Wonderful. Amazing. Happy.

          It has been an amazing first couple of weeks here at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH). I have been making great progress at my morning job in the PR and photography department. When I first arrived, Kelley, the photographer here, would bring me along to her shoots and have me take some photos for practice. Then she started having me take photos with her and we would look at both when choosing the final shot to be used. Then, just the other day, we walked over to the studio and as we arrived, she turned to me and told me my photos have been looking great and she trusts that I know what to do now, and then walked off to get some other work done. It felt great, setting up the studio myself, working with the client (a doctor), and being completely in charge of the outcome of the shoot. I am ecstatic about the experience I am gaining and the portfolio of high caliber photographs I am building.
          My afternoon job is going wonderfully as well. Because most of the kids in the ITU are long term patients, I have become very comfortable around them and am beginning to understand each child’s individual personality. All of the long term kids recognize me now and it lights up my day to see the smiles on their faces as I walk in the room. It’s an amazing thing to see the power of touch and smiles and play here and I hope to remember this outside of AmeriCorps. Sometimes a smile and a hug is all we need.
          Every Friday the hospital provides a wonderful catered lunch and educational activity for us to learn more about each other and the hospital. On our first Friday we were given a tour of the helicopter pad and helicopter equipment the hospital uses to transport patients. The rooftop helipad provides an amazing view of Little Rock and the Capital building which is right across the street!



fun with the camera settings

Then, this past Friday, my team and I got a tour of the hospitals state of the art PULSE (Pediatric Understanding & Learning through Simulation Education) Center. The center is a separate building whose interior in modeled exactly after that of the hospitals, but completely equipped with dummies, cameras, and secret classrooms. And not just any dummies, these dummies have heart beats, veins, and blood (fake blood) running through their bodies as well as blinking eyes and the potential to have seizures, heart attacks, and an array of other symptoms! I’m not going to lies, it was extremely creepy walking through the center, but amazing to know that doctors can get training in such a remarkable and high tech environment.
          Of course living in the heart of Little Rock wouldn’t be complete without weekend excursions to find what the city has to offer. On our first weekend here (01/14) we hiked one of the highest mountains in Arkansas, Pinnacle Mountain. It was a beautiful clear day and we had a gorgeous view of the Arkansas River, Little Rock, and all of the surrounding area. 

at the top of Pinnacle

The following weekend (01/21) my team traveled to Lake Ouachita to visit another AmeriCorps team that is working there and take the lakes famous Bald Eagle Tours. The park is a bald eagle sanctuary where people are able to take boats out onto the water and look for bald eagles nesting in the trees. We saw three!



the whole team on the lake!

Today we walked across the longest pedestrian and bicycle bridge (build for the purpose) in the world, Little Rocks Big Dam Bridge… yup that’s the real name!

Every weekend we have been going into downtown for shopping and other activities but have yet to see more than about 10 people in the town, even on a Saturday night, so we are thinking we must just not have found the popular downtown spots yet. I’ll let you know when we find the life of the city!



pig fountain...



It’s Been Too Long

the whole team on our last day of work

January 10, 2012

          Oh the difficulties of starting a routine. I wish it was easy to just sit down every day, or even once a week, and write a little blog entry. But these simplest activities escape me in my busy AmeriCorps life. I am very sorry I haven’t written in so long, especially because I have so much to tell you! So with that little thought and apology, I will begin.
          As the days grew colder and the snow began to fall in Missouri, our team finished up our work and began preparations to return to Denver and, ultimately, home for the holidays. We far surpassed the Parks expectation of how much of the trail we would finish and were proud to leave almost 4 miles of trail completed. On our final day, we were invited to a lunch with our site sponsor (John), our project sponsor (Mama Sue), and the head of the entire St. Louis County Parks. We were provided with an ‘authentic’ St. Louis meal complete with frozen custard for dessert. On Wednesday, December 14th, we piled into a car at 7:30 am and headed back to Denver, proud of our work, and excited to return to friends and family.

The top 10 things this project has taught me to appreciate more:

1. Indoor showers
2. Indoor toilets
3. Private space
4. Quiet time
5. Dishwashers
6. Sunshine
7. Positive attitudes
8. Hard work
9. Natures natural beauty
10. Family

          Ahhhh, the holidays. I arrived home on December 19th and got to work for AmeriCorps immediately. As you may or may not know, it is required of us to complete 80 individual service hours by the end of the program. These are often difficult to complete because they must be done on your own time and we are working all day every weekday. For this reason, I chose to schedule several hours of service work during my holiday break; a nice idea, but silly considering the hectic time of year. In the end, Christmas day ended op coming all too fast but with a very much needed time of rest and peace. Following Christmas day I was able to spend much time with my family and friends, but never quite enough because I was gone on a plane New Years Day. Happy 2012 Everyone!

