A very long engagement

So yesterday, David called. He said he had a suit on, a haircut, and a cheap ring in his pocket and he couldn't wait 5 more days to ask me to be his wife. That I was the best woman he's ever known, or ever would, and that he didn't want to live this life if I wasn't in it. I think I finally realized that we love each other a lot, and that we might actually be able to make this work, despite being apart for a whole year. It took awhile, and it wasn't expected, but I guess we're getting married. That's all I know, not when or where or how, just that eventually, it's happening. It's been a weird week in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, but it ended on a pretty good note.

What do I want to be when I grow up?

So I'm just gonna put it out there. I did not get into the
Clinton School, and it's the only school I applied to so grad. school is out next year. In light of this news, I can't seem to decide what to do with my life. Stephanie wants to start a shed building business called, "shed a little light." Kat wants to start a landscaping company called "WEed love to." I think I should be a plus-size model/ food critic cause I'm pretty and I have a blog. Give me your insights.

p.s. the other day Nick threw a roast beef sandwich and it his Steph in the face. Now that's funny. Also, I sat down on the sidewalk only to feel a sharp pain. I then realize I literally have ants in my pants and I start to dance.

This Mess We're In

St. Bernard Parish after Katrina

Today 5 members of my team did an independent service project gutting houses in St. Bernard Parish, or should I say part of a house? We successfully removed all the mud, debris, and rotting drywall from the garage and part of the kitchen. We also took off all the doors and busted out a couple of windows for ventilation. We made a 5' X 20' pile of gutted house and we barely made a dent. Mud, broken toys, dishes, rusted tools, photo paper with the pictures washed off, rotten wood, toothpaste, paint, and everything was ruined. The water line went partway up the roof and all the insulation had fallen in causing things that were stored in the attic to fall into the water. The house was littered with pieces of Mardi gras beads and Christmas decorations, everything caked with a foot of mud. I had to go to the bathroom, and as I walked up the block to the port-a-potty, I had this eerie feeling. House, after house, after house, empty with 30 feet of garbage in front of it, broken windows, doll parts, ice chests and clothes hanging from the limbs of trees all cloaked with this dead silence in the middle of the day. It was like a scene from Dawn of the Dead, but it's real. So many parts of New Orleans are uninhabitable until gutting and inspection are completed, and no matter how many times I say it, people don't realize how bad it is here. It looks like zombies took over the city and left it for 20 AmeriCorps members to pick up. I wish I had a solution, or the power to implement it. For now, I'll just approach it like I did the house: one house, one room, one square foot, one shovel-full at a time.

Ten Things I miss about home...

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1.My Sister pretending to be Margot Tennenbaum
(even if she stole it from me.)

2.My Dog pretending to be Darth Vader


3. Jake Gyllenhall pretending to be my boyfriend




4.My Friends

5. not living out of a red pack

6. Fat Tire Beer and overalls (okay, that's two, but they are little...and I love those overalls, it's like my unofficial I'm-off-work uniform, much like the 2xl brooklyn sweatshirt and fleece pants I would wear in the winter at Mansard apartments b/c we couldn't afford to heat the place and entertained ourselves with rap music and wrestling matches in the living room, and lets not forget the candy bucket.)

7. Flushing Toilets

8. My Family

9. Singing in my car, despite the fact that it has a big dent where my mom backed over the front of it, hail damage from Arkansas tornados, and the check engine light does not go off.

10. I do not have to change clothes in front of 400 people revealing to all that I have a severe dirt/tan line that starts at my knees.



As a final note, I want to add, that one thing I do NOT miss about home is waiting tables. I may make as much a day as I made an hour, but nobody ever shakes an empty glass at me. I officially have the best job in the world.

The best boys wear Carhartts

I get to see David in 18 days! You get to see him in all his pig-pen glory on this blog! Long Distance relationships with a boy without a digital camera result in really old pictures to look at and no idea if your suitor has lost a lot of weight, grown a bunch of hair, or had dramatic plastic surgery due to the harsh climate in Minnesota (see proposed picture below), oh the suspense.

