Thursday, January 31, 2008
Colorado Loves Obama!
Barack Obama came to DU yesterday and my colloquium got to see him! The media estimated that nearly 13,000 people had shown up to hear him. We were lucky and got to sit in the actual arena where he spoke but a lot of Iliff friends ended up in the overflow room or didn't get to stay at all. Caroline Kennedy was there to introduce and endorse Obama! The energy was palpable and it was SO neat to be a part of it. I sat next to an African American mother who was holding her daughter up to see and when Barack came out she cried, "Look baby! There he is!" People are SO hopeful about him and if you listen to him speak it is easy to understand why. He spoke sincerely and with integrity and got thunderous applause from me when he talked about raising teacher salaries and repairing worn down schools. (Lauren, I thought of you having to buy your own copy paper...) It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Nursing School
David officially has a spot reserved at Denver School of Nursing!!! He will start in July and will be done 21 months later in March of 2010. He'll beat me by a couple of months! =) We are thrilled that he is in a program but are not looking forward to BOTH of us being in school. YIKES!!!
Denver Nuggets!
Today I got two free tickets to go see the Denver Nuggets play at the Pepsi Arena. Luckily, David wasn't working so we went and had a great time!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Metro CareRing
I started my field placement on Monday at Metro CareRing. It is a food pantry/emergency assistance agency that is 2 miles from our house in Downtown Denver. Clients come to the center and meet with a counselor who leads an intake session and enters all their data into the computer. Metro CareRing has NO income restrictions, so anyone can come for food assistance. The only stipulation is they have to live in Denver to be eligible for government food and they can only come once every 30 days.
On Monday I worked in the pantry filling "orders." The order form showed me how many people were in the family and how much food they were eligible for. The shelves for government food were completely empty so we relied solely on donated food. I went around the pantry selecting food for the families based on the order sheet that had been filled out with the counselor. The center is hoping to move into bigger space someday so that clients can select their own food, but for now there is not enough room and volunteers select and pack the food bags.
It was a very humbling experience to say the least. One of the families that I filled an order for had 8 children living in the home. They were eligible for 7 cans of fruit, but when I got to the pantry shelf, there was only one jar of applesauce. When I told the pantry supervisor she said, "Here put in an extra box of chocolates...we got a lot of chocolate donations at Christmas." Even though the family was eligible for 6 loaves of bread, the pantry only allowed that I give out one loaf of sliced bread per family. The other 5 bread items had to be selected from the assortment of donated donuts, cookies, pastries, etc that were available. The family with 8 children was the only family I saw all morning who received a gallon of milk.
Besides being a food pantry, Metro CareRing provides bus tokens and assists clients who are trying to retrieve birth certificates needed for work or obtaining government aid.
On Monday I worked in the pantry filling "orders." The order form showed me how many people were in the family and how much food they were eligible for. The shelves for government food were completely empty so we relied solely on donated food. I went around the pantry selecting food for the families based on the order sheet that had been filled out with the counselor. The center is hoping to move into bigger space someday so that clients can select their own food, but for now there is not enough room and volunteers select and pack the food bags.
It was a very humbling experience to say the least. One of the families that I filled an order for had 8 children living in the home. They were eligible for 7 cans of fruit, but when I got to the pantry shelf, there was only one jar of applesauce. When I told the pantry supervisor she said, "Here put in an extra box of chocolates...we got a lot of chocolate donations at Christmas." Even though the family was eligible for 6 loaves of bread, the pantry only allowed that I give out one loaf of sliced bread per family. The other 5 bread items had to be selected from the assortment of donated donuts, cookies, pastries, etc that were available. The family with 8 children was the only family I saw all morning who received a gallon of milk.
Besides being a food pantry, Metro CareRing provides bus tokens and assists clients who are trying to retrieve birth certificates needed for work or obtaining government aid.
School Schedule
My mom and Lauren have asked about my school schedule so I thought I would post it:
Mondays 1-4: Jeremiah (This is the class I'm auditing!)
Tuesdays/Thursdays 10-5: Christianity from the Beginning through Middle Ages, Hebrew Bible II, United Methodist History
Wednesdays 9-12: Colloquium and Chapel
I'm taking two history courses this quarter so my head is already swimming with names and dates. The quarter is split between Hebrew Bible II and New Testament I, so my Hebrew Bible FINAL paper is due February 7th!!! I've officially decided the quarter system is nuts...
Mondays 1-4: Jeremiah (This is the class I'm auditing!)
Tuesdays/Thursdays 10-5: Christianity from the Beginning through Middle Ages, Hebrew Bible II, United Methodist History
Wednesdays 9-12: Colloquium and Chapel
I'm taking two history courses this quarter so my head is already swimming with names and dates. The quarter is split between Hebrew Bible II and New Testament I, so my Hebrew Bible FINAL paper is due February 7th!!! I've officially decided the quarter system is nuts...
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Back to Reality
David and I returned to Denver yesterday after two weeks in KC. It was hard to come back...I didn't want to leave! =( We had a GREAT time with our families and they spoiled us BIG time. Today David looked at me and asked, "So is your mom making us dinner tonight or my mom???" We love Colorado, but KC is our home! =)
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