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

Volunteering in America

**I took this post from a fellow VISTA member...Indiana is doing alright for itself in this study!

Volunteering in America 2009," a study published by the Corporation for National and Community Service, gives an extremely comprehensive look at service and volunteerism in America now and in the past six years.On this interactive web page of the study, you can select different states and neighborhoods to see how they compare, read the overall conclusions and statistics of the study, and even create slideshows, utilize training tools, and customize the results to get the information you're most interested in (including volunteer activity, service hours, or volunteer demographics such as age and gender).

Overall, the study finds that despite the recession, volunteer rates have not changed significantly in the last year, but the way we serve has changed. The study found that less formal ways of serving a community has increased in popularity.

So, how does Indiana stack up? Indiana ranked 19th out of the 50 states and Wsahington, D.C. in percentage of residents volunteering (30.5%). In terms of number of hours served, our ranking rises to 6th in the nation with 45.8 hours per resident. This might be attributed to another finding of the study- residents living in mid-size communities, especially in the midwest, contribute more volunteer hours than residents living elsewhere.

Nationwide, women were found to be the most likely volunteers (working moms have the highest volunteer rates of all) and men are more likely to volunter in their community in less formal ways (not through an organization). Enjoy the feast of service knowledge!

The Most Powerful Generation in America

Hey all- I received this article from the Director of our office and found it very interesting.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20090713/cm_huffpost/230311

Life has been keeping me very busy lately. The lease on our old house ended so we spent the weekend moving-with plenty of help from all of our families! The old house is empty and cleaned but we still have a lot of unpacking/decorating to do. Once we get it all put together I will put up some pictures so you can see our new house! It is beautiful :)

Sorry this is such a short post, plenty of updates coming in the near future.