Recruiting Trip

As part of the internship we all get to go along on a recruiting trip! I was scheduled to go to EMU with Zig and Brad a few week ago but we canceled that trip because of all the snow we were getting. So they decided to send me to PBU on Thursday with Matt and Brad. Because of the now that was falling on Wednesday night we canceled that one as well. I ended up going to Salisbury University with Dan and Zach Thursday afternoon. It was a good trip. We met up with some past RVR staff and had dinner with them. Then we set up our banner outside of a campus crusade meeting! It was a great meeting and we had fun talking with the students afterward. I stayed the night with some former staff and then met up with Zach and Dan for some breakfast and two morning interviews. After the interviews we drove back to the ranch!

Some fun things that happened on the trip:

• Dan telling me his theory on driving.... "to live is Christ to die is gain, I don't mind dieing." (and that is exactly how he drives!!!!! haha I should know, I was sitting in the back next to the banner poles, the TV stand and this big black case that all shifted towards me when he merged or turned. There were several moments I thought everything would come down on top of me and several times they almost did. Luckily I was able to hold things in place for the most part. That or he whipped back fast enough that the stuff shifted the other way before it hit me! hahah jk.... kindda)
• Dan taught me how to play some chords on the piano!
• We had some pretty good conversations in the car and while we were waiting for various things. They are pretty cool guys!
  
• Zach and Dan stayed with a pretty interesting character! I am very thankful for the girls that took me in. Their house was much nicer!
  
• We stopped at Guitar Center on the way home! Zach and Dan ran around like little kids in a toy store! It was quite amusing!
• The lady behind the counter at Hardey's. She was a hoot and Zach and I were greatly entertained while trying to place our order!
  

Hay is for Horses....

Today we started our version of what I guess the medical profession would call a clinical rotation! We are going to be spending a few days working with specific programs here at the ranch to get a feel for how they run and to gain some new knowledge and experiences in different areas of camp! Today we started this process of obtaining a well-rounded education in the barn! We had a great day working with Biz and Morgan and the horses up in the Ramuda. Of course this experience didn't come without some fun and a trail ride through the snow! Besides a few basic, hands-on lessons in grooming and handling of a horse we also mucked out stalls and watched the farrier shoe some horses. Over all it was a very productive day! A special thanks to Chester and Ember for letting me ride on them today!

Break it down....

Lets break down this last week.....

• Cleaning, lots of good Bible classes, more tubing (we built a jump! it was pretty sweet!)
• Also, this week we went to see Kutless and Casting Crowns in concert! WRBS was sponsoring the concert and gave a bunch of us tickets! So we hopped on the Metro and went to the city to see them! It was great! So much fun! Have I mentioned that I love my job?! 'Cuz I do!
• Winter Meltdown was awesome! It ran pretty smoothly!
  
• We haven't gotten any more snow!!!!!!!! And the snow that is still everywhere has started to slowly melt away! (Leaving mud everywhere!)
• Taco and I took a road trip to PA. to see some of his CTI friends! While we were there we did some sightseeing! We went by some of the places where my family and I used to go on vacation! We bought whoopie pies at the Bird in Hand bakery, drove past some of my favorite campgrounds, and drove through the Sight and Sound parking lot! It was a pretty great day!
• Our kitchen got a face lift! Every thing moved out. Our fridge moved into the snack shop, our microwave moved upstairs along with all the dry goods and the dishes, and our sink, cabinets and oven went on a vacation too. So the food situation was interesting for a few days! All this so we could get a new hardwood, kitchen floor, (no more hole!!!!!) new tile walls and a paint job! (among many other things) They moved the big appliances back in today and the kitchen looks brighter and has a lot more room. We haven't moved everything back into the cabinets yet but we are looking forward to the day when we can cook out of a functioning kitchen again. (if you can call what we do cooking!) Also, if you find a slightly used jar of creamy peanut butter, an individually wrapped baby sweet potato, and a kitchen table.....they are ours. We miss them and would like them back! (i don't know how we lost them in that whole process! but we did!)

Snow, Valentines and Home improvements!

