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.

Sorry about being MIA

Sorry about not blogging lately. I have just been pretty busy lately. Since I last wrote I turned 24. I went out with my entire team and Cedar 4. I has a good time but I drank too much. Since then I have decided to stop drinking because no matter how much I drink I get sick. Also it doesn't draw me anymore. My teammates like to drink and like to get me to drink but I told them that I am no longer drinking.
I finished round 3 at Weed and Seed in Cedar Rapids finally. It was a long project that all of us were glad to see end. We had transition which was pretty busy. I had a bunch of meetings and trainings. It was really nice to see my friends that are on other teams. The people I was glad to see were my roommate Laura and my friend Laura. It turns out that my friend Laura from MA moved next door to me. But I had to put all of my things into storage which was a big production but I did it, thanks to the vacuum seal bags.
I forgot to tell you where I was going on my next project. My project is in Muncie Indiana which is about 60 miles from Indianapolis. I am going to be installing rain gardens. I will put a link connected to this that shows what rain gardens are and how to make them. I will also be working with the Roy. C Buley Center, which is a community center. There I will be at an after school program as well as planning and participating in a summer program.
I got to Muncie on Thursday April 29. We are living in the Daley apartments. For the 10 of us we have two apartments. They are in different buildings but the buildings are small kind of like condos. The apartment I am in is the 3 bedroom. The apartment has 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, a bid kitchen, a porch/deck, a free washer and drier in the apartment, and AC. I feel spoiled. The other apartment is the same but has 2 bedrooms. Currently we don't have a T.V. cable, or internet but our sponsor is working on getting Comcast to donate 6 weeks of free Internet and cable. Another small down fall is that we only have 1 key to each apartment so we are trying to work that out.
Our first full day Friday our sponsor Jason met us at our apartment at 9:00 which met we got to sleep in. We went to a park and talked to he could get to know us and played some ice breakers. Jason is an NCCC Alumni from 2000. So he knows how the program works. After that he took us on a driving tour of Muncie and also had us tour City Hall and we walked around town. Then we went back to the apartments to eat lunch. After that he took us on a tour of the water sanitation plant. It was really nice to see that because it plays into us working in the rain gradens. Then we went to the Buley Center and got to meet the kids we will be working with.
The best part of Friday was that our Sponsor and people in the community threw us a welcome party. They had a place cater the food. The major and some other big wigs came to see us. They gave us a bag of goodies which included a reusable shopping bag, a insulated shopping bag, a water bottle, a small rain catcher, a Muncie T-Shirt, and a bunch of other stuff. But then they presented us with tickets to a day at the Indi 500 which is amazing and that day we are going ZZ Top will be playing music. Another thing they gave us is a day of kayaking and canoeing on the white river, then also gave us tickets to a cultural museum, lastly they are giving us a dinner at the Texas Road House. But the best part of that was that we got treated like people and not just an extra pair of hands. They were really excited for us to come and told everyone in the community.
That night a bunch of us went to a local bar and I had my last drink. The next day we went to a local farmers market which was really good. I went to target to get a couple things then hung out at the apartment. At night Amy, Sarah, Jacob, Jim, and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Celtics Vs. Cavs play off game. I had a good time and could'nt finish my meal. Some people went back and played games but Sarah and I went back to read and sleep.
This morning I woke up around 10 and had some breakfast. Currently I am at a local coffee shop/resturant using the internet.
So those of you that know me are familiar with my fear of thunderstorms, tornadoes and all that bad weather. Well the second night we were here we had pretty bad storms and I was shaking in my bed. Then last night there were tornadoes in Arkansas that were possibly coming towards Ohio Valley and Indiana. I was freaking out and my teammates were making fun of me. I don't know if they realize how scared I am of those things. But it is good to know that I have people back home to make me feel better like Mom and Lauren. I wanted to thank you guys so much for the support and dealing with me freaking out from miles away last night.
Well things are going pretty well. I am hopefully going to be able to update this once or twice a week. I hope you guys are all doing well. I love you.

It went by too fast

My week back to the familiar was fun. But I can tell you one thing. It went by way to fast. I had a great time on Tuesday hanging out at the house then having people over for Passover. It was nice to see everyone. I went to Becky's on Wednesday - early Saturday morning. I had a good time with Becky, Matt, and Addie. Addie is so big and always has her tongue out, its so cute. We shopped, ate good food, and I played with Addie a lot. I did not want to leave her at all. On Saturday I decorated eggs with Christine and Julie. Sunday I hung out with Dad and Mom and saw Lauren for her birthday. Yesterday Mom and I went to Minado for lunch which was really good. Then I got to the airport.

Airports and flying sucked yesterday. I got to the airport to find out that my first flight was delayed an hour. I sat in Logan airport trying to amuse myself before my flight. The plane was packed, and flying with old people on your plane isn't fun. They think they are so entitled. I had an older person sitting behind me and she kept bumping my seat. There were a bunch of kids on my first flight. There was a little boy the was a row in front of me and across. He was sick and was having trouble with his ears. He was screaming and crying the whole why not to mention that he made himself sick and threw up. So the plane smelled disgusting. It made me sick and it was a good thing I was sitting on the aisle seat so I made it to the bathroom on time. The plane ride was also very bumpy. My connection in Chicago was on time but there was a bad thunderstorm happening so we had to wait on the runway for it to pass. This plane ride was so bumpy. I sat reminding myself that I was alright and to breath deeply. I felt like I was on a roller coaster. After and hour of that we finally landed and my air traveling is done for a while. Driving back to campus was an event because the weather was horrible. I was freaking out because of the thunder and lightning.
When I got back to campus no one was around so I just went to my room and read my book.

Coming home tomorrow!!!

I finally went for my MRI. I can tell you for sure know that I don't like MRI's. They are loud and you are squished into this little machine that is really noisy even with ear plugs in and you have to stay completely still for about 25 minutes. You know what I was worring about the whole time I was in that stupid machine? I was worried that I was moving and that I would have to do the whole stupid thing over again. They had me positioned so that my thumb on my right sholder was up and it hurt. I had a panic ball in my left hand and after a while I wasn't even sure if it was there anymore because my whole hand fell asleep. But I did what Mom told me to do and I closed my eyes as soon as I laid down and I breathed deeply. Soon it was all over and the nurse told me I did a great job. When I tried to sit up I had a little trouble but other than that it was ok. I find out my results tomorrow, being Monday. I hope they are good results but I will just have to wait and see.

