Sing for your supper!

This weekend has just been absolutely fantastic. I've been incredibly productive and gotten so much closer with my room mates.
Today I started my morning with a swim and some ab work, I was really impressed with my motivation, I got up and just went straight to the pool. I need to order a pull buoy and kick board, and maybe some goggles that block out a little bit of the sun, but it was really nice. And it was 25 meters instead of 25 yards, so I didn't feel so bad that I didn't swim for more than an hour.
A big attraction of the facility was that they had free shampoo and conditioner, but it was a little sad because the stuff was the quality of the poo and dish that you'd find at a Motel 6. But, there was a TV that was showing Food Network in the locker room, so that pretty much evened it out for me.
Then I came home, chowed down, and we took to the streets of San Antonio for some Sunday afternoon errands. We hit up the H-E-B (the B stands for Butt (fun fact)), which is the local grocery store. Everything was super cheap and all of us room mates kept each other in line for buying the cheapest things and not buying unhealthy food. We kept under budget thanks to stingy shopping and H-E-B's prices, and it helps that we split the mutual groceries four ways.
Then it was off to Walmart, after dropping off the food so we could have space for the bunk beds we were going to pick up. Walmart's manager had to be called back and they couldn't find our beds, but it was okay since we got a refund (unexpected cash is always a bonus in my book), and I low key love sleeping on the floor. A bunk bed was kind of an unnecessary expense anyway, so I am happy. While we were sitting waiting for them to attempt to find the bunk bed in the massive expanse of Walmart's storage place, I was being antisocial and got on facebook. Luckily this would be a really positive thing! I saw someone had posted on City Year's facebook page that a corp member from last year was giving away free food because they were about to move out of their apartment. I mentioned it to the girls of 802, and we decided to venture over there. It took us about 15 minutes to get there and wow what a find!
There was about $1000 worth of groceries and kitchen supplies! Spices to the max and everything we could ever want or need! It was amazing and a huge blessing, especially all for free! We also got plates, a spatula and tons and tons of other stuff. There was also a girl there who had been a corp member last year, and she was about to head off to college. She said some interesting things about City Year. I asked her for advice and she just kind of laughed and said she had none, except to find something to do to take your mind off of things and just relax, because sometimes days were awful. That was weird advice, but I was so excited about all the free stuff we were getting I could no way be distracted by anything she said.
We came home and completely reorganized the kitchen to try and fit in all of our stuff and then took off for Goodwill to try and find some khaki's for my room mate. We then found an amazing $10 bookshelf at Goodwill! Unfortunately it was too big for my trunk, but fortunately a guy who worked there, Terry, who made runner up for the hero of the day, had a volley ball net! He artfully attached it to the top of my car and it made it safely home. Before leaving for home, we stopped at Krispy Kreme's. I think I am newly addicted. When we walked in we were handed sample free hot doughnuts. I was in heaven. I got another doughnut, yumm, and then a lime chiller. It was the perfect end to a perfect shopping list.
When we got home we loaded our spices onto the top shelf of our book shelf (it's super artsy), decorated our apartments with tapestries and glow in the dark stars, I put up pictures on my wall and we put pictures and lava lamps and of course books on our book shelf. The apartment actually looks like a home now! I love the set up.
We had a delicious dinner of all free food, and I finished my budget for this week. I'm handling my money really well I think, and going to the gym that had a pool was realistic and ended up being less expensive than going to the gym where my room mates are probably going to get a membership.
Now the roomies are having girl talk, so I say good night to the blogosphere.
I AM SO EXCITED FOR TOMORROW! It's officially a start to an amazing life altering view shifting experience, woot woot woot I am so pumped. Hopefully the team building will be plentiful and the new friends in equally large amounts.
Daily Hero: The huge City network I am slowly becoming a part of. Free food and, haha, free friends are amazing side benefits, and I am so excited to be a part of this big chain of people who love doing service and helping out the community.

