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!