Crazy Busy

Holy junk has it been crazy busy!! I've pretty much been working non-stop for the past 2-3 weeks. It seriously seems like Thanksgiving was only yesterday. We are officially done with all but one of our outreaches, which is this Saturday. Then I have a busy Monday and Tuesday of packing and moving all my stuff out of my current home and going to court with one of my teens. Then it is home on Tuesday night, and straight into all of the Christmas celebrations in Oklahoma!!! I am so excited to be home. I'll update more later on all the happenings of the last few weeks, just wanted to shout out a quick sorry it's been so long since an update! Make sure you are enjoying the small things during this holiday season, they are the most priceless!!

Muchos love!

Falling in Love!!

So I'm sitting in an amazing retro chair in my room, catching up on some missed favorite tv shows, and enjoying leftover stuffing from tonight's Thanksgiving dinner while relishing in the events of the night. Tonight was our Thanksgiving dinner for our kids, teens, and their families. As the evening was nearing we were setting things up, assigning jobs to volunteers, and so much more. Families started arriving, people were talking, finding places to sit, it was a flutter of noise and excitement. As I was walking around making sure everything was going to be okay, I started hugging on kids and talking to families. My teens started to arrive and I got to hug on them and give them a hard time, then they were saving me a seat. As the night progressed and the more I got to play with the kids and hang out with the teens. Even as we were cleaning up and taking people home, one of the teen boys stuck around to help us. He was so willing to do whatever was needed, loaded and unloaded cars, cleaned, took trash out, he was so helpful! After all of his help without even being asked, I decided to treat him to a drink from Sonic, we stopped for gas on the way, and he pumped it for me, then hung out at the building while I finished up some things by myself. As I was driving home I was thinking back over the night, all the families, the kids, the teens, my adopted little brother, and I've decided I'm falling head over heals in love with them all and my life right now!!

And if life wasn't good enough due to the above, my family will be arriving in around 36 hours!! I am so pumped for Saturday night when they arrive, and the week I get to spend with them!!! But for now I'm heading to bed, still have a few more Thanksgiving events and outreaches over the next few days!!!

Muchos love!

I Missed A Step...

So it was pointed out to me that in my last post I said I would put up some pictures and of course, I spaced and forgot too! So without further ado, here are the pictures that I promised you last time.

A few of the teens bowling.

Sitting on a fallen log at part of the falls.

A shot of Adams Falls, I wish this picture could do it justice.

A shot from a gorgeous meadow, I wish you all could see this first hand.

A quaint little bridge that takes you to and from the trails.

Grand Lake

On the deck of the cabin we stayed at, my teens are a little goofy, I love them!!!

The newsletter is finally out and our holiday season is in full swing. Times are busy, but I'll try and update soon! And my wonderful family will be joining me next Saturday!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!

Muchos love!

Quite the Adventure!!

So we took our teens to the mountains like I said in a previous post, and of course in true Dena fashion, I totally forgot to pack what everyone else deems shoes. And I have never been more thankful for someone have the same shoe size as me, without the tennis shoes she let me borrow, I would have missed out on one of the most breath taking experiences of my life. But before I talk about that let me fill you in on the rest of the weekend.

One of our volunteers opened up her lake house in Granby, CO which is at Grand Lake, in/near Rocky Mountain National Park, not sure if it is by it or in it. We took 9 teens, 6 guys, 3 girls. Carol loaded up 4 of the boys in her car and headed out while Deb and I finished packing up the food and loaded up the minivan we use for our food bank. After some very creative packing that I learned from my wonderful father, we were picking up one of the girls and hitting the road, hoping to beat the rush hour traffic. As we were pulling out of her neighborhood I noticed the gauges flipping out and the van was overheating. After talking to my amazing and all knowing Padre, we headed back to ROP and were scrambling to find away to get 7 of us into the mountains, the van was out of commission. After several calls and trying to stay calm, we found a suburban and hit the road about 2 hours behind schedule, which shouldn't surprise me, I never make a trip to the lake on schedule. The drive was long, filled with "Are we there yet?", "Are we lost?", and "How much longer?" After finally arriving we threw together some pizzas (Mom's recipe, they are a HUGE hit!) and hung out. After an exhausting day we tried to get the teens to wind down, if Deb and I only knew what we were in for. At one point when I was getting on to the boys, I saw out of the corner of my eye, 2 were doing chin-ups from the rafters of the basement. After taking 1 step to go upstairs and head back to bed I heard some loud thuds, turned and they were having a massive pillow fight, this was after several times of getting on to them, and it was 3 something in the morning. Crawling back into bed, Deb and I started laughing at how ridiculous everything was, then I heard what sounded like someone trying to tear down the house. I went down into the basement and they were having yet another pillow fight, I separated them and had hit my point of being done. Deb and I were still somewhat laughing at everything going on when I heard them one more time, at this point I was going to hurt someone. When I walked out one of my guys looked at me, instantly pointed to the door, and informed me of the huge raccoon that was scratching the door, I started cracking up and went back to bed. The next day snowed non-stop, so our plans to hike got changed to bowling and games at the cabin, which was perfect. I got to bond more with 2 of the girls I've been mentoring and got to know one of the teen boys, who I've now adopted as my little brother, he's precious, I'm attached. That night, Carol and her husband took us to "Spook Hill" which turned out to be a random and weird graveyard. It was funny to watch them all get freaked out, and I thought I was safe walking at the end of the pack back to the cars, with 2 of the girls when the next thing I know I'm basically on the ground letting out the loudest shrill ever due to one of the boys sneaking behind me and scaring the absolute tar out of me, needless to say everyone is still laughing about it. The next morning was a little clearer and we jumped on the opportunity to take the teens on the hike to Adams Falls, a set of waterfalls not to far up into the mountains.

The walk was absolutely gorgeous, the snow that was randomly on the ground, the combination of green, orange, red, and brown, made the walk incredible. About 4 minutes into the hike you could hear the water rushing, I was so pumped to see the waterfalls, no longer focusing on how cold I was or annoyed by hiking. And that is when I saw it, snow, snow falling all around me, and instead of me being frustrated about my hair, or the idea of getting wet, I embraced it and it was wonderful. Then we got to the Falls, they were some of the most beautiful things I've seen. We decided to hike a little bit more to a meadow, it was phenomenal, the views were so incredible, I couldn't take enough pictures and I can't wait to hike again. So I leave you with the best of the tons of pictures I took during the hike and weekend.

Muchos love!!

Let it Snow...

So it snowed...A LOT! Well my version of a lot, everyone here has told me to get prepared that this is just the start. Prepared is what I thought I was, I had my Ugg Boots, a scarf, gloves, a pair of closed toed shoes...gasp I know, me in something other than flip flops. But alas, I was not even close to prepared for the snow that would come. It started on Tuesday night, I had the closed toed shoes with me, and let's just say they absolutely suck for any type of moisture, by the end of the night, I was walking barefoot because I was better off without them on then I was with them on.

The next morning we had tons of snow, and closed down for the day. I worked from home and didn't leave the house until the evening. I walked out to my car in the snow boots, sweats, a hoodie, and my gloves. As I was cleaning the foot of snow off of my car, I realized the items I had weren't going to cut it, especially if this is going to be the norm over the next few months. My hands were freezing and wet because I was using them to clean off the snow, I had no snow brush, just an ice scrapper. The snow was deeper then my boots, so snow had fallen down in them leaving my feet cold and wet, and let's just say a hoodie and sweats aren't that warm during a snow storm in Denver. Once I got the car cleaned off and was attempting to warm up I started to stress about driving on the roads. Everyone here had told me how hard it was going to be, and let's just say, that's something that they were definitely wrong about. Driving was a cinch, I've established once you've driven on several inches of solid ice, you can pretty much drive on anything.

Thursday we had even more snow, and I decided that I wasn't going out, my car was even more buried then the day before. However, Luke came and rescued me and we went and grabbed dinner and enjoyed an evening of Family Guy (a promise I made to him that I would watch at least one season, it wasn't half bad, I laughed occasionally.) Friday it had started to clear off and it's been great ever since, today it was in the 50's and it felt wonderful. So I took the opportunity to get better prepared for my first "real winter". I now am the proud owner of two beanies, some ear warmers, a better pair of gloves, a better scarf, a snow brush, and all weather wind shield wipers. Now all I need is a good winter coat (I can't believe I'm getting a coat, I hate coats), and a pair of longer snow boots (hint, hint Mom (: found a pair of tall gray Uggs, just saying...)

