I've clocked in about two months of work here at the conference office so far. And so far, there have been four championships that have taken place: women's and men's basketball, golf and tennis. As the sports info intern, I have been able to traveled to all of them:
Men's basketball was hosted by Weber State, so it was in Ogden, where the conference office is.
Women's basketball was hosted by Eastern Washington, so we traveled to Cheney, Wash. just outside of Spokane.
Women's Golf tournament was hosted by Northern Arizona, so we traveled to Chandler, Ariz. (it was hosted at an off site golf course).
Men's and women's tennis was hosted by Sacramento State , so we traveled to Sacramento, Calif.
Unfortunately, that means working through the weekend but I don't mind so much. I've been back for about week now from the last two championships, golf and tennis, but been catching up on things. I apologize for not posting a blog in two weeks, I've been kicking myself for it.
Traveling has been tough. Once I go through a round of all the championships, it will get easier because I can know what to expect, but the first time traveling to anything is always rough. Traveling back to Sacramento was the worst.
Words to describe how odd of a feeling it was to be staying in hotel in a town where you lived less then 2 months earlier, a place where your life was altered so drastically. It was hard being there and it was hard going back to Utah.
One really doesn't know how familiar a place can be until you're not in it anymore. I miss simple things like the way a California license plate looks like on the back of the car you're following down the street, or the little reflectors on the lane markers. The lanes here in Utah don't have them because the snow plows would break them off.
Since moving here, I've been wanting to get involved in some sort of community service type thing. I'm hoping it will take my mind off of home and I really enjoy serving others. I've been really yearning to get involved in the community. Get some good solid work down, get rooted, get my hands dirty or help clean up someone elses.
It makes my skin crawl when I just go about my own business, not involved in anything. I miss the culture of Sacramento. There were so many things going on in Sacramento that I miss doing or going too. I miss going to the open mic nights at Luna Cafe and hearing about peoples inner thoughts via spoken word. I miss second-Saturdays when everybody and their mother didn't know about it. I miss Boudin's sourdough bread bowls and the sushi Aaron and I would get at Bento Box. I miss Jack's Urban Eats and I miss the river. I miss rowing and the way the trees turn all sorts of bright reds oranges and yellows and shed their leaves so I can shuffle through the thick piles at school. I miss the sunshine and when it doesn't snow in May. I just miss everyone being different. I especially miss the nights going to the river and sitting on the foothills, worshiping God during sunset. I even miss my ornery young youth pastor who would yell at me for doing things with my friends in youth group as a non-church function - ha.
Most of the Christians here have a heart for mormons, but I've always had a heart for those who have pushed organized religion to the side. I want to show them the Jesus that I know. The one that rebuked religion and churches, overturned the merchants tables in the temple, and actually practiced what he preached. California has always been like a camping site for the refugees that live on the fringe of civilization, the one's Jesus hung out with, and I miss ministering to those people through the way I attempted to live.
One of my favorite past times was going to the open mics and reading off some of the stuff I wrote about my Jesus, hoping they would see what I see. Always hoping I could transpire the picture I saw in my heart of Christ onto theirs. I would read poems out of the Outlaw Bible of American Poetry that talked about Jesus. The poets I would call "Christians without even knowing it" and I would always give testament to Christ.
In Sacramento I was pegged the "good little church girl" one to many times. It made me really uncomfortable to be smashed into that box and I was CONSTANTLY trying to fight against it.. But here, you're either mormon or you're a part of "the others".
At any rate, I'll end here with one of my favorite quotes. Hopefully my useless ramblings have provoked some spark.
"We're writing suicide notes with transparencies and posting them to the glass boundaries that surround the seas of change." - Sage Francis.
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