53 hours in 4 1/2 days.....

I hosted the youth group that was on grounds for a retreat this weekend. They were a small group but they stayed through Sun. afternoon and the interns were in the kitchen instead of bringing in TnT workers. Then we had a two day Outdoor Ed. group and a work group in the beginning of the week. So we have been pretty busy. We work tomorrow too... but that should just be cleaning and such things. Our day off this week is Thursday and then we have a group in this weekend again.

I counted it all up, (there is no exaggeration at all in this blog, I promise. haha) In the last 102 1/2 hours I have worked 53 of those hours. That pretty much means I have worked for the last 4 1/2 days. Here is what has occurred in my life in that time frame.....

• 12 hour work days
  
• 11 meals served
  
• 10 sessions of zip line.
  
• 9 ladies dancing... ohh sorry i mean 9 cookies eaten. (Doug's cookies are that good)
  
• 8 splinters (thanks for getting them out Dess)
  
• 7 episodes of "Boy Meets World" watched on-line. (it's what we do cuz we don't have tv)
  
• 6 hour average of sleep per night (not too bad)
  
• 5 Allergy pills taken
  
• 4 broken nails (3 fingers and 1 toe)
  
• 3 layers of "Sarah you got some sun today." (thanks to all the zip line sessions)
  
• 2 bonfires set up (hence the splinters)
  
• 1 shower (yes, i am an intern)

And that is just a taste of it! I have never felt so exhausted and so fulfilled at the same time.....

You know you're an RVR intern if....

Here they are, the top 10 ways to know if you're an RVR intern.


10. You might be an RVR intern if you are developing skills as a bee fighter.

9. If you have ever been cheese touched by a Zeigenfuse, you might be an RVR intern.

8. If you are an RVR intern you should know where the housekeeping supply closet key is hidden.

7. If you go to bed secretly wishing you were Mike Czaja, you might need therapy, but you would be an RVR intern.

6. If you shower fewer times a week than a normal person should and shave less often than that, you are hopefully an RVR intern and not just a crazy hippy.

5. If your house is falling apart, leaning in three different directions or there is poo in your yard on a regular basis, you might be an RVR intern.

4. If you treat Chick-Fil-A Coupons like currency, you are probably an intern at RVR.

3. You might be an RVR intern if you are secretly forming a plan to touch the bison.

2. If you find yourself saying," Nobody dies today!" on a daily basis, you might be an intern at RVR.

And the number 1 way to know if you are an RVR intern...

1. If everyday you look around and say to yourself in disbelief... "This is my job! I get paid to do this!"... then you just might be an RVR intern.

getting back in gear

So this week at the ranch has been a busy one. Tuesday was our first day back at the ranch from our Easter break. We deep cleaned the ranch with the full time staff. It took the whole full time staff all day to clean the ranch. But boy did it look good! We also worked on spring trip stuff and summer programing. We had our bible classes as well. There was a group in this weekend and so we ran adventure elements for them. They were a great group and lots of fun! There was a second open house on Sunday, it was a great day of meeting new people and showing off the ranch. We were in charge of food and fellowship for the Monday morning devotions so we worked Monday and now we have off today!

On a side note...
There are some decisions that I need to make in the near future concerning my future. Please pray with me that God will lead me into the ministry that He wants and needs me to serve Him in! And that I will have a peace about the waiting and eventually the decision.

Spring Break!

Sunday after the Open house Taco and I jumped into my already packed up truck and hit the road. We made it to my house in 5 hours exactly! We spent the next week watching tv, sleeping, eating, spending time with loads of my family and friends, playing with my puppies, eating some more and watching movies.

The awesome week also included....

• Helping my sister and the rest of the WEC staff get ready for Easter! We labeled post cards to remind volunteers what time to arrive, sorted, packed and loaded up toys to be taken to the rented facility for the Wee World rooms and then helped set everything up in the temporary Wee World rooms.
• Dinner and an evening at Granny's with David and Maize who were in town for a few days!
• A cookout on our deck with Granny and Grandpa and then an evening visiting with Bob and two of his girls. They loved Taco! Addy giggled and said "His name is Taco Bell!" then she told him he looked like a rooster!
  
• Several meals and evenings spent at Granny's with Lisa and her girls and some of their friends.
  
• Disc golf at Newport News park!
• A trip to WCRC to show Taco around, visit special people and tour the new youth facility!
  
• Lunch with Amanda and Megan and Aaron! And then a dinner at the Whaley apartment followed by a walk through colonial Williamsburg and dessert at The Corner Pocket.
  
• A day out on the town with my sister, shopping and eating and getting a hair cut!
  
• Sunrise service at Providence then the earlier service with Waters Edge followed by the regular service at Providence. (Taco helped mom and I with praise songs!)
• Lunch and talking and blowing stuff up at Grandma's all afternoon and into the evening!!

Another lunch at Granny's and a quick tune up of the truck and we were headed back to the ranch, fat and happy! It was a great week and a very good Easter!

