Day Three on the Site

Right when we got on the sight the morning of the third day, we started getting the roof boards up and the tar paper done on the walls. I was on the roof with Papa Sig (group leader) and Kyle Sig (Papa & Mama Sig's son). While we were putting on the roof boards the people we were building the house for asked if we could put in a sky light, so we thought about it for a little while and then said yes, because it hadn’t been done before and we wanted to make a new record. We had to put extra support where the sky light was, because otherwise it would have been a weak spot. We also had the problem of trying to get a hole in the board because we didn’t have a power saw. Then out of no where, the guy we were building it for brought out a power saw and cut the board for us. (The group next to ours was mad because we weren’t supposed to have power tools, but it wasn't our power tool. It was funny.) Shortly after we had the sky light in, Kyle had to leave to help Smit do the barbeque. After he left we started putting the tar paper on the roof and then the roofing tar. Then I had to tar the all the nails and stuff to make sure no water could get in. By the time I was done with that the rest of the people were basically done with the house, so we gave the new home owners the key to the house and took some pictures. The most important part of the whole trip is the end when the family finally has a good house. Then went back to camp for some AMAZING tri tip that Smit makes. For the last night in Mexico Patrick and I made a huge fire and we all sat around it and talked and sang till it was bed time.

Day Two on the Site

The second day was a lot more fun and productive all around. We started off by breaking people up into groups. Patrick and I were a group and then there were 3 other groups--all of us were making walls for the house. In all there are seven walls and two roof parts that make up the house. After Patrick and I were done we put up our wall because no one else could do much more then make the walls until it was up because it was the front. After it was up I went down and helped Kelsey’s group finish and bring up their wall. (They were down the hill a little bit and it is a steep climb.) Once all the walls were up I started working on the roof parts with Kelsey, Patrick, Mama Sig (adult leader) and Hanna. When that was finally done we had to bring it over to the house and put it on top of the house. After that one was on I got on the roof and started putting the bird blocks in. (yes they do just what they are called, they block the birds from going into the house) While two other people and I were doing that, the other wall was being made and at the end of the day it was finished and put on next to the first half. Then we headed back to the camp site, had a bonfire and dinner and went to bed--we were pretty tired.

First Day on the Work Site

So the first day on the work site we built the frame for the foundation, and two walls, and also poured the cement foundation. Right when we got to the site we started to make the frame for the foundation. After we had it all square and level (which didn’t take that long) we had to dig about 3 inches down around the edges to make sure the foundation doesn't move. My first job was to make sure all the dirt was loose enough for the people with shovels to get it out. That ended up only taking me like 5 minutes because I got to use a pick axe and when I have one of those I can dig through just about anything. Then we started making the cement and walls at the same time. This didn’t work as well as it has in the past two years because we had a bunch of people that didn’t really want to do any work. (If and when they did work they wanted their friends right next to them so they could talk the whole time.) The cement takes a long time to make and is really hard because we have to make it by hand. This year Patrick and I broke the record of most cement mixed at once. (We mixed 6 buckets and the record was 5 so we thought that was cool.) While we are down there we don't have any power tools because we don't want it to seem like we are better or have better things or anything like that. After all the cement was in we all helped put together the second wall then we had to go back to camp because there are gangs where we do work and we don’t want to have to deal with that. Back at camp we just hang out until dinner. After dinner we have small groups and big group worship then we go to bed.

My Mexico Mission Trip

On Easter I went down to Mexico with my church youth group to build houses for the week of spring break. We meet Sunday before church and check in so that we know that everyone is there. After checking in we go to church service. In the service there is a part where we have to go up front so the whole church can see us and wish us luck. (I hate that part). After the service we go out to the vans (for those of you that don't know, we drive down to Mexico) to load up and say goodbye to people. After saying bye to everyone we headed out. I really don't know what happened till our first rest stop because I slept on the ride down. At the first rest stop we ate our bag lunches and changed seats. We do a lottery to see where we sit and at each stop we change seats so people get to know more people--people riding with me know that I like to sleep. Then we got back in the vans and I went back to sleep till the second rest stop. That was fun because I got Taco Bell for dinner. The third rest stop was the coolest rest stop we had because we got there just in time to watch the sun set. I wish I could have taken a picture but I didn't have a camera. Once the sun had set we hung out for a few minutes, then finished up the drive to the church we were sleeping at. After all the people were there we unpacked the box truck so we had all our things. After that my Aunt and Bestemom showed up with some more Taco Bell and Easter candy for me (they spent Easter in San Diego). It was cool seeing my Aunt again since I haven't seen her in a few months. Once they left, we were up for a few more minutes but then it was time for bed. Last year we were there too and some of the adults slept outside so me and Patrick and Chris asked if we could sleep outside too. The adults said yes so we all set up outside on the grass and went to sleep. Then at about 2 AM the sprinklers went off...that was a very weird way to wake up. So this year we slept outside but this time we were on the cement.

