The serving checklist needs checks next to Job #1 and Nashville, TN!

Day two and job #1 is under our belt now.  Today we finished our site visit in Nashville with a very special family.  They were so welcoming and gracious.  I think we will all be reminded of them when hearing the words southern hospitality.  While the boys finished framing windows and working on the bathroom, we reorganized the garage.  The area for the girls was transformed into an art-play station. The amount of labels was astounding… you could find everything from foam pieces to dress up clothes to squirt guns in a matter of minutes.  It was amazing.  Later in the day we found out that their aunt had so many toys and crafts because she did not have them growing up.  This was only one of the many selfless actions this woman has taken throughout her life. 

This trip has been incredible and we are only ending day three.  How can nine people just get together, travel the country in an RV, donate time and money to projects that are unknown, and laugh more than a full house at a comedy show? Because you don't know anything about these people, I encourage you to read the updated blog on www.thecalltoserve.org.  The videos are amazing and edited by our own CTS crew member, Andrew.  In the meantime, I will share a piece of my journal with the world. Every night I write an entry then list everyone's name.  Then, I write a memorable moment with that person for the day and something new that I learned about them.

Today's memorable moments and new knowledge:

Andrew: Memorable moment = watching CTS Cribs of Betty White. New Knowledge = he has gone skydiving twice

Andrew: Memorable moment = at lunch, he threw a stink bug viscously across the picnic area. New knowledge = is a go for it kind of person. If you don't ask for ice cream, you might never get eskimo pies delivered by your job site contractors. 

Anna: Memorable moment = playing dress up with the costume box. New knowledge = learned how to drive the RV shortly before the trip

Bailee: Memorable Moment(x3) = all three impersonations. New knowledge = her parents own a health food store

Ben: Memorable moment = watching him hand out one of his giving back project bags to a little boy at the RV campground.  New knowledge = he owns the brightest tennis shoes I have ever seen in my life

Myself: Memorable moment = My memorable moment for the day was seeing the results of our hard work through the excitement and appreciation from the family members.  It was just such an amazing moment to see the physical transformation and feel the emotional appreciation and accomplishment of completing job site #1.  New knowledge = I learned that your life can change overnight and the luxuries of life may not always be accessible for you at every moment. 

Pat: Memorable moment = watching him climb the tree in the front yard of the house and throwing a branch at Ben. New knowledge = quotes movies regularly

Sommer: Memorable Moment = Taking pictures in the completed craft-play area. New knowledge = She was a cast member in Vagina Monologues at her school too!

Steven: Memorable moment = him trusting me to pack his lunch. New knowledge = he secretly is a part of the A team and has mad skills framing windows. 

Tomorrow, we hit the road in the early hours of the am to Austin, TX. Stay tuned for more exciting blogging. Also, be sure to follow The Call to Serve on facebook. We're updating multiple times per day!

Below are some pictures of the results of our service in Nashville.

Sommer power washing the house yesterday.

We could only reach so high. At least the latter was 4:1...Safety first!

Black Beauty roasting outside of worksite #1.

The craft area that Sommer and I worked on!

You've been served by CTS, equipped with lunch bags, buttons, and a book. The bags and buttons were made my LEARN after school students. 

The finished art-play area!

Pat and Ben mudding away.

The new basement area!

Steve happy about his framed windows.

Hanging out in the play area after a long day of work. 

Bop-it time!

Mixing work with fun. We are the ultimate multi-taskers. 

Hello, country music capital of the world! I think this might be my relocation destination someday.

Sunday May 29 marked day number one of the 2011 Call to Serve trip.  We all met in North Huntington around 8 a.m., had a short breakfast, meet and greet, then hit the road! It was our first day on the road together and it was certainly an adventure. 

Prior to leaving, we took a quick photo!

Two RV's on the open road. Our first malfunction was a can of spaghetti sauce flying out from the above storage and hitting the dining table. Fortunately, the sauce did not spill and all that was needed was relocation.  From PA we drove through a small part of West Virginia, almost entirely through Ohio, through Kentucky, and finally, to our destination in Nashville, Tennessee.  Along the journey, we shared stories, ideas, and laughs.  We also shared a wonderful lunch on the side of a road with a gorgeous field to look out upon.  Apparently this spot was a unique picnicking area because two separate police officers stopped to check on us.  Before leaving, we all went into the field and took a picture. This impulsive move led to many of us picking ticks off of ourselves and others.  After our short picnicking adventure, we hit the hot, sweaty, southern road again.  This may have been due to the lack of air conditioning in the black beauty but the windows rolled down provided a nice breeze as we played cards, played games, and slept.  

