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

island living

i love working outdoors. seriously. it's great! this morning i sat down by the ocean before breakfast. i could hardly keep my eyes open because the sun was so bright and beautiful!
my day was filled with doing a natural history hike...snorkeling and teaching about fish...dissecting squid (and i tried eating the lense of the eye ball)...and leading a trust walk. we got two groups of kids in today, and it's the craziest week i've had so far. there are kids everywhere! we had two kids on the front deck tonight that were getting cactus pricklies pulled out of their arms and hands. whoops!

keep praying for my friend, sharayah. it's been a week since she got taken to the mainland, and her condition has not improved. they took the tube out of her today...and had to put it back in an hour later because she wasn't able to breathe on her own. i hope to go to the mainland friday to see her and give her mom a bit of a break.

alright...i'm off to bed. i'm enjoying life in a yurt. i'll have to throw some pictures in here of it sometime. it's fun :)

here's a few more...

oops....i meant to add these photos as well. these were all from two weeks ago in newport beach doing day camps there. they were precious kids! but it was an incredibly draining week.

island life

alright, so living on an island is tough, as you can see from these photos. :)

these were from my trip to avalon last weekend. what a cute little place. at times i felt like i was in a different world. maybe it was because the town was filled with golf carts. it was just so unique...like we were in some play-land or something.

so all of last week, i was working at camp in emerald bay, which is on the opposite end of the island from avalon. also a phenomenal place, but so much more secluded. but the views are unbelievable. it's so strange to me that i'm working on an island. never quite thought i'd do that. and it sounds like i'm going to be moving to the island for good...as in leaving the camp up in the mountains and working on the island for the rest of the season. i wasn't expecting it, but i'm definitely ok with it. i've got lots to learn though...because i'm more comfortable in the mountains, just because i've spent more time in them.

so i work with this awesome girl named sharayah. now, sharayah has had quite the last two months. she has been accident prone, to say the least. so this past wednesday night, all of the sudden her lip got super swollen. huge. then she started having trouble breathing. being in the middle of nowhere on an island, we called baywatch...which is the island way of saying that we called 911. they came...and longer story short, she ended up getting air lifted over to the mainland. so, it was midnight....the camp is full of sleeping children....and in comes this helicopter. and off she went. i was scared for her...she was going all alone...and this is her second helicopter ride to a hospital on the mainland in the past two months. she's an incredibly tough girl, and she nearly refused to go...but after some encouraging on our part...she decided to do it. and we were all so glad because they ended up having to intibate her (not quite sure if i spelled that one right), and she's still in the hospital. ian (one of the guys from the island) and i took the boat over yesterday to be with her.

so much has happened...and i know this is brief....but i just wanted to let ya'll know that i'm still here and i'm doing well :)

my cell phone doesn't work on the island...and email time is limited, but keep checking back in for the latest on life in southern california :)

much love,

brooke.

my week in newport

hey friends....
so, it's been quite a week. it wasn't hard to get used to driving to work down the pacific coast highway with the ocean right there the entire way! although it was kinda strange to pass by bentley and ferrari car dealerships on the way to work. definitely not something i'm used to! this place reeks of money. the other day, i was canoeing with some fifth graders, and they were talking about how the houses they live in were a couple million dollars. but the strange thing is that they weren't saying it in a bragging kind of way...it's like that was normal to them and each other. so that certainly isn't something i'm used to! needless to say, it was quite a different feel being in the newport beach/huntington beach area than up in the mountains. but i loved the fact that i was able to just go and enjoy the beach after work. it was absolutely beautiful!

i was doing day camp this week because the kids were on spring break. we spent a lot of time at the beach...we disected squid...talked about sea stars and whales and cool stuff like that. but it was quite a frustrating time. we had no clue what we were doing. we weren't prepared for it and hadn't received any traning on it, and they were completely different classes than we teach up at the mountain. there were times that i just felt embarassed because it seemed as though we were just throwing this thing together, which isn't a way to run an organization. i don't know how they function this way. but we pulled it off...and i think the kids had a good time. i just think it could have been done with more excellence. and we're all glad that the week is over.

