Hey, hey, hey!

I didn’t have internet access until now. I started on Monday so I’ve been writing about what’s been going on since then. I’ll post them here right now. I have so much to catch up on!

Day 1—May 18th, 2009

I’m moved in for the most part and just had a brief meeting with AO. My parents and brothers left around 4:30pm. Before they left, we went over to Appalachian Outreach so they could scope out the area and see exactly what AO is all about. Needless to say, they were impressed. Of course my dad asked about the security and openly fussed about me walking to work. In front of my bosses! Oy vay…

I met my roommate, Betsy, and I think she’s the sweetest thing ever. She’s going to be a junior next semester. She’ll be doing administrative things for AO so we might work together. We share an apartment on campus. All the AO summer missionaries are on the same floor, guys and girls alike. It’ll be fun because we’ll be able to get together in a room and have movie and game nights…maybe, if we aren’t all dead tired by the end of the days. These are some pretty sweet digs!

You enter the door and there is a living area and a kitchen with an eating bar. We were given our own fridge and oven. Betsy provided a microwave which was definitely a blessing. Down the hall are our rooms. We’re right across from one another so that’s good. My room is definitely in need of some pictures of Josh Groban and such. Bare walls just will not do. I’ll take pictures of my room later tonight or tomorrow. Probably tonight since tomorrow seems like a full schedule.

I love having my own room but I also love having someone here with me. Betsy goes to Carson-Newman college (AO is through them) so she took me around campus and Jefferson City. We drove past the lake and around Jefferson’s strip, which isn’t that big. I’m kind of glad for this because after having to live in the Nashville atmosphere, it’s nice to come to a place in Tennessee where everything is smaller and the big ticket for them is Wal-Mart. It’s quaint and relaxing.

The other people I met are the following:

Gloria—A lively girl who is able to crack jokes on George Husk, one of the AO supervisors, in a split second. She’s bilingual in Spanish and English, which is pretty cool. Betsy says she has ADD which is pretty hilarious because she makes anything fun.

Sarah—She’s from Nashville and obviously knows where Belmont is. She said that was her dream college but because it was too expensive she had to settle for Carson-Newman. When we were at the Mexican restaurant, she sat down and began asking me questions. We had good conversation and I like her a lot.

Nicole—She’s an RA for Carson-Newman and she’s been with AO for two years now. She’s a nice girl.

Betsy—Obviously you already know she’s very nice and sweet. I think we’ll be good friends by the time the summer is through. I can see us keeping in touch probably for a couple of years if not more. She’s an open person, funny, and great to be around. I’m blessed to have her as my roommate and friend.

Tara—She’s a giddy girl, according to Betsy. She was a cheerleader her freshman year so she has a lot of energy. She seems nice and she’s involved in the children’s ministry and the ministry center so we’ll be working together a lot.

(There is another girl but I can’t remember her name)

Judah—He’s a very nice guy. He reminds me of Alan because he’s tall and thin. He gave us a great lesson tonight on the different things you can concoct in order to make things blow up. He’s pretty hilarious and laughed at some of my jokes. He’s working on getting his GED; everyone’s proud of him for being able to work hard for something he really wants. After his GED he’ll work on going to college.

Dakota—He’s a big dude who reminds me of Austin. He also gave us girls a lesson on how to blow stuff up and he shoots squirrels, birds, eggs. Basically, if it’s legal and he can get away with it, he’ll do it. He’s pretty funny. I’d figure by the time the summer is through we’ll have a great friendship.

David—He’s a shy guy and doesn’t really talk much. When you do talk to him, though, you can see how big his heart is. He graduates high school this Saturday! He’s a nice guy and pals around with Judah and Dakota. The three of them poke fun at George, too and laugh a lot.

Nathan—He’s an outsider like me. He’s from Illinois and a different college. He and I are probably the only ones who don’t or haven’t gone to Carson-Newman. He’s pretty shy but I’m thinking Dakota, Judah, and David will take him under their wings and make him part of their group.

Jonathon—He actually does go by his full name. Everyone calls him Jon Madden though because Madden is his last name. I didn’t get to talk to him really because when we were at the restaurant, he was sitting at the other end of the table. Then at the meeting, he didn’t really say a whole lot. He’s a religion major, I do know that!

Adam—He’s always smiling at something! He’s a jovial person. He’s tall, wears glasses, and looks like he’s trying to grow a beard. I’m not certain, though. He pals around with Nicole. I don’t really know a whole lot about him but we probably will get to know a lot about each other before the summer is through.

