Spelunking!

I am not sure how many of you know this, but Kentucky is actually quite famous for its caves. Mammoth Cave, which is one of the largest cave systems in the world, is located only a few hours from where I live. Apparently the rest of Kentucky has quite a bit of caving as well.

My manager, Jennifer, is an avid caver, and ever since I arrived here she has been talking about putting together a caving trip. Last week she finally got the place and date set, so today I got to go caving! Jennifer planned the trip with Mike Stanfill (the really intense guy who gave me my driving test and my First Aid/CPR training) who is a professional cave rescuer. The cave we went to was called "Sinks of the Roundstone" and is located about twenty minutes away.

I was able to get together a couple volunteers to come with us, so Liz and Zaneta from my house came, and Dana and Allen from McCreary came. Mike also brought along a few of his caving buddies and Jennifer brought her two children.

I know I have been in caves before, but it really just is incredible. It is wild that there is almost a whole other world below us and we never even think about it. After we were a short way in, Mike had us all turn off our lights so we could realize the utter darkness that we were in. All I can say is that I would never want to be lost in a cave without a light!

As we travelled through the cave we got to see a variety of features and experience different kinds of terrain. For the majority of the trip we were able to walk at full height, but there were definitely a few places where we were crawling - or, as I discovered, rolling works too! (it also saved my knees from being killed, and let's face it, rolling is way more fun that crawling). We had to crawl up and through holes, slide down hills of cave mud (which kind of made it like being at a waterslide park, but, again, more fun), climb up hills of cave mud (sometimes an adventure), and we even had to scoot along on our bellies in a few spots. Needless to say, I was a little sore when it was all over, and I'm guessing I'll have a few bruises.

One weird part was there were little bats on the walls of the cave. They are all hibernating right now, so they are just attached to the walls while they sleep. We had to be quiet because if they get woken up they wouldn't have the energy to go back into hibernation and would die. Personally, I was kind of glad that I didn't have to worry about them flying into my face or anything - although it was creepy coming around corners of a narrow passage and having a sleeping bat about two inches from your face.

Overall the trip was a blast! I am so glad that I was able to go and I am already excited about the next trip - which will hopefully happen sometime soon! I think for the next time I might actually try to find a helmet...I didn't hit my head today, but I came close to it a few times!

Parson Brown

I just wanted to share a fun little story with you all...

So tonight as we were driving to the gym we had Christmas music playing on the radio. And just as we drove by the lone house with their Christmas lights already up (!!!) the old school Amy Grant version of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" started playing.

Anyway, as we were walking inside Kim started singing the song to herself and I was laughing because she said the words all jumbled, when she confessed that she didn't know the words. Being the astute Christmas music student that I am I filled in the blanks.

"In the meadow we can build a snowman, and pretend that he is Parson Brown. He'll say, 'Are you married?,' we'll say, 'No man! But you can do the job when you're in town...'"

Apparently, both Kim and Jenna did not know what a parson was and had never picked up on the fact that they were talking about marriage. Jenna even thought "Parson Brown" was a shade of brown. Sigh...I would be a little more shocked, but frankly I just found it hilarious.

On Monday we had our monthly staff meeting and I won the staff game this month. I probably only won because it required naming the song title and musical of about nine different songs played - finally a game I am good at! Anyway, because I won I am now in charge of planning the game for next month. Since it is December I was going to have it be Christmas themed, but now I just might have to add a question about good ol' Parson Brown...

"Oh the weather outside is frightful..."

There have been many recent days when I have greatly missed my apartment in Seattle with our lovely little gas fireplace. The weather has indeed turned to winter here and my coat, hat, scarf, and gloves are being employed almost every day!

This weekend I put my weather tolerance to the test when I attended the University of Kentucky versus Vanderbilt University football game with some fellow volunteers. The forecast for Saturday night was low thirties and snow or rain. Thankfully, we did not have either, but it was a very cold night to be outside for a few hours. Jenny was quite afraid that she might lose her toes as a result of our excursion - the question, "I can't feel my toes; can you get frostbite this quickly?" was asked multiple times. Despite Kentucky's pathetic first half, sad loss, and three penalties for roughing the kicker (you'd think they would have learned after one!), the game was fun and completely worth practically freezing.

