Wow. I don’t even remotely know where to begin in order to catch people up on my life right now. We are now in the middle of our second week of Session 1. As anyone who’s spent time at a camp knows, the days feel like months. I feel like we’ve been at for so long already, but we’ve just started. And also, this session’s almost over. It’s slow, but flies by. That’s a weird thing.
It has been an utter surprise. I was prepared for the work, I was excited to have summer staff, I knew that I would be emotionally drained. And as prepared as I was, I was surprised the first week. The first week was great. We had such a diverse group in. We had inner-city Portland and rich suburbs, we had large groups of Hispanic kids, kids from rural Oregon, a group of Capernaum campers (YL’s ministry with disabled kids), Native American kids from the Warm Springs Reservation, and a group of deaf campers. What a crazy group, and something you would only find at camp!
It was so cool to watch these kids throughout the week. It’s such a privilege to work in the Sassy because all the kids come in and you get to learn their names and just see little pieces of their weeks. On the last night they were there, I was out in the Sassy cutting off the line. So basically, I was standing at the back of the line telling kids that we were closed and they couldn’t get in line. I was standing behind the craziest group of girls. It was 5 super preppy white girls and 3 tough looking black girls. I’d met all 8 of them throughout the week and wouldn’t have ever really put them together. But they had ended up in a cabin together here; they all go to the same school. And they had come to the Sassy that night to cash in a prize they had won at the volleyball tourney for a billy sundae. Standing in line behind them, they were talking about how they had all thought it was going to suck to have to share a cabin with each other and how they thought they would never get along. But then they all started talking about how wrong they had been and about how much they had loved getting to know each other. They were all crying and talking about how awesome it was going to be to go back home and just say hi to each other in the halls and at basketball games. I just kept thinking, that seems so simple but it’s something that could literally change their school, create love where there is division.
And there were so many more stories like that. Seeing punk street kids from Central Oregon learning sign language to communicate with the deaf campers. Watching the whole dining hall bust out in silent, hand-waving applause for one of the deaf campers when they won an award. Watching kids that came off the bus looking like they hated the world doing the cha-cha slide and going crazy at the dance. It is incredible what can be done in one week, when kids are surrounded by people that care for them and respect them and show them love. I love my job.
Aside from that awesomeness, my week was also awesome. My summer staff girls (Hannah, Lauren, Lindsey, Jenni, Natalie and Megan) are ridiculously great. They’re all super hard workers and the Sassy is running like clock work. It is hard to get that many people trained and to keep the whole thing flowing smoothly. We’ve had our bumps, but on the whole, I feel like all the prep work paid off and things are running smoothly. One of my summer staff girls is also deaf and that has been a really cool thing. I’ve really enjoyed learning to communicate with her. She’s really wonderful. There’s a couple of the girls that I really click with and feel like I’ve been friends with forever and all the girls are really sweet and a lot of fun. We’re working crazy hours, but they’ve had good attitudes and, most importantly, have been great with campers.
Needless to say, I’ve been an emotional wreck. It feels so good to be a part of this work, I think the Lord has designed me for it. So I’m loving it even when it’s super hard. I’ve also been doing my best to get to everything this week, so I’m trying to stay up right now in order to go to sports center night which is our new Gladiator-style carnival replacement. Same idea as the Carnival, but kicked up a notch. It’s supposedly a lot of fun.
Still don’t know what’s next after this year. Please be praying for a lot of guidance.
That’s life.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Even CRAZIER!
So, I thought my life had gotten crazy the last time I posted... I had no idea.
Turns out, the end of May is the most difficult time of the year. It is basically summer without any of the help. And we're trying to get everything done for summer, which starts in 2 weeks!!! That's crazy! To give you a picture, there are 11 different groups here in 7 days this week. So we're working non-stop. I've been putting in a lot of 12 hour days. And it is awesome! I'm loving every second of it, being completely exhausted and still finding it in me to do more. I really love working here.
Speaking of, something to be praying about. I have decided to send in an application for a job. I don't want to talk too much about it, because I'm not at all sure it's going to happen but I figure I'll send in an application and see what happens. I've had a lot of support from people here, making me feel like it could possibly be a good fit. But I don't want to get my hopes up and I'm just in the original application process, so we'll see.
Several of our new interns have arrived. It's a little weird, but they're all really fun. There is definitely a difference in attitude when you're a summer intern. This is their summer break, just something fun and exciting. This is our job with health benefits and a 401(k). So it's a little different experiences. But they're great people and it's been fun to get to know them.
We had our intern surprise the other day which was.... a trip to the shooting range! We have this awesome shooting range here on property that they use for groups and staff can use it. So, we had some competitions shooting clays. It took me forever, but I finally shot 2! And I got to throw the clays for a while which was pretty awesome. I'm a little addicted and really want to go again.
