Chelsey Lately...

Seems like I’ve been very busy lately, but probably really haven’t! I haven’t written since I met my refugee family have I? Or at least since I met them on my own? Let me back up then.

They are the sweetest people I’ve ever met. I could stop right there. But I won’t! I’m sure there’s some privacy issues so I will just call them Mom, Dad, and Sunny (nickname), which will probably be easier for you to keep straight anyway. So anyway, I went over and I had already met Sunny so I knew she was warm and very friendly which eased my mind about meeting Mom & Dad. Mom & Dad are just as sweet as Sunny. First I come in and am offered water, I accept because I read it’s rude not to (whereas in our culture I think sometimes we feel it’s better to decline when things are offered to us). Then without even asking if I wanted any, over the course of the 3 hours I was there I was brought tea, cookies, cake, juice, apple slices, nuts, and a Clementine. Needless to say, I now know not to eat before I go to see them because they will FILL me up, even against my will. They will not take no for answer at all. So we just spent the time talking and getting to know each other. Sunny is engaged, her fiancé is back in Egypt for now. (Did I mention last time that they escaped Iraq to Egypt for a few years before coming here?) Mom was a manager in a communications company, and Dad has been an electrician for 25 years. He worked with the government, American Army, and was very successful. You’re wondering what happened? There came a point when the militia (terrorists) threatened people that if they worked with the Americans they would be killed. The option was to flee. There is another daughter who is still in Egypt (originally I thought she was in Iraq still). She is married with a baby and just waiting on the go-ahead to come over to the States. They have a computer so they talk on Skype with friends and family all the time, which is nice for them since they are otherwise fairly isolated.

In the getting to know each other we took family pictures with me, and Mom wanted me to tell Ivan that he has a good girl and he better not do anything to lose me. I was sure to pass that along! We also worked on some English vocabulary by labeling things in the house. This helps with learning English words—and not just in speaking them but in spelling and reading them also.

I showed them a picture of Ivan and me which prompted a conversation about race. Other people had told them before coming here that Blacks and Mexicans were bad people and to be careful. That when things were stolen or people were selling drugs it was the Blacks and Mexicans. We had the talk about how of course there are ‘bad’ people of every race and that you just have to take it on a person by person basis, with any race. Luckily Sunny said that they haven’t had any bad experiences and that everyone they have met (of any race) has been very nice and helpful. It’s a shame that people are sent into the country thinking these things, it’s not even something they’ve had to experience themselves, or have lived with our history and yet they arrive with these thoughts. And I’m not sure even who told them, whether it was other Americans they had met, or just other foreigners who get that feeling from America. Either way it is sad. But in that way I’m happy that they will get to know Ivan and in a way be a good model for them, and give them a good experience to try and squash that information as quickly as possible. I think even by them knowing me and seeing that I am marrying a black man has probably already done a lot for influencing their views.

Which brings me to, they really want to meet Ivan! The first night I went they asked where he was and I told them I wanted to meet them first and everything. The 2nd time I saw them, same thing! I told them they would meet him soon. I’m guessing part of this interest comes from the culture where the women take a slight back seat to the man of the house. Although in their family it seems fairly equal. Everywhere wears typical western clothes, nobody is in wraps or shawls or turbins or anything like that.

The other night I took Mom & Sunny to the mall because they wanted to see it, and more importantly they wanted to see people! One of the biggest adjustments for them I think is I guess how boring America kinda is. They said people are outside talking and socializing until 4 a.m. back in Egypt! It would be a huge difference to come to America where people tend to stick to themselves, and definitely aren’t just standing around outside all hours of the night. The mall I took them to closed at 9:00—in Egypt their mall was open until midnight! Not to mention had 8 floors!

Mom loves taking pictures; she probably took 50 pictures while we were at the mall, posing with shoes, by a Christmas tree, store signs, us walking. On and on! Another adjustment for them is not having the income they once had. I mean, although they are refugees that doesn’t mean their lives were horrible beforehand, it’s really just that it became unsafe to stay where they were. They had a good income like any one of us and our now adjusting to living a very scaled back life, in a new country, and having difficulty finding jobs as well. It would be hard enough as a newcomer but especially with the economy the way it is right now. This is the hardest part for Dad, as he wants to provide for his family, and in the way that he was previously. Here sits an electrician with 25 years experience that cannot work as an electrician. It’s frustrating for them, and for me to watch. All I can do is listen, make suggestions, and just be there really.

While we were at the mall we got some ice cream and talked a little bit about life in Iraq with Saddam and once the Americans came and everything. I know that Saddam was horrible and did awful things but I have wondered if life was really that bad for the average person who was kind of off the radar if you will. Both Sunny & Mom said they had a sense of relief when we came over, and were comforted by our presence. However, they said they don’t think the government that is in place now is any better than Saddam, in fact maybe worse. They said it’s the government doing these terrorist acts and then blaming it on other terrorist groups. Who knows if that’s fact or theory or opinion of many or just some, but it’s still an interesting take. Also an interesting point—we hear a lot about the Suni and the Shiites, how they do not get along, etc. Mom is Suni and Dad is Shiite. Married. They feel the media makes a big deal and paints it that these 2 groups do not get along and in everyday life that is not really true. They say, it’s not as if you walk up to someone ask what they are, or that it even matters. So I’m sure what that it really comes back to is extremists of each type, but the point is, the media makes it sound like this is all the time, not just within extremist groups. They also said the government has a 2:00 p.m. curfew in effect, the current government. Everyone has to be in their homes by the middle of the afternoon. Just interesting little tidbits that they shared.

Bottom line, it’s going very well and I’m so happy I’m finally able to do it, and that I was matched with them. They are wonderful and treat me as if I’m family and we’ve always been family.

So aside from that, what else…the other night Ivan & I went to the Suns/Spurs game. It was a special deal through one of the my schools where you got to go watch the teams warm-up. So we were in the front row for that and got some good pictures. Games are always fun.

Awhile ago I went to an orientation for Habitat for Humanity. I’ve always been interested in it and since I’m not working for the city anymore I have more time for things like that. So this weekend will be my first time on a site. Once you attend the orientation they will email whenever they need help or you can go to a website to sign up for a weekend. Well I got an email the other day for this weekend to work on landscaping at a house. I figured I might as well because I didn’t have anything else going, we’re heading into Christmas break so I will have time off, etc. So I’ll let you know how it goes!

Speaking of Christmas break, it starts today! I’ll be coming home for about 10 days so it’ll be a long trip this time. A couple days I’ll go to St. Louis to see Ivan’s family and I think we’re going to try and get the groomsmen together to figure out what they are going to wear—which has become my biggest headache about the wedding. The rest of the time I’ll just be hanging out and spending time with people. I’m sure it’ll go fast even though it’s 10 days.

Well I guess that’s all for now. Later!

News!

Hey everyone! What’s new out here? I am FINALLY volunteering with the International Rescue Committee. I’ve mentioned this tons of times. I’ve been in touch with the IRC since before we even moved to Arizona. I went to an orientation with them in August 2007! At that time there was a long waiting list. Then when I followed up I had somehow been skipped on the list. Then I was leaving to Africa, and when I came back I started my second job. (I don’t think I mentioned that I quit the 2nd job, did I? I needed a break for school, wedding planning, and there are just other things I want to do, like volunteering). I contacted the coordinator back in September to see where they were with placing volunteers. Once again there was a waiting list so she said maybe in December. Well the other day it just happened to cross my mind again so I emailed her and sure enough, she was matching the last of her families for this year that weekend (last weekend). It was short notice but I didn’t have anything going on that Saturday so I was matched!

Quick refresher, my title is “American Friend.” I was matched with a family who I will help adjust to life in America in whatever way they need. Learning English, socializing, shopping, cleaning the house, etc. Basically just being there for them as needed. So I meet with them weekly and kind of go over different things with them and build a relationship.

Saturday the volunteer coordinator and I went to the family’s apartment to meet them. My family is from Iraq and it is just Mom, Dad, and a 20 year old daughter, who thankfully is fluent in English. Unfortunately the parents were not home when I was there but I got to meet the daughter who is the sweetest person. I knew that she knew English but I didn’t expect her to be so good at it either. She’s very talkative, warm, and so open and friendly. Her nickname is Sun because she just has that warm, sunny personality. That day the coordinator just went over my role with Sun, basically what I can and can’t help with them—financial and job questions need to go to their case managers. It was also decided that my focus will be primarily on Mom. She does not know English and is hesitant about trying it because she’s worried she will sound stupid and people will laugh at her. As is typical in the Muslim culture she tends to take a back seat to her husband and so they want me to help empower her. Work on English, getting her out of the house, learning to do some things for herself so she doesn’t feel so isolated and becomes more confident here. So I will spend a few hours (minimum) with them a week. I’m going back tonight and this time I will be on my own and will be meeting the parents. So I’m still a little nervous, although after meeting Sun that calmed a lot of my nerves. She can help to translate and you can’t help but feel easy around her. Tonight I’m thinking we will work on getting to know each other a bit and maybe start on some English by labeling things in the house. I know mom’s confidence is low when it comes to speaking English so I’m hoping if she can practice on household items, in her own home she will be more open to it and feel more comfortable with it. We’ll see! Some other examples/ideas the coordinator gave me is helping them learn the area around their house (which I first need to learn!) or cutting out coupons in the paper. Which Sun mentioned “we’ve seen these but we don’t know how to use them.” So simple things like this that we all take for granted but would be great to learn for people new to the area and on a budget. Someday Sun will get a job which will leave Mom more on her own which is where I can help too.

