Life Less Ordinary

How long till my soul gets it right

2010-04-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

So I have been in Baltimore for just under 3 months now. I am def still adjusting to life out here again, traffic is killing me slowly. My job is going really well, there are rough days and times when I am not sure what I am supposed to be doing. But then there are times when I get paid to go canoeing. I have been interviewing people for our summer positions, learning a lot about the hiring process.

First tip for interviews, don't wear sweats or show up smelly! Second, don't say "The environment is Fed up" and "I am not a positive person..."

I am also learning a lot about the government. Lets just say I am well aware now as to where our taxes go, and not 100% happt about it lol. We do have a success story for the summer program I work for. One of our crew memebers (the teens I work with) started out last summer with a huge chip on his shoulder and a attitude problem. After the summer he joined MCC (kind of like Ameri Corps only just in Maryland and it focuses on the park systems. He is now a first responder and earning money for college, made a total 180. That makes what I am doing worth it. Overall I am very happy with my move, some days more then others.

My room mate has been amazing. She owns this cute little house built in the 1930's with a big back yard in the middle of the city. I love it there. Some of the areas around our neighborhood can get a bit shady, but ours is really nice. I am still discovering the city and trying to find my way around, I have cut way back on relaying on my GPS though. I joined my room mates kickball league witch is a lot of fun, although we have never won a game! And I will be doing a softball league with the same people. Its a lot of fun and more about drinkinh beer then actually playing hard (hence the not winning a game).

The cats just moved down here about two weeks ago and are adjusting rather well. Zipper and I did get into a small fight that landed me at the doc, but other then that they are doing really well.

Well its about time I get back to the lamator to finish my job. More next time!

Any minuet now, my ship is coming in...

2010-01-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

Don't you understand,

I already have a plan...

I am waiting for my real life to begin....

My whole life has changed in a matter of two days....

To start, I have been in Michigan since Nov 20th, doing a lot of traveling (Baltimore, Grand Rapids twice, and Chicago) and going through all of the stuff that I have stored at my moms house, donating a lot....

All of this time, thinking that I am going to return to Maine, do another season at Kieve with the people I love out there, then head out to Portland, ME for grad school. But all of that changed while I was in Chicago....

I was on facebook chat (of all things) talking to my old boss from Baltimore, and he mentioned a job out there that they just created with the organization that I worked with this summer, only this is a year round thing. I told him that I would take it, if it was in Maine, because I have fallen in love with Maine.

After our conversation I couldn't stop thinking about this job, and how perfect it sounded, so I asked him to send me more information about it, and I kept thinking about it. I weighed Maine vs Baltimore. I love the people at Kieve and am not ready to leave them, but this job in Baltimore is exactly the type of job I want, so after several days of carful thought, I took it!

It starts in the end of Feb, so now I get to go though even more of the stuff I have here, pack it all up, find an apt out there and move to Baltimore once again! I am very excited about this job, my exact position keeps on changing, but I will be in charge of doing a teen ranger program in inner city schools, and planning for the summer. Then in the summer I will be a lead naturalist at one of the state parks out there.

Although I am going to miss everyone at Kieve greatly, this opportunity can not be passed up, plus I get to bring my cats!!!

So, I am once again, Baltimore bound....

We will see where this leads me

Wanna go back to those simple days...

2009-11-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

Times are hard and

Things are a changing

I pray to God

That we can remain

The same

All I'm trying to say is

Love don't have to change

I believe I have made up my mind about the future... well ok the next couple of months to a year.

Drum roll......

I will be staying at the Leadership school for another season, and then hopefully working at the girls camp - Wavus - as the water front director for the summer. Then maybe working at the Leadership school again as a teacher for the next year or soo. Then its up in the air again, but that is how I work... Plans may change in a week! I am hoping to fit in grad school in the next year or soo.....

This week has been amazing. I was a teacher, and got to teach the Solo class here. That means I took kids out into the woods and made them sit and be quiet and do work in their journals. It may seem really boring, but the kids really love it. I had some interesting kids in my class, one of them thought I had bright orange hair and didn't know who I was if I put on a hat! I'm pretty sure that he thought he had at least three different teachers, depending on what hat I was wearing!!! I had a blast and am really excited to get to teach again!