So I'm excited and definitely better prepared for the next snow storm, right now it's Denver-1, Dena-0, but little do they know, how well prepared I am now! But luckily I just watched the weather and why we do have some cold fronts coming in later this week, they are dry cold fronts which means I'm smiling!!

Look for another update really soon, almost done with my newsletter and then I will post about our adventure in the mountains last weekend with the teens. And hopefully I'll have some pictures to post too!

Muchos love!!

Remember to Breathe...

The past two weeks have been a whirl wind of emotion and craziness. We had a few very intense conversations with out teens during Coffee House nights about fighting, gangs, and so much more. It's crazy to hear what is going on in their lives, the things they have to face on a daily basis. I just want to hug them and never let go!!

We also planned a last minute over night trip to the cabin of one of our volunteers up in the mountains. I am so thankful for all the planning I have done in the past and all the experiences of trips I've had, without those experiences, we would have been so lost and in a world of hurt.

The trip was very exhausting, but so amazing at the same time. I'm still exhausted from it, and when I'm getting over said exhaustion I will definitely post a better update. Also I don't want to give to much away here, because then I'll be lacking info for my newsletter, which I'm trying to get out by next week. So as soon as I have my articles written, I'll update more on here.

Muchos love!!

Reunited at Last!!

JEWELL IS IN TOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been dying to post about her trip to town, but had to hesitate unaware of who might be reading. Luke and I were the only two in town who knew she was coming in until I spilled the beans to Angelina a few weeks ago. I've been bursting trying to keep it a secret from all of the staff, teens, and kids. I love secrets and surprising people, but at the same time I have this problem with ruining surprises because I like to tell people the good stuff that is about to happen, hence the reason I always have to wait until the last minute to get gifts for people, if I get them to early, I give them immediately, but I digress.

So after a day of being so anxious about her arrival, Luke and I picked Jewell up last night around 10 and we went for a late dinner at Friday's. I cried as I was waiting for her to come up the escalator. I was sitting there talking when I noticed a Grandma being reunited with her two grandchildren and daughter (I assume) and it was so touching, all the tears of joy, the behavior of the children, it was incredible. I was already emotional enough, and then add my empathy on top of that, it was almost borderline ridiculous how much I was crying. And then she came up the escalator, and we both about tackled the other, talking over the other one. It's so weird and foreign to me how this person who I have very little in common with who I've known for 4 months, can play such an intricate role in my life and can mean so much to me. It feels so right having her back here, she interviews tomorrow with the Aurora Probation Office, fingers crossed it goes well. And if it goes well then I will have a roommate come mid January!!!!

This is all I have for now, I'm off to pick Jewell and one of our teens up and then off to Coffee House for the night, the teens are going to go crazy when they see her. Then I'm gearing up for a weekend of trips and adventures as we are trying to cram as much as possible into 4 days. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, more to post next week!

Muchos love!

Home Sweet Home

So I'm sitting here typing this from my new home!!! That's right, I have a home, complete with a BED!!!!! I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it feels to be sitting on a couch writing this with music playing in the background. The past 4 months have been spent in the same building, moving from room to room depending on the days activities. I didn't realize how displaced I really felt, not having a place to really call my own, a place to call home. That's all changed now, I moved in with ROP's executive director's sister yesterday. She has a condo about 10 minutes away from work that has a built out basement, complete with living room, bedroom, and bathroom. I of course still haven't gotten settled, I'm avoiding unpacking like the plague, but yet still feel very at home. And I feel like I'm going to get along great with my roommate. She's so sweet and hospitable, and has a huge puppy. I mean huge, like small horse and is only going to get bigger. He's a 5 month old half Rottweiler half Bulldog I think, but I'm probably completely wrong, however he's so sweet, so I'm definitely going to get my dog fix, which I'm hoping will help with missing Tyson so much and not make it worse. Anyway, just wanted to give a quick update, now I'm off to start unpacking, I think I've procrastinated long enough. Hope all is well.

Much love!!

Sick Sucks

So I've been sick for 5 days now, and thankfully I think I am at the end of it. The timing couldn't have been worse for me to get as sick as I have been, this weekend was our big banquet. As prep work started I started to feel under the weather, the next thing I knew I was waking up Wednesday unable to breath or swallow. As the day wore on so did my symptoms and the next thing I knew I was being sent to bed by some of the directors. This is what started 5 days of bed rest, and has been absolutely driving me crazy!! I need to work, I need to be active, I don't know how I haven't gone crazy! This has also given me yet another reason to be thankful for everything I have been blessed with, being sick in a town without family or close friends, sucks! You have no one to rely on but yourself, which while sick teaches you a lot about how resourceful you can be. It's also proven to me that I am definitely an extrovert who thrives off of being around people. So as I prepare for my next week of work and getting over one of the worst sicknesses I've endured, I find myself asking, "Why did I get sick before one of our biggest events?" I know it happened for a reason, and I know I may never know that reason, but I also get really frustrated knowing that I missed out on an amazing event and I didn't get to do tons of work to prepare for it that I was so pumped and excited for. So here I sit, trying to not be frustrated and looking forward to all the craziness about to ensue as the holiday season approaches us!! I can honestly say I have never been more excited and terrified for Thanksgiving and Christmas, even if my plans are completely different from anything I ever imagined for myself. It's funny how things work out in the end, God is good!

One Big Contradiction

Okay so it's been over a month since I have posted, I'm sorry. I don't know what it was for the month of August but every time I thought about blogging, I would come up with a million other things that I needed to do. The perfect description of me = procrastinator, if it were possible to procrastinate procrastinating, I would be first in line to try it, which is a very ironic statement, but I digress. Something I have learned about myself this month, I procrastinate more than anyone I know, even when it comes to doing things I love. I feel like procrastinating is my way of rebelling, my way of being a free spirit and going with the flow, which is also very ironic since I tend to like schedules and having things planned out. I've decided I'm a huge ball of contradiction wrapped in irony. It's also my way of avoidance. (This is probably a much truer analysis.) I feel like I'm the queen of avoidance, while I can be very confrontational, very blunt, very direct, and can help others confront so much going on in their lives, and while I like to act like I do the same with my own life, I don't. I hate dealing with my own emotions, I hate facing what is right in front of me, so I deflect, I move on to a happy subject or I switch over to the mode of taking care of someone else, this is yet another example of the irony and contradiction that I am.

So the month of August was very full of emotional times for me, both ups and downs. Jewell left on Aug 1, and we spent our last week together getting tattoos, staying up way later than we should have, talking about everything under the sun, making random road trips, and so much more. It's crazy how fast our summer together flew by, and it's even crazier how two girls from two totally different worlds and two totally different personalities could become such close friends. Coming into this adventure I was sure that she would drive me crazy, that we would have nothing in common, that I was going to be miserable and I would hate her. Instead we have so much in common, she does drive me crazy, but I love her and would have been lost this summer with out her. The person who I once dreaded as a roommate is someone I can't wait to have back here and living with me again, fingers crossed it will hopefully be in December. The week after Jewell left, the Board at ROP, extended my internship for a year, something I have been praying about before I left Tulsa. I am so excited, yet terrified for the year to come. First off, I'm not a huge winter fan, I love the fall, I love the cold, but I hate snow and ice, I hate having so many layers on you look like a blob, and I hate being wet in clothes. I'm also learning that my version of cold is a lot different the Colorado's, but I digress. While I know this is where God wants me, it's going to be something that stretches me so much, I'll be here through the holidays and won't get to make trips home for Mom's birthday or Thanksgiving, and those that know me, know how difficult that will be, however I am so excited to be working for a mission organization during the holiday season!! These are just a few of the things I was avoiding writing, because once they are written they become more real to me.

