Week 14: Have Yourself a Black and Blue Christmas

Wednesday night was our Christmas dinner! Everyone was dressed up way fancy, some girls with hours of work put into their outfits, hair, and make-up. We took pictures before dinner, with everyone looking really great. We were all seated at tables with nice linens, ceramic plates, goblets, cloth napkins, pretty center pieces, and our main course of the evening? Pizza. Yes, pizza. Hours of work put into this “fancy” dinner and we ate pizza. Lest to say, I was a tad bit disappointed, but however, I still looked great! After dinner, we all went and changed into our sweaters for our Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest. Our Pause families came over as we also had a Gingerbread House contest against the other families. We were given a gingerbread house kit, which we had to use all of, and use whatever else we wanted. While three families made a LOTR Shire and two families made the house from UP, our pause family made a Star Wars AT-AT complete with Luke Skywalker and a flying (yes flying!) Speeder! We won first place, $30 to the OK Chalet! That could buy a  lot of Pizzookies! After cleaning up a bit, we had our Ugly Sweater contest, hosted by Chad in a jean kitten shirt I got him (He HATES cats!). Lanie and Fletcher won! We sang Christmas carols and listened to Becky read a Christmas story about candy canes. It was such a great night! Christmas Party Photos!!!!

#TeamPizzookie!

Little Luke fighting the AT-AT

Pause family photo!

I started work on Thursday for the Victory Outreach conference. First time working activities! I ran got to run the skate shop for the ice rink the first night. Saturday I ran the tube run all day. The first part of the day, I was down at the bottom handing out tubes and keeping the line. There were four of us working with two at the top pushing the tubes down and one at the bottom making sure they don’t run into the street. That night we only had two people available to work the tube run, me and Shiloh. I was at the top and she was at the bottom. I have some gnarly bruises on my knees from it now! But it was a ton of fun to do. 

Sunday, I went over to the Saunders house to hang out and help Dayton with his homework. Tim and Michelle showed up after work and we all had dinner together. We really feel like a family. I made cookies while Dylan and Tim played in the snow. Michelle kept trying to steal cookie dough. It’s really funny how much we act like a (dysfunctional) family. After dinner, we all went ice skating for a bit and then to church. After church was staff broom hockey. It was so much fun! Surprisingly, I got the puck a lot. I also got taken out a lot! But it was super fun. We played until 10:30. After about the 6^th round, I was feeling a bit sick but I shook it off, saying “one more game, then I’m done.” That never happened so by the very last game, I was feeling very nauseous. I went and sat down but couldn’t shake it. Allie got me water and helped me out but for some reason I freaked out and had a panic attack. Not fun. Everyone was super awesome about it though, calming me down & giving me jackets to rest my head on. I was feeling a lot better by the time I got back to the building. Heather gave us a ride up. When I got up the next morning, I felt a lot better but my body ached all over from broom hockey. I made my bruises a lot worse too!

Monday and Tuesday, I volunteered to help out with activities. I knew it would be a bit easier to do everything with an extra person. I leave today (Wednesday) for home with Morgan and Daniel! I’m so excited to go home! I miss my family a lot and am ready for a break from the cold up here! Santa Maria, here I come!

Week 13: Sweet Victory

The Victory Outreach conferences started this week, which means everyone started working on Thursday instead of Friday. I switched to have this weekend off to work midweek before Christmas break. It was a LONG weekend. Thursday, most everyone was either SWEEPing or working, so I was all alone in the building for a while. I went with Jenna and Jenae to get the mail and we followed a dog around for a bit, barking at it. Fortunately, it was Pause night! The Saunders took us down to Fresno. On the way down we stopped to take a picture in a fog covered Princess Meadow. It was incredibly foggy on the way down. We talked about what we would do if zombies started suddenly appearing out of the fog. We met up with the Harris’ at Me n’ Ed’s Pizza (after getting lost a couple times!). Rich was there too, and I think we specifically chose the room with all the TV’s and video games in it just to test us. After pizza, we headed to Candy Cane Lane in Clovis to look at the Christmas lights. It was so much fun! One house had cut outs of Mickey and Minnie surfing and hula dancing. We were talking about Minnie’s bare feet when Tim asked, “What kind of animal is Minnie?” We all stared at him because we weren’t sure if he was serious or not. Finally, Michelle said, “A Gopher. Minnie MOUSE is a gopher.” It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard! Tim was a tab bit embarrassed to say the least.

Friday was an interesting day. Although I had the weekend off, I ended up hanging out in the skate shop with the people working there renting skates out to campers for the ice rink. After a while, I headed over to get fries and a milkshake for Daniel at the OK Chalet. Kelsey was working there and we danced around for a bit which was fun. They accidently made two shakes so I got one free! It was mint chip and cookies and cream, yum! That night, I went back down to the ark with Shiloh, Kelsey, and Kelly at 8 to meet Jordan and get Pizzookies at the OK Chalet. We realized it didn’t even open until 9, so we played a little broom hockey while we waited. I, unfortunately, am no good on my feet and fell several times on the ice. I finally decided to just stay down there, until Brandon shot the puck at me. It was coming at my feet so in my mind I thought it would be a good idea to lift my leg. However, I didn’t think it through and it ended up hitting me in the butt instead. I crawled off the ice, laughing hysterically, but in pain. I ended up playing ping-pong with Jordan instead. We headed up to the OK Chalet with Austin, who was running the mechanical bull. We did that for a bit while we waited for the concessions staff to get there. They didn’t show up until 9:45 and by then we were all tired. I got a Pizzookie with rocky road ice cream, but I ended up only eating the cookie and Jordan at all the ice cream.

