Time Flies By So Fast

I have recently come to the realization that I have more of a busy social calendar since I moved to Eastern Kentucky than when I lived in the Northeast. I don't know if that is an indication of the lack of a social life I had back home or if it speaks to the amount of adventures and activities we try to fit into our lives down here. If the past month has been any indication, I may be leaning more towards the latter.

In the month of October, our house has had some sort of activity planned every weekend whether it was a house event or a CAP wide event, we have been going non-stop and it is starting to get exhausting and we're not done yet. Here is a rundown of my most recent weekend adventures.

#1 - APPLE DAYS

On the first Saturday of October, a group of us from the house went to Apple Days in Paintsville which is a huge festival all about, you guessed it, apples! The theme of the 47th annual Apple Days was 'A Slice of Heaven' and although I wouldn't go quite that far there was some interesting things to be seen. The main attraction was the parade which we went to go see. It was the slowest moving parade I have ever witnessed in my life; at times, it was legitimately at a stand still for five minutes or more. Not moving at all. Just sitting. And that happened a lot more than  once if you can believe it. At one point, Kate and I left to go buy some popcorn and came back about ten to fifteen minutes later and we had missed maybe one car. The best part of the parade though was definitely the Shriners. They were all dressed up as hillbillies and were driving around in ridiculous cars with signs that said 'Hillbillies Helping Crippled Children'. I wish I had a picture to show you, but just use your imagination and I'm sure it will come close to the actual thing.


#2 - CAP PICNIC/WEEKEND AT THE WEIDERMAN'S

Kevin, Chris, Caitlin, Jordan, Me, Kate

This weekend was especially long as it began on Thursday with the CAP-wide company picnic in Lexington. There were a bunch of different activities going on as well as delicious food and opportunity to see volunteers from all over CAP. Some of the highlights of the day were a cornhole tournament, a 5k run/walk, bingo, and a volleyball tournament. The day was even made more amazing by the fact that my team dominated the volleyball tournament and were rewarded with a lovely trophy which I currently have proudly displayed in my room.

Kate, Maggie, Me, Rachel

One of my housemates, Rachel, is actually from Kentucky and lives less than an hour away from Lexington and she invited us to come stay at her parent's home for the weekend. So directly following the picnic we headed to the Weiderman's house in Danville. Momma and Poppa Weiderman spoiled us the entire time we were there with crazy amounts of delicious home cooked food and wonderful company. It was like we were staying at the most amazing bed and breakfast except it was affordable for a CAP volunteer. While we were in western Kentucky, we also decided to try and visit some places on the Bourbon Trail (http://www.kybourbontrail.com/). We were able to visit three of the six distilleries on the trail including: Wild Turkey, Four Roses, and Woodford Reserve.  Each of the distilleries offered a little bit of a different tour, but of the three we visited I would have to say my favorite was Four Roses so far. They had  a swing made from a bourbon barrel out front which was amazing and provided a great place for a little family photo (minus quite a few members).


#3 - SPLENDIFEROUS FALL EXTRAVAGANZA

There are a total of three volunteer houses on the East side of CAP - Floyd (where I live), Johnson, and Magoffin. Even though we all are working for CAP, we don't all get to see each other that often because of our varied programs, schedules, and the distances between our houses. The Johnson house decided to hold a fall festival AKA the Splendiferous Fall Extravaganza in order to allow all the houses to get together and fellowship. And with a name like that, you can imagine the expectations that were being set for this event. The Johnson House did not disappoint. There was a bonfire with great food - steak, pork chops, chicken, potatoes, and biscuits - and wonderful music. I was conned into helping roast the apples on the bonfire which I originally agreed to thinking that it was going to be fun and a pretty easy job. I mean, all you have to do is turn the foil-wrapped apples every once in while with tongs, right? FALSE. It actually involves running around a very hot fire with a pair of tongs trying to turn apples before they burn or are crushed by falling logs with sweat forming on your brow and tears streaming down your face because your eyes can't handle the intense heat for such an extended period of time. But it was all worth it when the apples were sliced up and served with vanilla ice cream, homemade caramel, and crumb topping.


#4 - VOLUNTEER RETREAT

This past weekend we all spent up at Camp Shawnee at the Fall CAP Volunteer Retreat. Its a time for all the volunteers from both the east and west sides of CAP to come together and fellowship and

#5 - HALLOWEEN

This weekend activity has yet to actually occur, but just as a preview of my next weekend I thought I would include it here. Next weekend, I will be attending a Halloween party hosted by an independent living volunteer. Kate and I have been planning our costume since we first met in August and we have kept it a huge secret so unfortunately you all will have to wait till next weekend to know what it is, but rest assured it will be amazing. And don't worry there will be photos.