It's all over.

Where do I begin? Today was graduation day.  As I said in my last post I had the honor of being emcee, or "ameridictorian" as my friends called it, for the ceremony.  This is my speech I submitted to get chosen to speak...I read the last paragraph.

Ever since I can remember leadership and service have remained a prominent event in my life.  Leading others takes a certain kind of person.  Before AmeriCorps, leadership to me meant showing people the way.  After meeting my team leader I have learned that leadership is more leading by doing.  People follow by watching someone they emulate.  I look up to my team leader more than she will ever know and from her, I have learned that leadership is not just showing a team how to run it.  Leadership digs deep into the surface of the word lead.  I feel leadership is showing others the proper way.  My team leader has taught me this simply by being the leader that she is daily. 

When I wake up for a day of service I think of, “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” I risked leaving my home, job, and the known to come to a life of the unknown.  I feel as though service is the same concept.  Daily our job consists of waking up, greeting people of communities, and simply serving them.  Service makes me feel like my life is complete.  Daily we take part in some aspect of service through our work.  Service gives me a feeling of accomplishment.  It is important for everyone, young and old, take part in service throughout their lives because giving back to others is the ultimate way of showing appreciation for the next person.  People never really know what they are capable of doing in any aspect of life if you sit and let life pass you by.  It is imperative, in this program especially, that we all risk going too far to see how far we actually can go.

It is hard to put into words exactly what the experience in NCCC has been like.  The only couple of words that I can possibly think of would be, life changing.  We started on February 27^th where we entered a world that immediately I thought was MTV's the real world.  We were strangers, picked to be in a program where people stop living their real life and start living in the ameriworld a world where real clothes were a thing of the past and khaki and gray or green became something you wore and wore it looking good daily.  Training could not have prepared us for what we were about to embark upon for the whole experience.  Once in our permanent teams we set out for our spikes.  Each day we were faced with adversity and we persevered.  Our team became a family, a family that nobody else in the world would understand why.  Spending each day together, working, eating, laughing, cooking, and dancing are experiences that cannot even be explained.  You wouldn’t get half of the stuff each collective team went through unless you were on the team.  I am forever changed because of the 8 members of my team, other team members, other team leaders, and our staff.   This program has taught me that when you think that you can’t, you can and you realize you can because of your teammates.  This program has taught me that no matter what is going on in your life, you will survive with the help of your team.  This program has taught me that friendship goes beyond Massachusetts.  Friendship is now in Ohio, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Delaware and every other state in the country.  Most importantly, this program has taught me that you have a family you are born into and a family you create for yourself.  I can honestly say that I come from a large family, but now it has significantly grown because of this program.   I would not change this experience, every tear, every laugh, every terrible singing and dancing session in the van, every fight, every ISP, every home gutted, every trail blazed, every ride with Roe, every tire slashed, every glass block installed, every WPR, every piece of drywall installed, every sleeping situation and everyday with my team and others for anything.  How do you sum up what I have experienced in NCCC into words? You can’t, you have to live it to understand

I was so happy I got to address the Corps as emcee for the ceremony.  It meant the world to me. 

I have met some of the most amazing people in the last 10 months.  I am forever changed by each and every person I have met in the last 10 months.  I am so grateful I have a supportive family that allowed me to leave a full time job and making money to be in a national community service volunteer program.  I am so thankful for my best friends, 5 girls I can now NEVER live without.  I am thankful for my team and the year we had together.  The members of River Ten will forever hold a place in my heart. 

Tonight is the last night in Vicksburg, our little community.  I remember the night before I left we all googled Vicksburg and I was more nervous because of what I saw, different things than Burlington.  Weird.  Now, I am in love with our little city.  The sunsets, the Mississippi river, highway 61 coffee, The Tomato Place, Biscuit Company, Duffs, Roe's Cab service, and especially the Southern Region Campus.  You can't really explain this to anyone.  I love the south and I am moving the second I get somewhere down here. 

As I reflect on the last 10 months I am realizing I am totally different than I was in February.  I am happier, more open minded, more skilled, and my cooking is at it's prime.  I really am trying my best to think of a good way to sum up what I am feeling and the last 10 months, but I am at a loss for words.  This program has meant the world to me and I am so happy that I joined.  I will forever be an AmeriCorps member, and I will try my hardest to "get things done" even outside of my "A" uniform. 

I am so happy I got to share my journey with all of my readers out there.  I hope a story or two has stuck with you while reading and it has made some sort of impact.  I head to the airport at 4:30am tomorrow and will be in Boston by 4pm, just in time to hop on the ice with the high school team.  For those of you who have read my 10 month journey, thank you.  I enjoyed sharing my thoughts for everyone to read.  Maybe I will continue writing, who knows.  I am going to end this post with a quote that was read at graduation, but is one of my absolute favorites.  I thought about it a lot while in the program, and it has helped me through some of my days where I wanted to quit. 

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss

One week left...

I can't even believe this is where I am...I am in Vicksburg for one last time.  We left New York on Monday morning to trek back for a nice 26 hour, 3 day drive.  Before I get to the emotional mushy gushy stuff, there is still some New York to talk about!

One of the best parts of the last 2 weeks had to be the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting.  A few teammates and myself went to see the big 80 foot tree be lit while listening to the live music from Rod Stewart, Cee Lo Green, and Mariah Carey.  I have always watched this on TV and it was awesome to be there for once.

I went home for Thanksgiving and my 5 year reunion for a nice 4 day vacation from the disaster life.  It was the most perfect 4 days.  I slept, saw old classmates, family, and enjoyed not being in New York.  When I got back, our team got switched to bulk distribution.  We now were helping stock up box trucks and Emergency Response Vehicles to provide hot meals to the Rockaways that are STILL without power.  These past two weeks were great.  I worked along side the site manager who was in charge of the food.  I pretty much was his little slave, but he will forever be someone I use as a reference for jobs.  He told me that I was one of the hardest workers he has ever worked with and on my last day got a standing ovation at the staff meeting that we had daily.  I loved the little projects that he had me doing.  This little time with him gave me new insight to the Red Cross.  We ended work on Sunday by out processing from the ARC.  Sam and I used Sunday to walk around the city and see things we hadn't seen yet.  We went to FAO Schwartz, Grand Central Station, and Central Park.  It was kind of the best day ever.  Our team went to the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree to take a nice team picture and then Chris Sam and I went to dinner at a French Steak House.  Holy damn, it was amazing. 

On Monday morning, our team piled into Scooter the 15p one last time to start the trip back to Vicksburg.  We made two stops in Richmond Virginia and Atlanta Georgia.  This ride back was one of the best rides yet.  We all knew that it was our last one, so naturally I made sure everyone knew every 5 minutes how sad I was.  We sang, danced, and fought like we usually did.  It was awesome to get back to campus and see everyone.  I missed my best friends a lot this round and I am so happy that we are back together!  We got to choose our roommates this time, which was great.  Rachel, Margaret, Julia and I have the greatest little room ever.  We have been enjoying our time since we got back on Wednesday.  Not too many tears yet.

