on my way.: where to begin.

lets start with the fact that i slept in until noon today. blah, so awful. i hate oversleeping normally, but this was a special circumstance. my body has been fighting off an icky cough for about a month and a half now, so i suppose my immune system jumped at the chance to get those 14 hours of sleep. so, youre welcome.

now for business, sort of. so far my time here in bend hasnt seemed like typical work at all. despite the fact that i am always doing something and have several sweet yet time consuming projects to tackle in these 9 weeks, there is such joy and satisfaction in every moment.

my family. my bend family to be a bit more specific. im staying with brandon and karie. they have been so gracious and wonderful to open up their home to me. brandon's joy and energy are so contagious and encouraging and karie is such an awesome example of what a godly wife and mother looks like. they have already blessed me tremendously. their four kids are undeniably adorable. they have me laughing continuously and constantly keep me on my toes. im sure once we all discover photobooth together i will have plenty of pictures to post.

my job. well to put it simply, my job rocks. i get to work with an incredible staff, a super sweet leadership team, and the coolest group of fellow interns i could have imagined. whether we are all working separately on projects or walking to the old mill for lunch its nice to have them around. my ministry focus being in children's ministry means that i get to do something that is so close to my heart. im working on a project called mission kids, which i will be dedicating a post to soon. linda is my ministry focus leader and when the two of us get together we become an unstoppable and sometimes overwhelming duo of energy, motivation, and giggles. im dabbling a bit in music while im up here, of course, and i get to work on the creation of the antioch church choir. i am so excited for this opportunity, i do have my fair share of choir experience.

other. i honestly and truly believe that i've made some life long friends. i love that im paired up with a super wonderful mentor and two equally lovely group members. im in a ping pong tournament that im sure to lose in the first round. i drive the 'cranberry cruiser' or more fondly known as the 'hubby hunter' which is a dark reddish purpley mini-van. i love it up here, and am praying about moving back after graduation, yikes! i could find a new yummy place to eat lunch at every day. coffee shops/tea houses are my new favorite place to go get work done. monday night craft nights are going to teach me so many new things. i love my new-found love for the outdoors; rock climbing, scaling, hiking, biking, running, river floating, river rafting, kayaking, and monday morning boot camp.

it is such a lovely blessing to have wonderfully talented photographers like marianne here.

smith rock.