Habitat For Humanity Trip: Asheville, NC

Hello everyone,
Long time no post.... college life is busy!
I survived my first semester at SVSU and it was a great semester! I have met some amazing people and had lots of fun times and made many memories! I'm looking forward to heading back to Saginaw to start my next semester. 
Anyway, onto the point of the post! Last week, I was fortunate enough to go on a Habitat for Humanity trip to Asheville, NC. And I must say it was incredible! Asheville is absolutely beautiful, and the people there are so kind- must be that southern hospitality! 
We took off for our trip on Sunday morning. We had planned to leave Saturday morning, but because of the big snowstorm that was supposed to hit that day, we decided to postpone the trip until the next day. We left at about 6 am headed for Asheville! After a few pit stops, we arrived in Asheville around 7:30, did some grocery shopping for the week and made spaghetti for dinner! It was a late night by the time we ate and got settled in!
Monday was our first real day. We headed to the Asheville Habitat offices for breakfast a little bit of orientation and got to check things out a little bit. After that, we got to go to the job site. At the location we worked at, for the most part, there were 6 different houses that were being worked on

3 houses in progress

More houses in progress.

We worked primarily with one contractor named John, who our group leaders raved about the entire ride to Asheville. Soon we all understood why. John was AWESOME! He was so patient and kind. He would explain anything to you until you understood how to get the job done!


On Monday, most of us worked on the house pictured above. Literally 30 seconds after we started working. Kaitlyn and I were moving some long 2x4s to a different part of the house and I tripped on the pile of wood and landed on my side. I ended up with a pretty nice lump which has turned into quite an impressive bruise. After that happened, I was a little timid to do anything, especially go on the roof!

First, we helped to bring shingles up to the roof. Later we built walls and even put one up, which was a really cool feeling. A couple other girls got to help shingle the roof. 

From the roof!

That night, we went downtown to find someplace yummy to eat! After getting recommendations from other people we were working with we decided to check out Tupelo Honey. It was delicious southern food. Most of us got fried chicken with sides and biscuits! I got chicken and the best mac-n-cheese I have ever had in my life!

Tuesday, we were at a different location where the houses were almost finished. We had to add some finishing touches such as adding stucco to the house and painting and also encapsulating the crawl space, which is what I was lucky enough to do! I know this sounds scary, but I promise it's not! Basically, all encapsulating it does is create a moisture barrier. So first, we had to spread a layer of this black stuff that reminded me of felt. Next, we had to add a layer of white plastic! It seems very simple but it was very time-consuming because we had to go around the various pipes in the crawl space! It was a very interesting job and something I never thought I would do! 

The Crawlspace Crew

That night after we were done at the job site, we went to Blue Ridge Parkway to check out some the Asheville's stellar mountain views! We even got to watch the sunset over the mountains!

Wednesday we had to move lots of cinder blocks and rocks to other sites for them to use. The morning was very cold but by the afternoon it had warmed up to almost 60! That day I helped to put up scaffolding which is very tricky on ground that is not level. Later we built more parts for the walls that would be put up later



Rebecca, Autumn, and I making sure the wood was "flush" in other words lined up!




That night, we had dinner with one of the families who would be living in one of the houses we would be working on the next day, which was really cool to hear their story. Most people think that Habitat for Humanity just gives away houses. But this could not be farther from the truth. The families go through an extensive application and many meetings with the Habitat board to make sure they are a good fit for the program. Once selected, the family has to put in at least 200 "sweat equity" hours for each adult 18+. Out of these hours, at least 50 of them have to be spent working on their house. The other hours can be spent working at the local Restore or on other projects.

Thursday was our final day. We spent the first half of the day leveling out the crawl space of the house for the family we had dinner with the night before. So it was pretty motivating knowing the people whose house you were working on made moving dirt for 3 hours a little bit better because you knew they would have a better life because of it. After lunch, we trimmed some windows and cleaned up the job site because no one would be there for about a week because of the upcoming holidays!

It was really hard to leave the job site and all the amazing people we had met that week! But hopefully, it was a see ya later not a goodbye!

Overall, it was an incredible week. Our whole group became so close over just a few days which was a really cool thing. I got to see some beautiful mountains and do so many things I didn't think I could do- such as encapsulate a crawl space. So if you need any home repairs you know who to ask..... kidding I'm not that good!

But I definitely enjoyed my time in Asheville and would recommend a Habitat for Humanity trip to anyone! I think my favorite things about this trip were making 9 new friends and being able to physically see the difference we had made in Asheville!


Happy Holidays!
Aubrey :)

SVSU

Hi all,
A little update for you all!
The end of August, I moved up to Saginaw Valley State University! So far, I absolutely LOVE it here. Everyone is very nice and everywhere I go I see a familiar face, which is very nice. I have met a lot of awesome people so far, and I am looking forward to the rest of the school year!
Here are a couple pictures of my dorm!

Last weekend I went on a camping trip with about 20 other SVSU students. We kayaked the Platte River and hiked the Sleeping Bear Dunes. I had such an awesome time and got to meet a lot of new people! It was an awesome experience!

 We started hiking the sand dunes and it started to sprinkle, but we decided to carry on. By the time we reached the lake, we were soaked so we all decided to just swim in Lake Michigan since we were already soaked. The waves were pretty big so it was really fun. The hike back was not so fun, we got more rain and even a little bit of hail! But we all had smiles on our faces!

Moral of the story: I LOVE SVSU!
Aubrey :)

One Year Later....

It is crazy to me to think that a year ago on this day I was driving 10 hours with my dad and a van full of all of my belongings on our way to Missouri. This past year has gone faster than I ever thought possible!

