Appalachiaa
HELLOO DARLINGSS.
Okaaayy so last weekend VI went to Appalachia, Kentucky (Chavies to be specific). This was my third year going, and every year I find myself feeling super-excited, but also kind of nervous. I know that the conditions in Chavies are pretty bad sometimes, and I never really know what to expect .
So we met at the church at 4:00, loaded up the cars got on the road. My car consisted of my dad, LFD, James, Grace, my sister Julia, and myself. We talked for a little bit, but then everybody sort of fell asleep/started to read or listen to their iPods. Lauren was reading this book that must've been 500 pages long, it was crazy. However, James read this one Sports Illustrated magazine over and over...and over, it was funny =). We stopped for dinner (though not at the desired Chipotle), and my dad went trooping up and down the highway, looking for it in vain, haha. So we finally settled for KFC. After a few more hours of driving (and some Hoho incidents involving my sister and Grace...the sugar from their dinner started to kick in. Grace stuffed and entire Hoho in her mouth, while Julia proceeded to take pictures). Finally, we arrived at the Chavies center around 10:00ish. We went to an orientation, where we learned that we were split into 2 crews, with codenames Meredith and McVet (from Grey's Anatomy, I was so excited, haha). McVet actually is my crew, I know I said Meredith, but it's not, haha. I must've just been having a brain cramp, it happens a lot to me =) Katie K informed me of my incorrectness this morning in gym class, lol. Anywhoo, my crew would be tiling, siding, flooring, painting, etc. Meredith got the lovely job of digging a 20 x 4 inch trench...that was 500 feet long...up a moutain. After this, we went to bed, because it was going to be an early morning.
Ok, so I could blog about every detail that I experienced while working at the house, but I really don't want to type all that, and I'm sure you don't want to read it all, so I'll just summarize briefly.
--We had at least 12 dogs at our worksite. They were absolutely adorable. Right when we got there, this tan dog with these huge amber eyes proceeded to pee right on the tire of my dad's car, haha. There was also a dog named Beauty, who became extremely attached to Katie. Another favorite was this dog that we nickenamed Roly, because whenever we came up to him, he would promptly fall on his back and beg us to stratch his stomach. Not to mention the 6+ chihuahuas that were there. So cute.
--There was also an adorable little 2 year old named Samantha. She had this super long hair and the cutest little voice. She liked to watch the siding crew nail boards to her house. She also informed us that she liked rocks. I absolutely adored her!
--We had a constant theme for cutting the wooden floorboards. Normally, it's measure twice, cut once. For us, it was measure seventeen times, cut twenty. I swear, this one piece took me and Mackenzie at least an hour to do. What can I say, we're not meant for careers of construction =).
--The mom, Sandy, was probably the nicest lady you'll ever meet. She showed us around, invited us to use the bathroom if we needed to, and constantly said thank you for the work we were doing. She even commented that our tiling job looked professional! When we were sticky from floor adhesive, she searched all over for turpentine.
--Speaking of floor adhesive...I personally hope you don't EVER have to deal with it. It sticks to absolutely everything. After multiple showers, I still have some on my arm and on my foot (we had to walk around the hall barefoot, our shoes were too muddy, and our socks got sticky after awhile). Thank goodness for turnpentine!
--Overall, I'm extremely proud of all that everyone accomplished. Meredith stayed 2 extra hours to finish our hallway, and McVet dug to their goal of the boat. I know that they were ultra sunburnt, sore, and tired, and yes, their work was probably more strenuous than ours. But all that matters is that both crews really helped someone out, and that's wonderful.
So, feeling very tired, we all got in our cars and drove back to Cincinnati. We got Chipotle on the way back, and seeing Drew and Sam jump out of their cars and run full speed up to Chipotle (only to find that it wasn't open yet), was absolutely hilarious =). I basically fell asleep for the vast majority of the car ride, and don't have any funny stories from our car to report. Overall, ASP was absolutely amazing, and I cannot WAIT for next year!
BTW, if any of you watched American Idol on Wednesday, they filmed Appalachia, interviewed some of the families, and told us that they were donating money to their schools. I was so excited!
Ok, this blog is soo long. I'll see all you dorks at small groups!