This week was the same as always with work. I did a bunch of ISP's this weekend. On Friday after work my teammates and I did an ISP for the loacl hockey team. It was fun we handed out free stuff from the census and got to see the game for free. On Saturday in the morning I did a easter craft ISP for kids. That was fun as well. Then at night I did a steak fry ISP with the local American Legon chapter. That was the best one. I had a great time getting to know all of the guys and members in the community. One guy wants to donate 5 bikes to us and another guy wants us to come over and play scrabble and chinese checkers with him. I think that would be fun too. After that ISP I came back to campus and watched some baskteball with Amy, Jim, and Jacob. Then I read for a little bit and went to sleep.

Today I am packing to COME HOME!!!!!! I can't wait to see you guys. Love you.

I am a klutz

I had another Lindsay moment the other day. I was walking out of Rice Hall after dinner. I saw Amy up ahead a little bit. I called to her and then went to walk to her. Well I forgot about the little step up on the side walk and I just happened to be wearing flip flops for the first time in a while. I tripped on the side walk, did a summersalt/flip, cut up my knee, and landed square on my bad sholder. Amy said I laid there for a couple minutes and she was worried about me. I laid there thinking I was an idiot and hoping I didn't hurt my sholder anymore. The next day my sholder was killing me. I asked my team leader if I could stay home and try to rest a little bit to get it better. She told me no and I spent the whole day miserable. That night my sholder didn't feel any better so I talked to my team leader again telling her that it didn't feel better and I needed to stay home. She told me I could stay home but had to go in the rest of the week until my MRI.
Speaking of my MRI I and my dorctors office has spent a week trying to get it approved by the insurance company. I just got a call from my doctors office saying it was finally approved and they would call me back with a time. I am really happy. I just wish insurance companies didn't suck so much. Enough venting.
This weekend was pretty good. I had an ISP running Irish games at the skating rink on Saturday with Sarah. At night we went to the bar to celebrate Lauren's birthday. Two of her friends from college came up to celebrate and she was so happy. Amy, Sarah, Jake, Katie, and I went with Lauren and her friends to a local bar called Mikies. That night was karaoke night. We walked into the bar and all the locals were happy to see us. They bought us drinks, sang us songs, and bought us people. It was a pretty good time. Lauren had fun and that's what matters. Earlier that day I made Lauren dark chocolate truffles. She loved them so I was happy.
Work has been the same. I have been working in the office. But there really isn't anything for me to do. I spend most of my days on the computer trying to ammuse myself. But I also do home assessments, site vists, take trips to Home Depot, and drive and pick people up. I do this with Rhonda. I would love to be working in the field but my STUPID sholder wont let me. I can't wait to find out what is really wrong with it.
I have been dreaming about seeing everyone at home. As of today I will be home in 6 days. There is so much I want to do while I am home I just hope I have time. So far this is what I have planned.
Tuesday: Helping Mom get things together for Passover and celebrating Passover at my house at night
Wednesday - Saturday: New Jersey with Mom to see Becky, Matt and Addie!!!!!!!!!
Saturday: Coming home from New Jersey, planning on seeing friends and spending some time with my Dad.
Sunday: Spending time with my Dad and seeing friends, at night I am going to visit Conor, Erin, and Heidi.
Monday: Heading back to Iowa, my flight is at 3:00pm
It looks like I am going to be pretty busy but if you would like to see me just let me know and I we will make plans, just be aware that it might not be for very long. Love you guys. See you soon.

I hate when sholders don't work like they are supposed to

It's been a while but not much has really happened. I am still working in the office with Weed and Seed at the Community Recovery Center. Most days I do paper work, copy things, organize things for when volunteers come in, go on site vists, go on house assessments, and pick people up from there work sites and drive them to lunch or the CRC. Latley there hasn't been much for me to do so I spend most of my day at a computer looking up stuff online. It's boring but atleast I am getting my hours in.
My sholder has caused all this trouble and it hasn't gotten any better. I went to the doctor earlier this week and we was concerned. He said that he was going to send me for an MRI and if it came back negative he was going to give me a cortizone shot and have me to physical therapy. He didn't even talk about if the MRI came out positive which scared me. I am in pain all the time. He perscribed me celebrex to help with inflimation and pain and that wasn't helping the pain so he gave me something else which didn't work. I finally going something else and it helps a little bit but it makes me exhausted. I went in for an x ray today and I am going in for an MRI tomorrow. I just hope I don't need surgery or something like that.
Things are going well with my teammates. We are hanging out together a bunch. I watch movies alot with people and we all went out the other night to the bar. Going to the bar reminded me how much I hate random drunk people. I don't think I will be frequenting the bars anytime soon.
I have noticed that I have been keeping to myself a little bit because I just want to relax at the end of the day and it is just easier to go back to my room and watch tv shows on hulu on my computer.
Anyway I can't wait to come home. I come home in 10 days. Love you guys.

Slacking a little bit

I have been a little bit busy latley. I leave campus at 6:55 am and don't get back here till about 5:15 pm. Then it's PT, team meeting, cleaning, or cooking dinner. By the time that is done I am exhausted and its about 8:30. So I am a little behind on my blogging.

I started working at Weed and Seed in Cedar Rapids IA on March 4th. The first day was orientation where we got talked to about the organization and the flood that Cedar Rapids had in 2008. We also got a driving tour of Cedar Rapids and it was amazing to see how many houses still are flood damaged and how high the water had gone up. The water had crested at 31.5 feet. Then next day we got training on how to mud and tape drywall. That was fun but then I stood around for the rest of the day because I couldn't do anything so I felt useless. Then we got back to campus and hung out.

On Saturday my team and I did an Independent Service Project (ISP) with the other team that is staying on campus, Cedar 4. We served pancakes at a pancake breakfast put on by the town. It was fun. But a long day. We worked until 2pm. When we got back to campus wed hung out for a little bit then Katie, Matti, Sarah, and I walk around town for a little bit. It is so weird being in such a small town that everything closes at 5:30 or 6 pm. Then we went back to campus hung out and Sarah, Amy, Amber (from Cedar 4) watched Love Happens. And then we got attacked by nerf guns. My teammate Jacob has an arsenal of nerf guns. They are fun no matter how old you are. On Sunday I did laundry, hung out, then went to see Alice and Wonderland with my team and Cedar 4. The movie was weird but good. There was alot of eye mutulation in it which was weird. After the movie we stopped by Target then we went back to campus. It was an early night because we had work in the morning.

