Bryce, I'm Sorry

So I just got a rather haughty facebook message from Bryce pointing out that I had not blogged in a while. I apologize. And I'll make up for it right now with a super long post. Get excited.

Since I last posted, we had Thanksgiving Break and it was wonderful. We kicked it off with the Turkey Bowl which, being from Missouri, I dominated. Wednesday morning we slept in, hung out and took our time getting ready to depart for Dan's. Kristin, Mike and I were the only interns who ended up going. We left the canyon mid-afternoon and arrived to Bend at around 5:30.

We had all agreed that we wanted to go see a movie and get some dinner (simple pleasures that we don't take for granted since living out here). So we met up with Dan at the Old Mill District which is this cool outdoor shopping district in Bend. We decided to see August Rush which came out that day. We went and got our tickets and then headed to Red Robin to grab some food. I had never been to Red Robin which you would think is a crime by people's reaction to that statement out here. So we went and their burgers are, in fact, ridiculously good. It actually lived up to the hype.

After dinner, we went to the movie and Dan's parents, sister and sister's fiance joined us. The movie was really good, although sappy. But we all loved it and really was just fun to go to a movie. We headed back to Dan's after and stayed up playing Bang! with his younger brother and older sister.

The next day, we slept in, had an awesome breakfast, took a driving tour of Bend, stopped at the Deschutes River and then spent the rest of the day eating and playing board games with Dan's family. It was so fun and relaxing. The next day was much of the same. Becca and Peter drove up and we hit up some Black Friday sales and went to a really fun and festive Christmas tree lighting at a resort called Sunriver. It was beautiful and relaxing. Dan's family was so wonderful and it was great to spend a few days in a real home just relaxing. They definitely took care of us which was so wonderful.

We headed back to the Canyon on Saturday in order to be home in time to watch my Missouri Tigers dominate the Jayhawks. It was an incredible victory and it was so fun to watch it with some of the other interns and introduce them to the incredibleness that is Mizzou. They had no idea. As you can see from the picture, I represented for my Tigers.

We spent the next couple of days just chilling in the canyon. The Iveys, Mike, Kristin, Darren and I were the only ones here so we had a lot of fun just hanging out. It was a really great group. I feel like most of the people that stayed at the canyon were the people I hadn't gotten to know as well, especially Mike, Dan and Darren. Everyone who was here was just chill and fun and it was so relaxing and fun. I feel even more comfortable here now and feel like I really solidified a friendship with all those guys.

We went back to work on Tuesday which was a pretty easy day, although I was developing a nasty cold. We had small group that night which was our best small group yet. I made orange chicken and crab rangoon, a la the Dudenhoeffers, which was super yummy. And then I told my life story, the extended version. Seriously, I talked for a long time. It was just nice though because since we switched it to Tuesday this week, we didn't have to worry about getting done in a hurry to get to worship afterwards. So we ended up having a 3 hour small group. We like to talk. And the boys kept running up to the door and then leaving when they saw us which was funny and made us all feel loved.

I woke up the next morning and was completely out of it. I took a couple sick days the past couple of days and have literally not left my condo. I'm feeling a lot better now so I'm gonna go back to work tomorrow. It's been sucky, but people here are really good about taking time off to get better. It's a physically demanding job and we spend a lot of time outside, so if you don't take the time to get all better you just end up sicker. So my bosses have been great.

That being the case, I'm going to bed at 9:00 tonight. So I have to get some stuff done. I added some pictures to my last blog, so check those out. Love you all!

Bryce- I hope this has satisfied you. I added pics because I know how much you like them. Go Tigers!

Turkey Time!

So, our Thanksgiving break started today and it could not have come a moment too soon. I am stoked for a couple days off. Although, I feel like I just got beat up. Tonight was the 1st Annual Turkey Bowl. The boys have been talking for weeks about playing flag football and tonight we kicked it off. Kristen and I went thinking we were going to watch but ended up playing and it was so fun. It was us and Sarah from the kitchen as the only girls. The boys had the classic problem of never throwing it to us, but after they figured out that I caught literally every pass that was thrown to me, they started sending it my way more. It was freezing cold, I got laid out a couple of times, the grass was slick and the boys were brutal, but I had a chance to wear my Mizzou beanie and repeatedly yell, "Third in the nation, baby!" So all was good.