This weekend I spend a day in Portland with Leigh, Tyler and JC and some of Tylers friends. That city is soo wonderful! I can't wait to explore it more.

Today I woke up early and got some stuff done around camp, and had a headache to sat and bed and read a book, then fell asleep for 2 hours! Had a weird dream about being engaged to some strange boy, then the kitchen at camp caught on fire, and got into a fight with the boy. Apparently I was tired. Then I went on a hike with Elise and Pam, then rock climbing in our indoor rock wall with Aimee and Julia. Even though I already took a 2 hour nap, I am ready for bed again!

Landscape of the Heart

2009-10-27T11:25:00.000-07:00

"It is still so new and all we see is the empty space,

but that is not how it is in the landscape of the heart

There, there is no empty space

and he still laughs and grapples with ideas and plans

and now wisely with each of us in turn.

We are proud to have known him.

We are proud to have called him friend"

- Brian Andreas

I miss him soo much.

I hope I am making you proud Dad, you are in my every thought...

I am a lighthouse

2009-10-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

I am a light house

Worn by the weather and the rain

I keep my lamp lit

To warn the sailors on there way

I tell a story

Paint you a picture from my past

- The Lighthouse's Tale

Nickel Creek

My time in Maine is passing by so fast.

I am not sure where I want to take my life after this....

Do I do something that I love and risk living a life in constant movement

Or do I break down and get a normal teaching job and be constricted to a class room and tests?

The field I have chosen is fun and exciting, but very hard to make a career out of

Everything is seasonal.

Choices

- Stay at the Leadership school / Wavus girls camp going back and forth with not a lot of stability

- Go back to Pendy, a place that I love and cherish, but teach the same classes over and over

- Hope I get a job a Chewonki a wonderful environmental education camp down the road

- Apply to ETAP grad program and live in Portland and take classes

- Do something that I haven't discovered yet!

I love the people, the area and everything that they teach here,

But the politics of this place are starting to wear on me.

I will be back in Michigan for 3 months in the winter,

And somewhat looking forward to some time off.

But 3 months is a long time to sit still!!!

I do believe that traveling is going to happen,

Just got to figure out where I am going.

Overall life is good, can't compline,

I have at least 2 jobs, both of them I love!

I need to stay in contact with friends I have left better,

There are some letters that need to get sent out now (sorry Jory!!!!)

And phone calls to make!!!

I miss everyone so much!

(Including the cats....:( )

My My My Its a Beautiful World

2009-08-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

So, I have been in Maine for several days now and have fallen in love!! I can't even begin to explain how gorgeous it is. The camp here has everything you could want in an Outdoor Education facility, including an indoor rock wall and high ropes course, along with one of each of those outside! They have two zip lines, one over land and one into the water. There are a ton of boats; sail, motor, canoe, and kayaks to play on. And so much more, but I can't even think of it!

The program is really exciting to learn about and very interesting. I am learning new ways to present material to students and other ways to handle class management at the same time. I am very glade to be an intern for the first 3 months, so that I can really learn the material and understand how to teach everything instead of just being thrown into the classroom. There is a lot of new things to learn, but they are def things that I want to know better and think that students need more exposure to.

The people that I work with are really nice and supportive of each other. We all have gotten on really fast and have a lot of fun. We all have camp personalities, so of course there are always crazy ideas being thought up and fun activities being put into action.

This is the type of place that I belong and feel at home in. Only more to see as time goes on....

Any Given Day

2009-08-13T18:39:00.000-07:00

On any given day you'll find me gone.....

On my way to Maine! Made it half way on the first day, Syracuse, New York, and heading to Portland tomorrow. The drive is always fun, at least this time my mother is joining me. Being stuck in a car with my mom all day, has its ups and downs, no big arguments so far!

Being back in Michigan was wonderful. I got to visit a bunch of friends and places that I missed dearly. Got caught up with Michelle and saw her house that her parents are cleaning up after the fire. On saturday I went up to camp and within 5 mins of being there, Dom and Eric had me in a bed with them! I really missed being there this summer, but also had a wonderful time in Baltimore, so its a trade off. Lori and Emilie meet me up there, and we had farmers market sandwiches in the health lodge. Then had a few beers with LW. Being at camp made me realize how much I missed being out there or just being out in that environment. While in Baltimore I did miss just being out on the water, so when I was sitting on the NEW dock with friends I started thinking about where I want to end up. I like the city, but need the outdoors.... AHHH What to do..

