Six Days, Seven States

The Fantastic Four Heading out on
our adventure for Summer 2013.

Well, as you know Crew F stayed behind in Loveland, Colorado for a few extra days after the rest of the Workcamp and Week of Hope Crews left. We finally got to get on the road for our first camp on Thursday. It all started with the very scenic drive through Eastern Colorado and Kansas to Salina, KS. First stop. We stayed in a really nice hotel and we were able to grab some of the extra breakfast food and put in our cooler it lasted us a good three days! Thank you AmericInn!! :)

After Salina we continued through the boring state of Kansas to St. Louis, Missouri. There we stayed with our friends the St. Louis Week of Hope. I was under the impression that I was only going to be seeing Steph and Laura. But unto my surprise, Emily and Shannon were there as well!! :) While in St. Louis we went to a place called the City Museum. This is basically a huge playground made up of old buildings and pieces of St. Louis. It was a blast. I still have scrapes and bruises on my legs from it.

CrewF and WOH Nashville

Saying goodbye to the St. Louis and Newark girls was difficult. They have a later end date than we do. So who knows the next time we will see them. 

Our next stop was the fabulous city of Nashville. I was super pumped for this stop. We got to spend four days in Nashville. We started by staying one night with the Week of Hope Nashville girls!! It was amazing to see Laura, Leah, and Rachel again. They are such amazing people and we were able to help them out a little as they prepare for their camp to start this past Sunday. 

This wonderful girl!!

After a day with them in Nashville, we moved to another part of town. We stayed with my friend, a past summer staffer, Courtney! It had been a little more than one year since I had last seen Courtney. We stayed in her apartment near Vanderbilt's campus. During these two days we were able to go downtown Nashville with another Workcamp crew, and see the Parthenon in Centennial Park, and visit the Grand Ole Opry. 

When we said goodbye to Courtney, we had the opportunity to visit the WOH Nashville girls one more time. This was on their afternoon off. We spent the night relaxing and eating out for Leah's birthday. We definitely headed to bed early because this was our last day of travel week. So we woke up early attended the Morning Program and we headed on to Valdosta, Georgia.

Just acting a fool in a mirrored elevator!

Sunset over St. Louis!

The Fantastic Four just doing some modeling!

I am sure there will be more pictures of my trip to come! :) Valdosta here we come!!!

And They're Off!!

Well. One of the worst parts of the summer has come and gone. When we all have to part ways. Just like last year. The two weeks of training goes by so quickly, but bonds were formed that have seemed like they have been there for years and years. I have only known most of these people since May 27, 2013, but I know that we have a special friendship that will last a lifetime. I cannot believe that the two weeks is over, it just doesn't seem real yet. But according to all of the snapchats I am getting of people making it to Kansas City or Omaha it is real.

My crew has the opportunity to stay behind and work at Group for a couple more days before we get on the road to Georgia. Yesterday we spent the afternoon in Fort Collins with one of my favorite Groupies, Amanda, and the Denver, Minneapolis, and Loveland Week of Hope girls. It was really nice to get to spend an afternoon relaxing rather than rushing through lunch to make it back to training on time. After lunch in FoCo, we got to head to our hotel. Thanks to group being so amazing, we get to stay in an extremely nice hotel right next to Group. 

For the next few days we will be hanging around the Loveland area working at Group and just getting to know my crew. CrewF is amazing. We are getting closer each day and I love that we can all be sarcastic with each other already. I am so excited for what this summer has in store for us. We are going to have a blast travelling the country and serving the Lord.

Let this summer commence. May I find "What I Stand For." And grow closer to CrewF and God!

The beginning hasn't even begun.

One of my amazing MCs from last year! :) 

It is that time in training when the MCs and the Directors join us in Colorado. They arrived on Wednesday evening. We ate a big dinner at Group's Headquarters. It is always an amazing experience. It is great to see last year's Directors and MCs, as well as getting to meet MCs and Directors for this upcoming summer.

This year two of last year's summer staff are now MCs, they were not able to be on staff and commit an entire summer. It is just great to be here and spend time with them again. So glad we could hang out with Austin and Jon!!

Since the leadership is here, it is time to really begin thinking about the summer! Life is starting to get real!! As one of my supervisors said yesterday, the beginning hasn't even started!! Sunday is send off. We will be leaving Loveland to head all across the country. Currently there are 23,000 participants that are going to a Group Mission Trip this summer! How amazing to be able to be working with such a large amazing organization.

As the week ends please just be praying for me and my fellow Group Mission Trip Summer Staff. Pray that we all want to be here and to work our hardest this summer. Pray that we may grow together and open up to each other. Pray we may be able to travel safely. Pray that we may show 23,000 people the heart of the Lord. Pray for our camps, the residents and the co-sponsors. Pray that we do our job with excellence. And most importantly, pray that God will touch our hearts this summer and change our lives. 

Cupcakes, Daisies, and Big Old Rocks

My wonderful Trainer Melissa!

Well I have made it through the first week of training. It has been a long and busy week of training from 9:00 to 5:00. But I feel like I am learning so much more about my position that I either did not know last year or is completely new! I am so grateful to have such an amazing trainer. I don't know if I could imagine any other person training us other there Melissa! :) She is absolutely amazing. Best way to describe our training throughout the days is the name of this post. "Some people think Crew Managing is easy. But it isn't all just cupcakes, daisies, and big old rocks!" Melissa told us this today when we were getting a little too rowdy.

