Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
#36
To do before I die: #36
Write a full length drama (script) that will be acted out on stage and seen by hundreds of thousands of people.
Check.
Write a full length drama (script) that will be acted out on stage and seen by hundreds of thousands of people.
Check.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
April.
I can’t believe tomorrow is the first day of April.
April is the best month of the year.
I’m going to talk more about the future than the past in this blog. I hope you don’t mind.
I didn’t end up going to North Carolina because I got put on the writing team for next year’s ATF drama.
To put it simply.
That’s a huge deal.
This is the first year we (CCM) is writing it.
And I must say, it’s pretty darn good so far.
It’s been busy.
Working about twelve hour days, seven days a week. (We get this weekend off though!)
But I really love it. I feel so privileged to be a part of something that will affect thousands of lives.
I’ve always wanted to write a script.
It’s cool.
So the next month is going to be pretty busy.
April begins with a three-day weekend. Which I am really looking forward to.
Here’s the plan:
Sleep in on Friday.
Maybe watch a movie.
Go see Skillet at night.
Sleep in on Saturday.
Do laundry.
Read a book.
More specifically, read a novel.
Spend time with Jesus.
Watch the Freshwind conference online.
Sleep.
On Sunday I will go to church.
Hang out with friends.
Maybe finish a book?
Go to bed early.
Then next Thursday I am going to Dallas.
I will do camera all weekend.
Then I will come back in the wee hours on Sunday morning.
And I will step on a bus and go to sleep.
And I will wake up in New York.
Where I will stay for two weeks.
I will turn nineteen.
Then I will step on a plane.
And have a good week.
And then I will go to Lansing, Michigan.
And I will do camera all weekend.
And talk to people.
And then I will step on a bus and go to sleep.
And I will wake up in Texas.
And then it will be May.
April is going to be a good month.
April is the best month of the year.
I’m going to talk more about the future than the past in this blog. I hope you don’t mind.
I didn’t end up going to North Carolina because I got put on the writing team for next year’s ATF drama.
To put it simply.
That’s a huge deal.
This is the first year we (CCM) is writing it.
And I must say, it’s pretty darn good so far.
It’s been busy.
Working about twelve hour days, seven days a week. (We get this weekend off though!)
But I really love it. I feel so privileged to be a part of something that will affect thousands of lives.
I’ve always wanted to write a script.
It’s cool.
So the next month is going to be pretty busy.
April begins with a three-day weekend. Which I am really looking forward to.
Here’s the plan:
Sleep in on Friday.
Maybe watch a movie.
Go see Skillet at night.
Sleep in on Saturday.
Do laundry.
Read a book.
More specifically, read a novel.
Spend time with Jesus.
Watch the Freshwind conference online.
Sleep.
On Sunday I will go to church.
Hang out with friends.
Maybe finish a book?
Go to bed early.
Then next Thursday I am going to Dallas.
I will do camera all weekend.
Then I will come back in the wee hours on Sunday morning.
And I will step on a bus and go to sleep.
And I will wake up in New York.
Where I will stay for two weeks.
I will turn nineteen.
Then I will step on a plane.
And have a good week.
And then I will go to Lansing, Michigan.
And I will do camera all weekend.
And talk to people.
And then I will step on a bus and go to sleep.
And I will wake up in Texas.
And then it will be May.
April is going to be a good month.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Weekends, Rings, Green screens, and Kansas City
Hey all,
Well, it’s been a few weeks so it looks like I have quite the update coming. I do hope you don’t mind reading my lengthy blogs. At the moment I am quite distracted by the “L” key on my keyboard as it keeps popping out. This is a regular occurrence. A frustrating one at that.
Let’s get started shall we?
I take many pictures with my phone. I have decided that they would make my blogs more exciting. So that’s what I’m going to do.
(Texas has some of the most beautiful sunrises)
The weekend after I came back from Kansas City I had some friends that desperately wanted to see The Rocket Summer but had no ride so in exchange for a ticket and food I drove them. Pretty good deal I’ll say.
I had gotten the day off. My first one in a month I think. I had been gone to events every weekend so I hadn’t had a whole day to myself. So that was wonderful. On Saturday I slept in till 11am and in the afternoon I took the car to Mercy Ships and drew for several hours while drinking coke. It was so nice. On Sunday I dropped my friends off at their church and tried out a new one. I enjoyed going by myself. After we went to Cheddar’s. My first time. It was great. It was close to a perfect weekend.
(My dorm. I love the trees. They don't stay like that for long.)
March 1-8 we had Week of the Ring here on campus. At the end of the week there is a banquet and the interns (Augusts) receive a ring that symbolizes a commitment to a lifelong pursuit of God. It’s called the Honor Ring. It is inscribed in Hebrew. “I am my beloved’s and beloved is mine.” During the course of the week there are sessions every night that touch on the different aspects of living honorably. Such as integrity, valor, friendships, maturity, clear conscience, purity, excellence. I love this week because it allows me to reexamine my own life and it inspires me to live in such a way that I am representing Christ in everything that I do. While the ring has no power in itself, it is a reminder of whose I am and where I am going.
(It snowed here during WOTR)
Last Sunday was the Oscar’s and CCM had a party and everyone got dressed up and we went somewhere and had dinner and watched the Oscar’s. I got 10 out of 17 right.
Then the next night we had the ring banquet and we dressed up again. And it was a fantastic evening. I didn’t want it to end.
Some more exciting news: Last week was my first shoot in the studio. Green screen. Our campus gives interns the opportunity to stay a second year and if you stay you are known as a “Graduate Intern” so we created all the promos for those different programs. And I got to shoot one of the promos. This morning they had rollouts and mine was the first one up. The intro. I was so proud! I mean, everyone on campus saw it. Maybe 600 people? I am so blessed! I think of where I was only three months ago and how much has changed. Definitely blessed.
(Without the couch. I wish you could see the finished product. It looked pretty sweet.)
