February 22, 2012

1. Wow, it sure has been a while since I have posted. I am hoping to do a little better at this than what I have been doing. Well first things first. Here's a little update for ya'll. Greg and I moved to Weeping Water Nebraska. I was offered a job a The Kroc Center here in Omaha, NE. The job is pending a background check! Should be hearing back from them any day. Greg has a few a great leads on jobs as well, just waiting a couple days then will be checking in on applications. We've gotten here by faith and have seen much of the Lord's providence. God is good! Since being here, I have really gotten to enjoy cooking. I am always trying to create new things. The next thing that Greg and I are going to try and attempt is making homemade mozzarella. We will see how that goes. Who knows I may post some new recipe finds up here. Today Greg and I took a walk to the Post Office. The weather is actually quite nice. The snow is slowly melting away and it is beginning to feel like spring. Slowly but surely! Please continue to pray for a job for Greg, but also for housing. Currently we are staying with the Pastor and his family and have been looking around for housing (mainly rentals). Again, we try to take each day at a time and trust that the Lord will provide. Some days it is easy to try and take things into my own hands. Each day it is important for me to remind myself who is really in control :) I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow! Again, I am going to try and be better about posting my life happenings :)

30th of September

Well as of yesterday Greg and I transferred over to another Grand Teton Lodge Company location. It is about 8 miles away from where we were at Colter Bay. I am no longer working at the Marina :(, however I am working as a housekeeping inspector and it is definitely keeping me busy. My job is to go around to the rooms that have been cleaned and I inspect them before we open them up for availability of purchase. When I go into the rooms I have to make sure everything is where it needs to be along with the correct amount of coffee bags, mugs, towels, toilet paper and liquids (hand soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner and body wash) in the liquid dispenser. Today was my 2nd day on the job and I had over 45 rooms to inspect. You do not really get a break, but lots of exercising!! Anyways, Greg and I have 12 days till we head back to Indiana. We will be looking for a house in the Western Side of South Bend, IN. We are excited to be heading back and seeing family. Hopefully I will have a little more time to blog. On our way back we will be heading up through Yellowstone and through the black hills area. I am excited about that. I always LOVE going through Yellowstone. Such a beautiful place. Hopefully I will be able to continue adding pictures of life here and eventually I will add pictures of the ride home. Today has been a long day and I am heading off to relax! Miss you all!

First day of September 2011

It has been such a long since blogging, but I am hoping to do my best to keep up with it. The past month has been a roller coaster! Work has been fun, but also slowing down at the same time. Greg and I have been able to go to Idaho Falls 2 times within the last month. We also have been able to ride the Gondola lift up to one of the mountains and then had an appetizer and root beers at the restaurant that has one of the the best views hands down! On our way to the Gondola in Teton Village we got to see two large bull moose! Oh my goodness what an amazing experience! I have seen a moose far away, but two this close together!?? Before we set off to get to the Gondola we stopped at the Moose Visitor Center. We did not have too much time to stay and look around. My goal was to pick up a map that they had there. This map is one of the entire Teton National park area! On the back it goes into great detail of how the mountains were formed and also about the wildlife in the park area. One of the boat captains suggested I purchase one of these as a tool for being a first mate and narrating while on the boats. After the visitor's center we headed off and head a ball at the deck restaurant! Such fun :)

Today is another start of the days off for Greg and I. We may go into Jackson town to get things for Greg's camping adventure. Greg and Ray are going to be camping out on Elk Island. They are going to be dropped off by one of the Marina boats and spend a whole day hiking around and exploring! Saturday morning the breakfast cruise has breakfast on Elk Island. They are going to eat Breakfast and then head back on the cruise boat! I will get to be on the cruise boat because I will be first mate and narrating! What an exciting story to add into my narration. That will definitely be another blog post! Pray all goes well! One thing that I have started doing is making more earrings. I have also started to make earring and bracelet sets. It is a fun thing to do when wanting to relax and wind down after a physical hard day of work. I have been so thankful for such a physical work job. It keeps me in shape and I feel very healthy! I miss you guys and hope all of you are doing well!! Love you all! See ya next time!

July 27, 2011

It has been a while since I have posted. The past few days have been quite busy with work and all. The next exciting thing is that my parents are coming to Wyoming to visit Greg and I. Right now it is 12:30am and they should be arriving in about a half and hour! Early this evening I got to narrate my 2nd dinner cruise here at Colter Bay Marina. I still have to use my notes, but I have learned so much about the mountains and so much more around me. I am officially a first mate of the cruise boats! Yay :o) Right now Greg and I are waiting at the cabin office for my parents. We were able to get them an AWESOME camping spot that has a spectacular view! On my dinner cruise this evening I got to meet a girl that is a part of church planting through out the world. Her and her husband are in the midst of transitioning and will be moving to Beijing. It was such an encouragement to meet someone my age and receive such encouragement from her. If you get the time please pray for her and her husband.

This may be a short post, but there will be more to come. Thursday and Friday's are our days off so we will have many more stories to come!

"Lord thank You for this day. Thank You for Your many blessings. You never fail to show Your love in so many ways."

