mt baldy

hey guess what?! i climbed my first california mountain yesterday! and what an adventure it was. i set out with mark, brandon, and david...and i was expecting a great time, an awesome view, a good workout...but what i got was all that plus so much more :) yes, it was a great time! it surely was an incredible view of the mountains and the kind of beauty that overwhelms me. and yeah, it was a workout...my sore muscles today are reminding me of that. but i also got to experience the kind of wind that could knock someone off a mountain! hahaa...thank goodness it didn't! but wow, it was so stinkin' powerful and strong and it made the hike unforgettable. i didn't realize the wind was so strong until we were just a ways from the top. we passed a couple groups who said that they didn't make it all the way up. my first thoughts were, "oh, but we'll definitely make it!"....but eventually i got to thinking, "ok, maybe i can't do this!" it was out of control!! i've never been through anything like that before. seriously. there were times when i had to just crouch down on the ground, or lay flat, because i was no match for the wind. we ran from rock pile to rock pile trying to make it all the way up. when we finally made it up to 10064 feet, it was quite an accomplishment! it just so happens to be the tallest mountain that i've climbed :) so...the way down was an accomplishment just the same. the wind was still intense in spots....especially at the "passageway of death", which is what i like to call it. i was in the back of the line when we approached this particular spot, so when i looked up and saw it for the first time, i thought-oh my goodness, i don't know if we should be doing this! had it not been windy, it would've been a piece of pie...but with the wind barreling through this narrow trail with a rock slide on either side, i'm not gonna lie, i was a little scared. but we walked on :) and i'm glad we did...because it was fun, but absolutely crazy. at one point, the guy behind me was doing the crab walk just so he could stay close to the ground. that was probably the same point that i was huddled in a ball. i really thought that i was gonna go off the side! it was great. so, we made it through the death trap...and continued on. the wind was still howling, but it wasn't so bad. maybe we were just used to it. the trail was beautiful and the trees and mountains and clouds grabbed my attention. but pretty soon, the word was out that we had taken a different trail down than we thought we had. but it was all good...i had signed up for an adventure :) eventually it got to the point where we had to pull the headlamps out because darkness had set in, which made it even more fun. the end of the trail finally came in sight...but we were quite a bit off from where the car was at. so....guess what? i went with mark, and i got to hitchhike for the first time in my life :) i've always thought that would be fun, and it was definitely a good first-time experience. the woman that was gracious enough to give us a ride was super nice. and i was so thankful for her because, well, the car was way further than i thought! it would've been a rather long walk. it was a great day...and here's so pictures to show it. although...keep in mind that these photos don't capture the wind...the blasting frigid air...the beauty in its entirety...or the passageway of death (man, i wish i could've had a video of that to show ya'll, but i must say i was more concerned for my life:)

the hunt is on

so my search for a job continues. questions are still swarming about my head and heart as to what is best, what i should do, and just wanting to make a wise decision. i'm eager to see just exactly what that is going to be and where this journey takes me. i had two interviews this week...and one more tomorrow. please pray for wisdom for me. the people i'm staying with are still so welcoming and comfortable and glad to have me. although yesterday i set off their house alarm. whoops. it was rather funny, once i was able to get the silly thing turned off.

much love....b r o o k e

no longer a stranger

oh...one more thing. i arrived in lake forest on friday night to stay at my temporary home for the next three weeks. i wasn't nervous, but at the same time i was thinking...what in the world am i doing? i've spent an hour with these people. but it was clear to me that it was from the Lord, so i just went with it. and whoa...it's been a really good thing. they are so generous. so open. so comfortable. and moments when i start to think that maybe i should feel awkward being there...they remind me that i'm welcome, to just make myself at home, and that they're glad to have me there. and they have blessed my heart.

more later...

a page is turned...

