A Quick Update from the Mountains

Hey all,

So my brain is in no way prepared to write a real post, but I feel I have been neglecting you for far too long, so I'm going to improvise with a bulleted list of things that have happened/important facts to know.

1. We leave in a week from today to return to Denver, and I head home a week from Saturday. I'm quite excited for a much needed break from work and time for my family and to see Erick.

2. We're all SO ready to go to Arizona because we got a huge dumping of snow last week and were snowed in with cabin fever for nearly a week.

3. When we did decide to venture out into town (to an ISP near Boulder sorting clothing for a really cool organization called A Precious Child) we ended up getting stuck on the way up the mountain to come home, walked in the freezing (I'm talking negatives here) temperatures 1-2 miles to town, got stranded at the only establishment in Jamestown (the Merc...good food though) for a bit, and finally made it back home (but we left the truck on the mountain)

4. Today I hauled full trees in knee deep snow to help out the contracted forestry guys fall 1000 trees in 5 days...so extreme

5. We're all looking forward to a full weekend (aside from 3 hours of ISP Sunday morning) to relax and do whatever we want in Boulder. For me, shopping! The REI garage sale is on Saturday and I'm going to scope out some new snow boots as well as winter gloves because some kid stole mine this week.

6. I'm really excited to get home for the holidays (did I say that already?)

That's it from me. Catch up soon!

-Christine

We've got so much so much so much so much so much...

TO BE THANKFUL FOR!!!

I couldn't help but think about Camp DREAM over Thanksgiving, since that song was such a big part of our daily routine. Still, I've got a whole new list of things to be thankful for this year, including a cool new group of people to spend Thanksgiving with.

Our friends from "Fire 7" in Denver came up from Wednesday-Saturday to celebrate turkey day with us and it was really nice to have some new faces (though it did feel weird when they left since we never actually went anywhere). Still, we had a good time. I manned the kitchen with some others on Thanksgiving (after a good hike for PT) and (with the help of Connie, the angel that she is) we had a huge dinner of 2 turkeys, cranberry sauce, 2 stuffings, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, bread, carrots, corn, broccoli, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, apple pie, and probably some more stuff. Needless to say, we were stuffed AND had leftovers for 3 days.

Another awesome thing to be thankful for (which we found out about just yesterday) is that after the holidays we will be going on our next spike to Casa Grande, Arizona! We're excited for a warm project (and though I love Cal-Wood and will definitely miss it, I'm excited to be in a real city where there are things nearby). I'll leave you with a description of our project and will try to be back soon with some updates from Cal-Wood.

-Christine

"The City of Casa Grande, Arizona is the largest city in Pinal County with over 48,000 residents within its 104 square mile boundary. Seventeen percent (17%) of Casa Grande families live under the poverty level compared to only 9.6% of families nationwide and over 60% of students at Casa Grande schools are eligible for the free or reduced lunch program. These economic times increase the need for low to no cost recreation alternatives.

The need for recreation trails drove the formation of the Casa Grande Mountain Trails Steering Committee, a volunteer group charged with planning volunteer trail build events. Volunteer events are held once a month from October through April. After just one year of community trail builds, we are averaging 100 volunteers and 2,000 feet of trail per event. Total for the 2010 – 2011 season resulted in 624 volunteers dedicating 2,528 hours constructing 11,620 feet or another 2.2 miles of new trail! With the help of AmeriCorps NCCC teams, volunteer efforts soared and with pick axes, shovels, battling cholla cactus, moving large rocks, etc., the City of Casa Grande will be officially opening a large portion of our first trail system on the 1,100 acre Casa Grande Mountain Park for the anticipating public on November 19, 2011. We plan to continue expanding the Casa Grande Mountain Park Trail System as it not only provides recreation opportunities for youth and adults, providing physical, educational and emotional benefits of trails and nature, but also serves as a draw for visitors, providing a much needed economic stimulus."

Cutting trees at Cal-Wood

Ok, so we're not really cutting trees. BUT we are getting things done for America, for sure (that's our motto in AmeriCorps by the way...obviously boss).

So I've been here at Cal-Wood for almost a week now and I'm really enjoying my time here. I really feel like my team is starting to become a family and bond together (it's hard not to out here in the middle of nowhere anyway).

Cal-Wood is a 1,200 acre property used for teaching outdoor education to kids from schools where they can't get that kind of hands on learning. We're not working directly with the kids most of the time, but we will get a chance to shadow the instructors at some point.

The kind of stuff we've been doing makes the property safer and more beautiful for everyone who visits. So far, we've split lots of wood (which gets sold and the money helps pay for kids to come to Cal-Wood), put wood chips down on a road (to help protect from fires and make it easier to drive on), put up snow fences to stop the drifts from covering the road, hauled slash to the road (it was cut to help thin out the forest, preventing fires and helping healthy trees grow, and it will be chipped and used for the roads or split and sold as firewood), and fixed a deck and a compost bin...and it's only been a week!

I think both the sponsor and our team is so surprised by how much work we can do in so little time, and I'm excited to be able to cross things off our list of work goals as the next 4 weeks go by. Our sponsor is awesome and so are the staff. Most of the instructors are really cool young people that we can hang out with. Not to mention we have the most amazing chefs who cook our breakfasts and dinners during the week. AND we have a cat! His name is Hercules and he is super snuggly and nice to have around.

That's it from me so far. I'm hoping to get some pics of our new digs (included our canvas tent with wood-burning stove) in my next post, maybe even before Thanksgiving. Speaking of, we're having another team in our unit come up from Denver to stay and have Thanksgiving with us and we are so pumped to have them here and show them around and cook and eat and play/watch football.

So until next time!

