Is Anyone Else Always Paranoid They're Going to Sit in Dog Poop at Picnics?

This blog is in honor of Bryce and his brand new blog. I am officially a blog convert and believe that everyone should have one so that I could better stalk them. Also, Bryce named his blog after Jared Fogle, spokesman of Subway. Awesome.

NW boot camp left today and that ended our month of man camps. Thus begins family camp month. The men were fun, but I'm excited to get some different groups in. It gets boring have man camp after man camp. They're not quite as entertaining as middle schoolers. But they are less destructive, so again a trade-off.

It was a fun weekend because they were here an extra day so I worked Sassy all day Friday and Saturday. It's been a crazy week because we're getting all the new merchandise in the store all this week but Sara's off. So I've been helping out a lot on my time off, checking in and tagging and folding and all that other good retail stuff.

Check-out this morning was at 7:30 which means we went in at 7:00. But we took a half hour lunch meaning we were done at 3:30! Awesome! Also, since we were so backed up in the store and it was a fairly light day in HK, Jen let me stay and work with Angela in the store today. That means 3 days in retail this week! Woot woot! Although I have come to quasi-love HK. It's kind of a love-hate.

So, after work I had a flat tire. I mean, really flat, which is pretty common out here. I think I got a rock embedded in my tire. Unfortunately, AAA doesn't really work out here. Luckily, I'm an independent woman and my roomie Drew and I rocked it and changed it ourselves. Kristen tryed to go get the boys to help which I told her was lame. I knew we could totally do it and we did. I thank my mom for her example. I'm thinking specifically of her cool head and take charge attitude the time our garage flooded.

Tonight was our neighborhood block party. Actually, it was a stranded in the Canyon party. Our one road is closed the next few days in order to start the repaving process, so the Dillmans had a big pot-luck picnic to celebrate being stranded. It was so fun! Pretty much the entire property came. There was yummy food and 3 distinct groups: kids, "adults," and oldies. Scenes of every family reunion/church picnic/BBQ I have ever been to flashed into my head. Really, it was just great to have everyone together and hang out and enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather. And we don't have to worry about disturbing the neighbors! I love this community.

After the party, Dan and I watched Sabrina (the Audrey Hepburn version), rounding out a fantastic day. Does it get any better than that? I don't think so.

Much love.

Today is Friday in the Real World

I know what day it is. And I don't wear prairie dresses... Craig.

All of you should know that my brother once hid a bat behind the bed and when he realized my mom was mad about it, he blamed it on me. She yelled at me and when I told her it was Craig, she yelled at me even more for lying. This is what I suffered in my youth.

Of course, when I say all of you should know something I mean Bryce and Craig himself because you're the only people who read this. So, really just Bryce because Craig already knew. So Bryce, feel free to be outraged on my behalf.

Man camp month continues in the Canyon. This weekend we have Northwest Boot Camp. It's not actually a boot camp at all. In fact, they spend most of their time indoors and having silent reflection time. So about as different from actual boot camp as you can get. It's actually some kind of John Eldridge weekend. The men love John. I'm sure they're talking a lot about being wild at heart (probably not so much about being captivating- that's for me and my kind).

What I do appreciate about this weekend is that they came for an extra day meaning they got here yesterday and also meaning I have an extra day in the Sassy. Although that also meant that it was the mother of all HK days yesterday. We had to clean everything. It wasn't that bad but I didn't get my random fun Friday afternoon projects. Jen promised me we could wash Triton (our HK truck) next week to make up for it. We just got a new car wash hose, so that will be fun. Also, I got to use the laminator today! This is the excitement in my life.

On a more disturbing note, I read an article on MSN that said we accidentally sent nuclear detinators to N. Korea when we meant to send them like batteries or something. I feel like that's a mistake we should be more careful not to make. The Pentagon guy quoted basically said "Whoopsie!" Then today I read an article saying that N. Korea has been building a nuclear reactor in Syria... I'm going on a search for a bomb shelter. I'm almost positive the baghwan would have secretly built one for himself somewhere on property. I will be moving in and will come out 20 years from now. Hilarity will ensue, just like Blast from the Past starring Brendan Fraser and Alicia Silverstone. See you in 20 years.

Maybe I'll turn my blog into political musings. I'll become famous like that Huffington Post woman. Hmm...

