Offically an AmeriCorps NCCC Alumni

    I did it! I am officially an AmeriCorps NCCC Alumni.  I graduated yesterday at 9am.  Mom and Dad came to see me graduate and it really meant a lot for them to come.  We had an awards banquet the night before just for the Corps members in Cedar Rapids.  It was good and we had a good time. 
   
    Graduation was good.  All the speakers were really good an really put AmeriCorps NCCC into the right words for our parents.  Some of my friends (fellow Corps Members) did some speeches.  Brittney had her friend Matti stand up and asked people to stand up if Matti had an effect on their lives.  Then a bunch of people stood up including me and then she told the people in the audience to stand up if they saw someone standing up that had an effect on their lives.  It was truly amazing to see the impact that one person has on other peoples lives.  It really showed me that I made an impact on a lot of peoples lives while in AmeriCorps. 

      This experience is something that I would never want to forget.  It had it's highs and it's lows but I am glad I did it.  My dad told me what I said to him when I told him that I wanted to go into AmeriCorps.  He said,"Linds you told me, "Daddy I want to go on an Adventure." And thinking back on my words I was right, I had a great adventure and made another family.  Matti, Sarah, Lauren, Katie, Jake, Jacob, Shalyn, and Amy are my family and I love them.

     I will reflect more later.  Last night Mom, Dad, and I stayed in Gelena IL.  We stayed in a hotel that had a water slide in it.  It was great. I felt like a little kid again.  Today we explored Gelena and had a great lunch.  Then we drove along the Mississippi River today and we are staying in Moline IA tonight.  Tomorrow we are flying home and I will be in Boston around 10:30pm.  I can't wait to be home and not have to pack my stuff and leave again in a couple weeks.  I love you guys and can't wait to see you soon.

10 Days till I am home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So it has been a while.  I haven't had internet access which has kinda sucked.  Anyway a little update on what happened in Flint.  While I was there, there were two shootings of which my team saw both.  It was over stupid shit like sleeping with someone elses boy friend or losing at a game of dice and someone taking someone elses Xbox for payment.  Lets just say I have never felt so unsafe in my life.  I didn't realize it but I actually took feeling safe for granteed. I don't think I will ever do that again.  While in Flint I jumped at every sound even if I was sleeping. I shared a basement with two people and whenever anyone made a noise I would jump up in my bed.  Let's just say I got no sleep and my nerves are shot.  It was an experience I will never forgot.  I learned a bunch.
   I am back in Vinton IA for closure which ends on August 5.  Mom and Dad are coming for graduation which I am so excited about.  I can't wait to see them.  After graduation we are driving along the Mississippi River to Chicago and I arrive in Boston at 10pm.  Thank you Lauren for picking us up by the way. 
   My mind is going crazy I have so much to do and I don't know what order I should do it in. I am living in the Cottage now so I have offically lived in every dorm on campus. It is pretty nice and newly renovated.  My room is HUGE. There are beds and stuff for four people by I only have one roommate.  I same roommate I had for last transition.  Anyway I will write more later.  LOVE YOU

33 days and counting

     With 33 days left of AmeriCorps I have been thinking about a bunch of things.  But first I want to update everyone about what I am up to.  This past week has been alright.  I went to work on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday not feeling really good.  I had been feeling down lately and sleeping a bunch but I thought that was just because I was missing home.  But on Thursday I wasn't feeling very good.  Since I stayed home last week cause I wasn't feeling good I couldn't stay home without going to the doctor.  I went to the doctor where I spent about 2 and a half hours.  It turns out that I have a really bad sinus infection that is causing my stomach to not like me. I have had sinus infections before and they have never made me feel like this before. So they gave me tons of medications and told me I had to stay home on Friday as well.  Today we drove to Grand Rapids where Matti lives to spend the Fourth of July.  The plan was to go to the beach all day and then go to Matti's sister show.  I ended up staying back at Matti's Mom's house because I am stilling feeling like crap.  I am spending the day here trying to get better so I can go to a cultural center and have a BBQ with my teammates.

    I noticed just now that spending time with my team is important to me and not spending the day at the beach.  During this year I have grown a bunch.  I think I am still me but I am more comfortable. I like spending time on my own reading but I miss everyone at home. Being in AmeriCorps has made me really appreciate the life that I had at home.

