I really can't believe that it has been almost 3 weeks since I last wrote a blog post. It's probably because things seem to be pretty busy here. So I guess I'll just quickly recap the last 3 weeks of my life.  I think the most exciting thing out of these last 3 weeks is that Bethanie and I finally finished the picnic table! So after many frustrations and mistakes we finally did it and I must say it looks beautiful. I've even included pictures with this blog so everyone can see how amazing it is. I think we were both very proud of ourselves considering neither one of us had ever built a picnic table before and we were building it with a minimal set of plans. So even though we both got frustrated many times it was nice to finally see the finished product.

Also within the last few weeks we were able to help Tony (our crew leader) paint a set of corn hole boards for the CAP Picnic. Basically Bethanie and I just colored some things in while Tony was the mastermind of the picture that went on the front of the board. The boards were given to the winning team at the CAP Picnic. The Picnic was held in Lexington and was probably the biggest CAP event that I've been to, with probably close to 300 people there. It was a great time, there was a 5K run/walk, corn hole tournament, volleyball tournament, bingo and lots of great food. And the most exciting part for me was winning the volleyball tournament--our team even received trophies which was an added bonus!

After the picnic, most of the Floyd House then traveled to Rachel's house (one of our housemates) and stayed a few nights there. Her family spoiled us very much, with lots of food and very classy dinners. We all felt like we were staying at a fancy hotel. This was a great time for our house because we all got to know Rachel's family pretty well and they got to know some things about us as well. Almost every night we had a campfire and told Life stories, which is just a funny/embarrassing story from your past. Also while we were in Danville, we visited a homemade cupcake store called Twisted Sifter. The cupcakes there were amazing, they had about 100 different flavors and they continue to come up with more flavors every day. So if you are ever in downtown Danville, Kentucky, definitely check this place out!

This past week we had a group come down from Christ Communtiy Church in Chicago. Our group this week was amazing and a lot of them I had worked with last year when they came down, so it was great to see some familiar faces. They put in 3 new windows, built a new door, put up some wonderboard, painted the kitchen and made a beautiful set of front steps for our participant. They really got a lot of work done and they were a fun group to work with. Also this week I got to celebrate my 23rd birthday. My day was filled with lots of cake and ice cream, as well as lots of love from my housemates. So even though I wasn't home with my family for my birthday I did feel at home here in Kentucky. So thank you everyone for the birthday wishes!

This past weekend was less busy but definitely still  full of adventures. On Friday night we had the Splendiferous Autumn Extravaganza at the Johnson House. This was a time for all the Sandy Valley volunteers to get together and eat some great food and have time to fellowship with one another. We had a good size fire and some great food that was prepared by the Johnson House. We even had some music that was provided by Jordan and Donnie. On Saturday I had the opportunity to go out on a canoe trip with Tony and his wife Liz. It was the perfect day for it and it was really beautiful to see all the leaves changing colors. We went to Jenny Wiley State park and paddled for about an hour and then had a picnic lunch, which I then took a nap after and then we spent some time skipping rocks and just relaxing on the shore. It was a great day and as Tony said "It's nice to just do nothing for awhile."

Kate Stefanowicz is a long-term volunteer in CAP's Housing program. She lives in Floyd Volunteer House.