I arrived back in MI on July 1^st around 11 at night! I was so glad to be home! Since then, I have been babysitting, catching up with people, working on homework, and doing a little bit of vacationing! My online classes ended last Wednesday so now I will have a lot more free time! At the end of the month, I head up to Saginaw Valley State University to begin my college career! I am pretty unsure of a major at this point, but I am pretty sure it will be something in business~ but who knows that could all change!

I have had a lot of people ask if I am glad to be home and the answer is YES! I was so excited to come home. I really enjoyed my time in MO and it truly was a wonderful experience, but I was ready to come home and be around the people I loved and missed so much! Not to say I didn’t miss home at all, but I really wasn’t as homesick as I thought I would be. There were days when I would see the pictures posted on Facebook of all the cousins carving pumpkins or decorating cookies together or see my friends hanging out and having fun without me and I would think to myself “what the heck am I doing here? I want to be there.” Then I would go to school and see my 20 preschoolers and know that I made the right decision to be there.

I don’t have a doubt in my mind that MO was where I was supposed to be for the past 11 months. And I have absolutely no regrets about leaving for a year. I think it was really good for me to get out of Fowler for a while and see what it was like to live somewhere else, even just temporarily, it made me appreciate how great Fowler is.

So many people have made the comment “you would have made way more money by taking a year off to just work rather than join AmeriCorps.” My decision to take a “gap” year was never about making a bunch of money. It was because I couldn’t make a decision and couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do with my life. So I looked for something else.  I wanted to do something different, take the path less traveled by in the words of Robert Frost. It was about the experience and being able to help those who need it. And I wouldn’t change my decision for the world. If I hadn’t joined AmeriCorps, who knows where I would have ended up.

AmeriCorps also enabled me to meet some AMAZING people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. My roommates became my best friends and I am so thankful for them or my year wouldn’t be even half as fun as it was.

This experience also made me grow up a lot. I have had many people at school tell me how mature I am for my age and that they would have never guessed I was only 19 years old. I have learned so much about myself and the world around me. I have been able to try new things, meet incredible people, and go all sorts of new places.

I don’t know where I’m going but I’m on my way! So here’s to the future and whatever it holds!

Aubrey :) 

Colleen & Aubrey Take STL Cont.

Welcome back!
St. Louis Part 2!

Saturday we checked out the city museum. I have to say, I'm not a big museum fan but Colleen really wanted to go and promised it would be fun. She kept her promise! It was a lot of fun. The city museum isn't some stuffy boring museum. It is pretty much a giant playground. Younger and smaller kids would have an absolute blast here! Being 5'9" it was very hard to crawl around and fit in a lot of things but it was still a lot of fun. It reminded me a lot of Impressions 5 in Lansing!  We ended up staying for about 3 hours. There is so much to see and do we didn't even do it all in 3 hours! 

The outside of the museum

Hall of mirrors

Hampster wheel

running in circles

It was very hot this day and the museum wasn't air conditioned. So we worked up a sweat! We went up a bunch of stairs to go down the 10 story slide, but the line was so long and it was so hot we decided to skip it and head to the roof top!

10 story slide

At the roof top, you can pretty much climb up the side of the building and end up in this bird cage like thing. We both made out way up, but it wasn't easy. I am usually not claustrophobic, but I have to say I got a little bit freaked out. Regardless, I made it!

Colleen climbing up

The bird cage!

The cage suspended from the ceiling

From the cage, you could go to the rooftop. There was lots to do and many things to climb!

There was even a ball pit!

stuck in the ball pit

I made it out alive!

After the museum, we were hot and exhausted, but we had tickets to go up in the arch at 3:10. So we headed off to get a little snack, then off to the arch!

Of course, we had to take pictures in front of the arch!

A lot of the area around the arch is under construction. It is supposed to be done by the end of next summer! They are making it wheelchair accessible and adding a museum.

Here are some pictures from the top!

Up top was very crowded and after about 5 minutes we had enough and were ready to go,
We headed off to Anehauser-Busch for a brewery tour! They offer free tours about every hour throughout the day, and we made it in time for the 5:30 tour. It was really interesting!

The famous Clydesdale horses

Beer Tanks

 After the tour, you could go to the Biergarten and have a free beer, but since we weren't 21 that wasn't an option. So we headed out! We went back to downtown and had some amazing Thai food and Sen Thai Bistro! I got Cashew Nut Noodles which was a lot like pad Thai. It made me want to go to Thailand even more!

It was a busy day with lots of walking! We walked over 8 miles!

Sunday:

We slept in then headed off to Forest Park to check out the zoo and hammock!
It was super hot Sunday more than 90! Because it was a holiday weekend the park was packed! The zoo was especially crowded and very hot. A lot of the animals were just as hot as us so they weren't very active. We only stayed at the zoo for a little bit and decided we should head out. So we found a place to set up out hammocks and relax for a bit!

Poor Hyena!

After a couple relaxing hours in our hammocks, we headed off towards "The Hill." The Hill is an Italian neighborhood in STL. We had been told we had to get toasted ravioli there, so we took the advice and man was it good! Since it was Sunday a lot of places were closed so we ended up at Mamas at the Hill. We ordered toasted ravioli and fettucini alfredo! Toasted ravioli supposedly was invented in St Louis when a chef accidently dumped ravioli in a deep fryer and discovered it was actually pretty delicious!

And you know we had to get some gelato!

And that pretty much sums out our St. Louis adventures! It was a great vacation! 
Summer school starts tomorrow and my online classes start on Sunday! And only 32 days until I am back home!
Aubrey :)