakes. it was extremely filling and yummy.
after breakfast was all cleaned up and we had pretty much everything put away to be ready to leave in time for check out, we went to the lake and just chilled. some people road in the kayak, while others, like me, just laid in the sun and soaked up the good feeling of being outside.

we went back to the site, finished packing up the trucks, said our good byes and "we have to do this again"s and made our way back to  civilization.  it was a fantastic weekend and i think james loved his birthday present. :)