Being the youngest has its perks!

I know there are many of you out there- the last of all the siblings, the youngest in the family. I have been thinking of the many things that I got out of doing as a kid. Number 1 being CLEANING! Well, I think that all of those times have finally caught up with me this year at Washington Family Ranch.

4 days of the week I am cleaning and it is hard work. It isn't the dusting, light cleaning type. It is the get on your hands and knees, scrub til you have blisters, and your shoulders are popping out kind of cleaning. Yes, I am being a little dramatic, but seriously my body feels it at the end of the day!

When we have extra time or we have a break in weekend camps, we deep clean. We had just finished up deep cleaning all of the camper rooms before Christmas *remember 600 campers here so a lot of toilets, showers, and beds! Well, Bryan and I decided not to take our vacation over Christmas because its a bad time to travel in the Northwest, so we worked the day after Christmas. There were 3 of us in housekeeping so we were assigned to deep clean all of the Work Crew/Summer Staff bathrooms. I thought I was done with that for a while after deep cleaning the Quads! Needless to say, it was a rough 3 days with 3 people cleaning.

This year has been wonderfully humbling with God teaching me many things about myself. One being I really don't like cleaning. I never have. I got out of it as a kid and it shows into my adulthood. (note: this was not my mom's fault. love you mom! No, I got out of it all on my own and when I had to clean i tended to shove things into my closet and drawers!)

Anyways- I am REALLY trying to keep a clean house because it feels so much better! I spent my day off trying to organize, it is hard because there is nothing to organize with. We don't have a desk or filing cabinet, etc. So i took an extra closet and used the shelves as a filing cabinet.

So, all in all I am learning to be a servant in a very deep way. The way where you don't get recognition and people don't really notice the change. But I do! After deep cleaning a shower, there is no more brown mildew! After deep cleaning a toilet, there are no more rings (ladies- a pumice stone works wonders!) Yes, Jesus is working in my heart, teaching me that there are different types of ministry and it's my time to be behind the scenes, praying for the upcoming summer and the campers that will come and be ministered to.

We do get rewarded for all of our hard work! Our Staff Retreat starts Sunday in Cannon Beach and I LOVE Cannon Beach! Here's a picture of the beautifulness!

I can't wait to relax at the coast and spend a few days in Portland with the interns!

Snow at the Ranch!

I have never seen this much snow in my life! It has been snowing for what feels like forever... and its beautiful!

I have to say that I can't believe Christmas is only 4 days away! Bryan and I are heading out bright and early tomorrow morning with our chains on our tires for an adventure into Washington to Mt. Rainier National Park. We got reservations at an amazing bed and breakfast- all I have to say is hot tub and fireplace! I am excited to be warm! Though, we will be most likely snowshoeing and tubing/sledding, which will get us plenty cold considering its 14 degrees right now. I definitely hit a personal record for the coldest weather when it was -3 the other day!

Though we won't have family, we are excited to start a new tradition for just us.

Christmas festivities here at the camp were rather amazing.

We had a Christmas Cookie Exchange. Andrea and I made Peppermint Cookies. We laughed a lot!

Gene and Mary (who we spent thanksgiving with) decided to hitch up their trailer and make a hay wagon for the interns to ride house to house and carol. The staff loved it and we got a chance to hang out as a group and act silly. Here are the ladies at the annual Christmas Party. It was fun to get dressed up and do make-up since most days we are in grubby clothes to clean. If you haven't noticed already- I chopped my hair 11 inches! It feels great! I plan to donate it though I haven't picked an organization yet.

Well, this is probably my last post til after Christmas where hopefully I will have beautiful pictures of Rainier and our first snowshoeing adventure!