Well today was my second full day here at Hillview. The best word I can think of to describe it thus far is exhausting. Yesterday I worked about 14 hours. Today was a little easier because while the kids were at school, I was able to relax and have time to myself. I'm realized just how demanding this job is going to be, but also experiencing times of peace where I am excited about this new adventure. When things slow down (while kids are at school) I start getting a little lonely missing my friends and family. While they really are only 15 minutes away, it feels like an ocean separates us. I'm sure I'll continue to battle through those times as I slowly learn to call this place home.

As one last major weekend adventure before I started my new job, myself and some camp people (Champ, Wolf, Diddy and Shep) went up to Yosemite for some crazy snow fun. All of this actually went down the weekend before I went to Lompoc, but I wanted to wait until I had pics to post.

We stayed at a cabin on Bass Lake and the first day we drove up Beashore for some hardcore sledding. We christened the $12 "Titanic" by riding it right down the steep road, straight into a ramp we built. All I have to say is.......tailbone. Ouch. But tons of fun none the less. I was amazed by the amount of snow everywhere. After some amazing runs we drove down the mountain and had dinner at a great mexican place in North Fork. While we were there a HUGE storm came in with intense thunder and lightning. Lots more snow got dumped right down on us. Amazing night.

The next day we went into Yosemite Valley and stood in awe at the tranquil beauty. We visited the ice rink, watched a info video in Yosemite Village on the history of the valley and chilled with hot chocolate in the beautiful Awannee Hotel. The day was concluded with a great board game (Settlers) and movie. It's always hard to leave your favorite place, but I was looking forward to some time at home. So, after I left Bass Lake, I drove home for BIKE GANG, good food, and amazing family. Overall, amazing weekend. That means I've had two in a row. Man, I'm blessed. We will see how they continue to look while I work at Hillview. (My first day is this sunday!) Oh, and here are some more pics from Yosem.....

Excitement for any up coming weekend builds slowly and by the time friday comes around it's all the mind can dwell on. Then you find yourself looking straight in the face of Monday wondering how the weekend slipped out of the backdoor so quietly. It happens every time.

This past weekend I took a visit up to Lompoc to visit the sis. As fast as it went, was very enjoyable every fleeting second. We played like children on the beach. We went and saw Underworld and Hoodwinked in the theatre. We visited a mission like 5th grade elementary school students. It was a great weekend. I just with it could have lasted longer.

Haven't posted in awhile so I figure the peeps need an update. A lot has been going on. The biggest change in my life is a new job that I should be starting within the next few weeks. Last december I found this website for a childrens home in Chino called "Hillview Acres". It's a place where children are pulled from abusive families and placed by the county to live. I was surprised to find that the average stay for a child is about 2 years. The campus has several cottages where the children live about 7 per cottage. Each cottage has two "house parents" that live there as well to take care of them. That is the job that I became interested in and then applied for. The interview process was very extensive and required that I live there for three days to better understand how things work and see if I would be a good fit. By the end of it I had a very good understanding of how things worked. Though I was extremely exhausted by the end, I knew that it was a place that I wanted to be. The kids are so cool and the staff care so much for each one of them. The job won't necessarily be a "job" as much as it will be a lifestyle. Generally, I feel I'm more attracted to those sorts of jobs because if you are passionate about what you are doing, you want it to be part of your life. I assume this is why I'm attracted to things like the Peace Corps and mission work.

This new job asks that I stay for two years which I wasn't expecting since my plan was to join the peace corps. However, I feel pulled to this place and hope that this pull can be interpreted as God's will. Perhaps the Peace Corps can wait patiently while I figure everything out?