i know it sounds so clique that a chapter of my life has just ended, but it's so true. and that's exactly how it feels. it was a chapter that was sometimes a comedy, sometimes a drama, sometimes a tear-jerker, and sometimes a choose-your-own-adventure. my experience with msa isn't something i would want to take back...yet i realize and accept that it's time to move on. as i pause to look back and try to process what i learned and where God was moving through it all, my heart is filled with lots of great things.
here's some of the nuggets of goodness that i'm leaving msa with...
friendships that i wouldn't have otherwise had. experience in the amazing ocean and knowledge of some of the things that fill it. a reminder of how simple life can actually be lived. times of learning to trust the Lord and cling to him. experience in teaching and leading. an appreciation for truely good drinking water (catalina water was less than desirable.) a great adventure and great memories that go along with it. a realization that the needed amount of showers and clothes washings isn't as much or as frequent as one would think (don't get me wrong, i haven't turned into some gross girl...but camp has a way of making me comfortable with a little dirt.) seeing things i've never seen, doing things i've never done, being places i've never been, and praising God for his stunning creation. and friends that will probably forever call me creek.
and as this page is turned...i'm looking ahead to a blank page. as that one song says, "...the rest is still unwritten..." as i drove away on friday with msa behind me, i was overcome with this sense of freedom. which felt really good seeing that this past week was consumed with questions and uneasiness. i'm sure those feelings will resurface as i continue seeking out where my road is headed, but that freedom was just so needed. so comforting. the sun was shining, my windows were down, and u2-joshua tree was playing. it was a moment that made me smile. i drove up to this amazing little chapel that overlooks the pacific...catalina was fully in view, and the sun sparkled on the water so much that it nearly hurt my eyes. for that moment, things just seemed right.

leaving the island...

this is my last night on the island. the last night of hearing the ocean as i drift off to sleep. i took my last snorkel today. last group of kids. last campfire here. lots of lasts. and my heart is a bit sad. sad to say somemore goodbyes. sad because it's the end of this time of my life. and because the days ahead of me are big questions that are staring me in the face.

good stuff

as i'm sure most of you know, my job is up really soon. really soon meaning this friday! yikes...i can't believe that my time with msa has come to a close. there's a part of me that's very ready to move on, and another part of me that is going to miss this place greatly. but anyways, so i've been trying to figure out what i'm going to do with my life for awhile now. i've been applying to places...scoping out apartments looking for somewhere to call home. i've had hopeful moments here and there, but nothing certain. so...this past week i spent a couple days on the mainland just trying to sort through some of this. and i'm not gonna lie...saturday was a roller coaster ride kind of a day. it was super cruddy because the reality of my situation consumed me. i realized i'm sort of disappointed with life sometimes. and i just wished i could hit the pause button on this journey so i could collect myself and try to piece somethings together. my heart and mind were filled with thoughts and questions of what in the world am i doing here in california, where do i go from here, am i ever going to find a job that satisfies, should i go home, am i making the right decisions, i'm in need of some roots and some relationships, why does God seem so uninvolved in this, i feel so alone, what kind of job am i even looking for, i just want to make my life count....those were just some of the things i was pondering. and i was just overwhelmed.
but it was saturday night. and i was on the mainland. which meant that i was able to go to church! which made me smile. i slipped in the doors, probably not noticed by many. i sat amidst the crowd. tears just filled my eyes...because it was a safe place, because it caused me to dwell on the goodness of the Lord, and my heart could just unload a bit. the service was great. the music was great. and i didn't want to leave. because it just meant that it was time to go back to the sailboat that i was staying on. so...i lingered for awhile. people filed out of the room. but i just remained seated. my head was down, so i didn't notice that someone came to sit by my side. i felt a hand on my shoulder. i turned to the side to see a man...probably somewhere around my dad's age. we sat in silence for a moment or two because just the fact that he cared enough to come up to me, a complete stranger, made the tears come again. i briefly explained my situation. he was quick to suggest that i come and meet his wife and their friends. as he introduced me, one of the first things he said was that i needed a job and a home. i'm not gonna lie, it sort of made me feel uncomfortable. which made me remember that sometimes i have a hard time accepting things/help from people. it humbles me because i realize that i can't do it on my own. so there i was....my needs were right out in front for these people i just met to see. but they didn't seem to mind. they were really great and seemed to care a lot. pretty soon, they asked if i'd like to join them for something to eat. i had an apartment to go and check out...but i told them i would meet them there. so i did. as we were sitting around the table, rick and kathy asked a bunch of questions. they were just trying to piece together my story. where i'm from, how i got there, what i'm looking for, etc. they also asked about the apt i went to see. it was a decent place and she offered it to me...but it wasn't available until december 1. (which i knew when i had called earlier that day to inquire about it...but for some reason i just decided to call anyways, even though it made no sense because i need a place this friday!) rick smiled when he heard that...because he then told me that i was more than welcome to stay at their house for the three weeks inbetween. i cannot tell ya'll how amazing this was. these people i'd never even met...they prayed for me in the parking lot...they offered me a room to stay in...and they just seemed so glad to do it. i was so encouraged. and i was reminded that the Lord wasn't far off, but he was right there putting all this together. wow...God is so faithful. so why do i ever worry? my dad reminded me that God is rarely early, but he's never late. seriously. it's so true. that's so like God to wait until days before i go homeless to show me the next step to take...all to just build my trust in who he is, to remind me of his faithfulness, and to continue to build a history with him. i love it. but man, it's stretching. and it hurts sometimes. i felt like i was at the end of my rope...but it's like God gave me another mile to work with. wherever ya'll are at...if God seems uninvolved, if questions need answers, if you've had enough...man, i know how that feels. i totally do. but from someone who has been given an answer to just one of the question marks...i encourage you to just hang on. hang on. even when you think you can't anymore. because no matter what it feels like in the midst of your circumstance, the fact doesn't change that the Lord is faithful.