OK, so on top of the 30 inches of snow that was already on the ground we got another 18! And all the shoveling and salting and sledding that had been done was done all over again! (i am currently looking on amazon for a new back to replace the one that i broke while shoveling all that snow! jk) One day after a morning of shoveling, Dessa and I were sent out to assess a shoveling situation. They wanted us to shovel out a path to the x-barn, in that path was a mountain of snow that the plow had pushed up while it was clearing the parking lot and all the snow that had fallen off the roof of the x-barn! The snow was 6 -8 feet deep and packed, we had a hard enough time scrambling up it to see if we could get to the bard doors! The problem was that with every step you never knew if you would stay on top of the snow mountain or fall in to your waist and have to climb out! It was kindda pathetic and after helping each other out of several holes Dessa and I were laughing pretty hard. Our assessment...."You can't move the snow if you can't move through the snow." They got the tractor to dig out the path!
As Dessa so humorously pointed out on her facebook page..."How is a girl that is just over 5 feet tall supposed to walk through snow that is 4 feet deep?" Needless to say it was hard! (i am currently looking on amazon for new legs to replace the ones that i wore out trudging through all that snow! jk) Over all it was a pretty good week!

The RVR staff and their families got together one night in the snack shop for a pot luck! It was great to fellowship with every one outside of work. Especially since the snow had kept most of the families inside!

Winter Meltdown was awesome this weekend! We couldn't run most of the activities because of the snow. So we had a winter carnival instead. All the shoveling and snow packing was worth it after seeing the kids play in it! On the hill between the pool and the zip line we had our tubing tracks, on the frozen pool was broom ball, in the field across from the pool was a snowman making contest and in the clean snow just outside of the horse pasture we had a "make your own snow cone station"! It was a blast!

Sunday was Valentines Day. In the evening the interns and Steven (Beth's boyfriend) got all dressed up and went to Outback for dinner! When we got there we found there was a three hour wait, so we went to IHOP instead! haha It was a great evening! Many laughs and lots of stories were shared! After dinner we joined some other RVR staff for ice cream and some Olympic sport watching! It was a great night!

In other news:
Over the last few week or so our house has gone through some much needed changes! Our door frame was replaced! We now have a door that latches, a door knob that must turn to open the door and a frame that seals out the cold! Also, the brave maintenance boys made many trips into our basement with 5 gallon buckets and removed all the water, muck, mold, and the pet octopus! As I am typing this men are in my kitchen formulating a plan of action for fixing the hole that is in the floor by the sink! Soon there will be no more hole and no more plywood covering up the hole!

Also, they are calling for 7 more inches of snow today....... This is getting ridiculous!

A Pslam by Sarah

Matt and Zig are leading us in some Old Testament Bible studies. Today the topic was the book of Psalms. Matt lead us in our lesson about the different types of Psalms and who wrote them and when. It was pretty interesting. At the end of the lesson he gave us some time to sit with God and encouraged us to write our own Psalm. I had never thought to do this before, and I really liked the idea. This is my Psalm......

Oh Lord your ways are right,
You have shown me numerous times.
In ignorance I have forgotten those lessons,
In patient love You have taught me again
How to trust in Your unfailing guidance
And rely on Your faithful presence.
Never have You left me Lord.
Even when I was not seeking You,
You held me up under hardship
And strengthened me in my weakness.
Teach me again Lord
How to walk with You.
And help me to not forget
How much you have done.
Empty me till only You remain,
Fill me till I am renewed.
Show me Your love oh Lord
That I might show others.
Give me eyes that see people as you see them,
And a heart that loves people as you love them.
Let my hands be used in Your service,
And my feet go where you send me.
Guard my mind from the things that distract
And let my words always bring You honor.
May my attitude be like Christ's
And my life a powerful witness,
To all that You are
And all You have done.
Here Am I...... use me!

Shovels, Camcorders and Tubes...

We worked Monday of this week since we had off on Saturday. We haven't been able to get in our classroom all last week because they were putting down a new floor in the new foyer! So after our meeting in the Conference room we got bundled up and went to work outside. There was 30 inches of snow out there that had to be cleared off the walkways and steps of all the buildings around camp. We shoveled snow all morning. Not an easy job, but we got it done. Let me just say that snow has officially lost all it's magical powers for me! Matt is really great about knowing when we have worked hard and usually rewards us with some play time. Carpet ball anyone? We spent the afternoon taking our turns in front of a camcorder answering questions about the GPS program for the promotional video that we are making for the internship. That was fun and a nice change of pace. But a little awkward.... haha. We all got some good laughs in at the expense of the person who's turn it was to stare at the camera!

