Monday, January 26, 2009
Next Stop: MIAMI!
Hey all~
I am sitting in New Orleans, LA right now and am in the midst of the transition process. My team has just left Mississippi and is preparing for our next spike project. We will be traveling to Miami to work with the Habitat for Humanity Miami affiliate.
I am very excited about our next project. We will have the opportunity to lead a number of Spring Break volunteers from across the country and participate in a two week blitz build. We will be building 12 homes in two weeks! It will certainly be a challenge, but one that I am very excited to tackle.
My team will be living just outside of the city and we will be living in a refurnished Habitat home. At the present moment, the entire house is unfurnished. No T.V., No Internet. I'm not too concerned about the T.V. aspect, considering I don't watch much to begin with... The lack of Internet will definitely be a struggle. I will still be able to send and respond to emails via my phone, and I will attempt to update my blog as often as possible.
The Miami project ends at the end of March and then we will be traveling back up to Sacramento.
I am very excited about the project and am looking forward to seeing what Miami has to offer!
Keep in touch.
xoxo
I am sitting in New Orleans, LA right now and am in the midst of the transition process. My team has just left Mississippi and is preparing for our next spike project. We will be traveling to Miami to work with the Habitat for Humanity Miami affiliate.
I am very excited about our next project. We will have the opportunity to lead a number of Spring Break volunteers from across the country and participate in a two week blitz build. We will be building 12 homes in two weeks! It will certainly be a challenge, but one that I am very excited to tackle.
My team will be living just outside of the city and we will be living in a refurnished Habitat home. At the present moment, the entire house is unfurnished. No T.V., No Internet. I'm not too concerned about the T.V. aspect, considering I don't watch much to begin with... The lack of Internet will definitely be a struggle. I will still be able to send and respond to emails via my phone, and I will attempt to update my blog as often as possible.
The Miami project ends at the end of March and then we will be traveling back up to Sacramento.
I am very excited about the project and am looking forward to seeing what Miami has to offer!
Keep in touch.
xoxo
Kendall, oooo oooo, Kendall, oooo ooooo ooo ooo
A teammate of mine has a wee “crush” on one of the staff members, Kendall, at Camp Victor. In order to profess his love, he composed a song. With the help from one of our supervisors, Brad, and a couple members on our team, the song was completed in just under 3 hours. The process began just before midnight and we anxiously awaited the return of his beloved. She arrived back to Camp just past 2:30 AM. Cory, clad in an accordion and ridiculously huge green sunglasses serenaded Kendall and asked that she come to Miami with us. It was absolutely hysterical.
Living without reservations, going out on a limb, putting yourself out there... having fun.
Living without reservations, going out on a limb, putting yourself out there... having fun.
This is the day the Lord has made!
Every morning before breakfast, Jimbo always lead a devotion and often he would start the morning by shouting, “this is the day the Lord has made,” and many of us would respond, “let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Other days, Jimbo would proclaim, “the Lord is good,” and we would respond, “All the time.”
For me, it was excellent to be living in and working in a Christian environment and to be reminded every day, that this is the day the Lord has made. Although AmeriCorps is a government run program and has no religious affiliation, we do partner with any non-profit. Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical Christian organization and Camp Victor is run by Christus Victor Lutheran Church.
The time I spent at Camp Victor and in Biloxi certainly encouraged the development of my faith and personal relationship with the Lord.
While in Biloxi I was able to join First Baptist Biloxi and to be baptized. I have met so many wonderful families and the support that I received from the college ministry team was phenomenal. My experience in Biloxi would not have been the same without the community of believers that I met through church.
I will definitely miss my Mississippi Gulf Coast family and a little piece of my heart will be there forever. I can not even begin to explain how much I have taken from the experience and I am so grateful to all whom I met who have made that experience what it was.