Upon arrival at the camping grounds, we made a nice dinner together.  The intended meal did not happen due to an oven ordeal, but nonetheless, we got a meal on our plates and food in our bellies.  We had a spaghetti dinner with salad and bread on a red, checkered table cloth accompanied by a citronella candle that was searched for high and low.  After we were all content, we headed to the campground pool for a rather intense game of beach volleyball with other campers at the site.  Now, it is time to rest easy and prepare for the very first volunteer day on the trip!  

Today, Memorial Day, was our first day of volunteering.  We woke up early, ate breakfast outside on the picnic tables, loaded into black beauty, and headed over to Lutheran Disaster Services to start day one in Nashville, TN.  Before meeting our contractor, we made our lunches for the day with Sandra and chatted for a while before heading to our site.  At our site, we met an amazing family that struggled with many trials.  Combatting health problems, everyday problems, and the flood faced this family.  It was hard to hear all of the tribulations that the family went through in the past year, but the emotional ties we fostered amazed each one of us.  Immediately, we began moving items from the basement to the garage.  Afterwards, we sanded down the walls and prepared to paint.  Once we were all good and dusty from the sanding, we had lunch on a blanket under the tree in the front yard. 

Helping load the truck to take to the site.

All pictures courtesy of Ben Petchel

After lunch, Sommer and I were sent outside to power wash the outside of the house.  It reminded us of a carnival game that you shot water at to move pieces across or vertical but with a lot more power!  At one point, after about an hour and half of power washing in 93 degree weather, the machine began smoking and we needed it to cool down.  It was too bad that we did not get that on film.  We went inside, to the nice air conditioned basement, to help with painting.  I decided to tackle cutting in the closet.  After smelling paint fumes for about 45 minutes and spilling paint all the way down my front, we were ready to clean up the worksite and head back to the RV campsite. 

In a few minutes, we will prepare dinner and get ready to head into Nashville for some site seeing! 

Less than 24 hours until I'm on the RV!

In less than 24 hours, I will begin the service trip of a lifetime, traveling from Pittsburgh, PA to five other locations around the country.  In less than 24 hours, I will meet the nine other people that I will be volunteering with and will enter the RV for the first time.  This leaves little time to gather the rest of my bug spray, sunscreen, clothes, shoes, and household items for my trip!

My bags are nearly packed and my "Giving Back Project" bag is complete.  The Giving Back Project was started by The Call to Serve.  Each person on the trip was to make a unique bag, filled with items to give to another person along the trip.  I decided to make my bag for a school-age girl or teacher that could pass out the items to appropriate children.  At my part-time job, I asked for donations of books, school supplies, small toys, and snacks. My coworkers helped me out so much that the bag is stuffed to the gills! The bag is filled with notebooks, folders, numerous books, pens, pencils, glue sticks, scissors, jump ropes, frisbees, chalk, crayons, markers, highlighters, stickers, post-it notes, silly bands, candy, bubbles, lunch bags, snack bags, headbands, hair ties, pencil grips, erasers, and hand sanitizer.

Also, I had my students at LEARN After school make buttons.  After a frustrating attempt of using a button machine, I resorted to a hot glue gun.  The buttons turned out wonderful and many of the buttons made decorate the outside the blue book bag.  The buttons that would not fit on the outside are securely placed in the two outside pockets of the bag.  The proud, new owner of the bag will be able to decorate the straps or use the buttons for another purpose.  Finally, I had the elementary school students decorate lunch bags.  These lunch bags will be filled with snacks collected from my team teacher and distributed to people along the trip.

Below is the finished product! This bag will go to a lucky student along my journey of service. Stay tuned to see who receives this amazing, fun-filled book bag!

Below is the team teacher that I work with at the elementary school, Ashley McNary. She was a great help with stuffing the book bag, collecting items for the bag, and attempting to produce buttons. Thanks for all of your hard work and support! Also, a big thanks is due to all of the other coworkers at the office who donated items and ideas for the my Giving Back Project book bag.

3 Days to Go!

In three short days, I will be embarking on my 2011 summer service trip.  I will be on an RV, traveling around the USA with nine college-aged people.  Sunday will be the first day that we all meet and begin traveling to Nashville, TN.  From Nashville, we will travel further South to New Orleans, LA.  From New Orleans to Austin, TX, to Pensacola, FL, to Wilmington, NC. Wilmington will mark our last stop before traveling home to Pittsburgh, PA.

I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of the friends, family, coworkers, and institutions who have donated towards my trip.  Without your monetary support, this trip would not have been possible.  I appreciate the generosity and willingness to support such an amazing opportunity! Thank you.

Because my bags are still unpacked and my giving back project incomplete, I need to cut this entry short.  Stay tuned during my three week service trip... It begins in 3 days!