more to come...

a glimpse of camp life

seeing that i absolutely love photographs, i decided to do a bit of a photo documentary of a week at camp. it turned into two and a half weeks and more pictures than i know what to do with, but it was lots of fun! so here's just a peek into it...

rainboots on a desert island

so i work with this really cool girl named sam, and she surprised me with these fabulous rainboots for my birthday! (they're so great that she couldn't resist getting a pair for herself!) i understand that such a wardrobe accessory isn't crucial for life on catalina...or in california for that matter, but who could pass up something as swell as these green and blue rainboots?! i mean, c'mon...just look at them! i love them! so yesterday, sam and i decided that no matter what the weather was (which actually turned out to be an awesome sunny day) we were going to wear our boots. and that we did. :)

we were in line for breakfast together when one of the guys that works in the kitchen said to us, "what are you suppposed to be?" he thought it was a part of our halloween costume. haha, it was quite funny.

silver peak

when i started off this season a few months back, one of the things that i wanted to do was to hike up to silver peak...which is the fourth highest on catalina, but the tallest spot on the west end. seeing that i've got less than two weeks left here, i thought it was about time. so yesterday nemo and i had a free afternoon, so we set out. it was a beautiful day, no doubt. just in case any of you out there have been skeptical or think i've been lying to ya, i just want ya'll to know that catalina island is absolutely beautiful! :) not in an everything-is-green-and-life-is-thriving kinda way...but it's amazing just the same. when we got close to silver peak, we were walking down a gravel road where we could see the ocean on both sides. it was awesome. we couldn't see the mainland at all, probably mostly due to the smoke from the fires that are still burning over there, but we did get a glimpse of one of the other channel islands to the west. we were hoping to see a whale breeching, but that was wishful thinking. i'm going to miss this place when i leave...

my home away from home

i totally appreciate weekends on the mainland. it's freedom. it's fun. and it's an adventure...because this just so happens to be where i stay. at first i greatly disliked sleeping on this boat. i mean, sure it was kinda fun...but not ideal. and sometimes there's shady people there. but i realized this weekend, after i rolled into the marina one night, that strangely enough, there was actually a somewhat comfortable feeling to it. maybe just because it has become familiar. as i walked through the gate and rounded the corner to the somewhat gross bathroom...i caught myself feeling at home for a second. maybe that's a good thing, maybe that's a bad thing. i haven't quite figured that one out yet....but it definitely just confirmed my vagabond lifestyle.

my search for a home and a job continues. two and a half weeks left here on the island! whoa. i'll take any prayers ya'll want to bring before the Lord on my behalf!

under the sea...

check out these photos from yesterday! for one thing, snorkeling in emerald bay is just plain great! i was able to go out without kids, which means i can just have fun and relax and enjoy everything underneath the surface! one of these is a shovelnose guitar fish...and the other is a leopard shark. the leopard is the only shark i've ever seen...and they aren't harmful to people, but yesterday a friend and i were going through an enormous school of small fish. and i'm talking huge! meaning that i could hardly see through the school, they were packed in so tight. there were quite possibly hundreds of thousands of them! so awesome! right as we see those, emily says to me, "oh this is a great spot to see sharks cause there are so many fish around!!" she was all excited...and so was i for a moment. then i thought....whoa, she's not talking about those cute little leopard sharks! but unfortunately, we didn't see anything other sharks.

