Finally! The peek of pictures

Dinner time in out thrift store clothes!

These are the showers we built!  Hose water... very cold. (And our home, the building behind it)

We moved a barn.

This is where our Thursday night walk will be, Round Valley Lake.

My beautiful staff/family.

We're cool.

Water day at Lake Almanor.... beautiful!!

Indian Valley - The Beginning

We have finally arrived in the little town of Greenville California.  My staff and I got here on Sunday and just trying to make it our home now.  Internet got here just this morning, and I really didn't  understand how much I love it until I got it for a brief moment yesterday and then was taken away until this morning.  Those 24 hours were very hard.  Anyway, first week of campers come on Sunday and we still have work to get done.  We have to build the showers still (hose water running for 3 shower heads for 60+ campers!!) and set up the port-o-potties which hopefully will come tomorrow.  The biggest project that happened so far was moving a barn, and that was interesting. 

My family here is awesome and I'm so excited to spend the whole summer with them.  I am actually going to be a little sad when campers come because there will be no more real family time for just us.  

But I absolutely love it.  I've been able to run everyday and explore the town and mountains.  It's definitely feeling like home.  It's sooooo green here.  Pictures are to come very soon!

Love to all! 

Here is a little peek of the week thus far:

Mullet

It's here!!!

The day of moons.

This weekend started out rough for me.... It started with me supposed to be camping but instead spending my time in Emergency Room.  I have had reoccurring headaches that have be nothing like anything I have experience, so concern was spread quickly, mainly from MRI results I had last year.  Nothing is immediately wrong and I'm doing much better, but I have a follow up MRI Thursday and hope and pray for good results.  With all of that going on however, my first day back from bed and rest was one to enjoy.  Every Monday for the past 5 weeks or so have been spent with my good friends Kelli, Mark and Shaphan.  And this Monday, the last one for the foreseeable future was filled with a giant cookie with ice cream on top, Mario Kart on the 64, and a 20 picture photo shoot with Mark and Shaphan and Shaphan's jean jacket.  A little preview of how the night panned out! 

The Cookie (in dough form)

The crew. Me, Shaphan, Mark and Kelli (*Shaphan and I are not dating nor did I choose that pose*)

The best ones of the photo shoot.

I have great friends.

Birthday!

So I've come to the conclusion that I suck at taking pictures to capture big parts of my life.... That's why it's great to have roommates/best friends who will no doubt be taking pictures.

So, today 22 years ago was my day of birth (thanks mom)!  The day started out awesome.  I woke up around 7:30 and walked into our kitchen to find the wall plastered with pictures from the past year with Julie.  And in the background was Kris Allen, the new American Idol, and his CD!  Then around 8:00 AM about 10 of my friends showed up to have breakfast and enjoy each others company.  They slowly started to go home or go to school (who does that) and Kelli stuck around for a while, thanks to her sick day, and we got to talk for a while which is always great.  At 2:00 pm I went and saw the most incredible movie I have seen in a long time - UP, in 3D!  That movie has every emotion of the rainbow and is just one of the new favorites for sure!  I then hurried over to cross country practice where 2 of my kids made me mac & cheese with a candle in it.... and brought window paint to write on my car however I biked so they just attacked me and painted my body.  After that I got to spend time with the family.  I went to dinner with my father and brother and then had dessert at my mom's with her and Jen.  But, I went back to my dads after dessert and he has a tradition of making a cake every year, so he had another cake for me there.  I am now left with a lot of cake... but that's not a bad thing.

All in all, it was a wonderful day/week of birthday!

A few shoot outs:

-Mom : Thanks for birthing me and always being there through thick and thin.  To always know you're on my side helps me get through everyday.  And for the watermelon in my hair!

-Dad : Thanks for helping create me.... and giving me so many of your traits, however some I could probably live without (like only answering the question given).  But the relationship we have grown into is everything more than I ever asked for.

-Thaniel : For making it on my birthday!!!  That was something I have been looking forward to for a long time now.  Thank you for blessing me with your presence!  I've made it 22 years now, and I have you to thank for getting me through most of it.

- J :  Uhhh.... this could go for too long, so to make it short and sweet (for now), thank you for the most incredible week, let alone year.  When Kara and Abby told me I need to say the best 3  things of my twenty-first year, you were one of them.  

-Emily : Thank you for the flipping my life around to a one with Christ... and to surprising me on not my birthday to a day filled with a human hamster wheel!

Surprise 22!

I have had one of the best weekends yet.  For those of you who don't know, my 22nd birthday (which i'm pumped because I love the number 2) is coming up on Wednesday, June 3rd.  So I've had some plans here and there for the actual day but little did I know that on Saturday my friends would be waking me up at 7:30 am to capture me(again) and blindfold me and take me out to the lake for my surprise birthday party!  It was truly magical.  Elisa made french toast with blueberry syrup for all of us and then we just played in the water.  Emily has this giant hamster ball for humans that floats on the water and is the most epic thing I have ever played with!  And we decided also that it would be a good idea to swim all the way across the lake (longest I have ever swam for sure!).  However when we reached the other side some of us were a bit tired, so my friend Reid found a large log against the shore and paddle back on the log!  It was so fun!

