So, I have been 100% awful at updating my blog. To answer some questions about me that you may be having: 1.) Yes, I'm still alive; 2.) Yes, I'm in Montana; 3.) Yes, I will answer the question of what I am doing here.

As I have mentioned before (and I'm mentioning again in case you have forgotten by now), I am working through the AmeriCorps in a division called Montana Conservation Corps (from now on referred to as MCC). It's pretty much exactly as it sounds. I conserve things in Montana. I am still in training right now. I've only got a little tease on using a chainsaw. Most of my training so far has been working with youth since I will be a Youth Crew Leader through MCC. One experience with youth here has been leading field trips at a local state park. The other one has been with the Center for Restorative Youth Justice (CRYJ). Both have been really cool experiences. We have also been building these garden boxes for senior citizens. They are basically 5' by 3' boxes raised up high enough so that the elderly don't have to bend over. They can garden from chairs/wheelchairs. It's actually a really cool thing. Everything we do is based around community service which is pretty cool (also makes sense since we are 'volunteers').

In a couple weeks I'll be training for trail work, chainsaws, fencing, etc. All the technical work basically. It's actually quite exciting. My dad never taught me any of that nor probably wanted me to be working with that. Although, he would send Kari and I out with an ax and shovel so we could dig us a lake. (Then, of course, Kari and I fought, so we both dug our own 'lakes'). It makes me nervouse on how to 'fell' a tree, but it will be cool to learn for sure. Then starting in June, I'll be doing all this training will be good for. I'll be building fences, constructing and maintaining trails, habitat enhancement, watershed restoration, planting trees, etc. All of this for 2 four week straight sessions with youth. It will be the same kids for one four week session and then a different set for the second session. It's definitely going to be a different experience then I've ever had, which is pretty exciting. All good professional development for myself and I get to spend some time in Glacier National Park!

Well, that's all the work aspect of things! I hope you haven't fallen asleep yet. I know I have been asked that question, so I thought it was time to explain. Plus, I didn't really know all what I was doing before I left for Montana. At least training has done something! :)

The people I work with are pretty fun, but only like 1 or 2 of them are actually from Montana. A lot are from the Midwest (go figure!). We also have one from Georgia, and on from Alaska. Some random places. And don't get me wrong when I say this (cause I love hanging out with these people also), but it's really hard to make friends outside of work. That's something I really loved when at Purdue. I had a variety of friends (which guaranteed somebody would want to do something at some point). I had my Triathlon friends (for at least some time), I had my rugby friends, I had my friend(s) from freshman year, I had a friend from since I was a year old, I had my high school friend. I had a good variety. So, I have been trying to create that here. Unfortunately, there is no good community sports for adults to get involved with that I have found. So, what do I do? I try to make something. I have been trying to start a women's rugby team here in Kalispell, but my hope for the team's dying. I had one girl show up once and she was SO excited to get a team going. I contacted the men's team in Kalispell, the women's team in Missoula, and the Montana Rugby Union in general. I placed flyers all around Kalispell. I had the one girl show up once, and there has been nothing else. I've definitely gotten a lot of info, even found a rugby pitch here. With my short period of time here, my hope of a team getting going and lasting after I'm gone has died. I would just be happy having somebody show up to play with, especially on these nice days. Perhaps my next step should be to see if the guys would let me play on their team with them! :)

I've also taken a couple dance classes for the West Coast Swing. The girls do a lot of spinning in that class! A lot of the people there are older married couples that came with other friends, so it makes it difficult to actually make friends.

I got myself a tennis racket and I go serve by myself at the tennis courts here. That's been nice, but nobody comes to play with me randomly (I will give you that one, that was a far fetched hope).

