AmeriCorp Hike to Lake 22

Finally...just over a month since arriving in Seattle and I was finally able to go on a hike. My AmeriCorp group set it up and it was a perfect opportunity to get acquianted with my co-volunteers and get out to see more of the beautiful scenery that Washington has to offer. It was a little over an hour drive from Seattle but felt like it was days away from any civilization...a very welcome change of pace. It was a Sunday but I was very glad I made the choice to forego my football viewing in favor of a hike through the mountains. Here are some of the pics:

This is Jordan, and yes, he is hugging a tree.

He and I spent plenty of quality time on this hike and it was refreshing to see his youthful exuberance when it comes to nature.

A view from a little over halfway up.



The group at Lake 22.

All in all it was a great day, time spent with new friends and enjoying the great outdoors...any my fantasy football team pulled off a win. I haven't been one who has partaken in much outdoor activities but I am hoping to change all that...I definitely appreciate all that mother nature has to offer and would like to see more of it. Hopefully this is the first step of many towards that goal.

Until next time all...take care, god bless, and much love.

A quiet Monday in Seattle...

I figured I would just take this opportunity to post some pics of our trip to Pike's Place Market and down at the pier.

This is from the original Starbucks across the street from the market.

I saw the sign.

No fish tossing but here is the spot.



Down by the pier after the market and lunch.



This was Josh's last day in town and I was definitely sad to see him go. It is amazing the connection you can have with family even though you haven't had the opportunity to spend time with them previously. We had similar experiences and outlooks on life and it was great to have the time to get to know him and build on a relationship that I will continue to value. Good talk(s).

Until next time all...take care, god bless, and much love.

Taking in a game...



It obviously didn't take long before I decided it was time to take in a ball game and check out a new stadium in the process. I wasn't super excited to go to a Mariners game (due to them being terrible) but they were playing the Yankees, I got to see a stadium I had never seen, and I got to spend some more quality time with Uncle Josh. We headed down and decided to get a ticket from a scalper...this sales ninja had us hooked from the start. He had a seating chart in hand and of course he had the tickets to boot. The seats were located in the 14th row and a little bit down the first base line...we were informed that they went for $70 each and he was going to let us have them for $35 each, sold. It wasn't until we were walking in that we realized the tickets actually sold for $40...well played sir.

The stadium was a quality one but nothing compares to Target Field...does any stadium? The place was far from sold out and it didn't take long to realize that Seattle sports fans don't really attend the games to cheer for their team but rather to just see a game...to each their own I guess. I am not a Yankees fan nor will I ever be a Seattle sports fan but the experience was well worth it.

The game was 3-2 (Yankees) going into the 9th inning and I was amazed to see fans streaming out of the complex, guess they have seen this too many times before. Seattle went quietly in the 9th and we were able to see Mariano Rivera's 600th career save...although it was interesting that there was no mention or fanfare for this achievement. Oh well, I was able to get it out of the way and enjoy a night out...thanks Josh.

Until next time all...take care, god bless, and much love.

The Wedding

This past week I attended my Aunt Deliverance's wedding in Seattle and what an event it was. As you can see from above, all the tables were set up as a different destination...our invitation's were boarding passes and our itineraries were included with 3 destinations set up to provide time to mingle with other guests. It was awesome getting to meet people from her life and family that I hadn't seen in over 20 years or so.  Being in Minnesota I haven't had much of an opportunity to see or spend time with extended family so it was great getting the opportunity to catch up and see where everyone's paths have led them.

I can only imagine the work that was put into this thing to pull it off...there were servings of 5 different courses throughout the night, dance sequences performed by belly dancers among many other different groups of entertainers, not to mention the table setting and itineraries. It definitely all came together in the end and I was happy to be able to provide some of my assistance where it was needed.

In the end I am happy that Deliverance was able to have the wedding she had always dreamed of and has a awesome husband that she gets to look forward to spending the rest of her life with.

I am also happy for myself having the opportunity to be a part of it all and reconnect with family that I wouldn't otherwise have had the opportunity to spend time with. After the wedding, the next couple days were spent doing more family activities and it is fan-friggin-tastic seeing all the personalities that make us who we are...one, big, awesome family.

Until next time all...take care, god bless, and much love.

Together We Build

Last week marked the 10th anniversary of Together We Build which is an Interfaith Coalition of Christians, Jews, and Muslims seeking to find common ground and learning from one another as they work together to build low-income families of East King County. I was lucky enough to participate and meet numerous fascinating people...and finally get out to learn, get my hands dirty, and build. There are numerous builds with people from the community but I have been told that this is always one of the favorites. The lunches were provided and they were amazing...and having the opportunity to interact with so many people was a great experience. One of my favorite parts was actually stepping out of my comfort zone and interacting with people I typically wouldn't have the opportunity, or even the desire to. I started to learn how to frame, do tie-plates, and do some blocking...if any of you are every asked to volunteer and blocking is an option, opt for something else. It isn't that bad and I want to learn it all, but it is frustrating when you don't get to see the progress and it is slow tedious work. Either way, I am sure there will be plenty more opportunity to wrap my head around it and the rest of the building process...let's do this thing!!

That is all for now, I did get one pic from lunchtime but none of the actual site...maybe down the road I guess.

Everyone say hi to Ted.

Until next time all...take care, god bless, and much love.

Now where was I?

Ahhh, I finally got to work...after all the fun and excitement I guess it was time to get to what I came here for.

This is the site in Renton where we had our official first day.  It started like any normal first day of work (or school for that matter), everyone introduces themselves and says a little something about themselves.  We were asked to come up with 3 questions to ask and mingle around using said questions to get to know people better.  It is interesting to hear some of the backgrounds and I was a little skeptical that I wouldn't fit in all that well...but who am I kidding, how could you not love me.  There are volunteers from all over and even a couple from Minnesota...and females at that (woo-hoo).  Anyways, we spent a few hours doing that and then paired off into groups to get some actual work done. I spent the first day doing scaffolding which is probably the lamest task but it was cool working with someone I had never met and hearing her story. Twas a warm day that day and it was funny to hear Seattleites complain about the heat when they get 8 months of cloud cover and rain.  All in all it was a good day, excited to get more comfortable with people and get to know them better. Friday was a training day, not much to talk about there.  Typical information and fighting to stay awake for 8 hours...just get me out on the site please.  After work on Friday a couple people wanted to meet up and they decided to go to Gasworks in Seattle...I decided to change and meet up with them.  The problem with that was they were gone by the time I showed up...after walking around and snapping some pics I did see a couple volunteers that showed up so I got to spend some time with them and get to know them better and learn more about Habitat.  Here are some of the pics I got...

Not bad huh?

The weekend was kind of low key which was perfectly fine by me.  Helping my Aunt and Uncle get ready for incoming family members for my Aunt Deliverance's wedding seemed like the right thing to do.  I did manage to get out a couple times and head down to the beach to get some light reading in...so awesome to get out, enjoy some weather, and see beautiful scenery.

The following week started out the with more of the same training but the comfort level with everyone is much improved and that makes the experience that much better.  We will be starting our 'Together We Build' project later this week... this build was started after 9/11 to get people of different religious backgrounds together and working toward a common goal.  I am really looking forward to meeting and talking with volunteers and getting out there and building something....should be fun.

I believe that should catch you up on the latest happenings out here...I am sure I will go back and edit and fill you in more on other happenings.  Patience my friends...seem to be getting a little overwhelmed but I am sure it will pass.

Until next time all...take care, god bless, and much love.