Spring Break

Hello all from sunny Arizona once again! Just got in last night from my spring break being home for about 5 days!  It was a fantastic and much needed break.  I took a red eye last Tuesday night into Boston and took the Concord bus up to Portland on Wednesday morning.  I got to see a bunch of family and friends while I was home and that was much needed.  It's so funny the things you don't appreciate until they are taken away from you.  The ocean was one of those things for me.  Last time I was home for Christmas I didn't see the ocean except once the very last day I was there on a crappy rainy day I went to Spring Point for a walk, but it wasn't the same.  This time I made sure almost everyday to at least stop somewhere to peak at it for a minute.  I was able to go to all of the typical spots, Bug Light, Spring Point, Willard Beach and Portland Headlight.  I was able to take a nice long walk along Willard Beach to Spring Point, down to the lighthouse and watched the sunset.  Although I was freezing my butt off it was so worth it.  But being here in Arizona surrounded by nothing but desert....it makes me really appreciate where I grew up and that for 20 some years I grew up less than a mile away from the ocean.

So I'm pretty sure I accomplished most of what I intended while I was home.  Saw most of the people I wanted to see, ate most of the food I wanted to eat, and definitely got the relaxation I was in need of (and alone time).  My goals for food were to get a chipper from Red's (got 2 while I was home), pazzo and Italian from Amatos (was there 3 times while I was home), eat Thai food (there is litereally none in this city unless you make your own), eat some delicious Otto pizza (was able to introduce my mom to the best pizza in Portland), drink Margaritas and have some delicious food (with two of my best friends, you can't go wrong)...and last but not least eat some darn lobstah!  I'm usually not a big seafood/lobster person but once again when you are away from something (yes they have them here, but there's no way they are even close to Maine lobsters) you crave it and want it pretty bad.  So for Easter dinner we had some lobsters, potato salad and corn on the cob, just a little taste of summer...it was delicious.  So it's kind of silly a lot of my main goals involved food, but I didn't cook a single thing at my house while I was home. 

So I originally had a flight scheduled for Monday morning to leave Portland at 6am (barf) and from there I would have had 2 layovers before getting back to Phoenix (double barf) but on Sunday night at 10pm I got a call telling me that my Portland flight was cancelled.  At first she told me they had me rescheduled for a flight on Tuesday (the day I had to be back to work) and I was like...mmmmm nope.  So she asked if there was anyway I could fly out of Boston and that it would be a direct flight on Monday, it left at 4:30pm and got into Phoenix at 7:15pm, luckily my ride was originally planning on picking 3 of us up at Phoenix at 6pm so I was able to have them hold off, and I get this direct flight rather than stopping 2 places along the way!  Also I was able to sleep in instead of waking up at 4am! So all things considered it was a fantastic change for me! Other than having to get down to Boston, but what's another $30 in the long run?? 

So I made it back here right on time, got back to my housing, was happy in some ways but dreading it in others.  But we only have less than 2 weeks left here.  Including today we have 6 work days left! Crazy!  We work on Saturday for another community build and then have Sunday and Monday off and then we're outta here Friday and get back to Denver on Saturday!  We hopefully (if it gets approved) will leave Saturday afternoon to head up to Phonix for the night, explore Saturday and go to  a Diamondbacks game on Sunday! That should be a fantastic time!  And Monday we plan to go to the Casa Grande Ruins, and make some tyedye tshirts! 

Oh! On my bus ride up from Boston to Portland last Wednesday I got a call from my Team Leader because it was the day we were to find out our final projects!  It turns out we got my last pick....I think quite literally my last pick of 21 projects....for 3 weeks we will go to Houston and be working on roofs of houses that need repairing from hurricanes and such.  Then after that we take the long trek to good ole Big Bend National Park...now if you don't know where that is, take a looks-e-poo on a map...middle of nowhere on the mexican border Texas.  We will be camping in tents...with no cell phone reception...no internet...and who knows what the showering situation is like...but in the end I think this is exactly what I need.  A little kick in the butt and push my boundaries.  There we will be doign general trailwork, species removal, just general park chores I suppose, I don't really know to be quite honest!  BUT I will indeed have an address for anyone and everyone to send me anything and everything their hearts desire.  Will accept anything while I am stuck in the middle of nowhere!!!!!!  

Well first day back today, we have a meeting with the City staff so we have a late start, but I've gotta go get to it!  Wish me luck, it's going to be 88 degrees today, but by Thursday it'll be about 100....yes I am semi-complaining about the hot weather...I'm spoiled, sorry.  

Byeeeeeeeeee!

Crazy Weekend in Arizona!

Ok people. This weekend was pretty interesting and long.  Friday we found out that if the government shut down, we would have to pack up everything and head back to Denver (which is a 2 day trip for most people) until the government came back up.  This was a good test as to how much I've grown being in the program because the old me would have FREAKED out and packed and worried and stressed over everything.  I ignored everything everyone was saying about it, I didn't pack, I just knew that it was out of my control and when someone told me we were leaving, I'd pack and do it because that's what I would have to do.  So officially at like what, 9pm we found out we were in the clear and that didn't surprise me at all.  So I'm glad to know that being in a program like this where I should be expecting the unexpected at all times I'm a much calmer and more collected person.  Pretty excited.

