the swear jar...

It's interesting how girls can ramble on for days in their native language, yet when something goes wrong in any minuscule way they are hot to insert an English curse word. 

We try not to condone explicits around these parts, so we've established a "Swear Jar" to collect change each time a girl uses a curse word. 

One evening I called a girl out for using a curse word. Here's the conversation that followed: 

Me: "Okay listen, I'll let it slide this time, but from now on every time you say a bad word you have to put money in the jar."

Girl: "WHAT?! You mean f*ck is a bad word!??"

Me: "Yes. It's very rude."

Girl: "Okay, okay, isn't sh*t and p*ssy the only bad words? Is d*mn a bad word?"

Me: "Yes. Those are all bad words."

i'm came in like a bowling ball...

You know what's funny? Hearing the former Hannah Montana's "Wrecking Ball" on the loudspeaker while at the bowling alley. I mean, think about it. If it's not coming to you, now envision this occurrence with eight high school girls. 

The week before school started, we took the new girls bowling on Saturday night. For some of them it was their first time bowling! Which was good news for me being the poor bowler that I am. 

Being a terrible bowler around 16-year olds is a lot more fun than being a terrible bowler around your overly-competitive friends who ruthlessly taunt you for your bad game. 

Even the girl who barely speaks any English kept our spirits high with a, "Oh, don't cry! Don't cry!" After each of us miserably missed the pins by a landslide. 

i'm a survivor...

Wowzers. Naturally, being the first week of school, this week has been crazy. I've officially made it through a week of dropping a load on textbooks, one of the girls getting lost at six in the morning on the first day of cross country practice, and running everywhere from getting a physical to out to FedEx. 

I've acquired quite an amount of stories from the RA life, so I'm now going to post them one by one for your convenience and reading pleasure. Enjoy. :) 

just call me forever the bus driver...

I'm officially back in Kansas. You know how I know this? Because the first gas station we stopped at on the way home in Kansas sold not only knives and Duck Dynasty shirts, but also red solo cup necklaces whose selling point was, "It's not just a cup, it's a lifestyle."

For those of you that still harbor doubt that I am in fact currently in Kansas, today driving to work (a 17 mile drive that took me 15 minutes, not like, 45) I passed a man wearing a cowboy hat driving a four-wheeler (I was driving on the highway). He gave me a one-handed wave, because this is customary in Kansas.

I have returned to the plains.

This summer is very quickly wrapping up. Within the first two days that I was home, I searched for a place to live, found a place to live, trained for a new job, and jumped in FULL force to said new job, which is working as an RA for a local high school that houses international students.

I've been working every day this week because the school is still in the process of hiring on staff (we have three RA's now - one who is on "I just got my wisdom-teeth removed" leave. So essentially we have two RA's working this week. Fun fact: ideally there should be six RA's on staff).

However, besides a whole day of driving ten hours for pickups, it hasn't been very crazy. We have eight girls now, and the rest of our 24 will arrive next week.

So, to recap: I spent all summer working with high school/middle schoolers and now I'm living with them.

Now, we're all aware that high schoolers are known to make some interesting observations and/or supply both wanted and unwanted comments. Take this knowledge and now insert international students from Taiwan, Kenya, Mexico, and China. In attempt to remember this year and all the observations of America from 15 year olds, I'm most likely going to dedicate this blog to their quotes.

Example: Yesterday I explained hand-sanitizer to a girl from China.

Me: "It's like soap. To clean your hands."
China: "You don't need water?"
Me: "Nope! Just put a little in your hands then rub them together"
*China's face lights up, runs to the Purell*
China: "America is awesome!"

Plus, nothing in my own life is extraordinary to document.

time flies like these flies flying around my head...

Well, today wrapped up the last day of my time at LeaderworX this summer. I can't believe how incredibly fast time has flown. It literally seems like I arrived just yesterday in New Jersey. Of course I have lots of afterthoughts, conclusions, stories to tell. But for now, all I can say is I've been incredibly blessed. And that I've been waiting for a train at Newark Penn Station for two hours. There are lots of people at the station. And flies. But I'm very excited to be traveling to see my good friend, Melinda, in New Haven! Peace!

appalachia, barf, and critters...

