Fully Alive @ Lat. 45: CYE Daily Expedition Blog
High School Expedition - Kangaroo Lake
St. Joseph Formation Center
August 7-10
August10: Praise the LORD! So wow. The summer just flew by. It was pretty amazing that there were no assigned apostolates this year, but I still really enjoyed typing up the bloggy blog. Our last day at St. Joe's was a great one. First of all, we started off with a talk by Peggy about Lectio Divina- always a good time. We focused on Peter walking on the water toward Jesus. When we discussed this as a group after- HOLY COW. We have some pretty intense theologians in this group. Speaking of this group, they are pretty amazing. A TON of returners. A lot of maturity, and the prayer. WOW! THE PRAYER! It has been such a blessing an honor to see many of these expeditioners come back time and time again- to watch them grow closer to Jesus in their faith. Wow. Well, then, jobs were fun. HUGE shout out to Liz and Taylor for totally taking on Club G, the Bistro, and the Fire Room. You guys totally ROCK. So glad I can count on you. Thanks to the Grosshardt's (sorry for spelling!) for the bounteous FEAST they provided for us. Another nod to all of the students who got up to say what they did at the end. It was clear to us as staff that a TON of you had conversions. We are proud of you and Jesus loves you!!! So, that's about it, folks. Thanks for reading along this summer. We are RAMPING IT UP instead of wrapping things up here... getting the place ready for the next round of awesomeness that God brings to CYE. So, until next summer, God Love Ya! Now and FOR.EV.ER!!!!!
August 9: So today was pretty stellar. It was just gorgeous outside. After a great breakfast of pancakes, we had some formation. Jobs were, of course, fun as always. Then, the ladies spent the majority of the time on kangaroo lake. We had an EPIC game of Gunk going... and old CYE favorite that hasn't been played since God lost His shoes. The guys went off galavanting to Lake Michigan and built a peace castle there.
We've been celebrating a ton of birthdays lately! First, Greg's, then Matthew's, then, Hannah's is tomorrow! After a smorgasbord of good things for our pudgie pies, Shannon brought out this amazing cake. I asked her what all was in it, and she just named this litany of awesomeness. But, for sure, it was made with extra love.
Thanks to Luke for this pic.
Then. THEN. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER SINCE HE WAS ON STAFF LAST YEAR, Lil' Mike performed for us in Club G! And, it was a sea of red t-shirts. That was pretty cool. Almost everyone has a red Gye Nyame shirt. ROCK. Yay! Fun was had by all! The weather is gorgeous tonight: it's about 70, not humid, and a clear sky. PERFECT weather for sleeping in a tent. WOOT. AND it's really windy. Ok. That's it. Till tomorrow!
August 8: A few things for the day. First of all, I'm not going to type much. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. DUDE. Adoration last night was amazing. We had five, count 'em, FIVE priests up here for our evening of prayer. A huge shoutout to Frs. Joel, Luke, Tom Long, Tom Farrell, and, of course, Fr. Quinn.We started with formation in ClubG for the FIRST TIME EVER. Then had an awesome day rounded out with a Eucharistic procession, evening of prayer, and a rrrrrROARING FIRE thanks to our resident Eagle Scouts. Kthxbai!
August 7: Well, here we are at the end of all things. I'm listening to this awesome song by the Punch Brothers, a great band that our guy, Trevor, now loves, thanks to my friend, Kris. Woot! Ok. So, I hear the bus ride up was amazing, and we all just kind of frolicked into the regular foolishness when we all got here (yeah, I used to teach English bahahaha). Hit the water right away with the ladies. The lake STARTED OFF CALM AS GLASS, but then we had WAKE AS HIGH AS THE MOUNTAINS. Not really, but I love hyperbole. Correction: I enjoy using hyperbole profusely. It was pretty fun though. It was good to get out on the lake, the arms were screaming when I got back. Literally. Saying things like, "Thank God I actually function for Jenny, or what would she do?" I have some smart arms, I guess. Then the ladies set up the tents and had some awesome girl time. Mass was amazing. Right now, Fr. Luke Strand is visiting, and he was the main celebrant at the opening mass. WHAT A TANK. His homily about Peter was pretty much what I was starving for all day. I love it when people challenge us in our faith. Ok. so. Then, the CYE staple, last Hobos on expedtion for the summer. A raucous presentation of the distinct art and subtle science of making an hobo was given to us by Bradley and Frankie.