This week is our last week in AmeriCorps.  I can hardly wrap my head around this.  I have made some of the best friends ever in this program.  I don't really know what I am going to do not surrounded by my team and friends daily anymore.  Wednesday and Thursday are our final days in AmeriCorps.  Wednesday we have our banquet and Thursday we have graduation.  I have been chosen to be the emcee of graduation Thursday so I have some speech writing to do in the next few days.  Pretty excited about that.  I don't really know what to think at this point about graduation.  I am nervous for life after AmeriCorps knowing I don't have a job, besides assistant coaching the high school girl's hockey team! I am so excited for that.  But, all in all, I am really sad about this program coming to an end.  I have always said how it has changed my life, and it sure has changed my life.  The experiences have forever changed my life, but more importantly, the people I have met really have left a large imprint on my heart.  This week, I will go on with a heavy heart because of how sad it is that I am leaving, but completing over 2,000 hours of community service and earning a presidential award for community service make it all worth while.  I am excited to be the emcee of graduation or as Julia likes to call it the valedictorian of AmeriCorps.  I am just glad part of my speech I wrote gets to be heard by everyone! 

I will write more during the week, but this is where I am at now.  Thanks for reading!

I am thankful for...

Hello y'all...or since I am in the Northeast, Hello you guys.  I am still in New York, in Times Square.  Awesome living conditions for us.  Work is going okay.  We finished our last shelter day about an HOUR AGO! Thank God.  We are happy.  Tomorrow we will be moved to bulk distribution to start delivering supplies to those in need.  I can't wait to see what another sector of Red Cross does for disaster relief. 

We had to say bye to some clients this week who, again, have changed my life.  I met a grandmother, "Mama" and her 5 grandsons that she raises on her own at our first shelter.  These boys are full of life, spunk, and energy.  I loved them.  They got placed in a home this week with Mama and watching them react to the housing decision was awesome.  They at first were so upset because they were leaving us, one actually asked how to join AmeriCorps when he is 18.  They were so down until someone told them their new apartment has a basketball hoop.  Little things in life make people happy is what these boys taught me.  Their grandmother is a saint.  Another couple told me they want to adopt me to make them PB&J everyday.  I was told I make a mean sandwich, I have a gift what can I say.  All of the clients we have met in the shelters are amazing.  I hope they all recover quickly and find a warm home for the holidays.

Since it is Thanksgiving week, I thought I would share what I am thankful for...

I am thankful for:

My mom & dad...they are my rocks.  Without their love and support over the last 10 months, I would not be where I am today.  I loved during training calling in the morning and talking to Dad-Z and I love the inspirational texts I got from the best mom in the world.  I would be lost without these two.

Bobby..There is no way I would have even heard of AmeriCorps without Bobby.  My brother is one of the people in my life I look up to most.  He calls weekly even during his busy schedule to ask how my spike is going, uses the AmeriCorps acronyms that nobody else in the world knows, and is constantly checking up on me.  This Ameriworld is a complicated one and it has helped so much to have a family member know what I am going through.  I am lucky to have such a positive role model in my life.

MaryKathryn...My birthday wouldn't have been the same without my sister.  I am not just thankful she came to visit me, but I am thankful I got to share my life that I am living now with a family member.  I am also thankful for the fact that MaryKarthryn has taught me the true meaning of teaching.  She is an unreal teacher, but she also teaches me about life.  Without an older sister to guide me along some tough roads, I probably wouldn't have survived as well as I have.  I am so lucky to have the support of a sister like I do in MaryKathryn.

Paul...This is Paul's senior year in college and as many of you know has played hockey for the past 3 years at Worcester.  This year he is not because he wasn't happy.  I am thankful that Paul has taught me, without knowing, that if you aren't truly happy and don't do what makes you happy, you ultimately won't be happy.  I am so happy Paul is doing what he wants and is enjoying his last year in college.

Bridget...I am more than thankful for Bridget.  Her curiosity and love for everything I am doing makes me happy everyday.  I joined this program to try to make our country a better one for Bridget to live in.  I hope someday I can share with her in detail my projects and all I have done.  From the day she was born until now she has been the most important person in my life.  I bring her with me everyday in my pocket through a sock of hers I found in my clean laundry and I can't wait to come home and finally see her play hockey.  She makes me happier than anyone in the world and I am so thankful she is my little Mini Me.

River 10...Beste, Sam, Chris, Terrell, David, Johnny and Lannise AND Jamie have changed my life in ways they don't even know.  I have learned so much about people, myself, and our world just from these 7 people.  I am so thankful for this program for bringing these people into my life.  My River 10 family have been the reason why I do what I love everyday and I honestly wouldn't have had the year I have had without them. 

Rachel, Margaret, Julia, Tiffany, and Sam...these 5 girls are 5 of the best people to have ever come into my life.  The past 10 months have been a roller coaster of emotions and without these 5 to go through it all with, I would be in Burlington by now.  I know that I have 5 of the best friends across the country (kind of) now because of them.  I am more than thankful I met them, they have changed my life forever and I wll forever be thankful for AmeriCorps for bringing them into my life.

Jill...I have the best friend in the world.  Jill is the one constant friend in my life that has been there for me through EVERYTHING.  Without her support this year through my journey, I would be lost!  She has been my touch of home daily just by saying hi.  I am so lucky to have a best friend like her that cares so much about what I am doing.

My GF's, haverhill girls, and the suitelife...where would I be without Bridgewater?  all of my gf's are the best!  They know how thankful I am for them and I honestly would be lost without them.  I know I say that about everyone, but these girls are it. 

Alyssa, Julie, Jen, and Amanda...they may be younger than me, but my gangstas are awesome.  I am thankful for their constant friendship and love.  I am lucky to say I have so many groups of friends especially these ones to count on.

My extended family...I have one giant family that I miss a whole lot.  I have heard from a lot of them this past year and I am so thankful for everything everyone has done for me.  I can't wait to see some of you over the holidays!

AmeriCorps & every person I have met this year...this year has changed my life.  I am not the person I was when I started.  I am so happy I joined the program and met everyone I have whether it is fellow Corps Members, Team Leaders, sponsors, people of the communities we have worked in, or a stranger in WalMart.  Everyone has changed me for the better and I will be forever thankful for AmeriCorps.

Last but not least...
Volunteerism...I said this last year in my blog, but without volunteers, the would would not turn.  Volunteerism is so important and I am so happy I chose this path for my life right now.  Volunteering makes me so happy and I can honestly say, I am so happy in my life right now.


I have several other things I am thankful for, but I wanted to highlight my important things in life right now.  I am such a lucky girl to have the life I do.  Everyday I am thankful this is my work and I am serving others.  I have a lot to be thankful for this year. 

Enjoy the turkey, family, friends, and relaxation.  I know I sure will be at 10 Thomas Street with the bread on the table and hoepfully a win from BHS.  Yes, I am going home!  I am thankful for that!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Now where are we...

It has been almost 3 weeks since I last posted, and boy, these 3 weeks have been crazy.  I don't even know where to begin.  We arrived in Albany when I last posted and quite honestly, I wish I could remember everywhere we have been since then.  Until I remember, I will just type some word vomit...
Our first shelter turned out to just be staff.  Terrell, Lannise, and myself were placed together.  We hung out at a shelter with the American Red Cross peeps, getting to know them.  We met some awesome people, especially Morris.  He really took us under his sarcastic a-hole wing.  He told the three of us we reminded him of his grand children and he joked around with us.  We got sent back to our head quarters in Albany after one night there to be placed again.  We took advantage of the hotels, showers, and team time while we could. 

