Networking Council Meeting!

Hello all! We survived and it went really well! Woo! :) I made it waking up at 5-thankfully I set 3 alarms because I didn't wake up until the 3rd one. I have much more admiration for Laura for waking up that early every day- she's a champ! Lindsay, Emily and I rode up together and had some good conversation both ways then we went to dinner at Rock Bottom once we got back. It was really fun-I really enjoy my time with them and love that we are getting to be such good friends :)

The meeting went really smooth, which was great. I was a little bummed-the student session (that I spent about 2 solid weeks working on resources for) ended up being split between students and faculty/staff so the whole thing kind of changed. It was good that we adapted it to fit the audience better but I was a little bummed that we used about 1/4 of the resources that I had put together. I just feel like it was kind of a waste of time that I could have been doing other things. I learned a lot and I can hopefully use it somewhere down the road, but I was a little frustrated at the time. My other point of frustration on teh day came from this student that I met with about a month ago. She was having issues with the programming on her campus and wanted to meet with Lindsay and me. So she showed up 1 1/2 hours late and got there when we should have been leaving, then talked for close to 1 1/2 hours before we left. So at the end of the meeting she started talking to me and was repeating all of her problems she had been having before our last meeting. So I started addressing solutions we had offered her last time and every single one she was like yeah I haven't done that, nope I haven't done that either. So she never did anything we had suggested and was telling me the same problems today. It was basically a repeat of our last meeting and I was trying to come up with different ideas for how to get her to do something instead of just complaining. After awhile she said nobody did their work so I suggested a weekly goal card that is hung up where they will see it every day that they talk about in their meetings each week (like we did in the VC-yeah!) and she freakin started crying. So here I am with this girl having a meltdown and half the staff from my office was standing right by us and had been kind of listening to the convo and they were standing behind her making faces at me cuz I made her cry. Then Lindsay saved the day and came up and started talking to her- but you better believe they gave me a hard time about making her cry! haha, I might not hear the end of that one for awhile...

I really love working there. Today (and the last couple weeks) had the potential to be really stressful but it never was. Everyone was really organized and held up their end of things and we all even left early yesterday! I feel like I really belong there and get along so well with everyone and that is just such a great feeling. All in all, my first Networking Council Meeting was a success! Let's hope the one in September goes just as well! Happy weekend :)

Inspired.

Today I am feeling inspired. I just went to our monthly Bread for the World meeting. We had a representative for the Heifer International- IUPUI chapter come in to talk with us about collaboration. It is so inspiring to learn about all of the incredible organizations that work to make this world a better place. Heifer works with communities (not single families-the whole community has to be on board) to create self-sustaining communities around the world. Individuals donate money to support projects, most of which focus on animal husbandry. For example, a project might include a village applying for a herd of cattle to create food, income, jobs, etc. For the direct families that receive a cow in the first round, they have to give their first-born cow to a family that had not received one at the beginning. Some of the projects have shown success rates of over 6 generations of giving. They have also started projects in the US that include working with Native American populations out west as well as working with youth in cities to make urban gardens on rooftops. We are actually tentatively changing our plans for the IPI retreat to include a day of education about Heifer International as well as hopefully getting an urban garden going in a community near IUPUI. We will start making some calls probably next week after the Networking Council Meeting. It is so cool to see stuff like this and to hopefully have the chance to help implement it into the Indianapolis community. Check out their website: http://www.heifer.org/

Another reason I am feeling inspired is because I am reviewing applicants for the Wood Award. The Wood Award is a Student Community Committment Award that honors students who have a huge impact on the community from their work with service. So, I'm reading about all these awesome things that the students are doing and it makes me want to get out there and do something! Speaking of doing something...I leave for Atlanta in 19 days! I am going to Atlanta instead of Kansas City for the IUPUI ASB trip now! I will be working with a food bank that packs the food and distributes it to individuals who aren't able to go pick it up for various reasons. I'm really excited!

Career Fairs

Hi all! The rest of this week just flew by for me. I went to 2 different career fairs on Wednesday and Thursday. The one on Thursday was much better because it targeted like 10 colleges from around central Indiana. We had a much higher interest level that day and had a few people even call us on Friday about filling out applications to join AmeriCorps! Cool, huh? It was also fun because I got to spend the day with Emily and just kind of hang out. She's great and I'm really glad that we've gotten to be such good friends!