Team 5 in a nutshell.......help I'm in a nutshell

A few notes about team schfifty five (go to ebaums world and watch the schfifty five flash animation). Kat is lazy, see above picture. Resses pie has 400 calories. You can never get tired of chick-fil-a sandwiches. Christina can make up songs about God to any song (The Lord is my Shepherd, to the tune of "I'm in love with a stripper, which is a song I cannot believe is on the radio in the first place) Don't let Leigh Ann take shotgun, Ben will throw a coke can and punch a port-a-potty. Don't take Nicole's Job (THANKS FOR PAINTING THE DOORS, GUYS!)Courtney doesn't exist because of calcium deposits in his ear from drinking too much milk. Nick is particuarly fond of a little Bobby Brown song entitled "My Perogative". Baby sometimes gets "venee eyes" apparently this means she has no personality. Cameron is a 50-year-old redneck. I constantly refer to the Saved by the Bell scene involving Jesse addicted to Caffeine pills and NO ONE gets it. (I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so so scared (clip is on collegehumor.com). Amar, we miss your undying cynicism. Have fun on team traitor.

If there was no toothpastefordinner.com, how would I laugh?

How many times can you put a shelf in wrong?

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I've been at work or in the van for 12 hours a day. I would have caught up with you this weekend, but my parents came down. It was really nice to see them (and have running water). Christina hung out with us and we shopped and went out to eat and took a tour of the French Quarter. It was really nice.

It was weird to actually get out in the city though. Most of the time we just stay in our Camp Algiers bubble and I don't have the money to do much. A lot of the businesses are reconstructed, but they don't have the manpower to stay open. The riverwalk was eerily deserted. When we walked in, to what used to be a bustling mall, it was dead silent and most of the lights were out. Ashur got pretty freaked out and didn't want to go in. I wish people realized how much of New Orleans and Mississippi is still a sort-of ghost town. In some places streetlights are out and no one lives in the miles of abandoned subdivisions. It's like nothing I've ever seen, and it's been 8 months. Sometimes it feels like one of those zombie movies where the guy wakes up and the whole town is quiet. Basically, Lousiana is in need of drastic demolition and reconstruction, immeasurable, and there aren't enough volunteers to do it. Not only that, but next year, NCCC won't even exist. I can't explain to you the destruction that still covers New Orleans; I also can't explain the negligent approach the government is taking.

On a not-so-make-you-want-to-cry note Habitat is going really well. We've put the finishing touches (A couple of times) on one woman's house. She should be able to move in at the end of next week. The other 4 houses we're working on are in different states, but making great time. We also get to work with some of the best volunteers I've met all year. Shout out to Matt and Mike, and all the guys on the Catholic build. It's the best project we've had, and we get to build houses for people who really need it. Hope everything is good in Arkansas and Minnesota, or wherever you are.

Habitat pictures

Here are some pictures. I'm too tired to write. I hoed all day (for sod, for sod)!!!

And the award for stupid thing of the week goes to.....

So I'm taking a shower in the virtual port-a-potty when, OUT OF NOWHERE, a mosquito hawk comes flying towards my face. I happened to be shaving my legs, and in a moment of panic I swipe at it with my 3-bladed razor in my hand. Instead of knocking the mosquito hawk on it's butt, I take a CHUNK OF SKIN OUT OF MY ARM! Really, how stupid can I get.

Second funny story moment. Kat said she couldn't sleep the other night, and I was out cold. In my sleep I say "look it's a bean!" and then I say "And you're a citrus bean!" And Christina, who's sleeping in the cot next to me laughs and says "yeah." Pretty weird.

Third reason I'm kinda stupid. I paid 5.50 to see "The Hills Have Eyes" out of boredom. I ended up crying a little bit in absolute disgust and total horror. DO NOT waste your money, you'll make my stupid list.

My mom called me today to say that northwest Arkansas got hit by some bad tornadoes. My family is okay. Apparently 50 homes were destroyed. I wish I could go back home and help out there. Keep everyone there in your thoughts.
I am also convinced that the apocalypse is coming. Tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, Jennifer Aniston appearing on the cover of Good Housekeeping. Pretty soon giant locusts will be biting our heads off.