     Ahhhh, Appalachia. After living in New Jersey for the past month, I can't tell you how relieving it is to be spending a week in West Virginia. Few people, all of whom are friendly and have the most beautiful southern twain that I'm a complete sucker for. We planted ourselves at a campsite for the week (one that has those huge cabins with about a million bunk beds, you 're familiar with this if you've ever attended a 4-H camp). And I LOVE it. Nature, walking outside to go shower, fresh air, bugs in your room. It's fabulous. Truly you can take the girl from the country, but not the country from the girl. I've really missed my small-town people. The service we're doing this week is construction/roofing/painting type jobs. The people we're serving are so giving of all they have. At my service site we destroyed and rebuilt a front and back porch, and installed new underpinning. Terry, who owned the trailer, was beyond grateful. He had a handful of health problems, but stayed outside with us the entire day to visit and share about his life. I was humbled with how much generosity he had. Immediately when we arrived he told us if we needed to go to the bathroom to use the bedroom one, because that was the better one, then proceeded to offer us water, popsicles, and basically anything we wanted in his home. The southern hospitality we experienced was outstanding. 

     I've realized and learned several concepts about myself and other people this summer. One of these has been the deepening of my appreciation for my upraising. While we were working on Terry's home, I kept thinking about how great it would be if my grandpa were there. I certainly felt like I needed him and his carpentry expertise this week. It was nice to get back to a small town such as my own, a town where the women of the church get together to prepare a meal for complete strangers. I felt at home in this community. Not only did the actions of the community members make me proud to be from a small town, but also the students on the trip further validated my appreciation for growing up the way I did. I grew up in going to a school where drafting, welding, sewing, and small engine repair is offered; not photography, robotics, or computer coding. I grew up where kids started driving when they were 12, and we would drive pickups, tractors, and four-wheelers; not BMW's at 17. We worked with our hands, and we learned to work hard and take pride in what we did. I quickly realized my week in West Virginia I had more in common with the people we were serving than those high schoolers we were leading. One kid in my service group had not even been to a Wal-Mart in his life. I feel so blessed to have grown up in a small town. To know everyone in my high school class, and see my old teachers at church every weekend. I love the fact I can return to my home, and it's really HOME. Not a lot of people have that in life. One of my favorite things in the world is going out to my family's farm, where three generations grew up. There is no where else on the planet I feel more at peace, my soul feels fulfilled knowing that this place not only serves as my home, but for everyone else in my family as well. 

          You know where else I feel most at peace? Under pressure. It's one of the reasons I look forward to being an emergency nurse. I can keep calm and collected, and I love working quickly and fluidly. Okay, where am I going with this? Luckily, because God is great and has a dark sense of humor at times, I was placed in such a situation in Appalachia. On Friday, we all loaded the vans to make a trip up to Charleston to listen to a speaker on coal mining issues. The trip is four hours round trip, and a good majority of travel includes world famous West Virginian winding roads. Because it was a long trip, I allowed the six highschoolers in my van to watch a movie on the way there. Big mistake. Twenty minutes into the trip, several kids are complaining of feeling sick, so I put the crying girl in the front with me and we take off again. Not long after that, one of my precious passengers announces he's going to throw up and I need to pull off immediately. Before I can ask if he feels like he can wait, I hear the sound of stomach contents hitting his lap, and the smell of vomit instantly pierces my nostrils. Well, fantastic. So I pull over to take care of the barf soaked kid, and a van full of five other very unhappy kids. I get everyone out, call the team leader to explain the situation, and piece out my options. There is vomit everywhere, and not even a fast food napkin to clean any of it up. I calmly explain to my van load that we'll pull off at the nearest Wal-Mart to get towels, new clothes for this kid, and Clorox wipes. So that's exactly what we did, missing only ten minutes of the speaker we were traveling to. God always has nice ways of reminding me that He wants me to be a nurse, and I usually thank Him with a smile and trying not to throw the bird. 

creatures in the city and in the trees...

    In a matter of a week I have traveled to half a dozen states. Five of those six within three days. It's been intense and non-stop, and I love it. It's incredible the amount of diversity in the east. Coming from living in a small town in a midwest my entire life, this summer has been so eye-opening. To everything. I have not met a single person that experienced a similar upbringing that I did. Simultaneously, I have yet to meet an individual that I have nothing in common with. Solidarity. Embarrassingly enough, this is a term I've only been introduced to and deeply learn this summer. I am in love with this single word because of the meaning and significance behind it. The fact that as human beings we have all suffered, and because of this we must reach out to others and recognize them as dignified human beings. 

