A bit of a Hiatus

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't blogged in so long... I have been really busy, and honestly, I find it difficult to blog about the everyday grind- CRAH was so much easier to blog about! I have been getting settled in my new congregation, I finally got a job, and I have gone back to school a bit- I am taking some online classes. How is everyone doing with the new service year?

The new house project is kind of on hold right now- looks like I won't be moving in till end of December or beginning of January. My sister has already moved into her side.

Ok I promise I will do a post about the international convention I went to in August- I took so many pics, it is difficult to choose which ones to include on here!

Hope to hear from many of my MD peeps soon!

Stuff, stuff and more stuff.

Hello everyone! Just thought I'd update on what I've been up to. This first picture is of the house I'll be moving into soon! My parents bought the house (it was a foreclosed house, 3 bedrooms - they got it for really cheap) and are fixing it up and turning it into 2 apartments. My sister Kaleena and I are going to rent them. I won't be able to move in until the end of summer or early fall. We are already starting some of the work- I've just been given the job of pressure washing the outside, painting the trim, and painting the brick wall fence that surrounds the house. I will post updates when its done:-)

The week before last my sister's bf came to visit from Florida, so we took him around to see the sights of San Diego. We went to a concert, Padres game, and the beach. The beautiful beach pictures are about 15 mins from my parent's house, and a couple blocks from my sister's apt.


Below is a pic of my dessert I got from Extraordinary Desserts, a place I will have to take some of you when you come visit!
Other than that it has still been service, service, service. We leave to go to the International Convention in Austria in 6 DAYS! Can you believe it? I am so excited. So much to do. We leave August 1st and come back August 16th. My next post will probably be in August about the trip!

Thank you so much for the CRAH pics some of you sent! I almost wanted to cry, it looks so beautiful. I miss you all, miss working at CRAH, and I can't wait to come back and see it completed (hopefully at the dedication?;-) Keep in touch!

Hello from Cali!

Hey everyone, so sorry it has taken me forever to post something. Since I got home I have been crazy busy!
The drive back was successful- long, but successful. Here are the states we drove through: Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, then California! we spent the night in Random hotels in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. It took us four days to drive back. We rented a Penske truck and towed my car behind. Whew, I was so glad when the drive was over! It was interesting to see the terrain changes across the country though:-)
So what have I been doing since I got back? Field Service, field service, field service. My mom and younger sister are regular pioneers as well, and we are trying to get 100 hrs for the month of July. We will be gone for the International convention for 2 weeks in August, so we have to prepare for that! Last week and this week is the pioneer school, and my younger sister is going. My mom and I have taken over some bible studies for a sister who is going to the school for her second time. Last weekend we had a huge garage sale with some sisters. I went to a concert with my older sister that she won tix from the radio. Last night I went to a live band karaoke event with my friend Jackie- we both sang, woohoo!
I am looking for a job, but I can't really apply for anything until we get back from Europe, so right now I am doing various odd jobs, mostly for my parents. Thanks to all the skills I got at CRAH, I feel a lot more confident:-)
I miss everyone in MD, and I especially miss CRAH! Send me pics of the progress, peeps! One thing that I am really enjoying is the MEXICAN FOOD here. Aaaahhhhhhh...... I love it so much. I forgot how much I used to eat it.
A few things have changed here since I left- several sisters who were pregnant have little two year olds running around. There are new street signs and several new fire stations here. (I guess they want to be better prepared, finally) But I will admit, the biggest change is ME. I am a different person from what I was 2 years ago. I am definitely glad I went to Maryland.
Well, I will post more stuff later. ( I have to go finish painting my parent's bedroom:-) For this post, here are a few pics from the drive (check out the tennessee storefront- heehee!) and a pic of my plate from one of my favorite restaurants!

Last day at Crownsville:-(

Yesterday was my last day working at CRAH before I move back to California. I worked my last day in the Stucco department. Cassie, Brenda and I were fixing a control joint on the west side of the building, and we re-P.A.B.'d an area. It was an amazing day. After devoting almost a year and a half of my life to this project, it was so hard to say goodbye to the many friends I have made there. These friends have become like family to me, and I will miss them very much! Boy did they give me a send off- I felt so loved. I must have started crying at least 5 times. A few special things that happened: At lunchtime they surprised me with a goodbye cake. It had the texture of stucco, and said "Thank you Kelseroo, we'll miss you." Caithlin made me a scrapbook with a bunch of pictures of me and friends inside, and a bunch of friends signed the inside and wrote some very touching messages. After dinner we played "stink ball", which is a game Luke made up- it is basically volleyball using a string line between two porta potties- haha, gross, I know:-) Then we played real volleyball in the field, and some of the girls surprise attacked me with silly string! (I will get you back for that, girls:-) My car was drawn on with lipstick and toilet papered (they even left real lip/kiss marks on the windshield!) Here are some awesome pictures from the day. Thank you so much to all my CRAH peeps- you know who you are:-) Gaaah, I'm getting emotional again! I LOVE YOU GUYS! Oh, and if anyone figures out who actually did the toilet papering, let me know;-)

Congregation goodbye party

Last Saturday my congregation threw me a goodbye party. It was at the park, and we had tons of food and volleyball! Woohoo! Here are a few pics from the day. Thank you, Monocacy cong, I will miss you very much! And a special thank you to Tami and Ursula for putting it together:-) And thank you Kim an Julie for coming all the way from the eastern shore!

Floating Finish

Monday I was floating finish for stucco. It can be a bit tedious- since it is the last layer it has to be perfect. I love this part of stucco- it is my favorite! Kellyn and I worked with Andrew DeHer and worked on several panels. I can't believe the stucco work is almost done! It has been a long and laborious process, but it looks so beautiful in the end! The assembly hall is looking wonderful, especially when you think about all the volunteers who have given their time, strength, and money to make it happen. Of course none of it could be done without Jehovah! Anyway, here are a few pics!
Kellyn was trying a new videography technique- she calls it "sideways." (hehe)

Mo!

Yesterday I worked with Sean Butler and his wife Lisa. We did a huge section in the entryway running finish- I think we did a beautiful job! We worked and sang songs all day, and got a little sunburned:-) There was a brother on site today cutting holes in some huge rocks for a water feature, and he let me take home a piece. Hmm... now what should I do with it?

Miney...

This day was a stucco brown coat day again. Whats with the tie-dye shirts, you might ask? Our whole stucco crew wore tie-dye shirts today to show our overseer Sean Butler how much we love (and love to tease) him. A few weeks ago he showed up on site wearing a bright pink tie-dye shirt, and people teased him the whole day. Henry and Jill made a bunch of tie-dye shirts for everyone, and we wore them today to surprise Sean. I actually really like mine- I'll probably wear it again:-)

Meenie...

This day was my first time floating finish- that is the very last layer in the stucco process, the one that everyone sees and has to be perfect! We were working on the box details between the arches. Also some girls from my hall were on site today. Yay!

Eenie...

I am SO BEHIND in posting you guys... so sorry. I have been doing a ton of stucco at CRAH. We have been working with Andrew DeHer- he is so awesome. Such a great overseer and teacher. Thank you so much, Andrew! Here are a few pics and video of us doing the brown coat on the wall.

Stuccoliscious

On Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I worked with the Stucco crew. We have some brothers visiting from Georgia who are very skilled at stucco, and they are teaching us so much! It is really nice to have such experienced brothers helping us. We are really pushing to finish all the stucco- there is so much on this assembly hall! Its hard to believe that we only have a few months of construction left. I am really going to miss CRAH! Anyway... I have been having some problems with my camera, so my pics are limited, but here are some that turned out good.