I feel like this blog has a Debbie Downer attitude to it, so don't think that is where I am at, I am so happy and ecstatic to be in Denver and know this is exactly where I am supposed to be, I'm just filling you in on where my August was spent. In addition to Jewell leaving, and being extended, I got to spend a weekend back in Tulsa with Luke, a friend from up here, we went to the lake, saw as many friends as possible to squeeze into 36 hours, and I got a new car. As you saw from the other posts, Bulldog had a rough month, and didn't quite make it through, after dealing with the world's worst insurance company, they finally cut a check and Dad and I started car shopping via many phone conversations and emails. Luke and I landed on a Friday afternoon and Dad still hadn't found anything, so he told me, we went to several lots after making a quick stop for a Bueno fix, where I met a very dear friend who asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding next year, a very big highlight of my weekend back home, but I digress. So after going to several lots, including one where I found my "dream car" but Dad walked away saying it wasn't good enough and had too many scratches in the paint, which it so didn't, I was changing my plans from a weekend of hanging out with friends and going to the lake, to a weekend of finding a car. When we got to the house I jumped out of the truck to attack my dog, Tyson as I was playing with him in the driveway I noticed everyone was staring at me, I figured it was because I was being my normal goofy self playing with Ty and started to walk in the house when I saw the car I found online and told Dad about a week before, he told me they had already sold it. It's a blue 08 Chevy Trailblazer, with a sunroof (the most important part). I of course, am the luckiest girl in the world and could not have been blessed with greater parents, they are both wonderful. August also brought a month off from kids programming in the evening, but the start-up of a new kids tutoring program, me writing my first newsletter (which you should be getting within the next week if I have your address, if I don't and you want it, leave a comment or email/facebook me), spending as much time with Kaitlyn before she left, and so much more. All in all, August was a great month, despite all the ups and downs and now I'm looking forward to a wonderful September. And I promise I'll do better at updating.

Muchos love!

Bulldog Round Two...

So it's been an exciting past week. Tuesday we had food bank, Jewell and I worked outside giving away the clothes and other donations we had gotten in, that was pretty interesting. We had yet another group staying with us, a youth group from Elizabeth, CO, they were all pretty young. They were working with the Salvation Army during the day and went to the park with our Clubhouse kids on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Jewell and I decided to take the teens to the park on Tuesday, while we were playing basketball we watched this probably 8-9 year old little boy start to attack his little cousin who was maybe 6-7, it was very heart breaking to watch the amount of violence they already know and understand at such a young age. I got to pick up my car from the shop Wednesday late afternoon!! When we got back to ROP we found out we were running Clubhouse because Angelina needed to leave early, and it was a madhouse. We decided we aren't going to be going to the park anytime in the near future, even if we do have extra hands. Thursday morning I dropped Jewell off at Food Bank of the Rockies and I went and picked up kids, Angelina and I were taking a couple of the kids to a ranch in Boulder where they could go horseback riding and be away from the city for part of the day. On our way up there I was attempting to merge onto the highway when I was plowed into from behind. I was going between 10-20 mph, she was going probably between 40-50 mph. Thankfully no one was hurt yet again, Bulldog on the other hand is looking pretty bad. The back fender was pushed into my tires, so I couldn't drive, a tow truck came and towed both of us, and the police officers were wonderful. It was so nerve wrecking being in yet another wreck with kids in my car, I'm so thankful that Angelina was in the area this time. After getting the wreck taken care of we went to Nancy's ranch. The kids got to feed and play with the chickens, and then they learned some of the basics about horses and maintenance of having/riding them. Nancy had me hop on Danny to ride him down to the arena where the kids could ride, it was so great to be on a horse again, it's been such a long time since I've been on one. Danny and I got acquainted pretty fast, he used to race barrels, I was showing some of the girls how you do barrels when Danny I guess decided he was warmed up enough that he took into a full run doing them, it was so much fun. The kids rode around for about an hour and then we headed back up to the house for lunch. I got to deal with the insurance companies, and thankfully her insurance took full liability for the accident, we got me in a rental and headed back to Aurora. I'm pretty sure I've never been more aware of everything going on around me then I was on the drive back. Coffee house went pretty well that night, Ashley came, and I think it was really good for her to get some time for herself without all of her younger siblings. Friday we took the day off and spent it with Angelina at her and JJ's house. We had Margarita Pizza and it was sooo good. We spent the day just hanging out and talking, went for a walk at the park near her house and got some incredibly delicious ice cream from a local place right down the street from her. Friday night, Jewell, Amber, Kaitlyn, and I went out for a girls night. We walked to the 16th Street Mall, which is an outdoor shopping center in the midst of downtown Denver, it's really cool. We ate at Chili's and spent the night just walking around and talking. Saturday was our annual Bikes and BBQ event, which was so much fun. The Christian Motorcycle Association met us at a local park and cooked for everyone and took the kids and adult on rides around the city. The kids absolutely LOVED it!! It was so cool to watch the kids go from scared to getting on the back of one of the bikes to not wanting to get off the back when they came back. It also didn't hurt that I got to go for a ride too, I miss riding and find it so funny that I used to get so mad at Dad when he would talk about getting a Harley. Saturday night Jewell and I ordered pizza and watched Gran Torino and Diary of a Mad Black Woman with Denita. Both incredible movies, I had seen Diary before, it's one of my all time favorites, and Gran Torino was a new watch for me and has become one of my favorites, I highly recommend everyone watch it. Yesterday was a lazy day, after church I picked up Kaitlyn and we went walking through a shopping center, window shopping has become a new favorite past time. Scum last night was incredible!! They did the service completely different from normal, and it was so good. I continually get fed so much spiritually when I go there, I am so happy that I found them. After Scum Jewell, Kaitlyn, and I drove downtown to grab some late night food at Hard Rock Cafe. The food was great and we walked through the 16th St. Mall again. We had a blast talking, laughing, and taking pictures. Jewell leaves on Saturday so we're doing "lasts" right now, and it was a great "last Sunday night". Today has been a slow day, we have a group helping us during the day from Iowa so there wasn't too much set-up work for ROP's food bank. Jewell made me go running with her, which was pretty interesting, after 8 blocks I was pretty sure I was going to die, so I headed back while she ran 3 miles. And now it's just been random office work for the majority of the day. And now I'm off to make dinner for us, I'm going to attempt a random chicken dish, fingers crossed it tastes good!

Muchos love!

Living on Tulsa Time!!