Let's be honest, I'll probably just keep talking about how we got a new safe in Sassy and how it was the best day ever because of it.

Coming home in 9 days!

PBA, My Dream

It's Friday night

And it feels alright

The party's here on the Westside!

It's the freakin' weekend baby! And I am excited for it. Springtime has sprung in the Canyon and that makes me really not want to be working, although today was a fun one. We had All Clean this morning, but only the MCL and one of the quads was used so it wasn't a bad one. I got to go the MCL with Jen, Kristen and Sara which made it feel like it wasn't even an All Clean at all. But I did do showers and vaccuum which are both kind of taxing in that large of a building. Then we had to do perifs today and get laundry started because the next group comes in on Thursday, giving us one less day to clean. It's getting intense!

Needless to say, I was excited to see the end of the day come. And even more excited because tonight was the Wildhorse Canyon Staff Bowling Bonanza. That's right, Wildhorse Canyon took over Madras Bowl. Really, the way this all came about is us talking to Erin frequently about how we should all go bowling and how they did it once and invited everybody and it was really fun. So Erin finally took charge, called the bowling alley, put up a sign-up sheet in the mailroom and patiently awaited responses. Turns out everyone was on board because a ton of people ended up signing up. I don't even need to say it, but it was a ton of fun. Lots of laughing, friendly competition, showing off my bowling shoes that I stole from Westgate Lanes when I was 16 and snooty bowling league people who get mad when you go the same time as them and yell too loudly. I ended the night with a high score of 131, not my best effort ever, but certainly not my worst. We also discovered that there's a singles bowling league... Hmm.... A trip to Safeway and DQ (where we again saw everyone we work with) finished off the night. Of course, I have picture evidence of the fun.

6 of 12 lanes overtaken by Wildhorse Staff Jen (whose bowling alias is Jan Qualman) and I...

You have to like anyone who has a bowling alias!
Kristen and I

It's a busy few days. Last night there was a big party for a couple of the women's birthdays and tomorrow night is a Mary Kay party that Lacey is basically guilt-forcing me and Kristen into attending. I hate Mary Kay parties but I like parties and Laceys, so I'll go and have fun chatting and making fun of how much Kristen is hating her life during it. Other than that, I will be doing a lot of relaxing and sitting in the sun. A trip to Maize is a must.

Go bowling in the next few days, I insist.

Superbad, Supergood

So, I just watched Superbad and it was profane and offensive and hilarious. I hope I never grow up so much that I don't appreciate stupid humor.

Fun day in HK today. Fridays are always good because a lot of people work the night shift on Fridays so they're gone from HK in the afternoons. Lacey and Mandi are always in the dining hall or the kitchen as well, so there's only a few of us with Jen. We always have the most random jobs on Friday afternoons as well such as cleaning the statues or painting. We were just in the Washboard today, but there was some hilarious conversations about idiotic things we did in high school, aka shooting your friends with eggs from a tennis ball gun (Drew) or strapping a friend to an office chair and dragging him behind a car (me).

I cooked dinner at the boys' and just hung out tonight. It was nice, that house contains a lot less drama than mine. Although it smells a lot worse, so it's kind of a trade-off.

I'm putting off going to sleep because it always feels like Fridays should be a weekend, but I actually have to be at work at 6:30 tomorrow for espresso. Life in the Canyon.

2 weeks and 1 day until I come back to Missouri!

Spring is in the Air

So, I'm sitting outside in my courtyard on a giant picnic table in shorts and a t-shirt listening to my ipod, reading and now blogging... This could, quite possibly, be the perfect afternoon.

I have now become a firm believer in seasonal depression. Because my mood has vastly improved in the past couple of weeks because I can be outside without bundling up and wake up without having to turn on my heater. I love it.

The past few days have been really fun. The Assignment Teams for this summer have been here for training. The Assignment Team is made up of field staff who are sent on assignment every summer to different camps to fill in all the jobs that we don't staff. It was really fun to have them all in. It is also beginning to feel more and more like field staff may be in my future. Just talking to all these different people about what is going on in their areas was inspiring. It also got me super pumped for summer, although I'm trying to remain in the moment.

We had espresso this morning for the A Teams so I went in early and got off early, hence me sitting in my courtyard at 4:00 in the afternoon. I'm loving morning epresso more and more. Even though I hate getting up early, I love getting off work early!

