Back in Denver

So now I'm back in Denver. The last few weeks of Habitat were the usual. We had a great time and got free Habitat t-shirts before we left. The sponsors also gave us each a special award. Mine was the Selective Hearing Impaired Award. They said that I hear what I want to hear. Yep...
So off we went. On the way back to Denver we drove through the panhandle of Texas near Amarillo. We stopped in Raton, New Mexico for the night. The next morning we got to Denver. It was Friday, so all the other teams weren't there yet.

So third round is here. This is the round were we have shuffle teams. My shuffle team leader is Matt, who is the fire management TL. I will be considered as Sun Three for now. We are doing Habitat in Denver. This Habitat is different from the one in OKC. I will work more in the resale stores and work once a week on a construction site. Our housing is pretty nice. We have two condos with three bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms each. We may move in on Sunday. Monday is send-off day, but we will start work then.

That's all for now. Not much has been happening during this transition week, as usual. If you like to know more, comment!

Been A While...

Yes, yes. It has been a little over two months since I last updated. Time got away with me and they blocked blogspot.com at campus. The good thing is that I'm here now with a lot to tell.

So while at Cal-Wood, Sun One finally found out where they were heading next. We ended up getting Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to work with Habitat for Humanity. We then went back to Denver, had a two week Christmas break, and a transition week before leaving.

On the 8th of January, we started our roadtrip. On the way there, we visited the World's Largest Easel. We also were all wearing overalls. Yes, overalls. We got most of them the day before send-off. After that, we stopped in Selina, Kansas for the night. The next day, we got to Oklahoma City.

Our work week is Tuesday-Saturday. We work on Saturday, because that is when Habitat gets more volunteers. Our first day was a demolition. It was a bad day. We had to remove a TON of fiberglass from the house. To sum up the rest, I have done roofing, framing, installing drywall, painting, caulking, wrapping and random things involving houses. It is not hard work, but it is very fun. We work with many different people every day and have great sponsors/site supervisors. I've been having a great time here. I've even visited my mother, brother, and sister. I am also getting a lot of ISP done on Mondays every week. I will be done with all of them by the end of this round.

Now I will talk about the random little things.

Our sponsor invited us to a concert one night. The band, "No Justice", was amazing.

The apartments we live in are really awesome. We have two and they are fully furnished. One is a two bedroom, two bath and the other is a one bedroom, one bath. They also have breakfast Monday-Friday and dinner on Friday night.

We have had two and a half snow days already. Two were this Tuesday and Wednesday. We may have another one tomorrow.

Every other week, we have "dates". Cody will pair us up with a person we don't usually hang out with and we have to go out and get to know each other. They aren't that bad.

I don't have much else to talk about. I have more pictures up on Facebook, if you want to check them out. You can also comment if you want to know more. I will try to update when I can.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Has it really been more than two weeks since I last updated? I can't believe how much time has passed. I've now been gone for two months, but it doesn't feel like it's been that long. It's crazy how much time flies here. Especially when I'm having so much fun.

So I guess I can start where I left off. On Thanksgiving, we met the other team and had an awesome dinner. It was really great. The next few days we went to Boulder and shopped for all the sales. We also went to Estes Park to hike and shop. I didn't buy much, but I did get to see the place from The Shining. It was a great long weekend.

The week of November 29th-December 4th we finished the house and worked outside too. It was a cold week. On Saturday we also worked, so we had the Monday after off. On Friday, we cleaned Bluebird boxes. It was not pleasant. There were a few old eggs and dead baby birds. They had been there since spring. Saturday was all about Christmas. A ton of people came in and got to cut down their own tree. I was inside with the kids. We played games and decorated cookies. It was a great day. That Sunday and Monday, we went camping on Calwood property. It was very cold, but we made a fire and all sat around it. We had smores and hot dogs too.

The week of November 7th-10th was all about slash, sanding, and chopping wood. It wasn't that bad. It got colder later in the week. It's been pretty good though. I can't believe I have one week left. We will leave for Denver on Thursday. I'm going back home on Saturday for two weeks. I can't wait, but I know I'll miss the team.

Picture #1: We took an ugly sweater picture for a Christmas card.

