Long Update

     Long time no post!  Things have been crazy here, but very good.  I'll share the highlights of the last few weeks. 
    
     We worked in Yukon a lot, on homes in the early stages of construction. 

With José, my team and I put up the subfascia of this house.  Which meant I got to use the nail gun a lot, my favorite tool.  

     We also got to frame a different house, which means with a huge group of other volunteers, we put up the walls!  It was an awesome experience.  It was a high energy environment with so many people there to help out.  It was really satisfying to see the drastic change that happened there over the course of just one day's work.

At the beginning of the day, the house looked like this...

We assembled walls on the ground and pulled them up together.  I can't tell you what an amazing feeling that was.

Mid-day...

The end of the day!

Everyone who helped.

This picture is for Nadav's family from the day of the framing. =)

     That weekend we explored a unique part of town called Stockyard City.  It was very... western!  

It inspired Meghan and I to change our image.

And we saw the world's largest stocker and feeder cattle market!  No one was there but us...  But it was pretty cool. =)

     That day we also walked around the free outside portions of the Myriad Botanical Gardens.  It was really beautiful and peaceful there... I highly recommend it!

partial team picture.

     Another week of work blew by, and we spent a little more time in Las Rosas, a Habitat community.  We were caulking and painting, and before we knew it, it was the weekend again.  I got to go home to Michigan for a few days and see my sister Hanna graduate college.  I also got to celebrate my dad's birthday and celebrate Christmas with some of my extended family!  It was great to be home; I am so lucky.  There are many more people I wish I could have seen during me short time there... but I will be back very soon for Christmas! 

My family.

     When I got back to OK, I had a lot of great experiences waiting for me.  Nadav led the team in celebrating Hanukkah.  He made us latke's and even shared his jelly donuts and gelt with us.

Playing dreidel for gelt.  Somehow my pile kept getting smaller.  If you eat it, you can't lose it, right?  Marcus family, thank you so much for the delicious treats!  

 Lalita and I learned how to spray insulation at a Critical Home Repair.

And we perfected our house-wrapping skills on Central OK's 700th Habitat home.

     It's been a great few weeks.  I can't believe that our time here is almost up.  Our last day of work is this Tuesday, then we drive back to Denver and disperse for the holidays.  I've loved my time here, but I'm really looking forward to break.  It will be wonderful to spend time with family and friends.  (Side note: Chris will be home from India tomorrow! =D ) And after break, I have a great project to look forward to!

     My team and I recently found out that for Round 2 we will be working in Center Consolidated Schools in Center, Colorado (about 4 hours from Denver).  The Center community is one of low socioeconomic status, and is located 30 miles from most social service agencies.  With 600 students, the school is made up primarily of students of Hispanic origin.  Of these students, 91% are on free and reduced lunch.  The Center school has become the hub for a variety of services provided to the community.  Volunteers are in short supply due to the need for residents to work long hard hours in the local agricultural economic base.  My team and I will get to provide much needed human capital to strengthen capacity and delivery of academic and social programming both during and after school!  We don't know many specifics yet, but I think we'll be serving mainly as tutors and mentors there.

     That's all for now!  Hopefully I'll be able to post again soon. 

Bricktown and Buffalo

     Hello!  My Thanksgiving long weekend ended well and now I'm back to work.  Here's what I've been up to:

   

     On Saturday we went and explored Bricktown, part of downtown Oklahoma City.  It felt a little like a tourist trap, but it was cute.  We had lunch outside at a little café, walked through a shopping center called the Red Dirt Emporium, and had ice cream at a place called Marble Slab.  (It was a Coldstone wannabee, but pretty good.)  The best part of Bricktown was the scenery.  The whole area is built around Bricktown canal, a little winding river.  River taxis and ducks float down it, and bridges and boardwalks criss-cross over it.  There's a beautiful fountain, and really cool murals, too.  And buffalo statues everywhere!  I think that local artists were given the opportunity to paint these buffalos all over the city.  

Walking towards downtown from where we parked.  The light blue building on the left is the Devon Energy Center.  It's the tallest building of OKC's skyline, and is relatively new.  

With a little help from Google Maps, we found it.

Business man buffalo... one of my many favorites!

    On Sunday a few of us got to go help out at the Central Oklahoma Humane Society Adoption Center.  On Friday they had a big Black Friday adoption event, and they were able to find homes for a lot of pets!  So on Sunday, they needed help deep cleaning their facility so that they can bring in more animals.  It was a really cute, clean shelter.  We enjoyed working there lot, and plan on going back soon.