One of the things that they encourage you to do once you are a VISTA is apply for foodstamps. The living stipend is very low and after rent, utilities, and gas there isn't much left at the end of the month. I decided to take advantage of this offer and qualified for full benefits every month! I am waiting for the card to come in the mail and I am pretty excited about it-it will be such a relief to not have to pay for groceries out of pocket. It was a pretty humbling experience to get them-it has such a negative connotation with it. I kind of built it up in my mind that it wouldn't be so bad to go down to the Department of Child and Familiy Services, just walk in there and it would be a super easy process both literally and emotionally. I walked in and felt like I was in a scene out of a movie because babies were crying, it was somehow 20 degrees hotter inside than it should have been so everybody was cranky, and it was just very different than I was expecting. This little boy next to me was probably about 18 months old and he kept making noises so I would look at him and smile so I smiled back and waved to him and the mom gave me a dirty look...I was kind of taken aback at first then realized that a lot of people in there might be making less money and have kids to take care of and generally just be in a really bad situation. So, all in all it was an eye-opening experience that will cause me to think differently about most people on welfare. I think that there are still a lot who take advantage of the system and I'm not a fan of that...but for those who need it for awhile to get back on their feet, I have a much more positive view.

Now that that rant is over... next week is going to be extremely busy. Our meeting is on Friday so we have 4 days to wrap everything up! We have those huge post its all over the wall in our hallway of who needs to do what and little checkboxes by them. Summer is super organized and on top of things so I'm not worried that stuff won't get finished, it will just be a very busy week, I think! I'm so excited about the meeting though-I love stuff like this that is a culmination of all of your hard work.

Alright, a few pictures for you from last weekend:

Carson and Brooke-both kind of smiling

Carson and Sully had a great time playing in this box!

Brooke giving us a great big smile!

Brian playing the Horton Hears a Who game

Nana and Carson

Organized.

What a great weekend at home! I have some wonderful pictures to post but they aren't uploaded onto my computer just yet, so they will come soon. It was very relaxing and just good to hang out with everyone! Mom and Dad surprised me with my graduation presents: a wii and an awesome Butler sign cut out of iron! I was super surprised by both!

I have had an extremely productive start to the week. In the last 2 days I have organized both of my offices and set up a filing system that will 1-keep me more organized 2-make it easier to take work from one office to the other. It only took me over a month to do this... haha, organization is not always my strong point! To add to the productivity: last night I did all of my laundry, cleaned my room, played wii, read for fun, and watched 3 episodes of 30 Rock (my newfound obsession). Impressed? I am... haha

Lindsay and I went to a meeting with the Peace Institute ladies today to work on more planning for the May retreat. I'm getting really excited about that- there is still a lot that is up in the air, but it is coming together nicely and I'm really excited to be a part of it. Lindsay and I will both get to stay for the whole time and we will be running all of the facilitation with the group so it will be a cool experience! Also, the Networking Council Meeting is next Friday! I have most of my stuff ready to go for it. We are hoping to have a conference call this Friday to do a final walk through on the student session then we will just be doing last minute things next week. I feel like everybody is on top of their work and not stressed out-I'm sure next week will be a little stressful, but exciting at the same time! One of my co-workers, Emily, invited me to a game night at her house this weekend! I'm excited about that-we get along really well and it will be so fun to hang out with her outside of the office. I am going to 2 career fairs the next 2 days so the rest of this week will fly by since I won't be in the office.

Well, I'm going to get back to American Idol now. Hopefully the last few singers are better than the first several have been-I've not been impressed today. How did some of these people make it to this round?! Happy Tuesday night :)

Visitors

I had visitors at work yesterday! My parents, Crissy, Carson, and Brooke came to visit on their way to Illinois. It was a low-key day in the office so we had the chance for everybody to just hang out and chat for a little bit, which was nice. Mom and Dad also surprised us with Long's doughnuts (which were a key part of our lunch)! It was really cool to have the people from two huge parts of my life come together and meet each other.

