Frontier in June

Jacob's Ladder?

So during my 3 weeks as a store girl we sold lots of magic wallets. If you have never heard of such a thing, Google it. Or not, because then it would probably lose it's magic. But anyways....

This is the box the wallets came in:

The line "works like Jacob's Ladder" is important because that is what this entire post is about.

To continue, I always thought it was so crazy that this product had this tag line on it. I grew up in Church and heard almost every Bible story including the section in Genesis where Jacob has a dream and in it is a ladder that was actually technically a stairway but who is counting? And so the story in my mind has always been "Jacob's Ladder."

Everyday in the store I seriously tried to figure out how the heck a magic wallet could have anything to do with a Bible story. I brainstormed a 'things in common' list. This is what I came up with.

-God is pretty powerful so he created real magic (which I think is better than Harry Potter)

-Jacob's ladder/stairway with angels must have looked magical

That's it. The list was obviously not long and the only real thing in common was that I used the words magic/magical multiple times.

For over a month I have been wrestling with this connection. But my questions have been answered thanks to Sarah Edmondson, my former store intern now turned room mate. She explained to me that there is a toy called 'Jacob's Ladder.'

I was very confused but once she described to me this toy:

I understood completely! This was one of my favorite toys ever! It is such an awesome optical illusion. If for some strange reason you have no idea what I'm talking about you can watch a 3 minute video on the operation of it here.

So then It all made sense. The wallet works the same way as this toy! Amazing. So thank you Sarah for enlightening me.

Now is the time where you can all laugh at me and my very, very blond moment (I of course mean this in a loving way to all blonds in the world)

The End.

You Can Run but You Can Never Hide

It's a funny thing me being here at Frontier Ranch for the rest of summer. Or is it?.....

Before school let out for summer I had grand plans for the summer. Sort of..I was headed out to do Summer Staff here at Frontier for 3 weeks. Then on to Crooked Creek for a week before heading back to Asheville where I was going to spend a majority of the summer hanging out, maybe working at the Y, and being for the most part, alone. Oh boy. I had a few adventures planned out in my head for sure but none of them probably would have happened if I'm honest.

I think I wrote about how I ended up staying here at Frontier. Well, the story keeps getting ridiculous and has made me believe more and more in the fact that there is a God who is holding me tightly and is trying to show me that he has got everything under control and that I should stop fighting it.

Reasons being too innumerable to tell. But just to name a few. They just happened to not hire an intern to fill the office spot, there happened to be 1 bed open in lower Lariat and it just happened to be in my friend Sarah's room. I just happened to not really have any plans the rest of the summer. I just happened to not have any girls going to Young Life camp, I just happened to not buy concert tickets to a show I wanted to go to. My sister just happens to be a camper her in a few weeks. I could go on.

When looked at individually these things all seem trivial but they are all evidence of a God who has been quietly pursuing me, waiting for me to turn back around and understand that he has never let go of me and is not planning on it anytime soon.

I have only been here for a couple of weeks but in these few weeks I have felt myself being pulled out of the fog that I been in the past 8 months of my life. For the first time in awhile I have felt alive. I feel like going and doing things again. I feel like being crazy and adventurous and it feels good to have that back even if it gets me in trouble every now and again :)

This all being said. It feels good to know that this is where I am supposed to be. Even if I am missing Asheville like crazy. It feels good to be in a safe place. To be able to feel free again and to once again trust that God's goodness will prevail in my life if I just give everything up and run fully and completely after Christ.

Stay tuned for more thoughts of Life at Frontier Ranch 2010....

Mid-drift Polos

Week 1 complete back here at Frontier Ranch. It seriously feels like I've been here for way longer than that. It feels like I have so much more time here but really it is only another month.

Working in the upper office has been quite the experience. Some typical things I do include but are certainly not limited to:

-counting thousands of dollars everyday that comes from the Store, Snack Bar, and Beat Cart.

-I collect and count money from the vending machines in camp with the lovely Sarah Edmondson, who was my store intern last month and is now my room mate (crazy how that happened :).

-I file more papers than I ever though existed in the universe

-i buy office supplies online (very important job)

-open the mail everyday

-i drive a golf cart all over camp delivering messages/papers

-stuff envelopes (thanks to Stacey Noll my childhood training is now put to use)

-get to know all sorts of secrets (I had to take an oath...ok not really, but close)

-wearing mid-drift polos

You are probably wondering about this last one. Well, you see the polo company that makes the lovely shirts I get to wear everyday to work doesn't know the definition of "women's cut." instead they make them as short and as boxy as possible so that you MUST wear a shirt underneath it. I love wearing my mid-drift polo. It makes me feel so late 1990's/early 2000's. It is fantastic.

There are lots of other crazy things that I get to do in the course of one day. So far I have enjoyed working in the office.

The best part of my day, climbing 137 stairs straight up 2-3 times a day. I used to complain about it but then I realized that I sit in an office all day and that it is the most exercise I will get. So then I started running up them. If my legs don't look great and my heart is not in good shape by the end of the summer I will be sad

So there you go. This post is for those of who were wondering what the heck I do all day long which was probably nobody. Haha

All in all it is so awesome to get to work in a place where I feel loved and a place that holds so many wonderful memories. Plus, the view isn't bad either...

Nothing to Something(ish)

So I started my new job here at Funtime Ranch (Frontier Ranch). I work in the upper office at camp. There are two offices. One is called the Winter Office that gets used all year round. The other is the summer office obviously used only in the summer :)

Day 1 recap:

I arrived back at Frontier feeling nervous but comfortable because being here feels so natural. I immediately went to the office and learned a few of the things I was to be doing. It was a little overwhelming but nothing I couldn't handle.

Day 2 recap:

I arrived at work to find a gigantic stack of papers as tall as Mt. Princeton for me to file. There were papers from 3 months ago. It took me all morning and all evening. I am a darn good filer now. I was given about 35 other jobs that I didn't have time for but somehow finished anyway.

Still trying to grasp the fact that I will be here the rest of the summer....but awesome!

Day 3:

DAY OFF!!!

Every Thursday I get a day off. This week a couple of interns and I went into Salida. I bought alot of junk at Walmart that I needed because I didn't know I was going to be here for 11 weeks instead of 3. We hung out there for awhile before coming back to Buena Vista and having a few adventures. Overall it was a wonderful day off.

Day 4 (today)

Here's where things get interesting. Today was the first day that I felt comfortable with my job. I feel pretty important. I have a set of keys, multiple official polos, access to a golf cart, and card to pay bills with. I basically feel important. Whether or not I am is questionable but I still feel that way.

Today I got to drive the golf cart several times, run important errands, purchase office supplies online, and lots of lots of paperwork.

Going from Summer Staff to summer intern has thrown lots of people for a loop. Lots of confused looks.

Wearing a polo and a name tag while carrying a set of keys gains you a lot more respect than you think.

So far being here has been great. The rest of the interns have welcomed me with no questions asked. I am trying to take things 1 day at a time. It is kind of freeing to just be. I miss Asheville like crazy but spending a whole summer in Colorado is not bad :)

I know that this is kind of a lame update. I'm feeling uncreative right now. Also i am pouting because I don't have my camera cord. period. enter. no whining....

Summer Staff was great in all but I'll take being a summer intern any day.

All in all being here has been great and every day I am more and more sure of my decision to be here.