The next adventure

For fear of becoming a mute, I am starting this up once again. While the previous posts are about my summer in Colorado, these will be about the rest of my fall at home. Probably - I suppose that it all depends on if I end up writing very often, we all know how well that went last time. I think I'll have a bit more incentive this time around though; my jaw is going to be wired shut so I'm not going to be able to talk very well if at all. I'm taking this semester off from school, which is strange but not awful, in order to have orthognathic surgery. I guess at this point I should be saying I took the semester off and not I am taking - it's been over a month since school started. I am getting my braces on for my surgery - as I type there are 8 spacers in my teeth to prepare me for the actual braces tomorrow. The day after that comes a pre-op appointment in Detroit, Michigan (where my surgeon is) and then Thursday comes the surgery itself. My mom is going with me and we will spend a week in Detroit together. Pray for us please. I am honestly excited about it though, I think the fear/apprehension won't kick in until the appointment on Wednesday. I am currently in Arkansas and it's good to see friends again. Next time I come down I'll be better about letting everyone know that I'm coming. For now though it's just good to see those who I can and get myself ready. I've realized how much I miss everyone - and how many amazing friends I have in so many different places.

Two in a row!

I was reprimanded for not writing very often or very much in here, so this is an attempt to be better. Let's see...I wrote a little bit about my day off, so I guess I'll just go ahead and write about yesterday and today. Yesterday was Saturday which equates to hardcore cleaning all day. We start at 7 and do breakfast-y stuff, pack for the brunch ride, do dishes, etc. Then we have to heavy duty clean all of the rooms. This week was an almost completely full week - all but two rooms were being used. We did better than last week though - last week it took us till 5 but this week it only took us till about 3.45ish. All of us went out to dinner together in Gunnison; we fit 11 people in the excursion. Most of us went camping last night too which was really fun. It was pretty cold but we got a fire going (after some difficulty) and I had my awesome new sleeping bag to keep me warm. Oh and it started to rain a little bit in the middle of the night - we were all sleeping on a big tarp under the stars so we all got on one side and folded the tarp over ourselves. Instead of waking me up Kolby just tried to drag me to the other side in my sleeping bag - needless to say I woke up. But most excitingly! Sara Beth, Kandace, and I drove the old chevy, one of the work trucks, back to camp and on the way Sara Beth taught me how to drive stick. Woot! Only killed it twice: once on the startup and once on the finish, none in between. I'll still need lots of practice and preferably closer pedals (I had to hug the steering wheel to get the clutch all the way in) but at least I can say I know how to now. We got back just in time for me to work this morning at 8.30 (no time for a shower though :). Mallory and I worked 8.30-12.30 cleaning and getting things ready for the guests who came today. (Kandace and Krystal worked 1pm on - we switch mornings and afternoons every other week. Work went really smoothly, we got everything done on time which is impressive for us. After I got off I took a shower and a nap and called home to say happy father's day! and then it was back to work again. Mallory and I went back at 4.30 and joined the other two girls to help get ready for dinner. I'm dishwasher this week so I get to spend lots of quality time with dishes. It's really not too bad though - we only have the 22 guests this week as opposed to the 40some of the past two weeks. We got done by 7.30 which is great for us and then all of us house girls went swimming for about 2 hours. Oof. Definitely fun but exhausting. We played knockout and a game of basketball and then goofed off for a while. Now I'm here, sitting in my room typing this and thinking that I had a good day. Just to clarify: I am very glad to be here. If I have talked to any of you on the phone and sounded exhausted, it's probably because I am. But that doesn't mean that I'm not happy where I am. Hope you all are well, happy father's day, and hopefully update you again soon!

Once again, it's been awhile

Yep, I'm really bad at this. But I have a lot to say! Just no time to sit down and say it it feels like. I've been here a month now. Wow, it really doesn't feel like it. In this month I've learned some helpful things. One, yes it does snow in June. I have video proof but for some reason it won't upload on here now. Two, the water is hot. Like boiling hot so always be careful. Three, everyone has different personalities, and despite how much you all get along under normal circumstances, when living and working with people 24/7, you will get on each others' nerves. And quite frankly, you will drive each other nuts at times. Those are our fun facts for the day, in no particular order or importance. These past two weeks have been our two fullest, 44 and 42 people I believe. Good grief, we're all so ready for a break. But on the optimistic side, I think this next week just has in the low 20s. Today was my day off and I drove toward Montrose along with Jonas, one of the maintenance guys because it was his day off too. We left at 9am and got back around 4.30 in the afternoon. We just drove and saw some awesome scenery. Part of the Black Canyon of Gunnison, we drove through Owl Creek Pass which was absolutely gorgeous. I have some pictures that I will put on here, I would label them all but I'm tired. Hopefully I'll write more and soon. Love you all!

Updates!