My next shelter was in Deer Park Long Island.  I was put on a team with Liz and Erika from River 8.  We decided since our teams become one, we were now River 18.  The three of us drove down with two really awesome (sarcastic) older men.  We got SO LOST that we ended up in New Jersey.  Yes, New Jersey, 4 hours out of the way.  Our quick 1 hour 30 minute drive turned into FREAKING 10.  At least I had two of the best people I've met in the last ten months with me.  We arrived at the shelter where 115 people were staying.  These people were amazing.  We were at this shelter for about a week.  I met some of the greatest people of Long Island and quickly became attached to them.  One woman in particular had two daughters ages 1.5 and 5 months, she is 22.  She had no power and brought her kids to the shelter to stay warm.  I loved her daughters, Lala  and Nana, were their nicknames.  Lala and I played catch or "ball" everyday and she came to me when she was crying.  One over night shift I had, the mother was falling asleep holding the baby so I offered at 5am to take the baby so she could sleep.  She was laughing, talking, and enjoying 5-6am until she went to sleep again.  Her mother called me her angel, second tears of the disaster deployment.  My first tears came when I met Patrick, an older gentleman at the shelter with his mom.  I got to talking to him because he looked like he needed someone to talk to.  He showed me pictures of his flooded home, his son, boats on his road, his basketball team, and his whole life.  He has been a varsity coach for 28 years and immediately I thought of my own family.  He was describing how he has helped players through tough times with parents, school, deaths, etc. and how now his past players are reaching out to him to help him.  When he started crying, it opened the flood gates for me too.  I couldn't help but think of my own family and how something could happen to us, too.  He was so down to earth and awesome to talk to.  These are just two stories among the two thousand I have heard in the last three weeks.  Over the week we were there, we had zero showers.  Luckily, Long Island residents are unreal. I met two wonderful women that opened their homes for Liz, Erika and I took advantage of that right away.  We met one woman who literally was Aunt Marie with Irish knit sweaters, Irish blessings around her home, and she made us tea!  Little things like a warm towel and tea go a LONG WAY.  Yes, the tea and towel made me cry, too.  Really emotional week.  We got moved from this shelter to another on Wednesday after completing 100 hours of work.

When we moved, we got reunited with most of River 10! We missed each other so much it was like a family reunion.  This shelter was less than good for us.  We were at a college in a gym.  The staff slept on the indoor track above the clients on the gym floor.  We were living, sleeping, and breathing with the clients.  There fore sickness was spreading.  Long story short on this shelter, we left by Friday because we have the world's best Team Leaders ever. 

We got sent back to head quarters this time in Manhattan.  I have never been to NYC so this was awesome for me.  We gave ourselves the weekend off and we got placed in the Paramount Hotel in TIMES FREAKING SQUARE.  I can see the lights of the billboards from my room.  It is insane.  The weekend was spent sleeping, sight seeing, and hanging doing nothing.  I walked to Central Park, Ground Zero, and all NYC tourists sites.  We went to see the sun set on the Hudson River and actually saw the most beautiful sunset on the Statue of Liberty.  Really an American Sunday.  My most independent moment came Sunday before site seeing.  I put my headphones in, googled a laundromat, and walked to find it.  Asked for no directions, and did my laundry.  I felt on top of the world.  Life's little victories.

I feel so blessed to be in New York.  Seeing how bad the damage is first hand really hits me hard.  One of the most incredible places in the world has had its world rocked by a storm.  It is insane.  I have met some unreal people who I will never forget.  I really love AmeriCorps and appreciate the program after these last 3 weeks.  I feel so thankful that I am doing this program and making a difference in at least some people's lives.  I really can't put into words how I feel about being here during this just yet, maybe I can come up with it after this week is completed. 

Today marks 30 days until graduation.  I can't even begin to believe it.  I have met the best friends in the world here and some of the best people in general.  How can something that was so many different emotion be explained, you ask?  Good question..stay tuned for my answer.

I am looking forward to helping more New Yorkers in the upcoming weeks.  I just got home from a 16 hour day to my hotel bed that I am going to crash into.  I miss home like crazy being so close...maybe I will make a trip home soon.  That is all for now from the city that never sleeps...but I for sure do, when I can!  I can now say pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd without getting made fun of, Uncle Joe!  Enjoy that!

Until next time readers...keep NY, NJ, all those touched by Sandy, all AmeriCorps teams, especially River 10 in your thoughts and prayers! 

Where in the world is River 10

So River 10 arried in Virginia last week on Sunday around 4.  We drove 17 hours to get to Great Falls Virginia to work for Living Classrooms of the Nations Capitol Region.  This sponsor is unbelievable.  The classrooms are learning by doing based.  There are three different sections of the classrooms, site based, school based, and shipboard.  The last section has two ships that the organization uses to have classes go on field trips to learn about sea life.  The other parts of the organization are used essentially for science field trips.  The concept of the whole organization is awesome.  Sunday when we arrived, we saw our lodge, which is perfect.  We have 2 fire pits, a fire place, no internet and no TV.  Perfect for me since I love everything it offers.  We met Annie, who lives on site wtih us in her own home.  We got aquainted in our rooms and made a nice fire, or what was supposed to be nice fire, outside. 

Monday and Tuesday were orientation days for the classrooms.  We met the entire staff and got oriented on the organization and what they offer.  It was nice to meet the staff since we will primarily be working only with our housing and not in classrooms.  We got to learn what each staff member does and how they run their respective parts of the LC-NCR.  Monday was ended with our team climbing the rockwall that we have in our backyard so we could see what the kids have to go through.  It was a lot of fun. 
Tuesday we got to visit all 3 sites and we got the best lunch ever.  I got an unreal sandwich which I ate in probably 3 seconds.  It was fun to see a field trip take place at the site based program site.  The kids were hilarious.  Makes me miss subbing!

Wednesday and Thursday we got down to business.  One of our major parts of this project is dealing with debris from the Drecho that hit Virginia in June.  This is just basically, not just but thats the word I chose, it is basically a large wind storm that knocks trees down and creates a pleuthora of debris everywhere.  And when I say pleuthora, I mean a lot.  We collected 1,000+ pounds in these two days.  We were dead Thursday night and we all have bruises to prove it.

Friday we got to participate in Debris Day that LC-NCR hosts for a local elementary school.  Each of us were in charge of a group of kids to help collect trash and recycling from Kingman Island where site based work takes place.  The day was fun and we got to interact with children who were energetic and loving picking up trash, go figure.  You can convince kids to do anything!

This project sounded awesome to us UNTIL good ol Sandy started to climb up the coast.  NOW we are currently in Albany, New York on disaster relief deployment!  Yes, New York, not in our region and 3 hours from home.  I can smell Massachusetts from here...anyway...we are working with Red Cross running shelters in the state of New York.  Today was just our orientation day and we literally just got to the hotel an hour ago.  We started our drive from Virginia at 4:30 this morning drove from Virginia, touched several states along the way and we are just finishing the day now.  My team consists of Lannise, Terrell, and myself and we are placed in Fonda, New York.  I googled it, 3 hours and 40something minutes from 10 Thomas...hint hint...
We will be running a disaster shelter for people of this part of NY and for the first at least 4 days of the storm it is a 24 hour a day operation for us.  Lots of sleepless nights and lots of red bull slash coffee.  I am ready.  I am really excited to be doing this and to be in this part of the country, the best part of course. 

Our team hasn't had a day off since Friday the 19th.  We are working on about 4 hours of sleep right now and I am ready to take on the next 3 weeks of disaster deployment.  Keep River 10 and River 8, the other team with us, in your thoughts!  Actually, keep all my AmeriCorps friends in your thoughts, we are all doing a lot to get things done in whatever way shape or form that may be!

Thats all from the concrete jungle (or at least close to it).  I am sure that the next few weeks will confirm for me that the smalles thing really can sure make all the difference.

