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.