It is quiet in the office again today. Two people have a personal day and two are working from home so its very quiet. Brian (my brother in law) and I are headed to Illinois this afternoon to meet up with the rest of the family. I should get out pretty early today since it's so quiet in here and I worked through lunch since everybody else was busy. I'm excited for a weekend at home to celebrate Mom's birthday :)

I get to go to 2 career fairs next week to promote our summer VISTA positions! That should be fun :) I also started creating a workbook about leadership to be used at our Summer Institute in August. It is making me respect people who make textbooks or a living a LOT. It is taking a lot longer than I thought it would but it's really interesting. I keep imagining what I would like if I was doing this workbook so hopefully what I like is similar to what our students like and they can take a lot away from this. We are going to get the workbooks published and we might sell them on our website, which would be really cool! Lindsay and I are teaming up on them-I am doing leadership, she is doing one on fundraising, budgeting, and other financial "stuff", then we will tag team one about assessment, marketing, action plans, etc.

Alright, well I should get back to work but just wanted to do a quick update before the weekend! Happy Friday the 13th-be safe! :)

Pacers and health benefits!

I officially have my health benefits card! Woo! That's really all I have to say on that subject-I just felt cool (and old) when I got it in the mail today so I thought I would share :)

Work is still going well. I have 33 completed surveys so I was able to put together a preliminary report that I will go over during our staff meeting tomorrow. I have a lot of different projects going right now-the ones I have mentioned in the last few posts, plus I just started working on a couple different workbooks for our Summer Institute that will take place in May. Those will be neat because we are planning to get them published and potentially sell them on our website, cool huh?

For those of you who know and love Butler, you should check out this link to Bobby Fong's monthly address. It is a good story and a good read. http://editor.ne16.com/he/vo.aspx?FileID=c4565355-aeb8-4c65-b53a-21311ce81627&MemberID=357271752&MailID=8486740

Brian and Carson invited me to the Pacers game in a suite with them this evening! They played the Cleveland Cavaliers and it was a close game-the Pacers won by 1 point on a free throw with .2 seconds left, and Lebron James scored 47 points! It was my first Pacers game and I think it will be hard to top this experience... Here are a few pictures from the night:

Carson with "Boomer" in the background



Lebron James

I also have a couple pictures from the other night at Crissy's. I went to hang out with her, Lexy, and Brooke while the boys went swimming.

A pretty pose for the camera

I love how intently she is watching his hand-he was concerned about the flash hurting her eyes, so he covered them for her :) What a good big brother!

Finally-I have a video from one of the time out entertainment shows for the night. Carson really enjoyed this (so did I!) so I thought it would be a good one to post on here. Look how technologically savvy I have gotten! Haha!

One Month

Wow, I can't believe that a month has already passed, but at the same time I feel like I have been here a lot longer. I love being here, I love the work I am doing, and I feel so content. It sucks knowing that there is a time limit on my being here, but that will be something to deal with at a later date...

At the one month mark, I finally got my first paycheck today! With that, things I will make a list of things I am thankful for:

1. My parents teaching me to have a savings account (and not touch it) and having built it up enough that I had enough to live on until now.


2. I am thankful for a family that supports my decision to willingly live in poverty for a year both emotionally and by sending me back to Indy with enough food to feed a small army, as well as helping me with rent for a couple months more.


3. I am thankful that I was born with a sense of humor solid enough to put up with a multitude of poverty jokes from those who will make more in a couple of months than I will make all year.


4. Having the opportunity to be doing exactly what I want to do right now and having the experience of a lifetime.

I could probably keep going for awhile, but I will stop it there because I have a meeting with my supervisor now. Happy Friday, have a wonderful weekend :) You all should check out this article when you have a few minutes of free time... http://www.minnpost.com/community_voices/2009/02/06/6479/a_stimulus_plan_to_remake_america_invest_in_national_service

Hawaii!

I wish that title meant that I was going to Hawaii...close, but not quite. Our director (Maggie) just got back from the director's meeting in Hawaii. She brought us lei's and macademia nuts-who knew I liked them? They were delicious... I have decided that someday when I am in a director/supervisory position, I want to be like Maggie. I love that she takes such a genuine interest in everybody in the office and remembers what you tell her (like where my sisters went to college!). She also is great about asking everyone's opinion in the office even on pretty big issues and really creates a team atmosphere. It sounds like the last director was the opposite so I'm really thankful that Maggie is in charge of things now.

