hi all
well this is a delayed blog. i received a request for an update around a week ago so this is my procrastination at best!
check out this video blog:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB83GuRf138
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
House Dedication and pictures
On Saturday November 20th, our Womens Build was dedicated to the Heather Roberts family. A small crowd with a big heart was present to see a house be turned into a home. Members of the affiliate, volunteers, family, neighbors, and more were a part of Heather's big day.
I am lucky to say that I was able to present a Bible to Heather, to symbolize the Faith it takes to build a home, the faith of the Roberts family in believing that time and effort would lead to an new home, the volunteers' faith in the mission of Habitat for Humanity and the faith that guided all of us to be there that day.
A number of other things were presented including a home repair booklet, quilts for each member of the family, extra tools, artwork to hang on the walls, a certificate for sweat equity, laundry detergent (a washer and dryer were donated), and more. The most important, however, before cutting the ribbon, was the key to the home. It was such an exciting day.
It continued with more joy as a few Habitat members, our Board President and extra volunteers distributed 20 turkey dinners donated by Central Pennsylvania Foodbank to Habitat partner families so that they may have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.
After just one month of being in this position I was able to see a groundbreaking, but then to be a part of a dedication - wow! Its just so cool to see so much volunteered work given to a family in need so that they can finally have their own home.
It's simply amazing.
Here are some pictures from the day plus some extras from my first few months as an AmeriCorp VISTA.
I am lucky to say that I was able to present a Bible to Heather, to symbolize the Faith it takes to build a home, the faith of the Roberts family in believing that time and effort would lead to an new home, the volunteers' faith in the mission of Habitat for Humanity and the faith that guided all of us to be there that day.
A number of other things were presented including a home repair booklet, quilts for each member of the family, extra tools, artwork to hang on the walls, a certificate for sweat equity, laundry detergent (a washer and dryer were donated), and more. The most important, however, before cutting the ribbon, was the key to the home. It was such an exciting day.
It continued with more joy as a few Habitat members, our Board President and extra volunteers distributed 20 turkey dinners donated by Central Pennsylvania Foodbank to Habitat partner families so that they may have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.
After just one month of being in this position I was able to see a groundbreaking, but then to be a part of a dedication - wow! Its just so cool to see so much volunteered work given to a family in need so that they can finally have their own home.
It's simply amazing.
Here are some pictures from the day plus some extras from my first few months as an AmeriCorp VISTA.
Monday, November 15, 2010
National Service Leadership Conference 2010
Early in the morning on November 8th I headed out the door with packed bags and AmeriCorps gear ready to attend what I thought would be a summer camp themed week full of camp fires, sing-a-longs and pow-wows.
After the my Pre-Service Orientation in August at the fanciest hotel I've ever stepped in to, I had thought the AmeriCorps team liked take their projects to the extreme, so when I read on-line that we should bring flashlights to the camp-fires for the 'activities' I started questioning some things.
Well after 12 hours worth of flying, driving, and chit-chattering with Rebekah (fellow Harrisburg AmeriCorps member) and seeing some other familiar faces from PSO (Cyrus and Alyson) at the Atlanta airport, we finally reached Shocco Springs just outskirts of Talladega Alabama. I'm happy to say that I immediately felt better when I started seeing more familiar faces. It wasn't about bonfire campgrounds, but rather a networking retreat to catch up with old faces and meeting new ones. After a long day of traveling everyone just took advantage of catching up, sharing reunion-hugs and just sitting back. The next day began the classes.
Early morning we had our opening ceremony telling us a little more about what to expect within the week and then we took the large group pictures. I'll post a couple once I get a hold of them myself but have yet to find any links to them yet. We took photos of the entire AmeriCorps Habitat Vista/National team and then more broken out in to smaller groups.
I could chat about the sessions/classes but really the most beneficial part of being around everyone for a week and the scheduled meetings was the networking. Talking with so many AmeriCorps representatives from so many affiliates across the states was great. There was so much sharing[stealing] of ideas, programs, successes, challenges, stories, inspiration, and more and that was truly what made the trip most worth-while. I met with a number of people in August at PSO when most of us didn't really know what to expect in the next few months but when we were able to reconnect this past week we had such a better grasp on our positions, fields, teams, locations, projects and more.
