Sam's Year of Service Adventure

Today, I started the morning by picking up Spouts. Then we went to the pantry, and we put everything away. We got a new shelf for the pantry, so I got that put together today. I also got dimensions, so I took pictures of an old fridge to put on Facebook Marketplace. When we were done at the pantry, we loaded bread and the old shelf and went to Westside. After we dropped off the bread, I headed back to the office and ate lunch. After lunch, I took the old shelf and some books over to Kittyhawk to give them a new library. Then I went back to the office, took the cabin filter out of the van, and found what seemed to be a rat’s nest in it. I then vacuumed the van. Then I took some books over to the North Weber library. Then I went back to the office, got a credit card from Doug, and went to O’Rileys to get an air filter. (After the first one didn’t have what I needed…) Then I took the books back to Woodbine. At the end of the day, Jenny gave me a ride home. We had worship night after suppe...

 Today we had church.  After the church service, I helped move all the winter clothes out of the church and all the summer clothes into the church for Mobile Clothes.  While we were moving clothes, I broke my stitches open again and had to go back to urgent care to have it fixed back up.  It was much more painful this time because they started stitching before it was numb.  When I was put back together, they put me in a splint.  When we got home from urgent care, Christian had made spaghetti for lunch.  After lunch, I took a nap before going to run some errands.  I had to fill the van up with gas, get my phone fixed, and get some onions.  I also tried to pick up my prescription, but it wasn't ready yet.  I went back home, and then Christian and I decided we wanted Sam's Club pizza, so we went there.  They were out of pizzas, so we decided to just get some frozen pizzas and some mozzarella sticks.  We warmed everything up for su...

 This morning, Naomi woke me up and said I should go to the playground with them, so we went to Acacia Park.  We played at the park for most of the morning before heading back to the house.  After a quick stop at the house we went to do the grocery shopping for the week and then we got some chinese food for lunch.  After lunch, we went back to the house, where I relaxed for a while before going on a short bike ride and then relaxing some more.  For supper, I tried to grill some chicken burgers, and it went really badly.  They were still edible at least.  After supper, I hung out with Josiah for a while, and then I helped Leigha haul a couch out of the basement that she had sold on marketplace.  Then I relaxed for the rest of the evening before going to bed.

 Today I was with maintenance.  I went with Tressa over to Colorado West, where we cleared out some old paint.  A box truck came and picked it up to recycle.  When we were done moving paint, we went and fixed a TP holder and repainted a spot that was patched earlier in the week.  Then we went over to Enfield, where we thought we needed to fix a light switch, but it turned out they just didn't have any light bulbs.  We also had to fix an outlet.  When we were done at Enfield, we went back to the office, and Jenni gave me a ride home since it was raining.  When I got home, I spent some time fixing the tire on the E-bike.  I tried to just slim it, but the tube was pinched and not taking slim, so I had to take the tire off and fix the tube.  When the bike was operational again, I had some lunch and then took an afternoon nap.  When I woke up from my nap, I made some enchiladas for supper.  After supper, I relaxed for the rest of th...

 Today was ski day.  We took the bus over to the resort, then warmed up on the bunny slopes for a bit before heading over to Peak 8 and hitting some better runs.  We hit a blue slope a few times, and then we decided to try something harder, and it was much harder between the huge moguls and lots of big patches of dirt. It was quite challenging.  Most of the slopes there had only a few inches of snow on them and lots of trees, dirt, and rocks poking through.  After that crazy run, we stopped for some lunch in the food court and then got back to it.  After lunch on the first lift up, I dropped my glove and then had to ski down to get it.  I found some other really fun trails between peak 8 and peak 7, and some other good ones on peak 7.  I decided to try to jump the moguls on one of the last runs, which caused a lot of crashes.  Michael and I caught the last lift and took the longest way down we could.  When we were done sking we took the ...

 Today was pantry day.  After our morning meeting at the office, we headed over to the pantry, where I then went to Trader Joe's.  When we got back, we put everything away, and I took some eggs back to the office.  After we ate our lunch, we opened up.  It was a very busy but mostly uneventful day.  We had one drunk lady who brought some excitement.  After we were done at the pantry, we packed up and headed back to the office, where we put stuff out for people to take.  When I was done at work, Leigha picked me up because I had driven the company van in the morning.  When I got home, we got packed up and headed up to Breckenridge for our ski day tomorrow.  When we got there, people from the church had our accommodations and supper ready.  We played some video games in the evening and then went to bed.

 Today I spent another full day painting.  I finished up the railroad ties and then painted another fence that we have at the office.  When I was done painting, I had to crawl up in the ceiling above the office and clamp 2 pipes back together that had come apart.  After work, I got to drive the van home again.  When I got home, I relaxed for a while, and then Michael made supper.  After supper, I relaxed the rest of the evening and then went to bed.

