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!