the week at a glance...

5 weeks into it...

5 weeks ago i was sitting at a wedding in cleveland. so crazy. 5 weeks later here i am sitting on a couch in a church in steubenville ohio in shock that 5 weeks have passesd already. we have 6 more weeks of programing and then its over and back to minnesota.

this past week was so great. we had 3 groups. one from pawnee, il; fort wayne, in; and bowling green, oh. total we had 52 people. here are some of the highlights from the week.

1. we got to do it all ourselves. my favorite part of this was club everynight. our skits were hilairous and a big hit. especially the dean martin show. since dean martin is from steubenville this is apart of our club time. it is when the participants can give shot outs to each other for just awesome things they did that day. mark is dean martin and his into and exit song is "that's amore" it is just classic. also just being able to give my talks and really get the youth thinking about their lives and the way they are living it.

2. kids club started. the kids are crazy and out of control. they mostly come the projects. there are two projects in steubenville: the north end and south end projects. the kids there are just brought up with out much influence or guidance and therefore are just out of control. this made kids club very difficult and hard, but it has been getting better and better each day. the fights are getting fewer and we are learning how to work with urban kids more on a daily basis.

3. i got to help out an old man named joe. i took two youth, CJ and Drew, to this man joe's house and we weed wacked his yard. it was really fun just to help this man out and hang out with CJ and Drew. Joe has cancer and has kemo everyday and just doesnt have the ability to do it himself so we were able to help him out.

4. getting everyone to go to howdy's. There is this amazing ice cream shop in west virgina called howdy's dari-owl. it is so good. it is just a dive shack but we are trying to support it. so we promote it through out the week and monday night we all went. a group even gave us money at the end of the week for a howdy's trip. it was awesome

5. seeing how much communitity was built here this week. these groups were so tight by the end of the week and did not want to leave. they really all came together and really grew so much closer to God. they really all went home different than they came and it was so amazing to see. God really does unbelievable things.

6. going to pittsburg and just hanging out friday night. it took as an hour and a half to get there because ben told me how to get to the resturant when he really didnt. but we finally got there and got to hang out with the mon valley team which was great. and relaxing.

7. having today off and being able to sleep in until noon :)

It's almost time to relax :)

so only a few more days till my first official day off!!!!

we have been going at this for about a month and have yet to have a day off..

so saturday i finally get to call people and have real conversations :) and write a real blog with actual updates...

this week has been so amazing and i CANT WAIT to fill you all in on it.

so be sure to check back on saturday for a super good update!!!

and we are going to pittsburg friday night to have dinner with another team :) so i am super pumped for that!!!

beaver falls coffee shop...

so i am currently on my time off for the week.. we get a 2 hour break once a week.

and so ben took me to his favorite coffee shop he has ever been too. so i am currently sitting there it is in BEAVER FALLS, PA and the name is just worth it because it is so funny.

this week is going so good. we have groups from il, in, and oh and they are all fantastic. tonight we have our first kalled out concert ( a christain rap group ) so we are all excited about that slash and little not knowing what to expect.

kids club has been a little crazy. the kids are crazy and out of control but that is because they are very urban kids.

anyways i am so excited for this weekend becasue i get saturday off and i can finally catch up with life :) i can do an official blog that fills you in on everything and actually have time to sit down and call people for the first time in like a month :)

i simply cant wait!!!!

YAY...

so it is our first official week here in steubs...and it is going AMAZING so far.

we have such sweet youth here and it is just sooo great. but i have to get to bed.

i just quickly wanted to post the link to the video of me getting scared out of my mind when we played the table game and reuben's head was on the table...

check it out!!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=515480382629&oid=107416548783

niagara falls.

so we got to niagara falls on thursday. and it has been a blast for the most part!!

we are here with the niagara falls team to help them start their first week. it is called early bird, which mean for the first week of programming they team up two teams at each site so you can get the hang of how things will go. so there are nine of us total here. my team, the niagara team and our area director ben. it has been great having a big group of people to hang out with and do the work together.

we have just been helping them finish last minute details so their site is ready to go tomorrow. everything is mostly done. which feels so good so we finally have some time to relax before the chaos of the summer officially starts tomorrow!!!

today we basically get off. we got to sleep in for the first time!!!!!! it was amazing. it is crazy how big of a deal that is when you are used to only getting like 6 hours of sleep each night for the last 3 weeks. and then the rest of the day is just filled full of fun. we are going to the falls as a team and then just playing in the park and hanging out. then tonight we are just gonna do a time of worship to prepare for the summer. it should be really good.

so here is a funny story for you since we have gotten to niagara. last night we had "youthworks" theatre. and preformed our skits and stuff for each other. and niagara played this game. it was called the table game. the steubenville team we had to leave the room and come back one at a time. i was last. when i came in there were four bukets on the table and you had to go through as fast as you could and name all the items. well i got to the third one and the niagara falls' site director's head was on the table. i screamed soooo loud. it was so scary!!!!! and ofcourse been was video tapping and i am sure it will be online soon. but yeah needless to say it freaked me out!

so that is a funny story for you and now you are caught up a little with what is going on.

