A New Phase

Busy, busy busy! That's the story of my life -- and I like it that way :) Since I haven't blogged in almost 2 months (whoops), here a brief summary of what's been going on.

To begin, I'm still living here in DC, and have decided to continue in the Centennial Volunteer Ambassador program. So, until further notice, I'm here in DC in same position. And with the first year over (wow, time flies!) other pieces of my life are also in flux. While it has been a fantastic year here in Takoma Park, MD, and I don't want to move, I am moving to a house just a little further north in Silver Spring, MD. New address info on my Contact page!

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Going back to April....we had the Spring White House Garden Tours! This event is relatively manageable (from a volunteer perspective), and we had some good weather to enjoy the South Lawn of the White House. Around that same time I attended the first ever NPS Learning Summit, which was an NPS conference to talk about education and integrating it into the parks.

Then, at the end of April I had a few days off before I headed to North Carolina! I went to NC to attend a re-certification course for Wilderness First Responder. I passed the course and along the way I met some awesome people! Then, since I was already in Brevard, NC, I headed a little further south and visited Brasstown Bald! It was great to be back in GA, even if only briefly, and get to see some old friends. There will always be a place in my heart for the GA mountains.


When I returned to DC, the Logans came to visit! I took a few days off and we saw the sights of the city. Some highlights included the Renwick Gallery and visiting the Air Force Memorial for the first time. And just a few days after the Logans, the Westbergs were in town! Again, we saw some of the big attractions, saw the monuments at night, and attended church at the Basilica here in DC, which is apparently the largest Catholic church in the US.

Inside the
Washington Monument

Then, as May was getting underway, so were going away parties and celebrations for the other CVAs. It is sad to have the 'original' group of CVAs disband, but all good things most come to an end. During May we had our last Every Kid In A Park program through the White House. I also had the opportunity to walk down the 896 steps of the Washington Monument on a special tour--pretty neat! To wrap up my first year contract we had a big event called BioBlitz. We had 200 school kids and the public visit and help us identify all living things we could find in the park. And although the day ended with too much excitement (shooting at the White House), all went well.

And with that, my first year as a CVA was over! My friend Michael and his fiance Madeline visited me briefly for an afternoon and then my friend Kevin was in town for the Memorial Day weekend. For Memorial Day we went to Arlington Cemetery for the ceremony, in which the President was in attendance. While Kevin was in town we also went to the my first Nats baseball game of the season.

OK, I'll wrap this blog up here! That closes out the months of April and May :)