Day off

Today I got to sleep in till 8:30am which was AMAZING. It is weird how I used to think 8:30am was early. Now it's sleeping in compared to 5am. I took a long shower, did my hair, which made me feel like a girl again. Then I went to the computer lab to look up some stuff for our debriefing on Monday for the short project we did. Then I read for a while. It was a nice relaxing couple of hours.

I met everyone at the van at 11:00am and we were on our way to Cedar Rapids, IA. It took us about 45 minutes to get there. Our first stop was Goodwill which I wasn't thrilled about but thats ok. Then we went to a Super Target, which I had never been to before. There was a Verizon store next to the Target so I went there because I needed to get a new phone or get mine fixed because I am having so many problems with it. Well that Verizon store only sold the phones and didn't have tech people so they told me I had to go to another store a little ways up the road. I was pissed.

Then I went to the Super Target. Let me tell you that it was AMAZING. I wish that there was a Super Target near home. You can do your food shopping at great prices then shop for other things at great prices all at the same time and place. It was awesome.

After Super Target we went to the other Verizon store that was right next to the Lindale Mall. Well this Verizon store wasn't any help either. I told them my problem and she said I am not seeing the problem now so I can't help you. I seriously wanted to punch the lady in her face. I said, "So basically I have to deal with a phone that randomly shuts off, doesn't connect to the internet, which is an extra service I pay for and the battery always running out." She told me that she couldn't help me. I am still fuming. I tried to talk to the manager but he wasn't any freaking help either. I am about to ask mom for help. Mommy help me please.

After Verizon I went to find the rest of my team. I met them at a Mongolian place in the mall. This place was just like Fire and Ice but didn't have the steaks and burgers. It was yummy. After that I went and bough two Iowa T shirts and then we left the mall and headed back to Vinton.

When we got back I went to my room and read for a while which was great. After that I went to the computer room and tried to upload some photos but the stupid internet keep pooping out on me. So it wasn't working and I am going to try to upload the pictures tomorrow. Then it was time for duty. We cleaned Rice Hall and it wasn't bad at all. After cleaning my team leader Shalyn let us into the give and take closet. The give and take closet is a closet with stuff that people left here from last year for us to use. You can take stuff from the closet and keep it or give it back and you can donate stuff and they will put it in there. It got a bunch of good stuff from there.

Then it was time for something to eat, I had left over eggplant parm which was yummy in my tummy. Then me and Sarah watched a bunch of movies and did puzzles. Now it is time for me to get to bed because I am falling asleep in the computer lab. Hope you all had a good Halloween. Love you guys.

More fire pits and trash pickup

Today has seemed like it has gone on forever. I had PT this morning at 5:30am, meaning I had to wake up at 5am. After PT I changed and had breakfast. Then we drove to one of the Benton County Conservation parks. In all we went to 4 parks today. We cleaned out fire pits which is harder than you think, especially when it poured the night before. We moved HEAVY picnic tables, swept pavilions, put sticks in piles, picked up TONS of trash, especially beer cans, and a couple more things. The day wouldn't have been bad if my Team Leader and one of my team mates werent sick and we not with us today. As well as myself, my friend Sarah, and another one of my teammates not feeling good.

We got back around 5 and I changed and heated up the egg plant parms that I put together the night before. After dinner I did laundry, started a puzzle and watched "Failure to Launch" with Sarah. Now I am offically exhausted and I am going to bed.

The good news is we have tomorrow and Sunday off. Tomorrow around 11 some of my teammates and I are going into Cedar Falls where everything is. Then I am going to hang around the rest of the day. We are having a celebritory cookout for dinner, which we are all really excited about. My team and I are on Duty tomorrow night which isn't that bad. Then Sunday I have no plans except watching football and hanging around. I am looking foward to the next couple days of just relaxing.

Love you guys

Roger Park and Finding out our first Spike

Today we worked at Roger Park. I cleaned out fire pits in the pouring rain today. I got soaked. O by the way I bruised my tail bone yesterday by jumping into a pile of leaves butt first. After getting soaked in the rain we went inside to get dry and then I painted signs.

We found out were we are going on our first Spike!!! We are going to Toledo Ohio. We will be working with Toledo Gardens. The website is toldeogarden.com. I am borrowing someones computer so I am going but I will write more later.

Love you guys.