Fr. made it a little more interesting.
We rounded off the evening with a night hike to the cross, then Fr. instituted "Grand Silence" at 10 pm, which was awesome. It was a clear, cool night with bajillions of stars. Yay! More tomorrow. Kthxbai!
JLML
High School Expedition - Kangaroo Lake
St. Joseph Formation Center
July 24-27th
July 27: DUDE. First of all, I'm stoked because it's my Birthday EVE- as is celebrated pretty highly in the Josephson family, if I remember correctly from last year. WOOT! Anyways. Everyone is working away right now so I'm tak-tak-taking away at the blog. There won't be any pictures from today because it's yucky outside and i don't wanna take my camera out. But anyways. This morning we rocked off our Orthodox socks with adoration, morning prayer, and then Mass. Right after Adoration, Fr. tells us this insane idea about this thought that came to him in prayer. What if we had a recording studio up here at the St. Joseph center specifically for Catholic artists?! They could come up here and provide a concert for us and we, in return, would record an album for them free of charge! Fr. challenged the current 44 expeditioners to raise $250 dollars for CYE. If they do so, their next expedition fee is waived! $11,000 is just going to be the beginning of the expenses for this dream. And we know we can do it with your help! This is a great way to evangelize and show others how Christ through CYE has changed our lives! We were brainstorming ideas today during formation like having brat fries, car washes, selling chickens, selling xboxes, selling flowers, and selling a lot of other random stuff. I'm going to be handing out stamped envelopes today at basecamp for those who are interested.
Anyways. We talked about Lectio Divina today in formation and read John 21:15-23. WOW. Amazing reflection afterwards. Just amazing. Speaking of amazing, last night's FIRST TIME EVER CONCERT IN CLUB GENESIUS FEATURE ONE MR. LUKE SPEHAR was just RESPLENDENT. The man played for over TWO HOURS!!! Wow. What a talent. Wow. I'm just speechless. So here's some pics from last night's shenanigans. It was really a great event. A 12-year dream coming to actualization. Fr. Quinn was just glowing. He couldn't stop smiling. Amazing.
Today we're going to head to the home of a gracious parishioner from Pius X parish in Appleton for our BBQ. As soon as I learn the family's name, I'll post it. But, as for now, it remains enigmatic. We're taking off in about 30 minutes. Overall, this has been an "fantastic, amazing, inspiring, moving, awakening, eye-opening, happy, fun, joyful, and faithfilled," just to name a few. (Bahaha, I love it when expeditioners are in the next room and I can ask them for input.) Gorgeous weather, holy people, and some sweet tunes from one very talented individual. SO. To sum up: IN ALL THINGS BLESS THE LORD.
Until 11 days from now, I'm out!
-JLML
July 26: Dude. As I type this, Luke Spehar is warming up for the concert he's gonna have in like 20 minutes. I AM TOTALLY JACKED. So, this morning after breakfast, Sr. Angela gave an awesome talk to our young people and urge them to continue onward toward holiness. ROCK. Then I had to take her home, so I missed most of the day. But I cam back in time to go cherry picking with the ladies. Contrary to popular belief, it was certainly not the pits. bahahaha. Anyways. That's it for now. More tomorrow.
July 25: So one of the best surprises was that Sr. Angela made EGGS FOR ALL OF US FOR BREAKFAST THIS MORNING. They were so good! THEN THEN THEN she also made fried chicken and rice for us for dinner! Oh man. Ghanaian rice is sooooo good! I don't know how she does it, but it's mah fave! Anyways. A huge group of people checked out the team leadership center high ropes course today. A few went kayaking while others went mountain biking, and the rest of us stayed back to chill out down on the lake. It was absolutely gorgeous today. It's supposed to be another gorgeous one tomorrow. Great days to hang laundry out- windy and, like, 80 degrees! Wahoo! So tonight we had our evening of prayer- FTF was here as well as Fr. Tony Birdsall to help with confession. And. AND we had THE MAN HIMSELF, Luke Spehar, leading the music during adoration. Wow. Seriously, that's all that I can possibly utter at this juncture. The man truly has a gift. AND he played one of my favorite songs from his new album called "Never Alone." Wow. just. Wow. So anyways. Evening of prayer was spectacular, and now I'm off to the campfire for MORE SUGAR, which, clearly, I need, because I've been up since 4 this morning! WAHOOOO!!
