My Journey

Easter in Canada- My parents visit!

2009-04-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hello to everyone who reads this! I am still not very good at keeping this up to date. I went to Canada with 17 other people over Easter. We went to another Young Life camp called Malibu on an inlet. It was a great experience. It was beautiful there! I will post pictures soon. We helped them get prepared for the summer. You have to take a boat taxi to get out there. It was a trip that will never be forgotten. It was a great time with friends. My parents came a few days after I got back from Canada. I loved having them here. It was so fun to have them be able to see where I am at and what I am doing. They were amazed at the beauty of this place. Pictures can't even describe the true beauty here. While they were here we did a lot of fishing! Mom was of course loving that! Dad was able to sit and read and study. It is so peaceful and quiet here that is easy to do. We also met up with my Uncle Tim and Aunt Teresa and the boys and Emily for dinner one night which was a blast. So fun to have the family together. My parents just left about 5 min. ago and I was sad to see them leave. I am not sure the next time I will see them which is hard for me. At the earliest it will be October which seems so far away. I am so thankful for my parents and the support they have shown me while I have been out here in OR. I love them dearly! A few fun things that happened while they were here, we went on the screamer which is a giant swing for three people that raises you 50 feet into the air and then you pull the cord to release yourselves. It was a blast! I will post pictures and maybe a video soon. Also mom and I had a great time the first time we tried to go in the boat together. I had never paddled a row boat only a canoe so you can only imagine the laughter and tears of joy that were flowing from us. Lets just say we didn't go fishing in the boat that day. Although the next day dad took me out and gave me lessons on how to row and I am much better at it now. I may not be a pro but i can get from point a to point b and back! Well, that is a quick update of the last few weeks I will write more soon and post pictures of my adventures!

Janelle

Sorry it has been so long!

2009-03-16T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a long time. Life has been very good in the Canyon! I had a great trip home at the end of February. I was able to spend a week with my family. My sister-in-law was able to come over with Titus and Ava for a few days. I really enjoyed seeing them all! It was a great time of reconnecting with friends and family. I had not been home since Thanksgiving. That was the longest I had gone not seeing my family. I am so thankful for all of them and their love!

Since being back in the Canyon I have stayed here. I have not been into town for 2 weeks and after this week it will be 3. It is kind of nice to just stay away form the busyness of the city and just relaxing in the quietness of the canyon and the relationships I have built here. God has been so good to me. This has truly been a life changing experience. April first will be my six month mark. That means I only have six months left of my internship. The time has flown. I am just praying that I can make the last six months even better then the first. Please be praying as I enter into the busy part of the year. Summer is quickly approaching and my schedule will get very busy. So, one more really exciting thing! My Mom and Dad are coming out here for a visit in April! I can't wait. I will be going to Canada for Easter to a young life came near British Columbia and they will be coming to Oregon just after I return. It will be so great to have them here. Well, sorry it had been so long but please be praying for me as God continues to challenge me in new ways!

Thanks!

snowbaording

2009-01-21T16:42:00.000-08:00

Well, hello! I want to share a story with you about my day yesterday. A group of us went up to a mountain to ski and snowboard. I had only skied once maybe twice in junior high. I decided snowboarding would be more fun! I love to wakeboard so I thought this will be fine. Well thats the funny part. I followed my lead and got on the lift that I was told would take me to the over easy part of the mountain. ( I should have gone with my gut and gone on the bunny hill first.) So I get on the lift. Mind you I have no idea how to get off with a snowboard and no idea how to ride this thing attached to one foot. Then I realize that the lift I am on will not let me off part way up the mountain but is taking me to the very top. At this point I am scared and want to get off but what can you do. Well, we got to the top. I got off the lift but of course i fell in the process. Great start! Then for the next hour and a half or two I fell and fell and fell again. I did not even make it half way down the mountain before I had to take off my board and start walking. I was miserable. I was in so much pain and still had no idea how to control the board. It controlled me! I hate that feeling of being out of control. I was so far up the mountain that I rode the lift down. Yes you know that lonely person you see coming down on the other side of the lift as you go up to ski down. That was me! It was a very humbling experience and the next time I decide to go up the mountain to ski I will first visit the bunny hill and learn how to do it! Lesson learned! Never again do I want to go through that NEVER! Well yesterday you can just imagine how emotional I was but I can say that today I have been able to sit back and laugh and see the lessons I learned. Starting off small is a good thing!