Yesterday two of my team members were sick and my team leader had to drive one of them to the doctors. So 7 of us went to work. I had to work out in the field and swept for about 2 hours or so. I was supposed to be leading volunteers but my volunteers didn't should up for a while then when they did I had to sweep. By the time lunch came my arm was throbing. After lunch I talked to my team leader and told her I couldn't go back into the field. She told me that next time I need to tell the person that I thought I was staying at the CRC (Community Recovery Center). But I didn't know I could do that because my team leader never told me that and never actually told me if she talked to the people at Weed and Seed about what I would be doing. Anyway after lunch I went back to the CRC and typed up some documents. After work we had dinner and then we have a huge nerf gun fight which was amazing. Then some people watched a scarey movie, and I read for a while.

Today all of my team was back to work. I did more paper work on the computer and then I organized the CRC's tools and cut out shamrocks for the St.Patty's Day float the Weed and Seed has. After lunch we got a training on drywall and then I went back to the CRC and hung out. After work we had PT. Everyone else got to play basketball and I had to walk about the gym. I was so jealous. But I knew I couldn't play. My arm is on fire it hurts so bad. I called the Dr. today to see if he could give me any pain meds. He never called me back so I am going to call him back in the morining.

I can't wait to come home by the way everyone. I am offically coming home March 29th, I will get to Logan around 12:10am on Tuesday. And my flight back to Iowa is Monday April 5th around 3pm. Love you guys.

Rotator Cuff (I didn't even know I had one)

Eating healthy has been working out. I know I have only been doing it since Saturday but hey that is 4 days. My body is feeling better I have noticed a difference. Most of my days are filled with meetings and waiting around for meetings. I have gotten to hang out with a bunch of friends which is nice since everyone will be leaving soon to go on spike.
I had the one on one with my team leader and I totally whimped out and didn't really tell her what I wanted to. But I did tell hera couple things that I wanted to talk to her about. I think I need to work up the courage to talk to her about how I feel that she treats me. Anyway I went to the doctor today about my sholder and it turns out that I have tendonitis/ a small tear in my rotator cuff. I didn't think it was that serious but apparently it is. So I am on light duty, which means no heavy lifting, no reach above my head, no pushing or pulling, and no activities that involve my right sholder. I have to make an appointment for two weeks from today but my team leader said she needs to talk to my unit leader before I do that. I don't really understand that. If I need to go to the doctor, I need to go to the doctor. Some of their policies here confuse me. The doctor said that if it feels like my sholder hasn't improved that I either need to start physcial therapy or get a corizone shot. I am also supposed to be doing these exercises for my sholder and icing it 3 times a day. I am not sure what they are going to have me do for the next 2 and a half weeks because we are supposed to be mucking, gutting, painting, and other construction things. But I guess they have to figure something out.
So there has been nothing else going on. I hope things work out with my sholder and I get to work with my team. Anyway hope all is well with you. Love you.

Day two of healthy eating

Today I woke up at 9:30am because my body wouldn't let me sleep any longer. I put a load of laundry in, ate an apple, than played on the computer for a while. Before I knew it is was around 11:45 and I was starving. I went over to my kitchen and made an amazing salad that was huge. The salad had baby spinach, lettucs, carrots, brocolli, peppers, egg white, tuna, and couscous. It was so good. But I couldn't finish it all so I put the rest in a baggie and I am saving it for tomorrow. After lunch i went back to my room and did some more laundry, cleaned and organize my room, played on the computer some more and then it was time for a team meeting. The team meeting was boring as usual. After that I had dinner. Sarah made her and I lemon chicken and I made roasted carrots, brocolli, and asparagus with couscous. I am really full now. That was my day. Kind of boring and lazy but I enjoyed it greatly. Now I am going to go relax and read. Hope you all have a good night. Love you.

Back in Iowa

So let me tell you that I am not made to be in a car for two days driving for a total of 18 hours. My body is so stiff and sore that it is insane. My knees are killing me. I got back to Iowa at 4:30 pm yesterady. We went straight to the grocery store and then came back and I unpacked. Then I hung out with my roomie for a bit and then i got Chinese food with my team. Sarah and I split chicken with cashews. After dinner I hung out with my friend Laura then went back to my room and hung out with my roomie for a little while and then I passsed out in bed.
I planned on sleeping in this morning but the stupid sun woke me up. It was shinning in my eyes. So I woke up at 10:00 am. To some of you that would be considered sleeping in but on my days off I would like to sleep a little later than that. I played aruond on the computer for a while than I went and made breakfast. I made eggs and toast with half a grape fruit. After breakfast I hung out in the lounge for a while and caught up with a bunch of people. Then I watched TV (I haven't watched it in about 7 weeks) with Sarah. Then Sarah went to take a nap and I went for a walk to Alco for some fresh air.
When I got back I made lunch. For lunch I had a salad with carrots, red pepper, brocolli, a small amount of cheese, and turkey without dressing. After lunch I hung out with Laura for a while. Then I went and hung out with Sarah and watched Law and Order SVU. Then I had duty and had to clean Rice Hall. But it only took us about 15 minutes which was nice. It is amazing how much you can get done with 10 people. Then I went and made dinner. I made roasted carrots and asparages, grain, and chicken. It was yummy. Then I watched Olympic curling with Laura. Later tonight I am watching a movie with Laura. I am not sure what we are watching because she is going to pick it out.
I have decided to start eating healthy again. I have made that choice for two reasons. One because my jeans are tight on me and I don't like it and two because when I was eating healthy I felt alot better than I do now. My immune system also liked it when i was eating healthy as well. I hope everyone is doing well. Miss you all.

Pit stop in Missouri

So the last couple of days in Alabama were good. The last day of work was relaxing and we got to hang out most of the day and we got off early. The next day we cleaned the house which was a mess. Then we had our final debrief with our sponsers from Habitat for Huamnity. Thrn both teams went out to dinner at Felix's which is a nice seafood resturant. The servers served us in unison which was pretty amazing. I had broiled shrimp and fish. This morning seems like so long ago. We got up at 5:15 am. and got to Cape Giraduea Missouri at 6:30 pm. We went out to eat at Bob Evans which was not bad at all. Now I am xhausted but am not ready for the color weather in Iowa. I am going to go. Love you guys.

Wrapping up in Mobile Alabama

These last couple of weeks have gone by fast at some points and slow at other points. Work has been alright. I have been doing demolishion, painting, flooring, and some framing. My right sholder is killing me lately. Sometimes I feel useless. We have been split up into two teams. My team leader has been going back and forth between those teams to make herself look important I believe.

