Another Great YouthWorks Moment

Friends, I want to share with you a little about where I was last week and the great things I experienced and learned from my time away. A couple weekends ago marked the beginning of YouthWorks staff training - called RAMP, and I was headed to Philly to help out! Getting out of the office for a few days was needed desperately and I was excited to get a better look at what a YouthWorks summer was all about. Four of us, Jake, Sam, Kirstie and I headed to the airport at 5am to start the journey over to Pennsylvania. Thinking the airport would be a ghost town at such a time of day, we found ourselves mistaken as we waited in a security line for over a half hour. Loved it. The one thing that kept us moving forward was the hope of getting some great pastries and coffee at French Meadow Bakery. Friends, it was worth the wait! The flight was a great one as I got to sit by a dad with his young son - probably around the age of 5. From the moment I sat down, he was talking my ear off. "Hi! I'm Gavin!I have Toy Story boots on. My grandma got them for me...". And thus continued the conversation. Thankfully, both Gavin and I fell asleep for a majority of the flight. Then I woke up to Gavin grabbing my shoulder and looking at me with such honesty and saying " I love you!" His Dad then inserts that he just met me and he doesn't even know my name. Sounds like the making of a country song to me! Finally we touched down in Philly. We had to wait a little bit to get picked up, and while we were waiting connected up with two great friends Josh and Molly! Soon we see the "Family Vehicle" pull up which was the glorious 15 passenger van! First stop for the crew was to pick up the van that were in storage. Which took us to a rather interesting place within Philly. Later on in the week I found out that this part of Philly is the southwest side and is considered the "Dead Zone" by the police. Awesome. Then after making the 20 minute drive in a lovely brown astro van into Wilmington Delaware, we were given our next task. Little did I know what I was walking into. I have hear rumors about YouthWorks grocery shopping trips, but I never could have accurately imagined what it is truly like. 3 vans and 5 people headed to Costco to tackle the job of getting food for over 90 people for the week. No small task. Friends, when you have to huddle up before entering the store to discuss strategy, you know you are in for an interesting shopping experience! Kelly Daniels and I took off to grab produce, bread, and freezer items. Each grabbing a cart but soon ditching them for two larger flat beads. At this moment I am feeling very uncomfortable in my driving capabilities of this beast of a cart while the rest of the crew has done this many times before and this feels entirely normal. Yeah of course. What isn't normal about filling up 2 flat beads and 4 carts FULL of food? 316 items and $2,000+ in groceries later we slowly filed out of the store. Not without getting some of the strangest looks and comments about the amount of food we were purchasing. Believe me people, I am in shock too! But while refraining from being completely overwhelmed, I decided the best thing to do in this situation is just laugh! Somehow the craziness of that experience just brought me a ton of joy! This was just the start of some more great YouthWorks firsts. I loved being at RAMP, even though I was only for just a short time. I loved being able to meet the staff that are going out and serving this summer in 18 different communities. Even doing random duties such as making signs or driving staff to take a much needed shower, my time there brought me life! I had a pulse again and it reminded me that it is so important to do something that brings you life. So while others who have had many more intimate experiences with YouthWork RAMP may take a different view to the week, I am very thankful for the time I had away! Oh to breathe again!

Welcome to the Jungle!

What could the band Guns N' Roses possibly be singing about in their 1987 hit song "Welcome to the Jungle"? Well friends, wouldn't you know that I know the answer to that particular question. Want to know? They are talking about, none other, but our lawn! NO JOKE! I'm not even sure there are words that can fully describe the scene that lays just beyond my window. We currently have dandelions that have grown to the height of the great Red Woods in California. The black plague of crab grass has spread to lengths beyond repair. We have a little flower bed up in the front part of our lawn which is overflowing with every type of weed imaginable. My roommate Jenny caved and started the endless task of pulling up the plethora of weeds, only to find a solo tulip struggling to hold on to life. One can only be led to think of what other helpless beauties are being suffocated within! Every day when pulling into our drive way, I just pray that our neighbors aren't out on their back porch. It is becoming too painful for me to acknowledge that each day our lawn is bringing down the value of their property. I hide within the walls of our house so I won't have to be confronted with the truth that our lawn is a hot mess. I suppose the one positive side to this whole fiasco is that we have created quite a rustic haven for all the neighborhood rabbits. I guess the only thing I can do now is to wait and hope for the day when I hear the necessary purr of a newly purchased lawn mower. That day cannot come soon enough! Discriminating photos to come.

To Tweet or not to Tweet?

So I have been wrestling around with the idea of joining Twitter. Is it a dumb name? Yes. And do I feel slightly embarrassed to be "tweeting" as an adult? Maybe just a little. But then there are other reasons for joining that go beyond the obvious shortcomings in its name, such as my best friend refuses to join facebook and has developed a full fledged addiction to this whole Twitter thing. If I am moving half way across the country, I need to stay connected to her somehow, right?! But if I become as pathetically consumed as she is(love you Jorgen!) would that really be a healthy addition to my life? Sure, I could follow Kim Kardashian if I really wanted to. Yet again, healthy addition? Probably not. I don't know. Maybe someone can sway me to convert to the dark side and do as they say in the song "Rockin' Robin"...Tweet Tweet!