Painting and Rigs

So I have actually found alot to do in North Dakota even though people think there isn’t anything here. 

My first week of work went well, I met my mentor, got my project, and went through safety training. 

I also got my new steel toe boots! :D (still waiting for my own FRCs to come in).

In addition to the plumbing adventures, there is lots of painting to do around here.  And since I’m pretty good at it, I decided to help out, and as an added bonus my person made me cookies!

So this cold, rainy, Memorial Day weekend I painted a bedroom the same beautiful blue color that my room is.  As well as a kitchen and dining room a purplish color.

Before:

After:

During:

On our wonderful Monday off we decided not to let the weather hinder us from venturing outside.  Ashley needed to get some water samples from the rigs so off we went for an all day adventure driving around North Dakota.  In all seriousness I had a really good time.  Even though I’m not allowed to drive the company trucks I got to ride around all day in a big truck on dirt roads….

To see these….

Yeah, it was a good time. 

In my spare time I’ve also been trying out some cooking.  I tried this spinach thing that was disgusting because I used to much onion (I don’t even like onion what was I thinking?) and I also made this Asian beef noodle dish.  It turned out good but like all my other cooking I need to figure out how to not make 8 person sized meals.

For those of you who were wondering I did go back to Vegas for church on Sunday and it was awesome.  I’m so very thankful to have church family even here. 

I have also been going to the YMCA to work out (a little) and climb their very cool rock wall. 

Also, a big shout-out to my Mother Dear for having a birthday this past week. 

And a huge thank-you to those who serve in our military I am very grateful for your sacrifice. 

I guess that’s about it from why not Minot….for now.

Sink to me

So my roommate/ person renting my North Dakota summer home to me is remodeling.  This includes many various projects including painting, landscaping, and general remodeling.  One project in particular is the bathroom sink that wouldn’t drain.  Earlier this week we messed around with it by replacing some parts but it seemed to be clogged further back.  So we bought a snake to use. 

So tonight I decided to try and unclog it and realized that the clog was actually in the very next joint of pipe and it was rock hard and black and stunk something terrible.  I worked for awhile to chip it out and think I got most of it.  We need to go to the store and get another part that I had to cut off before we can see if it will work though. 

   

UPDATE:

It works!

Church n’ Work

So literally for the first time in my life I had to find a church in a place where I didn’t know anyone, and more dauntingly, nobody knows my dad.  So I browsed the internet for a very long time and started to become discouraged because I really didn’t want to become involved in the “pre-millennial catching away of the saints of God” and such things as that.  I even tried typing in the ever-crucial keyword “kingdom” and only came up with a bunch of Jehovah’s Witness stuff.  Then my earthly father suggested this one church and I looked on there website and it seemed reasonable with a focus on impacting culture and such.  Plus they were flooded out last year so they met in The Vegas Motel only a few blocks from where I live.  Plus plus the name of the church is Northland Harvest Church which follows my post-high school pattern: Valley Harvest Church in Marietta and World Harvest Center in Farmington.  Plus plus plus I went on Sunday and they had some great worship and a solid word and I think it will be a challenging place and the people were super nice even though they didn’t know about my dad :)

So that was Sunday, along with some spaghetti which I still make in too huge of quantities even though I tried cutting it in half. 

Today was my first day of work.  After circling the building a few times I finally found it, got my badge, got a tour of the office, and did a bunch of orientation stuff.  Not too bad but I will be happier to learn about petro stuff.  We got done early so I came back and did my soccer work-out which was a killer seeing as I haven’t done ANYTHING in 4 weeks.  I also got my membership at the Y which has a pool and a rock wall so I should be set.  And did I mention that there is an awesome soccer complex only 2 blocks from where I live?? Oh YEAH. 

Tomorrow I’m going to meet my mentor and get my office and the rest of the week is all scheduled for orientation and safety and driving etc… Which means by Friday I should have some new steel toes :)

Sorry no pictures.  I’m just not in the mood right now.  Ok, fine you got me.  I’ll put this one up for you. 

Cheers.