Last weekend was Mardi Gras. One night a bunch of people went to New Orleans and I stayed back at the house. I relaxed and then the next day I went to the Flea Market. It was low key and a good time. We worked on Monday doing new construction insulating concreat. Tuesday was Fat Tuesday and we went into downtown Mobile to see the parades. It was crazy down there. People had tents up and rented porta pottis for the day. The parades were good and people walked around the streets with open containers of beer and alcohal. At night there was a shooting right near where we were standing which was scarey.

I worked Tuesday - Saturday. Saturday we had a community day with kids that are in the Youth Advocate Program. This program is for kids that are in the juvinile system with probation officers. This program is trying to turn the kids around. It was a good time and it was nice to do something with people in the community.

Last night the team leaders left to stay in a hotel for 2 nights. A bunch of people went to a night/dance club and a bunch of us went to play mini golf. It was fun playing mini golf. Then we came back to the house and hung out.

O by the way I found out my next project. I will be staying on campus in Vinton Iowa. My project site is in Cedar Rapids Iowa and we will be doing Mucking, Gutting, and Demolishion. So I guess it is safe to stay that I should probably go to the doctor about my sholder before next round starts.

I have learned that some people on the other team are here for theirselves or are just not consoderate to others. I know I live with 18 - 24 years old but they don't act like it. I guess I was raised differently then those people. I just can't wait to get back to Iowa and have some privacy and personal space. I am different than people here. I am considerate to others, think of others as well as myself, and treat people equally. I came into this program thinking everyone would be like that but I was proven wrong. I noticed this especially on this spike. This is something I need to get used to but it will be a struggle.

I miss everyone at home. I miss Lauren, Beepy, Suzy, my mom, Dad, Becky, Addie, and Matt. This is the longest time I have gone without seeing them all. You guys keep me sane and I miss you. I am not saying I am having a bad time here it is just hard here sometimes. I feel alone a bunch and it's not a great feeling to have when you are sdurrounded by people. I am emotional lately and am having trouble keeping them in check. I am not sure why I am writing all this but I guess I feel that I have to get it out of me before I explode.

I called the counselur on campus and talked to him about some of my issues with my team leader and he helped. I am glad that my next project is in Vinton so I can talk to him more. For a girl that hated conflict I am facing it head on. Anyway I should probably be going now. I hope all is well with everyone. Write me something back on here please. Miss you all.

Update

It's been a while I am sorry. It is hard to get internet here especially when 21 people are trying to connect. So lately I have been working. Today I took a sick in quarters day because I have been realing nausues and have had really bad headaches. Also last night was a very bad night for me with my stomach being upset. I am not going to go into details though. So I slept in, tried to eat something, read for a while, then I took a shower to see if that would make me feel better. Now I am going to continue to relax until the troops come home. Now for the update.

I have been ripping out carpet, framing walls, biulds door packs, painting, doing demolishing (using a sledge hammer on everything), flooring, cutting with saws (I am the offical cutter of the team :) That about sums up work. O and hammering. But my sholder and back have been hurting me alot lately and it sucks being in pain. I have had to stop putting my right hand above my head. Now if we hve to hammer above my heads I can't do it because it hurts too much. Anyway enough about my pain.

Living with 21 people there is bound to be tensions. Well apparently some people on my team talked to my team leader which lead my team leader to take me aside and for a half hour tell me that I was a hateful person and that I was controlling. That lead me to stop talking for a while because I was fed up with everything. Then I realized that my team leader doesn't have very good leadership skills. That is what I have come to realize and most people agree with me. I have become closer with some teammates which is nice. My best friend on my team Sarah, has a boy friend at home and is constantly on the phone with him. She doesn't interact with anyone at home because she is always on the phone with him. I sometimes want to shake her and tell her to pick a place. But I don't and hopefully she will figure it out soon enough.

I have noticed that since being in Alabama I have changed some. I am content with being on my own and doing my own thing if I happen to get that chance, which very rarley happens. When people go out a night I tent to stay back so I can have some time to myself. During that time I usually read. I have started to read alot again. I just recently finished "Last Song" by Nichalos Sparks. It was very good. I think I read the book on about a week. I found out that they are making into a movie and I can't wait to see it. I just started "Dear John" by Nichalos Sparks. They have also made that into a movie and I plan on going to see it as soon as I finish the book. As most of you know I love to read romance novels. But I have decided that I need to grow up a bit and I am trying to read more intellectual books. We will see how that goes. As well as reading I have starting making hats with yarn. It is fun and I will rpobably end up making hats for most of you. If you have special colors you would like in your hat let me know.

Last weekend was the superbowl and a bunch of us went to watch it at this bar/retuarnt called Buffalo Wild Wings. They are popular places in the midwest. It was fun. There were lots of TVs and I had a great time. I did drink a little too much and I let me gaurd down. Apparently people on my team and the other team liked me that way. It was fun and I am glad that I decided to go. The next day we had our other day off and a bunch of us went to San Miguels. It is a mexican resturant that has happy hour between 2 - 6 on week days. I had a beer and some buffalo wings. I think I should have stayed home relaxed that day because since then I haven't been feeling so good. Anyway that's whats been going on.

I am going to post some new pictures on my shutterfly account so be sure to take a look. Unit later. Love you.

The weekend

So this weekend I went to my first Mardi Gras parade. I bet you didn't know that Mardi Gras started in Mobile Alabama. Well it did. But let me back up a little bit.

On Saturday I worked on a new build site and but hurricane strips on a house and worked with a bunch of retired construction workers. It was fun but tiering and very cold (in Alabama temps). Then we went to the parade. I had a great time. I caught tons of beads and moon pies. I caught orange moon pies and they were so good. After the parade we came back to the house and hung out.

On Sunday I got to sleep in which felt amazing. I woke up around 10:30 and made eggs for breakfast. Then I went and plyaed disc golf with Amy, Jim, and Jacob. Disc golf involes small weighted frisbees that you throw into metal baskets from different distances. I had a great time and it was three hours of entertainment for free. After that we went to a place called Mellow Mushroom for food and it was really good. Then we came back to the house and I hung out for the rest of the night.

On Monday my day off I slept in, went super market shopping, then I went to San Megiuls, a great mexican resturant that has happy hour from 2 - 6 on week days. They have $1 budlight drafts and 35 cent wings as well as free chips and salsa. I went with Jim, Jhaki, Jacob, and Aaron. I had a good time. After that we came back to the house and had some dinner and then played Quielf which is a type of cranium game.

Today I had work. I pulled up carpet at a house. Now it's time for dinner. Things are stressful here with my team and the other team. I feel ganged up on but I bet things will get better. Atleast I hope they do.

