The Hike...

Could have been one of the toughest things I've ever done, but super worth it! An 8 mile total hike up a mountain right next to a glacier. When I say up I mean steep! :) It was also raining and windy the whole time, plus at the top part there was 40 mph winds... yea, crazy. I think we were around 3, 000 something elevation. It was nice to talk with people tho on the way up and down, we even sang the "Boom Chicka Boom" song(in a million different ways). I think it was a little over 6 hours total. I forgot to mention before that adventure we went on a sled dog ride. Now considering it is summer here there isn't really any snow, so we were in a cart with all these dogs pulling us. They were a little different than the Disney view of sled dogs...pretty scrawny mutts and bred for speed, they were super hyper. After we saw the puppies! What a dream :) Later we go out to eat... I'm going to upload pics later:)

DAY3

view from the river
fireweed flowers in the scenic route
Fifi with the boat in the background
sibs being silly
DAY 3:

We woke up and went on a river tour and fished a little for Salmon...although no one caught anything, bummer. But our tour guide was super legit and it was a great time even though it rained a little and I waded too deep in the water and got a wet butt. Then we packed up in the B&B and walked around town a bit then headed back to Anchorage. We took the scenic route which was a gravel road through the mountian...kinda crazy! We went to dads friend's house for dinner (halibut and burgers with a salad, then apple pie for dessert, yum!) His friend was someone that climbed Mt. McKinley with dad 25 yrs ago! They had a great family :). Now we are in the hotel and our adventure starts tomorrow!

Before New Zealand...Comes Alaska :)

beach in talkeena
in airplane


DAY 1:

Arrival, we flew from Milwaukee to Dallas (whaaat?!) then arrived in Anchorage, Alaska around 8:00, which was about midnight our time. We drove 2 1/2 hours to Talkeena and stayed the night in a B&B.

DAY 2:

We, woke up and went on an air plane ride...not just any airplane, one that went over Mt. McKinley and other Mt.s and Alaskan terrain. Crazy. Can I just say God is an amazing artist :). Once we got back from that we walked around down town, where I am now at a restaurant using their Wi-fi, enjoy the pics!

*in airplane and Anne and Chase in front of the plane

3 weeks at Fort, the 4th with Emily, and an afternoon with friends and their babies!!

Good days

ok. wowo. 1st of July=emotion. Great, joyful, POWERFUL emotion. I am soooo loved and soooo taken care of and God is just amazing. Tears. 1. Great sermon this morning about trusting in Jesus and His knowledge and following his waysand what he does and it just applies that I need to trust Him with my life. 2. An Invisible Children video was shown by my friend Laura who is super passionate about the movement and her passion is just moving in on its own. 3. Every little anxious thought/worry about NZ is being blown away and I have just this crazy realization on how much God loves me and the power He has and that He has a plan and I am His and wow life is gonna be ok with God.
=emotion. So I'm sitting in my car journaling this to be put on the blog(right now :) ) but God is good.

Fort Wilderness

Today is the start of my last week at Fort Wilderness( a Christian camp in the north woods), can I just say the past 2 weeks have been amazing and I'm sad to go home in a week. I started on June 12 counseling JV camp and I had amazing girls, then I went and counseled another week at Outpost (another part of the camp and a little more "rustic"), but it was a dream. Let me start off saying that I was blessed again with amazing girls to counsel. They all are so special in their own way and I hope I helped in their walk with Christ. Um, another thing, my co-counselor pretty much is one of the greatest, most down to earth people I have ever met! She is such an inspiration to my walk with Christ (and my artistic aspirations as well). All the other staff I worked with were so inspiring too. There's something about being surrounded by christians that are onfire for God... it started the spark back up in my own life. I'm alive!! and living in the love of Jesus Christ! During my quiet times I started reading the book of James, and memorizing different verses in it, which is really hard for me but SO beneficial! ...alright quick story: the NZ countdown is like super super soon and I'm having anxiety about it and just really needing God to just calm me down, you know? so I went to have my daily devotional time and my Bible opened (because I had put in some pictures in it randomly) to a verse in Psalms that I had highlighted before..."how long must I wrestle with my thoughts and everyday have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on my and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, " I have overcome him, " and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me."  Psalms 13:2-6. Alright basically I was just like what am I worried about? God knows all my fears and thoughts, he will answer and I can find hope and I have sooo much to be thankful for and I don't need to worry at all about my future because he holds it in his hands. Thats the story and thats what I've been dealing with lately, but God is good and his love endures forever. So I've got one more amazing week at Fort, and I'm just going to soak it all in! (then its home to pack, pack, pack, but I have a peace about it now :)  

Lazy Summer Days

Today is a lazy monday :) Here are some things that have been going on in my life... going to the lake with Emily, Shelly, and the girls (thats the picture), I just got the new Dave Matthews Band album, Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King, and also the Live Trax Album from Alpine Valley... they are AMAZING wow (few of my favs: Shake me like a Monkey, Out of my hands, Money, Alligator Pie, You might Die trying, and Louisiana Bayou). I've been keeping busy with staying fit and playing a little rugby, so thats good. Im also slowly but surely packing for New Zealand... scary for sure and just packing all my stuff into 2 suitcases, backpack, and a carryon...ummmm possible? i sure hope so. Im also getting ready to counsel junior highers up north then home for 2 weeks then Alaska in 39 days then New Zealand in 48 days. Start praying now for a safe flight and layover in LA. Alright I promise I will start writing more, but thats all I've got for now...

verse I need/am working on memorizing: Ephesians 5: 15-21