Fall break and what not

Hello y'all!  Since the last time I posted, I have done some fun traveling not involving work at all what so ever!  Last week was our 10 day fall break.  For the first half of break I stayed on campus in Vicksburg.  I was with Sam and Tiffany so we pretty much did nothing.  I slept everyday until 11 and watched movies every night.  On Thursday the three of us woke up nice and early, hit up Enterprise, packed the little whip, and hit the road to Nashville!  A nice little 7 hour road trip with two of the best friends ever.  Awesome trip.

We arrive in Nashville at about 3:30-4ish where we got to meet Tiff's friend from home who we named Mo for the weekend.  And shortly after we got to the sweet digs at the Ramada Inn, Jill came!  Finally I got to see my best friend for the first time since August.  Couldn't have been any happier than I was, UNTILLLL MaryKathryn came and brought Rachel with her! All in one weekend I was with my 3 best friends from AmeriCorps, my sister, and my best friend from home, PLUS we all made one more friend that weekend.  Pretty solid crew.  It was awesome how quickly we all became a little group of friends and clicked all weekend.

Allow me to give you some high lights of our weekend...
Thursday night I turned 24 at midnight, so we broke out the party hats that Mom sent, obviously.  We gave one to the singer of the band and he sang me a great country version of Happy Birthday.  Ringing in a new year of life.  Three Nashville Predators were at the bar, one being Shea Webber.  They are not friendly at all what so ever, but very nice on the eyes.  It was nice to look at them, but not talk.  Pretty successful night.

Friday was my actual birthday...we woke up and found a Dunkin' Donuts...after an HOUR of searching.  Thanks to MK, Rachel, and Jill having conflicting GPS's on their "smart" phones it took a little bit of time.  We lounged then hit Broadway Street to do some walking around and listening to some live music.  It was a perfect day.  We all went back to get ready to go to dinner.  We went to a place called the Big River Brewery.  My lord it was delicious.  I got Mac 'n Chicken, my mouth just watered typing that.  This meal along with some nice brewery beer was the best way to kick off the night.  After that we went to a few bars, but ended up at Big Shotz, what became the greatest bar.  Sam told the band it was my birthday so I got called on stage.  The singer asked me what I wanted to hear them play and I said anything country.  They came up with one of my FAVORITE country songs, Wagon Wheel.  I was singing right along when he nudged me toward an open microphone.  Yes, I sang live with the band, solo a couple of times, which obviously I have the voice of an angel, so it went really well.  A literal cowboy pulled me off stage to "two-step" with me.  He had a cowboy hat on, tucked in plaid shirt, and cowboy boots.  He talked me through the steps, spinning me, and me spinning him.  It was magical.  Pretty much the highlight of my weekend.  This was literally the best birthday I have ever had.



The crew at the Grand Ole Opry.

 Saturday the whole crew went to do some site seeing, country style.  We went to the Grand Ole Opry and took pictures outside since it costs $$$ to get inside.  Saw my girl Carrie's picture everywhere, so it was a great success.  We visited the hotel near there which was MASSIVE, and where I will me getting married someday, hypothetically speaking I get married.  The day was great, wore my plaid shirt and fit right in.  Saturday was our last night to go out and with the help of social media, we found out that Kellie Pickler was playing a show at the Hard Rock.  We immediately went down and waited in line.  It was a breast cancer awareness concert so we purchased pink bandanas at a near by store.  We took a picture and I Tweeted it to her.  Guess what happened?!  She quoted the Tweet and responded to me!  I am famous.  People came up to us in line and asked if we were the girls with the bandanas...NO BIG DEAL.  The concert was a bust and the Hard Rock sucks, so we left.  We eventually went back to the bars and enjoyed ourselves, me a little too much.



Very proud of my social media shout out

 Sunday I woke up with the dark to drive MK to the airport.  I couldn't be happier that she came to spend my birthday with me.  It was actually the first time it was MK and my friends, not me with hers and it was a lot of fun.  She fit right in and provided a lot of entertainment for all of us.  Her spending my birthday with me was the best present ever.  We had to be out of the hotel by 12 so we packed up, drove Jill to stay another night and hit the road.  Jill and MK, the dynamic duo the two of them are, were the BEST boost for the next 2 months of this program.  I felt like I was missing home and they provided the little taste I needed.  Our drive was long, but bed was great that night.



Me and MK

 This past week was crazy.  Getting things ready for Virginia.  Unfortunately, we found out Jamie is leaving us.  Tuesday she told us she got a real person job at home and was leaving the amerilife and our little family, River 10.  I am going to miss her a lot since she was one of the best teammates anyone could ask for.  Our dynamic will be a little different when we start our project without Jamie there, but we couldn't be more proud of her for the job she got and how successful she is going to be. 

Our team takes off tomorrow to drive 17 hours and 40 mins to Great Falls, Virginia.  I am really excited about the project and I can't wait to get started on 4th round.  I can NOT believe it is 4th round already.  It seems like yesterday I got in the 15p for the first time in February to come to Vicksburg.  Fastest 10 months ever.  I am excited to spend time with my team and enjoy being a family for one last round.  It is hard to believe the next time we come back to Vicksburg it will be graduation week.  Time is flying by.

That's all from me.  I hope you enjoyed a little sneak peak of my birthday vacation!  Thank you to all who sent me cards, gifts, etc for my birthday!  Nicest surprises out there!  Mail is the best gift anytime of year, especially around your birthday.  Until next time!

I have fallen in love with a city.

Hello readers.  It has been almost 2 weeks since I posted last and that is because I have been prrrrrrretty busy.  I am sure y'all are real upset about that...anyway...last week in NOLA.

The last week in New Orleans was pretty crazy.  Monday we went to a home to muck and gut it and when we got there it was literally a poopy mess.  There was legitimate poop on the ground.  It was the worst home we have been in so far.  We had to wear the tyvek suits again to sweat all day.  Well for me and David, we didn't have to sweat all day.  He left his chargers for his electronics everything at the distribution center so I got nominated to drive him to get his things.  This conveniently came at the right time since we ran into our first HUGE snake in the garage.  It was probably tiny, but in my afraid of snakes mind, it was massive.  David and I got more than lost and it took all day to retrieve his things.  We ended up taking a ferry to get from one side of the Parish to the other.  Really weird.  But all in all the day was full of driving.  Kind of the theme of the week..

Tuesday was the best day I had in New Orleans by far.  Sam, Rachel, Margaret and I decided to take a personal day/life after AmeriCorps day.  We decided the week before that there will never be a time where the 4 of us are together in a fun city again.  We took full advantage of that and took the day to relax and go downtown and shop/hang out.  The day started with beignets, per usual.  Again, they were delicious.  We then walked around and did some shopping/found a place with cheap beer.  After the one beer we found the world's best nachos and margaritas.  Kind of the perfect combination.  Once we finished that mess of food, we ventured to Frenchman Street to the French Market.  Then we went to Magazine Street to go to the Defend New Orleans store.  Really cool t-shirt store where I made my first and only purchase.  I wear the shirt loud and proud.  Apparently it is Taco Tuesday at a local place on Magazine, so the 4 of us plus Sam's friends who live in NOLA came to eat with us.  Such good tacos.  Honestly, this day was what I needed to really bring to light that I definitely love the city.  I am actually in love with it.  Maybe I will be heading down there sooner than I think.

