New job, new house, new adventures!

(I hope I don't get in trouble for using these images...)

As many of you already know, I got a job with Habitat for Humanity through the AmeriCorps program that will start on September 1! After volunteering with them since February a ridiculous number of hours (what else is there to do when you get laid off?), I applied for one of the AmeriCorps positions, interviewed, and was hired back in June. This made me deliriously happy, not just to have a job offer, but to be able to work with such a great organization doing work that I truly love.

As AmeriCorps, I'll be organizing volunteers that come on site, leading construction groups, doing some community service projects, and a variety of other duties that I'm sure will be revealed in good time. I also get to live super cheap in a house owned by Habitat with the other AmeriCorps volunteers. There will be four of us living and working together, trying not to kill each other before the end of the year. It'll be an interesting social experiment to say the least.

Another perk of the job is the opportunity to go to El Salvador with Habitat in October! HFH Portland Metro/East (the affiliate I'll be working with) has international affiliates in El Salvador and Thailand to which they tithe ten percent of their building costs to build homes in those countries. A group of about 20 of us will have the chance to go and build for a week in Central America! Of course, I couldn't pass up a chance like that and finagled my way into the trip just before the cutoff. I'm still working out the details, but I'm planning on staying for an extra nine days or so to travel in El Salvador and Nicaragua (Honduras seems to be a place to avoid at the moment; who knows what it will be like by October), blowing all of my vacation days in the second month of the year. That seems prudent, right?

finally... camping

I went up to Bagby Hot Springs just south of Mt Hood this past weekend with a bunch of Habitat for Humanity peeps... just about two hours from the city and you're in the middle of nowhere with spectacular views. It felt great to be out of the city, build fires, do some (easy) hiking, and be rewarded with many soaks in naturally heated tubs made from carved out trees. (No photos of the tubs in order to maintain the soakers' decency!)(To give you a sense of scale, this was taken looking down from about 30 feet above the water.)
There were some really old trees (but still alive, unlike this one). Many older than the good 'ol U.S. of A.

ask and ye shall receive

haha! Guess what I saw today?Lettuce and thyme.
They're tiny, but they're mine. (insert joke here)

Victory (garden) will be mine

The Garden of Eatin': A Short History of America's Garden from roger doiron on Vimeo.

I'm taking a stab at gardening this year as well; I've tried planting tomatoes, sweet and Thai basil, lettuce, chives, lavender, thyme, and rosemary from seed. Right now it's a waiting game: nothing's poking up yet, except the cilantro, which I bought already sprouted. The weather's been toying with my farmer's emotions - marble-size hail on bright, sunny days, plenty of rain followed by days where I have to remember to go water things. A practice in patience, something I could always use a little extra of. Good things come to those who wait, right?

and the winter fun continues

I might have to drive an hour and a half to find it, but by golly there's a heck of a lot of snow out here.

A good time was had...

...by all.

what's today?

Apparently it's national ravioli day. Should that be capitalized? (Capitalized upon, for sure.)

things i like to do

Saturday: x-country skiing up at Mt Hood



Sunday: Oregon coast, Cannon Beach and more



Just a few more of the many reasons I'm glad to live here.

this is where i live

What a wonderful welcome, night of our housewarming.

Before.

After.

Haley, resident dog. She drools, but it's cute.

Home brew. IPA this time, stout next.

Work in progress, but fully functioning. I know the sauna looks like it's about four feet tall, but I swear full-sized people fit. I think we've had 11 in there at once before. Still to do: tile behind the stove, put up hooks, finish the deck outside.

oh yeah

I forgot to mention (read: shout from the rooftops) that I got a job! It's only temp work, and it has nothing to do with anything I've studied or done before. But it's a JOB. That pays me $$$. Because it's temp work, it definitely plays with my employment emotions at times (read: too often for comfort. I think they secretly take pleasure in making us all sweat on a regular basis). But I'm thanking my lucky stars for something, anything.

Your daily dose of hilarity.

So funny I cried. I can't wait to exploit my future children like this.