Thoughts On These Moments...

Yup it's been a few months since my last post. So much has happened since my last post. Wow can I say that time really just flies by, no matter how much fun you are having in life. I have come to realize that as the years go by and we all get older the years just go by faster and faster, they don't slow down.

Well since my last post about the cruise and my family I have been pretty busy. Finished working my second summer out at Rainy Pass Lodge. Moved back to Oregon to finish my schooling at Ecola Bible School, year two here we go! Coming home for about 24 hours for my Best Friends Wedding. Then coming home three weeks later for Christmas Break. Well that sums up where I have been since August.

My Best Friend is married!

My summer at Rainy Pass Lodge, oh man! I love that place so much and I just can't get enough of it. I got to enjoy the heat of the summer and work on my tan just about every day. Just visiting with our guests and learning about them, how I love it. Getting the chance to cook and bake for people on a daily basis, yeah it gets tiring sometimes, but most of the time I just love it. You learn to take it day by day while being there. You never know what the whether will bring, you just may be weather in for a day or a week. Playing cards with the guests. And you can't forget the endless games of volleyball, until 2 am some nights...gotta love those summer nights in Alaska. I can't say how blessed I am to have the opportunity to be spending my summers out there, The Perrins are like my family and they treat me like family. I am ready for summer number 3, bring on the fun and games in 2014!

Lodge Crew 2013!

Year Two at Ecola, so far so good. I am enjoying the task that has been given to me. As I am a second year at Ecola I am also an RA (Residence Assistants) for one of the girls dorm at school, I get to give a devotion in front of the first year class, write a 5-8 page paper per term, memorize three different chapters of my choice from the bible (choices from Romans, Psalms, Matthew or Titus), reading through the bible in the school year, reading one book a term and writing a review on it, leading a prayer group of first years girls, and being involved in an outreach. Well lets just say there is no way I could do this without God on my side and me relying on Him for ALL of my strength. It has been so good and so worth it. I am blessed with wonderful girls in my dorm ad prayer group. The second year class in such a wonderful family and love each and every one in my class. I am loving this year and enjoying it day by day.

 The RA's for the year.

 My Prayer Group Girls!

My dorm!

Home for the Holidays. I don't think I can express how much I miss being home and being with my family all the time. I am so ready to be home and done moving around. I am enjoying the time that I get to spend with my family and friends while also working with my mom a few days a week. It is such a blessing to have a job to go back to while home on break. Family is just so important to me and being back in Alaska is just wonderful! I miss family and home so much. Life is good being home!

Merry Christmas!

Well that is where I am right now. And just excited to be here in the snow and beauty that God has given my life. Taking it day by day and enjoying it all.

Blessings to all this holiday season. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Family Will Always Be Family

Well this past week I spent on a cruise ship with 34 other family me members, most of which I had never met and are now all adults now.

We were all so very blessed to get this opportunity. If it wasn't for all the hard work put in by each and every person to get the time off of work and make arrangements to get from places like Alabama, California, Idaho, Indiana and Alaska. We all gathered in Bonney Lake Washington at our Grandparents house to start our adventure. The day of arrival for everyone was a very busy day of trips to the airport every so many hours and a day of talking, meeting, and getting to know this family I love.  The next day there was a tour bus that came to pick us all up to take us to the cruise ship where we were to be stuck with each other for a week weather we liked it or not. And in the end I must say we loved it and miss each and every person that was on that boat in the family.

It was such a good time and I am so glad I got to go. Meeting everyone was so good. The times on the ship were extremely fun to say the least. Let me tell you it was a party, all the time, non stop. SO much fun.

We had 4 generations on that ship and also the largest group. We were well known on that ship. It was inevitable that when you where just wondering you ran into and passed just about everyone in the group but when you wanted to find someone you couldn't even find one person to ask where someone else might be.

We had the best karaoke night there was ever. The MC of the night said he had never had such a turn out or that much fun...what can I say my family knows how to have fun.

With a group so large there is bound to be family "drama" but we were their to support each other through what ever came about and just dish out the love to all.