so tomorrow morning i'm heading back to catalina island. i'm going camping with a group of people i've actually never met before, which should be fun. my friend kelly has a friend out here, and he asked me to come along. then...i'm going to be staying out on the island for next week and the following week to work at the camp there. i'm looking forward to it. i like the variety of it.

alright...well, i love you all...and those of you back in illinois...enjoy the snow for me. i'm struggling over here because i got sun burned this week. :)

easter on catalina

hello, hello...

well, i would say that this past week has been the best week i've had since being here in california. some of the MSA "islanders" came to help us out at the mountain...and it was just fun. fun to get to know them. it was the kind of fun where i laughed until my stomach hurt...and the kind of conversations where, at the end of the day, i was satisfied with my friendships here. it was great.

i'm in newport beach this week doing day camp. it was a choatic day because none of us really knew what we were doing. i don't understand how an organization can function this way...by not actually training their employees and making it so we can do the best job we possibly can. it's been frustrating.

i ended up going out to catalina island yesterday for easter. took the ferry in the morning and came back last night. it was fun to get to actually sit around a table and share a meal with people on this awesome holiday. i was thankful for that. plus, i didn't throw up this time on the boat....so that it always a bonus :)

just wanted to send a quick hello and a little update.

much love,

brooke.

oh how i love the ocean

well...i've been making my way around southern california, and this weekend i spent in santa barbara. beautiful place! quite wealthy, so it seems...but it's still gorgeous! on my way there, i witnessed my first california forest fire. when i was still a long ways off, i thought it was the most disgusting smog i had ever seen...then the closer i got, i realized it was indeed a fire. the smoke was rolling off the side of a mountain, and down onto the highway. (turns out it was the backside of the famous hill that the "hollywood" sign is on.) i later read in the paper that it was two teenagers from illinois that were on vacation with their parents...and they intentionally set the fire. man, those illinois people....what are we going to do with them?!

so anyway, my time in santa barbara was great. i love the location of the camp where i live...but i also love to get around and see things. and i can't quite seem to get enough of the ocean. (oh, i saw another whale!!) about four or five years ago...tristan, jessica, izzie, and i spent spring break with connie, a great friend of jessicas...and she just so happened to live in santa barbara. she's a great lady....and since then, i have sporadically kept in touch with her. once she found out that i was moving to california, she invited me to come visit. so of course i took her up on it! we took walks on the beach...ate meals at restaurants on the beach...walked around downtown sb...it was very refreshing and relaxing. a change of pace from the camp lifestyle. hey, and i got to watch the news for the first time in a month...that's the huge reason that i miss having a television.


well...my laptop battery is running low, so i better end this....i'm hanging out in riverside, cali at a barnes and noble. i'm checking out a church here, so i was just wasting time.

much love to you all....

friends forever...

together at last...together forever....

ah, yes...the day finally came where i stepped foot into a wonderful new relationship. you might remember me talking about her. her name is rosie, and she is a furry chilean rose turantula. as she walked onto my hand this afternoon, i just knew it was going to be an instant bond. a bond that will never be broken. bosom buddies, kindred hearts, best friends...whatever you want to call it. that's rosie and me.

ok, ok. so maybe it didn't go quite like that. and it probably never will. i was scheduled to help teach the animal class today for the first time. i kinda laughed, because...well, i'd never even touched the thing before. so, jiffy handled rosie with the kids...while i watched. my chance to hold her came later behind closed doors. right before i held her, i felt sick to my stomach. but i just had to do it, there was no way i wanted to back down. once her first leg climbed onto my hand...(i can't believe i'm saying this)....but it really wasn't all that bad. i mean, not that i ever, ever want to have one of my own or would ever enjoy crossing paths with one unexpectedly....but for someone who has always screamed for someone to kill a spider for me, it wasn't as frightening as i was certain it would be. and i don't expect to have nightmares tonight of taratulas climbing all over me. i can even imagine doing that class all by myself one day. i was so glad to have done it.

