Wichita Falls!

I dont know why ive been slacking so much with this, I am so sorry!  Been in Wichita Falls for 2 weeks now.  Update on my address!!!  Apparently the guy that owns this house has forwarded his mail to where he now lives in El Paso so I'm not getting mail here, but you can send me stuff to the United Way office we work at:
Annie Cavallaro
AmeriCorps NCCC
1105 Holliday
Wichita Falls, TX 76301

Anyway! Everythings going very well so far!  Our house is awesome! The marketing director of United Way moved to El Paso so before the new owners move in we are able to stay here, its only a 10 minute drive to the UW office, and literally a 2 minute drive to WalMart.  Right down the street about a 30 second walk is a sweet park that has a 12 foot high slide and swings, LOVE it!  So we've had our training and have been certified to do beginner, intermediate and advanced taxes!  I had my first day of real taxes this past week with 2 others, I only did 2 returns but it was a good start and I learned that theres not much to be scared of!  We don't start officially doing taxes until next Saturday and from there thats what well do everyday we work basically.  Right now we're doing a lot of community outreach stuff hanging door knockers and handing out flyers.  It has been a great way to see all of Wichita Falls and to especially see the conditions these low income families are living in and realizing they really can us our help even if it is to save them from paying someone else $200 to do their taxes. 
So Wichita Falls isn't all that impressive, but we're making the best of it! A week ago Thursday we went roller skating and I was a pro using my mad skills from Happy Wheels back in the day.  It was fun though because our whole team went.  Last week we had lunch at a BBQ place called Branding Iron (they call in brandin' iron)  and the food was DElicious!  I had ribs, because I figured I might as well go big or go home with my first offical BBQ in Texas!  We are hoping to go to a reallygood mexican place soon, i hear there are a lot of them around here!!  Last night we went to the batting cages and tonight we went to see a movie, i saw "No Strings Attached", it was pretty good! I love those quirky chick flicks once in a while!  The people we've met so far have been amazing, they are very grateful and welcoming to us.  The people we work with at United Way were awesome and got us free tickets to the Harlem Globe Trotters on Thursday night and that was a fun activity we all got to do together!  For our individual service hours we helped at a marathon where for 6 hours I stood in one spot and told runners where to go and had to wait for them to finish....so i just stood while these people ran, that doesnt make me feel lazy at all, it was boring but a very easy way to get some hours out of the way on a nice sunny day!
So, so far this project is going much better than I ever anticipated.  We get to have a lot more time together as a team which is good, but it can be hard to find alone time, but im figuring it out!  It's really crazy how much of a culture shock it is being here in Texas, but I'm loving everything I'm learning.  Hope all is well with everyone, that's really all that I have for now, but will try my hardest to update if anything exciting happens!  We do have internet at the house but we're stealing it and its spotty and I literally have to sit in one spot in my room and not move an inch or the internet's gone...so I'm able to blog, facebook, and if i have the patience catch up on my tv!  Love to all, here are some pictures so far!

My team at the batting cages

batting cages

Harlem Globe Trotters

Team big pile, I was quite comfy actually

Team at United Way our first day

On the way to Wichita Falls

Hello!  Apparently on the campus in Denver they decided to block only the blog website so I haven't been able to blog the past week.  But I was in Denver for what we call transition week where we debrief on the last project and brief on the new project.  The week went well, it was boring often but we got through it.  Didn't do much, went out to eat and downtown Thursday night and had a good night with everyone, other than that I got to hang out with some of the people on my unit which was really good to see them again!
Tonight we stopped in Amarillo, TX on our way to Wichita Falls.  It was a long day but we made it.  So tomorrow we will be in Wichita Falls in the afternoon and get settled into our house, I will post pictures when I get a chance!  But here is my address for the next two months if you want to send letters, cards, cookies etc. ;) I wouldn't mind it!