This past weekend I went to Kansas City with a few friends. Best weekend ever. A little vacation. We went to IHOP (International House of Prayer). Basically, IHOP is known for its 24/7 prayer that has been going on since 1999 I believe. They have a prayer room where there is music/prayer for 24 hours, 7 days a week. They also have the “main base” where church is held and it has all their internships. There are about 1500 (staff, students, and interns) serving within the ministry. So this weekend was a weekend of rest and refreshing. We got there Saturday at 4:30 and ate at iHop (yes, the pancakes!) and then at 5:30am headed over to the prayer room. We left Sunday at 2pm. In total I spent 14 hours in the prayer room. (www.theprayerroom.tv) And about 6 hours at the awakening service (Wed-Fri nights 6pm-midnight www.ihop.org/watch). It was absolutely amazing. I don’t know who I’d be without God. He continues to amaze me. He's so good to me.
(The Prayer Room)
Tomorrow I’m leaving for North Carolina to do camera at ATF. I haven’t been in a few weeks so it will interesting getting back into the rhythm of things. After this, in a few weeks there’s the Dallas Battle Cry and then we are all headed to New York for a Battle Cry (I think 16, 000 plus people) and professional encounters in New York City. So I’ll be on the road again for a bit. Excited for some excessive sleep and reading and music listening and serving.
Alright my friends. I have three weeks of laundry to do. And I’d like to get more than the three and a half hours of sleep I got last night.
God bless.
Under the mercy,
Joelle
Well, it’s been a few weeks so it looks like I have quite the update coming. I do hope you don’t mind reading my lengthy blogs. At the moment I am quite distracted by the “L” key on my keyboard as it keeps popping out. This is a regular occurrence. A frustrating one at that.
Let’s get started shall we?
I take many pictures with my phone. I have decided that they would make my blogs more exciting. So that’s what I’m going to do.
(Texas has some of the most beautiful sunrises)
The weekend after I came back from Kansas City I had some friends that desperately wanted to see The Rocket Summer but had no ride so in exchange for a ticket and food I drove them. Pretty good deal I’ll say.
I had gotten the day off. My first one in a month I think. I had been gone to events every weekend so I hadn’t had a whole day to myself. So that was wonderful. On Saturday I slept in till 11am and in the afternoon I took the car to Mercy Ships and drew for several hours while drinking coke. It was so nice. On Sunday I dropped my friends off at their church and tried out a new one. I enjoyed going by myself. After we went to Cheddar’s. My first time. It was great. It was close to a perfect weekend.
(My dorm. I love the trees. They don't stay like that for long.)
March 1-8 we had Week of the Ring here on campus. At the end of the week there is a banquet and the interns (Augusts) receive a ring that symbolizes a commitment to a lifelong pursuit of God. It’s called the Honor Ring. It is inscribed in Hebrew. “I am my beloved’s and beloved is mine.” During the course of the week there are sessions every night that touch on the different aspects of living honorably. Such as integrity, valor, friendships, maturity, clear conscience, purity, excellence. I love this week because it allows me to reexamine my own life and it inspires me to live in such a way that I am representing Christ in everything that I do. While the ring has no power in itself, it is a reminder of whose I am and where I am going.
(It snowed here during WOTR)
Last Sunday was the Oscar’s and CCM had a party and everyone got dressed up and we went somewhere and had dinner and watched the Oscar’s. I got 10 out of 17 right.
Then the next night we had the ring banquet and we dressed up again. And it was a fantastic evening. I didn’t want it to end.
Some more exciting news: Last week was my first shoot in the studio. Green screen. Our campus gives interns the opportunity to stay a second year and if you stay you are known as a “Graduate Intern” so we created all the promos for those different programs. And I got to shoot one of the promos. This morning they had rollouts and mine was the first one up. The intro. I was so proud! I mean, everyone on campus saw it. Maybe 600 people? I am so blessed! I think of where I was only three months ago and how much has changed. Definitely blessed.
(Without the couch. I wish you could see the finished product. It looked pretty sweet.)
This past weekend I went to Kansas City with a few friends. Best weekend ever. A little vacation. We went to IHOP (International House of Prayer). Basically, IHOP is known for its 24/7 prayer that has been going on since 1999 I believe. They have a prayer room where there is music/prayer for 24 hours, 7 days a week. They also have the “main base” where church is held and it has all their internships. There are about 1500 (staff, students, and interns) serving within the ministry. So this weekend was a weekend of rest and refreshing. We got there Saturday at 4:30 and ate at iHop (yes, the pancakes!) and then at 5:30am headed over to the prayer room. We left Sunday at 2pm. In total I spent 14 hours in the prayer room. (www.theprayerroom.tv) And about 6 hours at the awakening service (Wed-Fri nights 6pm-midnight www.ihop.org/watch). It was absolutely amazing. I don’t know who I’d be without God. He continues to amaze me. He's so good to me.
(The Prayer Room)
Tomorrow I’m leaving for North Carolina to do camera at ATF. I haven’t been in a few weeks so it will interesting getting back into the rhythm of things. After this, in a few weeks there’s the Dallas Battle Cry and then we are all headed to New York for a Battle Cry (I think 16, 000 plus people) and professional encounters in New York City. So I’ll be on the road again for a bit. Excited for some excessive sleep and reading and music listening and serving.
Alright my friends. I have three weeks of laundry to do. And I’d like to get more than the three and a half hours of sleep I got last night.
God bless.
Under the mercy,
Joelle
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
California and Kansas City.
Hello friends,
I am writing to you from the catering room also known as the team room in Kansas City. As you can probably guess I am doing camera this weekend for the Acquire the Fire event. We are expecting around 3500 people. I don’t have lots of time on my hands these days with my travels so I am learning how to balance time. For example: sleep and read on the bus. If you are leaving at 3pm, like I did and only had four hours of sleep the night before then you will understand that I fell asleep almost right away. I woke up for our stops but other than that I laid out in the very back of the bus in my warm and comfy sleeping bag and listened to music and slept. It was wonderful. I love traveling to these ATF events. I love getting to know people. I love sleeping. I love seeing God work in the lives of the teenagers and parents that come every weekend. I love doing camera. I love gaining experience. I love doing what I love. But since I am currently writing this part of the blog on Thursday and the event has not even begun I will finish it after the event and I will tell you about the last ten days in California for now.