First day of the 3 day project

Today was the first day of my three day project. The day did not start out so good. I ended up turning off my alarm when my roommates went off at 5am. I got up at 6:40am 10 minutes before I had to be at muster. Thank god I laid out everything the night before. I made it to muster in Rice which is across campus from my room with a minute to spare. Then we drove to the Benton County Conservation Park. My team split up in groups and my group went with the park ranger and used loppers to make trails wider. Then we had a break for lunch in which we sat in the van and ate and got warm. Then we went back outside to make trails wider with loppers. I have pictures of me doing this if you don't believe me. I will put them on here soon.

When we were done with the trails we raked leaves then each of us got to jump into this HUGE leaf pile. It was so much fun, I felt like a little kid again. I jumped into the leaf pile butt first and now my butt is killing me. I thought I had enough padding there but I guess I didn't cause my tail bone is killing me. Then we took a group picture which came out really good. Today was a good day. Unfortunately we still need to do PT. I am already exhausted so I don't know how I am going to do PT at 8pm. I will be doing it very slowly.

I am planning to do some laundry and relax in bed until PT. After PT I am going straight to bed. Love you all.

3 Day Project and Rep Roles

We start our 3 day project tomorrow. Out project is with the Benton County Conservation. We will be planting 300 trees from Wednesday - Friday. I am so excited for this project. We get a break from the traings and from people talking at us all day. And I actually get to be outside. Did you ever think you would here me say that Mom? O. I found out my Rep Roles for the team. I am the Vehicle, Safety, and Tools Officer as well as the Photo Rep. I got both jobs I wanted :) Well I should get to bed. I want to have lots of energy for planting trees. Love you

Iowa and room pictures

Here are some pictures of my room.












Here are some pictures of Iowa


This is the Water Tower in Vinton




There is LOTS of corn here



Oak 4, Poison Oak



Oak 4 at the Playground

5:30 am PT and STD training

Today was an early start. I had PT this morning at 5:30. We were outside running in the rain before the freaking sun was up. After PT was a community meeting and then we had STD training. Yup that is exactly what it sounds like. It was amusing but nothing that I didn't already know.

After STD training we had a Quality of Life training that was mostly about substance abuse. Every chance they get here they talk about not abusing drugs and alcohol and it is starting to get pretty annoying.

After the Quality of Life training was lunch, in which I had a Swiss grilled cheese sandwich and veggies with hummus. After lunch was EEO training. Can you tell that they like their acronyms here? (Did I spell that right?) Dad let me know if I spelled that right. EEO stands for Equal Employment Opportunity. Which again is nothing that we all already don't know. During this training we had a fire drill which helped us all wake up.

After the EEO training we were done until 4:15. I went back to my room and read for a little while, which I haven't been able to do much while I have been here because every time I go to read I end up falling asleep. After reading for a while I finished unpacking FINALLY. It have been here more than a week and I just finished unpacking. I think I am a procrastinator don't you? Then it was time for the Rep Role Fair.

Each person on the team needs to have a Rep Role. These are roles like a Newspaper Editor, a Peer Helper, a Serving Learning Inistiator, a Project Outreach Liaison, A Vehicle Safety and Tools Officer, a Media representative, a CAP (sorry I forget what that stands for) it has something to do with recruiting new members and telling your NCCC journey to people to try to get them to join. Other Rep Roles are yearbook member, Photo Editor, Grocery Shopper and a couple more I can't remember.

The Roles that I am hoping to get are the Vehicle Safety and Tools Officer and the grocery shopper. Mom and Dad know how good I am at grocery shopping. I would also be ok with Photo editor or yearbook member instead of the grocery shopper. We wrote down what Roles we preferred and our Team Leader (TL) is going to try to pick the Roles from there.

By the way I had the BEST Barbequed Chicken Sandwich for dinner tonight. My teammate Amy made it. She put frozen chicken breasts, a bottle of BBQ sauce, and two bottles of Italian dressing in a crock pot, put it on high and cooked it all day. It came out AMAZING. I made potatoes to go with it. Thanks Dad for letting me know the degree to cook the potatoes out and how to tell when they were ready. My team mates thank you as well.

Well I am exhausted from getting up at 5am and being in trainings all day. I will update you guys tomorrow. Love you all.

