Tacoma and Seattle

One of my first few tasks of my new job, was to take a trip to Washington. Of course, I was thrilled, even though it was a little 2 1/2 day trip. I had never been out farther west than Colorado/Arizona, let alone the west coast.
The whole point of the trip was for me to get to know the office staff in the Northwest office. Although I work from the Denver office, I also associate with the media in the Northwest. It was important that I meet the people I will be working alongside, as well as get to know some of the cities I will be trying to reach.
The office staff was so sweet and generous! By the time I flew in, I really only a day in the office to get to know them. The view out of their office was breathtaking; so breathtaking that I couldn't wait to get out of the office and out for a run.
I ended up running for six miles, it felt great not to be running at 4,000 feet! After my run, the NW office staff, their families, and I went out for a Thai dinner. It was great getting to meet everyone and spend some time outside of the office together.
My hotel (picture below) was on sticks in the water! It looked like a hotel from a movie, and the rooms were so nice! It was hard to get myself to leave the quaint hotel to head to downtown Seattle, but I am glad I did. Not only did I see the first starbucks, but I saw the other 50 starbucks that exist in the downtown Seattle area. Sherry, the church relations intern of the NW office, gave me a little tour of Seattle. We saw Pike Place Market, where they throw the fish back and forth. We saw the space needle (or the space noodle, like what Bob prefers to say every time he refers to it) and walked to the first Nordstrom. We also saw this hilarious live comedy show- competition comedy.
I had a blast in Seattle, and I hope to go back soon!

Redrocks, Colorado

Here our some pictures from a little hike I took in the Redrocks Park, just outside of Denver. Laura, my friend from Spain, and I went on a short 2 mile hike before we had dinner in the historical town of Golden. Although we weren't hiking for a long period of time, it was beautiful to see all the red rocks against the brightest blue skies. The rocks open up to form a natural amphitheater; there is always some concert or movie going on at the theater. Artists love playing on the stage... the Beatles have even performed there!

After our hike we went to a local Golden grill, and I tried my first buffalo burger (that I recall at least.) It was a great night, and I had to get home semi-early to pack for my short trip to Seattle.
I love Colorado. It is so pretty; although I have only been here for two weeks now, I know for a fact the view of the mountains will never get old. I still can't help but just stare off into the horizon (while I am driving even, which could become a problem.)
I will be sure to update you about Seattle in these next couple of days!

Hello from CO

Hi everyone!

I am going to start writing consistently again! I seem to have a lot to write about, now that I started my new job. For those of you who don't know, I moved to Denver (well, Aurora), Colorado a week ago! I am the new Operation Christmas Child media intern for the Northwest and Southwest Regions of the U.S.. This basically means that I send press releases to hundreds of media outlets in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Alaska, and then call them to follow-up with the release. I try to convince them to publish something about our wonderful project in their newspaper or broadcast something on their radio or TV station.

I guess I should explain the project...

Operation Christmas Child, started by Franklin Graham of Samaritan's Purse, is the largest Christmas Project ever created. People in the U.S. (and other 1st world countries) pack items in shoe boxes that can be sent around the world to kids who would otherwise would not receive a Christmas gift. Some items that I always put in the boxes I send are socks, hard candy, matchbox cars, stuffed animals, paper, pens, crayons, glue, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, and other small toys. After a shoe box is packed, it is taken to a collection site, and then brought to a processing center where the box is checked and loaded for transportation to another country. The boxes are taken to 130 different countries; many are transported via boat, airplane, or truck, but some are brought to the countries by camel or elephant! Once the boxes are in the countries, they are handed out by members of the local churches to as many children as there are boxes. The best part about the whole project is that whoever receives a box is guaranteed to hear the gospel as well. They are given a copy of the gospel in their language, and told repeatedly that Jesus loves them. Our goal is to send 8.2 million shoe boxes this year... 8.2 million children will be smiling!

As most of you know, I got back from Spain this past May after a semester studying abroad. I used this blog to write about my adventures there. Now I am transforming it into a blog about Operation Christmas Child (OCC). I am going to update it with stories, pictures, and amazing things that happen with OCC, and the occasional story about what I am doing in Colorado. I will also post specific things you can pray for. I hope that you all enjoy it, and I pray that this will inspire every reader to GO PACK A SHOEBOX!

Sarah