Today I worked on a new Nalgene design for the Sonlight store. I helped update and file health forms. I listened in on a few phone interviews with prospective staff. I sent out the encouragement post email to 25+ staff members. I organized a file cabinet full of staff files. I took a hike on one of the snowy Sonlight trails. I helped Heather make cheese. I learned how to work the wood stove in my cabin. It may seem crazy, and random, but what I enjoy so much is that the action never stops. Boredom never kicks in, and the going keeps on going. It makes for a tiring day, but one that is so full of accomplishment and progress. I sit here by the smoldering wood stove, full of anticipation for the action and excitement that tomorrow will bring.

Because tomorrow, I will keep on goin'.

Today was another day of working from home.  Today I edited my sample letter for the encouragement page, and am working on finalizing that to send out to the staff, board members, and speakers who will be posting the encouraging messages. I am super excited because I think this will be a great way for campers to stay connected and spiritually inspired year round! Hopefully I will be able to get that sent to the staff tomorrow. Today I also worked on starting up a photo contest that we are going to create for the campers. The idea is that we take pictures of different places at camp from interesting angles/perspectives and the campers have to try and guess what the picture is of. Part of being a camp director is staying involved year-round in the campers lives and making sure they have a some of fun and playfulness in their day! 

Each day, people like Heather wake up and work to make someone else's day a little better, make them smile a little bigger, and encourage them in love- it is so inspiring.

I was talking to one of the middle school girlies yesterday because we have been staying in touch, and I told her I was in Pagosa. She was so excited, because she lives here, and told me that she had a basketball game today. She invited me to come and watch her play, and so today, after working from home on camp stuff, I headed out, ready to go see her. As soon as she walked into the gym and saw me, she ran up with her arms outstretched and gave me a great big hug. It was such a blessing to be able to see her and have developed such an amazing friendship with each of the campers a few weeks ago. It is so cool to have a job that doesn't stop in the office, and creates relationships that will last forever. Today, as I worked on the Camper Board and went about my day, I couldn't stop thinking about how splendid it is that each day I have the opportunity to build relationships with the people around me, and grow new friendships. 

This beautiful young lady has showed me that each day is simply an opportunity to love those around you.

What I love about Sonlight is that nothing fits in the constraints of the word "normal." Laughter roars. Beauty abounds. There is beauty in not sitting in a state of normalcy. I think that is what makes this experience so unforgettable. It is the perfect chance to daily jump out of your comfort zone and the things that seem normal to you, into a new place. It is more about taking each day as it comes than completing the usual routine. And I love that. One thing that has been really unique about my internship is the schedule. Because the hours are always changing depending on what is occurring, the schedule is super flexible. Today I worked from home on researching and working on the Camper Advisory Board. It was a cool experience to be able to work on my own schedule and I appreciate the adaptability I am developing through this. 

I am learning that trying new things is the best way to plant seeds to grow new knowledge.

This morning I got myself a cup of peppermint tea, and jumped right into the day. I started off by picking out camper-made thank you cards for the Mid-High Winter Retreat volunteers. I was able to use CampTrak to address them and get them ready to send while Heather and Mary were preparing breakfast. After eating, the women who were at the retreat this weekend expressed their gratefulness for our service. It has been so rewarding to see how thankful the women and middle-schoolers were. Heather and I worked on cooking lunch, and then finished early so we were able to get some office work in. We have a ton of fun together in the office. Today we had a good laugh about how this is the first time there has been an Iditarod without a Pope! In the office, I got my CIT contract signed for the summer, and started to work on the Camper Board I am creating. After serving up lunch and eating some yummy soup, the women gave us lots of hugs and thank yous before departing. It was then that the music went on, and camp cleaning began! 

Even though it is tiring work, the encouragement of the kiddos and the women has filled me up, so I can keep on serving.

