Hello from somewhere between Reno, Lake Tahoe and Carson City, NV! I really wish I knew where I was right now, but I won't dwell on the fact that I have no clue where I am as it's really not that important. I am going to attempt to sum up my life in a few paragraphs, however the insane lifestyle that I am currently living might be too hard to put into comprehensible words. Currently I am working with chainsaws removing fuels for forest fires in a park over looking Lake Tahoe, NV. Thats right, my job is using a chainsaw [View Full Entry]

---

---

Change...we don't like it, we fear it, but we can't stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. And it hurts to grow, anybody who tells you it doesn't is lying. But here’s the truth: the more things change, the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh, sometimes change is good. Oh, sometimes, change is... everything. As I sit to write this entry, I am reminded once again; all good things must come to an end. I apologize that it took so long to post. I started it shortly after I got back, but [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today is July 7th; my time with AmeriCorps is over July 30th. That is a little over 3 weeks that I have left of my 10 month commitment. Man, has the time flown by. It seems like yesterday I was packing up and leaving Buffalo for Sacramento. But it was much longer ago than that and in reality I have done so much and come so far in the last 10 months. The thought of leaving my team is very frightening to me. We have been together since October. The 13 of us held strong and made it to the end. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch-what make you go beyond the norm. I realized that I haven’t written about my experience at all since I’ve been here in Salt Lake, so here is a somewhat long blog entry catching you up… To start off I just want to make sure everybody is on the same page and knows what my 4th project is. We are working at a summer camp, Camp Kostopulos or Camp K for short. Camp K is a week long summer camp for people with disabilities. [View Full Entry]

---

---

This weekend I had the novel idea of going camping, figuring I should take advantage of all opportunities presented to me while in Utah. (You only live once, right?) I gathered some of my friends, bought a tent, rented a car and headed south to Moab to spend Memorial Day weekend at Arches National Park. The weekend began Friday night when I picked up the rental car. I decided that since 5 of us would be going I would rent a SUV and maybe have a little fun off-roading if the opportunity arose. Much to my surprise, expecting a Pathfinder or [View Full Entry]

---

---

I just spent 4 weeks up in the San Bernardino National Forest in Angelus Oaks, California (Southern California) for my third AmeriCorps project. It’s so hard for me to fathom that our third out of 4 projects is done and over with. Where has time gone? The population of Angelus Oaks was 190 people, that is a town the size of half of my High School graduating class, pretty small. I loved the fact that we were in a wilderness setting and so secluded from civilization. It took us 40 minutes to get to the closest town. If we went right [View Full Entry]

---

---

(Entry on London, composed during my 4hr layover in LA on the way back to Sacramento, after traveling for 19hrs... I'm just trying to justify the shortness and the bad grammer... Pictures will be posted at a later date) Imagine waking up in a foreign country and your favorite Starbucks drink and breakfast are waiting on the table for you when you get out of the shower. Spending the day exploring new territory, seeing new sights, and earning new facts. Living the tales History Books proclaim. Eating in Pubs, listening to accents, spending time with the family; my spring break trip [View Full Entry]

---

---

Ode to Canada By Nicole Schara 4/5/08 (Composed in Toronto during my 4hr layover on the way to London, hey you gotta do something to pass the time.) Oh Canada, how I love you! You are so close to London (Well, not really but closer than California) You satisfy my craving for home Yet at the same time leave me desiring it more. Tim Hortons, HSBC, Hockey, Smarties… You have everything that I need. Faced with the decision between Starbucks and Tim Hortons, I choose you Timmy Ho’s. Roooooll up the rim to win. I never win; I always get Please [View Full Entry]

---

---

So were currently packing up from project number 2. We will be rolling out of Fort Pierce bright and early tomorrow morning heading for new adventures. The time here flew by so fast but I will definitely leave with many wonderful memories. The experience here was great and I wish that it could last forever; but without change things would probably get a little boring. Maybe that’s why it was such a fantastic journey. We were here just long enough to get accustomed and comfortable with our job, house and surroundings and we’re leaving before things get monotonous and boring. Out [View Full Entry]

---

---

Early last week my teammate Peter and I decided that we wanted to take a trip up to Disney World for the weekend. So last Friday we rented a car and drove 2 hours north to Orlando. We went straight to Downtown Disney at 9:30pm when we arrived, trying to make the most of our short weekend get-a-way. I was so excited to be in Disney that I had to call Sandra and “rub it in.” When I say rub it in, I mean that in the nicest possible way. She didn’t answer her phone when I called, and figuring that [View Full Entry]

---

---