Home Sweet Humidity

      Good news: I made it home from Estes Park safe and sound. Bad news: I have to type this on my parents' computer because I left my laptop charger in Estes. Whoops. I also think that I get sweatier with every sentence I type because IT IS SO STINKING HUMID HERE HOLY CRAP. 
      Anyway, my last five days at the Y were phenomenal. Seriously. I took it upon myself to try and complete all of the last minute things on my Estes Park bucket list and it turned out pretty well.Work wasn't stressful at all this week either. We got an Honorarium and Memorial wall on grounds so I made a flyer for that. I also finished up Annual Campaign materials and filed my little heart out. There was also a good amount of down time for me to go bother Suzy and Brady. We listened to John Mayer, I watched some of their videos, etc. I also got to take an ~official~ Theta picture with the Marketing and Communications Director. We found out that we were both Thetas a few weeks ago and we had a great time exchanging stories about each other's chapters.

      Monday evening was spent in Denver at the Rockies game. I went to one during my last week last summer and loved it. I made a vow to go more than once, but it never ended up happening. I was pretty pumped when Suzy, Brady, Rachel and I were finally able to figure out a good time to head down to Coors Field. The Rockies were losing 6-1 when we arrived during the third inning, but they rallied in the 9th inning and came back to almost win it. I surprisingly remembered more about baseball than I thought, which made it way more fun.

I need to find shorter friends.

      My mom and sister were both in town this week to visit and help me drive back, so I went to dinner with them on Tuesday. After that I hung out with some people and went stargazing at Sprague Lake. We were out in the park so there was no lights even close to us. It was a perfect night to stargaze- the moon was stunning and the stars were super bright. We took turns telling our best "dad jokes" and even saw a handful of shooting stars! My hair was filled with rocks from lying down on the path but it was worth it to get a good look at the stars one last time. 
      On Wednesday I went to get dinner in town with Brady, Suzy and Rachel. After that I went and hung out with my family. We played games, sat in their hot tub and talked about some more logistics for leaving on Friday.
        My last full day was absolutely perfect. It started out with a relaxing day at work. I went into town for a goodbye lunch with the philanthropy department. It was a gorgeous day so I loved getting out of the office! After that I went back to my office and prepared for my final presentation. Courtney asked me if I wanted her to invite the executive team and I said yes without thinking. I figured that it would be five or six people, tops. As it turns out, most of the executive team was free at that time. I ended up presenting to about ten people. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it was enough to get my heart racing. The presentation ended up going SO well. I added just the right amount of humor to things and I got some fantastic questions at the end. It was definitely a highlight of the internship for me!
      After work I stopped by the craft place to finish my silk painting, pictured below:

In typical Abby fashion, I found a way to incorporate every single color of the rainbow into my design.

      Once everything was finished, I went back to the room to pack for a little bit and then ran to Rustic to get dinner. Cathrine, Rachel and Kiley joined me for pizza and then we played a quick game of volleyball with some other people from Sweet. (I actually had some good hits too, so hooray for becoming more athletic!) Rachel and I headed out after the first game to hang out with Amanda at her house for a little bit. We almost got to see a bear but it ran off before we could get a good look. After all of that craziness, we headed down to the staff fire ring and had a campfire for the rest of the night. There was a pretty good size crowd there, which made it a whole lot of fun. We hung out there for almost two and a half hours making s'mores, being sassy with each other and reflecting on our time at the Y. Kristina, Amanda, Elizabeth and I planned to do a sunrise hike to Bible Point on Friday so we put out the fire and headed out around 11:00 so we could at least get a few hours of sleep.
      Since Rachel had to lead a floating trip at 6:00, we had to say our goodbyes that night. I knew that I would be sad to leave, but I didn't expect it to be nearly as difficult as it was. We said our tear filled goodbyes and jammed to "House Party" one last time. (It came on the radio by chance, which was pretty great.) I eventually made my way back to my room and started packing up my stuff. Time was moving incredibly fast but I managed to make it to bed a little before one.
      My alarm clock went off at the crack of 5:05 AM. Kristina, Elizabeth and I picked up Amanda, drove up Mountainside and took the shortcut way to Bible Point. The sun was just getting ready to come over the mountains. As usual, it was absolutely gorgeous. 

      We stayed at the top for a while to watch the mountains and take in the views. After about an hour we left to get coffee in town and I said goodbye to Amanda and Elizabeth as I headed into work. It was sad to see our hiking group end but I know that I'll look back on the stressful "crap what are we going to hike in six hours?" nights and smile. 
      I went into work to clean out my desk, introduce my family to my co-workers and say my goodbyes. Before I knew it, I was sitting in my car preparing for the 12 hour drive home. It was hard to drive away from the Y and the beautiful Rocky Mountains, but I know I'll be back someday. Whether it's with my family, a group of friends I met at the Y, or to start my first "adult" job, I know that Estes Park and I will meet again.
        If anything describes how I feel about coming to Colorado, it's the chorus of one of my favorite Needtobreathe songs- "If you never leave home, never let go, you'll never make it to the great unknown." Getting out of Kansas to be launched into my "great unknown" has been the best thing to ever happen to me. The lessons, friendships and memories I've had out here are ones that I will cherish for the rest of my life. 
      In the words of Porky Pig, "That's all folks." Thanks for reading about my summer adventures. :) Between going to Red Rocks and climbing mountains, it's changed me for the better and I'm so excited to see where junior year takes me. I just know that it's going to be a fantastic year!