 As I've traveled to the many different locations this past week, this term keeps stirring in all the activity that I do and interactions around me. The world is always moving, there is really so much happening. I think we often loose sight of this, I know I do especially coming from a small town I have been familiar with my entire life. You get locked inside your own sphere, with consistent interactions with the same people, day to day tasks, and habits. I'm not saying it's a bad life, I'm just saying that sometimes we forget the world we have created for ourself is not THE world. Living in New Jersey and spending time in places like NYC and Philly, I am regularly being remind with the amount of people on this planet. I mean really, walking through central park, you think being a park and all it would be quiet and cute and everything, but this park is literally larger than my entire hometown. I remember strolling around on a sunny Saturday and thinking, "There are so many SOULS here." So, enter solidarity. This summer has changed the way I look at individuals and the way I view people as a whole. I'm trying not to view people as simple background or something going on around me, but as souls, three-dimensional characters with a life and aspirations, and fears. Just like you and me. 

      Back to what I was saying about interactions always occurring: there always is. All around you. As we were leaving Philadelphia on Independence Day among the massive swarm of people, or course there were people in the street selling something. Chocolate, light-up pacifiers, bandanas, you name it. I even saw a man selling a puppy. These were the sells that were visible to the public crowd, but I wondered what transactions were taking place that no one saw on the same street that I walked on. I don't think many people think about this. There was probably a woman my age being sold that night. 

       The next day we spent the day in NYC, a city I very much surprisingly fell in love with. Of course I wasn't going to pass up a chance to go to New York, but I never thought I would like the city as much as I did. There is so much MUCH there. I can't describe it. Always something going on. All the cities I have been to in the past have a sky line, typically made of maybe a dozen or so skyscrapers. But NYC is a different story, there is absolutely no skyline and it's one massive building after another. Sometimes I think people, including myself, view skyscrapers as one entity. We forget that there's actually human beings in these buildings. Maybe some are watching us walking the street, or maybe some are drinking coffee, or visiting with someone else inside. The interesting thing about a big city is that despite being far from home, there will always be someone from the state you live. Some friends and I were standing in the bathroom line at M&M's World (this is a huge, three-floor store dedicated to the candy-coated chocolate) and I was chatting with them about how the city is so much different than Kansas. I saw the woman behind me showing interest in my conversation as soon as I mentioned Kansas, and she piped up and said she was from Olathe. A nun I met this week is visiting a friend in Kansas this fall. This only satisfies my theory that everyone in the US has some tie to the midwest.

     This concept of connections and paths isn't just for the city. I notice this amount of tiny interactions in West Virginia as well. Just in one day of construction on a trailer house I saw at least two dozen types of bugs. There were slugs, snakes, deer in the forrest. It's amazing the amount of life that's happening around us. 

greyhound field trips...

  My dad has been razzing me for quite some time for me to visit Northern Burlington, the high school he graduated from. This was really significant to me to visit, because unlike my mom's side of the family that had multiple generations growing up in the same small town, my father didn't establish a solid location where he grew up. And while Ohio is where out family generated from and a place everyone on his side can identify with, so many memories were made in other states, homes, and schools. Many of these places I have never seen. I think it's pretty amazing that only a few months ago, I saw my dad's other high school in Frankfurt, Germany. Interesting how the world works sometimes. Obviously being in NJ, I was interested in seeing the actual high school he graduated from. I am incredibly bless not only for this opportunity, but also the fact I have two great friends who went with me. It was a beautiful day to take a field trip to south Jersey. 

double-decker bikes, ice cream, and cloudy days...

I can't believe this is the third week I've been in New Jersey! So much has happened in the past two weeks…

Where I'm staying in Lawrenceville, used to be a covent for nuns at St. Ann's (the parish we're staying at). I'm living here with twelve other people who come from all over the country. Even as far as Slovakia! (this would be Maria, who traveled the world to do me the honor of being my roomate ;) I've really enjoyed community living. In just a short time we've all become incredible close with each other. A part of this is because of our first WorX week last week. Although there's twelve members of the team, typically what happens each week is that we all are divided to either lead JusticeworX (the high school service program), or ServiceWorX (middle schoolers). Last week was JusticeWorX, and all leaders in my community worked in the same program. The week was incredibly challenging and rewarding. I think because we got to experience the week together, work together for a common goal, share joys and aggravations, it made us so much closer than before. But more on that later. 

