As personal as it gets.

I love to meet people, and surprise people. 
I don't have it "all-together," 
but I'm doing the best I can.
I'm handicapped when it comes to taking compliments.
I've been terrified of commitment,
but now I feel safe in my own skin.

I want to be like my father.
I like people that I can learn from. 
I get joy out of proving people wrong.
I love working with kids--
I've finally found my ultimate passion.
I love to help celebrate birthdays, but hate my own.

I have no money.
I'm NOT a baby when it comes to pain,
as long as I have a sweet battle wound.
I hate to admit it, but my parents have taught me everything I know.
I want to become someone I can be proud of. 

I'll do everything to prevent you from seeing me cry.
I don't care about being rich, 
as long as I'm happy.
Ice Cream is my weakness.
To me, the sexiest thing is laughter.
I'm guilty of moving home to save money.

I'm confident in my personality,

but not so much my appearance.
I'm independent, and I try to be strong.
Yellow lights make me nervous.
I accidentally fell in love,

and I am happier than I've ever been.

 

I want to be on my own, 
but I love being with people.
I don't ask for help.
I spend most of my time
trying to prove things to myself.
I always said I wouldn't be like my mom,
but I am, and I'm glad.

 

I like to get dirty.

I absolutely HATE liars, 
more than the average person.
I've found someone who makes me laugh 

until my heart aches and tears roll down my face.

I try to not be "typical" anything. 
I'm a tomboy at heart.
I secretly want to live a hippie lifestyle;
Travel the world, work nonprofit, and meet everyone.
(I may just do it someday.)
Graduating to me = not having homework.
However, graduating to me = having homework for the rest of my life.

I love to make people wonder.
I'm too proud to just "let things go," 
and sometimes it gets me into trouble.
I'm terrified of opening presents 
and being on the "Kiss Cam." 
I would not take back a single expereince of my life.

Holiday LOVE

On

the 22nd,

I got to fly home

on time, unlike my flight

to Sacramento. I spent the 23rd

doing all of my Christmas shopping,

very last minute, with boyfriend in tow. That

night, Derek flew in from Pheonix, while I was out

with the girls for the first time. We went to Boots, a new

country bar in Oak Creek, where we got to laugh while watching

 drunk people ride the bull. On Christmas Eve our whole family was

together for the first time in months. Like tradition, we went to church, and

then had Christmas lasagna for dinner. We started making Christmas lasagna

because Brandon complained about Christmas ham for years. Turns out, he was

eating  Christmas ham at his girlfriend's while we were filling up on his lasagna

 at our  place.   We opened   presents   while  watching  Wisconsin  on Demand's 

"Yule Log" with fire crackling in the  backround. On Christmas day, we  went to

 my aunts  house,  where   we  spent  time  with  Grandma,  who of which we are

 learning to charish every moment. On the 26th, Josh and I  went to his family's 

house for  MORE presents and  festivities. Since then, I've been blessed to spend

time with my friends  and  Josh!   I got  awesome  Christmas  presents, and have

been snacking on

 all   the  sweets  I

can  possibly   eat.

I hope  my  team-

mates felt as blessed

as I  have this Xmas.

Mom and Dad set this up in my room for me :)

Christmas Gift Highlights:



Two weeks off with family and friends was is exactly what I needed to feel like me again!

END of Round One: Return to Sacramento!

We spent the last 6 weeks working on trails and the memorial garden at the National Chavez Foundation, and we are finally done!  See, the thing about putting 10 people to work for 8 hours a day is that you will get a whole lot of work done in a short amount of time.  We continually finished tasks in less time than expected, giving the site supervisor, MIKE, the constant battle of coming up with things for us to do.

For me, Round One was a mental struggle.  With the long days of manual labor, you were left with a whole lot of thinking time.  I found myself analyzing the team dynamics way too much.  When we first got our team, BLUE 7 was really chummy and seemed to really get along.  At camp, we came in 2nd place playing "The Newly Team Game" because we already knew each other so well.  We spent time together on the weekends and genuinely had each other's backs.  Because we started off on such a positive foot, I really had a hard time accepting our differences when they started to come out.