as usual, these photos don't do them justice. if only ya'll could go snorkeling with me here...it amazes me! there's that verse in psalms that talks about the sea teeming with life, great and small...and it's so true!

hope all is well with each of you...

love,

b.

the girls of emerald bay

hey everyone! just dropping in to say hi. :) this was from one morning last week when brooke, sam, and i went for little hike. brooke is my roommate, and sam is the director of marketing...cool girls. hope all is well.

much love,

brooke

first week of camp is over

we have this little tradition at good ol' emerald bay that whenever the kids take off on the boat, some of the staff jump off the dock as they're pulling away...they all cheer, it's fun to be a part of...everyone enjoys it. the first group of kids we had took off yesterday...and here's a few captured moments of the send-off jumps...

back to ebay...

so here i am, back at emeral bay. it's a gorgeous place, there's no doubt about that! wednesday kicks off our fall season with a group of kids rolling in. so until then, we're getting camp set up, we're brushing up on the classes that we teach, and of course snorkeling and kayaking too :) here's a few photos of life here...my awesome cabin, the waterfront, the dining hall...the basics:) oh, and the deer family that i was feeding an orange to last night.

fun family photos

i love my family! it's true. i have been blessed in a huge way with a family that loves! my parents and sister were able to fly out and see me this past week...and it was such a great time! (we missed you chad, cara, and mike!) i actually just dropped them off at the airport today...and i drove away with tears in my eyes because sometimes God just overwhelms me with the good things that he pours out on me. as good as it is out here in california and i believe that this is where God has me for this time, it's still hard to say goodbye to family. this week i was able to show them where i've been and what i've been up to for the past six months. the mountains to the island...and more in between. for those of ya'll back in rockford, make sure to ask my fam about the lovely boat ride back from the catalina. haha, it was a memorable time. :) oh...and let me just tell the whole world right now and any that's reading this blog...my sister makes the cutest pregnant woman ever! you can't get away from it, kari...you're simply beautiful!

until next time,

brooke.

p.s. i just realized that the hippo picture is kinda random....but come on, they're pretty sweet creatures!

one kid's perspective on being grown up...

so i was talking with one of the campers today...and she was asking me about where i live and whether or not i still live with my parents. i could tell that her little brain was thinking real hard about what it all meant and what that would be like. then she says to me, in her cute little six-year-old voice..."you're so lucky. you get to make all your own decisions, and you get to have candy whenever you want!" she made me laugh outloud! sometimes i think about how easy it is to be a kid...the respsonsibility is at a minimum...you've got the rest of your life ahead of you, but she helped me realize that one of the perks of being a twenty-something is that i can eat sour patch kids and twizzlers for breakfast, if i so choose. :)

hey...

hi friends! i fully realize that little river hasn't kept ya'll updated on her adventures lately, but hey...thanks for hanging with me. :)

first of all...this precious little girl is one of my favs. her name is olivia, and i have had the joy to spend last week and this week with her here at camp in newport beach. she's awesome...that smile tells it all.

summer camp is wrapping up pretty soon, and i'm finishing it up here on the mainland. island living is certainly fun, but i'm not gonna lie, i like having a dairy queen down the road and a church that i can go to. i'm here for a few more weeks and i'm going to soak it up before i head back to emerald bay for the fall season.

unfortunately, adventures aren't always happy-jump-for-joy ones...last week i had to say a goodbye to an awesome friend. somewhat suddenly, sharayah left to go back home to pennslyvania. our friendship has been one of my great california adventures...and i'm so thankful for it. but i miss her a lot.

on a brighter note, my wonderful parents and my lovely pregnant sister (yes...for those of you that may not know...kari is pregnant!!!) are flying out to california in exactly ten days. that's right. :) i'm going to enjoy playing tour guide as i show them a piece of life here. it's gonna be so good to see them once again!

alright...i gotta run. the sunshine is calling my name.

love,

b.

