May: The End of Life on the Road

Holy May. It’s the end. May was my last month of deployment in AmeriCorps NCCC FEMA Corps. How nuts is that? I knew people said this year would go by quickly…but this fast? I had no idea. Despite my disbelief, it happened anyway, even though it was fully against my will. It was clear skies nearly the entire month, I made some outrageous memories with my fellow Team Leaders, and I was on the receiving end of an incredible surprise.

So Much Friendship

As the year was nearing a close…and I was away from two of my favorite gentlemen (and future roommates) Doug and Alex for a few months, the boys planned a trip to Washington for the weekend. Along with a couple other Team Leaders from the Vicksburg and Vinton AmeriCorps campuses, the six of us rented an apartment for the weekend. It was just as costly as a hotel room…but we all had a non-floor place to sleep, a kitchen to cook in, a living room to play drinking games in, and we were a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from the metro station. After meeting with the apartment owner, she could tell we were good people and were going to take care of her place…so she let us have the place an extra night with no extra charge. How beautiful and kind is that!? I suppose being a friendly, broke, and exhausted AmeriCorps volunteer does have its perks :) 

Sam cooked us steak, bacon, potatoes, and asparagus the first night…followed by a rambunctious, accent-filled game of Kings Cup. A full breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast, and bacon was served the following morning and then everyone did their own thing until we metro’d to the local downtown bars that night. And Sunday a few of us went to the local park and ended up accidentally helping a few mothers on Mother’s Day by keeping their kids entertained for a few hours.

This weekend was one of the only times this year I felt like a real person in Washington, DC. It was the weekend I realized that I could totally live in the city…and it was one of the last carefree weekends I spent with a couple of the incredible TLs I met this year. The weekend could not have been better.

The Hot Air Balloon Festival

Okay, so let’s start the story here: Back in July, the Team Leaders had to fill out personal bios to put up in Green Hall (the office in which the majority of our summer trainings occurred). One of the questions was along the lines of “What are some things you want to do before you die?” Included in my answer was “ride in a hot air balloon.” Now, I’ve done research on this before and it is not an AmeriCorps budget friendly activity. Despite that fact, my Corps Member April schemed to get me on a hot air balloon all year. About 40 miles from our lodging was a Hot Air Balloon festival in May. She kept the surprise quiet for MONTHS…she just told me I HAD TO keep the evening of May 17^th free…so I did. We went to a cute little festival and I still had NO IDEA what I was in for. Then, I overheard the emcee for the event say something about the Hot Air Balloon flights that were to occur that evening and I stopped dead in my tracks. I looked at April—“Seriously!? A hot air balloon ride??” and burst into the most excited, anxious, happy, and joyful tears. I hugged her for what probably felt to her like an eternity and thanked her a million times over. A Hot Air Balloon ride! I couldn’t believe it.

Due to a series of unfortunate weather and wind directions events, the flight was never able to happen…but the thought and the sentiment is something I will carry with me the rest of my life. Thank you again April. I cannot begin to tell you how much your planning and secret keeping and giving mean to me.

Despite the lack of flight, Sam, April, and I still got our faces painted and had a grand ol’ time taking a boatload of pictures. I have never been to a festival and NOT gotten my face painted. I was in heaven.

Team Green Countdown

I was so lucky to be deployed and share a house with the outrageous and fun Team Leader, Sam Taylor. The second to last weekend of our last ever deployment, we decided to create a comedic treat for our fellow Team Leaders. While our Corps Members were socializing at the cross-campus potluck they had at our house, Sam and I decided to run away to ridiculousness. For a vast majority of the hours on the Sunday of “our” potluck, Sam and I brainstormed genius. I would give you more details, but I’d really prefer to just participate in a bit of show-and-tell. We created a countdown to our days back on campus for our beloved Team Leaders. The humorous (and sometimes just plain stupid) videos are as follows:

My Last DC Weekend

As mentioned in the previous section, I had the pleasure of being deployed with Ms. Taylor. In honor of our last deployed weekend, Sam and I decided to indulge in a Sunday mimosa brunch in downtown DC. Somehow, someway, Sam and I ate and drank a GLUTEN FREE 3-course breakfast meal, bottomless, mimosas, and a free shot to change location within the restaurant (since a big party was coming and we were clearly not moving anytime soon), haha :) Nearly every course had raspberries, the chef’s (and my) favorite, and our waiter was a pre-med, newly married gem who was thrilled to meet such smiling individuals. There could not have been a better way to take our last weekend in Washington to our advantage. Sam Taylor, I’m so damn lucky to have been in the same place at the same time as you. You offered me more smiles and laughs than probably the whole year combined.  

I’m Healthy!

So, long story short, I went to the doctor a whole bunch between the months of February and May because I found a suspicious lump in my breast. I will keep the details short and sweet (because I can) and just tell you that all the results came back just fine :) I must say though…after having a stress like that in the back of my mind for 3 months, I was grateful to officially find out in May that I could completely relax about any potential bad news…because there wasn’t any coming :)  YIPEE!

The Simple Serendipities

May was the beginning of the end of this crazy, stressful, life-changing AmeriCorps year. As always, there were about a million things that entertained me…but here are a few that I thought you all may be interested in.

Bayou 6 Scavenger Hunt. Lucky for us, Bayou 6 was able to get a couple Fridays off during the beautiful spring months in Washington, DC. One of those days we decided to have an intensive, competitive, laughter-inducing scavenger hunt in the Natural History of Museum. Here’s a pic or two of our adventure.

Joelie Polie. My best friend and first WOW Co is getting MARRIED on August 2^nd. So nuts. But anyways. One of our WOWies sent us this lovely little message “Hey guys! Long time no see, how's life like out of college?! Just wanted to let u know I'm in training to be a wow leader next fall! Thanks for being awesome wow leaders two years ago and giving me a reason to give back!” So…not only was that very sweet, but it prompted me and Joel to catch up for a little while. So thank you, Dan, for encouraging me and Joel to reconnect. I always love talking to my best friend.

FEMA Corps Softball League. One of my Corps Members and I decided that we would play in the weekly FEMA Corps Softball game one day this month…on the National Mall, no big deal. While I was being an embarrassing Team Leader/Mom figure to Jessica, I actually ended up catching her one and only base hit on video. It was epic…and we have it recorded. Couldn’t have planned it better if I tried. 

Duckies on the National Mall.