Thursday, March 26, 2015

WaFaRa College Work Week 2015

A lot of you may remember that last summer I went to Washington Family Ranch in Antelope, OR to help provide childcare to teen moms while they were at the week long YoungLives camp. This past weekend, I went back to WaFaRa, only this time it was for the college work week. Alongside of 300+ college aged people, I helped to prepare the camp for all the campers who will be coming in just a few short months. 

Last year during the work week, I opted for helping with the actual ranch side of the camp, and I loved it so much that this year not only did I sign back up for the same job, but I conjured my friend to sign up with me. 

The thing I love about the ranching side is that you get to do manual labor (which is something my body desperately needed after sitting in classes all winter) plus you get to see views like this.

 Our group took out fences (above) on the first and last days, and on the middle day we cleared brush (below). 



 Some of the brush we took down to the creek, but a lot of it we piled into burn piles. 

 And we lit a couple of the piles on fire, which was pretty stinkin awesome. 


 This lovely lady beside me is my un-officially adopted/honorary big sister. Her name is Miranda, and she is one of my most favorite people ever. She encourages me to pursue Jesus relentlessly, and to be outside in the sunshine (or rain) whenever possible. Pretty much, I just love her a lot and I am super duper uper glad that she came on the trip with me.



 It's a Washington Family Ranch style bonfire. 

 The third work day was sunny, windy, and absolutely perfect. 



 Le sigh. 

 I literally could have sat there all day long and been perfectly and absolutely happy and content.


 After we had gotten all our work done, the bosses took us down to the cow barn on the opposite side of camp.


 Roping lessons + calf petting + puppy lovin + slobbery horses = best way to end a great weekend.

 This gal cracked me up. She was definitely not happy when the other horses were getting loved on, and was very verbal about her disgust. 


 Our crew, minus our work crew bosses (who were both super awesome and incredibly patient with all of us).


Of everyone that I met, this was my hardest goodbye. (No joke.) There is just something about being around horses and out in God's creation that makes me feel like a whole person. (Also, it didn't hurt that palominos are pretty much my favorite in the history of ever.)

It was a good weekend, and I am so thankful that I was able to go. Now back to real life and work and school and graduation looming closer by the second! 

Friday, March 6, 2015

my beautiful cousin Gretchen

My siblings and I rarely had a babysitter growing up. I remember going to Grandpa & Grandma's house quite a bit, but it was a very rare occasion that someone would actually come to our house. The couple of times I do recall having an actual "babysitter", it was my cousin, Gretchen. This was back before she was officially in a relationship with the love of her life (a boy she met at Yellowstone when they were both 13 years old) and my siblings and I loved to tease her about "de-Merritt" as we (affectionately?) called him. Almost twenty years later, she and Merritt have three beautiful children, and another one on the way! (I guess all our teasing didn't have that much of an affect on them.) 

I don't normally do maternity sessions (in fact the one and only that I have done was around two years ago), but when Gretchen asked me to take some photos of her while she and her family were down visiting, I just couldn't say no. 

The weather was perfect, the model was incredibly beautiful and oh-so-gracious as I tried to figure out what on earth I was doing, and the baby made sure his or her presence was recognized by a few well-aimed kicks. 







Gretchen, thank you for trusting me to document this beautiful time in your life. I am so thankful for you and can not wait to meet your little one! Love, Rebekah