The Face On The Milk Carton

Call back the search parties people! I'm home now! I mean it's really great that you were all worried about me not being around but, seriously, a few trips here and there is not a big deal. Seriously though these past few weeks have been rather hectic. Actually, now that I think about it I've lived out of a suitcase for 3 out of the past 4 weeks... huh... no wonder y'all thought I was missing! Geesh...

So here's the long-story-short-list of what I've been up to:

• Confirmation Camp @ Victory Bible Camp
  Great time spent with my middle school kiddos. I'll have to post pics later since they're on my other computer.
• DCE Conference @ Menchua Retreat Center, Portland
  Two and a half days spent schmoozing with other DCEs & DCEtypes. Getting there was quite the time (three canceled flights & one voluntary bump) but once we arrived it was wonderful. No pictures for proof so you'll just have to take my word for it.
• All Alaska Lutheran Youth Gathering @ Victory Bible Camp
  TOTALLY ROCKED! I was in charge of planning this event, along with my friend Erik, and despite a lot of crap and stress and work, things went off without a hitch. It all started Thursday when we picked up the band, downhere, from the airport and by the time we were finished on Sunday afternoon many lives had been touched (I believe). The guys were AWESOME and our speaker, Brad Alles, was hilarious. A special shoutout to my friend Chad who absolutely saved me by volunteering his chaperoning skills for the weekend-- hope you had a GREAT time!

• Third Annual Middle School Alyeska Ski Trip @ Alyeska Ski Resort
  Thirteen middle schoolers climbed onto the Blue Bird bus to travel the hour+ to ski/snowboard at Alyeska. When we got there one of the girls announced she didn't bring any snowpants so she was going in her jeans-- NOT OKAY-- so I gave her mine. Thus I did not go skiing/snowboarding but it gave me some downtime (much appreciated!)

• CLYFR @ Pallotine Center, St Louis
  What the H does THAT mean?!
  CLYFR= Council of Lutheran Youth Fellowship Representatives. Basically, I was a chaperone for the 33 youth gathered from across the country. Obviously Taylor & I came the farthest (duh) but a good time was had by all. PLUS, I got to see my beloved home and my beloved Hannah... and I got some Gus' Pretzels too (I cried. Long story.)

• Philip Takes Jamie Mushing @ Beach Lake
  Okay, way fun. It's nice to finally get a glimpse of what has been taking up so much of his time and something that makes him so very excited and happy. It really truly was a lot of fun riding in that sled, watching Philip straighten out the pups. It probably would've been a lot more fun if my foot hadn't been throbbing... but that's the next bullet. Overall, my introduction to mushing was quite fun and something that I hope to do again sometime soon!

• Home @ Home
  Ahh.... Zzzzz.... Whew.... It's been quite the month and now, when I'm home and ready to work I'm literally locked out of my office-- the lock on my door broke and none of us can get in (hence the long post in the middle of the day). Nice, huh?
  As for the foot, it started hurting during All Alaska but me being me I ignored it. At CLYFR it started hurting worse. By the time I got into my car Sunday night to drive home from the airport I realized how horrendously it hurt. I couldn't remember doing anything to break it but that's precisely what it felt like. Finally, two days ago I went to the Urgent Care center in Wasilla only to have three x-rays taken, one doctor squeeze my foot (OUCH!!) and a referral to a podiatrist. Seems like I have some sort of mystery growth in my foot. Sounds really gross now that I type that but I'll know precisely how gross next Tuesday. For now though I'm coping with the pain via heating pads and some wonderful, glorious medication (yay, hydrocodone!)

So, I'm back. Thanks for the welcome. I'll update more when I have more to update on :)