Everyone else is going home this week for Thanksgiving and will be meeting up again before heading back here to Helena on Tuesday.
The 4 of us will be having Thanksgiving with the Bartleson's, the Doiron's, and "the illustrious" Sean Courtney - at the Bartleson's house. And we are so excited.
Please continue to pray for the teams, for all of those traveling and all of those who don't have a warm place to stay in these cold days and nights.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
"I was thinking, over thinking"
The drive to Helena seemed to drag on - for me anyway. I knew in my heart that something was about to happen, and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like it. I kept playing different scenarios through my head. I spent most of the drive in the back seat trying to sleep (avoiding nausea). And when I wasn't asleep, I was thinking and worrying. When I think and start to worry or get anxious, I bite my nails or I find something on me to focus on and start trying to "fix" it. Let's just say that by the time we got into Helena, I had chewed off 5 nails that were now "nubs" and working on the 6th. I kind of made the team hold off on lunch because I knew that something important was about to happen and we needed to get to the house asap.
So we finally get to the house. We decided we were going to wait to unpack, we walk inside and say "Hi" to Dan and Jonny. They told us they were going to wait about an hour or so to talk to us so that we could get our stuff inside, etc. After mentioning that we just wanted to get here and talk with them, they sat us down and told us what was going on. Two people from the St. Martin team were sent home. No longer on team.
Crap.
So we finally get to the house. We decided we were going to wait to unpack, we walk inside and say "Hi" to Dan and Jonny. They told us they were going to wait about an hour or so to talk to us so that we could get our stuff inside, etc. After mentioning that we just wanted to get here and talk with them, they sat us down and told us what was going on. Two people from the St. Martin team were sent home. No longer on team.
Crap.
Friday, November 19, 2010
On the road again..
So after spending a couple of weeks in Helena, we were ready to get back on the road. We spent a couple of days in Butte America helping Sean Courtney with his middle school youth group. That's where we experienced our first snow fall - before Halloween. Blech. It was a nice adjustment, however. Remembering I'm not in the Yakima Valley and it really does snow in October in Montana sometimes. So after coming back to Helena, we hung out with the St. Martin team and had some fun times. The Andersons came for Giana Claire's baptism, so we got to see them which was so great. Jesse vs. Jonny at a game of ultimate frisbee....totally awesome!
Halloween. Fun times were had that night. Everyone in the house dressed up - even the ones that were opposed to dressing up. We were all so many different things. Nic was a redneck/hillbilly (it was rather disturbing), Janae was a fairy, Bethany was a hippie, Adam was some sort of missionary I think, and I was "Mamaw" - country grandma that wore a tinfoil hat to keep the voices out. We only had 3 trick-or-treaters that night. Two of them were when Bethany chased them down, and the third when I was sitting outside and asked if he wanted candy. We were a crazy group that night. We ended the night watching Jurassic Park.
We drove back to Spokane for a retreat at Assumption Catholic Church with a hilarious group of middle schoolers. After the retreat, Nic and I had a week of "surprises" planned out. We spent a couple of days in Yakima, going to the Lifeteen Mass that I use to sing at in the worship band, youth group, Shari's with some of the "old gang" :). Spent some time at the Haven with Fred Lopez and Jake Robillard, as well as some other people and the St. Bernadette team from Sunnyside. It was great to see them again - they're kind of off in their own little world over there.
After those couple of days in Yakima, we drove over to Mossyrock and met Bethany's family. I drove through my first "blizzard" of the year heading over White Pass... it was beautiful! We spent that day and part of the next in Mossyrock, and then back on the road.
The next stop on our trip was going to be Pike St. in Seattle, but while we were Mossyrock, Adam fell and hurt his foot so we couldn't really go anywhere that required a lot of walking. So we went to St. James Cathedral and had our personal prayer time there. I always forget how amazing that church is! That rest of the day was spent in the van driving to Hayden Lake and stay with one of our previous host homes.