I’m thinking you might be having some of the typical questions, which I don’t have all the answers to yet. Such as, why are they here? As we all know, the situation in Iraq is not stable. It’s dangerous to the innocent people and not safe to be there right now. Which brings up a quick point to make--- the difference between refugees and immigrants. Immigrants willingly leave their country to move somewhere else. Refugees are basically forced to leave their homes because the conditions are not good to live in. Some of them end up fleeing to other countries and/or refugee camps. The people being placed from refugee camps into other countries go through quite a process. It’s not like the people are just picked up one day and dropped off in Phoenix. They apply, they have background checks, etc.

There are other organizations like the IRC and they all have similar processes. Once the people are brought over they are provided with housing, furniture, basic needs, and monthly money to help them settle in. With the IRC that lasts for 6 months, I’m not sure what it is for other places. The refugees have to pay back the expenses it takes to travel to the U.S. I can’t remember if they have to pay back everything from their first 6 months though…But they have to be working and supporting themselves within 6 months. They also have case managers to help with them finding jobs, etc. They have a very high success rate of refugees paying back the money and keeping up their end of the bargain. The people are gracious for the help and the opportunities and very willing to do their part.

The IRC has branches all over the U.S. where people are relocated to, and all over the world too. Phoenix just happens to be one place. So what happens once they are here? Often the goal is for refugees to be able to return to their homeland once it is stable, this doesn’t always happen, and it often takes years and years for a place to be stable again. I don’t know the exact numbers but after a certain amount of time they can start the process of becoming a citizen if that is what they choose. That should answer a lot of the questions that come up I think!

Saturday when I pulled into their apartment complex it was the most lively place I’ve seen in a long time, and it reminded me of the townships in South Africa. There are a few different complexes where many refugees are placed, so mos of the people at this complex are refugees. The people are all out talking to their neighbors and the kids are playing outside together. Very un-American! Lively is the best word I can think of. It was a nice feeling. And when I got to the apartment door you could hear Sun inside blasting Arabic music and vacuuming. Several neighbors stopped by while I was there.

I’ve wanted to do this for so long so I’m very excited it’s finally happened and I’m anxious to see where this goes. For me it will satisfy that international bug I have, while staying right here in Phoenix. I think my long term international traveling days are over for a bit but this feels just as good to me. I get to help people, but I also get to help a population I care about a lot and am very interested in, I get to raise awareness about the organization, the people, and the situations going on, which is one of my favorite things to do, and why I talk so much about the volunteering. I’d love for everyone else to try something, whatever it is that speaks to them. You know I always talk about a career change so volunteering has become my way of seeing what I’m interested in, and if I never change careers it gives me the fill I need that I don’t always feel for my own job. For me volunteering is almost selfish, haha. Of course it’s helping someone else which I like, but I like the good feeling I get, the people I meet, and the experiences. Anyway, I’ll let you know how this goes!! Wish me luck!!

Long time no talk eh?

Wow! It's been 2 months since I've written. I think it's because so many people are on facebook now that I feel like there's nobody to update. Which is quite possibly true, however I'd be upset if I quit the blog. It's a memory keeper for me more than anything else. For awhile I had it automatically update to my facebook account as a "note" but I found I don't really enjoy the conversation that comes from it. Oddly enough. I don't like to think about what I'm writing, although it's rarely of any importance or controversial. I like to just write, for my own benefit, and to update people back home, not to get into debates about things. So I switched it so that it won't update on facebook anymore. Ahh. It's a great relief! I can talk to nobody again! haha

So let's see. October...the first weekend of October we had a housewarming party, which was so fun! We had about 50 people over, grilled out, drank, played games, and just hung out. It was so much fun. I love having the space to do that, and I love that we have a lot of people in Arizona to do it with. It was at that time that I realized how many people we've met here and why we like it here. I keep wanting to have a party for everything now! It doesn't help that I love evites :) I just need a reason to send them out. haha

The week after that we went to the the Phoenix Mercury (WNBA) championship game, and they WON! It was so much fun. We've really become fans this season, we went to 4 games and they are just so much fun. Plus, the tickets are cheap so you can sit close and the excitement is just the same as an NBA game. Being at a championship game was pretty awesome. We also had a friend's wedding in October. Very pretty. Made me think about ours quite a bit. I'm trying to make peace with the fact that all eyes will be on me that day, which is the part I'm having the trouble with! I don't want to be the center of attention. Oh well.

October was also Ivan's 27th birthday! We had some friends over to play games and hang out that day. It was fun. We had a tasting to pick our menu for the wedding too. Good food :) It's Macaroni Grill for anyone who is interested! For Ivan's birthday I got us tickets to a Coyote vs. St. Louis Blues hockey game. Ivan knew we were going but I surprised him with 4th row seats. Which was fun because you're so close when the guys get slammed up against the glass!

I also spent the day doing some volunteer work with my River Rampage friends. We're trying to get people together at least once a month to keep up the volunteer spirit, good influence, and just get everyone together. We have a decent turnout each time. That day we were picking up trash at a park. It was so good to see everyone.

Halloween was fun of course. Ivan was a pilot and I was his flight attendant. We went to a party at our friend's house and then headed to the bar afterward. Lots of dancing and good times!

November... I found out my Pastor from back home lives out here now and he is going to marry us! That was pretty exciting, and I know my family will be happy to see him again as well. Which reminds me I need to schedule our pre-marital counseling. I'm nervous about that... I'm open about a lot of things but not really feelings and our relationship, etc. So I'm worried what we will talk about?! And then there's always that guilt that we aren't active in a church or anything...ah well. I'm sure we'll be ok!

I went to an orientation for Habitat for Humanity too. It's something I've always wanted to be involved with. So once you attend the orientation all you have to do is go on their website and sign up to work whenever you're available. Simple! There's not a mandatory commitment so that is cool. I haven't had time yet to actually get out there but sometime after the holidays I hope to.

The second weekend of November was the Memory Walk, which is a fundraiser for Alzheimer's. I raised $245. I went to the walk that morning and they give you a little badge to wear, and you write on there who you're walking in honor of. As soon as I wrote "Grandma & Grandpa" (Beehn & Spaulding) I got a little emotional, and it didn't stop. I know from Team In Training that these kinds of things can be a little emotional because you stop to think about the disease, what is does, the people you know who are affected, etc. It's not something I stop and think about often so I guess it just kind of got to me that day. I'm glad I did it though :)

That same day we (me, Ivan, and our friends Jeff, Julie, Kara & Kristin) all did a bowling tournament for our school district. That was fun, although we didn't win anything of course! I actually think I pulled a muscle in my arm. By the end of it I was granny rolling the ball because I couldn't hold it right! That night I went with Kristin & Kara to a little cookout at one of the teacher's house from our school. It was nice and small, and he lives out in the "country" (I put that in quotes because it seems weird to call it that out here in Arizona but that's what it is I guess....) So we sat around a fire all night just talking and playing Truth or Dare, although they were all truths. Great way to get to know people!

Ivan & I also met with a photographer & a DJ this month. I'm not super picky so we'll probably go with them. I think I want to meet with another DJ just to compare prices. But that's the last big things we have to take care of. Aside from picking out the menswear which I think we'll do soon so we can have all the groomsmen get it taken care of while we're home for Christmas. We'll see!

Last weekend I organized a Girls Night Out with a bunch of my lady friends. It was a lot of fun. We went to this place called the Shout House which is a dueling piano bar. They make fun of people in audience, make you come up on stage, etc. It was a really good time-- although I think if I go again I will hide in the corner somewhere and just watch the fun. I made it out of there without having to get on stage but we were very close and I was worried the whole time :) haha

Thanksgiving was good as usual! Ivan made all the food (he's the cook, I clean!) His cousin and his friend happened to be here so we had some family with us. Kara talked me into going out early on Black Friday with her, which I've never done before. We were at Target at 5:00 a.m. I got our Christmas tree for $25 and all the decorations for it for $10. So that was exciting! I went back out later in the day for some garland, stockings, and a few other Christmas decorations. I could really get into the Christmas decorating!

Well I guess that's all for now. Everything is good out this way. Did I mention in my previous post that Kara is living with us while she closes on a house? She is buying a short sale house so it will take awhile but it's helping her save some money and we like having her here. It's fun :) We'll be home for Christmas soon. I fly in on December 22 until January 2nd. Ivan will be in St. Louis from December 22-28th. I don't know if he'll be able to make it up to Heyworth at all though. So you'll probably see him at the wedding!