Saturday at lunch, Tim gave me a green plastic ring he found at the bottom of the lake. He said I wasn’t allowed to take it off, so we’ll see how long that lasts…

Sunday was a great day! After playing a game of Settlers of Catan, Sara and I decided on a spur of the moment Fresno trip. So we got in my car and headed down. We got lost trying to find Chipotle, so I ended up calling my best friend Kelsey to help us out and ended up meeting her there. After Chipotle, Sara and I headed to Target to get dish soap and laundry detergent. We left with clothes, make-up, and candy… no soap. We stopped by Kelsey’s house to say bye and drove to get food for Jonah and Jordan. We got lost… again, but finally found it. We ran into Ross really quick to see if they had any ugly Christmas sweaters for Stephen, but didn’t find anything good. After, we headed back up the hill and got back around 9. They boys were more than happy to get their food. After parking my car and walking back up, Shelby and I cleaned our room for random room check Monday. I loved getting to spend so much time with Sara. She’s like my best friend here at Joshua.

Week 12: Freezing Fun

So we get back from break, back to the cold Hume weather ready to cozy up in my room and what is awaiting me when I get there? If you guessed a broken heater, you would be correct! Our room was 55 degrees and we had no way of warming it up. The whole entire wing of girls dorms was out. The first night wasn’t fun. We all slept in jackets, thermals, extra blankets, and footie pajamas. It was absolutely freezing! The next day, Rich had some of the boys move portable heaters into our rooms, which was totally awkward considering we had just gotten back and all my clothes were everywhere from doing laundry. Anyway, the heater got our room up to about 63 most the time and 69 on one good day. They were finally able to fix them on Friday! Unfortunately, my roommate took advantage of it and I woke up sweating in our now 80 degree room.

Tuesday we started our first day of our Major Prophets: Isaiah class, taught by the one and only Rich Baker. I’m really enjoying this class. It’s very fat paced and it’s a lot of self-learning, but I find it really enjoyable. We have our first test tomorrow on lessons 1 & 2.

Thursday, I had SWEEPS in the Gift Shop. I spent most my time scanning books and placing price tags on toy cars. Thursday was also our 50 Year Reunion theme dinner! We all dressed up like we were in our late 60s, early 70s. Shelby and I used cornstarch to grey our hair. There were lots of walkers, wheelchairs, and wrinkles! For dinner we had soft foods, like mashed potatoes, jello, and creamed spinach. After dinner, we all played Bingo. Unfortunately, I didn’t win. I don’t have great luck when it comes to Bingo. The night ended early, around 7:30 and it was funny because a lot of people actually went to bed around 8. Pretending to be old had its effect on everyone. It’s Sunday and the boys are still rolling around the building in wheelchairs.

Friday night, half the Joshua girls met up in Bella and Megan’s loft where we ate junk food, told stories, and sang at the top of our lungs. It was so much fun. They even built a blanket fort, but as more girls showed up, the hotter it got, so we had to take it down. The girl community here is so awesome.

This weekend has been great! There were no conferences so nobody was working. It’s been raining all weekend which means everyone’s in the building most the time. Saturday night, EVERYONE was playing board games! It was so awesome. Everything from Settlers of Catan to Nuclear War to Quelf. I don’t think I’ve played so many board games in such a short period of time. Since I had a ton of free time, I got some drawing in. I taught myself how to draw Ariel and Stich.

This weekend, I also got to spend a lot of time with Sara, who’s like my best friend at Joshua. It was really nice to have someone to talk to all weekend. We spent Sunday together from walking down for lunch to walking up after church. I was great to spend so much time with her and talk about everything.

Weeks 10 & 11: Tacos to Turkey

Last week we were in Mexico at a deaf school in Ensenada. I got to be in Brett’s van AKA #Blackflipvan. We stopped for dinner where our great pizzookie problem occurred. Matt, Jordan M, Jordan S, Kelly, Shiloh and I ordered a pizzookie at BJ’s and hour before we had to be at the vans. We waited forever and we were down to like 15 minutes before we asked where it was. They had ended up dropping our Pizzookie on the ground and were making a new one. We had our waiter give us our check & paid. The guys didn’t want us to be late so the 4 girls ran back to the vans. We turn to see the guys booking it with the pizzookie with about 30secs to spare. It was insane!