Our team is full of LARGE personalities and together, we are finding it quite difficult to get along.  There is a lot of sarcasm and negativity, and I find myself struggling to maintain sanity at times.  There are also a lot of "cliques" or small friend circles which frustrates me.  I was so happy when we could all hang out and get along, and I've come to the realization that we were just trekking through the "honeymoon stage."

The positive in this is that it really makes me see how lucky I am at home.  I can't believe how much love I feel when I am around my friends and family in Milwaukee.  I'm proud to have friends that I can snuggle with, talk about absolutely anything or nothing at all with, and give each other advice that really comes from an honest place.  I cannot wait to see these people at home and I'm really counting on it being the boost I need to get back to work.  I need to get back into the right mindset so I can embark on my next journey with NCCC.

I get to go home in 3 DAYS!!!!  I fly to Milwaukee on December 22nd--where I will see my babies (Sugar, Buddy, and Anna), my parents, and of course, Josh :D  I plan to do some really quick Christmas shopping on the 23rd, as well as get my cavity filled : /

Then, I will spend my break with the people I love.  Thank you for your support...I apparently need it :)

Three Peaks

Last Friday, our team decided to trek the great Three Peaks.

Well, our team minus Anna.

We've been working aside Three Peaks every single day at the sight, 

and had been talking about hiking to the top ever since we've arrived.

We heard mixed messages about how long the trip would take.

Mike said about 4 hours...2 hours up...2 hours back.

Eduardo promised 45.

We had to alert the ranchers of our trip,

otherwise we could get shot at.

We packed our little Cesar Chavez backpacks full of snacks,

unsure of how long we'd actually be gone for.

We talked about which path we'd take.

The first peak has the most gentle slope--

perfect for first time climbers.

We planned to take the first peak up,

and the walk over the top, all the way to the third peak--

the steepest slope.

It was sunny and warm when we began.

We walked to our work site,

moved the barbed wire gate,

and crossed the train tracks.

We crawled under a few barbed wire fences,

and began our journey.

Immediately we realized that Three Peaks appeared a lot closer than it actually was.

We trekked up and down hills,

stepping on cow pies along the way.

At one point I grabbed for a rock to pull myself up,

only to realize it was a hardened chunk of cow poop.

Every 10 feet or so, we would stop to turn around and view the landscape surrounding us.

The scenery was like nothing I've ever experienced before.

Climbing the steepest side of the peaks quickly revealed itself to be a terrible idea--

that is, for newbies like me.

The group naturally split up:

the really in-shape, competitive folks were at the top first,

and I of course, the incredible athlete that I am, 

was one of the last people to reach the top.

For most of the climb, the hill was so steep that I was close to panic-mode...

for fear that I would slip backwards, and tumble straight down.

The dirt fell away from my feet as I latched onto twigs or small weeds to stabilize myself.

I stabbed my hand on a cactus and blood rushed from my finger.

I tripped on rocks while forcing my legs to take steps towards the top.

Finally, we reached the top of the third peak.

We sat and watched the cloud roll in for a minute.

It got dark out, and we could hardly see anything in front of us.

We climbed across the top of Three Peaks,

taking in its mystery and beauty.

We met up with the others on the first peak.  

Some had cigarettes of relief,

some sat in silence.

We set the timer, 

camera on a rock,

and took a group photo.

Then we trekked down.

Down was my favorite.

Three Peaks was as sinister as ever on our way down,

but why wouldn't it be?

For the first time, I am really part of a team that matters.  

I've been on sports teams before, but let's be honest, I have never been great at sports.

I'm living with 9 other corps members.

Waking up to Anna's music blaring in her ears,

Julie walking back from the guys,

and the train rumbling by every hour.

Sharing the kitchen with 9 other hungry, carb-craving beings.

Riding in the 15 passenger van, listening to the only cd possible:

Michael Jackson's "This is IT...." jammed in the player.

Cooking for 10.

Cleaning after 10.

Sleeping with earplugs.

Watching everyone else's tv.

Washing the dishes that "no one" used.

Early morning ladder runs for physical training.

Locking ourselves out of the house...

When "no one" was supposed to be carrying the key.

Always surrounded by the same people.

Feeling as if I'm the only one who truly knows the real me.