I was very glad to hear of our delayed departure on Sunday, the 7th. We were supposed to leave at 6pm, but we ended up leaving at 1am. I was glad because I got to see the Super Bowl. I was also glad that the Saints won. So, the bus ride mostly consisted of me sleeping a lot, talking a bit, and reading a little. On Monday night, or perhaps it was Tuesday at like 2am we arrived in Los Angeles. We stayed at a catholic high school. On Tuesday we had a professional encounter with Drew Thomas, who is a DP, and he taught us all about the camera. We were located in the Sheraton Hotel in Santa Monica. Sounds lovely doesn’t it? The only downfall was that we were inside the entire day. BUT it wasn’t so bad because I don’t mind the camera so much you see, it was a good day. On Wednesday we were in the same place with Mark Stepp who is an editor. He definitely taught us a lot, and not just about editing. He had just come back from working at the Super Bowl. It was Wednesday night that I got to experience In-N-Out for the first time. I had some very high expectations and they did not disappoint. One of the best burgers I have ever had. The fries weren’t that great but it wasn’t a huge deal. Now Thursday was the day that I was really looking forward to. We were going to take a tour of Warner Bros. Studios. Two of my very TV shows, Chuck and The Mentalist are filmed there. I wanted more than anything to be able to visit the sets of those shows. In the morning we drove through Hollywood and Burbank and drove past some of the other studios. Walt Disney, Paramount, etc. And in the afternoon we had our tour. It was pretty incredible. To see all these places where history had been made. Gilmore Girls. Growing Pains. Cold Case. ER. Chuck. The Mentalist. Alice in Wonderland. The Dark Knight. Ocean’s 11. Jurassic Park. I could go on. We went on the set of True Blood a show I honestly don’t care much about. We went through the jungle where Jurassic Park was made. Drove throughout the entire place and our tour guide showed us a bunch of different locations. I did not get to go on the set of Chuck, but I did get to see a bunch of locations that scenes had been shot. BUT the ultimate moment of that day was being able to go onto the set of The Mentalist. To stand on the very ground that Patrick Jane (which is the character) has been on. To see the couch he sits on. His office. The interrogation room. Yes, the moment was magical indeed. I bought a t-shirt to remember it by. That night we left for Morro Bay for a few days. I was pretty excited because it would be my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean. We stayed in a Motel 6 and it was amazing. Thursday was our day off and I decided to spend the morning in the room while almost everyone went out to town. I was planning on going later that afternoon. And so I slept and read and watched some TV. And I went on the bus in the afternoon and had a great conversation with our bus driver and then I wandered Morro Bay by myself and I absolutely loved it. I bought the most amazing ice cream. Some food. Some postcards. It was well. And I walked to the rock (google it). And to the beach. And towards the tide. And I stopped when I reached the water and I put my hand to the water and brought it to my lips just so I could taste the salt. It was a wonderful experience. That night we were having pizza and I walked into a bar first and then I realized there was no pizza. Pizza was next door. The next day we were at the beach again having team time. We sat on the rocks and watched the waves crash mightily against some other rocks. The next morning we left dark and early for church, which was around LA. It was amazing. It was in a beautiful spot. The guy spoke about love. It was Valentine’s Day after all, but I learned some valuable lessons that morning. That afternoon we went to the mall. I stayed on the bus for a while and then I went to Border’s and spent a few hours there. I ended up buying two books. Social Intelligence and Snow Treasure (one of my favorite books as a kid). Then I wandered the mall by myself. I love doing that. Observing people. Taking my time. Simply existing. Being. That night we ate at a place called Roscoe’s. Wow. Right off of Sunset Boulevard. Known for their chicken and waffles. Yes, together. And it was amazing! We stayed at a church nearby and the next day we had our last professional encounter with Jeff Holder who talked to us about writing. If you watched cartoons on a Saturday morning as a child, your best bet that he wrote it. It was on that day I got told I would be going to Kansas City on Wednesday. We left that night for good ol’ Texas. Is it a coincidence that it snowed up to 8 inches on campus while I was gone? It only last a day or two but California had the most perfect weather. It just won me right over. On the bus I watched a movie called Shawshank Redemption. It had a good storyline, strong characters. I enjoyed it for the most part. It was very well done. I told myself I wouldn’t sleep as much because I could just sleep on the way to Kansas City and so I had some good conversations. Wrote a bit. And well, slept. We got to campus at 2am, stayed at CCM for an hour. Did laundry till 5:30am. Slept till 10am. Went to CCM, prepped the camera stuff. Had a meeting. Ate food. Packed. Went back to CCM to get my stuff and left! Very exciting right? I’m glad I got to be on campus for a few hours. Felt real good. I love what I do. As I mentioned earlier. I don’t have a lot of time to connect with interns from the HA, so being able to go on the bus and get to know them is always enjoyable.
THE EVENT:
Alright, let me try and keep this interesting. I had a plan this weekend. I do interviews/shoot b-roll and whatnot for anything Teen Mania might need it for whether that be promos and the highlights we make every week. The highlights have a theme woven throughout it and this week I really wanted UNITY through Christ to be portrayed. Every time I go out on the road I just love the atmosphere. It feels like family. And not just with the ministry team, but also just being with a bunch of people who share the same beliefs as you. One of my favorite parts of the weekend is the team meeting we have right after load out. It’s the time where everyone is so tired we can’t think straight. We are told in what areas we need to improve. We have the best moments though. We laugh so hard it hurts to breathe. We share stories of how God touched someone’s life and how he even used us at times to do so. It’s in those moments I am reminded of how blessed I am. I have written it before and I want to say it again, doing camera at these events is not just a job to me, not just so I can gain more experience. I want to be there for people, to be able to bring hope, and be able to speak into their lives. And even being able to encourage and pray with one girl makes everything worth it. I learned a lot this weekend. I have been stretched. I have grown. I am counting my blessings.
Kansas City was probably been the nicest city I’ve been to so far. People were going around giving each other high fives and hugs. I got my fair share. Watch the hugging lady in the highlights to understand. I even got asked for an autograph.
Thank you Kansas City.
-The camera girl/the camera lady/ccm girl/interview girl
P.S. The stuff I do every weekend gets made into a highlights video that is posted online. Here are the highlights from Kansas City. My favorite so far.
