best 10 consecutive days in years

feb. 15- After being back home from the field for only an hour, my friends Vicky, Drew and Derek and I repacked our bags and loaded into Vicky’s car to embark on a 2080-mile road trip. it was originally just going to be a college visit for Derek in Philadelphia... but after we dropped him off for the campus tour, drew and Vicky and I high-tailed it to see the ocean. needless to say, I was ecstatic to see my old friend, the Atlantic.
feb. 16- We were still driving through Pennsylvania, but at some point in the wee hours of the morning, had acquired a new passenger: Rowdy the dog. Although he looks real, especially with his ears blowing in the wind in this pic, he was, in fact, just a plush, life-sized, toy dog. In fact, the manufacturers worked so hard at making him seem realistic that he has steel rods in his legs to help him stand up... So you might imagine how crowded the car got.

feb. 17- We returned to St. Louis at about 10 p.m. and were exhausted! It was a lovely trip, though.

feb. 18- Snow day! I spent a much-needed day of rest, at home with Ouizie. I am teaching her how to spoon with me when I take naps. It's adorable.

feb. 19- (Happy birthday Mom!) Back to work... but good news! I got sent to SEMA (state emergency management agency) in Jefferson city to take a course in emergency donations management. We stayed in a really fancy best western with an indoor pool and hot tub, an exercise room, continental breakfast and queen sized beds for everyone! Not only did SEMA pay for our lodging, but we also feasted like kings and queens on our $36/day SEMA food allowance. We found it a tad bit difficult to spend all that money every day, but it wasn't too painful... :)

feb. 20- More SEMA training, feasting, exercising, and enjoying the hot tub!

feb. 21- Due to impending "severe" weather (less than an inch of snow), our instructor rushed the completion of the course so we could get back on the road ahead of the incoming storm. Our director ended up calling and telling us to stay put. So after a leisurely lunch, we found ourselves in a new class called "training the trainer". We learned what a MARC (multi agency resource center) was, how it worked... and were then told to write a manual on how to set one up that would be easy to read by volunteer agencies, as well as John Q. Public. Holy cow!!

feb. 22- We stayed in Jeff City (still on SEMA's dime) and did some more work on the MARC manual and I made a pretty spiffy pamphlet out of what we learned from our emergency donations class. Not only was my AmeriCorps boss impressed with my work, but so was the director of SEMA!! He was so impressed, in fact, that he is pushing to have it mass produced so we can pass it out to the public in times of disaster, so they will know how to actually help, instead of only feeling like they are helping. yay!! (click the numbers to see close-ups of the pages. 1 2 3 4)

As soon as I got back to St. Louis, I rushed to my apartment, packed up some "bear necessities" and hurried off to the airport for my birthday weekend in Texas with Cody! We spent the night in the fanciest hotel I’ve slept been in, located right on 6th street. Even the stone inlay on the headboards was worth a second look.

feb. 23- We woke up super early and drove to an undisclosed location west of Austin. (Cody wouldn't let me spoil the surprise for myself, so everything that weekend was very hush-hush.) I found myself at Enchanted Rock! (pics to be posted soon.) We climbed the big rock and scrambled around in between smaller ones that made cave-like structures and explored around until our knees started creaking like the floor boards of an old boat.

Then we drove into Fredericksburg and checked in to the Hangar Hotel. So cute!! (you GOTTA visit the website... my words won't do it justice.) Every detail down to the notes typed in courier font saying things like "urgent message from the front line: please use these towels to remove makeup" was intended to make you feel like you've just stepped into the 1940s. Mission accomplished.
In Fredericksburg, we went window shopping, ate gourmet chocolate, checked out a classic car showroom... and eventually found our way back to the hotel to get cleaned up and explore around the various parts of this fascinating place! The captain's lounge (pictured left) was just the spot to feel extra swanky in our snazzy duds while sipping a couple of cocktails before dinner. Later, we had some delicious German food at a brewery/restaurant in town. When we settled in for the night, we had the pleasure of leaving the windows open and enjoying the cool Texas breeze from the comfort of our pillows.