We woke up the next morning and discovered that Sheila was broken. Yup...broken. Only cosmetically though. The dad was leaving for work and backed into Shelia's door. When I woke up that morning and I was told to go look outside because there was a surprise on the van, I didn't know what to expect. So then while I'm staring at the giant dent in our driverside door, all I could think was that it was a moose or something that ran into the side of Sheila...yeah, that's it. A moose!
Now it's another weekend, and we have another retreat. Christ the King church from Richland - a familiar area for me and Janae! Half of the chaperones were people we knew, so it was nice to see them again. We know that will probably never happen again so we're glad it happened at least once. This was a high school confirmation retreat at Lutherhaven Ministries Camp in Coeur d'Alene. This retreat was such an experience for us - it was so good. We got a call that weekend saying that we needed to get back to Helena as soon as we could after the retreat. So we stayed Sunday night at Hayden Lake and then Monday morning drove back to Helena.
to be continued...
Halloween. Fun times were had that night. Everyone in the house dressed up - even the ones that were opposed to dressing up. We were all so many different things. Nic was a redneck/hillbilly (it was rather disturbing), Janae was a fairy, Bethany was a hippie, Adam was some sort of missionary I think, and I was "Mamaw" - country grandma that wore a tinfoil hat to keep the voices out. We only had 3 trick-or-treaters that night. Two of them were when Bethany chased them down, and the third when I was sitting outside and asked if he wanted candy. We were a crazy group that night. We ended the night watching Jurassic Park.
We drove back to Spokane for a retreat at Assumption Catholic Church with a hilarious group of middle schoolers. After the retreat, Nic and I had a week of "surprises" planned out. We spent a couple of days in Yakima, going to the Lifeteen Mass that I use to sing at in the worship band, youth group, Shari's with some of the "old gang" :). Spent some time at the Haven with Fred Lopez and Jake Robillard, as well as some other people and the St. Bernadette team from Sunnyside. It was great to see them again - they're kind of off in their own little world over there.
After those couple of days in Yakima, we drove over to Mossyrock and met Bethany's family. I drove through my first "blizzard" of the year heading over White Pass... it was beautiful! We spent that day and part of the next in Mossyrock, and then back on the road.
The next stop on our trip was going to be Pike St. in Seattle, but while we were Mossyrock, Adam fell and hurt his foot so we couldn't really go anywhere that required a lot of walking. So we went to St. James Cathedral and had our personal prayer time there. I always forget how amazing that church is! That rest of the day was spent in the van driving to Hayden Lake and stay with one of our previous host homes.
We woke up the next morning and discovered that Sheila was broken. Yup...broken. Only cosmetically though. The dad was leaving for work and backed into Shelia's door. When I woke up that morning and I was told to go look outside because there was a surprise on the van, I didn't know what to expect. So then while I'm staring at the giant dent in our driverside door, all I could think was that it was a moose or something that ran into the side of Sheila...yeah, that's it. A moose!
Now it's another weekend, and we have another retreat. Christ the King church from Richland - a familiar area for me and Janae! Half of the chaperones were people we knew, so it was nice to see them again. We know that will probably never happen again so we're glad it happened at least once. This was a high school confirmation retreat at Lutherhaven Ministries Camp in Coeur d'Alene. This retreat was such an experience for us - it was so good. We got a call that weekend saying that we needed to get back to Helena as soon as we could after the retreat. So we stayed Sunday night at Hayden Lake and then Monday morning drove back to Helena.
to be continued...
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Retreats pt 2
After our retreat in La Grande, we quickly drove North - Helena bound. We spent the night in Spokane with the amazing Gallaways (again) and drove back to Helena the next day. We spent the rest of the day anxiously awaiting the arrival of the St. Martin de Tours team who was a few hours behind us, on the same path.
So here we are, in Helena. Trying to keep busy, and faithful. Going to daily Mass, doing personal prayer, and team prayer everyday. I actually cooked a meal the other day when Father Marc from Carroll College came over for dinner! Slightly shoking, right? But it was a success. Today we played an epic game of ultimate frisbee and we are all wounded. It's the first time we've had "mandatory fun time" since training... so about a month and a half of being slightly lazy.
Thanks for all the support from everyone! I'll try to keep everyone as updated as I can. God Bless!
