Tag Archives: Oakridge

Jam Packed

Sometimes our projects end nice and quietly. This month finished with a bang! This past week has been jam-packed with so much goodness, I hardly know where to start. So I guess I’ll start at the beginning!
Sunday
Sunday we drove up to Yukon to worship with our friends Pam and Eric. It was lovely to celebrate the third Sunday with them, and then we enjoyed some delicious Japanese Curry and lots of good conversation!
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Yea for catching up with friends from our ‘previous lifetime’!
Monday
Monday was a workday, of course. These three ladies painting bunk beds with brown oil-based paint need to take all kinds of precautions!
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That evening we were invited to join the staff for a Christmas party! The food was amazing (all of the chefs’ specialties), and the evening wrapped up with a lovely time of caroling.
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We even managed a festive group picture!
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(We clean up pretty nicely, don’t we?)

Tuesday
Tuesday after work we ladies had a little crafty afternoon. Tammy, our fearless leader, does something called Chalk Couture. It reminded me of stenciling, but on a whole new level! Tammy had all the supplies and was an excellent teacher!
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So.Much.Fun.
That evening we took our final trip to InterUrban Restaurant in Chickasha for their Tuesday $8 burger night.
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Eight dollars. And crazy good!

Wednesday
We moved to another building and tackled another batch of bunk beds!
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We got them all sanded and ready for stain.
And then it was time for more fun! We ladies took a classic “Ladies’ Day Out,” and headed into Chickasha for lunch and a bit of Christmas shopping. Great fun – and we ended the day with a visit to the Leg Lamp.
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Because, why not?
That evening, we finally got over to The Ridge – a “fancy” venue that the camp uses for weddings and other small group events.
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We had our final meeting at the Ridge and then ended the evening with some fun games. So lovely!
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Thursday
Today we left the bunkbeds behind and helped out with preparations for the upcoming Winter Retreat for the Prison Fellowship Angel Tree children. We were honored to be a small part of making Christmas special for those kids and to help them understand what being part of the family of God means!
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See what I mean about Jam-Packed???
But just like that – our December project is over. We’ll be hanging around through the weekend, but the first of our team is already on their way home.
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It was such a lovely month! We’ve made some great new friends, got to hang out with our buddies here at Oakridge (it’s one of the few locations we’ve returned to several times), and were able to help out with some long-overdue renovations*.
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Thanks for stopping by!
Steph

*Update on the bathroom reno will have to wait until tomorrow. This is already Way Too Long!

Dark and Dreary, but still a bright spot

For once, the weatherman was right. It rained all day, just as he promised. But still, we needed to make that short drive to our next project. So we donned our raincoats and got on our way! The biggest challenge was the first two miles of dirt/gravel road
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but once we got to the paved road, we were good to go. (And I stopped taking pictures since I was driving the truck, right?).
We arrived, parked, plugged in, greeted our fellow SOWERs, and hibernated in the rig for the rest of the day.
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It definitely was a three-nap day. But there was a great bright spot! This little bundle of energy
hayleyjump
turned 18 today!
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How can that be? She’s smart and funny and kind and still full of energy (see that first picture!). And pretty darn beautiful to boot!
We got the whole family in the picture for her birthday call to help with the birthday song – and it was so fun to see everyone!
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It certainly added a beautiful bright spot to an otherwise dark and dreary day!

Happy Birthday, Hayley! We love you so!!

Little Voices

Two of our SOWER couples are pulling out tomorrow and heading home,  so we had a lovely end-of-project luncheon today. After we had eaten we went around the table and each of us shared something we were thankful for.
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Family and the Oakridge community were high on the list of thanksgiving. I am indeed thankful for those things. But my thankfulness this day was headed in a slightly smaller direction.
While Lana and I were busy putting up Christmas decorations,
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three little ones were busy playing in the background.


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Listening to those little cousins playing and giggling and yes, sometimes even squabbling, did this Gramma’s heart good!

Four Days until Waco (3 grandboys)
Forty One Days until Columbus (7 grandkiddos)

Thankful for stretching

Maybe it’s more accurate to say I’m thankful for friends who stretch me beyond my comfort zone.

Today I went zip lining.
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(In case you can’t tell, I’m the one in orange!)
After we were all geared up, we had to climb up that tower behind us.
Thankfully there are stairs on the inside and we didn’t have to go up the rock wall.
Once we were up top, we were hooked up to the ziplines.
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If I look like I was holding on for dear life, it’s because I was.
Gulp.
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Yeah. I was going to let go and step off at the count of 3.
Really?
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Yep! Really. (Remember, I’m that orange dot on the right!)

While it’s true that it was about 30 minutes of orientation, gearing up, climbing up, and getting into place for maybe 30 seconds of “Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee”, it still was a great experience.

So thankful I was stretched to start my 67th year with a bit of a plunge!

 

Speed blogging

You’ve heard of “speed dating”, right? Well, hang on – here comes the speed blogging whirlwind!

Oakridge Ministries – Anadarko, OK  4/10 – 4/22
Great SOWER project! Wonderful time spent with friends, old and new, big electrical job completed, big drapery job hung and hemmed, house renovation begun, deck built and stained, many peanuts eaten.
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Time with the Kids in Ohio – April 28 – May 8
Snuggles and giggles and swing sets and gymnastics and ballgames. So good to spend time with these littles and their parents!

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