My nose has almost stopped bleeding...

Katy Johnston: skier of three days and loving it.

Ok, I've skied before when I was five, so that doesn't really count. I am a beginner of beginners and I'm fairly certain I'm a natural. I think from my history of sports, especially longboarding and kickboxing (sounds funny, but it has really helped my balance) I have created a nice base of skills where I have been able to pick up skiing pretty easily. I've taken two lessons (we get two free a month...which would normally be $640!) and skied by myself. I like it. A lot. I just want to get really good.

You know what's a little depressing though? Pretty much everyone here is the same. Lots of drinking, lots of smoking. I thought there would be some variety, but really, there is very little. Making friends has gotten a little tricky. They're all boys and they're not the kind of boys I am used to. Even the girls are well, pretty similar to the boys.

Trust me, none of this is coming from a place of condemnation. It's just always been so clear that a friendship can only go so deep when people are so different. I've been trying to remind myself that a perpetual goal of mine is to be salt and light. It's just discouraging when you feel that no one is perceptive enough to your saltiness.

I need some prayer on this subject...please?

Things really are great here. I'm staying warm, enjoying skiing and loving being in this altitude. I really like the feeling of breathing hard long after you've stopped exercising...or even just climbing stairs.

I can't wait to come back to Gainesville and be able to breathe like a champion.

Joy

Several interesting things have happened in the past two days. Sunday: went to church with this really lovely couple that my cousin connected me with. The previous three days were somewhat of a silent retreat because I had so much time to pray, read and journal. And so finally getting to worship and hear the word on Sunday was just so refreshing. Lunch afterwards was great also – a local Mexican place that reminded me of Las Margaritas.

Still no roommates though. So I decided to make a trip to the library for some movies. I was waiting for my bus when a car pulls up and asks if I want a ride. I ask where they are going. They say home. (Home is one block away). I say oh thanks but I’m going all the way to Vail (10 minutes). They say get in we’d be happy to take you to Vail.

Did these boys, all whose names happen to start with J, want to waste their gas? Did they want to show off their insanely loud techno music? Or does it yet again boil down to inevitable answer: The Ratio. Either way, I appreciated the gesture, but I didn’t appreciate smelling like I smoked a whole pack of cigarettes when I left the car. At least I was able to be gone for less than an hour which allowed me to watch a movie and talk to some dear friends on the phone.

MONDAY: first day of work. Guess what? Apparently I am the head honcho. I am in charge of wayyyy more than I thought. I am responsible for training my employees. Two things are scary about that sentence: I have yet to be fully trained, let alone train other people, and two, I have employees? I don’t know about this. For a while in there I was thinking “why the heck didn’t I just sign on to be a cleaning lady?” Oh that’s right; I hate skin cells.

But guess what: I HAVE A ROOMMATE! She moved in tonight. Her name is Karin. Hi Karin, I know you’ll probably read this someday. And guess what? She’s great. She’s funny and real and she’s a Christian! We are going to start looking for churches together. AND I was waiting at the bus stop this morning and I see my friend from high school show up! High School! And what’s weirder is that I randomly saw her in Bradenton this summer also. To quote her, “Apparently we are just supposed to be friends.” So WAHOO! Oooh, ahhh, ohh ahhh…doing a happy dance that resembles the Cabbage Patch.

Finally, I went to swing dancing class tonight. I met a friend at church who teaches ballroom dance lessons and right now he’s teaching swing. So look at me! I move out west and I learn to swing dance. Who would’ve thought…?

God is good all the time, no matter what. But isn’t it wonderful when we get to see him showering his love on us through things like friendship, generosity, dancing, and just all around joy?

The Ratio

Welcome to night of not-so-much-boredom Part I!

