Another Tennessean comes to PC!

Get ready Park City! Tennessee is moving in. Starting in December, yet another TR student from UT will be starting her internship at NAC!!! I am so excited! Evan and I found out tonight, and Jessie finds out tomorrow. : ) I knew that she would have no problem getting it. What a fun winter this is going to be! YAYYY! I had to tell SOMEONE, since I can't tell her. Luckily she doesn't know I have a blog.

It's been a great week, even without that news. I babysat the CUTEST kid ever last night. His name is Parker, and he is 18 months, happy and cute cute cute. Unfortunately last night he wasn't feeling well and decided to throw up all over me...it's lucky for him that I am obsessed with him. Today Andrea and I drove about an hour and a half out to the Rossignol warehouse in Ogden to pick up lots of sweet donations for our ski sale on Saturday. Lots of new boots & skis, some slightly used ones and some rando boots for those who only need one. So many that we couldn't have fit another thing into the bed or the cab of the Tacoma we were driving. Then we drove the truck and a suburban over to our storage unit (which we got for free because the number is 666 and no one wanted it) and we filled both cars to the brim with donated boots, skis, a snowboard and some one-piece snow suits that were donated to us throughout the year. We unloaded all of that into the building and spent about another hour trying boots on, picking out our favorite skis and eating pizza. Tomorrow we get to organize and price out all of it. I really don't need anything but gosh, new skis or boots for $25? I can hardly pass that up. Tonight I hung out with some of our baseball kiddos from our Miracle League for their end of the season party. They came to work and climbed the climbing wall and ate pizza. They are so cute.

Tomorrow we are all going to see the new Warren Miller film. This is my first Warren Miller experience, which is apparently THE event to kick of the ski season. His films feature lots of footage of professional skiers doing some crazy stuff and they always have a pretty big adaptive section...my boss's husband Monty has been in them twice as a 3-tracker. They heli-ski and do all this crazy stuff. We have a big group going so that we could get a dollar off the tickets and we also get a free pass to the Canyons!

Well, it should be a good weekend. Its still fairly warm ( 50's) and I think I'm going to take advantage by riding my bike to work tomorrow! We'll see if it really happens.

Also...it is the 3rd weekend in October, which means we play Alabama this weekend. They are undefeated, but we ain't scared. GO VOLS!!!

Update Numero Dos!

It was a great week and apparently winter has decided to lay off a bit. It's been in the 60's and 70's (!!!!) for about 4 days now! What a great change. I busted out the short sleeved shirts, flip-flops and even shorts for the weekend. It's still nice today...a little colder but I think 70 degrees is gone for good now. Snow is in the 10 day forecast.

So last week, on Wednesday, I had a surprise while I was at the barn getting ready to ride. All

of the sudden, Doc, my professor and the head of our TR department at UT, walked into NAC's barn! I knew that he was in town for the NRPA (National Recreation & Park Assoc.) Conference in Salt Lake but I had no idea he was coming out

to visit the NAC. It was so great to see him, and for him to be able to finally see where I did my internship and where I am working. There are actually 2 of us from UT's rec therapy program at NAC right now. My friend Evan is doing his internship here this semester and is planning on staying on for the winter to teach skiing with us. I wasn't able to show Doc around because I had to school one of the horses before I went

and worked with the ALP (Adventure Learning Program) group on the high ropes course, but he invited Evan and me to the NRPA Social Dinner the next night in Salt Lake. It was a really fun dinner! Evan and I met Doc and his buddies at the conference center. As we walked into the room, we each got a sticker on our back that we would have to figure out what it said later. Typical TR conference...always

full of games! We had a great dinner and met some great people...I even got to promote the NAC a little! After dinner, they started giving out awards and recognizing people for their service and acheivements. All of a sudden they called Doc up to the podium, not to our surprise. He has accomplished so much during his career...his resume is about 10 pages long. He received one of the top awards: the distinguished service award. I was so proud to be there with him as one of his students! Then, of course, he made me and Evan stand up to be recognized as his students. After the awards ceremony, we played a few more games and I won a URTA (Utah Rec Therapy Assoc.) mug, lunch box AND shirt! Yeah! Then we had a marshmellow snowball fight. Did I mention I LOVE my field??

The ALP group on Wednesday was great...it was a group of about 30 people from Park City Leadership who came out to do team building with us for the day. The group consists of business men and women from around Park City who are involved in local businesses and non-profits. They were really fun to work with and we belayed them on the high ropes course for about 2 or 3 hours. Then I went from that debriefing back to the barn, where I taught 2 lessons. I was just covering for one of the instructors, so I hadn't taught either of the students. On Friday, I taught 2 more lessons for Kristen. I was excited that she asked me to cover for her while she was out of town. I was ready to get into the actual programs again after weeks of training. Friday I taught the two cutest kids. One was really nervous riding his horse but he was really brave and told me that had been his best lesson the whole session! The other lesson was my favorite student at NAC. This girl was my case study as an intern in the barn,

and I also worked with her in the aquatic program and the ski program. I also got to teach her as an instructor this summer, so I was really happy to work with her again. Saturday, I went with Tracy and Evan to West Jordan to the Miracle League baseball game. This is new for the area because the field is brand new, so we started our own team. Miracle League is a baseball league for kids with disabilities who can't play on mainstream teams. The field is completely accessable, the bats are flat on one side for a wider surface area

and each player plays with a buddy. Everyone gets to run bases and they don't keep score. A few of my campers from the summer were there, and one of them asked me to be her buddy for the game. She's the cutest thing ever. She is the only girl out of 9 kids and she's has CP and she is great at sports. I didn't have to do anything for her except keep her company when she got bored on the field. : ) Afterwards, we went exploring around Salt Lake. We found some great deals at the Patagonia outlet (my favorite store!) and then went and walked around the Temple because it was such a beautiful day! If you are in Salt Lake, it is definitely a place you should visit. It's very interesting to see and learn about the different buildings.