For me, it was excellent to be living in and working in a Christian environment and to be reminded every day, that this is the day the Lord has made. Although AmeriCorps is a government run program and has no religious affiliation, we do partner with any non-profit. Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical Christian organization and Camp Victor is run by Christus Victor Lutheran Church.
The time I spent at Camp Victor and in Biloxi certainly encouraged the development of my faith and personal relationship with the Lord.
While in Biloxi I was able to join First Baptist Biloxi and to be baptized. I have met so many wonderful families and the support that I received from the college ministry team was phenomenal. My experience in Biloxi would not have been the same without the community of believers that I met through church.
I will definitely miss my Mississippi Gulf Coast family and a little piece of my heart will be there forever. I can not even begin to explain how much I have taken from the experience and I am so grateful to all whom I met who have made that experience what it was.
Is it 10 yet?
Who knew that I would ever think that staying up until 10 would mean having a ‘late night.’ I now find myself eagerly anticipating sleep and the 10 PM lights out time imposed on us by our housing facility.
Living at Camp Victor in Ocean Springs was a pretty awesome experience. Camp Victor is an old sewing warehouse turned volunteer center. It has a large lounge with couches, t.v., ping pong table, pool table, and right off of the lounge—our rooms. I shared a room with five of my teammates. The room was not large by any standards, but we all fit into it—three bunk beds, a few tables with shelves. The room had no ceiling and no doors, but was brightly painted with inspiring quotes: “Honey, you are my shinning star,” (the last team didn’t exactly know how to spell…) Due to no ceilings, the sound throughout the building carried, and because it was a sewing factory, shoes had to be worn at all times. The showers and the bathrooms were on separate ends of the building, and often times it was quite chilly. The other volunteers were loud and some times drove us crazy, but overall, it was an excellent experience and a great place to stay.
The housing staff was AMAZING. Our chef Eddie was really nice and would always give us seconds and save us the leftovers. I also had a lot of fun getting to know Kendall (Volunteer Coordinator for Camp Victor) and Molly (long term volunteer). The food was good---mmm cheese grits and even ‘no chew Friday’ wasn’t too bad.
I will definitely miss living at Camp Victor and I look forward to getting to visit again some time in my future.
Living at Camp Victor in Ocean Springs was a pretty awesome experience. Camp Victor is an old sewing warehouse turned volunteer center. It has a large lounge with couches, t.v., ping pong table, pool table, and right off of the lounge—our rooms. I shared a room with five of my teammates. The room was not large by any standards, but we all fit into it—three bunk beds, a few tables with shelves. The room had no ceiling and no doors, but was brightly painted with inspiring quotes: “Honey, you are my shinning star,” (the last team didn’t exactly know how to spell…) Due to no ceilings, the sound throughout the building carried, and because it was a sewing factory, shoes had to be worn at all times. The showers and the bathrooms were on separate ends of the building, and often times it was quite chilly. The other volunteers were loud and some times drove us crazy, but overall, it was an excellent experience and a great place to stay.
The housing staff was AMAZING. Our chef Eddie was really nice and would always give us seconds and save us the leftovers. I also had a lot of fun getting to know Kendall (Volunteer Coordinator for Camp Victor) and Molly (long term volunteer). The food was good---mmm cheese grits and even ‘no chew Friday’ wasn’t too bad.
I will definitely miss living at Camp Victor and I look forward to getting to visit again some time in my future.
Stilts, Ladders and Nail Guns
Recently a supervisor asked me if I would help Hardy board (siding) the gable at the front of a house. Dutifully, I agreed. Heights not really being my thing, and nail guns weighing a good arm and a leg, this job certainly posed a challenge.
I found out, my fear of heights is a lot less than my fear of falling. With my anxiety level bordering dangerous, I did my best to confront these fears and finish the task at hand. 20 feet extension ladders were secured (kinda) on some muddy surface and a ladder was placed on the porch.
