habitat

first,
i'm very tired. i forgot how working in the sun all day completely drains you.
second,
it is pretty weird to not have internet connection unless you go somewhere. i'm just used to it for random things, and i feel very behind on what's going on in the world (not pop culture because i could care less)

but i'm really liking this project so far. it's so nice to have a house with some actual rooms. we're sitting at about 5 people per room, but it's still some privacy. we have a nice living area as well.

this week has been a little hard, but work is always such an awesome thing to look forward to. i miss hanging out with people. i can see it being a little hard in the summer knowing everyone's at home and that i don't get home till july... but by then i think i won't want AmeriCorps to ever end.
____________

this week i've been laying the foundation to a house which we will start putting the base for a floor in near the end of the week. it's a lot of measuring and being technical, but it's fun stuff. my hands are completely dry and pretty gross because we've been working with mortar and concrete all week. i gave up on using the proper tools about 5 minutes after i learned how, and started using my hands.

this week i'm working with one other person on my team and then a group of about 12 volunteers. they are from seattle and the other group from wisconsin. i love working with volunteers so much. i like getting a feel for the people from different parts of our country, and i love getting to know people. this kind of work lets you bond with people in ways you don't find elsewhere.

today in the middle of our work day we got to see Habitat dedicate a house. It was a small ceremony and was for the family moving into it. not gonna lie... it brought tears to my eyes to see the actual family about to move into their house. the families are required to work 350 hours on their house during the process, so they helped build it too.
it made everything we've been doing worth while and really put a new spin on our job.
i'm excited to dive even more into this project.

i'm applying for classes at delta soon.... how weird is that? my AmeriCorps year is more than half way over.

Abigail,



in process.

In New Orleans once again. I actually missed it for the two weeks I was gone. It’s the same city and same issues as before, but the new organization we’re working for (Habitat for Humanity) gives my time here a completely different feel.

We got here on Wednesday and got settled in our house. I really like the place we’re staying this round. It’s a brand new house built just like other Habitat houses here in the area. It’s relatively small but has 3 bedrooms, one bathroom and a decent sized kitchen/living area. We have bunk beds and about four people per room. Bathrooms to people is roughly, oh a good 1-13 but we have been managing just fine.
Our work is going to be awesome. We’ll be split up usually every day working with different groups of volunteers on different kinds of projects. Our first day of work as actually probably the physically hardest day I’ve experienced thus far. They had two house sites relatively close to one another… approximately 1.3 miles apart. They didn’t have access to their usual pick up truck because it was on other sites. They needed these house wall frames at the site about a mile down the road… our task- move those frames to the other house. We literally moved them all by carrying them. The van had to follow behind us (so we wouldn’t get hit) but it felt like it was more to pick up those teammates that might have fallen behind! Thankfully, no one did. We made that trip 3 times. It seemed very impossible for a very long time. We did it though and that night pretty much crashed into bed.

This weekend was pretty exciting for me… I got hang out with my dad here in New Orleans. He was on his way to California to speak at a conference and was able to arrange a 24-hour layover in town. He rented a car and picked me up from my house. He got to meet my new family and then I took him all around town. We went to the old place I used to work and live and then out to dinner. It was so great to be able to chat and catch up. The next day we took the ferry across to the cool historic area of New Orleans, and then walked around the French Quarter. We had such a great time and it was so awesome to be able to do that. I have the best dad ever.

I don’t have internet so my updates will be probably weekly, if that, but I’m really looking forward to this round of projects.

Love,

Abigailllllllllllinprocess

roadtrippin' on skittles

we are currently in tyler, texas at our second hotel of travelling.
you can see from the map, we've made the trek from Denver Colorado to Amarillo Texas, now we're here. Tomorrow will land us in NOLA again. You may be asking yourself, isn't this crazy girl sick of riding in the van and staying in the same hotels for the third time in a row... the answer to that question is, no!
i get to read and listen to music and... who doesn't love hotel breakfast?
i've made it from denver effectively on $1 cash money. (hey, thanks for paying your taxes : ] )
tomorrow we arrive at our new house and start learning about our project on thursday. i'm pumped!
i've missed new orleans. also.. another exciting little fact. my dad has an intentional layover this saturday in NOLA. this means he will be hanging out with me!

sad fact: our new house does not have internet. this means that i will only get to update this at coffee shops and other places i can swipe the internet.

happy fact: i'm about to fall asleep in a big comfortable bed.

love,

abigailinprocess

it's been a while!

i apologize about the lack of updates. since my last post, we finished up our 2nd round project with Rebuilding Together. It was a great place to work, and it was very sad to leave because our whole team got close with the staff and the other AmeriCorps members working there.

last thursday we picked up our big red bags and left in our 15-P's. Our three day journey back to Denver wasn't as sad knowing that in one week, i would be making the exact same trip back down.

because.... next round i'm working with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans. From what i've heard, it's a great project and we'll be getting to work with spring break volunteers for a majority of the time. i'll kinda get to see a lot of the country through the people who come to work with us. this makes it easier to be ok with being in New Orleans again next round. Also the fact that the city is awesome and Jazz Fest is in April. If you want to make yourself hate me and be extremely jealous, just check out the line up that they have at Jazz Fest this year. it's sick.

anyway, now we're in Denver for the week. it's been an awesome little vacation. on monday we went on a beautiful hike. it was very refreshing. you know what else was refreshing?
seeing beth morris!

it's really, really cool to me that we were able to see each other. she's actually the reason i'm doing AmeriCorps this year. She did the program two years ago and inspired me to venture out and to try this crazy little adventure. i'm so glad she did.

she's here for spring break and staying with steve and jodi. it worked out perfectly because it's the one week i'll be in denver for the next two months. she picked me up yesterday and i showed her around our campus (she did the program in California) but it was awesome because she just understood exactly what i was experiencing. it was exactly the night i needed.
all i have to say about that evening... ostriches and fellowship : ]

love you all,

this girl who is in process.