Tasha's Second Post

OK, so maybe the best part about this entire week (I may or may not be kidding) was the Krispy Kremes we stopped for on the way home from our worksite. They were the "hot-off-the-line" kind and I LOVED them! I've never had doughnuts that fresh before, and man were they delicious! Ahh, fresh Krispy Kremes, just puts a smile on your face doesn't it? And this evening, I picked up a few more Christmas gifts, had a really good dinner from Wendys, and went to play in the ocean (or Gulf, if you really want to be more specific). How can that not be the best day ever!?

As far as actual work goes, I'm exhausted. I'm not used to getting up this early (well except Monday, Wednesday, and Friday when someone *cough cough Dan cough cough* had me scheduled to work bright and early in the mailroom), and it's a job in and of itself to get moving everyday. Truth be told, the beds make my body hurt, I can't get a cold drink to save my life at Camp Victor, and I've missed Grey's Anatomy this week (UGH!), but thinking about the work we're doing in Gulfport makes it all OK. It's remarkable how rewarding it can be to arrive the first day of work to a house that doesn't even have all its tresses up, and know that by the time we leave tomorrow, we'll probably have the shingling started. It's crazy to think about how much 8 students, 3 female Americorps NCCC, 2 mid-sixties parents from Michigan, and 1 Brad can do in four days. I'm having an absolute blast on the worksite, learning about construction and when lunch break is from Jerry. I have loved nearly every minute of my time on site :)

Speaking of the Americorps, I'm really starting to look at what kind of service I'd like to do post-Bluffton. I really like this Americorps thing I've seen the past few years, and would love opportunity to live out my life of service working on projects like this. I'd love to be a part of something like what's going on here in the Gulf Coast. What an amazing responsibility, to show God's love through actions to assist those who need help meeting the most basic of needs, a home.

That's it, I'm done. It's late here, and as I've said before, we get up bright and early here in Mississippi. I hope you're all having a splendid week.



Tasha M. Nickler

PS: I think I was supposed to mention something about sea turtles for Mark. Rupp. Not Bourassa