The Final Results Are In...

September 29, 2005
Well, I arrived back safely from my interview in Arkansas. The past two days were very busy, but it was all worth it because I am officially no longer unemployed! So in a few weeks I will be like that person in the picture with the helmet and harness on belaying a bunch of people I met earlier that day. Now that is what I call a job! Oh and the best part is that I am going to be sharing this amazing house (check out that great view below) with some of the other staff that work at the Soderquist Center. Can you believe it? No…well I don’t blame you. I am not going to be living there but that is the other facility that the Soderquist Center owns so I get to visit it once and a while. And let me tell you, this place is nothing short of being amazing. I mean the place has two laundry shoots and a bomb shelter! Something that every house needs. Right? Right!

So now I am in the process of finding some housing. Once I get some kind of temporary or more permanent living I will be moving down to Siloam Springs, AR the home of John Brown University. Beautifully located in the northwest region of Arkansas’ Ozarks: just a hop, skip, and a jump from Oklahoma (translation: about 5 miles). Hey if you are ever passing through, just let me know. At first I might find it kind of odd that you are passing through that part of the country but I will welcome you just the same.

Did Someone Hit the Pause Button?

September 20, 2005

So can you guess where I am now? Well, I haven’t made it to Arkansas, yet. Sense August 24th, I have been back in Marion staying with Lynette and having too much fun! “What in the world happened with Arkansas?” you might be asking. Well, it is not out of the picture. Next week I am flying down for an interview (could use some prayer if you think about it). The whole process has been taking longer than I expected but as always, God’s timing is perfect.

Another question that might be running through your brain is “Why didn’t you just stay at home?” Well, let me try to explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum it up. Lynette was short on workers for New Student Orientation training, so I packed everything up and came down to help with the mind set that I would be moving on to Arkansas plus I was going crazy just waiting at home and was in great need of some kind of distraction. A college campus is loaded with distractions and fun times to be had.

Like I said before God’s timing is perfect because if I hadn’t had to do all this waiting I would have missed the mini Kem Three East (where I lived Junior Year) reunion at Ivanhoes (this amazing ice cream place in Upland, IN) where we all got some kind of balloon creation. Plus I have been able to hang with some of my friends from school that haven’t graduated yet (and those that have and are still in the area) and experience an amazing Summit week in chapel and hang out at the coffee shop and pretend like I am a college student without worrying about homework. It is so great. As for Arkansas, I will keep you posted.

Pictured: Back row- L to R: Alicia (yup the same one that I saw in NYC), Heather Smith, Valerie, Amy. Front row - L to R: Lara, Lynette, Ambry, Heather W.

The Natural State

August 15, 2005

Well I am back in Michigan. Besides helping Lynette get settled in to her new place there have been some other things developing. So let’s rewind a bit.

August 2nd, I received an email from an old boss of mine from college, Gary Swyers. He decided to take a position in Arkansas at John Brown University as the Director of Experiential Learning for the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics (hence opening up his old position at IWU so that Lynette could take it). Anyway, in this email he informs me that he is in a position “to hire a full time person to work as a lead facilitator, keeper of the details and overseer of the ropes course. Any interest?”

So that little email started a wild chain of events. I was planning on going back home in the middle of the week but instead I decided to stay at Lynette’s until the weekend. On the 13th, I headed down to Arkansas (had to go through St. Louis so that is why there is a picture of the skyline) to check out JBU and the ropes course. Fortunately for me, Rudy (yup she turned up again) was going to be in Arkansas to get the rest of her stuff and move it to Denver. (Rudy did her graduate work at John Brown. I know, can things be any more twisted?) So I stayed with her and some of her friends while she gave me a tour of the campus and the Soderquist Center. The next day I headed back to Indiana. And today I made it home to see my Aunt Crystal who is visiting from Florida.

The facilities at John Brown are incredible. If you would like to see some pictures or have no idea what a ropes course/challenge course is check out www.soderquist.org/facilities/basecamp/index.asp

Get Moving

August 7, 2005

Well, as I mentioned in my last entry, my roommate Lynette got a job working at IWU. Well because I am still without a job and have some time on my hands, I offered to help her move all of her stuff from to Wisconsin to Marion, IN. All I can say right now is that I am totally exhausted! Let me give you the play-by-play of the last couple of days….