     Monday was the last day of our long weekend, and we spent most of it downtown.  We spent time in a great independent bookstore called Full Circle... it was amazing!  We were there for at least two hours, walking around and drooling over books.  There were real fireplaces to relax by, too.  In the afternoon we went to the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum.  The Museum generously waived our admission fee; it was our service learning activity for the week.  Learning about the tragedy was very sad; I don't think any of us left with dry eyes.  It was really inspiring to learn about how Oklahomans responded, though.  And the outside portion of the memorial is very symbolic and well done. 

Picture for Hanna at Full Circle.  Rolling ladders were on all of the bookshelves!  Just like Belle's library in Beauty and the Beast.  You would love it there.

      We spent yesterday and today working at Hope Crossings.  I enjoyed my days off a lot, but I was glad to get back to work.  I spent most of those two days painting the fascia board and soffit of a home that will be dedicated on Friday.  

     My team is a little down in the dumps today.  Two of the girls on our team are sick, and one of our teammates, John, decided to go home.  The program just isn't right for him at this time in his life.  We all understand, but we're really going to miss him. 

     That's all for now!  On Friday, I should know what/where my project is for Round 2.  Hopefully I'll be able to post then with the big news!

    

Buffalo decorating the side of the highway on our way to work.  Buffalo are big here!

Thanksgiving

     Happy Thanksgiving!  It's been a really good week here in OKC; we got to celebrate a lot.

     On Saturday at the work site, we met a group of volunteers from a local church, Quail Springs United Methodist.  After only knowing us for a day, they invited us to their Thanksgiving celebration!  The next day, Sunday, we went to their church after service had ended and enjoyed the huge potluck feast with them.  Their hospitality meant so much.  We ended up rescheduling our tour of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum since we wanted to rest and enjoy the potluck on Sunday.
 
     We had a short work week - just Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday!  We spent all of our time in Hope Crossings, the Habitat neighborhood, finishing up a bunch of houses.  Habitat is trying to get as many families in their new homes for the holidays as possible.  I will miss working during our Thanksgiving break, but this rest will be good for my body.  It is definitely an adjustment to typically be working a 40 hour work week on my feet!  I know I'm getting stronger every day, though.

     This week for my team's service learning activity, I did research and put together a presentation about Habitat for Humanity's history.  What I found really inspired me.  In the early 70s, Millard and Linda Fuller, a young married couple who were self made millionaires, gave away everything they had in search of a more authentic Christian life.  They moved to a sort of Christian commune in Georgia, where they developed the concept of "partnership housing" in which homes were built and sold to families at no profit and no interest.  When they succeeded in using that model in their community, they tested it out further in Africa for 3 years.  When that succeeded, they came back to the United States and officially created Habitat for Humanity!  Since then, 500,000 homes have been built that house 2.5 million people worldwide.  Pretty amazing, right?

     Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity will build their 700th home early this coming spring.  Here's their facebook page.. it has some cool pictures of homes that have been recently dedicated.  Also, if you scroll down a bit, you'll see a picture of my team and me! http://www.facebook.com/COHFH?ref=ts&fref=ts

     Here's something else you might find interesting.  This map shows where all the teams of the Southwest Region are, and what type of projects they're doing! http://www.batchgeo.com/map/b50780772de499d93ef6870f9ba47216

     One of our Habitat for Humanity supervisors invited us to spend Thanksgiving day with him and his family.  It was really nice to get to know them better, and it was kind of them to invite us to share their special day.  I was pretty homesick and missed my family a lot; this was my first holiday ever away from home.  Going to the Thanksgiving party helped distract me a bit; staying busy helps.  And it was just fun in general. =)  We ate a ton of delicious food and played corn hole and Scattergories.

I made my Aunt Karen's famous pumpkin rolls as a dish to pass.  I think they turned out well, but they weren't nearly as good as hers!

Close-up picture for Aunt Katdon.  Thank you for your help.  I love you!  Let's make these together sometime.

Corn hole!  An Oklahoma classic.

The Thanksgiving party.  On the left is our supervisor Mitch, his daughter Kate and his grandson Chance.  His granddaughter Lexi is in the bottom right.  Mitch's wife Janice took the picture.

     This morning a lot of us went out to help at the 13th Annual Oklahoma City Turkey Trot.  It was a 5K race and family fun day that raised funds for the Special Olympics and Eagle Ridge Institute, a substance abuse recovery center.  The race began at the beautiful Myriad Gardens.  I got a sneak peek, but I hope I get to explore them more soon!  We helped guide runners through the course, hand out water and clean up.

Part of the course involved OKC's new SkyDance bridge.  Its design was inspired by Oklahoma's state bird, the scissor-tailed flycatcher.  It lights up at night, and changes color based on seasons and holidays.

