It's Officially Official

Well, my Peace Corps passport application is in. My aspiration statement and resume are submitted. My flight from Florida to DC is booked. My hotel reservations are made. My flight to El Salvador is reserved. All systems are GOOOO! :D

I just got back from a trip to visit with friends in DC this past weekend. It was so good to see everyone from home one last time before I head off on my two year adventure. Now that I am back in Florida, I am back into my same routine. I am really hitting my stride with the quilting. Although, now that I have done all of the easy parts, it is starting to become more challenging. Good thing my mom is around to set me straight with some of this stuff. The goal is to have it done in the next month. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. I am also getting as much cuddle time in with my puppy as possible.

Also Christmas is much too close for my liking. I still am pretty gift-less for my family. I will have to remedy that this weekend. Anyone have any suggestions for a 16yo boy?

Heifer

So before I head off to bed, I wanted to post a little more good news. I just got a notification that the last of the money cleared in my Paypal account. So I decided to go ahead and make the donation. I raised $540! Which equated to a Water Buffalo, a Llama, Honey Bees and a share of a Bunny. :D I have to say I am pretty pleased, and just in time for Christmas! Hopefully some deserving families can better their lives with these animals. Yay! Thank you all for all the support you gave me over the past few months! Donation made.

El Salvador!

 So I got some pretty exciting news this past week. I received my official invitation to join the Peace Corps in El Salvador working as a Rural Health Facilitator! I cannot believe that a year has gone by since I submitted my application, but I could not be more excited to head out on this adventure. I have about six weeks until my departure date, and I have already started purchasing some essentials that I will need (like moisture wicking shirts). haha I also now have a lot to do, like write my aspiration statement, fill out paperwork, plan my attack on packing. (You are only allowed 80 lbs of luggage!) So in the mean time, feel free to check out El Salvador on the web and find out where I will be headed for 2 years. :D

Miles of Road

Hi all! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving week! I have a couple of big announcements from the past week. First off, I want to channel all further donations to Heifer to the Heifer website. My grand total that I raised was $540! That is enough for a Water Buffalo, a Llama and 2 flocks of Chicks. Thank you to everyone for all of your support along my crazy jumpee path. Also a thank you to my last three donors who pushed me over the edge of my goal!

Now that my Little Rock/ Heifer adventure has come to a close, I have arrived in Florida. Finally. haha My Dad and brother have been living here for months already, and my Mom, about a month. My first impressions are all positive. Our house is nice, and only about a 10min walk from the beach. There is more shopping than you could ever imagine just minuets away from the house and of course I have my puppy CJ here. :) I am still waiting for my Peace Corps packet to come in the mail, but have been assured it will be here by Saturday at the latest. So excited!!!

I will be back to posting more regularly now that Thanksgiving is over, and I have copious amounts of time on my hands. Also I have taken up quilting! This is what the end result will hopefully resemble when I am done! We will see. I will keep you updated. :)

On the Road again

Hey all! In about one hour I will be on the road, destination Atlanta. I still am 200 jumpees shy, but as it is raining outside right now, I will promise to do them tonight, tomorrow or Friday. I will post again later in the week, but for now, Happy Thanksgiving! I am missing all of my east coast friends, and already missing my Little Rock

Blue Jay!

Busy Busy Bee!

So a quick update as I know I have left all of you out there hanging since my last post. I still do not know where I am going with the Peace Corps yet, I will hopefully know by this week, or early next week! (It all depends on when my package gets there.) Do not worry, I will be sure to post once I find out! I am waiting with 'bated breath. :D

Winter cleaning at the boathouse!

Also I am coming to the last couple of days in my internship. WHAT! I know what you are thinking, I just got to Little Rock right? I feel the same way. It really has been a whirl wind adventure. And I will miss it here in Little Rock, I have made some really great friends.

Jumpee update! AHHHHH! I only have 600 left! That means that I have completed 14,400 jumpees. wow haha. One of my friends jokingly smacked my butt the other day and immediately exclaimed how firm my butt is! I responded that if she did about 14,000 jumpees her butt would be that firm too. haha I am almost to my second monetary goal, but I am still $80 off. I did get a donation last week, thanks! You know who you are :D

Next week I am headed to Atlanta for Thanksgiving and then it will down to Florida to play with my family. I hope you all will keep reading about the adventures I go on! :D

Peace

OK so this post is getting a makeover. I had a bunch of stuff on here about my waiting for the Peace Corps to get back to me, yadda yadda yadda. Well I guess this is what I get for procrastinating and not putting this post up. I apologize. But the news I have been waiting for is here, I GOT IN TO THE PEACE CORPS!!! I got the phone call today, and my invitation will be in the mail in just a couple of days. Meaning that By next week at the latest I will know where I will be spending the next 2 years of my life. Woah. I am totally stoked. I of course have my suspicions as to where I will be sent but, I won't post them here as well there are about a dozen countries in Latin America (where I will be going) that the Peace Corps is in, and well I have narrowed it down to about 9. haha Go me.

This week and last week were pretty chill as we did not have practice. Since daylight savings occurred last weekend, it has been to dark in the evenings to do anything useful. But next weekend we have a scrimmage within the boathouse and a winter clean up day. Also next week I have a huge presentation at work. It is kind of my final 'what I have done with my time at Heifer' presentation. Slightly nervous as there will be a lot of big wigs there. EEK! Lots of deep breaths.

OO Also I went zip lining this past weekend. It.Was.Awesome. If you ever get a chance DO IT.haha
 I have worn myself out with excitement, so it is off to bed. :)

What was that?

Oh it was a whole week flying past! AHH! I know it has been almost a whole week since I posted *Sorry!* I have been running around like a crazy person! Friday morning 6 of us left for Chattanooga, TN at 4:45am. As previously mentioned, rowers are nuts. About an hour later, we came to a screeching halt... No literally we ran over a wooden/ metal object in the road and it made a horrible noise not to mention it gave us 2 flat tires. Oy!

2 Flat Tires. Sad Day. 

We did make it to Chattanooga, but not quite in time to go for a practice row on the course. Oh well, just made things more exciting on race day. Saturday we had 3 boats race, a Men's Master 4+, a Men's Club 4+ and a Women's Club 4+. Sunday we raced a Woman's Master single (ME!), a Men's Novice single and a Mixed 8+. Even with a few stressful moments (like grabbing 4 port oars instead of 2 port and 2 starboard) it was a good weekend. Although, and I am not even a little bit ashamed to admit this, I went to bed at 8:45 last night.

Women's Club 4+ 

This afternoon, we unloaded the trailer and had our monthly membership meeting. (Which sadly is the last one I will attend.)  I feel like everything I do now is a last. Last practice, last membership meeting, last trip to LRFC... and the list goes on. Oh and did I mention that I just found out that the Peace Corps medically cleared me today! Yay! One more hurtle overcome. And now, I wait. I could hear if I am accepted tomorrow, or it could be the day before Thanksgiving... *hums Jeopardy theme song*

11800 down Wowwee! 3200 to go. Still raising money, so don't be shy, donate!

