Yuck!!

Today our work consisted of moving debris. We first started out at one house shoveling all the drywall and debris they threw outside. This took 2 huge trailers full (one picture). That took us about an hour so we moved on to the next house. We initially went to this house with the idea of just removing appliances that needed to get out but once we got there it turned into a whole day project. One of the appliances was a old chest freezer. This freezer was in the basement of this house, full of food. This food has been rotting in this basement, not plugged in or anything, for 2 whole years; going on the 3rd. It was discussing! We had to wear our big masks and that didn't even mask the smell. The freezer was too heavy to move by itself otherwise we would have never opened it. To empty it, we picked up the big bags of food and put it into bags. It eventually turned into soup so we took a huge cup and scooped out the remaining rotten smelly water into 5 gallon buckets, took it outside and dumped it down the sewer. Disgusting morning. The rest of the day we cleaned out the rest of the basement which included filling 2 huge trailers of wiring, duct work, drywall/plaster, and wood framing. 

Although I may complain, it has been a wonderful experience here in Minot so far. I enjoy the town and look forward to staying here. To top off our fun filled day, we had a huge fire! :)

Lutheran disaster response

We made it and are all settled into our home away from home in North Dakota. We are working for Lutheran disaster response and living in relief trailers for the time being. The picture with all the doors is our living/ beds. They all have one set of bunk beds so we split up and are separated into different rooms. Our bathrooms and showers are also another trailer which is shown the other pictures. Surprisingly, the showers are nicer than the showers in Iowa and Michigan. The beds are a lot comfier too!

Since we arrived, we have just been exploring the town of Minot. The mall and downtown are really close so that's a perk

We start our first day of work tomorrow!!

North Dakota, here we come!

We on on our last day of training here in Iowa before we head to Minot, North Dakota! I just finished packing up all my stuff again and waiting to pack the van. I have been increasingly consuming more and more things. Although i have learned how to jam pack this red backpack to the rim, i still need to reduce my piles for next round...

Had a wonderful weekend with my bestie Devin and will be sad to leave her again. But I'm super excited to rebuild houses! We will be stopping in Fargo for tomorrow night and will arrive in Minot Friday afternoon.

Almost time for bed as well, 6am room inspection before we head out...

Packing up. 4/26/13

This was our last week in Jackson Michigan. We are currently packing up our things to head back to Iowa for a week. This last week of work we were chipping all of the trees we cut down. About 4 days of chipping, it came to about 21 dump truck loads full of chips! :)

The time here at storer camps has been quite an experience. Lots of hard work, coldness, and fun. I love being in the camp setting but I'm looking forward to doing some construction work and having instant gratification of our work. :)

There is some pictures of the team, me working, a before and after of one part that we cleared, and a baby turtle I found by Lake Michigan when I was home.

Back to packing up all my stuff.

Round 2!!

This week we are being cabin leaders again and it's going good so far. The kids are really good and respectful. I expect a pretty easy week ahead of us.

We found out where we are going for our round two project!! We will be heading to Minot, North Dakota to complete disaster response work by repairing home that were affected by a flood. We will be working for a Lutheran organization but other than that I don't know too much more. We will be there from May 1- June 26th. Yay North Dakota!! I'm pretty excited to be working on houses. I really have enjoyed that in previous experiences.

Nothing else has really happened since my last post. We have been able I use the chipper and we haven't had a day off in a while so we are all pretty tired. I have come down with some weird rash on my inner elbows and all over my stomach. It itches like crazy and I have no idea how I got it. :/ hopefully when I come home this weekend I can get something stronger than hydrocortisone cream!!

Here is an updated picture of our team at the camp. We have had some struggles but somehow the work still gets done!!

Welp, back to watching children. Looking forward to seeing some I you this weekend!

Invasives invasives

Nothing really new here on my end. Still chopping away at the invasive species. Everyday we have to move to a different spot on camp because we clear out so much. And even though we are tired and worn out, we still make a huge piles of things we have cleared out.

Today I got to run the chainsaw and it felt awesome! I really enjoyed it cause no one made me angry from not working. :)

Next week we are cabin leaders again and we all are looking forward to working with kids and the change of pace from pulling out trees day in and day out. And after a week of working with kids, I'm coming home for the first time! :) yay!!

The picture is of me hard at work in the field a couple weeks ago! It was an extremely slow day but I'm still smiling! :)

Brush pile

Here is a picture of the brush that we have cleared just in the past 3 days this week. Amazing how clear the area is. There is still more to be taken down but we have run out of road to haul the trees to. Hopefully we will be getting a wood chipper soon so we can get rid of it! Oh, and this is just one section that we have worked at. There are several different places that's are becoming invaded by our removal of invasive species!