Sorry it's taken me longer to post than I expected, things have been busy. I last left off with the wonderful story of Bulldog's injury. I'm sitting here trying to think of what all has happened between then and now, and I'm drawing a blank and feeling kind of sad, the wreck happened two weeks ago today and I feel like it happened forever ago. On top of which, I've been really struggling lately to remember things, all sorts of things, this is something that really depresses me because I've always had a really good memory and relied a great deal on it for all sorts of different and random things. The rest of the week after the wreck was spent wandering aimlessly between projects from what I remember, nothing too exciting. Jewell, Kaitlyn, and I made two different trips on the weekend. We spent Saturday at Garden of the Gods, got stuck in traffic due to an amazingly beautiful and breathtaking storm, and then had a few of the girls who went to the teen adventure camp come over to go through pictures and pick out which ones they wanted. Sunday we drove to Castle Rock which is about 30-45 minutes away, it has an outlet mall, the main reason we went. We primarily spent our time window shopping and just hanging out, it was a pretty good time. We got back in town just in time to go to Scum and had a great night at the service, as usual. We spent the evening talking and hanging out, playing a couple rounds of Polish Pool, this crazy random game Jewell taught us, it's sooo much fun and very addicting. Monday and Tuesday were spent working at ROP's food bank, which is always interesting. Wednesday we had a staff meeting, which for the majority of I sat and played, rocked, fed, Angelina's baby boy, Daniel, he is so incredibly precious! I love him, he's almost 3 months old. Wednesday was a slow day filled with random projects after staff meeting, I got to take off early though and headed towards the airport. I was nervous about flying out because Denver is so huge, but it wasn't too bad. The flight went pretty well, I sat next to a girl named Evelyn, she's around my age and moved to Colorado from Montana recently, we talked the entire flight about all kinds of things and ended up trading numbers at the end of the flight, I'm hoping she'll start coming to church with us on Sundays, she was talking about not finding one she liked since she moved. During our flight we flew through a lightning storm!! I love lightning storms, and to be flying through one, to get to watch all of the beauty and craziness that is lightning storms in such close proximity and from a completely new angle, was INCREDIBLE!! Dad picked me up at the airport and took me to Whataburger for dinner, it was 11 at night, so I got myself some breakfast taquitos, something I have been craving for a very long while. Tyson flipped when he saw me, yet again and spent the whole night laying as close to me as possible in the bed. Thursday I went to lunch with Grandma and had a great time eating Mr. Mambo's. I feel like since I left the old relationship I had with my Grandma, the one I let slip through my fingers, has been rekindled. We've always been close, she's one of my best friends, but I've gotten busy over the past few years and not made her as much of a priority as I should have and I've taken advantage of having her around. So our quick lunch turned into a really long one and although it limited my time to do other things, I'm glad it happened, and when I do come back in town if you are the person scheduled to hang out with me after Grandma time, I'm apologizing in advance for the fact that I will be late. After lunch I went and picked up Liz Ray and ran a bunch of random errands while jamming out to some awesome 90's tunes! I love being able to be goofy and ridiculous and completely myself when I'm with her, it's amazing. I picked up Sarah, dropped Liz off, and picked up Mom and we headed out for a girls night. Dinner was at Brownies, one of my favorite childhood restaurants, and then we headed to the PAC for Wicked!!! Can I just say that hands down this is one of my top 5 musicals/shows/productions that I have EVER seen. I loved everything about it!!! Friday I had a much needed appointment with my hairstylist, my hair was basically turning blond, and several parts of it were already there, I am now back to my dark brown with a few random purple chunks, that are more vibrant then the last ones, and they have a hint of pink undertones, I like them a lot! I went up to Airco after my hair appointment and spent way longer than expected there jumping from office to office and catching up with everyone. From there I packed up with Heidi and we headed towards the lake. I found out Friday night that Mr. Chicken and Fish was closed for good, a very sad time in my life happened at this moment. Mr. Chick as my family calls it, has been a restaurant in Wagoner for I don't even know how many years, what I do know is that my family basically went there every weekend we were at the lake when I was growing up, and we went to the lake almost every weekend during the summer. We got to the lake house that night only to discover the air conditioner was broken, and it was the one time my dad didn't drive his truck up there, so he had no tools with him to look at it. He called one of our techs who lives in Wagoner and while he came out to fix it Heidi and I took a trek down to the lake to meet an old friend from high school who was out on his fishing boat. He picked us up at the docks and we went out towards the dam and just chilled on the water, it was so amazing, I was so happy to finally be out on the lake, I had been craving it since May. Saturday Heidi and I got up early and fixed breakfast for Mom and Dad and then we packed up to hit the lake. Roberts and John and Sarah came up for the day, we spent the day on the boat, knee boarding, tubing, and skiing. Heidi made knee boarding and skiing look painlessly easy. Heidi and I were the first tubers, and of course we went together. We started out on laying on our stomachs, a few minutes into the ride my lower body had slid under Heidi and into the tube, to try and keep from completely disappearing into the tube, something that has happened before I grabbed the strap on the other side of Heidi by going over her, there are pictures where it looks like I have her in a headlock, but all you can see is her lower body, it was pretty funny. We saved ourselves from flipping several times, and when we finally did it was killer. I think we collided in the air at least 4 times, I felt like I was shoved in a dryer with someone else. We also broke the rope as we got thrown from the tube, it was pretty killer. I somehow managed to get talked back into the tube, solo this time, after about a 3-5 minute run where I fought with everything in me to stay 100% behind the boat I called it quits, normally I'm the crazy daring girl who is swinging out beside the boat trying to catch as many big waves as possible, screaming, taunting, and loving every minute of it, but I was hurting pretty bad. I spent the rest of the time enjoying the boat rides and watching everyone else tube and ski. Dad also taught me how to drive and then let me drive!!!! It was so much fun, very exciting, and also a little nerve wrecking because so many people were out. I'll stick to riding, it's more enjoyable for me that way. We had a huge feast of food that night, mom made all my favorite cook-out foods, from scratch, I love her home cooked meals. Liz came up for the night, we went swimming in the dark without lights, creepy but fun at the same time, we watched Bride Wars and had girl talk all night, it was much needed! Sunday was spent lounging by the pool, eating Bueno, hanging out with people at the church, spending time with my favorite little sister, and dinner with the rentals and some friends at Hideaway before my flight. The return flight to Denver felt miserable, we had a lot of turbulence, and being sore and sun burnt made for me being in not the greatest mood. It took forever to get out of the airport and back home to ROP. Jewell got home from Yellowstone probably an hour later and we exchanged a few stories as we fell asleep. Today was spent helping set up for tomorrow's food bank and getting the newsletter ready to be mailed out. Jewell and I went window shopping at a local outdoor mall and had some random hangout car time with Kaitlyn and Amber right outside of their house. While we were there, a shooting happened right down the street, that was an interesting experience. On that note, I'm heading to bed, it pretty much catches you up to date. I'll try and be better at posting more often so that the posts aren't so long when I finally get around to it.

Muchos love!!

Poor Bulldog...

So it's been over a week since I last posted, sorry things have been crazy, absolutely CRAZY!! And every time I think that I do have my life somewhat back in order, something new happens and throws it even more out of whack then it already was. But enough about that and on to the a recap of the past week.

So we left for boy scout camp with the elementary kids on Sunday, instead of 10 we only had 8. I got this talk about how I was representing ROP and was the lead person since it was just me and Luke going/staying for the entirety of the camp and I'm on staff, Luke isn't, talk about pressure and nerve wrecking. We got there early, the first ones to arrive, I'm sure this is shocking for some of you since I was in charge, but I've actually been very good about being on time and early since I've been up here. We got our kids settled in the different tents, yes I said tents, and yes I did sleep in one. The other two groups got there and we got acquainted, Luke already knew the head of Open Doors group so that made things very easy, also Kaitlyn was there which made me super happy!! We had dinner and combined our kids, splitting them into color groups for the week based off of age. Kaitlyn and I got paired up and put with the youngest kids, we had 7 1st and 2nd graders, we were both excited and thought we were going to have a fairly easy time, we couldn't have been more wrong. Everyone went to campfire together and it was great, the kids were loving things. We went back to our campsite and had the kids start getting ready for bed. I got Illiana set up and in bed, she was our only girl, 7 years old and sleeping in a tent with me. As the adults were hanging around making sure everyone was good, Gary, the head of Open Door, called me as being the one that all the kids would go to in the middle of the night because they were scared or what not, I laughed it off not even realizing how right he would be. I told Illiana two different bed time stories to keep her from being scared, made sure 2 of my other boys got to bed okay since it was their first camping experience and then me, Luke, Jewell, and Kaitlyn walked down to the lake to talk and look at stars. We went back up to camp around 11 and right as I was getting settled into bed, Jewell came to my cabin and informed me that Sebastian was throwing up. Sebastian is the cutest and sweetest little 6 year old boy who has been waiting to go to camp for the past several years and was super excited to be there. We got him cleaned up and had the medic give him some stuff, and then we were told he would have to go home the next morning which made him cry and caused my heart to break. After getting all of that taken care of I went back to bed hoping to get some rest when Illiana woke up again and it took me a while to get her back to sleep. Finally thinking I would get some rest I heard a little boy crying outside of my tent, I got up and Elijah was wondering around camp crying because there was a spider in his tent, I killed it and then proceeded to try and prove to him for 30 minutes that it was dead. When I finally got him to sleep I went and laid back down, pretty sure it was nearing 2 at this point. I finally started to fall asleep when Alex, one of my favorites, came and woke me up because he was scared and also was worried about his little brother who was in a different tent, the kids were under very strict instructions to not enter anyone's tents, and Alex is a great kid who doesn't even think about pushing the rules let alone breaking them. These are the kinds of interruptions I got for the entire night and I'm pretty sure I never got more than 30 minutes of sleep at a time. I then got woken up for the day by two of my boys staring at me and poking my face at 6 in the morning. Our first day seemed like 2-3 days. I have never met more stubborn 6-7 year olds. Everything was a negotiation, especially with Elijah, which we later found out he didn't have his normal daily medication. We took the kids through an obstacle course that was built for much bigger kids. Shot BB guns, which is where Angelina called some boy scout out for shamelessly flirting with me and Kaitlyn, which was incredibly hilarious. I got to shoot the staff gun because they didn't have any more of the ones the kids were shooting, and I totally impressed everyone with my amazing shooting skills, no joke, I actually shot a fly that landed on my target, on purpose, the guys were betting that I couldn't do it. Not going to lie, pretty sure I have never been more proud of my country girl skills and totally attribute it to my father and brother, and being from Oklahoma!! We took the kids to the lake, which was a lot of fun, I was so excited to finally be in water, even if it was wading in the shallow end of a pond/"lake", and I got to try and teach some of the kids about swimming and such which I always enjoy. After lunch we had tent time which is basically a time for kids to chill and maybe even take a nap, Kaitlyn and I laid out and tried to work on our tans while Luke and Gary made fun of and played disc golf. It was really good to be able to just sit and chill and talk about life and such, I'm pretty sure Kaitlyn and I are going to be really good friends, we get along so well, I'm so thankful she came into my life and will be here through September. The afternoon was pretty long, we had crafts which went well, then we went to sling shots which didn't go as well, Kaitlyn and I had to step up and enforce some major discipline, after that the rest of the afternoon went pretty well. After dinner was free time, we took our kids up to do tie dye shirts and then took them boating on the lake right at sun down, worst decision we had made. They were great when they were on the water and completely occupied, when we got off the water, things went down hill really fast. I unfortunately had to pull out some major bad cop, mom voice lecture skills and I totally hated it. When we got back to camp they all went straight to bed and when I was hoping to get some down time Alex came to me very worked up and wanting to sleep with me because he was so scared, it was so heart breaking. After what seemed like forever I finally got our set of kids settled in there tents and went to have some downtime with Kaitlyn which turned into us and Luke, then Gary and Gene joined us. We had some great conversation and overall it really helped to settle me. I got woken up a few times during the night, but not as many as the night before and Tuesday went very well with the kids. They were on great behavior for the most part. We packed up to head back home Tuesday after lunch, we stopped at McDonald's to let the kids play on the playground and to try and break up the drive a bit. When we were leaving I had Luke get in front of me because I didn't want to lead anymore and try and figure out a way home when he already knew it since he lives in Denver and is familiar with the area. We were maybe 2 miles from the McDonald's when we were coming down a hill, Luke was stopping for a red light and I tried to stop, my brakes weren't responding, I luckily had enough time to put my car in neutral and pull up my emergency brake in hopes of minimizing the impact. The crash didn't do any physical damage to Luke's car, but completely smashed up the front of Bulldog, we had to pull over because my car wasn't letting me drive. Luke transported Jewell and the kids back to the McDonald's to play while they waited on someone else to come pick them up. I stayed with my car and spent over an hour on the phone filing a claim, figuring out what body shop to have my car towed to, and trying to work out other details of the wreck. I felt so bad for Luke because every time he came back to me I was experiencing another emotion and was trying as hard as I could to hold it all together. We argued about if he was staying with me while I waited on the wrecker and the rental car people to pick me up, he soon realized that there was no way he was going to win, I was way more stubborn he left and helped get the kids back to the center for our Tuesday evening programming. Enterprise finally picked me up and got me set in a car, luckily rentals are a part of my coverage and I don't have to pay for them. I got back to ROP where Luke and Jewell had made me dinner and were waiting to cheer me up, which basically turned into rag on Dena time. It was good though, it made me feel like I was back at home and hanging out around the guys. Angelina took each of the kids home and talked to the parents about what had happened and the support the parents offered up to me was so touching, I was terrified about what their responses were going to be, but there wasn't a bad one. A few of the parents were more worried about how I was doing and feeling more than anything. I'll post more later about how the rest of the week went, but I need to get some sleep, so I'm leaving you with some pictures of poor Bulldog.