Sunday morning did bring a little snow, and last night as I was leaving work I was excited to step outside into a world swirling with snow. The ground isn't quite cold enough and the flakes aren't quite big enough to stick yet, but it makes me excited and hopeful for some good snow in the winter ahead of me...It also reminds me how excited I am to receive my long underwear in the mail this week! (Thanks mom!)

The onslaught of winter and snow has gotten me very excited for the coming Christmas season. As many of you may know, I don't really stop listening to Christmas music during the rest of the year...it just gets played a little less and not in its full entirety. But the Christmas music is officially in full swing (I have it on now as I type). This coming weekend we are hoping to get up our Christmas lights and maybe even get the first carton of eggnog of the season. Needless to say, I can't wait. Now all I need to do is find some cinnamon-scented pinecones...

The one unfortunate thing about winter is that we have yet to really fix the heating situation in my room. It still remains about ten degrees colder than the rest of the house. But at least I can be comforted by the fact that I am being energy efficient, and it is forcing me to always layer and add blankets rather than turning up the heat. It is humbling, however, to think that there are many people in my own county who have no heat at all. (Although I am hoping that something will be figured out so I don't have to spend the whole winter freezing!)

Geocaching

I'm sure a few of you already know what this is, but geocaching is a kind of high-tech treasure hunt. To participate you look up the latitude/longitude coordinates for a geocache, and then using a GPS device (or you could be old-fashioned and use a compass) you go and try to find it. A geocache is usually some sort of box or container that holds several items, including a log on which you should document the date and name of the finder.

I remember hearing about different people in Seattle getting into this new activity, but I always thought it sounded kind of lame. A couple of weeks ago, however, I went geocaching for the first time. One of the other programs in CAP was planning a survival retreat and they wanted us to help run a geocaching adventure for them. So one day Ragan (one of the other teachers) and I drove down to Renfro Valley to see if we could find the hidden caches and figure out how to use our GPS. Later that week Ragan, Paul, and I headed out to Camp AJ to plant two caches in the woods and to chart a hiking course for the group to follow.

Well yesterday was the day that we finally got to take the group out. The ladies participating are enrolled in Healing Rain - our substance abuse recovery program. We started out with a brief presentation explaining what geocaching was, since nobody in the group really knew. These ladies had already had quite the week of adventures: they had been camping outside the last two nights (remember when I said winter had already come? Brr!!!), they had learned to rappel the day before, and now we were going to drag them out on a 3.5 mile hike on trail called "No Fat Gap" (it's not a skinny place, it is just so steep at the beginning that if you're not in shape you might pass out from the exertion).

So here I was, out in the middle of the woods, leading a hike with a group of fourteen ladies and my manager following me. All I can say is that it was a blast! I had a good time talking to the ladies along the trail and it was fun to see them trying to figure out the clues we had made up for them (use of English Lit degree # 106: able to make silly rhyming clues to guide those searching for a geocache). And I am the last person to complain about being asked to go hiking for my job. Sigh - if only it would happen every week...

Spending the day with the ladies from Healing Rain was another reminder that things are not always as they seem. Before moving out to Kentucky, I can't say I would have had thought that some of the highlights of my time here would be spending time with women in jail or women who are recovering addicts. And yet these women are kind, loving, and fun to spend time with - and I'm so thankful for my time with them.

Two Months and Counting...

This weekend was my two-month anniversary of being in Kentucky. I honestly cannot believe it has gone by this quickly. I remember sitting next to my dad, watching football the night before I left, trying to get the motivation to pack, and crying because I was terrified to make this move. And yet, here I am. I made it safely and have been blessed beyond what I could have imagined with new friends and experiences.

I have been eyeing a ball of purple yarn that sits on my nightstand. My friend Hayley sent it to me shortly after I arrived here, as a reminder of the "thread" that led me to Kentucky (if this reference makes no sense whatsoever, see my first post "One Chapter Closed"). It is kind of funny looking back now and realizing that all of my fears were in vain. I remarked to someone recently that I feel like I've had one of those "duh" moments, realizing that God really did have a plan all along! I am so thankful that I did not give into my fears and that I followed my thread here. I would have missed out on so many amazing experiences and meeting so many wonderful people - and perhaps even more importantly, I would not have grown as much as I have already in these last two months.