A Blur

So as you have probably noticed I don't get the internet very well. So here is a quick update. I layed framing and made door frames for one of the houses we are working on. The next day I got to beat the hell out of a wall and demolished it as well as the floor. Then I sanded alot. Today I painted and fixed wholes in the plaster with other plaster. I don't have time to write anything else but things are great.

Mega church and raw oysters

Thursday I did flooring. I got to use a chop saw to cut the boards the proper length. In the beginning of the day I was scared of the saw but by the end of the day I was doing fancy cuts. Mt supervisor Marcy was very encouraging and proud of me. I was pretty tierd after work on Thursday and we had PT, then a team meeting (which went very well). People got things out in the open and it helped us. We just need to use better communication skiulls and listening skills. For dinner Rob and Aaron from Cedar 1 made us taco soup which was VERY yummy. Then I went to Super Walmart with a bunch of people to get some random things and to get stuff for my team leader, Shalyn's Birthday. After hat I came home and went to bed.

Friday I did some more cutting of the flooring peieces of laminant. I used to the chop saw, the table saw, and a jigsaw (and no that is not a puzzle). After that I helped put up two new walls in the house we are working in. After work we came back home and relaxed for a little while. Then we went to this things for an ISP we are doing on Sunday. This "Rally" was at a Mega Chruch. This church was as big as a movie theater and had the dim lighting, the sound system, and the big screen. Then the "Rally" proceeded to be mostly a HUGE relgious thing with praying and everything. I was freaking out. There was God music and people singing about jesus with their hands in the air and stuff. Well before I get more into it let me tell you what it was for. I am working with the Convay of Hope on Sunday at the Festival of Hope. It is for poor people and there are free groceries, hair cuts, resume workshops, job interviews, health care, and much more provided. But as the people said during the 2 hour service thing "it's a jesus thing" but to sum it up I was creeped out. After that a bunch of us went into downtown Mobile to go to dinner for Shalyn's birthday. We went to a place called Wetzell's Oyster House. It was so yummy. I tried raw oysters for the first time. They are slimy and don't taste like much. Then I had fried oysters, fried shrimp, stuffed soft shell crab, crab claws, and fried flounder. It was yummy and a good experience. Then I came back to the house and went to bed because I had work in the morning.

This morning I got to sleep in a little. We went to work on a new build construction site today. There were very cute dogs around one was called bamma. We painted the outside of a house and I go to fix the siding on a house as well. Then we came back from work early today. A bunch of people meaning (about everyone besides 4 people) went to play soccer. I stayed back at the house and di some laundry and took a nice LONG relaxing shower. Now I am going to help make some roasted veggies for dinner and relax for the rest of the night. Love you guys.

Last couple of days

So Tuesday I painted all day again. I started to feel sick around lunch time. Being in a small inclused area with paint for so long got to me. By the end of the day I was really sick and weak. I got home from work threw around a frisbee for PT ate dinner then went to bed at 8:30 because I felt like crap.

I woke up this morning feeling worse. Today I sanded a room and helped with flooring. It poured rain and thundered and lightning all day. I still feel like crazp. Also people on my team are getting snippy with each other and short tempered. I just wish everyone could get along. Well I am at a branes and noble and need to look around. Love you guys.

Weekend and MLK Day

On Saturday we worked at the Habitat for Humanity wearhouse because it was raining all day. We got to work wih Cedar 1 (which is the team we are living with) but we also got to work with a team from the Vicksburg campus as well. The first part of the day we organized the wearhaouse. It was a mess. I painted signs to identify which objects went in certain areas. Then we moved lots of lumber around and swept. We had lunch them we played some games. We did a game between the teams to see who could hit the hammer into the board with the least amount of hits. Then the winner from each team went up against each other. Then we winner between all the teams went up against Brent and Justin who work for Habitat. Brent hit the nail once and it went all the way into the board. It was amazing. Then we did a oouple other games. After that we did more organizing then it was time to go home.

When we got home I changed then went out to Walmart with a couple people to get some things. After that I came back here and hung out for a while then ate some dinner. I had quinoa, black beans, brussel sprouts, and okra. It was yummy. A bunch of people wanted to go to a bar so I went with Alacia and Stephon to take them to a bar. I came back here and hung out for the rest of the night.

Sunday I slept in till about 9:30 which was pretty amazing. I got up and hung out for a little while then went to a coffee shop for a while with a bunch of people. Then we went to GoodWill and got the van washed. I love going through the car wash. I forgot how much fun it was. After that we came back to the house, had lunch which was a bunch of left overs then we all went to the movies. Some people went to see Avatar, The Book of Eli, and Lovely Bones. Sarah and I went to see The Blind Side. Let me tell you that it was AMAZING. It was such a touching story. The story was mostly about Mike's life and had parts about football in it. I want to read the book now. During the movie I kept thinking that is was amazing what this family was doing for Mike and how I wanted to make a difference and help people. I told Sarah that at the end of the movie and she said, "Lindsay, what do you think you are doing in AmeriCorps. You are helping people." I think I just forget that I making a differenece in people's lives because I don't see it. But she was right. So after the movies we came back to the house and had some more left overs for dinner. After that I hung out then helped Shalyn and Lauren unload groceries and organize them. Then I boiled eggs for breakfast for the week and went to bed.

Today was Martin Luther King Day, it was a day of service today. See Monday's are usually my day off but it was a day of service. Today we worked on a lady's house repairing her wheelchair ramp and reshingling her roof. Today made me realize that I AM making a difference in people's lives. We had a good time. It was about 65 degrees and sunny all day. It was a perfect day to be outside. After that I came home and took a walk with Sarah to talk so she could vent. Now I am going to hang out for the rest of the night. Love you guys.

Painting

Today was a good day all around. We arrived at work at 8am. Matti, Sarah, Amy, and Lauren finished priming the whole upstairs of the house. I took off all the door knobs and metal things around the rooms as well as taking all the doors off the hinges. After we that was all done the paint had fainlly arrived. Amy and I started doing the trim on one of the rooms while Lauren cut in on the other rooms and in the hall way. Then it was time for lunch.

For lunch we had Mcalosters which was yummy. I got a roast beef sandwhich with swiss cheese. The sandwhiches came with a bag of chips and a cookie the size of my head. I had brought a clemetines with me to work to eat so I had that as well. It was a really good lunch.