I'm definitely still having a great time here and I will continue to try to make other friends while still having a lot of fun with my work friends. Basically, I have almost found it best to make friends by going to bars with my roommate who is from Georgia cause she seems to know everybody (if you thought I was a social person, meet this girl!) :)

Other things that have been going on:
1.) I actually used my Wilderness First Aid
2.) I had a friend come visit
3.) I have hiked at Glacier and in snow up to my hips
4.) I have snowboarded 3 times here
5.) I have yet to see a moose or a bear

Probably not seeing a bear or moose is a good thing. A little FYI, how you treat grizzly bears is different then black bears. Moose is a whole nother story. I heard the best way if they charge is to run in circles around a tree (apparently their antlers inhibit their mobility around a tree) (Oh, and if a grizzly bear charges, most likely they are bluff charging so you are suppose to stand your ground.) Sounds silly! I'll let you know what happens...if I can...:)

I loved the snowboarding. I loved the hiking. Glacier is just as pretty as the books and people say. My friend's visit was awesome (I DO have friends!)

Are you on the edge of your seat yet? Are you like, "She used her Wilderness First Aid training?!?!" Well, yes, yes I did. I definitely realize what I could have done better...but I wasn't actually in the wilderness at this time. It was actually across the street from my house. Ready?

I was in my room talking with Jenny, my friend in town. We both heard something that didn't quite sound right. I didn't think much of it, but I looked out the window and low and behold, across the street was a wrecked car. I ran out of my room, told my roommates to look out the living room window. Casey called 911. I slipped my shoes on real fast. Sarah told me not to run. I told her I wasn't going to get hit by a car. I saw a bloody person lying by the house about 20 feet from the totalled truck. I still ran to the truck first. Sarah was going towards the bloody guy. I checked to make sure nobody was in the car. The car was smoking and tons of fluid was pouring out the front of the truck. Would that be gasoline? Who really knew, but the car was still on and most definitely smoking. In my mind, that car has the chance of exploding. I went over to the guy. He was conscious, so means he had a heartbeat and was breathing. Check, check, check. Blood covered his hands and his head. He obviously had to have been thrown from the car. Probably through the front windshield when the car rolled over and somehow landed back upright. The guy was moaning and rolling back and forth with his hands by his head. None of us approached him at first. Sarah ran back in to get gloves. Looking back at this situation, the first thing I should have done was introduce myself and explain how I could help and then hold his spine and neck in place. Instead, I did try to see how awake and oriented he was. He obviously had a concussion. He kept looking at his hands and his truck very confusingly and was asking "Why I have all this blood on my hands? What happened to my truck?" He finally gave me his name and age, but he didn't know where he was, if he was driving or if anybody else was in the car. I began to check for other victims just in case they got thrown somewhere else.

The police actually showed up pretty quickly, and this experience with them gave me so much less respect for the cops. The cop approached and his first questions where "Were you drinking? Were you on drugs?" What happened to the "Are you okay? We are here to help you." Or going through an actual medical emergency procedure versus those questions and moving him around to say the huge scratch on his ribs was "only a bruise" and to have him lean over enough so the cop could get the guy's wallet. I know the cop was only "doing his job", but there are some moral values that need to be thought of. If he was drinking or on drugs, that could have been tested at the hospital. It doesn't make him have a less of a right to treatment. Those concerns of the police should not have been the first concern. It's also a very negative way to look at things. But, of course, I did not say anything. Perhaps I should have, but I wasn't ready to take on a policeman. I guess it could have been my one time experience of life behind bars? :)

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what happened to the guy. I'm guessing (and hoping) he's all right. Here's how I think the accident happened:
He was going way too fast and his right tire must have gone off the road some so he overcorrected too much and too fast. This caused him to roll the car. He had no seatbelt on, so he was probably flung through a side window or the windshield.

it was my first time ever responding to an accident where I had to use my WFA, let alone being the first time to ever see an accident first hand without cops and ambulance already being there. Someday it would be nice to get my WFR (Wilderness First Responder)...

