Once again, long time. These last few weeks have been busy as usual! I have been much happier lately, beginning with my parents visit two weeks ago. I had an amazing time introducing them to my friends and team and showing them around our little town here. Dad was hoping to kite, but the wind just wouldn't blow- of course it started as soon as he left and I have seen about 6 kite boarders a day for the last week. I can't say I was too unhappy with the weather because it forced him to spend the whole time hanging out with me. Mom and Dad joined the team working on a rehab house on Tuesday. We tore off a rotting roof and rebuilt it. It was nice to have my parents working along side me and seeing what I do. After work they brought the whole team out to our favorite- sno cones! When my team wrote up their weekly progress report they said that working with Mama and Papa Nerp was the highlight of their week. I was sad to see them go and it took me a day or so to get over it.
Since then, life has been really good here. We have finally caught our stride on the work site and need very little instruction. The team is working and playing together like a happy little family!
Tonight is our last night at Camp Victor and I can't say I'm sad to go. I will be sad to leave River 6, the team we have been living and working with this whole time. I am going to have an especially hard time separating from Sally. We are both trying to ignore the fact that we are leaving each other. Her team will be in Georgia next SPIKE working in a swamp for the National Park Service. I just hope she has good cell reception. How am I going to get through this job without her?
Sally and I turned in our Project Completion report today- we compounded our quantifiable accomplishments and over the last two months our teams have:
-Worked on 21 new houses completing tasks including installing floor systems, framing, raising trusses, exterior sheeting, roofing, shingling, decking, shed building, siding, trim work, painting, appliance installation, interior hardware installation, detail cleaning and landscaping. that would -all of these added together would equal building 5 whole new houses
-rehabilitated 3 houses
-Landscaped 1.5 acres of land
-Served 24 families/ approx. 96 people
-worked with about 100 volunteers
My team learned construction- most of us came into the project barely able to swing a hammer, many didn't know how to use a measuring tape and now we are leaving proficient (or professional) at using hammers, chalk lines, measuring tape, speed squares, levels, miter saws, circular saws, table saws, jigsaws, drills, and nail guns! I am so proud of my team- they worked extremely hard and pushed themselves outside their comfort zone just about everyday.
These last two months have been challenging but overall the good definitely outweighs the bad.
We are now all packed up and looking forward to our next SPIKE in Greenwood, Mississippi (may as well be a different country from here). I recently got some awesome information about our next SPIKE- we will be staying in four or five 2-bedroom apartments near Mississippi Valley State University and we will be cooking for ourselves! I don't think my team could be more excited about what we are doing and how we are living. I can't wait to have my own apartment for two months!
I also just booked my tickets for winter break- can't wait to see everyone!
Love and Miss you all!
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