Picture #2: PT(physical training) for one Wednesday. We had to carry logs up a hill on our shoulders ten times. Then we had to carry it down the hill in our arms. It was a long and steep hill.

Picture #3: I was cleaning the Bluebird nest. We had to wear gloves and masks as caution.

Picture #4: The picture of our camping experience in the tent.

Crazy, Short Week

Monday, we all worked together. Cody went to Urgent Care for a sore throat. She was back before noon. We were working on building slash piles that would be burned in later winter. We may even get to see some at some point. After lunch, a couple members and I stayed in the lodge and cleaned it up and down. We washed the walls and ceilings, vacuumed the floors, and I even vacuumed the stuffed bears. It was a fun-filled day.

Tuesday, two more people went to Urgent Care. One went for a cornea scratch. Another went because her whole body is covered in bites. She started to get them since day one. She washed her sleeping bag, changed beds, even used the Calwood blankets and sheets, but she was still getting bit at night. For some reason, none of the others got bit once. The sponsor thought it may be bed bugs, but nothing was discovered in the cabins. A bed bug specialist even came to the cabins, but found nothing. We still don't know what it is. We are going to try to freeze out tonight because it is extremely cold. It is 6 degrees now. Hopefully they will be gone. Other than that, we skinned trees in the morning and some planted grass seeds in the afternoon.

Today, we went down to Jamestown to work inside on a house owned by Calwood. We are not allowed to work outside when it is below 25 degrees. We cleaned everything and painted. It took all day long and we are still not done. The house is for future Calwood workers or AmeriCorps NCCC members. It is 2500 sq. ft. and was $150,000. They only pay $600 a month on it.

Not much else has happened. We are sleeping in the Lodge tonight so we can freeze the cabin. Tomorrow, we are having Thanksgiving at Calwood with another team that is in Boulder. I'm excited!

Community Mapping

Yesterday, we went to check out Boulder for "Community Mapping". We also just hung out down there. A couple of members and I went to see Harry Potter. It was awesome! I can't wait for the other one. We then went shopping, ate lunch, and found a geocache. Later, we went back to Calwood to cook dinner for teachers that were here for an Outdoor Learning class. I also washed my clothes and a couple of us watched Lion King.

Today, we did Community Mapping again. We also went to Goodwill and Savers. We were looking for ugly sweaters to wear for a Christmas card we are making. It will be an amazing card. I'll be sure to post it when we do it. Later, we are going to watch a movie.

First picture: The lodge

Second picture: A view from the trail

Hakuna Matata

I decided to post about who is on my team so I won't have to explain who everyone is if I post about them. There are five girls, five guys, and the team leader. The girls are Elise(Arizona), Lauren(New York), Christina(Nevada), Aly(Massachusetts), and me. The guys are Stephen(California), Chris(New York), Joel(Connecticut), Ricardo(Maryland), and Sam(Michigan). Cody(TL) is from Pennsylvania. That is all.
Yesterday, I split wood with Lauren. I split while she threw the split wood into a huge pile. We switched after an hour. After lunch, I was with Elise and Lauren. We put up three 35ft fences and repaired another. It was hard work. We had to slam the metal poles into the ground with a hollow metal tube-type thing. After dinner, we sat around the downstairs lodge knitting and singing to classic Disney songs.
Today, Lauren and I worked on skinning teepee logs all day. It was hard work. They were about twenty feet long and there were seven of them. After that, we played tag as pt. It was awesome. We also had a homemade dinner which was spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread. Lauren cooked it. It was really good. Later, we are having a movie night. We will watch The Lion King. I can't wait.

Working Hard or Hardly Working

I've been pretty busy lately. Yesterday I shadowed a worker with Ricardo (team member) in Calwood. His name is Demetrius. It was really fun. We went on a hike with the students and later had a scavenger hunt. While on the hike, it started to snow. It really snowed. I think it may have been 4 inches. The view was still amazing though. We are surrounded by mountains. We also learned about the Pine Beetle and Dwarf Mistletoe. They are harmful to the Ponderosa Pine Tree. Sun 1 later had team time. We played Pictionary. After that, Stephen (team member) and I went with a couple of the workers and had a snowball fight. It was rather awesome.