Watching snow fall on the mountains in the distance.

Opening the shades to 9 deer grazing outside the window.

Pickaxing alongside people stronger than me.

Pickaxing alongside people much smaller than me.

Spending hours doing work meant to occupy us for weeks.

Listening to the stories of farm workers and their families 

and everyone connected to the foundation.

Cooking authentic enchiladas, horchata, and rice pudding with Chef Maria.

Standing in the room where the famous Chavez fasted for over 30 days.

For the first time, I am really part of a team that matters.  

I've been on sports teams before, but let's be honest, I have never been great at sports.

Keene, California: WE HAVE ARRIVED!!!

To update you on the last month of my life:

• I was placed on a team of 11 individuals-one of which was already sent home. Now, I have a team leader, Heather (24), and 9 teammates: Jackie (24), Tommy (21), Kyle (18), Andre (19), Alex (23), Julie (22), Lisabeth (23), and Anna (19). 

• We spent a good month training in a number of different areas including team building, communication, CPR, First Aid, Diversity, Van safety, Shelter Operations, and many other things...
• I chose to be specially trained in Flood Fighting, where I learned how to sustain natural levees as well as reinforce levees before a storm.  It was a whole lot of carrying around heavy sandbags in the hot sun, but interesting!
• 
• I also received training on my team position which is CAPper (Corps Ambassador Program).  The CAPping position involves informing people about the AmericCorps program to hopefully recruit future members.  I just set up for me and one of my teammates to go to Tehachapi High School on Wed. November 16th to a career fair to talk to high school students about the program.  We are excited!
• Finally, after receiving copious amounts of training, we found out about our first project for Round 1.
• We then briefed the staff on campus about our project, had our Induction/Completion ceremony for training, and heading down south.

Round 1: Keene, California

• Our first project is at the Cesar Chavez Foundation in Keene.  Cesar Chavez was a very well-known civil rights leader in the West.  He worked primarily for the rights of farm workers and we have been given the opportunity to learn more about his work and help out the foundation.
• Our actual work involves building a trail/garden area for visitors.  IT started as a open field of tall grass and junk yard "collectibles."  In the first week we trimmed the tall grass on the entire plot using weed whackers, raked the hay-like grass from the property, trimmed a number of different trees, hauled at least 30 truck fulls of hay/grass/branches/rocks out to designated piles, excavated a number of large boulders (bigger than me!) from the ground for a monument, raked/leveled out the trail, lined the trail with cobblestones, dug trenches on both sides of the trail for irrigation, dug 300 feet of trenches with pick-axes, and cleared away enough car parts to build about 3 automobiles.

 I will add more details when they come!

The first few days...

When leaving for CA at 5am on Thursday morning, I fully expected to be safely in CA by 10 am.  However, the Frontier Airlines computer system was down, meaning they needed to use the snail approach to getting documents faxed and cleared for take off.  We did not actually leave the MKE airport until 10:30am, meanwhile our connecting flight took off from Denver, CO at like 9:30am.  By the time we got to Denver, we had missed our flight, and the next earliest flight would be leaving at 6pm.  So, a couple girls and I sat around for 6 and a half hours waiting for our flight out of Denver.  That flight was delayed until about 7pm, so we finally arrived in Sacremento at about 8:45pm (Sac time).  So if you haven't figured out the math by now, I spent a total of 17 hours travelling to finally get to campus.

Since we were scheduled to arrive at 10am and we didn't get to campus until 9:30pm, we missed our entire first day of meeting new people and making friends...boooo

Yesterday, I felt sick to my stomache all day after drinking some not so good tap water...and eventually was physically ill a few times : / Went to bed at 7:30pm while everyone else was busy hanging out with their new friends.

This is not supposed to sound like a pity-party, however I do have some catching up to do.  I plan to play capture the flag tonight, and cheer on some fellow "pod" members at their PACK test tomorrow morning.

We wore our uniforms for the first time on Saturday:

This is my "Pod" or my temporary team until we get our permanent teams next week Thursday:

Our "Muster" spot, or meeting spot is next to the Port-O-Potties:

We have our "baseline" tests on Tuesday morning which consist of a timed run, push ups and sit ups.  Wish me luck!