"Fare thee well" or "Liberation!"

Couldn't decide on the title of this post.

Said goodbye to all my friends on Friday and began my journey home. I am sad to be leaving my friends, anxious to be leaving what I have known as life for the last year, but greatly excited for new journeys and the comfort and people of home.

Jordan and I are taking our time driving from Vicksburg to Cleveland. We spent Friday and Saturday travelling the Natchez Trace (http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm) a beautiful historic parkway up through Mississippi and Tennessee. Friday night we found a little hotel in a little Mississippi town to recover from our lack of sleep and prepare ourselves for a week on the road. Saturday we finished the Trace ending up in Nashville, TN where we met up with Jess, one of Jordan's teammates. Jess and her sister Becca showed us around downtown. We had a lovely dinner followed by exceptional live music and dancing at a hole-in-the-wall country bar. Next we headed to Big Bang a dueling piano bar where the musicians know how to perform anything you can throw at them. We were happy to have successfully requested "Wagon Wheel" at both the little bar and the piano bar. Big Hit.

We took off from Nashville yesterday morning and made our way to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee at the foot of the Smokies. We arrived pretty late in the evening and accidentally stumbled upon a big park event when asking about camping. Turns out we landed at the park on the one day a year when this one specific species of firefly puts on a big show (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/naturescience/fireflies.htm). We jumped on one of the trolleys heading up the mountain and had a picnic dinner on the side of a mountain stream. As the sun set and the lightning bugs started to appear a thunderstorm abruptly dampened the bug bonanza! The two of us were soaking wet and started to head back to the trolley with hundreds of other disappointed firefly fanatics. We had a change of heart when we saw the long line for the tram and figured we would stick around and give it a little longer. We found a great little vacant side trail and set up our wet blanket and tarp on a stone wall. As soon as we got comfortable the show began. Thousands and thousands of little lanterns started blinking all around us. The light-ups traveled in circles around our spot until slowly but surely all the bugs synched up into one twinkling forest floor. It was quite the spectacle.

By the time we caught our trolley down to the foot of the mountains it was after 11 and we were still homeless for the night. After an exhausting search for affordable hotels we found a cheap and rather icky Red Roof Inn and slept like babies.

This morning we set out to find a better home- and landed on a cute little affordable campsite next to a quaint river in Pigeon Forge. After cooking some delicious soup over the fire, we set out for internet- so Jordan could look at jobs and I could start getting my life together as well. This evening we are planning a winery tour in town and then a relaxing day tomorrow.

We should be in Columbus later on Wednesday and will stay through Friday when we head up to Cleveland. I am looking forward to showing off my city and all my friends and family to Jordan.

Then I will be on a job search until I find something that sparks my interest...

I suppose this is my last post. AmeriCorps is over and I am onto real life. I am definitely going to miss it and am sure my life from here out will be greatly shaped by my experiences.

Thanks for reading and keeping in touch over the last year! I'm looking forward to seeing you all very soon!!

PEACE,

Casey

Purge

This weekend was great Team Leader bonding/celebration/goodbye time. We had a big potluck by the pool on Friday night and I really started to feel the relief of this year ending. Saturday we spent at the movies and playing games together. Yesterday we visited Wade's family at a state park east of Jackson and played on his boats and bikes tubing, knee boarding and skiing. Then we headed to Mellow Mushroom for one last time and all agreed on pizza for probably the first time ever. Finally we came home and all piled into the TV room to watch a movie together.

Today everyone is stuck in their rooms cleaning and packing. I am looking for any distraction- have been cleaning for over two hours and it looks worse than when I started- if that is possible.

Four more days until my life in AmeriCorps is over. I can't believe this has been less than a year- it feels like it has been damn near a lifetime.

I'm nervous about moving on.

Good-Bye #1

Most of my CMs board their shuttles to the airport in 15 minutes... Mixed emotions tonight- mostly nostalgic, sad and proud. Soon- very soon- they will be back in their real lives away from the ameribubble.

I am looking forward to knowing them as people and no longer as corps members...

As we go on...

Today is Graduation.

After a week of Yazoo City Disaster relief, the rest of the corps began returning to campus and we started out-processing. Now here we are at the end. Today is graduation and, after much struggle and determination, all of my corps members will be walking. I am so proud to see them cross the stage. I am also having some severe empty nesting feelings. It is strange trying to process this year. These people are my friends in a way, my peers in a way, but also they are not in a way. It's hard to sort out the mixed feelings- relief, anger, stress, sadness, happiness, pride... I haven't been sleeping well all week.