Missing them all and even though we are two "broken" families brought together by our grandparents we are now one family and even if we are not blood related but "step" we will always be family and hey those are just some words that are not in our vocabulary when it comes to our family. One family all with lots of love for one another. God brought us all together to be one family for a reason and that was to love each other for who we are and be a family. Love them all so much.

Can't wait to do something like this again and see them all again.

Thank You to Grandma and Grandpa and The Uncles for making this all possible!

Work Hard, Play Hard

I love my job. Yes by seeing the pictures I post people may think, Does shoe really work out there?

Well let me tell you something about the lodge, we are a family, one big happy family and people come and go and they become family too. We are out in the middle of Alaska, fly in only. Why not love it here. Everyone has your back, and there really isn't any kind of secret that can be kept.

What comes to mind when you think of family, and the house. Well let me tell you what comes to my mind. There is always something to be done, cleaning rooms, doing laundry, making meals for the family because everyone has got to eat. Answer to phone, oh look a plane is coming in with our groceries, so everyone pitch in and help unload them to keep things going. There is always something to be fixed. Well with all that hard work we have to have some fun, so Volleyball is a must at night, maybe even a cold swim, or even horseshoes. 

Sometimes we play big games, like when the campers had their last day in camp we played the Winkley Trial-Cup games. Had some .22 shot, Clay Pigeons, Canoe Races, Rely Races, Volleyball and Horseshoes. That was a fun filled day. And some good competition. 

Yes we know how to have fun out here and we do also work hard, it pays off. And what just makes it better is having the idea that this is family and I am just a part in it and then one day I look into my bank account and I have more money in it from working, what a surprise because I am just helping at the house....

So I do love my job and work hard, to only be able to play hard later.

Hike up to Look Out 

Swimming Time

 Horse Riding

 The only well kept secret...now engaged

 Campers hauling logs across the lake

 Canoe races

 More canoe races

Volleyball!

Again I love my job and the location is only part of it. The people are just another part of it. What can I say God's creation is beautiful.

Time Flies

Well it has been just a week or two tops under a whole year. And let me tell you the time just flew. I can't believe that last year at this time I was preparing to head out to work at Rainy Pass Lodge and now I am doing it all over again.

In October of 2011 my family and I started watching this show on TV called R5Sones Alaska and that is when it all become a dream. I thought of how much fun it would be to be at this particular remote hunting lodge in Alaska. So I got the idea to apply and just about 8 months down the road my dream of being at the lodge was coming true.

Prior to June in May of 2012 I graduated from High School, something I thought would never come soon enough and it was here and gone in the blink of an eye. Everyone was wondering where I would be going next and what school I would be going too, by this time I finally had a stable answer to give everyone and was able to say in October I will be in Cannon Beach, OR going to Ecola Bible School for there One Year Program only and that I had no clue what I was doing after that and the Second Year was not even an option in my mind at the time.

Now its off to the Lodge for the summer. I can tell you that last summer was a blast and that I am so happy to be able to say that I worked at a remote lodge for the summer cooking and cleaning and just having a good old time.

October is here before I know it and I am home for only a few days and my mom and I are off to Cannon Beach. School starts and then comes to an end before I know it and somewhere in those 8 months of being an Ecola student God changed my heart and I applied for the Second Year program and got accepted and not to long after that I applied to be and RA for the next year and what do you now I also got that. As the year came to a close I was ready to come home and visit my friends and family again, but didn't want to say goodbye to everyone from school.

And now a year later in June of 2013 I am about to head back out to Rainy Pass Lodge to work for my 2 summer and just to think that only about 20 months ago, about a year and a half ago, working at this lodge I now call one of my homes was just a dream that I prayed would come true.

Ok so that was a year and a half of time flying bye, but that doesn't mean it doesn't go fast because I will be the first to say that it does.

 Graduated

 Lodge

 Ecola

 The start to my summer of 2013

Goodbyes Are Hard, But There Is One Thing That Makes Them Easier...

