I love my job!

Last week was incredible!! My crew worked and camped on San Juan Island, for 5 days. We cut down Hawthorne trees, which are invasive to the island, and have many battle wounds to prove it! The thorns are nasty, and scratched up our arms, legs, and faces real good :) We lucked out on some beautiful weather, lots of sunshine and cool breezes from the ocean surrounding us...it was ideal! The island is so beautiful, and even though we didn't see any whales, it's my new favorite place. I can't wait to go back, and just relax there. I could go on about how pretty it was, but here are some pictures. And as usual our crew had a blast together!! Camping, cooking, fires, our stupid jokes, laughing, walks along the beach...so much fun!!











Looking ahead...I've got 2 "typical" work weeks, then a long Holiday weekend that I'll spend in Spokane with the Krista Foundation (see previous post!) and then another camping week, at Cedar River Watershed! Temps are warming up, expected to be 84 this coming weekend....definitely time for more camping trips, hiking and SWIMMING!!!

Love, love, love, me :)

Krista Foundation

I got a call with some exciting news this afternoon!! I was nominated by someone at EarthCorps and then applied for a grant through an organization called the Krista Foundation (which I'll explain below) After an interview last weekend, I got the call today that I was accepted!! It's a $1,000 grant, but even more so it's a community of support that I am now a "colleague" of. I am so excited!! The big kick off will be a retreat over Memorial Day weekend in Spokane, WA, where I'll meet the rest of this year's class, 15 or so other young adults doing service work, as well as the alum....their hope is to keep the participants involved for up to 3 years, attending the annual retreat in May to help mentor the new people joining each year. I believe it started in 1999 and there are now 120 "Krista Colleagues"....here's more about it...

www.kristafoundation.org

The Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship was inspired by the life and vision of Krista Hunt Ausland, who was killed at 25 while volunteering with her husband, Aaron, in community development in rural Bolivia. Believing that one's twenties offer an ideal time to practice the ethic of service, her family, friends, and colleagues want to continue Krista's desire to "show God's love in actions" by providing encouragement and grant support to other young adults who choose a journey of service.

The website has so much more info you can read, about Krista's life and the foundation...it's such an honor to be involved now!! The committee that interviewed me was so kind. I left with lots of good feelings, and really hoped to be accepted. I'll get to meet so many new people, and learn about their own experiences. How incredible that Krista's life continues to touch so many, I'm so fortunate to become part of this community/family...I can't wait for the retreat!! :)

San Juan Islands!

Hello!!! How are YOU??? I haven't written in a while, so here's the latest :)

Work is delightful, and I'm learning new things every day. My crew is so much fun, it's ridiculous. We work so well together, and are laughing all day...it's the best job ever!!

Here are some random pictures...

April was EARTH MONTH!! So we had lots and lots of volunteer events, and far less normal work days. We worked with different ages of kids and adults at events across the city...even though it's less physical work, days are a little more unpredictable and can be stressful. I struggled most on our day working with high schoolers. All they wanted to do was sit in the grass and talk...but my favorite days were working with the real little kids, or adults.

This past week was our first true, 5-day work week in a while, and it was definitely our hardest! We spent 4 days resurfacing nearly 800 feet of trail on Tiger Mountain. Gravel is heavy, in case you didn't know...we had to load gravel into a machine that we would slowly drive down the trail, then we'd dig out huge pits of mineral soil and mix it with the gravel (75% gravel, 25% dirt) and then lay it on the trail 4 feet wide and 3-5 inches thick. Gravel is heavy!! There were definitely moments I thought I couldn't go on...what a workout, for 4 days in a row. Mixing the gravel and dirt was the hardest part. It's a very tedious job, as each load only covered about 6 feet at a time....but the trail looks great now!! Come to Seattle and we'll go for a walk :)

Now I'm VERY excited to say that all next week is our first overnight work week, where we'll be camping!! On SAN JUAN ISLAND!!! It's gonna be so much fun, and such a beautiful place to work. I'll take lots of pictures!!! Hopefully our crew is still speaking after 5 straight days of bonding. We'll be pretty stinky by Friday, that much is for sure, lol.

That said, I won't have my computer all week!! I'll have my phone, but probably won't be able to charge it, so we'll see how well I can ration out my battery...it will be a nice break from electricity! I'll get lots of reading time :)

Last weekend I volunteered with friends at a local organic farm, planting green and potatoes...it was so much fun! Here are a few pictures. I wanna be a farmer now!! We plan to go back atleast a few times a month in trade for food!




Hope you have a nice week!!!!!! LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)