So here we are, in Helena. Trying to keep busy, and faithful. Going to daily Mass, doing personal prayer, and team prayer everyday. I actually cooked a meal the other day when Father Marc from Carroll College came over for dinner! Slightly shoking, right? But it was a success. Today we played an epic game of ultimate frisbee and we are all wounded. It's the first time we've had "mandatory fun time" since training... so about a month and a half of being slightly lazy.
Thanks for all the support from everyone! I'll try to keep everyone as updated as I can. God Bless!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Retreats!
So quickly getting you caugt up to present day adventures, here's what happened after training.
Day 1 - We left Helena in the morning - Spokane bound! Our plan was to drive to Spokane; then drive to Penticton, BC the next day; and finally Prince George, BC (PGBC) the third day to set up for our first retreat the fourth day. So that was the plan... And God had a detour for us. We stopped in Osburn, Idaho for a potty break (and because the Suburban, which we named Herman, was making some strange noises). The gas station bathroom was out of order (dang), so we had to use a port-o-potty (dang dang), and then Herman wouldn't start (SUPER dang). To top all that off - shortly after Herman died, so did my phone (bummer!). After many, MANY phone calls we finally got a tow truck to come and get us - but we had to wait 2 more hours on top of the 3 hours that we had already been in Osburn. Turned out, we were 6 miles away from Dave Smith Car Dealership in Kellogg, ID! Didya know that Dave Smith Motors is the A.) World's Largest Dodge Dealer! and B.) Northwest's Largest GM Dealer!..?
The tow truck took us to Kellogg and dropped us off at the dealership. We walked inside, scared the front desk lady... Think about it, 5 young adults walk in looking physically tired at 645 pm... it's a scary sight. Anywho, she calls over the Used Car Sales Manager - Lynn. After a few minutes of explaining our situation, and what we were doing (such as with Reach), he made some phone calls. He walks over to us and invites us to stay at his house for the night.
So we stayed in Silverton with Lynn and his family. And I can't forget about Tonka. Tonka was their 160 lb bull mastiff. Tonka was a BIG boy, but so lovable! He also knew how to clear a room with his stink bombs. The next morning, Lynn drove us back to the dealership, gave us a loaner car for the day until they could figure out a solution. We found out Herman had a couple of dead cylinders, and Dan (our director) had decided it wasn't worth it to attempt to fix Herman. So after some talking with Lynn, Reach Youth Ministry became the proud owner of a 2001 Honda Odessey Minivan. Her name is Sheila. So we packed up Sheila and hit the open road - quickly. We were due in Penticton that day, and we didn't leave until around 330 Mountain Time.
We then arrived in Penticton at our next host home (the Trautmann's) around 1130 pm, and had to leave the next morning for PGBC at 6 am! We made it to PG and stayed at the Raine's house for the next 4 days. Our retreat was amazing. There were 16 teens, age range of 13-19, and they were all so great! After our time in PGBC, we drove back to Penticton and actually got to spend time with the Trautmann family - and ate some of the BEST burgers ever! Props to Fred for his grilling skills! :)
The next day (have you been keeping track? It's Oct 5th!), we left Canada and drove back into Washington and stayed in Spokane at the Gallaways. Their neighbor has the cutest Dachshund puppie named Sophie! They were so great to host us as many times as they did through our journeys.
So after multiple trips across the Washington-Idaho border to get my phone figured out (yup! I went all week without a phone! Proud?), we met up with Brian Kraut, the youth minister from Coeur d'Alene (Cd'A) and he set us up with a wonderful family to stay with. The Wineingers. They were incredibly welcoming and their kids were such a riot. Our retreat that weekend was at Shoshone Base Camp - such a beautiful place. That's where I spent my birthday! It was such a great time with 40+ middle schoolers and 10 high school leadership youth.