Before leaving the Northwest, Christmas felt like it was years away; now I can't believe that Christmas decorations are going up and that it is just around the corner! And while I'm looking forward to going home for a few weeks, I am already looking forward to coming back too - which is crazy.

I guess my point, aside from saying how glad I am that I am here, is that I could not have made it here by myself. And as thankful as I am for all of the new friends I have been making, I am equally thankful for all of you who got me here. It took a lot of prodding, conversing, encouragement, prayer, and love from all of you before I was willing to step into this chapter of my life; and now that I am here, I am still relying on all of you for the strength to continue. So thank you for everything.

The Pinnacles and Lessons Relearned

I just need to say that today it is raining and it makes me so incredibly happy!!! We do not get a lot of rain here in Kentucky, which is sad, because I have really been missing it. It just doesn't seem like fall when there is no rain...the rain does, however, signal a change in our weather. A few weeks ago we were getting freezing cold weather (we had snow flurries last Monday) but then last week the weather shifted back to the seventies and we have had some beautiful sunny days! The rain should be followed by cold weather again though, so winter is on its way...

Last weekend we were able to take advantage of the warm weather and get outside. Our house travelled south to McCreary County to enjoy a scenic train ride with the volunteers down there. We were in open cars and it was a gorgeous day just to be outside and with friends. After the train ride the volunteers showed us their home and took us to visit Cumberland Falls - also known as the "Niagara of the South."



On Sunday, I was able to convince a few of my housemates to go hiking with me, so we headed out to the Pinnacles for a sunset hike. The pinnacles are located just outside of Berea and I've been hearing about them since I came to Kentucky. The hike isn't long, but it sure is steep in a few spots. The hike was probably no longer than two miles, and when we got to the top we found a nice rock outcropping and we settled in for about an hour and a half until the sun started to drop. We left just before sunset (we wanted to get down the hill before dark).

The other half of this post's title is lessons relearned. Here's why. It relates to my post last week about lessons learned. On Wednesday night I was cooking dinner and - well, let's just say it was not going well. I was attempting to make a casserole, but it wasn't really turning out like a casserole, and the local grocery store did not have artichokes (which the recipe called for). Anyway, I was running around the kitchen trying to figure out what else to put with it because the "casserole" wasn't going to be as filling as it should have been, and my housemates were periodically stopping in and asking if I needed help or anything. In the end, everything turned out fine; at least everyone said they enjoyed dinner. As we were eating dinner and everyone was reassuring me that dinner was fine, it suddenly hit me that I had been so stressed out because I was still trying to make everything perfect. So for devotion I shared about my "lesson learned" last week. The response from my housemates was very encouraging and it reminded me of how blessed I am to live with the people that I do. They are amazing people and I am thankful for each and every one of them!

Another lesson I have been learning is humility. And unfortunately I am learning it in a painful way. I started going to the gym with three other of my housemates this week. Okay, so a little confession...even though I had easy access to the REX centers on-campus throughout college I never once went. I always just felt so intimidated because I assumed everyone else there would know what they were doing and that I would just stick out like a sore thumb. So walking into the gym on Monday night was pretty nerve-racking for me. But luckily, I did it anyway; in fact, I've gone every night this week and I'm really enjoying it! Who would have thought that I would actually have fun at the gym. I just have to boast a little (not that it's really boasting, but for me it is), but I ran two miles last night (the longest I have maybe ever run before) and I ran each of them in eleven minutes! (Be very proud!)

In other news, there were a few more tests this week and I found out the results from GED testing last week. Four out of our five students received their GED, and the one student who did not pass each section only has to raise her math score. I am so proud of them! Two of my students at the jail (including "Diana") and one student from our center received their KEC's this week too! It has been great to celebrate these achievements with them; they are all really excited (and so am I)!

As this week finishes up, I am reminded how grateful I am to be here in this new place, meeting new people and exploring new things. I am excited for the months ahead and the lessons that I know are awaiting me...

Blessings.