That's pretty much life right now. All I'm doing is working, so it's not really that interesting. But summer starts soon, that's when all the good stories will come!
Oh, and Prince Caspian review:
I did not love it. I had reread the book right before seeing the movie which may not have been the best move. It was a well-made movie, but it strayed a lot from the heart of the book. A lot of the characters were different and it was super Hollywood cheesy. But still worth seeing. I give it half a thumbs up.
Much love!
Turns out, the end of May is the most difficult time of the year. It is basically summer without any of the help. And we're trying to get everything done for summer, which starts in 2 weeks!!! That's crazy! To give you a picture, there are 11 different groups here in 7 days this week. So we're working non-stop. I've been putting in a lot of 12 hour days. And it is awesome! I'm loving every second of it, being completely exhausted and still finding it in me to do more. I really love working here.
Speaking of, something to be praying about. I have decided to send in an application for a job. I don't want to talk too much about it, because I'm not at all sure it's going to happen but I figure I'll send in an application and see what happens. I've had a lot of support from people here, making me feel like it could possibly be a good fit. But I don't want to get my hopes up and I'm just in the original application process, so we'll see.
Several of our new interns have arrived. It's a little weird, but they're all really fun. There is definitely a difference in attitude when you're a summer intern. This is their summer break, just something fun and exciting. This is our job with health benefits and a 401(k). So it's a little different experiences. But they're great people and it's been fun to get to know them.
We had our intern surprise the other day which was.... a trip to the shooting range! We have this awesome shooting range here on property that they use for groups and staff can use it. So, we had some competitions shooting clays. It took me forever, but I finally shot 2! And I got to throw the clays for a while which was pretty awesome. I'm a little addicted and really want to go again.
That's pretty much life right now. All I'm doing is working, so it's not really that interesting. But summer starts soon, that's when all the good stories will come!
Oh, and Prince Caspian review:
I did not love it. I had reread the book right before seeing the movie which may not have been the best move. It was a well-made movie, but it strayed a lot from the heart of the book. A lot of the characters were different and it was super Hollywood cheesy. But still worth seeing. I give it half a thumbs up.
Much love!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Canyon Life is Getting CRAZY
So it has been the most hectic past few days I have had in a long time, followed by the most relaxing day off possible today. This is when I start to really love the Canyon.
Starting Friday, the middle school group that was in checked out at 7:15 Friday morning, so we went in early and had an all-camp All Clean because our Wildhorse Family Camp was coming in Friday afternoon. It was super crazy because we literally had a couple of hours between camps. The families started arriving at like 1:00 in the afternoon but couldn't check into their rooms until 4:00 so it created a crazy schedule where we cleaned the quads last. Weird. It was a long and fast-paced day, but we got it all done.
Family camp is huge and super fun. Every room in both quads was used. It's completely like Young Life camp in a weekend. They have program, field games, the carnival, the dance, all the rides were open, everything. So in that respect it's awesome. Clubs were really fun, program was really funny, and it was really fun to see all the families around. All of our property staff families get to participate, so it was fun for them as well. The kids go crazy because it's their one chance to be campers. The other thing that was really fun was that I'm starting to recognize some of the faces that have been out here several times and getting to know the people on field staff here in the Northwest. They're really fun and it's just encouraging to feel like I know people.
With a camp of over 500 people in, I knew the Sassy would be crazy. I had been warned and prepared and had plenty of practice over the last 7 months. Still, I had no idea. The Sassy Saturday afternoon was CRAZY. I didn't stop moving for 4 hours. I had volunteers in that I had to train before we opened and they were great. Other staff jumped in to help. We had both windows open and lines at both all afternoon. At one point we had 8 people working in the Sassy and still huge lines of orders. It was overwhelming. It just hit that this is what every opening is going to be like in the summer. Crazy, crazy, crazy. And it means that my job changes a lot. I have to be the one running around, making sure everyone has everything they need and are functioning properly. I'm not necessarily great at that because I'm more task-oriented than big picture-oriented, but I can definitely handle. It was just that same feeling where you start a new job and the first 2 weeks you come home every day wanting to cry because you think there's no way you can do it. Then you figure out you can and it's easy. I'm going to patiently await the easy.
We were open again that night and I had all staff volunteers working with me because everyone else had to work the carnival. It was really fun, although I was exhausted. I didn't get to sleep until like 1:00 and my whole body was sore. The great thing was, I got to wake up the next morning and head to HK for another all-camp All Clean because again, we have a mid-week group that will be coming in early Wednesday and we're off Monday and Tuesday. So, we had to bust out both quads and all the perifs in record time. What usually takes us 6 hours in the quads needed to take us 4. It didn't. We ended up working until 6:15, exhausted and on little sleep. Not to complain though, it was really kind of great. I love the end of a day/weekend like that. I feel tired but weirdly energized because I did so much and pushed myself to do it well. I'm oddly excited for summer even though it is going to be so overwhelmingly hard.
