Howdy friends! Greetings from Colorado! I've been in this beautiful state for about a week and a half now, and finally decided to create a blog to document my adventures working with Group Mission Trips this summer! 

So, to start from the beginning, I flew into Denver bright and early on Memorial Day. There I met up with the rest of my coworkers! We spent the entire day chilling at the DIA, getting to know one another and having lots of fun. Mid-afternoon, after everyone had arrived, we boarded the bus and headed north to the Rocky Mountains. I think the entire airport was thankful we finally departed; we were taking up a lot of room and making quite a scene.

Our first week of training was spent high up in the mountains at the YMCA of the Rockies! It was unlike any YMCA I've ever been to before--that's for sure--because it was basically a resort. I'm definitely missing it now--it was so pretty up there! This was the view from the bedroom I shared for the week with three of my coworkers:

That week began with us finding out what city we were being assigned to for the summer, as well as who our co-partner is! I was so thrilled when I was told that Kerrie was my partner because we had spent hours at the airport together (suffering through our headaches) the day before! She is from New Jersey and is Italian; I think we are a perfect match! Here is a photo of us after the worship service we attended in Fort Collins on Sunday morning: 

In a week, the two of us will be saying "see ya in August, Colorado" and driving northeast to Minneapolis, Minnesota where we will be for the rest of the summer! I am super excited to be visiting this state for the first time. I can't wait to go to St. Paul, Uptown, and of course the Mall of America on our weekends off! More importantly though, I'm thrilled to be given the opportunity of working with youth groups this summer on their mission trips. I know God has big plans ahead for these kids and their leaders! 

Well, time for bed! Stay tuned to hear more about training & the organizations we will be serving with in Minneapolis! :)