The week ended with a closing ceremony where a new home-owner family were given the chance to share their story of prayer for a new home and a thank you to the people who made it possible. I don't think there was a cold heart miles away from the room when they spoke of so much joy, compassion, love, and gratitude.
While I'm not sure if/when I'll see most of these faces again, I'm definitely looking forward to Build-a-thon even though it won't be till much later in the year and only based regionally. I had gotten excited about working with everyone on building together but plans changed and now we're being broken in to smaller groups throughout some different locations in the country.
It really was a great week. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again, hopefully soon.
http://www.dailyhome.com/view/full_story/10275611/article-Habitat-holds-national-service-conference-at-Shocco-Springs?instance=home_right
After the my Pre-Service Orientation in August at the fanciest hotel I've ever stepped in to, I had thought the AmeriCorps team liked take their projects to the extreme, so when I read on-line that we should bring flashlights to the camp-fires for the 'activities' I started questioning some things.
Well after 12 hours worth of flying, driving, and chit-chattering with Rebekah (fellow Harrisburg AmeriCorps member) and seeing some other familiar faces from PSO (Cyrus and Alyson) at the Atlanta airport, we finally reached Shocco Springs just outskirts of Talladega Alabama. I'm happy to say that I immediately felt better when I started seeing more familiar faces. It wasn't about bonfire campgrounds, but rather a networking retreat to catch up with old faces and meeting new ones. After a long day of traveling everyone just took advantage of catching up, sharing reunion-hugs and just sitting back. The next day began the classes.
Early morning we had our opening ceremony telling us a little more about what to expect within the week and then we took the large group pictures. I'll post a couple once I get a hold of them myself but have yet to find any links to them yet. We took photos of the entire AmeriCorps Habitat Vista/National team and then more broken out in to smaller groups.
I could chat about the sessions/classes but really the most beneficial part of being around everyone for a week and the scheduled meetings was the networking. Talking with so many AmeriCorps representatives from so many affiliates across the states was great. There was so much sharing[stealing] of ideas, programs, successes, challenges, stories, inspiration, and more and that was truly what made the trip most worth-while. I met with a number of people in August at PSO when most of us didn't really know what to expect in the next few months but when we were able to reconnect this past week we had such a better grasp on our positions, fields, teams, locations, projects and more.
The week ended with a closing ceremony where a new home-owner family were given the chance to share their story of prayer for a new home and a thank you to the people who made it possible. I don't think there was a cold heart miles away from the room when they spoke of so much joy, compassion, love, and gratitude.
While I'm not sure if/when I'll see most of these faces again, I'm definitely looking forward to Build-a-thon even though it won't be till much later in the year and only based regionally. I had gotten excited about working with everyone on building together but plans changed and now we're being broken in to smaller groups throughout some different locations in the country.
It really was a great week. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again, hopefully soon.
http://www.dailyhome.com/view/full_story/10275611/article-Habitat-holds-national-service-conference-at-Shocco-Springs?instance=home_right
Friday, October 29, 2010
Living in the Burg
hellooooo!
i've decided to post a video for this blog. check it out! there may or may not be more of these. help me out by commenting if you'd like to see more vids or if you'd rather read my posts!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Do it for someone else.
I've been noticing so much more posts on Facebook about doing better things. This revolves around cancer-walks, recycling, good deeds, eating healthy, working out, providing for someone else, educational events... but what are you actually doing? You can read so much online about a anniversary of an event and everyone doing something good that day, but what about the other 364 days of the year? You could experience the life of someone else who may be less fortunate than you for a day or two... but they have to do this every day... What are you doing to change that?
You can hold a door open for someone or simply lend an ear but that can only go so far for a single person. There are too many people in the world who suffer every day from either bad judgement or bad luck, what are you doing to stop that?
I'm excited that Glee is working with Members Project and that it is grabbing so much attention from the fans but why would it stop there with just a fun post on Facebook. You should do something about it.
Have you ever thought about taking one of your free days from work or school to go out in to your town and volunteer your time to someone else? I'm not saying I'm any better, I find myself spending a lot of my off time at home with the computer or television on but I'm trying to change that. I don't need to refresh a Facebook page to see a friend post a quote about love. I want to go out and provide my love for service. I want to be there for someone else. And I think you should too.