So I'm realizing how bad I am about writing on here. I really do aim to put more, I just haven't. I've been at Waunita for almost two weeks now, and I still really enjoy it. It is hard, and all of us house girls just about had a meltdown on Monday, but we are surviving. This is our first week with guests, and it makes everything so much different, and so much more work. We thought spring cleaning was hard, and it was, but this is just a different hard I guess. And the bad part about this week? There are only 11 guests here. Well, that's okay I suppose. The bad part is that next week there are 44. I'm the breakfast server next week (our daily jobs are separated into four main categories that we rotate through one week at a time) which means that I will get up uber early to set up for breakfast and then take everyone's orders. Oof. For someone who has never done any waitressing (and is rather accident proned) that's a bit intimidating. But I'll make it. All of our jobs are difficult, but we all help each other out. Today was my 'day off' which was a bit strange; it's weird knowing that everyone else is working while you're just sitting around. But I best get used to it, I'm going to need those days off. We had our first square dance tonight too, we'll have one every week. Okay, it's time for bed, tomorrow is a 7.30 start which means up at 6.30. I'll put up a couple pictures...

These are the house girls - from left to right Mallory, Me, Krystal, Kandace, and Hannah who is kind of a house girl but not really, she's a part time helper. Oh, and you can see Tomichi Dome in the background. I'm going to hike that before I leave (hopefully)!

Goofy picture!

These are us, the four house girls. We call ourselves the cinderellas because we're always doing all the house work and such.

Some of the guys wanted to take a picture since their matching shirts came in for the square dance tonight (the girls haven't made it yet). From left to right - Kolby, Eric (from Texas, we have three Eric's altogether), Jonas, and Casey.

I haven't taken as many pictures as I mean to, Kandace has a lot though (we have the same camera too). I'll put more up soon though!

And we're off!

Well folks, I've made it! After about four days of driving and living out of a backpack (okay, to be fair, it wasn't all driving, there was some stopping involved), I'm here. And where exactly is here? Well......look really close. I mean really close. Can you see the buildings? Right about in the middle there? Well that's where I'm at. Waunita Hot Springs Ranch. Woot! I thought I would write a lot tonight, but to tell the truth, I'm pretty pooped. Suffice it to say that I am excited. I've met all the workers who are here already (we're waiting for two more of the wranglers who are coming from Pennsylvania) and they are all really nice. I am excited to see what this summer has in store...because I honestly have no idea. Driving through the mountains today I couldn't believe what God had blessed me with. I had spent the last day and a half with some family - my aunt has been looking for a job for over a year now. How is it that I applied to a place halfway across the country that I haven't been to in years and got it? I'm ready to see what happens. But as for now, I think I'm going to be the one who gives up and goes to bed first.

Actual

Today was my first actual day home. And it was probably one of my favorite first day backs ever. To start things off, I was woken up around 7:30 by Dylan tip-toeing over to me with a picture that he had been coloring for the last who knows how long. He didn't intend to wake me up, but he did. So I grabbed him and pulled him into bed with me. He spent the next hour or so getting books, bringing them back, and reading them to me. Somewhere in the middle of all that I fell back asleep and then woke up around 10 to him bringing me the phone - I had to go to the eye doctor. Did that and when I came back I had the house to myself. I decided to tackle the unpacking process...ew. Got everything carried upstairs, couldn't handle the indoors anymore and threw on old clothes, boots, and a rain coat to trek the woods. It's so green already! Apparently it's been raining quite a bit here though. Everyone's pretty pessimistic about finding anymore mushrooms this year, but I'm holding out. At least one before I leave. And for those not from Indiana or other areas where mushroom hunting is commonplace, it's probably not what you're thinking. But yes, it's pretty country. Basically you go out into the woods for extended periods of time and look for a morels - a type of mushroom - that are really good to eat. Part of my childhood and just an excuse for me to spend copious amounts of time in the woods, not that I really need the excuse. So I spent a few hours traipsing through the rain with Barkley (our dog) and had a great time. The rest of the evening was spent unpacking, getting rid of stuff, spending time with my family, laughing at 'western' clothes, and avoiding sleep. Which I should probably stop doing.


This is a picture of the house on the way back up from the woods. Buildings from left to right: our house, the shed if you can make it out, and our barn.

First

Hi all! I decided to start this thing...again. This will be the third attempt, though this one is for different reasons. I am going to be gone from home this summer, away from everyone that I know so I thought that maybe beginning this and making it public would be an easier way to stay in touch and up to date. Who am I though? For those who don't know me that well, and for my own sake of having a sort of introduction, I'll write a little bit about myself. Hi, my name is Stephanie. No, far too unoriginal. I am just a girl, trying to live my life for the one who gave it to me. I am in college, going for a degree of...nothing. General studies - because I can't really make up my mind and because what I really want to do, I don't want the degree for. I'll graduate in a year and from there it'll just be playing it from ear. I think that'll do for a bit of an intro...and we're off!