After lunch I finished doing all of the trim in the bedroom I was working on. I did this with Sarah, Amy, and Matti. Then it was time to clean up and go home. OOOO I forgot to tell you guys the best thing that I did today. Today I got to use a sledgehammer and demolish a step. I have pictures of it that I am going to upload on here when I have a chance. It was awesome.

So anyway after work we came back to the house and got changed. We went to the field we played at yesterday and guess what?!?!? I found my watch and it works and everything. After I found my watch I played volleyball with everyone for PT. I enjoy PT if I have playing a sport with everyone. After PT I took an really nice shower and did my hair which feels really nice to be down and not up in a ponytail. I feel much prettier and better about myself when my hair is down.

Then we had dinner. Two people from Cedar 1 made dinner. They made pasta with sauce, green beans, and garlic bread. It was a yummy dinner. Then I hung out with people for a while well a bunch of other people went to a coffee shop.

Now I am writing this and making Jim a cake. Well I have to go but I will tell you more later. Love you guys.

Day 2

Today we arrived at work at 8:00am. I was excited to get to work this morning which was nice. I started the day stripping down wallpaper with Matti. We finished with the bedroom we were working on around 11:30am. Then we had lunch. Matt brought us Cici’s pizza. It was really good and we were all really hungry. I have 4 pieces of pizzas which is not the usual for me. Usually I will eat one piece of pizza and the crust of everyone else’s pizza. Anyway we have a 45 minute lunch break and it was amazing outside. It was around 55 degrees outside today which was very nice. After lunch I primed a closet and a bedroom. Then we prepped and primed a hallway. It was a fun day.
We got home at 4:30pm today and I relaxed for about 15 minutes. When Cedar 1 (the other team we are living with) came home I got ready and a bunch of us went to a field to play Ultimate Frissbee for PT. It was really fun. I probably shouldn’t have gone or run as hard because my ankle got really swollen but o well. We got back from playing Ultimate and Amy and I made dinner for everyone. We made potato encholada’s which were amazing. We also made veggies and chicken to go with it. Everyone loved it. Amy and I thought we wouldn’t have enough food for 21 people but we were VERY wrong. Everyone ended up having at least 2 portions and we have TONS of left overs.
After dinner I hung out with a bunch of people from Cedar 1 knitting and talking. It was nice to get to know them. I am sitting in my bed now about to go to bed. I hope you all are doing well. I will write more tomorrow. Love you.

First day at work

Today I got to sleep in till 7 am. But I didn't get much sleep last night. Someone decided to turn the thermostat down to 50 last night and froze most of us out. I woke up violently shaking this morning at 6 am. Then I couldnt fall back to sleep. I got ready for wokr then we left at 8:20am.

We went to the offices of Habitat for Humanity to meet everyone and get a quick history on the organization. After that we went to our work site. We are working on a four bedroom house that we are adding two bedrooms to. This house was bought by the government then given to Habitat. Today I organized a tool trailer today and then I stripped wallpaper. It sounds like a boring job but it was really fun. It was theraputic and let me think and me in my own little world. Matti and I had a good time doing that.

For lunch Habitat provides our lunch for us. Today they got us Foosacklies which has the best chicken fingers ever. We had an hour lunch break and we got to eat outside in the sunlight. It was about 50 degrees today and sunny. It was beautiful. After lunch I went back to stripping wallpaper. I worked till 4pm and then we went on a drive to the ocean. It was awesome and I took pictures. I will upload them and pictures of the double wide tomorrow. After the ocean we went to Walmart to get stuff for dinners for the next couple nights.

When we got back to the house I played Hacky Sack with a bunch of people. It was a good time. Then it was time for dinner. Alissa and someone else from Cedar 1 made dinner. They made amazing chicken, mashed potatos, salad, and corn. It was yummy and we got to have seconds. I don't know how they did it, they made food for 21 people and had enough for everyone to have seconds. Tomorrow Amy and I am cooking encholadas (sorry about the spelling). WWe were craving Mexican food so we decided to make some. I will let you know how it goes.

After dinner Cedar 1 went to the super market so we have the house to ourselves right now. I took a shower which felt amazing. Now I am all squeaky clean. I bet you want to smell my hair Daddy. It smells really good. Well now I am just going to relax for the rest of the night with everyone.

By the way, my work days are Tuesday - Saturday and the hours are 8:00am - 4:00pm which is not bad. Well I love you guys.

Sweet Home Alabama

I woke up this morning and my ankel was the size of a small orange. It hurts a lot. I ate some breakfast than we loaded into the van and left Memphis around 8am iun route to Mobile Alabama. We made a bunch of stops along the way to pee and eat. I sat in the way back with Jake most of the way which was nice because I could put my foot up on the seat. We FINALLY got to our double wide in Mobile around 7pm. What a long day. A positive thing is we have a HUGE porch with two big swings on it. The kitchen is a decent size with a bunch of counter space and two friges. One for each team. There is a skinny hall way that leads to the three bathrooms and a bedroom. The bathrooms are hard to explain. I am going to take a picture of them and post it tomorrow. The bedroom in the hall way has two bunk beds with four girls.

If you go back down the hall way and take a left down 2 steps (not the Lindsay style, watch your step) You are in the common area. Which has a couch a recliner and Jocabs bed. Then is a corner of the room there are two doors. One door leads to the boys room where 6 boys sleep. The other door leads to my bed room where I share it with 7 other girls. YIKES. On the other end of the common room is the main door into the house and down a small hall way is the Team Leaders room where just two of them are sleeping ( a little unfair don't you think? Yup, as always.) The house is semi finished and has bugs around it. But right now I get interent while sitting on my bed. It is the neighbors wireless but hey that still works.

Anyway I am pretty tierd. Tomorrow we get to sleep in a little. I have to be at the Habitat for Humanity office at 9am. We have a couple meetings then my team and I are going to put up some walls in a house. I am excited. Anyway I love you guys. MWAH

Memphis

I left Vinton Iowa this morning at 6:00am in a 15 passenger van stuff to the top with luggage and 10 people. We were on our way to Memphis Tennessee for the night then tomorrow is our final stop in Mobile Alabama. We were in the car from 6:00am till 8:00pm. But stopped for a quick breakfast break, a lunch break, and then we had a problem. We were changing lanes when a guy came fast into the lane we were changing in an couldn't stop and run off the road onto the curb. My teammate Jim was driving so we pulled over into a parking lot to get this straight. Our van was fine but the other guys van's axil got bent. We sorted everything out but we were now behind schedule by about 2 hours. The other teams were already at the hotel. So we finally got to the hotel, checked in then we wen to this place on Beale street for dinner. It was really good. It had live music and I had a pulled pork sandwhich. So on the way out of the resturant I forgot there was a step down and missed a step and twisted my right ankel pretty badly. Now I am sitting in the hotel room icing my ankel. Hope it gets better. Love you guys. Tomorrow I will be blogging from Alabama. I am so excited.