Take care! Some pics to come soon.

Save that date!

So our save-the-dates were officially sent out on Friday and I'm hearing from a lot of people that they've already received them-- even in Rhode Island! You go USPS :) If you didn't receive one, don't be alarmed, not many people did. Remember, we're keeping it small because we have to. When we first made the guest list with including everyone, it was well over 300...yeah...so, we had to do what we had to do. Unfortunately, in the name of being fair we had to skip inviting a lot of people we'd obviously love to be there. Like all of our cousins :( I never thought I had a big family until recently! haha Apparently having like 25 cousins is a lot...and most of them are married, so make that 50, plus kids, then multiply it all by 2 for Ivan's family. Bottom line, we can't pick & choose so we went with none. Aunts & Uncles got invited, and I'm spreading the word this way-- if aunt & uncle can't come, but their kids (my cousins) would like to come, the invite is theirs! And we had to skip the kids all together too. Everyone's pro-creating fools. So just our nieces & nephews have made the cut, and the wedding party's kids. So anyway, I know who's invited and who's not can be a sticky subject sometimes, but I don't want it to be. Not one person wasn't invited because we didn't want them there, the only reason we had to keep it small is because there are far too many people we love. Sounds kinda jacked up I suppose but it's just true. The good news is that we're hoping to have a cookout/party back home so we can still celebrate with everyone who couldn't make it. I might even be looking forward to that more than then wedding weekend itself since that will be a no-stress situation!

Anyway, if you did get a save-the-date, please go to the website listed there and make your hotel reservation as soon as you know you're coming!! It's a small resort and they could only set aside a certain amount of rooms. Once that amount is full then they will set aside more. I really don't want to see everyone wait til the last minute and then not have a room at our resort. That would be so sad! So if you know for sure you're coming, just make the reservation. They don't need a deposit, just a credit card to hold it on. And that website again is: http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/ChelseySpaulding&IvanNicholson

So if you didn't see it, the picture above is the picture we used, with the caption "We're taking the plunge!" Yes we really jumped in the pool in our clothes. About 2 seconds after this picture we landed in the water fully clothed. Luckily my friend Kametia who was taking the picture landed it on the first try. We were practicing with my mom taking it because we did this when they were here but she was crumbling under the pressure (sorry Mom, but you were) so Kametia stepped in and saved the day :) Oh, and no it's not my wedding dress. I just happened to have a white dress laying around, and Ivan had an old black suit. Worked out nicely. We just wanted to set the tone with something fun & playful to show how we hope the wedding weekend is too.

Now that we're pretty settled into the house the wedding is slowly creeping back into my thoughts. Although I don't know what I need to be doing...? Which I guess is a good thing. I guess we're pretty decent decision makers.

So anyway I guess that's all for now. Life's good. Hope yours is too!

Obama's School address...

I just need to share my two cents about this whole ‘Obama addressing the students’ thing.

What’s the big freakin’ deal? I get it, some people don’t support Obama. Ok, again, what’s the big freakin’ deal? Presidents address the nation all the damn time. So why is this any different than any other time the nation has been addressed? Because he wants to speak to the future of the country specifically? Wow, what a terrible idea. Such a tragedy to have a President want to get our future involved in current events and hearing information. Whoah, better watch out for your kids, they might learn something, or form an opinion. God knows we hate opinions right? We better just shield them from hearing things WE might not like, or better yet, just from a person WE don’t like; Who cares what the information is…which I believe is something like “work hard in school” and things of that nature. Yes, we definitely don’t want them to hear that either. It must be better to keep them at home or taken from the classrooms than be told be the President of the United States of America that education is important…it is better to learn that if you don’t like something you should just stay home from school, because hey, they learned it from their parents right?

Which is what gets me the most. What are we teaching the kids by saying, “Mommy & Daddy don’t like this so we’re staying home from school today!” What a great lesson to teach your kids. Hide from the things you don’t like, education clearly isn’t that important, if you don’t like someone you don’t have to listen to anything they say, respecting/listening to authority figures isn’t important, you need to do what you want in life. Yes all of these things are definitely better for kids than hearing the President talk about the importance of education, and all of these parents actions spell that out loud & clear.

Why not instead use it as an opportunity to have a conversation with your child? Discuss what they liked or didn’t like? Discuss what they think should be different?

I just think it’s a horrible lesson for kids to keep them home from school just because of some 20 minute speech that nobody really knows what will be said. Are people so insane that they really think their kids are going to be brainwashed or something? I don’t think 1 person really believes that. I think most people just enjoy making a big deal out of nothing at all. It makes them feel important. Well as long as you feel important! These are the people raising the FUTURE of this country! Wonder why we have the problems we have; Welcome to “Easy Way Out-ville.”

Class of 2010!

So one of my favorite teachers from high school is retiring soon so she's asking some of her graduates to write letters to her current class giving advice and some reflection about life after high school. Here's what I wrote:

Dear Class of 2010,

My name is Chelsey Spaulding, class of 2000. I was fortunate enough to be sitting right where you are, in AVC with Mrs. McDowell, 10 years ago (although I can’t believe it’s been 10 years, feels like yesterday!). At that point my main objective was to get on full time at State Farm or Country Companies; which was a fine plan but nothing went as expected, thankfully. I worked at State Farm through the work program but when graduation came they didn’t need my position filled full time, so I worked some odd jobs before landing at Country Companies. About 9 months later there was a big lay off. This was just the beginning of a wonderful turn of events. I realized I didn’t have many choices unless I went to college. At that time my thoughts were, “what’s the quickest degree program I can get?” So I looked at many of the 2-year programs out there- dental hygiene, x-ray tech, physical therapy assistant, and landed myself in the occupational therapy assistant program at ICC.

My first semester at ICC we did a project on alternative therapies. I did some research and chose to write about dolphin assisted therapy. I also saw this place in Florida that took interns for their dolphin program, so I applied on a whim. Imagine my surprise when I was accepted to go to Key Largo, Florida for 8 weeks the following summer, to live and work with dolphins! Of course it was an amazing summer all on its’ own to be around the dolphins but the bigger thing I got out of that experience was the people I met and the realization that I could do anything. I got to work with therapists and patients from all over the world, people who have traveled everywhere, tried things you wouldn’t imagine, shared tons of knowledge, and just opened my eyes to so many possibilities. When I came home from Key Largo that summer I was a totally different person with a totally new “plan.”
I realized I loved traveling and all that came with it so when I graduated I started working for a travel therapy company. Basically, I could tell them where I wanted to work and they find me a job there. This lead me to 2 years in Southern California and then to Arizona where I currently live and work as occupational therapy assistant. I work in the schools with kids who have disabilities. We work on many things like handwriting, cutting, coloring, tying shoes, buttoning, snapping; basically all the skills needed for the job of being a kid.

Obviously with moving it is nice to see the sights and get to know new places, but again, for me it comes back to 3 things: the people you meet along the way, learning to love & find the best in whatever “plan” unfolds in front of you, and challenging yourself all the time. Each person I’ve met and place I’ve been as lead me in so many wonderful directions; from that first scary move across the country, to raising thousands of dollars and completing marathons to help beat leukemia & lymphoma, to working with orphans in South Africa, to mentoring foster kids in Phoenix, to coaching Special Olympic athletes. With each new task I try I realize how much more I can do.

Ten years ago you couldn’t have told me I would have done any of these things. I wouldn’t have believed you, which is great because life has turned out to be a wonderful surprise. But I think it’s a combination of many things; working hard, appreciating the people you meet and taking whatever you can from that experience, being open to change and seeing the positive in whatever is thrown your way, using the opportunities that present themselves, giving back what you’ve been given, and of course being thankful.

I hope my short time since I was sitting in your seat has made you think a little about the possibilities for your life. It’s such a cliché but couldn’t be truer, dream big! You might surprise yourself.

Sincerely,
Chelsey Spaulding, Class of 2000

Drumroll please....

