Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Financial Support
Hey Everyone! We're still desperately in need of financial support. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears!
I'm currently trading video editing services for donations... any takers???
Let me know what you think!
If you're interested in supporting us financially, you can donate online at www.gccwired.com/missiontrips
Katie
I'm currently trading video editing services for donations... any takers???
Let me know what you think!
If you're interested in supporting us financially, you can donate online at www.gccwired.com/missiontrips
Katie
Sleep Simulation
A couple weekends I participated in our sleep simulation. We're required to do two different types of activities. The first was the sleep simulation and the second is going to little India for a day.
The sleep simulation starts out by sleeping on your floor on Friday night. Now, you're not allowed to use an air mattress. It's meant to be as uncomfortable as possible but we were allowed blankets and pillows. So, I slept on the family room floor in my sleeping bag on Friday night.
On Saturday morning you wake up and got to 'Second Saturday.' Second Saturday is a volunteering outreach that Granger Community Church does every second Saturday of every month. My mom went with me to keep me company and we headed to Feed The Children in Elkhart Indiana. For about three hours, we packed boxes of food that will be handed out to people in need. It was actually a lot of fun. My mom was in charge of putting the spaghetti into the box, as the last item of about 20, and I was in charge of folding the box wings in so they could be taped shut. Monotonous? Yes. Needed? Certainly! It was good and three hours, a couple cardboard paper cuts and sore thumbs later, mission accomplished.
From there, we meet back at the church and head out to lunch together. We had pizza at Barnaby's and then headed to Potatoe Creek State Park. We had to have our bags packed similar to what they will be packed and then we hiked for about an hour. This is so that you know that if you're bringing a 75lb duffle bag that you think you'll carry, you'll realize you need a new plan. I however have a ginormous hiking backpack that I will bring. It worked well. It forces you to stand up straight so it helps me make sure my back won't hurt after a long time of carrying things. However, it's huge. But it serves me well!
After the hike (which involved a lot of goose poop and snow flurries... I don't think that's on par with what we'll see in India!) we headed back to church to attend a service together.
After church we head home and we sleep on our floors again. On Sunday morning it's supposed to simulate how we'll feel while we're in India. Except that my house is quiet and in India it's loud and, according to a couple people, has chicken noises. I'm intrigued.
Well, after all that, I was a tad stiff but over all I was feeling pretty good!
Requirement one, check!
Katie
The sleep simulation starts out by sleeping on your floor on Friday night. Now, you're not allowed to use an air mattress. It's meant to be as uncomfortable as possible but we were allowed blankets and pillows. So, I slept on the family room floor in my sleeping bag on Friday night.
On Saturday morning you wake up and got to 'Second Saturday.' Second Saturday is a volunteering outreach that Granger Community Church does every second Saturday of every month. My mom went with me to keep me company and we headed to Feed The Children in Elkhart Indiana. For about three hours, we packed boxes of food that will be handed out to people in need. It was actually a lot of fun. My mom was in charge of putting the spaghetti into the box, as the last item of about 20, and I was in charge of folding the box wings in so they could be taped shut. Monotonous? Yes. Needed? Certainly! It was good and three hours, a couple cardboard paper cuts and sore thumbs later, mission accomplished.
From there, we meet back at the church and head out to lunch together. We had pizza at Barnaby's and then headed to Potatoe Creek State Park. We had to have our bags packed similar to what they will be packed and then we hiked for about an hour. This is so that you know that if you're bringing a 75lb duffle bag that you think you'll carry, you'll realize you need a new plan. I however have a ginormous hiking backpack that I will bring. It worked well. It forces you to stand up straight so it helps me make sure my back won't hurt after a long time of carrying things. However, it's huge. But it serves me well!
After the hike (which involved a lot of goose poop and snow flurries... I don't think that's on par with what we'll see in India!) we headed back to church to attend a service together.
After church we head home and we sleep on our floors again. On Sunday morning it's supposed to simulate how we'll feel while we're in India. Except that my house is quiet and in India it's loud and, according to a couple people, has chicken noises. I'm intrigued.
Well, after all that, I was a tad stiff but over all I was feeling pretty good!
Requirement one, check!
Katie
Wait... I Just Bought A Motorcycle!
Our team leader Jack put me in charge of finding a motorcycle that we could purchase (for cheap), fix up and resell in order for us to be the best prepared we possibly could be when we arrive in India. In all honestly, I think he picked me because I live in the same house as my brother who knows everything about motorcycles. I was basically picked by association.
So, we started hunting. I found a great on in Indianapolis and was about 8 hours from picking it up when I found out it didn't have a title. That's not a good sign. That pretty much means we'd be buying a bike to look at and it could never legally been ridden. That's not what we want, so the search went on.
Finally I found one on eBay that was about 5 hours away (better than the ones I found in Texas!) and I started bidding. Well, that's not true. I started watching. I've learned from my older and wiser sister a technique called the 'swoop and squat.' Bear with me. If you find something on eBay and you bid, and someone else wants it, they bid. So really, you're driving the price up, right? But if you find something you want and - most importantly - decide on a max price you'll pay... you just watch and wait. Then, with about 15 seconds left, you enter your maximum bid and typically you win. They have no idea you're even watching and they think they've got the item in the bag. That, my friends, is the swoop and squat. So, I found. I watched. I swooped. I squatted. And now we have a bike!
It's kind of an eye sore and the more we dive into it, it certainly needs some attention. It was sitting in a barn for years. So far we've found a mouse living under the air filter and mud wasps living under the gas tank. Luckily, both had vacated the 'mobile home' as we like to call it.
I'll post pictures soon... when it doesn't look like such a lost cause!
Katie
So, we started hunting. I found a great on in Indianapolis and was about 8 hours from picking it up when I found out it didn't have a title. That's not a good sign. That pretty much means we'd be buying a bike to look at and it could never legally been ridden. That's not what we want, so the search went on.
Finally I found one on eBay that was about 5 hours away (better than the ones I found in Texas!) and I started bidding. Well, that's not true. I started watching. I've learned from my older and wiser sister a technique called the 'swoop and squat.' Bear with me. If you find something on eBay and you bid, and someone else wants it, they bid. So really, you're driving the price up, right? But if you find something you want and - most importantly - decide on a max price you'll pay... you just watch and wait. Then, with about 15 seconds left, you enter your maximum bid and typically you win. They have no idea you're even watching and they think they've got the item in the bag. That, my friends, is the swoop and squat. So, I found. I watched. I swooped. I squatted. And now we have a bike!
It's kind of an eye sore and the more we dive into it, it certainly needs some attention. It was sitting in a barn for years. So far we've found a mouse living under the air filter and mud wasps living under the gas tank. Luckily, both had vacated the 'mobile home' as we like to call it.
I'll post pictures soon... when it doesn't look like such a lost cause!
Katie
A Whole Lot Of Blogging Going On
Hey! Thanks for stopping by our blog! The whole reason that I've created this blog is so that everyone can keep tabs on us throughout this journey of preparing, training and actually going to India.
We're really excited! We leave in about six weeks and it seems like we started talking about it years ago!
Thanks for stopping! We'll keep you posted on everything as much as possible!
Katie
We're really excited! We leave in about six weeks and it seems like we started talking about it years ago!
Thanks for stopping! We'll keep you posted on everything as much as possible!
Katie
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