Stuck in Metaphorical Traffic

So as I have briefly mentioned, I am applying to the Peace Corps. I have wanted to apply since I was in high school and now that I have applied, the anticipation is killing me. I will most likely find out if I am going to receive an invitation with in the next 3 weeks. You know that feeling in your gut when you are running late and then you get stuck in traffic and you know that if only the traffic would just move, you would be on time? That is the feeling I have right now. I could hit the ground running with a project assignment with the Peace Corps, if only this traffic (my application) would move already! I am doing my best to practice my PC values like patience and flexibility but I am so excited I just want to know! haha

Deep breaths, that is what I keep telling my self. :P

Leaving for the Head of the Hooch regatta tomorrow at 445 am. AH! I cannot believe it is here already! I hope everything goes smoothly. I am caught up on my jumpees now, and am curious to see how this weekend will go. I hope I am able to keep caught up.

Keep the support coming! I love it, and someone else out there will love you for it. I still have quite a ways to go to my second goal of donating a llama, which is $150. So get your check books out (or open up your paypals) and donate to a great cause!!

3 weeks left?!

So I had a pretty great weekend. Friday I picked up my good friend Ali from the airport. She flew in from Philly to visit me for the weekend. She is headed off to Paris to become an au pair soon, and if I am granted an invitation into the Peace Corps, it is very possible that we will not see each other for a long time. Friday night I had a kind of quirky dinner party.

My roommate decided about a week before I moved in that he did not use his dining room table enough to keep it around, so he didn't. Yep that's right, no dinner table. So I had to improvise. We sat on the floor. haha it was a little odd, but mostly I think it was fun. I made fajitas and my pots de creme (which were good, but really rich). Then we went out into down town for a drink. All in all a pretty good evening.

Saturday Ali and I went and picked up my loot from the Little Rock Food Club. I will miss that place when I leave. I got a whole gallon of milk this time. I hope I can drink it all! I am sad that I will not be able to go this weekend as I will be at the Hooch! AH! haha (Hard to believe how that has snuck up on me...) After the LRFC, we headed to Sonic for the obligatory slushy. And then I realized that I did not have a costume to wear to the Halloween party we were headed to that night. Ali dressed as the game Twister. So I decided to go along with that theme and (attempted) to dress like Candy Land. No one knew what I was all evening, haha but that's ok, we still had a good time.

Sunday was a lazy day, and I have to admit that I did not do my jumpees (so I am once again in debt). But not to worry, My plan is to do 50 extra jumpees every day this week (which started today). I have a feeling that I am going to end up missing a day this weekend too. ugh I don't like being in jumpee debt, but sometimes it is necessary.

Spanish word- Squat = Rechoncho


Also I am trying to start a photo blog. I only have 2 pictures on there right now, and they are from my small Canon Powershot, not my Rebel. I have been taking pictures on a resolution that is too high for the photo-blog site I want to use. So I am trying to figure out how to make photos that I have already take and are a high resolution, a lower resolution. If you know, let me in on it!

Sooo, I am 9850 down. Tomorrow, I will be passed my next goal. Wow, I have just over 5000 jumpees left. Getting close! Don't forget to go to Paypal and donate to my next animal! Read about it below!! :D

PS- Can anyone else not believe that I only have about 3 weeks left here in Little Rock? I cannot. Weird.

And the winner is...

LLAMA! Yay! So with a whopping 10 votes the llama took the lead from the beginning. Some of the many uses for llamas as listed on the Heifer website: When resources are scarce, it's important that livestock don't use up land reserved for people. At home in rough, mountainous areas of Latin America, llamas are a blessing to families with limited pasture land because they can eat the scrub vegetation that other domesticated animals won't eat. Llama droppings help fertilize topsoil — improving crops and reducing erosion. Women weave their llamas' fleece into warm clothing to wear or sell. They load them up with goods for market and trek with them across rugged slopes at high altitudes. As they travel, llamas' padded feet don't damage the fragile terrain and their selective browsing doesn't destroy sparse vegetation. Llamas and their kin, the alpaca, provide Heifer families with invaluable sources of transportation, income and wool, which is prized for making blankets, ponchos, carpet and rope. And as these handy helpers are passed on to other families through Heifer's model, llamas are helping transform entire communities. A llama is a $150 donation, so as I only have about 3 weeks (!) left here in Little Rock, we have some work to go. Lets go!

A gathering of thoughts.

Ok I have been writing this post for days now. But I now have a moment to sit and finish it. It is a bit random, but aren't most of my posts? Anyways bear with me.

First of all, perhaps you have noticed a little green leaf logo on the right hand side of my blog. “My blog is carbon neutral” is an initiative, originally started in Germany by the “Make it Green” program, that has the goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Running a blog with 15,000 visitors (which I am no where near, but now my blog will be super green) per month can emit 8 pounds of carbon dioxide per year (think computers and servers). This group will plant a tree for my blog, neutralizing my blog’s carbon footprint for the next 50 years! So if you are reading this and you have a blog, you should add this as well! :)

Arkansas Boathouse Club is really gearing up for the Head of the Hooch regatta that is taking place in just over a week. Everyone really seems to have made the commitment to coming down and working hard, and from a coaches perspective, that is really great to see. Unfortunately one of the boats that I am rowing in at the Hooch (women's 4x) has not had a chance to practice at all. So if we cannot get our act together this weekend and get some water time, the first time we will be rowing will be next Friday afternoon. Haha I am sure it will be a fun race no matter what.

*Mom do not read this next one*
I have not been treating my hands very well recently. I took out a single the other day and collected a multitude of new blisters. Not to mention I was on a cooking spree today (explanation below) got a cut on my finger while using my super sharp (but super cool) knives. It is not bad at all, just a little stingy when I squeeze limes. Also how do hangnails occur?

Ok so between my grocery shopping yesterday and today, I am pretty sure I could feed an army. Well hopefully I can at least feed 11 hungry dinner guests. Yay! I am hosting my first dinner party in Little Rock tomorrow night. We will be having fajitas (with all the fixins) and Mexican Chocolate pots de creme (a recipe that I have been saving for a time like this). I'll be sure to let you know how it goes. But today I did a lot of the prep work. Like making the pots de creme, and mashing avocado, and attempting to make a tortilla de patatas (and kind of failing(even though I used Spanish olive oil and everything!)) and cutting meat into strips, etc.

ALI IS COMING TO LITTLE ROCK THIS WEEKEND. Aka tomorrow! I cannot even express how excited I am to see her. :D I will show her all 5 exciting things there are to see here in Little Rock. haha But seriously I hope she is ready to have a stellar weekend, because I am!

Also I have gotten a second wind in the jumpee arena. I am now up to 9400 done. Sweet huh? I am almost to my next milestone, 10,000! WOO! Well anyways I am not sure how next weekend will go. I will be at the Hooch and racing 2-3 times. I do not know if i I will be up for 400 jumpees. Not to mention I will be in a car all day Friday. But I bet jumpees will be a welcome relief to sitting in a car for 8 hrs.  Rowers really are crazy people.

Ok so if you have made it this far through my post, you are a saint. haha Remember to vote! I have decided to close the polls on Sunday evening, so you still have a few days to get your vote in. And let me also say that just because I have not chosen a new goal yet, does not mean you do should stop donating to the cause!

Which animal should I donate next??

Go here and vote!!
Thanks! :)
http://www.snappoll.com/poll/346205.php

Another Milestone (!) and an Allergy to Running

So I apologize for my short hiatus, but I have been running around all weekend, and have been too tired to post! Friday night I volunteered at an event at the Little Rock Zoo called Boo at the Zoo. It is basically a safe trick-or-treating place for kids and their families. It was exhausting being there for almost 5 hours handing out candy to sugar crazed kids and their semi-panicked parents. haha But I ended up having a good time. :)

Dempsy and Murphy

If you click on this picture and look
closely at my right knee,
you can see the welting!