You iz on a rock n roll gurl

Yay! I had so much roomie bonding and San Antonio lovin' that I'm just about full to burst.
We went to the zoo this morning almost as soon as I got up, I rushed through getting ready and got into this huge plush white van. The zoo was giant! I saw some animals I haven't seen before and we got to see a baby Flamingo! It was not pink, it was a cute little fuzzy gray thing. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum, I saw a giant gray hippopotamus which was about a million times bigger than the tiny flamingo but just as amazing. Nature is so cool! Also it was fun meeting new CY folks.
But then the zoo was very hot and I had not eaten or drank in a long while, so then the zoo was not so fun, but then we got home and had beautiful pink lemonade.
I then got my second set of keys from Toyota and found a gym with a pool and a waterslide, and a month free, so that is why I actually joined. And the pool..
Then after other things we ventured to pick up a guy to take dtown so we could meet up with folks and see some free short films that I had found on google. We drove around this dude's complex for about 20 minutes until we realized he was not showing up, then we ventured to downtown.
We saw about 12 short films with the breeze of San Antonio at our backs and the films were super cool and super artsy. They also showed a lot of the city and it made me so pumped up to actually be in San Antonio after such a long wait! Also it was so fun meeting new people and it got me even more excited for team bonding and meeting new folks and basic training which begins on Monday!!!

Daily Hero: People who help finance small film festivals so I can watch them for free and feel artsy and different and enjoy a beautiful Saturday night
Also you should check out this link, for those in need of a good laugh, courtesy of 802, www.wimp.com/barfingcup/

Forgotten Post

This post is going to count for July 29, since I was exhausted last night and totally forgot to blog.

I decided to do this in a form of a poem since yesterday was yesterday and a poem might be fun to spice this blogosphere up.

Independence Struggles
As her parents drove off she realized this was not just another day
Worrying about electric and other bill she would have to pay
But it's not just financial troubles that have her down in the dumps
It's the pressure of worrying, of having your own water to pump
No one to rely on except for some strangers
When her twisted thoughts send her dreams into danger
And while excited to take these next leaps
For sure she will long for the days of simple sleep
Where worries lay up a flight of stairs
And her room was hers, the walls postered or bare
So as this day is soon to be missed
By a time so consumed with cities and students who are pissed
She'll just lay her burnt back to rest
And forget the times when she acts like less than her best

Daily Hero: The beautiful colors that surround us in the world, there is nothing like seeing a plate diversified with different shades, delicious and beautiful 