Wednesday we woke up to a wonderful surprise; 5 slashed tires!  How nice of someone!  Not only did our team's van need to be in the shop for almost a week because of hitting a ladder on the highway, but now our truck had a flat.  The other 2 teams vans had their tires slashed, our truck, and a truck of the non-profit that ran the housing we stayed at.  Due to the tires needing to be fixed immediately, Sam and I had to stay back and drive cars around.  So, much like Monday, I drove the entire day Wednesday.  Here, an hour there, back to the work site, back to the housing, back to work, it was a lot.  But what can you do.  Just some sick people in the world.  Anyway, I got to watch Modern Family and The Middle premiers that night, which was a laugh that was needed big time.  That night I actually finished book #3 on the year!  I am really proud of myself for what may seem like a little accomplishment, but if you know me, you know how hard it has been for me to read.  Thanks to Kara for the great book!  Looking for #4 for the fourth spike, any suggestions are welcome.

Thursday was our last day of work.  We finished the home the team had been working on all week.  I am glad we finished it and got to help this family with one of three homes they own.  Thursday afternoon was spent packing until we had a service learning 3 hours with our sponsor, Jim.  He lives in New Orleans and was here when Katrina hit.  He took us around to the places in NOLA where Katrina hit the hardest.  We saw the levees that broke and saw where they were rebuilt.  It was amazing to see some parts of the city still not fixed from the hurricane.   It was a real eye opener for me.  Our team got to see the homes that Brad Pitt helped build.  Kind of cool homes.  It just made me really want to move to this awesome city.  Hearing stories from a NOLA native really made me realize that the sense of community in this city is unlike any other city I have ever seen.  It is amazing what people have gone through together.  I love the sense of pride in homes and sense of pride in the entire city itself.  I just have fallen in love New Orleans.

Friday was our travel day back to Vicksburg.  Best part about it was, we used our travel money on PANERA.  It has been since February that I have had a bacon turkey bravo.  I was so happy.  Since we got back to campus last Friday, my life has been stressful and a whirlwind of a week.  Everything worked out positively for me, but I am taking full advantage of the weekend I am having currently.  Yesterday I did an ISP with some people staying on campus for break.  We got to go to "Happy Day" at the intermediate elementary school in town.  This school is pre-K-3 and has 720 students.  Each student is given a certain number of tokens to earn so they can enjoy a day outside doing fun events.  It helps them practice positive behavior.  It was a really cool concept.  I got to play with these kids all day and sing and dance to Justin Bieber and One Direction with them.  It was the best day I have had in a long time.

This week helped me realize that I joined the program for the right reasons and I am so lucky to have met the group of friends that I have here.  I honestly have some people in my life here that will be in my life forever.  I am on a team that was a team to begin the 10 months together and now we are a family.  It is amazing how well we get along and how much we all love each other.  My group of friends are the most supportive people of each other that I have ever met.  We are all here for the same reasons and I would probably not complete the program without them. 

Today is day 2 of fall break in Vicksburg.  I am going to get a lot of job research done before Thursday when Sam, Tiffany and I get into a car and drive 7 hours to Nashville to meet Rachel for our little AmeriCorps vacation! I can't wait.  Jill is flying down for the whole long weekend vacation and MaryKathryn decided spur of the moment to come join.  I need that little taste of home for a few days and I couldn't be happier to introduce them to my friends from AmeriCorps.  The south better get ready for the Conceison sisters taking over! 

A lot of positives to look forward to for me, round 4 in Virginia with my family River 10, and my BIRTHDAY NEXT FRIDAY in a city I've always wanted to visit, and a new beginning at home in December!  I need this kind of excitement in my life right now!

That's it for now, I hope everyone is doing well in the fall weather I miss so much.  It will be weird not celebrating my birthday at home, but I am sure MK will fill that void for me.  Can't wait to see everyone in 2 short months! 

I am going to strategically place my address here... :)
Christine Conceison
AmeriCorps NCCC
2715 Confederate Ave.
Vicksburg, MS 39180

Round 3 coming to a close

This week in New Orleans...
This week was a little different for River 10.  Monday was by far the best day ever.  We all got up for work and got ready, but it was POURING here.  Did the usual routine, put on my beautiful uniform, made some eggs, drank black coffee, you know the usual.  As we were all about to get into Scooter, our 15p, Beste told us that work was...get this...cancelled.  What this meant for us was we had a SNOW DAY!  We deemed this day as a snow day because it was exactly like watching the news and seeing your school scrolling down teh bottom of the screen.  So, Jamie, Chris, Sam, and I decided to brave the rain and head downtown.  Our mission on this day: eat our first beignets of our time in NOLA.  We went to Cafe de Monde and had coffee and beignets.  It was quite honestly the best Ameri-snow day ever.  On Monday afternoon we had 4^th round project reveal.  I can’t even believe it is 4^th round already.  We found out that we are going back to Virginia to Great Falls.  We are going to be working with Living Classrooms of the Nations Capital Region.  This non-profit provides a hands-on learning, job training, community service, and community development programs for students with diverse backgrounds with an emphasis on serving disadvantaged youth in at-risk environments.  We are going to be doing a number of things with LCNCR.  Our project consists of debris removal from the wind storms that hit Virginia in June which also includes trail upkeep on the site, bridge repair and invasive species removal, we will do indoor and outdoor repairs of the lodge at Camp Fraser where the Living Classrooms site is, we will do repairs to sleeping pavilions and outdoor classroom space, we will be creating a garden for educational usage, and last but not least we will be doing educational programming.  The educational programming is something I hope I can do well in since it is planning a spring break plan for 4^th/5^th grade students who come to the camp for their break.  We also get to create a park outreach program which brings students out into the park to do environmental education programs.  Right up my alley.  Although this wasn’t our first choice of projects, I am excited to be in Virginia for the fall.  I get to feel the fall weather that I am really missing these days.  It will be the little things that I will appreciate about round 4 since it is the last round of my service, can’t believe it. 

Tuesday and Wednesday we were back at it.  We spent the day at the distribution center handing out personal care bags to people who are still in need to supplies.  It is kind of mind blowing that even two months after that some individuals are still in need of cleaning supplies and food.  The distribution center has become kind of our second home in NOLA since the staff there now know all of us and we have been there so often that we can run the show.  It does get kind of boring, but hey, it beats Lake City!

Thursday five of us went into a home and did some mucking and gutting.  We had to tear down the ceiling and help clear the rest of the house out.  This house wasn't so bad since a crew had been in earlier in the week and did all of the walls.  We came in to finish the ceilings.  Pretty simple and easy day.

Our van had a little tire issue, so he has been out of commission all week.  Thank God for our tiny truck!  Due to this little mishap, 3 of us had to go work with River 6 for the day.  I enjoyed working with another team for a day.  We got to work with their sponsor organization on their homes.  I got to paint my fair share for the day.  After work, a group of us went to Magazine Street to shop.  Since I love shopping so much I purchased zero things.  I may leave New Orleans with a t-shirt or two since well, we all know my usual outfit consists of a t-shirt at some point.  I had a nice bowl of gumbo for dinner and we all literally came back to our housing and went to bed. 

Saturday a few of us from each team got together to do an ISP.  We spent the day working with Green Light New Orleans.  This unbelievably cool non-profit was started after Katrina hit by the founder because he was on tour with his band.  He came up with a pretty bright idea, if you ask me...har har...The concept behind the organization is to change incandescent light bulbs to Compact Fluorescent Lights.  We got to canvas around to homes to ask each home owner if they wanted their light bulbs changed to the CLF bulbs.  Each bulb will help the residents of New Orleans to reduce their carbon foot print and reduce the amount of money they spend on their bills.  The bulbs also last for an extremely long time, much longer than the incandescent bulbs.  The concept of the whole non-profit is pretty amazing. I enjoyed a sweet nap after the day and did the usual on our last Saturday night here. 