After the Cd'A retreat, we drove down to Sunnyside, Wa to spend time with the St. Bernadette team at the St. Joseph Convent. We had dinner at Janae's house the first night, dinner with Mom the next night for my birthday, and then the third day we drove to Walla Walla and spent a couple days with Nic's family. We then drove to La Grande, Or for our third retreat. Our host homes were really nice - us girls stayed with the Jensens. They are a retired couple that made us totally feel at home, like we were with family. This retreat was a day retreat with only 9 youth ranging from 6th grade to 11th grade and they were totally open to everything we brought to them. An amazing group of teens. After our retreat, the team went to dinner and met up with Adam's sister who had just finished a soccer game at La Grande - what a coincidence! :)
To be continued...
Day 1 - We left Helena in the morning - Spokane bound! Our plan was to drive to Spokane; then drive to Penticton, BC the next day; and finally Prince George, BC (PGBC) the third day to set up for our first retreat the fourth day. So that was the plan... And God had a detour for us. We stopped in Osburn, Idaho for a potty break (and because the Suburban, which we named Herman, was making some strange noises). The gas station bathroom was out of order (dang), so we had to use a port-o-potty (dang dang), and then Herman wouldn't start (SUPER dang). To top all that off - shortly after Herman died, so did my phone (bummer!). After many, MANY phone calls we finally got a tow truck to come and get us - but we had to wait 2 more hours on top of the 3 hours that we had already been in Osburn. Turned out, we were 6 miles away from Dave Smith Car Dealership in Kellogg, ID! Didya know that Dave Smith Motors is the A.) World's Largest Dodge Dealer! and B.) Northwest's Largest GM Dealer!..?
The tow truck took us to Kellogg and dropped us off at the dealership. We walked inside, scared the front desk lady... Think about it, 5 young adults walk in looking physically tired at 645 pm... it's a scary sight. Anywho, she calls over the Used Car Sales Manager - Lynn. After a few minutes of explaining our situation, and what we were doing (such as with Reach), he made some phone calls. He walks over to us and invites us to stay at his house for the night.
So we stayed in Silverton with Lynn and his family. And I can't forget about Tonka. Tonka was their 160 lb bull mastiff. Tonka was a BIG boy, but so lovable! He also knew how to clear a room with his stink bombs. The next morning, Lynn drove us back to the dealership, gave us a loaner car for the day until they could figure out a solution. We found out Herman had a couple of dead cylinders, and Dan (our director) had decided it wasn't worth it to attempt to fix Herman. So after some talking with Lynn, Reach Youth Ministry became the proud owner of a 2001 Honda Odessey Minivan. Her name is Sheila. So we packed up Sheila and hit the open road - quickly. We were due in Penticton that day, and we didn't leave until around 330 Mountain Time.
We then arrived in Penticton at our next host home (the Trautmann's) around 1130 pm, and had to leave the next morning for PGBC at 6 am! We made it to PG and stayed at the Raine's house for the next 4 days. Our retreat was amazing. There were 16 teens, age range of 13-19, and they were all so great! After our time in PGBC, we drove back to Penticton and actually got to spend time with the Trautmann family - and ate some of the BEST burgers ever! Props to Fred for his grilling skills! :)
The next day (have you been keeping track? It's Oct 5th!), we left Canada and drove back into Washington and stayed in Spokane at the Gallaways. Their neighbor has the cutest Dachshund puppie named Sophie! They were so great to host us as many times as they did through our journeys.
So after multiple trips across the Washington-Idaho border to get my phone figured out (yup! I went all week without a phone! Proud?), we met up with Brian Kraut, the youth minister from Coeur d'Alene (Cd'A) and he set us up with a wonderful family to stay with. The Wineingers. They were incredibly welcoming and their kids were such a riot. Our retreat that weekend was at Shoshone Base Camp - such a beautiful place. That's where I spent my birthday! It was such a great time with 40+ middle schoolers and 10 high school leadership youth.
After the Cd'A retreat, we drove down to Sunnyside, Wa to spend time with the St. Bernadette team at the St. Joseph Convent. We had dinner at Janae's house the first night, dinner with Mom the next night for my birthday, and then the third day we drove to Walla Walla and spent a couple days with Nic's family. We then drove to La Grande, Or for our third retreat. Our host homes were really nice - us girls stayed with the Jensens. They are a retired couple that made us totally feel at home, like we were with family. This retreat was a day retreat with only 9 youth ranging from 6th grade to 11th grade and they were totally open to everything we brought to them. An amazing group of teens. After our retreat, the team went to dinner and met up with Adam's sister who had just finished a soccer game at La Grande - what a coincidence! :)
To be continued...