Carmagedon Hits San Antonio

I'm going to be doing a little flash forward flash backwards in this blog post to make it a little exciting, since last night was so weak and since this day is so exciting.
Flash back to 8am this morning:
"Hey guys, we should probably leave pretty early so we don't have to drive back late or anything."
Flash forward to about ten minutes ago at 10:30 pm:
(WARNING, SKIP THIS SECTION IF YOU DO NOT LIKE POTTY HUMOR OR ANYTHING GROSS)
"Oh my gosh guys I just took the best poop of my entire life. I'd been holding it for so long in the car, I felt like it was in my rib cages and it all just came cascading out and demolished that toilet."
(Don't worry gross part is over, you now may continue enjoying)
Flash to the middle of my day:
We went to the beach in Corpus Christi in my roomie's car, since Herman is in the shop and my other roomie's car had her window smashed in yesterday. Already not the best car luck in this group. But anyways, it was a pleasant drive and we jammed out to some cool tunes. Sadly my room mates don't share my passion for country, but luckily I also love the top 40, so I was happy.
We got to the beach and it was amazing, it was this beautiful blue green water and amazing sand with shells littering where we walked. I hadn't been in big quantities of salt water (ocean, gulf, etc) in a long time so I had forgotten quite the feeling of being totally immersed in the salt. We attempted sunscreening but somehow I got a nice patchy back burn, it does not feel good, it was throwback to New Mexico burn from last year, that feels really good right now. We also made sand castles, and an older woman asked me if I had invented the drizzle method, I was flattered but declined the credit. There were also tons and tons of jelly fish in the water, more than I've ever seen outside of the Shedd Aquarium, which is pretty easy to beat since my previous number was zero jelly fish seen in the actual ocean. Then my room mate was actually stung by one! She said it only felt like getting a rubber band snapped on her, which when you think of it, getting stung by a jelly fish is a pretty BA story, so I was a little bit jealous.
So we left the beach and attempted to go to this nifty food joint that Food Network had recommended, but it closed at 2:30, oh shnap, because it was around 4:30 at the time, so we then went to Cracker Barrel (my third time in less than a week, no complaints). The food was delicious, I had chicken and dumplings for the first time and my world was absolutely rocked. Also we brought home tons and tons of left over biscuits, so beautiful Cracker Barrel will be in our thoughts and tummies for a while.
After the Barrel, we decided to head for home. I was settling in in the back seat for a nice two hour nap, when suddenly....
THE LIGHT.
This light came on on my roomie's dash along with the heat dial jumping to very very hot. After consulting someone in the car we decided to pull over because the vehicle was overheating! We pulled up in front of some rando orphanage in the middle of the 104 degree heat and popped the hood to find steam pouring out. After several phone consultations we decided to pour more anti freeze in and wait ten minutes for the thing to cool off, good plan right? So we did just that and patted ourselves on the back for handling that situation so well and being so resourceful. Little did we know,
THE LIGHT
came back on moments after we resumed driving and steam started pouring out from under the hood. We quickly pulled over at a Hertz Equipment Rental shop, and popped the hood and called triple a and took refuge in the air conditioning where we met Louie. Louie offered us water and AC and was generally amazing, you'll see, Louie is a total bro.
After being on the phone with Triple A for about an hour, after they have lost our basic information twice, they tell us that a tow back to San Antonio, with a gold membership, was about $400, since they charged by the mile. We needed an alternative. Louie suggested we call a couple Hertz numbers, and we get a rental car for about $120, everything is on the smooth path to success. We will rent the car, get back to San Antonio and drive my car back to Corpus to pick up the car.
So Louie gave two of us, me included, a ride to the Hertz at CC airport, while the others waited for AAA. The Hertz guy then refused to give us a car under my name because we didn't have a matching credit card. And all of this other ridiculous business but finally we ended up with a car after about an hour with the help of Louie. Then Louie helped get us a better price. Then Louie drove in front of us so we could get back to the Hertz place, and then Louie gave us life advice. Basically Louie is a bro.
So we now have a car stranded in in CC, two hours away from us. A car in the toyota dealer. A car with a broken window. And then a rental car. It's a little bit of a mess.
But the upside of it all is my room mates and I totes bonded because of this lil mini crisis. It was so cool by the end of the day that people knew my humor and understood more about me as a person, just not me as a room mate acquaintance.
Daily Hero: Any guesses... LOUIE. He is da bomb. If you want to know why, then you didn't read this blog post.

This is Michigan Avenue

Today I spent a large majority of my time just driving around San Antonio with my parents. We 'splored a lot and I tried to feel out the city. I failed. We just kind of drove around in a circle and my dad shouted excitedly to my mom "STARBUCKS!" every time he saw a new location. I attempted to find the Michigan Avenue type area of San Antonio, and he pointed to a strip mall and said simply, "This is Michigan Avenue". San Antonio is kind of strangely set up it's just a little area, then some high ways then a ton of strip malls. I live just outside the strip malls.
Parents took me and the roomies out to dinner, my mom was sad when I left, and complained that I cried when my friends left and not when she left.
I'm supposed to read this 100 page document for city year that I just found out about, yayyy. I'm struggling with reading and writing.
Tomorrow we are going to Corpus Christie and that is the only place I've ever been in Texas. I remember there were a lot of minor league baseball players and the surf museum. 
Daily Hero: The inventor of the GPS. Otherwise I would get a lot more lost than I already do.