I absolutely am in love with New Orleans.  I love everything about the entire city.  I am looking into non-profits down here for next year in hopes that maybe I can do another AmeriCorps program and live here for a bit.  Blazing my own trail as Dad-Z likes to say.  We will see...just a thought now.  Anyway, this is our last week here and we are mucking and gutting in a neighborhood that needs some serious help.  We are working with a Delta team that got sent here to help.  It should be a good week.  Friday we are back to Vicksburg for the start of transition for a week, then it is fall break.  Fall break means, relaxing on campus, my birthday and NASHVILLE with some of the best friends and the best sister in the world.  I can't wait.  Big happy birthday to Pauly wog and Dad this week! Miss you guys! Again, pictures are taking way too long for my attention span...Hope y'all have a good week!

Disaster relief 65.25 hour week...no big deal

So since the last time I posted, it has been one crazy week.  We left Lake City, Florida and got to New Orleans last Saturday.  We got here and had a real brief orientation of the housing we are staying at.  We also learned that our project is all disaster relief in the parish's (a Parish how the city is split, not churches here people) that were most affected by Hurricane Isaac.  Mucking and gutting homes along with distribution of materials here and there.  We are working for a number of sponsors, but we are staying at Project Homecoming's volunteer housing.  Pretty cool, all the girls are back in a room together which we have been oh so longing for since we haven't been together since last spike.  Once we were situated we pretty much dropped our bags and got ready to go out.  It kind of felt like the first night out freshman year of college.  It is just nice to be in a city where we are not limited to Applebee's or a restaurant to go out to.  We sure went out.  NOLA is insane, but I love it.  We are staying at our housing with another team, River 6, which also is great since we haven't seen another team since we left campus AND Rachel and Margaret are on their team.  Pretty neat-o.  Sunday was used as a day off and pretty much a recovery day.  Much needed.

Monday was day one of work.  We went to a distribution center in a local Parish that was affected by Hurricane Isaac.  Our team put together personal care bags at a location where different churches come to give out to their parishioners.  We did over 300 bags for the day.  Jamie and I got to help a kitchen that was feeding volunteers clean out their area.  Their kitchen is called Mercy Chefs and they travel to disaster areas to make food to feed volunteers.  Debby, the head chef, told us that it is her duty to feed volunteers because without food for them, there essentially couldn't be any volunteers.  Never until this day did I once think of how volunteers and first responders to disasters eat.  Now I know.  Sam, Jamie, and I got to work with another kitchen, The Chow Train.  These people were the best.  We pulled chicken for them so they could make enchiladas the following day.  Once we had all of the chicken done, the whole team got in on the fun.  We made about 30 trays of food for the next day, leaving the chefs to do the other about 40.  Once we were done, they popped a tray of food for us in the oven.  We did some good work.  This lovely 12 hour day ended around 8ish.



Just me and the debris from the house.

 Tuesday was September 11th which is a National day of service.  We kind of got to work with River 6 for the day to do the national day of service together.  We went into Slidell another town in NOLA.  We worked on a house mucking and gutting the whole thing.  The homes were under water about 2 feet.  On Wednesday we got to go back to the same home to finish up cleaning the lovely mess we made.  It literally took all day to sweep, vac, and mop the drywall we took down.  Hopefully this helped the family who lives in the house to start the rebuild process.

Thursday and Friday we were back at a different distribution center.  This place hands out food, drinks, diapers, and cleaning supplies.  The line never ends.  It is open from 9-4 and cars are constantly coming.  Friday we actually counted that there were 317 cars that came from the late opening time of 12-4.  I really enjoyed working at these places because we got to meet some of the people that the food and supplies were going to.  Everyone is so thankful we are helping them and it makes me feel like the reason I signed up for the program is really coming full circle on this part of our project. 

Yesterday we traveled to a different Parish to do some mucking and gutting of a neighborhood that was really devastated by the hurricane.  The damage was unreal.  The home we worked on had water 3 feet high on the second floor.  That means the entire first floor was under water and up to 3 feet upstairs.  We had to gut the whole first floor from the ceiling to the floor.  We typically only do 2 feet above the water line on the drywall, but this house and neighborhood was that damaged.  The awesome part about this neighborhood was that they go from house to house everyday and help each other out.  They are rebuilding their neighborhood together and they all have an awesome sense of community.  It was nice to work with about 25 neighbors and really help them speed recovery process up.  We only worked a half day since it was our 6th day of work.  6th long day of work.  65.25 hours worth of work this week to be exact, no big deal though.  I earned my night last night that is for sure.  Let's hope my body can keep up with me this week!

Needless to say, River 10 is more than thrilled to be in NOLA.  I personally love the fact we are doing real disaster work because Florida was kind of a bust as far as the work load.  I signed up for AmeriCorps knowing the possibility of responding to a disaster would be high.  I am so glad that we are helping out here because they need it.  Talking to people while working and really hearing how happy we are that we are helping reassures me that even through some tough days, I am so glad I am doing this work.  We have another 2 weeks of disaster relief here in NOLA and I personally am thrilled.  The work days are long, but so worth it in the long run. 


That's all I have for this long 65.25 hour week! Really looking forward to hearing about what our 4th round project will be.  We should know today or tomorrow.  Can't believe it is 4th round already! More to come next week from me in NOLA! Pictures are taking way too long for my patience, maybe next week!

On the road again

Hello y'all...quick post for a nice little update on what is going on with River 10.  So this week we had the bare minimum work load.  Florida has been nothing but awesome for us.  We were living in a hotel, our sponsor bent over backwards for us, and we were in Florida, what more could you want?  This is all great, however, AmeriCorps is not just for cool hotels and awesome gifts from sponsors.  We are here to help others, and to be quite honest, we really weren't doing that much work here.  We were told that 20-30 homes needed to be mucked and gutted from Tropical Storm Debby, however, there really weren't many homes.  We did a total of 4, and that total is being generous.  We did a significant amount of work in these homes and it is work we are proud of.  Our disaster relief here in Florida was only supposed to be 30 days and today is the 30th day.  We stayed the time we were supposed to, which makes us feel better.  Yesterday we got word from campus that we have a new project assignment starting tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will get in the van and drive to New Orleans, Louisiana! I am SO excited.  We will be doing some disaster relief from Hurricane Isaac.  We really have no idea what we are doing while there except we know we are going to clear debris and muck and gut homes.  When I know more, I will fill y'all in.  I've only been to New Orleans for a weekend last round and the little taste of the city I got I loved.  I am really excited to spend the next 3 weeks in such an exciting place, however, my bank account probably isn't as excited as I am.  Let's see how that works out...

So tomorrow we are on the road again and moving to a new location.  We have to keep reminding ourselves of the AmeriCorps F word frequently as we continue in this round, flexibility.  Just go where the wind blows us/campus calls us and tells us where to go.  Either way, we are leaving and excited for the next 3 weeks!  Enjoy your weekend!

Florida Living

Hey y'all.  We are still in Florida safe from the terrible storm that Isaac brought.  I am sure you all know how bad some of the parts of the south were hit by Isaac and if not, they were hit BAD.  New Orleans and Mississippi are where most of my friends got deployed to for disaster relief because of this storm.  They have been working pretty much 24 hours a day with occasional naps because they are helping Red Cross with shelter work.  I give them all the credit in the world for being where they are and helping out.  I've talked to a few of them from a few different teams and from the sounds of it, that part of the country is pretty bad.  Keep those people and my amerifriends down there in your thoughts and prayers. 