     We spent the rest of the day relaxing, except for an adventure to Sonic.  A lot of us had never been there before, including me.  Tomorrow we're going to explore the downtown and Bricktown areas.  I hope you all had good Thanksgivings. =) 

This picture's for Mom.  The apartment is starting to look more and more like my room.  See my window daisy and window prisms?  There are rainbows on the wall.  We put up a thankfulness tree and wrote on the leaves, just like you did at school last year. =)

Okie Dokie in Oklahoma City

     Hello!  =)  It feels good to be blogging.  I have internet in my apartment in Oklahoma City, but it is ethernet and only one person can connect at a time.  Since that is the case, I try not to stay on for too long at one time so that everyone gets a chance.  Right now I'm at a Starbucks with free wifi for all, so I have time for a good long update! 

     Our journey to Oklahoma City was fun and went very smoothly.  After a cute little send off from all the staff and lots of hugs exchanged between corps members, we rolled away from CHU Friday morning.  It was my teammate John's birthday, and we celebrated the best we could while traveling.  We drove all day, all the way out of Colorado, and stayed overnight in a hotel in Salinas, Kansas.  A few other teams stopped there for the night too; it was nice to have a little time together.  There was also a pool that felt great to enjoy after being cramped in the van all day!  We ate dinner at a great Mexican restaurant in Salinas called Gutierrez.



Most of our drive looked like this...



...or like this!  Haha.  There weren't many landmarks, but it truly was neat to experience the wide open prairie.

Being in two places at once on the border of Kansas.

     We spent most of the next day driving too, but mid-morning we stopped in my teammate Erin's hometown!  Her family welcomed us into their home and made us a huge meal full of amazing comfort food.  It was sooo apprecciated.  We also stopped at a Plains Indians Memorial on the Arkansas River, which is currently very dried up. 

Awesome statue at the Plains Indian Memorial.

     We arrived at our apartments in Oklahoma City Saturday evening and got settled in.  My team is split between two two-bedroom apartments: one for the men, one for the women.  Both of the apartments are fully furnished and have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, laundry and kitchens.  We still spend a lot of time together, though. The girl's apartment is where we prepare and eat our meals and hang out during the evenings and weekends.  It's really cozy!  It already feels like a home away from home. 

 Celebrating our arrival to the Oklahoma state border.  That's me in the top right corner!  Parkour.  Photo credit: Lalita.

Good thing we packed light...? =)

     We had a long weekend because our work schedule this round is Tuesday - Saturday.  We spent the weekend mostly resting and settling in, but we did venture out to a peace festival on Sunday.  It was smaller than expected, but still neat.  Sunday evening, my teammate Meghan and I prepared a special birthday meal for John (since we were traveling on his real birthday).  We made taco pizza and homemade chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches.  It felt good to really get to celebrate him!  It was also fun to cook the first home cooked meal of Fire 1.

The decimated remains of our first meal.  Don't worry... there was another pizza in the oven. 

     On Tuesday we began our work with Habitat for Humanity.  We got a short orientation on the organization and a few tools, including a 16 point nail gun/framing gun, a staple gun and a joist hanger.  After only a few hours, we got to go out on a project site.  Central OK Habitat got a huge amount of land donated in one place, so they are building a neighborhood there called Hope Crossings that will consist entirely of Habitat houses!  When it's done, there will be 270 homes.  There, we helped put the finishing touches (caulking, painting, cleaning) on a home that was near completion.  On Wednesday, we got to see it be dedicated to the family who owns it now.  It was a really special ceremony.  It was neat to see the end result that we will be working toward on every new home we help with.

 The first home we ever worked on.  Photo cred: Láni.

     Yesterday and today I got to experience Habitat's Critical Home Repair program.  This program helps low-income families who already own their own homes to improve their home's "live-ability", energy efficiency, safety and quality.  These repairs usually last about 3 days.  I got to be there for day 1 and day 2 of a critical home repair, and it was really interesting and fulfilling.  The first thing we did was a blower door test, which showed us where the "leaks" of the home were... where cold air and moisture was getting in!  We proceeded to focus on repairing those leaks and doing other things the home really needed.  Láni and Bruce stopped air from getting in through bathtub fixtures, Meghan and Tobin replaced the support beam beneath the house, Nadav replaced the back door and a few windows and I replaced the roof's trim.  That meant I got to be on top of the roof with a nail gun for the better part of two days!  I felt pretty powerful up there. =)

Photo cred: Láni.