The past few days have been a little crazy here at the Canyon. This weekend was huge and Saturday was the busiest we've ever been in the Sassy. It was crazy. But it was also a ton of fun. It felt like there were so many kids here but it's only half of how many will be here during the summer which is even crazier. But the Sass was a lot of fun and people were great about stepping in and helping us out even though they had already worked a full day.

Also, I continue to be amazed at how much money kids will spend in the snack bar. There were these 2 kids this weekend that had to have each spent 30 bucks. And that's in one day. And they're served meals. Kids blow through the money.

After the Sassy on Saturday, we got the privilege of seeing a concert by Jonah Werner, who came as special music this weekend. I like his music, but beyond that he is an amazing entertainer. He was very funny and definitely had everyone's attention the whole time he was on stage.

Sunday was an easy day. Checkout took forever and consisted of a lot of standing around. I became officially certified to handle food in the state of Oregon. And I spent the afternoon in the Washboard which is fun in small doses.

Sunday night we had game night which was so fun. We started with a game of Battle of the Sexes, followed by Catch Phrase and, our intern favorite, Apples to Apples. We have definitely picked up that game are fun, which is extremely exciting for me. Because I love games, at all times. I'm hoping I'm not getting too competitive. But I am. I can't help it.

Monday was All Clean which was really fun this week because the guys stayed with us all day. We're starting the Deep Clean on the Quads which is going to be ridiculous. After we finished bathrooms, we stripped all the mattress pads, blankets and pillows off the beds and hauled them to the Washboard. There is now a huge, daunting pile of stuff that we have to wash, literally 8 feet tall. After that, we broke up into random teams to do random things. Nick and I began polishing all the chrome in the bathrooms. It was fun to hang out with Nick. The more I get to know him, the more I like him. However, satin shining the chrome is a much longer process than you would think. Everyone was done with all their jobs in both quads and we only had 1/4 of one quad done. It sucked.

After work, we headed home and got ready for Dip Day at the Milstens. The Milstens have a traditional, non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner consisting entirely of dips at their house every year. It was a really good time, mingling and hanging out and grazing through all the dips.

We had a little celebration afterwards back at the condos as well for Becca's birthday. We have a lot of fun together. There was some dancing...
We had to work today so that we could get days off in a chunk over Thanksgiving. So us girls were in HK and spent literally all morning finishing the chrome. We had decided to start at 7:00 and take a 45 minute lunch so we could get off at 3:45 which was great. I'm kind of turning into a morning person. No, that's a lie. I still can't function in the morning, but I like it when I have to go into work early and get done early. It makes such a difference.

Anyway, we spent the morning polishing and after lunch headed to the Washboard. We were only there until about 2:30 though. After that we went back to Geronimo and spent the last hour of our day decorating Geronimo with snowflakes and such for Christmas and deciding on the rules for our girl secret santa exchange and what movie theme we want for Jen's craft day that she always has in December and consists of sitting around watching movies and crafting all day. It was a fantastic way to end the day. Our job is great.

We came back from work and Lacey and Mandi headed out and Drew left yesterday, so our house was really empty. It already feels weird. But Kristen and I watched a couple episodes of Felicity and I cooked Paige's pasta for dinner. And then we headed to the Turkey Bowl, dominated, came back and watched movie. It was a great night. But I'm gonna be sore tomorrow. This is also the latest I have stayed up since I got here. It's almost 2:00 which was basically my bed time back home. My life is definitely different.

So, I'm going to be in Bend the next couple of days and other than that just hanging out doing nothing. I'm going to be very available. Phone calls would be much appreciated. I love you all and miss you a ton.