It was a great weekend. We have a karaoke machine at our place for the time being while our friend Jill is staying with us so we have been taking full advantage lately! I actually just recorded Jill singing Me and Bobby McGee for Oprah's Karaoke Contest. She's really good! If she makes semi-finals...you all are required to vote for her! Last night we also went to a Park City Film Series showing of Away We Go, with Jim from the Office. It was really good! A little inappropriate at times but it had a cute storyline. This week is looking good as well. A little slow, but I will be really busy at the end of the week doing the ski sale and Wednesday I get to babysit for one of our program managers. Her baby, Parker, is about the cutest kid I've ever seen.

I hope everyone has been having a great week! I hear its getting cold back home...right as it warms up here! : ) Oh! And I just got a plane ticket for Thanksgiving...Springfield here I come! 1 month, 5 days. I can't wait.

Staying Connected

So I have decided to start a blog, in attempts to keep my close friends and family updated on life out here in Utah throughout my year as an Americorps member. Also, I see this as a way for me to reflect and keep track of my experiences, as long as I am semi-diligent about updating this.

We'll see how that goes.

I've been back in Park City since September 25 after spending a wonderful month at home visiting family and friends. I got to make a great trip to Knoxville, Memphis, Baton Rouge and Jackson, Mississippi and I also fulfilled my dream to see Wicked, which was INCREDIBLE. If you haven't seen it, you need to add that to your list. I also was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to reconnect with my old trainer and she was generous enough to give me a job of riding some of her ponies while I was home. It was wonderful to be able to see her and ride for her again.

As soon as I got back to Utah, I left the next day to go with a group of adaptive cyclers to drive to Yellowstone. We went to participate in a Yellowstone Cycle Tour that happens every year,

though for the past two years, it has been snowed out. This year, the weather was beautiful. We drove up to Old Faithful from West

Yellowstone, saw Old Faithful erupt and then biked the 30 miles back to the town. It was an incredible experience to bike through the park, especially for my first time there. I was nervous that I would run into a buffalo on the road, especially after watching one turn and ram it's head into the side of a car. I could only imagine what one would do to someone on a bike! Thankfully we didn't have to escape any buffalo, or any wild animals on our ride. I biked with a man named Kent, who bikes every day to and from work, so he was in much better shape than I was!

Then, on September 30...we had our first snow of the year. In SEPTEMBER.

This is outside of my back door, and that is the Miner's Hospital across from my apartment. Higher up in town they got up to a few feet! Sure is different from fall in Tennessee.

I am about to start week 3 of my year here at the National Ability Center as an Americorps member. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Americorps, I'll try to explain it the best I know how. Americorps is something like a domestic peace corps. We sign on for a year of service (1,700 hours) with a non-profit organization and for me that is the National Ability Center. We also are required to complete 80 ISP (Individual Service Project) hours with another non-profit organization in the community. We can choose where we do our ISP hours, and we also do one group service project a month. In return for our year of volunteering, we receive a small living stipend, an education award of about $5000 at the end of our term, around $200 for any training we choose to do during the year and $50 for equipment. At the NAC, there are 6 Americorps members. We are from all over the country: Libby is from Wisconsin, Dave is from New York, Adena is from California, Christina is from Salt Lake, Andrea is from Michigan and I am the only southerner in the group. I am really happy with our group. After being able to get to know the previous Americorps members from this past year and see how well the worked together, I was a little nervous about who I would be spending the next year with. I already knew Andrea from my internship in the spring and was relieved that I at least knew and liked one person. I shouldn't have worried though, because we all get along great and have already spent lots of time together during and outside of work. We completed our first service project yesterday at Park City's Recycle Center garage sale. Our recycling center is very unique in that it is very well known and active in the community. They recycle EVERYTHING. It was amazing during the tour to see how different things are recycled and how things come in full-circle because of the center. They send plastics to Patagonia to be made into fleeces, the are the only center in the country that recycles car seats year round and they hold garage sales for the community. It's wonderful to live in a community that requires recycling at all city functions and that is so diligent about recycling. Here's their website if you're interested in taking a look! www.recycleutah.com

We've also received our jobs for the winter season at the NAC. I am the volunteer coordinator at our ski center, where we provide adaptive ski lessons for people with disabilities. I am thrilled to be at the ski center. It is a fun, busy place in the winter, based out of a double-wide trailer by the base of Park City Mountain Resort. The volunteer coordinator is one of the busiest jobs in the winter, trying to organize volunteers for each lesson that needs a second, or third person to help. Many of our adaptive devices require extra hands or muscle to get the student on or off the ski lift or to help them up when they fall or just to be a blocker from other skiers. I'm already trying to prepare myself for this job, and I am also excited to be able to learn to teach. I did a little of this last winter during my internship, but this time, I get a uniform and my own lessons! Who would have thought that I would EVER be teaching skiing??

In other news, Tennessee beat Georgia yesterday, if you haven't heard. To add to the trill of the win, I live with two graduates of the University of Georgia. After weeks of trash talking, mine was thankfully justified. There are about 3 Tennessee fans in Park City, and the 3 of us watched the game at a bar with about 7 or 8 Georgia fans. I thought I was going to miss the entire game because of our service project, but to my relief I was about to catch the exciting second half. The only thing that would have been better than our win, would have been to be able to celebrate in Knoxville with my dear friends who were in town. I guess you can't win them all.