Muchos love!!

I Need My Country!!

So I'm going to try and get completely caught up in this update because I leave tomorrow for yet another camp and won't be back until Tuesday night sometime, and I'm coming back to a crazy busy week!!

I left off at going to dinner with people from Scum, and like I said it was INCREDIBLE!! I love that church and all the people associated with it, it has been such a blessing from God finding Scum. We got back home pretty late Sunday night so we didn't get a chance to meet our roommates for the week. However we got the chance at 6 am Monday morning when they started playing Chopsticks on the piano in the room next to mine and Jewell's, and we have ridiculously thin walls. We picked up some of the kids for VBS and then spent the morning inside talking with Angelina about this and that. The group had lots of teens and were super organized so we really didn't have to do anything, it was nice. Angelina gave us the day off, so we went to Friday's and had lunch and hung out. I took Jewell back home to work on stuff for her class and I went shopping for some clothes to wear to Matti and Luke's banquet. Funny story, earlier in the day I shipped all my nicer clothes, make-up, and jewelry back home because I wasn't wearing or using it and my space is super small, then I got a text saying the dinner was semi-formal, talk about a scrambling panic. I got back to the building with like 30 minutes to get ready, normally totally do able, not with 15 high school girls in the same bathroom though. The banquet was in an old spaghetti house, it reminded me alot of Spaghetti Warehouse, but not as delish! After the banquet and saying goodbye to Matti, Jewell and I made a much needed Target run, I left some of my toiletries at camp since I left in a rush. When we got back home, the bathroom was a mess. Like a complete and total mess, pretty sure there was at least 1/2 inch of water on the floor, all of the floor. The girls had tried to use our towels, and my bathrobe to clean it up, and the topper of it all was they used our shampoos and stuff. Needless to say we were livid but all we could really do was laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. After we slip slided around and got it all cleaned up we talked to their leaders and got it somewhat worked out. The next morning we didn't have to much disturbances, Angelina let us have the early morning off and we got to VBS around 11 and started making lunch for the kids, nothing like feeding tons of kids spaghetti that you threw together at the last minute. Angelina had a meeting with all of the teens after lunch so Jewell and I got to keep our eyes on 30 plus kids playing on the playground. This is when we learned that Jewell is totally not an authoritative person. I had to address an issue with two of the girls and sat them in time out, when tons of the kids went to the two separate areas I asked Jewell to clear one out while I did the other, when I looked at her area like 5 minutes later I'm sure there were double the kids she was originally clearing out. I think I was there for like 10-15 seconds and they were all away from the tree, it was a little funny in retrospect. After camp finally got over and we got all the kids home, Jewell and I headed back to the center for some downtime before Coffeehouse. When we got back I found the shower area of our bathroom a mess again and mine and Jewell's cabinet was open. This is the place that we keep the majority of our toiletries and our towels, it's behind a curtain in the back of the bathroom. When I went to close the cabinet and clean up the area I noticed that my toiletry bag had been dumped out, that's when my day went from long to crappy! I realized my make-up bag and make-up brush bag, my brand new face moisturizer, and the stuff I use when wearing my hair curly were all gone. I'm pretty sure I hit total freak out mode and started asking everybody if they had seen it, I've pretty much turned the entire building and my car upside down twice trying to find them. Needless to say that I have come to terms with the fact that it was all stolen and I won't being seeing it again, which kind of sucks because I keep realizing some of the things that were in the bag, like my favorite pair of earrings I got in Hawaii, or my favorite pair of tweezers, or the fact that my bag was super cute! After dealing with the wonderful trauma of having something so huge stolen from me, we decided to hit the streets to advertise Coffeehouse since no one was attending that night. Wednesday Angelina had the day off so Jewell and I were the leads for the VBS, we made like 80 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and once again I got to play the disciplinarian. It seemed like the never ending day. Luckily Vicki decided we could have the night off so we attempted to run errands, which took forever and we got nothing accomplished except for getting very frustrated. After getting back and grabbing a late dinner I decided I needed to go for a drive. I decided to head towards a Macy's and prayed to make it before closing in hopes of accomplishing one thing on my list, acquiring the basic make-up necessities. I made it and met an incredible woman who helped me after hours and was absolutely wonderful. From there I stopped for some late night comfort food and had a wonderful conversation with my favorite Sarah, love how talking to her can mellow me out. I resolved by the end of the night to have a great Thursday. Jewell and I spent Thursday at Food Bank of the Rockies as per our normal routine. It was a little weird not having Luke and Matti with us, but we managed. The morning was pretty slow and we got the agencies done pretty fast so Amanda put us in one of the freezers to clean it out and get it organized for her. And of course the day she does this is the only day I have ever worn shorts instead of jeans. All morning long we had been joking with Jarvis, one of the warehouse guys on fork lift duty and totally mine and Jewell's favorite, about him stealing out lunches. So Jewell and I go to get our lunches out of the fridge, and mine is gone. I'm pretty sure after I looked everywhere I had to have the most defeated look on my face and Jewell didn't know if she should laugh or be mad for me. I grabbed a bag of Cheetos, a water, and sat down half laughing half crying at the irony of everything. Some of the staffers at Food Bank had bought pizza and they graciously gave me some when they found out my lunch was stolen. When we got off we hit the grocery store, it was here where Jewell discovered the entire lining on the back passenger of my door had started to fall off. I sat in the rain, laughing, as I slowly pushed it all back into place. We got back to the center and were about to start eating dinner when Vicki asked me if I could go pick up one of the girls across town for Coffeehouse. I had to leave immediately not getting any real down time or dinner. Coffeehouse was incredible despite how hungry I was! After we got done with Coffeehouse and got everything cleaned up and people out of the building I crashed pretty much immediately, didn't even change. Friday we got to sleep in and were supposed to have training at noon, which got pushed back to 6. After we got done with our training Jewell and I decided to go grab a movie to watch while I got stuff ready in the kitchen for our 4th celebration. Instead we realized the fireworks hadn't gone off at the Rockies game yet so we headed downtown, got parked and started walking towards the stadium. The fireworks were INCREDIBLE!! It was hands down the most amazing show I have ever seen. We got back and I made a "firecracker cake" and a few other things for our cook-out for the 4th. Which brings me to today. Got to sleep in which made me pretty happy, Luke got here around noon and we loaded up and headed to the City Park of Denver, found a spot close to the water and attempted to grill, our grill however ran out of gas halfway through the burgers. I got elected to go ask the group across from us to cook our food which they graciously did as they proceeded to try and set me up with two different guys in their family, one getting ready to be the first to graduate from college in the family, the other a divorcee with a kid. But in other news, the random seasoning they put on our burgers was the most delicious seasoning I've ever had. We attempted to throw a Frisbee and not get attacked by the geese, I fell in the mud several times and quickly came to the terms that I was just going to be covered in mud. We packed up from the park around 3:30 and headed towards Commerce City, making a pit stop for more hamburger meat and gas for our grill at Target. We staked out a pretty good spot next to the soccer field and were getting settled as it started to pour down rain. Luckily Luke backed my car in to the spot right next to our area so we had a quick get away to the car. We hung out in the car for a while as the storm passed asking got to get to know ya type questions. When the storm finally cleared we played Frisbee for a while on the field trying to stay warm...it was freezing!!! We made so much food and spent some time giving it away to all the different workers and security detail at the festival, which was fun to get to do. The mechanical bull wasn't working, which made me severely sad. The firework show was decent, but stopped randomly half way through due to "technical difficulties" and is supposed to be rescheduled for a couple of weekends from now. Then the fun started, I realized in the moving of our blanket at the beginning of our show, I had lost my car keys. Did I mention we were on top of a hill with no real surrounding lights, Jewell luckily found them after looking for about 5 minutes. Overall the day was pretty successful, had good times with some new good friends, despite our arguing over listening to country. It seems very few people here like country, and the people who can stand to listen to it for even a song or two are few and far between, so needless to say I'm going a little crazy and missing it. However I made Jewell and Luke listen to Brooks & Dunn's "Only in America" on our way home tonight and Luke said it was a good song, to me it's just not the 4th without that song. And now that I'm caught up I'm going to check on my clothes so I can pack for camp and hit the hay, and try and get some rest before going to Adventure Camp with 10 of the younger kids.

