Our Final Weekend

          Oh, but we still have so much more to do and see! This is what Sun 5 had been saying all week as we realized this (now past) weekend was our last in Little Rock. The city has continued to blow me away with the activities it provides and proximity to beautiful nature. On Saturday (2/25) the team was finally able to take the trip to Petit Jean State Park. With its interesting Native American past and amazing natural wonders, this was a must-see while in Arkansas. We took the difficult but beautiful hike down to the bottom of the parks biggest attraction, Cedar Falls. Here are some pictures!





see that little white dot? yup! thats me behind the waterfall!

          On Sunday (2/26) our team decided to have a final team dinner at a popular local diner called the Purple Cow. This adorable family diner had plenty of purple food, their specialty of course; however none of the team took the venture to try it! Still good food and a wonderful AmeriFamily night!

We Love The Weekend!

          I have absolutely no ability to concentrate right now, but I promised I would write so I'll make this short and sweet. Here are the past 3 weekends, condensed!

We worked at the Ronald McDonald Foundation House one weekend. I may not be in support of McDonald's the restaurant, but seeing what they do for the parents of the kids at the hospital, I am so thankful for the help this foundation provides.



 Little Rock's Central High School is one of the most famous high school in the country and certainly the most important when it comes to the civil rights movement. Across from the high school is a museum dedicated to the Little Rock Nine and their stories. It was wonderful to see and stand in a place with such a rich history concerning the development of our nation.





Every Sunday we work at a downtown Little Rock museum called The Museum of Discover. This hands-on science museum is packed full of all kinds of amazing things to do. Our job is to 'go have fun' because 'if your playing with the exhibit, others will want to too and then you can teach them about it!', Sweet job, huh.

Arkansas is home to Bill Clinton, the father of the AmeriCorps program so, naturally, we had to go see the museum and library dedicated to him! The museum was surprisingly intriguing containing a mock Oval Office, a Lego Display, the actual presidential limo that was driven during his era, and, of course, a whole section dedicated to AmeriCorps!



Experience and Exploration

          Who knew Arkansas could be so exciting?! The last few weeks have proved just as amazing as the first few and now we only have two more to go! My morning job with the hospital photographer has continued to provide me with an invaluable and varying experience. I have been given access to conferences gathering some of the most elite doctors in our country, saw firsthand how photos of a baby in Arkansas can help doctors in Chicago diagnose a new genetic disease, and, of course, photographed some of the cutest kids on the planet. I wish I could show you all the pictures I have been taking, but unfortunately they are all property of the hospital or a violation of patient rights so you will have to use your imagination... so imagine something really good!
          My afternoon jobs in the ITU and NICU have also continued just as wonderfully as they began. It has surprised me how quickly I adapt to seeing 'that which make most cringe' and can now stand bedside with a child and watch as treatments are performed. This self realization has led me to dabble with the idea of becoming a pediatric nurse or physical therapist. I had never once even pondered such a thought as having a career in the medical field, but working here in the hospital has uncovered my curiosity about the human body and psyche and shown me that I have the strength, intelligence, and personality to succeed in the medical field. Of course, nothing is certain at the moment, but now I know there is a wealth of new careers out there for my consideration.
          It’s getting late so I am splitting this post up into several different posts. Tomorrow I will write about what we have been doing when not at work!



team photo in front of the hospital!



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!