Thursday, August 4th – I drove from home in Michigan down to Marion, IN which is about a 5 hour drive. Once I arrived, I met up with Lynette and we decided our course of action. She had already found a house to rent the day before so without delay, we hopped into her car and drove 5 hours up to Mukwonago, WI. Of course we had to stop at IKEA in Chicago (left) to pick up some stuff for her new place. Luckily Chicago traffic wasn’t too bad so we arrived at her camp house around 9pm.

Friday, August 5th – Woke up nice and early, had a quick breakfast, and got right to work packing. While I was packing, Lynette went and picked up the U-haul truck. Amazingly enough, we had everything packed and in the truck by 3 o’clock. Unable to leave because of hitting Chicago at rush hour, Olen (Lynette’s boss) took us out on the camp boat and Lynette got one last water skiing run in. 6 o’clock we pulled out and headed back to Marion. Well a U-haul truck pulling a car on the back can’t move quite as fast as we would have liked but considering that we made pretty good time. We pulled into the driveway of the Muchmore house (below) at 1:45am thinking of nothing but going to bed.

Saturday, August 6th – Woke up feeling rested but a little sore. No worries because some of the people from Student Development were going to come and help unload the truck at 9am. Well, at 9 no one arrived so we started taking a few things out of the truck while we waited. 9:45 and still no one came, so we decided it was just going to be the two of us. By the end of the day, not only was the truck completely empty but almost all the boxes were unpacked and the house partially decorated.

So now you see why I am totally exhausted today; and, as it turns out, it is Sunday – that wonderful day of rest.

Straight to Hart

July 28, 2005

Well, last night at about 12:30 (so technically you could say today) I got back from a little trip to the west side of the state. Rudy (yup the one that lives in Denver) is vacationing over in Hart, MI with her mom’s side of the family. And what a wild bunch of people they are! I was only with them for two and a half days but they made me feel like a part of the family in no time. I got to spend a day at the beach, eat wonderful food (including some of the best sweet corn I have ever had!), sit around a camp fire and make smores (Rudy thanks for teaching my how to make the perfect smore!), go for a boat ride, go to a soft ball game, eat ice cream and play with some of the cutest kids that ever walked the face of the earth (Logan, Tori, and Austin pictured above). Oh and to top it all off, Rudy’s family loves to play cards. Could I ask for more? Cindy (Rudy’s mom) and I kicked some serious butt playing euchre and I learned a new card game called Polish Poker. Man, life is good.

Side note: While I was there I got a phone call from Lynette (my roommate from college) and she is officially filling Gary Swyers’ old job working at Indiana Wesleyan University (where we went to school) as the Director of the Center for Experiential Learning. You go Girl!

A Strole Through the Garden

July 16, 2005
One of my main reasons for returning home was to help my mom with her Garden walk. You see she is trying to raise money to go and see her Compassion child over in Uganda, Africa. My mom has been supporting her for about 14 years and has always wanted to meet her in person.

I am very proud of my mom for putting this whole event together. She put a lot of hours into planning and making crafts to sell. The walk consisted of 5 houses along Anderson Ave. All of the garden owners did a wonderful job and each garden was beautiful with the layout and vibrant colors.

Unfortunately, the day didn’t start out the best. The overcast of clouds was thick and you could tell that rain was coming. And it rained and thundered and yet people still came. It wasn’t a flood of people but little by little people came to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

In the end, at about 3 o’clock the walked ended and the sun broke through the clouds. The walk as a whole was by no means a failure. People came and gave out of the goodness of their hearts

The Road to Indy

July 15, 2005

Well my time in Denver had to come to an end. I had a wonderful time. It is hard to believe I was there for 34 days when originally I was only going to be there about 36 hours. Well, God is still in control and so I have made my way to Indianapolis, Indiana.

On July 11 at 4:30am I hopped on I-70 in Denver. 4 states and about 1100 miles later I got off I-70 and made my way to Jamie Smith’s house. When I first arrived I wasn’t up for much conversation. After sitting 17 hours in a car I still felt like I was in motion and I was very tired. The following days of rain were just what I need to get my energy back. After a movie marathon, some card playing, and visits to old college friends; I was off to visit another college buddy in Indy, Sheena Knotts.

The weather has not been the best during my. It has rained pretty much everyday and the humidity has been out of this world. Especially for a girl who was living in the nice dry west for the past 9 months. Sheena didn’t let the rain get us down though. As a belated birthday present, Sheena (pictured) treated me to dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise.