WOW!

2008-12-29T17:14:00.000-08:00

So I have to say I have not been good about posting on this blog. I promise to work at that and get better at updating! So this was my first Christmas away from home:( It was hard but I am very blessed to have an Aunt and Uncle who live near by that I was able to spend the holiday with. Well the canyon is not used to getting a lot of snow and we got its just before Christmas. We had a few bad snow storms come through and most of us (interns) drove through one to get out of the Canyon for the holiday! We all made it safely to our destinations that night with lots of prayer! I felt kind of at home with all the snow and cold weather. The sad part is it has all melted. It was 57 degrees in the canyon on Sunday. We now have lots of mud! But life here is good. I am excited for everyone to return from their vacations and hear all about them. We have been working hard the last few weeks and have another group coming in tomorrow for New Years. After that the whole staff of the camp and their families are going to a retreat at Canon Beach! I can't wait! It will be a great time of refreshing and fellowship as a staff and body of believers. Well, I will post pictures when I return from the retreat! Our God is an awesome God! Miss you all!

Love ya!

2008-11-29T13:18:00.000-08:00

Taralyn, Jeremy, Janelle, Jessica, Juliana

2008-11-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I had a great one! I surprised my family and flew home for the holiday! Our WHOLE family was together! It was wonderful. It has been nice to spend time with friends and family although I will admit the busyness of life outside of the canyon is kind of overwhelming. I miss the quiet peaceful feeling of the canyon were there are not as many distractions. I miss the beauty of the hills and my friends. But it has been great to spend time here and I am excited to go to church tomorrow. God is so great and I feel so blessed to have the family I do and to have the opportunity to take the journey I am on. There will be no surprises at Christmas. I will be spending it in OR at my Uncle Tim and Aunt Teresa's house. We have a very busy schedule at camp when I return all the way up to the week of Christmas. Well, enjoy all the of the Christmas shopping and baking you have to do I can't wait to make Christmas cookies. Please pray for me as I travel back to the canyon on Monday and pray that God will continue to teach me and grow me. Thank you for your prayers.

Love ya,

Janelle

Over a month!

2008-11-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

Wow! It is hard to believe I have lived in the Canyon for over a month! I love it here though. It has been a great month of building relationships and seeing God in so many ways! I am in Hermiston now at my Aunt and Uncle's for my weekend just to get away for a little bit. We have a had very busy weekends at camp. I am getting really good at cleaning toilets and making beds! I also am slowly and I mean very slowly getting over my fears of spiders!!!!! I had to kill 12 the other day and I screamed every time!!!!! No fun! But I feel so truly blessed for this opportunity to serve out here for this year and am excited to continue to bring you along on this journey. I will post more pictures soon!

Janelle

2008-10-28T07:39:00.000-07:00

All the girls! Amber, Emily, Andrea, Me, Amanda, Jamie and Elise.

2008-10-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

So, the coast was BEAUTIFUL! We had a great retreat in Seaside OR. It was a good time of bonding for "Team Intern"! I think my favorite part was a two hour time of solitude that we were given to spend time in the Word and prayer and set our personal goals for the year. I walked down to the beach and sat in the sand. It was so amazing to sit there and listen and watch the waves crash and just draw near to God. The day we got there was my birthday and they had birthday cake for me! It was really fun. One of the girls knew that I loved lemon cake with lemon frosting so they made me a lemon cake. The funny thing is she forgot the frosting:) They had another cake too! After this retreat I am even more excited to see what God will do in my life and also in the lives of the other interns. Please just pray for us as we continue to serve out here. Pray that we would serve as Christ would serve! Miss you all!

Nell

P.S. We went to Haystack Rock which was were part of Goonies was filmed!

2008-10-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

Hello! Sorry its been awhile. I have had a busy week. Work is going really well and I am still loving it out here. Tomorrow all the interns and our small group leaders are headed to the coast! I can't wait! I have never seen the pacific! We will be there till wed. morning. It is our intern retreat were we will be doing a lot of goal setting and stuff like that. I will fill you in on all of that when we get back! Please be praying for us as we go that we will grow closer together spiritually and grow closer to God! Thank you for your continued prayer while I am out here. I am missing home a little bit but know this is were i am suppose to be and I am excited for this journey!