On the way down we stayed at San Diego Christian College for a night. We got to take a tour of the campus and experience chapel before we headed out. We got to the school, which is on about 600 square acres, and had dinner. The next couple days we were doing a lot of work clearing bushes and weeds around buildings to prevent fire hazards. I was with Jenae’s group and we called ourselves #TeamJenae or #Teamtearingitup. One of the places I worked was on a slope and I ended up falling down it three times. Apparently I’m known for falling down a lot… Friday, I got to work in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables and making flour tortillas. They were delicious!

#TeamTearingItUp!

Getting to hang out with the kids was fun! We played a lot of soccer and basketball. They taught us a little Mexican sign language and some people got their own sign names. The girls put on a 5K run which was awesome to watch them do. A lot of the guys dressed up in ridiculous costumes. There were a bunch of obstacles like running through tires and through a mud pit. Running the race was a huge confidence booster for the deaf girls. We also got to play a big soccer game as Joshua vs. Rancho Seudo Mudo. It was so much fun.

5K Run!

#TeamPizzookie on Snoopy Rock

One of my favorite things was hiking up to Snoopy Rock (a giant rock shaped like Snoopy) with my Pizzookie friends and Jonah. Once at night and once at sunset. We sat up on a rock a looked out the camp at night which was super cool. The other time I went to Snoopy Rock and they climbed up to the top of the hill. While I was sitting on a rock, the all yelled out “YAHWEH!” from the top. It made me think how cool it’ll be when the kids at that school will be in Heaven and be able to hear God calling out their name.

Sara and I with Luke McMillin.

Andrew, Stephen, Me, Daniel, and Morgan.

Going to Ensenada on Thursday was probably one of the best days of my life! It was so much fun! I hung out with Sara, Stephen, Daniel, Morgan, and Andrew. We got to watch the start of the Baja 1000, a 1000 mile race down Baja California in everything from trophy trucks to tricked out VW bugs. Sara and I got to take a picture with Luke McMillin, a 19year old driver who got 6^th place when he was 16, 2 months after getting his license. We walked down to the wharf and had fish tacos. We walked around the stores on two of the main roads. The boys were super protective of Sara and I so they had us walking in front or in between them the whole time. It really made me appreciate my Joshua brothers more. Afterwards, some friends of Rich let us into their home and made dinner for us. They even rented a karaoke machine for us to use (Yay, music!!!)

Andrew, Sara, and Daniel

Going to Mexico was such a great experience. It really made me think about how we take hearing and other senses for granted. At the same time though, it was awesome to see how happy those kids are. They didn’t let their lack of hearing stop them from doing anything or being who they wanted to be.

Trophy Truck.

Morgan.

As soon as we got back to the building, I turned right around and headed home with Ricky and Antonio. Being home was so great. Monday I slept in and went to Zoe’s Hawiian BBQ for lunch, delicious! I also went to go visit my high school teachers and friends at OA, which was really nice. Tuesday, I went up to Paso with Daniel and his dad to Morgan’s house. Andrew was there too and I got to go shooting with my Joshua brothers. It was the very first time I’ve ever shot a gun! We did some skeet shooting and target shooting with hand guns. I had a big bruise on my shoulder from the shotgun for a couple days after. I really enjoyed it, it was a ton of fun! It was so awesome of Morgan to have us over to do that.

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Cali & I

Wednesday I spent the day with my mom and sister and my friend Cali. We went to go look at the Altrusa trees and put in tickets to hopefully win a tree and prizes. I spent a few hours at Cali’s house and I taught her how to play Magic (I can’t believe I’m into that game now!). After, I went out with my family to Far Western for an early birthday dinner for my mom. It was really nice, especially with Chef Rick’s food! I met up with some friends at starbucks later that night and it was awesome to catch up with them.

Thursday was turkey day!!! Thanksgiving was kind of weird not spending it with my best friends family, but still good! It was just my parents, sister, and grandma but we probably had enough turkey to feed an army. Honestly, I was ready to skip dinner and go straight to turkey sandwhiches!

Hover Goat

Friday night I had Melissa, Brisa, and Cali sleep over. It was interesting having a sleep over where I couldn’t watch TV, listen to music, or play video games.  We stayed up late eating cake and playing games. In the morning, we had breakfast and got ready to go to See Canyon to the Gopher Glen apple farm. We picked up Michael and headed to Pismo. We bought some apples and drove over to Port SLO Pier to eat at Fat Cat’s. They have the best onion rings in the world! After, we went over to Avila Barn to feed the animals and buy apple cider and honey sticks. After I dropped everyone at home, I went over to my friend Jeremiah’s house to see some college friends. We played board games and I listened to the guys play Halo. We spent like 3 hours playing Mafia in the dark. It was so funny and scary at the same time. I got to be the murderer 3 times. The  first time, I was able to kill everyone without anyone finding out who it was!

I headed back up the hill Sunday with Ricky and Antonio around 2. We weren’t able to fit everything in Ricky’s car so Andrew was kind to let me put my bags in his truck. Going up was fun, those guys are hilarious! We stopped to get chicken kabobs and tacos.  As soon as we got back, we got mobbed by the people who were already here. I loved being home a lot but I seriously missed all my brothers and sisters here. It was awesome to be welcomed back by everyone! All in all, it was an amazing 2 weeks!