I am writing to you from the catering room also known as the team room in Kansas City. As you can probably guess I am doing camera this weekend for the Acquire the Fire event. We are expecting around 3500 people. I don’t have lots of time on my hands these days with my travels so I am learning how to balance time. For example: sleep and read on the bus. If you are leaving at 3pm, like I did and only had four hours of sleep the night before then you will understand that I fell asleep almost right away. I woke up for our stops but other than that I laid out in the very back of the bus in my warm and comfy sleeping bag and listened to music and slept. It was wonderful. I love traveling to these ATF events. I love getting to know people. I love sleeping. I love seeing God work in the lives of the teenagers and parents that come every weekend. I love doing camera. I love gaining experience. I love doing what I love. But since I am currently writing this part of the blog on Thursday and the event has not even begun I will finish it after the event and I will tell you about the last ten days in California for now.
I was very glad to hear of our delayed departure on Sunday, the 7th. We were supposed to leave at 6pm, but we ended up leaving at 1am. I was glad because I got to see the Super Bowl. I was also glad that the Saints won. So, the bus ride mostly consisted of me sleeping a lot, talking a bit, and reading a little. On Monday night, or perhaps it was Tuesday at like 2am we arrived in Los Angeles. We stayed at a catholic high school. On Tuesday we had a professional encounter with Drew Thomas, who is a DP, and he taught us all about the camera. We were located in the Sheraton Hotel in Santa Monica. Sounds lovely doesn’t it? The only downfall was that we were inside the entire day. BUT it wasn’t so bad because I don’t mind the camera so much you see, it was a good day. On Wednesday we were in the same place with Mark Stepp who is an editor. He definitely taught us a lot, and not just about editing. He had just come back from working at the Super Bowl. It was Wednesday night that I got to experience In-N-Out for the first time. I had some very high expectations and they did not disappoint. One of the best burgers I have ever had. The fries weren’t that great but it wasn’t a huge deal. Now Thursday was the day that I was really looking forward to. We were going to take a tour of Warner Bros. Studios. Two of my very TV shows, Chuck and The Mentalist are filmed there. I wanted more than anything to be able to visit the sets of those shows. In the morning we drove through Hollywood and Burbank and drove past some of the other studios. Walt Disney, Paramount, etc. And in the afternoon we had our tour. It was pretty incredible. To see all these places where history had been made. Gilmore Girls. Growing Pains. Cold Case. ER. Chuck. The Mentalist. Alice in Wonderland. The Dark Knight. Ocean’s 11. Jurassic Park. I could go on. We went on the set of True Blood a show I honestly don’t care much about. We went through the jungle where Jurassic Park was made. Drove throughout the entire place and our tour guide showed us a bunch of different locations. I did not get to go on the set of Chuck, but I did get to see a bunch of locations that scenes had been shot. BUT the ultimate moment of that day was being able to go onto the set of The Mentalist. To stand on the very ground that Patrick Jane (which is the character) has been on. To see the couch he sits on. His office. The interrogation room. Yes, the moment was magical indeed. I bought a t-shirt to remember it by. That night we left for Morro Bay for a few days. I was pretty excited because it would be my first time seeing the Pacific Ocean. We stayed in a Motel 6 and it was amazing. Thursday was our day off and I decided to spend the morning in the room while almost everyone went out to town. I was planning on going later that afternoon. And so I slept and read and watched some TV. And I went on the bus in the afternoon and had a great conversation with our bus driver and then I wandered Morro Bay by myself and I absolutely loved it. I bought the most amazing ice cream. Some food. Some postcards. It was well. And I walked to the rock (google it). And to the beach. And towards the tide. And I stopped when I reached the water and I put my hand to the water and brought it to my lips just so I could taste the salt. It was a wonderful experience. That night we were having pizza and I walked into a bar first and then I realized there was no pizza. Pizza was next door. The next day we were at the beach again having team time. We sat on the rocks and watched the waves crash mightily against some other rocks. The next morning we left dark and early for church, which was around LA. It was amazing. It was in a beautiful spot. The guy spoke about love. It was Valentine’s Day after all, but I learned some valuable lessons that morning. That afternoon we went to the mall. I stayed on the bus for a while and then I went to Border’s and spent a few hours there. I ended up buying two books. Social Intelligence and Snow Treasure (one of my favorite books as a kid). Then I wandered the mall by myself. I love doing that. Observing people. Taking my time. Simply existing. Being. That night we ate at a place called Roscoe’s. Wow. Right off of Sunset Boulevard. Known for their chicken and waffles. Yes, together. And it was amazing! We stayed at a church nearby and the next day we had our last professional encounter with Jeff Holder who talked to us about writing. If you watched cartoons on a Saturday morning as a child, your best bet that he wrote it. It was on that day I got told I would be going to Kansas City on Wednesday. We left that night for good ol’ Texas. Is it a coincidence that it snowed up to 8 inches on campus while I was gone? It only last a day or two but California had the most perfect weather. It just won me right over. On the bus I watched a movie called Shawshank Redemption. It had a good storyline, strong characters. I enjoyed it for the most part. It was very well done. I told myself I wouldn’t sleep as much because I could just sleep on the way to Kansas City and so I had some good conversations. Wrote a bit. And well, slept. We got to campus at 2am, stayed at CCM for an hour. Did laundry till 5:30am. Slept till 10am. Went to CCM, prepped the camera stuff. Had a meeting. Ate food. Packed. Went back to CCM to get my stuff and left! Very exciting right? I’m glad I got to be on campus for a few hours. Felt real good. I love what I do. As I mentioned earlier. I don’t have a lot of time to connect with interns from the HA, so being able to go on the bus and get to know them is always enjoyable.
THE EVENT:
Alright, let me try and keep this interesting. I had a plan this weekend. I do interviews/shoot b-roll and whatnot for anything Teen Mania might need it for whether that be promos and the highlights we make every week. The highlights have a theme woven throughout it and this week I really wanted UNITY through Christ to be portrayed. Every time I go out on the road I just love the atmosphere. It feels like family. And not just with the ministry team, but also just being with a bunch of people who share the same beliefs as you. One of my favorite parts of the weekend is the team meeting we have right after load out. It’s the time where everyone is so tired we can’t think straight. We are told in what areas we need to improve. We have the best moments though. We laugh so hard it hurts to breathe. We share stories of how God touched someone’s life and how he even used us at times to do so. It’s in those moments I am reminded of how blessed I am. I have written it before and I want to say it again, doing camera at these events is not just a job to me, not just so I can gain more experience. I want to be there for people, to be able to bring hope, and be able to speak into their lives. And even being able to encourage and pray with one girl makes everything worth it. I learned a lot this weekend. I have been stretched. I have grown. I am counting my blessings.