Last day in Vinton

Today I woke up at around 9:00 on my own. I hung out with my roommate for a while then I started working getting a van for us. I started watching the Patriots game and gave up after half time because it was so painful to watch. I went through 2 vans until we found one that actually worked. By that time it was 2:30. I had to get dressed to go out and everything by 3:20 so we could leave for Cedar Rapids to see Avatar in 3D for Jim's birhday. Let me tell you. If you haven't seen Avatar in 3D you need to go to see it. It was amazing. I want to by it as soon as it comes out. After Avatar we went to the Mongolian BBQ place for dinner which was really good. After dinner we came back to campus and packed the van. Now I am hanging out with my roomie and cleaning the room. I leave for Memphis TN tomorrow at 6am. On Tuesday we will make the final treck to Alabama. I love you guys so much. MWAH

Meeting and Shannannagins

Last night I ment to take a short nap from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. Apparently my body did not like that because I ended up sleeping till 10:00pm and woke up and just went back to sleep. I woke up this morning at 9:00am on my own without an alarm clock. That was pretty nice. I got ready then went over to the kitchen and made two eggs over medium with toast and a half of grape fruit. It was a yummy breakfast. Then we had our meeting which went pretty well. We heard more about the other unit that we are getting on campus. I am probably going to get my room changed which I am not real happy about but I am trying to be flexable. We will see how well that goes.

After the meeting I went back to my room to look up a couple things on the computer. My teammate Jim called and asked me to go out to lunch with him and our teammate Jacob and then go to the bar with them. I decided to be social so we walked to Pizza Hut in about 5 below zero weather. After Pizza Hut we went to the bar Golf Right around 2:00pm. Tomorrow is Jim's 23 birthday but he can't drink tomorrow because he is a van driver and we are starting our drive to Alabama on Monday and if he drank tomorrow being Sunday he wouldn't be able to drive on Monday because AmeriCorps has the stupid rule that you can't drive within 24 hours of drinking. So he wanted to drink a bunch today. So we went to the bar and watch a couple movies, played war, go fish, and rummy. A had a couple beers and Jacob and Jim had more than I did lets say. It was a nice day, better than spending it in my bed sleeping or something.

We came back to campus around 6:30pm to eat an amazing chicken chilli made by my friend and teammate Sarah. It was really good. After dinner Sarah helped me pack for Alabama. We are ONLY allowed to bring our red bag which is about the size of a duffle bag for 6 weeks. I had a hard time but I did it. This just means that I could only bring two outfits of personal clothes so I will basically be wearing the same clothes but I am doing laundy every week. Now I am almost done packing and I am about to be ready for bed.

Tomorrow I have a bunch of things to do. I have to get our new van and do a van inspection on it by 3:00pm so I can have the van infront of Palmer for people to load there stuff in than take the van to Rice for the rest of my team to load there stuff. After that I am going to see the movie Avatar with Jim for his birthday and a bunch of other people. After Avatar we are going to this Mongolian BBQ place that is just like Fire and Ice at home. So I have a busy day tomorrow. I hope you guys are liking my updates. I love you guys and miss you.

After AmeriCorps Day and Human Rights Day

So yesterday being Thursday was After AmeriCorps Day. In the morning we had a kick off for the day. I had o wake up at 7am and go to a meeting at 8 that lasted a half hour then I was free for the next two hours. I was kind of annoyed that I had to get up that early for a stinking half hour meeting. Anyway after the meeting I had some breakfast then I took a nice nap. After my nap My team and I went to the after AmeriCorps fair. At the fair they had AmeriCorps Alum, the Peace Corps, the ROTC, Camp Adevnture, and many other non profit programs as well as tons of information for more non profit programs. The program that I am most interested in and am thinking about doing the program for a little while is called Camnp Sunshine. Camp Sunshine is a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. This camp is tailored for the whole family and is all year round. The camp is based in Casco, Maine. I could volunteer there for a couple months up to a year or more. It is something that has caught my attention and I am going to research it some more. After this fair I had another meeting about our goals for the year. My goal hadn't changed.

Then I had two sessions I had to go to. The first session was about AmeriCorps Alums. They talked to use about staying involved with AmeriCorps after we graduate for an hour. It was really repetitive and boring. I was lucky I was sitting with Jim, Stuart, Jordan, Ross, and Bria. That made it more interesting. After this session I had a session on applying to graduate school. It was informational and made me want to step up my game and actually start the application proccess or atleast start looking into programs and seeing if Fitchburg would match my education award. After the session I went to do a couple VST things which was annoying. After all that pain in the ass stuff I went to the kicthen to see if Katy (an unexperienced cook) needed help making dinner. She made soup in a crock pot but needed help making grilled cheeses and brocolli. Then it was time to eat, it was yummy.

After dinner I got changed and walked to the bar Golf Right with Jim to watch the Alabama vs. Texas game, The Rose Bowl. It was so freaking cold and windy on that walk but it was worth it. We were at the bar alone for a while than a bunch of people showed up from NCCC to join us. It was nice, I got to talk to some people that I hadn;t had the chance to hold a real conversation with yet. It was a really fun night. I didn't get back to my room until around 12am. I read for like 10 minutes then went to bed.

Today being (Friday) I had a meeting to kick off Human Rights day at 8am (I think they like that time alot, I don't though). So we had a keynote speaker talk to us about the Human Rights field and what kind of jobs are out there for us. She also talked about the Bill for Human Rights and a couple other things. SHe lost my attention after about an hour. We sat in really uncomfortable auditorium chairs for an hour a half. After she was finished I had to stay in those uncomfortable chairs and listened to someone talk about Hunger and Poverty. It was an interesting topic but the women just droned on talking and gave a TON of statstics. I guess I wasn't in the mood to hear about negative stuff today. After an hour of her talking I had to stay in that stupid chair for another hour and do some more talking about Human Rights and what they ment to me and my team. It was just alot of redudentceys (sorry about the spelling). Everything just kept getting repeated and drawn out. Then we FINALLY got a 30 minute break for lunch in which I ate and ham, hummus, sprout, and spinach sandwhich followed by some pizza lol.