flashlights

so last night i was heading up to the campground after being down in the hopping town of two harbors. it was extremely dark, which made the stars that much more amazing. i couldn't find my headlamp, so all i had was this crappy little flashlight. it was pretty worthless. it barely lit the path in front of my feet. i tried to shine it into the darkness ahead of me, but it just seemed to make it worse. so, i just pointed it at the ground right in front of my feet...cause i guess that's all i really need, right...to see where my foot is about to step. maybe it's just curiousity or thinking about walking into the black unknown...but my natural inclination was to want to see far beyond what i could actually see with this tiny flashlight. but i knew where i was headed...my destination was the campground that was a ways up the hill. i knew i would get there, but only one step at a time. the analogy became so clear to me. it was so much like life. and that verse in psalm 119 flashed into my mind. the one about God's word being a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths. then i thought about my future. it's like my life was that path. the campground, the place where i was seeking to get to, is my dreams, my passion, my place in this world, who i was created to be, and what i was created to do. i trust that eventually i will get there, but my eyesight doesn't allow me to see anything besides the ground right in front of me. my mind skipped off to november when i will be jobless...and quite honestly, i have no idea what i will be doing. i trust that the Lord won't leave me high and dry and homeless...but when i really think about it, i get a little anxious. just because i don't know. it's stepping into that unknown. (which, i must admit, there is a certain level of excitement and adventure in that! but still...it weighs on my heart)
a friend of mine here in california recently shared the verse in proverbs that says something to the effect of how we determine our course, but the Lord plans our steps. there is definitely comfort in that...especially for a girl who is asking that question yet again, where am i going? and what am i going to do with my life?

california

i guess this means that my move out west is now official! i'm not gonna lie, it was a little bit strange taking the illinois plates off my car yesterday...but at least i won't be driving on expired out-of-state plates any longer. and...as if i wasn't already certain about it, it's been confirmed that the department of motor vehicles is one of my least favorite places to spend any amount of my time. to make matters worse, i had to return again this morning to retake the written test because i failed it the first time. whoops!

oh give me a home where the buffalo roam....

on my way to avalon a week or so ago, brooke and i (yes, there is another staff member named brooke!) came across a herd of lovely bison. what awesome beasts they are! actually, during camp this past week, we were camping out with the high schoolers at a place called little harbor, which is a few miles away from two harbors...and i woke up in the middle of the night to sharayah telling me that a buffalo just wondered through our camp site!

so...we just finished our first week of summer camp. i can't say that it was my best week ever, but there definitely were some high points. throwing up off the side of the boat wasn't among that list of highs. i was out with a group of kids on a shark search. we were chumming for mako sharks...which basically means that we cut up a bunch of fish, putting them in plastic bags, and trying to entice the sharks to the surface. well, it turns out that we didn't see any sharks...but as we were sitting in the boat, there was a bit too much rock and roll action for me...and i lost my breakfast into the pacific. i thought i was over that sea sickness business, but i'm afraid not. one awesome thing though was that we saw a huge amount of dolphins swimming along our boat. the coolest thing ever was the baby dolphin that was among them. no joke, it was no bigger than two feet long. oh my goodness, it was so very precious!

we stayed the week at a camp ground in two harbors. i was an instructor this week, which meant that i didn't have to sleep with the girls in a cabin. i've included a photo of my view from the cabin i was in. simply amazing. can't believe i got to wake up to that each day.

the week went pretty quickly. lots of snorkeling and kayaking. good stuff.

i'm on the mainland now for the next two weeks. my team is here to do camps in newport beach. MSA has rented an apartment for us, which is kind of nice. it's going to be nice to have a place to go to at the end of the day. a place with a light switch, a normal toilet, a refrigerator, and good drinking water. :)

alright....have a great day!

b.

God's amazing creation...

alright....so we were out on a snorkel adventure yesterday morning. it was a beautiful day, by the way. california has this awful thing called "june gloom" where it's terribly cloudy until late morning or early afternoon...but yesterday morning, the sun woke me up. hardly a cloud in the sky. it was beautiful! so anyway, we had to test out a couple different snorkel locations that we are going to be taking kids to this summer...places i've never been to yet. as we were cruising along in the boat, i saw something that just amazed me. i had heard about them before, but quite honestly thought it was kinda silly. so have ya'll ever heard of a flying fish?! yeah, they're awesome! all of the sudden, someone pointed one out to me....it looked like a bird, but then at a closer look i could definitely see that it was a fish...but it had wings!! and it was flying. not just a big long jump....but actually flying and then diving back into the water. it fascinated me!! really....it was awesome!