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Greetings from Helena!
I apologize, first off, to everyone for NOT doing this sooner!
So I'm not really sure where to start... So here we go! :) Reach Youth Ministry (as you all know) started on August 29th in Helena, Montana. Mom drove myself and two others from Yakima to Helena - boy, was that a long day on the road for her! But I'm so thankful that she did that for us. We spent two weeks in Helena at the Formation House (which is where we stay when we're in Helena) for training.
Week one, we were split into our three teams. And somewhere between then and week two, we chose a team name! So with that, I'll tell you about my team.. There were six of us the first two weeks of training, and unfortunately it is now down to five - Nic, Adam, Janae, Bethany, and myself. Our team name is St. Raphael (yes, the guardian angel). We try to channel Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It works...sometimes.
Week three, we went up to Legendary Lodge - about an hour and twenty minutes North of Helena. It was so beautiful and quiet up there! Just in the week at Legendary, we worked on retreat games; discerning team leaders; we saw a young bear; had canoe races; bon fire; and just amazing clear nights for stargazing!
That weekend we had to pack up and come back to Helena because of Carroll College's Sophomore retreat taking place up at Legendary. That weekend I came home to Yakima and sang at my friend Justine's wedding. It was amazing and I loved being able to spend some time with people. Except Mom. Unfortunately, she was over in New Hampshire visiting our family at the same time.
Week four of training, we stayed in Helena finishing up a lot of last minute paperwork and such. We had so many people get involved in Reach and helping out with the littlest things while we've been here. People from the Cathedral of Helena stop us and welcome us and tell us they are so glad to have us around. It's such a humble experience to be somewhere with such a strong, passionate Catholic community. Everyone has been so nice! Some point during training, we drove down to Butte and went to the Lewis & Clark Caverns and saw these amazing creations and -- I can't even explain how much we enjoyed it.
Well that's the end of this post, my battery is about to die and it's time to get ready for dinner! Thank you all for all the support you've given me! Please continue to keep Reach in your prayers.
So I'm not really sure where to start... So here we go! :) Reach Youth Ministry (as you all know) started on August 29th in Helena, Montana. Mom drove myself and two others from Yakima to Helena - boy, was that a long day on the road for her! But I'm so thankful that she did that for us. We spent two weeks in Helena at the Formation House (which is where we stay when we're in Helena) for training.
Week one, we were split into our three teams. And somewhere between then and week two, we chose a team name! So with that, I'll tell you about my team.. There were six of us the first two weeks of training, and unfortunately it is now down to five - Nic, Adam, Janae, Bethany, and myself. Our team name is St. Raphael (yes, the guardian angel). We try to channel Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It works...sometimes.
Week three, we went up to Legendary Lodge - about an hour and twenty minutes North of Helena. It was so beautiful and quiet up there! Just in the week at Legendary, we worked on retreat games; discerning team leaders; we saw a young bear; had canoe races; bon fire; and just amazing clear nights for stargazing!
That weekend we had to pack up and come back to Helena because of Carroll College's Sophomore retreat taking place up at Legendary. That weekend I came home to Yakima and sang at my friend Justine's wedding. It was amazing and I loved being able to spend some time with people. Except Mom. Unfortunately, she was over in New Hampshire visiting our family at the same time.
Week four of training, we stayed in Helena finishing up a lot of last minute paperwork and such. We had so many people get involved in Reach and helping out with the littlest things while we've been here. People from the Cathedral of Helena stop us and welcome us and tell us they are so glad to have us around. It's such a humble experience to be somewhere with such a strong, passionate Catholic community. Everyone has been so nice! Some point during training, we drove down to Butte and went to the Lewis & Clark Caverns and saw these amazing creations and -- I can't even explain how much we enjoyed it.
Well that's the end of this post, my battery is about to die and it's time to get ready for dinner! Thank you all for all the support you've given me! Please continue to keep Reach in your prayers.
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