The Weather

I think if you live in a small town you are required to talk about the weather at least once with anyone you have more than a 10 min conversation with.  I have a couple of hypotheses about this, but I'm pretty sure there is just not much else to talk about.  Yesterday it hit a blistering 80 degrees and it was the talk of the town.  Come to find out this was an extremely hot day for this town.  I love the weather here! 

So while on the subject of small towns I want to share a little bit about Rawlins with you.  It is in the middle of nowhere! The nearest Wal-Mart is 100 miles away.  It's ok though because between Alco and Davidson's Gun and Grocery I think I can get pretty much everything I need. 

My favorite place in town is Huckleberry's.  Huckleberry's is the local coffee shop.  I have lived in Rawlins for exactly one week now, and I have already become known by name and offered a job at this wonderful local expression of Wyoming pride. 

While I am in the middle of nowhere, there are some great people up here.  I attended a church at First Souther Baptist Church Rawlins during my first weekend in town and I was chased down and invited to lunch by one of the nicest ladies I have ever met.  I have also already been to one of the local lakes to go fishing and to a bbq all within my first week in town.  Although I am very far away from my friends, family, and loved ones, the community of the Equality State have been very kind and welcomed this okie into their state for the summer.  

So I would like to conclude this post with a list of my favorite things about Wyoming so far in no particular order:

• Pronghorn Antelope (google it, they are everywhere out here!)
• Huckleberry's Espresso
• Prairie Dogs 
• John Stuart
• Natural Gas
• Mountains
• 40 degree nights
• 70 degree days
• SNOW!
• Work Truck

The Art of Deception

So my stay in Denver is almost over.  I have seen people on the side of the street playing guitar, harp, bass, djembe, flute, and probably a few other instruments I can not recall at this moment.  That is not important though.  I arrived in Denver knowing I was going to get treated well, but by no means did I know what I was getting in to.  Before I go about listing off the ridiculous amount of things supplied by Samson, my company for the summer, I would like to remind you that if I were filling out a survey I would check the box "high school degree and some college." So this is the list of a few things I have received during my first week in Denver:

• 5 nights in the Sheraton in downtown Denver which is a literal hop, skip, and jump away from the office
• Meals for the week which include but are not limited to The Cheesecake Factory and world famous Denver Chop House and Brewery
• A moving stipend which is approximately 25 times the cost of gas to travel to Rawlins, WY from Norman
• A window office on the 30th floor of what might possible be the largest building I have ever been inside of.  Did I mention the view of the snowcapped Rockies out of that window?

I really hope they don't find out who I am.  This is kind of fun.

Denver

So here it goes. I'm a blogger. I hope that in the future this will entertain you and bring you excitement and laughter, but tonight it will be some of the many thoughts I have had after a 10 hour drive from Norman to Denver and the hour and a half I spent wandering the streets of downtown.



Let's back up for a minute. I am blessed. I have some very wonderful friends and live in a gospel community. What does that mean? I have no idea, but it is better than I could ever imagine. I spent last night with some of the people I love most in this world. We sang hymns and cried together (a manly sort of got something stuck in your eye crying that is). Not that odd right? Who wouldn't want to spend their last night in town with their best friends? What is crazy is that most of these people I have only been friends with for a semester. In that short semester they have truly brought joy and community into my life. Even better than that, they have brought the gospel. They confront me about my sin and praise me for things I haven't done. You guys are great, and you know who you are.



The Drive

I was really dreading the drive from Norman to Denver. I am not the biggest fan of being alone and 10 hours staring out at the beauty of western Kansas while my friends prepared for summer conference wasn't exactly my ideal lazy Sunday. I did prepare for it however though. A play list including the best of Simon and Garfunkel along with a long list of hymns, radio lab, and sermons seemed like they just might be able to do the trick. To my surprise the drive was not nearly as terrible as I had once assumed it would be. The bulk of it was spent listening to hymns and Kevin Twitt lecture about the postmodern hymn movement.



Denver

Wow. I arrived to the Sheraton around 8 mountain time and approached the front desk only to be greeted by the greatest British accent I could have imagined. She soon had me checked into my room and sent to room 915. Wow. I don' mean to sound like I have never stayed in a place like this before... but I haven't. There is a receptionist desk in my room for crying out loud. On that note, I will be taking applications for a personal summer secretary position. Pay sucks, but the company is great.



Downtown

To some people a nice relaxing night in the room after a long day driving would sound great. Not to me, I had to go explore. My hotel and office are right in the middle of downtown Denver. Wow. I felt like a freshman on campus as I walked around with my head pointed straight up looking at all of the giant buildings. I even found a map. I was a little intimidated to walk around by myself, but that did not stop me. I even made friends. One guy offered me pot while another asked me if I knew Denver very well because he was, "Looking to find some honies and rebound."



This is an exciting place. Maybe I will come up with more exciting stories from Denver. Maybe not.