Much love.

So Much to Say...

So the past week and a half has been quite interesting, and definitely hasn't been slow. Jewell and I decided to sleep in the clubhouse Saturday night so we didn't have to put the couches back together before we left early Sunday morning. I don't think we'll ever sleep in there again, things echo really flipping loud. We got on the road around 9:30, I was driving the 15 passenger van. It was a pretty good drive, didn't feel to much different from driving Mom's car or Dad's truck, I'm very thankful I'm used to driving big vehicles. We stopped just outside of Colorado Springs for lunch. Brace yourself - I ate at Taco Bell. It's shocking I know, and I'm not too sure if I've fully recovered from the beyond traumatic event, but I'm getting there. We got to camp early, hung out with the kids, and met a few of the counselors. The camp we went to was Snow Ridge at Horn Creek, in Westcliff, it's a camp put on by Campus Crusade. I pretty instantly found an OU student and two Rogers State students, it was nice to hear some Oklahoma accents and lingo. After registration I was paired up in Red Fox with two of our girls, Destanie and Alexis, Destanie will be a sophomore and Alexis will be a freshman. Both of the girls are absolutely amazing...I love them! We had a few get to know ya times, dinner, games, and then the evening worship and sermon time. It was pretty incredible overall and I was really excited for what the week had in store. Red Fox, the cabin my two girls were in had 6 other girls, 2 from Arizona, and 4 from Dallas, the counselors were from up north, Virginia and Wisconsin I think. Monday was a pretty awesome day, the weather was great. We spent the morning hanging out and doing craft type things, it gave me a chance to just sit and spend time with the girls and get to know them more. The kids get sack lunches and eat at the rec center while all of the counselors, staff, and leaders eat lunch together and get an hour break, it was kind of nice. Jewell and I got to spend some time together which we hadn't been able to do really since we're in different cabins taking care of our different girls, crazy how close we've already gotten. After lunch my girls did the high ropes course and went horse back riding. Several of them conquered some fears and really rose to the occasion, I was very proud of them. From there we went to game time, I have a new game that is hilariously fun, it's called noodle hockey. Dinner was Thanksgiving, I ate so much stuffing!! After dinner we played human Foosball, during which I found a Razorback!!! I think we talked all things Arkansas for a good 20-30 minutes, he was very excited to see another Hog fan. While they were starting up the "play" time of the evening service I got a chance to speak with the speaker for the week. He was a really quality guy, who I wish I would have gotten to hear speak the rest of the week. He has spent years on top of years working in urban ministry with his wife, he was pretty legit. Right as worship started I checked my phone to see if I had gotten any texts from Mom, Peggy was in ICU and not doing so great, it was weird that I was checking my phone too because even given the circumstances, it's not something that I would do. I got service in the building that I could never get service in, and Mom was calling. I walked outside and got the news that my Aunt Peggy had passed away. While it was really hard finding out in the situation I found out in, I honestly believe it was the best way I could have found out. I was in the middle of some of God's greatest artwork, surrounded by gorgeous scenery and hearing soft worship in the background. It took me a about 5-10 minutes to go through the crying and sobbing, Vicki came out to check on me as well as another older couple, I was on the phone with Dad, and all I really wanted to do was go and worship. In the past, singing worship has always been one of the hardest things for me to do when someone has passed away, but in this instance it was all I wanted to do. Some of the songs got me choked up, but I'm pretty sure I sang louder and with more passion than I have in a very long time. By the end of worship and the service I was ready to run away and be alone, I really couldn't handle one more person telling me they were so sorry, asking if they could pray for me, or trying to convince me not to give up on God. And here is when something amazing happened, Jewell who was sitting at the front with some of our girls turned, made eye contact with me, and pretty much instantly found a way to get to me. She didn't even have to ask, all she did was give me a huge hug and told me that she was going to tell her cabin counselors and mine that we wouldn't be around for any of the late night stuff. We grabbed our bags and went walking, she laughed with me as I was trying to call my parents back and my phone would only let me make emergency calls, she got the idea to lay down and look at the gorgeous stars, she would let me talk about it, but didn't pry, she was perfect. It was like she was the perfect combination of some of my closest girlfriends, the ones that I would have turned to if I would have been back home, or if it would have been an appropriate time to call Elizabeth, since we haven't lived in the same town for 7 years. After being away from things and people for an hour we found Vicki and figured out my travel arrangements. Vicki drove me to the airport in Colorado Springs the next morning, I got stopped in security because I left a pocket knife/tool thing in my back pack, the only bag I was taking home. My flight was delayed, I made it to Denver right as they were boarding my plane. I passed out on the flight, which was great since I hadn't really gotten any sleep in about a week. When I got to Tulsa, it was flipping HOT!!! My first stop, Bueno, I had yet to eat anything and I was starving! Mom being the amazing woman she is, instantly knew to head towards the best Bueno in town, 61st and Garnett. Tyson freaked out when he saw me, I couldn't even get out of the car because he was attacking my face. The next several days were filled with family dinners and hang outs at Grandmother's house, a few random outings with some close friends, and a lot of much needed quality time with my parents. While I really enjoyed my time in Tulsa and getting to see everyone, I was so ready to get back to Denver! I'm pretty sure Jewell and I texted each other 50% of the time I was gone that we were both awake. I got back in town Sunday afternoon, the airport here is so confusing, once I finally got outside, we realized I was not in the same pick-up place Jewell was in, that was pretty funny trying to figure out. After getting back and getting settled we packed our stuff up and moved it into our tiny room because we had another high school group coming in to put on another VBS. Scum was pretty good, as usual, and it felt so good to be getting back into a routine of sorts. After the service Luke treated Jewell and I to slushies from the 7-11 on the corner, where we attempted to work out details for 4th of July and our trip to Pikes Peak. When we walked back by Scum, Amber and Katelyn had been talking to a girl who gave a short account of what God is doing in her life, she is getting ready to leave for school in Hawaii. She invited us to her going away party at a local Greek restaurant. It took us forever to find it due to the roads being shut down for a parade, and the random drunk man in the wheelchair rolling down the middle of the street into oncoming traffic, aka. my car! When we got there, it was a lot of the Scum staff and people you can tell are regulars. It was pretty cool to get to meet them in that environment, it definitely was a God thing to help all four of us girls get more connected to each other and start to become a part of the church. I have a lot more to tell but it's getting late and I have a very long day tomorrow, so I'll finish up later.

Much love!

Who Wants to Party with Grandma???

