March 2017 - Life Update!

Hello my sisters and brothers in Christ!

I pray you and yours are doing well. I have been very busy with work and just life in general, but I give God all the glory. 2017 has been very adventurous so far and I'm doing my best to keep up with it - I hope. The month of February involved a lot of traveling for work and going to a lot of new places. Upon returning from Maryland over the holidays, I started attending a new Church. As I had mentioned some months ago since I moved to Nevada, I had been prayerful about being planted in a Church home as well as serving in whatever ministry God leads me to. So far I've been blessed at the new Church I've been attending in town - worship is great, the Word is spirit-filled, and the people are loving. But due to my busy travel schedule for work over the past couple months, I missed several services on Sundays and opportunities to be poured into spiritually but I still love the Lord and talk with Him. I'll post an upcoming blog about where I have been with my walk with God. God has remained faithful and I'm never letting go of my Jesus but I will be honest and say that this second year has been tough and I have really been struggling. So what have I been up since my last post? Get a little glimpse of my life over the past couple months.

In the past couple months, I moved to a new house as well as moved to a new building for work. The photo above was my final photo in the last office, and I miss my office space already but I'm sure I'll adjust to my cubicle space in the new office building.

Jesus' Girl
After Sunday Service

One Saturday afternoon in late January, I volunteered with a new organization started by Jennifer Morreale called Days for Girls. This first gathering of the group involved sewing kits that'll be given to girls in India, Cambodia, and Nepal. How awesome to know that our little towns of Spring Creek/Elko in Nevada is doing good for girls in other little towns in Asia and hopefully Africa soon. Since I'm a boss at ironing, that was my task for the event. Days for Girls International empowers girls and women around the globe by providing sustainable feminine hygiene solutions and health education. I look forward to working with the amazing women in this group and see the amazing things God does in our endeavors for these girls/women worldwide.

Later that same day, in honor of it being Chinese New Year, my friend Pei-Wen taught me how to make dumplings. It was really cool to learn how to make healthy dumplings from scratch and by boiling rather than pan fry. I enjoy hanging out with her because she's originally from Georgia and moved to little ol' Spring Creek 5 years ago, so we got to bond over our east coast memories. As some of you may know I'm a proud Virginia Tech Hokie, she and her husband attended the other Tech (GA Tech).

In late January, I went ice fishing with some folks. I drilled 2 holes with the auger behind me for the first time, even though I almost got sucked in when I reached below the ice. Unfortunately we didn't catch any trout but we had a blast chatting and eating sausages for lunch while out there. I guess the fish weren't hungry for the worms we used as bait. It was -9 degrees, so I had on 2 winter jackets and a total of 5 layers for my upper body. Legs were sufficient with 2 layers plus my smart wool socks and snow boots. Basically I was 5lbs heavier to conquer this cold! Hand warmers inside my ski gloves came in handy towards the end.

Doing inspections at a mill that's currently being demolished, one of the reclamation stages of a mine. Most of the major equipment had already been taken out, such as the crushers and ball mills. The mill was used for the material taken from what used to be an underground silver mine that was in production in the 80s-90s. The drivers for the contractor doing the demolition teased me for wearing my PPE on the site and saying I'm making them look bad. My mentality is: do the right thing even when no one is watching (integrity) or pictures aren't being taken. I'm a mining engineer that puts safety first!

Wild Wild West

When home is now cowboy country, you get the full experience. The week of February 23rd was the 33rd National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, and I volunteered a couple days for some of the events, as well as attended a few events and dances. Thousands of cowboys from across the country as well as Australia and Canada were in my little ol' town of Elko! How cool wss that! I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I absolutely loved every moment of it. I'm already looking forward to next year's Gathering.

Hey, Cowgirl!

Future NvMA President?

Last month I attended the Elko County Republican Party 2017 Lincoln Day Dinner and Fundraiser with keynote speakers Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt and Elko Commissioner Demar Dahl. It was wonderful to get to meet my Nevada representatives from local to federal level like Senior Senator Dean Heller in person. Also, I won an oil change from the raffle drawing - first time winning from a raffle!

Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt

Out on the field doing inspections with my career mentor in white hard hat (mining engineer), supervisor in black jacket (geologist), and coworker (geologist). So grateful to work and learn together with these folks for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest minerals and geology team!

With my crazy travel schedule for work, it's tough for me to eat healthily since I don't have the option to cook and prepare my own meals. However, I'm thankful for the gym in hotels so I can stay fit and healthy.

Gun-loving, coffee-drinking, coal-supporting American Mining Engineer

Few weeks ago while driving to a meeting regarding a mining project in Bridgeport (California), I pulled over to enjoy the view in this cute little town of Bridgeport in photo below; a little bit of the Sawtooth Mountains can be seen as well. This happened to have been International Women's Day. The theme for this year's IWDay was "Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030." To be a woman in the mining industry, an industry comprised predominantly of men, I enjoy being a mining engineer and I'm thankful for God's grace and the strides made by women who have come before me in this industry, STEM, and all works of life. On that day and always, I salute all the women of this world and pray God uses you in your areas of influence - home, work, and/community.

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:9-12

God bless you.

Jesus loves you.

Restored woman living for God's Glory,

Ruby B. Johnson.

Have you given your heart to God? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal savior? If you die today, will you make it to Heaven? If no or you are unsure, do not waste any more time and receive salvation now.