     Tomorrow is Habitat's busiest day of the week, so we are going to help them leverage volunteers and lay sod.  Sunday, we have a tour scheduled of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum.  We've heard it's a pretty essential experience to have during our time here.  Monday, we are hoping to take time to really explore downtown.  It's funny how all my sentences start with "we" instead of "I" now! 

     The weather here changes a lot because the prairie winds can pick up any kind of weather and bring it to where we are.  At the beginning of the week it was probably high 40s, then the last few days it's been low 60s and sunny.  There is always at least a breeze, but more often there's a pretty strong wind!  I like the variety, and I have lots of layers for whatever comes.  Michigan had it's first snow this week, I was sad to miss it!

     We take turns cooking in pairs, and we've been eating really well.  This week we've had lasagna, gourmet grilled cheeses and tomato soup, Mexican rice and beans... more than I can remember in full!  My team mate Láni makes us homemade bread every night that we use for sandwiches in our packed lunches.  My team mates are really considerate of me being a vegetarian, too.  I'm very lucky.

     So all in all, things are going very well.  I enjoyed CTI a lot, but it feels great to be doing more of the things that I came here to do... travel, serve, be a part of a team!
    
    
    

     

Induction

     Today was a really special day!  Class 19A and I became official members of AmeriCorps NCCC.  There was a special induction ceremony that celebrated our appointment.  We all wore our fancy "AmeriTuxes" and gathered in the campus's auditorium.  We had some distinguished speakers who are alumni of NCCC and now are doing amazing things nationally.  (Today I learned that on Tuesday an NCCC alum was elected to New Mexico's senate!  He wasn't at induction, though.)  One of my fellow corps members spoke, too.  Samantha is going to be a famous writer someday.  I'm just putting that out here for proof that I loved her and her work before she got famous!  One of our unit leaders, Kevin Rumery, played his famous song "Lighthouse".  You should all buy it on iTunes.  =) Or at least check it out on YouTube. 

     It felt great to celebrate all the work we did during CTI and all the work and opportunities and joy we have ahead of us.  I can't believe that for the next 9 months, I get to help strengthen communities and develop as a leader.  It's the best job description ever. 

     This will be my last post in Denver for awhile.  Tomorrow morning, Fire 1 and I will embark on our epic journey to Oklahoma City.  It will take 2 days.  We'll stay overnight in a hotel in Kansas with a few other teams before parting ways.  On Friday we'll celebrate my teammate John's birthday.  We'll also get to have lunch on Saturday at Erin's family's house in Wichita!  We'll arrive in OKC on Saturday in the late afternoon.  It should be a great journey. 

     Update on my friends who were scheduled to deploy to Sandy: right now there is not enough organized food and shelter available for them to head to the east coast.  Hopefully there will be adequate provisions for them soon, but until then they're going to go to the projects they were assigned originally in the southwest region. 

     I'll leave you with the pledge we took today and a few pictures.

I will get things done for America -

to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.

I will bring Americans together to strengthen comunities. 

Faced with apathy, I will take action.

Faced with conflice, I will seek common ground.

Faced with adversity, I will persevere.

I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.

I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done.



Fire Unit

Fire 1!  Ready to go.

My Last Weekend of CTI

     I spent most of the day Saturday doing a long ISP at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore of Denver.  I scheduled it weeks ago before I knew that I'd be working with Habitat for my Round 1 project.  It was a really neat coincidence; I was glad to learn more about the organization I'll be serving with and see a part of it that I might not have otherwise. 
    
      Habitat for Humanity ReStores are facilities where used furniture and leftover building materials are donated by individuals and businesses to be sold to the general public for a bargain. The profits go to Habitat for Humanity; ReStores play a vital role in raising the funds that allow Habitat to do all the building and renovating it does.  Ever since Habitat for Humanity created its ReStores, they have been able to build 70% more houses.  The ReStores cover all of Habitat's overhead costs and administrative fees, so whenever someone makes a donation to Habitat, they can know that it goes directly to helping build homes for those in need.  Pretty cool, right?  Like I said, I don't think I'll be involved in ReStores in Round 1, so I'm really glad I got to experience what one is like.  When I'm building, I'll definitely be thinking about all the generous donations and ReStore volunteers and staff nationwide that help make home construction and renovation possible. 

     I really recommend the restore as an ISP experience.  The volunteer captian for the day was really informative and great.  He gave us a briefing before we began the day that helped us understand the impact of our work, which I really appreciated.  There were a lot of different things for us to do, so we never got bored.  A few people went out on trucks to help pick up large items that people wanted to donate but couldn't deliver.  The rest of us did work around the store, unloading donations as they came in, loading large purchases for customers, cleaning up the store and loading dock, etc.  I got to use a sledge hammer for the first time ever to bust down some furniture in unacceptable conidition.  It was really fun!