Last night we had the corps member banquet and I got to hand out the Leadership Award to Michelle. She deserved the recognition. Listening to everyone's speeches and reflections finally got me to the mindset that it is coming to an end. Before last night everything felt like a barreling train headed off the track. Now I am beginning to feel things wrapping up. It's difficult to describe all the thoughts and feelings I have been having this week- and I honestly have been so busy I haven't had any time to attempt to process and deal with them.

But regardless, by tomorrow at noon I will be back to being Casey- no longer team leader of river 4. I will have a few days on campus with the other TLs to close campus and start looking towards the next steps in our lives. Mainly we will spend the time celebrating and soaking in the last few moments we have together.

And soon I will be on the road up towards home.

Yazoo City

Hi Everyone

Update: After returning from the red cross shelter, the team has been assigned to disaster relief in Yazoo City MS. If you aren't familiar, Yazoo City had a GREAT deal of damage from the tornado last month.

Jordan's team was already working in Yazoo, so we have had a team to show us around. Due to an extremely complicated chain of events that I just don't have the time to go into right now, Jordan and I are acting as volunteer and case management with LESM. Many disaster response organizations pulled out this week, turning their case work over to LESM (an organization who only came up to set up a volunteer camp, and at this point does not have the resources, personnel,funding or familiarity with the area to work cases or volunteer management). So, naturally, Jordan and I ended up with a stack of 100+ work orders to sift through and organize. To make things even more complicated, all of the organizations that pulled out sent their volunteers our way. On Friday Jordan and I found work for 100 people (most of whom we had no idea were coming to us for work before they arrived)

This weekend we spent Saturday trying to set up a system for LESM to handle this new job, and today I am catching up on some much needed paperwork and job application...

See you all soon (less than a month until i am free) and send me job ops if you hear of them!!!

Lots of Love,

Casey

Flexibility

Well we have been running the ARC shelter all week. We have 33 residents, all of whom to my knowledge are individuals who have been displaced after a HUD apartment complex was condemned (due to damage from the flooding) last Tuesday.

I have been the ARC supervisor in charge of shelter operations from 12am-8am. It has been quite an experience!

My team has been split up into three 8hour shifts for the week and I haven't seen some of my teammates since we got here. I finally got word that we are being released by the ARC tomorrow and closing down the shelter to head back to Jackson and out-process.

I have NO CLUE where we go or what we do from there, but I suppose I will know on Wednesday. Hoping to head to Nashville with flood relief efforts up there.

Here's to one hectic last week of service.

No matter what our deployment, we will return to campus May 18th to begin my team's AmeriCorps out-processing and soon after I will be bracing myself for some pretty emotional good-byes.

Corinth, MS

Yesterday we returned to campus, cleaned our vans, returned our tools, quickly worked on close-out paperwork and were informed at 5:30pm that we are now on our way to Corinth, MS to run a shelter for the influx of individuals and families displaced by the tornadoes and flooding. We leave today at 10am. It has been quite the week.

I am excited to serve on disaster. I feel like this is what I really wanted to do when I first started the program!

I have no idea what the internet/phone situation will be like up in Corinth but I will try to keep you all posted. If not, I love you all and I will see you soon...

Peace,

Casey

Twister

Hello Out There-

First of all, I would like to say that it is soooo nice to hear from you all when I write my blog. Your responses remind me that there's a whole world outside of AmeriCorps still waiting for me.

Update: My team has been pulled from our project in WV (sadly saying good-bye to Lowell this morning) to return to campus to help out in disaster response in Mississippi. As I am sure you all know, there are disasters popping up all over the state: tornadoes, floods and oil spills OH MY! We are currently at a Sleep Inn in Birmingham, Alabama stopping over on our trip to Vicksburg (accidentally passed the 16th street baptist church- which I made my team get out of the van and explore/learn about after a 12 hour van ride- they were not happy with me). When we arrive in Vicksburg we will be briefed on the response efforts. On Thursday we will head to Jackson to work with the Red Cross headquarters in MS to coordinate efforts. We are also on call in case anyone asks for a team for direct response (think house gutting, tree cutting...)

Looking forward to helping!

Also: The Adopt a Katrina Family video is finally done. BIG THANKS to my Papa on all the hard work he did editing and to corps member Peter from Sally's team for writing the score. PLEASE share it with your friends and congregations!

Love you all!

