Professional Volunteer

For the past two weeks I’ve been volunteering at Birch Camp as a camp counselor. I had such a blast getting to play with kids, help them learn about the world around them, and meet some really cool volunteers. My first week I was an activity counselor for Nature. I spent a lot of time hiking around with groups, collecting frogs, and facilitating camp-outs/campfires. The camp had campers of all ages babies through adults because it was a camp for families and we also provided activities for the campers including nature hikes, “rock climbing,” fishing, and more toddler specific activities like a scavenger hunt through pine needles, and making leaf rubbings. It was  a fun week. I stayed in the cabin with the 6-8 year old girl campers and their counselors and had a lot of fun getting to know them and sharing their camp experience. The second week I was a counselor for the toddler group. We were in charge of 6 boys and girls ages 4-5. Luckily at that age the campers still stayed in cabins with their parents, but we took care of them from about 8a, until 9 or 10pm when their parents came back to the cabins. It took a lot of energy to chase around that many kids all day, but I did have a ton of fun. The kids were so adorable, and while the days were exhausting and eating meals with them was crazy I had a phenomenal time singing, dancing and playing with the campers. I hope it works out in my life schedule for next year that I can go back and volunteer. The “Birch Camp Family” was such a welcoming bunch; many were volunteers who return year after year to make the magic of camp happen and their so passionate about what they do its fabulously energizing to be around.

Yesterday I arrived in Charlotte for my new term of Americorps service with Habitat for Humanity. The affiliate threw us a welcome potluck with staff, supervisors and local Americorps Alum.  It was awesome to experience the community they have created here and everyone is very welcoming. There is a strong presence of NCCC alums and I also met some Bike and Build alums as well. Two of my new Americorps coworkers just finished their Bike and Build trips! There are also a couple people who love running so we’re planning on running together. Last night I fell asleep on the couch in the common room as my new friends watched movies and played trivia, so this morning I woke up early and managed to have a very productive day. I was able to walk to the nearest library branch (about 3.5 miles away) and get a library card. I also found a yoga studio a few blocks away from there that seems pretty cool, so I’m going to check out their classes and hopefully find a cool yoga community to belong to. Later in the day a couple of us went to uptown Charlotte to explore/celebrate Alex’s birthday. We walked around “the Green” which was an awesome park area with cool statues and fountains, then continued walking around seeing what the city had to offer. The city was surprisingly deserted, it’s certainly not a hopping metropolis, but there should be some cool events and festivals this year to enjoy!

Book Statue on the Green

Charlotte signs!

Some new friends!

7 Days Left in Denver

7 Days until I go home! I’m very excited to have a mini vacation before my world jump starts again. The last month has been absolutely fabulous! Its been full of packing and cleaning, but also enjoying Colorado. Last weekend Adam and I spent the weekend in Estes Park. We did some hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park and walked around the town ducking into all the little tourist shops, and just enjoying the days together.

Last week Liz and I went to Red Rocks for the move ion the Rocks. They packed the auditorium and played the Hunger Games up on the stage. It was such as epic way to experience the movie, and the group energy from the crowd was awesome. Everyone was shouting out the quotable lines, and clapping at the victories.

Before that I went to Irish Fest. It was a beautiful day (until the torrential downpour) and I got to see a few bands, including my old supervisor Kevin’s band. It was great to sit in the front row of his show and cheer him on. 

I'm now sitting in the ReCyclery. Its a coffee/bike shop and super cool. Even the tables are made out of bicycles! I've known about this place for a while, but now I wish I'd checked it out before. It's not too far from my apartment, and I tonight I felt like I needed to get out and see something knew. I'm getting a little restless.

As I look forward to the next chapter of my life I’m starting to create a vision of goals. There’s so much I would like to experience and accomplish in this next year. I’m looking forward to all the new opportunities that a change of scenery will bring!

Living Denver

I'll be living in Denver for the next 39 days. And while I'm excited for the future, I love living here. I love knowing my way around, and biking everywhere, running in the parks, my yoga studio, hanging out with Liz Cheuk and and the general culture of fitness and outdoorsy-ness.

Last Sunday Liz and I did the dirty dash- a 3 mile mud run filled with mud pits, obstacles and muddy participants! Right past the starting line was the first mud pit (of about 4 or 5) so right away we were filthy! Then we had to jump over hay bales, climb over walls, under walls, across monkey bars and up ropes. At every mud pit Liz tried to ambush me and push/pull me deeper into the mud. She drove, so the joke's on her! She is lucky she brought garbage bags to cover her seats otherwise I would have rubbed my muddy body all over it!

Saturday I volunteered at the Denver Century ride, helping out at the packet pickup table and with the kid's parade ride. It was such a cool event to see! All the early morning bikers (for the longer distance rides- 100 miles, 75 miles etc.) wore spandex on their tiny butts and had beautiful bikes that filled me with bike envy! I like to think that if I had my good bike in Denver I would be a Century ride participant, but honestly I'm not sure I could ride a hundred miles anymore.