So it has been an incredibly busy week and it's only going to get worse from here I think. So Sunday night we had a group of high school students arrive, they stayed with us until Friday morning, they put on a VBS for our clubhouse kids and the other neighborhood kids. They did a great job with the kids. They also made me realize how much I should say thank you to all of the adults who went on trips with me in youth as well as all the people that I stayed with. They fed me and Jewell dinner though, that was awesome, I'm always a fan of free food. I got to spend more time with the kids, causing me to fall even more in love with them. The pictures I have right now aren't so great, but I'm going to try and get better ones pretty soon and then I'll post them. It cracks me up the things that kids say, to see the world through their eyes. They were positive that Luke and I were married and that Matti and Jewell were our kids, it was so funny. Once we finally convinced them they weren't our kids and we weren't married or dating, they got on the fast track of wanting to set us up. Wednesday I didn't go to VBS because Vicki needed my help managing another group that came in to do manual labor and odd jobs for us. I spent the day working in the office getting things prepared for the block party, and the majority of the night doing the same thing. Thursday me, Matti, and Jewell went to the Food Bank of the Rockies, I so love it there!! We had a blast, I love those girls, I'm going to be lost without Matti when she leaves in a week, and then Jewell in a month, it's so crazy, we all feel like we've known each other for years. Thursday night was my first experience of Coffee House, got to meet a couple of the teens, they seem pretty awesome, I'm excited to get to know them more! Friday was a busy day of cleaning the center and finishing up loose ends before the block party. Friday afternoon we went over to Vicki's and cooked for the Summer in the City interns, Matti and Luke's group. I made mom's peanut butter rice krispie treats, they were beyond a hit, no surprise there! Jewell and I watched New in Town after everyone left, really good movie, especially if you've gone to Minnesota and gone to a smaller town and actually met local people. Today was the block party, it was crazy busy from the second I got up until about 5:30. The set-up got done fairly quickly, we were lucky enough to have a lot of volunteers, making things go a lot smoother and faster. Once things got started, Luke and I walked along our street, Boston, and along Colfax handing out flyers trying to get people to come, it was pretty interesting, I'm very thankful Luke was with me, even though he made me go talk to some creepers at one complex. I'm pretty sure we probably walked about 2-3 miles, came back and helped around the party. We had a total of 398 people come through that we know of, possibly more. Over all the party was a huge success I think. After the party, we had a meeting for camp with the girls we're taking. We're taking 7 girls to a camp 4 hours away, Horn Creek I think, we leave first thing in the morning. The girls are pretty cool, I'm excited to get to know them more over the week. I've been typing this while watching Rachel Getting Married with Jewell and Amber, and now we are taking Amber home and coming back to go to bed. It's going to be a long week. Ending with a family picture...



I love our group!! Jewell is the redhead, Matti is the brunette!

Much love!
D

Do You Have a Y?

Sunday started off quite interesting! We host a church out of our building that starts at 10:45, Jewell and I planned on waking up between 9 and 9:30. Jewell randomly woke up around 8:20 to find that our boss had texted her saying we were meeting her at a different church at 9:30. She woke me up and I freaked out since it typically takes me between a hour and a hour and a half to get ready with a shower, which I desperately needed. (Side note: I have actually gotten my get ready time down to about 30 minutes, including shower, straight hair, and some make-up. Gasp!! I know, right?) I somehow managed to pull off a miracle and we made it across town and were only 3 minutes late, which I blame on not really knowing my way around town yet. The church service was different, we sat in a room around round tables with the lights dimmed and candles on each table, and the sermon was delivered from a pastor on TV. After service we headed back to the facility as our service was getting started, we decided to grab our bags and head to Panera for lunch and some time to get work and studying done off site. As we walked out a woman who was talking to Lucy (a woman on staff with us) was fixated on Jewell. I'm pretty sure she was a prostitute who was either drunk, high, or both. Needless to say it was a very interesting conversation. We found a Panera not too incredibly far and settled in for what we thought would be an afternoon full of getting things done, 30 minutes into our time there we both got kicked off the internet, they have a 30 minute limit during "peak hours". We came back to the facility as people were cleaning up from church, Jewell decided to go for a run (I still haven't gone with her, she's still claiming that I'll go eventually), she came back soaked because it started to rain and hail on her, it was pretty entertaining for me. While she was gone another group came in to use the facility. The group that uses the facility Sunday afternoons is comprised of Burmese refugees who speak pretty much no English. They were having a celebration of some kind and it was pretty interesting to hear through the walls as I was trying to read and get some work done. We also had a group of teens come and they are currently staying on site with us. They are running a vacation bible school during the days for our clubhouse kids and other neighborhood kids. The highlight of my Sunday, came Sunday night. We decided we were going to check out Scum of the Earth church. The second Jewell and I walked through the door I felt at home. I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved it. The worship was INCREDIBLE, after worship they do a community meal, for free, which is amazing right now! After everyone is fed they go into announcements and a message from one of the different staffers, then more worship, and a final prayer. All of the members of staff that I met or watched interact were so down to earth, it was so laid back too. The environment and the other people attending were so at ease and comfortable around each other, it's exactly what church should be! Needless to say, Jewell and I will be attending every Sunday night, and I'm trying to find a night that I can get involved in one of their small groups. After we got home Jewell and I watched Bride Wars, I love that movie more each time I see it. That pretty much sums up my Sunday, it was exactly what I needed!

On a completely different, but somewhat related note, I love the other interns. We all get along really well and were talking today about how it seems crazy we've only known each other for a week. We laugh and joke like we've been friends forever. We already have countless inside jokes, honestly I couldn't have asked for a better group to be with me this summer. Anyway, I'm off to bed, and I'm hoping to give an update of the week tomorrow, it was my plan for tonight but I got overcome with random projects out of the blue that needed attention for Saturday's block party!

Much love!!

That Can't Be Snow?!?!

So I'm hoping this is just a quick update, because I really need to get some sleep, we have a busy day tomorrow, however I have a lot to post about Saturday and Sunday. So like I said in the last post, we took a day trip to Mount Evans, it's the highest paved road in North America. In theory it sounded like a great idea to me to take this drive, and to take my car since I have an SUV that's not too old. Jewell and I picked up her friend Amber who is interning at Open Doors a few blocks away and headed out on our adventure, we stopped to get gas and happened upon a buffalo overlook and a sign that led to Buffalo Bill's grave site, we decided to just check out the buffalo and get back on the road. The buffalo were amazing, and the babies were so funny to watch.



We started our trek up the mountain and were amazed at how beautiful it was. We were all talking and getting to know each other and relishing in how it was such a beautiful day and we were so happy to have the day off.



As we kept driving the road got more narrow and rougher. We also got higher up, which for some reason didn't occur to me that that would happen until it was happening. For those that know me well I am terrified of heights, add in factors such as rocky cliffs and no guard rails and it's an instant flash back to when I almost flew off the side of a volcano in Hawaii while riding a bike, and no I am not being melodramatic. It was a ride full of nervous laughter as we got higher and higher up and I proceeded to go slower and slower, at one point and time a person riding a bike was going faster than me uphill, no joke. We made it to the top after what seemed like an eternity, I'm pretty sure my knuckles were white for a good 10 minutes. Now again, me being the smart person I am, I had on sandals and shorts, thankfully I had worn long sleeves and had my fleece in the car. The view was amazing and we even hiked a little way to the peak of the mountain, but alltitude mixed with shorts and sandals didn't allow me to make it to the top. Here are a few of the gorgeous pictures I got that don't even do it justice.







After enjoying enough of the view, and being thoroughly frozen we decided to head back down, the drive down was a lot easier and I really enjoyed it for a few reasons, I was able to actually see how amazing the view was without getting sick or feeling like I was going to fall off the edge and we got to drive through clouds. I have always wondered what clouds feel like and now I know!!!!





As we were at the base of the mountain getting ready to head back to Denver, we spotted a small waterfall flowing through a slightly wooded area, we pulled over and decided to go exploring. Jewell and I climbed a few of the rocks and chilled in the middle of the water, it was amazing, again I wish pictures good do it justice.





After we were done playing, we headed home and had a relaxing evening. Went and rented some movies from Blockbuster and got some pizza. We watched Elizabethtown, pretty interesting movie. All in all it was a pretty great day.

I'll post about Sunday through Tuesday tomorrow hopefully, I really need to get some rest. I'm also going to work on seeing which kids pictures I can post so you can see the beautiful kids I'm loving working with.

Much love!!

Are You Cold?

