Montana Madness

I love alliterations, I really do. So, I always feel compelled to start my titles with one, even if it does the main topic of the thing no justice (well, if I even stick to a main point to begin with!) I don't always, but it is fun every once in a while.

Perhaps is because I just woke up, I am a little out of it. Just as I ranted on April 17th: " I have saved up and invested my money in a Nerf gun. I keep it in my loft bed to ward off any annoying family members in the morning. And it has served me well. Woe to all of those happy-go-lucky morning morons who sing odes of joy to the glorious burnt toast and cardboard microwavable waffles. Disturb my heavenly slumber and you will face the wrath of flying styrofoam." Yet, if I wake up on my own, I am not really cranky exactly. I am just a little...weird.

Why does this relate to my mission trip to Montana? It doesn't really. I just stayed up till 2:45 in the morning and woke up at 1:00 in the afternoon, both just to catch up on this blog. (Well, I guess that is mainly because I enjoy ranting, incorperating humor and sarcasm whenever possible.) Basically, I am coming up with a preemptive excuse for my weird behavior and/or bad writing that is to come (very shortly).

And now...I shall blog all about Montana! (Well, I won't actually get into too many details, for safety reasons).

~Montana!~
On the way there we saw camels, cows, ect. (I must admit that I was thrilled about the camels) But I was excited to see buffalo. I mean, we were driving through BUFFALO! Just when I was wondering why they didn't call the place "Cow" instead, we got to get out of the vans to see them from behind the fence. When we were driving again my friend declares that I should be called "Bison". (No, not buffalo. The PLURAL form of buffalo...because it is cooler) Apparently, it is funny because of the irony. Buffalo are big and fluffy and I am not. Hari looked back and said these memorable words "So Jen is scrawny and bald?"

Yes. Let it be forever known that I am BISON...because I am "scrawny and bald"!

Another church was working with us. They were from Ohio, so they had a pretty long drive too. We were split off into different teams. The teams were named after animals found in the area. I found this amusing; I was part of team Buffalo.

Murphy found me in Montana. Buffalo was assigned to making breakfast TWICE. This meant the need to wake up early TWICE. I had really hoped to get to cut something. I think my knife skills have improved over the years.

(When I was still in elementary school, Ashley (Hari) and Kelsy's parents worked in a deli. Many would assume that my cooking skills improved there. But that is not the case. You see, they had buckets upon buckets of bacon. I devoted much of my time to the consumption of said bacon. If you haven't seen the last bit of my post on April 29th, now would be a good time to do so. http://thesearchinglife.blogspot.com/2010/04/seniors-were-all-mad-here.html )

My first job was, to my happiness, slicing - cucumbers in fact. I was instructed to slice them "as thinly as possible". Well, I got better as time went on. My cucumbers were pretty awesome because...each cut was unique. I had thin ones, fat ones, whole ones, ones sliced in half, symetrical ones, and ones that were not...to keep this from sounding like a Dr. Seuss book, I shall leave it at that.
The positive side of it all is that I had cucumbers to satisfy an array of tastes. The second time we made breakfast, I was assigned to something else. It was a slight dissappointlent but I was still able to cut something - apples and oranges! My friend took over the cucumber department. He stuck to the "as thinly sliced as possible" thing far better than I did.

I loved the work projects even more. I got to wash a house 15+ feet high! I enjoy ladders. There is something oddly relaxing about working up high in the air, serving others while contemplating life.

Yes, again, I loved the work projects. They gave us the opportunity to talk to the people; and they had a lot of things to say. I could sit for hours just listening to them. God did some amazing things on that trip.

And, as I posted on my facebook status when I got back, a good deep conversation with someone is more energizing than an entire bottle of Nos!

Yes, they had Nos there. I love how the bottle says "Warning: Powerful!" in large font on the front. I stare at it thinking to myself Why yes, I can see that as it then preceeds to list (almost boast) mass amounts of Taurine, D-Ribose, L-Carnintine, Caffeine...among other things. Observe the bottle > http://pxlbuzzard.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/nos-bottl.jpg
Talk about the perfect way to self-induce a hart attack, if Nos doesn't work well, almost nothing will. And this was my first energy drink.

I loved staying up late in deep conversations. In doing so I discovered my affinity for steak, and how I will inevitably crave it at 2:30 in the morning, despite my laziness. After a good conversation with Hari, we decided to tun in. Next thing she knows, Jen is babbling about wanting steak, at some absurd hour, and she wouldn't mind mashed potatos smothered in gravy. A bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos would not hurt either. But steak was the most important and the Flaming Hot Cheetos should be eaten later, as a dessert or something.

Things I contemplated...
1.) On that trip, I contemplated how horribly lazy I am in the morning. Even lifting a fork to eat cereal could be counted as manual labour.
2.) I also contemplated that I am a delicacy for mosquitos there. For even when I practically bathed in bug spray, they would at least land on me by the dozens.
3.)I contemplated why God would create such vile creatures. I came to the conclusion that it was done to test our patience and I left it at that.
4.)I contemplated why the hotel in Wyoming would not heat their swimming pool (and how cold it was given the fact that it is summer). Hari tried to get me to jump in with her, since she was suffering. I refused, as I felt doing so would be a suicide of hypothermia.
5.)I contemplated why a little 8-year old would dare to call me short. And I contemplated why this tested my patience and how to handle the little brat.
6.) I contemplated that our van had the coolest name out of all of the three: Thruth or Consequences. I also contemplated that we should someday take a road trip to a place that I am happy exists -Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
7.) I contemplated that the children had a better concept of sharing than my friends. Kelsy and Erika would not let me help mop the floor.
8.)I contemplated the dynamics of the game "Duck, duck, goose", why we were playing it for about 45 minutes, and how our circle grew and mutated to an oval, then a half-oval, and then a line.
9.) I contemplated, on a deeper level, all the amazing things that God was doing that I never anticipated.
10.) I contemplated these things and much more but I cannot find words to say all of it. And now I contemplate how to incorperate the many things I still want to say into this post.

Moving on...
On the way back, everyone was given Indian tribal names. Since I reminded them of Spring, I was dubbed "Many Flowers" (thankfully not "Mini Flowers" as I first heard). But that was too...well, FLOWERY for my taste. Sticking to the theme, I am now "Melting Snow"...but, should I complain too much, it has potential danger of becoming "Yellow Snow".
And Kelsy is Wandering Deer. If I get irritated with Mon Amor (though I seldom do), I am contemplating calling her Roadkill Deer.

When Snow Melts, What Does it Become?
I can't help but smile that my new tribal name kinda fits into my theme here on blogger. That was never planned. My blogger theme is a total Fruits Basket reference. Although most people would be inclined to say "water" when asked this question, when the snow melts, it becomes Spring.