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!