The rest of me weekend was just as fantastic: I went to go watch me friend Casey run at the regional meet at Hayward, went a BBQ for CCF at the University park and got in massive water fights, feel asleep to a movie, woke up and rode my bike to church with my roommate Julie (about an hour eachway), had Jamba Juice on the way, had lunch with Casey, had a bridal shower for my other roommate Rachel, had dinner at my favorite place Cornucopia with my mom and Jen, went to CCF, hung out with friends after, and then finished off Emily asking Ryan to formal!

Did I mention it was a good weekend??

(I don't know why the pictures are so little)

Braai

My good friend Germaine Gamiet is leaving to go back to South Africa to live for, as long as I can tell, forever and ever.  It's an extremely sad thing that I am not even remotely ready for. 

The story of our friendship began last year at Emily's house.  There was a group of us gathering together to play games and just enjoy each others company.  Somehow we got on the topic of me dying.  How this happened, I'm not sure.  But regardless, there we were talking about my death and what I would will to people.  I willed Emily my monkey stuffed animal speakers (thanks Sarah for that), willed Aaron Brose my running speed, and then Germaine (us just meeting for the first time that night) asked what I would give him.  The first thing I thought of was my car.  So, Germaine, if I die, you get my car, even if you are in South Africa.  Also that night, Shaphan decided it would be a good idea to dare me to eat a entire candle stick.  And when I'm dared, I don't back down.  So, I was fully prepared to eat this candle stick for ten dollars, however someone freaked out and basically refused to let me eat it.  There went ten dollars I will never see.  But the point of that story is that from that day forward, Germaine would remember me as the girl who was going to eat a candle. 

Anyway, Sunday night his Eugene family threw him a Braai, which essentially is a South African BBQ.  It was a great time with even better company.  We had some wine, delicious food, great dessert, all followed up with a great fire on their deck patio.

Germaine and Me

Germaine, Emily, Christian, and Me

Beauty and the Beast

So my internet at my house has kicked off everyday and just doesn't want to let me use it.  And I'm frustrated about that, but life goes on.  So I am currently at a friends house using up all of their internet!

Life as of late:

-We thought we had a house, now we don't and we're back to square one.

-I'm sick again.

-Cross country is starting up again and I'm stoked!

-One of the kids got 2nd at state in the 800 for high school.

-It's a week and a half until my birthday

-Got to talk to Sean Murphy for a long time and he brought me back down to a normal freak out level for SSP program stuff.

-And the highlight of the week, we put on an awesome date night for my friend Emily and her beau Ryan.  It was Beauty and the Beast themed! Ryan = Beast, Emily = Emily, Me = Chip, Abby = Mrs. Potts, Christian = Cogsworth, Matt Jones = Lumiere, Pastor Ben = Crazy Old Maurice, Mary Cross = Babette (the feather duster)

PS Red Sox took the lead!

Taylor Swift

Finally, Emily and I drove up to Portland for the Taylor Swift concert!  It was us surround by a few more of us college-aged and then the mass amounts of screaming 13 year olds and their parents.  However, I didn't mind because I loved the concert.  I was fully prepared for a mediocre performance due to the rumors of her not being good live, but she proved that to be the complete opposite.  She was sounded great, and did an awesome job!  Needless to say, leaving the concert I still very much love her music, and secretly wish I could be her.

Anticipation

I have waited a long time for this, and it's here!  Today I will be driving up to Portland with Emily to see the one and only Taylor Swift!  I am soooo excited!  

Yesterday, I got to hang out with two of my favorite people in the whole world.  Life with out them would be like life without taste.  They truly remind me to love and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

Ryan

Michael

Also, after long anticipation and talking about it for months, we finally got everyone together and watch "The Wizard".  On of the greatest movies from when I was a child.  It's about a boy trying to make it to "Califoooorrrrnia" and ends up in a video game competition at Universal Studios.  I completely recommend it.  It was not a disappointment like some movies are after you're older.  It was awesome!

Sometimes it's important to remember...

NOT REAL LIFE

REAL LIFE

Game Time

Last night we had a game and it was, to steal from my roomate Julie, "finding out who is competitive.. and who is.. BEYOND competitive." However, there were some awesome times had despite a little competitiveness!  We started out the night with Emily, Abbey and I playing jacks on the floor of my kitchen.  I haven't played jacks in so long.  I miss that game.  And my set will now be carried with me where ever I go. 

Then my friend Cyrus (who is #2 in the world at throwing sticks) came over with his friend Jenna and introduced me and Emily saying "this is Heather, she runs.  And this is Emily, she's a really fast runner." .... That made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  But it's okay, I know he didn't mean it, I hope.

We eventually had about 14 people over playing with us.  We played backseat drawing, spoons, betty ford, and catch phrase.  It was great fun.  Spoons ended with Shelby Douglas and I in the finals and the spoon in another room.  Shelby got the 4 of a kind and we ran driving over the couch.  She got the spoon and I got a deep, swollen bruise on my hip, a nice consulation prize if I do say so myself.

