coffee shop & nfl draft.

this week has been really good so far. work has been hard and the days have been long, but you sleep like a log and wake up excited to get going with the next day.

we began the roofing process today by the way... super cool!

i'm starting to get a big giant crush on construction work.... i still have lots to learn, but i find it so enjoyable. someday it would be so cool to build my own house

here is a picture of my lovely team... we look fantastic, i know.


-abigailinprocess

hithere,howarethings?

we're all moved back into our house now.

you know... some good things came out of that whole ordeal, and i've been trying to count them.

1. our house is the cleanest i think it's ever been since we've lived in it
2. i know for sure that i can pack up all my stuff for travel back to Denver. (i was a bit worried because of some new clothing i happened to accumulate in Florida)
3. i have a new found appreciation for construction work and people who understand what we are capable of
4. when you go through that stuff, there's always special kinds of bonding... so we bonded.

i'm sure there's more... but i'm just happy to be back. even if we only have 2 more weeks left.

new week coming up and i'm sure lots of fun stories to follow.
until then, good night!

abigail-in process

really really really good news!

we just got the word yesterday that we're able to go back to working with Habitat & move back into our housing!!!!!!

i am so happy about this. so is my whole team. everyone wanted both to move back and keep up the work we've been doing.

on wednesday some big deal AmeriGuys came to New Orleans to personally look at each teams housing situation and worksite. They met with everyone that night, and got the feel for how everyone else had been feeling. I think some teams are staying here at Camp Hope, but i think every team is going back to their original work. I think it's so important that this happens, because the work that we do is what keeps a lot of people "sane"
still excited to get up every morning despite the living situation.

So we'll be moving back in to our house tonight after work, and starting back up with Habitat on Saturday (tomorrow)
After that, we only have 2 weeks left down here in New Orleans.

crazy

love,

abigail-in process

camp hope

You know, one things I know for sure about AmeriCorps is that you can’t know anything for sure in AmeriCorps.

Currently, I’m sitting on the top bunk of a bed, just like I woulda been a few days…the only thing that changed in my location. I’m at Camp Hope in New Orleans with the rest of my team and also every other AmeriCorps NCCC team stationed in New Orleans.
We were informed last night that we would all be moving to Camp Hope the next day and to pack and clean the house.

The reason- I’m going to try to explain this the best I can in the most fair way possible. The violence/murder rate in New Orleans is getting significantly higher lately. There have been a few cases of AmeriCorps teams very near these scenes. Actually, there was a shooting right outside of the house I used to live in which was home to another team this round. One bullet actually made it to the fence.
Now, I really don’t know much but I do know that headquarters decided that there were parts of New Orleans that we’re safe to live & work in for us anymore. They moved us from where we lived and we aren’t able to work at our sites anymore.

Not being able to finish our project is probably the most upsetting thing about this situation for all of us. We were all very happy with the work we got to do every day. We aren’t sure yet if they will keep us here in New Orleans and find work for us to do here or send the teams back to their campuses. I should know soon what the story is.

The team is doing ok. Some people are pretty close to not being ok… I mean, we have had such a crazy year already. Packing up everything into bags seemed almost second nature to us. It was weird to leave our home because we were all very comfortable and happy with it. This camp is really pretty nice. There is a big room where all of the girls sleep and across the hall is where the guys are. The area around here is fairly safe from what they said, so it’s nice to be able to be outside at night again. Tonight they had a campfire going, so we sat around, played some music and chatted. Life’s gonna be ok.

Bring it on.

Abigail who is reminded every day she is always in process.

It’s been a good week here in New Orleans. It’s easy to get back “into the swing of things” once you’re back in this lifestyle. Being around my family for the weekend made me slightly homesick just to spend more time with them and see friends, but then I go to work and it is such a good feeling.

This week we worked with really cool volunteers from all over. We started out laying the foundation of a new house and then finished the week putting up siding on the walls of our house and wrapping it.

I’m working with two awesome teammates named Jessie and Jeff. We work under a guy named David. He rocks a British accent which, if you know me at all, you know that’s my favorite thing ever! It makes me break into my fake British accent a lot! He is awesome, and we call ourselves Team David. We have a lot of fun on the worksite and we trust each other which is super important when you are lifting heavy walls up on ladders. At the end of this week a volunteer and his son asked us all to come with them out to a really fancy Italian restaurant as a thank you for what we do. It was so stinkin nice of them. The place was so nice and the food was incredible. It was a beautiful thing : ]

Another really neat thing that happened this week at work was live music! The Army band came from Washington to build for a day and then played music for us during lunch. I didn’t know much about the Army band, but I guess it’s a position in the army that you audition for and then end up playing things at the White House and Pentagon. It was so exciting to me to be around sound equipment and instruments again. They were really proficient at each of their instruments. Imagine building houses next to a banjo, drum set, upright bass and other fun instruments. My idea of a good time!

This weekend is nice and relaxing. I’m enjoying it.

I find out where I will be for the rest of my AmeriCorps year on Tuesday. I’ll be sure to update this when I find out.

i miss you x 24

abigail;in process

spring break

it's been so long since i've updated this. it's weird not having internet access.... but refreshing? maybe.

i've been on a very short but very sweet spring break in Pensacola with my family.

it started with my grandparents coming to pick me up in new orleans on thursday morning. They came in the morning, and i showed them around town. I showed them the 9th Ward and then we went into the french quarter for lunch. We then made the trip back to florida. my family got there about 5 minutes before i did, so they were waiting for me by the time i got there. it was sooooo incredibly good to see them. perhaps i shed a tear?? : ]

anyway the weekend was amazing and these are some of the things i filled it with: eating good food, relaxing in the hot tub, walking on the beach and discovering stars above & below us, boogie boarding, playing with my cousins, building sand creations, playing music, watching House episodes that stream very slowly, sunrise Easter service on the beach in sweatpants, lots of laughing, ultimate frisbee guys v. girls, real conversations about life, silly conversations about life.

i love my family. i think i'm so so so blessed to have them all as a huge part of my life.

saying goodbye is always hard.. i knew that this goodbye would be the longest one yet because i won't get to see them until the end of my year of AmeriCorps.

The weekend was exactly what i needed though. i felt refreshed completely and ready to attack the rest of this year with passion.

This week so far has been working with some pretty awesome volunteers. we laid the foundation of a house in 2 days which is record time. we also got to meet the future owner of our house. super cool... and in case you were wondering, shorts and steel toes are the height of fashion in new orleans right now.


until next time... remember to see beauty in simplicity.

i'm abigail elizabeth, i'm in process.