Today was more physical work. I went with four of my team members to stack chopped wood. It was easy, so we ended up wasting some time by having a snowball fight and messing around a frozen pond. After lunch, we went to load chopped wood on a truck. It was harder work. Many were covered in snow. My hoodie was wet and dirty by the time we finished. We loaded 5 truck fulls though. It was quite a lot. After work, Sun 1 had PT(physical training). We went for a hike and ended with stretching.

I am tired right now. I have posted new pictures on Facebook. There are some in my mobile photos too. Hopefully, I can update tomorrow!

PS- 1st picture: I'm very cold.

2nd picture: The cabins that we stay in.

Home Sweet Home!

I am now at Calwood and I love it! We had an orientation and not much after that. The guys have their own cabin. The girls are currently grouped in twos and roomed with 6 sixth grade girls. I am with Cody and we have a wild bunch. They will all be gone by Friday. Calwood has students stay in cabins for a couple of days while they have outdoor learning experiences. It is really awesome. I will be shadowing one of the leaders tomorrow. Dinner was good. It was enchilada casserole. I'm currently in the lounge with some of the group. I would post more, but I don't feel up for it right now. Feel free to ask any questions. I will get pictures tomorrow and post them. I will also post the mailing address tomorrow too.
PS- I don't get any cell service here. I will only get it when we go to Boulder on the weekends.

Not Too Long Now

I'm very tired right now, but this weekend has been awesome! On Friday, all of the corps members had to wear the AmeriTux(black pants, white polo, steel toes) for a NCCC photo and then went to Induction. It was nice. There was a slideshow of the time we've spent here, a presentation from a fellow member, and much more. I can now be considered as an official AmeriCorps NCCC member. That was all for the day.
Saturday was send off. We said goodbye to all the teams that left. Some teams didn't have to leave early because they are so close or local. Sun 1 will leave Monday morning. After the send off, Sun 1 and a couple of others members went to the REI garage sale. It was AWESOME! We were in line for an hour and I didn't get a thing. We spent about 4 hours there. I relaxed at the dorms later in the day and washed clothes. The halls were so empty.
Today, we went to another REI garage sale. It was a lottery though. I drew a blue ticket, which meant I went in with the third group. You can only be in for 20 minutes. There was a lot of stuff to look through too. I found an awesome REI backpack that was used once. I bought it for $20. It was originally $90. I think it was a great buy. We spent a total of 6 hours there. Don't ask me how, but we did. I still had a great time too. After that, I ate some Asian food and packed. My stuff is now loaded in the cargo truck we are taking. I also hung out with a lot of friends and we watched Role Models. I will be a little sad to be leaving campus, but I can finally start Spike. I'm excited!
PS- I may have some pictures, but I'm really tired. I will post some tomorrow when I get a chance.

Can't Wait Till Monday!

Hello all! I decided to post a blog although I haven't done much lately. Yesterday we all went to a community meeting to have a project introduction from each team. I enjoyed it. Some did a songs, some skits, and even little chants/cheers. Many are going to Texas, so keep a look-out for those government vans!

Today was a chill day too. Sun Unit watched a 20 minute documentary. I liked it. Sun 1 then discussed food and grocery stuff. We also checked out our tools and took a group photo for our team brochure. We usually give them to the sponsors of our projects to introduce ourselves. The photo was awesome. It was an action shot of the team jumping in the air. We had our J-A-M-E-S-T-O-W-N-! shirts on too. I'm the M. I'll be sure to get a copy of the brochure to post at some point.

Tomorrow is a day off!

Spike Preparation and Other Fun Stuff

Yesterday I went to the Denver Zoo with an AmeriFriend. It was free for the weekend. I had a good time! I saw many animals and it was very busy. I'm sure there were children getting lost everywhere. They had a lot of baby animals too. I saw the baby tigers and giraffes. We also went downtown after the zoo since it wasn't far. We walked around and ate at Johnny Rockets. The burger was really good.

Today has been a rather long day. It was a good one though. It all started out with a fire alarm at 3:30am. It was not a drill. Apparently, the heater on the third floor had a problem and started to smoke. It was freezing out and we had to wait for an hour outside. After six firetrucks, an ambulance, and many cop cars declared the dorm safe, we could go back to bed. It happened again sometime in the afternoon because of the same problem. I don't think that heater will be turned on anymore.