On another note, my Peace Corps medical and dental have been cleared. I am healthy and good enough to go to Africa according to the American government. It's all coming together! I still don't know where in Africa, but I have decided to try to learn some Swahili anyways (randomly found a used Swahili learning book at a used book store). I'll go from being surrounded by white people galore in Montana to being surrounded by black people and sticking out like a sore thumb. Sometimes I feel like I always stick out like a sore thumb. To tell you the truth, I kind of like it. It's nice to be different!

Story of my life in Montana in a nutshell so far. I love it here. The mountains are great, people are fun, weather's been pretty good, but it's getting to the point where it's time for me to get out of AMERICA!! :)

Pics of where I am

This is my home here in Montana. I have mountains surrounding me in the valley that I live in.




This is my view out the back with an old train track bridge (they are making it into a trail to run around the city)




I forget exactly where I am, but it's definitely somewhere around here and I see this kind of view a lot. (I am just trying to make you all jealous right now)




Kiss the snowman...Snowman love




That's me and you are now looking down the dam.




There was a Hungry Horse who ate Whitefish with a Bigfork. . . (BTW, those are names of some of the cities close to around where I live)




Bringing the leg hug around the world! This is one of my four roommates. We are working on the leg hug...its nothing like the Lindsay Potts leg hug (when she's not pregnant anyways) :)




Getting up to see the sunrise at Camp Mak-A-Dream (a place where we did a week of training on youth behavior, learning styles, etc.)




We made it to the top of the summit at Camp Mak-A-Dream that same morning as above, and we made it in just the right time to jump on the sun!




So, I actually do work here and not just enjoy the scenery. Here I learned how to make lumber from logs. They have taken the American Elm that have all died here due to a beetle and we are going to make box gardens for senior citizens here who can't bend over to tend garden. Long story short, I am working at a small sawmill in order to help the community. :)




Favorite tool name: Pickaroo, but this is not a Pickaroo I am posing with. It's a PV.




I was looking through my camera and forgot I had these on there and was so excited to have an awesome picture of each of my nieces! Here is Aliza, deciding to put on her dad's boots!




And here Marissa is making out with a Mexican coke bottle. MMMMMMMMMMM




I can't say much more than...cute.

Thought for the Day

Limited expectations yield only limited results. - Susan Laurson Willig

Our thoughts determine our actions, and when our thoughts are negative, our successes are few. What we hold in our mind is certain to be reflected in the day's activities. And we are capable of fueling our thoughts possitively, if we choose to.

Positive self-assessment and uplifting pep talks can become habitual if our desire to live up to our potential is great enough. The expectations we privately harbor, be they small or far-reaching, will set the pace for the progress we make today, and every day.

We can greet a challenge with eager anticipation when we've grown accustomed to believing in our capability for success. First, we must expect to handle, with poise, whatever confronts us.

Noone but me determines my course today. My success begins in my mind.

I woke up this morning, pulled out this Book of Daily Meditations given to me by a wonderful lady, one of my best friend's mom. So, I decided that every day I should make it a ritual to wake up and read what the meditation says for that day. The above is one excerpt from the book and I really liked this one. Not to say that the other ones aren't as true, cause they are and are also great to read, but I read this one this morning, and it was like "Wow, that's my thoughts already, just worded so nicely in a book." I also thought it was worth sharing with anybody who is reading.

There isn't much else to write about right now. I have been enjoying the mountain views and the quaint town of Whitefish, MT. It kind of reminds me of a smaller (and a bit chillier) Gatlinburg, TN. The weather hasn't been too bad. I went up into the mountains yesterday and it was snowing big white flakes. Truly beautiful, passing log cabins on the drive up and down.

Thoughts have definitely been going through my head, and I know my sister will make fun of me for this statement, but if I EVER settle down, I believe here might be a real nice place. So much to do around here in the summer and the winter and the fall and the spring. I keep hearing so much about Glacier National Park which is just around the corner, and I can't wait to check it out. There is a ski resort right here in Whitefish for the winter. They have river rafting real close. These are the reasons I have always loved Colorado, and so is are the reasons many people talk about Colorado. But, then if I go to Colorado in the end, wouldn't that be where everybody else is also? Oh, my random thoughts in the head. I'll definitely have time to check out the schools here and get a good feel of life in this area. That's pretty exciting.

