In a HOLE

Once I went to work, the greater part of my day was spent in a hole. This is the irrigation hole that allows water to come in from the lower lake, so that all the irrigation needs may be met. It had a lot of silt in it that needed to be gotten rid of. Along with silt there was a large plastic bag, a 5 gallon bucket, a crow bar, large rocks, 2x4's and other things.

It was very dark, smelly, intense, and a little scary. It was about 20 ft. deep, and about 8 feet wide. I was down there for an hour and a half at least with a small shovel scooping this crap into a bucket tied to a rope.It was a real good day.

douche

Here we go, now this picture has a funny story behind it. It goes a little something like this. . . . at maybe 8 or 9PM Ryan decided he wanted to take the ODC boys skunk hunting. I came around at about the time the had scared the little guy into a culvert that ran under a roadway in camp. They had blocked both ends off with rocks, and were planning on running water inside it to scare the fellow out and then just mash it with a bunch of rocks. Well, in the course of deciding what would be the best way of doing this, they decided it would be best to put a very large black plastic trash bag on one end, and run water on the other, along with hitting a 5 gallon container to creat a very loud and booming sound to scare Mr. Skunk. Well, long and crazy story short, it did scare the skunk out, but the skunk saw a small opening to where it could escape the trash bag. As soon as there was movement, all the ODC boys scrambled and Ryan ended up getting sprayed.

So, now Ryan smelled like skunk, and Kevin and I were driving him in his own truck. Ryan sat in the back of the bed, and Kevin and I were up front. We drove to the local grocery store to find a Douche. Now, some problems were presented with this. Number one, neither Kevin or myself knew what a Douche Bag was. So, what we did was go up to a gentlemen in the produce department and said something to the effect of, "hey, umm our friend got sprayed by a skunk, and well we want to buy a douche for him, but we don't really know what that is. Can you help us?" The guy kind of chuckled and said, "Well, I suppose when you get upset at a friend, you can call him a Douche Bag, heh heh." We were like, "No, but seriously, what is it?" As we made our way to the feminine products isle, we had attracted the attention of one other employee, and that is what you see in the picture above. You can see Kevin reaching for a Douche Bag, and the two workers (a middle aged man from produce, and a stocker). I was laughing extremely hard at this point.

The skunk made it out alive, and I laughed more this evening, that I usually do in a week.

Kevin Reid & Oraganos

So, somebody arrived yesterday that is very dear to my heart. His name is Kevin Reid, and he was the Landscape intern at Lost Canyon last year. And, in case you didn't know, I came out to Lost Canyon last summer for a month and volunteered my time and work doing Landscaping. Well, Kevin was able to come to CAMP for a bit and hang out with Ryan and I.Here is Kevin. This picture almost looks like an action shot. Ya know, like he is moving his hands really fast as if he is boxing or something.Kevin had the great idea to go to a restaurant called Oreganos. He loves this place, and swears by their pizza. We got there and the lady seating people said it would be a 35-45 minute wait. We all sat in the waiting room for over an hour. Okay, not a big deal. We had tons of conversation and just had a really good time with each other. Sitting closest is Ben Andrews (he was the sound tech intern last summer). Far right is Kevin, next to him is Mark Booth (Intern Coordinator), and directly to Mark's right kind of stuck back in the corner is Bret Abraham (lifeguard intern), and right next to Bret is of course Ryan Kopicky (My boss).

It was a fun night, except all the waiting. Once we ordered, we had to wait another hour for our pizza. Which by the way was amazing. Kevin got a Shirly Temple, and was being harassed by the staff as well as all the guys. It was enjoyable to say the least. Good time today.

demons & ice cream

Okay, so I was helping out my ODC boys serve ice cream this evening, when all of a sudden, Evan (you know Evan) looks over at me with this strange face and asks me, "are there suppose to be campers in their cabins right now?" I said, "No, they are supposed to be in club right now." To which he replied, "Well, I think I saw a camper in his cabin, can we go check?" I said, "Well, sure we can."

