An Unnecessary Recap

Whew! Life moves fast, dude. Recap since my last post (nearly a year ago)

I worked at Alpine Shop as an assistant manager. It rocked, the people were great, and it gave me fantastic opportunities to lead and grow. I worked with likeminded folks who loved to be outside but found themselves in Missouri. The mountains called many of us and we looked at dirtbag vans on the internet together once or twice.

 I went to Joshua Tree National Park over New Year's Eve. It rocked, the people were great, and it tipped the scale for me. I knew I had to move to California. I climbed with my dad and didn't cry. I finally gave my dad's girlfriend the chance she well deserved and I found out that she is super rad. Coming back to Missouri was a very tough transition but inspired me to find a new home that much more.

I decided not to apply for schools for the fall but to look up awesome summer camps instead. I applied to many of said summer camps, went through some intense interview processes, and then said yes to Camp Galilee.

I wrote often but didn't share anything because I ruined my computer.

I said "Yes!" again to Camp Stevens for an internship starting later in August.

I started playing ukulele and I generally don't suck, though I wouldn't say I'm any good.

I discovered that my friends are marvelous human beings and we all need to take care of ourselves first sometimes. For me that meant moving away from most of them and lots of "I'm not crying, there's just a tree in my eye!" goodbyes.

I packed up everything I owned and stored it in various places before venturing to Lake Tahoe with just a duffel bag and a backpack. I then lived out of said luggage for the summer.

I was reminded that my family absolutely loves me and will offer support through everything, even when I'm two thousand miles away.

I had a phenomenal summer working at Galilee as a resident staff member. I grew spiritually and fired my old God and learned that my new one doesn't have to punish everyone forever. I discovered what an intentional community really looks like on a daily basis. I spent time outside with kids and watched them connect the dots between Creation and the Creator. I got to hand out the bread during Eucharist. I had adventures of various sorts with fellow staff members while on break and grew to love them like family. It was a remarkable summer.

Through all of this my dating life was typically a mess with some really wonderful experiences thrown in there too. But that's not important, I just didn't want to leave you hanging.

And now I'm living in a yurt with my dad for a couple weeks before I hop on a train and head to sunny, Southern California to start my next chapter. I'd like to say that I'll write more and develop some essay ideas I've had for months but that's what I said last time and that didn't work out so well. Maybe I'll try videos again. Who knows. It amazes me how much has changed in a year while so much is still the same. I still don't know where I'll be in a year but I'm no longer afraid to find out. I made it through the past 12 months and I'm looking forward to what's next.

This is my life now. And I really, really love it.