Making a difference and Corn maze/Bar hopping

Yesterday was make a difference day. All the corp members went to a community in Iowa City to conduct surveys about crime. The people in the neighborhood did a bBBQ for us which was really nice of them. On the way back from Iowa City we went grocery shopping as a team. Now that was pretty eventfull.

After the two hour drive back to Vinton I tried to take a nap but for some reason I couldn't fall alseep which is weird for me. So I read my book and hung out with some people. This will surprise some of you. I went to a scarey Corn Maze at around 9 at night. I almost peed my pants, I am not going to lie. But I was not the only one that was scared. I looked down a bunch of the time. I went with my friend Sarah and a couple other people. O, on the way to the scarey Corn Maze I had to make my first 911 call because a lady in a car was going to wrong way on a one way highway. That was pretty scarey.

Anyways after the Corn Maze I went to Ron Da Voo with Sarah, and my roommate Laura. We met a bunch of people there. After we were there for a while we decided to go to the other bar in town which is Mickey's. We walked to Mickey's which is about a mile from Ron Da Voo. Mickey's was pretty crowded with locals and NCCC members. I stayed there for a while but then I left because I was tierd and there were a ton of really drunk people and I just didn't want to deal with that.

I walked back to campus with a couple people and then laid in bed and read for a while. I went to sleep about 1 and didn't wake up till about 11 am today which was awesome. I haven't been able to do that in a while. I watched some football, the Pittsburg game because my roomie is a huge Steelers fan. Then I went to the Chinese resturant in tow with 4 other people from my team. NOw I am just hanging out for a while.

Yesterday was Becky's baby shower and I am sorry that I missed it but I am also glad that I am here on this journey. As the days go on I realize more and more about how glad I am that I made to decision to come here. Anyways I will keep you all updated. Love you guys.

More meetings and Duty

Today was the first day of 5:30 a.m. PT. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I did find out that I can't really function on 6 hours of sleep. We had some more meetings. I can't rememver the name of the trainings but I do remember what they were about. During the first meeting today I could not keep my eyes open at all. I felt so bad but I would have taped my eyes open if I had tape.

After that meeting we had lunch which was left over mac and cheese. Then we had some more meetings. This meeting was about Media and promoting NCCC properly. It was kinda useless. The woman presenting was a B*tch by the way. This is from a teaching prospective as well as from someone listening to the lecture.

After the meeting we had a team meeting going over what we thought a team is, what we want our team to accomplish during CTI and what we were going to have for dinner for the next week.

Then I made dinner with my team mates Sarah and Jacob. We made chicken pesto pasta. The pesto was out of a packet because we don't have a blender or a food processor. I so wish I had Aunt Joyces pesto. The dinner was really good and the team loved it. O my eggplant parm from last night was a HIT and they want me to make it every week. That makes me happy.

Starting in 7 minutes my team and I are on duty for the night. Which means cleaning one of the buildings kitchens, lounges, and hall ways. We also found out that we are on duty on Halloween which none of us are happy about. But what can you do? Tomorrow is make a difference day where we are going to a community in Iowa City to conduct surveys for a community that is looking into rebuilding. They are doing a cook out for us after which is nice.

Anyway I have to get to duty. I love you all. Hope you are liking the blog.

CPR and more group bonding

Today was a good day. I had CPR all day and thought that it would be bad. But I was wrong, it was good and I learned everything. I also got a BIG package from mom today. I knew most of what was in it but I loved the card that was in the package. The card said, "Go confidentley in the directions of your dreams, Live the life you've imagined." Thanks mommy for that.

In between the CPR training I walked to Alco in the rain with two of my teammates. After CPR training I made eggplant parm for my teammates. My teammate Lauren make toasts with garlic and cheese, roasted green beans, and roasted carrotts with rosemary and the dinner was AMAZING. After dinner and bunch of us hung around the table talking for about an hour and a half. I found out that a guy named Jim on my team LOVES basketball too. I really like bonding with my teammates.

This is a GREAT experience and I am loving it right now. I thought I would miss home alot more than I do now. I haven't actually done something on my own like this before. It makes me feel like a stronger person. I also feel like I have more of a purpose. I am meeting a bunch of interesting and unique people. I have learned that you can't judge a book by it's cover. I am so glad I made this decision. I

So right now I am following Dad's advice, "Do what you like, Like what you do." I want you guys to know that I think about you alot. I am sorry that I haven't been able to talk anyone much since I have been here. I have been pretty busy with CTI (Corp Training Institute). I am hoping that I will be able to talk to a bunch of you this coming weekend, especially on Sunday. On November 13th we are having an induction ceremoney and we will all be inducted into the AmeriCorp. I am pretty excited about that.