Peace

The MOTHMAN PROPHESY

Hello all,

Long time... I have been very busy lately! We successfully moved from Savannah GA to Hurricane, WV about two weeks ago. After orientation, I jumped in a rental car and headed out for vacation with Jordan. First we spent two nights in Pittsburgh with Grandma and Grandpa. I finally bought Settlers of Catan and got Grandma hooked. Also we had a lovely dinner with Aunt Elaine.

Then we took off for Deep Creek Lake, MD where we spent a night camping at the State Park. We had a possible visit from a black bear in the middle of the night. The next day we checked into a cabin and waited for Mom, Dad, Care and Walter. The six of us had a great weekend full of hiking, biking, drinking and eating. Unfortunately, I never made it into the lake- too cold.

After a wonderful week off, I returned to West Virginia to rejoin the team at work. This week we tore down two YMCA bunkhouses on a very steep hill. It was tough work! We have already filled two large dumpsters and are waiting on a third to arrive. In the meantime, we have moved to another site to rehab a barn with some of the lumber we salvaged from the bunkhouses (flashback to Sturgis).

I had a tough week with stress. I am just wearing down a bit after ten months of being pulled in a thousand directions. The project we are on now is wonderful and my team is being great, I think I am just getting to the point of burn-out. I took a day off yesterday and really caught up on all my paperwork and took one of our vans into the shop because it has been stalling. In the evening I had a lovely swim at the Y and got some relaxation in.

I am back working with the team today. Things are going much better for me. The barn is coming along well. We are cutting off work early today to go out to dinner with our sponsor, Lowell, and his wife.

Tomorrow Lowell is brining us to Point Pleasant to go to the Mothman Museum. We watched the Mothman Prophesy a couple nights ago and it was creepy.

Well it's time to go back to work and no one moves until I do so I gotta go.

Oh also the team has been put on deck to respond to disaster in Mississippi to help cleanup from the tornado.

Savannah Blues

After the most awesome project ever, my team is sad to say good-bye to the sun, sand and sponsors here in Savannah, Ga. This week was a wonderful last week- we finished up our .5 acres of reef stretching the whole coast of the UGA extension office land. Then the team celebrated with a huge mud fight (which I sadly had to miss to bring Paul to physical therapy). Yesterday we spent the day at Tybee Island where former AmeriCorps teams had built reefs in the past. We went canoeing along the living reefs growing from their bagged shell. It was cool to see what our hard work will turn into in a year. We also got a private tour of the Sea Turtle refuge and recovery facilities on the island and got to spend some quality time with some ENORMOUS turtles care of some AmeriCorps State and Nationals working with the refuge.

I realize I haven't been writing since we have been here. It has been such a great project (in such a great city) that it has kept me very busy. We have spent a lot of time checking out downtown Savannah, and the area near by our hotel (NOT downtown Savannah). I spent a couple nights bowling with some teammates- and even won a game. Also, the boys and I attended a minor league baseball game which was extremely fun.

We had Spring Break while we were here. My friend Clayton visited and we had a great time going out downtown and hanging out on the beach. It was nice to talk to someone about life outside of AmeriCorps. Just to be a normal person for a while. Also I always have great conversation with CThurm so his visit really made my break.

Things have been wonderful this SPIKE- having plenty of work, great sponsors, comfortable living arrangements, and interesting things to do on the weekends- but I am definitely ready for a break!

Tomorrow we leave Savannah to head up to West Virginia. Monday night starts a week of vacation time for me and I can't wait!

Greenwood Throwback

Remember that little project we did in Greenwood, MS a few months ago?

Well this is it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/36141877#36141877

The news report was being filmed the week after we left...

Muddy

This is me today after I was waist-deep in mud planting oyster bags. (picture quality is low because it is from Kyle's cell)

Baggin' Oysters!

Hello Everyone,

So here we are in Sunny Savannah Georgia! This project is amazing! We are working with the University of Georgia's Marine Extension Service Shellfish Research Laboratory on their project called Generating Enhanced Oyster Reefs in Georgia's Inshore Areas (G.E.O.R.G.I.A.). The objective of the project is to rebuild oyster reefs across Georgia's coast. This is important because the oyster is a "keystone species." This means that the oyster plays an important role in the lives of many organisms in their area. The oysters serve in preserving two ecosystems on the coast. In the water, the oyster reef not only provides a place for many marine animals to live and hide, but also keeps dangerous pollutants out of their habitat. An adult oyster can filter up to 2.5 gallons of water per hour! The oysters serve to filter out all the bacteria, pesticides and man-made pollutants that run off into the waterways. Also, the oysters preserve the wetlands along the shoreline. The reefs protect the shore from dangerous erosion.