Got dem papers

Today was started off with a fantastic breakfast at a place where I soon will most likely become a regular. Corn tortillas to die for and a short stack of delicious pancakes for under two dollars, I'm a fan. My mom the whole time was thinking of ways that the dude from Restraunt Impossible could trick the place out (be warned, my whole family is addicted to Food Network, multiple references to various shows will most likely be made). I was just happy to have some food in my tummy. If I'd known how long the day was going to be, I probably would've ordered double tillas.
Then it was a short walk to the City Year headquarters, the place of only legend for the last couple months. It was super bright and colorful and I spent the next five ish hours filling out tons and tons oh and tons of paperwork. By the time I left almost the whole day was gone and I was in a daze from rules, regulations, new names, and new faces to memorize. But it was so much fun, I just felt like the entire time I was in a daze thinking how this wasn't actually happening and in a few short weeks I'll be sure to be back in Evanston. I'm not sure when reality will set in, that I'm actually in San Antonio for a whole whopping ten months! All the people I met seemed super fun and extremely diverse, not just in skin color but age, gender, and where they were from in the world. I can't wait to actually get to know some of them on a more than superficial level. I immediately bonded with some folks about being from the Midwest, and how weird the weather is in San An.
It was back to the apartment for the first time after the first of probably many intense paperwork sessions! The place is amazing, no dingy shack like I imagined, but a really nice complex with a pool and nice rooms and ahhh, I am going to be so spoiled when I get my first real crappy apartment. Luckily I just kind of walked into this deal without much work on my part, when I first contacted my room mate, she had already had a place arranged, and the rent is super cheap split four ways.
My room mates are all very nice and we seem to all be incredibly different, so there will always be something interesting happening in the apartment I suspect. But none of them seem to be serial killers, so my prayers have been answered. The commercial for "The Roommate" has left me a little bit chronically in fear of living with strangers. Come on that's not silly or irrational, the protagonist's name is Sarah! There are five corp members named Sarah. Maybe they will put us all on the same team just for kicks.
My parents and I found a mattress and some cheap target shelves, the bunk bed frame is soon to come sometime, but for now I am very content with my cheap comfy mattress. I'm about 2/3 ishhh unpacked, but good progress considering my room has no air conditioning or fan. I had to take periodic fan breaks where I simply stood under the fan in the living room.
To buy list for tomorrow:
FAN FAN FAN FAN FAN
Also we might head over to the Alamo, maybe it'll snow and not be 200 degrees outside.. in my dreams haha.
Daily Hero: Mattress Factory guy who sold me this amazing mattress, it was totally hassle free and definitely the simplest part of my day. Buying a mattress could have been so difficult and time consuming but I was in and out in probably ten minutes- and I got to try out a water bed!!! 

Spare the Gun, Spoil the Child

Officially in San Antonio!
After several phone calls I have internet but not a bed hooray!
This title was inspired by a phone call to my Uncle Robert, happy 47th birthday! He (jokingly) reminded me, spare the rod spoil the child, and since I've seen so many places selling guns or talking about guns or people with guns, I abbreviated the saying a little bit.
Today was a long long long drive. We spent a lot of time on good ol' i-30 west, about 500 miles to be exact, and I actually drove a lot of the way! And slept a lot of the way.
As we drove further and further South, the people got bigger and bigger and the heat got hotter. When we stopped for dinner at 10 pm it was a pleasant 94 degrees. Cool...
Also Herman is broken, my dad ripped off part of the front bumper, so we will be finding a dealer tomorrow morning, somewhere in between finding a mattress, registering, and moving me in to my apartment (wow I'm such a grown up, got an apartment and everything). 
Highlight of the day was probably the amazing sunset out my window as I was rocked to sleep by the car steadily coasting across America. Or finally getting a new watch!!! I just traded my old one in and got a new one for free, I love free stuff! This one actually works and is not inflicted by water damage.
Tomorrow, I'm pretty nervous, I'll be meeting the folks I'm going to be working with/living with/ interacting with for a whole year(ish). But I'm so excited for this new culture and to be honest I'm pretty sure I'm just too tired to be nervous, which is good because I'll probably give a more honest first impression.
I read the entire Rick Perry Wikipedia page, I heard he is a kind of big deal in Texas, so I figured I should do some investigation. He seems like a strong personality, which I can respect. I don't support a lot of his views on some fundamental issues, but he has done some good stuff according to Wikipedia. Coming from Illinois, where our past couple governors have always been iffy, I'm ready for anything Texas politics can throw me.
Daily Hero: I could have never made this road trip without my rents. They are amazing people and even though a gap year is a scary idea they have supported me and helped to get me here. Not only are they my daily heroes but my everyday heroes. Love ya mom and dad.
And a song to end with: 
Home, home on the range. Where the deer and the antelope play. Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day.