We walked over and found this guy. Some camper was dressed up in a demon/gorilla outfit. But here's the thing. Evan saw this strange creature standing in front of the door of that cabin, and then the door closed by itself. Evan really thought we were about to walk into a real physically Spiritual battle. Luckily that was not the case, but I was very pleased that he would choose to go into battle with me by his side. But, I wish he would have told me whats up first. ;o)

-Grace&Peace

speed blobbing & pizza

I woke up today and wondered, "humm what will I do on my day off?" I thought that I might go up one of the mountains, but then I remembered that I am at almost 8,000 ft, and so that idea quickly faded. I was laying in my bed when some of the Guest Services interns came into the room and woke up Mike Rudder (sound tech intern) and asked if he wanted to help out with the BLOB. They were going to replace the old shell with the new one that had just come in a couple days prior. Nate (a ropes intern) asked me if I wanted to jump off the BLOB tower once they removed the BLOB. Of course I said, "YES!"Thesen are the manly men that did all the work. First we got the old BLOB out of the water, deflated it, and took the bladdre out of it. There is a bladder that actually holds the air inside of the actual BLOB itself. When I climbed into the new BLOB to put the bladder into it, it was insanely hot and amazingly sweaty. . . Sweaty, but fun.You can see me in the far back of this picture. I was 'trying' to help tie down the new BLOB, but I really suck at knots, o mostly, I just floated.There was a lot of fun. Running, and jumping, and soaring through the air. But, once the new BLOB was put into place, someone had the bright idea to do speed blobbing. . . . In speed BLOBBING, you have to jump every 5 seconds. Even if the person in front of you is not ready. Well, once I had jumped on, and the person behind me jumped. . . . I was not prepared, and I landed on my shoulder/arm in an awkward position.This was the result. The moral of this story, "Speed BLOBBING is not very safe."

I had a good day off, mostly just hanging around camp chillen with other interns. When it came close to dinner time, I really had a huge urge for Papa Johns pizza. And that is exactly what I got. Me & Andre (another Ropes intern) went into Flagstaff, got an extra large Pizza with all the toppings I like, found a grassy hill near the main road; ate pizza and talked about God & Life. It was a good time. I tried to take a picture of the table/pizza, but by the time I got my phone out, it was too late.This was the picture I ended up taking. You can not see Andre or the pizza, but you can see the light on the creepy building behind us. On the other side of me was a pretty busy street and a really nice and grassy area surrounded by tree's. It was a really good time, I really like talking to Andre.

That was my day, God is so good!

Reminder day

Today served as a reminder. As I approach the end of this internship, I begin to feel as though I am not fully here. I have experienced so much, and God has shown me and taught me so many things. But, I have been sort of "mentally checking out." Today sort of snapped me out of that. But, God also revealed himself in some neat ways.He showed me this amazingly beautiful rainbow! It was so crisp and clear. I was in total awe! It was right after the campers left too. I don't think that means anything, just an observation.This week's new believers "SAY SO" time was very good to listen to. It served as a reminder for why I am here as well. So many kids would say things like, "I finally found my father," or "I fell in love with Jesus," or "I joined the family." It is so good to hear someone who is completely broken, totally GET the message of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful feeling. This picture was taken while I was driving to an intern time at one of the property staff's house. There was good food, and awkyardness for me. I feel like the outsider with most of the interns. I get along with all of them, I would call them my family completely, BUT, that is about it. There are only a few who I can really TALK to. That is what it is too. I accept it, and it just is what it is.

So, when I left the internship party thingy (which was as quick as I could), I got back to camp and the work crew kids (high school volunteers) were having a pool party. I helped get them music and some other fun things, then got on my bathing suite and joined in with my ODC boys. We had a blast, and they are why I am here, and why I am to stay fully present. I get that, and accept it in a big way. It is funny, because I had, or maybe still have a critic to my BLOG that has said several times in the past, "you can only relate to kids, because you have not grown up yourself." Maybe that person is right, and maybe I just need to roll with that. I dunno, just thinking out loud. . . or should I say, "just thinking on BLOG."

I am so excited to see Janice. If everything goes as planned, She will be in my arms in 18 days! Please God, allow everything to work out so that Janice and I can spend time together before we both start school again. That is my prayer in a big way.

slow morning, good day

This morning was very slow, mostly because it is Breakfast in bed day. That means that "almost" everyone in camp, including interns and summer staff sleep in till 9:45. Which is okay, they need to have days like that. BUT, from a work standpoint, it really puts a damper on getting the day off on a good foot.All the assignment team (people giving the talk, acting funny, in charge of discipline, etc.) work together with the A.M. kitchen people to prepare B-Fast in bed for the kiddies.

We worked on this and that, and the day was some what productive. I had a good day, but it is 7:17P.M. and I have yet to go take a shower and dive into the Word.

PRAYER REQUEST

My mom is having more foot problems. She had foot surgery on her right foot, and all the crap that has been going on with that for the past year. But, just recently (today) her left foot has been bothering her. She is set to go on vacation with my dad soon, and is getting very discouraged by all this foot stuff. I prayed with her, but could tell that her spirits are low. Please pray for healing, but also that she may be able to find peace and happiness even with a bum foot.