Bruises

The Sunday before last marked the kickoff of family season at Mountain Sky- an exciting time for the guests and the staff too! All of our training was finally going to be put to the test and we were all pumped to get the season started. There were only 9 guests so the 4:1 staff to guest ratio made for unbeatable service! With so few guests, we were told to be as involved as possible in all ranch events to ensure that everyone was having a fun time- especially the kids! This place is like a giant playground and the games we concoct make me want to be 12 again!

Each week follows the same routine in terms of activities- Sunday night when the guests arrive we always play a heated game of dodge ball and then everyone at the ranch gathers in a circle on the front lawn to scream the Mountain Sky theme song. You would be surprised how competitive middle-aged men and women can be at a phys. ed.  game.. It’s a fun, high energy way to welcome everyone to the ranch and blow off any pent up steam we might have on eachother from the previous week :) The first night went off without a hitch and I was so excited for the fun to come during the week.

I was lucky enough to work kids’ programs on Monday night as well, which is historically the night of ‘Stealth’, a game where counselors and kids cover themselves in mud and dart all over the forest to hide from seekers with loaded super soakers. The point of the game is to sneak back to the home base in the lodge and blow a whistle before being blasted with water. Unfortunately, Monday evening brought thunderstorms, lightning, and a steady flow of rain for over an hour. We were prepared to settle for a movie night, but just as we were about to throw in the towel, the storm tamed and the clouds disappeared. (The weather here is absolutely bipolar- I’ll be in a hat and mitts in the morning and a bikini by noon!) We talked to the only three kids planning to participate and decided to play the game after all.

The first few rounds were a blast! I think the counselors were more into it than the kids.. I was army crawling through the dirt, hopping on top of roofs, running through thistles, using every stealth move I could think of to win the game. Everything was going great until we decided to play one last round: guys vs. girls. I went sprinting away from the base to try a new approach- I caught more and more speed flying down a gravel road with the wind at my back. I was just about to turn a corner when my foot gave out from underneath me and I tumbled to the ground. I looked down at my right ankle and immediately knew it didn’t look right. I thought I could jump up and walk it off like I have so many times, but I knew this felt different. Everything started to get dark and I realized that I was about to faint. I saw an opponent in the distance and told them I’d fallen and needed help- I’m pretty sure they thought it was a ploy to win the game, but luckily they came and helped me. Thank goodness we had first aid training just a week before! My ankle swelled up to the size of a softball within minutes! I kept telling people it was a sprain and apologized for ruining the game, but the EMT on the ranch said I needed to get X-rays ASAP, so before I knew it, Molly was at my side and the three of us were off to the ER in Livingston— so thankful she was there to listen to me moan, groan, and complain about ruining the whole summer for the entire 45 minute ride. I swear that girl is always there to hold my hand, whether I'm getting a tattoo or a just a bruise :) 

The X-rays came back clear, praise the Lord- just a really painful sprain! I was sentenced to a few days on crutches, a lot of icing, and four days off of work (and dancing) to rest.. I was so worried I was going to get sent home, but apparently it’s illegal to fire someone if they get injured ha! Having four days of down time wasn't so bad - Train was right when they said 'these bruises make for better conversation'. I loved getting visitors at the pool while I was icing and elevating. My StrengthsFinder says my top strengths are competition and command, but Gretchen says that if you pay extra you can find out your weaknesses. I have a feeling mine would say ankles…

In other news, Molly and I both finally experienced our first bouts of homesickness. This is what happens when we try to be independent..We have been pretty spoiled having our families so close for the last couple decades! Luckily, her mom, Tami, came out to visit with a few of her friends this week- perfect timing! They were able to have some much needed quality time and we all had a chance to go out for dinner with Steve Vedders and his friend too. It’s been great having him just an hour away in Bozeman- comforting to have a lifeline/ dance teacher/ overprotective brother around! I can’t wait for my mom and dad to finally visit this week and Kristin and Ben next week so I can show them what we have been up to! This job honestly doesn’t even feel like work. Everyday is something new, fun, and exciting! This past Saturday I got paid to slip and slide for three hours and tonight I get to dress up like a cowgirl and take a hayride with kids down to lower ranch for dinner ride... I swear I am dreaming!

She's Country

Montana is stealing my heart! We got to the ranch around 6 pm last Saturday and I’m falling more in love every day. Our hearts were pounding as we blared Eric Church and Snap Chatted until we had no service driving up the 4.5 mile narrow winding road that climbs 2,000 feet to Mountain Sky Guest Ranch’s lodge.  Mountain Sky is nestled in Paradise Valley, one of the filming locations of “A River Runs Through It”… too bad 29-year old Brad Pitt didn’t stick around. This is honestly the most beautiful place I have ever seen! I need someone to pinch me to remind me that this is real life!