My Train Through Vast Land

The train ride became truly exciting when I single-handedly took down one terrorist after another. They no longer just called me Mandy anymore, I'm now known as SuperMandy.

Okay, for real though, the ride was alright. Not as smooth as a plane. It's the longest I have ever spent in a train before. The most before was I think 14 hours to get from Kerala back up to Goa in India last year at about this same time. But trains are most definitely different between the two countries, and not only in cost.

For example, the cheapest train ride in India is the Sleepers class. Basically you have 9 people in one little cube area (that's if its not overbooked and way too many people on board). You all sit on one bench which happens to also be the bed for the person who is assigned that seat. Your backrest comes up and forms the second bed and then there is one more over our heads. (the best one to get is the top cause then you don't have to wait on everybody else to go to sleep!)It's all pretty close quarters. And then at every stop you get the people who just walk through just trying to sell you chai, food, little gadgets and thing, and also the people who are begging for money, people I never quite understood how they got the deformities they got. It was probably due to lack of accessibility to hospitals and medical treatment, and perhaps some due to big dogs out there who give it to them so when they beg they get more money. (the last one is more speculation) I didn't get this as much as some of my friends on the trains there, but you get cockroaches crawling around you and in some cases on you. It's all a whole new experience. And, oh, there is no checked baggage, so you got to keep an eye on all your things. Some people had chains they used to lock them up. I used my big bag as a pillow at night.

Now, in the US, that experience on a train is much different. The cheapest train is in coach and there are no beds provided, just the chairs that slightly recline and have something that comes up for your legs to rest on. I got a spot with plenty of leg room and both the chairs to myself and next to a window. Yes, it was only coach, but it felt like luxury! :) People were spread out and nobody was touching elbows. I got to check bags and I don't recall seeing any cockroaches. Nobody came on the train to try to sell me anything or to beg for money. They even had a car for people to come and lounge in.

It was definitely a long ride, about 36 hours total when you include the 5 hour trip from Indy to Chicago on the train. The countryside was open. It was real exciting getting more into the mountains in Montana. One, because I love mountains (totally miss the Himalayas!), and two, because this whole month of anticipation of getting here and starting my next big adventure(s), was finally coming. I have left everything and everybody I know behind. No, not forever, but it's such a great feeling to be on my own again, being on an adventure, not knowing truly what I will be doing from one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next. I have the general idea, but it will all be exciting and new.

I am glad over the last few months I was able to see many of you (sorry if you weren't seen by me, I really tried to see just about everybody). I am also extremely greatful for the people who allowed me to bum on their couches or floors. It's nice to know you really got friends out there and people are genuinely nice, even out in LA where people as a whole can be jerks, but a person there can be great. It took me about 8 months to get here where I am now and it wouldn't have been possible without all the people I knew and have met throughout this time. I think I did already say thanks to everybody, but I just wanted to make sure EVERYBDOY who helped me really knows I mean it. If I can't get you back one day for helping me, at least know I will do my best to "pay it forward" and continue the generosity.

And here I am, with people asking the question, "Where's Wal...I mean, Where's Mandy?" Keep yourself updated by checking out this blog. I will e-mail when I update it sometimes. I'll try to do my best at updating it...

And one more thing, feel like packing up your bags and heading out somewhere? I suggest 2 things: 1) DO IT! and 2) Visit me while you are it. If you are willing to sleep on a floor, let it be a carpeted and one in Montana, come see me here in Montanaa. If you are willing to sleep on a floor, let it be mud and you might need a mosquito net, come see me in Africa (where I will be, I'll let you know when I know). If you are willing to do either, be my second luggage and I'll stuff you in. :)

Well, I'm off for now to check out my new area of living for the next 7 months. So far what I've seen in the dark, I like it. :)