Tuesday we had a bible class in the morning and in the afternoon Matt came in and told us that our job for the rest of the day was to make sledding tracks in the snow! No joke! RVR wants to run snow tubing as an activity for the Winter Meltdown this weekend. So they wanted us to make paths through the snow to the top of the hill by the zip line and several tracks for the kids to tube down. We got bundled up, inflated the tubes and headed to the hill. First we rolled down the hill to help pack the snow (snow is cold and wet and finds it's way into every layer of clothing regardless of if it was tucked in or not!!!) Then the only thing left to do was climb and slide over and over again to get the tracks smooth and deep. I have no idea how many times I climbed that hill! So fun! So exhausting! We spent all afternoon out there! It was so pretty on the top of the hill! (Snow regained some of it's magical powers for me) It snowed all afternoon and the big flakes were coming down steady on top of the already deep snow. We had lots of helpers come out too. Just as we were slowing down the ranch kids came out with fresh energy and revived ours. It was fun watching them and playing with them! They were so cute all bundled up and struggling to get up a hill covered in snow that was almost taller than them! Zig brought out the tractor to see if we could get the big toboggan to the top of the hill. The only problem was the snow was too deep for the tractor to get to the top of the hill! (the same hill we had been climbing all day!!!!!) It did make it up a few times and we dug and pushed the toboggan down the hill to get a path created for it. It wasn't working and finally we decided that the snow was too deep for the tractor and the toboggan. We were all exhausted by the time we called it a day. By that time the day's snow had already added a few inches to the preexisting 30!

I still can't believe that this is my job!!!

Snow Day!!!!!!!!!!!!

It started snowing around noon on Friday. By Friday night we had a few inches. A bunch of us gathered in the Buffalo Lodge to watch movies, play games and make plans for the next day! On Saturday we woke up to snow that was almost 2 feet deep! We all gathered in the snack shop and pitched in to make a delicious pancake breakfast! After breakfast we went back to the Buffalo Lodge to play games and watch movies while our breakfast settled! Taco is teaching me how to play basketball! It stopped snowing not long after noon. Then we got bundled up and went outside. We romped around in the snow that was above my knees for a while, throwing snowballs, diving into the snow banks and rolling around in it. We didn't go sledding because the snow is too deep and powdery. But we found a snow bank that the plow had created at the end of the parking lot. We dug a tunnel through it and them dug out on either side of the tunnel to create a nice big room that 4 of us could fit in! The sun is starting to set later (finally!) and so we watched the sun set in the snow before coming in! I got to talk to my family tonight! (I miss them and wish they could have been here to play with me) Then we all went back to the Buffalo Lodge to play some basketball. I am learning!

Whew... what a day! Best snow day ever!!!!!!!

3 more inches...

Saturday's snow didn't last long and the week went on as normal. We spent the days detailing camp. On Tuesday the Czaja family invited the girl interns over to their house for dinner. I love that family! They are such amazing, loving people who are raising solid, adorable kids. We had so much fun laughing and talking with them all. During diner the snow started up again and by the time we were headed home there was already an inch or two on the ground. I was supposed to go to EMU on Wednesday to help recruit summer staff. We were going to leave a 5 am and be back by 5 pm. Tuesday evening they called off the trip because of the snow. I was a little bummed and a little glad. They said they would figure out another recruiting trip for me to go on! We ended up getting about 3 inches that were good for a few trips down the hill on inner tubes! The rest of the week was spent cleaning and catching up on some classes that Winter Meltdown had postponed. We also had some summer prep. time. I am going to be writing the story and the clues for the new Super Sleuth camp! I am excited to get that together! It is going to be awesome! We also worked some on a promotions video for the internship.

Winter Meltdown was canceled for the weekend because of the weather reports.

Zip line in the snow, hole in the snow pants.

Winter Meltdown weekend number 2 came and went just a quickly as the first. Things seemed to run smoother in some areas. Over all it was a great weekend! On Saturday we got snow! About 3 or 4 inches fell Saturday afternoon. The kids loved this and it made everything more fun. I was one of a handful of people who ran the zip line for the kids who were brave enough to fight the elements and ride. Needless to say it was cold. Snow adds a new factor into the zip line equation and we were having an interesting time solving it. The good thing was that we had enough help that we could rotate in and out and stay somewhat warm. The kids had a bit of trouble getting up the hill to the platform, but when they did it made the cold ride down that much more worth it! They loved it despite the cold, and it was worth the cold to see their excitement.

During a break between groups a few of us were huddled around the small fire that we had out there to keep us warm. Earlier that day the fire had been in a barrel. This barrel had a bottom and so when the snow fell into the barrel it melted turning to water and putting out the fire. When the fire went out the water froze, thus creating a layer of ice at the bottom of the barrel. So we dumped the wood out into the ground and got it smoldering again. While we were all huddled around these smoldering logs I turned away to talk to someone. Apparently while I was distracted the fire picked up a bit and got hot, because when I turned back around I had a hole about the size of my hand in the leg of my snow pants at the ankle. My snow pants didn't catch fire, (they were not smoldering) they simply melted. Bummer right! Luckily it was towards the end of the day and so my ankle didn't get too cold.

I found some new snow pants on sale.