The Adventures Continue

Hello all,

I won’t start with an apology for my lack of posting (only because I always do, not because I shouldn’t).  So, let’s jump right into it shall we.

Obviously I’ve been back in Denver for quite some time now (about 3 weeks almost).  My road trip was a ton of fun and, despite some rain, sleeping in the car, and a few rough accommodations, Erick and I had a great time driving almost completely across the country.  We listened to good music, explored cool places, and ate AMAZING food. 

If I had to pick a place to say was our favorite, Memphis would have to be it.  We loved being able to walk around the street with our drinks, listening to music flowing out from inside everywhere.  We saw Graceland, checked out the Lorraine motel, and stood in the spot where Elvis recorded his first song (yes, the exact spot!).  And the food was the best part.  We had classic Memphis dry rub at the Rendezvous Restaurant and by far the best fried chicken and biscuits I’ve ever had at a place called Uncle Lou’s fried chicken near Graceland.  Both were found on the food network website and I’m so glad we checked them out.

Getting back to Denver was really exciting, though I can’t say TLT has been super thrilling.  It’s a lot of sitting in the classroom and watching Power Points, which of course we all need to do to get brought up to speed.  Still, we’ve had lots of time for bonding and such and I’m really looking forward to this year (even if I am nervous every other minute).  Some of the trainings are more interesting than others, but we press on.

It’s one more week and a long weekend until the Corps Members come and CTI starts.  I can’t believe TLT went by so quickly.  I’m looking forward to finally being thrown into the work we will actually be doing for the rest of the year.  The project docket comes out on Wednesday and the lottery is Thursday…talk about soon.  I’ll need to keep mu project secret from the CMs so don’t expect it to be posted up here (or anywhere) until I get my permanent team in a few weeks. 

I think that’s all of an update I’ll do for now.  It’s one big push of getting read for CMs and making sure all of our ducks are in a row before everything scatters and we start from scratch again.  Exciting.

Stay tuned (maybe photos soon?),

Christine

Summer Travels

Ok friends,

So I’ve been a busy busy bee since I left Kansas a bit ago.  Let’s try for a recap on transition week and what’s going on with me right now.

Well, transition week was fun and fabulous.  We returned to campus and took park in: a gallon challenge (I won, though Arthur DID drink higher % milk than me…), the Ameri-lympics, talent show and superlative awards (best BDU butt right here), the banquet and awards ceremony (where I also won an award and was so surprised and flattered), and lots of good times.  We spent out time enjoying our last week together, enjoying Denver, and packing (yuck).  Luckily for me, I was allowed to leave LOTS of stuff in storage for next term.

Speaking of that, I got so excited for my TL term (even though of course we’re all nervous).  We had a few times where the future TLs got to get together (for work and play) and it was nice to just see who everyone was and get some words of wisdom from staff and from our TLs.  It’s going to be a whole new ballgame, complete with its own challenges, but it’s also going to be a whole new level of fun and learning, both during work and not. 

But let’s not rush my return to NCCC life.  I’m currently enjoying Boston (Harvard Square, to be exact) while I take some time to visit friends I haven’t seen in much too long.  I surprised Erick last week with an early arrival in Burlington and then we spent the weekend in CT at his beach house with his family.  I’m always so happy to go there.  There’s no cell service or TV or internet and it’s a perfect break from everything.  It’s time to just relax, eat good food (lobster, yum!) and enjoy good company, all with the ocean right now the street.  Man I missed the ocean.  Land locked states…rough. 

Now I’m here in Boston after spending last night visiting with Maggie.  It was so great to see her and we had to much to chat about.  I’m getting some alone time now (I’m getting better at that) and then meeting a bunch of friends for dinner tonight.

What’s so weird to me these days is that when I see my friends, it’s often for just a quick, one-day visit.  I guess that’s how it works when you all live far apart and not in the same city, but I think it’s a post-grad shock I’m just now getting to and that my residential college past didn’t prepare me for the separation troubles. 

Of course I’m excited to be back with my NCCC people, both TLs and those moving to Denver, but it’s nice to see my other friends too.  I can have visitors this year, so I’m extending an open invite to everyone to visit me whenever (though checking to make sure I’m living in Denver is probably a good first step, we know how I move around). 

I think that’s enough of an update for now.  I hope to be blogging regularly from my road trip with Erick, and I’ll try to get our plans up on here before we leave.  No promises, of course, I’m busy living the adventure!

Until then!

 -Christine

Leaving Kansas and the Biggest Sky...

That's right everyone!

It's finally time for Fire Two to leave Kansas and head on back to Denver for a final week of meetings, packing, friends, closing up, and fun!

Things have been much better here lately.  It could be because we're all excited to go back to Denver and then to graduate (and I'm excited for a break and to see family and friends).  Whatever it is, I'm loving it and I'm really enjoying this final time with my Fire Two family.