and the snorkels were awesome too. one of the places we went was called ship rock. i jumped out of the boat, and was immediately amazed. the water was so deep...i've never been in such endless water. fran told me that it was at least 300 feet deep at places, if not more. it was kind of surreal...i was starring into this deep blue nothingness....and would suddenly see huge schools of fish, or gigantic kelp that i couldn't see the end of. it was so fun! as we jumped out of the boat and started swimming around the gigantic rock, we noticed that there were a couple sea lions sprawled out in the sun. they started barking at us. and it's possible that we got a little too close..maybe. pretty soon, they were jumping in the water and swimming towards us. now...i didn't know much about sea lions before moving to cali. i just thought they were some cute ocean mammals. well, they don't have the word "lion" in their name for no reason. so....we started swimming as fast as we could, but there was really no where to go because we were out in the middle of the ocean. it's funny now, looking back on it...but i'm not gonna lie, my heart was beating pretty quick! after a bit, we thought we lost them. so we started just enjoying the amazing stuff underneath the surface of the water. a few moments later, we saw the sea lions in in the water, swimming down below us. it was really neat at first to see them swimming...but then i remembered that they can be dangerous. so once again, we just started swimming really fast. they ended up swimming right under us and all was well.

our other snorkeling location was through a small cave. it was so great....it got to the point where the water seemed pitch black and i couldn't see a thing. kind of a strange feeling, but fun. as we slowly made our way around, things started came back into light again, and it was so sweet. it's unbelievable just how much goes on under the surface. it is truly amazing!

we're heading back to the mainland this afternoon. we'll be back on sunday with a group of kids for our first week of summer camp. it'll be interesting to see how it all goes. i have a feeling it might be a little choatic, just because it's a lot different than the program we ran at emerald bay and most of us have never done a summer camp. but...we'll get through it :)

much love to you all...

brooke.

highlights

this past week has been filled with some semi-unorganized training for the summer season. i'm still not quite sure what to expect, but i do know that summer camps will be a lot different. we moved from emerald bay (which is where we've been running camps) to two harbors. i've never lived in a place quite like two harbors. it's a town of about one hundred people...where there is one restaurant, one store, and that's about it. we will be living in a public camp ground that has an absolutely amazing view of the ocean! not kidding...it's stunning. we have to pay for our showers...a quarter for 90 seconds. my goal is to become a pro at a two quarter shower.

as far as the summer program goes, it'll be a little less education-oriented and a little more adventuresome. i'll still be doing a good amount of snorkeling. which, by the way, i went yesterday for the first time at the two harbors location, and it was amazing! i saw a crab, some huge sea hares, a brilliant kelp fish, a sea star, and a tiny garibaldi...along with a heap of other fish. we'll also be doing a lot of sailing. it'll be interesting teaching that, seeing as i've only done it twice now!

i was at the bolsa chica beach earlier this week and saw a dead whale. the thing was huge...although, it was actually pretty small as far as whales are concerned. it was a young one...and probably 20 feet or so. even though i felt bad for the whale, it was quite fascinating to see. it was being swarmed by gulls and was getting tossed around by the waves coming into shore. and oh man, the stench was like none other.

i've been kinda frustrated lately because i feel like my life needs to be simplified a bit. by that i mean that i've got too much stuff...too many possessions. maybe it's just because i'm living the life of a vagabond and my car is packed full of all my things, aside from the one backpack i take to the island. i just realize how many things i really don't need. i'm thankful for it...and i'm glad to simplify...because it almost feels like it drains me...like it drags me down having to cart around all this stuff that doesn't matter all that much anyways. for some reason, it seems to be heavy on my heart.

i've been back on the mainland this weekend...hanging out in laguna beach at sharayah's friend's place. i'm heading back to the island tomorrow for one more week of getting ready for summer camp.

hope ya'll have a great week!

well hello there...

thanks for being faithful readers of my "little adventures" despite the fact that it has been several weeks since i posted anything. we finished up the spring season at emerald bay with two of the busiest weeks we've had yet. many kids, crazy schedules, and good times. this past week i actually had off...so ian, sharayah, and i flew home to rockford to surprise my family! and what a surprise it was! man, i love that kind of stuff. they had absolutely no idea...and it was so fun and good to see them! it was a pretty packed week trying to hang out with people and relax at the same time. it was good for my heart though to be able to be home. but it was also fun to come back to california because i knew i was coming back to a job that i really enjoy.

