108 steps of fresh air

Never too cold for disc golf!

Still my favorite

No matter what the weather, the Lee Simmons Wildlife Safari is still one of my favorite things to do during out visits to Mahoney.

This time lots of wolves were near enough for viewing. This snowy white one stole my heart.

This barred owl had several bloody white rat snacks hanging off the branches in his cage

Thanksgiving trip to Mahoney State Park

The weather is a tiny bit frightful, but the view is fantastic!

Feeling thankful

Happy geese

The pond is a happy place for all the Candian geese on this 50 degree November day.

Family Tree

I'm especially enjoying our Family Gratitude tree this year.

Rebels 2015

Great weekend with Alicia, Bridget (and Quinn!), Shelly and Kelly. Love that I'm still so close with friends I've had for more than 25 years :)

November Snow

The boys are so happy, they are dusk-snow romping.

Glowing reviews at Parent Teacher Conferences!!

Celebrating with ice cream.

38!

CYC fun

I haven't been saying much about my new job, but only because I'm so busy. Every day is diverse in this position, which I really, really like. Though I may not have been able to verbalize this, it turns out that one of my top requirements for an enjoyable job is variety. Not being stuck at a desk doing the same thing every day is so important to me. I am out and about doing such different things in this AmeriCorps  position at CYC, and I love that. It makes the time fly (already 2.5 months down!) and keeps things interesting. I also love the flexibility. Most days I work 7:30-3:30, so that I can take advantage of my morning-person nature, and be home in time for the kids to get off the bus. Some days go longer, but it works out since Mike works from home. This has been a perfect fit for me, for this year. I'm not thinking about what I'll do after my service term is up because I'm too busy to think that far ahead. And I'm also not worried-- the present is too interesting to spend time worrying about the future!

Here are some photos from my first couple months at CYC:

I do tons....and tons.... of volunteer fairs, and brochure handing-out over lunch hours at local middle and high schools

Free YVC stuff, compliments of the national headquarters :)

Look: another volunteer fair

In the back of the SWAT team Bearcat

A visit from Furry Friends Refuge to KWAKers group

Helping paint the wall mural at CYC

Food truck lunch

KWAKers help with the Urbandale Community Action Network's gall clean-up

Youth Volunteer Corps national headquarters came to do a training with us as a new affiliate. It involved some fun role-playing where veteran CYC folks played roles as teens, and those of us newer to programming tried to tackle the situations.

After a hard day of volunteering, it's good to end on pizza

Happy Birthday Mom and Mike

Celebrating my mom's birthday, and also Mike's 38th tomorrow. We had champagne cake and enjoyed the weather. My parents got Mike a drone, complete with camera. All the boys-big and small- had a great time with that!

Unfortunately the surprise hot air balloon ride I had planned for Mike was a no-go due to too high of winds :( We'll try again another weekend, but once it snows, it may need to wait till spring. Darn!!

Weekend experiences

This weekend was crazy busy, but really fun. Our KWAKers group had back to back volunteer events planned, with Furry Friends Refuge Friday night, and a community fall clean-up on Saturday AM.

Good fun had by all in the name of service!

 

And ending on pizza is also good fun:

Saturday night we enjoyed an evening in Ames, celebrating my friend Jon's 40th birthday.

Dublin Bay Irish Fayre

Birthday boy at Alluvial Brewing Company

John Mark of ArtForce Iowa (an AmeriCorps colleague of mine, also out if CYC, works with JM. Fun to see these worlds cross over.)

Then I went on a cold turkey 20 mile bike ride with my mom Sunday AM. I told her how longit had been since I rode a bike, and she assured me that 20 miles on a bike isn't bad, even out if the gate. She was right! The Great Western Trail took us 2 hrs at a fairly leisurely pace, and my dad met us in several spots along the way to get us water, pick up discarded layers, and generally check in. It was like concierge biking :)

Trailhead: Martensdale, IA.

Half way; Cumming! The bike bag I happened to be carrying was from the Iowa Distilling Company.

Made it to downtown Des Moines. Mike, my dad, and the boys met us for lunch at Exile Brewing. I could get into biking more often if it always ends with herbed fries and truffle aioli.

I am headed to bed now, at 8:30pm, after this exhausting-but memory-filled-weekend.