This is a long one sorry...New Adventures

So, I last left you that I was about to leave home and miss all my friends. Now, I am 2 weeks tomorrow into being in Oregon. The road trip out here was amazing! I loved seeing the country. I did get sick of all the flat land, prairies, and farms, but once we got to Denver and saw mountains!! Our road trip destinations were: Paducah, KY, Kansas City, KS, Kearney, NE, Denver, CO, Idaho Falls, ID, Yellowstone, Redmond, OR and finally Antelope, OR!! I am here and have been here for 2 weeks now. The scenery is AMAZING, I wake up every morning to mountains. Although there is construction outside my window, but it is to the betterment of the camp. The schedule around here is different than in the "real world." Monday and Tuesday are my days off, Wednesday, Thursday, and half the day Friday all of the girls do housekeeping with Janelle and Erin who are awesome girls. The rest of Friday I get to hang out with Angela, who is super awesome as well, in the store! Then Saturday I am in the store all day. In the mornings I am in the snack area making espresso, which I might say gets more tasty every time I make it. The first week here I had the opportunity to get trained to do all the ropes course stuff: the big swing, challenge course, zip line, pamper pole, and rock wall! I was super excited to do it too! So, now I am Adventure Experience (AE) certified! If anyone wants me to belay them I can, haha! My fellow interns are super awesome as well! There are 4 single girls and 3 single guys and 2 married couples.

Krista is from Spokane, WA and has been around this camp for a while and is in the room across the hall from me and we share a bathroom. She is 5' 10 3/4'' and has long curly brown/reddish hair. She is super funny too and has helped me out a lot since I have been here to show me the ropes around here, figuratively and literally, haha!

Sabrina is also super tall and blonde. She is from Riverside, CA. She is super artsy and funny as well! She has a little reading nook in her room and is into reading, which is super cool and I am going to borrow some of her books. She runs marathons and I want her to help me to like running. She is going to run a marathon in the ATL in March.

Sonia is 5 foot and hilarious! She is from Wisconsin and has an accent. We have bonded over musicals, Nickel Creek, John Mayer, and Glee and many more things!

The 3 guys are super cool too. There is Josh, who is from Columbus, GA and was in the area Jonesie is in now. He also knows Chachi and worked with him last summer at STC. He is super funny as well. We have a very humorous group. We have bonded over Chick-fil-a and UGA football and just being from the South in general.

There is also another southerner, Dan or Daniel, he wants us to call him Mad Dawg, I don't think it is going to stick though, haha. He is from Orlando, FL and is the youngest out of the group, but is the tallest. He is super funny too. He likes to drive us to town, hang out, talk about music and movies. He recently discovered he likes White Choc. Mochas b/c he is having to work in the snack area on the weekends, but he doesn't like Starbucks.

Kyle is from Michigan and has worked many summer internships and loves to take pictures and make videos. If I need Mac help I am def. going to him! He also has an accent. He also like ranch dressing as much as I do!

The 2 married couples are also sweet! Dareen and Deanna, they have been married since May and have been friends for a while. Dareen did the year-long internship 2 years ago. He is funny. Deanna is also 5 foot and also hilarious. They are both from Oregon and have been to camp a lot. Nick and Stacy have literally been married since the Saturday before we had to be here. Stacy is from California and grew up on a pumpkin patch. We get to work together in the snack area doing espresso. She is also 23, I am 3 months older than her, but she has so much more worldly experience than I do so, she feels older to me.

Nick has also done this internship 2 years ago and is from Indiana. He is also into pics and video making. He is also a person I would go to get help for my Mac, haha!

We have been to Bend, OR twice already on our days off. It is like the Mall of GA area, but cuter and cooler b/c it is a snow skiing town. The architecture is super cool looking as well. We can see snow on mountains around here too, which is awesome! We are all meshing well, which I def. prayed for and was answered. Everyone is super cool! This coming up Sunday we get to go to the coast for a retreat I am super pumped. I have never been to the Pacific Ocean! So, everyone else who works here or lives here is also super cool! The families have been so welcoming. So that helps not to feel home sick! Well, I guess that is all for now. Sorry, it is so long, and long over due. I will hopefully get better at posting more frequently. I love ya'll and thanks for being super awesome friends!

It's not goodbye, it's see you later...

I know I should be asleep right now, but my sleep schedule has been crazy due to being able to sleep til whenever the past 2 months.

So, these past few weeks have been good, but rough at the same time. Saying goodbye to people you love and cherish is not fun. That is why I have come to the realization of that saying, "It's not goodbye, it's see you later." I know that I will see all my friends again (God-willing), but it is still hard when the people you have shared your life with for 5 or + years will be 3,000 miles away and not just a short drive away or a quick phone call away (I won't have cell service at camp, but hopefully a town near by when I have my days off). There is still facebook though, haha and Skpe(video-chatting) definitely will be using that a lot. Oh, and email.

I am so thankful for everyone who has been in my life. Ya'll have been a true blessing. I know it is going to be harder to stay in touch, but I am going to do my best to and if you don't hear from me often know that I am praying for each one of you!

I know I am being super sappy right now, but I had to get it out, haha. Anyway, I am leaving on my road trip Saturday with my parentals. I will keep ya'll updated on life and all that good stuff.

PS This says it posts at 10 something, well that is Pacific time for some reason. haha.

The steps to the big leap of faith

I have created a blog so that family, friends, and church family can be updated on my life in Oregon and basically how things are going and how life is out there.

T-minus 15 days til I embark on a road trip with the parentals to Oregon. So, I thought I would share how I came to the decision of Oregon (yes, I know it is the furtherest away in the US I could have gone). I worked at a Young Life (YL) camp last summer in AZ for 3 weeks, which was amazing! I was coming up on my 5th year of college, the victory lamp, if you will, and was praying asking the Lord what my next steps were in life. So, my boss/friend from the summer Megan, happened to be a year long intern at camp. I pondered the thought that it would be a super sweet job to work at camp the whole year. I really wanted it to be in AZ, but they weren't offering this coming up season. I prayed some more. At first Oregon was last on my list because there happens to be a camp in GA only about an hour and a half away from my parent's house. That is very convenient, but I kept praying and the Lord was saying go for it! Like that saying, go big or go home. The Lord was saying take a leap of faith go where you have never gone before and do it all for me and my Kingdom.

So, here I am 2 weeks til I am heading out west. I have received my job, I will be working in the retail store on the weekends and housekeeping during the week. I am pumped, but also a little nervous/bittersweet to leave everything that has been my life for the past 23 years. I know God is going to stretch me, mold me, and make me into the woman of the Lord I am supposed to be. So thank you for your prayers and support because without these 2 very important things I wouldn't be able to take that leap of faith!