You can hold a door open for someone or simply lend an ear but that can only go so far for a single person. There are too many people in the world who suffer every day from either bad judgement or bad luck, what are you doing to stop that?
I'm excited that Glee is working with Members Project and that it is grabbing so much attention from the fans but why would it stop there with just a fun post on Facebook. You should do something about it.
Have you ever thought about taking one of your free days from work or school to go out in to your town and volunteer your time to someone else? I'm not saying I'm any better, I find myself spending a lot of my off time at home with the computer or television on but I'm trying to change that. I don't need to refresh a Facebook page to see a friend post a quote about love. I want to go out and provide my love for service. I want to be there for someone else. And I think you should too.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
snapping the moment
alright so i have a camera. that is a lie. i have a lot of cameras. i still need to edit that. i have 1 fully functional working camera. i have owned 7 cameras in the last four years.
#1 - i returned to the store (financial reasons)
#2 - the lense broke
#3 - the screen cracked (but still takes pictures so it is now donated to the troops to take pictures to send home to families)
#4 - the screen cracked (and i even bought a case this time too)
#5 - still works but the lense doesn't like to open most of the time
#6 - 35mm (older than me) and i still haven't learned the features to use it enough
#7 - my new baby. a gift from Mavourneen and Mike a week ago for graduating in May
my senior thesis was photography. since I've graduated I've hardly taken any pictures and this is very weird for me. since adopting the 35mm I've had this image in my head of all the pictures i'd be taking in Harrisburg and I haven't used it once.
this is my challenge: i'm taking my 35 mm and/or new digital and taking 5 pictures every day. whether it is of a co-worker, neighbor, housemate, the river, the Churches, the capitol, nature, city life, or whatever... I am challenging myself to take 5 pictures every day.
lets see how this one goes....
#1 - i returned to the store (financial reasons)
#2 - the lense broke
#3 - the screen cracked (but still takes pictures so it is now donated to the troops to take pictures to send home to families)
#4 - the screen cracked (and i even bought a case this time too)
#5 - still works but the lense doesn't like to open most of the time
#6 - 35mm (older than me) and i still haven't learned the features to use it enough
#7 - my new baby. a gift from Mavourneen and Mike a week ago for graduating in May
my senior thesis was photography. since I've graduated I've hardly taken any pictures and this is very weird for me. since adopting the 35mm I've had this image in my head of all the pictures i'd be taking in Harrisburg and I haven't used it once.
this is my challenge: i'm taking my 35 mm and/or new digital and taking 5 pictures every day. whether it is of a co-worker, neighbor, housemate, the river, the Churches, the capitol, nature, city life, or whatever... I am challenging myself to take 5 pictures every day.
lets see how this one goes....
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
to love another person is to see the face of God.
love brings out the best in people. that is, if its true love. when you truly care about someone in the most unconditional ways it is then that you can see true love. it is then that you are the least selfish because your upmost desire is for that person to be happy, even if it means harship for your own self. this is coming from a mixture of my own experiences and witnessing of others.
how do you feel when you see someone close to you in heartache? how do you feel when you're involved in the heartache? make a decision about what is the absolute best for that person, because if you truly love that person as much as you say you do then you'll let go of any of your own frustration and put their happiness first.
on another note, when you make an assumption of someone based on a simple mistake or hardship in their own life and then let it affect your over-all feelings then you need to take some time to really decifer if that is how you really feel about the person or if you're holding a grudge over a simple matter that is in the past. let it go.
Let go and let God.
It is then, that He is proud of you.
how do you feel when you see someone close to you in heartache? how do you feel when you're involved in the heartache? make a decision about what is the absolute best for that person, because if you truly love that person as much as you say you do then you'll let go of any of your own frustration and put their happiness first.
on another note, when you make an assumption of someone based on a simple mistake or hardship in their own life and then let it affect your over-all feelings then you need to take some time to really decifer if that is how you really feel about the person or if you're holding a grudge over a simple matter that is in the past. let it go.
Let go and let God.
It is then, that He is proud of you.
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