Saturday morning I woke up early to run a 5k. It is more of a fun run here in Little Rock called the MudRun. The race is about 3.1 miles and all of the runners had to overcome a couple of obstacles (like crawling through a tunnel or walking across a balance beam) before ending at a 300 ft mud pit that you had to navigate through in order to cross the finish line. Well I made it through the race (I am not much of a runner so that is an accomplishment!), and I made it through the mud pit (although my sneakers were not so lucky) haha. But during my walk back to my car, I noticed a burning sensation on my right leg, I looked down and I had huge welts all over my knee! At first I was convinced that I was allergic to running, and the only cure would be an immediate stop. But apparently that was not actually the case, I guess I got into some type of insect (I am guessing fire ants) and they just went to town. Now that the swelling is under control, I count about 25 bites. Crazy, the area is still hot to the touch, but they feel much better today. Well after the race, and I popped a couple of Benadryl I was toast for the rest of the day. Thank goodness I was dog sitting for some friends that have great Netflix selections.

Today I got up and coxed for the Discover rowing program that was going out. I think sometimes I forget what it was like to be a beginner, novice rower. So it is good to be a part of these classes that bring me back down a little bit. I was supposed to volunteer at Boo at the Zoo again tonight. I went down there all dressed in 80's garb (partial thanks to Cal for the super sweet jacket and scrunchy) and as soon as we got there, there was a tornado warning for Little Rock. It began to pour and hail. Everyone that was already at the zoo was escorted into a storage room to wait out the storm. Once the first front had passed, we were told to go home. (Also I know it looks like I am not wearing pants in that picture, but I am. They are just super cool, gold lame, spandex, so it is a little hard to tell) haha

Anyways, I am plum tuckered out now. I cannot believe how much I did this weekend. Not to mention 600 jumpees from Friday to today. Crazy! That means that now I am at 8800 jumpees. WOOO! Only 6200 to go. Number is getting smaller!

On another also really exciting note I have hit another milestone, I received an anonymous donation on Friday for the remaining $120 I needed to raise to buy a water buffalo!! Much thanks to whoever you are! Your generous donation will help to bring a family out of poverty, and that is the best gift anyone can receive. But I think we can all continue this little task. I think that since I still have 6200 jumpees to go, and a month left in my internship, I can raise enough money to buy a second animal! So everyone, lets do it. Lets get the word out and get the donations coming in! I will post a poll on here tomorrow so you can all vote for what my next animal should be! :D THANKS EVERYONE!

Vandals and a trip to the Chenal dentist

So yesterday a few people decided to go out for a pick up row. These usually go off without any hitches, but yesterday was no ordinary day. Everything seemed fine at first, I was doing my jumpees, and a couple of others were erging. Until Cal got there, and she went down to get the launch boat ready to take out. She unhooked it from the dock, and shoved off. About 6 ft from the dock, she realized that the engine would not start. Which was odd because it just came back from the shop and should have been working fine. Well, apparently some crazy hoodlems came into the area where our boat was parked the night before and cut our gas line, stealing our gas tank, and making the launch undriveable. Oy. Thank goodness the North Little Rock fire department happened to be right there to pull her back in. Also thank goodness a couple of people on the team were able to run out to the store and get us a quick fix. We have a more permanent fix today.

The dentist stresses me out. One thing that stresses me out more than going to the dentist, is going to a dentist that I have never been to before. That is the worst. But as I did not go to the dentist over the summer, I was way over due for a visit and had to find a new dentist here in Little Rock. I was recommended to a couple, but finally chose one, Dr. DJ Dailey. It turned out to be a very upstanding place, the staff was super nice, and Dr. Dailey was great. This how ever did not mean that I would have no problems. There are always problems. Ugh. I have some cavities. Which is weird to me because I think of myself as being a pretty good teeth brusher. But never the less, they are there and I now have to go back on Monday for the dreaded fillings. :( I wish my dad were here to hold my hand and drive me home from my appointment...

So even though my day was not 100% great, I was still psyched for practice. Today was just kind of a steady state, longer piece. We took out an 8 and a single (Me!). I rowed and rowed. I rowed just over 10,000 meters, which is about 6.2 miles. But I got a charlie horse in the middle of the row, those are never fun. And I was using oars I had never used so I now am the proud owner of many new blisters. Good thing I decided to use lime in my dinner tonight... OW!

Also today I cooked half of an organic, pasture chicken. And I have to say it tasted happy... :)
Today's Spanish word is: Cattle = Ganado


I am now at 8200 done, so just 6800 to go. I appreciate all of your support. I still have about $120 to go before I hit my $250 goal! So tell your friends and you mom's about me!!

Milestone!!! :D

Here we are! I am just over half way through my jumpees. I have completed 7600. And it feels good. I went out for a little pizza celebration this evening. I have to say when I stated this task of 15000 jumpees, it seemed so daunting, but now that I am over half way, I am excited to finish! It is the last half of the race, and I am confident that I can do it!

I hope you all are telling your friends about my mission to raise $250. I am at just about $130 right now, so half way. I still have a little ways to go, but I am confidant that I will make it! But I need your support! So let your co-workers and neighbors and friends know about my little fundraiser so that I can get to my goal. I really appreciate all of the support and encouragement that I am getting from everyone!

Today's Spanish word is: Middle = Medio


I hope you all are enjoying the Fall! I am! And I am thinking about making an apple pie or an apple crisp later this week/ this weekend. Mmm Delish!

The book

Ok so I am going to try to keep this post brief, but as I had such a cool and interesting weekend, I am not sure I will be able to do that. So my Uncle Paul came into town this past Thursday. I had a great time this weekend showing him all around Little Rock and introducing him to all of my new friends. On Friday he came to visit me at work and we had lunch in the cafe, followed by a tour of the Heifer campus. Which is always informative. Friday evening we had a lovely dinner at a restaurant just outside of down town called Cajuns. It was delicious and it overlooks the river where I saw some of my rower friends out for a row. :)

Saturday started bright and early with the Suzan G Komen Race for the Cure. ABC decided we wanted to send out a boat to row in between the two bridges that the race goes between in support of all of the women walking. We have a boat that was painted pink for just this occasion last year. Last year there were an estimated 40,000 women that walked in the SGK race, I have not heard any stats yet for this years race, but it seemed to be another good turn out. After we got off the water, the lovely people at the boathouse supplied brunch for the rowers and kayakers that were supporting the race for the cure. Post brunch, Uncle Paul and I headed into downtown to pick up my first organic (and local) order from the Little Rock Food Club. Not only did I order milk, but I also got some fruits and veggies, yogurt and chicken. I am very excited! I have, thus far, tried the milk, apples and yogurt and have been impressed by it all. (Although I will say I think I mistakenly got 2% milk instead of skim, but no harm no foul. I'll just have to do some extra jumpees this week...) haha Also on Saturday I went to one of my friend's husband's rugby game. I have never seen a rugby game before, and let me tell you, it was quite an experience.

Saturday evening I went to a Heifer sponsored dinner called the 100 Mile Meal. The premise of the meal was that everything that was served came from with in 100 miles of Little Rock.  And I have to say not only was everything delicious, there was some great discussion from a panel of experts on eating locally and sustainable. The evening did not disappoint. And then I conked out early as I had a very busy day.