With a piece of siding on my back, a tool belt around my wait, a nail gun in hand, I trekked up a good 25 feet into the air to tack down the board. My heart was racing and I attempted to grip the ladder until my knuckles were white. It was absolutely terrifying. Eventually, I came to the realization that gripping the ladder would do me no good in the event that the ladder tipped. With that realization, I felt more confident to use both of my hands to juggle the tools and tack in the board properly all while maintaining my balance.
In confronting this fear, I am now much more comfortable on a ladder and I am fairly confident that the nail gun’s kick back won’t knock me off the ladder.
It appears that this year is largely about getting out of the comfort zone. This task certainly allowed to do so. Completing the siding on the gable was an awesome accomplishment and I am so glad that I didn’t let my fears dominate.
I found out, my fear of heights is a lot less than my fear of falling. With my anxiety level bordering dangerous, I did my best to confront these fears and finish the task at hand. 20 feet extension ladders were secured (kinda) on some muddy surface and a ladder was placed on the porch.
With a piece of siding on my back, a tool belt around my wait, a nail gun in hand, I trekked up a good 25 feet into the air to tack down the board. My heart was racing and I attempted to grip the ladder until my knuckles were white. It was absolutely terrifying. Eventually, I came to the realization that gripping the ladder would do me no good in the event that the ladder tipped. With that realization, I felt more confident to use both of my hands to juggle the tools and tack in the board properly all while maintaining my balance.
In confronting this fear, I am now much more comfortable on a ladder and I am fairly confident that the nail gun’s kick back won’t knock me off the ladder.
It appears that this year is largely about getting out of the comfort zone. This task certainly allowed to do so. Completing the siding on the gable was an awesome accomplishment and I am so glad that I didn’t let my fears dominate.
The Best Day of My Life!
I have a teammate who daily declares, “Wow! This is the best day of my life!” His attitude about viewing every day has given me a new way to look at each day. He is one individual who can find the good in every situation and who with certainty truly believes that each new day really is the best day of his life.
I’m attempting to make this a new mind set of mine.
I’m attempting to make this a new mind set of mine.
Would you like a coffee?
Sitting in the Biloxi/Gulfport airport a few days before Christmas, I was eagerly awaiting my flight to Fort Meyers Florida. As I sat, waiting, I overheard the conversation of the woman next to me. The language spoken, although not English, was very familiar. When she concluded her conversation I asked her if she was speaking Tagalog. Tagalog is the native language of the Philippines.
The woman’s expression lit up as she question as to how I was able to recognize the language. I told her about my recent travels and she asked me what is one observation that I had had. I told her that I found the Filipinos to be some of the nicest and friendliest people that I had ever met.
Our conversation continued and we chatted about her family. Within our short fifteen minutes of interaction, she offered to by me a coffee, invited me to the local Filipino Community Christmas Party, and introduced me to her son.
This gracious individual reminded me of how ones actions are viewed by others and how they reflect upon the society, region, or even country upon which an individual is from. It is important to remember that not only do my actions reflect upon the individual I am, but also they reflect upon AmeriCorps NCCC, the USA, and—most importantly—our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
From one kind gesture made by a stranger, I also learned and developed an appreciation for true random acts of kindness. It amazes me what pieces of wisdom one individual can impart on another in such a small space of time.
The woman’s expression lit up as she question as to how I was able to recognize the language. I told her about my recent travels and she asked me what is one observation that I had had. I told her that I found the Filipinos to be some of the nicest and friendliest people that I had ever met.
Our conversation continued and we chatted about her family. Within our short fifteen minutes of interaction, she offered to by me a coffee, invited me to the local Filipino Community Christmas Party, and introduced me to her son.
This gracious individual reminded me of how ones actions are viewed by others and how they reflect upon the society, region, or even country upon which an individual is from. It is important to remember that not only do my actions reflect upon the individual I am, but also they reflect upon AmeriCorps NCCC, the USA, and—most importantly—our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
From one kind gesture made by a stranger, I also learned and developed an appreciation for true random acts of kindness. It amazes me what pieces of wisdom one individual can impart on another in such a small space of time.
