Two weeks in...

During the last two weeks, I've been exploring this wonderful city. There is so much to do, and places are open past 8 pm…it’s overwhelming.

I introduced one of my housemates to the X-Men series last weekend. She asked me to explain the premise. It doesn’t sound as awesome when you have to explain every character and their power, especially when some of the powers are lame. Exhibit A: that girl with the wings, Angel. Yeah, you can call her Angel but she her wings still look like a gnat’s.

<----The lame-ness of this power rivals that of Cyclops. Which is pretty lame.

And having her spit fireballs was a poor decision. Superpowers only look cool when you can throw it from your hands (fire, ice, electricity, etc.) Vomiting up your superpower is not attractive.

And spitting out fire just makes me think of the cartoons when a character eats a hot chili and then spews fire from their mouth.

<---- (Heartburn is like a fire raging inside of you...)

My first weekend here, my housemate, Stephanie drove us to Pike’s Peak. I’ve already given up the notion that I was unaffected by the “normal” altitude of Colorado Springs, but once you get to the top of the mountain the air is so thin that lightheadedness and nausea are standard reactions when you reach the summit.

Us at the top!

This last weekend I went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with the other interns. Some of them were very excited about one exhibit in particular: a moose. In Minnesota, moose are as common. Very common. For me, seeing the moose at the zoo was like seeing a Golden Retriever in the zoo.

<-----Wow. A moose.

As for the actual reason I came here, my internship…it is going pretty good. I’m amazed how quickly time goes by there, but working life is very tiring. There are a few perks of the job. I got to have a behind the scenes look at Adventures in Odyssey. I used to listen to the show when I was little and our tour guide, Diane, was very personable and knowledgeable about the goings-on at Focus on the Family.

And I’ve finally acclimated to the elevation here. I ran 5 miles today and feel pretty good. Whereas when I first arrived, I walked up a flight of stairs and had to stop to catch my breath. I think I’ll be able to run a marathon when I get back to the hot, humid Midwest.

Til next time,

Kayley

Random thought: I just realized that Glee is like a mixture of Kidz Bop and every drama filled high school show ever made.

Heat Wave

Water...need water...and chapstick...lots of chapstick.

It's so dry here. I, a humble Midwesterner, have never before experience the elevation and the DRYNESS of the area. My throat is parched and I feel very tired for no reason. I hear it's pretty normal to feel "out of it" the first week here, but I was hoping my body would be immune to it.

But if I had to pick the dry heat over the dense humidity of my hometown, I would have to say I prefer the dry heat. It was over 90 today but felt similar to our 70 degree weather.

I arrived in Colorado Springs on Saturday evening, despite my horrible sense of direction and sense of location ("Hmmm, this is a pretty big city, this must be Denver).

I met part of my host family, Missy and her little sister Morgan, who were extremely gracious and helpful. I also learned that I now have my own bathroom (at least for the summer). Hark? Do my ears deceive me? A whole bathroom to myself? After sharing a bathroom with three other siblings and then using a community bathroom the past 3 years?




............It's mine. It's all mine!







As of yet, no wireless internet set up at my host home. I had to drive to a spot that had internet in order to keep up to date with the goings-on of the world.

First day of internship wasn't really an "internship" so to speak. It was just an orientation day, basically the equivalent of the first day of a college course, when the entire class reads over the syllabus together. So...yeah, it was pretty boring. Basically just met the other interns. There were a lot. I will not remember their names come tomorrow.

Why did I sign up for this crazy gig?

I'm starting to get more nervous as the beginning of my journey to "discover Colorado Springs" approaches. This internship is definitely outside of my comfort zone. Whenever I think about my upcoming summer experience I feel exhilarated, then immediately think of all the unknowns and question my sanity - why did I sign up for this crazy gig?

In the meantime, I'm trying to squeeze in as much "family time" as I can. Daniel and I were especially close last summer, so I'm going to miss my "Teddy" in the months to come. In preparation for my absence, I have been attempting to give Daniel plenty to do, media-wise. At the top of the list was the Harry Potter series, which he took to like a fish to water. I barely beat him in a Harry Potter trivia game we had lying around the house. And Daniel's favorite Harry Potter character, of all his choices from all the books, is Neville Longbottom.









Yes. This guy. I wonder what the actor who plays Neville looks like now?