I'm a Gamer, Baby

So I just got back from maybe the most fun event I've been to since I got here: Game Night at the Inglsbys'. Craig and Kathy Inglsby are my heroes partly because they're a lot of fun and cool people, but mainly because they own an incredible amount of games. But I digress.

Thursday was another easy day in HK. Since we got caught up with laundry things have settled a lot, but that will all start up again after we finish the deep clean and have another round of laundry. We did have a staff meeting in the morning where we talked about the Staff Christmas Party and were volunteered by, well, everyone to put together a little number to perform. We have some great, funny ideas so it should be a blast.

After work, we had small group and intern worship. Small group was at Jen's and was again very fun. Mandi shared her life story which was great because she's the one I feel like I've gotten to know the least. She's very quiet, so it was good that she had to talk for a long time. Worship was fun as well although it has gotten pretty cold which makes it hard for me to sing. Lance Wagner came and shared with us about scripture memory which was pretty cool. Also, he recited Colossians. Yeah, he's for real. My favorite point he made was that he tends to memorize large chunks of the Bible or whole books so that he doesn't take things out of context. It was cool and challenging. Also, his 9-year-old daughter can recite Titus. For real.

I was in HK again all day today. We started out cleaning the Sports Center. Becca's home for the weekend and Mandi and Lacey were in the D Hall and the Kitchen, so it was just 4 of us cleaning the Sports Center. But it was fun. After lunch, Sara went to the store so Drew, Kristen, Sara Morrow and I cleaned the Sassy and then Drew and Kristen got off because they were in the Sports Center tonight. So Sara Morrow, Jen and I did really random things like clean the vacuums for the rest of the afternoon. It was fun spending time with Sara, she's really cool, quiet natured but in a calm way not a shy way and also pretty funny.

I helped with Morning Mud this morning which was fun but also a little crazy. People show up for $.75 espresso.

After work, I came home for a while and then went to dinner. There's 2 groups in this weekend. The first, bigger group is from Walla-Walla High School and is a leadership weekend put on by their student board. It's kind of run by a teacher there who is married to a guy on YL staff who also happened to be one of my Work Crew bosses at Malibu. So he's here this weekend helping put on program and stuff. It's funny because it looks a lot like a YL weekend but without the spoken name of Christ. They're a lot of fun and very enthusiastic. The other group is a small Campaigner group from Sunset High in Portland who are just having a retreat and using some of the smaller buildings.

After dinner, we headed to the Inglsbys' and got our game on. It was so much fun. A lot of people from property were there and there were kids running around all over the place and lots of yelling and laughter. And they have literally the most board games I've ever seen. An entire closet full. We were there for almost 3 hours playing, it was so much fun.

For Bryce- You have to find and play a game called Cash n' Guns. You'll love it.

No morning espresso this weekend! Which means I will be sleeping in tomorrow. Praise the Lord.

Much love.

Feels Like Home to Me

So, I'm sorry that it has been a while since I posted. It has been a wonderful past few days and I'm excited to share it. I had a moment this week where I finally began to feel at home in this place. I feel comfortable, I feel happy, I'm having fun. It will most likely still be really hard at times, but I feel like we've finally gotten to the point where we're excited to be here. So it's awesome. Thank you all for being behind me and being the people that I can always turn to and feel completely myself around. You're awesome.

So, the last I blogged, we were in the middle of Work and Worship which was really fun. On Sunday, we had morning espresso again and then I was scheduled for vending for the rest of the day. Turns out that only takes a couple of hours. So after I got done with vending, I spent the next few hours in the Store with Sara deep cleaning. We had such a good time, jamming to music and talking about our lives. Sara is super cool and so sweet and I feel like we have a lot to learn from each other.

After I got off work, I hung out for a while and then headed back down to main camp for dinner. This was the first weekend I made it a point to get to all the meals and it was definitely worth it, just to hang out with people. After dinner, we went to the last worship of the weekend. Almost all of us went, so it was fun to sit in a row in the back and be the obnoxious intern kids. Ben's talk was again great and Judy was again funny.

