Sorry this has taken forever

Well, the last time I wrote on my blog was 3 months ago, so my apologizes. It has been hard to keep up with it, mainly because our first round project was on Catalina Island, CA and we did not have Internet access. Catalina was great and if you want to hear all about it give me a call. Describing it would take too long to type, plus I am supposed to be working on my advanced tax practices. Let's just say my attention span is not what it used to be. Here is a picture of Catalina. It should be enough to explain how much fun I had...


Now for a picture of where I am for my next round...

It is a little different :) We are working with Rural Dynamics Inc. and Tax Help Montana. It is a non-profit organization that works with low income and Native American populations prepare and file their taxes. So far it has been a lot of fun. I am learning things I never thought I would ever get the grasp of, or for that matter ever want to get the grasp of, but I really enjoy it. We are staying in a place called the Ursaline Center which is a one-hundred year old boarding school. It is really, really neat and decked out with religious paraphernalia, creaky floors, and lots and lots of Bibles. It feels like home :) We will be in Montana until early March, then head back to Sacramento, then off to the unknown.
I will try to post more often.
Love,
Mary Claire Paradise, Advanced VITA Tax Preparer

Random Thoughts from Day 9

Saturday October 15, 2011
Day 9
I tend to always get bored when I am by myself. It feels like I am alone and trying to fill my time with pointless things to pass the time. The thing I need to learn, the mindset I need to adopt is that I am never alone. I have myself. Going through life can be, well I guess I should say, is a challenge. We are human beings and are animals. We are organic, carbon based life, just as a tree, dog, cat, ant. We have the characteristics of being physical beings. The thing that makes us different is our frontal lobe. We were given the advanced brain to use. We were given the advanced brain for a purpose. The outer universe is too large to comprehend, wrap our minds around, and perceive. The inner universe though is ours to explore. Space travel seems exotic, adventurous, and the greatest mystery. Exploring the inner universe is more important. The outer universe is something that we create in our mind. We are the creator, the creator is in us, the creator is the advanced brain. I believe in a God, I believe in Jesus Christ as the perfect human example. He found God. He was God. He was Enlightenment. I believe in Heaven on earth. I believe when you die you go to Heaven. You get to use your energy that is neither created or destroyed. That energy can grow, engulf the inner and outer universe, and show you the meaning of life. The paths you take along your physical, Newtonian existence will only teach you more ways to explore your inner universe. What are you, who are you, what do you want to learn, how do you encourage yourself to grow. Why our energy animated into a human being is a question we cannot answer. Did we determine when we were energy that we wanted to be a human? Was it chance, luck, probability? Was it God who wanted us to use our energy and spirit on the earth to better it. There have been billions of people on the earth before. They each shaped it in a certain way and used their energy to do something whether good, bad, or indifferent. Was it a choice to determine whether their life was good, bad, or indifferent? Do we need to stop and look at what we can do to determine to make a difference? Do some humans never realize their spirit and live through the motions? I do not want to do that. I want to make a difference and use my energy and spirit to change the world in a positive way. We live in many different realms. The quantum realm, the Newtonian realm, the spiritual realm, the biological realm. We are not just stuck here on Earth to sit around, expend energy, and never get out of our perceptions. It takes time to explore the other realms of yourself. Each of these needs to be explored in order to live completely. While in Americorp, I want to experience those different realms, and in the process help others explore their different realms.