Annie Cavallaro
4803 Nursery St.
Wichita  Falls, TX 76302

So.  Until I find a Starbucks in Wichita Falls probably won't be posting for a bit.  We start work on Saturday and have 24 hours worth of training to do for taxes, I'll absolutely let you know how it goes!  Miss everyone already! Love! <3

Heading back to Denver

Well.  I'm sitting at the Logan airport awaiting my flight back to Denver.  I had to take a 3:15am bus, and being smart I figured I just wouldn't sleep last night...I hurt, I just want to be asleep.  I was kind of able to sleep on the bus so that was good, I am surely hoping to snooze a little on the plane.  If not, I get into Denver at 10:30am their time so I have allllll day to sleep!
I had a wonderful time being home.  Looking back on it it was nice to relax and have so much time to myself.  But I even more enjoyed seeing my friends and family.  If I didn't get to see you and you're reading this, sorry!  But everyone must be sure to keep in touch with me while I'm gone! Whether it's email, facebook, mail etc.  I love love love hearing from everyone.  I will love it even more now because I won't be coming home until August so I'm sure I'll get very homesick pretty soon.
So to recap I'll be in Denver this week and leave Saturday for Wichita Falls, TX to do taxes.  Ia m with the same team I was with for the Arkansas Children's Hospital so that'll be good to have something familiar keeping me going.  I still don't know my address yet but I'll post it here as soon as I know!  Also I don't know what my internet situation is like so I don't  know how much I'll be updating or not.  But I'm going to go...wish I could go to sleep right now but I'd rather not have my stuff get stolen.  Loved seeing everyone and it showed me how much love and support I have back home and I appreciate it very very much!

One More Week!

Well....So sorry it's taken so long to post again!  This week has been soooo busy we haven't had time to come to starbucks!!! i swear i am wasting so much money here on chai tea lattes everytime I come!  So we found out our housing situation for Wichita Falls (next project), we will have a house with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, out team leader has her own room so between 5 guys and 5 girls we have to split into 3 bedrooms...o and even better, there aren't any beds....so we have to bring cots or sleeping pads so I better enjoy my bed at home while I got it!!! 
So we work Monday and Tuesday and then leave for Denver Wednesday.  We stop in Salina, Kansas on Wednesday night and finish up the trip to Denver on Thursday.  We have to "work" on Friday (have no idea what we're doing) and then leaving Saturday to come home!!  I don't leave Denver till 4pm and get into Logan at 10pm and my beautiful mother is ever so kindly driving down to pick me up!!
I don't know if I mentioned it before, but I am SOOOO excited to get my very first real christmas tree when I get back!! I'm going to drag it from Millcreek to my house and decorate it all pretty and have Matilda and Indy climb all over it and eat it.  But that's ok, it'll only be up for about a week! 
When I get back I get to go see Narnia which came out today and I am SOOOO excited for that as well.  And I can't wait to just lay on my couch doing NOTHING with NO ONE around me.  I like these people and all but I can't seem to find too much personal time which I greatly appreciate.
The past couple days we did community service painting a huge room after working a 9 hour day and I have pretty bad blisters like the ones I used to get on the monkey bars, I'm noticing them now from typing. ANYWAY ummmmmm tomorrow I get to go play with puppies (dogs really, I just call all dogs puppies) for community service, someone is doing pet pictures with santa and they need help wrangling the pups and that's what I get to do!! 
Let's see, this weekend we are going to another basketball game (UALR vs. Ole Miss) and hopefully make it to the Clinton Library and possibly go for a hike in 30 degree weather! Apparently this weather is cold for Arkansas but I think it's just helping me prepare to come home to even colder! 

Here are some pictures of Little Rock I promised from....last weekend? or the weekend before? I'm losing track of time...

Walking down President Clinton Ave.

Me pulling some sweet moves ice skating. Beautiful.

River Market

River Market

Me on the bridge with downtown Little Rock in the background

View of Little Rock from the bridge

Ok, so starbucks is about to close and I'm going to pass out from exhaustion.  Don't know if I'll post again before coming home but I'll be home December 19-January 2! yay! so excited! love you byee

We know what we're doing next project!