the island experience

so my first island adventure began when i stepped board the ferry boat. i was so excited...it was new...i would be experiencing a lifestyle i'd never seen before. within 20 minutes of being on the boat, i realized it wasn't such a joyous occasion that i had day-dreamed about. let's just call it the barf boat. no kidding! now....i've never gotten sea sick before this. then again, i was told the water that particular day was unusually rough. i found myself on the back of the barf boat, looking out at the horizon, tring to get the repulsive feeling out of my stomach and head. pretty soon, there was a whole row of people along the back of the boat...all huntched over the railing. i will say though, that it was the coolest throw-up experience that i have ever had! i'd rather puke off the back of the boat into the ocean anyday over having my head in a toilet. so anyway...it was rather comical.

the island was absolutely beautiful! i kept feeling like i was on vacation...then i remembered that this is my reality, this is my job! the camp sits on the north eastern side of catalina, with nothing else around. it's about 6 miles to the nearest town...and it's on the opposite side from avalon, which is the touristy town. i didn't have to teach any classes while i was there...so i pretty much shadowed a few of the sea classes.

i ended up breaking a fear that i never even know that i had! it showed itself during my first attempt at snorkeling. it sounded so great! i mean, how could it not...checking out the life under the sea! well....once i had the wet suit on (the water was ridiculously cold, by the way), had my flippers and mask, i thought i was all set to go! the struggle came when i actually had to put my face in the water and breathe through the tube. i felt like no matter what i did, i just couldn't get any air. it was awful. it was suffocating. but here i was...on staff, amidst all these campers...doing it for the first time...and realizing that it made me panic a bit! i kept trying...but it was the same feeling every time. i flippered my way up to the guy who was teaching...and told him i was really struggling. he was more than kind and had me swim out with some girls that were shivering uncontrollably. i was a bit bummed because i felt like a quitter. but i knew i'd have a second chance. that second chance came the next day. i was told i didn't have to go...but i needed to. i wanted to. i didn't want to be afraid of snorkeling. after all, "breaking your fears" is plastered all over the MSA staff shirts i wear...so i was determined to do this. i am so thrilled to say that the next time was 100 times better! wow!! after spending a few minutes practicing the breathing, it was like i didn't even want to lift my head from the water! the fish...the kelp...things swaying with the waves, all an amazing indication of our Creator. i was captivated by it! i was so excited. now...it's not to say that i'm some superstar snorkeler, but i sure want to do it again! i don't think i'll look at an ocean the same again...there's so much going on under the surface that we just don't see.

other than that, i kayaked, hiked, slept in an a-frame(basically it's in the shape of a tent, but it's made out of wood with a door...small, but it does it's job). i saw a whale and hundreds of dolphins...it was brilliant!

i made a new friend, too...her name is lorena, and she's from venezuela. (i love friends from other countries!) it's kinda random how she ended up coming to the island...but she knows someone who knows someone....and she just came out to practice english. so we had fun trying to communicate and understand each other. she made my time on the island even more fun.

and, i'll have ya'l know...i held my lunch down on the boat ride back :)

my (distant) brush with a celebrity...

ok, ok, so i suppose it was bound to happen. seeing that i'm in california...the breeding ground for rich and famous people. so i went to the house of blues last night in hollywood. mat kearney was playing, and oh man, i think mat k. is fantastic! so after the first opener, a woman went up on stage and was talking away blah, blah, blah...and then she said, "we have among us tonight, keifer sutherland and a big bunny...." huh?, i thought. i didn't know if she was being silly or what. but then again, i did see a big fat bunny costume walking around. so i started searching the crowd for jack bauer...uh, i mean kiefer. i couldn't see him anywhere. well, at least i figured that i was possibly in the same room as him. even that was pretty neat! i heard some whisperings behind me....and it seemed like kiefer was the buzz word. so i asked the lady behind me....and sure enough. she pointed him out to me...and he was sitting at a table so close to me! there he was! turns out he has his own record label now, and the second band that was opening is on his new label. so from then on, it was hard not to just glance over at him and think about how that's the same guy the united states sees on tv and loves, that's the same guy who fights terrorists in a single day :). it was just weird to see him hanging out....sitting having a drink at a table with some friends....and clap and cheer when the band finished. i definitely recognized a jack bauer haller even over the rest of the crowd. i would've inserted a photo here of the one and only jack bauer had i not had to check my camera at the house of blues valet...silly rules. and i had to pay 5 bucks to check it! silliness.