Over the last year I have had to say goodbye to so many people. It has been one of the hardest things for me to do, even tho it may not be shown on the outside deep down it breaks my heart. It started last summer when all of sudden I was going out the lodge to work for the summer. I had to start saying goodbye to friends that I wouldn't see till September or December or even as long as this May...wow that was reality to me that the next chapter of life was starting. My summer consisted of many emails with my friends keeping each other updated on all of our little adventures of summer and when they all started school and I was still working in the middle of Alaskan  Mountains. Next work was over and I was saying goodbye to all my new friends that were made or should I say my new summer family and it was home for a few days and lets see everyone catch up from the last four months and then say goodbye again to wind up in Oregon at Ecola Bible School where I knew absolutely no one and I was terrified. The year began and I started forming what where to become AMAZING friendships. Then Christmas break rolls around and saying goodbye for a month was odd, but I knew I was going home to see family and friends that I hadn't seen since May or October and I had ONE month to catch up with them all. As break ended it was goodbye again until May. I got back to school and those friendships became stronger and better as the year went on. And of course the year came to and end faster than we all wanted and as graduation day rolled around and we were all leaving and saying goodbye again it was hard yet again. I was just reminding myself I would be seeing them again, sometime, that time I just wasn't sure of. But the plus was I get to see my family and friends that I haven't see since December and some even a year ago now. So I was ready to do some good old catching up. And now my time is running out. I go back to the lodge this week and fitting people in to visit and enjoy each others stories is hard when you are on call to leave any day now. And now its time to say goodbye again to everyone. Most I wont see again until December and some I will squeeze in a visit with when I return from work for a few days before heading back to Oregon.

My life is wonderful no doubt but goodbye is hard and it is a constant cycle of hello, visit, and goodbye.

Now you may say, so what makes saying goodbye so easy for? Well this year I came to realization of the beauty of Eternity and I never put that much thought into until now and my goodbyes are never ending, it seems. And then I think...wait its not goodbye, its I will see you later. You never really know when later is, but it sounds so much better than goodbye. Just think of Eternity spending with all the people you love and being with them ALWAYS! Let me tell you I can't wait. So as I wait I enjoy the time I have with those around me and yes I do miss those away from me and know I will see them again, one day. God knows when that will be and it will be so Good.

A Year Well Worth It

Well after a full fun packed 9 months I am back home to Alaska for the summer.

This year at Ecola has changed me and my perspective on life in a great way. I have a new found love for Jesus. He has shown me so much in life and I am so grateful that he took me down to the beautiful Oregon Coast to Cannon Beach to attend Ecola Bible School. I am one it is on he coast so who wouldn't want to go there. It was a nice break from Alaska and out of my comfort zone enough to rely on God for my strength. He blessed me with what we call our Ecola family. There are a handful of Alaskans in the mix so we all know what it is like to live here and how it is a snow machine not a snowmobile, or what a real Mountain is, it is not a hill... Anyways, I was blessed with wonderful people to come up along side of me and help me along. From day one Joelle and I became friends and stuck it out all year together, through it all. Then there is my RA Lindsey and all the girls in my dorm, we were just our own little family within Ecola and bonded so well. I couldn't have been blessed any better. And next is my Mom AKA Danielle my prayer group leader. We got to spend friday mornings together talking about our week and what our prayers requests are and spent time in prayer for one another. I can't leave out mine and Joelle's "big brother" Chad. He was just such a blessing to have around, our protector and we did lots of stuff together. There are so many other people that I love so much, but don't want to bore you all with. So I will just say I miss my Ecola family dearly and know that I will see them again one day.

So the classes we had a total of about 46 different classes this year, and about 44 different teachers come in this year. Yes that is a lot. It comes down to two classes a week with two different teachers each week. You never get bored with a teacher or a class thats for sure. They were all great classes for sure and I had my favorites and my not so much my favorites, but all in all the classes were loved by all of my classmates. Everyone always asks, so what is your favorite class. And I would have to say from Fall term it would have to be James, the teacher was new this year and just had so much love and passion while teaching us, and I love the book of James. From Winter Term I would have to say Personal Evangelism, also another first time teacher, but he did so well and couldn't have described it any better. He explained how there is not one way to evangelize, but it depends on the person doing the evangelism and the person they are evangelizing too. And for Spring Term I would have to say Youth Ministry really stuck out to me. Our teacher was so passionate about it and we started off each class with a game, what better way to teach Youth Ministry than to get us involved and acting like we are in Youth Group again. To wrap this up it is so hard to pick a favorite class they are all so good.