Kansas City was probably been the nicest city I’ve been to so far. People were going around giving each other high fives and hugs. I got my fair share. Watch the hugging lady in the highlights to understand. I even got asked for an autograph.
Thank you Kansas City.
-The camera girl/the camera lady/ccm girl/interview girl
P.S. The stuff I do every weekend gets made into a highlights video that is posted online. Here are the highlights from Kansas City. My favorite so far.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Houston, TX and Richmond, VA
Hello friends,
In the last two weeks I have been in Houston, TX and Richmond, VA doing camera for ATF. Some of the best times since being in Texas so far.
Let me set this up a bit first. The months leading up to Christmas I had been working towards becoming a producer. But I was not sure what exactly I wanted to do, I wanted to learn it all. It was during my break that I really took some time aside to think about what God had been telling me about my future and where I need to start focusing on. And after praying about it, I felt like camera and editing was where I needed to start focusing on. So when I came back from break, another DP left and I knew that God had provided me with an opportunity and I ran with it and I went to Doug and told him I want to learn camera (I plan on learning editing during spare time). And to make a long story short I am in a trial period where I am learning everything I can and proving to him how much I want it and how good I can be. Here’s the cool thing. This was about three weeks ago and since then I have been to two ATF’s since starting. I got to go to Houston, TX (last week), and a few days later I found myself in a bus on my way to Richmond, VA (this past weekend).
Before I go into my experiences, I want to say how important I have found the process of communication to be. I went to Doug and told him what I wanted to do. A few days before the Houston event I was talking to one of my friends about how I would love to do ENG crews. ENG stands for Electronic News-Gathering. It usually consists of a three man crew and has someone doing Audio, another camera, and another is a producer, who asks the questions, etc. And my friend tells me that I should tell my manager or supervisor so that they know. This conversation was happening on a Tuesday and I was pretty sure it was too late but I went to talk to one of my supervisors and I let him know that I was interested in doing ENG for Houston or any future event and I let him know the benefits to being able to develop both my camera and producing skills. And the next day I was called into the office and found out I was going to Houston the next day! Communication is key. Let people know what you want to do. One of the biggest things I’ve learned since being here is learning to be in constant communication because a lot of the time people need to know what you are thinking or they can take things the wrong way or misunderstand.
Anyways.
Houston, Texas.
It was a Wednesday I got told that I, along with two others would be going to Houston with Jared, the Director of Photography (DP) to Houston to be trained in camera. We are the three that will be travelling to the ATF’s for the spring tour I believe. So I get to Houston with Swat & Support and we (Logan, Josua, and I) spend the majority of the day getting interviews of the Ministry Team and School of Worship and broll of people getting set up. Evening rolls up and we go outside and start talking to people, getting some group interviews. And so starts a weekend of lots of conversations, practice, and fun. I say this without hesitation: that weekend has been one of my favorite since getting here. I prayed a lot for the event before. I asked God for conversations, opportunities to minister, for great content, for favor. And I can say that God has been so faithful! I got lots of great content out of people while producing and I really enjoyed being able to be on camera. There was one girl who shared her story with us about how she had been beat and raped by a father figure and has been with lots of guys and on Friday night she really realized God’s love for her and that his love is enough. Abi and I got a chance to pray for her after. It was one of my favorite moments. We got a chance to see the drama Friday night and it was one of Ministry Team’s best performances yet. I also got to see most of Lecrae and TFK on Saturday. I love the atmosphere of MT. It has such a family feel to it. And I love the meals. I had coke all weekend and it was amazing! We finished load out and had a team meeting and were on the bus by 2am and I had a few hours of uneasy sleep. I had only had about 12 hours of sleep since the Wednesday. (That’s like out of 97 hours) Then I went to bed at like 7:30am till 2am. It was great.
Richmond, Virginia
It was Tuesday at around 5pm. I went to my supervisor’s desk and I was talking to her and she lets it slip that I’m going to Richmond. And that the bus was leaving at 1am. That night. Now, I am excited that I get to be travelling to ATF’s, but the only one that I did not really want to go to was Richmond. I had just gotten back from Houston. Two of my friends were having their birthday, I was going out with a friend, and my supervisor’s last day was on Friday and then she was leaving forever. Over the past two months I have gotten closer to my supervisor and it has been pretty hard dealing with the fact that she was leaving. But I had all week to prepare myself for her departure. Until I got told I would be leaving in a few hours and then I realized that I wouldn’t be seeing her anymore and that was a bit difficult to deal with. So I get on the bus with Phillip (a new January who was going to do texting for the event) and a bus full of interns from the Honor Academy who I did not know. And let’s just say I was awake for probably 2 or 3 hours at the most out of our 26 hour trip. I don’t know what it is but I sleep like a baby on road trips. I sleep all night, and then I sleep all day. It’s wonderful. I don’t really know anyone but over the course of the weekend I get to know the majority of the people on the bus and it’s great. We get to Richmond on Thursday morning and help load in all day. Then we go to our host homes. Wilma, was the name of the lady who we stayed with. She’s from Brazil and she always smiles. Her family has a beautiful home and they were incredibly generous. Giving us lots of food, and they even made us some amazing Brazilian food. And I got my own room and bed and it was one of the most wonderful nights of my sleeping life. So fast forward to Friday night, Doug is at the Richmond event and I am supposed to be shooting Ron Luce for something and then he lets me know that I will be shooting a promo as well. Now the funny thing is that two weeks ago I was the PA (Producer Assistant) on this very shoot and now I am the DP on it. So I meet Ron Luce, he asks me what my name is and is really nice and since I am holding the camera in my right hand I give him an awkward left hand shake and I’m praying that I don’t screw this up, and that the audio is fine (which is did end up being thank God) and I shoot it and he thanks me and it was great. I’m hoping my boss thinks so too. Oh, in case you guys don’t know. Ron Luce is the founder and president of Teen Mania. He’s also one of the main speakers at the ATF events. After that, I go out to do my job as ENG and I interview a few people before the event but the interesting thing is as soon as the event is going on people are not in the concourse which is great, but that means I don’t get as many interviews. People didn’t have much to say before so knew I really had to step up my game during the fifteen minute breaks. I must admit though, that I was feeling a bit discouraged and worried because before the event started I was only getting “shallow” interviews. Last week was great and then I was getting nothing. So before the event started I had been praying hardcore. I was expectant. To me, this is not just about doing my job and getting interviews and great sound bytes. This is about being able to reach out to people. To bring hope. To be there for people. So after session, I’m walking around interviewing people and Phillip calls me telling me he talking to a girl who was going to commit suicide but after the session she decided not to anymore. So we met up and she’s this really sweet girl. She told me how she was a PK and was always expected to be the “perfect kid” and how she was so miserable and wanted to commit suicide and tonight everything changed. After seeing the drama and hearing Ron speak she recommitted her life. Afterwards I asked her if I could pray with her and she said, “yes!” And so I grabbed her hand and was able to pray and minister to her and it was so good to see God working in her life. It’s stuff like this that makes it ALL worth it to me. Even if it’s just one person who is affected. Being able to see this girl’s life changed made it all worth it.