besides that....let's see....
i'm continuing to check out churches. and having fun doing it. there's just so many here, it's crazy! i went to saddleback this past weekend. the place is amazingly huge. it's almost like it's an entire community within itself.
yesterday, jiffy and i drove into san pedro....which is right on the ocean. it's not as glamorous as you may have just pictured in your mind though. when we were driving into the area, i kinda felt like i was driving through gary, indiana. not pretty. it's an industrial area...with all these big rig looking things. a bunch of huge metal structures. just not at all a nice beach town. when we got around to where we were staying though, it was a bit better. it's a boy scout facility, and mountain and sea adventures has an office in their building. so guess what...jiffy and i got to sleep on couches in the little office room...and this morning we had to shower outside in our swimming suits. ya know those kinds of showers that you might find at a swimming pool. the ones that you have to get wet in before they let you jump into the pool. yeah, those were like the ones i had to use. kinda strange. especially because there was a big important meeting this morning happening at this location...and there we were showering. kinda awkward. but hey....it was a great view of the ocean!
so today we had a group of high school seniors arrive from las vegas. we did a bunch of marine biology stuff with them. it was so neat!! we went to an aquarium that was just spectacular! then we went tide pooling. i got to hold a little octapus...and something called a brittle star. amazing stuff. God just blows me away with his creation and creativity. really...it's amazing. i am in wonder of God because of it....the colors of these creatures are so brilliant...the way they were delicately made with such a purpose and part of how they work with the environment they are in. it's awesome! and tidepooling is just fun!! life abounds in those little nooks and crannies of the ocean. absolutely awesome!!

there's some photos for you to see....(for some reason they decided to put themselves up at the top by the talk about jack bauer...so maybe i haven't figured out this technology thing yet.) two are from the aquarium. the other is fran (the husband to the big wig director of the whole organization) showing some of the students some creatures he found.

alright...well...that's about it for now. we're headed to the island tomorrow. it's such a different lifestyle there, so i'm excited to experience it.

the team...

hey, hey....if all went well with my limited technological abilities, ya'll should be seeing a photo posted here! :) this is the MSA (mountain and sea adventures) clan. two of these guys came over from catalina island just for the week to help us out because we have a lot of kids. so....it's hana, ryan, jiffy, maverick, faith, rocky, and me. speaking of catalina island, i found out that i will be taking a little trip over there next week!! we have no campers next week....so all of us are going to san pedro on monday. my california geography is definitely not up to par, so i have no clue where that's at. but i do know it's not terribly far from LA, and it's on the coast. then....on wednesday, jiffy, maverick and i will be heading to the island for a few days. i'm very excited to see this place that i have heard so many people talk about. i'll make sure to post some pictures :) so check back.

much love... b.

more mice...

well, it's a new week. a new groups of kids. 120 of them, in fact. they're only here for three days of camp, but i can already tell that it's going to be a choatic couple days. it started off rough...classes this afternoon weren't as smooth as i'd like...but some of that is to be expected.
i taught pond lab twice this afternoon. as i was setting up for it, i just stopped and thought about how awesome it is that this is my job....that it's my job to work outside....it's my job to be in the mountains. whoa...it's great! the two groups of kids i had were mostly uninterested, didn't want to listen, had chaperones that just contributed to the distractions (which was really frustrating)...but we got through it. i could see a couple of them were into it and were fascinated by all the organisms they get to dig out of the pond and check out under the microscope, and that's what i like to see. i have to do the same thing over and over as i teach this class, but i can tell that i won't get tired of seeing them get excited about it.
then tonight, i taught owl archeology. quite interesting. as the kids were disecting owl pellets and finding bones of mice and birds and moles and who knows what else....all of the sudden the kids started screaming. i heard someone say....it's a real mouse!! having seen many other mice in that room before, i wasn't surprised. one of the dad's immediately began to try to catch it. the kids totally got into it. i looked as one of the teachers from the school groups jumped up on a counter and was squirming and laughing. everyone was giggling and trying to get a peek at the mouse, but it was hiding behind a stack of chairs. it took awhile...but finally it was caught! it was a tiny little thing. kind of cute actually. kind of. the dad was holding it up by the tail and kids were flashing pictures left and right. it was so funny. then he let it outside...which means it'll probably just find it's way right back in. but oh well. the teacher who had planted herself on higher ground came up to me and was apologizing that it had interrupted the class...but she said that this was already one of the highlights of their time here. it was just fun to watch them all get into it. it definitely added some excitement. :) i wonder if i'll ever stop having mouse stories. maybe one day i'll just get so comfortable with them around. i don't know, we'll see about that one. actually yesterday in our cabin there was a lizard. that's a new one!
alright...well...i'm off to bed.
later,
brooke.