My commute consists of about a five minute walk up the road from my cabin. I watch the sun rise and peek through the trees as the snow crunches under my feet. The birds chirp, the air is crisp. What a beautiful place. There is no cell service up here, so I have had my phone off all weekend. I like the simplicity. Yesterday after my morning walk, I spent some time in the office brainstorming summer crafts while Heather and Mary worked on breakfast. When they were done cooking, I put on my apron and helped serve. After we cleaned up and ate, we started making tacos for lunch. I also worked on making chili egg puff for breakfast this morning...I was a bit surprised when asked to use sixty eggs for the dish. After wrapping up lunch and eating, I spent some time in the office. I worked with Mary to update the Sonlight website with pictures from the Mid-High retreat, and then Heather showed me how to use CampTrak which is how campers are registered for the summer. Heather also showed me some of the merchandise she is working on getting for the Sonlight store. I got started on a birthday postcard, which will be sent out to all of the campers this year on their birthday. After getting some office work time, it was back to the kitchen to bake cookies and make dinner for the ladies. After the meals, Nick, Heather, Mary, Winston and I eat dinner together in the kitchen. I always look forward to our meals together.

I am so grateful for the wisdom the Sonlight staff are sharing with me- this is an experience I will never forget.

Yesterday I headed up to Sonlight to begin my internship adventure. I started off my day by having a cup of tea and talking with Heather about all of the things we want to complete while I am here. The list is basically a list of a variety of things that I am super excited to work on. As I wrote about before, the camp director does a ton of different things, which makes the list a bit random. However, the further I get into my internship, the more I appreciate being able to switch things up. One of the first things I started working on was researching coffee. Heather is interested in possibly getting a Sonlight blend of coffee, so I looked into that possibility for a little while. After finding an option or two, I worked on an outline of the encouragement post page we want to put together. The encouragement post page is going to be a new section of the Sonlight blog, where Sonlight staff can post messages that will be spiritually encouraging to campers even when they aren't at camp. I spent a while yesterday afternoon outlining what this would look like, and formulating a sample email to the staff. Outside of the office, Sonlight is hosting a women's retreat this weekend. Sonlight hosts a lot of women's retreats and ski groups during the winter, so it has been really neat to get a well-rounded experience. During the retreats, there is not as much interaction with the guests, but I really enjoy the office time. I have my own little desk in Heather's office, and so while I was working yesterday, I got to sit in on a few phone interviews with prospective staff. During this time, I spent a little while updating the Sonlight Pinterest page with ideas for the summer. After some summer camp inspiration, it was off to the kitchen to make Beef Stir Fry, Biscuits, Salad and Brownie Sundaes for the 42 ladies who are here right now. Thus far, we are off to a good start! 

This morning on my commute up the snowy road from our cabin, I walked with a spring in my step, excited for the day ahead, because I just love it here. 

The camp director doesn't do just one thing. Not even ten things. Probably about fifty-eight or more different things. My weekend consisted of making Jambalaya and brownie sundaes for thirty one people. Writing twelve letters to all of the sweet middle school girls. Washing tons of dishes full of Sonlight's famous food. Taking nine amazing kiddos sledding. Leading craft time with eight creative young adults. Snapping two hundred thirty two photos for the Sonlight website. My weekend was made up of lots of crazy camp songs, dressing up in a full body rain suit for game time, helping out with small groups, and a ton of ridiculous dancing. I helped lead energizers, worship songs, and loved every minute of it. I love jumping around to different tasks- that is my preferred work style, so doing all these different things is perfect. I can't believe that the weekend went by so quickly. I formed so many bonds with the campers, and it was so hard to leave them! I have pages full of addresses, phone numbers and birthdays of all my new friends and pen pals. Sonlight is such an amazing place where people of all shapes and sizes can come and just be themselves. 

These beautiful middle-schoolers have taught me that like snowflakes, beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

Yesterday I began my internship journey. This weekend Sonlight is hosting a middle school retreat. My night began with writing a message on the chalkboard, setting up tiki torches, turning on music and helping prepare dinner for the staff meal. After a nice warm bowl of Sonlight chili, campers started arriving. The other counselors and I danced in the parking lot as we waited for the kiddos to arrive, and cheered when we saw lights coming up the snow covered road. It is so exciting to have the middle-schoolers here! As the campers got out of their cars we greeted them with warm smiles, and grabbed a sleeping bag or suitcase to carry inside. After eating a warm Sonlight cookie (or four), and getting settled in, we all got together for some get-to-know-you games. I helped lead a few of the games, took some pictures for the camp website, and then joined the kids for a round of spoons and Blokus, as we enjoyed our root-beer floats. We headed up to Nordic, our cabin (we have some awesome girls!) for a yoga session, and climbed into our sleeping bags. 

Going to sleep I couldn't stop thinking: this is the best job ever.