We've closed up all our loose odds and ends on the property, finished nature camp with a bang by having a big party/bbq/field day (complete with dish soap slip and slide), and had some final meetings with site supervisors.  My team activity was today and we did some team building activities on the ropes course followed by one of my favorite group closing activities.  Tomorrow we head to the course for some high ropes elements, followed by a lunch with staff, cleaning, packing, team dinner, and a quick trip to the store for some spike travel food.

We found out today that (due to hotels being full and us being SO close to Denver) that we got approval to drive a little further than in normally allowed so that we'll get back into Denver in 1 day.  So by Wednesday night I'll be back on campus in my "own bed" and can see some people I've really been missing!.

Thursday should hold some fun team time and a team dinner, and Friday there are some meetings before the weekend.  The transition week schedule has lots of fun things lined up and I'm planning on a post covering them when they're over.

For now, it's cleaning and packing for me as I get excited to finish this AmeriCorps NCCC adventure, take a little break, and start another year as TL.

Check back later for a Denver recap.

Shine On,

Christine

The Trials of Topeka

Hello friends!

I sit here, halfway through my final project as an AmeriCorps NCCC member, and there are so many feelings going on.  It's crazy to think that in 5 weeks time I'll be back in Denver for one final week of meetings and fun with all of the amazing people I have come to call my ameri-friends.  It's even more crazy to think that I'll be back to Denver about a month later to start Team Leader Training on September 4.

Erick and I are planning a week road trip from NJ out to Denver and I'm getting really excited not only for that but to get home and see my family and friends I haven't seen since Christmas (or longer!)  I'm ready for some R and R, family time, home cooked food, playing with my dog, and enjoying some summer time in Burlington too.

Our time in Topeka has been a bit challenging so far, though I can't complain TOO much.  The project has come with a lot of ups and downs, largly in part to the fact that we're the first AmeriCorps team on the project.  On my side of things, however, I get a good amount of variety.  2 or 3 days per week I get to help run the nature club programming for the youth.  We get to do activities with them and take them out to places like museums, the beach, or to volunteer.  I know it's been tough for everyone at some point, but I think we're a great team to be here breaking this project in.

This week, 4 of my teammates and I are taking a group of the youth campus for 3 days.  I'm a bit anxious but still excited and think we will have a fun time and it'll be a nice break from the usual activities of the project.

Speaking of projects, my sponsors from last round, The Grand Canyon Trust, recently put out a video starring yours truly and some of my shuffle round teammates.  It's about getting young people to care about and volunteer in environmental conservation.  See it here:




I think that's all from the great state of Kansas for now.  Stay cool out there, it's HOT in the sunflower state.

"People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of" Paulo Coehlo


-Christine

Sometimes you gotta get to Kansas

Hello friends!

It's been much too long since an update from my adventures, and I do apologize!  I write to you from my living room in a gorgeous house in Topeka, Kansas that I currently call home.  I will be here until July 19th and I think I'm finally settling in.

The team is here this summer working for an organization called The Villages, Inc.  They are a large group-home style community dedicated to housing and helping juvenile offenders while also promoting outdoor exploration and nature education.  We are here to complete a variety of tasks including property maintenance, trail construction, various building projects, invasive species removal, and running the summer youth programming (I'm one of 4 people doing that!).  

So far Topeka has been lovely and we're slowly discovering what there is to do and see in the capitol city.  The hardest part about the project so far is the weather.  We're in the mid-west now, which means a lot more heat and humidity than Arizona or Colorado.  Still, when it's temperate it's absolutely gorgeous, and I've been running a lot (sort of training for a 1/2 marathon) and doing the Insanity workout plan, which is tough!

In the near future?  We're going to the zoo today, have off tomorrow for memorial day, and are heading to Kansas City for a concert next weekend.  I'll also be attending a ropes course/team building facilitators training that weekend too, just before we start up with the youth programming.  

With only 9 weeks left before I return home to NJ, I can't believe how quickly my time has gone, but I'm also starting to itch for a reunion with my family and friends.  The big news?  I've accepted an offer to return to Denver at the beginning of September for another 11 months with NCCC as a Team Leader!  I'm SO excited about this opportunity, though it is bittersweet to be away for so long.  Erick and I are planning a week-long road trip from NJ to Denver in my car and I'm very excited about that.  Then it'll be applying to schools and working as a TL until I figure out my next move.  I think I've got just enough planned to be satisfied.  

That's all from me for now.  We've got great accommodations here, including internet, so hopefully I'll be more regular up here again. 

Carpe Diem!

-Christine

Living the Mission

Hello all,

I wanted to share with you my blog post that I've written for the Grand Canyon Trust this week. We were all asked to write about something we've learned or something that we will take with us from this project. Here it is, enjoy!