if you could just be praying for the kids we have coming and that they truly can have a life changing experience. and also just for that our staff keeps growing closer and growing together more.

i hope you all have a beautiful day :)

HEY!

hey all!!!

so this is just a quick post before i go to bed.

we are off to niagara falls in the morning for the next week. we will be doing the first week of programming with thier team and then heading back here till the end of the summer.

things have still been great! we almost have our site complete and all the last minute details have been coming together. we still have been super busy but somehow are finding time to have fun.

our new fav place is HOWDY"S DAIRY OWL it is in west virgina. its like this old shack walk up ice cream place but it is soooo good. we have been there 3 times now since being here and it is always fantastic.

we also went to a park the other night in the ohio valley and had a picnic. it was super fun. we picked up some pizza and then played 4 square for like literally 2 hours. it was so intense!!

i am so excited for the weeks of programing to finally start cause that means i will actually start to get time off on the weekends!! woo hoo!! and i will have time to talk to people more!! but i cant believe it is almost mid june already it is crazy!

we went over to the fire house yesterday and baked the firemen cookies. they were so nice. pounder and terry gave us a whole tour. we even got to sit in the fire truck!! they seem really awesome and we are excited to go sit at the firehouse and play frisbee with them this summer when we have free time!!

other than that not a whole lot is new. just learning tons and really growing in the Lord. I was reading in ephesians this morning and it talks about making the most of every opportunity. and i just really want to start living that way. when i first found out i was coming to steubenville i wasnt too thrilled. but now that i am here i wouldnt want to be anywhere else. God puts us in and gives us opportunities for a reason and even if we arent that excited about them we need to make the most of them, because he has a plan and a will for our lives.

i love and miss you all!

WHOA!!

so oh man.

LAUGHTER is so good!

this weekend has been amazing. i spent so much time laughing. i even almost pee-ed my pants a few times!

my team is so amazing. we spend so much time just bonding and laughing together over the little things that turn out to be hilarious.

this weekend we spent a ton of time decorating and putting everything up.

it looks AMAZING no joke!!

i will put picutes up soon of everything.

our theme for the summer is free. so our club room is decorated with clouds made of different kinds of material. i LOVE it.

we also are doing the "dean martin" show every night at club. since dean martin is from steubenville. mark dresses up as him and sings "that's amore" with his crazy sweet singing voice.

then we do a decent amount with the band wild cherry. they had the one hit wonder "play that funky music white boy" they also came from steubenville. so we rock out to that song nightly!!! finally we just threw in a sweet mural skit, kim possible skit, ganster skit, cheerleader skit, and school skit. they are all pretty much amazing. hopefully at one point we can get them on tape and get them up here.

but yeah to say the least LAUGHTER. remember to do it. laugh at all the small moments. and truly enjoy the people in your life because they are there for a reason!

i am so thankful that God put Kim Eric and Mark in my life this summer!!!!

cause i know you love them :)

ok so you will see some different photos here. i tried to include some scenery...like the AMAZING really old bridge to west virgina!! and then the building that looks like the CASTLE...(yea that is where we are staying this summer)! then there is eric in a sweater that me and mark got him from 25 cents from the thrift store! it was pretty much the best gift ever!! and then the pic with all the people is my area. it includes the niagara falls team, the mon valley (penn) team, and us and then our crazy area directore ben! we did the soroiety pose cause we thaught it would be funny!

so there ya be...im gonna try and get all the pics that i have taken so far on facebook soon!!! cause i have so many more wonderful ones. but here is just a sneek peak at what i have been up too!! enjoy :)

the first official photos!

so here are the first pics for you. most of these are for a skit we are doing! a mural skit sense we are in the "city of murals"

but yeah there is my fabulous team: kim, eric, and mark! they are so swell and fun!!!

steubenville, an ugly duckling.

hey all!

so oh my things have been crazy.

at training me and my team had to come up with something we all had in common, we thought about it and realized how we all saw steubenville as an ugly duckling, now this may sound bad, but its not! at first we were all kinda disappointed because we were all expecting to go somewhere else, but now we love it so much that we dont want to be anywhere else!

this place is amazing. just yesterday we had a random business owner donate 700 dollars for kids club! WHOA!

it is really a beautiful place because of the people. although it isnt that safe, as we are learning. it is a place with alot of crime and people walking the streets, especially where we live, but yet we always feel safe. you learn to travel not by yourself and learn the parts of town where you dont want to go quickly.

i really enjoy it, i have always lived in "safe" places and i really enjoy having a different living experience.

its sad because this place has basically been abandoned. the city that used to be known as "little chicago" is now down to a population of 20,000. so many of the buildings we walk by have just been trashed and left. it is really a sad sight.

but yet there is so much hope here. the potential is just unbelievable. i really think that this place will one day be again and thriving city!

but yeah i guess that is it for now. i have been taking lots of pics. and they will be coming soon, once i get time (more than 5 minutes) to rest and relax.

i hope you all are doing well! you all are in my prayers!

P.S. i made pizzokie for my team tonight! it was fantastic! if you dont know what that is, you are simply missing out!!!!!

peace.
(the end)