     I got back too late from ISP for dinner in the campus cafeteria, so I tried a burrito from Bubba Chino's across the street.  It was a little spicy but pretty good; I think Bubba Chino's is a local chain.  Future AmeriCorps Southwest Region NCCC'ers: there are a few choices for food within walking distnance if you get tired of the cafeteria.  Right across the street is Bubba Chino's, Little Caesars, a Hispanic grocery store that will make you Mexican food, and "$1.25 a Scoop" Chinese Food, commonly known as "Scoops".  The only one of these I've tried so far is Bubba Chino's, and of course I've had Little Caesars back home.  I haven't tried the others because I am cheap, suspicious of food that costs $1.25 a scoop, and actually enjoy the cafeteria food most nights.  They have great vegetarian options, a good salad bar, and, most importantly, it is free!  Haha.  You can also ride the 27 bus to Englewood where there's a Panera, Noodles and Co, Coldstone, Walmart, etc.  But beware!  The 27 stops running before 8 p.m. Don't get stranded. 

     I set aside today to just relax and explore Denver.  I've been doing ISPs every weekend since I've arrived here, and so far hadn't given myself much time to enjoy the city.  This is the last weekend that I'll be in Denver for quite awhile, so I wanted to make the most of it!  My friend Roxanne and I took a 9 am bus downtown, and didn't come back until around 6 pm.  It was so nice to have a day with no responsibilities or schedule.  Taking a true day off felt great.

     With so much time at our disposal, we got to wander leisurely and see parts of the city that lie beyond the tourist attractions.  My Aunt Niecer gave us great recommendations for where to eat!  We went to Snooze for brunch, and it was amazing.  It's a great atmosphere with nice music, and the best food I've eaten in a month.  Roxanne and I both took advantage of a deal called the Pancake Flight where you can try 3 of their different delicious pancakes for a good price.  I had one pineapple upside down pancake with carmelized pineapple chunks, housemade creme anglaise and cinnamon butter, one chocolate chip pancake and the pancake of the day: a pancake filled with crushed oreos and pureed banana, topped with a strawberry yogurt type sauce and homemade whipped creme.  The pancake of the day was my favorite, but they were all amazing!  Roxanne tried the pineapple upside down pancake, the pancake of the day and a sweet potato pancake with pecans.  The wait to eat at Snooze was about an hour, but we walked around the city while we waited so it went by fast!  Aunt Niecer said that sometimes the line wraps around the building. 

Me and my breakfast from heaven.  Thank you to my culinary guardian angel, Aunt Niecer!

     It's hard to remember all the things we saw today.  We walked up and down Larimer while we waited for our table at Snooze.  We also explored Colfax St., where we went into a huge Tattered Cover (I didn't realize there's more than one!), and a neat music store.  Wherever we were, we usually stopped in at yoga centers, because Roxanne wants to find some classes to take here, and at bakeries because Roxanne wants to own a bakery one day and is always looking for ideas.  Roxanne's smart phone guided us through the city and the bus system; it made things so easy!  We estimate that we walked about 5 miles total today hopping from one point of interest to another.

     It's good that we did all that walking, because one of our last stops of the day was ice cream at Lik's (also recommended by Aunt Niecer)!  It was soooo good.  They make all their ice cream in-store.  I tried the raspberry cheesecake and loved it. 

     I'm really glad that I took the day to rest and have fun.  It was great to get to know Roxanne better, too!  When we got back I ate dinner in the cafeteria, skyped with my awesome family, and finished submitting my portion of our Project Prep Plan for Round 1.  Tomorrow my team has to present the PPP to staff members so that they can have confidence that we know what we're doing out there.  This week will be a whirlwind of preparation and planning; it should be really fun and go by quickly!  I hope you all had great weekends, too. 

Round 1 and Team Roles

     Today I got a lot of information about my Round 1 project and my team roles.  It's really exciting!

     As I said before, my team and I are headed to Oklahoma City to work with Habitat for Humanity.  Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, ecumenical (meaning they serve people from all backgrounds) Christian housing ministry working in partnership with God and the community to build simple, decent, affordable housing, and to provide hope for responsible, hard-working, limited income families living in substandard conditions.  They've constructed 660 new houses in the history of thier affiliate.  Their new houses are some of the most energy efficient houses ever built in Oklahoma!  They are a very experienced project sponsor; they've worked with 6 AmeriCorps NCCC teams since 2010.  They are requesting our teams to come because they are seeing an increase of application for families that are in need of housing.  They'll be providing housing for more families and seeing an increase in the number of three-week "blitz builds" that are funded by local businesses.  During our time there we'll be helping them build new houses and rehab old ones.  They'll also be training us to play more of a leadership role in helping lead volunteer groups along side site supervisors. 