This just shows how much fun we can have!!
Pudding on one of our own boss' face!

This afternoon we moved to the middle school in Loveland, Colorado. It isn't the same as Estes Park, but it is the best part of training. We really get into the big part of our job, and it is amazing that we can really act like we are camp. Also it is great to get to spend so much time with these amazing people for one more week.

Just standing in front of a
waterfall in the Rocky Mountains!

As always we have the weekend off from training. And who knows what will happen when you have 100 college age people in a school with free time. Friday night we went on our annual Sundance Saloon. It was an experience as always. Just like last year, very few of us were able to really do well on the dance floor. Caleb, my prayer partner, did amazing! He showed up ready to dance like a champ. I know he lives in Kansas, but I was thoroughly impressed. We had a blast enjoying some music and good times! :)

Dream Lake! How can one believe that
 God made this beautiful landscape?

Saturday for some unknown reason I decided to climb a freaking mountain!!! We drove up to the Rocky Mountain National Park! I went up there with the expectation that it was going to be an unbearable day. Spending the day hiking up a mountain wouldn't be fun at all. Turns out we took a path that followed up to three lakes: Bear Lake, Dream Lake, and Emerald Lake. We finished the hike at a Emerald Lake, which was 10,080 feet above sea level!! It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. I don't know if I have ever enjoyed nature this much. It was one of the most Godly moments that I have ever experienced. I was able to just sit an enjoy time in the quiet with some amazing Group Mission Trips Summer Staff. 

I could not have asked for a better weekend!! It was so enjoyable to just relax and have fun in between the two weeks of training. 

God of Wonders!

My view of the Rocky Mountains this week!! What a beautiful way to be reminded of how powerful and amazing our God is! 

Phantom Poopers!

The following story is why I love my job! :) 

Oh Crew Manager Training! Today we discussed the "phantom pooper." This is the person on your crew who doesn't let you know that they just did their business in the bathroom before you. It is a terrible act that does happen over the summer. You don't want to be that person, and you don't want to deal with that person.

Overall point of this post, is how much I love my fellow summer staffers. These people are so much fun and we bring out the best in each other. We know what we are here to do, therefore we don't mind being ourselves in front of one another. I could pick a better group of people to spend two weeks with secluded in the mountains! 

Love Love Love

My first view of Estes Park, CO in a year! :) So excited to be back!

I cannot believe that I am here right now. It's a whole new group of summer staff for Group Mission Trips this year. And so far it's a whole new different experience. I'm loving this just as much as last year. 

On our way to the airport after our wonderful slumber party! :) 

Currently I am just refreshing my mind on how to do this for my upcoming camps. Speaking of my camps, this year I am heading to Valdosta,Georgia, Muskegon, Michigan, and Wintersville, Ohio. My crew seems great. I am ready to get to know them so much more. 

We are reunited!! :) And it does feel so good! :)

Leslie and I became crew manager training! :) 

Overall this year is going to be amazing!!

Please pray for safe travels this summer. Also that The Lord is very much with all of us Summer Staff this summer. We have a big job ahead of us and God has a great plan for us all! 

Peace and blessings. 

Flying High!!

Today is the day!! I'm in the airport sitting at the terminal ready to head to Colorado!! 

Let the summer begin. I'm exhausted and I hate flying. But today is going to be amazing!! 

I'm staying at the Plattner residence with Chelsea and Adam! We are going to have an amazing slumber party with Sammie's family. I wish she could be there, but she is all cool and a trainer. 

I cannot believe that I am going to be a summer staff returner. God has blessed me so much with this amazing opportunity. I only hope I can live up to his expectations and be a blessing to others. 

Pray for safe travels!!

Next time you hear from me I will be in Colorado!!! :) 

Summer Staff Round 2

Well I cannot believe an entire year has gone by. It feels like yesterday was August 3, 2012 when I left the DIA a complete mess. But here we are and I leave for Colorado in 5 days.

Looking back I cannot believe everything that has happened in the last year. I have grown so much. Many good and bad experiences have occurred. And it was through those good and bad life experiences that I was able to grow and mature. I will never forget one day in late March when I was walking through Louisville, I just started to reflect and pray. I reflect on so many life choices and the bad things that have happened and how I probably caused almost all of them. Then as I was praying last year's theme came to my mind, Rev. 21:5 "Look, I am making all things new!" And this felt extremely relevant to my life and that moment. The part of the verse "am making" shows that Christ is presently making us new. And it reminds me of what an MC said at a camp last year. "Sometimes you mush be broken down to be made new." This never made more sense than that walk in March. Everything that happened, happened for a reason. It was God showing me how much I can take and beginning to make me new. 

This was exactly what I needed to prepare my self for this summer. The theme for this year's Workcamp is "What do you stand for?" I really think that this is the making new part. I think that this entire year was difficult for me so I can find out what I stand for. I cannot wait for another amazing summer.

In five days I will head west, on a plane bound west. I will be paired with new crew partners, go to new locations, and experience new things. I just cannot wait to see what God has in store for me. 

Currently I am spending my days packing and preparing for the summer ahead. So as my summer begins, I ask that you keep me in your prayers. Pray for safe travels, my crew partners, my camps, my campers, the residents in need, the cities that will see God's love, and for me to find out what I stand for.