The real Odyssey

I learned something about myself last summer...I'm not good at running a blog. I had good intentions of course, but I never got very far with it. My blog was meant to be a running update of my adventures during my internship in the Northwest. But, said internship kept me so busy that I only posted a few times. There was another thing that kept me busy during my time in Idaho...Colin Gordon.

Colin and I started dating shortly after I got to Idaho. I had been a "facebook friend" of his for years, but had never met him. We hit it off after we met and spent nearly every weekend together during my internship. A year later, I am visiting him again in Idaho, but he is now my fiance...funny how things work out.

I will be moving to the Northwest when we get married in December. So...my blog...what was originally meant to be a simple blog about a single summer, will now be used for my new life in a new place. I doubt I'll post often, but at least I've updated!

Peace.

Things

Random things I miss about Texas…

-Obviously, my family…my nieces and nephew especially

-My church

-My car

-Warm balmy nights…nights in Texas where you can stay out without any kind of sweater or jacket, eat ice cream cones or go swimming and be perfectly warm.

-My pillow

-Guaranteed sunshine

-Real thunderstorms

-Bluebell Ice Cream

-College Station, TX

Random things I love about the North West

-The blueness of Coeur d’Alene Lake

-Being able to kayak for free on said lake

-My Estonian host family here in North Idaho

-Having my friends, the McNallys and Gordons, close by

-The friendliness of the people of this area

-Lilac trees and their scent (I’d never seen any until I came here)

-Seeing irises on a daily basis

-All the other blooming flowers and tress I see on the trails here that are unfamiliar to me

-That having the sun rise at 4:30 am is turning me into a morning person

-That the sun doesn’t set until after 9:00pm

-The low humidity here during the day

-All the numerous outdoor and recreational opportunities at my finger tips

“Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.” -Unknown

First three weeks...

Every day is an adventure in North Idaho. That is what I keep telling myself. I have just completed the first three weeks of my internship with North Idaho College’s Outdoor Pursuits Program. So far, I have done everything from the down-and-dirty maintenance work, to making rental reservations, to helping teach kayaking classes, to planning a children’s camp…and so many other things in between. When I first got to Couer d’Alene, I was overwhelmed, feeling like I would never fall into a grove, that I would never find my rhythm here. I am happy to say that it is coming…slowly, but it is coming.

Every day is different here on the job. Some days I help manage the beachfront and rental area. Other days I am working in the office, organizing our equipment, and then other days, I just help teach class. No two days in the work week are identical. I have a love/hate relationship with routines…love them because I comfortably know what to expect, hate them because routine becomes maddeningly boring and minimizes the challenges I must face. When I was looking for an internship for this summer, I wanted to find something that would challenge me, something that would make me push myself to do new things. My internship gives me no other choice but to push myself beyond my comfort zone, every single day. It is hard. It is physically demanding. I ask myself, in the end, will it be worth it? I didn’t think so at first. But as I continue to push myself, as I keep learning new skills and expanding my experience, I am hopeful that I will remember my time here as a growth experience. As with any job, there are days I love it, and days I hate it. I keep something one of my professors said to me in the back of my mind…

Even in the worst of experiences, there are lessons to be learned, and there are benefits to be derived. Every experience you have is positive, even at the time that it time it appears negative, because it is a growth experience." - John Crompton

Time to grow!

Goodbye Texas

Goodbyes…unpleasant business. They certainly aren’t my favorite thing. But, I know they are necessary from time to time. Sometimes, appreciating what we have right in front of us requires being removed from it for a little while. In the end, it makes coming back, all the better. You can’t have any joyful hellos without any sad goodbyes.

Speaking of sad…I don’t think of myself as an extremely emotional person. But cry in front of me, and it’s over. I’ll be crying too. Floods of tears. Must be contagious for me. Thus, I am extremely grateful that my family and close friends didn’t make a big ta-do about my leaving for four months. No ceremony, no hoopla. I think everyone is getting used to my leaving, it’s starting to feel like routine…or…(gasp)…they could just want to get rid of me? No…I’m sure that it’s just becoming routine… ;)

I probably won’t be posting too many pictures on this site just yet…I forgot the cord to download my photos onto my computer. I knew I’d forget something! Ugh! I will have to acquire some kind of SD card reader…until then, it’s my poor words. Sorry.

The direct flight up to Vancouver, BC (first stop in our journey) is a long one. As I’m writing this, we have about an hour and a half left to go…lots of snowy mountains tops along the way. Despite the fact that I pulled an all-nighter packing, I have really slept too much on this flight. Blah! Good thing the views are nice from my window seat!

That’s enough from me for now! More to come later!

One more week!

Well, I head northwest this Saturday! Procrastinator that I am, I am not finished packing. Surprised? I'm not, that's for sure. I think this quote suits me perfectly this week...

If it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get anything done! ~Author Unknown

Yes, it is one of those weeks!

But before I can go to work in Idaho, I am taking a mini vacation to Vancouver, BC, Seattle WA and Spokane, WA with my sis, Melanie. I'm really looking forward to because...

Vancouver looks amazing!!!

And Seattle...

...doesn't look like it will disappoint, either!

And Spokane? That portion of the trip is going to be chill-time with our bestie, Sheila.

It's going to be a good two weeks, starting this Saturday!

Summer 2010

Here I am with a grand new adventure before me. I was recently hired for a summer intern position with North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I’ll be working in the school’s outdoor pursuits program, so it promises to be a summer filled with action. My departure date in just a few weeks, and there are so many things I have to do before I go. I still have shopping to do, things to ship up there, friends to tell goodbye, etc. Everyone keeps telling me that it will be the summer of a life time, that it will be incredibly fun, that Coeur d’Alene is the most beautiful place to be in the country, and so forth…I am sure they are all correct, but I approach this summer knowing that it will be a challenge. Though I have traveled to other side of the world and back, lived alone, etc., I have never spent multiple months away from familiarity. I know I will be fine. But I also know I’m going to have my moments of missing my family, missing my friends, and missing Texas. But my job is to accept this challenge and to refuse to fail, to meet this summer before me, head on. In an attempt to avoid falling into a hole of disconnect while I am gone, I want to chronicle the time I will spend up in Idaho and share it with my family and those who are interested. As a chronicled experience, it must have a name…here is what I came up with...

Odyssey in Idaho

Too dramatic, maybe? No, I disagree. I think it is perfect. After all, an odyssey is really nothing more than a series of adventures, a heap of notable experiences and hardships. While I hope hardships are on the scant side, I am sure that this summer will be nothing but an adventure...Cheers!