Hey! So…it’s been awhile huh?! For good reason, finally. I’ve been too busy, what with buying a house and all :) Yes, we finally got a house. We closed on August 17th, cleaned on the 18th, moved all of our stuff in on the 19th, unpacked a little on the 20th, cleaned out the apartment on the 21st, and handed back the keys on the 22nd because our lease was up! We had a lot to do in a very short time, plus in between all of this school started again so everything was being done in the evenings mostly. So far, we love it :) I can only seeing it getting better! For those who don’t know (which are very few) we bought a 2-story house, with 3 bedrooms, plus a loft; when you first walk in there is a room which is probably meant to be a dining & formal living room but will be “Ivan’s room/game room” in our house, then there is a living room off the kitchen too; we have a nice size yard and…..a pool! And not a play pool which is what many people have out here, but a pool with a deep end! It goes to about 6 feet deep, and the deep end there is a ledge to sit on right in front of our rocks/waterfall! So far we’ve had a couple people over to hang out and it’s been so much fun, and so nice to have. The rocks are awesome to jump off of and it’s just a great place to hang out. So our time has been spent calling various people to spray for bugs, trim the tree, get the pool sparkling, and unpacking. Oh, we also had new bedroom furniture delivered since our previous furniture was rented by my company. We’re totally in love with the stuff. And my friend Gretchen gave us a couch they didn’t want anymore to put in the front room. My parents are coming out next weekend for 10 days to help out with some cleaning, painting, changing lights, etc. I’m very happy to have their help! It will be nice to get all of this done with people who have done it a time or two before. So for now pretty much everything is unpacked. The front room is housing all the things we’ll be hanging after we paint, and some other things that don’t quite have a home yet—since we are able to spread things out now rather than just stack them all in a spare room we need to get more furniture, and then those things will have a home. Which leads me to my new love, Craigslist. I’ve never bought from craigslist before but I majorly hit the jackpot this week. I saw a washer & dryer about an hour after it was posted, so lucky me, we were the first to respond so we pick it up tonight :) And, I just happened upon a table (the old table was rented too). And not just any table, it seats 8 people, can extend to seat 12! Ivan is picking up everything tonight so I’m super pumped to see it in the house. I’ll post a link to pictures soon :)

Other than that it’s just been back to work, which has actually been really nice. I am a creature of habit so as much as I enjoy sleeping in and doing whatever I want, I’ve also truly enjoyed being back to work. Plus I’m back at one my schools I was at last year, which I’ve never been at the same school twice because usually we were moving, or I got moved within the district. But it’s really nice to be back. I already know the people, I already know most of the kids so you don’t waste as much time getting to know their skills, you can just jump right in and go even farther I think. And my other school is a school I had the year before last and I have a lot of friends who work there, so it’s really fun too. I definitely feel like this year is going to be a great year for work, and everything in general I think.

Talk soon!

Best Friends!

Hey! Alrighty, so Erin flew into town on Wednesday and we went out for some dinner and drinks that night at Macayo's (a popular Mexican place here), with some friends. On Thursday Erin & I worked on our tans (which didn't take much time!) and we went out to eat at Yard House (my favorite place!) Friday morning Erin & I started our trip north.

So we rented a car because my car is 13 years old and I wasn't sure how the combination of mileage, uphill/downhill, and heat would affect it. This of course makes me want a new car again because it was just so smooth! Anyway, we headed to the Grand Canyon which is always beautiful. I wish I could see it for the first time again ya know? But it's still fun to see, and fun to see people's reactions when they catch a glimpse for the first time. I think maybe sometime I wanna head over to the North Rim and walk on the skywalk. I pretty much always go to the same place every time I've been, Mather Point. And one time my friend Cathy & I went to Desert View-- which was neat.

So after the Grand Canyon we got back on the road to head to Kanab, Utah. This is like 3.5 hours or so further north and a little west. A beautiful route with the red rocks, through Page, and Lake Powell/Glen Canyon Dam. We got to our cabin on the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary grounds about 10 or so Friday night... we were greeted by the biggest bug I've ever seen hanging out on the door frame entering the cabin...I made Erin go in first. Thank God she's not afraid of bugs or we wouldn't have survived. I dunno what this bug was, but I swear it had horns and everything. It kinda looked like a bug that Pumbaa was following on the Lion King. Anyway from that point on I was on high alert. We walked in and I saw some other big bug on the floor, which Erin promptly smashed for me (THANK YOU ERIN!) And a few little ones here & there. So I made Erin check the bed, etc before getting in. We're laying there and I see a spider on the ceiling...Erin's asleep so all I can do is keep an eye on it. I swear I watched it for like an hour. It finally started moving across the ceiling, further from us until I couldn't see it anymore so I fell asleep-- although I was pretty tense as I slept! I woke up a bit later to the spider exactly where it had been earlier on the ceiling and started watching it all over again. It started moving towards the wall which I was thankful for so it would come down a little ways, I'd kill it, I'd sleep. This was the plan anyway...I watched it come further & further down the wall while gaining speed, I looked away for like a millisecond to pick up my shoe and he was gone! At this point I realize he must be in the bed but I can't see him, and I sure as heck can't just stand up the entire night so I get back in bed, tense as hell. I set my phone down and turn back just in time to see him scurrying down my arm!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that?! I jump out of bed, Erin wakes up convinced I'm delusional. I turn the light on in time to see him all willy nilly crawling across the top cover, I swat, and miss him.... yuck. I finally get back in the bed, kick all the covers off and lay there pretty much in the fetal position, finally sleeping but swatting all night at phantom bugs! I wake up in the morning to the same (or so I thought!) spider up on the ceiling and Erin offs him for me :) Then we make the bed...where my friend from the night before comes crawling out of the covers. And Erin gets 'em. YUCK! The good news at this point is that every living bug I'd seen (aside from the giant Pumbaa bug) has been killed so I can relax. Although I spent the rest of the time there looking very carefully everywhere I sat or stepped, and shaking everything out before using it!!

Whew, so that morning we headed to the welcome center to check in and watch a welcome movie that tells all about the society and the sanctuary. Which I of course spent the whole time trying not to cry. After that we took a tour which drove us all over the place-- Horse Haven, Piggy Paradise, Dogtown, Cat World, etc. The sanctuary is set on 3800 acres of land and has more than 1800 animals at any given time. It's the largest no-kill shelter in the country, if not the world... (it may be, I'm not sure). The scenery is beautiful--rocks, cliffs, trees. Best Friends took in 22 of the Michael Vick dogs, which they call the "Vicktory Dogs." If I remember right, at this point the first 1 has been adopted out, and all but 7 are being fostered right now!! So, clearly the dogs can and are making progress. Dogtown is where all the dogs are kept and there's a few different locations. The buildings are set up as octagons where 1-3 dogs are kept in each space; which consists of an indoor space and an outdoor run. They all have little swimming pools for keeping cool, toys, and beds galore. It's obvious they are all very well cared for and HAPPY! Cat World has a bunch of buildings that also have indoor and outdoor spaces. They have a lot of rafters for the kitties to climb around in and tons of beds to lounge in too. They also have a couple special houses-- the "Incontinental House" where the incontinent kitties stay, and a house for cats with skin cancer that has shade over the screened in outdoor space. They also have places for bunnies & birds, and I'm sure something I'm forgetting.

After the tour we grabbed some lunch before heading to volunteer in Dogtown. Basically you can help out with whatever needs to be done. Each set of octagons has a caregiver that oversees everything going on with the dogs in those areas. The work consists of feeding, grooming, cleaning spaces, walking them, socializing, or taking them on outings. So, we took a dog, Miranda, on an outing. She loved riding in the car and we took her to the natural amphitheater that they have there to roam around. She was a pretty independent dog, not caring much for a lot of affection but still very sweet. When we took her back we helped clean out some swimming pools and fill them with water, which they loved! One dog in particular, Popi, LOVED it! He kept trying to steal the hose from Erin. After that we socialized a bit and picked out a pup for an overnight guest. Yes, you can take a dog to sleepover! A lot of the hotels in town allow dogs (as do the restaurants) and since we were staying on the grounds it was even better. The flooring is easy-clean stuff, and they have dog doors & little runs there to let the dogs out. Since we were in an easy-clean place they suggested we take a dog named Katie Mo. She's fairly new to the place and hasn't been house-trained yet so she hasn't got to do very many outings. She was a doll! A sweet girl, and she never had any accidents either! We just made sure she had a chance every couple hours and she woke me up in the morning to take her out. We got to take her into dinner with us too and she behaved really well.

Sunday morning we took Katie Mo back and headed over to Piggy Paradise to work with the 19 potbellied pigs they had there. So we made all the breakfasts. Each pig had a little menu all its' own. Some needed their lettuce finely chopped, others you just cut a head into fourths. They all got pellets and other vegetables too, and supplements as well. So then we went out and gave them each their food. Some of them knew how to sit so you had to ask them to sit before giving them the food! And they all would walk exactly to where you needed to set the bowl when you walked into the pen. It was funny :) They were super cute.

After the pigs we had to get back on the road to head back to Phoenix. It was a really fun experience and an awesome place to see & learn about. The website is www.bestfriends.org if you want anymore info. You can join, sponsor animals, etc and all the money helps keep the place running. It is a nonprofit with 400 employees that runs on donations! In addition to all the care the animals get they also do a lot of outreach work and activism. Pretty cool place.

So Erin headed back to Illinois this morning and it's getting closer & closer to reality for me...a.k.a back to work. I had to go get a TB test this morning and still need to get a physical and drug screen for work this week. But good news, my friend Heather (met in Africa, from Scotland, met up with in NYC this summer) is flying in on Thursday!! I'm pretty excited about that cuz it's always great to see people and who knows when I'll see her again. So we'll be heading up to the Grand Canyon (what can I say, if you're out here you should see it!) And probably Sedona. She's not sure how long she'll be here but anyway, it'll be fun.