 Today, we started by doing the Sprouts pickup.  When we got to the pantry, we put everything away and found out that the cleaners actually cleaned, so we were able to head to Westside right after the pantry.  We delivered the bread to Westside and then went back to the office.  When we got back, Jenni started feeling sick, so I gave her a ride home.  At her property, I was given a tour of some of the cabins that were there, and then I headed back to the office.  When I got back to the office, I ate some lunch and then headed out to do all the libraries we didn't do last week.  When I was done doing libraries, I went to the Goodwill on Garden of the Gods and picked up gift cards for us to give out.  When I got back from doing that, I took the van home since Jenni was sick.  When I got home, I went to the grocery store to pick up some more bandages, and then I joined Christian and Leigha to go to Walmart to pick up the picture frame for our pi...

(Also written by Janessa Garcia) Today, Grandma and Grandpa met me at church. After church, we got pizza for lunch at Bambino’s Urban Pizzeria. After lunch, Grandma, Grandpa, and I took a walk around downtown. After our walk, they took me back to the house. From the house, we went to the movie theater to watch Project Hail Mary. After the movie, we went back to the house, and I had some supper before going to bed. 

(Written by Janessa Garcia)  This morning, Grandma and Grandpa picked me up around 9 o’clock, and we went to the Olympic Museum. We spent the morning touring the museum and then ate lunch in the nearby park. After lunch, we went and walked around Manitou Springs for a few hours. We also got some ice cream while we were there. After we were done walking there, we ventured to the Garden of the Gods and did some more hiking. When we were done hiking at Garden of the Gods, we went back to the house before we went out to eat. On the way to the restaurant, we looked at more Greccio properties. We then met Ron and Susan at a Mexican restaurant. During the meal, we engaged in a lot of pleasant conversation. After supper, Grandma and Grandpa took me back to the house for the night.

Today for work, I finished painting railroad ties at the front of the office and started on the side until I ran out of paint. Then, on my way home from work, I got my hand caught in the railing of the bike bridge, trying to get out of the way of another biker. When I made it home, Leigha took me to Urgent Care, and they took a look at my hand. They decided to send me to the emergency room to make sure it wasn’t broken. After a lot of waiting, I got my finger X-rayed, and once that was over, I got it cleaned and stitched up. After I got discharged, I went and met Grandma and Grandpa Nickel at the house. I spent the rest of the afternoon showing them around some of the Greccio properties. When we got back from the tour, we grilled sausage sandwiches for supper and ate them out on the patio. After supper, we visited for a while, and Grandma and Grandpa went to the Airbnb for the night, and then I went to bed after I called Janessa. (She is also typing this for me as I am having difficult...

 Today I spent the whole day painting the railroad ties for the landscaping at the office.  They were a huge pain to paint and took a lot of paint.  I got the front ones about 3/4 of the way done by the end of the day.  I only dripped a little bit of paint on the sidewalk and hid the rocks I accidentally painted.  At the end of the day, I headed home and got home ice cream on the way.  When I got home from work, I made some mac and cheese for supper and then relaxed the rest of the evening.

 Today was pantry day.  We started with the Trader Joe's pickup and then getting everything put away.  After we had everything put away, I filled some boxes for residents who wanted to pick up their food.  After lunch, we opened the pantry and had a lot of people come through.  We had a new leasing agent there helping us today, which was nice.  At the end of the day, we packed everything up and headed back to the office.  At the office, we put stuff in the fridge and left stuff out for people to take.  Then I headed home.  When I got home, I relaxed for a while and played with Naomi and Josiah.  Then we ate some supper, and then we had a learning component about brain puzzles.  They were tricky at first, but once you learned how they worked, they were pretty simple.  After the learning component, I relaxed the rest of the evening before going to bed.

 Today I was with maintenance.  We started our day by taking the van to the mechanic's shop for an oil change.  Then Bill dropped us off at Bentley.  I started my day at Bentley by checking on a make-ready to see what needed to be done.  Then I picked up a bunch of trash.  When I was finished, I went to sweep and mop a finished make-ready.  After that, we did the filters in building 9.  It went pretty well for me because I only had to talk to one resident.  When I was done doing the filters, I went to talk to Carrolyyn about an apartment that was really dirty and needed to be demanded.  While I was in her office, I got yelled at by a resident for absolutely no reason.  After that, we went and cleaned a vestibule quick because one of our investors was coming to see some apartments.  Then I took my lunch.  After lunch, I went and checked out another make ready to see what needed to be done.  Then I noticed all the apart...