highlights

like everyone's week, i'm sure, this past week has had delightful times and yucky times. we had a full camp....with over 100 people from two different schools. i got sick mid week and felt terrible. i remembered how awful it is to be sick in a new place that doesn't quite feel like home yet. it made me miss my parent's house. my parent's couch. and knowing that someone familiar would be around soon wondering how i was doing. but i guess i am 26 now, so i should get used to not being at my parent's house when i'm sick! i'm feeling much better today...i'd say practically 100%.
i shadowed some more classes this week....ones that i think i'm really going to like teaching. bird lab and orienteering were great. we had the kids fishing one day...and one boy fell in the pond! while teaching pond and creek lab to one group, the kids found a trout that was stuck in the creek and couldn't get back to his buddies in the pond because it was uphill filled with rocks and logs. so a couple of the kids couragously, after many attempts, grabbed ahold of the fish and walked him back up to the pond. it was neat to see the kids cheering it on...and hooting and hollering when he was back in the pond. they ended up naming him loghead julio. it was great and funny. after each class, the kids have to write conclusions....that includes what they did, what they learned, what inspired them, etc....and nearly all of them talked about rescuing the fish! it made me smile.
i tried out a new church today that was about an hour away from camp. it was fantastic, and i'm certain that i will go back! there's a girl i met at camp this week who wants to try it out with me next weekend. it's quite similar to river valley...so i felt at home. when i walked up to the door, there was a woman there greeting. i put my hand out to shake hers as i said "good morning", and she said, "how about a hug instead." she was so cute.
after church, i decided to go exploring a bit. hey, it was a beautiful california day, i had a full tank of gas, a road map, and a free afternoon....so i headed towards the ocean! i ended up driving through LA and caught highway 1 for a bit up to malibu (alex and lori schwindt warned me that highway 1 was absolutely amazing...and i agree!!) it was a perfect beach day...there were a gazillion surfers out there...and i loved the smell of the ocean. i went through the streets of malibu looking for a place to grab lunch, but quickly realized that i was out of my league. the place smelled of money...everyone looked like wanna be famous people...and i'm certain that i drove past some movie stars homes. they were like castles on the side of the cliff. crazy.
so now i'm sitting at barnes and noble in redlands before i head back up the mountain for the week. we don't have students coming until wednesday, but have other "stuff" to do...i'm not quite sure what that is yet.
just for a critter update....we're still catching mice! just last night, i walked into the living room and saw a not-quite-dead-yet mouse still squirming around. i let out an "eewwww" and then i was fine. i have not had the wonderful opportunity yet to handle rosie. :) maybe this week. i did find out that we actually have two turantulas. fabulous. more to enjoy, hey? i guess they thought the second one, sophie, was dead....but low and behold....she's still moving! and apparently doing fine now.
alright...well...i'm off to get some groceries. :)

jumping in

today was my first day of teaching classes all on my own. i felt that i was quite under prepared because there was hardly any training involved....so that caused some frustration and nervousness to settle in. after breakfast this morning, i was talking to God and saying, "what in the world am i doing here?! i don't know if i can do this job!" but...i'm so happy to say now that they went really well! it was fun, and the day is closing in a much better way than it started. the classes that i taught were pond lab and creek comparison and coniferous forest field study. the pond one was filled with the kids learning about organisms and metamorphosis of the dragonfly...and digging through algae in the pond and checking out under the microscope all the awesome things that they found. it was so fun to see them get excited about it...to get their hands dirty and work as a team. the coniferous forest one will probably be one of my favorites. we talked about six different kinds of trees and i took the kids around camp locating the different ones. did ya'll know that the coulter pines are nicknamed the "widow maker" because they have the heaviest pine cones out of any in the world...and they can get up to nine pounds a piece! whoa! they're quite amazing. i found out before i did the coniferous class that one of the chaperones had actually studied forestry in college. great, i thought. here i am teaching the class for the first time and i've got a pro on my hands. it went fantastic though. she was so kind...and added a few things here and there, but it was all good.
then tonight i did a quick activity called wilderness attitude. it was basically talking about what to do in survival situations...and the kids did skits to demonstrate. it was super.
it's amazing how tired you can get after working with kids all day. they're great, but man, i sure appreciate my bed at the end of the day.
oh...and for those of you that have asked...my camp name is creek :)

goodnight to you all...