Oh, and here's a link to the pics from Erin's visit if you wanna see:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044981&id=197103045&l=942c823c0e

Summer is ending :(

Grrr...summer is coming to an end here pretty soon. As summers always do it seems like it went way too fast, and yet at the same time things that happened already feel like forever ago. There hasn't been much to say as I've just been taking it easy. I have been very productive on the wedding front. I'm finally getting into it, which I think is because I know I have my contract back for this year so I could finally relax in knowing my job is back, and my income will be back! Having basic needs met sure does make a difference in your outlook! I totally get Maslow's Hierarchy... :) haha So we've got the caterer chosen and booked, we're having a tasting next week to pick out the entrees (I'm hungry just thinking about it), I've got my dress picked but I'm waiting a bit to buy it, bridesmaids dresses are picked (although those have been for awhile), shoes are narrowed down to a couple different pairs (and the color scheme for that), flowers/florist are chosen along with the centerpieces, favors have been picked out, Ivan's got a good idea what he wants for his ring, bartender's chosen, we had 1 cake tasting that went well so we have flavors and a look down, but are gonna check around a bit, invitations are picked I think. The big things we have left is the DJ, which I'm dreading choosing actually because the DJ can make or break things you know? And what the guys are gonna wear. We've been looking at a lot of different looks so we'll see...! Oh, and rounding up addresses for save-the-dates. But otherwise everything has been really easy & fun now that the wheels are finally turning. Looking at song choices, etc. I'm still not excited about standing up in front of a ton of people because I don't really like serious/emotional/touchy-feelie stuff, let alone with an audience...so I'm just gonna have to mentally prepare on that for the next 10 months. We're debating on who to have officiate. Ivan's going to talk to the Chaplin from IC as of course that would be meaningful since we met at IC and he had a good relationship with the Chaplin, but my old Pastor from my church back home happens to live out here now so we're also thinking about that too. So anyway, that's the wedding stuff.

I go back to work on August 10th. I'm pretty excited for a paycheck again!!! But as always, after having time off work I nearly totally forget what it is I do for a living, therapy what?! But I also like routine. I'm anxious to see what schools I have this year because although I'm heading back to the same district who knows what schools I'll have. And I always have mixed feelings about if I want the same ones or not. Of course the familiarity would be nice and I like the people I work with, but I always worry I'll get bored with the same school/kids/coworkers. I've never been at the same school before so I have no idea! Which is why it's good I don't get the choice, I'd rather just deal with whatever I get than make a decision for myself that I end up regretting!

You're probably wondering why you haven't heard anything about the house hunt in awhile, but I'm tired of all the false alarms. Quick recap: The very first one that went back & forth on forever is out of the picture, it was a short sale which are an animal of their own, 'nuff said. There was a second close call but we found out after the fact (our offer was accepted and we had inspections, even had someone design a pool for it) that the house didn't qualify for the FHA loan we'll be getting. Very upsetting. So the looking has continued, we've bid on more, and things are looking up but I'll let you know when I really know for sure! No matter what happens I am feeling more positive about it all. Each house has been more and more perfect for us I think, although all the close-calls have been great.

So I have about a week and a half left off work but it will be a good time. My friend Erin is flying in tomorrow for a visit. We're going up to the Grand Canyon and to Utah to volunteer at this place called Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I guess it is on this show called Dogtown on National Geographic. I've seen it here & there but Erin is a big fan and set everything up. So that should be fun and as always it's nice to have visitors! After Erin leaves my friend Heather (from Scotland, who I met in Africa, and then spent a week in NYC with) is coming for a quick visit before she heads out of the U.S. I'm excited to have her come visit and we'll probably end up at the Grand Canyon as well. I'm sad that she's leaving the States though. It's been nice knowing she's in my country and I can text her and stuff.

So, then it'll be back to work for a couple weeks, and then we have a reunion camping trip up north with the River Rampage program, which will be so fun; to get the group of kids, sidekicks, and guides together again. A nice way to end the summer :)

Ta ta for now! I'm sure I'll have pics from Erin's visit to come soon.

Wedding Stuff

I haven't update in a long while but I haven't had a computer or much to say-- hopefully I will soon!

In the meantime, check out our wedding website for some info regarding the wedding. It will be small so don't take it personally if the save-the-date never comes :) But you can always check out the site:

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/ChelseySpaulding&IvanNicholson

Pics from River Rampage

So, a lot of them didn't turn out but this is what I have so far. More to come in a couple months!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31320855&l=b6ec1e4218&id=197103045

And if that one doesn't work try this one, there's no captions though:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=9IZMWbVw5ZVs

River Rampage

I'm not sure where to start. I have a lot to say about many different things...It was an AWESOME week for a million different reasons. I might have to break this up into categories...

Details:
Ok, so quick recap. River Rampage is a program put on through the city of Phoenix which takes teenagers on a week long camping & river rafting trip. The kids earn this trip by doing volunteer work. Ideally about half of the teens would have a disability of some sort, and the other half would be at risk (low income, challenged in life in other ways). This doesn't always happen, sometimes it's typical teens who just happen to apply and are most definitely well deserving. Although if there's one thing I learned this week it's that even those people who appear to have few challenges have more going on than any one of us will ever know without getting to really know them. But that's for another category.

So, we left Monday morning on a big bus and headed north for a couple hours before stopping in Flagstaff for lunch and picking up a couple of guides. Then we loaded back on the bus and kept on going for a few more hours to Utah where we would hop on the San Juan River. We would camp out at this site where we met our other guides for the week. From this point, the trip consisted of hiking, rafting, and camping--among many other things. But you get the gist of it. On Saturday morning we rafted to our take out point, unloaded all the boats, got on a bus and headed to Flagstaff for a hotel stay. We came back to Phoenix this morning and here I sit...

So, onto my impressions of the trip I suppose!

I was excited for this trip, I knew it would be fun and interesting but I didn't fully appreciate all it would be when heading out. I think I was a little jaded actually. All the past participants I'd spoken with of course had many things to say about how life changing it is and all these things. I was thinking--yeah it probably was for you but I've had some pretty awesome experiences in my life so I think this'll be fun but I don't expect some big dramatic ah-ha moment ya know? Insert foot in mouth!

But let me back up. When we pulled up to the campsite I was a little like...uhh this is it? I haven't ever camped in a desert atmosphere. And in fact I haven't camped since I was like 8 or something. It just wasn't like any campsites I've known before. And the others started walking around staking claim of where they would be sleeping...meanwhile I'm thinking to myself--this is a campsite?? This just looks like a little space between some bushes. So anyway, then the adults talk about how they're not sleeping in tents...and I'm thinking what??! I'm supposed to just sleep outside? Isn't this place crawling with snakes, tarantulas, and scorpions?? A lot of the kids decided they'd just sleep out too so I sucked it up. Plus, they had cots for the adults so I was ok then because I would be raised off the ground. So that first night the guides made dinner and we just kinda hung out. By the way, this site was swarming with mosquitoes! I haven't really dealt with those since moving west so that was a rude awakening. Covered in bug spray, swatting & slapping all night. So when it was time for bed I put on long pants and a long shirt so no bugs could be in direct contact with my skin and basically crawled into my sleeping bag, tucked it over my head (I couldn't leave my head all vulnerable!) and sweat my ass off...which is not comfortable. Although before I tucked in I did check out the stars, which were amazing of course. I'm not gonna lie, in the morning I woke up thinking to myself...what the hell did I sign up for, this is going to be a long week. And I also realized I am way less of a morning person than I ever thought I was! haha

So anyway, after breakfast we went for a short hike to look at some petroglyphs which I think will never get old no matter how many times I see them. In case you're wondering-- these are the etchings that natives put on the rocks years & years ago. Pretty interesting to see. From here it was time to head to the boats for the first time.

Let me interject another detail right here--our trip had like 6 oar boats--these boats are like giant rafts which hold a lot of gear, have a guide rowing, and then holds 2 or 3 other people. Then there is a paddle boat--which is a small raft holding no gear, 1 guide, and 6 people. And then there were 3 ducky's--which are basically 2 seater kayaks. Each day we would get assigned to different boats. I never did the ducky though because I was little scared, no secrets here! I would much rather practice at something first and feel confident with it. Although I'm sure it was easy enough and everyone in them had a great time. So anyway my first day I was in an oar boat which is a really relaxing and peaceful time. The guide does all the work and you just get to soak in the sites, and often times have some great conversations with whoever you're on the boat with.

So that day happened to be a 'long' day on the river because every camp site we got to had other people already camping there so we just had to keep on heading down the river. When I say long day-I think we put in on the river at like 10 or 11 maybe, and got off about 4 maybe? We didn't have watches...so I'm just guessing! This day I don't think there were any rapids, just floating. Which was nice. Oooh, and I wanted to add that I've never seen water this color-- you know when you think of rivers you think the dark greenish color right? This river was light brown. So it wasn't scary at all-- I mean I couldn't see to the bottom obviously but it wasn't scary.

