6.30.2011

therapy thursday

Here in the Colorado Springs office Thursdays are lovingly called "Therapy Thursdays" because it's intern mentoring day.  At the beginning of the summer each of us was paired up with a staff member.  My mentor is Kate.  When we were choosing, we were supposed to write down the names of three people we would like as a mentor.  But since I didn't know anyone at that point (because my project trip left early) I just wrote down that I wanted to be paired with someone who was 'creative-minded' and not engineer-minded'.

So I got Kate!  She's the accountant in the office and it pretty cool.  I've had so much fun spending my Thursday lunches getting to know her.  Although I feel like she knows more about me than I do about her as I do most of the talking...

Anyway, we are reading a book together called The Call by Os Guinness.  It's basically what it sounds: understanding God's unique calling for you life.  We are only a few chapters in, but so far it's really good.  This summer I'm really being challenged to think about what I'm not.  What I'm not gifted in and what I'm not called to be.  In the first chapter Guinness says in order to understand our calling, we must first understand what we aren't.  To me, this is a relief.  Boundary gives freedom.

Also, I created this today in the office.  I moved to a workstation downstairs which is known as the fishbowl.  So I made a fun little sign for us :)



On a side note, since I've been in The Springs for a month now I've learned a few things.  One is that you should always have on hand.

Colorado Springs Essentials:
  1. Sunscreen: because it's ALWAYS sunny in The Springs and the sun is strong.
  2. Blanket/something to sit on: for random trips to the park.
  3. Sunglasses: see point 1.
  4. Sweatshirt: it gets really chilly here at night.
  5. Water: there's like zero humidity.
  6. Gas: everything is really spread out which means lots and lots of driving.

6.19.2011

denver, co

Yesterday, I fell in love.

Maybe I should explain.  My roommate Clare is from the UK.  She was a spring intern with eMi but stuck around for another project trip.  So yesterday, she headed home.  I drove her to the airport, trying to be a good roommate.  Little did I know I would fall in love with the city of Denver, Colorado.

Plans worked out perfectly for me to meet up with my good friend Jessica.  So I picked her up in Westminster and we headed downtown.  Our plan was to explore the city and see some good architecture.  Little did I know I'd meet the city of my dreams.  We parked behind the Capitol building and started walking.  Our first stop was the Denver Art Museum, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind.


It's pretty crazy.  We didn't actually go into any of the galleries to see any art.  Because I really just wanted to see the building :)


After that we found downtown and walked around for a bit.  The main street, 16th/Mall St is pedestrian only, except for buses.  And the bus is free!  So you can walk all the way down to LoDo (Lower Downtown) and not have to worry about walking back.  It's also lined with beautiful green trees and painted pianos.



There are also a ton of really cool pedestrian bridges scattered around downtown, which I love.  And there's an amusement park with roller coasters and water slides right beside the city too!

Basically, I can totally see myself in Denver and would love to live there someday.  I just loved the energy and the pace the city has.  Not to mention the beautiful rocky mountain back drop :)


6.11.2011

the first week

My first week back in Colorado Springs has been great.  In the office, work starts at 8:30am.  We begin every morning with prayer, devotions or worship with the whole staff.  After that, I'm up in my corner, with Lauren, working on my computer.  So far I've been working on a project in Kenya and one in Rwanda.  We've also been doing a little bit of administrative work.


What makes me really enjoy my time here is all of the extra things that come along with being an intern.  Every Friday morning we spend a couple of hours at a local soup kitchen called The Marian House.  We helped out by just cleaning in the kitchen, but it was really fun and a great way to serve the community.  The interns have also been spending a lot of time together outside of work.  So far we've picked up a pizza, watched a DVD, gone for frozen yogurt, hit up Chipotle and went to see X-Men.  Basically we've had a lot of fun hanging out :)


But I'm also really enjoying the down time and the time I get to spend on my own.  I love turning on Taylor Swift in the morning and singing on my 20 minute drive to work.  I love coming home and making whatever I want for dinner.  And I love going to bed early :)  This morning I went to Garden of the Gods Park and hiked  around on my own for a couple of hours.  It was so beautiful and peaceful and a great place to think, away from the distractions of the city.  