-Christine

What IS AmeriCorps and what am I doing here?

Hey everyone,

I thought it would be useful to write a post about what AmeriCorps NCCC is since I'll be talking a whole lot about what I'm doing with it and in case anyone out there is considering the program. So, in short, I'll feed you our "elevator phrase":

"AmeriCorps NCCC members are 18-24 years old and spend 10 months getting things done for America while developing their own leadership skills. We serve on teams to help communities prepare and respond to disasters, build homes, and help the environment. To learn more or to apply go to www.americorps.gov "

That's the short of it. In more detail, we are one of 5 branches of the Corporation for National Community Service, which also includes AmeriCorps Vista, AmeriCorps State and National (that's who I worked for this summer with DREAM), Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve (which is inactive this year because of lack of funding). NCCC is different from these other programs because instead of working with another organization, all members work together on campuses (Mississippi, California, Maryland, Iowa, and Colorado) and spikes (service trips) to serve communities across America.

The Denver campus, where I am, is assigned to the states in the southwestern USA (Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, and Missouri). This means that, aside from disaster deployment, I will always be in one of these states doing my service.

This spike (which is only 1 month instead of the usual 2) I will be nearby in Jamestown, Colorado (population 200, literally). It's about 30 minutes outside of Boulder, up in the mountains. My team and I are working at the Calwood educational center, an environmental education center. We'll be doing a lot of tree branch cutting and wood chipping, as well as hopefully getting the chance to work with the kids in the program. We have access to a nice lodge with everything we need, but we'll be sleeping outside in big heated tents. I have to say, I'm excited that this project is short, because it's going to be cold up there for sure.

I was actually just at Calwood last weekend when I did a chainsaw training (crazy right?) In fact, I now know how to work a chainsaw, sawsall, circular saw, and power drill...a true renaissance woman.

Right now I'm curled up downtown in the most amazing bookstore, Tattered Cover. It's a huge place full of books and lots of seating to cuddle up with. I'll probably end up buying a few things of course.

I think that's it for now. We get inducted on Thursday and my team leaves next Monday for our trip. We will have Wifi so I plan on being able to update a lot. Until next time!

-Christine

Corps Life

Hey all,

Greetings from the place I think should REALLY be the sunshine state. I’m writing this outside on another gorgeous day, watching a flag football game of corps members vs. team leaders. My 1 ½ weeks here so far has been a whole lot of stuff. It’s tiring, with training all day from 8-5 and sometimes more. It’s fun, making new friends and exploring new places. And it’s a huge taste of nostalgia because we’ve all decided that being here is like being in college, without the homework. We live in dorms, eat sometimes-iffy food in the cafeteria, hang out and do nothing at night, and wish we had way more money than we do.

I’ve been some pretty cool places so far. We did driver training last week and during that drove to the Columbine Memorial, Red Rocks Amphitheater, and up Lookout Mountain to Buffalo Bill’s grave. We also did a service project all together at Washington Park where we built the running path. That was really awesome because as soon as we were done, people were walking and running on the new path. Now every time we go back, we can appreciate how we built the path. I also planted trees this weekend in what will be a dog park. It was hard but definitely fun. I'll try to get pictures up soon. My internet is a bit spotty and it won't upload them right now.

Other than that, I’ve just been exploring Denver and figuring out where everything is and what there is to do and see. We’ve got another busy week up ahead, so I hope to be back with an update soon. Until then, hope it’s as sunny where you are as it is here!

-Christine

Welcome to the Mile High City

Hello everyone!

I am writing this halfway into my flight across the country to begin my service term with AmeriCorps NCCC in Denver, CO. I am not surprised, nor should you be, that I did not update with any pre-departure info. To be honest, I was busy making sure I had everything done, saw my friends and family, and had fun! I am, of course, going to do my absolute best to bring you frequent updates from my adventures with NCCC (and I think it might be easier since there will be a lot to talk about, just like when I went to Italy).

As a quick update, alumni weekend was a lot of fun and I was SO happy to be able to tell everyone what I was going to be doing. I got to see some people at SMC that I’m friends with, and spend lots of time with my loves from the class of 2011. In true VT fashion, we spent our Sunday on the “Stowe free food tour” which includes Cold Hollow Cider Mill and the Cabot Cheese Annex. It was a delicious day, the weather was amazing, and I was glad to have some good Vermont fun before I left the state for a bit.

By the time you read this, I will have arrived on campus and been processed (or whatever) and probably be setting my room up to be a home away from home. I’ll leave you with some pictures from my alumni weekend adventures and the promise to be back soon!

-Christine

“The big lesson in life, baby, is to never be scared of anyone or anything” -Sinatra

Denver!

Hello everyone!

I am currently breathing the biggest sigh of relief since a few hours ago I received an email that I was chosen to serve then next 10 months with AmeriCorps NCCC is Denver, Colorado! I'm literally so excited I'm still jumpy.

The past few weeks have been really tough, telling people I was "still waiting" while also looking for jobs and apartments (only half-heartedly) in preparation for if I didn't get selected. It's honestly the biggest weight off my shoulders that I won't have to keep hoping for the next two weeks and instead already know what I'm going to be doing!

Also, this news comes at the perfect time. I'm currently visiting my brother at Skidmore College, which is halfway between my house and SMC, where I am heading for a bit, most importantly for ALUMNI WEEKEND this weekend. It's a chance for alumni (recent and less recent) to get together in Burlington (and for some sporting events on campus), check in, and have a good time. It'll be the perfect way to celebrate with my friends and also say goodbye for a bit.

So I just wanted to share the news. I know I'll be updating a TON more when I get started serving and such, so look forward to that!

-Christine