Mr. and Mrs. Merrick

This post is a little late in coming but it is still very necessary. It is an ode to one beautiful/wonderful couple I have the privilege of knowing. Chris and Jill (Neufeld) Merrick.

Jill is one of the five amazing women I lived with last year at 340 Holly St. A house and community that will never die. It was an awesome weekend to all be back together again under the celebration of Jill's wedding. I could go on and on about what amazing community and sisterhood I experienced with these ladies, and how we could all be such pointedly different individuals but all function and live and love together under one roof. I will not though because on of my brilliant journalist housemates, Linda Wyman, has already done so on her blog, so if you are so inclined you may read the post entitled "a tribute" at Linda's blog lisforlinda.blogspot.com.

The weekend started out a little rough with Linda and I driving from Oklahoma together to our Kansas destination through a tornado. We were on the highway and hearing the weatherman on the radio telling people at our exact location to take cover immediately and that there could be touchdowns right where we were. We were no where near a stopping point so I started driving 100 miles per hour, literally, to get to an exit. We exited in the great Kansas town of Maysville as things were beginning to fly around us and the sky glowed green. I was seriously about to have us take cover in the ditch when I felt inclined to stop at the first house off of the highway. After frantic and somewhat tearful banging on the front door, a nice family brought us down into their basement with them for the next 20 minutes. It was very scary and very adventurous and the most stressful part of the whole wedding weekend. The rest was wonderful and had no tornadoes.

I enjoyed Chris and Jill's wedding so much. We communed with so many great JBU friends, soaked up the Kansas wheat fields (there was a lot of them), ate amazing food, and supported an awesome couple who had an incredible wedding!

I wanted to include a classic 340 picture from the wedding as well as many great pictures with the bride!

Lake City, Colorado....Home Sweet Home

I have moved! I am officially living in the most rustic, untouched, and isolated city I have ever been to. I mean all of that in a really good way.

I am working with my dear JBU friend Sarah Kientz at the San Juan Soda Company. It is truly the most quaint and old-fashioned ice cream parlor and soda fountain ever. Lake City has no stoplights and hardly any paved roads. There are only about 400 locals and the rest of the town is made of mountain men and tourists. I am living with the awesome owners of the soda shop the Hartmans. They have a pretty spectacular cabin that you can see in the photo and are super generous and fun. I am enjoying living with the other girls in the loft and playing with the 4 Hartman grandchildren who are almost always fixtures in the house or the soda shop.

Kyndel Ligget, my JBU friend and housemate in the Ministry House our senior year, works at the family camp at Redcloud, the Christian camp just outside of town, and my housemate from the famed and beloved 340 Holly Street, Kristin Rohrer, works as a wilderness guide also at Redcloud. Having these two dear friends close is the best gift!

There is a large community between all of the workers at Redcloud that we (soda shop girls) get to be a part of as well. It is an awesome group of men and women in their 20s and I am already realizing that I will always be looking forward to the weekends when we can all hangout together and will always feel super excited when they come in big groups to the soda shop in the middle of the week! I am excited about these new relationships and look forward to seeing them grow.

Pretty much, I am excited about this mountain life and look forward to the adventures that will happen up here. I can't believe that I am living here when I look around or when I have to drive on a dirt road with switch backs just to get to the cabin where I live or when during a movie a bear destroys the bird feeder just outside the cabin!

I heart Lake City.

Parral, Mexico....The Capital of the World

Where have I been? It's been a few weeks, but I went to Mexico! Surprise? Kind of, we've been planning this trip for quite a while but didn't really pull it all together until the last second, really days before.

Here's the run down:
Me, Micah DeKorne, Ryan Likes, and Mark Dawson (Denver boys), took a rental car from Denver to El Paso, TX where we stayed the night at some family friends of my family. VERY early the next morning we took a bus from El Paso to Parral, Mexico, about a 10 hour trip. I am not a huge fan of buses but it wasn't completely terrible. I was with great friends and knew that I was headed to more wonderful friends, thus it was easier to endure. Boy did we stink by the time we got to Mexico, I will refrain from going into detail in that area.

Why would we take this crazy trip to Mexico? Good question, which has an awesome answer. Kristen Olson, David Okada, and Billy Nye is the answer. Three of my dearest friends who all teach at a Christian school in Parral and work with the church that runs the school. It was the joy of my life to go visit Kristen, my best college friend and former roommate of multiple years. We were asked if we were sisters countless times and enjoyed many hilarious and some confusing moments that expressed, yet again, that though we may look alike, we are complete opposites in almost every way. It was like old times again and I love that our friendship always picks up where it left off, there is never an adjustment period. Needless to say KO you are my fave and I love you!


Karla Elizalde, Isaac Gonzalez, and Jessica Novoa are JBU grads who are natives to Parral and were such good hosts to us. I enjoyed developing new and better friendships with these three in their hometown and country. Pepe Lopez and Ruben Estrada came down as well and spent the week with us bringing more dear friends and fun to our group! Seriously, when they walked into church on Sunday it meant that everyone that was coming on the trip had officially arrived and I thought my heart would burst with excitement and joy!

Our time in Parral was one adventure after another.
We climbed things--hills, rocks, sand dunes.
We ate lots---beef, beef, beef, bread, bread, fruit, really good Mexican food. We went to church and school---amazing little kids that didn't care that I couldn't speak spanish and they couldn't speak english, they just talked my head off anyway!
We met the most amazing Mexican people---I love all my new friends and was so blessed by the open hearts that met us in Parral.
We laughed and sang---how can you not have fun with your close friends reunited in another country? Guitars were taken everywhere, even to the top of Antenna Hill where we hiked, ate, and sang until it was pitch black outside.
We enjoyed each other---It is an awesome thing when such a large group of people get along and truly enjoy their time together.
We brought a dog back across the border---I was probably the most surprised by this. I was not excited about this idea, knowing the dog would have to make a 24 hour trip with us, but seeing the love glowing in Micah and Ryan's eyes for this little puppy told me that keeping my mouth shut and watching the situation play out may be the wiser decision. The puppy was named Rendencion (redemption), or Red, and survived the whole trip with us and now resides in the boys' home in Denver where she is teaching them how to raise a bilingual Mexican dog.

Mexico was amazing. One of the biggest and most fun adventures of my life. I could not have felt more fulfilled or loved by my old, continuing, and new friendships that were fostered and enjoyed on this trip. For all my friends involved I have missed you so much in the last few days and will never forget Parral!!!