Day 1 of the Young Adult Festival in Anaheim, CA

Brian Freese and I were lucky enough to get to participate in the Young Adult Festival at General Convention this year. Brian met me at my house at 7:45 and we left about 8 am. Pat drove us to the airport and we were really early. We ended up running in to Heather Mills who I know from the Vocare community. We talked with her before getting on the plane. The ride was pretty smooth, but long. I slept about the first 40 minutes, and then woke up to a crying baby who stayed that way for the next 4 hours. It was not a lot of fun, but the baby came up by me a couple of times and I played and made faces at him to get him to be quiet a couple of times.

When we got to John Wayne Airport, we caught our shuttle to the hotel. In the van we met a girl from Oregon who was not Episcopalian, but was going to meet her mom at the Marriott. Her mom is a deputy and she and her sister were coming down to keep her company. She works for Nike as a forecaster which of course I found very interesting given my background. I am always fascinated at how small the Episcopal community is. It seems like it would be such a small place, but it is very incestuous.

We got to the hotel and checked in. My roommate is on the planning team and I really like her. I got up to the room and started ironing my plethora of clothing for the week. I did notice when I checked in that I didn't know very many people here. I really miss some of my friends like Stephen, Will, and Rachel. I am very happy that Rachel is at convention though. I hope to see her tomorrow.

Brian and I went and got some food at the AWESOME Mexican fast food type place. It is better than Willy's which is a great honor for me to bestow. I wish we had one in Atlanta. I had a burrito, black beans, and a Dr. Pepper. We walked back to the hotel and Brian went to take a nap. I went upstairs and showered before heading downstairs for the meet and greet.

When I got downstairs, I ran in to Matt Scully, who is was a great friend of mine from Kanuga. We have not seen each other in at least 12 years, so it was super cool to see him again and meet his wife. We are Facebook friends, but that isn't nearly as great as catching up in person. I met a bunch of new people and said hello to some old acquaintances: Randall and Molly from Arkansas, David Sibley from Upper SC, Ewart from Texas, Carlton from Cali, Patricia from Kentucky, and few others.

We had a wonderful Compline with James and Kevin who are from the Diocese of Texas, and are wonderful musicians. They play the guitar and a bunch of types of drums. I am a huge fan of precussion so I really enjoy it when they do the music. After Compline, Mary Getz from the EPPN came in to debrief us on how convention is going so far and what is coming up tomorrow. Apparently she will be doing that every night which is super cool. There are some young adults from the Episcopal Church of Scotland that I have yet to talk to, but would love to make pen pals with.

After the debrief, Ewart, Patricia, Lem and I went to grab a beer. I ended up spending the whole time talking about our Diocese and some of the struggles I have with my job. It was really embarrassing that I monopolized the conversation so much, that when we left, I came straight to the room and let them get away from me. When I got back the room was empty, but eventually Wendy came back and we talked for an hour and a half about gangs, the over sexualization of women, the nature of women to hurt each other, cultural differences, and how she became a member of the Episcopal Church. She lives is Houston and is a first generation Mexican in her family along with her three older brothers. I like her a lot. We have a lot in common.

It is around 1 am here now, which is 4 am in Atlanta. I am getting up in about 5 hours to go to the convention floor and am really nervous about what I will find. I think that this experience will be very eye opening for me. I am nervous that the Episcopal Church will let me down when I really see how we work together. I am afraid that it will effect my relationship with this wonderful passion I have for advocating our place in the Christian world. I am hopeful that I will come away from this experience with a better understanding of the Communion and why it is necessary in the web of the Episcopate. I hope that I will better understand our future and who we think we are in the now.

Hopefully talk to you tomorrow,
Lauren