So anyway, we finally get to a campsite and make a bag line (like when firefighters pass the buckets of water--this is what we'd do every time we loaded or unloaded the boats, and let me tell you there was TONS of stuff to pack & unpack). This site didn't look like much. Just a slight little beach where all the boats could tie up to, and then you walk up this steep hill to a giant clearing where we set up camp. We saw some wild donkeys--so I guess technically they are called burrows, and others heard some coyotes at night too. It was pretty warm at this site, and the one from the first night, although we did see some lightning. Oh we also did a little bathing that night. When I saw bathing I mean, sit in the river in your swimsuit, life jacket, a bar of soap, and do your best! I didn't wash my hair all week and I was actually diggin' that. My hair was so dried out and it just felt healthy ya know? Weird...but I was a little disappointed when we got to the hotel and I realized I should wash my hair.

Everyone on the trip was divided up into teams of sidekicks & teens and we each had a different responsibility each day--camp, kitchen, loo, and morning talk. So I guess I'll add right here-- yes, we were using buckets with toilet seats on top for all of our toilet needs...and so yes someone had to clean and dispose of the stuff in the buckets each day...ick. For your #2 needs there was a steel can type thing which would get a cover on it each day and it would go with us on the boat to be emptied and cleaned by professionals at the end of the trip. Your #1 needs was just a bucket which we dumped and cleaned in the river. Or you just strapped on your life jacket and sat in the river...we all knew what was going on but you gotta do what you gotta do! I'm sure you wanted to know that right?? :) The camp crew was responsible for really making sure camp was set up & cleaned up. Kitchen crew did just that, helped in the kitchen. The guides made AMAZING food all week, and the kitchen peeps would help wash dishes and get everything put away. Then there's morning talk. This group would lead a small discussion in the morning-- it could be fun, thoughtful, motivational, etc. So the first morning our morning talk was one of our kids leading a song in Spanish that he knew so we could acknowledge all the different cultures there and have some fun.

I'm having a hard time remembering but I think that day I was on the paddle boat. That was fun because you actually get to do stuff and you get wet a lot. All throughout the week though there are water fights at all times! People are armed with water guns, buckets, and paddles to splash with. It's a lot of fun and if you're within splashing or shooting distance, it will happen :) That day we stopped at a pretty awesome site. We had a short day on the river and it was our first day some rapids, which were pretty tame I think but still a ton of fun. So this place was cool, just a big beach and we got to just sit in and swim on the river all day. The guides taught us how to float on the rapids and that's what we did. This was also the day the sidekicks took over. On each trip the sidekicks come up with a theme and an activity that goes along with it. Ours was the 60's. So we each brought a little something to dress up in that was 60's related and our activity was tie-dying t-shirts. This was so much fun and a big hit. We also cooked dinner that night so the guides hung out with all the kids while we did that. We welcomed them to the kitchen that night as the "Peace & Love Cafe." It was a great day, at that point, my favorite day. The only downside was ants! This beach was covered with ants, and so were you if you stayed still about 2 seconds. But I could think of much worse insects than ants, for sure! That night we all slept on the beach which was awesome--since we were right by a rapid we could hear the water rushing all night and of course, it was just so peaceful. And I slept in shorts that night (see how I was getting more comfortable :)

The next day was full of rapids. We floated awhile, it sprinkled, the day was overcast which was awesome. It was cool and comfortable. So, we floated awhile before pulling over to have a little pow wow about how each boat should approach the rapids. We were told there was a chance the boats could flip, etc so we needed to hold on tight, be prepared, and our guides studied a bit with each other. It was fun! We all made it through perfectly fine. We headed through another rapid after that (I was on an oar boat again this day) and pulled over to camp. My new favorite place, which is nicknamed "Ledge" because there is a ledge you can sit on if you swim across the river. So at this site we had a layover day-- meaning the following day we didn't get on the river, we just stayed at this same place and hung out all day. It was a big beach, no ants!, a great place to swim, and awesome places to sleep. We spent a lot of time in the water that day. And that night the adults all sat up talking, and laughing hysterically. The kids had all gone to their beds, like we had just switched places. You know when you get slap happy. Always a good time. I slept like a baby. Although it did sprinkle a bit over night. We all have tarps so we just pull those over the top of us and keep sleeping. The following day (Friday) was another one of my favorite days-- although everything past day 1 was really great--once I got through my adjustment period! We spent a lot of time under umbrellas on the beach just hanging out. Playing in the water, the sand, playing games, talking and laughing. And actually a lot of time just sitting in silence, watching. It was so ridiculously peaceful. I remember thinking...this is why tribes do so well. There's a small group of people who just work together to meet their basic needs and anything past that is just living life & fun. There's a leader who they respect and just accept as the leader and that's that. Nothing to worry about, nobody to impress, no money to make, just be happy, spend time with people, and do whatever you want to do. Want to hike? Go for a hike. Want to swim? Go for a swim. Want to nap? Take one. It was a beautiful thing and I thought for a moment, I could do this forever with these people. I guess I can't really explain how relaxing it was. When I would go to sleep at night I would try to think of things from home that needed thinking about--the house, the wedding, and I literally couldn't even envision it. Just had a blank mind. I didn't know I needed any relaxing until I was totally relaxed, if that makes sense.

The exciting things that happened on that day was that a couple of storms came through. We'd just be sitting there looking at this beautiful sunny sky and then suddenly it was-- GO GO GO! Strap down anything that could blow away, put things away, put on rain gear, sometimes hold onto things, and just wait. The wind was like no wind I've ever felt--because remember even in the worst winds you're usually just sitting in your house...we were standing on a beach ya know? But it was awesome. We just turned our backs and let the wind and sand pelt us, it rained, and thundered hard. I loved it because I hardly ever get to hear thunder anymore! So this was cool. Afterwards it all went sunny & calm again...for awhile. Before round 2 came through which we were much more prepared for.

That night was our last night so there was much to be done. On each trip they end with a sharing circle. We all sit in a circle and reflect on what the trip has meant for us-- we go around and say something we learned, something we'll be taking with us, or what our favorite thing was. Maybe you can imagine how emotional this can be. I haven't talked much yet about the amazing people on this trip, how close you get, the stories you hear, the bonds formed but that is what makes these trips. It's pretty incredible. So, the overall theme of circle was how people learned/and would take with them-- being positive, working hard, getting through a struggle, trusting each other and people we meet, feelings of acceptance, and just an overall appreciation for each other. I was the 6th or 7th person to talk in the circle and I had been biting my lip thinking I can't believe nobody else is crying yet! So when it was my turn I was the first to lose it. I was just overwhelmed, which you all probably don't know about me but I cry at everything! Humane Society commercials, abused kids, half of Oprah's shows, just stuff like that. I get kinda overwhelmed by what people live through. So anyway, what I shared was just that-- my favorite thing, the thing I learned, and the thing I hoped to take with me was to really listen to people. I had so many intense conversations with people and when I started thinking about it as I was talking it was just so sad and yet happy to think about the things many of them had been through and seeing the kind of person they were. Like I was saying earlier, the people walking down the street that look like they have everything going well--have histories (or current) struggles with addictions, disabilities, disease, injuries, abuse, etc... I just learned a lot by others' struggles and was also so happy by knowing them and seeing how completely happy they were. That's about as good as I can explain it at this point. I know there are people on this trip that I want to know the rest of my life, and probably people I feel closer to than friends I've had for years and years. We all hear that situations like this will do that to people but it's true. And we were only together a week. But you had the time to know people and little to no distractions. It just really be quite a wonderful world if life could be like that. So the point is I suppose to try and carry that with us and make life as much like the river as we possibly can. As many others said, I totally agree with, it just gives us a little time to put things in perspective. A little pick me up. Which I've definitely realized is totally necessary.

So after circle we had a great dinner and a talent show, which was so much fun :) The kids and adults alike had a great time and showed some great talents too! The next morning (Saturday) was time to pack it all up and head down the river. Once we unloaded everything we got on the bus once again and headed to Flagstaff for a night in the hotel to clean up, rest, and came back to Phoenix today.

So I think, or at least hope, I've made it pretty clear how emotionally awesome this trip was-- both for clearing my head, learning, and creating some crazy close bonds. Aside from that, it reinforced some things I want to add to my life-- I always think about and sometimes talk about wanting to get into hiking, camping, and kayaking and I definitely want to make an effort to do that. I think I had an awesome crash course and get out there and do it! Plus I have a lot of new friends now with those interests to try it all out with. Next week we have a pizza party to view all the pics that were taken by the city staff, and at the end of August we have a reunion camping trip, where we'll all get copies of those pics, and a copy of the journal which we've all doodled in and wrote in all week :) So, I don't have many pics at this point because I didn't take my digital for fear it would get hurt. I'm getting my disposable/waterproof one developed and will post those soon-- there's not many and I don't know what the quality will be but they're coming!

I might write some more about the trip as it comes to me, but I can tell you it was awesome and more then I expected for a million reasons!!

What a year!