Whoa. He's very attractive. Who knew?


But why did Daniel pick such an odd choice?

"Because Neville isn't a very good wizard, but he's a really good friend."
- Daniel

Pretty insightful for an 8-year-old.


I am usually the driving force behind my family's media choices, picking out movies and telling my family which one they'd like. Without my guidance, I'm sure my dad will just watch endless reruns of According to Jim on Channel 15.

I've been squeezing my visits with people (that usually happen over the course of the summer) into the span of two weeks. Blaire and I had movie/game extravaganza day, in which we watched Mystery Science Theater 3000, Shaun of the Dead, and the Big Bang Theory.

Best quote of the night:
MST3K Touch of Satan - "This is where the fish lives."
"Mike, I'm gonna look at your shoes for a while. It makes about as much sense."

I also got to meet Blaire's niece, Fiona, an adorable baby will an awesome faux-hawk who is soothed by the sounds of Julian Smith.


I'm also catching up with Kelsey this weekend. She's a blast to be around. Went for a walk and to the Hangover 2 today, and had a lot of laughs and an awesome time.




So as I squeeze all my quality time with the people I care about into a couple short weeks, I remind myself that there is an adventure waiting around the bend.


I haven't picked the smoothest course, steady as a beating drum, but this course is going to help me grow more.

If I Only Had A Home

Oh, if I only had a home.

And now I do!

A lovely couple in Colorado Springs has agreed to host me and another intern named Stephanie over the course of our internships. Ken and Jan, the couple, have been very kind and helpful.

This is another step in my journey that has been made certain, but there are still a lot of unknowns. And that's the scariest, and the best, part.

Technology Free Summer

<---- "No computer for you!"

Well, I won't be completely technology free. I'll have a cell phone. I'll have a car (that counts as technology, right?) But I will not have a laptop or access to a personal computer of any kind.




If you're guessing I'm going to whine and complain about this, you're wrong. Didn't see that coming, did you? ;)

It's going to be fine. More than fine. While I enjoy the aspects, opportunities, and (let's face it) useless time wasters a laptop gives me (yes YouTube and Facebook, I'm talking to you), I think doing other stuff (hiking, biking, reading a book) will be far more enjoyable during my stay in Colorado Springs.



<----- Not my reaction to being computer-less this summer

I'm someone who can keep herself occupied with other things if there isn't any technology around and even when there is.






However, I am a little worried about my internship credits, which require me to send in assignments over the internet to my supervisor periodically. But I'm guessing I can just find a library or something. I'm going to calm down and not worry about it. It will work itself out.

Coffee in Colorado

Lately, I've been enjoying coffee shops; both the atmosphere and the drinks. Yesterday I went to a place called Babb's Coffee House.

Here are some pictures:











I found a coffee place online called Agia Sophia. The building looks so cute and the reviews are good. Can't wait!

How it began...

I was asked by some family members to keep a blog of my preparation and experiences of my journey to Colorado Springs, Colorado in the summer of 2011.

This January (2011), I applied for several internships at an organization in Colorado Springs called Focus on the Family. I'd been keeping my eye out for internships at this company for the last few years, because one of the branches of FOTF (Plugged In Online) inspired me to pursue a career in media and sparked my interest in analyzing film, pop culture, and how it relates to us. It was a major part of shaping me as a teenager and a young adult. I have wanted an internship at this organization since I was about 15 and it has been a goal that I've always had in the back of my mind, one that seemed unattainable at times.

In February, I went through several telephone interviews with different FOTF representatives and employees. I sent in work examples and a background check. As some internships I'd applied for were filled, I began to lose hope that I would get an internship at FOTF. I reminded myself that it was a large organization. Lots of other students had probably applied. I tried not to get my hopes up.

But a fairly new FOTF magazine and website called "Thriving Family", a parenting magazine from a Christian standpoint, offered me the internship, which I accepted. It's good to know that all my time spent tinkering with video, audio, HTML, CSS (cascading style sheets), social media, and YouTube actually helped land me something important.

So how do I feel about this? I got a good feeling that this will be a life changing experience. But as someone who likes to have a plan, it has been difficult to not know where I'm going to live, what my host family will be like, how I will pay for different expenses (it's an unpaid internship), and other worries. I'll just try to remember that God has taken care of me my whole life and he's not going to stop now.