I think that’s it! There are a few other people who are supposed to come down. I think they’ve either come and are starting to move in or they’re supposed to come within the week. AO is expecting 18 of us to help out. We’re all getting paid they assured us.

This summer is going to be really great. I have high hopes for this group and am praying we all form a strong bond by the end. I’m so excited to begin working and am just waiting to see what the Lord is going to do from now until July 30. I’m expecting growth, maturity, and strong bonds between new brothers and sisters.

I think that’s it. Ciao for now!

Day 3 May 20th—2009

I didn’t touch base yesterday because I wasn’t feeling well. I had such a bad headache that I was getting nauseas. Some of the group went to Wal-Mart last night at like 9:30 but I just went to bed. I felt better today and don’t have a headache or anything so I think it was just because I was really tired.

So yesterday…

Betsy, Taira, and I had on-the-job training at the ministry center. Now I know why I need to know Spanish! AO serves a lot of Hispanic people. The majority are white and Hispanic who come through the doors. Basically, we learned about how to check people in and out, how to keep the store clean, learned where everything was, and how to fill out new applications for cliental.

I began to feel really bad after lunch. We all went into the break room for lunch, talked and ate real food. Then George busted out MRE’s someone had dropped off. There were some…interesting things in that box, including blueberry cobbler and pound cake. The food wasn’t that bad, actually. It was pretty good coming from a cardboard box no bigger than a hand-width. I didn’t have any water all day so maybe that’s why I was beginning to feel sick. (I had water today at lunch and felt ten times better than I did yesterday.)

After lunch, we went back to the ministry center and finished in the store. When we closed, Angie (the supervisor) drove us over to the Backyard Bible Club (BYBC) house and showed us the layout. Taira and I are the main ones going to be working it this summer. It’ll be a lot of fun. We figured some things out like carpeting and cool, fun things to put on the walls. We then went over to Samaritan House to have dinner and Bible study.

I was exhausted by the time we got back from Bible study but still went over George’s with the others for movie night. We watched “Accepted”. Judah hadn’t seen it so it was fun to laugh with him. An hour or so later (around 9:30) I was beat. The others wanted to go to Wal-Mart to goof off, but I needed to sleep…So ended yesterday.

Today…

Betsy, Taira, and I returned to the ministry center (my Spanish is improving!!) The store was open for two hours so the rest of our time was spent doing office work like making copies, organizing folders for the upcoming budget meeting put on for cliental and organizing receipts for the month. I almost broke the copy machine. Not really. I put a receipt on the top bar instead of lifting it and putting the receipt on the main part. It didn’t get jammed but we couldn’t find it for a good minute. The receipt got swept away when the copier tried to copy it. Thankfully, no damage was done and I was able to do that job without any tears. Though, I was sweating with a little worry. God had it all under cover. Hakuna Matata.

It was our turn to make dinner. So, the girls and I went over to Samaritan House to make an “Italian styled” dinner. We made it complete with cheese & garlic bread and brownies. The HR team really enjoyed it and thanked us a hundred times over.

After dinner, we all piled into cars and made another trip to Wal-Mart, this time for breakfast items for tomorrow. We’re having breakfast in Gloria’s apartment which is nice because it’s only a door away. I can sleep in. YAY! Taira didn’t go with us to Wal-Mart. Instead, she hung out with her fiancé’. I got to meet him. He’s a good guy, a little rough around the edges but they’re in love I suppose. Taira’s got her wedding pretty much all planned out. She has videos, her gown, house items she wants, etc. Anything you think of when planning a wedding and Taira probably has it planned. It’s good because when the time does come for their wedding (they’re getting married in the summer), they won’t be stressed out about planning because it’s already done!

We decided it would be fun to set off bottle rockets from our apartment balcony. Adam got some from George and asked when we wanted to set them off.

I was like “Tonight.”

“Yea we can set them off tonight if you want,” he said.

We got in trouble by setting them off at the apartments. Nicole freaked out when she set hers off. She lit it and held it for about two seconds, flipped out and threw it. Her face was PRICELESS! Then Dakota gets up there and takes the stick off. He’s such a nut. He lit it and threw it over the balcony as soon as possible. It was fun while it lasted.

I just got back from watching “10 Thing I Hate About You”. Adam let me borrow his vast movie collection so I’ll probably pick a couple for the weekend to watch. I have a feeling though that I won’t get around to watching them. It’s our first weekend together as a group so we’ll probably do something extreme. J

Okay, it’s 12am and it’s supposed to be a BIG and busy day tomorrow…er, today, right? Better get to bed.

Ciao!