    Working in Flint has made me realize what some people in this world feel about material things.  We are working in section 8 housing where some people pay $1 for rent for a month.  But these people have play stations, X box 360's, more clothes than you could imagine, 4 strollers, computers, a huge TV's. These are just some of the things we have found in an apartment that people left.  People left all of these things behind in their apartment.  It hit me really hard.  If you can't afford to pay rent how do you have the money to buy all those things and then leave them behind.  I went into one of the rooms and it was a young girls room.  There was a kitten calendar on the wall and the where two things posted on the calendar.  One said it was her prom and the other one was her birthday.  I saw that and it made me sad.  

    I get to work at 8 everyday and no one in the whole complex is up until about 10 or 10:30 and that is when the parents kick the kids out of the houses because they are being too loud.  By 1 or 2 o clock the adults are up.  I wish I could understand this place but I can't.  Sometimes we hear kids screaming and crying and then we hear a smacking sound and the parents yelling.  This is parents hitting their children and it kills me every day.  I know I can't do anything because it is not a safe place but I wish I could do something.  One day we were coming back from lunch walking by one of the apartments and once we passed it a boy was pushed of the stoop and hit with a bat.  A women, who looked like his mother was yelling at him and holding a bat.  We got to our apartments and went inside.  I felt so unbelieving bad for that boy. I knew these kinds of things went on but I had never had to see them.  I wish the world was a better place and that people were all good.  I guess that is something that I had to learn.

    I am going to try and change the world.  Or help people change the world. I like material things but that's not what really isn't important, the people in your life are important not the things you have.  Sorry this is all over the place.  I am just realizing a bunch of things now.

   When my niece Addie was born I was so happy for my sister and Matt, but sad because I wasn't going to be around for the first year of her life.  But I was helping people that needed me and I will have the rest of Addie's life to spend with her.  Sometimes you just need to let go and do something different.even if it has been one of the hardest things you have had to do.  Being in AmeriCorps has tested me more than anything.  I have been tested physically by carrying pots of plants that are too heavy for me, working long hours, installing rain gardens in 90 degree weather, working in section 8 housing with people beating their children and screaming and yelling. Now I know that I really want to teach Severe Special Education students. I want to help the kids in this world that can't help themselves.  Okay so that was a long winded blog. That is everything on my mind. 

   I wanted to let you guys know what I am doing after AmeriCorps is finished.  I graduate on August 5th. I get home to Boston August 7th and Lauren is picking me and my parents up at the airport.  The next day my parents and I are going to New Jersey to visit my sister, Matt, and Addie.  This will be the first time I have seen them since April.  I can't wait to see them. After visiting them I will be home in Framingham for a while.  On August 22nd I am going to volunteer at Sunshine Camp in Maine for terminally ill kids and their families.  I will be there until August 30th.  I will spend a week at home in Framingham and then I am going back to New Jersey to visit Becky, Addie, and Matt for about a week.  After that I will be home for good and I will be working with Conor again.

   I can't wait to be home with you guys.  I will be home in 35 days.  Miss you and love you all.  Comment if you want.

Flint Update

I am in Flint Michigan working with the Flint Housing Commission.  The guys that we work with are really nice.  They refer to Friday as F-ck Off Friday which is awesome.  Meaning that Friday is a relaxed day. I have been doing a bunch of painting and paint scraping. We did a food drive on Thursday with the Flint Housing Commission at one of their sights.  That was fun.  I was sick on Wednesday so I stayed home and relaxed which was much needed.  I have been finding myself to be really tired these days.  I was talking to mom and she told me I did my time and I am probably ready to go home.  She is right I can feel myself loosing my drive to be here.  I am so ready to go home and go back to my life.  

   Another team from Vinton is near us and we have seen them a bunch. They came over last night and we all hung out.  It was a little too loud for my liking so I went down stairs around 11 to read and just get away from the noise.  They went to a bar a little later and came back shortly after. You guys know how I feel about loud craziness.  So I got myself out of the situation. 

   Anyway that has been about it.  I have realized I have been getting aggravated with my teammates more lately.  We have just been together all the time for too long. Some people are only out for themselves which is not the way I live but o well. I am trying to get used to it. I am ready to grow up and a bunch of my teammates aren't.  I want to thank mom and dad for raising me so well.  I really appreciate it.  I love you guys and can't wait to see you.