North Dakota

So I’m here in Minot, North Dakota happily unpacked and settled in.  The drive here was overall fun but it took awhile.  And during that time I got this wonderful sunburn on my left arm and my chocolate from Nana melted because my ac was broken.  Cooler news, I saw some Bison and a Bald Eagle.

Minot is known as the Magic City- I don’t know why.  North Dakota is the Peace Garden State, Flickertail State, and Roughrider State.  Check out this site for more fun facts.  Also, the license plates all say “Discover the Spirit”.  The weather here is fine, so far it seems similar to Ohio.  It is green but not as many trees and windy and flat.  And the sun doesn’t set until 9:30 right now and will be as late as 11 during the summer.  

So I got here last night and met Ashley, my person to live with for the summer, unloaded my car, and….slept. 

This morning I unpacked my stuff and got settled in then went for a “quick trip” to the ever-so-present-no-matter-where-you-are Walmart.   Well, it wasn’t a quick trip and I quickly learned some of the effects of living in an oil boom town.  So I got the necessary items in about 25ish minutes and then got in line to check out.  And waited for a solid over-an-hour.  The reason is that there are way more people here than before and everyone wants to work in the oil field because that is where the $ is so there aren’t enough people to work the other jobs.  So yeah, the ladies in front of me took turns shopping while the other waited in line.  It was that bad.  Anyways.

After more organizing and even making my bed I was so tired so I took a nap.  When I woke up I felt the need to explore so I went for a walk and found that only a few blocks from me is this amazing soccer complex :D.  At first I didn’t think anybody was there but then I discovered a small group of people playing a pick-up game.  They invited me to join so of course I did and found out they are from the Air Force base and play every week. 

Next I realized how hungry I was so I used my new iPhone to look up recipes and make a shopping list and I soon acquired food. Yay. 

Then I looked up a church online that I plan on attending tomorrow and hope that it goes well.

Here are some pics (not all of North Dakota, just whatever I decided to share) so just enjoy them because I don’t feel like writing here anymore.

 

 

 

End of Semester Update

So I have one week left of my junior year and wanted to procrastinate studying for finals and thought I would chase away any confusion about what is going on in my life. 

This Friday after finals are over I will be going home to Norwalk for about 1 1/2 weeks.  During this time I anticipate a few good bonfires. 

Thursday the 17th of May I will be leaving Norwalk for my internship in North Dakota with Hess Oil Company.  On my drive there I will spend the night in Wisconsin with my cousin before finishing the 21 hour drive on Friday. 

I and another intern will be renting a room from one of the employees since there is so very little housing available in Minot because I am headed straight for an OIL BOOM! (sounds impressive anyways).

All summer I will learn amazing complicated wonderful petro stuff and work on a project assigned to me.  At the conclusion of my project the company will fly me to Houston for a week to present my project to some important people there. 

After that I’m not sure if I will be back in ND or in OH or what. 

Then, in August….SOCCER!

I have one more year of school in Marietta and in the spring of 2013 I will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering. 

So yeah, that’s the plan.  Can’t wait for all the wonderful adventures along the way.

Driving

My favorite thing to do next to running.  I love going.  Driving is a great way to do that in case anybody was wondering.  I love driving because you have a destination, a mission, a goal to complete.  You are going somewhere, doing something, seeing people, conforming to the system of traffic which for the most part flows smoothly (sorry the engineer in me really loves that part).  It is an adventure.  It is quality time (the biggest way that I feel loved besides food).  Driving is thinking and praying time, or if I have the pleasure of transporting other people it is a number one way to get to know them. 

So yeah.  Driving. 

I’ve done alot of it the past two weekends.  And since this blog is about keeping up with me I suppose I should share. 

Last weekend I left Friday after my classes headed towards PA to visit a family I met in New Mexico last summer. (Read about it here).  They are originally from PA and now serve as missionaries to the Navajo people and were home for a couple of months.  Some people might say that 5 hours one way is a long way to drive just to see some kids but when you don’t know when you will see them next and compare it with driving to NM and just the pure awesomeness of these kids it all it is totally worth it.  Plus I had some extra adventures along the way. 