As students we also got the opportunity to go on a Mission trip over spring break, I choose Alaska, but as next year comes to mind, I am planning on applying for Haiti or the Philippines.

As the year ended it was hard to say good-bye, but not to hard since I will be going back next year for the SOM, School of Ministry. A second year at Ecola. I am super excited to have to chance to go back and learn so much more. The classes will be more in depth and as second years we have a larger responsibility. I get the added of being a girl RA next year. I am so excited to have to chance to be so involved in the lives of the first years and just pour into them as we all got poured into this year. My whole class is excited.

Huge prayer requests as the school needs a high enrollment, due to my class being one of the smallest they have had in years. We want more people to experience Ecola and our class would love a challenge of large class, what better way to stretch us and have us rely on God for our strength.

Can't beat a beach sunset! 

 Krysta, Lindsey and I...dance party on the mountain.

 Cupcake Parlor.

 Mom (Danielle) and I!

 We love each other, since day one!

 The Amazing Race! We found Seth and Mike.

McDonalds run...

Serving the Lord in Alaska

Well to those who want a run down of the trip this is pretty much what it was...and a peek into what others are getting from me for thank you's, but this one doesn't have the spelling mistakes the ones I printed do :( enjoy and thanks for the support from everyone!

Dear Friends and Family,

Thanks to all of your supports in prayer and finances for my missions trip because of you I had a great opportunity serving in Alaska at Victory Bible Camp. When I first choose to go to Alaska I wasn't quite sure why I was going other than I love my home state and why not go back to do a missions trip it would be fun. After getting to Victory and starting out the trip I realized that I was there to give back and serve Victory after the times that they had served me and Wasilla Bible Church. It was such a blessing being behind the scenes in the kitchen. 

My time consisted of being in the kitchen helping to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner almost everyday. We served to the Church on the Rock women's retreat, which went well and I got to visit with a friend from high school. That following Monday we drove to Palmer to meet with Interact Ministry and learned how they are reaching out to different villages in Alaska , Canada, and Siberia giving them the opportunity to learn about Jesus. We went back to Victory and the kitchen staff had a few calm days before the storm. The following weekend there was a group called BOW (becoming an outdoor woman) using Victory's space. This was a group of about 200 women coming from different parts of the Valley and Anchorage learning skills for the Alaskan outdoors. This event was put on by Fish and Game, so it wasn't a group of Christian woman, not saying that there weren't Christians, but we were there to serve and be an example of Christ to them. After the weekend was over we drove to Anchorage and on the Monday we visited Covent House of Alaska, Parachutes in the Dimond Mall, and also Alaska Youth for Christ. They are all serving to the about 10-21 year olds who are in need of people to love on them and have a relationship with in some sort of way. 

God really got my heart over the weekend that we were serving BOW. l was getting exhausted from a nonstop weekend. First off I am not the greatest with a group of women. I grew up with all brothers and can handle large masses of men over women. I was overwhelmed with all of their different food needs. One night I was put in charge of watching the food lines and making sure they didn't run out of food. That is where it all started with me being tired and just worn out. It was going good and things were smooth and then all of a sudden both lines started running out of multiply things at the same time and I just couldn't handle it. So someone else form the kitchen saw it in me and told me to go sit down and she would handle it. So I went to the Kitchen and broke down. God and broke me down to the point where I knew I couldn't do it without Him and I had to call on Him. I learned that no matter how small the situation God is always there. I had always known that but when you are actually put in the a situation where you can't do it without Him it becomes real. 

I am so thankful that I got to go home serve at Victory. It was such a blessing getting to learn about what all the different ministries we visited do. Thanks again for all the prayers and financial support. 

Love to all,

Michelle

 Me and Liz...Kitchen staff for the week!

