Home-Camp and Sisterhood

August is a very special month for members of my beloved IGGPPC as it is the month of Iggle camp! 

For five days we “get together” and watch movies, tv shows, play games, go on scavenger hunts, bake and craft TOGETHER! But since this is a pen-pal event and we all live in different parts of the globe it's more of a virtual camp. Although this year we did have a lot of activities promoting getting out and moving around, form going out to catch pokemon to Yoga challenges on different locations around each of us.  I know it ’s a very strange concept and hard to grasp for "outsiders", but if you’re in, I swear it’s super fun! You can read all about it here.

What makes camp different from our day to day experiences in the community is that, instead of being separated into age groups and everyone doing monthly activities at their own time, we all try to do things live and interact as a group. We also get sorted into troops so you get to meet all sorts of new friends from every age-range. This year I was sorted into Troop Firebolt which is all about Harry Potter, so not a good match for me lol. I honestly don't know how troops are created or how campers get assigned to them, but despite my lack of enthusiasm for my troop's theme I had a great time with wonderful and magical friends. And fortunately there are a whole lot of activity options that don't involve Harry Potter :P

I've been told I'm a Hufflepuff so I went with it for my troop's ID

Camp crafts are always my favorite and below are some of the ones I created this year. I also learned to make friendship bracelets (not pictured.) Believe it or not I've never made them before! Now I'm excited to swap with some of my friends :D But I think my favorite craft this year and the one I can totally see a use for, for more than just fun, was stamp carving! It was awesome, and so much easier than when I tried it in middle school. This time it came out right!

I also got to escape the “camp grounds” (my place) and go chase the Hello Kitty Truck that finally made an appearance in MA. 

How cute is this?!

I was still participating in camp while out in line for the truck though, being out gave me a great opportunity to get a lot of items for my scavenger hunt and go practice yoga outdoors. 

Plus my outfit was a camp closet-challenge of being a character in red. Can you all guess who my character was?

This year, August became extra special, because apart from all the fun above described, after more than half a year since I found out of it's existence, I finally got to join a new community which is the OTSPSS which stands for On the Same Page Secret Sister. A project devoted to sending cheer to someone else and letting them know someone's thinking lovingly about them for six months. It’s meant to lift up spirits, create a sense of community and sisterhood and bring a monthly, dependable ray of sunshine to look forward to even if you're month happens to be lackluster otherwise! It’s such a beautiful project with a very encouraging and positive community and I’m so, so happy I finally made it in! 

It’s a super fun project really. Think secret Santa but throughout the year in 6 month-long sessions. Half the fun is trying to figure out who your sister is and of course in the process getting to know someone new and hopefully build a strong friendship with them. Each session you get two new people to interact personally with. The sister that showers you with love and the one to whom you are her sister and you get to shower with joy.

I sent out my first package over a week ago and I’m already almost done planning for September and this past weekend I received my very own package from my sister which is super exciting! I honestly don’t know which part is more fun. But either way August was a great month for letter writing, new friendships (even if they're distance ones) and late summer campy fun!

Can’t wait to see what the next season brings :D