Heart and Journey, Round 2

I surprised Crissy with tickets to the Heart and Journey concert for her birthday! Her friend Dana, Jarod, Crissy, and I all attended the concert in Indy and it was a blast! Here are a few pictures and videos from the evening.

Journey

The stage

me and Jarod

Crissy and Dana

Crissy and me

And now for a few videos of some classic live music!

Randoms

In this post, I will post some random pictures from August to update you on all that happened!

This is the group of lovely ladies from the Social Venture Institute that I planned. During the week we looked at different social ventures from a local to global level, different non-profits that worked to pull individuals out of poverty, and the business mechanics of forming a non-profit and how to run a successful business.

Volunteering at the Horizon House day shelter by sorting clothing in their donation center

The group hanging out down by the canal

A random thunder storm that flooded the parking lot at work...don't worry-my car is not in this picture!

The ICC Summer VISTA's. Over a 10-week period during the summer, I had the chance to help plan professional development trainings and workshops for the ICC Summer VISTA's. These individuals were focused on beginning community-campus relations that are being carried into the school year by either full time VISTAs or students working on the campuses. This group was awesome and it was so much fun getting to work with them and a great experience planning their trainings and giving presentations!

Conclusion to the ABC's

So, I have 2 posts that I did during the ABC's but here are my final thoughts on the conference...

Just a refresher-the ABC's are put on by the Break Away office (my dream job) who works solely with Alternative Break programs across teh country. They host 3 conferences each summer in different locations in conjunction with a college campus. Butler and IUPUI worked together to secure one of the conferences this summer, so I spent 10 days exploring and learning even more about the Alternative Break scene.

Having had a couple of months to think about what I learned, I'm excited to report that I know I am on the right path. For a long time now my passion has been serving others, and my favorite way to do this is through Alternative Breaks. I love how close groups get when they work together for a week. I love the impact a group can make in such a short time-not only on the community members where they are working but also on each other. In short, I could go on and on about how much I love Alternative Breaks and how I know I have found my place. I want to plan and organize these trips so that I can give back a small amount of what has been given to me through these programs over the last 4 years. I could seriously go on forever, but I will spare you all :) Here are some pictures from the amazing week!

Jimmy and William- 2 of the guys in my group

The Copper Bellied Water Snakes playing the slap game while waiting for the kids at Damar to come play kickball

Jack, Chris, Mallory, and Jarod after a site-leader training session

The Copper Bellied Water Snakes creating our team mission on the first night

A pretty picture of Indy while the site-leaders were exploring the city

Surprise, Bella is a boy!

This is kind of old news...but incase you haven't heard...I learned on Bella's second visit to the vet that she is, in fact, a he. He is perfectly healthy though and going to be a big kitty- 12-14 pounds minimum! Here are some pictures both new and a little older :)

Bella and Justin napping together

Bella and Remy (Liz's dog) hanging out

Posing for a picture on my bed


Jumping trying to get the tape measure that Carson was playing with-he has a killer jump!

Nap time :)

Amanda's Wedding

Way back in June my best friend got married! I was lucky to be part of the wedding and got to spend a fun weekend hanging out with the wedding party celebrating :) Here are some pictures:

Jake (the groom) and me

Brent, my walking buddy

Inside the biggest limo ever!


The beautiful bride :)

Early in the morning at the salon getting our hair done

It was a great weekend and I am so happy for Jake and Amanda! I'm a little bummed that they moved all the way to Missouri and we're no longer 30 minutes away from each other but I guess that's part of growing up. So, congrats to Jake and Amanda :)

Updates coming soon

I have oh so many updates for you all...here is a preview to hopefully keep you coming back even though I have let all of my faithful readers down with inconsistent posting this summer:

-Amanda's wedding pictures
-the rest of my thoughts on Break Away as well as pictures
-new house pictures
-Surprise, Bella is a boy :)
-Heart and Journey concert updates
-a retreat from work update

and I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff in this list so there may be a couple of surprise posts. Sooo hang in there, good things are coming soon!

A Moment to Brag...

Hey all! I'm going to take a quick minute to brag on the work that I have been involved with at ICC. We had a great article published on the Environmental Leadership Retreat we hosted in May as part of the College Guide in the Indy Star. Check it out here: http://www.indystar.com/article/99999999/CPUB03/90730061/Environment+serves+as+teacher+for+these+students