As my sweet friend Dwan puts it, "CHECK!" I accomplished another goal I had for myself this year. I have always wanted to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity and decided there was no time like the present.
I showed up to the job site in BFE (a.k.a Magna) at 9:00 AM and shortly realized I would be the only estrogen contributor the whole day... There's nothing like being the only girl at a job site where men dominate. Let's just say I inhaled lots of cigarette fumes, coffee odors, and learned some new words of which I probably should not repeat. However, I did learn how to put siding on a house, and I also learned it is definitely NOT a fun job. I wasn't sure if the day was ever going to end as I handed hammers and nails to "the
men in charge" and cut siding with the tiniest, most useless cutting tools ever created. Finally lunch time had arrived! I sat in my car all by my lonesome, munching away. There was a storm in the distance... would it come over here? Was I going to be even more miserable? I kept telling myself I
could leave, I was just a volunteer and had no binding contracts holding me back. No! I came to work, and I'm going to work the WHOLE day! Lunch ended, we went back to siding and then the flood came: A storm like I've never seen before sent us fleeing for shelter. Could it be? The work day was over due to stormy conditions? I've never had an answer to prayer come in the form of a torrential rain storm before! I had a big grin on my face as I drove 20 mph on the freeway all the way home in the hail/rain/wind storm.
Ok, so despite all of it being true, the day wasn't
that bad. I learned how to install siding, show the boys that I'm a tough girl, and checked off a 2010 goal. I think next time I will go with an organized group so I will have good company and enjoy the day a little more. I may also wait until all the serious manual labor (climbing ladders in the wind, cutting siding with wimpy scissors, and measuring the same piece of siding 20 times) is completed. But alas, building a house is all manual labor.
Either way, Habitat for Humanity is a great organization that provides low-income, working families with a home. I imagine there is no greater feeling than owning a permanent home for your family as you work to provide them with everything they need.
Here is the Habitat street. They were working on 3 houses at the time.
And here is the dreaded siding! Haha, but we started with only a few rows of siding and look how far we made it until the storm arrived!!!
(P.S. I had to take pictures from my car, cause I knew the guys would make fun of me if I took pictures while we were working... Men just don't understand the joy and satisfaction of taking pictures. That's why they have us girls... their better halves.)
The next day the sky was 'abundantly clear', so we went river rafting
The next day the sky was 'abundantly clear', so we went river rafting
And somehow I managed to fall down these rocks:
While on the boat, we had the coldest water fight ever and dunked all three members of our bishopric, and watched Bro. Dibblee being DRAGGED out of the water...
Then we went boating on this lovely...
And although I faceplanted a million times and swallowed half the lake, Nick rocked all our socks off...
We ate yummy food cooked by Tanner and Nick... (can't believe we didn't all die)
And saw lots of pretty scenery
Flaming Gorge: You're just what I needed.