The Linkin Park Concert

Last Monday I went to a Linkin Park concert. I had been wanting to go to it for a long time but I couldn't find a way to do it because t he tickets were really expensive and it was all the way in Sacramento. Then I got an email from Music For Relief asking for volunteers for the concerts so I jumped on the opportunity and emailed back saying I could. After I emailed saying I could I asked my Bestemom if I could do it (our family is big on volunteering so I thought she'd probably say yes) and she said that if they had me volunteer I could go. The next day I got the reply saying that I was one of the 6 volunteers. That all happened like 3 weeks before the concert. Then the day before the concert I got a phone call to confirm that I was still able to do it. So the next day I went to the ARCO arena in Sacramento where the concert was going to be. I had to be early because I had to help out with setup. I thought it was so cool to be there and I even got to go in through the security entrance. The setting up was easy. Once the doors were opened we would talk to people about what MFR is and how it works. It was created in 2000 when the tsunamis hit to help people with shelter and they continued it to help people in New Orleans and Florida. They started working with Habitat for Humanity and Plant a Tree after the wild fires in San Diego and they also want to inform people about global warming and help stop carbon emissions. We met the guy that does all the videos for Linkin Park (that was really cool) . After the first opening band, we set up a table for the band to sign posters for people. After they were done we got every thing packed up and then went to our seats because the show was starting. It was SO fun to help with all the things that we did. The concert was awesome, but at that point most the people were drunk so it was fun to watch them too. As a volunteer I was given a free ticket for the floor. I didn't really want to be on the floor because I knew that I wouldn't be able to get close enough to see, but that was what I had and I knew it was cool to have so I was going to try to get close to the front. (I have no idea how I really thought that I would get to the front). Luckily we were told that if we found a seat that was empty we could sit in it and use it as our seat. To make this long and lame story short I found a seat in the front right next to the stage. It was soooooooo cool to be that close to the stage at a concert. The only problem was that they didn't do my favorite song which is Bleed It Out. They ended the concert and people started to leave and then they came back out for an encore, did several more songs and finished with Bleed It Out. It was perfect. I really like Linkin Park and the concert was great. I really hope I can see them in concert again. They'll be in Europe this summer but the closest they'll be to The Netherlands is Germany. Maybe everyone could start a write in campaign to get them to add a concert in Amsterdam.

African drums

A few weeks ago I went to an African drum thing at my church. We had a guy that teaches people how to play different tunes that were done in Africa come to teach us how to play African drums. We started the day off by eating and playing games. The food theme was African American food such as "fried chicken, corn bread" and other things like that. I really liked the chicken that was there but people didn't bring much so we only got 1 piece each (3 people brought corn bread so we had an abundance of it--corn bread is okay, sort of, but the chicken was better). I think they needed more chicken but what ever. Then after eating we all picked out a drum and were told how to put it on (its not hard you just take the 3'' rope thing, cross it so it looks like an x then loop the bottom of it on the drum base and then put the rest of it over your neck, put your arms through the rope like thing and...shazzam...you have it on.) OK it is easier to do when you see it then it is to do when it is just written down. Then he had us do some easy stuff just to teach us the three different types of things that are used. Then he started having us do things that were pieces of songs and after we had them down he would break us up into groups and have us do the different parts so we ended up playing songs. It was really fun and cool. Then we moved on to a different song that was harder to play. The teacher asked if there were any people that knew how to play normal drums and every one that was there said that me Andrew and Mathew knew how, so he told us we were doing the hard part. He told everyone else how to do the other parts of the song and then told us how to do our part. We didn't think it was that hard but it was a lot of fun. After we did that song he headed out, and the fun night of drumming was over. I hope we do it again some time, but not until I get back from Europe since I'm going back to Europe in just a few weeks.