All in all it was a great night!

Yesterday I finally got my binder for SSP!  It holds everything I need to have to put together my program for the summer.  It's a tid overwhelming but I'm so excited to start the process!  And ONE MONTH today it all starts and I will be out of Eugene.  I'm so anxious!!

Freeze Frames

This is the river and log I was sitting on while Emily was running and I was reading my bible.

The car broken down :(

Quality Fuel at the Shell! Never been more happy at a gas station.

The dance party.

Where we slept on the ocean.

The treasure.

Reading my fate...

Singing toothbrushes.

The light time version of how close we were to making it.

Coastiversary

Every year since Emily and I have known each other we have made a trip to the coast.  The first time we realized we had the same color eyes and were friends from then on.  

Every year we go back we have some sort of epic adventure, and this is the story of this years:

Emily had a track meet on Saturday night(she ran a 2:07!), so the plan was to hit the road after the meet, spend the night on the beach, do some stuff in the morning and then make it back for mothers day.  The meet went long and we didn't end up leaving until about 10:30 PM.  I am borrowing my moms car because my car has been making some weird noises.  So, I'm not use to driving an automatic and I'm so excited for the trip, I ended up driving right past Emily's house and forgetting her.  But a block later I realized it and turned around to get her.  I pick her up and then we start taking off to the beach, but then realized Emily for got her singing tooth brush which is extremely important and tradition, so we have to go back again and pick that up. 

Finally we get on the road and choose the Hannah Montana soundtrack to listen to first.  We start talking away catching up on life because it had been almost a whole week since we have talked.  I get caught up in the conversation so much that about 20 miles out I realize that I totally forgot to put gas in the car. The gas light is on and it is even with the empty line.  I scream.  Emily prays.  We talk it through.  The only option is to just keep driving, knowing full well that there will be zero gas stations and even if there were they would be closed.  And if we run out of gas we'll just pull over to the side of the road, sleep there and then figure it out in the morning.  I start to freak out a little because I know we have a least 40 more miles to drive.  But after about 5 minutes I calm down and realize whatever the case is, it will be an adventure.  So, I would accelerate up the hills and when we would hit the down hill I would put it in neutral and coast down.  Meanwhile Emily is making up a song that I think would be fair to call it "Coasting to the Coast".  For those who know the road from Eugene to Florence, we made it to the Casino before the car starts losing steam and lose a lot of acceleration power... So we move over to the side as we coast so cars can pass.  With very little acceleration we start up a major hill and Emily turns on the very fitting song "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus.  We are now singing at the top of lungs while slowly climbing up this hill at a good 20 to 30 MPH.  We made it to the top and coast down enough to make it to a flat part of the road and try to keep a constant.  However we lose complete steam and I need to pull over.  I didn't make it over enough, so Emily and I get out of the car and push it a little to move it completely on the shoulder.  I turn off the car and we sit there for a minute or so and decide to see if it will turn back on a give us a little more.  The car doesn't start.  What now?

We get out of the car and walk over to a lake that's on the side of the road and see if there is a place to put our sleeping backs and sleep.  

What I have failed to mention right now is that we are roughly a forth mile from the town of Florence.  So, we decide to walk to town and see if there is a gas station that we could push the car to.  As we walk, we also realize we were about 200 meters from making to the "Entering Florence" sign!!  SO CLOSE.  We get a gas station and it's about 3 minutes to Midnight and we think it's going to close, but it's a 24 hour station!  We ask them is they have gas cans and they did, but only one left.  However, neither Emily or I brought money on this walk.  So we walk back to the car while deciding if we want to try to push it or just go buy the gas can.  We get the car and decided hey, maybe while sitting there the gas condensed.  I put the key in, turn it, and the engine starts!!  Put it in drive and very slowly tried to start driving. I make it a constant 10 MPH and we made it to the gas station!!!  Crazy!  God was our gas can.  There is no logical way we should have made it.  But we did!

So we fill up and drive to a side street along the coast where we bump "Open Skies" and have a dance party under the full moon and stars.  Then we grab our sleeping bags, cross a bridge, go through some bushes, make it to the sand and fall asleep talking.

We wake up around 8:00 AM and drive to a time capsule that we hid last year.  Find it and read some amazing things.  I wrapped mine back up, hid it again so I can come back to it later in time.  Emily took hers.  Emily went on a run for an hour and I hiked down to a hidden, serene, beautiful river where I sat on a log that went into the middle of the river and read my bible.  We then reunited, brushed our teeth, went to Freddies, and drove home.  Then I spent the majority of the day with my Mom on Mothers day because I love her lots!  And I beat her in cribbage.

And this was successfully long.  Pictures of the trip to come later!

It's time to join.

I feel like there is a huge hype on blogs right now.  I tried to start one last summer while I was working in Arizona, but it was all overwhelming and too much to do in the middle.  So I figure, start now while I have time to play around and get it right before I leave again for the summer.  And let's be honest, it's a great way to let everyone know what's going and have a concrete journal.

Let's see how this goes.