Summer Bliss

THE summer

2010-05-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

It has literally been years...yes, years...since I've last blogged. I've never been the blogging type. But I've decided to change that starting with this summer. Wanna know why? Because this summer is going to go down in the history books as THE Summer. When we get so old that we begin to shrink instead of grow, when we think those cute sweaters with kittens hand sown on them are actually flattering, when we get a rush from driving 10 miles under the speed limit...we will think back to this summer and our hearts will beat just a little bit faster. Those warm cuddly feeling will stir in our bellies and we will smile at the moments of being young and alive. You might be wondering why I keep saying "we". Well, honestly, I'm sick of hearing and saying "I". Everything is always about I or me. I want this summer to embody the ideal of us. Of We.

So, WE need to come up with ideas and start generating the feeling of the true spirit of being young and alive! Let's do it! Let's make this summer...THE Summer.

Idea #1
Go to the Train Tracks. There is nothing like standing two feet away from a magnificent train as is passes by, whirling your hair around your face. You can feel the strength of it pass through you from head to toe. It's nothing less than exhilarating.

2008-11-13T17:41:00.001-08:00

Saturday we all loaded up the trucks and trekked out to Big Beach.

The waves were huge and sooo much fun!

So I realized that all I have been putting up are fun pictures of us on the beach. And a lot people think its all just laying on the beach and a big vacation. But it really isn't at all. We are going pretty much non-stop all week everyday. The only free time we have is on the weekends. So here is my schedule to give you a little better idea of what I do everyday.

Here's my schedule for my 3 months in Maui:
Monday
7am – breakfast
7:45am – leave for worship
8am – worship
9:30am – chapel talks
10am – lecture
12:30pm – lunch
1:30pm – work duties (hospitality)
5pm – dinner
6pm – house meeting/cleaning
7pm – lecture
9pm – Base quiet time (meaning we have to start being more quiet because of the neighbors)
10pm-boys have the leave the main house (where the girls sleep)
Tuesday
7am – breakfast
8am – missions moments
9am – quiet time
10am – lecture
12:30pm – lunch
1:30pm – community outreach
5pm – dinner
6pm – DTS intercession
7pm – growth group
9pm – Base quite time
Wednesday
7am – breakfast
8am – apologetics/basic Christianity
9am – quiet time
10am – lecture
12:30pm – lunch
1:30pm – outreach prep
5pm – dinner
9pm – Base quite time
Thursday
7am – breakfast
8am – base intercession
9am – quiet time
10am – growth group
12:30pm – lunch
1:30pm – work duties
5pm – dinner
7pm – lecture
9pm – Base quite time
Friday
7am – breakfast
8am – base worship
9:30am – chapel talks
10am – lecture
12pm – processing
12:30pm – lunch
5pm – dinner
9pm – Base quite time

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-02T15:33:00.000-08:00

So I'm FINALLY getting around to writing another entry on this blog thing. Wow, a lot has happened so i'm going to try and summarize. To start off with this lovely picture of my Norwegian friend, Corina (above). Yesterday, we had "Manny's Mustache Marathon" which is a 7 mile marathon that we had but the requirement to run was a mustache. Since this month was "Overgrown October", where none of the guys shaved ALL month, it was easy for them. The girls on the other hand just drew one on. I didn't actually run in the marathon because i knew i would just beat everyone since i run ALL the time, and i didn't want to make anyone jealous sooo....yea (sarcastic voice).

Now, Halloween!! All the students here are divided into work groups and we have work duties 2 days a week. I'm on hospitality where we clean and bake. So for Halloween we decided to make some ghost cupcakes for our DTS.