little critters

i had an action packed weekend of hunting down/being scared by creatures great and small. ok, so maybe not really great big ones...but it seemed like it at the time. friday night, my roommate and i were watching a movie, when we were interrupted by mice running around in the kitchen. (oh, let me add in here that the night before there were some traps set out and we caught six by the following morning!) so...being distracted by these mice that were invading our space, we set up a trap, which involved a trash can, a candle, some dental floss, some peanut butter, and a paper bag. we sat and waited in silence hoping that they would take the bait. well, they never did. but they were crawling around the fire place...on the counters...trying to get in the cabinets...and they came within two feet of us and just stared at us as if to say, "nana, na, na, na, na....you can't get me!" finally we gave up. then yesterday, we were just chillin'....i went to sit down in the living room and suddenly saw something flying at me. i let out a scream! jiffy was in the kitchen thinking that i saw a mouse. she poked her head in the living room just as the creature was flying right towards her. then she screamed. pretty soon we were both screaming and laughing all at once as i grabbed a blanket, laid flat on the couch, and screamed. it was so funny! we soon realized it was a bat. jiffy yelled for me to make a run for it...and we darted for the door. we ran up to maverick's cabin..laughing the whole way. he came to rescue us with a broom and bag in tow, wondering how in the world to catch a bat. it was pretty simple, as it very nicely let itself out of our front door. then....(this is the last critter story for now....oh the joys of living in a cabin!) jiffy and i were just about to go to bed last night when we heard a loud banging type noise outside. we concluded that it was coming from out front porch. it was our trash can. for all we knew it could be a bear. so we ran to the front door and put our ear to the door to see what we could hear. something was definitely rummaging through it! jiffy called maverick right away...laughing that once again we needed some help. we were curious, so before he got down to our place....we decided to crack the door just a peek to see what it was. well, it ended up being a big fat raccoon. not as exciting as a bear...but maybe it's better that way.
so anyway...those are my critter stories. the bat incident was by far the funniest...it still makes me laugh.

i suppose i should've done this first...but allow me to introduce ya'll to the people that i'll be spending most of my time with for the next few months.
meet tiffany: her camp name is jiffy. she's my roommate. she just graduated from san diego christian college, has lived in san diego her whole life, and is absolutely into soccer. she wants to eventually be a p.e. teacher, which i can totally tell that she is going to be great at!
meet faith: her camp name is hope. she's the director, at least for the next three months. she's from california, near san diego. she's 28 and has been involved with ministry in one way or another since finishing college.
meet hanna: camp name, sunshine. also from california...real close to where we're living now. she's with us for just the next three months as an instructor. i don't know her as well yet, but am sure that will come with time.
meet mike: camp name, maverick. he's the one and only guy on our team. he's from kansas, but loves california. he's great teaching the kids...and actually likes holding the turantula.
meet josh and kristin: camp names, hawk and grits. they are a married couple who actually work out at the island. they're here for one more week helping things get under way, as the rest of us are quite new and don't really know what we're doing.

well...that's all for now. i've got to get back up to the mountain. i drove into san diego today to hang out with my cousin and his wife, and their absolutely adorable son. (that seems so strange to say that i just drove into san diego for the day. weird. and fun.) i saw the ocean...and loved it!

until next time....
and yes, photos will be coming :)

hmmmm...