     We'll be staying in a nice apartment complex fairly close to the Habitat for Humanity offices.  We'll have two two-bedroom apartments, one for males and the other for females.  We'll all still eat together and spend time together, though.  We'll have on-site internet, television, laundry and phone service!  All luxuries in NCCC. We'll also be close enough to the city to get many of our ISP hours done. 

     As Service Learning Initiator I'll be responsible for facilitating my team's service learning experiences.  NCCC defines service learning as corps members having the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills through their service and understand the impact of that service.  We'll use the PARC model of preparation, action, reflection and celebration.  So basically, I'll plan activities and initiate conversations that will help us all get as much as we can out of what we're doing.  I'm really excited to have this role!  I'm glad to have the chance to benefit my teammates and learn more about service learning.  Bruce is also an SLI, so we'll work together!

     I also got assigned to be the ISP Coordinator with Meghan.  It's a very simple job, basically we'll just help our team find Independent Service Projects to do in order to fulfill their hour requirements and engage in the community. 

     As Birthday POC, I get to make sure that everyone feels special on their special day!  There was no training for that because it's not a major role.  But I'm still really excited about it. =)

     Contrary to what I said yesterday, I just found out that some teams in my region are going to be deployed to respond to Hurricane Sandy.  As of yet, my team is not one of those.  We're all kind of waiting for more news.  I don't know how I feel about it.  I'm getting really excited about my Habitat for Humanity project, it seems like it would be a great first round.  But at the same time, it'd really be an honor to respond to a disaster and I'd love to help out.  We'll see!  Please keep all the responding CM's in your prayers.
    

Gorillas, Candy and Clowns

     Wow, I haven't posted in a week!  I've been really busy, but doing well.  I have a lot to share. =)

     On Saturday I got to help out at Denver's Gorilla Run - an annual 5K that raises funds for a nonprofit that protects an endangered species of gorillas.  All the runners wore gorilla suits, so it was pretty entertaining to watch!  It was a Guinness World Record Breaking event - most people wearing gorilla suits in one place.  It breaks its own record every year!

I didn't get many great pictures at the Gorilla Run, but I hope this gives you some idea of what it was like.  This is just a small piece of the starting line up!

 



     On Sunday I got to assist at Halloween Street, an annual event at the Denver Children's Museum.  The best costume I saw was a little baby Snow White whose parents were two of the dwarves.  I helped out outside for the majority of the event, but I heard that the inside of the museum is pretty great.  I wished that I would have gotten to interact with the kids more; I was mostly gate security.  Oh well.

     Early Monday morning I got to do an ISP with Denver Rescue Mission, serving breakfast at their downtown location.  I really recommend it, it's been my favorite ISP so far.  It was short, but the staff was really friendly and the work was rewarding.  Together, we served 206 people breakfast that morning.  We got back right in time to meet with our teams and start our day.
 
     Fire 1 spent a long time getting to know each other that day.  We worked on our team charter, some guidelines we all agreed upon to help our year go smoothly.  We also discussed team roles.  So far I am the Service Learning Initiator (SLI) and Birthday Point of Contact (BPOC).  The Birthday POC isn't a serious require team role, just one of the fun, optional ones.  But I'm really excited to do it!  I packed birthday candles in my suitcase.  I also might end up being one of the ISP Coordinators to help my team continue to earn their ISP hours while on spike. I'll learn a lot more about these team roles tomorrow in some in-depth training.  Later that Monday, Fire 1 had some fun and toured an amazing candy factory called Hammonds.  Not great timing because our PT baselines occured that afternoon and we felt a little slugglish from all the sweets, but it was so worth it! 

A partial picture of Fire 1 at the candy factory!  From left, standing: Arthur, me, Erin, Meghan, Lalita, Conor, Lani.  From left, crouching: Bruce, Nadav.  It's not our real team picture because John and Tobin were sick that day, and since that day Arthur has left the program. =(  Hopefully we'll get an official full team picture soon! 

 



     PT is going great so far.  It is just the right level of difficulty that I feel challenged but not overwhelmed.  The coordinators try to make it fun and interesting; we do a lot of team sports and games and change locations often.  I already feel like I'm getting stronger and healthier. 