Anyway, back to our project.  We worked all last week at Miss Thompson's home.  We can say that it is about 98% finished.  We gave her a new ceiling that needs finishing touches to be finished, a new floor that we are waiting for the rug to be delivered, and new trim on her walls.  Her trailer is looking like somewhat of a home now.  One of the major accomplishments of last week was turning on the faucet one day.  Danny works daily with us and he had us look over as he turned the faucet.  Miss Thompson has not had running water for the past two maybe three years.  This was all before Debby hit Florida, but still, two or three whole years without an amenity we look at as a simple thing.  She cooks outside on a "stove" if she isn't eating canned goods.  She has made accommodations, but on this day, her faucet worked.  Danny connected some pipes and she now has running water.  We have been cleaning the sceptic piping for her and installed a washing machine.  Hopefully when the water becomes crystal clear, she will have clean water for the time being.  Pretty awesome to know that now she will have some sorce of water with a clean bathroom, a washing machine that works, and a faucet to clean and cook with.  We worked at her house today, too to do some finishing touches on her door.  We are now at a stand still with this home until the carpet that is being donated actually gets donated.



Ceiling work.




Drywall for ceiling




Putting together ceiling

  



Insulation for floor




Parts of finished room

Unfortunately, coming to Florida, we were under the impression that there was going to be endless work for us.  There is now an end in sight.  Somedays we do not have sufficient work to do, but we find projects around homes to get each home complete.  We are hoping that there are more homes (for work sake not their sake) that we can help fix.  Either way, Florida is awesome, just the work is kind of slow.

This past weekend was so relaxing.  Friday night a few teammates and hung out and did nothing.  Saturday was beautiful here.  I took advantage of the pool for the morning and then went down teh street to watch football for most of the day.  Sunday was the same routine.  I was at the pool all day with the sun, until some clouds came adn ruined my day.  We did some laundry then I concluded the weekend days by watching countless hours of mindless MTV "reality" TV, which I had been watching all weekend.  The Hills provided me with my dosage of drama and crazy girls for the next year.  It was an awesome 3 day marathon of such a really intelligent group of people.  Monday was Labor Day so we had the day off.  We traveled to Jacksonville to go to the beach and to meet David, our teammates, new baby.  Leyek is 10 weeks old and is SO CUTE.  David got to go home for 10 days to be with him and he lives in Jacksonville.  We got a nice meal cooked by his mother and step father after we went to Saint Augustine for the beach.  The town of Saint Augustine is awesome.  It is very old, the oldest town in the USA in fact, and has awesome beaches.  It ALSO has multiple Dunkin' Donuts! I got my fix of Pumpkin Spice that I thought I wasn't going to get.  Thank God, it was worth it.  We are thinking of going back to Jacksonville this Saturday to repeat what we did yesterday, beach, baby, and sun bathe.  

David and Leyek


We are hoping work speeds up this week for us.  Either way, I am still happy to be helping people.  I've been thinking of things to do after AmeriCorps and hopefully I will find a job somewhere and enjoy what I am doing.  Kind of stressful.  I am really looking forward to fall break where I will be staying on campus for a few days then traveling to Nashville for 3 nights and 4 days with some friends from AmeriCorps and a few from home.  Going to the birth place of my favorite genre of music to celebrate my 24th birthday that Friday!  I can't wait. 

That's all I have for now.  I hope everyone had a nice first day of school, especially my favorite permanent sub, my favorite 5th grade teacher, my favorite senior in college and my favorite 5th grader.  Crazy how time flies.  Oh yeah, and my new favorite college professor father.  I am sure the first day was good for you, too, Mom.  Hope all is well with y'all!

One long Fu King week..

Hello readers! We finished two whole weeks of disaster relief.  Last week from Monday-Thursday morning we went back to Mr. Davis's house.  By Thursday morning we had his house completely gutted out.  He was so happy that we got to finish his house for him.  I am really happy because he is such a good guy.  Unfortunately the rain, again, didn't hold out for us and since Mr. Davis is kind of sickly, he didn't like sitting in his tractor in the rain.  Monday and Tuesday we had to end work a little early because of how hard it was raining.  On Tuesday, we worked at his house and he had a few of us outside talking.  At one point he was asking us about the food we like to eat and we got to talking about how he has been in a motel since June.  The room is for his wife, himself, and their 5 big dogs.  They have to go out to eat for every meal and buy dog food for the dogs every week.  I can't imagine how much this all would cost.  With that being said, we told him that we like all food.  He told us about this great fried chicken place in town called Hip Hop and he wanted to show us where it is located so we would know for future reference.  Instead of just seeing the place, he bought each member of our team a lunch.  It was really so nice of him considering what he is going through.  He told us that it was the least he could do to thank us for our hard work.  I gotta say, my body wasn't thanking him too much for the food.  It was great, just grease on grease.  I won't ever deny a free meal though!  Wednesday and Thursday morning we went back to Mr. Davis's house and finished it!  It was an accomplishment for us because it was our first house completely finished.  The reason we had a little delay finishing his home was because we didn't have the proper face masks to go into some of his rooms that had serious mold.  We got the face masks, made sure we were sealed tight, screamed at each other for a few minutes to enjoy the sweet new face gear and then went straight into the house.  We worked really well as a team on this house and got it finished for the Davis family to start to move back to normalcy once their construction begins.  I learned a lot from this house and from Mr. Davis.  He was a great man to work for.



Jamie, Sam and I with our new masks



Thursday afternoon and Friday we went back to Miss Thompson's house.  This was the house that we were at the week before that had quite an effect on me.  Again, it was hard to work in the conditions and to see a woman living in the home she does.  It is still hard for me to comprehend that all of this is going on in our country and for some of us, it was hard to even go back into the house.  Thursday after work was nice to cook together and to sit and talk about how the day had made us all feel.  I won't lie I shed my first disaster tears thinking about this particular home.  We made sure to tell our sponsor how we feel because she cares about us so much and she took care of us by giving each one of us a Happy Seed.  Happy Seeds are a product of a sculptor who didn't want to throw away his scraps of pottery and he made these little seeds that are just plain smiles.  It's the little things in life like Suzanne caring and giving us such simple trinkets to make our day turn around.  Friday we went back to Miss Thompsons home.  We started on replacing her floor for her.  Hopefully by the end of tomorrow we can have a whole new floor put in for her so that eventually when the roofers come her home can start to be more complete.  We all just have to dig deep and get this home done for her and know we are making her life better by being there to be the first steps toward a better home.

This weekend was actually the first two sunny days in Lake City in two weeks.  We were kind of feeling the effects of the rain and clouds.  I took advantage of every ray of sun light yesterday and stayed by the pool all day.  You could probably tell if you saw me now.  After basking in the sun for a good 5 hours, I went to church with a few team members then we went for a nice little dinner at a local Chinese food place.  This place was called, kid you not, Fu King.  I bought a t-shirt don't worry.  Fun fact about Fu King is that Marc Zuckerberg (creator of FaceBook) wanted to buy their store sign, but they said no.  How Fu King awesome is that?!  Today Suzanne hooked us up with sweet free passes to float down the Ichetucknee River.  We did just that.  It was a fun relaxing day for us.  We are truly blessed and spoiled to have Suzanne as a sponsor here.  She takes care of us as if we are her children and just really cares about each one of us.  She showed up to the pool yesterday with $15 gift cards to the local movie theater for each one of us.  She really is someone special and is doing such good for this world and I think we are all lucky to know her.