This morning, Uncle Paul and I were invited to another brunch with some friends. The food was delicious and I was really pleased that my uncle was able to meet so many of the people that have become a part of my life here in Little Rock. After the brunch, we had a couple of hours to kill before I dropped Uncle Paul off at the airport, so we decided to make a quick trip to the Little Rock zoo. Normally I love zoos, but this zoo was a tad depressing. Apparently it is really lacking in funding, but regardless, the animals just looked sad in their small habitats. :( But it was nice to be spending the time with my uncle.

I would also just like to take a moment to remember my friend Laura Lynam who passed away 6 years ago today. She was such a vibrant spirit and she is still greatly missed my many.


Thank you all for the support you have shown me.
7400 done! (Almost half way!!) 7600 to go! I am almost over the hump!

Early to bed...

Early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. That is how the saying goes anyways. I wonder what the back ground on that saying is. But I got up early this morning to do my jumpees, and I am tired now. Perhaps in the long run it will make me healthy, wealthy and wise.

Yesterday, post work and post jumpees, I did a massive clean of my apartment. I cleaned the whole kitchen, the living room, my room and my bathroom. The common areas were gross. I am not sure my roommate had ever mopped the kitchen floor. Bleh. And I gave my bottle of febreze a run for its money. But it feels nice to be in a clean house. I did all of this cleaning because my great uncle is in town. He arrived this morning and is here until Sunday to visit me and explore Little Rock. As we were looking for a place to eat this evening, I think he was a little in shock at the cuisine differences between here and Boston (where he is from). A lot more fried foods here. haha

But we ended up having a nice dinner right in down town. Tomorrow Uncle Paul is going to come visit me at work for lunch and then go on a tour of the Heifer building. Yay! I am very excited he was able to come down here this weekend. :D

Spanish words To Hide = Esconder
Quilt = Edredón 

So since I last wrote, I have done 400 jumpees. That makes the grand total 6800! Only 8200 more. haha
Thanks for the support! I am still hanging out at about half way to my monetary goal. So tell your friends about me! :D Night all

The Epiphany

Ok all, I have really never had what one would call an epiphany. Until today that is. After reading several articles and discussing with co-workers I have decided to make the switch to organic milk. I don't want to severely gross anyone out, but apparently it is common for un-organic milk to contain some amount of blood and puss from infected cow udders. I know, I know the FDA allows some amount of gross elements (such as rat droppings and insects) into a lot of our foods. But for some reason this milk thing has really gotten to me. And just ask my roommates from last year, I love milk!! So my 2 week milk hiatus that I have been on has been painful to say the least. And I know what else you are going to say. 'Aren't you just a poor intern? How will you afford the price hike or buying organic milk?' Well to you I will say, I will just have to cut back in other areas.

I have been encouraged to go organic in other areas of my life. And I totally agree with organic and local buying, but for now, I think this is a good first step as I am not buying anything organic or local now. (Maybe I will look into buying my organic milk locally, hmm.) Also I am gong to try to start buying all of my fruits and veggies in season. So that means no more strawberries in the middle of winter. I am really starting become conscious of the foods I eat, where they come from and how they are produced. I feel really good about this. :)

Also today I tried borscht today for the first time. And I loved it! I could eat cabbage all day long... mmm. When I got back from the boathouse this evening, I had a lovely time peeling and eating my first pomegranate of the season whilst watching Love Actually. What a great night. :) I am now ready for the Holidays to start! Amazing what one movie can do to ya.

Today's Spanish word is: Blind = Ciego
Well 200 more jumpees completed. 6400 down, 8600 jumpees to go! yay!

Getting caught up: Kachunga and the Alligator

Kachunga and the Alligator!

So the last you heard from me I had a hectic weekend planned. Friday night a couple of us headed to the State Fair. It was awesome. I am a sucker for fair food. I had a pulled pork sandwich, grilled corn and deep fried oreos (SO GOOD). I think I might still be full from that. We also went to an alligator show, it was called Kachunga and the Alligator (actually I saw an add for it on tv today). It was a bit bizarre, and Steve Irwin-esque.  Soon after that I headed to bed early as I knew I had a busy day on Saturday.

Fried Oreos!

I got up early and headed to the Red Cross so I could take an 8hr course on CPR, AED and First Aid. It was long, and only slightly painful, but I am glad I did it. Now if you find yourself choking and I am near by, I can attempt to save your life with my new skill set. Or as my instructor said, 'you will be deader than a grave yard' haha. (By the way did I mention that my instructor is 80 yo? He was a fountain of great sayings like 'madder than a cat in a sandbox'). After my class was over, a group of us got together and headed over to North Little Rock to partake in the World Cheese Dip Competition. (Did you know cheese dip was invented right here in Arkansas?) We were all really excited, but when we got there, we found out that all of the competitors had run out of cheese dip hours earlier! So disappointing. So we scrapped that plan and headed to a restaurant near by for dinner. And then back to LR for a little late night exploration of the city.

Sunday I got up and was greatly encouraged to watch Boondock Saints (which I had never seen before). So I did, and I have to say it was pretty good. A little out there, but pretty good. Mid- day I was invited to a crew team brunch, where we had pumpkin pecan pancakes (say that 5 times fast), delicious omelets and I learned the how to play bocce ball. So all and all it was a good weekend. :)

Today's Spanish word is: To Frown = Fruncie el Ceño 
And I must say that I am all caught up on my jumpees! Yay finally!! So that is 6200 down! WOO. Only 8800 to go!

Hey all!

I promise I have not forgotten about all of you or my obligations! I have just had a very busy, slightly hectic weekend. I will tell you all about it tomorrow when I am not exhausted and falling asleep at my computer. :) But I will leave you with this comment, if you have never listened to the group Vampire Weekend, look them up. They are great and I am obsessed with them right now! No worries, they do not actually sing about vampires. haha :D

Day 28/29: What a weekend (That technically has not started yet)

I apologize for the lack of post yesterday. I know, you must be terribly upset with me. But I was a bit of a space case yesterday afternoon, and totally forgot to post. But worry not, 200 jumpees were completed. ( I am still in debt 50 jumpees.) After work I popped out my jumpees, and headed over to Kitchen Co. Kitchen Co is this really cute food specialty store, not unsimilar to a Williams Sonoma. I took a sushi making class with 3 other people. And it was a lot of fun! But I have to say, I might leave the sushi making to the professionals as it never tastes quite as good when you make it yourself. Always fun to try something new though. :D

After my cooking class was over, I headed back to Heifer. Yes back to work. My coworker and I were putting a little goody on every one's desk to celebrate World Egg Day, which is today. Hurray for eggs! Did  you know that eggs are hight in protein and the nutrients in eggs can help prevent loss of eyesight as we age? Yum yum yum! After our egg egg-stravaganza (haha get it?) I got an invite to hang out with a couple of friends, so I did. And by the time I got back, I crashed and totally forgot about posting.
Also another interesting fact about today: Today is John Lennon's birthday, he would have been 70.
I will give you TWO, count them two Spanish words today, just to make up for yesterday.
Word 1: Faucet. Faucet = El Grifo
Word 2: Tear or teardrop. Tear = La Lágrima