Sun 1 had a briefing in the morning. The Unit Leader (Vaughn- the BEST Unit Leader) said in was really good for a first brief. I'm glad it's over with though.

That afternoon, we had some one on one time with Cody(TL). I liked it. We talked about the spike and I asked some questions about the portfolio.

After that, I went to Target and Hobby Lobby with some of the team. We needed acrylic paint for some long-sleeved shirts we found in the extra clothes room. We got enough for the whole team. It's for tomorrow. We have to present where we are going to all of NCCC. We put a letter on each shirt to spell out J-A-M-E-S-T-O-W-N-! I have M. I think it will be fun.

When I got back, I then went to Walmart with my AmeriFriend. We also ate at a really cheap Asian food place for dinner. It is $1.25 per scoop. The scoops are HUGE too. I still have a lot left.

The talent show also happened tonight. It started at 7:00pm and ended around 9:30pm. There were a ton of people that did it and all of them were really good. It was awesome! I didn't have my camera though.

I'm going to sleep now. It has been a very eventful day.

Garden of the Gods

Today was a fun day. Sun 1 went to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. There were HUGE rocks everywhere. We went hiking on all sorts of trails and even non-trails. I had a blast. We eventually ended up on the top of a hill/boulder. It was pretty high. The view was nice. We sat down and talked more so we could get to know each other. All together it was about a three hour hike. When we went back to the van, we saw rock climbers climbing up the huge rocks. It looked hard, but they made it.

We then went to downtown Colorado Springs. We ate lunch and explored some more. Some people went to different places. I went with a couple of girls and Cody to a vintage/retro resale shop. I liked it. I didn't buy anything though.

Tomorrow is a day off! I'm glad. I think I need to rest a bit.

Job Training

Each member on every team should have a job. Some might end up with more than one. The picture to the left will show the different jobs and a little description. I am interested in the Portfolio Editor or the Yearbook Rep/Photographer.

Today, I went to the meeting for each. I am excited to start!! After the meetings, Sun 1 met outside. We discussed the spike and our brefing we will have to do on Monday. I'm in charge of the Allergies and Medications section. Luckily, we all don't have any.

After the disscusion, we went to Hobby Lobby where I bought some more yarn for knitting. I may start some of that later.

SUN 1!!!

So today was the day. The Sun Unit started off with CPR and First Aid training. We did CPR on dummies and even bandaged people as a learning activity. At the end, we took a little test. I passed and am now certified in CPR and First Aid. I have cards to prove it.

After that long session, we met up in a field where we were lined up. The TLs put us in "fake" groups and then blindfolded us. I was drag along everywhere. At one point, I had to skip to get to the next destination. Once we were all jumbled up, I was finally taken to a van. I got in and waited for the rest of the members and the TL. When all the members were there, we all talked to each other to find out who was who. Then someone got in the van, tuned some music on, and drove us to a park. That's where we were allowed to take off the blindfolds. I then saw that my TL is Cody! She was one of my first choices. I am now in Sun 1.

We went and sat down in the grass to discuss some things. We did a little ice breaker and learned of our spike. We are going to the Cal Wood Education Center in Jamestown, CO. It is snowy there. We will be working mostly on trail building-type projects. There is also a chance we may work in the center. I can't wait!! It's about an hour from campus and we will be staying in two cabins. I heard that we have the nicest living quarters. There is even a gourmet kitchen. There's no phone service, but there is internet. I'm super excited to finally start this stuff! Email me if you have questions or want more information!!!

PS- The link for Cal Wood is www.calwood.org. It may give you a better idea. I also posted pictures on facebook of my spike information.

Snow Day

Today was all about hiking. The Sun Unit went to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was awesome! A couple of friend and I went to Bear Lake and took the Nature Path. It had snowed sometime earlier in the week, but it wasn't really cold. We were slipping and sliding all over the path. It was hilarious! There were icicles and all. I made some snowballs and threw them in the lake, but it was frozen over. When we got to a steep path, we sat down and slid on the ice. It was really fun. The view was amazing too. I would like to go again. It took 2.5 hours to get there and we only had an hour to hike. The TLs had to get back to a meeting at 3:30pm.

