Here I Am!

Picture 1: Mom, Shira, Vicki, and I at the Seabiscuit
Picture 2: The Grand Hotel
Picture 3: My mom and I at the porch of the Grand Hotel
Picture 4: Awesome view of Little Stone Congregational Church from a peep hole at the Fort.
Picture 5: My store, Nephews, under the Main Street Inn and Suites
Picture 6: Amazing view from Arch Rock

Well it's day 4 here on the Island and I am LOVING it! A lot has happened since I stepped off that boat, so let me fill you in.

My mom and her friends, Shira and Vicki, and I drove up to St. Ignace, Michigan on Monday. It was an amazing trip. 7 hours have never flown by so fast. We even had to drive over the Mackinac Bridge (which was a little scary, I must admit). For those of you who don't know why this should scare me, it's a suspension bridge that spans 5 miles from shore to shore. Since we got there so fast, we caught the 2:00pm ferry and were on our way to the island. The first views were incredible and took me back 12 years to when I saw it the first time. I'd forgotten just how impressive it is when you see it for the first time.

When we got on the island, Kate, the girl I'm working for at Nephew's was there to meet me with carts. While my mom and her friends went to check in at their hotel, Kate took me and my things to my apartment. I live in a place called the Millennium. It's nice employee housing on the main street but down a ways from the hustle and bustle of the "downtown". Right now I have a 2 bedroom apartment all to myself! (So anyone who wants to come fill the other room, be my guest!) A Jamaican girl named Kadeen is supposed to be coming to fill that open spot in the next couple weeks, and in June or July, another girl named Anna is going to be living here, too. So at some point there will be 3 of us living here. The apartment is pretty spacious so that's awesome. I'm getting new carpet installed tomorrow (I hope). They've been working on it for 2 days while I've been at work, so hopefully the 3rd day's the charm.

While my mom and her friends were here, we ate at a couple different restaurants, of which Seabiscuit was our favorite. Mom, Shira, and Vicki made friends with the owner and got him to open up his restaurant a day early just for them so they could eat there (or so he said haha). In between eating, we walked and walked and walked over this whole island. Well, not the whole thing, but it certainly feels like it. We walked a lot. Things we did include: walking up to Arch Rock which is where some of you got the text message with the amazing lake-view, walking around the Grand Hotel at least 4 times and finally on the 4th time getting up on the porch and not paying the admission that everyone else will pay in the summer to do the exact same thing since the hotel is still closed, sneaking around the back of Fort Mackinac and going into the fort, again, without paying the admission that people will pay this summer because right now it's closed (who knew my mom was such a rule-breaker?). And we did more walking and walking and walking.

On Wednesday morning, mom, Shira, and Vicki left on the 8:15am ferry. That was hard, but no one cried, so that was good. It helped a lot that I started work that day, too.

I go in to work at 8:30am until 5:00pm. Right now, we've just been cleaning the shelves and sorting and pricing new clothes. I'm enjoying it but I think I'll enjoy it more once the cleaning is done and we can start putting up displays.

After work today I went for a walk. It was about 65 degrees today when I got out so I didn't even need to wear a coat. What a blessing! I tell you, the views of the water are breath-taking. Seriously just another reminder of how awesome God is and how creative he has been with his creation.

I also got my P.O. box set up, so please please please send me mail! Or give me a call or text or facebook message. I'd love to hear how everything is going back home with you or where ever you are. My address is:
Jenna Yabsley
P.O. Box 235
Mackinac Island, MI 49757-0235

Things you can pray for:
1. To meet new friends my age that I can spend my free time with.
2. The girls at the store that we can build solid relationships and we can share Jesus together.
3. That I won't get lonely being away from home and family and friends for such a long time.
4. That my relationship with Christ would grow all the more because of this experience on the Island.

How can I pray for you? Let me know anytime, I'd love to pray for you.