i went to an amazing church this morning, which filled me with a desire once again to go overseas and love people and tell them about Jesus. that has been a reoccuring theme over the years....hmmm.

this afternoon we decided to take a trip down to mexico. which is so foreign to me to think that i could just spend the afternoon in mexico. stange...but i love it. it was a first time for sharayah and ian...so it was a fun experience. we strolled through the market area and stuck out like a couple of tourists. oh how i love being in different places! i know it was just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the united states border, but it's quite a difference. there was this one woman selling stuff at her booth...and i could hardly communicate with her...but she just brought a smile to my face. she wanted me to buy a hat so bad, and maybe i would've if i'd had the money just because i liked her. she had a sparkle in her eye. then there were these little girls trying to sell us gum. oh, they were so precious.!

it was a quick little trip...and now i find myself at a ridiculously huge house in laguna beach. sharayah has a friend that nannies and lives with a family here. and quite honestly, as nice as this place is...i just don't fit here. sometimes it almost upsets me when people have so many "things". the houses in this neighborhood are straight from the movies. but i must say, i'm just excited to have a bed to sleep on for the night. the alternative was a tiny sail boat shared with five other people. so i guess i got the better end of the deal.

alright. i'm off to get some sleep. tomorrow we start a week of training for summer camp...and wednesday we head back to the island.

for those of you that i saw this past week at home...it was great to be there!! thanks for being a part of my life!

much love,

brooke.

i'm still alive

hello everyone!

well....in case ya'll have been wondering, i am safe and sound on catalina island. the fire was on the opposite end from where i'm at. it's kind of strange though that people back in illinois knew more about it than i did...because we had no way of watching the news or anything. although we did see and smell smoke. so the only way it really effected us here in emerald bay is that we haven't had electricity or internet for the past week. it just got turned back on a couple hours ago, and i must say that it was super nice to be able to check my email. i feel connected to the outside world once again!

so camp has been going well. we've had some fantastic kids...i got charged by a buffalo...sharayah is back on the island...i had to do some first aid on my boss this afternoon when he walked up to me with his hands covered in blood (he ended up having to go to avalon to get stitches)...i decided to train for another half marathon...and tonight was burrito night in the dining hall, which is my fav meal here on the island! it's the simple things in life:) oh, and as you can see by the photo, i'm working on my tan lines!

more later....

love,

brooke.

my humble abode

so this is where i live now. not quite the awesome cabin in the mountains....but yurt life is great! just saying the word "yurt" is fun. basically, it's a glorified tent. when i moved all my stuff over last weekend, i brought a few more things to make it a bit more like home...so it's really comfortable.

we just sent a bunch of kids off yesterday. so i'm enjoying my first weekend on the island. the camp is filled with boy scout or ymca groups on the weekends, so this place is still hopping.

last night a bunch of us walked over to parsons...which is one of the beaches on the other side of the island, just a mile or two away. we got there just in time to watch the sunset....it was beautiful! the waves were all kinds of crazy, so it was fantastic just to sit and watch them. i don't think i could ever get tired of that.

we're going into town this morning...which means that we're driving into two harbors, a town of about a hundred people. since i'm one of the older staff members here, i am now one of the drivers. which means i get to cart everyone around on the weekends. msa has two vehicles...a really old suburban and an even older 15 passenger van. i'm kinda scared that one of these times they are going to break down on me. but, it'll be an adventure. just to give you an idea of the condition of these vehicles...in the suburban (also known as hercules), only one of the windows rolls down. not a terrific thing for living on an island in the summertime. last weekend, one of the guys i work with, ian, rode in the backseat with the door open. there were some close calls though, seeing that he was sitting on the outside seat...and the road follows a cliff the whole way. yikes!

sharayah, my friend who has been in the hospital, is out!! she was actually released last sunday. her and her mom are coming out to the island today just for the day....so her mom can check things out here and see what it's like on catalina. then hopefully she'll be back to work in another week. the doctors still don't know what happened. she has some follow up appointments next week, so maybe that will reveal something.

alright. enjoy the weekend. i know i will...it's been a hectic week, i'm just still getting used to how things run here on the island. but i love it!

until later,

brooke