On Friday we also took some time to do the DISC personality assessment.  After ranking a bunch of descriptions as "most likely" or "least likely" it was decided that I am a Sic, or an advocate.  I ranked highest in S which is:

Steadiness: People with high "S" styles scores want a steady pace, security, and do not like sudden change. High "S" individuals are calm, relaxed, patient, possessive, predictable, deliberate, stable, consistent, and tend to be unemotional and poker faced. Low "S" intensity scores are those who like change and variety. People with low "S" scores are described as restless, demonstrative, impatient, eager, or even impulsive.   

It was really interesting for me to compare this one to Meyers-Briggs, which I've done a lot of work with.  They definitely have a lot of similarities and overlaps.  One of the things that Carl stressed while we were talking about DISC is that none of the characteristics or types are bad.  God made me this way, and it's not something that needs to be fixed or changed.  It's good to embrace and understand it more, but I don't need to try to fix myself; God made me this way for a reason.

6.08.2011

support update


I'm so close to my fundraising goal!  My project trip and tuition costs are fully funded, but I still need to raise money for my living expenses.  Thank you so much to though of you who are supporting me along this journey.  I can't thank you enough for making this summer possible!

6.07.2011

back in the springs

I'm back in colorado springs and just made my first grocery shopping trip.  It was fairly uneventful as SafeWay is pretty empty on weekday mornings.  Although I did see this treasure in the parking lot:


It's kind of strange being back in the states where everything is clean, understandable, and extremely fast paced.  I'm still processing everything I learned and experienced in Gabon, but I can say this; 8 things I learned in Gabon:

  1. You don't drive on the right or left side, you drive where ever the potholes aren't.
  2. Chairs and couches aren't usually as comfortable as they look.
  3. Driving anywhere in Libreville takes 45 minutes.
  4. Every fruit is better in Gabon.
  5. Sometimes when you are on the internet it's really just Yahoo and Skype that work.
  6. It's impossible to enjoy God too much.
  7. It's sunny in the rainy season and always overcast in the dry season.
  8. Just because God takes you to a whole new country, culture, and climate, doesn't mean he's going to teach you something brand new.  Chances are he's going to help you understand what you've been trying to learn by seeing and experiencing it in a whole new way.
I want my life post-Gabon to be different.  I want to see with new eyes, to apply all of the things I've learned.  But I know things don't just happen overnight.  And that growing is a process.  But I know there are two things that God is calling is calling me to and taught me while I was in Gabon:

  1. He wants me to be relational, because at his core, God is relational.
  2. He wants me to enjoy him more.  He is faithful and good and loves me.  He wants me to enjoy and rejoice in this.
I have memories from this trip that I will treasure forever.  And I picked up a couple things that will reminded me of a God who is at work in the people of Gabon, who is a beautiful artist, and who calls me his daughter.




6.04.2011

architecting, chinese buffet & point denis

Well, it's been a few days.  So instead of recounting all of the details, I'll just give a few highlights.

We spent the majority of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday doing archietcture.  Master planning, drawing, CAD-ing, sketchup-ing, etc.  It was fun but also draining.  Staying up until 2am on Thursday night to get everything done wasn't fun.  But we did discover ChocoMax.  It's kind of like nutella, but with peanut instead of hazelnuts (YAY, no tree nuts :D)

Our presentation was on Friday morning and after that we went to a Chinese buffet.  In Africa.  To sum it all up, it was interesting.  I'm not sure that they eat ox tail in China... but they definitely do here.  I stuck to the basics and the things that I knew.  We also went to a tourist marche (market) and I was able to pick up a few souvenirs :)

Last night we stayed at hotel a few minutes away from CFTAC (the bible school campus where we are staying) and it was wonderful, just to sleep in the air-conditioning.  Then today, we spent all day at the beach!  It was beautiful and so relaxing, despite the fact that it was overcast and sprinkled a little bit.

We are headed home tomorrow night, our flight leaving around 10pm.  Please keep our team in your prayers as we travel for over 24 hours and readjust to our lives back in the states.  Pray that we would be able to continue to process and learn from everything we've experienced in the past week and a half and that God would continue to bless us and grow us.