I have not done my jumpees for today yet, but y'all know I'm good for them! I plan on doing them between when I get out of work and when I leave for the State Fair! (Which, have I mentioned how excited I am for that?) If I have not, I am SUPER excited! haha I love fairs!
So 200 down (from yesterday), I will complete 200 today (maybe even 250 to get myself back up to speed). Currently I 5550 completed, 9450 to go. After today I will have 9250/9200 to go (depending on how many I do.) I will keep you updated.
Thanks for the support! :D

Day 27: Almost caught up

Ok! Here we go, I am only 50 jumpees in debt to myself! Almost there. Nothing too exciting to report today. But I am (hopefully) taking a cooking class tomorrow on how to make sushi! Yum! (Lets just hope this one does not get canceled too!) And the State Fair is this weekend! YAY for delicious food and roller coasters and throwing up said delicious food! haha And I have my all day Red Cross class that I am taking on Saturday. So the next couple of days will be full of things to do. But for today, I think I will call this a wimpy post and head to bed. :)

Today's Spanish word: To melt! To melt = Derretir

250 more down. 5350 completed. 9650 to go! Yay!!
Thanks for the support everyone!! :)

Day 26: 5000

Well here ya have it. I am through my second milestone! And I have to say I feel exhausted. As would you if you had completed over 5000 jumpees. haha But it does feel good to be 1/3 of the way done. There is no going back now. 

I wanted to show you all a picture of the really cool building I work in. It is the most environmentally friendly a building can be. It has received a platinum rating. There is a big water tower that collects rain water to be used in every part of the building except for what comes out of the faucets. Another cool fact about the building is that it is 62 feet wide at its widest point, is designed to capture the maximum amount of sunlight for solar heating and lighting. Also most of the steal that the building is made from, comes from recycled cars and washing machines! Pretty cool. 


Todays Spanish word is business! Business = Los negocios 
250 more down! 5100 done, 9900 to go. (Also I am still in debt 100 jumpees.)

Day 25: Almost to my next mile stone

So I assumed that when I got to 5000 jumpees it would be super exciting and slightly dramatic. But as I did not do my jumpees yesterday, and did 250 today, I am 150 shy of 5000. So, today I have completed 4850 jumpees. (The extra 50 was difficult to say the least). Tomorrow (if I do another 250) I will be done with 5100 jumpees. Oy this is getting complicated.

Tonight I was invited to a small dinner party at my boss' house, and I had my first introduction to venison. I cannot really say if I liked it or not because it was ground and mixed in with ground beef and it was served in a 'firecracker enchilada'. The enchilada was good, but I will not pass judgement on the venison just yet.

Also I have to say that my mother is a saint. I just received a care package from her, and it has all of the things I was out of (including chap stick for my ever so chapped lips!). So THANK YOU MOM!! :D Miss you!

So I have had a comment that I probably already know the Spanish words that I am posting on here. It is true, I have been putting up pretty basic words. But review is always good. But I am going to start putting up words that I do not know as well. On that note today's Spanish word is to twist! To twist = Torcer


Thanks for reading all! 

Day 24: A day of rest

Today, my body told me that it would like a break. And me, being the nice person that I am, obliged. So I did not do my jumpees today. The plan is to tack on extra jumpees every day until I am back to where I need to be.

Today's Spanish word is: To thunder! To Thunder = Tronar


So I am still at 4600 completed. And I still have 
10400 to go. But I am confident I will make up 
these jumpees quickly and get back on track. 
Thanks for all of the great support!!

Day 23: Fall is in the air

It was a beautiful fall day here in Little Rock. A little warm during the day, and it is a little overcast now (even though there is a 0% chance of rain, which I do not think I have ever seen before haha), but beautiful. We had a great row this morning, with a great turn out. Love it when that happens. And after today's practice, I am even more excited for the Head of the Hooch! My jumpees went pretty smoothly after practice, and then I headed home.

Today has also consisted of  a lot of laundry, some cleaning and a mini grocery store run. And now I am having a relaxing time watching NCIS and having what might be one of my new favorite beers, Fat Tire. Cal and I might be going into downtown Little Rock tonight to check out the scene. I hear there is a pretty cool bar that has over 100 types of beer on tap.

I have the promised video of the jumpees, but it is not uploading well, I will put it up tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.

Today's spanish word is: finger! Finger = El dedo
4600 behind. 10400 forward. And shout out to my newest donor! :)

Day 22: Another one bites the dust

It is good to be home and in bed. Today was a long day, and it has been a long week in general. This morning, I took a Red Cross class on the prevention of transmitting blood borne pathogens like Hep B/C and HIV. It was pretty interesting, and got me excited for the day long class I am taking next week on first aid, CPR and AED usage. Also today I went to a presentation at work on the projects that are going on in India. It is always interesting to hear stories from Heifer projects first hand.

After work I headed down to the boathouse. I started my jumpees, and then went out in a single. I would estimate I rowed close to 15,000 meters, maybe a little less. So once I got in and finished my jumpees, I was finished. I am now completely ready for bed, and am headed that way now. :)

Today's Spanish word is ocean, sea. Ocean/ Sea = El mar.
Annnnd another one down, and another one down. Another one bites the dust! 4400 down. 10600 to go!
Also I would just like to note, that I accidentally erased this entire post, and had to re-write it, so it is slightly shorter than my original one, as I would like to go to bed. :( Hate it when that happens.

PS Video to come tomorrow!!

Day 21: Starwars

       As I was coxing today, I realized how great it would be if everyone was a character from Starwars. I would designate myself as Padmé. :P I have to admit that I am a little bit of a closet Starwars junkie. And if I am admitting to things right now, I might as well fess up to my love of Star Trek. Well there ya have it. Actually I learned a pretty cool fact about Starwars the other day. The language, Quechua (a Peruvian language I think) which is thought to be a dying language was sought out by George Lucas to use in Starwars movies. So if you listen closely in the older movies you might be able to pick some of that up, if you speak Quechua that is. 

      I was expecting to row a single this afternoon along side an 8. So when I got to the boathouse I decided to get all of my jumpees out of the way as I was anticipating to be in for a hard practice. But once everyone arrived, we realized we had enough people to take out a 4 and a 6 (which is really an 8 with 2 people missing). In order to do this, I was asked to cox the 4. I actually do not mind coxing, and I think it would be pretty cool to cox an actual race. hmm There must be someway I can swing that... But after practice was over, I was really glad my jumpees were already done. 

      We are now getting everyone ready for the Head of the Hooch which takes place in TN in early November. We wish to fly down the race course like the Millennium Falcon races to rescue Luke Skywalker after Darth Vader tells Luke he is his father in the Empire Strikes back. Ok enough Starwars, I get it. haha But we really do want to go fast, and we will!


Today's Spanish word? Carrot! :) Carrot = la zanahoria 
4200 completed, 10800 left!! Thank you for the support everyone! And look for a video either tomorrow or Saturday! :D

Day 20: A little Spanish with my blog? Don't mind if I do

I knew today was going to be exhausting. But I have to say that I am beat! Besides my hectic work day, I did not get the best nights sleep last night, and everyone knows how that can be. Does anyone know where the saying 'Running around like a chicken with your head cut off' came from and why it is associated with not having a moment of free time? I suppose if I had my head cut off I would not really have a whole lot of free time either, never the less it is still odd. I suppose you could liken my day to that. haha

 But I knew I had my cooking class to look forward to this evening. So I have to say I was bummed when I got a phone call late this afternoon canceling my class. But I guess grateful at the same time that I could have a little veg time (post jumpees of course). So I came home from work, did my jumpees in the court yard (did not know my complex had one till I did a little exploring the other day) and called it a day.