I meet Chelsea and Lauren in Lansing for dinner and got plans all set for Joe and Lindsay's wedding! Now I just have to make sure I can take that day off for work! I really missed those two! I also meet Savanna and Ashton in Lansing later on in the week. It was great to see her again also.

So, only 6 hours left to Portland, then its only about an hour and a half to the camp. So, we are almost there! Can't wait! Maine lobster here I come!!!!

We can go where we want to...

2009-08-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

We can dance if we want to...

We can leave our friends behind...

We can go where we want to...

My time in Maryland is quickly coming to an end. I leave for Michigan in just 3 short days then head out on a 16 hour drive with my mother to Maine on the 13th. This has just go by way to fast, and I know that I am not done with Baltimore. I have been in contact with a school out here that may have some spots opening up in November and are interested in me!

This school is not your typical school, its a private school where students that can not handle public school are sent there. If they can't make it in this school, the next step for some is jail. Its a very intense environment, but one that desperately needs helpful people. I found out about this job from people I worked with this summer. They told me about the job and said that I would be a great fit. The staff is very supportive of each other and there are always at least two teachers in each room. Its something that I really want to do, but it does have a fast burn out rate. This is only if I decide to come back to Baltimore, I may stay in Maine!

The people here have been amazing! I have made some great friends who I know I will keep on contact with no matter where I end up in life. Even though my summer job had its problems, most of the people I worked with made the job that much more fun. If I could figure out how to do this year round, I would! Even though I have only been here for two months, I have set up a network of people who I know I can relay on. I meet a great guy who I have enjoyed spending time with and was able to pass some of my cooking knowledge on to!

The cats have even settled down into Baltimore life. Zipper has spend a few nights out on the streets (and got sick from it!!! But is doing better now) and Elphie has found a love for my room mates black couch....

It will be very sad to leave Baltimore, but exciting to move on to Maine. You never know, Baltimore may get a second chance...

Got my Natty Boh and I'm set to go!

2009-06-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

Live a life less ordinary,

Live a life extraordinary with me

So, with all of the moving I am doing, thought this would be a good way to keep people updated as to my current life and its happenings.

For those of you who do not know, I have moved to Baltimore (pronounced Bawmore if your a native) about a month ago. I work for the DNR teaching inner city students environmental education while they do maintenance work for the parks. We have only had the kids for a week now, and there have already been a while handful of problems, but generally they are all having fun. I am sure I will have stories from these kids, one has already told me I have "wonderful eyes" (He was trying to get out of a punishment for being late, didn't work). Everyone I work with is amazing! They have really taken me under their wings and have made me feel really welcome, so I am very appreciative of that.

I live in a row house in downtown Baltimore about 3 blocks from one of the major bar areas. I have only been out once so far, but plan on taking advantage of that again soon. The house is really nice and we have an amazing deck roof which over looks all of downtown. It is weird going from living in the middle of the woods with no one around to having 150 + people living on my block. The noise level is taking sometime to get use to and there always seems to be at least 5 helicopters flying around above us.

It is great to have Crista here, she has been a big help. This move would not have happened without her. She found me a place to stay and let me stay with her until my house opened up. I did miss that girl, so I really like having her close by again.

So, the latest news in my life is I got an amazing job in that starts in August, but its in Maine, so I will be moving again! This could be a more permeant outdoor education position, it depends on how I like the program and how much they like me! It is a leadership/outdoor education school that works on having the students and teachers form a community. Its kind of hard to explain, but I am sure I will be able to do it much better once I am out there.

For the first 3 months I am an intern there. I get to stay in cabins (yay :( ) with the kids, but also learn a lot about the program and my teaching style. I can't take the cats with me for the first 3 months because I will be staying in cabins, so if anyone would like to babysit them, let me know!!! Then after the 3 months, if it is a good fit for all, they my offer me a full time teaching position in the spring, and I could stay the summers to do be a naturalist for their summer camp. So if I get the teaching job I would probably be there for a few years, if not, then its a new place all over again! We will see!

Peace