I was just talking to my mom and realizing it was a year ago that I was in South Africa. A year ago today I was grocery shopping, and probably buying my new camera, at Bayside mall, and then went out to Mama Africa's for the first time. Margarita's, alligator, kudu, ostrich, and Zwelly...(the lead singer of the band I became a groupie of). Like it was yesterday! Like it never happened! So weird. I busted out my planner which I write everything in for moments just like this. I have planners all the way back through high school saying who's house I spent the night at and everything. Good times.

If this were 2008, tomorrow I would be heading to Robben Island, then working for 3 days straight, followed by shopping for woven bags in the township with Ursula and Rachel, then my Cape Point tour, which was rainy but beautiful...at the southern most tip of the world! About a week from now I'd be diving with great white sharks, then spending a day at the water front--which is when I bought my Nelson Mandela book...A couple weeks from now I'd go wine tasting, and spend the evening at a gala. Yet a couple more weeks would entail visiting some jackass penguins, getting my tattoo, a 'brai' with all the volunteers, sandboarding with Steph, my anti-climb of Table Mountain, spending the night at Vicky's Bed & Breakfast, followed by a day with Gloria's kids...

Wow. Seems like yesterday and never all at the same time.

What did I do today, in 2009? Browsed save-the-dates. And tomorrow, in 2009? House hunting. What a difference a year makes!

I found it!

I think I found my favorite website ever. I think this accurately portrays how I'm feeling:

www.anotherfuckingwedding.com

haha I'm enjoying it :)

Summer's here

So, now that I'm back from New York I feel like summer has really started, and by then I mean slowed way down! It's nice just doing whatever I want whenever I want, that is if it's free of course :) With no work of course comes no pay. And with trying to buy a house we're definitely trying to live on a pretty tight budget. Which shouldn't be too difficult, just boring more than anything. But I have my gym membership so I think I'll be working out more than ever since I have the time and I guess will use it as free entertainment?! We get Netflix so we have a steady stream of new movies coming in all the time. I am starting the Sex & The City series today :) haha After the tour in NYC I want to watch it from start to finish. I also have a pile of books to read. Sometimes I have book ADHD...I'll start one, see another two or three, start those, etc. I finished one yesterday but still have 2 others that I've started (Celebutantes which is like the Sex & the City of L.A. and Elizabeth Edward's book 'Resilience) and I have 3 on deck ('Love The One You're With--it's by that lady who writes the Something Borrowed, Something Blue books--Capote & this other book I can't think of the name of, which I bought in NYC). And I think I'm going to break down and read the Twilight series. I usually steer clear of the big hits-- never read Harry Potter or seen any of the movies, or Lord of the Rings...have never seen Star Wars either for that matter!) But, even I thought the preview for the new Twilight movie looked pretty good, and I'm spending more & more time with teenagers through the volunteering so I figure that will give us one more thing in common....we'll see! Oh, and I've got the pool to keep me occupied.

Aside from the free stuff I've got enough to fill my mind! So, we're back to house #1 that we bid on in March when my parents were here. The banks have yet again come back and said, "Ok if you want it, it's yours!" The listing realtor said he has approval from both banks but just needs to get it in the formal letter. We sought out a new lender which would approve Ivan on his own since my contract hasn't come through yet for next year, and are just waiting on full approval before I will get excited again. They pre-approved Ivan for more than what we need for this house but if there's one thing I've learned in these past 3 months, it's to not get excited too soon. So that's where it all stands--basically yes, we should have this house by mid-July, but I am not putting 100% truth into that quite yet! I'll let you know once we've signed all the papers and have the keys in hand. Then we can all celebrate!

Oh, the other free thing-- the volunteering with the kids. That is keeping me busy too. The other night a couple of my teens and I went to this place called the Luv Shack Ranch. This places runs completely on volunteers/donations and they take in neglected horses. They care for them and try to make them more adoptable. One of my teens wanted to check the place out so we went and are planning to go back every Tuesday night. They have the volunteers scooping out stalls, feeding, and grooming. As well as any other things that might pop up-- cleaning up the grounds, working on projects etc. It started out with the focus on the horses, and definitely still is, but they have also seen the good it does for the kids to learn about responsibility and respect etc. It was pretty neat. So we're still looking for more places to volunteer though. I'm waiting to hear back from the Salvation Army for a number of different things we can do there.

I'm still in class too. YUCK! My laptop has taken a turn for the worst yet again, so I'm using the neighbor's, or going up to the complex office, etc to get on the internet, or going on the Wii. It's slowly driving me crazy, because I am on the computer A LOT! Maybe God's trying to tell me something.... :)

Not too much else to say I guess. I'll let you know as soon as we know something FOR SURE about the house so sit tight.

NYC Pics

This link should work for you to see pics from the trip...if it doesn't....sorry! (Copy and paste if you need to)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2042176&id=197103045&l=18bb316ab3

Just as I suspected...

Going to New York, and seeing Heather & Steph has got my mind all wrapped around traveling again. You know if we weren't trying to buy a house right now I'd have a lot of money at my disposal to just take off and go wherever I wanted for as long as I wanted and do whatever I wanted. Dang responsibility. It's something I struggle with a little bit, trying so hard to buy a house when in reality a house isn't the end-all be-all of life. The money we have set aside could cover so many experiences, or help so many people.

If you could see my internet history right now you'd see expedia searches to D.C, New Orleans, San Francisco, Florida, Vietnam, Thailand, South Africa, Scotland, home, and Fiji...yeah, I told you my head was kinda all over the place! Plus all I have is time to daydream since I'm done with work.

But, on the other hand if I look a tad big long term, buying a house will buy security which will eventually (hopefully) lead to more freedom to travel again, etc.

It's also brought me back to not wanting a wedding! So even though I've announced it'll be in Phoenix on June 19, 2010...don't buy your tickets and dresses yet. I'm still not totally sold on the idea but I don't know if I can sell Ivan on not having a wedding...so we'll see! Sometimes the thought of planning it (even a small one) is just overwhelming because it's not something I completely want ya know? And, not to mention we could use that money for traveling or fixing up the house, etc. I don't want to kill myself saving for a wedding or kill myself to fix up a house either ya know? If I'm sacrificing for something I'd like it to be for travel or something like that... I dunno. So then people say well just do a destination or Vegas and invite few people, but that still requires some level of planning. I would rather just wake up and be like, ok, let's do this today. And then go do it. I don't want any planning! We could be in Vegas in 3 hours, married in 4. Done! And then get on with life :)

Would someone else like to plan & pay for this and just surprise me the day of by telling me to put on a dress & show up?? Anyone???

Remember my dolphin internship?

Well, I just received an email the other day from the director of Dolphin Human Therapy, Dr. Dave telling all about his new therapy center. Some of you may remember he was beginning to do research about the use of animatronic dolphins since the use of real dolphins brings up a lot of issues-- cost, legality, weather, etc. In a nutshell, his research has shown that the same results can be achieved with these 'robot' dolphins. He's created a therapy center which will have therapy with the dolphins, miniature horses, dogs, art, music, and a huge sensory garden. It sounds pretty amazing. Anyway just wanted to share the info since that experience was big in my life. Here's the website if you want to check it out, and you can watch a video of these fake dolphins.. www.iactcenter.com

A New York Minute!

WOW! I cannot believe how fast that trip went. Literally every day we'd suddenly look at the time and it'd be like 8 p.m. and we'd be like, what the hell??! When did it become 8:00?!

First, I love New York!! There isn't one thing I disliked about the entire trip. Everything exceeded my expectations and was completely positive. I did not run into any 'typical' New Yorkers being all negative like I assumed I would. Everyone was very nice and helpful. I didn't feel crowded and overwhelmed by the amount of people. I never felt unsafe at any moment in time (although let me interject that obviously we were in touristy places that were well lit and as it is with any city, wandering down dark deserted alleys is likely going to get you in trouble). It was just so awesome all around and if I can make it happen, I will be a frequent visitor to New York City! I absolutely loved it. I would love to see New York in the fall, and at Christmas, and New Years :) So, I need to start saving again! My other big unexpected realization-- it's really green in New York. Yes I'm coming from the desert so my view might be a little skewed when compared to someone coming from a green place...but yeah, there were parks everywhere, lost of trees, etc. I was surprised.

Ok, so we landed Friday around 3:30 and met up with my friend Stephanie who flew in from Canada. So great to see her!! Ivan's brother lives on Long Island so he came and picked us up from the airport, along with Ivan's niece Lauren. Arnold basically gave us a huge overview tour and drove us around everywhere. We had dinner in Harlem at this placed called Amy Ruth's. Which is a soul food restaurant (YUMMY!). Since we were in Harlem, we asked Arnold to drive us by Bill Clinton's office (YAY!). So anyway, we got back to the hotel and collapsed when our other friend, Heather (from Scotland, traveling the world right now, on her U.S. stop) showed up! YAY! So we were all exhausted, aside from Ivan. He went to have a drink and us girls just sat and talked for a few hours catching up on life since Africa.