After worship, a bunch of us went to look around in the store. A bunch of the guys came and ended up buying the $1 Zubs we still have in the store from 2002. Zubs are those stretchy material tubes that they have on Survivor that you can wear as a headband or a hat or a tube top. They're very versatile. Anyway, all the boys got them and have been wearing them and it has been pretty funny. And we now have a contest to see who can end up with the coolest Zub by the end of the year. The only rule is that we can't buy them on Ebay. So please send me Zubs if you happen upon one.

Monday I was in Housekeeping and it was a great easy day. I spent the morning deep cleaning in the Ranch House which was pretty nasty. We then had checkout and All Clean, but since checkout had been so staggered, a bunch of the All Clean was already done. So we ended up getting off work a half hour early! Such a little thing, but it was so great.

After work, we watched Love Actually and talked about first kisses and other awkward moments. It was a lot of fun. We also played Nerts. I dominated, of course. Actually, I beat Mike by 4 points. It was a lot of fun.

Tuesday was another relaxing day. I was supposed to go to Madras. I didn't. Instead, I slept until 12:00 and hung out without changing out of my PJs all day. We watched movies and spent all night playing games including Nerts, Scattegories and a game called Bang! which is much like an extreme version of Mafia. It was my kind of night.

Today, I got up and went into Madras with Lacey. She had a dentist appointment, so I chilled in the waiting room and read. And then we went to Safeway and I finally bought real food. I have been bummed that I haven't cooked for everybody, so I decided to fix that. I bought food for all kinds of meals and tonight made Mama Gore's tortellini soup and some cornbread. It was a lot of fun and the boys came over and ate with us. Then we played another game of Bang!.

After dinner, we had the Lady's Tea at Judy's house. Almost all of the women who live on property came to the tea and we got to get dressed up and eat yummy food. It was really fun to just hang out with all the women and get to know people better. The ladies here are so varied. It's crazy to me how all these random kinds of women ended up out here. There are stay-at-home moms and career women and athletes and women with Masters degrees and young women and old women. It really makes me feel validated in being here to see all these brilliant woment who also see worth in being here. Sometimes it's easy to think that I should have a real job and that people think I'm hiding out here or something. But the more I get to know the other people here, the better I feel about being here. These are brilliant, educated, smart people who also realize the importance of being out here in the middle of nowhere. It's great.

Becca and I were talking tonight and both realized that we had the same moment this week where we started feeling completely comfortable here. I think that we're all in the same place, which is great. I'm excited to go into the winter together, ready to grow and have fun and be cheesy. I love the cheesiness.

I love you all and I miss you a ton. Please call me because I don't have any more minutes on my phone card and I can't call you.

Another Day, Another Dollar

Today was such a fun day. I really have enjoyed Work and Worship this weekend. The people who have come are, of course, awesome. And it has been fun to be a part of a weekend completely put on by us. Most of the time, speakers and musicians and everybody come in with the group. But this weekend is completely our staff putting on program for these amazing volunteers. And it was fun to walk around and see all of the work being done today.

We had morning espresso this morning, so I was up and in the Sassy by 6:30. After espresso, Becca and I were scheduled until 11:30, so we did some of the many things that needed to be done in the Sassy. We finished our deep clean list and then we went over to the kitchen and organized all the stuff we have in the freezer which took a long time and was extremely cold. It was really fun though to hang out with Becca and spend and easy morning.

The Work and Worship teams are on the most random jobs, so it's really kind of funny to see. A huge crew of people have joined the Maintenance boys to clean out the pond which is something the boys have been working on for about a week. Our pond is pretty huge, so it has been quite an undertaking to drain it. There are some problems with the irrigation, so it had to be done. This is the first time they have every drained it and it is nasty. There were all kinds of fish and a ton of algae and stuff. But it is drained and now they're doing what they can to clean it out. They volunteers have been raking all the algae and such out of the bank while the boys use the fire hose to clean off everything else. It'll stay drained through the winter and apparently it will take about 80 days to completely fill it back up. It's crazy.