Later!
July 24: Praise the LORD! It’s our 3rd high school expedition of the summer, and it’s gearing up to be pretty phenomenal so far. First of all, a huge shout out to another photographer on staff, Graham Kunde, who is takin’ all the pics during the expedition. Unfortunately, they don't want to upload, so we won't see any of them today. Next, LUKE SPEHAR IS HERE. DUDE. This is going to rock. I can’t wait until he performs for us! Maybe? If? IDK! Maybe it’s a surprise so SHHH. Lastly, and most bamboozling, is the attendance of Sr. Angela Dassinor. She is currently the house mother of Holy Family Villa at Fr. Carr’s Place 2 B in Oshkosh. She is originally from Ghana, West Africa, and, check it, is an HDR! That’s Handmaid of the Divine Redeemer, for those of you who don’t know. Sister is amazing. We’re so glad to have all these awesome people with us! Ok, so all but, like 5 people are return expeditioners. HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!?! A tip of the hat to the group from Muskego- they’re our in house newbies. We love them. Props to Deacon Ryan Pruess (sp?) for haulin them to Appleton!
Ok, so it was a pretty adventuresome start for me on this expedition because I had to go to Oshkosh to get Sister. Therefore, I missed the bus ride! Gah! But that’s ok, because we arrived shortly after the buses did at St. Joe’s. We all set up our tents and then the ladies hit the water whilst the men played ultimate. Right around 3 was the old switcharoo…. Then the ladies had the privilege of hearing Peggy and Mary Beth talk about Theology of the Body. Amazing stuff. Dude. DUDE. Then we prayed evening prayer and had Mass. WOOT! Now, as I type, everyone is working on the CYE staple of pepperoni pudgie pies. All alliteration aside, I think that there are a few more surprises coming our way tonight, but IDK! That’s it for now.
OUT!
-Jen
"Finally, be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power. Put on the Armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the snares and temptations of the Devil. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand your ground. "
~Ephesians 6:10,11,13
High School Expedition - Kangaroo Lake
St. Joseph Formation Center
July 6-9th
July 8: Dude. last night we had a bit of a talent show which included guest performances of "Orpheus," covers of favorite Popple songs, Trevor's infamous broken neck tale, and legends of yore about Jim Gadamus. today was great because it started out with adoration, morning prayer, and Mass. Then we spent a little time with St. Joseph, or "Joey" as the legendary Jim Gadamus calls him. Formation was amazing as usual. Mac and cheese for lunch, and then we spent all day on the water. The girls stayed back first whilst the boys went out on an adventure. They brought back flowers for all the girls! SWEET! Then Fr. Quinn picked up the ladies in the bus and we went to the beach in Baileys Harbor. The water was great, if it weren't for all these dead little fish floating around amidst the weeds. SSSSSICK! Then we thought that we should bring something manly back for the boys, and someone said dead fish. Not the best idea, in my opinion, but charming in its own way. I wasn't there to see the reaction of the men, however, but I'm sure they were flattered. Bahaha. Right now as I type, we're having a dock party for the FIRST TIME EVER. yay! water time at night. SO FUN! This will be my last post for this expedition because I'm heading out to lifest tomorrow! Woot! However, here at St. Joseph's are going to participate in a very special "Blessing of the Cows" at Waseda (?) farms just up the road. It shall be a feast and fundraiser of epic proportions. Come on out if you can make it. This expedition has just been immensely life changing. I am holier for having met all of these amazing people. Parents reading this, way to raise holy and awesome kids! (insert applause here) I hope to see them on the next expedition. God Love Ya! I'm out!