By the way, I couldn't have gotten more lucky when booking the hotel. I looked on Expedia.com at reviews and ended up choosing the Hampton Inn-Times Square North. This was the best location-- and reasonably priced. We were 2 blocks from Times Square/Broadway, about 4 blocks from Central Park, 3 blocks from the subway, 1 block from where the bus tour started & stopped, 3 blocks from 5th Avenue (shopping!), just walking distance to nearly everything-- CBS, NBC, Rockefeller Center...not to mention, there were tons of bars & restaurants on our street, although I think this is everywhere in Manhattan.

On Saturday we went on a double-decker bus tour. If you just sat on the bus the whole time the tour would take about 2 hours but you can get off at different stops and then get back on, a bus comes every 10 minutes. So we covered all of Manhattan on this bus. We drove through Times Square, by Carnegie Hall, Macy's (yes, Miracle on 34th street, it's really on 34th street), Madison Square Garden, Wall Street, Ground Zero, the Brooklyn Bridge, United Nations, Rockefeller Center, and many many many more places! We got off the bus at the Brooklyn Bridge which was cool because you hear so much about it and everything. And we got off at Rockefeller Center. Here we took a tour of NBC studios, so we sat on the sets of Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and even got to do some interactive stuff-- Ivan volunteered without knowing what he was doing. Turned out he was going to be a weather man! So he got to stand in front of the green screen and see how to do the map thing, and read from the teleprompter. I think he's got a future ahead of him :) It was pretty cool. At some of the stands around Rockefeller Center they were selling all these NY landscape pictures, which I'm a sucker for. I bought this black & white one of the Brooklyn Bridge, one that had a bunch of famous street signs, and these 4 that showed scenes from Central Park in every season--the picture is the famous tree-lined path that you see in pretty much every movie :) Pretty cool.

That night we went out to this club, the 40/40 club which is owned by the rapper Jay-Z. It was different-- upstairs there was this room with all these couches everywhere & a pool table where they had all the sporting events on which is where we were seated. Outside of that room there was kind of a balcony area with some couches, and downstairs there were these like hanging chairs. There wasn't any real designated dance floor but I think once the place gets packed people just dance wherever they are. Anyway, it was good, drinks were good, we managed to rack up a $272 tab which isn't hard in NYC.

On Sunday we took our first trip on the subway, which happens to be incredibly easy to use. I was worried it would be all complicated. But once again, people were helpful and everywhere we needed to go was easy to get to, quick, and safe. So we took the subway to the Bronx for the Yankee-Phillie game. That day I got a major sunburn!! It was a good time, and it was Stephanie & Heather's first professional game, Heather's first game ever :0

After the game when we got off the subway there was a big street fair going on do we wandered around there buying purses, eating lamb kabobs, and stopping at a palm reader... ready for this? I'll be engaged by the end of the year... :) haha To be fair, I told Ivan to hold my ring before we walked up to her because I didn't want her to know so I guess if you're going to believe in these people you have to be honest with them. Anyway, she did say "The one you're with is the one for you, stop questioning it, he's telling me he's your soulmate, etc" and she went on to say she sees a wedding next year (wow, me too!) and kids soon after that (hmm...) She sees twin boys, and another child. Which I have always wanted twins and have 4 sets in my family so I think I'll hold onto that and choose to believe her ;) haha

From here we wandered into Central Park...at which point I fell in love. I don't know what it is, it's just a park when you cut through the crap, but I loved it. We just sat there for a couple hours sitting in the grass talking, and Ivan took a nap. I just loved it. I don't know what else to say about it other than I loved it.

That night we took it easy and went out to eat at a pub down the street, which turned into hours of talking. Wandering back down the street to the Cosmic Diner for a late night cheesecake stop, and more talking. That was the best part of the whole trip though, just all the talking we did. Obviously it was great to catch up with each other, but also just to have conversations anything and everything, deep ones, shallow ones, about similarities and differences, etc.

On Monday, Memorial Day, we went to Ground Zero. Which as I've been told many times, is just a construction site at this point. True. It's so weird, and a little amazing, to think that almost 8 years later it's just a pile of rubble. We wandered a bit more and into St. Paul's Cathedral, which turned out to be a huge 9/11 Memorial. This is where all the rescue workers who were working after the towers fell would come to eat, rest, refuel, and get back out there. This place was a bit too much for me. I could look at certain things, and then there were several different displays that showed pictures of people who died in 9/11 and I just couldn't look at them. I tried for a minute and knew if I stayed I'd be a balling mess. So I kept on moving. After Ground Zero we wandered around Wall Street some more.

Then it was time to get back to the hotel because Ivan was flying out that day, he had to get back to work. We grabbed some pizza (gigantic slices!) and he took off. So the girls and I headed back to our new 2nd home...Central Park! We decided to take a tour with this poor Italian man pulling us around on his bike :) "Charlie" (his name turned out to be Marco but he went with Charlie), rode us around the park for an hour pointing out famous places; some buildings surrounding the park where the Kennedy's lived, Marilyn Monroe, and where people currently live-- Celine Dion, Al Pacino to name a few that I can actually remember! And, where John Lennon was shot, and Yoko Ono still lives. We went to the "Friends" fountain, and even got in it for some pictures, the walkway I was talking about earlier, tons of places. And of course we then found ourselves laying under a tree for awhile. Then we wandered from bench to bench before landing on a rock...well I call it a rock but it was actually this HUGE rock that has been there for like 800 million years or something ridiculous. And when I say rock please understand hundreds of people could sit on this 'rock.'

That night we grabbed some Mexican food, talked for more hours, and then wandered around Times Square, went to the M&M store, and the Hershey store. YUM.

Tuesday we slept in (finally). That afternoon we went down to Chelsie Piers for our helicopter tour of Manhattan. This was pretty neat. And it was kind cool to do it later in the trip because as things were pointed out we could recognize them and stuff from seeing them on land. After that we grabbed a cab and headed to Battery Park, where you catch the ferry to Ellis Island and Liberty Island, home to the Statue of Liberty. We took the ferry out to Ellis Island and went through the museum there--which is the actual building that immigrants would pass through when coming to America. It was all really neat.

At the end of Tuesday we were exhausted, and starving! We went into the first restaurant we saw and stuffed our faces :) Then passed out!

Wednesday we went on a Sex & the City Tour! This was super cool. The tour was 3.5 hours long and took you all over Manhattan pointing out where things were filmed and telling what the scenes were. The tour started at The Plaza hotel (also where Kate Hudson & Anne Hathaway were having their weddings in Bride Wars-- "June at The Plaza!!", amongst many other things) Directly across the street is where they shot the opening when Carrie trips, and the Paris theatre where Carrie goes on her date night with the City; cruising along 5th Ave, we see Bergdorf & Goodman, where Charlotte & Trey register for their wedding, and Tiffany's where Trey re-proposes to Charlotte, another store where Carrie announces she's "taking a lover" while looking at perfumes... We saw the alley where Carrie got mugged, the bar where Samantha threw a dirty martini in the 'dirty bastard' Richard's face, the park where Miranda was with the baby when meeting Steve's new girl for the first time and she tripped and fell, the "Pleasure Chest" sex shop where the girls took Charlotte and got her the rabbit :) We drove through the Meat Packing District and saw the shops where Miranda did the math for Carrie on how much money she's spent on shoes, the building where Samantha was suppose to live, Miranda's gym, Big's apartment, this awesome little bakery where Carrie & Miranda were sitting in front of when Carrie was eating a cupcake and told Miranda about Aiden for the first time. We got some of these cupcakes-- might be the most fabulous cupcakes EVER! We also went to Steve & Aiden's bar, and.....had a cosmo! Very cool. The tour ended by the NYC Public Library, where Carrie & Big were to be married, on the street where Carrie beat him up with the flowers. The really cool thing about the tour was that the guide was called a "Sexpert" and she was young, cute, and hip. And, after we'd see a building or something, they'd show the scene from the show or movie that correlated with it. So cool. I have this whole new love & appreciation for Sex & The City now. I want re-watch everything, I've fell in love all over again.

After the tour we did some shopping on 5th Ave--this is home to Louis Vitton, Tiffany, Kenneth Cole, etc etc etc. And in between all of them are stores we could actually afford :) But it was cool just to be there. That night we had a nice dinner at this Italian restaurant. Which by the way, in the window was a letter from Oprah thanking the owner for a wonderful meal when she had eaten there ;) After that, we headed to Broadway for Mamma Mia! It was of course a great show, and great to actually see on Broadway. I could have seen a show everyday if we had the time and money. I love that stuff ;)

So after that it was time to pack up. Thursday morning I headed home. In the cab on the way to the airport I get the voicemail that my flight had been cancelled! Luckily it was very easily fixed and I made it back to Phoenix only a half hour later than planned.

Anyway.....it was a great trip, I loved New York, can't wait to go again, want to head back specifically for shopping and Broadway, and loved seeing the girls.

Oh, and I forgot to mention it was Fleet Week. This is when the naval ships dock and the sailors are ALL over the city. For the Sex & The City fans you'll remember this :)
Talk soon!