Tomorrow I have PT (exercise) at 5:30 a.m. in the gym with all the other Corp members. Lets see how that goes lol. Well I should be getting ready for bed. Love you all.

Cooking class and group bonding

Today I had a cooking class for dummies. The person teaching the class was an idiot and mean. Anyway today is a good day. My group really bonded today which was really nice. There is a girl named Sarah in my group that I absolutley love. SHe is very sweet and has the same reactions to things as I do. Everyone else is my group is great besides two people. One girl thinks she is better than everyone else and then there is a guy who is not a team player and doesn't really want to me here and has already gotten in trouble. I love my team leader Shalyn.

We got done with our traininga at 2:30 today which was AMAZING. After the trainings we had a group meeting in which we talked about food. Always a GREAT topic for me. We talked about what foods we liked and what foods we didn't like. Can you believe I have some people on my team that don't like veggies. And then we have one girl (the snotty girl) that will only eat fresh veggies and garlic and won't eat minced garlic. GRRRRR. I like her outside of her food preferences.

Being here I have realized that I don't eat as much as at home because I don't have much if any down time. But unlike you tihnk Mom we don't eat healthy here. It is hard to eat healthy with the amount of money we are given as well as having enough food to feed 12 mouths.

Tomorrow my team and I have CPR all day which is not going to be fun. I told my team that I had dyslexica and ADHD so they know I might bug them for help during the trainings. They were all really great about it. Also my roommate gave me her cold/cough which I am not too thrilled about but atleast I don't have it as bad as she does.

I found out I have a free day on SUNDAY which I am hoping to go see my family in Iowa city, Lauren, Chester, and Micheal. I hope all is well with you guys. I am liking it here and I still can't believe I am here. Love you guys.

Pt and Baseline

Long time no talk. lol. So I sent a bunch of you my lovely picture of me in my uniform I hoped you like it. For those of you that I didn't send it to let me know if you want to see my sexy picture. By the way today went alot better than yesterday. We did a bunch of trainings today. I had a PT and a nutrition class today. I also had my baseline test today. I ran a 14 minute and 51 second mile. I ran/walked it. I did 13 sit ups and 15 girly push ups. After the fitness test we had room inspections. That went good, Laura and I did a good job expect we forgot to dust our desk but we did remember to clean the inside of our windows and the tops of our bureaus.

Then it was dinner time. I I walked into my kitchen and my team mates ask me how to cook chicken. Thanks to Dad I know how to make a great meal out of the contents of the fridge. I made pasta with baisl and garlic chicken. It was yummy.

After dinner I hung out in the Rice lounge with a bunch of the girls. They are all so nice. We are going to start a knitting group. How funny is that? I bet grandma Duddy would love that. Anyway I am falling asleep here.

Guess what? I am taking a cooking class tomorrow instead of driving a 15 passenger van. hehehe. Love you guys. Thanks for the support.

Monday's Blog: Van Training and team reveal

Yesterday mornings muster wasn't that bad at 6:50 a.m. but looking back at it now I am not liking it because I am falling asleep at this computer. Yesterday we had van training in the auditorium for 6 hours, which was sitting watching videos and talking about certain situations. We went outside and learned to check gauges, oil, and fluids. Guess what else I learned? I learned how to change a tire on a freaking 15 passenger van. O and I also learned how to jump a 15 passenger van. That was an experience. In between the van training sessions I had my physical which included 2 shots one of which made my arm feel like it was going to fall off.

After the exciting van training I had my final dinner with my G group. Emily, my team member made pasta with brocilli and pesto. YUMMY. After dinner we all played frissbee in one of the fields. Then it was time for the big Team Reveal. That was exciting but I was also sad and nervous, one because I liked my team and second because I was hoping my new team would like me. After the team reveal I got hit with this feelings of being homesick and sad. I got back to my room and cried. I think I cried for a couple of reasons. One, because I was so over tired from the long day. Two because I had gone through so much change already. And lastly was I had already invested a bunch of time into getting to know my team. I called mom and her and dad helped me. (Thank you guys for that by the way). I realized I was emotional when Mom told me she took a picture of my car covered in snow and I started to cry.