 Today I started by doing a few things around the office, including sorting the bread from last week.  Then Jenni and I went to Sprouts.  After we did our pickup, we got stuck at a broken stoplight for a while before turning around.  When we got to the pantry, we got everything put away, and then I cleaned.  When we were done, we went to Westside to drop off the bread.  Then we went back to the office for lunch.  After lunch, I went to Woodbine to pick up some books, and then I did a couple of libraries before going back to the office to pick up Jenni.  Then we went over to Kittyhawk to do the library there and check out the gardens.  Then we went to Arcadia before making the long trip over to Moreno, where we learned there was a library there.  Then we went to The Ridge.  After The Ridge, we did all the downtown libraries before I took Jenni back to the office.  After I dropped off Jenni, I went to the East Hills library and A...

 Today we had church.  After church, we went to a ski rental shop and got fitted for the skis we would be using for our ski trip later this month.  After we had got our boots fitted, Michael and I went to a couple of other used sports equipment stores to see if we could find him some ski goggles.  Then we headed back to church for the chili cook-off.  We did not feel like paying to vote on the chili, so we just ate and enjoyed.  After we ate chili, there was a pie auction.  We did not buy any pies, but we had four given to us.  After we were done at church, I headed home.  On the way, I dropped off a sleeping bag at Adrian's that we had borrowed for our trip.  Then I went to the store and did our grocery shopping.  When I got home, I made some grilled cheese and ate some pie.  After supper, I played with Naomi for a while and then relaxed the rest of the evening.

 This morning I went mountain biking at Palmer Park.  I picked a really bad spot to start from because it was a lot of stairs up to get to any other trail.  Once I had found my way to some easier trails, it was really fun.  My favorite trail was the Grandview Trail.  It was a long trail that was almost all downhill.  When I was done biking, I explored the park with the van a little more to find a better parking spot for next time.  When I was done biking, I went home and had some lunch.  After lunch, I didn't do much during the afternoon, and when Naomi woke up from her nap, we went to a playground.  When we were done playing at the playground, we came home and had supper.  After supper, I relaxed the rest of the evening.

 Today was a half-day on Friday.  We started the day by changing filters in building 4 apartments at Bentley.  When we had finished changing filters, we cleaned out the rock hole, then washed off all the tools.  When we were done cleaning up, it was already time to head back to the office.  When I got home, I had some lunch, and then Christian and I went mini golfing.  It was really fun, and the course was really nice.  After mini golf, I relaxed for a while, and then I made a breakfast casserole for supper.  After supper, I relaxed the rest of the evening.

 Today I was with maintenance.  We started the morning with an eviction at Alexander Court, and it was really easy.  After that, we headed to Bentley, where I spent a few hours working on a make-ready.  I had to put up more curtains, fix some drawers, and do a bunch of other little things.  When I was done with the make-ready, I went with Alden to Colorado West to pick up a sump pump since we found out we had a clogged drain in our city's runoff pond.  It needs to be unclogged because the city needs the water to drain, and it was starting to smell bad.  We had to pump it down about 3 feet, and the whole thing was full of rocks, so the water could trickle down.  We had to take all the rocks out, and they were disgusting.  It was an awful job, and it smelled horrible.  We did not finish the job by the end of the day, so I have to go back tomorrow and finish cleaning the sludge out and put all the rocks back in.  When I got home from w...

 Today was pantry day.  We headed over to the pantry, and then I went to pick up food from Trader Joe's.  When we got back with our pickup, we put everything away and had some lunch.  After lunch, we opened up.  It was a pretty busy day, and we had a new employee joining us.  When the rush was over, Jenni and I cleaned out one of the storage closets.  We had another rush towards the end of the day, and then we packed up and headed back to the office.  After I dropped off Jenni and the food at the office, I went to Woodbine to drop off some boxes and pick up a box of suits to donate.  I also went back to the pantry and picked up some more clothes that were there, and made a trip to Goodwill.  When I got back from Goodwill, I headed home.  At home, we had a learning component about origami.  After learning component, Christian and I made up some burritos for supper, and then we watched The Martian.  After we watched The Mart...

 Today I was with maintenance.  I started my day heading down to Bentley, where I had to shovel all the dumpster enclosures.  When I had finished that, I had to help with some insurance inspections of Bentley.  I had to climb into a couple of attics to check heaters and change a couple of filters.  After that, we glued a drawer back together and then spent a while picking up trash and dog poop.  When we were tired of that, we pulled out a bunch of posts from around trees that were getting broken by kids anyway.  When all the posts were pulled Jenni picked me up and we went to Natural Grocers to do the pickup.  We barly got anything but we were glad we still got some stuff.  On our way to the pantry we picked up Doug at the office and then went to unload stuff.  While at the pantry I ate some lunch and then we headed to the Attrium for mobile market.  It was a beautiful day for it and we had a really good turnout.  We even were ...