     On Tuesday we had Shelter Management training with the Red Cross.  It was a long morning, but full of really valuable information.  Disaster relief is NCCC's first priority, and NCCC has responded to almost every nationally recognized disaster since it was formed in 1994.  Often NCCC partners with the American Red Cross in doing so, doing everything from case work with families to organizing donations to mucking out and rebuilding homes.  In the past, some corps members have ended up being workers and managers of shelters in the disaster affected areas, so it was really important that we all learn the basics.

     Speaking of disasters, there is little to no chance that I will be deployed in response to Hurricane Sandy.  There are 3 other AmeriCorps NCCC campuses that are closer to the storm than the Denver campus is, and those three campuses would have to be deployed before we would be.  That being said, the only constant in NCCC is change.  But for now, my team is still planning on heading to OK City unless we hear otherwise.

     That afternoon we got to go downtown and receive tours of the state capitol building.  The same man who designed Michigan's capitol designed Colorado's, too!  It was neat to see the similarities.  It's a very elaborate building.  During construction, all the rose onyx in the world was used up.  No more exists anywhere!  That's very unfortunate, because it's very beautiful stone.  The dome of the building is plated in 24 karat gold, but it's all covered up for renovations.

It may be hard to read in the picture, but that step on the capitol building says "One mile above sea level".  Different measurements have been taken, and there's some debate about which step is actually exactly one mile high.  But this one is carved in stone, so I'll stick with it.

Someone knitted a garden onto a chain link fence in the city.  Beautiful!

 



     On Wednesday we had more American Red Cross training in First Aid, CPR and AED.  It was really easy for me because Keri and Dan just helped me get certified in May.  Thanks, guys! 

     That evening, we had a campus Halloween party.  I had a really good time clowning around!  Literally. 

 

     Today we had Tool Safety training and Quality of Life (Living Healthy in the Corps) training.  All this training is meant to prepare us for whatever the year might throw at us.  It's part of what makes NCCC such an effective organization!  After such thorough trainign, teams are ready to deploy for almost any project at a moment's notice. 
    
     It's hard to believe that in 8 days, I'll be leaving for Oklahoma City with Fire 1.  I still feel like I just arrived here in Denver!  The days have felt long but the weeks have flown by.  This next week will be exciting with all the preparation we'll do for our project.  I'll also be officially inducted into AmeriCorps NCCC in a big ceremony!  Finally, I'll have to say "See you later" to my friends who are on other teams.  But we'll definitely stay in touch, and we could be together for Shuffle Round 3.  It's amazing to think that soon I'll be done with Corps Training Institute and doing what I came here to do.   

     Oh!  Hopefully one last update on my address.  Now, instead of writing Fire Unit, you can write Fire 1.  That will help my mail get forwarded to me faster while I'm in Oklahoma City.  Sorry for all the changes, thanks for bearing with me!

     That's all for now, guys!  I hope you had Happy Halloweens and good weeks. 

Big news!

     In the last few days, I've received a lot of exciting news.  I don't know where to begin!  So here it is, in no particular order.

     Yesterday, I got mail at home from Michigan State University.  I got on the phone with my dad while he opened it for me... It was my official acceptance letter for the Fall of 2013!  I applied to MSU during my senior year and was accepted for Fall of 2012, but when I decided to do AmeriCorps and wait a year, the admissions office had to technically re-review my application for Fall 2013.  I was fairly positive that since I got accepted once, I'd be accepted again... but it still feels good to have official confirmation.  Go green!  (Side note: to anyone viewing this who is considering doing NCCC as a gap year, email me!  I have a lot of advice about navigating through the process of setting things up for AmeriCorps and then college.  It can be done!  Also, serving in NCCC helps you earn an education award to help pay for part of school.)

     My other big news came today; I found out who my primary team leader and teammates are and where my Round 1 project is.  There was a big, fun reveal that was sort of like a scavenger hunt.  It feels so good to know whom I will be with and where I'll be going next!

     My primary team is Fire 1, led by the lovely Lalita and full of great people.  It is called my primary team, not my permanent team, because everything in AmeriCorps is subject to change!  Also, our Round 3 is a "shuffle round" where we pick projects on more of an individual than a team basis, then we serve with people from other teams who picked the same projects.  So unless something crazy happens, I should serve with Fire 1 for Rounds 1, 2 and 4.  They're my little AmeriFamily!  I'm really excited to get closer with them and have this adventure together.  We don't have a team picture yet, but when we do I will post it pronto.

