the future looks different🤍
hello. i'm so excited to be here and share what has been happening over here:)
july 26 - before her and i went to horsemanship, i let her know what the expectations were for her. once we got down to the tack shed, she wanted to saddle and ride... i let her know that she wouldn't be riding.. she was not impressed. it is hard for her since she has been here for quite some time and she feels that she is getting no where.
july 29 - in the evening, mr. doug's, the new mentors, and i ate pizza by the creek. the rest of the group had gone earlier and the girls + mentors swam... i got there and i one of the ranchers came to me and let me know how she was doing. this night, i realized that i am a safe person for them to come to... it makes me grateful.
july 30 - i skipped church and finished my tiramisu cake. all of us authorities went to mr. todd's for the afternoon/evening to share our stories.
july 31 - i had counseling in the morning..
august 4 - graduation for one our ranchers!✨ i did trading post in the morning. i had meeting with mr. todd's over lunch. mowed the lawn around the pool. then so soon it was time to get everything done before the evening! i got to do a couple of the girl's hair. :) we had her graduation down at the tack shed. a bunch of us all wore our boots. mr. doug, ms. sharla, and the rancher rode horse from the house down to the tack shed :) it was a very bittersweet evening !
august 5 - family day ! each family was assigned an authority to be with them through the day. we had times where we did different activities. in horsemanship, the girls worked really hard on an obstacle course. the girl and her family went through together, and she explained what she was doing. the second time, the girl went through and was timed while the rest of us watched. whoever got the shortest time, got a giftcard. we also did sandtrays and nature collage art. for lunch, the board wives put together a picnic lunch.
after family day... everyone left and i stayed at the ranch and did some cleaning.. then i went to mr. todd's for awhile because i didn't want to be alone all evening.
august 6 - i helped ms. sharla with chores. then got ready and headed for central kansas. i stayed from saturday to tuesday with a rancher that graduated just help her transition home :) there was a wedding in her congregation.. it isn't very often i go to a wedding and have no clue who the couple is. had a nice time connecting with her and her family.
on monday, she had to work so i met up with a friend and we had a very good talk 🤍 then i went and seen where she worked. in the evening , we went out for mexican food.:)
i left tuesday, and met the other mentors in branson. while ms. tiff and ms. sam watched esther at sight and sound, we other three went to ripley's believe it or not and then went to the outlet mall. we all had supper together. after supper we all rode the ferris wheel ! then it was time to head home :)
august 9 - slept in. ms. katie and i did chores. this day, i got to show our house to this man that the conference care board has been in contact with. the interesting thing.. was that we had not gotten any memo that he would be coming to the ranch. i showed him around and answered his questions. i went to rogers to get a few things... mid afternoon, ms. regina, ms. tiff, and ms. sam came and we went through and cleaned up the school house. we 3 mentors were home in the evening.. and cooked supper together :)
august 10 - i got up early. had to run and buy chicken so i could make lunch for the ranch staff. we celebrated mr. todd's and ms. regina's birthdays. in the afternoon, we had tbri training.
here is some very exciting news :) the ranch offered me a paid position once my volunteer time is up ! our school teacher is no longer with the ranch. they need someone to fullfill that position. but that's not all my job is :) my job title is educational director. :) this includes teaching the girls. updating and doing scheduling. putting together the newsletter quarterly. AND organizing/planning the outdoor backpacking/canoe trips. (i'm going to get paid to go hiking ! how cool is this !
i can only say that God has been working in my heart and life ! if you would have asked me a few months back... i was settled about going back to my west coast. well... then awhile back, i had lunch with mr. todd's and he had just asked if this was something i would be interested in. i had ALOT of feelings about it. but i didn't hate the thought. like combine two things i love. teaching + being here for the girls. that night, i called and talked to my dad. i needed to talk about this. what to do? what was God asking of me? most of all, i want to do God's will. it went some days before i told my co-mentors anything. and the craziest part.. is i was asked.. but there were soime hoops that had to be jumped through before i would have a forsure offer on the table.
then the week before home-visit, i had a meeting with mr. todd's and they offered me the position. and explained what it all involved. i took a week to talk with my parents.. and forsure make my decision before i gave my final answer... which was 'i will stay.' by saying i will stay.. opens up so many things and i had so many questions. where to start? what to teach? what does the board want for school? ....
(even if i would have decided not to stay, i would have been the teacher until my term was up. )
we had gone through the schoolhouse and i got to redecorate.. which was so fun ! i wanted to make it a very calming place... (i took some of my plants out there . ) i truly love how the space turned out.
so i will be staying here in northwest arkansas until thanksgiving. then i will fly home until the new year. :) so i feel so grateful that the ranch is letting me take a break and spend a month and a half with some of the people i love. 🤍 (i am so excited to put my feet in the salty pacific ocean.)
august 11 - i went to give blood and sadly my iron was too low. i ran a few errands before heading home. mr. todd worked on connecting my computer to the printer :) we finished up our tbri training in the afternoon.