Love ya all!

Janelle

Another day in the Canyon!

2008-10-09T18:45:00.001-07:00

Well, another day has gone by. I worked in the kitchen all day today and had a great day. We had a staff meeting this morning and I was suppose to share my life story but I got out of it this week so next Thur. it is! Things are going really well here! I hope to get more pictures up soon so you can see the other interns! I have to head to staff worship (which I am very excited about!) Oh, and work at 5:45 am tomorrow. AHHHH!

Love you all,

Janelle

2008-10-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

This is the view from the camp of pool!

The Iron Kettle (my new work place)

The Sports center!

Day off!

2008-10-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we did our first town run yesterday. Two cars drove to Bend OR which is a two hour drive. We went to Costco (which overwhelmed me), Target (my favorite), Goodwill and Walmart ( I got my groceries there). It was a long day but we got what we needed and had fun hanging out with one another. When we got back we unloaded and then a few of us played basketball with other camp staff. It was fun but wow I need to get into shape. Last night we also watch Count of the Monte Cristo (sp?) which i slept through most of it :)! Today is just catch up day and relax. It is beautiful out. The sun is shining and the leaves on the trees are turning. God's creation is so amazing. Things are going great here although I miss you all! Write me or call me please!!!!!!!

Love ya,

Janelle

2008-10-04T10:35:00.001-07:00

My Bed!

The View from my bedroom Window!

HELLO!

2008-10-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not updating sooner my Internet has not been working in the condo so I had to find a place to get on! Well it is Saturday morning and I am sitting on a porch swing looking out at the beautiful mountains. I first want to tell you all how awesome it is to see God's creation and the beauty of it. There is no flat corn fields! It is so strange. I arrived here Wed. afternoon and got my stuff moved in. I am living with 4 other single female interns in a 7 bedroom condo. It is great and I love them all. We have spent a lot of time training together over the last few days. I am the new kitchen intern and I am very excited. Yesterday I cut up 60 lbs of potatoes, cut and seasoned 150 lbs of roast and made homemade sub sandwich bread. It was so much fun and the kitchen staff is a blast! The camp facilities here are really nice. I will be spending my weekends in the Iron Kettle (dining hall) and during the week I will be working with Housekeeping (cleaning bathrooms and hotel rooms). I am very excited to see all that God will be teaching me over the next year. There are a total of 13 interns here for the year. We have small group leaders we will me with weekly and also have weekly worship night.

So I told you all that I would be in the middle of nowhere. It is very true! We drove through Antelope and I just laughed at how small it was and there is nothing there. Then we kept driving and driving and driving farther down and down into the canyon. I just kept laughing. To get to a store we have to drive at least an hour and that only gets us to a town that is not much bigger but has some stores.

I am really excited for this year. If you want to plan a visit I would love it. I can have guest anytime during school season but none during summer. I have Mondays and Tuesdays off during the week so that is the best time to come. so take a look at those calenders and pick a date! Well my new contact information is:

Address: PO Box 212

Antelope, Or 97001

Phone: 541 489 3189

I would love to get letters or packages and always love a phone call! I will update again soon!

Love ya all!

Janelle

Oregon

2008-09-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I am in Oregon now. What a day! Saying goodbye to my family was hard. I really miss them but know that this is just part of the journey that God has for me. I will be spending the next week and a half with my Aunt and Uncle in Hermiston, OR. Then October 1st Antelope here I come:) Please pray for me as this journey continues! Will update more later this week!

Love Janelle

Last week home

2008-09-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I am leaving De Kalb IL on Saturday. I have very mixed emotions about it all. I am very excited for this new journey I am about to embark upon but I am very sad to leave my friends and family for a year and go where I know no one yet. It's hard to say goodbye and I don't do well with goodbyes. I have begun packing. It's going slow because I can't decide what to take and what to leave behind. It is harder than I thought to move for a year and to pack to fly with all your stuff. Anyway, I am praying that God will give me strength and encouragement as I leave. Can't wait to post pictures of camp and update you on everything going on. Pray for me!

Janelle