So Thursday was Food Bank of the Rockies, I went late because the ministry's fan broke down and Vicki needed me to follow her to the mechanic, more about that later. So when I got to the food bank I found Jewell, Matti, and Luke, they were filling web orders. Matti and Luke decided to go start on another order and me and Jewell would finish the current one. So we're loading food on this palate that's attached to a manual fork lift type thing, I'm the one driving it, it was pretty interesting. After we fill the order we have to get the industrial saran wrap and wrap it up, good thing I have practice using industrial saran wrap. I tried really hard not to laugh as it was pointed out that I was good at saran wrapping. Next order we got to fill was a huge web order that was several palates, it was insane. After lunch we got to go in the back and empty palates of donated meat and frozen items into carts. After we filled the wall with boxes and I spilled cookie dough all over the floor, Matti and I started to break all the boxes down and take them to the trash compacter, if I ever have to break down another box it'll be way too soon. The other wonderful thing about the food bank, I think I almost got ran over by all the different fork lifts about 100 times. Vicki didn't have anything pressing for us when we got back so I went for a drive and found a Chipotle!!! I don't think I have ever been so happy to see a familiar mexican restaurant. I had some reservations about eating alone, but after I took the first few bites, it wasn't so bad. Thursday night we walked Colfax spreading the word to the community about the block party we are throwing next Saturday, that was pretty interesting and fun. So Friday morning I got to drive to Colorado Springs to pick up our kids that went to camp this week. Our van, which I mentioned earlier started smoking and overheating Wednesday night, the repairs are ridiculously expensive and we have no idea how we're going to get it fixed. The drive was gorgeous and gave me a chance to make some phone calls and let people know how I was doing. We got to the campsite at the top of some mountains, and me being the brilliant person I am, I had on shorts and a tshirt, it was just a little cold. On the drive back I had Sergio, Arturo, and Victor in my car, they were hilarious, I loved getting to hear about their experiences from camp. When we got back to Denver and were dropping the kids off Victor proceeded to tell me that I sounded like the Grandma from Hannah Montana. The really funny part of this is, Jewell, Matti, and Luke refer to me as Grandma since I'm so much older than everyone and I made a stupid comment referencing it trying to pick on Luke in one of the first days. After taking all the kids home I came back to the facility and helped the other interns finish cleaning up because we are hosting a church youth group next week that is coming on missions. Friday night Jewell and I grabbed some dinner at Outback and went for a drive to Littleton. Aside from the awkward man from Boston that kept talking to Jewell while we were trying to eat, it was a great dinner. We were going to go to a coffee house that's down the street from us and watch a movie, but decided not to because it didn't look like anyone was there. So we came home and watched Remember the Titans, I FINALLY saw it!!! Today we took a drive to Mount Evans in Idaho Springs, more to come on that later, for now I'm off to bed, we host church in the morning, are going to Scum of the Earth church tomorrow night and have 2 groups coming in to start missions work for a week, it's going to be an interesting Sunday!

Much love!!

Hot Dog, Hot Dog...

Yesterday was my first day of work and it was interesting. I went for a walk to the park down the street w/ my boss, Vicki. We sat by the creek and went over scriptures, prayed, and then started in on my training and my basic tasks, I'm so excited for everything that I'll be doing. After being gone for the morning we came back just in time for lunch. Lunch is provided for us on the days that we put on the food bank, we had a hamburger casserole, it was pretty good. Lucy, one of the women on staff, did an incredible devo, I really enjoyed it. Then I got to experience my first food bank, we had several food items placed on tables in a half circle, after people registered they stood in line and waited on one of us to get them and fill their bag w/ the groceries they needed/wanted. It was crazy busy and the next thing I knew we were cleaning up and it was late afternoon. After the clean-up Jewell (my roommate and other ROP intern), Mattie & Luke (our summer in the city interns), me and Vicki (our boss) sat around and just talked about random things, it was very entertaining. Mattie & Luke left and Jewell and I did our own things, I did a few random projects for Vicki that took 5 minutes here and there, but nothing major. I found out that I will be going to an "adventure camp" with the older girls in a week, and I'll be driving the van, that'll be interesting. Jewell and I chilled for the rest of the night and did our own things around the center. Today we had an intern meeting which was hysterical, I absolutely love the dynamic of our group. We had a "webinar" on social networking and then tried out a mexican restaurant on the block for lunch, it was okay, I'm definitely missing my Oklahoma mexican food. After lunch we didn't do too much expect for hang out and talk, Mattie and Luke took off and me and Jewell had some down time before a Clubhouse cook-out. Tonight was my first night getting to meet some of the kids from Clubhouse, most of them are away at camp right now. The kids are so cute!!! We picked up Sebastian, he's the cutest little 6 year old I've seen, right now he is missing his two front teeth which makes him cuter, he has the funniest stories and he is such a flirt. We also picked up two girls, Mary Ellen and Angelica (this is pronounced crazy), they were both crazy after they got passed their shy stage. When we got to the park there were several other kids that were so ready to play on the playground. Jewell and I took them over and played all sorts of games with them, they were so much fun and full of energy. Two of the boys in particular were hilarious, Alex and Irving, I had so much fun hanging out with them, they kept me laughing all night. Irving was trying to figure out how to remember my name and he decided he'd use the word Diva to help him, then I became Miss D which all the kids quickly picked up on. We played soccer and football, and attempted to skip rocks, then had what everyone up here was calling bar-b-que, aka hamburgers and hot dogs, that's going to take me a while to get used to. We packed up around 8:30, took the kids home, and now I'm back at the facility watching episodes of Friends and How I Met Your Mother online, I am so thankful we have wireless here! Tomorrow is going to be a busy day w/ Food Bank of the Rockies and Coffeehouse!! More to come later.

Much love!

Ready to Run

Krissi left this morning. I drove around for a little bit after I dropped her off, grabbed some lunch, and headed back to the hotel. I layed around for a while watching tv, slowly getting myself together for the day, and repacking my bags to go to the ministry center. I didn't realize how hard it was going to be to actually come here, I mean we toured the place on Saturday and I was super excited to hit the ground running and get started, but the neighborhood is super sketchy. It didn't bother me too bad when we toured, but then again I had Krissi with me and we were meeting Vicki, today Vicki wasn't going to be here because she has Mondays off. I finally got up my nerves and called Jewel, the other intern, and headed over to Colfax. After missing my turn I figured I knew well enough how to get there and took a little bit of a tour of the area. I'd drive by certain parts and would feel better about the circumstances, putting my nerves at ease, and then I would drive into another area that would completely wreck me and my nerves more than they already would. I finally pulled up and got out after one last pep talk to myself. Knocked on the door and Pat, the director of the food bank ROP, (the organization I'm working for, Restoration Outreach Programs)hosts every week. I talked to her for a few and she helped me find Jewel. I re-parked my car and unloaded my bags. Jewel showed me where we lock up our stuff, so basically I overpacked and have a very small storage area, but I'm making it work. Alot of you would be in major shock of how compact I have to be, I'll have to take pictures so you believe me. While I was unpacking Jewel went for a run (apparently I'm going to go w/ her next time, we'll see how that goes), it gave me a chance to be alone with my thoughts on everything, I'm feeling much better than before. When she got back we headed to the grocery store and picked up some basic things; ramen, turkey, bananas, and taquitos, I'm living quite the healthy lifestyle. I was very excited to hear that Jewel not only likes Mexican food, she also doesn't know how to cook, but wants to learn. So I get to teach her how to cook, and I get to cook most of our meals!!! We had fajitas for dinner tonight along with some great conversations, I think we connect pretty well, we're not similar, but we're not completely different either, if that makes sense. Anyway, tomorrow is my first day of work and I'm excited to see what God has in store for me. I know we are helping run the food bank tomorrow, they provide lunch for us (Hamburger Helper tomorrow, I'm in Heaven!!!) and we meet and do a devotion before hand. And then we have Clubhouse tomorrow night, which is the time that the neighborhood kids come and hang out. Not really sure what else I'll be doing tomorrow, hopefully something clerical, I've been told they have lots of needs in that area, so I'm excited to help. Vicki (my boss) told me to be ready to hit the ground running and to learn quick because she needs me at a place of comfortable leadership pronto! So fingers crossed let's hope that I pick everything up fast and can perform far beyond what's expected. That's all for now!


Much love!
D

P.S. I originally didn't think that I would have internet access, but the center does have wireless, which means I should be able to update regularly, huge blessing. Also, I've been told that I could have a host home within the next 2-3 weeks, which is super exciting and a huge answer to prayer if that's the case, I'll keep you all updated.