So because we didn't have to start trecking back to Denver we had a Community Build planned but, hmm it rained and was only 55 degrees here!!!! So we left at 6:45 am to go see if it was still happening or not, a 30 minute drive later we were told that it had been cancelled.  On one hand I was pretty bummed because I loved doing the last community build, but on the other hand after such a long day Friday I think most everyone was excited to have the time off! So we had a full weekend because otherwise we would have only had Sunday off!  So I went and spent most of my day at Starbucks (after a 2 hr nap of course) and was able to finally catch up on some shows! LOVED Grey's Anatomy...but anyway....then we went on our weekly fast food adventure this time to In & Out burger...wasn't impressed but I don't think i was in a mood for gross unhealthy fast food that night!

Sunday was fantastic, we had a trip planned to go to the Sonora Desert Museum which is just west of Tucson.  I love love love these kind of museums!  It is partially a zoo and has a bucnh of different displays about everything about the desert!  I will put pictures up on facebook the next time I go to Starbucks cause the internet is too slow here to do anything with them!  After that we went searching for some lunch and we found this absolutely delicious Greek restaurant named "Opa!".  They thought we were University of Arizona students and said we get free fountain drinks, so we took them up on that, and then they brought out a plate of pita with hummus and tziki!  Just like mexican restaurants give you chips and salsa for free! We were pretty excited by all the free things we had been recieving!  Then my friend Louise order flaming cheese, i forget what the cheese is called but the table next to us ordered it, and they bring the cheese out on this huge platter, and then set it on fire in front of you and it makes a huge flame! So that intrigued her enough to buy one and it was absolutely delicious.  Then I order a gyro cause I have been craving one ever since I was eating one in Morocco in Epcot at Disney World last August.  It was soooooo good and hit the spot.  It was a great price too so I would definitely go back there if I were ever in Tucson again!  Then we went down to an area with some shops and walked around, and it's a very cool area with a bunch of bars, coffee shops, thrift stores, I would also love to go back there too!

So as you can see it was a busy, exhausting, and exciting weekend for me!  And today we got back up on the trail and the temperatures are slowly rising, we had 79 degrees today, 84 tomorrow and should reach 92 by Friday!  I'll get all nice and tan for those of you that I see in almost one week!!!  And I had a crazy realization that I get to eat as much Red's as I please when I come home and I can't wait to bite into a chipper!! NOM and I've got all my meals planned out so I can go to my favorite places, Amatos, Otto, Margaritas, Thai food, possibly Clambake if they're open, and of course Red's! SO excited.  But for now I'm going to go relax in the sun!  Will add pictures soon!

Arizona Contd

Hello. So. Been doing a lot of trail building since I last wrote.  As of today we have built 3623 feet of new trail!!! Over half a mile, it's crazy to know what 10 people can do (especially in this heat!)  Since I last wrote we obviously worked during the week on our trail, but on the Saturday before last we had what is called a Community Build in which people from the community come out on a Saturday and help to build a different part of the trail than what we work on during the week.  I got to work with a troop of Boy Scouts that were 12-14 years old, I had a great time, luckily I have experience working with kids and was able to with help from their scout leaders keep them on track and we made some pretty darn good trail!!

The weather has been amazing here, obviously.  Last Friday it got up to 97 DEGREES! AH! it was so hot, but we've been starting our days earlier (6am, can you believe it?!) so we can try to beat the heat and not be out in it for too long.  It's nice when we do that cause then we get out at 1:30 and are home by 2:30 and it's like having a whole other day off!!!  I have some pretty interesting tan lines right now from our boots, shorts and tshirts but I'm hoping to even those out by the time I come home! Speaking of!  I booked a flight to come home for Easter weekend!  I'll be taking a red eye flight into Boston and get in at 11am on that Weds before Easter, and will be leaving bright and early Monday after!  So, if you wanna see me let me know!  I'll be around all day mostly Weds and Thurs if anyones available!  Otherwise I'm pretty jam packed busy.  

I am so exhausted.  We just had a 3 day weekend in which I napped a lot, so having to go back to work today killed me and it's not even 9:00 yet and I'm ready to pass out!  Our living situation is still going well!  Excited to sleep in my own bed rather than an air mattress but I'll take this air mattress over one of those cots anyday!

This weekend we have another community build on Saturday and Sunday we are taking a trip down to Tucson, so I'm pretty excited about that!  And we just found out that the last weekend we are here we get to go to a Diamonbacks game up in Phoenix!  That'll be fun too!  I'm glad we get to travel and see more of the state!

 I can't think of much else to talk about, but I have some pictures to share so you can get an idea of what I do for 8 hours a day!  Love to all!



Girls night out getting margaritas in our fancy new glasses!



What I get to do day in and day out. That's my big butt in the middle.



Team Fire 8 in Denver the morning we departed for Arizona!






This cactus is called a cholla(pronounced choy-ya)
It is bad. Stay away. It will stick to you and it will hurt.
And yes, we are surrounded by them all day!



Part of the awesome trail we get to build everyday!



My team minus Louise (she was sick this day) on our first day
getting ready to head up to the mountain!  We look this hot all day, don't worry! ;)