Wrap it Up

I am officially no longer in Evanston! AHHHH!
I was seen off by some amazing folks who I have been thinking about and missing all day. When folks were getting a little teary eyed my mom said "Come on guys, wrap it up, tough it out, you'll see each other again", so I decided to title this post with her in mind.
We took off at 7ish and I almost immediately fell asleep in my little cave, surrounded by pillows and all of my other stuff. When I woke up it was pouring rain with very little visibility so we stopped at Cracker barrel (my dad's favorite restaurant) and we ate there until the rain slowed a little and then got back on the road.
It seemed like as we got further and further South we kept driving under rain clouds, so it would rain for about five minutes like crazy, then stop for twenty minutes, then rainnnnn, then stop. Most of this I was asleep for. After being awake almost all night, except for a quick half hour power nap, I really needed this trip to catch up on my sleep. I have mountain dew to thank for my previously untapped energy, and that was some good ol' mountain dew.
My dad also drove most of the way, basically on mountain dew, so pretty soon I think I will have a sponsorship from them.
We stopped in Salem, IL for Subway and basically it was the biggest Subway I've ever seen. There were at least 25 people eating there and I had my first big hair sighting! Then I drove for an hour and slept for basically the rest of the trip.
At around 6 we arrived in Memphis. I've never been to Kentucky or Memphis and it really is a unique place. Most of the ribs places were closed on Sundays, so we had to miss the must recommended Rondevou BBQ, maybe I will stop there on the way home. Instead we went to some place on Beil Street. Until we got to Beil Street I saw Memphis as a very low key quiet town. Then we got to Beil. This is where everyone comes to drink and listen to music at least I gathered. Memphis is a very interesting place in that without the soundtrack of the city, it would be a very very different city. The music adds so much to the place. I had a phenomenal half slab of ribs in a restaurant with a slanted floor.
At the restaurant my parents laid down some rules for which I thought I would share, since you are following my journey and my rules and regulations, issued by City Year, or by my parents, are sure to be a crucial part of my journey. I scribbled them on a napkin in orange pen, so y'all are getting the fancy cleaned up version:
1. Don't take the car to Mexico.
2. In fact, do not go to Mexico, you will disappear and never be found.
3. No extended road trips.
4. When sharing spaces, be sensitive to others needs.
5. Don't be the dirty one.
6. Eat something green everyday.
7. If you're in a situation when you're in doubt, ask what would your parents do?
8. Don't be alone, ever.
Now we're watching Limitless before we crash on the house. Then 12 more hours to San An. Wow. Wow. Wow.
Daily Hero: Mt. Dew. Without you, we wouldn't have gotten to Memphis and I would have crashed at about 9 pm last night, instead of making it til 5 am.

Night Before

Hello Readers, Family, Friends, Strangers and Acquaintances,
So I'm leaving in about 13 hours to start my trek to San Antonio, so I figured this would be as good as a time as any to start my story. I guess I need sort of an introduction to what I am doing, so here goes.
City Year is a program which is part of Americorps. People ages 17-24 serve in an inner city across America as role models, student mentors, and run after school programs. I heard of City Year in mid April through a job shadow day and applied to serve where most needed. For some reason unknown to me, that place was San Antonio. But everything happens for a reason I guess.
My parents and I are driving 20 hours in my baby Herman, which is now packed with everything I deem necessary for a year of my life. It is surprisingly little and surprisingly a lot. Who knows how much I will actually return with or how much I will actually use.
I am currently facing the crisis of most 18 year old individuals in America, or in the world (wherever 18 is the legal age of independence (even if it's not the mental age)) at this time, leaving home and setting off on some new strange adventure. I'm sure most of my fears are the same as theirs. I envision many a night sobbing in my bunk bed blasting the Evanston song. Hopefully, that vision will not come true and I will not be homesick at all, as my track record would indicate, but my mass amounts of nostalgia are pointing me to believe in a different direction.
I hope that future blog posts will be more interesting, but basically if I were to extend this any longer you might learn just how stressed I am about leaving home, my friends and everything I know to embark, and that's just not as fun. Everyone has to leave home at some point, and this is my some point I guess. Even if it is a month earlier than anyone else.
I close with a daily hero, I'm not sure if this will continue but I think it is good to acknowledge the people that help us get over all of life's little speed bumps.
Hero of the Day: Jon and Issac who assured me that Herman was not broken and could safely transport me and all of my stuff to San Antonio