While I'm on the Maggie rant, she took me to lunch yesterday at Bazbeaux (an awesome pizza place for you non-Indy folk) and we basically just hung out and learned more about each others lives. The final reason I like her: with the snow it is hard to see the lines in the parking lot and she got blocked in-she was in the middle of a block of 9 cars and didn't even get mad! She was like I'm really sorry, I'm going to have to ask you to drive...but she totally didn't get upset about the situation like I (and most people) probably would have.

Today has been pretty low-key as far as my work goes. I'm still working on putting together materials for the Networking Council Meeting. We have the tentative schedule for the student track all put together, which is exciting! Other exciting work news: I got a binder and sheet protectors to start making my first portfolio! Yeah! It will be really neat to be able to look back at the end of the year at everything that I did.

Life news: I went to Crissy and Brian's last night to help Brian with the kids while Crissy was at class. I got my first smile from Brooke! It definitely made my night :) I was holding her while I was eating and while I was talking to her she started waving her arms and gave me a huge grin! Of course I didn't get any the rest of the night, but that one was good enough! I got dominated by Carson playing Wii baseball. Not a surprise there. I also got some good snuggle time when he asked me to read to him before bed-I felt pretty cool because he usually picks somebody else to read to him! Haha true there were only 2 of us to choose from, but I still felt special! Off to finish up some stuff before I head out for the day. I'm going home to make lasagna for our Monday night (delayed until Thursday) dinner this week. Wish me luck :)

Over the snow...

Hey all! So, just when all the snow from last week was melting, we get hit with another snow storm. It took me an hour and 15 miuntes to get downtown-boo! Thanks, Crissy for entertaining me when I was going super-slow :) The snow is really pretty to look at though-it looks like it is from a movie, falling perfectly. All the evergreens outside my window look gorgeous-I wish I had brought my camera with me!

My window at work looks out onto the edge of a roof and there is a black railing that runs all along the edge of it. Last week, I was sitting here looking out the window and all of a sudden this huge hawk landed right on the railing! He sat there for probably close to 5 minutes just looking around-it was really cool to see. I never really think about hawks living in the city so I wasn't expecting to see him here at all! There were also some cute, fat little robbins that looked like huge balls of fluff just jumping around in the snow! Haha

Lindsay and I went to a meeting last week to plan our May Plunge in Indianapolis. I'm really excited about it-we will be working with 12 students from around the state and it will be an intensive educational/service experience for 3 days that will be focused on youth and the impact of the environment. We are hoping to get a doctor/nurse to come in and talk about the effects of lead and other home pollutants on the children and their schoolwork and development in general. We are also hoping to get the students on home visits with the health department and a full day working with Rebuilding the Wall. Rebuilding the Wall is an Indy based non-profit that does work similar to Habitat for Humanity. They work with families to revamp old, abandoned homes and make them livable for the families. They also require the families to volunteer a certain number of hours each week in order to have part ownership of the home, and they teach them different skills or develop skills in order to help provide an avenue for income once they get the home. It's a really neat organization and I think it would really add to the whole experience! Hopefully it all continues to piece together as well as it has started! Also-a call for help...I want to be able to send the students home with concrete tools on how they can make a difference after being exposed to so much "stuff" I think they will be a little overwhelmed and want to do something but may not be sure what to do...I'm thinking I would like to send a book but I'm not really sure what literature exists along the lines of youth and the impact of the environment. If anybody has any suggestions, please let me know! Thanks :)

Two quick cute stories about the kids I have babysat for since Soph. year. Maeve (3 1/2 years old) was playing basketball at school the other day and her dad was volunteering. He told her to go play defense so she went and tackled the boy with the ball! haha! Then they were out at a restaurant and Owen (2 years old) saw a black man walk by and started yelling, "Mom! It's Barack Obama!" Haha, gotta love the things kids say :)

I'm really excited to go home in 2 weekends for Mom's birthday (which you need to get me a list still, Mom)!! It will be the first time we have all been in Illinois since Brooke was born! Yeah :)

Alright, I need to go finish getting together the application for our Plunge so we can start getting it out to students! Thanks for reading-it was kind of a long post! Stay warm.