Afterwards, I kept walking around the concourse. I had prayed that I would be very sensitive to God and who he wanted me to talk to. And as I was walking I felt drawn to this one woman. She was smiling. I think she said something to me and then I asked her if I could ask her a few questions about ATF. She was very willing. As she began telling me about the session she started tearing up. She told me how she recommitted her life to Christ. And she started telling me about some of her struggles. After we were finished I asked her I if could pray with her and she said yes. And I just began to speak truth into her life. God told me some things and I prayed them over her and when I opened my eyes after we finished she had tears streaming down her face and she thanked me. She told me how what I said made her week and that people had said some of those things to her. And she started going into depth about some of the things her family was going through and I was able to speak hope to her. She was encouraged.
Once again, this makes it all worth it.
I am amazed at the faithfulness of my God. How he uses me to bring hope to others and at the same time increasing my faith. It was a great weekend.
On Saturday, it began to snow. And it did not stop for a long time. The governor declared a state of emergency on Virginia. Now, let me explain a few things to you. Virginia rarely gets snow. And by rarely I mean like twice a year. They are not prepared for the storms like the one that hit on Saturday in any way. They don’t have nearly enough equipment to take care of all the snow that was coming down. When the last storm hit in December, the city of Richmond shut down for three days! So, we get between 12-18 inches of snow. The event ended at noon. And I went outside and rolled around in the snow because I was so happy to see snow again. There was a lot of snow. And so when we were all done with load out and ready to leave we were told we would be staying at a local church about twenty minutes away. Ends up no one could get out to open the church so we were going to drive to a truck stop and sleep on the bus there. I fell asleep on the bus (as usual) and completely missed us getting stuck and then someone woke me up because Phillip wanted to me record him outside trying to get the bus unstuck. So I went outside and see the bus tracks that went up a hill through two feet of fresh snow. No wonder we got stuck. There was also another car that was stuck and abandoned. So after being stuck for 45 minutes or so we finally got out. I would like to say this was a beautiful experience, and yes it was a great bonding experience but during this time I had to go to the bathroom. I have never had to go the bathroom as badly as I did that night. So, we get unstuck and then we make a few turns and low and behold we get stuck again! I still have to go to the bathroom and am seriously starting to consider going somewhere unseen by the world in the 2-3 feet of snow. And so the police actually end up showing up and watch us. And so when we finally get unstuck for the second time they (one in front, one in back) escort us to the highway and see us off. And we drive to the truck stop and sleep there for the night. And it was a great bonding experience for everyone on the bus. We experienced a trip like no other. This one will go down in the history books. And we left late morning because we were waiting for some people and it was a beautiful day. I walked outside in my Canada hoodie and my life felt complete. The sun was out, there was lots of snow and I was happy. So all in all this week was trying and challenging, rewarding and satisfying. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
In the last two weeks I have been in Houston, TX and Richmond, VA doing camera for ATF. Some of the best times since being in Texas so far.
Let me set this up a bit first. The months leading up to Christmas I had been working towards becoming a producer. But I was not sure what exactly I wanted to do, I wanted to learn it all. It was during my break that I really took some time aside to think about what God had been telling me about my future and where I need to start focusing on. And after praying about it, I felt like camera and editing was where I needed to start focusing on. So when I came back from break, another DP left and I knew that God had provided me with an opportunity and I ran with it and I went to Doug and told him I want to learn camera (I plan on learning editing during spare time). And to make a long story short I am in a trial period where I am learning everything I can and proving to him how much I want it and how good I can be. Here’s the cool thing. This was about three weeks ago and since then I have been to two ATF’s since starting. I got to go to Houston, TX (last week), and a few days later I found myself in a bus on my way to Richmond, VA (this past weekend).
Before I go into my experiences, I want to say how important I have found the process of communication to be. I went to Doug and told him what I wanted to do. A few days before the Houston event I was talking to one of my friends about how I would love to do ENG crews. ENG stands for Electronic News-Gathering. It usually consists of a three man crew and has someone doing Audio, another camera, and another is a producer, who asks the questions, etc. And my friend tells me that I should tell my manager or supervisor so that they know. This conversation was happening on a Tuesday and I was pretty sure it was too late but I went to talk to one of my supervisors and I let him know that I was interested in doing ENG for Houston or any future event and I let him know the benefits to being able to develop both my camera and producing skills. And the next day I was called into the office and found out I was going to Houston the next day! Communication is key. Let people know what you want to do. One of the biggest things I’ve learned since being here is learning to be in constant communication because a lot of the time people need to know what you are thinking or they can take things the wrong way or misunderstand.
Anyways.
Houston, Texas.