Our goal is to build reef along the shore of Skidaway Island. To build the reef, we first fill mesh bags with oysters.

The goal for this reef is to fill 10,000 bags of oysters. After we make the oyster bags, we transport them to the site,

and then "plant" them along the water. "planting" is just the term for placing wood pallets along the shore and covering it in the bags of oysters.

When a baby oyster is "born", it floats around in the water until it finds a place to attach (or plant) itself. These baby oysters are attracted to surfaces containing calcium carbonate (which is highly present in other oyster shells). If the oyster babies settle on the soft ground, they have little to no chance of survival, but when they bind to other oyster shells, the oysters flourish.

After about a year, the mesh bags are no longer visable through the new oyster growth on top of them.

Check out http://www.shellfish.uga.edu/oysterrest.html to learn more about the programs UGA is working on to preserve the coastal environment.

In addition to an awesome project, we are living in a hotel in Savannah! I haven't spent a lot of time exploring because I am exhausted, but I am looking forward to taking sometime to experience the city and culture next weekend during my spring break (Friday-Monday).

Miss you all!

Casey

Savannah!

Hey Everyone,

I forgot to update- I am safely in Savannah and have started my new project. I am way behind on my sleep, so I will be explaining more about the new project later.

In the mean time... Savannah is gorgeous, the project is awesome and my housing is very comfortable- so I am very happy.

Also: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!

Macon, GA

Hey out there

So I am currently stranded right outside of Macon, GA. Our van will not start, so we are waiting for the tow truck to come save us. Not sure how this is going to play out today- but luckily there is a Starbucks across the street from the gas station our van is stuck at.

We are currently on day 2 of our travel from Vicksburg to Savannah. We caravaned to Atlanta yesterday with another team from our campus and spent the night in their SPIKE housing. It was a really fun way to travel. My team currently has two smaller vans for our travel, and the team we traveled has one. Every time we stopped everyone had to get out of the van and find a new spot in another van. It was a great way to entertain ourselves during the 9 hour drive.

I am glad to be back out on the road heading to our new project. The team is really excited to learn about our work with the University of Georgia's oyster restoration project. It is going to be a VERY DIRTY project and I am looking forward to doing some physical labor.

Well I just got the call from the towguy so I am out to save my van! Missing home and all of you down here in the South. Hopefully I will see some of you in Late April when I am stationed in Buffalo, WV!

Birthday Lovin'

So my project has come and gone and I am deep into transition now. It is nice to be with the team leaders and even nicer to be closing out the last projects. We looked up and called over 10,000 organizations and got 1000 to confirm interest in the Adopt a Katrina Family initiative. We are in the process of making a video and updating the website. Though it was good to help so many people with this last project, my team has had a great deal of "thinker" projects and I am ready to move on to some "doing."

We travel to our next project this coming Saturday. We will be saving oyster reefs in Savannah, Georgia for a month while living out of hotel rooms. I think it is going to be a really fun, busy project.

This last weekend my friends spoiled me for my birthday! I got packages from Mom and Dad, Kate, Mia and Sarah and letters from Grandma and Grandpa, Carrie, Walter, Grace, Aunt Susy and Uncle Sandy and more and more are coming. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!!!

Also, here in Vicksburg, my friends took care of me. Jordan brought me to a lovely picnic at a secret waterfall in the Military Park. Then a bunch of my friends went out to a movie with me then drove an hour to Jackson because I wanted real pizza (which you can't really get in Vicksburg). Then on Sunday, my friends brought me to champaign brunch and bought me a bunch of birthday noisemakers, table decorations and a tiara :) Then both my team and tls made me cakes. What a great birthday!

Now I am getting ready for a week of trainings and preparing to leave for Savannah!

Miss you all! Thanks for all the Birthday Lovin'!

Adopt a Katrina Family

Hi Everyone,

I am back on campus working on a local project in our campus computer lab. The new project supports a GREAT need. It is now over 4 years since Hurricane Katrina caused the loss and devastation many of us could not even comprehend. Close to five years later, thousands of displaced residents are still waiting to go home! The MCMC Adopt a Family project aims to connect these families with people who want to help them finally recover from the tragedy.

Check out:

http://www.AdoptaKatrinaFamily.org

Also Please become a fan of MCMC on facebook. My team's job is to promote the project and get people interested in adopting a family. We are databasing churches, religious organizations, social clubs and other groups with interest in service so that MCMC can send out an informative email about the program. The hope is that people will come together with their social group and adopt a family as a group.

