Danville, KY sight-seeing

I had the opportunity to take in some of the sites between the two events I worked in Kentucky. On my Sunday drive I went to Shaker Village and spent several hours just walking around the beautiful grounds. It was a gorgeous fall day! When the rest of the crew came on Monday we went on a hike in the Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge and then headed to the Civil War battlefields in Perryville.

A stroll through Shaker Village.

Looking towards one of the buildings on the property...so much history here.

I had to prop the camera up on a ledge in order to get proof I was there...I was by myself.

The group hiking through the woods.

Looking at one of the battlefields in Perryville, KY

Richmond, KY sight-seeing

While in Kentucky we were able to see some sights. For our first afternoon off we went to a small artist community called Berea. We got to meet the artists and watch them work all which we were shopping in their stores. On our full day off we started by going to a local winery and tasted some good wine. We were also able to spend some time in the beautiful fall weather at Natural Bridge State Park. I think we all felt lucky to be able to enjoy the beauty we were surrounded by.

The Welcome sign in Berea, KY

I wish I could live in a house like this...except not in the middle of the town.

A small snapshot of the vineyards of Acres of Land Winery...yum!

Beautiful fall foliage!

A small little waterfall that Debi spotted on one of our drives.

Sarah and I on the lift up the hill.

Me and the natural bridge...it was so beautiful up there I could have stayed all day!

Kentucky...the events

I spent the last two weeks of October in Kentucky for two different events. The first was in Richmond and it was a blast. The church that was hosting was so generous as was the furniture warehouse where the event was held. The volunteers were so excited about the event and they are already starting to talk about next year!! The second event, in Lexington KY, was the largest event that FMSC has done...36 cells. Our largest shift had close to 850 volunteers and packed over 160,000 meals. Wow! But it was a ton of fun! High energy and incredible volunteers. I am very tired after being gone for two weeks...but it was well worth it.

The cutest volunteer in Richmond.

Our Richmond packing room.

The packing room in Lexington without all of our stuff...it looks so big!

A full room...but my camera couldn't capture it all in one picture.

One of our partners, Convoy of Hope, came to pick up food straight from the event!

a great fall weekend...day 2

today my family and i went to the minnesota zoo. it was a gorgeous day to enjoy all of the outdoor exhibits!

a puma overlooking the habitat.

peeking through the bamboo.

my brother made friends with the tiger.

me and my brother.

dad interacting with a prairie dog.

a great fall weekend...day 1

on saturday i got together with some of the girls and we carved pumpkins! we had a lot of fun, although it was kinda cold outside and we started loosing feeling in them. but it was well worth it!

ready to start carving those pumpkins!

gotta get rid of the innards.

all done...what do you think?

Beautiful Connecticut

Just got back from an event out in the beautiful state of Connecticut. I have never been there before and it was pretty, although I wish we could have seen more of the state...we really only saw it when we drove from the airport to the event, but it was enough to tell that it was a beautiful state. The event was awesome! We packed 228,096 meals with the help of volunteers from all over the community. There were over 20 different churches and schools involved in fundraising, publicity and volunteering...incredible! I got the pleasure of working with Claire and Katie whom I love. We always have fun together and this event was no exception. None of us were 100% this weekend; from my hurt finger, to Claire getting a cold, to Katie and her knee and back injuries, we were quite the crew! But with the help of some wonderful volunteers everything went off without a hitch. There was a lot of talk about the next event they would host and that is always exciting! There was a lot of press surrounding the event: newspapers, TV, and online news sources. All in all it was another weekend well spent. Below are pictures of the packing room, Katie and Claire taking care of a cardboard situation, and Claire teaching the wrappers and strappers.

iowa and ice cream

I just got back from an event in Rock Valley, IA; we saw some beautiful fall colors in the drive down.  The event went very well!  It was the second year they have hosted an event, and they packed over 125,000 meals!  We had a little bit of a bug problem, there were lots of flies.  We also got the opportunity to drive to the ice cream capital of the world...Le Mars, IA!  Yum.  The ice cream tasted better there too.  I got to work with Ryan and Sarah, and we had so much fun together.  One of the cool things that happened took place before the event started.  Someone donated $200 to the school and the 8th graders were each given $10 of that money to either donate right away or make grow.  They made it grow from $200 to $5,000!  Holy cow!  That is definitely they spirit of a community coming together to make a difference in the world.