Other groups are doing things like taking out all the flowers from the flower pots and recplacing windows and working on condos. Anything and everything is being done and it is awesome!

After lunch, I had the afternoon off which was so productive. I was able to get my room cleaned, finish some letters, pay some bills, take care of some stuff at the office, AND start some laundry. It was great. I feel much better about my life after having taken care of all of that.

I went to dinner tonight and sat with the Brown family and Kristen and Mike which was very pleasant. The Browns are great. Korey is running the MCL project and he and his wife Sara are very sweet and welcoming. They have 2 elementary school aged girls who have all kinds of attitude but are very sweet and funny and a little baby boy. I feel like I'm finally starting to really get to know people here, which is so comforting.

After dinner I went to the first part of worship. It was so refreshing and again, I love Judy. I had to sneak out early to open the Sassy, so I didn't get to here Ben speak which I was bummed about but worship was really good. The Sassy was crazy busy for the first hour we were open. So much so that Ben came in to get a soda and ended up scooping ice cream with us for a while. Also, our freezer broke again. So there was ice cream pouring out into the freezer and when we tried to take one of them out, the bottom busted and it was glooping out everywhere. It was really pretty hilarious and we ended up having a really good night.

I'm back in my condo. I'm super tired. I can't really sleep. We have morning espresso again tomorrow. I feel like this is the first real tiny glimpse of what the summer will be like. I can't wait.

Life in the Canyon... It's weird.

Love you all!

One More Night in Hollywood

I love Fridays because that means new people come in. We started out the morning in the Sports center, cleaning away. We have definitely got the groove down now. I mopped the basketball courts which was just one more step towards the awesome arm muscles I am currently developing. After the Sports center, we cleaned the Sassy and did some laundry.

After lunch we went to Little Joe and picked up the big tubs full of dishes that we put in the suites for the assignment team during the summer and took them to the kitchen to be washed. We got to spend most of the afternoon doing dishes in the pits in the kitchen which I believe to be one of the most fun jobs at camp. But I normally think that about every job that is not my own. It's just fun to get to do new stuff.

After we got done with that, we went back to the washboard and went to a couple of other places like the Ranch House to check on laundry. It was a fun, relaxed day.

After work, we headed back to the house and ate dinner and hung out. And then a bunch of us decided to go to the first Club for Work and Worship tonight. It was a lot of fun. Judy led the singing and Ben talked and they were both fun and funny. I generally enjoy both of them. Although Ben managed to embarass all of us when he suggested in his talk that people had only come this weekend because they had heard about the good looking single women he had on his staff and then suggested he introduce us all. He always just awkward and inappropriate enough to be hilarious. His talk was really good. I feel like I have a lot to learn from Ben this year. He's an incredible property manager from all I've seen and really has a vision and a passion for this place and the people that come in and out of it.

We hung out for a while after club, but now I'm back in my room waiting for last night's Grey's Anatomy to load. It should be done now, so I must go do that. Morning espresso tomorrow is going to kill me. Love you all!

One More Day Out in the Canyon

Ah, the days are flying by. I'm really tired and the week has just started, but I feel like I need to connect. So I blog because it's already past midnight in Missouri and I can't call anyone.

My days off were blissfully leisurely as usual. I did literally nothing. As you'll remember from the last post, I had several goals that I wished to accomplish this weekend. I'm happy to report that I did get the sleeping and reading goals done and even managed to watch 6 episodes of Grey's Anatomy in order to be fully caught up with this season. Unfortunately, I did not get to cleaning my room or finishing unpacking from my trip to Missouri. Also, the Grey's Anatomy episodes I watched had Chinese subtitles. Because I live in the middle of nowhere and, while we do have internet, it is sketchy at best and the full episodes on abc.com rarely work. So I found this website that puts the episodes up with Chinese subtitles which works much better. You gotta do what you gotta do.