 Love this girl! Abigail works at Victory full time!

 Serving Chili.

 Me, Hannah and Josh at the top of Inspiration Point.

The beautiful view from Inspiration Point.

100 Favorite Things

The other Friday during prayer group my mom (Danielle) challenged me make a list of my 100 favorite things. So as I went to class that morning pondering what might go on my list I decided to start writing thinking it would take me hours or even days to write and to my surprise I whipped my list out in and hour an a half or so. And now I thought I would share with you and it might just make sense if you know me.

1. Alaska
2. Baking
3. Golden Retrievers
4. Hiking
5. Starry Nights
6. Drift Boat Fishing
7. Northern Lights
8. Building THings
9. Crafting
10. Gift Giving
11. Cooking
12. My Home Church
13. Decorating
14. Painting
15. Snail Mail Writing and Receiving
16. Being "unplugged" no TV, Cell Phones, Interent Ect..
17. Kayaking
18. Spa Dates
19. Gardening
20. Country Music
21. Old School Trucks
22. Oceans
23. Waterfalls
24. Coffee
25. Rustic/County Things
26. The Color Blue
27. Notebooks
28. The Bible
29. Camp Fires
30. Camping
31. Traveling
32. Nail Polish
33. Books
34. Cheese and Crackers
35. Peanut Butter
36. Ice Cream
37. Horse Back Rides
38. Fruit
39. Avocados
40. Artichokes
41. Friends
42. Saunas
43. Planning
44. Working Out
45. Sleep
46. Cuddling
47. Blankets
48. Sunshine
49. Farms
50. Cabins on a Lake
51. 4 Wheeling
52. Country Life Style
53. Movie Nights
54. Gilmore Girls
55. Workout Clothes
56. Water Bottles
57. Square Dishes
58. Clear Glass Mugs
59. Cowboy/girl Boots
60. Flannels
61. People Watching
62. Journaling
63. Dreaming
64. Scarfs
65. Homemade Pizza
66. Coffee Shops
67. Disney Movies
68. Beach Walks
69. Naps in the Sun
70. Gerber Daisies
71. Scrapbooking
72. Puzzles
73. Coloring Books
74. Encouraging Others
75. Family Time
76. Traditions
77. Fighting a King Salmon and Winning
78. Fresh Outdoor Smells
79. Puddle Jumping
80. Laughter 
81. Burts Bees
82. Swimming
83. Shooting Guns and Bows
84. Lace
85. Weddings
86. Quotes
87. Simplicity
88. Fireworks
89. Good Competition
90. Candles
91. Stretching
92. Bubbles
93. Smoothies
94. Carmel
95. Chocolate
96. Quiet Moments
97. Hugs
98. Floating on Water
99. Docks 
100. Creating Memories

Some things on my list are very specific and others are very broad. I had a blast writing this and sharing it with others. And I share I think of more things I would add but I will keep 100 things and I challenge you to write one as well.

Goodbye to Alaska and Hello to Oregon-Bittersweet Time

I miss these Mountains already! 

Christmas break is now over and I am back at school. I truely enjoyed my time back home with my family and friends. Thank you Lord for blessing me with so many people to love on me at home.

I must say I was very productive over break. I made all my christmas presents, which consisted of lots of sewing, knitting, printing, pasting, and spraying. I also got my share of baking in. I will miss all my craft and baking time with my mom. Got my fair share of movies in while being home also and made some extra money working for mom.

Moose Count: 6
Snowfall: One Foot that is all melted now, sorry Alaska you got ripped of this year.

Got to visit almost everyone that I wanted to over break and I am so blessed to have them all in my life. It was so hard to say goodbye to them. I will be counting down the days till I see all their faces again.

But so good to see this beach again!

Once first stepping back on campus it was full of hugs and small chats about breaks. I missed these people a lot and its good to be back. 

It is all so bittersweet for me. I miss Alaska already and wish I could have been there longer, but it is so good to see all the Ecola faces again, I missed them more than I realized. It shall be a great term with them all. And for Alaska I will see it again in March for my missions trip and then again in May for who knows how long, Only God knows.