Today was a nice change of pace: I actually talked to people!
Started off the day by getting my ski pass and my bus pass, wahooo. Then I did what anyone else does who doesn’t have friends: I went and got a library card. I know it makes me sound less intelligent, but I got way more excited when I realized that I could check out DVD’s in addition to books. So I got Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and a couple of books. I took the bus home and as I got off I made a friend!...or at least an acquaintance. He and his roommates have been here for a couple of weeks and told me I could come by anytime. Good – now I know exactly one person in Vail. A couple hours later I took the bus (Yes, at night. How adventurous!) to town to watch the Gator game, seeing as I do not yet have TV or internet. The waiter even designated a TV just for me because nobody else cared about anything but hockey. I was perfectly content watching the game by myself but I knew it was only a matter of time before The Ratio kicked in. I ended up making friends with a couple of guys who were nice…but just didn’t compare to my Gainesville Boys (I miss you, dear friends). We kept conversation for a while and then I politely excused myself and went home. It was on my walk from the bus stop to my apartment that my previous acquaintance’s roommate gave me a ride. It was perfect timing because I had just remembered that black bears are not uncommon in the area.

Anyway, Leah the angel shuttle driver wasn’t kidding about the boy thing. I feel like I haven’t even seen a girl since I’ve been here, let alone had the chance to make friends with one.

By the way, do you want to know what the official ratio of boys to girls is?

23:1

TWENTY THREE boys for every ONE girl.

Good thing I specified that I wanted girl roommates…otherwise I might drown in a sea of stinky boys.

Day o' Frustration

Welcome to Night of Boredom, part II.

Don’t get me wrong, today was good. Though last night I didn’t sleep that well. I was actually too hot. Flannel pajamas + flannel sheets + hardcore sleeping bag + thermostat on high + going to bed way too early = poor sleep. I convinced myself that it was ok to go to bed at 9:30 because of the time change. It was that same time change that woke me up at 5:30…100% rested and awake.

Woke up to another morning of lovely fresh snow, got dressed for the nine degree weather and headed to the bus stop where I then realized that I had 45 minutes until the next bus. Stood around, got a face tan and eventually caught the 10 minute bus ride to Vail Village. I met my boss, filled out some paperwork and walked around a bit….well, I wanted to walk for a bit, but it turned into 40 minutes of back roads; all the while searching for a bathroom because I’ve been drinking so much water to avoid altitude sickness. You see, I really was very resourceful today, asking all sorts of people for directions, figuring out bus schedules, etc, which is why I just pretended that my 40 minutes of wandering was on purpose. I had done such a good job of not getting lost or confused that I was not going to start now.

It was then that I got a little grumpy. You see, my last 4 meals have consisted of a mixture of beef jerky, dark chocolate and balance bars…and lots of water. So I decided it was due time to go to a familiar place for some retail-therapy: Super Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart was lovely and I bought all sorts of groceries and my very first coffee maker. What an adult purchase, right? Hi my name is Katy, I’m new in town and, well, I own my own coffee maker.

This was all great until I had to stuff all my new purchases into three reusable bags and take the bus home. I broke out into the most ridiculous sweat climbing up the mountain to my apartment. I fear that I’m going to wake up tomorrow and feel like I did a hardcore workout just from that stupid hill. So right now I’m a little stiff and my stomach hurts – I’m pretty sure this is because it shrunk from my day and a half of tiny meals, and was not ready for my humongous dinner of rice cake + peanut butter.

Anyway, it is yet again that time when I have nothing else to do. My internet probably won’t be up and running until Wednesday, so until I have friends/roommates/a job…I have these evenings to look forward to. I can hear that I have upstairs neighbors and I almost went and knocked on their door and said “Hi I’m Katy, I need friends”. After all, I want someone to do that to me. We’ll see, maybe tomorrow.

Off-Color Angel

I’m here!

So much has happened in the last twenty four hours that I don’t really know where to begin. I will start by saying that God has made this move incredibly easy. Things have just been falling in place left and right and it feels so good. Since deciding to come to Vail, I haven’t been one hundred percent sure that this is where God wants me. So for the first time since applying for jobs, I feel like this is where He wants me.