We're in the middle of Man Camp month, we had a men's group last weekend and 2 more this weekend. Middle-aged men are really funny and have themes for their weekends such as "Wild Things" (one of the groups this weekend), "Iron Men," and "Men with Shields." The Men with Shields had an event where they made groups go out in the middle of the field and then let everyone else shoot water balloons at them while they ran around trying to pick up shields to shield themselves. It was one of the funniest things I've seen here. Also, the waterballoons were curtousy of their intern who spent literally all weekend sitting by a hose behind the Iron Kettle filling up like 1,000 water balloons. We all kept looking at him knowingly and sending him encouraging smiles. Interns get the best jobs!

Small group tonight, followed by staff worship...

I hope it is warm wherever you are and that flowers are blooming and birds are chirping. If not, be patient, it's worth the wait. Much love!

I'm Back!

OK, this was pathetic. I understand. Not to make excuses, but I kept getting so overwhelmed at the prospect of attempting to catch you up on all the time that I had missed and it was just to much. So I wouldn't blog and then more time would pass and it was just a vicious cycle. But I'm going to break out of it.

All that has happened in the last couple of months: I went to Seattle and LA, hung out at Oakbridge (another YL camp) for a week where I got to hang out with Cathy Riner (awesome!), it got warm and then cold and now warm again, I missed Missouri but fell more in love with my rugged central Oregon, we had a Death by Chocolate Dance Party (as great as it sounds), I turned 23 complete with a Scavenger Hunt birthday party and amazing birthday video featuring pretty much everyone I love from back home, and found my new favorite spot in the world.

I will feature pictures of all down at the bottom.

What is new in the Canyon? We all officially got our summer jobs. I am, of course, still in the Sassy. Sara, Lacey and Mandi remain in the store, dining hall and kitchen respectively but everyone else applies for new summer jobs and then they hire people for the remaining ones. Kristen is Zip/Swing, Becca is Waterfront, Drew is Guest Services, Nick is Video Tech, Dan is Sound Tech, Darren is staying in Landscape, Mike is staying in Maintenance, Peter is Ridge Runners and Dusty is in the Kitchen. We hired 7 new interns as well: Krista for the Sports Center, Amanda and Deanna for Housekeeping, Phil for ropes, Michael for the Kitchen, Dan for Landscape, and Jake for Bikes. The 3 girls will move in with us, so we're excited for that although it will make for a full house.

Also, I've started getting my summer staff applications in. I will ideally have 6 ladies working with me every session, 18 total over the summer. I have 9 in right now and am patiently waiting for the rest! I'm so excited to get to know these girls, they all seem so cool. We went on our retail retreat this past weekend and are getting really excited for the summer. I started planning devos (I lead them every day with my Sassy girls) and am so pumped for that. It feels good to be planning lessons again (I miss Campaigners!). It was also just a great weekend to talk about how Angela, Sara and I are going to work together and what kind of atmosphere we want to bring our summer staffers into. It's so exciting to think about the work that is going to be done here this summer and how we get to be a part of it. I just keep thinking about all the kids and all the leaders that will be here this summer and the relationships they'll build sitting in the Sassy, eating ice cream and playing pool. I love my job.

Also, my mom came to visit me. You can all go ahead and be jealous about that. It was really fun. Everyone was excited to meet the woman who always sends us such great treats! It really was a blessing to get to share what I'm doing out here with her, it's hard to explain this place if you've never seen it in action.

The Lord is good, the sun is shining and people are smiling, life doesn't get much better. I love you all and continue to miss you. I thought maybe that would stop at some point, but it hasn't. I just realize every day what a blessing the people in my life have been and continue to be. I am well loved, thank you for that. Call me, come visit, send me an email, carrier pigeon, any contact really would be fine. I love you all!

Picture diary of the last few months:

Seattle, including Pike Place Market, something called the Taco Bus and hilarious monkeys at the zoo

All of us at Oakbridge:


I stepped in dog poop at a gas station at like 3:00 in the morning. Lacey helped me clean it off with a window squeegee. She's a good friend.

LA!

Death by Chocolate Dance Party!

Just a few of the stops on my birthday Scavenger Hunt:

And my new favorite spot in the world, Maize Reservoir

I can't figure out how to get this last picture off, so enjoy it twice!