Love you lots and lots,
<3 Gaburraay
Okaaayy so last weekend VI went to Appalachia, Kentucky (Chavies to be specific). This was my third year going, and every year I find myself feeling super-excited, but also kind of nervous. I know that the conditions in Chavies are pretty bad sometimes, and I never really know what to expect .
So we met at the church at 4:00, loaded up the cars got on the road. My car consisted of my dad, LFD, James, Grace, my sister Julia, and myself. We talked for a little bit, but then everybody sort of fell asleep/started to read or listen to their iPods. Lauren was reading this book that must've been 500 pages long, it was crazy. However, James read this one Sports Illustrated magazine over and over...and over, it was funny =). We stopped for dinner (though not at the desired Chipotle), and my dad went trooping up and down the highway, looking for it in vain, haha. So we finally settled for KFC. After a few more hours of driving (and some Hoho incidents involving my sister and Grace...the sugar from their dinner started to kick in. Grace stuffed and entire Hoho in her mouth, while Julia proceeded to take pictures). Finally, we arrived at the Chavies center around 10:00ish. We went to an orientation, where we learned that we were split into 2 crews, with codenames Meredith and McVet (from Grey's Anatomy, I was so excited, haha). McVet actually is my crew, I know I said Meredith, but it's not, haha. I must've just been having a brain cramp, it happens a lot to me =) Katie K informed me of my incorrectness this morning in gym class, lol. Anywhoo, my crew would be tiling, siding, flooring, painting, etc. Meredith got the lovely job of digging a 20 x 4 inch trench...that was 500 feet long...up a moutain. After this, we went to bed, because it was going to be an early morning.
Ok, so I could blog about every detail that I experienced while working at the house, but I really don't want to type all that, and I'm sure you don't want to read it all, so I'll just summarize briefly.
--We had at least 12 dogs at our worksite. They were absolutely adorable. Right when we got there, this tan dog with these huge amber eyes proceeded to pee right on the tire of my dad's car, haha. There was also a dog named Beauty, who became extremely attached to Katie. Another favorite was this dog that we nickenamed Roly, because whenever we came up to him, he would promptly fall on his back and beg us to stratch his stomach. Not to mention the 6+ chihuahuas that were there. So cute.
--There was also an adorable little 2 year old named Samantha. She had this super long hair and the cutest little voice. She liked to watch the siding crew nail boards to her house. She also informed us that she liked rocks. I absolutely adored her!
--We had a constant theme for cutting the wooden floorboards. Normally, it's measure twice, cut once. For us, it was measure seventeen times, cut twenty. I swear, this one piece took me and Mackenzie at least an hour to do. What can I say, we're not meant for careers of construction =).
--The mom, Sandy, was probably the nicest lady you'll ever meet. She showed us around, invited us to use the bathroom if we needed to, and constantly said thank you for the work we were doing. She even commented that our tiling job looked professional! When we were sticky from floor adhesive, she searched all over for turpentine.
--Speaking of floor adhesive...I personally hope you don't EVER have to deal with it. It sticks to absolutely everything. After multiple showers, I still have some on my arm and on my foot (we had to walk around the hall barefoot, our shoes were too muddy, and our socks got sticky after awhile). Thank goodness for turnpentine!
--Overall, I'm extremely proud of all that everyone accomplished. Meredith stayed 2 extra hours to finish our hallway, and McVet dug to their goal of the boat. I know that they were ultra sunburnt, sore, and tired, and yes, their work was probably more strenuous than ours. But all that matters is that both crews really helped someone out, and that's wonderful.
So, feeling very tired, we all got in our cars and drove back to Cincinnati. We got Chipotle on the way back, and seeing Drew and Sam jump out of their cars and run full speed up to Chipotle (only to find that it wasn't open yet), was absolutely hilarious =). I basically fell asleep for the vast majority of the car ride, and don't have any funny stories from our car to report. Overall, ASP was absolutely amazing, and I cannot WAIT for next year!
BTW, if any of you watched American Idol on Wednesday, they filmed Appalachia, interviewed some of the families, and told us that they were donating money to their schools. I was so excited!
Ok, this blog is soo long. I'll see all you dorks at small groups!
Love you lots and lots,
<3 Gaburraay