Rainy Day in California

Heller,
I am soaking wet. Decided to go outside for a bit and relish in the environment, the pouring rain environment. We are off duty for Columbus Day, and the only thing we had to do was get out TB test results checked. My arm is still sore from the Tetnus shot, but no more hives and allergic responses from the numbing shot. It is easy to wake up early here because I still think my body is still adapting to the time change. I woke up at 6:30, ate breakfast and went to the gym across the parking lot. I think today is going to be the day to start researching and writing my theory of everything. That does sound a bit intense, but it is something that I have been thinking about since I was a kid. You get to spend a lot of time in personal reflection, reading, writing, talking to people from all around the country. I guess I could equivilate being here to being in high school. You have your groups, the same groups that you saw walking the halls in school. The nerds, jocks, loners, smokers, and uncatagorized people. I tend to relish in places where everyone is different because I consider myself to be a mixture of all the groups. Maybe that is why I tend to adapt well in new situations. It is interesting to people watch, and I still tend to find everything and situation has something funny hidden in it. I am not sure my plans for the day, but yesterday was quite the adventure....
My roommate Sara and I wanted to go to downtown Sacramento. We met up with three very nice girls and walked to the light rail with them. The walk to the station is a mile and a half, in which we passed a Cargo Largo, men honking at us, and had to traverse through an underground sewer tunnel. The ride downtown was about 20 minutes and was interesting to say the least. Sacramento is a strange down. Nothing was open except a mall, which we explored. Sara and I had probably already walked 5 miles, and we were all hungry. A local I talked to told us to go to Old Sacramento. It sounded neat, so we crossed the interstate and found our destination. Once I saw the Joe's Crab Shack, I realized everywhere in America seems to have the same tourist traps. People in Sacramento are not modest either. I probably saw three moms changing their kids' diapers in public. There were a lot of old time photo stores, caricature stands, and German sasuage booths. We found a mexican restaurant in a neat old building. Food tasted the same there as everywhere. After eating a guacamole tostada and drinking a margarita, we left clueless as to what to do next. We decided to head back to the mall, and on the way the we had the pleasure of finding ourselves in a very awkward situation...
The sidewalk we were walking down was over the interstate, and there were a couple of on ramps. Sacramento has a very large homeless population, and there was a lady in a wheelchair weighed down by about three duffelbags being pushed by her man friend. They were trying to get the chair down a curb to cross one of the on ramps. I had a feeling the next few minutes were bound to happen. It was almost in slow motion when I saw the lady in the wheelchair fall backwards. I tend to get myself involved in situations without thinking, so I ran pretty darn fast to help the lady get out of the road. My friends followed, and we saw about 6 cars and a bus stopped in the lane while we feverishly tried to lift the lady and her chair. The dufflebags broke, and Lord behold tons and tons of alcohol bottles fell onto the street. We ran around, picking up the bottles to get them off the street to evade people getting their tires flattened by Smirnoff vodka glass. I distinctly remember the lady yelling, "Help me! Help me!". We got her on the sidewalk, and were thanked by her friend. Traffic continued and we stopped, looked at each other, and started laughing. The rest of Sacramento was uneventful. I was also surprised to see the capital building's dome was not centered, an architectural blunder I assume. We took the train home, walked the mile and a half, crossed through the sewer, urine reeked tunnel, and got to our dorms unscathed. If this is just one of the many random adventures to come, I can only get more and more excited. I love randomness because it is in situations like that where I find humor.
Tomorrow is the beginning of our training. It will consist of a mile and a half run, 2 minutes of push ups and 2 minutes of sit ups. It is interesting because majority of the girls are worried about the push ups and pumped for the sit ups. I tend to be the opposite. We get put into our permanent teams Wednesday, which is going to be hard. I have become really, really attached to my roommate, and now I have to pack up and room with someone else. Sara and I have given nicknames to the unique people here and are discussing situations in which we will room with either Yoga Dancer, Lady Swag, or Princess Anal Retentive. The possibilities are endless. I hope to find the comfort I have found so far in my new team. People still laugh at my jokes here, and find me to be entertaining, so I hope to find that in the new group of ten people I will live with for the next ten months.
I hope this post gives some indication of what I am witnessing and encountering while in California, though I can only promise you more stories to come.
I love and miss you all,
Mary

1st Day

Good evening,
It has been an incredibly long day. Had to wake up at 4 am (CST), and now it is only 8:45 (PST) even though it feels like 10:45... Oh well, the excitement and anticipation have kept me awake. I think reality of what I was about to do here set in a couple of days ago. It was hard to leave something I was comfortable with: friends, apartment, job, but I am so glad I did this. The lifestyle change will be drastic. I guess you could say I was mentally unprepared for that. Going from relaxing in my apartment with a job, to a college like environment with people from all over the country preparing for adventures we do not even know about is awesome. It is like I get to live this whole other lifestyle, one that I have always wanted with adventure and intrigue. The flight was beautiful. I have studied different ecosystems in school, but to actually see a desert, canyons, mountains, and other things I had never seen in reality brought a new excitement. When you see something all the time through media or other sources, but not up close, physically in front of you, it is like you are living on a brand new planet (and I do love my planets)! Most of the people here are in the same boat I am. Majority are 22-24, out of college, not sure what they want to do, but know that they want to live their year off to the fullest. We all have similar interests, personalities, and it is amazing how quick you can make friends with people. Once you see someone who is going through the same thought process and emotional roller coaster you are, you tend to form a bond. No one likes to be alone, especially when you are away from home and do not know anyone, so we all attached quickly (survival mode). My roommate is great. She is from Long Island, the only problem being this is a temporary room for seven days, so I cannot get too attached. It seems like there will be a lot of sporadic, random events which are not my style but something I need to learn to deal with. I will be in Sacramento (which is just like KC with random palm trees) for the next four weeks, so will have access to my phone and computer. I am so glad I am here, and surprisingly I do not miss KC too much because this has been so intriguing and exciting, I only want to see what will come next.
God Bless and Keep and Open Mind,
Mary

Almost Gone

Hello.
This is the start of the blog I will be writing while I am away on the west coast. I will try to keep it updated as much as I can, so you can see all the things I will be doing. I am excited, nervous, anxious, and ready to get started. The adventure has just begun.