My drive took me through 4 states including OH, WV, MD, and PA.  The WV part (that stands for West Virginia) involved driving through Fairmont.  Now, this is a special place because a special person (namely Auntie Linda) lives there.  So on my way through Friday evening I stopped and had a wonderful surprise visit with her.

I spent the day Saturday playing with previously mentioned awesome children.  This included (but was not limited to) rubber band wars, riding down a hill in a wagon, playing a board game, going for a hike and building a fort. 

The next morning (April Fools better known as Palm Sunday) I drove back to that state called West Virginia and (being the good pastor’s daughter that I am) attended church.  But not just any church, this particular one is run by some very dear family friends and I walked in and surprised them. (I do like surprises).  It was great to see them :D  So after that I finished driving back to my city and that concluded last weekend’s travels. 

This weekend (A very important weekend because of EASTER) I wanted to be everywhere with everyone.  I have never not been home for Easter, I wanted to visit my sister in Steubenville, and I really missed my Valley Harvest family here in Marietta.  So yep, you guessed it.  I did all three. 

I drove home Friday after my soccer practice and went (dress) shopping with Mother Dear and Aunt Linda who were most helpful.  Then I saw Joey ride his bike WITH NO TRAINING WHEELS (sniff sniff, tear, they grow up so fast).  And got to hang out with the family which is hard to describe how glorious and refreshing this always is.  AND my Mother made me spaghetti (which means she loves me). 

Saturday I proceeded to drive to Steubenville for a Catholic Easter celebration with my sister (and as a result my Nicaragua people who I also love).  Now, I have never been to a Catholic Easter before but I heard it would be awesome and it was. 

There was of course a three hour mass that I had to endure but really it wasn’t that bad.  In fact, there were some really cool parts.  For example, they start the mass with fire, which is my favorite.  And even though the readings take a long time it is good to go back and remember what everything is all about.  It reminded me a little of going to see Handel’s Messiah; the overall experience takes a long time and there are definitely some dry parts, but the overall declaring of God’s kingdom is “totally wicked!” (Name that movie quote).

Also, there were some really cool parts, like the Hallelujah Chorus part of the Messiah.  Oh yeah that reminds me, that part was when all the Catholics, who haven’t said hallelujah for 40 days start singing and shouting Hallelujah! Christ is Risen!  Yeah.  I gotta say. Pretty Awesome.     

And then, there was an Easter party with food and music and dancing until 4 am.  Which was a blast. 

Then, (back to the title) I drove back to my city to join my family at Valley Harvest to celebrate Easter morning :)  It was wonderful to be with everyone again and I do love it here.  And, I got to have dinner with some of my favorite people.

One thing I have learned the past 2 years.  I love going, and I hate leaving.  I love going to see people and have new adventures and I am grateful for my many experiences and relationships but it is always hard when I have to leave because I want to be with everybody all the time.

Nicaragua

So I have been back from Nicaragua for a couple of weeks now and have been working on writing about it in other places but I wanted to add it to my blog too because it was a pretty significant adventure.  I don’t have a ton of time to write so I will focus on adding some of the pictures that will convey most of the story.

*Note – hover over the pictures to understand*

This is the orphanage we stayed at in Diriamba

 

Everyday we ate rice and beans and sometimes we even got it twice!

For our construction project we were told to tear down a building….and so we did.

     

Everyday after work we got to play with the kids.

 

After three days of work we had a day off to go adventuring, and these are some of the adventures. 

        

We also had a day to go visit the dump and sewing center.  Afterwards we went and played with the kids some more. 

 

Our very last day, only a few hours before leaving, I thought I would get a little soccer in. 

 

Don’t worry, it is almost all the way better.  Overall the trip was an amazing time and I’m so glad that I went.

We arrived safely and were picked up at the airport by Norwalk’s new mayor and got home just in time for Jordan’s birthday dinner. 

Now I’m back in my city ready for a new semester!