Jen
July 7: Praise the Lord, everyone! Back for round two. So, yesterday was pretty intense. Had some great discussion time with Lily, Lexee, Katie, and Erin. Just a shout out to them. The Lord is really working around here. *gasp!* Imagine that! It seems like all the things that we spoke about in our discussion yesterday were just affirmed today in the office of readings, the Mass, and then during our formation as well! God is such a creeper, isn't He? bahahah. Anyways. I was sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament this morning, and I was examining my day yesterday. I just got this overwhelming feeling of unrest about doing photography. I'm not at peace with it. Why? So many times it takes me away from the real reason I'm here- evangelization; being present to the expeditioners. MAN. With some of the talks that I've had with some of these amazingly awesome people, I don't want to miss a minute of it! I don't even like writing the blog right now. Gah! Anyways a quick blurb about today. Adoration, morning prayer, and Mass as usual. Then our novena to St. Joseph and breakfast. Formation totally ROCKED. We read Fr. Barron's summary of the Dante's Purgatorio- specifically focusing on the remainder of the seven deadly sins- anger, sloth ,avarice, gluttony, and lust. Woah. Totally amazing stuff in that book. Anyways. After that, we had JOBS. because, as we remember from last year: JOBS ARE FUN! My team totally rocked out the expedition prep room, borromeo bistro, florian fire room, and club G. We cleaned everything. Then, we made evangelization postcards. WOOT! The men were about doing manly things like ripping trees in half with their bare hands. oh PS- adam bradley was out barefoot waterskiing last night and had to complete an epic battle with a bear who was right in the middle of the lake. He only walked away with a black eye- but we haven't seen the bear since. God only knows where it is. Also, there was an epic bellyflop contest which Thomas Polycarp Fassbender won, much to the chagrin of Scotty and Greg Parent. Bahaha. fun times. Today we had a crew go out to the team leadership formation center ropes course. A few went kayaking, and others went mountain biking. Some stayed back and in the water. Anyways, there's rumors about that Fr. Luke Strand and Fr. Johnny Burns will be visiting us tonight. that will certainly be resplendent..... which is one of my favorite words that also happens to be in the Song of Songs. Yay! So, evening prayer is soon and then pudgie pies, methinks! OM NOM NOM NOM. Tomorrow is supposed to be another beautiful day. Yay! God Love Ya!.
July 6: DUDE. God is GOOD! Ok ok ok ok . SO. OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT IT WAS AN ABSOLUTELY SCRUMDIDDLYUNCTIOUS DAY, we (the gals) got to spend a TON of time on the water today!! We got up here super earlier than normal. The bus ride was WILDLY AMAZING for the women- we sang almost the entire way down. Bahahah. Then, we got here around 11, I think? Set up tents, had lunch, and then hit the water until like 3 pm! ROCK! The guys were on land for a few hours playing ultimate and doing other manly things. Then we switcharooed. I think there was a kickball tournament of mass proportions, and a wee bit of a hike, but this girl was involved with some awesome and INTENSE THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION with four lovely young ladies this afternoon. WOOOOOT. I LOVE talking about the faith and answering questions and being challenged. LOVE IT! LOVE IT LOVE IT! Ok, So then we had mass. Did you know that it's St. Maria Goretti's feast day! LOVE HER. Check her out here: http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-maria-goretti/ Hobos on the menu tonight. Good eatin! Dunno what's in store for the rest of the evening, but with the weather being this gorgeous, one can only assume that we're having s'mores. Tomorrow's weather should be resplendent as well. So check back here. In other news, SCOTTY IS BACK!!! WAHOO! See awkward picture below. Out!
 
High School Expedition - Kangaroo Lake
St. Joseph Formation Center
June 12-15
June 15: Last day on expedition was sweet. First, adoration and morning prayer. DUDE. The reading was from JOB! I LOVE JOB! and I got to give a reflection on it! Bless the LORD! Then Mass. THEN, a few of the women staff made us pancakes! Bradley was beside himself because he normally can't eat pancakes, but they made potato pancakes for him! Then Bryce led some of the men staff in a touching round of "You are So Beautiful" for the ladies to show their appreciation. We had some more formation and rounded it off with the FIRST TIME EVER FOURTH DAY PHOTOS of summer 2011! Pretty neato. Then we had jobs. JOBS ARE FUN! After that, we headed over to Greg Parent's house for the BBQ. It was great. Wew, it was just awesome that the weather was so gorgeous these past few days, because now, as I update this on Thursday, it's totally ackie! This weekend is supposed to be nice, though. Bless the LORD, as we have our first family expedition of the summer! Over all, the first high school expedition was great. Be sure to spread the word!!! See you in a few weeks for the next high school expedition July 6-9th. Mwahahah. Four shots today because I'm not up late at night and so yeah! God Love Ya!