Thursday was the Solstice ride from City Park to Wash park. It was super cool to ride through the botanic gardens and Hi-Five all the Americorps NCCC kids working as course marshals. The ride ended at the VOC office in Wash Park for the burrito/beer picnic and I was able to return the tape measure I accidentally walked off with from the Red Rocks volunteer event. I met up with MG and Steve at the ride and had a chance to catch up. Hopefully I'll get to see them again before I leave.

Tomorrow Liz and I are going to the Renaissance Festival!

Krazy Tuna Salad

I made tuna salad this weekend. It was so delicious it was a struggle not to eat it all the first day. I’m not a big fan of mayonnaise, so this recipe is one of my new favorites!

Ingredients:

3 cans of tuna- drained

1/3 or more of a large cucumber- peeled and diced

½ an onion diced

2 ripe avocados

Mix & Enjoy!

This tuna salad makes a great sandwich, and it also delicious on a bed of spinach.

Chicago

This weekend I went to Chicago to visit Noel. I flew out there Friday and we spent the week biking around and seeing the city. Friday we visited with some of Noels friends and borrowed a bike from Dinah so I could bike around. Saturday we explored the city seeing the Bean, and going up in the John Hancock Tower, drinking Ghirardelli milkshakes and eating some deep dish pizza! We met up with a few of Noel’s friends and Mina. Sunday we did some more exploring, out in Devon (a little India area) and then some vintage shop hopping (I replaced my jean jacket that I was super sad about losing) and then met up with Melanie and Jenny from Americorps.

 

Monday we took a train to Indiana to go to a Hawaiian themed dinner party with Noel’s friends. Then Tuesday we took the train back to Chicago. Noel had to work so I went to the art Museum, then got dinner with Stephen (another Americorps buddy) and then found a Bikram yoga studio. I also was able to successfully navigate the city all by myself! Wednesday I flew back to Denver, with plenty of time to go to work L. Chicago was a pretty cool place, but it was super crowded with people, and all the drivers honk their horns super loud, all the time! I’m super glad I got to visit Noel and meet her friends and see where she lives and hang out in the city, but not enough to drop everything I’m doing and move there.

Volunteering Like a Pro!

The past two weeks I’ve been interviewing with several Habitat for Humanity affiliates for an Americorps State/National position in the fall. I think I talked to 6 affiliates, and I think the interviews went really well! Being able to talk about my experience and skills and passion for community service really made me feel more confident in myself. I’m so excited to be doing what I love, and traveling somewhere new and getting to meet new people, experience new communities and learn new things!

Yesterday I went to Red Rocks and volunteered with the Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. We built a new trail. My crew got to install steps on one of the steeper inclines. It was really awesome to be out there meeting volunteers and chatting with other people who love volunteering. I managed to get a rode from a girl who lives pretty close. The VOC compiles lists of their volunteers who need rides and who can offer rides. It was excellent and I hope I can get out and volunteer with them again this summer! I also got to meet some other guys. Steve is running the Colfax Half Marathon, and I saw him again today while I was volunteering there!

So after a full day of backbreaking work yesterday I woke up early to volunteer at the Colfax Marathon this morning. And by early I mean, I was out of bed by 4:30 am. I signed up to be a Zoo volunteer. (This year the Half Marathon course runs through the Denver Zoo!) I was stationed in between the bird house and the elephants. Even though I could hear the monkeys and smell the elephants, the only animals I saw were rabbits and geese. So I was positioned along the race course to cheer and direct runners in the right direction. The Half Marathon sold out this year with 6,000 runners! It was a really cool experience. The first few runners that came by were athletes with disabilities; runners pushing paralyzed and paraplegic friends/family members, and a few blind runners running with a partner/coach who helped them navigate turns. It was really awesome! Then came the three gazelle like men who were in it to win it! I was told afterwards that the Half Marathon and the Marathon race records were both broken today. And they were followed by a massive crowd of runners of all speeds. And so many people called out to say thank you for being here! It was such a great atmosphere, everyone had such a great attitude! My hands hurt from clapping so much!

Exciting Week!

April was a pretty low-key month. It snowed here in Denver at least once a week. I had a great month filled with hot yoga, new books, and volunteering. Now that its May I hope that the weather warms up and I can start running at Wash Park again! Yesterday I ran the Louisville Trail Half Marathon. It was a beautiful run with a great view of the mountains. It was a little chilly in the morning, which was a great change from the 100 degree weather at last years race!

The race was a great start to a fun-filled week! My parents are visiting this week and I've taken some time off of work to hang out with them and see the Rockies/Yankees game. It's bound to be a great week starting off a great month!