So also I am going to start doing a new part of my blogging. I am attempting to add to my Spanish vocabulary these days. And it just so happens that I have 1000 flash cards with Spanish vocab words on them. How convenient! So, every day I am going to pick one from random, and post it here so you all can learn with me! So today's randomly chosen word, is (drum roll please) Silly! haha What a great word to start off with. Silly = Tonto(a)

And now I am going to call it a night. Thanks to all of my supporters, I now have about $120! I am almost half way to my monetary goal on day 20 of my project. :) 4000 finished, 11000 to go!!! Yay!

What day is today?

Ok I know today is day 19, but I am really getting up there! At least that is what I thought until I realized that I still have 57 days left. OY! That seems like a lot of days. haha But here I am plugging away at my goal. I am happy to say that I have yet to miss a day! I still am trying to get a video up here of me doing jumpees. I cannot tell you how many times I have done jumpees in slacks or a skirt (not recommended) at work because someone did not know what a jumpee was. (Which is normal, I recognize that I am the abnormal one here.) But I need to be able to direct them to my blog, where oh so conveniently there is an example of my jumpees. haha I am hoping that by the end of the week I will have that up for everyone.

Oh! I am very excited for my cooking class tomorrow! I cant wait to see how that goes. But it is impinging on jumpee time. So I will have to be creative with when I do them. Today, I left work, got down to the boathouse, and knocked out half of my jumpees before the rowers showed up for the afternoon row. Todays row was soooo much better than last week's. Shout out to Patrick for filling in a seat last min. I was coaching, and we took out an 8. I have to say they got in some pretty good strokes today. I keep forgetting that it is getting darker earlier these days, so by 7:15 it was mostly dark and we headed in. After practice I knocked out the last 100 for the day. And I headed to Sonic for dinner, where I got a delicious burger and grape slushy for $3.04! Gotta love half priced burger Tuesdays. If only I could get the purple slush stain out of my mouth....

And now I cannot believe it is almost midnight, long day ahead of me tomorrow....
Shout out to my latest donor!!
3800 (!) completed, 11200 left :D

Day 18: The Walk

Today I attempted to walk to the Big Dam Bridge from my apartment. Had I left maybe 30 min earlier than I did, I might have made it. haha But as it was, I got about a half a mile away and began doing my jumpees for the day. Then it started to get dark. So I decided that I would turn around and periodically do jumpees on my way back. It was actually pretty nice as I broke the jumpees up along my walk. The weather was also ideal. The air had just enough of a crisp feel to make the evening fallish. And the sunset was beautiful. I like that it is getting colder now, this weekend was really the first time it has felt like fall this year.

So I did my jumpees, and when I got back I sat down to my lovely dinner and to see what was on tv. And lo and behold, there was a classic movie on that I just could not pass up. Groundhog Day. You know the one with Bill Murry, Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliot where Bill Murry's character relives the same day (Groundhog's Day) over and over again until he can get it right. Love it. I especially love it when it comes on, on other days than Groundhog's Day.

Also yesterday my brother found a scorpion in his room!! Crazy! It was itty bitty. But apparently those are the most lethal, so it was good he found it, but scary at the same time. *Note to self: do not leave shoes unattended or baby scorpions will crawl in*

3600 down. 11400 left! Wooo! And I just would like to note, Classical music can be so calming. :)

Day 17: Back from Perryville

I think it is safe to say, Fall is here in central Arkansas. The weather is crisp and the leaves are turning. Although there is a little bit of a phenomena with the leaves here that I have not seen before. The summer is so hot here that the leaves are literally burnt around the edges. But I think it makes them all that more unique. I need to plan my first pie baking event. Apple pie is one of my favorites. But for tonight I will just stick with some fresh chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk.

Today Heifer University ended. I really appreciated the opportunity I had to go and it was a good reminder about what we are doing at Heifer. Sometimes I think everyone gets so involved in their specific projects that it is good to be brought back down and reminded of who we are helping and what it is all about. When I got back from the ranch I immediately fell asleep and took a 2hr, much needed, nap. After nap time, came jumpee time. And while I would not say I enjoyed them, it was not quite as hard as yesterday.
This week is going to be one of those hectic crazy weeks. But I know I am going to learn a lot, and hopefully I have sprinkled enough fun stuff in there so it will not be too crazy. Like Wednesday evening I am taking a cooking class! We are making jambalaya and key lime pie. I cannot wait for that!

Shout out to my most recent donor, thanks for the support! 200 more down. 3400 completed. 11600 to go! :)

Day 16: The Challenge

So I just wanted to take todays post to remind everyone why I am doing this challenge. Today, even though I am at Heifer Ranch learning all about Heifer's works, ironically, I began to forget why I am challenging myself to complete 15000 jumpees. I am doing this to help make someone's life better. My donation will, hopefully, help someone bring themselves up out of poverty. They will be able to buy food for themselves, send their children to school, or invest in their community. This is really not about me, and I feel like I need to keep that on the forefront of my mind.

Today was hard. Really really hard. I have been out at the ranch now since Thursday afternoon. I woke up early this morning intending to do my jumpees and get them out of the way, as I did yesterday. But when my alarm went off at 6:15, I could not get out of bed. I was so tired. I figured I would do them after the days activities, but when that came, I still did not really want to them. I think today was really the first day that I did not want to do my jumpees. I considered skipping them for the day, especially after my large dinner and 2 s'mores.

I thought I would make them up at some undetermined time. But then I really thought about it for a moment. If I were living in an impoverished situation and I needed to feed my family, would I just take a day off because I didn't feel like it? I would not even have the option . If I take a day off, my family continues to starve. So I went out in front of the visitors center, next to the water buffalo paddock, and jumped. It was hard, and not what I actually wanted to be doing, but away I went. And I have to say, I am so glad I did them. My 200 today made me really think about why I am continuing to do this, and I have to say that I cannot wait to do my 200 tomorrow.

Another 200 down. 3200 finished. 11800 to go. Help me get to my goal, and help a person/ family/ community bring themselves to a better place in life, a better standard of living. :)

Day 15: Heifer U

So one thing I forgot to mention in my post yesterday was the reason I came back out to Heifer Ranch. I am attending what is called Hiefer U 101. It is basically a general overview of Heifer history and projects and a some cool experiences at the ranch. Today I got up early and did my jumpees before breakfast just like I said I was going to do. Had a stellar breakfast at the dining hall (eggs and biscuits and gravy, delish) and headed to the Guatemala barn where we did a group activity deciding how the worlds population was spread out and where the worlds consumption is. All and all a pretty interesting activity.

Then it started to rain a much needed rain. We headed out in said rain on a tractor hay ride around the ranch. Our first stop was at the camel paddock. We all got to feed one of the camels pieces of apples. Then we headed to the Global Village 2 (GV2). We were split in half. Some went to the Mozambique camp and some went to the Tibet camp. I was in the Mozambique camp and we made Nshima which is a cornmeal and water mixture cooked down into either a paste or a more solid bread. We then sautéed some veggies with a little oil and curry powder and mixed it all together. Not too shabby for cooking outside over an open fire.  After lunch we did a quick tour of the rest of GV2 and headed over to a conference room to listen to a presentation from Dilip Bhandari from Heifer's Asia/ South Pacific program on Heifer's work in the field.
After dinner we had a presentation from our group leader, Todd, on Heifer's history. We watched a movie on Dan West, the founder of Heifer, and I have to say it was quite inspiring. We then did a couple of exercises outlining the mission statement of Heifer and a timeline of Heifer events.

