The Start

Well, I made it! 26 hours on a Greyhound bus, 1 movie, 4 episodes of the office and not enough sleep = a trip for the books. It worked out really well though. I met up with another intern, Angela, in Harrisburg and we made the treck together. After many "I can't believe they chose us! and we are going!!" moments,  many small talk topics later, and much laughter at the different situations our trip put us in, we made it to Joplin. I found that like the word "Orvieto", I only had once kind of context for it. It was just a word in my head. Yes it was associated with specific things, but I had nothing material to connect it to. So seeing the word Joplin all over the town as we pulled in I believe made it a bit more real. The wonderful Jo picked us up from the bus stop. She called us champions and rock stars a few times which made me truly proud of the trip I had just endured. We showered, went food shopping, and couldn't get horizontal fast enough. Chelsea, the other out of town intern came the next morning and we have already had a blast all together. That afternoon we met up with the rest of the interns at the HQ and had our first get together/info orientation (complete with doughnuts and doughnut balloons because it was the national holiday for them of course). This organization is everything that I would ever want to be a part of. I will post more about the details and history behind the organization tomorrow. On Saturday we had a great brunch with the staff and interns at Brooke's house which is only a few blocks away! I made bagels and there were casseroles, cinnamon rolls, home made tart and delicious fruit. We spend the morning laughing, eating and getting to know each other. Afterwards Ashley, another intern, took us thrift shopping! Such a therapeutic afternoon. New friends and old clothes, that's what's up. I felt so content and gracious for that afternoon. And finally today we went to church in town, did zumba in the living room, went to the movies and had icecream to make us feel better (very sad and touching movie making Sonic a must have). This weekend feels like it has been a week long already, but we are all excited for tomorrow and the continuation of our training and the start of our adventures here with ArtFeeds! That is all for now folks, but pretty sure I think I'm gonna like it here. I want to share all the amazing things God has already done while I have been here, and I will share them tomorrow I promise. Here is our address if any of you would like to send anything!
302 S. Highland Ave. Joplin, MO 64801
Peace and Love Always