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!!