In addition to the database, are trying to put together a promotional video to upload on YouTube, Facebook and Current TV. Also we would like to set up a webpage that would allow people to donate any sum of money directly to one of the families' funds. Unfortunately, none of us have backgrounds in media or technology so the project is going to be a huge stretch. If you know of anyone that can help us pull something together or have any ideas that could help spread the word please let me know!

Well today I am off and that means TAXES! and other various personal work like my application for Denver TL... I miss you all and hope to hear from you soon.

LOVE from Vicksburg!

Casey

Pulled

"Hello World!" as Paul Lumpkin would say...

As usual there is plenty to blog about.

I spent the first weekend of my new project on vacation leave down in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I have never been interested in celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans in the past, but living in the South has changed my opinion once again. I traveled down on Saturday and stayed through Wednesday. We saw about 6 parades and caught tons of beads! (contrary to popular belief, this requires NO nudity) We mainly attended the more family oriented parades uptown, but caught a couple in the Quarter on Canal. I stayed as far from Bourbon Street as possible (as usual). I learned a lot about the New Orleans culture and of course I at some DELICIOUS food! Great times with friends, though coordinating seven people in the packed city was stressful at times.

I returned to New Orleans this weekend with Jordan whose parents were in town for a convention. It was great- I got a free ride to visit Sally and Delta Dan and enjoyed some more time with Jordan's family. His parents were very generous and brought the whole group of us out to a nice dinner. I ordered some yummy lamb. Sally and I stayed at the Olivier House where we stayed the first weekend we visited during TLT. It was nice to have some time one on one with Sal for a bit. On Sunday morning the two of us went shopping at the French Market and then had lunch up on a classic New Orleans balcony. The restaurant we ate at claimed to have the ORIGINAL New Orleans Muffaletta , but so did the other five restaurants on the street...

In between my vacationing, I have been dealing with yet another stressful project. Hope CDA definitely does not have enough work for my team, and we have been spending our days standing by idly waiting for work to be assigned to us, or doing "busy" work. Luckily today, a solution has been decided on and my team is being pulled from the project. I am happy because it is a huge weight off my shoulders- I just can't take another project where I have to create work for the team. They deserve to feel needed and to do work that will help a community. I do not know yet where we are going or when we will leave so I guess we'll see soon.

As for right now, I am sitting outside in our pavilion which is the only place I can get internet- and though it is no Cleveland, I am starting to get rather chilly.

OH I forgot to write: we got our next project assigned. We got our NUMBER ONE CHOICE- a marine restoration project saving oyster habitats in Savannah, Georgia paired with a city revitalization project in Buffalo, WV! I am EXTREMELY EXCITED!

Love you all. Hope everyone is happy and healthy,

Casey

full circle

Hey Y'all

I am back in Biloxi!

As usual I have plenty to tell you about and no time!

Quick recap of the last week:

-Went to an AWESOME ropes course with the team at a nearby Boy Scout Camp- Great re-energizer for a team losing steam. Thanks to Mr. David Mallery Executive Director of the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service for hooking my team up with that experience. We spent the morning at the low ropes course and had a blast repelling and doing a zip line in the afternoon.

-Ended our project at Southern Foundation for Homeless Children with tearful goodbyes to Mama Gwen, Mr. Eucluck, Mr. King and the staff and boys of the foundation.

-Traveled back down to the coast to check in to our new home. We can see the beach from our new volunteer camp!

-Spent this morning at orientation for Hope CDA (http://www.hopecda.org/ )

- I am now OFF ON VACATION! Heading down to New Orleans for Mardi Gras with some Team Leaders tomorrow morning!!!!!

PEACE!

Day of Service

Today was a good day. My team woke up early and headed to our site to prepare for our community day of service.

Michelle was in charge of the day and has been working hard on logistics all week. She prepared the team and everyone knew their roles for the day. All I had to do was schmooze and show of my amazing CMs. I was so proud of the whole team and their leadership. Our Unit Leader and the Regional Director came up for the day which was great for my five Corps Members applying to be Team Leaders next year!

We couldn't build the barn due to slippery weather. Luckily, we quickly put together another plan. We worked on clearing the land for the animals to graze and built raised flower beds out of reclaimed wood from two sheds we tore down earlier in the week. We led about 15 volunteers and the 20 foster boys from Southern Foundation. The day was incredibly successful.