Me and Johanna made "Ghosts in the Graveyard". They were so cute!
This is Rachael Whaby. She is the girl leader on my outreach team. Her mom sent all the girls on our team wigs for Halloween.
This past weekend me and my 2 Canadian friends, Amy and Ashley, snuck into a nice hotel and laid by the pool all day. It was awesome!!
I prayed for so long before I came to YWAM for God to put some really awesome friends in my life and he really did answer. Everyone here is amazing. I really feel like I've made some lifelong friends. It really is awesome when people come together with the same goal and learn and grow together in their faith. There really is nothing like it. This is Amy. And the other girl in the next picture is Ashley. She's going on outreach with me! Yay!

I went surfing!!! It was so amazing. I stood up twice! I'm pretty much a pro now. P.S.-you can't tell in this picture but the waves are bigger than they look...kind of. :)

After surfing we went to Black Rock, where we climbed and jumped off cliffs! SO FUN!
Thats Stephen and Kyle jumping off and the rest of us standing waiting to jump.
80's Night! We had a big dance party one night and everyone dressed up in 80's clothes.
This is my ever-glorious outreach team. Yea.
We like to have bon-fires here. At night it actually gets kind of chilly so camp fires are always a good way to warm the soul. We roast marshmellows and Gus (my Scottish friend) breaks out the guitar and we all sing.
This is at Cafe Desime. It has the best crepes you will ever put in your mouth!!

Beach Day! One day our whole DTS loaded up the vans and we headed to the beach all day! we had a cook-out and everything. There were so many of us we pretty much took up the whole beach. haha. And we saw a HUGE seal. I knoticed this large brown thing in the water about 6 feet from a group of us in the water and pointed it out at exactly the time that it started moving twoard us. We all screamed our heads of and were tumbling over each other to race out of the water. It was great!
This is the video store. It's about a 10 minute walk from our house. This is where we go to get our candy fix. Especially the girls. haha.

Now onto "Exodus". So the first day we get there we go to opening night, which was a big dinner and party for us. At the end of it our leaders told us we were going on a camping trip the next morning. But the only thing we could bring were the clothes we were wearing and a sleeping bag. No toothbrush or makeup or even doederant! Nothing!! We stayed in the middle of NOWHERE for 3 days. All we were fed was Ramon Noodles and plain Oatmeal. EW! At first i had no idea why they were doing this. But then i realized the point by the end. They took us away from al our comforts. We literally had to depend each other which was a great way to get know each other. Since we didn't have phones or computers or even nice clothes and makeup we got to really know each other for who we are. It was really awesome. Hard and uncomfortable at first but it was so good. Then the last day we decided to have a mud fight. Well, the boys decided to and here are the results. You can't tell in this picture but the entire back of my head is covered in mud.

This is my whole DTS after "Exodus". I love these people! Now it's been about 6 weeks since I've been here. God is seriously showing me new things everyday. The speakers are amazing and teaching me new things that i never would have even thought about. Even though i miss home, i would not change my decision to come here for anything!

A New Beginning.

2008-09-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

Aloha yall. So I left good ole Tennessee to come bunk with 18 others girls and 10 boys. I walked into the room and behold ALL the girls stay in ONE room. Yep. 3-story bunk beds. And guess who's on top? Me. Of course. This is a view looking at my bunk.
And here's a view from up 50 feet on top.

It is seriously beautiful here. The house here is really nice. We even have our own pool!
One thing i realized is that i never really knew the meaning of the phrase "There's No Place Like Home". There really isn't. It is fun living with a bunch of girls though. There is always something going on or someone to talk to. Vollyball is a big sport here and we have a net set up in the front yard.
One thing that God has really shown me since i've been here is that i don't think i ever fully relied on him because i never really had to. i mean, always looked to him and tried to do what he wanted me to do. But here i don't have anything. i don't have my family or friends or home. No comforts. I fully had to rely on God because i had nothing else. And I think thats something you can't fully comprehend until you do move out or are put in a circumstance where you have nothing. It's like i've taken a step up. It's pretty cool. I do love it here. And it's getting better everyday. I'm excited to see what God has planned for me and all of us as a whole. WOO!