After the hike, I sat down to eat my lunch. There were some birds that kept flying near me. They were really close. I got to hand feed them some bread. It was awesome. We then headed back to campus.

Earlier, I went to Art Club. It was about knitting today. I finally learned how to do it. I started on a scarf. It's blue.

I can't wait till tomorrow! I can finally find out my team. I may

also find out my spike project. Not much longer!!

Picture #1: The awesome view.

Picture #2: I'm on ice.

Picture #3: Some friends sliding down the icy path.

So close!!

Yesterday and today have been lecture days. Yesterday, the Sun Unit learned about healthy lifestyles. It was more interesting than other lectures. We also had baseline later in the day. Baseline is a way to measure our physical fitness. We had to run 1.5 miles and do as many push-ups/sit-ups as we could for 1 minute each. I did pretty good with the push-ups and sit-ups. The running wasn't my strong point.
Today, we learned about diversity. We did many games and activities to make it more lively. It was fun.
I'm excited about Thursday coming up. I can finally find out what my permanent team will be! It's so close! Then we will be leaving for spike next week!!!

An ISP Weekend

Yesterday I went with some NCCC members to the Boys and Girls Club. We took down a haunted house. I was the only Sun Unit member there. They fed us pizza for lunch and it was great! I got a total of 7 hours. I went to Wal-Mart later with a friend. The bus ride was $1.00 to the lightrail station! We then walked to the Wal-Mart, which took about 5-10 minutes.

Today was quite awesome. I slept in till 9am. I had to be ready by 12:30pm for an ISP at the Denver Police Department. They had a haunted house, a haunted bus, and a whole bunch of other things that gave children a chance to get candy. The reason the police did it was because it wasn't a safe part of town and they didn't want children knocking on random doors at night. They ended up giving 2 tons of candy away! All the volunteers had chili for lunch and/or dinner. It was really good. My job was to take pictures of the children with police officers. I even got a picture with one. It was fun. I got to see all kinds of costumes. At 7pm we helped pack up and left at 8pm. I got 8 hours today! I now have 24.5 hours. 55.5 more hours to go!

Like a G6.

Today the team went rock climbing!! It was indoors, but it was still awesome. We were there for about two hours. I did it and went all the way to the top! I couldn't do the harder ones. They were slanted and there were ledges. I had fun though! That's all we did today.

Later there was a Halloween Party. I didn't dress up, but it was fun. There were a lot of different costumes. One of my favorite events that happened were when The Greasers and The Barbershop Quartet had a dance off. The Quartet were members and The Greasers were team leaders(TLs). Another favorite was when two Sun Unit TLs stripped in the middle of the dance floor(not completely). They were wearing skin tight outfits. Brandon was green and Matt was yellow. I have an ISP tomorrow, so I left early. I'm off to bed!

Work, work, work!

Today has been pretty good. First, the new team went to the Boys and Girls Club to do a service project. I was putting "instant asphalt" down and raked leaves. The asphalt was for a spot in the parking lot that had a big crack. It had to be packed down once it was leveled correctly. A couple of members and I went to the front of the building to rake leaves. There were a lot of leaves. We ended up having about ten trash cans full.

After all that was done, we went back to campus. I ate dinner and later went with a group to 13th Floor Haunted House. They had thirteen levels of scariness. On special days, you can get your money back if you go all the way through. That wasn't today though. We waited for about an hour and a half to get in. It was really awesome! I didn't get scared, but many others did. One guy was terrified. There are more pictures, but I have to get them from someone later.

Uneventful Days

Yesterday was boring. All the Sun Unit did was learn about safety and tool safety. It wasn't much more than that.
Today, was a little more eventful. Just a little. The Sun Unit had media training in the morning. In the afternoon, we had an Intro to Projects and Service Learning lecture for FIVE hours. UGH. We switch teams after the lecture by playing a game.
Later I went with a group to Hobby Lobby. I was teaching origami in Art Club today, so I had to get a few things. Art Club started at 8:00pm. It went on till 11:00pm! I knew the earrings would take a while and only three people were able to finish them. Some people even joined in although they aren't in the Art Club. It was fun! Now I need to go to sleep. I've stayed up later than usual.