I don't have much time to write but see below news stories about us:

http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=4626

front page of the leading Columbus News Paper

http://titancast.titantv.com/p/wcbi/v/WCBI-News--6-Part-1-13010/12GI1NLT.aspx

Check out Minute 6:30 for the story about our day! (I promise there was much better footage of me, I think she picked the part of the interview I sounded the worst in...)

Anna's Surprise

Hello All

BUSY BUSY week. There is a lot going on here in Sturgis this week. On Tuesday a new CM, Jake, joined our team. So far things have been going really well. We had a party with Lindsey's famous cookies and spent the night giggling about how ridiculous we all are (as usual). The team seems to be doing well with the transition.

In much busier news, we are putting on a big day of service this Saturday for the Southern Foundation. We are expecting to host about 60 people for our barn raising. A few people will help us build a barn, but most will be helping with land clearing to create space for the new animals the foundation will be getting later. The day of service will raise awareness about SFHC's organic farming initiative and AmeriCorps*NCCC's projects with the foundation. Michelle is in charge of the day and is doing an exceptional job. The plans started out small and quickly escalated. The pressure is on for my five corps members applying for team leader with staff members (including both Unit Leaders and the Regional Director) making the 3 hour trip to see us. i can't wait!

Well back to work. miss you all!!!

Casey

" Did you take the collar off the dog?" "I Don't Know..."

Hi from Sturgis, Mississippi.

My team is a couple weeks into our third project. We are loving life! We live in a big house next door to the foster boys' home with plenty of green space to play in. We all have rooms to share, but have been spending most nights having slumber parties in the living room. This is the closest and happiest my team has been so far and I am loving it. We are enjoying our new sponsor who welcomed us with open arms. Mama Gwen took care of feeding us the first week we arrived and we ate some great southern comfort food.

We are working 6 days a week, but morale hasn't taken a hit because the work is fun and there is a great deal of variation. So far we have cleared 1 acre of forest, removed 2000 square feet of trash, torn down one and a half sheds, built 7 raised flower beds with salvaged materials, and spent a half day loading a truck and organizing clothes for the salvation army. Now we are preparing for the community barn raising on Saturday. It feels good to get so much labor done after surveying last SPIKE.

The work we are doing for Southern Foundation for Homeless Children is helping them move towards their organic farming goal. After the land is prepped and the barn is built, the foundation will get cows and goats for the boys to tend to. The idea is to make the foundation more self-sustaining (organic vegetables, milk, eggs and meat) and teach the boys a life skill.

We have quite a bit of autonomy here as well as a great deal of support. Everything seems to be going well. I hope we can keep the momentum going.

In other news, we have a new corps member joining our team tomorrow. Jake has been on a few different teams but hasn't yet found a place for himself, so we are hoping he finds a good "family" in us. Katie will drive him up here tomorrow afternoon. I am welcoming the challenge of a new teammate.

I am also looking forward to meeting ujp with my team leader friends for Mardi Gras in February. We are staying in Mary-Molly's Aunt's house which means a fun affordable vacation from team leading. I am counting down the days...

As always there is so much more to say, but I have work to do tonight, so take care and I miss you all!

Love,

Casey

M.I.A.

Sorry to everyone who has been trying to reach me. I have been busy as usual, but that's no great excuse. Round two in Greenwood wrapped up neatly, we said our goodbyes and headed back to campus. We spent one day on campus scrambling to finish our portfolio and our debriefing meeting. On Saturday the majority of the team headed home for break. I arrived in Cleveland late in the evening after switching flights around due to the snow storm hitting the east coast. Many of my teammates and friends were stranded in airports for hours and days. I was lucky to make it home so fast.

I had a wonderful week and a half at home visiting family and friends. I had a great time just being a person, not a team leader. Christmas was perfect. I am missing everyone from home now.

On New Years I headed to Minneapolis to meet up with Jordan for his cousin's wedding on the 1st. I had fun meeting his family and learning how to polka! I really liked the city (except that it was like -10 degrees and windy).

Saturday we headed back to campus for a week and a half of transition and training. We focused on the life and leadership of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. whose story is compelling, of course.

VOLUNTEER ON MLK DAY!! (Jan. 18th)

make it "a day on not a day off" http://www.mlkday.gov/

Now I am preparing to depart for SPIKE three tomorrow morning. The team is headed off to Sturgis, MS ( population 188) to work with the Southern Foundation for Homeless Children http://www.sfhchomes.webs.com/

Well I am stressing out about packing and travelling, so that's all for now.

I have no idea what our internet accessibility will be for the next two months, but I will do my best to keep you updated!

Peace,

Casey