After lunch I had a seminar on Human Trafficking which is considered todays modern slavery. It was very informational as well as shocking, and depressing. Did you know that 70% of Human Trafficking is related to commerical sex. Also 80% of the people being trafficked are women and children. That was shocking and heart breaking. It made me want to learn more about the topic so that I can some how help stop what is going on. After this depressing seminar we had a closure meeting and then I was DONE with meetings for the day and unit I get back from Alabama. YEAY!!!! I walked to Alco with Sarah and Meredith because we all needed a couple things. It was cold out but it wasn't horrible. When I got back from Alco I ate queaso with Sarah which was delicious. Now I am doing some laundry and relaxing. I plan on reading a little bit then I am going to watch the last Harry Potter movie with Sarah and Laura.

Tomorrow I have a STUPID meeting with my team at 10:30am. I am planning on sleeping till atleast 10am. Anyway thats alot of updating. I hope my life is interesting enough for you guys to want to keep reading this. I am going to put in another load of laundry. Love you guys.

Vinton Iowa 13 degrees, Mobile Alabama 48 degess

Yestersday (Tuesday) was my first full day back in Vinton. I had a community meeting in the morning. It was nice to see everyone back. Only two people out of 152 didn't come back after break. Everyone from my team came back which is awesome. During the community meeting we found out that the AmeriCorps NCCC program is not a demonstration program anymore. Obama just signed a bill to give us alot of money. So we are getting a new unit here in Vinton which is going to be weird. Some people will have to move there rooms to accomidate these new corps members. Some people might even have to box up their things before they go on spike and they will be put into storage and then when they get back from spike the boxes will be waiting for them in their room. I hope I don't have to move my room, box my stuff up, or lose my roommate. I wouldn't mind if they put another person in my room. So that was the big news for us when we came back.

After the community meeting my team met for a little while, then we met up with Cedar 1 which is the team we will be living with while we are in Mobile. We did our team pre packets together and got things together for our briefing. I worked with the VST on Cedar 1. He is very nice, he is also the Assistant Team Leader (ATL) on Cedar 1 as well. Then we had a unit meeting where we got to know where all the other Oak teams were going on their spikes. After the meeting my team met to get the dinner schedule together for the week and finish a couple other things. I think as a team we are working better together since we have been back. That 2 week break was good for us.

After meeting with the team I played Wii with Jim for a while which was really nice. Then I went to the super market with some of my team members to get things for the dinner I was making and so other people could shop for their dinners as well. After shopping I cooked a chicken stir fry for my team which was very yummy. I figured out how to make carrots taste really good in a stir fry and figured out how to make them not too hard and not mushy. Atfer dinner I walked in 5 degree weather to a local bar called Golf Right to watch the Iowa vs. Georgia Tech game. It was nice to watch some football and have a couple beers. I went to the bar with my friend Meredith and my teammate Jim. We had a good time together. I am glad I went even if I froze on the walk there and back. I got back to my room around 12 am and slept very nicely in my bed.

This morning (Wednesday) I had a team meeting to go over stuff for our briefing. Then my team and I met with Cedar 1 to make sure we were all on the same page because we were doing the briefing together. After that I fixed some stupid things with my insurance. Then we actually had our briefing which didn't really give us anymore information on the project than we already knew. I will be doing new consturction and doing some remodeling. After the briefing I had lunch. Now I am sitting in the computer lab writing this because the STUPID wireless internet is not liking my computer right now. At 3pm I have a VST meeting which shouldn't take long.

I am so excited about dinner tonight by the way. My teammate Jacob is making Jumbolia (I think that's how you spell it). It was so good the last time I begged him to make it again. After dinner we have duty at 7:30 then I am done for the night. I think after duty I am going to go in my room and read, then go to bed early.

Bye the way I miss my little neice Addie so much. I keep showing her picture off the everyone. Everyone I have showed her picture too says that she is so cute and beautiful. Anyway thats enough of an update for now. Love you guys.

Back in Iowa

So I am back in Vinton Iowa and it is freaking cold. The plane landed and they told us the it was 1 degree outside without wind chill. BRRRRR. But it is good to be back with everyone. I missed Sarah, Jim, and Matti on my team. It is also pretty amazing to have my own computer here. I am so happy I bought this netbook. Anyway just wanted to let you know that I got back safely. Love you all.

Heading back to Iowa

So my break is over. I had a great time while I was home. I spent time with a bunch of my friends, did Christmas festivates with awesome people. Spent time shopping with mom, made dinner for mom, dad, caren, ed, and david. It was a yummy dinner. The highlight of my break at home is meeting my beautiful niece Adeline Rose. When Becky had gone to the doctors that had said they wouldn't induce her until MOnday, being today. But she hadn't felt the baby move so she went to the hospital and they induced her and Addie was born December 30 at 3:15 am.

Becky had called mom when she wen to the hospital and mom decided she wanted to be there when Addie was born so mom, dad and I left home around 8pm and made it to the hospital in Voorhees NJ at 1am. I feel so lucky that I got to meet Addie and soend so much time with her before I had to go back to Iowa. She is the cutest little baby in the WORLD. SHe has the most adorable button nose that looks just like Becky's. But she is lucky she go MAtt's ears and not her mommy's. Mom, Dad, and I got home yesterday around 1 from NJ. I packed to go back to Iowa, Lauren came over to say good bye, and we had a lobster dinner. After dinner while sitting on the couch Dad took out Becky's baby pictures. It is amazing how much Addie looks like Becky when she was a baby.

I miss Addie now and It has just been a day. I wonder what I am going to be like come April. Hopefully I get to see her in April. II am in the Airport waiting for my plane and I can hear a little baby crying and it made me think of her. Addies cry is more like a sqeak than this babies cry. I am happy I got to cuddle with her and hold her a bunch while I was with her. Mom says I have the Auntie touch. I sat with Addie for an hour one night with her on my chest while I was reclined on the couch. I miss that little bundle of joy. I miss Becky as well. She is such a good Mom. Her and Matt are doing a great job with Addie. I hope Riley gets a little less scared of her. Anyway thats enough about that.

O by the way if you want to see pictures of Addie I have uploaded them on my shutter fly account. There are pictures of my project in Toledo on the website as well so don't get confused. Here is the link: www.myamericorpjourney.shutterfly.com

So I am at the airport now waiting for my flight to Detriot. I have about an hour and a half lay over in Detriot then I get into Cedar Rapids at 4:30. I think I will be in Vinton for about a week, then it's off to Mobile Alabama to build houses with Habitat for Humanity and live in a double wide trailer with 20 other people. That should be a fun new experience. I will update you more later. Love you guys.