Leaving Gainesville was hard because my family and friends are so wonderful. I will miss them all tremendously, but I am not worried about losing my friendship with any of them; which is amazing because it frees me up to make more friends here. Speaking of which, I made several friends on the plane and shuttle. I don’t think any of these friendships will go anywhere as I don’t know any of their names. Anyway, Denver with my cousin and her husband was great. Nice dinner, good conversation and great ski clothes that I get to borrow. Pound it.

It was snowing when I work up and I realized that I hadn’t seen snow fall from the sky since I was five years old. It’s really beautiful. I don’t like it when people try to sound overly poetic and romantic in their blogs, and I’m not trying to…so, sorry…but I have to say that I just kept falling in love with how pretty it made everything. The shuttle ride from Denver to Vail was gorgeous because everything was covered in fresh white snow.

And this began my first adventure: I had absolutely no idea where I was living. I’ve heard Timber Ridge and River Run used to describe my apartment complex, so I figured they were the same thing. Turns out they’re not. But thankfully, God sent me an angel disguised as a shuttle driver named Leah. Normally, shuttle drivers drop their passengers off at a transportation center where they then take connecting busses. But as soon as she heard I had big boxes and big suitcases, she insisted on being my personal chauffer for an hour and a half, which included waiting outside for 20 minutes while I signed my lease. She even helped me move all my things down to my apartment. The funniest thing she told me was that all the boys will be hitting on me because the ratio of men to women is so disproportionate. (Look for later references to The Ratio). She told me that I could “be a 2 in Denver and a 10 in Vail” and that because I had a pulse, I was going to be in high demand. I guess angels can have an off-color sense of humor.

Moving on…I love my apartment! I was expecting to move into Vail’s ghetto (oxymoron, I know) but this apartment is lovely. Two rooms, four beds, 2 big bathrooms, big kitchen, comfy couches, fire place and a thermostat that works really well. I went ahead and took the bigger room…I mean, that’s just what you do, right? I’ll move if need be. But I don’t have roommates yet! The only two things I know about them is that they are going to be non-smoking girls, so that’s a good thing. Other than that I have no idea. So if you are reading this and feel up to it, please please pray for my roommates. Pray that they are exactly who I need to live with- for whatever reason. I can’t wait to meet them, I just had no idea when they are getting here. It could be tonight, it could be next week. I just want some friends already.

What will tomorrow hold? I need some food. Tonight my dinner consisted of beef jerky and dark chocolate. I made a grocery list and the first two things were peanut butter and rice cakes. Gluten-free diet on a budget, ya’ll. I haven’t the slightest clue where the nearest grocery store is, and my internet isn’t working yet (it will be, when this is posted) so I don’t know how to take the bus. Apparently I’m in a bit of a pickle. Looks like I’ll be biding my time tonight until it’s late enough to go to bed. Oh the life of a Floridian scared to venture out into the cold night. It’s ok, I’ll just get well acquainted with my super warm sleeping bag.

Life is good. So so good.

p.s. the tap water is incredible!

Moving Eve

I'm leaving on a jet plane, and really, truly, I don't know when I'll be back again.

This is the first trip of its kind - a one way plane ticket to a place I've never been before. I have only seen Google images of this place and heard about how great it is. And yes, I am moving there for at least six months, hopefully a year. Am I absolutely nuts? Only time will tell.

I'm about to go to bed in my comfortable hometown where everything is familiar; I have family, friends, and can tell you where anything is and exactly how long it will take to get there. I have my t-shirts and flip flops, my bike and my sunny back porch. I'm trading all this in for one thing: adventure.

It might sound overly dramatic, but really, it's what I'm looking for. It's time for adventure at Twenty-Two. And I am pumped. Beyond excited. Yes, I am leaving behind people, places and things that I love, but I am embarking on a completely new way of life.
I'm moving to Vail, Colorado where the temperature is currently 20 degrees and snowing.
I'm moving to Vail, Colorado where I won't have a car, but rather a bus pass and snow boots.
I'm moving to Vail, Colorado where I don't know a soul.

I'm moving to Vail, Colorado for adventure.