The Rebuilding Together Crew
Meet Sabra!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Rebuilding Together
On behalf of National Rebuilding Day, I spent my day building a healthier home with "Rebuilding Together" in Arlington, VA. The organization and friendliness of the group I teamed up with made this experience notable and well worth my time. Being able to meet and listen to the sincere appreciation from Sabra, the sweet lady's home we repaired was overall rewarding. She shared childhood stories with me and even showed me photos of her granddaughter who just happened to live in Portland, OR (my hometown!) and got married in our famous "voodoo doughnut" shop. While painting the outside window pane of her home, Sabra exclaimed, "no volunteer makes mistakes" when dedicating their time to make an impact in the world.
Monday, April 14, 2014
#Insanity
Stormy weather outside called for an insane workout inside. Yes, insane...I attempted the "Insanity" 60 day challenge. This DVD should have a disclaimer saying "WARNING: You may not be able to walk after performing a circuit." I'm pretty sure I could fill an entire garbage bin full of sweat by the end...My ass got worked, literally. Now that I can't feel a single muscle in my body, I think I'm going to stick to endless miles of biking.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Time Flies When You're Having FUN
Over a month has past and I just woke up from living the greatest dream imaginable. I'll try to make this short and sweet, but bare with me...I don't want to leave out the finest details.
It's February 26th and I have packed my bag full of tank tops, flip-flops, and my favorite pair of stilettos. Running behind schedule, I race down the airport halls to the security check. Minute by minute seemed to pass by more quickly since I was in such a time crunch. With 10 minutes to spare, I lit my (you know what) on fire to beat my flight from leaving my casually late tush behind. Yes, I was "that" girl who held up the plane, but only by a couple minutes. For the first time in my life, I felt more stares on me than when I grabbed my high school diploma at graduation...yikes. Once the plane took off the ground, my glands finally stopped sweating profusely and I was able to breathe like a normal human being again.
An hour and a half later I was reunited with my good friend since 4th grade, Ally in Tucson, Arizona. Driving past palm trees and dessert hills in this beautiful city won my heart. As soon as we arrived at University of Arizona, I was welcomed with open arms into the Alpha Phi sorority house. One short week later and I had some of the younger class-men fooled that I was a live in. The girls, food, and events were amazing!
While in Arizona I...
1. Went to my first bar as a 21 year old!
2. Met a beautician named Mandy who chopped half my hair off!
3. Watched my first spring training game!
From there I made a short but sweet trip home. To get more miles logged, I biked to every appointment scheduled. Most importantly, I got to spend four days cuddling with my cute doggy, Roscoe.
Saying good-bye to Oregon one last time was bittersweet. There's no place like home, but there's also nothing like traveling. Next destination: Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Nine exhausting hours on the plane, my friend Sarah and I met our friend Julia for a spring break worth remembering. Living in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo with 12 gals was quite the experience. Lack of toilet paper and clean towels was definitely not a necessity for having a blast, and we proved that.
Since Florida just wasn't enough, I made a 20 hour drive back to Indianapolis, IN. to celebrate Julia's 21st birthday in style! One 5k beer run, two nights of bar hopping, and enough Sushi to feed all of America...I was a very happy woman. This trip made me realize friendship is the key ingredient for FUN!
Leaving Indianapolis to head back to Nashville, TN I hopped on the Megabus. Climbing up the stairs to the back of the bus I found the only seat available. To my left sat a mother and her daughter and to my right was a man with dreads. Just a few minutes after the bus began its journey home, the man next to me chuckled and asked, "whyz you looks so mean?...youz looks like youz about to punch someone." Timid and unsure how to respond, I giggled and said, "I've never heard that before." He then asked if he could lay his head on my shoulder. I'm now Mega-scared of the Megabus (just kidding!)...he turned out to be a very nice guy after talking to him the rest of the shaky ride back.
Now that I've woken from my dream and finally got this blog post written, I think I'm going to go back to sleep for a while in hopes I can relive a dream just as good or maybe even better if that's even possible.
It's February 26th and I have packed my bag full of tank tops, flip-flops, and my favorite pair of stilettos. Running behind schedule, I race down the airport halls to the security check. Minute by minute seemed to pass by more quickly since I was in such a time crunch. With 10 minutes to spare, I lit my (you know what) on fire to beat my flight from leaving my casually late tush behind. Yes, I was "that" girl who held up the plane, but only by a couple minutes. For the first time in my life, I felt more stares on me than when I grabbed my high school diploma at graduation...yikes. Once the plane took off the ground, my glands finally stopped sweating profusely and I was able to breathe like a normal human being again.
An hour and a half later I was reunited with my good friend since 4th grade, Ally in Tucson, Arizona. Driving past palm trees and dessert hills in this beautiful city won my heart. As soon as we arrived at University of Arizona, I was welcomed with open arms into the Alpha Phi sorority house. One short week later and I had some of the younger class-men fooled that I was a live in. The girls, food, and events were amazing!
While in Arizona I...
1. Went to my first bar as a 21 year old!
2. Met a beautician named Mandy who chopped half my hair off!
3. Watched my first spring training game!
From there I made a short but sweet trip home. To get more miles logged, I biked to every appointment scheduled. Most importantly, I got to spend four days cuddling with my cute doggy, Roscoe.
Saying good-bye to Oregon one last time was bittersweet. There's no place like home, but there's also nothing like traveling. Next destination: Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Nine exhausting hours on the plane, my friend Sarah and I met our friend Julia for a spring break worth remembering. Living in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo with 12 gals was quite the experience. Lack of toilet paper and clean towels was definitely not a necessity for having a blast, and we proved that.
Since Florida just wasn't enough, I made a 20 hour drive back to Indianapolis, IN. to celebrate Julia's 21st birthday in style! One 5k beer run, two nights of bar hopping, and enough Sushi to feed all of America...I was a very happy woman. This trip made me realize friendship is the key ingredient for FUN!
Leaving Indianapolis to head back to Nashville, TN I hopped on the Megabus. Climbing up the stairs to the back of the bus I found the only seat available. To my left sat a mother and her daughter and to my right was a man with dreads. Just a few minutes after the bus began its journey home, the man next to me chuckled and asked, "whyz you looks so mean?...youz looks like youz about to punch someone." Timid and unsure how to respond, I giggled and said, "I've never heard that before." He then asked if he could lay his head on my shoulder. I'm now Mega-scared of the Megabus (just kidding!)...he turned out to be a very nice guy after talking to him the rest of the shaky ride back.
Now that I've woken from my dream and finally got this blog post written, I think I'm going to go back to sleep for a while in hopes I can relive a dream just as good or maybe even better if that's even possible.
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