dan the man

feb 18th-20th

matt's boyfriend, dan from boston, came for a visit to sunny california. many adventures included malibu hike, bj's pizza, yogurtland, beach, hollywood, in-n-out, pepperdine volunteer center bbq, etc. it was great to have him out here but once we dropped him off at the airport, both matt and i shed a few tears. we hope to see him really soon!

concrete jungle where dreams are made of

spring break feb 27th-march 6th NY, NY

my last project serve took me to new york. i had an wonderful time working in ps 30 (bronx public school) and hanging with 12 of my favorite people!

the week included eating way too much (magnolia bakery, butterfield bakery, hot & crusty's, juniors, way too expense sushi, lombardi's pizza, etc.), going to broadway to see the phantom, riding subway 6, skating at the rock, going to church at st. patrick's, going to BUSTIN skateboard shop in brooklyn (www.bustinboards.com), shopping at soho *japanese store*, walking down 5th avenue and my favorite working with some sweet kids in ms. cosme's 3rd grade classroom.

we all worked at PS 30. i had a wonderful experience working with all the kids (helping with classwork, breaking up fights in the caf, losing my voice, eating cafeteria pizza gross, reading with an accent to the class, trying to be gangsta, etc.) i would love to go back and work in the school full time, maybe one day!

extracurricular activities with some of my favorite people:

last PVC retreat

feb 20th

mr. davie rowie planned an amazing pvc spring service retreat to MEND = Meet Each Need with Dignity.

it is an amazing organization. at the location we went to they had doctor's offices, dentist offices, a clothing store, library, child care center,etc all under 1 roof. everything is offered to help the surrounding community. here is a little bit about MEND:

"In the early 1970's, MEND (Meet Each Need with Dignity) opened its doors in an effort to transform the lives of the neediest residents of the San Fernando Valley - poor children and their struggling families. Starting as a small group of volunteers working from a garage, MEND has grown primarily by word-of-mouth into one of the leanest operating non-profit organizations in existence. More than 94% of the support and donations received by MEND, now the largest poverty agency in the Valley, provides emergency food, clothing, medical, vision and dental care, job skills training and job placement assistance, English as a Second Language classes, youth activities, and a Christmas program. In 2008, we served over 368,969 individuals."

visit: http://mendpoverty.org/about.html to learn more and how to volunteer with MEND.

at MEND they have a huge warehouse full of lots and lots of food

(rows and rows of food)

half of the pvc went to the garden down the street to pick weeds, and the other half worked in the warehouse preparing food packages for families

after volunteering we went back to pepperdine and had a yummy bbq with family and friends

Thank you davie rowie for a wonderful retreat and christina for being an amazing paparazzi

making a return (a month is a long time)

I'M BACK! sorry it has been forever since i have blogged. it has been a crazy month with friends, family and coming closer to the end of the school year (tear,tear)i am going to get in the swing of things again. so the next few blogs are from this past month.