Hello!!!! So first things first, we know what we're doing for our next project when we return from Christmas break.  Our team will be going to Wichita, TX which is in nothern Texas on the Oklahoma border, and....we will....be doing taxes...yes I said my community service with AmeriCorps for 6-8 weeks will be doing TAXES! while others are out building houses and building trails...we will be sitting inside (once again inside may I add) and do taxes.  Ok, yes I am a person who enjoys computer junk and math, but it wasn't what I was looking to do when I came into this program, ya know?  But I will of course make the best of it.  So to find out who gets what project there is a lottery, there are 28 teams, and we got number....28...so we got everyones leftover choice and had no option whatsoever in what we are doing. 

BUT anyway, I've had a good week so far, each week seems to get easier because I get more comfortable with the hospital atmosphere and going into patients rooms.  I had the best thing happen, I was getting ready to go do my last shift 3-5 in the rehab unit when my supervisor in the infant toddler unit asked me "how would you like to hold a 6 week old baby??"  A mother had to leave to go pick her mother up and someone needed to stay with the baby AND I GOT TO! she was a gorgeous little thing that slept the whole time and it made me so happy!!  I got some quiet time and got to hang out with a sweetie by myself so it was a nice relaxing afternoon!!  And I'm making progress in the patients recognizing me and getting excited to see me and that feels awesome!!  For our individual service hours we helped with what they call the Festival of Trees where they decorate trees really pretty and have a silent auction and sell a bunch of things including the trees and that was fun to see all the trees.  This weekend we are helping with some thing where people can take their pictures with a dog? or santa? I don't know, and then we're also helping with a parade that day to get a bunch of hours!  Then I think Sunday we will go hiking at Pinnacle Mountain here in Arkansas.

I'm a dummy and didn't upload my pictures yet but on Sunday we went ice skating downtown and went walking across a bridge and I got some sweet pictures.  I promise to add them as soon as I remember to upload them!!!

17 days!!! I can't wait!!!! hope all is well, I am doing great and enjoying being here, but of course there are little tweaks here and there that are driving me crazy but that's because I'm such a weirdo and let things get to me, but I am trying my hardest to not let that happen!  Love to all!

Long Weekend

So we have had Thursday-Sunday off, Thanksgiving kind of stunk not only because I was away but we were surrounded by a bunch of people we didn't know and they didn't try to interact with us, so I was sad I wasn't back home with people I love and want to hang out with and want to talk to me, but we got through it!  That night we went downtown Little Rock and found a pizza place to hang out in, some people played pool, I had an appetizer and just people watched.  Yesterday (Friday) some of us went shopping, but didn't really hit much of the black friday crowd, we went to Best Buy and WalMart, my team leader Kiera and I went into the Christmas section and got some stuff to decorate our 3 ft. christmas tree, I'll be sure to take a picture of it soon to post, I decorated it myself!! I'm so excited that it is officially Christmastime!! We've found the christmas music radio station!!!!  After shopping we went to another UALR Basketball game.  Today some people went to tailgate for the Arkansas vs. LSU game, but I figure that's really not my scene and I wasn't in the mood for it.  So after we planned on going ice skating at the "Skatorium" I think it's called downtown, it's outside, but it was too long of a wait so we're going to try to go back tomorrow.  And after dinner tonight we went back downtown.  Downtown Little Rock isn't all that big, I'd say it's like Portland but with taller buildings.  But, that's been my weekend so far, it's been nice not to have to go to the hospital or think about hospital things.  20 days till I come home!! We really only have 2 more full work weeks until we head back to Denver!!! So I'm really bummed.  All these cool things are happening in the places I go, but not at the right time....Guster was in Portland like what 2 weeks after I left, the day we came to Little Rock was the last day Wicked was playing, and now Guster is coming to Denver one week after we leave for our next project!!! I don't get it!!! But I'm just figuring it's happening for a reason...like I need to save my money for other things....o well...now that I'm rambling on and on I'm going to stop.  Miss and love all!

A couple pictures

Here are a couple pictures of my team, we haven't really been out in Little Rock enough to take pictures, but one is of us in front of the Christmas tree at the hospital, and the other is us in front of the hospital!