august 12 - i worked out in my schoolhouse. went to town with katie and jenna... in the evening, jenna and i went bowling and to walmart :)
august 14 - my friend leah and i went to rogers. i needed to get a couple of things from hobby lobby. then we went to onyx coffee. (definitely try their lavendar macaroons if you get a chance. ) we walked around downtown rogers.. ate some lunch.. and then i needed to be back at the ranch for a meeting to talk about scheduling. it was so fun having leah meet all the people i am with now.. and for them to meet her :) all the girls arrived back at the ranch... the evening was alittle interesting. we split up into three groups for supper. i was part of a check in visit.. so leah ate supper with a couple of the ranchers, ms. katie's grandparents, and a couple mentors.. 😌
august 15 - leah left in the morning to continue her journey to victoria, texas, where she is teaching this year. :) we took the girls to counseling with ms. lora.
august 16 - happy birthday to ms. sharon ! i cooked breakfast. did some odds and ends.. helped ms. regina with the table for ms. sharons party.. in the afternoon, i took a rancher to get her picture taken for her passport. we mentors went to mr. todd's for supper and spent the evening outside. too soon it was time to go home.
august 17 - trading post day. ms. judy brought lunch and was there for life skills with the girls. we had authorities meeting. by the evening.. i was not doing okay mentally. it feels like alot with being a mentor + teacher and getting everything figured out. and knowing i need to start packing to move out.. and not knowing where i will be moving. i know that i will be taken care of.. but it is the unknown. i took the evening off. i ate supper at our sanctuary spot.. and read my book..
august 18 - slept in a bit.. spent alittle bit of time out at school..
we had a new girl arrive. which, makes all the other girls want to hide.. i cooked lunch.. one of the ranchers and myself did some yard work... we all went swimming.. :) in the evening, ms. katie was gone.. so ms. sam and i were on duty. some of my girls were a mess.. i talked with one on the porch for abit.. then i come back in.. and call a girl on how she was talking.. she was struggling and then another one was having some trouble.. well.. i a thankful for this evening.. i did what my heart loves.
august 19 - i was in charge of morning duty and chores. one of my girls had to learn a hard lesson. she had forgotten her laundry in the washing machine the night before which caused a problem. all she had to wear was a nice dress. and she did not want to. she wanted to dry a dress and then put it on. i did not let her.. and she was not happy. she was mad all the way down to chores. i gave her some space and then i talked to her about how she needed to make a choice to be fun to be around. she let me know that it would only be on the outside. well.. that is a start :) she spent a few minutes with her horse and it definitely helped her. by mid morning, she was talking about how she got dressed up to clean the house. wow. perspective change :) one of my other girls got stung. i made a paste to put on her bite.. and then another rancher had a melt down. i had her jump on the mini trampoline. she let me know that her feeling would still be inside .. she needed to regulate before we went any further. after she jumped on the mini trampoline, she was ready to start cleaning :) i had a bunch of questions for mr. todd. so i had a visit with mr. todd's . i was off in the afternoon. ms. jenna and i went to town and ate at waffle house for supper. there was volleyball.. so i went to that :)
august 20 - there was a wedding here.. i went to that. in the afternoon, i went to my favorite coffee shop in siloam. in the evening, we youth went to mr. todd's :)
august 21 - i had off in the morning. did some work at my schoolhouse to finish preparing for my first day of school ! i then went to my appointment with dr. katy and got to be in the massage chair extra long :)
this day was my first day of school 🎒 mr. todd came and talked to the girls abit about the change with school . then it was my turn. i felt nervous. which is kind of funny because these are the girls i live with. i would say it was a good day ! i am still waiting on some books so this week won't look exactly like it will in the future :) i feel very happy about how the girls want to learn and are so enthused !🤍
august 22 - counseling day for the girls. we took the girls to airship at the pumphouse.
what my ranchers were doing : one is reading. another is working on her math for the week. and another one is looking in the encyclopedia figuring out what she would like to go to college for. :)
this evening is board meeting + a small farewell for ms. jenna.
august 23 - the rancher, ms. sam, and i went swimming for a couple hours before lunch :) i sat in on a zoom call with the rancher i keep up with.
katie, jenna, and i went to the creek and cooked supper over the fire ! some of us went swimming :) it was such a fun evening.. with the three of us. we discussed when katie and i would go see jenna 🤍
august 24 - trading post and creative writing ! i had the girls write about what they would like to invent. we had authorities meeting in the afternoon while the girls were with ms. judy.
in the evening, we got together with everyone from the ranch and had a farewell party for jenna.
august 25 - a very sad day. katie and i took jenna to the airport. we said bye and headed back to the ranch. katie, jenna, and i have lived together for more than a year. and well. now things are just changing. i don't know if the reality that jenna is not coming back has really set in. when we got back from the airport, i continued to pack the things i can live without for 3 weeks. our room is continuing to look more and more empty.
ms. katie leaves thursday to take her three week break. ms. sam and ms. tiff move in that day as well so i'm trying to get most of my things out of the way. i will move into ms. space for these weeks. after that? well.. that is to be decided yet.
august 26 - cleaning in the morning and i was off in the afternoon. i spent some time at my schoolhouse getting ready for this week. then katie and i left the ranch for the evening. i had planned to go to mr. doug's for the the night.. but then realized that katie would be at the house with the girls.. i know how much i don't like that.. so i stayed home.
august 27 - i didn't go to church this morning. i talked to my mom for alittle bit. then took my Bible, journal, and coffee/water to our sanctuary spot and listened to church. 🤍 i talked on the phone with the rancher that i keep up with now that she is graduated :)
this weekend i have been so enthused about getting out into the woods. i have been researching what gear to buy for backpacking. (you can let me know what you love :)
wow. well here i am. finally getting this post out !
xo,
ms. brooke
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