 Today was my first day back at work, so we had a long meeting, mostly just catching up.  After our meeting, we went to Sprouts and did the pickup.  We barely got any produce, and we didn't get much last week either.  After we picked up the food, we headed to the pantry and got everything put away.  When everything was put away, I put together our new shelf and admired the new fridge we got while I was gone.  When we were done at the pantry, we took bread to Westside and then went back to the office for lunch.  After lunch, Jenni and I drove around and looked at gardening areas for the upcoming gardening year.  We also did the libraries at those properties while we were there.  We have a pretty cool gardening program.  Our residents can apply for a gardening plot at their property or a nearby property if theirs does not have one.  We give them everything they need, like soil and seeds.  When we were done checking all the proper...

 This morning we went to church.  After church, we went to pick up some pizza for our finance class with Everence at the church.  After we had eaten our pizza, we had our class.  It was pretty interesting, and it made me think more about using finances for what God would like us to do.  After our class, we headed back to the house to relax for a while before taking the Alaska unit to the airport.  When we had said our goodbyes, we headed home.  On the way back, we stopped at Castle Rock for Michael to do some shopping.  While he shopped, Christian and I sampled some beef jerky at a beef jerky store.  Then we got back on the road and headed back to the house.  We spent some of the evening resetting the house after having guests, and then relaxed the rest of the time.

 This morning we still had breakfast at 6, but we were on the road by 7.  While we were packing up, it was thunderstorming, and I slipped and fell in a puddle, which was not pleasant.  The first half hour of driving was through heavy rain, but after that, it was smooth sailing all the way back.  On the way, we stopped at a Bucees which was fun.  When we got back to the Springs, we did some unpacking and then went to The Mactory for supper.  After supper, we relaxed for the rest of the evening.

 Today we started with insulation.  I was designated to cut the pieces that were needed, so I ended up very itchy.  When we were done insulating, the drywall showed up, and we unloaded it.  After we took our lunch break, we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging all the drywall for the house.  To finish up, we cleaned up the jobsite more than we had the previous days.  Then we headed back to base, and I took my first hot shower all week.  Then we had some time to relax, and then supper.  After supper, we played some games and visited, and then went to bed.  

 Today we did the same morning routine again and then headed to the job site.  At the jobsite, we started by finishing up the shingles and then helping the crew that was doing the siding.  After lunch, I did more siding and eventually got recruited to tape off windows.  At the end of the day, we packed up everything and headed back to base.  There we had slightly warmer showers and then had time to relax before supper.  After supper, we played more volleyball and some spike ball.  Then I headed to bed.

 Today we had the same morning routine until we got to the job site.  Once on site, the whole roof got sheeted.  I spent most of my morning putting up brackets on the trusses and then helped put in and tape up some windows.  Then we took our lunch.  After lunch, we went and picked up 70 bundles of shingles.  When we got them to the job site, I was designated to throw them up on the roof from the truck bed.  I spent the rest of the afternoon helping shingle the roof.  At the end of the day, we packed up and headed back to base for another cold shower and then time to relax before supper.

 Today was our first day on the job.  We got up at 5:30 and made our lunches.  Then we ate some breakfast and had devotional time along with some singing.  The songs they sing are very similar to our songs.  After devotionals, we headed to the job site, which was only about 10 minutes away.  When we started, there was one wall framed up, and by lunchtime, we had the whole house framed up, and we were starting on the trusses.  By the end of the day, we had all the walls sheeted and were just starting the sheeting on the roof.  Around 4 we started packing up and we headed back around 4:30. When we got back, I had to take a really cold shower and then we lounges around until supper time.  After supper, we had more time to sit around and talk, and we eventually went to bed.

 Today, we made the drive down to Texas.  We had to make lots of stops along the way for gas and bathroom breaks, but we made ok time.  When we got to Lubbok, we had supper.  There was a Braum's there, so I was pretty excited.  After supper, we had a couple more hours of driving, and then we arrived.  When we got there, we met all the Amish people we would be working with and got a tour of our sleeping area.  The Amish said they were excited to play volleyball with us tomorrow, so that should be good.  Tomorrow we are planning to start the day around 5:30, so we all went right to bed.

 Today we all went to church, and after the service we went to Sunday school to learn about money and possessions in the Bible.  After church, we went out to eat and then went to the Garden of the Gods.  After we had toured the Garden of the Gods, we went to the Seven Bridges hike.  It was a pretty hike.  After the hike, we took a scenic drive back down to the Springs.  When we got home, we had some supper and then played the card game golf.  After we played the game, I headed to bed.

 Today I slept in and then just did stuff around d the house in the morning.  After lunch Christian and I went on a bike ride and then we finished getting the house ready for the Alaska unit.  Around 4 we left for the airport and stopped for gas and some extra oil along the way.  We picked up the Alaska unit from the airport and then went to Culvers on the way home for supper.  When we got to the house everyone got settled and then we went to bed early.