It took a lot of effort, but Molly and I were able to cram all of our things into our little cabin room…clothes are spilling out of our closets and drawers, but it’s still technically all in there. All 16 female staff members live in one cabin called the Brothel (must be taking notes from Bethel???) and the guys are spread out in smaller surrounding cabins across Middle Ranch. Everyone is around the same age, but there are kids from all over the country—Texas, Washington, Michigan, Florida, Idaho, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona just to name a few. Once again, I am so jealous of anyone with a southern accent! Almost every night ends with people hanging out or two-stepping on the Brothel porch, so in just a week it has been fun getting to know everyone so much more beyond first impressions. I LOVE our roommates, Katelyn and Kari!

I never really described what our job on the ranch would be this summer, but the truth is I wasn’t even totally certain until we started training this week! We are ‘all-arounds’, so we get to do a little bit of everything: serve in the dining room, run kids programs, drive shuttles to and from the airport, clean cabins, wash dishes, and spend our free time soaking up all Montana has to offer. Our first week was spent with a ton of training and touring the 6,000 acres of unbridled beauty Mt. Sky sits on. There is a four star golf course, tons of hiking, horseback riding, and running trails, an incredible recreation facility with a pool, hot tub, fitness center, and ping pong table (thank goodness) and staff gets to use anything we want as long as we’re not working! Although, with shifts that last up to 12 hours I’m not sure how much extra energy we’ll have. I’ve gone on a few runs already (with bear spray in hand) and the altitude just about knocks me out. I need the exercise though because the food is soooooooooo good here!!!

 

The secluded beauty comes at a cost though… I get next to no phone service and we are only able to be on our phones at night in our cabins when guests can’t see us. It’s surprisingly really refreshing though. It’s teaching me to have real face-to-face conversations with people- great life lesson!! :)

We get the weekend off so we’re seizing every opportunity to go on adventures. Yesterday we went hiking at Yellowstone and got to see the world’s biggest geyser! I couldn’t believe how many people flock to see smelly water jets, but it is worth it! I’ve had so many moments where I just stop and think, “Oh my goodness. God, you are incredible. You’ve outdone yourself again.” After an exhausting 4-hour hike we finished off the day with a round of golf (yes, I golf now). Today we are driving an hour and a half to Bozeman to run some errands. I find it so funny that when people say they are ‘running to town’ they really mean they are spending at least two hours in the car commuting to pick up a few things. I only spent $11 last week so I feel like I deserve a gold medal and a trip to Target!

I love love love it here though- I just wish I had all my family and friends here to share it with too! Everyday Molly and I are saying how we wish so and so could see this or that so and so would LOVE to do this too. So if y’all are free, come visit! You get free golf :)

Road Trips & Guitar Picks

After months of daydreaming, hours of packing, and lots of tough goodbyes, we finally got on the road! We planned to leave by noon, but didn't actually get going until after 1 since I lack the ability to be on time for anything. Luckily, we weren't in any rush. We won't be back for three months, so we didn't want to forget anything!!!


I was a little self conscious showing up to Molly's with three giant garbage bags full of clothes, another full of shoes, and two more laundry baskets overflowing with 'necessities'. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her twelve suitcases lining the Moberg driveway. With a little pushing and shoving we were able to squeeze all of our belongings into the car. We originally had planned to have another guy carpool out with us.. thank goodness he changed his mind because I swear we already did our absolute best to pack lightly and our bags still hit the ceiling. You never know what you might need! So what if I can't see the back window?

We managed to take four wrong turns before even getting to the interstate, but before we knew it we were flying. We've loved getting to watch the landscape get less and less flat and more and more beautiful as we make our way across the midwest. I always enjoyed making this trek with my family to visit my grandma and grandpa Helle and other precious family in Watford City, ND, playing 'I Spy' for oil wells along the way :) Hitting mountain time zone has been the highlight of the trip so far- instantly energized by turning the clock back an hour!

562 miles of jamming, chatting, and snoozing has brought me and Molls to the historical city of Medora, North Dakota, a popular tourist location and home to civilization, something we haven't seen much of the past few hours. After checking in we asked about where we could find a Brueggers or Panera in the morning. Breakfast always gives us something to look forward to. Mini goals. Sadly, the receptionist gave us a funny look and told us the best they've got is a Wal Mart.. ouch.. we were 'those girls'. Time to shed the suburban comfort blanket and embrace the wonders of the wild west.

We have another eight hours left to go in the car tomorrow. We're looking forward to seeing Medora in the daylight and making our way through the badlands and eventually the mountains!  Thank God for smart phones! They make the hours pass like minutes and keep us from making a fifth wrong turn, so thanks for the texts and phone calls to fill the time! We are going to miss family and friends a lot, but so excited for this adventure!!!!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wide Open Spaces

Every time I hear this Dixie Chicks song I get goosebumps. You know that overwhelming feeling you get when you realize a song has been written JUST for you and you want to tell the whole world but the whole world just wouldn't get it?? Well that's how I feel when this tune comes on, and I don't care how little respect the Dixie Chicks have in the music industry :) Graduation is just around the corner, and although I have mixed emotions about leaving my comfort zone, I am so ready and in need of a change-- change of surroundings, change of faces, change of responsibilities, change of heart--- you name it, i need it.