The week before last (two weeks ago) was our training week. However, we were blessed with the opportunity to travel around the area in between our training schedule. Tuesday of training week we headed to Philadelphia to attend Beyond the Walls: Prison Health Care & Reentry Summit, a conference focused on issues surrounded the current mass incarceration issue in the United States, presented by Philadelphia FIGHT for AIDS Education Month. The conference included presentations and discussions on abuse in prisons, reentry strategies for previously incarcerated individuals, and medical and health care issues in the prison system, including those topics focusing on HIV and other blood borne diseases. The keynote speaker was Michelle Alexander, author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness", a New York Times Best-Selling book. She, like the conference, was absolutely amazing. This is a topic I feel very passionately about, so to attend a WHOLE conference dedicated to the issue was like Disneyland to me. 

On Thursday, the whole team met Wills. Wills works at a bike shop in Trenton that restores and sells used bikes. The money then goes to sponsor the local Boys and Girls clubs. After school classes are offered for students coming from low-income families. As soon as they complete training, they have the opportunity to work at the shop. It's really a beautiful operation. Wills gave us all a bike tour around Trenton, guiding us on his double decker bike (if you don't know what this is, just imagine a bright green bike three times taller than your run-of-the-mill bike, of course there will be a video of this to come…). Major props to him for guiding around a group of twelve people through Trenton, all of which are not from the area. We had bike chains fall off, tires pop, near-death occasions, and Jaen getting lost at least three times. Again, major props, Wills. As well as working at the bike shop, Wills is involved in SAGE, a city restorative art project in Trenton. He took us to all the major sites, including the Gandhi Garden (a community garden), and the headquarters of Terra cycle. More info here: http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/ 

Friday we all went to the Jersey shore. We were incredible fortunate in this adventure, due to the fact rain had been predicted for the day all week, but luckily it was clear and sunny at the beach! Since the beach wasn't technically opened for the season, there were the lifeguard gestapo patrolling up and down the shore on a four-wheeler, demanding we not go in the water. So obviously we made a game out of playing as joyfully and fiercely in the water as much as we could, then running like hell back far on the shore whenever they came our way again. 

Despite all the fun we had, I promise you we did do work :) We used this week to travel to our many service sites we would be taking students this summer. This included TASK (Trenton Area Soup Kitchen), a low-income preschool, a home for adults with developmental disabilities, nursing homes, and assessing vacant properties in the city. We divided in teams of four, and on Wednesday, my team and I were assigned to Children First, a day-care in Trenton. Virtually all the children there were bilingual, with the majority being Guatemalan. Of course, with little children you can't not have a fantastic time, plus it gave me the opportunity to practice my less than stellar Spanish. The amount of love and dedication there really blew me away. The building itself is incredibly small, and it serves close to 50 children in four "classrooms" created by room dividers. Despite the conditions, the teachers are incredibly patient and compassionate with the children. They told us they are aware of the situations the children are experiencing at home (sleeping in the bathtub because of bedbugs, shootings close to their home, lack of food...), and they want to make their day at the preschool as great as possible. The teachers were so grateful to have us, they ended up giving us so much food they had. Juices, snacks, cereal, and milk. I was astounded. These people were scraping to get by, and now they were giving all this to US? Walking the several blocks back to our car, we saw several men sitting on their front porch (this is very common in Trenton, people are constantly on the sidewalk, sitting outside their house, etc). Jaen called out to them, because he is our resident New Mexican and never passes a chance to speak to a stranger in his native tongue. Even I visited with them, and despite my poor Spanish, we had a good conversation. (one man even thought I was from Mexico - reassuring words to someone whose skin has barely seen the sun this summer). These men were SO hospitable and grateful for the fact we stopped to visit with them and gave them some of the food we had received from the preschool. They showed us pictures of their family members, and insisted we stayed for some watermelon. However, we had to pick up another group around that time, a cause that seemed unreasonable to our new friends. They were very convincing, but still, maybe another time. 

That experience was my favorite part of the week. Moments like that that are unplanned, unscheduled, talking with people about their life. I can tell you there are some amazing people with tremendously intricate stories living in Trenton. They make me seem so small compared to how hard they've worked in their life and how kind they are. But more to come on that in the next post...

Thoughts on the week: 
1. New Jersey loves their ice cream and pizza. 
2. And pork roll 
3. The liberty bell is not a bell. I'm pretty sure it's made out of plastic. 