My 4 days in Indiana are up and now it is time to keep moving. The next stop…Home.

Leaving Denver with a Bang…no wait…a CRASH!

July 10, 2005

My last day in Denver was not any less uneventful than the rest. I thought at the beginning of the day that it might turn out to be a nice relaxing, normal day that I could enjoy to the fullest. I don’t know why I allowed that thought to run through my head. I should have laughed when they first entered my mind.

I drove to Church that beautiful Sunday morning. Upon arrival, Rudy told me about her rough morning when she discovered that her car had a flat tire. So after the service I was going to drive her back home to get her fabulous jell-o that she was going to bring to my going away BarBQ back at the house were I was staying.

Well, things took a turn as we headed to Rudy’s house. I was just driving along when a car two cars ahead of me decided to turn on a dime and cause a fast chain reaction. The SUV in front of me was suddenly at a stop. I hit the break hoping to stop in time so I didn’t crash into it. Well we stopped just in time. But unfortunately the car behind me couldn’t say the same thing. A split second after I thought we were in the clear… SQUEEL! CRASH! BANG! THUD… impact.

Well, God was watching out for us because we all walked away without a scratch. I was a little shaken; this was the first accident that I had ever been in. Fortunately the lady was really nice. So we exchanged information and went and filed a report at the police station.

Rudy and I were fashionably late but the food was great and the jell-o arrived still in its jell-o consistency.

The Day I Caused My Mother Great Pain

July 5, 2005

This will forever be the day that I caused my mother great pain, especially in her back. A little confused? Well, 24 years ago on cinco de Julio I was born. And like almost all my birthdays, this was another good one.

The day started out with Rudy, her friend Natalie, and I going to Boulder, CO to do a little bouldering on some boulders. I didn't do very much bouldering. I was too busy taking pictures and doing some easy climbs and a little exploring to see the great view of the city.

After a little shopping in downtown Boulder, we headed to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We didn't get to far into the Mountains before we had to turn around and make our way back to Denver. But what we saw was so Beautiful! I don't know how anyone couldn't love the mountains.

For Dinner, we met up with Dawn and Laura and Casey and Tim and Liz at the Old Spaghetti Factory. I love that place! If you have never been to one, you need to go. Check out www.osf.com to see the closest location near you.
(Left to Right: Dawn, Rudy, Me, Laura, Natalie)

The Road Back to Denver

Still Sunday, June 26, 2005

There were some low clouds rolling in over the Tetons. A few looked like rain clouds. The Grand Tetons were breath taking. I drove through stopping at quite a few look out points and turnouts on the side of the road. It was just a magnificent mixture of mountain peaks, lakes, rivers, and grasslands. After a while the sun started to break through the clouds but I knew that it was time for me to head back to Denver.

I arrived back to Denver at about 10:30pm. The trip as a whole did not turn out the way that I expected. (What did I tell ya, the Original Plan went out the window.) Without a doubt I learned a lot. I am still glad that I took it. It was definitely quite the adventure with plenty of stories and amazing sights (America is such a wonderfully diverse country). I can definitely see myself going back to some of these places in the future but next time I don’t think I will do it by myself.













There is my car ready to head back to Denver.

Yellowstone

Sunday, June 26, 2005

I allowed myself to sleep in. I was still thinking about all that happened the day before and the other issues that surfaced because of the prior days events. Nothing seemed right anymore. I was trying my hardest to enjoy all that was around me. I had a beautiful view of the lake from my campsite. There was plenty of hiking to do but I just didn’t feel up to it. (Plus they don’t recommend hiking by yourself because of the bears.) So I decided that that was the only night I would stay in Yellowstone. I did the drive by tour with the occasional pull over to get a picture. I knew I couldn’t leave without seeing the famous Old Faithful. When I got there it was experiencing abnormal activity and they weren’t sure when it was going to go off. (For some reason I really didn’t find it to be all that strange that the most predictable geyser in the country was off schedule while I was there.) Well, it finally went off and I decided to keep moving south into the Grand Tetons National Park.

Picture above: Even though it looks like there is a fire , that is actually steam coming from all the geysers.

The Best Way to Start Your Day

Saturday, June 25, 2005

I woke up and decided that today I really was heading for Yellowstone. No more detours. I continued south into Oregon (another state that I had never been to). It was about 5 am Pacific time when I crossed the state line. I was driving through Hells Canyon when I pulled over on the side of the road to get out of my car and take a picture of the mountains.