It was a Wednesday I got told that I, along with two others would be going to Houston with Jared, the Director of Photography (DP) to Houston to be trained in camera. We are the three that will be travelling to the ATF’s for the spring tour I believe. So I get to Houston with Swat & Support and we (Logan, Josua, and I) spend the majority of the day getting interviews of the Ministry Team and School of Worship and broll of people getting set up. Evening rolls up and we go outside and start talking to people, getting some group interviews. And so starts a weekend of lots of conversations, practice, and fun. I say this without hesitation: that weekend has been one of my favorite since getting here. I prayed a lot for the event before. I asked God for conversations, opportunities to minister, for great content, for favor. And I can say that God has been so faithful! I got lots of great content out of people while producing and I really enjoyed being able to be on camera. There was one girl who shared her story with us about how she had been beat and raped by a father figure and has been with lots of guys and on Friday night she really realized God’s love for her and that his love is enough. Abi and I got a chance to pray for her after. It was one of my favorite moments. We got a chance to see the drama Friday night and it was one of Ministry Team’s best performances yet. I also got to see most of Lecrae and TFK on Saturday. I love the atmosphere of MT. It has such a family feel to it. And I love the meals. I had coke all weekend and it was amazing! We finished load out and had a team meeting and were on the bus by 2am and I had a few hours of uneasy sleep. I had only had about 12 hours of sleep since the Wednesday. (That’s like out of 97 hours) Then I went to bed at like 7:30am till 2am. It was great.
Richmond, Virginia
It was Tuesday at around 5pm. I went to my supervisor’s desk and I was talking to her and she lets it slip that I’m going to Richmond. And that the bus was leaving at 1am. That night. Now, I am excited that I get to be travelling to ATF’s, but the only one that I did not really want to go to was Richmond. I had just gotten back from Houston. Two of my friends were having their birthday, I was going out with a friend, and my supervisor’s last day was on Friday and then she was leaving forever. Over the past two months I have gotten closer to my supervisor and it has been pretty hard dealing with the fact that she was leaving. But I had all week to prepare myself for her departure. Until I got told I would be leaving in a few hours and then I realized that I wouldn’t be seeing her anymore and that was a bit difficult to deal with. So I get on the bus with Phillip (a new January who was going to do texting for the event) and a bus full of interns from the Honor Academy who I did not know. And let’s just say I was awake for probably 2 or 3 hours at the most out of our 26 hour trip. I don’t know what it is but I sleep like a baby on road trips. I sleep all night, and then I sleep all day. It’s wonderful. I don’t really know anyone but over the course of the weekend I get to know the majority of the people on the bus and it’s great. We get to Richmond on Thursday morning and help load in all day. Then we go to our host homes. Wilma, was the name of the lady who we stayed with. She’s from Brazil and she always smiles. Her family has a beautiful home and they were incredibly generous. Giving us lots of food, and they even made us some amazing Brazilian food. And I got my own room and bed and it was one of the most wonderful nights of my sleeping life. So fast forward to Friday night, Doug is at the Richmond event and I am supposed to be shooting Ron Luce for something and then he lets me know that I will be shooting a promo as well. Now the funny thing is that two weeks ago I was the PA (Producer Assistant) on this very shoot and now I am the DP on it. So I meet Ron Luce, he asks me what my name is and is really nice and since I am holding the camera in my right hand I give him an awkward left hand shake and I’m praying that I don’t screw this up, and that the audio is fine (which is did end up being thank God) and I shoot it and he thanks me and it was great. I’m hoping my boss thinks so too. Oh, in case you guys don’t know. Ron Luce is the founder and president of Teen Mania. He’s also one of the main speakers at the ATF events. After that, I go out to do my job as ENG and I interview a few people before the event but the interesting thing is as soon as the event is going on people are not in the concourse which is great, but that means I don’t get as many interviews. People didn’t have much to say before so knew I really had to step up my game during the fifteen minute breaks. I must admit though, that I was feeling a bit discouraged and worried because before the event started I was only getting “shallow” interviews. Last week was great and then I was getting nothing. So before the event started I had been praying hardcore. I was expectant. To me, this is not just about doing my job and getting interviews and great sound bytes. This is about being able to reach out to people. To bring hope. To be there for people. So after session, I’m walking around interviewing people and Phillip calls me telling me he talking to a girl who was going to commit suicide but after the session she decided not to anymore. So we met up and she’s this really sweet girl. She told me how she was a PK and was always expected to be the “perfect kid” and how she was so miserable and wanted to commit suicide and tonight everything changed. After seeing the drama and hearing Ron speak she recommitted her life. Afterwards I asked her if I could pray with her and she said, “yes!” And so I grabbed her hand and was able to pray and minister to her and it was so good to see God working in her life. It’s stuff like this that makes it ALL worth it to me. Even if it’s just one person who is affected. Being able to see this girl’s life changed made it all worth it.
Afterwards, I kept walking around the concourse. I had prayed that I would be very sensitive to God and who he wanted me to talk to. And as I was walking I felt drawn to this one woman. She was smiling. I think she said something to me and then I asked her if I could ask her a few questions about ATF. She was very willing. As she began telling me about the session she started tearing up. She told me how she recommitted her life to Christ. And she started telling me about some of her struggles. After we were finished I asked her I if could pray with her and she said yes. And I just began to speak truth into her life. God told me some things and I prayed them over her and when I opened my eyes after we finished she had tears streaming down her face and she thanked me. She told me how what I said made her week and that people had said some of those things to her. And she started going into depth about some of the things her family was going through and I was able to speak hope to her. She was encouraged.
Once again, this makes it all worth it.
I am amazed at the faithfulness of my God. How he uses me to bring hope to others and at the same time increasing my faith. It was a great weekend.
On Saturday, it began to snow. And it did not stop for a long time. The governor declared a state of emergency on Virginia. Now, let me explain a few things to you. Virginia rarely gets snow. And by rarely I mean like twice a year. They are not prepared for the storms like the one that hit on Saturday in any way. They don’t have nearly enough equipment to take care of all the snow that was coming down. When the last storm hit in December, the city of Richmond shut down for three days! So, we get between 12-18 inches of snow. The event ended at noon. And I went outside and rolled around in the snow because I was so happy to see snow again. There was a lot of snow. And so when we were all done with load out and ready to leave we were told we would be staying at a local church about twenty minutes away. Ends up no one could get out to open the church so we were going to drive to a truck stop and sleep on the bus there. I fell asleep on the bus (as usual) and completely missed us getting stuck and then someone woke me up because Phillip wanted to me record him outside trying to get the bus unstuck. So I went outside and see the bus tracks that went up a hill through two feet of fresh snow. No wonder we got stuck. There was also another car that was stuck and abandoned. So after being stuck for 45 minutes or so we finally got out. I would like to say this was a beautiful experience, and yes it was a great bonding experience but during this time I had to go to the bathroom. I have never had to go the bathroom as badly as I did that night. So, we get unstuck and then we make a few turns and low and behold we get stuck again! I still have to go to the bathroom and am seriously starting to consider going somewhere unseen by the world in the 2-3 feet of snow. And so the police actually end up showing up and watch us. And so when we finally get unstuck for the second time they (one in front, one in back) escort us to the highway and see us off. And we drive to the truck stop and sleep there for the night. And it was a great bonding experience for everyone on the bus. We experienced a trip like no other. This one will go down in the history books. And we left late morning because we were waiting for some people and it was a beautiful day. I walked outside in my Canada hoodie and my life felt complete. The sun was out, there was lots of snow and I was happy. So all in all this week was trying and challenging, rewarding and satisfying. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Mondays
Good morning!