feb. 24- In the morning, we went down to the airport diner (also in immaculate 40's decor) for a hearty breakfast, and a nice show of little private airplanes coming and going right outside the window. After breakfast, we made our way back to Austin, where we did some more shopping, and finally spent a lazy afternoon at Zilker park napping (Cody) and reading (me) in the cool shade of a rock outcropping. By 4, I was already back at the airport and ready to start missing my beloved Texas... oh. right. I'd miss my beloved Cody too ;)

Sigh... it was nearly as much of a whirlwind to write this blog entry as it was to live all that in 10 days!!

free hugs! this almost made me tear up... :*)

in the words of the almighty wikipedia:
Free Hugs Campaign is a phenomenon which involves individuals who offer hugs to strangers in public settings. It began in June, 2004,^[1] and was widely publicized in 2006 by a music video on YouTube. The campaign is an example of a random act of kindness, a selfless act performed by a person for the sole reason of making others feel better. The original organizer has stated in interviews that the purpose is not to get names, phone numbers, or dates.


sigh. this makes me happy. :)



holy cow! i just read the wikipedia article!
apparently the free hugs campaign became a worldwide phenomenon! my favorite part of the article is the part that mentions what happened in Chicago:

On November 25, 2006, two friends in Chicago had a Free Hugs outing, and persuaded the police to join in the hugging.^[14]. On December 10, 2006, the same people, Amber Gribben and Nicholas Markos, along with additional friends, had another Free Hugs outing in downtown Chicago. They were found by a Fox News Chicago crew, who featured a report about them.^[15] Proceeds from the sale of downloads of the song ("Gimme All You Got" by bee) used in the first video are being donated to UNICEF.

axes, pack tests, spring break!

wow. I'm extremely overdue on a new post on here. Sorry guys!

The latest news is that I'm still spending my weekdays at the same ol' Peck Ranch working on firelines and burning cedar slash... but now I'm teaching people how to use chainsaws (when they ask for coaching) and I've been working on my precision axing skills! Also, the weekend before Mardi Gras, I had my pack test and passed!

The pack test is the last thing I had to do to get my Red Card, which will certify me to fight fires on federal land, or just outside Missouri. Yes, that includes out west. What I had to do was don a weighted vest that weighed 45 pounds and trek around a park a few times until I had completed 3 miles... all under 45 minutes. It's a test designed to make you work really hard for 45 minutes, so that if you're going to have a heart attack, you can get it out of the way safely, instead of on the side of a mountain while fighting a fire. My goal was to finish in 42 minutes and I finished in 42:18! This morning I intend to head over to the park and do the pack test again with the rest of my team because it was such a difficult, but refreshing workout. My goal for today is 40 minutes.


Mardi Gras was a system overload of fun. We saw the parade, got lots of beads, drank plenty of beer, had a dance party on the sidewalk and barbequed in the back yard. Good times, great friends. That Sunday, I spent most of the day laying around the house and finishing up laundry. It was a great weekend... and it got the little remaining bits of crazy out of my system for at least the next 6 months.

Speaking of 6 months, This month marks my 6th month in AmeriCorps! I'm half-way finished!! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm starting a countdown, because I can't wait to get out of here... it's just that I can't believe I've gotten this far, this fast! I've learned so much and have gotten so much stronger in character and in body... I honestly can't imagine what the next 6 months will bring.

My birthday is also coming up and I will be 22! I can't believe how fast time flies as I get older. When I was little, it seemed like decades passed between my birthdays, and now it's like the years are shrinking into blocks of 3 or 4 months. It's been over a year since I met Mrs. McNutt at the Summit... It's been almost 2 and a half years since I met Cody in San Marcos while he was on R&R... It's been almost a year since Tiffany's wedding, and it's been a year and a half since I adopted Ouizie, my beloved kitty.

Next month, my sister, Claire, is coming up to visit me for spring break!! woot!! I got approval from both my bosses for her to come into the woods with us for a week and do conservation work alongside me! The higher up boss even said we might be able to get her level 1 fire training, so that, if need be, she can help us with prescribed burns! (I don't see when there would be time for that, so it's doubtful, but I'm still soooo excited!!) Claire is pumped too, but she's trying to work out the travel expenses and find out if her car will make it to St. Louis and back without a new catalytic converter. We'll see.

Well, It's time for me to start stretching and getting ready for pack test #2. Much love to all!!