Jen
PS: Here's the fourth day photo slideshow! http://youtu.be/dLKNCcdERhw
June 14: GYE NYAME! ACCEPT GOD! Today was another gorgeous day up here at the St. Joseph Center. I got to watch Trevor and adjunct staff member, Ryan, teach people how to use the slack line. Apparently John Bosco and Frasatti both did them. It was pretty neat! We all had a blast with a ton of water time today. The guys played ultimate frisbee until some of them keeled over, and the girls had a hair braiding party. It was sweeeeeet! Then, Fr. Quinn pulled out all the stops on us. First of all, we went on one heck of a bus ride to bailey's harbor and had a dance party there for a little while, then we went to Joe Jo's pizzeria for some noms... and. AND! WE got to go mini golfing! WHAT A SURPRISE, one of my students from Sheboygan, (shout out to Murphy!) stopped by to say hello since he works up here for the summer. That was great. Totally outstanding day was rounded off by a night hike and campfire. I'm pretty stoked because we're going to continue the "fourth day photos" like we did last year! It's been so good to not have to be on the boat this summer- less pictures of the expeditioners, I know, but more opportunity for me to BE present TO and FOR them. So, I don't have any water pics. Oh well! Anyways. I'm looking forward to the reading during morning prayer tomorrow. This was decidedly an amazing group. Fr. also said that this was the best weather he's ever seen on an expedition. EVER. So yeah, today pretty much rocked. Sorry for the brevity, but, Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief. (Shakespeare). SPEAKING OF SHAKESPEARE. The Door county players will be performing one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE PLAYS July 6-24: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. OAaAAAAAH DUDE. Newayz (as the kids these days r sayin it), 'tis time for bed. Here's a few shots from the day!
Out
June 13: Praise the LORD. Day two went swimmingly! Hahaha. It's funny because it's punny. I spend most of the day on the water with the ladies. We started the day the holy way with a great mass! Fr. Tom Ferrell, Fr. Luke Strand, and Deacon Ryan Kreuger came up to concelebrate with us. It was great to see them about all day. Shortly after breakfast, a group took off for the high ropes course. We also had a few groups kayaking, mountain biking, and on the lake. The ladies did a little Lectio Divina session, and then we had EP and A PUDGIE PIE DINNER! WOOT! It was just a delicious day all day today: 70 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Wow. We had our night of prayer tonight and ended with the FIRST TIME EVER USE OF CLUB GENESIUS ON A HIGH SCHOOL EXPEDITION. 'Twas AMAZ-A-ZING. Stories, talents, and raps galore. Now we're off to the campfire to load up on sugar before bed. WEEEEEE!! Pray for good weather!
God Love Ya!
JLML
June 12: Praise the LORD! We had an amazing start to the expedition with an incredible Mass in honor of the Church's birthday: Pentecost! VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS!! I love the color red. Ok. So, first of all, I am totally stoked because the weather is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS UP HERE. 70s and not a CLOUD IN THE SKY! We hopped off the bus to have mass as soon as we reached the St. Joseph Center. AFter that, it was free time galore! The ladies spent some time on the water. I took a group of ladies to a super secret special place on the kayaks- and we chilled out and drifted for a while when we got there. It was amazing. Others hung out on the bongo, sailed, or tried water skiing. The guys hit the water next... and then. THEN. We had for the FIRST TIME EVER this summer, hobo dinners! We had some "Italian-German-Bulgarians" (as Fr. Quinn put it) present the exact art and subtle science of making a hobo to a rather cheerful crowd. Dinner was spectacular. We also had ice cream to celebrate Nino's 16th birthday- so huge shout out to her as our expeditioner from PUERTO RICO. Dude. She flew all the way up here for CYE. How phenomenal is that?! Right now we have free time until Night prayer at 930pm. I CAN NOT WAIT TO SLEEP IN MAH NEW TENT!! WAHOO!! It's pretty cool. Ah well. That takes care of tonight's paragraph. Pictures!
Check out the readings today. They pretty much rock.
Jen |