          As we were to leave Denver for our next project the morning of the 6th, having just three days to debrief on our last project and brief and prepare for our next project provided one heck of a week. The morning of the 6th we left campus and headed to… Little Rock, Arkansas!!! And why, you may ask, because we are working at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital!
          On the evening of the 7th, my team and I arrived in Little Rock and viewed where we will be living and working for the next two months (we return to Denver March 2nd). We are provided three apartments, one for girls, one for guys, and one for our Team Leader (what a luxury!). The apartments are also conveniently located directly across the street from the main hospital building and within view of the Little Rock Capitol Building. Now, I know you must be wondering, what will I be doing in the hospital?! Each team member is assigned two shifts in different units or wards. From 8:30am to 12:30pm I will be assisting in the PR building working with the hospitals photographer. Then, from 1:00pm to 5:00pm I am working in the ITU (Infant-Toddler Unit) and the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). For the morning shift I will be working closely with the hospital photographer and may even be able to do some photography myself (doing portraits of doctors and patients, or special event photography). I will also spend a lot of time organizing, scanning, and archiving, photographs taken over its 100 years as a children’s hospital. Then, in the afternoon, I get to work closely with the 0 to 3 year olds, playing, rocking, and doing general nurse tasks for the hospital. All in all, I can already tell this is going to be one of the most amazing opportunities and experiences of my life. I am so thankful for the life I live everyday and hope I can continue to make a difference in the lives of my fellow Americans.

My How Time Flies

          Well, it's about that time to wrap things up here in Missouri and head back to Denver. Its hard to believe that just a month ago we were arriving here and the woods we were building our trail in were just unexplored woods. There are quite a few photos I have taken over our time here and I hope to be able to post my favorites here for you to see soon. I know this is rather late, but I took some photos of our home for you to get a feeling of what life has been like here...

from the doorway we enter through

opposite the doorway we enter through

          I will write more when we get to the hotel tomorrow night!

Here Come the Holidays!

          Well I have about 3 minutes of internet time thanks to a guy on my team with one of those internet phones so here goes the past 2 weeks in a couple of sentences!
          I haven't been writing recently because we really haven't been doing much else except for the trail work. Last Friday (Dec. 2nd) our team got to work at a local elementary school assisting with there 'Dinner with Santa' night. It was an absolutely fabulous experience. Each of us were given jobs at the different activity stations and when I heard they would need a photographer to take the pictures of all the kids and families with Santa, I jumped on the chance. The night proved to be a great experience for everyone, although now we are all really missing our family and homes. I hope to be able to write again soon. We leave Missouri in 7 days!

The whole team with Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Give Thanks, For Life Is Beautiful

Thursday, Nov. 24

          Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope all of you were able to give thanks and be happy with friends and family today, as I was able to do with my new AmeriCorps family.

          Our team was lucky and nabbed a spot helping at St. Louis’ Thanksgiving Day parade this morning. Beginning our day at a lovely 5am, we drove into downtown and were promptly assigned to the snowman balloon. Our 10 man team (our team leader and one other member did not participate) simply had to walk holding the giant balloon throughout the parade, sounds easy right? Nope. First, it was a very cold morning, which means the helium did not make the balloon float as well as usual. Second, there was a large downdraft from the building that pushed the balloon down into the ground. In the end, we ended up having to basically hold the balloon up above our heads; at one point we tried to let it fly on its own and half the team ended up getting squished under it. okay, so I know I just made that sound like a horrible time, but luckily we were all in a good mood that morning and it only ended up making it a hilarious walk through town. The teamwork we needed to get through also only brought us together more by the end of the parade.

Our Balloon!

          For Thanksgiving Day dinner, our sponsor was kind enough to get a local grocery store to provide our full meal! All we had to do was pick it up and throw it in the microwave as even the turkey was already cooked. After our 3pm dinner, our whole team snuggled up for a movie marathon. All in all, it was a wonderful day and I am so thankful for the friends I have made, my supportive family back home, and AmeriCorps for allowing me to take this great journey.

Week of November 14 - 20

Monday, Nov. 14

          This morning I woke up sicker than a dog. I had been feeling sick yesterday as we arrived, but this morning was worst than any sickness I had had in a long time. My throat was so sore I resorted to spiting in a cup because it was too painful to swallow my own saliva. As my teammates prepared to meet our sponsor, explore the town, and be introduced to our project, I laid in bed, miserable and unable to rise for even an occasion such as this. Around noon my team leader decided it was necessary I be taken to urgent care immediately as it was assumed I had strep throat (many other Corps members had come down with it as well over the past two weeks). The remainder of my day was spent in a hospital bed, waiting rather impatiently for my test results (mainly so I could get some medicine because the doctors wouldn’t even give me a pain killer for my throat). Finally, around 7 at night, they released me with medication for strep throat. Quite the first day, huh?