YOu guys know I am not great with change so this is a little hard for me because it is all happening at once. I know this was the right decision for me but it doesn't stop it from being hard. And I need to realize that it is ok to feel homesick but I can't let it get in the way of my time here. Well today is another day and I can tell you know that I am feeling better. I owe that to mom, dad, Lauren, and my roommate Laura.

Tonight I have my fitness test which includes me running/walking a mile timed and doing as many push ups as I can in 1 minute as well as doing as many sit ups I can do in a minute. Yeah that would be a fun site for you guys to see. I am glad I lost 19 lbs before I came here.

Until later tonight. Love you guys.

Uniforms and football

This morning when I woke up I looked around and said to myself, "Where am I?" Then I thought o yeah, I am on an adventure. That put a smile on my face. To be honest I thought that I would be so nervous and want to go home once I got here. But I am excited and happy to be here and for the moment I am not home sick. Yes I miss everyone at home and my house but I am glad I decided to come here. I think it is one of the best decisions I have made in my life so far.

Anyway I got to sleep in till 9:30 which is pretty nice since I haven't done that in a while. My roommate Laura and I went for a walk to Alco which is a general store down the street from campus. It is like a smaller version of Walmart. We started laughing once we saw the Alco because there is the Alco, then there are these two big silos and a huge corn field behind it. I took some pictures of this scene for you and will upload them tomorrow.

After going to Alco I got issed my BDU "Battle Dress Uniform" which is in all men's sizes and is kind of commical. They didn't have my size in a bunch of stuff so right now I am walking around in clothes that are too big for me hbut I will be getting my sizes soon enough. I didn't get my steeled toe boots yet either but they are coming as well.

After getting my BDU I got to watch FOOTBALL. Which made me really happy and made it feel more like Sunday. I was so excited when I found out that I was going to be able to watch the Patriots game. What a game that was. It was sad to see it snowing at home and that I missed the first snow in MA. The weather was nice here today. It was chilly this morning but nice this afternoon.

I had dinner with my team tonight which was nice and learned about what the plan was for tomorrow. Tomorrow I have to be at Muster (which is a specific spot my team meets and talks about the schedule for the day) at 6:50 a.m. YUK. I haven't had to be up that early for a long time. That means I have to get up at 6 and put on my uniform and look the way I need to for the rest of the day. After Muster is breakfast then we have Van training till 12 then lunch then more van training till 4 Yuk again. BUT I find out my perminant group tomorrow night so I will keep you posted. So far I am LOVING it here. If you guys want to know about anything else leave a post on here and let me know. I am not sure what else to write here.

O by the way we have under ground tunnels connecting the buildings on campus together. It is awesome. I am going to go over by way of under ground tunnel to the other dorm and watch some more football. Love you all.

Birds in engines and Ron Da Voo

So lets start with the beginning of my day. I left my home sweet home at 5:00 this morning. I said good bye to Mom and Dad without crying. That's a big deal. Then I was off to and my first stop was Chicago. Well my flight to Chicago was great. The flight to Iowa was a different story. The plane that was supposed to take me to Iowa got run into by a flock of birds. That damaged the plane. So my plane was delayed. Well they couldn't fix the plan so they had to put me on another flight. So I didnt get to Iowa till 2. But my team was waiting for me at the baggage claim. Then we all walked around Vinton to get familiar with the town, which is not hard to do. Then I finally got to campus. I got to my room and met my roommate Laura who is awesome. I did some unpacking then met up with some girls from my team had dinner. Then we went to the local bar, Ron Da Voo. I got back to the room a little while ago. I met some really nice people. I am loving it here. Tomorrow I am getting my uniform. Yeay! Love you all.

The night before

Hi all,
Welcome to my blog. So it the night before I leave for Heaven. No wait! Iowa. I am sitting in my bed with mom who has helped me get everything together in this crazy week. This all happened so fast. A week ago today I found out that I was actually accepted into the Americorp. So tomorrow, "I am leaving on a Jet plane..." To start the newest chapter of my life. I am going to miss so many people but don't worry I will annoy you all the way from Iowa. I am excited to start this journey and help people. Stay tuned for the next update.