Long time no info

Sorry I have been MIA for a while.  Things have been going well.  I did not want to leave Muncie at all.  We found out that our next project is in Flint Michigan which is not a nice place at all.  Apparently we are living in the projects and we have heard that it is not safe to walk outside at night. Anyway we tried to get an extension on our project in Muncie but they didn't give it to us.  We finished installing 71 rain gardens which was really amazing. I now know how to install and plant a rain garden. 
   Mom came and visited me in Muncie and we had a great time.  I did not want her to leave at all.  From today I have about 54 days left in AmeriCorps. I will be home on August 7th.  Some more news is that I got accepted into Sun Shine camp.  This is a camp for terminally ill children and their families.  I got accepted for 2 sessions, August 22 - 30.  For the first session I am the nursery counselor and the second session I am kitchen staff.  I am really excited.  It should be a great experience.
   I am back in Vinton Iowa for transition.  I will update you more later.

Resurfacing from AmeriLife

    AmeriLife consumes all.  Sorry it has been so long since I have written on here.  It is hard here because for the last two weeks I have only had one weekend day off. I also Don't have internet at the apartment and by the time I get back from work I am too exhausted to walk to a coffee shop.  I also wanted to apologize for not keeping in contact with everyone.  I am just so tierd after work that I don't have energy for anything and some nights we don't eat until 9.

   Lately I have been installing rain gardens in the rain, which is VERY muddy and working at the Buley Center with kids.  This makes for a very tiring day.  Also my team has been driving me a little nutty, which adds to my already nuttiness.  Anyway that has been what I am up to.  Pretty boring I know.  

    Yesterday I had my first karate class which was AMAZING. I am pretty sore but I LOVED it.  Be afraid, very afraid lol.  I miss you guys and will write more soon I promise.

Weird weather

    The weather here in Indiana is really weird. Yesterday the weather was beautiful all day. There were no clouds in the sky and it was the perfect weather. Then around 5:45 I looked at the sky and half of the sky was blue and the other half was dark as anything. Suddenly the wind went crazy and the rain was falling. It also probably dropper about 15 degrees. But I was a big girl and dealt with the storms well last night.

   Yesterday was our first day at work. First we went to Minnetrisa Museum to see their beautiful gardens.  We got a tour from the head horticulturalist.  The grounds are amazing they have 40 acers of land some is natural and some is beautifully made gardens.  This place was beautiful and I would love to go back there again.  I also would love to sit in the natural part and read on a beautiful day.  After that we went to the Buley Center and talked with Mrs.Mary who is the interem director and she got to know us and our abilities and interests.  Then the kids came and it went crazy.  Know one ever calmed the kids down so they were really wound up all day.  After being at school all day they needed some time to regroup but instead they sat and got talked to most of the afternoon.  People kept giving the kids long winded explanations instead of being quick with directions.  This project is going to be hard for our team because everyone has a different opinion about everything and people need to learn to not take things personally when working with kids and to work as a team because everyone has something to offer.  I am going to try and stand in the background and just see what people do because know one usually listens to my imput anyway.  But we will see what happens.  So yesterday was kind of crazy and we talked about it last night and we are going to go over things and ideas tonight at dinner which will help.

    Something that has been happening lately is that my team leader Shalyn and I are are getting along very well.  She is one of the only ones that is supportive about my fear of thunder storms.  She is also more willing to talk things out for me.  I feel like she is more of an alli now and on our side.  Shalyn is much more approachable than before and I like that.
  
   Today was a pretty awesome day.  We had the day off because it is election day and we work for the town.   We did an ISP today though.  We met our sponsor, Jason in the parking lot of our apartment at 9:30 which meant that we got to sleep in, that was great.  We followed him to a community garden a couple blocks from our apartment.  This is a different type of community garden then most.  In most community gardens each family has there own plot and they have to keep up with it.  This garden is different because no one has a specific plot and everything is for everyone and people just pitch in to help grow and keep up the maintenance.  It had rained last night so it was really easy to weed.  We weeded most of the day and it was very therapeutic.  We also planted broccoli and potatoes. I dug up some baby onions and ate them raw, they are very good.  It was beautiful outside and we got 5 ISP hours.  Then we went back to the apartment, relaxed, and did PT.  Currently I am at a coffee shop and then I will be going back to the house and relaxing.

   I found out today that I got approved to take off June 4 so I can have 3 full days with mom when she comes.  I can't wait for you to get here mom.  I have so many ideas of things for us to do.  I am so excited for you to be here.  Hope things are going well with you guys.