...alright. where do i start? it seems that so much has been jam packed into the last few days. my dad and i arrived on tuesday safe and sound. my first impression of the camp was "wow!" it's greater than any camp i've ever been to...probably because it sits right in the middle of some amazing mountains. it's so strange...it's almost like i don't feel like i'm in southern california. maybe because i'm so far removed from what is normally associated with southern california. for crying out loud, my cell phone doesn't even work where i'm at! i never really thought i was a big fan of cell phones anyway...until i realize that i'm two thousand miles away from home and don't have use of my phone! well...thank the Lord that there is a tiny little place at camp where i can connect to wireless.
ok...so, my cabin is awesome! great big living room with a big stone fireplace. a room with a bed by a window that gives me a peek at the mountains each morning. a bathroom that far exceeds any expectation for a camp bathroom. and the kitchen...well, the kitchen has a little to be desired. but we'll have to share with the guys cabin, because they lucked out with an awesome kitchen.
i'm living with three other girls. tiffany and i (actually, she goes my jiffy. we all have camp names) share a room....and faith and hanna are next door. i think it'll be a good team. we're still in the "getting to know you" stage...and unfortunately, it hasn't been an instant connection like i had with tristan back in our freshman year at judson...but it'll all work out!
the job started yesterday...and i've got so much to learn! it's a litte overwhelming. i've shadowed several classes....things like shelter building, trout pond lab, animal camo, owl archeology. then today we spent several hours doing the climbing wall and the zip line. the days are full...but i love that i no longer have to dress up for work! i mean, really...it's great.
one thing that's not so great....i found out that there's one class where i'm going to have to handle a gigantic turantula and a 5 foot long snake. ok, so the snake isn't so bad. i actually held him yesterday. it was kinda neat. but the turantula...oh man. i didn't know that was in the job description. i was filled with this terrible dread when i found this out. now, i'm not afraid of an awful lot...but spiders. oh my goodness...i hate them with a passion! they are so ugly...creepy...and crawly...and i just shudder when i think of one sitting on my hand. and this is one of those hairy ones with the big huge belly.....and too many legs. her name is rosie. who in the world would name a turantula such a pleasant name like rosie. she should have a hideous name. ewwww. ok, so it's kinda ironic though because one of the themes of mountain and sea adventures is breaking your fears. hmmmm. so i realize that i've got to break down this fear of mine....especially if i'm going to be encouraging students to do the same. so i'm aware of this...but, oh....i can't believe it. i can't believe i'm going to have to hold it. one day...i'll be posting a photo of me with rosie...and i'll rejoice in the fact that i faced this fear. yuck.
i drove my dad to the airport this morning. i had to say my last goodbye. now it's for real. i'm here. i'm gone from there. and it was kind of an alone feeling. so it's going to take a bit to transition. as much as i think i'm going to like it, it's still a transtion. still a change. still an adventure. and it's an awesome opportunity to just cling to the Lord.

day 2 of my journey

well, well, well....as day number two draws to a close, it feels so good to not be in a car anymore. as much as i love roadtrips, i'm glad to have a break. the weather allowed my dad and i to get out of the midwest with no problem, at least not for us. as we were driving through iowa and nebraska yesterday, we began to count the cars and semis that we saw in the ditch. (yeah...so there's not much else to do while being surrounded by the flatness of the cornfields.) the grand total was somewhere around 60 vehicles off the road. it was quite terrible!
today we spent a whopping 14 1/2 hours in the car. as we were trekking our way through the rockies, i was reminded of the line from lord of the rings that my brother and i always quote, "i want to see mountains again, gandolf...mountains!" it was so good to be back in the rockies. they are extraordinary! although, there was wind and snow and ice as we climbed to 11,000 feet and back down...but once again, we made it through with no problems. it was absolutely gorgeous!! oh my word, it just reaffirmed my love for mountains and trees and clouds and everything natural. ah, i'm loving it. really. the sunset in utah was to die for. it was one of those that pictures just can't possibly grab ahold of. yet, i still took a ton of pictures...maybe i think that one day i'll actually capture one in all it's glory. fat chance.
alright...well, just wanted to let ya'll know that life is good...that God's fabulous creation knocks my socks off...that we are safe...that saying goodbyes were so hard, but i do not doubt that this is an awesome step for me to take right now....
until next time,
unless of course i gamble all my money away on our way through vegas tomorrow and don't have enough to make it the rest of the way to california. (ha!)

oh...i tried to add a photo to this blog...and seeing just how technologically ignorant that i am, i'm not certain i did it right. if it didn't come through...well, maybe next time.