After we got off work at 6:15, we ran home, changed, and went to float in the pool until the sun went down. I forgot to mention that it broke 100 degrees in the canyon this weekend as well. So not only were we working hard but we were drenched in sweat. And, what's even better than a shower after a day like that? Jumping in the pool! Cleans you right up.
This morning I woke up after some solid sleep and headed down to the pool. It was hopping because a lot of people have Monday off. We spent a few hours laying in the sun and then headed home and hung out. This evening we had a bonfire with Bill and Dena and played an intense game of wiffle ball that ended in a tie. After that, all the girls came over and watched Father of the Bride because Lacey had never seen it. And after that, Darren and I watched some West Wing. That is what I call a perfect day in the Canyon. It was beautiful, although I'm slightly sunburned. Totally worth it.
Tomorrow we're going to see Prince Caspian and getting dinner at Red Robin. I'm pumped! I will post a thorough review after.
Much love!
Starting Friday, the middle school group that was in checked out at 7:15 Friday morning, so we went in early and had an all-camp All Clean because our Wildhorse Family Camp was coming in Friday afternoon. It was super crazy because we literally had a couple of hours between camps. The families started arriving at like 1:00 in the afternoon but couldn't check into their rooms until 4:00 so it created a crazy schedule where we cleaned the quads last. Weird. It was a long and fast-paced day, but we got it all done.
Family camp is huge and super fun. Every room in both quads was used. It's completely like Young Life camp in a weekend. They have program, field games, the carnival, the dance, all the rides were open, everything. So in that respect it's awesome. Clubs were really fun, program was really funny, and it was really fun to see all the families around. All of our property staff families get to participate, so it was fun for them as well. The kids go crazy because it's their one chance to be campers. The other thing that was really fun was that I'm starting to recognize some of the faces that have been out here several times and getting to know the people on field staff here in the Northwest. They're really fun and it's just encouraging to feel like I know people.
With a camp of over 500 people in, I knew the Sassy would be crazy. I had been warned and prepared and had plenty of practice over the last 7 months. Still, I had no idea. The Sassy Saturday afternoon was CRAZY. I didn't stop moving for 4 hours. I had volunteers in that I had to train before we opened and they were great. Other staff jumped in to help. We had both windows open and lines at both all afternoon. At one point we had 8 people working in the Sassy and still huge lines of orders. It was overwhelming. It just hit that this is what every opening is going to be like in the summer. Crazy, crazy, crazy. And it means that my job changes a lot. I have to be the one running around, making sure everyone has everything they need and are functioning properly. I'm not necessarily great at that because I'm more task-oriented than big picture-oriented, but I can definitely handle. It was just that same feeling where you start a new job and the first 2 weeks you come home every day wanting to cry because you think there's no way you can do it. Then you figure out you can and it's easy. I'm going to patiently await the easy.
We were open again that night and I had all staff volunteers working with me because everyone else had to work the carnival. It was really fun, although I was exhausted. I didn't get to sleep until like 1:00 and my whole body was sore. The great thing was, I got to wake up the next morning and head to HK for another all-camp All Clean because again, we have a mid-week group that will be coming in early Wednesday and we're off Monday and Tuesday. So, we had to bust out both quads and all the perifs in record time. What usually takes us 6 hours in the quads needed to take us 4. It didn't. We ended up working until 6:15, exhausted and on little sleep. Not to complain though, it was really kind of great. I love the end of a day/weekend like that. I feel tired but weirdly energized because I did so much and pushed myself to do it well. I'm oddly excited for summer even though it is going to be so overwhelmingly hard.
After we got off work at 6:15, we ran home, changed, and went to float in the pool until the sun went down. I forgot to mention that it broke 100 degrees in the canyon this weekend as well. So not only were we working hard but we were drenched in sweat. And, what's even better than a shower after a day like that? Jumping in the pool! Cleans you right up.
This morning I woke up after some solid sleep and headed down to the pool. It was hopping because a lot of people have Monday off. We spent a few hours laying in the sun and then headed home and hung out. This evening we had a bonfire with Bill and Dena and played an intense game of wiffle ball that ended in a tie. After that, all the girls came over and watched Father of the Bride because Lacey had never seen it. And after that, Darren and I watched some West Wing. That is what I call a perfect day in the Canyon. It was beautiful, although I'm slightly sunburned. Totally worth it.
Tomorrow we're going to see Prince Caspian and getting dinner at Red Robin. I'm pumped! I will post a thorough review after.
Much love!
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