Building a Deck...
One day, my supervisor, Brad Diver, looked at me and said—“can you build me an HVAC deck behind house number 26?” I hesitantly and relatively confidently responded, “sure.” Our supervisor told us that when building an HVAC deck, all the fundamentals of building a house must be taken into consideration. With that, he left us in charge.
I have worked on decks before—laying down the deck boards and screwing them in. I knew how to level, measure, saw, and hammer, I wondered “how hard could it be?” Well, I had never built a deck from scratch before and with not much more instruction than, “go build a deck,” I set out to complete the task.
Lindsey and I worked together on the deck. First we had to decide the dimensions, and then decide where exactly the deck was going to go. We had to concern ourselves with how to attach the deck to the house and how exactly to sink posts into the ground.
Of course we were unable to locate the post digger, so a shovel was made to work. And of course, we found a few obstacles in the ground to maneuver around, pipes and wires—excellent. Finally we get the posts situated into the ground and then we had to level them. Building a square is not as easy as it seems—especially when it is four and a half feet in the air.
The building of the deck presented challenge after challenge. No further instructions were given to us from Brad. We had to sort it out ourselves. Lots of thinking, lots of ‘redo’s’, and lots of work later, we finally accomplished building the HVAC deck.
Although it took all day, completing the deck came with an awesome sense of accomplishment. I was able to put all of the skills that I had learned and acquired throughout the past two months into action and build a solid, sturdy, purposeful structure. It was a challenge, but it was worth every frustrating moment.
I have worked on decks before—laying down the deck boards and screwing them in. I knew how to level, measure, saw, and hammer, I wondered “how hard could it be?” Well, I had never built a deck from scratch before and with not much more instruction than, “go build a deck,” I set out to complete the task.
Lindsey and I worked together on the deck. First we had to decide the dimensions, and then decide where exactly the deck was going to go. We had to concern ourselves with how to attach the deck to the house and how exactly to sink posts into the ground.
Of course we were unable to locate the post digger, so a shovel was made to work. And of course, we found a few obstacles in the ground to maneuver around, pipes and wires—excellent. Finally we get the posts situated into the ground and then we had to level them. Building a square is not as easy as it seems—especially when it is four and a half feet in the air.
The building of the deck presented challenge after challenge. No further instructions were given to us from Brad. We had to sort it out ourselves. Lots of thinking, lots of ‘redo’s’, and lots of work later, we finally accomplished building the HVAC deck.
Although it took all day, completing the deck came with an awesome sense of accomplishment. I was able to put all of the skills that I had learned and acquired throughout the past two months into action and build a solid, sturdy, purposeful structure. It was a challenge, but it was worth every frustrating moment.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Nearing the End of Spike 1
Hello All,
I'm sorry I have not been good at posting, I must get better at remembering to do it!
My first spike project is near complete. It has been a very challenge, yet rewarding experience. I have had the opportunity to work on 34 homes and have had the chance to learn tons of new skills.
My team and I framed an entire house from the ground up and in the process I learned how to build walls, secure them, make sure the house is level, put up trusses, put up the sheathing and tyvek, as well as put on the decks. I also learned how to put up a roof and do some insulation!
I have learned a little about finish work--painting, trim work, caulking, and hanging all of the bathroom fixtures... I've also learned A LOT about problem solving.
I am a huge fan of the "learning curve." Its a very comforting thought that no one really expects you to know what you are doing right away and eventually you learn and get much better at every task-- who knew hammering was going to be so difficult at first! A tip: always use your elbows when hammering... it goes a lot faster! I've spent a LOT of time 'fixing' things... makes me appreciate things that are done right the first time. Whether I am spending time fixing others mistakes or my own mistakes, there is definitely beauty in doing it right the first time. All of the challenges have given me the opportunity to improve my problem solving skills!
