Gout medicines: once upon a time, 15 rather wonderful people piled into 2 large vans for a 20 hour drive and a 1 week trip to a gloriously mountain-filled land called Laramie, Wyoming…

And what an amazing trip we had! We all took turns driving through the night and “shot-gunning” to keep the drivers awake.I took one 2 1/2 hour shift towards the end of the trip, and all was going well until I suddenly had to slow down for a construction site and nearly gave all of my passengers whip lash! At a few of our stops, we got out and threw around a football and frisbee.Many hours of good conversations (and very few of sleep!) were had throughout the drive.

When we finally arrived on Saturday afternoon, the Hemphills (the pastor and his wife of the church we visited) invited all of us over to their house to watch the Purdue game; gout medicines. Gout medicines: purdue was playing so terribly, and we all were so completely sleep-deprived, that we all fell asleep, sprawled in random places across their living room. Gout medicines: after our little power nap (and the end of the very sad game), we all went to the church building where we were to stay.

After dinner, I called my little sister to wish her a happy birthday.We actually share a birthday (three years apart), and it was already her birthday in Australia, even though mine wasn’t technically until the next day; gout medicines.As I was talking to her, Dave (my pastor) came in and took my arm and led me into a room where the lights were off, and everyone was gathered around a lit birthday cake, singing to me! The best part of the super sweet surprise was that they had all written me a birthday card, as well!

On Sunday, we got to meet some of the families in the Laramie RP church; gout medicines. Gout medicines: i think they were very encouraged to have their church building a lot more full than usual, with all of us attending.They had a lunch for us gout medicines, and in the afternoon, they took us on a walk to show us around a bit.In the evening, we shared about the Purdue CORPS ministry, and it was so encouraging to talk about the things God has done and is doing through Purdue CORPS.

Monday morning brought our first talk from Dave on the theme of leadership – gout medicines. Gout medicines: in the afternoon, we all got to go snowshoeing! Yes, with real live snowshoes! We trekked through the mountains for about an hour, occasionally falling into piles of deep snow and enjoying the magnificent sunshine and scenery! After dinner, we got to go to a really old gym where our guys played basketball against a bunch of Hispanic guys.Back at the church, the guys took turns playing some very intense games of ping pong, and some of us tried a few piano duets.

We had another part of our leadership conference on Tuesday morning and then went shopping in a little town in Colorado – gout medicines.The only things really worth buying there (at least in my opinion) were ice cream and post cards.On our way back, we stopped by the side of a mountain and did some exploring; gout medicines.Some of us braved an icy river to cross over to a huge hill to hike.Everything around us was just gorgeous.

Wednesday and Thursday were our skiing days. For the record, skiing in the mountains is about one million times more exciting than skiing anywhere around here! On the first day, none of us wore sunscreen and got positively fried – gout medicines.We got to stay at this amazing little western-style hotel in a town with a population of 100 – gout medicines.  Gout medicines: i didn’t fall at all on my first day, but on the second day, I started the day with falling at the end of a ski slope for no apparent reason.One of my friends convinced me to try a super steep hill, which, of course, made me fall again – gout medicines.My friend then proceeded to take off his skis and trek back up the mountain to help me up!

We ended up having to leave on Thursday night instead of on Friday gout medicines, like we’d originally planned, in order to miss an incoming snow storm.The drive home was equally amazing, filled with life stories, deep and meaningful conversations, and very little sleep.

I’m so thankful I was able to go and experience the wonder of being surrounded by magnificent mountains, meeting new people, strengthening friendships, and taking a break from “normal life”.

And now it’s time to get back into school mode.. – gout medicines.