Summer's almost over

Well, the summer is coming to an end. On Friday, we had our last day of construction work, and, with the help of about 550 volunteers that I've had the pleasure of knowing this summer, we completed all of our construction! Friday night was an extremely happy night for me because I was a little nervous about completing a few of our projects. Not only did we complete all of our construction but, now, a few families have a heating source that didn't before and one family has a septic tank. Thank you again to all who helped to make that happen!

The summer has been really great. I've gotten really close with my staff-Katie, Jon, and Lena and I'm going to miss them a whole lot. I'm also going to miss the families that I've gotten so close with this summer. Good news is that I'll only be about an hour and a half away when I move to Jonesville, VA so I can visit and check in with them.

I go back to Johnson City, TN on Tuesday morning and that's where we unload all of our vehicles and return all of our tools, dishes, tuperware, and paperwork. I'll also get to see the staffs in the other 29 counties and hear about how their summers were! After Johnson City, we all go back to Jonesville, VA for "Wrap Up." It's a time to finish up any paperwork that wasn't completed and to start to decompress after the summer because it certainly has been a whirlwind of an experience. I'll be in Jonesville, VA until Friday morning and then I'll head HOME to Springfield! I'll be home for about a week then it's vacation time :) Then, I'll be heading back to Johnson City, TN on August 31 and I'll be there for a few days at training and then I'll be in Jonesville, VA until May!

I'm excited about this next journey with ASP but I'm really going to miss Leslie County. Good news is that our facilities manager, Tim, told me that he was talking to the superintendent and another person on the school board here in Leslie County and assured me that they want me to work for them in their school district. So, that was really cool news! Who knows? It's an option. One of my families has 7 kids and one on the way and she really wants me to be their teacher. But, that's in the future. For now, I'm focused on saying bye to my families, hardware store guys, Tropical Sno owners and staff.

The last few days of the summer are always sad but I'm also really excited to be home and see some family and friends! <3

I'm going to put up some pictures from my recent adventures. Yesterday, we went off-roading in Jon's jeep. That was a pretty fun experience and I got to see some BEAUTIFUL views! Leslie County is truly a beautiful place! Hope you enjoy the pictures :)

See you all VERY soon!