200 down. 3000 finished!!! Hollaaa! 12000 to go. Keep puttin the word out everyone, I am on my way towards my goal! Thanks for the support y'all!

Day 14: Back to Perryville :D

Today has been a hectic day. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, so I decided to have an extra strong cup of coffee. Probably not the best idea because I was jittery for the rest of the morning. I did my best to channel that energy into my work, and was mostly successful. haha Around lunch time I had been invited to attend a fashion show for Breast Cancer survivors. So I went to that, and I have to say it was quite moving, especially when all of the models (who were survivors) walked down the runway holding up signs for how long they were cancer free.

After a bit more work, I headed home to pack real quick (which always takes longer than expected). Made a quick stop at Sonic, so I could have something cool to drink in my non-air conditioned car on my way to P.Ville. Made it to the Ranch, dropped my stuff off at the lodge we will be staying at and headed to dinner. This trip to the Heifer Ranch will be much different than my last one, mostly because I will be sleeping indoors. haha I am definitely looking forward to this experience. After dinner we had a nice orientation where we watched a movie (Passing of the Gift) and reviewed the 7M's. (Milk, Muscle, Money, Manure, Motivation, Materials and Meat)
After our orientation we headed back to the lodge where I changed and began to do my jumpees. As I have said I am now doing my jumpees pretty quickly. Today I did them in about 25min. Not too shabby. I am going to try to get up early tomorrow and do my jumpees early. Just so I can get them out of the way for the day.  
200 more down. 2800 finished to date. 12200 to goooooo! Woowoo! Also I would just like to say I have just learned more about the mating life of bees today than I ever cared to know...

Day 13: Coxswain

Today I came down to practice today to help out with the Learn to Row class that was going on. We had 6 rowers show up, so we decided to take out at 8 with seats 3 and 4 empty. That left someone to cox the boat and someone to coach/drive the launch. I volunteered to cox, as I have been here in Little Rock for about a month and have not filled that position in the boat yet. I think I have coxed once before in my life. And that was like 6 (or more) years ago. Anyways lets just say it was an experience for everyone. First of all coxswains are ment to be small skinny girls that can easily fit into a narrow seat which is usually at the stern (or back) of the boat. I was not born to fit in a coxswains seat. haha But it surely was an experience.
We did a lot of drill work and got some really nice strokes in (despite my terrible steering). It took me about 1/2 of practice to figure out the steering, and coaching, and switching pairs in and out all at the same time. It was definitely difficult. Anyone out there who coxs, you have my full respect. Thank you to all of the rowers who came out today for putting up with me today!
It was a fun, different experience, that I would not mind trying again (just not on a regular basis) haha. After practice I did my 200 for the day. They really are getting better. Today about the last 50 were tough. But before that, it was smooth sailing. haha I finished them up and went out to dinner, where I tried shrimp and grits. I love shrimp, and I love grits. Where is bad? No where in sight, thats where. So delicious! Anyone who has a chance to go to the Faded Rose, should try it out. Pretty darn good!

Shout out to my newest donor!! I will be out at the ranch tomorrow through Sunday, but no worries I will still be posting! 2600 down, 12400 to go!! :D Thanks all!

Day 12: Productive

Do you ever have those days when not everything went exactly as planned, but you ended your day feeling like you accomplished something? Today I had one of those days. I was super productive at work, which always feels nice.

I went to practice a little early so I could do my jumpees before we went out on the water. I got there and almost immediately realized we were going to be bombarded with rowers who do not come down on a regular basis. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE it when rowers come down, but it was hard to figure out where we were going to put everyone. I ended up deciding we should take out 2 4s. So in order to take out 2 4s we needed to rig a second 4, which needed to get done now rather than later, so we could get on the water on time. So the jumpees went on hold. Anyways the line ups were a bit screwy, and that caused the whole practice to be a bit screwy. But when we got in and the boats put away, I was able to get my jumpees done pretty quickly (while blasting music which is always the best).

So even though practice may not have gone exactly as planned, it was a good day. And I am now exhausted. And let me leave you with this website- http://www.wastedfood.com/ I do not agree with everything this guy talks about, but he does make a few valid points regarding the waste America makes. Any whoo 200 more behind me. 2400 down, 12600 to goooooo!

Day 11: Multitasking

So I this evening I made dinner and did my jumpees on the porch at the same time! I know, I know you don't have to say it, you are impressed. What delightful cuisine did I whip up tonight you ask? Fajitas! mmm I could not wait to have my jumpees done so I could eat my fajitas. And I have to say they were pretty good. So in between my jumpees (which I was doing in about sets of 20) I would run into the kitchen and chop chop chop and mix mix mix. It ended up making the 200 for the day seem to fly by.
Also today I got lost. Very lost. My GPS died, and my Cal has been holding the charger for it for weeks. I went to the post office (watch out fam in Fla) and then could not find my way home again. Thank goodness I had a full tank of gas as I drove all around Little Rock. haha I finally made it home where I began my jumpee/ fajita extravaganza.

Quick shout out to my bestie Ali! She went through all of the effort to make me some of her delicious banana bread (with chocolate chips!) and something must have happened in the mail system because it took over 2 weeks to get here. And when I opened it today, it had molded. :( But it is the thought that counts! Miss ya Ali!! Also this is my puppy that I keep talking about. Her name is CJ (aka The Baby or Cejerson) and I miss her!

2200 down, 12800 to go. The number is getting smaller y'all! Night!

Day 10: Heat Wave?

Hot. Hot. Hot. It is fall, so shouldn't the weather be cooling down? One would think, but it is HOT out! I think weather.com says it is 93 right now. To the person who controls the heat I would just like to make a personal request for maybe some 70deg weather. Thanks that is much appreciated! This morning I got up and headed down to the boathouse to help with the last day of our Discover Row class. I can't believe how much everyone has learned and improved in the 3 days we have been working.

So I got home around 12 and decided to do my 200 for the day on my porch again. Which has been working out for me, but did I mention that it is hot? I am not sure I have ever sweat so much! haha A little gross but the truth. A little stretching and I am done for the day. Yay! Hopefully I will have another relaxing afternoon and will be able to cook my self a nice dinner, as I have not really had too much time to do that lately. 
So if you have some free time I suggest you check out this pretty cool website called Free Rice. Free Rice has two goal, they strive to provide education to everyone for free. And they want to help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free. Basically how it works is you answer a vocabulary, language, math, art, science or geography question and if you get it right the site will donate 10 grains of rice to a country in need and the more questions you get right the more rice you collect. It is addicting and today I learned that the word 'stopgap' means makeshift. Did you know that?
So I am now 2000 jumpees down! Quite exciting! Only 13000 to go, Wooo!! Hope y'all are having a great weekend! :D

Day9: Learn to Row and a relaxing afternoon

Hey All! I apologize for yesterdays short post, but while yesterday was busy, nothing super exciting happened. Today I got up early today and headed down to ABC to continue our Discover Row program. We have 5 great people enrolled in our discover row program, and boy did they work hard today, (as did the coaches!). After Discover row was over I punched out my 200 for the day. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that the jumpees are getting easier! I finished in about 25min!!!! Considering it has been taking me about an hour or longer to finish I am quite excited with this new development.