Needless to say, it was a very relaxing weekend. One bummer is that it doesn't look like I'm going to get to go to LA for Thanksgiving because we now have to fly and it's just too expensive. But I think a bunch of us are going to go to Dan's house in Bend and I think it will be really fun and help this place to feel more like home. A lot of the staff will stay in the Canyon for Thanksgiving, so it should be a relaxing and fun 6 days off. (That's right, 6 days. YL is such a rocking organization to work for!)

Today was back to work. Thursdays tend to be really long days because there is just a lot going on. And I ended up staying up really late last night talking to Lacey, so I was kind of dragging this morning. We had the weekly staff meeting at 8:00 which was fun as always and from there we headed to Geronimo. We spent the morning cleaning the perif buildings and then we had ops lunch.

This weekend we have 2 groups. The large group is our Fall Work and Worship. We have 2 Work and Worship weekends during the year and they are just a chance for people to come, hang out, worship together, and do every crazy odd job we need done. We are so blessed to have people with such talent coming to do everything from plumbing and electric in the MCL to literally scraping the sludge out from the pond. They do all the extra things that we can't do. There are about 150 people coming. We get more done in these weekends then our staff can do in months. It's great.

There's a 2nd group here as well, which is a men's group from a church in Madras. There's only about 40 of them and they're staying in the finished side of the MCL. They're only here for 24 hours and they're making their own food in the Orchard Inn, so we probably won't really see them. But that did mean that we had to make up rooms for them and clean the MCL today.

We spent the afternoon doing a ton of random things. Jen and Erin always have a lot of meetings on Thursdays, so we get left by ourselves a lot. It continues to be hard to live and work together as little beefs from home come to work and vice versa. We're all hard-headed and positive that we're right and so we have definitely been feeling some tension. But I have been really encouraged because I feel like we're learning every day how to better handle potentially destructive situations. We have started bringing stuff up instead of just letting it fester and are all learning more and more how to deal with each other. But it is definitely a long and hard process and we could use a lot of prayer.

One a lighter note, I got to jump into the foam pit today and it was awesome. Also, I almost tripped over the same doorstop that caused me to fall last month again. That would have been really bad.

After work, we had half an hour to chill before we had to be at Pam's for small group. Small group was really good. Jen shared her life story and we discussed good old Celebration of Discipline, which I am having a love-hate relationship with right now. We take turns kind of co-leading the discussion and this chapter is my turn. Planning for it last night made me realize how much I miss Campaigners. I just keep realizing that I learn better by teaching which may sound backwards. But I dive so much deeper into something if I know I'm responsible for teaching it. So I really enjoyed this chapter because I felt like I took the time to really test it.

After small group, we had staff worship which was awesome this week. Judy ran it. Judy may be my favorite person here. She's kind of crazy, extremely peppy, hugs a lot and has a perpetually positive outlook on life. She was jamming out on her piano at worship tonight and managed to make every song upbeat. She just reminded me of every children's choir director I've ever seen. And she has invited us to tea next week. She's awesome.

After worship, we headed back to our house to have a continuation of small group because some people had some issues in the house that they wanted to air. I think it was a really good, really productive time and I hope to see a turn in our house because of it. We're all continuing to learn how to communicate best with one another. It's such a weird situation to be in, to move in with complete strangers whom you also work with and worship with and do absolutely everything with. We're working it out and I'm excited to see where we end up.

And now I'm very tired. And there's Morning Mud tomorrow. And even though it was awesome last week, I again don't want to go. Yet I promised. So I will awaken and go to Morning Mud.

I love you all and I continue to miss you like crazy and talk about you all the time. The first person to come visit wins a prize! It's gonna be something good! It could be all yours! Come visit!

Friday Night, Just Got Paid

OK, I know you're looking at the title and thinking, 'It's not Friday night.' What you are forgetting is that Monday night is Friday night in the canyon. But I digress.

Since I last posted, the sex group left, I did vending, we deep cleaned the Hideout and we had an All Clean. It's definitely starting to become routine. The weekend in the Sass went well. The group was really small and definitely didn't care about Night Espresso. Friday night we made $6.50 in an hour and a half. But Saturday day opening went well and was pretty busy. It was a pretty small group but they were all college kids which was fun.

