Family Time

We have been jobless for a month now. Since we have not been working, we've been travelling the country and the state visiting our families. The first activity for my people was attending UAB's graduation ceremony to see Ms. Natasha L. Rogers get her Master's! (Congrats, Natasha!!!)


Spending several days at my dad and stepmother's house in Nectar, AL was super relaxing. Even though we had several Peace Corps related tasks to take care of, the springy green outdoors made it a very peaceful time. Caleb made friends with a large magnolia tree, which is where he spent a good majority of his time. Among other activities, Dad and I played a casting game with fishing poles, like horse.

 While we were there, we received our staging email from Peace Corps! We will be flying from Birmingham to San Francisco on May 26th. We will be in San Francisco for two days to go through some initial training, and then we leave early on May 29th to fly to Ulan Bator! Our flight will take us across the Pacific for 12 hours to Seoul, South Korea. From there, it's a 3-4 hour flight to Ulan Bator. We are less than two weeks away!

The first weekend of May, my stepsister, Claire, graduated from UA with her Master's in Library Sciences! Go Claire!!! She masterfully (hehehe) ducked out of the ceremony after getting her picture taken. After spending some time with her and family the day of her graduation, Caleb and I left that evening for Virginia. We spent a day with Caleb's uncles (which I will let him detail in his next post), but we also got to see my favorite band, Incubus, in concert!!!

Last week, we spent five days in Enterprise, AL with my mom, grandfather, and niece. My grandfather "Pops," was the first person in my family I've seen this month that we had to seriously say goodbye to. I will be seeing my mom, dad, stepmom, brother, aunt and uncle again before we leave, but this was the last time we would see Pops for 2+ years, which makes us leaving seem so much more real. We enjoyed hanging out with my mom and niece. My niece is 3 and 1/2 now, so she'll be almost 6 when we see her again. Wow! 

 From Enterprise, we went straight to Thomasville, AL, my hometown, to attend a friend's wedding. Satyn Luker is now Satyn Morris!!! Congrats, Satyn and Luke! At the wedding, we were able to spend some time with my bestest friend, Jessica. It was a very nice wedding!

That's all for now, folks! We are less than two weeks from departure and we are getting very excited!!!

~Sally

Ending My First Real Job

I recall a time in the fall of 2010 when Caleb and I were sophomores at UAB. We were exploring the city and happened to stumble upon this beautiful place that we discovered was Railroad Park. We were both completed amazed! There used to be nothing there, and suddenly, this beautiful park seemed to pop up overnight. On this day, I never thought I would one day be working there. After graduation, though, an opportunity arose, and I'm so thankful and still kind of stunned that I was able to work/serve there for a little while. 

Working with the Railroad Park Foundation (RRPF) was my first "real" job. My last day working there was last week on Wednesday the 15th. Working for RRPF was a great opportunity for me on so many levels. The experience has helped me grow professionally, emotionally, personally, and in so many other positive ways. For many of you not from the Birmingham area, RRPF is a small nonprofit organization that operates Railroad Park, a 19-acre urban green space in downtown Birmingham. It opened in 2010, and since then, it has been an amazing addition to Birmingham, encouraging all sorts of business to build up the downtown area, like Regions Field (home of the Birmingham Barons, our minor league baseball team) multiple loft apartment buildings, hotels, micro breweries, and so much more. It has really transformed the city center.

RRPF takes care of managing events, fundraising for the Park, maintaining the grounds, and a lot more that would take way to long to explain. I was one of five staff members, in addition to our one AmeriCorps member. I started at the Park as an AmeriCorps member, (which can be described as the domestic Peace Corps - for more info, click here), and I did all sorts of stuff, focusing on the Park's membership program and volunteers. When my year of AmeriCorps service was over, I moved into a staff position where I focused more on fundraising, specifically grant writing.

I worked/served there about a year and a half altogether. It's the longest I've ever worked anywhere, and I can't describe how much I will miss it, especially my dedicated, amazing, and strong coworkers. Each of them have taught me so much. Before I worked there, I wasn't even sure how to professionally answer a phone... Let's say I've come a long way since then, thanks to the leadership and examples from the staff. My last day was not easy. I think all of us were crying. It was great to have one more lunch with everyone, despite the bittersweet tears.

If anyone is interested in finding out more about Railroad Park, please visit the website!
It would be great if you would also "like" Railroad Park on Facebook!

I know some of you are already members, but I would encourage anyone who isn't a member to become a member of the Park! You can be a member from any part of the country, so if you don't live in Alabama, don't let this stop you! This isn't a huge commitment, so please consider it. :)  At least check out the different levels and the great benefits you can get!

I cannot express how amazing an experience this opportunity was for me. Alas, ending this job was just part of moving on in life and pursuing a dream that has been on the horizon since 2009. I absolutely cannot wait to come back to Birmingham in a few years to see how the Park and the city have grown. Thank you to all of the RRPF staff in making me part of the Railroad Park family. I will miss each of you, and I truly cherished my time with the Foundation.

~Sally

Closing Chapters

Until yesterday, I had been an employee for Glenwood Autism and Behavior Health Center for almost four years. This is the longest time span that I have ever held a job, and it has been an exceedingly rewarding experience. I have had the pleasure of working with amazing co-workers who have the mental and physical fortitude to handle extremely difficult challenges. I have served an incredible population of people who need our care. Through this service, these individuals have taught me so much about myself.

I spent my years at Glenwood mainly serving one individual. I am honored to have served him. He has been a great friend and is like a brother to me. Together we share a deep love of hiking and spending time in nature. Our mutual interest led us to explore all of the parks in the Birmingham area, and in four years, we have hiked over 1250 miles.  

It is difficult to leave someone when you cannot fully explain to them why you are leaving, when you cannot point on the map and say, “I will be here for two years.” I hope that he will transition well, and I know that I will miss our time together exploring the woods and trails. Upon our return, I plan to visit and walk with him.

On a lighter note, I found a home for my two rat snakes. This morning, Sally and I drove them both to the Anniston Museum of Natural History. George (the orange corn snake) was originally given to me by the Museum almost 10 years ago. She was an ornery juvenile at the time and forced me to wear cloth gloves when I handled her for almost 6 months. Eventually, she grew tamer and has been a great pet. When I was a teenager, she was a regular part of my Halloween costume.

Scott (the grey/yellow hybrid rat snake) was also given to me by the Museum. When I first got him, he was the size of a pencil, but now he is almost six feet long. I once impersonated Steve Erwin at a UAB band Halloween contest and pulled him out of a satchel. It was a rather crowded environment and scared a great deal of people… I regret nothing.

It is a weird and nostalgic feeling to quit my job. It is a unique experience to slowly close chapters of my life with the intention of opening a new exciting one. 

~Caleb