I took a couple of pictures and went to get back into my car. Only there was a slight problem. The door was locked and my car was still running. Trying my hardest not to freak out, I went around to all the other doors to see if any of them were unlocked. Nope, not a single one.

So there I was on the side of the road at 5:20 in the morning in the no mans land of Oregon. About 5 minutes late, a white pick up truck came around the bend and I waved them down. It was an older couple who God sent to save me. There was no service to use a cell phone so I was very fortunate that the people I flagged down had a satellite phone. To make a long story short, they called the local locksmith and about 2 hours later Mike got me back in my car. It was a good thing I filled the tank the night before. So the picture you see is what I call the $50 shot because that is how much I had to pay to get back into my car after getting out to take that picture (and it didn't even turn outthat great). All I ask is that you learn from my mistake and put a spare key in your wallet, purse, or hide it somewhere on the outside of your car because I don’t want any one to go through that experience. Trust me, I wasn’t laughing at the time.

After that experience, I decided not to get out of my car no matter how beautiful that sight was. All sights were set on Yellowstone. I found my way to I-84 and headed east, never looking back. Well I would love to say that it was all smooth sailing from then on, but that wasn’t the case. The day just got worse from that point on. Everything from construction to unexpected encounters and delays to closed roads to questioning why I even decided to go on this trip.
When I finally made it to Yellowstone, I was so emotionally drained that it was hard to even enjoy where I was. I saw a lot of wild life as I drove through the park to find a campsite. When I finally found one, I did the same thing I did the night before, made dinner and went to bed.

A Slight Detour

Friday, June 24, 2005

With another early start, I decided to keep moving and head towards Yellowstone. I was feeling good and was rolling with a good momentum from the day before. As I was driving through Montana, an idea popped into my head. Why not drive to Washington? I had never been there before, I was ahead of schedule, so why not.

And that is were the great detour began. Montana (picture above) I absolutely loved! It is such a beautiful state. The mountains were so amazing. I kind of forgot when I decided to go to Washington that I had to drive through the continental divide, but in the end that was absolutely fine because the scenery was just breath taking.

Idaho was still in-between Washington and me. I was optimistic about it. I had this idea that Idaho was pretty flat. Well, I thought wrong. I decided to take Highway 12 right through Clearwater National Forest in the northern part of Idaho. I should have known better than to drive 173 miles through a national forest on the last part of the drive. It was absolutely beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but the road followed a river through the mountains. Rivers don’t usually run straight when they run through a mountain and this one was no exception. 35-45mph curves the whole way.

I finally made it to Clarkston, Washington as the sun was beginning to reach the horizon. I couldn’t find the original campsite that I was going for, so I had to travel south on 129 to get to the nearest state park about 30 miles south of Clarkston. By the time I got there I was so tired and annoyed that I just made dinner and went to bed.

North Dakota

Still Thursday, June 23, 2005

There weren’t too many hiking trails and it was so hot that after about an hour and a half of driving around the park I decided to keep going and try to make it to North Dakota before dark.

I made it to Theodore Roosevelt National Park (the south unit) just as the sun was setting. I had no idea what to expect. I have never really heard much of anything about this National Park. I could not have been more pleasantly surprised. North Dakota in general was nothing like I expected. This area is also known as the Badlands of North Dakota but just coming from the Badlands of the south, I enjoyed seeing more color.

South Dakota

Thursday, June 23, 2005

I got an early start the morning of the 23rd of June. I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to explore and see all of the Badlands. As I hit South Dakota, it dawned on me that Mount Rushmore was in South Dakota. Not sure in what section of the state it was located, I pulled out my ever-so-handy atlas to see what I could find out. To my great surprise, I was going to drive right past it. So naturally I wasn’t go to pass this opportunity up so I stopped to check it out. It was pretty amazing but I think my favorite part was that as you walk towards it that had all the flags from the 50 states hanging above you and there a president Lincoln look-a-like that you could get you picture take with. Too cute.

Well I made it to the Badlands around 1:30pm and went to check out the campsite area to make sure I could still get a spot. The Badlands is so huge that the only way to see everything was to drive. There were a lot of Bison and there was a field with tons of prairie dogs. What I didn’t expect to see in the Badlands were the Yellow Mounds near Dillion Pass. They were such a beautiful highlight against blue and grey tones of the rest of the lands.