There is No Rest for the Weary

Yesterday was insane, and today has been no different. Its all good though =)

We finished our drive from Kansas yesterday, we passed through the 30 miles of Nebraska on our route and reached Estes Park an hour and a half later than expected, but it worked out. The drive was average, except for this super sketchy gas pump we had to get gas at in Nebraska. And you heard right, that was not a typo, it was just a pump, not a station. There was one unleaded gas pump in this town that still had old dials that rolled back while you pumped. Amazingly this piece of petrol antiquity accepted credit cards, lucky for us. The drive through the Rockies to Estes Park was the most beautiful thing i have ever seen. (pictures will come whenever Tim finishes editing his 1500+ pictures =P

ANYWAYS, once we got to Estes Park was when things started really popping. We arrived and got registered with the YMCA. The line was held up because the id badge machine broke for awhile. After that was done we found the staff housing and got everything unloaded and into our rooms. Just fyi I had been zombie dead tired since the last two hours of the drive, so I was being dragged along by grace alone the entire time. We met up with the staffers and other people from Kent. Jason, Matt, Andrew, Sarahbeth, and Kathy. We then all went to dinner, which was pretty good, and i enjoyed the fact that the line moves really fast. I've heard that the menu becomes a little repetitious, but I am ok with that, I'll get creative. I just need to stop eating too much at every meal :P

After dinner there was an optional prayer/worship time in one of the small chapels. It was scheduled to be from 6-9 and I stayed the whole time, partly because the Project Group Leader and Life Group Leader meeting was immediately after. O, by the way I am a Life Group Leader within our project group this summer. Life Group is our name for small group bible study, so i will just facilitate discussion during Life Group. I kinda thought about it at the time that i shouldn't have stayed at the prayer/worship the whole time because i really needed to rest and unpack. I thought i would have time after, but I didn't =/ After the project leader and life group leader meeting we met with the leaders in our project group for a while planning out a few things. My project group is pretty awesome from what I've seen so far! Once that was over and i got back to my dorm it was 11 o'clock. I had been going all day, and i was sick. I also didn't receive any sheets for my bed, so i slept on the bare mattress just with the blanket i brought, and a few hoodies as a pillow. The cough that i have had for the a week now had me hacking up a lung as soon as i was laid down. I ended up falling asleep for a few hours until started coughing again at 3am. I finally resolved to sleeping in the lounge sitting up in a chair with my legs propped up on another chair. I actually slept well at that point. =)

Today has been non-stop as well.

I woke up at 7am before my alarm. Breakfast had already started and orientation was going to start at 8am. The morning proved difficult because didn't have a towel (because i hadn't received my bed linens) so i had to hunt down and extra set of linens and one girl was nice enough to give me the extra set that was in her room. After getting ready I didn't have enough time for breakfast so i followed some other LTer's to where orientation was. Orientation lasted ALL DAY. It went from 8-12 lunch 12-1 and then it continued until 4. During my lunch break (after i ate of course, i was starving) I took the opportunity to meet my supervisor for my job in A/V. During lunch I actually met Ricky, one of guy's on my staff in A/V that helped me get the job in the first place. My supervisor's name is Ed Shields and he's pretty chill, and he's from Akron which I thought was cool. The A/V staff is one of the smallest staffs at the Y, consisting currently of only Ricky, his wife Julie, Ed and myself. Another guy named Dave will join us in June when Ohio State's LT group gets here.  It was interesting trying to find Ed's office. It's in the Longhouse, which you can gather from the name is a long relatively long building. I went all around the building trying every door (all were locked) until i found the one for Housekeeping and a lady there helped direct me to Ed. We got to talk for just a bit before i had to go back to orientation and I will be starting Thursday morning at 8:30am. I am excited to be an official A/V tech =D No one is starting work tomorrow because LT has planned an all day retreat when we just rest and recooperate from travel and these last few days. I am very appreciative of this fact =)

After orientation i had to run back to my dorm to get my car insurance and registration and take them to the Human Resources office to get a parking permit for my car. Also I grabbed my one remaining check for my new checking account so i could change my direct deposit for my paycheck. FINALLY at this point i am finished with any logistical requirements with the Y. I ran (actually biked, it thoroughly surprised me how difficult it was to ride! It felt like there was something wrong with my bike =P) anyways biked back to my dorm with just enough time to put my new found sheets and blanket on my bed and unpack one of my duffel bags. I got a quick shave in also because i was starting to look like a hobo. Then i went down to the Howard lounge (Howard is my dorm) and my project group met together for the first time. Of course no one was super chatty when we first met, but everyone got to talking and socializing really well at dinner =) They are some pretty cool cats. After dinner we all went to register for LT and now i have spent the last hour and a half in the Administration building writing this blog. That is where i am right now. This is a live blog here people =P In half an hour we have the first LT worship service of the summer! I am really tired but i am excited that we are kicking off this shindig for real now =D Tomorrow will be an amazing day of rest, reflection, prayer, fellowship and staring at the mountains. I am going to start reading "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan tomorrow, that is unless i have a ton to read for LT, I am about to find that out as soon as i crack open the manual. Until tomorrow everyone, take care.