July 21 and 22 of 2011

The past few days have had some excitement! Wednesday July 19 was an abnormal finish to work, but a fun one! Forty employees at the GTLC (Grand Teton Lodge Company) signed up for an employee paddling event. Since I work at the Marina I was one of the workers that got to stay late and help all the employees into their life jackets and help them get into the kayaks. After almost all of the kayaks were out there were 3 ladies (from Jamaica) that did not want to go unless they went with people that were experienced. Guess what? Including myself, there were 3 employees left! We each paired up with an employee and got into tandem kayaks! My partner was so much fun! Her name was Charmane. She said even though she lived on an island she did not really enjoy swimming. Anyways, we had a great evening and got to see a Bald Eagle! That Eagle may have been the same one that I have seen before, but I have seen them around quite a few times. Such a blessing! One more thing to add to that evening. A few of the Kayaks were hanging out in a bay. My manager of the Marina was the guy that drove a separate boat around in case anyone needed help or needed a lift (or tipped over.) He thought it would be fun to drive in a circle around the kayaks. This made rather large waves. My partner and I screamed in excitement/nervousness and headed straight towards the waves. The wave splashed a lot of water onto the front part of the boat, which was where my lovely partner sat. That was one of the highlights of the evening. After finishing work, Greg, Ray, myself and Mary (friend from work) all decided to go to the Restaurant Signal Mountain. On our way to the mountain we saw several cars lined up on the side of the road. We decided to stop and see what everyone else was looking out. Come to find out there were two moose in a passage near the road! One was large than the other, looked like a father son adventure...lol. The other day I saw a mother moose and her calf and was waiting to see a male moose with a big rack. My wish came true!!! He was ginourmous!!!! The evening ended with a yummy plate of Nachos and a good class of ginger ale. Yum yum yum!

Today Thursay July 22, 2011 was my day off. Mary and I decided to go whitewater rafting. Being an employee at GTLC you get benefits, one including white water rafting for free!! We went with the 3:30 boat tour. Most of the people rafting wore wet suits and everyone wore life jackets and helmets. They have the wetsuits available for rent at the store. The wet suits are necessity because the water was around 54 degrees. Our team colors were blue and yellow, my favorite! Rafting down Snake river was quite fun. Some of the rapids were small and some were large. One of the rapids called "Lunch Counter" is a class 4 rapid. Our guide said that the "Lunch Counter" rapid would be a spot where we were more likely to tip. Thankfully we made it through safely without tipping. Through out the rafting trip, there were opportunities were you could jump off the boat and swim! If you jumped off the raft you got a free wrist band that said "Snake River Swim Team". I had to do it! I jumped off 2 times and of course received my free wristband. I of course wear it proudly! After a long day I am ready for bed. I encourage you to read both Psalm 21 and 22 if you ever get a chance to. Blessings to You!

"God thank you for this day of adventure. Thank you for your beautiful wildlife. You are good and your presence amazes me. I pray for my friends and family and that you would guide them in all that they do. Amen".

July 18, 2011

Hello to you all! This is my first time writing a blog! I am hoping to try and keep up with this blog every day, if not every other day. I hope that this blog will be an encouragement but also an update on what God is doing in my life along with what my days have looked like!

Today I went to work at 7:45am. Every morning I walk from my car to work I notice the beautiful Teton Mountains (Mount Moran is my favorite.) Still snow covered, I honestly can not believe how close I am to them. Today started off to be a slow day due to rain. My co-workers and I enjoyed the peace and quiet and were quick to respond to any that wanted a rental. As the afternoon went on the day picked up. The weather turned out to be quite sunny and nice.

This afternoon a customer came up to the Marina deck and told us that a mother moose and her baby were hanging out over by the courtesy dock. I quickly walked over to see this. I had not seen a moose in person. She was HUGE!!! The baby was so cute. Even though it was a great site we all had to be careful as to how close we got. Typically people are to stay around 100 yards away from wildlife not only for the people's safety but also for the safety of the wildlife. Several people came with their cameras and took pictures. Soon enough the National Park Service (Park Rangers) showed up to make sure everyone was in safe distance. It was great to see this mother and her baby. Such a different side of creation that I have not seen before.

I finished work around 6:15pm and head to dinner with a co-worker named Veronica. She is from Romania and we have gotten to know each other better as each work day presses on.

This evening I enjoyed skyping with my sister, whom I miss very much. She is currently on Molokai Hawaii finishing up an internship with UW. I pray that her time spent there this week is filled with many learning experiences and blessings.

If you get a chance, read Psalm 18. Such a great reminder that God is our Refuge and He is our Protector.

"God you are so good. Thank you for sharing your creation with me daily. It has been such a blessing to be here in Wyoming. Mountains rise up and will sing praises to your name. I pray that you be with anyone that reads this blog. Wrap your arms around them and remind them that they are Your creation. Thank you for your simple blessings and your Word. Amen"

As I said at the beginning of this blog, I have never written one before. I appreciate your patience if you have read all the way through. Have a blessed Day/Evening!