New T for me!



This week was a hard one emotions wise for the whole team.  It really had an effect on me to see certain homes and situations.  We are trying to take advantage of different outlets while we are here to escape the craziness that is disaster relief.  The county is now worried about Isaac hitting and causing more flooding her because the water levels in Lake City haven't gone down in some places.  We know that this county does NOT need any more rain and I hope it strays the path of lLake City a little bit.  It may not be too bad here, however, it will be bad where more AmeriCorps teams are.  My friends that are on other teams will be in some of the areas predicted to get hit the worst so keep all of us in your thoughts this week.  Let's throw some up to the big man that the damage won't be as bad as some past storms and all of us are safe.  I will keep you all updated, but let's hope nothing happens with Isaac. 

That's all for now for me.  Hope everyone has a good week preparing for the new school year starting soon, unless you are starting this week, good luck! 

Disaster Relief week 1

Hey everyone! We arrived safely in lake City Florida last Saturday late afternoon.  Once we arrived, we were literally thrown right into orientation of the project.  Our sponsor, Suzanne, was at the hotel to greet us and explain what is going on in Columbia County, where we work.  She is awesome.  She is the CEO of this counties part of Catholic Charities.  She literally has her hand in so many different organizations in and around Lake City.  She knows everyone and anyone doing anything to help another person.  She kept telling us how blessed the county is to have us and she was just excited to get to know each one of us right away.  Suzanne showed us a slide show of pictures from the flooding before some of the roads became roads again.  The pictures were horrifying.  It was so sad to see such terrible conditions people had to endure before they got some sort of help or support.  After our brief orientation with her, we got the night to relax after such a long 10 hour day of driving.

Sunday we had the morning off and more orientation in the afternoon.  I took the morning to lay at the pool after church and try to get some sun.  The orientation we had was with Suzanne and David, our supervisor.  We learned the background and history of Catholic Charities from Suzanne and more about the county in general from David.  This county is in a literal disaster even almost 2 months post storm.  We saw more pictures and an aerial view of the county that FEMA filmed.  Water is still everywhere.  Once we had our orientation taken care of, the county and Suzanne took us to a Chinese buffet for lupper.  Lunch supper if you will.  There we got to meet Danny, Suzanne’s husband, who is serving as our site supervisor, kind of.  He works with us daily, but he is a volunteer for Catholic Charities.  We ate with them, told them more about us, and learned more about the county. 

Monday was day one of work.  This day we were supposed to be taking an inventory of which homes needed help still.  However, we were going to homes which we found out were empty, the owners were at home, or the area didn’t get water in their homes.  This day was kind of slow and it concerned us.  Tuesday however, we went right at it.  We got to work at Miss Hatcher’s home.  Miss Hatcher is an elderly woman who was living alone when the storm hit.  She was living with literally 86 years of her own belongings in the house.  The storm washed all of her belongings everywhere all over her house and yard.  The water line in some rooms where the water hit was up to my shoulders.  Can you imagine living through this?  She is in her late 80’s and thankfully has her son living on the same property, next door.  Her trailer from her back yard was blown across the creek in her yard almost 50 yards away.  It was amazing.  This day had my emotions running everywhere from feeling bad for her to feeling sad knowing that this woman was going through such a hard time like this.  We will hopefully be back with her later on to help finish her home.  This day of work was emotionally and physically draining.  It was kind of a wake up to what the entire spike is going to be like.  It is going to be no joke that is for sure.



Outside of Miss Hatcher's house. The water came up that high on her screen

Wednesday we woke up for PT in the morning where the sun was rising in Florida and it was already about 85 degrees at 5:30am.  Tough, but we powered through.  This day we worked with Miss Thompson.  She lived in a trailer that had floors that were so wet and giving out and a roof that was caving in.  We had to tear up her rug in the room she was solely living.  It had 2 chairs, one that she slept on, the other was holding water.  Her yard had debris from inside her home all over it.  We had to maintain the yard and the inside of the house.  Halfway through the day it started to do a Florida down pour.  What we didn’t realize until we were in the car for about 15 minutes was that we moved buckets before to do her floor and they were catching water from the rain.  2 of my teammates had to run in and replace the buckets, where they found her sitting in her car.  She goes in her car during rain storms because her roof is that bad.  This part of the day really had an effect on me since I can’t imagine that being something I had to do during my life.  I really am learning to appreciate more and more every day the house I live in.

Thursday we got to work at the food bank with Suzanne, something she helps out at with Catholic Charities twice a month.  This morning was amazing.  Even before the food arrived there were people waiting.  We organized a canned goods table, bread table, and desserts.  The line from 9-12 was consistently LONG.  It was amazing to see how many families needed assistance.  We gave food to 105 families with a total of 284 people in the 3 hours we helped.  I got to color with some children teaching them about fruits and vegetables and I was in heaven.  A couple of them were so cute.  I asked one little girl how you go about cooking eggplant, which she told me was a “veggie” and she said, and I quote, “you slice it, you bake it, and it turns into eggs!”  Had to be the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.  What really hit me was when I had to help some of the adults read the sheets they needed to fill out before receiving their food.  Some of them couldn’t even read the sheets.  It was amazing to me to have this be the situation because I am lucky I have graduated college and have a degree when some of these people who are much older than I am barely completed the 3^rd grade.  It made me, again, be thankful for my education and life I have.  Once 12 hit, Suzanne takes all of her help to lunch at this UNREAL Florida seafood restaurant.  I got baked scallops and catfish.  IT WAS AMAZING.  So good.  She then let us have the afternoon off!  Much needed, the entire team napped.





Team at the food bank.

  Friday, we worked with Mr. Davis.  His home was also in the storm and it was better off than the first two homes, but everyone has a story.  We got to actually muck and gut his home.  We tore some of his walls down and helped him make progress to start the rebuilding process.  Danny said he was impressed with how fast we got the walls down and how neatly we worked.  Obviously, we are the best.  Mr Davidson was a great man.  He was telling us his stories.  He and his wife have been staying at the Super 8 since the storm and he is just ready to have a home again.  His stories had a big effect on us all and we were happy we were there to help.  We are going back to finish his home tomorrow to start off our new week.


Before inside Mr. Davis's house.





After we gutted the inside.

Yesterday we had an all day ISP which put me over 80 ISP hours!  We need at least 80 to graduate so I am good to go.  The ISP was a fundraiser for the families who had damage on their homes.  It was an all day music festival.  Really cool local bands came to perform and it was a cool day.  We relaxed last night watching gLee reruns and went to bed early.  Today I got up early to go to the gym and for a run.  It helps that the cleaning lady came to wake me up, tough life we have a cleaning lady. 

This project is going to be a tough one mentally and physically.  I know it will take a serious toll on me, but I am ready and that’s what bed is for.  a fresh clean pair of sheets every night and a nicely cleaned room.  Pretty neat living in a hotel if I do say so myself.  That’s it for week 1 of disaster relief.  Our sponsor starts each day with a word of the day, I think I will do one for the week.  My personal word for this week is gratitude.  Burlington lost an awesome person over the weekend who I know means a lot to my family and the people of Lake City have lost things that we usually daily take for granted.  I am going to go through this week being grateful for everything and everyday I have.  Things like this project and the loss that I know people of our town are going through help you to realize that life is short and we all need to be grateful for what we do have.  Hope y’all have a good week!