Hi, you all..

Thanks for the reminder to blog, Kandi. Your first few weeks sucked! I could imagine packing up what few belongings I had left and heading north in a hurry. I admire you for your resilience.

I had some truly sucking weeks, too. Although I feel pretty wimpy compared to Kandi's travails. I told you all about the stressful crisis job I had? Well - I didn't last very long. I cried and/or vomited every single day. I was starting to hate my wonderful life.

There were a few events that made it impossible to stay at that bizarre job. One beauty was when I was told by my supervisor to tell the father of a son who had just had a psychotic break his first week at college to hang up and have his son call the crisis line because "if he keeps enabling his son, he's never going to get well." Too many appalling "therapeutic" interventions to bear.

So.... I'm in private practice. Life and Career Transitions. I have a little office and 3 clients in my second week. woo hoo. It will be a while before I can do much more than pay my office rent - but my decision couldn't have better for my overall well-being. I think I'm a lot more useful for my loved ones, too.

Oh yeah, and I was voted onto the Board of Directors of SCRAP. So that's cool.

Kandi -- you can expect a holiday care package from the Carmichael-Caseys.

I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of you all - so I hope you BLOG!

xoxoxoxo

Kelley

Hey ?!?!?-ers,

I didn't forget about you. It took me awhile to get my footing in the Eugene area, but I'm finally getting into the swing of things. Just in case any of you forgot about me.....here's the deal.

I finished my Ameri-stuff and moved to Eugene, OR for graduate school. After settling some things and working on some basic school logistics, I took a quick trip to the lovely island of Oahu and came back to the craziness of my life. When I got back.....

I found out that my new home was robbed. My instruments, craft box, and collection of two dollar bills disappeared from my life (along with a bunch of other stuff). I ended up having to move again, but just before I found a new place, my car got towed from behind the house by a very shady towing company that I wish I had enough money to sue. $250 dollar later, I piled everything into my car and found a new- less cursed place to live. Then the first week of school hit, my financial aid got messed up, the school tried to charge me $1500, and I got an awful cold. You know, life was looking pretty sad there for a second.

But alas, I hung in there.....although my dream of being an Amtrak stewardess was looking better and better. After so much hype about going back to school, it honestly was a slap in the face for the first week. I forgot how much it sucked sitting in a classroom and talking circles around "what it means to be post modern" and having people grade my thoughts. I secretly longed for the days where me and the mob were "getting things done."

But things did get better....I swear.

I finally remembered, after a long night of caffeine induced insomnia, why I decided to go to graduate school. I remembered all the things and people I met in the last year, and how much I wanted to do a better job of helping my community.....how I wanted to be more equipped to help my community. Yeah, some shitty life things were happening, but it didn't deter from the fact that I got into a really good program, and I have the opportunity to do some really cool stuff. I essentially got over my funk and am back to saving the world.

Whew, it was looking bleak for a second.

Anyway, I'm interested to hear how the rest of you are doing.

Just in case snail mail is your thing.....and I can't tell you how much I love holiday cards......my address is 70 N Cedar St. Eugene OR 97402

Kandi

Hello L.O.

Hello, my name is Alia Johnson and i am the Natural Resource Technician and Volunteer Coordinator for the City of Lake Oswego. In my term i will be mapping and monitoring invasive plants, organizing volunteers in restoration projects, education and outreach for our natural area parks. I also will helping develop resource managment plans for the City's parks by assessing the natural resources within our parks, aiding in restoration project plans. I am replacing Greg Creager who was the last AmeriCorps member her at Parks and Rec. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or project ideas.

Where's the love???

Looking at our blog, it occured to me that our last post was August 10th ... sad, really, when you think about all of our blogging potential! Vacations, new jobs, new schools, new homes! So here's my post:

Where have I gone?
135 Montello #1, Hood River, OR (studio apt, baby! no more crazy roommates)

What am I doing?
Teaching 5th graders all about their local ecology through the Columbia Gorge Ecology Institute by dressing up as trees, flowers, etc.

Do I like it?
Yes, but it's been a tough transistion. I'm excited just to spend a lot of time sleeping.

Are the people cool?
Yes, though I'm surrounded by AmeriKids and I haven't (yet) made any friends outside of AmeriCorps

What am I doing after work?
Sewing like mad to get my sister's salsa dance costumes done in time (think lots and lots of sparkly blue spandex)

What is my favorite color?
Green, like plants!

I hope everyone is doing really well, and please do stay in touch! Kudos to Bojana, who I ran into at the small local grocery store in Hood River last weekend.
Hugs,
M

Check out this resource!

www.thinkfinity.org

There are tools, curricula for teachers, activities and instructional
models for English language learners and other fabulous stuff for
literacy across all age groups.

There are also FREE online courses found under the
Thinkfinity Literacy Network section. The list of free, online courses
is huge and includes topics like: engaging hispanic parents, creating
community linkages, teaching technology, working with refugee families,
reaching out to homeless and migrant families, principles of adult
learning, family literacy, and many more. They have identified those
that would be helpful to potential volunteers, existing volunteers as
well as program staff.

There are also several online courses addressing volunteer management:
Volunteers in Parent Education, Volunteer retention, Incorporating
volunteers into your program's future

Janice!

Get well soon! Kelley

Willamette Narrows and Rock Islands Paddle Adventur

Join the Northwest Service Academy for an exciting and extraordinary canoe-based exploration of West Linn’s Willamette Narrows and Rock Islands. Feel worlds away from the city as we spend the day exploring the natural history, incredibly diverse habitats and outstanding wildlife of this amazing stretch of river. On this one of a kind trip, we will immerse ourselves in the flavor of the area while investigating its unique habitats, discovering the rivers hidden nooks and crannies, discussing the Rivers current challenges and victories as well as conducting scientific monitoring of water quality and plant life.

Suzi Cloutier is a Wildlife Biologist, and ACA certified paddling instructor and Northwest Service Academy Field Team Coordinator. Join her for this once in a lifetime trip filled with fun and discovery on Sunday August 12th from 10am to 5 pm.

Little Rock Island, about 20 acres in size, was given to the Nature Conservancy by the James River Corporation in 1988. The pride of Little Rock Island preserve is the largest and most stable population of Oregon’s rare and endangered Pale Larkspur. Pale larkspur has been found only along the Willamette River and was once was a common flower, but loss of habitat has reduced its population to the point of only being found in a few protected areas. This treasure of an Island offers a rare glimpse into how the Willamette Valley landscape looked before the days of Europeans. The relative inaccessibility of Little Rock Island has helped to protect and preserve the high percentage of natives species found there.

This trip is open to Adults and Children over 12 years of age (younger children with prior approval)

Trip Date: Sunday, August 12^th, 2007

Departure and Return: Willamette Park in West Linn

Cost: $50 per participant this includes canoes, snacks, take home materials and all associated fabulous memories! $30 for those with their own boats and Americorps members.

To Register: Contact Suzi Cloutier (suzi.cloutier@esd112.org) of The Northwest Service Academy 503-234-2383 for registration and payment. Checks can be made out to NWSA and sent to:

NWSA c/o Willamette Narrows Adventure 55 SE Main Street, Portland, OR 97214