The whole project has definitely been a success when it comes to learning and appreciating all that goes into building a house.
Not only have I learned a lot through the work I've been doing, I've definitely found my place here in the Biloxi area. I've joined First Baptist Biloxi and I absolutely love my church here. I've met some incredible locals who have told me some amazing stories.
It is so interesting to hear about "the storm." I never realized that people where out of power for a whole month or that Budweiser canned water and sent water down to help. I never realized that all of the schools were cancelled for 2 months and that in order to accommodate the students all of the classes had to be shifted around and some students would go to school in the morning and others in the evening. Being down here certainly opened my eyes to what the people of this area went through during Katrina. Still today the damage is evident. Driving along the beach front one can see many concrete slabs where houses and businesses once stood.
It is incredible. I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to come down here and help chisel away at the mound of work that still needs to be done. Katrina was the largest natural disaster in the US history. It has been wonderful to be a part of the recovery effort.
My team mates and I get along well and our housing site is doable. Community living is never going to be the most enjoyable experience ever, but an experience it certainly is. I have the pleasure of sharing a room with six women and a facility with nearly 150 volunteers! There is never a dull day, that is for sure!
I have not yet received my next assignment, but I will be sure to update all of you soon.
By the way, thank you to those of you who have sent me cards or letters-- I have them hanging on the wall by my bed and I really appreciate them!
I hope you all are well.
xoxo
Cassie
I'm sorry I have not been good at posting, I must get better at remembering to do it!
My first spike project is near complete. It has been a very challenge, yet rewarding experience. I have had the opportunity to work on 34 homes and have had the chance to learn tons of new skills.
My team and I framed an entire house from the ground up and in the process I learned how to build walls, secure them, make sure the house is level, put up trusses, put up the sheathing and tyvek, as well as put on the decks. I also learned how to put up a roof and do some insulation!
I have learned a little about finish work--painting, trim work, caulking, and hanging all of the bathroom fixtures... I've also learned A LOT about problem solving.
I am a huge fan of the "learning curve." Its a very comforting thought that no one really expects you to know what you are doing right away and eventually you learn and get much better at every task-- who knew hammering was going to be so difficult at first! A tip: always use your elbows when hammering... it goes a lot faster! I've spent a LOT of time 'fixing' things... makes me appreciate things that are done right the first time. Whether I am spending time fixing others mistakes or my own mistakes, there is definitely beauty in doing it right the first time. All of the challenges have given me the opportunity to improve my problem solving skills!
The whole project has definitely been a success when it comes to learning and appreciating all that goes into building a house.
Not only have I learned a lot through the work I've been doing, I've definitely found my place here in the Biloxi area. I've joined First Baptist Biloxi and I absolutely love my church here. I've met some incredible locals who have told me some amazing stories.
It is so interesting to hear about "the storm." I never realized that people where out of power for a whole month or that Budweiser canned water and sent water down to help. I never realized that all of the schools were cancelled for 2 months and that in order to accommodate the students all of the classes had to be shifted around and some students would go to school in the morning and others in the evening. Being down here certainly opened my eyes to what the people of this area went through during Katrina. Still today the damage is evident. Driving along the beach front one can see many concrete slabs where houses and businesses once stood.
It is incredible. I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to come down here and help chisel away at the mound of work that still needs to be done. Katrina was the largest natural disaster in the US history. It has been wonderful to be a part of the recovery effort.
My team mates and I get along well and our housing site is doable. Community living is never going to be the most enjoyable experience ever, but an experience it certainly is. I have the pleasure of sharing a room with six women and a facility with nearly 150 volunteers! There is never a dull day, that is for sure!
I have not yet received my next assignment, but I will be sure to update all of you soon.
By the way, thank you to those of you who have sent me cards or letters-- I have them hanging on the wall by my bed and I really appreciate them!
I hope you all are well.
xoxo
Cassie
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