Post jumpees consisted of getting gas for my car (which I have been putting off for days now, and could no longer do haha) and getting groceries and lunch with Cal. We took the afternoon pretty much off and relaxed. I had some great conversations with my parents (*Hi Mom, Hi Daddy!*) and realized that no matter what you just have to keep on flying!

A quick shout out to my Grandma Jan who is my latest donor! Thanks Grandma!! :D I am now up to $75!!  That is about 1/3rd of my goal!! Not too shabby for day 9! I have now completed 1800 jumpees and have 13200 to go! 66 days until the end, so 66 days to donate!! Also this means 66 days until I see my family and baby puppy again! I miss them all :) Thanks again all for reading and keeping the spirit alive!

Day 8: Short Post

Unfortunately nothing exciting really happened today. Went to work. Did my 200 for the day. Helped out with a discover row. And now am headed to an early bed. I am thinking I will have more to write about tomorrow (Hopefully)!

1600 down. 13400 to go. :D

Days 6/7: The Jumpee police and a little trip to Perryville

Well, we have a lot to talk about! First of all, yesterday, I got up extra early so I could do my jumpees early and get them out of the way, as I knew I was going have quite the busy day. As I was doing my jumpees, two things happened. The first thing that happened was a transformer blew like 20ft away from me! It was freaky. The runner who was next to me and I jumped about 25ft in the air. haha, it must have been a site. haha I continued with my jumpees when the second thing happened. I found myself wanting go home and crawl back in bed, this was about 150 jumpees in. And then, do you know who arrived? THE JUMPEE POLICE! haha They said I was going to go to jumpee jail if I did not finish my last 50. I did not believe them, so I started to walk for home, thinking I would finish up the last 50 today.  But then the jumpee police came back, they forced me to finish my jumpees, because they knew I would not want to do them today. But let me tell you, I have learned my lesson. I never want to see the jumpee police again!

Then I went to work for a millisecond before I headed off to Heifer Ranch. The Boss thought it would be a good idea for me to get the full Heifer experience, and I can't say I disagreed. So, off to Perryville I went. 45min later I arrived, and began my 24hr journey. I met up with the 25 new volunteers and two teachers (here from Austin to check out Heifer Ranch for a potential field trip) and a couple of experienced volunteers who kept us in line. They took us around our future homes for the evening, which they called Global Village 1(GV1). They had an area for each of the areas of the world that Heifer works in: Guatemala, Thailand, Appalachia, Zimbabwe, the slums, and refugee camps.  All groups were assigned a pregnant mother (me for my group)(and we had to carry around a water balloon for our whole stay) and a person with a disability. (Also we named our baby Noodle) haha
I was put in the refugee camp with 4 others and part of our experience was that we were given no resources (water, wood or food) and because we were 'displaced' from our country we were unable to verbally communicate with any of the other sites. This made things a bit challenging, but that would most likely be how it would actually be if we were refugees.

I think I had a little bit of a different experience than most because I was there with so many like minded people, no one wanted to see anyone go hungry, so everyone decided to pool the resources (wood, carrots, rice, potatoes, eggs, onions, a little oil, a little pepper and water) and make a huge stew. Usually that is not how it goes down. People hoard their resources and barter for other things they want. But I ended up with a really great group of people. :D

When we got up in the morning (or for some of us got out of sleeping bags, not really woke up because we never really went to sleep) we had breakfast and we all had a few chores to do. The refugee camp had the pretty cool task of making bricks that will actually be use around the Ranch. 5parts clay, 1part cement, 1 part sand and some water. After chores we all did a skit of our experiences and and a wrap up talk. And then I was able to take these little gems for your reading enjoyment. This is either Briggs or Straghtin(?) one of the two water buffalo that reside at the Heifer Ranch! <3
        So on that note I am 1400 jumpees deep. That means I have 13600 to go! Shout out to my most recent donor! And a big shout out to the great staff at the Heifer ranch that let me tag along last night! Thanks for all the support everyone! And sorry this is so long!

Day 5: The first milestone!

Well here we go. I have hit my first mile stone! I have completed 1000 jumpees. I feel accomplished and tired. haha I must have done something right yesterday because I was not nearly as sore today as I have been. I was almost able to walk normally. lol Also I discovered today that Mandarin Orange Spice tea from Celestial Seasonings is delicious. It smells like fall, and I love fall. :D

There was a little more exciting news today. What could be better than hitting my first mile stone you ask? Well Cal, Patrick(who works for City Year) and I were appointed as coaches at ABC this evening. The board meeting had their monthly meeting and we pitched our idea to them. Basically the rowers want to improve, but the infrastructure has not been there to facilitate that. We then had our membership meeting along with a few jumpees (200 to be exact).  A quick shout out to Bri-guy who supplied dinner (delish turkey burgers) for the membership meeting. 


Did you know that according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Committee, one in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. How crazy is that? It makes me greatfull for what I have, but also makes me wonder how much of a difference my one water buffalo will actually make. But then I have to realize that the family that gets this great animal will greatly benefit from it, and it will change their lives. And once they pass the gift onto another family that family will benefit, and so on. Little donations, like the one I am trying to make, will greatly help to change the often devastating path the world seems to be going down. 


On that note, I will try to post tomorrow, but will probably be unable as I am headed out to the Heifer Ranch in Perryville for the afternoon/night tomorrow. I will of course do my 200, and will fully update you when I return. Peace and Love y'all. 

Day 4: This post would not write its self.

Do you see the time right now? It is LATE! Exhaustion has set in. As soon as I am done typing this post, it is off to bed for me. I actually cannot believe I have made it this far into the night. Today was hard in the walking department, and lets just say if I continue to feel this way I am going to have to quit my water habit. I was not smart about my jumping today. I assumed that I would have hours and hours to complete the day's 200 after work. But then it was beautiful outside and I got an invite to go rowing that I just could not turn down. So by the time I got down to the boathouse I realized I was not going to have the time I assumed I was.

 I decided I would quickly crank out 50 jumpees before we went out for a row. Well let me tell you a quick 50 jumpees after completing 600 over the past 3 days just does not exist. Lets just say I was glad the launch needed an extra bit of attention this afternoon as I slugged through those 50. haha The water was gorgeous, it was not too hot and even though my muscles were unhappy with my continuing to exercise more, my mind was at peace.

After we got off the water (at almost 8!) I did another 50 jumpees. Which I have to say were not as hard as the first 50, I am assuming this is because my muscles were warmed up. So that was 100 down at about 8pm. I then headed over to Cal's for a late dinner and a little brainstorming on a project we are working on for the boathouse. It was there that she cheered me on through, what has to have been the hardest 100 jumpees yet. My muscles were tight and have I mentioned that I am exhausted? But with 10 jumpees left and my brain almost completely shutting down, Cal got up and finished them off with me. What would I do without her?

I would also like to comment that as fall has started to set in here in Little Rock, it is making me nostalgic for school. This is my first fall that I have not gone to school! Wow. Such a weird thought. Another weird thought, I just remembered the recipe for witches brew, which my friend Kirsten's grandma used to make us when I would visit. Witches Brew: Peanuts, raisins, marshmallows and chocolate chips. So delicious, I might have to make some this weekend. haha Also I really think my family should come visit me here in LR. They should also bring our baby puppy CJ :D
Against all odds I finished 200 more jumpees. You know what that means? 800 down! 14200 left! Thanks for all of the support! It's going great!