     Our first project will be serving with Habitat for Humanity in Oklahoma City!  We deploy on November 9 after we finish training here in Denver.  We will be living in apartments, so I should still have cell service and hopefully internet.  That's all I really know about my project so far, but I should find out more soon.  I'm really excited to be in a new city and serve with such a great organization.  Tonight I've been on lonelyplanet.com and wikipedia looking up neat things to do in the city.  Do any of you readers know the area and have recommendations?

     That's all of my exciting news!  As far as "normal" life, yesterday I had safety training and media training and today we had orientation with the American Red Cross. NCCC works with them a lot, especially when responding to disasters.  We also will benefit from their training in CPR, First Aid and Shelter Management.

My awesome parents sent me a care package with Halloween decorations and candy, so I tricked (and treated!) out my dorm room!  My bed slides under that shelving unit to create more floor space during the day.  I am getting cozy in Walsh 245... and soon I'll be leaving!  I think that's how this program will go for the most part.  As soon as I get settled in, it will be time to move on.  But at least I'll never be bored!  And I will get to have so many new experiences.  (Kenny, it's hard to see in this picture, but one of those papers taped to my shelf is a drawing you sent me!  Thank you so much!)

Here's the beautiful view from our cafeteria after the first snowfall.  It's mostly melted now.  Can you see the mountains in the distance?

     Love to all!  Thanks for reading. <3

Fall Meets Winter

     My favorite tree on CHU campus showing all of fall's colors.

Hello all!

     The last few days have been very busy!  I guess that's the new normal, though, and it will only get busier from here.  I like all the activity though, it means I'm never bored.  Keeping busy is also a good medicine for homesickness!
   
     On Sunday I got to volunteer at the Humane Society of the South Platte Valley with a group of corps members.  All of us miss our pets so much!  Being with the cats and dogs there was a temporary fix, but I think it made us all miss our pets even more when all was said and done.  It's a very nice facility; I highly recommend a visit there to anyone in the Denver area looking for a pet!  There were so many great animals.  I also recommend it as a volunteer opportunity to future AmeriCorps members.  They had us alternating between doing chores (usually cleaning) and walking the dogs, so we never got burned out on one particular task.

     On Monday I got to help out at the Food Bank of the Rockies with my temporary team and a few others.  I was amazed at its magnitude!  It was a warehouse FULL of food, with forklifts buzzing around and volunteers everywhere.  We worked on distribution, which meant going around filling orders that organizations in need had placed.  We wheeled huge carts around through the aisles looking for the items on the lists... like extreme grocery shopping.  It's important that all of the items organizations request are in one place and ready to be picked up.  I definitely recommend this as an ISP to future CM's, but keep in mind that they are open every weekday but only one Saturday a month. 

     My favorite training this week was diversity training.  AmeriCorps NCCC is a very intentionally diverse program, so the staff created a day focused on how we can best embrace and take advantage of all the diversity here.  The people who led the day made it very fun and interactive.  The best part was that discussing diversity helped us all to open up with each other.  That was really exciting!  Deeper connections among us are beginning to happen naturally, too.  I feel very close with Fire Unit, and on Friday I will get to find out who my primary team is.  I'm really excited to begin establishing relationships with my primary teammates and team leader; those relationships will be very crucial to our success this year.  I'm also just itching to know who I'm with and what we'll be doing! 

     My favorite thing about AmeriCorps NCCC so far is definitely the people.  We are all practically strangers, but we have two things in common: we want to help people and we want to grow.  Being in an environment where those two goals are so prevalent is really inspiring. 

     Today we were planning on exploring Rocky Mountain National Park, but the weather forecast was iffy so we went to Chatauqua Park in Boulder instead.  That's the same park I went to on my first hiking excursion.  This time, I chose a moderate hike on the First and Second Flat Iron Trail.  I was really glad that I pushed myself, it was worth the effort!  Some of the best parts of the hike in no particular order: I learned that Chatauqua is the oldest city park in the nation.  A chipmunk ate out of my hand like I was Snow White!  Our unit leader Jolie brought her beautiful dog, Sunshine Merryweather.  There was free hot chocolate in the visitor's center at the end.

Me and America (my roomate) on our way down the mountain. The journey down is much faster than the journey up!  You can see other parts of the flat irons behind us.  

     After our hike, we got to explore Boulder a little bit.  It is such a cute town!  While in the Pearl Street Mall area I saw a great street performer and explored a three story book store.  After that we got a tour of the Celestial Seasonings tea factory!  All of their tea is made here in Boulder.  I learned a lot about tea, and they had a great sample bar.

Our very flexible street performer.  See the box on the left and the tube on the right?  He fit himself into those!  In this picture, he's just warming up!

Great quotes lined the bottom of one of the shops we walked past.

The same tree just a few days later!  We had our first snowfall. =)