Open house

Us girls made it back from Ocean City in time for the open house at the ranch. We spent the last few weeks cleaning out the cabins at Fort Roller and the Tp's at Arrowhead Woods and then Sunday afternoon showing people around. It was good times!

Funniest Question asked me:
Man standing inside the tp with me and his family: "Do these Tp's have lightning rods? I mean I am sure they do because I assuming you wouldn't have big metal poles standing up in the air without some kind of protection."
Me, kinda confused about where that question came from and a little shocked that someone who would know enough to ask a question like that couldn't figure out the answer by just looking around...: "Well, these are wooden poles and they go into the ground... plus they are surrounded by tall trees.... so... I am pretty sure they are safe. I can ask my boss and get a more official answer for you if you'd like?"
Man who is now actually looking around at the tp and seeing the WOODEN poles..:" Nahh, I was just curious."

Ocean City!

Barb took the girl interns to Ocean City, MD for a weekend of recruiting! We set off in the Subaru loaded to the max with stuff for the RVR booth and as much stuff as any four women would need for a weekend away! The 3 hour road trip to the Youth convention was filled with unashamedly singing along with the ipod and girl talk. Naturally. Once we got there we set up the booth in the convention hall, got some chines for dinner and checked into our nice, big room at the Sea Breeze hotel! We spent the evenings and Sat. morning in the RVR booth, mostly keeping people from dying on the indo board, but we also passed out some info and got some Youth Leader contacts. We also hung out a bit with Ashes Remain, mostly because we are that cool, also because they wanted to try the indo board. I must say that having four women (and good looking women at that!) in the booth all weekend was one of RVR's better decisions! We did a mighty fine job. (!) On Sat. afternoon we went to the board walk and shopped a bit. It was cold and windy but fun! We also spent some time in the room just relaxing, watching tv and talking. We ate at some fun places with great food! Barb knows all the hook ups! We packed up the booth late Sat. night so we could head out early Sun. morning. The ride home consisted of Duncan Doughnuts and snuggling in the back seat with Dessa as we napped! It was a great weekend! Barb rocks!

Funny things that happened in OC:
* Barb, after asking Kevin about a particular restaurant that we wanted to eat at: "He said to lick your arm pit before you eat there and then tell him which one you think tastes better." (we all burst out laughing, needless to say we did not eat there!)
*Beth, as we are walking down the board walk "Ohh dip'n dots Dess!"
Dessa, who is walking in front of Beth turns around and says in a disgusted voice: "I hate dip'n dots."
*Beth's souvenir for Stephen and what we did to get it! (wink)

Black lung, Fail Tuesday and Charlie...

• We have been cleaning and having classes like usual. The cleaning was expanded to Fort Roller. We have been "deep cleaning" the cabins up there for the open house that we will be having there at the end of the month. The dust is unreal. We make it fun and laugh about the amount of dust that we are bathing in and breathing in. It is dirty work! Hopefully the "black lung" that we all joke about getting doesn't actually happen!
• On Tuesday Matt and Michelle took us to the inner harbor for the day! It was a beautiful day and we were all very excited to get away from the ranch and spend some time together! The first place Matt took us to was the Washington Memorial. We were going to climb up in it but it was closed on Tuesdays. So we just looked at it and then went to the next place, an Art Museum. It was grand looking from the outside and Matt's excitement for showing it to us was getting us all interested. When we found the door locked we read the sign that said it was closed Tuesdays as well. So we went to the third place Matt wanted to show us! A basilica! We wandered around in it for a few minutes before our tour started! It was very interesting, and beautiful! We were all teasing Matt about it actually being open! Because the other activities were closed we wandered around the harbor for a while. We got some bubble tea and then we headed back towards the ranch so we could stop at REI! I love that store! I can't afford anything in it....but it is fun to look and dream! A stop at Chick-fil-a and our day was complete! Not really a fail at all! But we all teased Matt about it being lame anyway! haha
• We had a great week of normal work! Detailing, programing, classes.... The weather has been glorious all week!
  
• We had our last Winter Meltdown! (The one that was rescheduled due to the massive amounts of snow!) It went great! We also had an Outdoor Ed. group in for the day on Sat. so things were pretty busy! Everything ran smoothly and right on time! The two groups had great times at the activities and the staff loved being outside all day even if it was exhausting! On Saturday evening after the service a boy named Charlie was lurking around the back of the OTM, it looked like he was waiting to hand in the cards that the kids filled out as part of the service and so I asked him if he would like me to take it for him. That turned into a conversation about how confused he was. Long story short... Charlie decided to live for Christ! When the conversation ended I could tell that Charlie was still unsure about some things. With him now in the capable hands of his youth leader I trust that Charlie will figure things out and come to understand more fully about the decision he made. It just breaks my heart to see kids so lost.....
• On Sunday after all the Winter Meltdown had ended Taco and I went disc golfing and then headed to Brad's to watch the rest of the race. We couldn't find it, so was watched a movie then brad came home and flipped right to the race channel just in time for me to see the Jimmie Johnson had won the race!!!!!!!! Then we put a bunch of songs on my ipod! good day! Great weekend!