A Week Without Campers

This week there wasn't camp. I had monday and tuesday off... but the rest of the week we did a bunch of stuff around the camp. Ill just break it down by the days!
Monday: We went to Ouray... read the blog before this one for the dl on it!
Tuesday: We went out to SilverJack Reservoir. It was sooo pretty... we drove out there with Todd and Nicolette (the youth guy and his wife) and Todd showed us all the trail heads for the hikes we want to go on!! We hiked down to the bottom of the reservoir... and on the way down we kind of decided to hike a fourteener this summer! So we're going to train, basically go on some harder hikes... so get ready for the fourteener!! it should be AMAZING! (a fourteener is a mountain over 14,000 ft.)
Wednesday: Must have not been that exciting... i don't remember!
Thursday: IT SNOWED!!! yup... it actually snowed! it was amazing. It was like 40 degrees outside and i was manning the trash fire... it didn't last very long! : )
Friday: that's today. Let's see... we all helped Todd and Nicolette move back into their house. Then i cleaned out the craft and sports cabin. The sports cabin was filled with spiders and their nasty webs... SICK... but now it's clean and organized!! I also learned that in the winter the lake freezes over and they play hockey on it... that's pretty sweet!
Welp... right now im blogging, doing some laundry, and watching this movie called Hoodwinked... with my sistas! Not that you care what im doing right now... but just in case!
Tomorrow is our day off... i need some rest!
Anyway, more to come later! : ) Maybe something more thought provoking! haha

Ouray

Today was our day off and we went into Ouray... it's a little town about an hour and a half away. The drive into the valley was wonderful... we listened to some bluegrass tunes! Particularly fitting that we were driving through the backwoods! : ) I really wish i could explain how pretty it is... but i just don't know where to start. You'll just have to trust me that it really was amazing!!


Well we got into town and drove up a little to the trailhead for the waterfall. It was soo beautiful! I wasn't exactly dressed to hike... i was sportin' my rainbows... but i had to do it. So we hiked up a little... almost right under the waterfall. I don't think i've ever seen a waterfall that close before. It rocked! We hung out there for a while... and then went back into town. This super cute little tourist town... basically a "pass through" town. There were some sweet shops... we got some ice cream and walked around. It was a great day!! I think we'll go back to hike up to the other waterfall in that area... which is bigger and requires a little more hiking. Next time i won't wear my rainbows! California girl still getting use to wearing shoes. I'm getting better though! : ) Good day!!

Life in the Woods

So i've had my first encounters with life in the woods.
Note to self... scented lotion= bad idea. Bad idea= mosquito bites. Mosquito bites= itchy nogoodness. Since i spend most of my day outside trekkin' in the woods with the kids... i've gotten several bites. I HATE MOSQUITO BITES! They must like my California sweetness or something! : ) haha
We also found bear scat right outside of our lodge. And some boys said they saw one on the trail... so... we have bears. AWESOME possum! Actually awesome bear... but that doesn't rhyme.
I also went running the other morning and ran up on some sleeping deer, who, startled by my noise, hurried across the road like 15 feet in front of me! CRAZY!
Lastly a short story for my frequent readers.
Last night was campfire nite. After star gazing and putting out the fire my fellow interns and i headed to our cabin to sleep. So Jessie, who sleeps next to me, Mary, who sleep in the loft above us, and I went to bed. Coz and Kati were in the other room in Coz's loft, talking. RIght as I was falling asleep... giggling and screaming came from the other room. My thought was, they going to be all rowdy... not so much. The door opens. "Is anyone awake in here" Jessie: "No"... Sarah: "kind of"...Coz and Kati: "THERE'S A DEAD MOUSE IN THE LOFT". So we jump out of bed and run up there... only to be met with the stench of rotting nastiness. Coz thought it was her laundry... but when the smell continuously got worse... she decided to look for something dead. Yup... there it was... in the trap, dead and all. SICK. Jessie... the wonder-outdoors-women of us all took it and threw it outside. So... i guess it's said that where there's one mouse there are probably others... i'm not a fan of that. We did post cabin check today after our guests left and we had to reset mouse traps.... those suckas are stinkin' scary to set.
Anyway, today i went fishing for crawfish in the lake with some kiddos... you know using some plastic cups and what not. We caught two and a fish... and saw a water snake! that was pretty awesome!
Welp... there's my update on life in the woods.