Tuesday, Nov. 15

          Ahhhh, the wonders of modern day medicine. Today I feel worlds better and was ready to go out with the rest of my team. Ranger Tim met us early in the morning for a day of team building on the trails. Much like a running trail with various exercise activities along the route, this trail had team building activities such as a type-rope for two, balancing beams, and a log maze/path.  As the day progressed, Ranger Tim’s comments on our inabilities and shortcomings during the exercises only made our team frustrated and angry at one another. Every time anyone would mess up, he would comment on whose fault the mistake was and then make us start the whole activity over again. Finally it came time to leave for lunch and as the whole team began venting to each other about our dislike of the Ranger, we realized the activities had made us bond over one thing, our opinion of him.

on the two person type-rope

Wednesday, Nov. 16

           Today was our first official day of work and the first time I was able to see the site. We are building a 12 mile long running, hiking, and horseback riding trail that will be known as the Rock Hollow Trail. We will begin by clearing the brush and leaves to get a general feel for how the path will go. Next we bring in the big stuff, axes and chainsaws, to clear fallen or hanging trees. Finally we will have to bench the entire path, a fancy word for cutting into the ground to assure a level path.

           A basic work day begins at 7:30am. We drive about 20 minutes from our home to the work site, grab our tools from the back of our cargo van, and begin the hike up the mountain. The unfortunate thing about building a trail is that the farther you build, the farther you have to walk to work each day. But I guess this will keep us challenged and strong so I ought not to keep complaining.

Friday, Nov. 18

           Today I turned 5 years old all over again. Wondering how this is possible? Well, today we went into St. Louis for the first time to visit a place known as City Museum. The museum is in a large old factory that has been completely gutted and replaced by... wait for it... a gigantic, 10 story jungle-jim! But not just any old plastic jungle-jim, the entire attraction is build out of recycled materials and in a beautifully artistic manner. Its difficult to really describe the place so I will let my photos do all the talking.

The Enchanted Caves

exploring a WWI era plane atop the building

10 story long spiral slide!

Saturday, Nov. 19
          Today we worked for the sponsor on a different project than usual. We worked at an event called the St. Louis Winter Wonder Walk in Tilles Park. Every year, this large park is covered in millions of lights surrounded by a mile long walking path. Our job was to simply walk around the park making sure everyone stayed on the path and did not wonder into the lighted areas. As I watched families and friends walk joyfully through the park, I became homesick for the first time since I left. The holiday season is definitely a time for friends and family and now I cant wait to to go home for the holidays!

Sunday, Nov. 20
          Today I attended my first professional football game! Our sponsor kindly provided us with free tickets to the St. Louis Rams vs. the Seattle Sea Hawks game. Although none of us are big football fans, we were all super excited to go. As soon as the game started, everyone was asking what was going on and within 10 minutes, one guy was asleep, one guy was playing video games on his GameBoy, and the rest of us were texting and playing games on our phone. Yup, we make football fans cry. In the end, the Rams got slaughtered and the whole stadium erupted in boos and anger, so we decided to slip out before traffic got out of hand. All in all, I'm happy I can say that I have been to an NFL game before, however, I could have gone without having to sit through the full game.

I'm Back!

Hey All! Finally got to a place with internet today! So here is what the past week has been like:


Tuesday Nov. 8th:
This evening the whole Corps participated in the traditional Black and White ball; and, my, are we a creative and stylish bunch of people! Here are some photos from the evening:

Thursday Nov. 10th:
So we all thought I was already an Americorps NCCC member, but apparently we were wrong until today. Yup, today me and my fellow Corps members we officially accepted into the Americorps NCCC program in an induction ceremony. The ceremony was much like a graduation, except the opposite, it was welcoming all of us instead of saying goodbye. There were speeches, musical performances, and a walk onstage to receive of 'Certificate of Appointment'. So now I guess you can say I'm really really super duper officially an official Americorps NCCC member.

Out Whole Team (Sun 5)

Saturday Nov. 12th:
Today began our Round One SPIKE projects. At promptly 8am we piled into our vans and took off on the two day long drive to St. Louis Missouri. Saturday night we stayed over in Salina Kansas and although our day compiled of nothing more than sleeping in a van, we were exhausted upon arrival.


Sunday Nov. 13th: Today we arrived in Greensfelder Park in Eureka Missouri, just as the sun was setting. We are staying in a three room building; one room for sleeping, one for eating, and one that is maintained as the parks visitor center


Ahhh, I have so much more to tell you but I am out of time and must return to work! We are working at an event called the St. Louis Winter Wonder Walk tonight!