snowboarding

Two in a half weeks ago I went snowboarding for my birthday thing. (I would like to point out that my birthday was a month before that.) We had to get up really early like 6:30 early and leave by 7 because it was a three day weekend and we knew there would be traffic so the whole way up I slept. (I like to sleep) When we finally got there at like 10 we didn't even have to wait in a long line or anything we just walked up to the window and bought the tickets. It had been a year since I had been snowboarding so I thought that it would be hard to get used to again because that is how it was in the past, but right when I got up there I didn't have any problem doing it so after two times of going on the little hill I started going on the normal one. I like the big one most but I only went on that a few times this time for some reason but I really don't know why. I took my first fall (yes I do fall but not often :D ) after going off a jump and landing wrong and then almost running into someone that just turned in front of the jump but instead I fell...but not because I wanted to. My next fall was later in the day when I was going down the hill and a little boy cut me off and I clipped the end of his ski and went flying(I even did a flip) and the kid fell so I got up and checked on the kid who was just fine luckily cuz his dad was right behind us. After that I went in and had lunch. I got a chili-n-bread bowl. They are yummmmmmmmmy. After that I went back out and started using the box. (for the people that don't know what that is, it is a big mettle rectangle that is in the snow that you can do tricks as you ride over it. It is about 6 or 7 feet long and is raised about a foot or so out of the snow but the length and height dose vary.) Then I went down the hill a few more times and then we headed home so again I went to sleep. When I got home I hung out with my friends till 3:30 am.(when my parents called to see where I was and when I got home I got in trouble for being out that late but it all ended up being OK). And they all lived happily ever after. I hope....

My Appendix

So a few days ago I had my appendix taken out. Now I don't know how most people feel when their appendix hurts but I know mine was not a good feeling. My stomach started hurting at around noon on Monday and it kept getting worse and worse and finally about 9:30 we thought that it would be good to go and get it checked out. At that point we really didn't know what was wrong but my stomach hurt a LOT. Finally after a few hours of waiting in the hospital and tests, they came in and said that I had appendicitis and that it needed to be taken out. By then it was Tuesday. I don't really remember much about what else happened till I went into surgery but I do know that I wasn't allowed to eat and I didn't like that but w/e. Right before surgery I remember that I had an IV in me and that they said that I would be groggy after the first shot but that after the second one I would be knocked out in 10 sec. Right after the first shot I don't remember anything till I woke up about 6 hours later. I couldn't move at first but after a little I could move a bit and then I was brought my dinner. For the next two days I was in the hospital and gradually was able to move more and started walking on Wednesday. I could walk before that but it hurt a lot and I couldn't walk fully upright. The food in the hospital was OK. It really had its ups and downs, but if you asked for something that they had they would get it for you if they could. The entire time I was there I drank so much apple juice that they ran out of it on my floor and had to order more for me from the other floors. I really like the apple juice but it was in really small packs so each one was only really like a few sips so I'd drink four at at time. Finally on Thursday I was released from the hospital and got to go home.

Field of Ladybugs

Last Saturday I went on a hike with a guy from my church named Brian. (but you don't read this blog to find out about people I know, you want to know about me so I won't talk about him too much.) He goes to my church and is a very active person in the youth activities, he likes to hike and run so he sets up hikes for the youth monthly. We decided to go up to a rest spot called Deer Flat to eat lunch so we started up the hill. As we went up we started seeing what the recent weather had done to the devil mountain. (oh, by the way, I call Mount. Diablo devil mountain.) There were trees that had been pulled out of the ground by the wind in piles that the park rangers had moved up out of the way and even more that hadn't been moved. However the view was really cool when we got up to Deer Flat. By the time we reached it I felt very relaxed. I guess I just felt better then when I started. After a nice break/lunch we started up a trail that I don't remember the name of, where we could see even more and Brian took a few pics. I really liked the view from there. Like 20 feet after we had looked at the view we turned on the wrong trail called Eagle Peak but we got a cool pic of me that I will put up when I get it, so you can see my new hair cut. When we figured out we were going the wrong way we turned around and only had to walk about ten meters and we were at the right trail which was called Back Creek Trail. This trail was practically non-existent and looked like it was made by animals. If you don't like tight spaces don't go down that trail. Once we were close to the bottom we ended up by a creek so we got a pic of the creek. Close by the creak we found a big mob of ladybugs so naturally I got a pic. We finally got back to the car after the 5 hour hike and we were both tired. Right when I got home I went to sleep.

Glide Memorial

On Sunday I went to Glide Memorial in S.F. with my church to help make bag lunches for the homeless then go to the service. I didn’t really want to go at first because we had to meet at Good Shepard at 8 in the morning (Why did we have to meet that early???) but I ended up having fun. It really surprised me, when we started to make the lunches, that we could make around 200 lunches in 15 min when we only had 23 people all together. The lunches had one ham and one peanut butter sandwich, one mustard packet and one fruit snack pack. After making all that and putting it in the brown bags we would count out 50 and put them into big trash bags and tie them up. We ended up making 658 lunches in 1 hour and then sat around till the first service at Glide was over so we could go to the second one. It was half an hour before the service was over but there was a line started so we stood in line so we would get good seats. Right when the first service was out we were aloud in to sit. The service was really cool and very fun. Most of the service was singing which is why it was so fun. The band there was great and the drummer made me look like I don’t even have any idea about playing the drums. The sermon was hard to understand for me because most of it was the pastor yelling but I think the sermon was about treating people equally. All in all I had a lot of fun there and hope we do it again some time.