Summertime

I am a horribly inconsistent blogger. Sorry.

Since my last post, I feel like my life has been a whirlwind of activity. So here goes for a recap...

Disaster Relief: I'm sure most of you have heard about or maybe even experienced flooding the first week of May. Kentucky was no exception. As a result, CAP made the decision to stay in-state and help with clean-up for flooding right in here in my county(and nearby counties). This was really exciting news to me! One, I got to participate in Disaster Relief and still come home to my own bed and shower every night (other volunteers had to stay on cots and use a shower trailer). Two, we have limited to no home repair assistance in Rockcastle, so it was nice to aid some of the families in my own county. I spent the first 3 days working on a team doing clean-up in Rockcastle and Madison counties. This included tearing out sheet-rock and flooring, moving furniture, and bleaching the affected areas to remove and prevent mold. Then, I spent one day taking phone calls and finding jobs for our crews (which was super stressful!). And on the final day of the week, I went to Casey County to help with a distribution of food and clothing. That county was hit very badly and many of their businesses were destroyed. This was probably the best disaster relief experience I have had so far, since I was able to visit families in and around my own home. These families still have so much work to do, as many of them lost everything. Please remember them in your prayers.

Memorial Day 2010: Kim came all the way from Colorado to visit me for a couple of weeks. We had the best time catching up and it just felt normal to have her around again. I can't believe she's been gone for a year. For the Memorial Day holiday, we took a road trip to Virginia Beach to visit Jenna for a mini-reunion. We ended up driving through 6 states (yes, even though VA borders KY) thanks to the not-so-trusty GPS. But, we had much quality time together and it was so nice to hang out with Jenna. A few sites we hit up: Virginia Beach with its boardwalk, the Outer Banks (my all-time favorite beach destination), University of Virginia, Marshall University in the very cute town of Huntington, WV, which included a stop at Huntington's Kitchen (from the Food Revolution). The drive through TN on the way up and WV on the way back was GORGEOUS! I love this area :).

Camping and white-water rafting: Well, most of you who know me well are probably amazed that these two words are written in a blog post of mine. Some of the staff from Housing and Family Advocacy decided to take a trip to TN to raft the Hiwassee River. I had some trepidation as the guys who joined me are slightly more outdoorsy and definitely more adventurous than me. But, it actually ended up being a nice trip. We camped in Reliance, TN, and then rafted the next day (picture below). No one fell in (my one goal for the day) and the river and surrounding area were beautiful. Plus, it was really nice to have some time to hang out with the volunteers who are leaving in the next couple of months. We also had some really good Southern country cooking in a small town called Etowah--fried catfish, fried pickles, corn-on-the cob, hushpuppies, buttermilk pie...so good! Oh, and we ended the night with listening to and dancing along to some country music down at the local blue barn, and star-gazing among the fireflies. Good times.


So, today I went back to work. I can't believe it's already June and my volunteer time will be up at the end of July. Until then, I'll be working on School Readiness preparation and getting things ready to hand over the the new volunteer. Plus, it's summertime, so hopefully we'll have lots of fun, outdoor activities before the volunteers I've become friends with this year move away. Please pray for all of us during this transition.