Saturday night was also slow but we had a lot of visitors which was very fun. People tend to come hang out in the Sassy with us which I really appreciate. Mike hung out with us the whole time we were open which was awesome. I've come to like Mike a lot. He's funny but not attention-seeking and when he speaks, he always has great things to say. He's really cool.

On Sunday, I helped with checkout and then did vending. After vending, I met the other girls who were at work Deep Cleaning. The Deep Clean is going to be quite the project as we clean everything that never gets cleaned. But it's fun to work on that stuff all together and we already have 3 buildings done.

Today was All Clean which was surprisingly fun as always. Erin, who is on staff in Housekeeping, hid in a shower and scared the crap out of Sara when she went to clean it which was entertaining for all of us. After All Clean, Drew, Mandi, Erin and I went to the Washboard while the other girls worked on more Deep Clean.

After work, Nick, Kristen, Mandi and I decided to make a trip into Madras for groceries. There's talk of going into Bend tomorrow to get dinner and a movie, but we decided to get grocery shopping out of the way tonight. It was so much fun, although Nick is a crazy driver on the scary, scary roads out here. We had a lot of fun laughing in the grocery store and jamming to music in the car. It's been fun getting to know Nick. I feel like I don't get to see the boys a lot mainly just because I see the girls so much. So it's always good to hang out with them.

Now I'm back and getting tired at 11:20. It's way past my bedtime. Luckily, I went to bed at 8:30 last night. No lie. I'm turning into my brother. Or an old person. Which is pretty much one in the same.

My plans for the weekend: sleep, read, unpack from my trip to MO and do laundry. In that order. See you on the flip side.

The Meat Market is Here

Today was another wonderful day. Because we're open for late-night espresso tonight, I wasn't scheduled to go into housekeeping until 10:00. However, we had Morning Mud this morning and Kristen and I had made a pact to go every week. Morning Mud is a Friday tradition where the espresso bar is open for staff and all drinks are $1 (or $.75 if you bring your own mug). It's really fun and a lot of the staff go so it's a great time to run into people you wouldn't normally see. The problem is it's from 7:00 to 8:00 and that's really early. It's not so bad on a normal work day but since I didn't have to go in until 10:00, I really didn't want to lose a couple hours of sleep and go.

However, I had promised Kristen I would go with her so I dragged myself out of bed and headed to the Sassy early in the morning. Staff volunteers take turns running Morning Mud, which is great. Becca, Kristen, Sara, Lacey and I hung out, spent some time reading and generally had a great time. At 8:00, everyone headed to their jobs, but Sara and Becca and I stayed in the Sass and ended up talking until we were scheduled in housekeeping at 10:00. We had some really great conversations about why we're here and what we're passionate about. I feel like I really got to know them better, which was really wonderful. So, I'm definitely glad I got up for Morning Mud. However, it's like 9:00 now, I'm already tired, and the espresso bar doesn't open for another 2 hours. It's going to be a late night.

The 3 of us headed to HK and joined Jen, Erin and Sarah. All the other intern girls were painting in the MCL again this morning, so it was kind of a small crew. We cleaned the Sassy and the Iron Kettle. After lunch, the other girls joined us and we cleaned the Sports Center. Becca and I mopped the skate park, which takes so long but is still oddly fun. We then spent some time deep cleaning the Washboard. Deep cleaning is the once-a-year full clean that every building gets and it's our next big project since we've caught up with laundry.

We then headed back to the condo, ate some dinner, watched some 90210 and played some Sorry. And now I'm waiting around to go to the Sassy.

There's some kind of Southern Baptist sex convention here this weekend, which is cracking me up. It's a whole weekend on chastity for a college group of Southern Baptists. It's a first-time group here, so you never really know what to expect. And we keep joking that everyone's going to go home engaged. They're keeping their eyes peeled, that's for sure. And apparently the brought an illusionist who will be performing tomorrow night in the Sassy. I'm not sure what that's about.