I'm Here!

So i'm finally in Colorado! It could possibly be the most beautiful place i've ever been. The handiwork of God is magnificent... it is so everywhere... but this valley is awesome. I could go on talking about how beautiful it is... but my words or pictures won't do it justice! It's that good friends!
So... let's see. I am already learning a lot. I came out to Colorado... for a few reasons but one of them was to get away from life in California for a while. To remove myself to hear from God. I needed quiet... newness. I came begging God that he would speak to me... and i am still asking the same. I want to hear God this summer... and he is already on the move. I am excited to see how God stretches me, what he teaches me and where he guides me. I've had this vision for a while that I'm in this process... that I've been working through a lot... and God is teaching me and softening my heart to intimacy with him. That he is completing something in me and going to propel me forward. To where? I have no idea...
But i am trying to be faithful and obedient to His voice. That i would remove any hinderances that slow me down from running with everything i have toward Him alone. That nothing would sidetrack me from magnifying and glorifying my Creator. That is my prayer...
I started reading Don't Waste Your Life, by John Piper for this summer. I am being reminded that the glory of God is the main thing. God's greatest passion is to bring glory to himself... not to provide me with an easy life... or bless me... or even love me for that matter... but to make his renown know. My passions should match. To glorify God is why i was created... that my life... every aspect of it would honor and glorify Him. If it isn't... i'm wasting my life.
Sitting in this valley has made it easy for me to see God as exalted. I feel so small... as i am, and should be. That is greatest place i could be. For that... i am thankful that the Lord placed me here this summer. He is going to do amazing things... AMAZING things... i just want to cooperate with his movement in my life and in the lives of the families coming up here!
so.. that's my first 3 days in a nutshell... more to come!! The Lord is Good!! Soooo stinkin good!

Rockin Music Video...

Thoughts?

Wonderful

Last night i was wonderfully reminded how wonderful my family and friends are! Man... it was such a great nite!! I think i wrote about Colorado in my last post... but whatever... im doing it again. I was thinking about how much i'm going to miss people when im gone! It's only 2 and a half months... i can do that! : )
COME VISIT ME! : )

Too Many Thoughts

It's definitely 1:15 am. And I'm wide awake. I'm trying to make my eyes tired by looking at my computer screen! :) haha

So I'm done with finals. Why am i still awake? No need to worry anymore or lose sleep about how I'm not studying enough or what not... I'm stinkin' done! Well... let's see... what is on my mind.

1. Colorado. I'm moving to Colorado in less than a week! Crazy! I'm so excited but at the same time rather nervous. I mean I handle change really well... i know i will love it... but it's the unfamiliarity of everything about going out there! I've never been to Colorado. So simple things like packing details are stressing me out. Why? I don't know. I'm excited to spend some time, quality time, with the Lord this summer. My time at the camp is going to be spent serving the families that come... which is awesome! I know i am going to learn so much while im there! My prayer is that God would break me down and build me back up... more in the likeness of his Son. That i would come back changed. So pray for that too! :) 

2. I didn't get the Hollywood internship. Good thing right... I mean I'm going to Colorado! :) But this truly showed me the hand of God in my life. As much as i wanted the internship in Hollywood... God wanted me elsewhere! Which is awesome, because he gave me the peace and joy about following his lead... wherever that meant. I guess he meant Colorado. :)

3. I'm having to pack up my apartment... knowing full well that when i return in august i will be returning as an RC! Though i am super stoked about this opportunity... i'm unsure of what that exactly looks like! I'm also praying that God would prepare me for that this summer.

4. and lastly... though there is a lot more on my mind. I'm thinking about my Popi and my Nana. My Popi is doing well... but I don't want to miss out on him getting better! Like when i leave, life in California will continue, just without me. I'm scared of missing something huge. Also, my Nana is going through chemo right now... im also scared of missing something huge in her life. Or not being a part of the family who's fighting this alongside her. I don't want to be the one family member who leaves when so much stuff is going on. Though i know this is where God has me for the summer... it's a tension I'm thinking about. 

Hence the lack of sleep! :) Who could sleep with all this nonsense (and more) in their head. Yie... ok... 1:30... maybe i'll try again!! Good nite!