I have decided that I like Monday mornings. Well, After waking up at 4:30am and working out. This morning we had "test outs" which means that I have to run two miles in under twenty-two minutes. To help you understand. I have run one full mile in one "sitting" (if that's how it's said) since coming back and I haven't really worked out in like two months.
BUT nothing has inspired me more than one thing. If I don't run this thing in twenty-two minutes then I have to join a club. The "Fit For Life" club. And in addition to waking up on Mondays at 4:30 I would have to wake up on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday to do the same thing. The thought alone is enough to make me ten miles...maybe.
The whole dying to self, and not letting your "flesh" desires get in the way really comes into play during a run. I think I may have to do it more often just so I can let my body know that it doesn't run my life!
Anyways, to finish my thought on why I like Mondays. Especially this particular Monday. I now have Worldview class with David Hasz and I love it so far! It's one of those classes that really makes you think about what you believe and why you believe what you believe. I love it! And then what made today so great was that my friend Heather made me the best grill cheese ever. I love grill cheese!
And to top it off it got up to 19°C today. With no humidity. Can't get much better than that!
My weekend was interesting. On Friday during the day I was told that I'd be doing Quality Control for ATF TV (which means I have to watch the episode a billion times to make sure there are no mistakes and then there is always something that happens that requires me to wait longer) so there goes my Friday night. Not a huge deal, I like CCM on Friday nights. They are my favorite, and I usually have to wait so I can just talk to people. Anyways, in the afternoon I get told that we'll be pulling an all-nighter because of some things that happened and so what happens is that I stay up till 10am, (having a few naps in between) the next morning and then I sleep till 5pm. With a little break in between where I stumble out of bed and walk to the caf and grab food and then go back to bed and eat my chick-fil-a and then pass out. And then I go eat supper with my friend Danielle and then we go hang out in her bunk till 9pm or so and then I go to bed and sleep for ten hours. So I basically sleep 20 hours on Saturday..pretty much all in a row. But I was probably up for 36 before that. Talk about balance. But I love it!
I have decided that I like Monday mornings. Well, After waking up at 4:30am and working out. This morning we had "test outs" which means that I have to run two miles in under twenty-two minutes. To help you understand. I have run one full mile in one "sitting" (if that's how it's said) since coming back and I haven't really worked out in like two months.
BUT nothing has inspired me more than one thing. If I don't run this thing in twenty-two minutes then I have to join a club. The "Fit For Life" club. And in addition to waking up on Mondays at 4:30 I would have to wake up on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday to do the same thing. The thought alone is enough to make me ten miles...maybe.
The whole dying to self, and not letting your "flesh" desires get in the way really comes into play during a run. I think I may have to do it more often just so I can let my body know that it doesn't run my life!
Anyways, to finish my thought on why I like Mondays. Especially this particular Monday. I now have Worldview class with David Hasz and I love it so far! It's one of those classes that really makes you think about what you believe and why you believe what you believe. I love it! And then what made today so great was that my friend Heather made me the best grill cheese ever. I love grill cheese!
And to top it off it got up to 19°C today. With no humidity. Can't get much better than that!
My weekend was interesting. On Friday during the day I was told that I'd be doing Quality Control for ATF TV (which means I have to watch the episode a billion times to make sure there are no mistakes and then there is always something that happens that requires me to wait longer) so there goes my Friday night. Not a huge deal, I like CCM on Friday nights. They are my favorite, and I usually have to wait so I can just talk to people. Anyways, in the afternoon I get told that we'll be pulling an all-nighter because of some things that happened and so what happens is that I stay up till 10am, (having a few naps in between) the next morning and then I sleep till 5pm. With a little break in between where I stumble out of bed and walk to the caf and grab food and then go back to bed and eat my chick-fil-a and then pass out. And then I go eat supper with my friend Danielle and then we go hang out in her bunk till 9pm or so and then I go to bed and sleep for ten hours. So I basically sleep 20 hours on Saturday..pretty much all in a row. But I was probably up for 36 before that. Talk about balance. But I love it!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
New January Class
Yesterday the new January class arrived. It reminded me of when I first came and the feelings associated with that. I know the first few weeks can be difficult. Especially if you're moving away from home for the first time. But no matter how hard it gets, the growth is so rewarding. And to be quite honest, I would not change my time here for anything. For a few reasons. Because I know God called me to be here. And because I've made some of the greatest friends I could ask for. I am doing what I love. And I have grown and matured in so many ways. Something that could not have happened if I didn't come here. I'm actually almost done writing a blog that I will be posting at www.ihavezeal.wordpess.com soon. It's about why leaving and change is necessary.
Today began the first of many (a few weeks really) mornings where we have to wake up at 5:30am, next week 4:30am to workout. I do not necessarily like working out, but I enjoy the effects of working out. I know it's been a lot easier getting up than the first week I was here, so that's been nice. When I'm on campus I wake up early anyway. It's called discipline. Something I've grown to appreciate. As far as the new girls go. I have one from Minnesota in my room. Another one from Missouri might be coming in a few days. And then there are two sisters from Colorado in the other room.
Anyways, gotta go eat supper.
Have a great night.
Today began the first of many (a few weeks really) mornings where we have to wake up at 5:30am, next week 4:30am to workout. I do not necessarily like working out, but I enjoy the effects of working out. I know it's been a lot easier getting up than the first week I was here, so that's been nice. When I'm on campus I wake up early anyway. It's called discipline. Something I've grown to appreciate. As far as the new girls go. I have one from Minnesota in my room. Another one from Missouri might be coming in a few days. And then there are two sisters from Colorado in the other room.
Anyways, gotta go eat supper.
Have a great night.
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