When life got flipped upside down last October, plans changed for all of us, or went on hold at least. A few weeks prior I had accepted an offer to work at Target Corp. the following year, but my start date was still up in the air. One of the main emotions I remember surrounding the loss of Kaitlin was apathy- toward school, relationships, my future career, etc. All those things paled in comparison to losing my best friend. Life just felt stupid. That's such an elementary description, but that's how I felt. Life wasn't fair. It was painful, hard, and unforgiving. With everything I was feeling at that time, I still can't imagine the hurt and confusion that her family and Josh experienced and continue to work through. It was a time that should have brought all of us closer together so that we could rely on eachother and on God for strength. I remember hearing the phrase 'shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared is doubled'.

Rather than drawing closer, though, I felt myself pulling away. I don't know how many times I told people that they just didn't understand. I really didn't even give people a chance to understand. I was edgy during that time- overly sensitive and way too irritable. I understand that grief can bring out all sorts of responses in people, but I wish that my reaction would have been different. I've wrestled with those emotions for over six months now, and am giving it up to God to give me peace.

One thing that did give me comfort during that time was daydreaming about solutions to the pain. I remember saying over and over that I just wanted everything back to normal. Normal as I knew it wasn't possible, so I needed to find a new normal. I felt God telling me to scratch the old plan, go back to the drawing board, and stop getting stuck on what used to be. The solution I kept coming back to over and over was that I just wanted to leave. I wanted to flee the scene and start over somewhere I else, totally disconnected from the life I had here. I imagined packing up and going to Colorado.. not sure what in the world I would do there, but doesn't Colorado seem like the perfect story book location to go if you need to clear your head for a while? Basically, I just wanted to go somewhere where nobody knew what happened, and nobody would ask questions. 

After venting this feeling to someone last Fall I remember them asking me, "Caitie, you complain about feeling alone because nobody understands you here. What makes you think people that don't even know you will understand?" That comment brought me back to reality. It made me step back and realize how badly I really do need my support system. It reminded me that even though my family and friends may not feel exactly what I'm feeling at every given moment, they are at least trying to understand. In the same token, I can't begin to understand how other people were feeling during that time. Kaitlin had such unique connections to so many people that her passing affected them in ways I can't even fathom, so attempting to compare or compete with another's grief is a lost cause. 

Needless to say, I ended up deciding it would be best to stick it out at Bethel and soak up all that senior year had to offer. I knew that I had the option of putting off starting my job at Target until September, which would buy me a few more months of blissful adolescence- I just had to figure out what I would do with all that time. While I was living with the Mobergs last semester, Molly and I would stay up late almost every night talking through life and what we wanted to do with it. If you know Molls, you know she is a dreamer. She has a big imagination and loves thinking up ideas, most of which never become a reality, but I give her credit for the creativity. This usually comes in the form of new pinterest recipes or techniques for making thrift shop clothes look even more thrifty looking (stay tuned for a post on our feeble attempts at homemade daisy dukes!) 

Even though we're a year apart and polar opposites in terms of hair color and political views most of the time, Molly and I just click. We share a passionate love for puppy chow, adventure, flannel shirts, and our big brothers-- the recipe for any good friendship. I can be happy, sad, confused, mad, and a total nerd with Molly and she loves me regardless. I'm so thankful for her and have loved seeing our relationship grow so much these past two years. My biggest complaint I have about her is that I wish she were about six inches taller so we could share more clothes!  So anyways, one hot topic of conversation in our pillow talks was summer 2013. Last summer was a whirlwind of internships, jobs, volleyball workouts, babysitting, and happy hours- we never got a chance to take a breath. We both wanted this year to be different.

On one of these whirlwind occasions in June, we had the chance to chat with our friend Maddie, and the subject of Montana came up. She spent her senior year summer there with Molly's brother Jordan, and our friends Randi and Steven. We were hanging on her every word as she told us stories about life on the ranch- the good, the bad, and the ugly. She had encouraged us then to try to go, but neither of us felt like we would ever have the right schedules to make it happen. When we got to talking this fall again about it though, I realized that the timing would never be this perfect again. Every part of Montana made sense, and I saw it as a glaringly obvious opportunity from God. He knew what I needed. It's true that I could use a little escape from this familiar environment, but I would never want to ditch out on the people and places I love so much. This way, I would get to take a three month, paid vacation with one of my closest friends by my side :)

If we were serious about it though, we needed to act fast. Steven is the ultimate smooth talker, so we couldn't think of anyone better to put in a good word for us at Mountain Sky. We were told that every year 500 people apply, but only 25 are hired... disheartening statistics. The manager, Yancey, believed whatever Steve told him though, and decided to take a chance on two inexperienced private college suburban girls. We sent in our application video with the help (and incredible editing) of my brother, Jon, and the rest is history. You can see in our application video that all that we really bring to the table are positive, 'can do' attitudes and cowgirl wannabe wardrobes. Glad they're cool with that!

Mountain Sky Application: Caitie & Molly

I know God gave me Molly for a reason, and I hope He's giving me Montana for a special reason too!

"Many precede and many will follow 
A young girl's dream no longer hollow 
It takes the shape of a place out west 
But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed"