We all had today off of work for Memorial Day, so my friend Kelli asked if I wanted to join her and some others to spend the afternoon at the beach. I forget the name of the beach we went to, but it was pretty small and just beautiful. We had to walk down probably 100 steps from the street to get down to the beach area. It had all of these huge rocks right along the shore so the waves would crash over them and make these large sprays. It was so pretty. Sorry, I didn't have my camera on me or I would have taken pictures for you! The four of us spent the day just soaking in the sun and it was wonderful.
Then we went back to Kelli's house, were joined by a few more intern friends, and her parents had made us a wonderful meal. We had the best mini hamburgers, corn on the cob, and macaroni. It was so great to have a home cooked meal! Kelli and I both got a little too much sun today, so her mom sent me home with some lotion for my burn. Oh, what would we do without mothers? haha :)
We then spent the rest of the evening hanging out... enjoying the hot tub, watching a movie, and playing a trivia board game. I enjoy spending time with this group a lot, and it was nice to be around people again after a long weekend of lots of Lindsay alone time (which was also pretty nice).
I'm excited to go back to work tomorrow and hoping I'll be able to be more productive for them this week now that I have a feel for what they're having me do. I still have much to learn and adjust to, but it'll be good.
love.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Pastor Rick & PBS
Yesterday was an exciting day at the office. I got to meet Pastor Rick Warren and I may or may not be on tv in the near future!
I had just been doing my regular jobs in the office and someone came by and asked if I was an intern and if I was available to sit in on a meeting. I went to the conference room and some other interns were there, most of which I hadn't met yet. Then we were told that the tv network PBS is doing a Religion and Ethics Newsweekly segment where they were interviewing Pastor Rick about raising up the next generation of leaders in a church. Then they wanted to get some footage of him speaking to a group of us young people. So watch for me on tv!! haha :)
But more importantly, I just thought it was really nice that he took the time to come speak with us. He probably talked with us for a good hour, even after the camera crew had left. He talked to us about how he will be retiring in 8 years and how it has been his focus for his last decade in his position to be training and equipping new leaders. Then the camera crew left and he said, "Alright, now I can talk to you about what I really want... and that is In and Out Burger." haha, funny man.
At work I've been getting some slightly more exciting jobs.. mostly working on sections of the bulletin. Although there is talk of a t-shirt design for an event in the near future. That'd be fun. The event is for a fun walk/run that aligns with a year long initiative they have here called "The Daniel Plan" which is a focus on health and taking care of our bodies. If you'd like to learn more about it you can read more here: http://www.saddleback.com/thedanielplan/dpsimplified/
I'm still enjoying getting to know all of these new people. It's been a great challenge for me every day to push myself to try new things and talk to new people and get involved however I can. I've been enjoying lunch times and meetings with the other interns. A couple nights ago my hotel friend (Alex) and I walked down the street to eat Sushi. It was nice getting to talk with him for a couple hours and now having a friendly face around here to say hi to. Last night I checked out the college age service called Crave. Our intern guy, Kyle, had suggested I check it out if I was looking to get connected to some people my age, and then he set me up with another girl who is an intern I hadn't met yet so I was able to meet her there and have someone to sit with and introduce me to some more people. I enjoyed it. They said they'll be starting new small groups for the summer in a week or two, so I'll probably try to sign up for one of those. Today I'm waiting to hear from my friend Kelli about potentially going to the beach with some of them.
My room now smells like vanilla paradise and I fixed the dvd problem (bad outlet) so all is well in hotel world again.
P.S. I've had Chick-fil-A a total of 3 times in the past week. That's 3 times as much as I had previously had it in the past 22 years of my life. These people are obsessed...
Love.
I had just been doing my regular jobs in the office and someone came by and asked if I was an intern and if I was available to sit in on a meeting. I went to the conference room and some other interns were there, most of which I hadn't met yet. Then we were told that the tv network PBS is doing a Religion and Ethics Newsweekly segment where they were interviewing Pastor Rick about raising up the next generation of leaders in a church. Then they wanted to get some footage of him speaking to a group of us young people. So watch for me on tv!! haha :)
But more importantly, I just thought it was really nice that he took the time to come speak with us. He probably talked with us for a good hour, even after the camera crew had left. He talked to us about how he will be retiring in 8 years and how it has been his focus for his last decade in his position to be training and equipping new leaders. Then the camera crew left and he said, "Alright, now I can talk to you about what I really want... and that is In and Out Burger." haha, funny man.
At work I've been getting some slightly more exciting jobs.. mostly working on sections of the bulletin. Although there is talk of a t-shirt design for an event in the near future. That'd be fun. The event is for a fun walk/run that aligns with a year long initiative they have here called "The Daniel Plan" which is a focus on health and taking care of our bodies. If you'd like to learn more about it you can read more here: http://www.saddleback.com/thedanielplan/dpsimplified/
I'm still enjoying getting to know all of these new people. It's been a great challenge for me every day to push myself to try new things and talk to new people and get involved however I can. I've been enjoying lunch times and meetings with the other interns. A couple nights ago my hotel friend (Alex) and I walked down the street to eat Sushi. It was nice getting to talk with him for a couple hours and now having a friendly face around here to say hi to. Last night I checked out the college age service called Crave. Our intern guy, Kyle, had suggested I check it out if I was looking to get connected to some people my age, and then he set me up with another girl who is an intern I hadn't met yet so I was able to meet her there and have someone to sit with and introduce me to some more people. I enjoyed it. They said they'll be starting new small groups for the summer in a week or two, so I'll probably try to sign up for one of those. Today I'm waiting to hear from my friend Kelli about potentially going to the beach with some of them.
My room now smells like vanilla paradise and I fixed the dvd problem (bad outlet) so all is well in hotel world again.
P.S. I've had Chick-fil-A a total of 3 times in the past week. That's 3 times as much as I had previously had it in the past 22 years of my life. These people are obsessed...
Love.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Settling In
hello family and friends!
I've had several people request for me to keep them posted on how life is going for me out here in California this summer, so I thought it would be helpful to just start a blog that I can update whenever I get the chance and you can read when you get time.
Well, if you've been following Laura's blog then you've already read all about our adventures on the road trip out west. It was a long trip for sure, but we made it fun and I'll never forget the memories we made. (Okay, that's not true. I have a terrible memory so I probably won't remember much come the end of the summer.) Laura, thank you so much for taking a week off from your life to make the trip with me. Grant, thank you for letting me borrow your wife. Laura flew back home yesterday evening. And since I haven't heard otherwise I'm going to assume she made it back safe and sound (just with a few flight delays).
Friday
On Friday I had my first day at Saddleback Church. There were 14 interns there for our orientation which went from 10am-3pm. I hear there are supposed to be 25 interns coming total, so I guess not everyone was able to make it on Friday. For orientation we basically just talked through the work environment and values of the church and also expectations for our internship program. We were given a tour of the church campus, introduced to about everyone in the office, and taken out for lunch.
Everyone I've met, both the other interns and church employees, are all super nice. I've really enjoyed the interactions I've had with my fellow interns and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better and hopefully making some great friends this summer.
I want to write a post later this week to give you a better idea of some of my impressions of Saddleback, but a few quick observations I made on Friday is this: the people are passionate about two things...1) Azusa Pacific University (apparently it's the best school ever, so good decision Ryan) 2) Chick-fil-A
Monday
On Monday I had my first real day of work. I got introduced to how the Graphic department at Saddleback works. Basically, every department in the church is considered a client so when they need something created they submit a job request to the graphic department. A lot of common requests would be like newsletters, posters, postcards, or brochures for different ministries and events held by the church.
My supervisor's name is Max. I haven't had too much interaction with him yet. He's a nice man, but they keep him busy! His main role is art director so he's involved more in meetings and assigning jobs. There are 3 other graphic designers on staff. I have been getting the majority of my introductory instruction from a young man named Dan. He's been a good teacher. There are also several different volunteers that will stop in the office to work on different things during the day. Right now, they mostly have me working on pre press jobs. This means that I am in charge of taking the artwork that has already been created and formatting it in a way where it is ready to be sent to the print shop. This is both good and bad. It's good because I realize this process is important to know how to do, and by having a better understanding will help me learn how to design in a smarter way when it comes to how I format and set my colors, ect. It's bad because it's not exactly fun, haha. I don't get to be creative with this.
*Friend update: I was invited over to one of the intern's house (Kelli) to watch the Bachelorette Monday evening with a couple other interns. The three of them had all interned last summer together and were already friends. It was so sweet of her to invite me into their group and I let her know how much I appreciated it. After the show, we all enjoyed some time in her hot tub!
Tuesday
Today I was given my first jobs to do. They were all pre press jobs as I was talking about earlier. We added a new intern today and she's in my department! Yay! Her name is Gabby. Dan gave Gabby and I a tour of the print shop which is located just down the street from Saddleback. It's actually owned by the church though and used only for Saddleback print jobs. There are more than you would probably think!! Today, I alone sent off 3 separate orders for a total of 1270 prints!
Max talked with Gabby and I at the end of the day and told us our primary responsibility for this summer is to be the bulletin girls. Gabby is from Mexico and fluent in Spanish and English so she is in charge of the Spanish bulletin that will be used for a couple different Saddleback regional locations, while I will be doing the Lake Forest bulletins. The team was really excited to get Gabby because they've been in need of someone who can serve as a translator for the bulletin information, so that will be a big help for them.
Something that's kind of discouraging is that I don't get the impression I'll be doing as much creative work as I would have liked. All of the ministries are already so branded in their identity that I'll mostly just be updating previously created templates, even when it comes to the bulletin. I understand that's all part of effective visual communication how you need to maintain a consistent image, but as a designer that can become limiting for your creativity.
*Living update: I finally got all of my clothes put away and my suite organized! The room has had a weird smell ever since I made coffee yesterday morning (and not a good coffee smell either) so I think tomorrow I'll go buy an air freshener. I did my laundry tonight so I have a fresh wardrobe to pull from now. Yay for no longer living out of a suitcase!! I stocked my fridge and cabinets with some groceries. I need a serious break from fast food, so tonight I cooked myself some vegetables and I'm feelin pretty good about that haha. I haven't been able to get my dvd player to work yet, but it's good because I need to be reading anyways. As interns we were given copies of The Purpose Driven Life (autographed) and The Purpose Driven Church that we will be discussing as a group over the summer.
*Friend update: I made a friend while in the laundry room downstairs! Haha. He's a law student from LA that is staying here for a few months to escape distractions while he studies to take the bar exam. Whoever told me people in California were mean, lied! Everyone here has been so friendly to me!
Final thoughts
As I was leaving work on Monday I stopped to talk to Kyle, our intern supervisor. He was asking me to remind him of my living arrangements for the summer. Then we were talking about how my sister had left that day and I was all alone now. And he said to me "Wow, you must really love Jesus."
I was a little surprised by that response. I guess if anything I look at my decision to move here for a summer as more a testimony of my trust in Jesus to take care of me. But it is my desire that my time spent out here will bring people to see just that in me, that "wow, she really loves Jesus." I think that's awesome.
I feel so blessed to be here. Thank you family for your support... financial, emotional, and prayer support. I'm excited for all this summer may hold for me. I'm excited to get job experience and grow as a designer, to serve the church, to make new friends, and to see what God does in my heart and life in the next few months.
Love you all.
I've had several people request for me to keep them posted on how life is going for me out here in California this summer, so I thought it would be helpful to just start a blog that I can update whenever I get the chance and you can read when you get time.
Well, if you've been following Laura's blog then you've already read all about our adventures on the road trip out west. It was a long trip for sure, but we made it fun and I'll never forget the memories we made. (Okay, that's not true. I have a terrible memory so I probably won't remember much come the end of the summer.) Laura, thank you so much for taking a week off from your life to make the trip with me. Grant, thank you for letting me borrow your wife. Laura flew back home yesterday evening. And since I haven't heard otherwise I'm going to assume she made it back safe and sound (just with a few flight delays).
Friday
On Friday I had my first day at Saddleback Church. There were 14 interns there for our orientation which went from 10am-3pm. I hear there are supposed to be 25 interns coming total, so I guess not everyone was able to make it on Friday. For orientation we basically just talked through the work environment and values of the church and also expectations for our internship program. We were given a tour of the church campus, introduced to about everyone in the office, and taken out for lunch.
Everyone I've met, both the other interns and church employees, are all super nice. I've really enjoyed the interactions I've had with my fellow interns and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better and hopefully making some great friends this summer.
I want to write a post later this week to give you a better idea of some of my impressions of Saddleback, but a few quick observations I made on Friday is this: the people are passionate about two things...1) Azusa Pacific University (apparently it's the best school ever, so good decision Ryan) 2) Chick-fil-A
Monday
On Monday I had my first real day of work. I got introduced to how the Graphic department at Saddleback works. Basically, every department in the church is considered a client so when they need something created they submit a job request to the graphic department. A lot of common requests would be like newsletters, posters, postcards, or brochures for different ministries and events held by the church.
My supervisor's name is Max. I haven't had too much interaction with him yet. He's a nice man, but they keep him busy! His main role is art director so he's involved more in meetings and assigning jobs. There are 3 other graphic designers on staff. I have been getting the majority of my introductory instruction from a young man named Dan. He's been a good teacher. There are also several different volunteers that will stop in the office to work on different things during the day. Right now, they mostly have me working on pre press jobs. This means that I am in charge of taking the artwork that has already been created and formatting it in a way where it is ready to be sent to the print shop. This is both good and bad. It's good because I realize this process is important to know how to do, and by having a better understanding will help me learn how to design in a smarter way when it comes to how I format and set my colors, ect. It's bad because it's not exactly fun, haha. I don't get to be creative with this.
*Friend update: I was invited over to one of the intern's house (Kelli) to watch the Bachelorette Monday evening with a couple other interns. The three of them had all interned last summer together and were already friends. It was so sweet of her to invite me into their group and I let her know how much I appreciated it. After the show, we all enjoyed some time in her hot tub!
Tuesday
Today I was given my first jobs to do. They were all pre press jobs as I was talking about earlier. We added a new intern today and she's in my department! Yay! Her name is Gabby. Dan gave Gabby and I a tour of the print shop which is located just down the street from Saddleback. It's actually owned by the church though and used only for Saddleback print jobs. There are more than you would probably think!! Today, I alone sent off 3 separate orders for a total of 1270 prints!
Max talked with Gabby and I at the end of the day and told us our primary responsibility for this summer is to be the bulletin girls. Gabby is from Mexico and fluent in Spanish and English so she is in charge of the Spanish bulletin that will be used for a couple different Saddleback regional locations, while I will be doing the Lake Forest bulletins. The team was really excited to get Gabby because they've been in need of someone who can serve as a translator for the bulletin information, so that will be a big help for them.
Something that's kind of discouraging is that I don't get the impression I'll be doing as much creative work as I would have liked. All of the ministries are already so branded in their identity that I'll mostly just be updating previously created templates, even when it comes to the bulletin. I understand that's all part of effective visual communication how you need to maintain a consistent image, but as a designer that can become limiting for your creativity.
*Living update: I finally got all of my clothes put away and my suite organized! The room has had a weird smell ever since I made coffee yesterday morning (and not a good coffee smell either) so I think tomorrow I'll go buy an air freshener. I did my laundry tonight so I have a fresh wardrobe to pull from now. Yay for no longer living out of a suitcase!! I stocked my fridge and cabinets with some groceries. I need a serious break from fast food, so tonight I cooked myself some vegetables and I'm feelin pretty good about that haha. I haven't been able to get my dvd player to work yet, but it's good because I need to be reading anyways. As interns we were given copies of The Purpose Driven Life (autographed) and The Purpose Driven Church that we will be discussing as a group over the summer.
*Friend update: I made a friend while in the laundry room downstairs! Haha. He's a law student from LA that is staying here for a few months to escape distractions while he studies to take the bar exam. Whoever told me people in California were mean, lied! Everyone here has been so friendly to me!
Final thoughts
As I was leaving work on Monday I stopped to talk to Kyle, our intern supervisor. He was asking me to remind him of my living arrangements for the summer. Then we were talking about how my sister had left that day and I was all alone now. And he said to me "Wow, you must really love Jesus."
I was a little surprised by that response. I guess if anything I look at my decision to move here for a summer as more a testimony of my trust in Jesus to take care of me. But it is my desire that my time spent out here will bring people to see just that in me, that "wow, she really loves Jesus." I think that's awesome.
I feel so blessed to be here. Thank you family for your support... financial, emotional, and prayer support. I'm excited for all this summer may hold for me. I'm excited to get job experience and grow as a designer, to serve the church, to make new friends, and to see what God does in my heart and life in the next few months.
Love you all.
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