Pre-Worx Video!

Hey guys...check out this (very) short video about things I did pre-NJ! It's dorky, so bare with me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skX5UDr98js

Thus far...

OKAY. So here's the deal: I've been in Lawrenceville since Sunday. It has been awesome. So much has happened that it feels like it should be the end of the week instead of just Tuesday. Holy cow.

This is going to be very brief, and I apologize but I just wanted to give a quick update. Oh, it's brief because we have one internet cable in the house and sometime is in line, and we're going out to Trenton this evening so we gotta scoot.

Today we went to Philly for Beyond the Walls: Prison Health Care and Reentry Summit presented by Philadelphia FIGHT for AIDS Education Month. Until two days ago I had no idea I would be going to this today, and I felt like a kid going to Disney world. So. Freaking. Awesome.

But more to come on that.

Oh, and I had a Philly cheesesteak.

Also, shout out to Ellis county for actually producing some precipitation this week. Way to go!

Memorial day...

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, which in today's terms basically translates to a day off of work in the United States. I think many people, especially those in my age group, have lost sight of the significance behind this day.

I'll be honest, growing up, Memorial Day to me was dragging my happy summer ass early out of bed to be bussed around to local cemeteries to play in the high school band. Patriotic tunes, prayer, gunshots. Rise and repeat, we'd be off to the next site. That's not to say I didn't appreciate the day and it's meaning, it was just met with a mundane routine year after year.

I have both family members and friends who are veterans and are currently serving. I respect these men and women tremendously. I have begun to appreciate them even more along with my increasing interest in a future military career. We really don't think about how much those in the military sacrifice and how hard they work until we apply the scenario to our own life and imagine what we would have to sacrifice. Really, think about it.

Not only is this a wake-up call to appreciate the importance of our American military, but I think Americans should reflect on their life in general as Americans. Like, this weekend I ate probably four meals a day. I had access to clean drinking water. I went to a job that takes excellent care of elderly individuals. I went to another job that takes excellent care of individuals with special needs. I took a bike ride on a beautiful night around the town I grew up in, and not once did I harbor the fear that I would be attacked. Afterwords I went home to enjoy a glass of wine. This morning I took prescription medication to aid in allergy relief. I could do all these things because I live in a country that allows me to.

How FREAKING AWESOME is that?

So this Memorial Day (and really, everyday) consider all the blessings that have been placed in your life, and think about those who are less fortunate. Men and women in the military have a long history of working hard so we can live with these luxaries. Don't take them for granted. Happy Memorial Day.

Bike rides and wine. 

Freedom, baby. 

what I needed to read today...

Wow. Isn't this good? Isn't stuff like this great just at the exact moment in time your heart needed to hear it? The validity that this verse carries to my life right now is huge. In the past two years, I've gotten rather comfortable. I'm really happy, but I'm also content. I've realized in my short time here on earth that the most rewarding instances in life are those that result from discomfort. From sweaty palms, nervous breath, tears, and leaps of faith. I know what I need to be doing with my future. I know how to get there. It still hasn't hit me I leave in three weeks. I'm trying to prepare myself in the best way possible, and right now that's breaking the ties with the comfort that I've established in the past two years. I'm Skyping with Carla, a young woman who participated in the LeaderworX program years ago. I'm hoping she'll give me a better understanding of the program and what to expect. I'm ready to get excited again and be a part of something greater than myself. 

Blog Revival...

That's right. I haven't been seen posting on my blog for the past TWO YEARS, when I started this blog specifically for sharing my experiences in counseling at a camp for individuals with special needs in Oregon.

I've decided to bring this blog to life once again as I prepare to live in New Jersey for the summer working for the Center for FaithJustice. I am excited and eager to see what this opportunity has in store for me.

Since living in Oregon, I have returned to Kansas to do the whole college thing. I have not lived anywhere differently since 2012, however, I am grateful for the events, people, and revelations that have been placed in my life in those two years. I have done a tremendous amount of growing, and I've come a long way in finding out what I want to make out of my life (I think they call this adulthood...gross).

I love to document the crazy amount I have been blessed with, but the reality is that it's sometimes  always impossible to do so during the school year with my schedule. SO: the goal is to put down as much as I can about my summer in this blog, and until then I might throw in some pointless ramblings that I feel at the time I need to get off my chest. You've been warned.