Anyway, it should be a fun one and I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. I love you all!

I Can See Clearly Now

Aaah, what a day. So today was the much anticipated intern paint project day. What's really great about our jobs is that we get to get our hands in a lot of different departments. Basically, wherever they need us we go. And today they needed us to paint things in the Muddy Creek Lodge which is Summer Staff/Work Crew/Assign Team housing and also the new Washboard and meeting space and all kinds of stuff. It is a beautiful building and one of our big capital projects right now, so it was fun to get in there and see all the stuff being done.

One wing of the building is completely done and already housed the Summer Staff and Work Crew this summer. The other half with the meeting space and the new Washboard and stuff is still very much in progress. Young Life only builds with cash on hand, so when we run out of money for a project, the project stops. No loans. So right now, we have a beautiful big new room with hook-ups and everything for the Washboard which would mean that we would get to move out of the Sports Center and take the giant laundry carts out of the sight of guests. But we can't use it because we don't have the money to finish it. It's definitely hard, but the Lord's faithfulness and people's generosity continues to impress us and we always end up with what we need. We'll be in our new Washboard soon, I'm sure.

Anyway, back to the day. We all headed to the MCL at 8:00 and met up with Korey and Mark. Korey is basically running the show at the MCL and he's very fun. Everyone seems to have such crazy stories about how they ended up here and it's so fun to get to hear them all. So it was good to get to know him a little.

Mandi and I paired up and got our color (Bamboo Beach) and set out to find the walls we were to paint. We started in a little elevator alcove and then moved to a giant meeting room where we spent most of the day. It was so fun having everyone working together and even more fun to get to experience the maintenance guys' lives for a day. I really think maintenance would be the most fun job. They get to do a little bit of everything and they learn so much stuff, like how to wire phones and how to fix a Coke machine. But they also have to do the trash, so I guess it's a trade-off.

We had an ops lunch today and learned about our group for the weekend. They're a college ministry called Northwest Collegiate Ministries, so another new age group. Good news for me is that college kids do not get up early for espresso so we have a free-time open and late-night espresso. So I get to sleep in! I love the Sassy.

After work, we had small group at Jen's. Last week was our first one, but I was gone for it which was a total bummer. I think it's going to be great, although I am a dominant talker so I probably need to scale that back a little. We're reading Celebration of Discipline which I was a little pissed about but I think is going to really challenge my "get out of the box" crusade, which I sometimes take to far. So, the Lord's making me spend months reading and discussing a conservative how-to book. Funny how that works.

After small group, we had our first intern worship which was also great. Although again, I am a very loud singer and other people here are not really getting too into it. I'm hoping that will change but I think that they're all just not singers. Which is unfortunate because I'm not going to stop singing loud and sometimes I get off-key. So I'm gonna be that girl who nobody wants to sit by because she gets them off-key. I've resigned myself to my inevitable fate.

Steve, who is our Director of Development, came to talk to us a little about his job and his views on fundraising and how we go about it in the organization. It was really great to talk to him and get his perspective on why we fundraise and how we go about it. He talked a lot about how organizations often see the donation as the end game, but we see the donor as the end game. Our goal is to encourage people to join in something that we see as life-changing. We believe that being involved in this mission is something that brings you closer to the heart of the Lord. We want to show people what we're working for and inspire them to be a part of it. I don't know if I was able to relate it well, but he is a really cool guy and he has some great vision for development. Also, before he worked for YL, he worked at a paper company. He was the Michael Scott of Portland. I feel so much cooler now that I actually know a paper executive.

The day was good. I feel like we are on an up-swing after the drama of the past few days. I feel like we are drawing closer to each other, but more importantly, I feel like our focus is being renewed. We're beginning to be comfortable to be who we really are and to love each other for that. For the first time since I got here, I'm really, truly excited about the work we're going to do here. And I hope you're excited about reading about it!

I love you all!