“I’m so jealous, you get to go to the Grand Canyon.” These were the words repeated to me over and over again as I prepared for a two-month stint in Northern Arizona with the Grand Canyon Trust. “It’s not the ACTUAL Grand Canyon,” would be my constant reply, trying to help my fellow corps members understand that I wasn’t about to spend my eight weeks along the Colorado River with amazing cliff views and breathtaking night skies. What the Grand Canyon Trust actually was, I had no idea at the time, so imagine my surprise as I found myself under a spectacular sky of stars after our 15 passenger van crossed over the Colorado river and drove past the towering Vermillion Cliffs. No, this was not the Grand Canyon, it was the Colorado Plateau, spanning four states and including one of the world’s natural wonders with so much more.

My first impression of Kane Ranch was that I must have been in volunteer heaven. I was fed delicious food morning, noon, and night during orientation. The ranch was an adorably cozy home with a real dining room table, perfect sized kitchen, beds, and room to sleep outside. As a long term volunteer, these were luxury items. Soon I began to realize what other commonplace things would become luxury items as well: electricity, hot water, ANY water, warmth, light, internet. I learned how to wash dishes without running the water at all, how to shower quickly enough that there would be hot water for 9 showers after mine, and how to limit my cell phone usage so that I wouldn’t have to use too much electricity to charge my battery. I wrote letters, bundled up, and put some new batteries in my headlamp.

The adjustment to this conservative way of life was not nearly as difficult as I expected. In fact, I found myself appreciating the amazing surroundings and the simplicity of life in the House Rock Valley. Little did I know, the Grand Canyon Trust was working its mission statement into not only my volunteer efforts, but into my way of life.

The mission of the Grand Canyon Trust is “to protect the Colorado Plateau – its spectacular landscapes, flowing rivers, clean air, diversity of plants and animals, and areas of beauty and solitude.”

There I was, only a few days into my time volunteering with the trust, and I was falling in love with the beauty and solitude of my worksite, waking up to the landscape every day and being thankful that places like the House Rock Valley still existed for me to visit.

I could have easily been fed facts including the size of the Colorado Plateau, the types of plant and animal species living in the area, and the threats to the region…and I was. The thing is, I was also experiencing this area firsthand. Eventually I would restore fencing for one of the fastest land animals in North America, hike down the Paria River and drink from a natural spring, remove invasive tamarisk to make room for willow, learn about the coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Reservation, and much more. Landscapes, rivers, air, plants, animals, beauty, solitude.

I have worked with a large handful of non-profits and never have I lived out a mission statement so fully in my work and daily life. The Grand Canyon Trust values volunteers not only as workers, but as stewards, continuing the appreciation of and passion for the beautiful land we live on.

My work with the Trust has changed the way I see the world around me. If that’s too cheesy for you, suffice it to say that the Trust has changed the way I live my work. It is this passion for all parts of work that I will take with me when I leave Northern Arizona and continue my adventures. Not only will I continue my love for this area, but I will also try to truly live the mission of those I work with next.

Ghandi was right when he said we should be the change in the world. My only addendum would be that we should truly live the change in every aspect of our work and life.

-Christine

Tumble On

Hello helloooooo!

I'm posting from a lovely little coffee shop in downtown Flagstaff, where most of my team is spending our AmeriCorps NCCC spring break. And let me tell you, it feels nice to do some relaxing in civilization.

We returned Tuesday, a day early, from our AMAZING experience in the Paria Canyon. Only 5 of us went, including my team leader, and it was both weird and nice to have a smaller group working on the project. While in the canyon, our job was to continue working to eradicate tamarisk along the Paria River's benches. Tamarisk is an invasive plant species that is not only very hard to get rid of, but it also takes all the water and such from native plants such as the willow, and pushes them out of the riparian ecosystem. Removing tamarisk will allow plants like the willow to flourish.

Our group hiked into the canyon the day after my birthday (on which we slept under the stars at the trailhead). It was a long hike (12 miles!) with heavy packs (or so we thought) but we made it to the Big Spring campsite before dark, setting up camp and collapsing until the next morning. The coolest thing about Big Spring was the namesake, a natural spring from which we got all our drinking water, no filtering needed! I'd say it's one of the coolest things I've experienced in NCCC so far. Some other cool things: quicksand (lots of it), hiking in the water every day (even though it was cold in the morning!), the stars, learning how to backpack and camp, surpassing the sponsor's goals for us, and making it back out alive (despite having to carry more stuff out because we didn't have horse packers).

I can't believe how beautiful of a place I get to work in every day, but I am happy to be spending some time in the real world. I'm staying in a local hostel (everyone is so helpful!) and my teammates and I are committed to eating as much delicious food as we can while we're here.

We will be returning to the House Rock Valley on the 9th to start our next hitch on the 10th. Team team will be camping on the Paria Plateau for 7 days doing road closures. Then at some point we'll move to another ranch home to finish out the project. In other news, I've got my TL interview with Denver on the 27th, so wish me luck!

I'm excited to keep working on this project, but also to find out where I'll be going for my last 10 weeks of service from May-July, back with my original team. We should find out in a few weeks.

That's all from me for now. Keep tumbling on!

-Christine