Moore, OK: Part Two

Our mothers have all trained us how to pose for pictures.

Not only was this trip great for a new perspective, it was also a ton of fun. There is just something about working all day with your friends in the hot summer sun... making people laugh when you can tell they're tired... pouring ice cold water on each other (and it felt so good, even if shockingly cold)... everything we did, we did together.

The hardest day was the second to last day of working up there. It was the hottest it had been, and we were working deep into Moore. Everyone was starting to feel exhausted while constantly moving debris into piles near the road for FEMA to pick up. That is what is amazing about friends, though--they pick you up when you're down. It's the little things that they say to you that are just beyond hilarious in the moment. Sometimes you just need a good laugh to keep you going.

 

Now... the most amazingly fun and best day was most certainly the last. I mean, yeah, they made us get up at five that day and I wasn't 'un-grouchy' until about 10:00AM. But that's okay! Especially because my friends care enough about me to bring me coffee and not talk too much to me during that time. Heh.

I really can't encompass the awesomeness that was bestowed upon this day with just words and pictures, but I'll try. 

First off, aside from waking up ridiculously early, we had a decently easy task out in Shawnee which including cleaning up the last bits of debris from a man's yard before he had his new mobile home put in. Not bad. Then it was over to the poison ivy swamp that was one man's backyard. Apparently, poison ivy doesn't bother my skin that much. Who knew? So most of the guys did the work here as it involved moving heavy things in a cramped space. 

Plus side? I was taught how to use a chainsaw during the meantime. I know. Beast, right?

So did Maddie!

A lot of people chose to learn how to operate the Skid-steer as well. It was pretty humorous. 

Okay so the best part of the day was when 3/4 of our group left.

Hah. Just kidding.

But seriously.

So 3/4 of our group decided they needed to go help some guy down the road real quick. 'Real quick'. 

"We'll be back in 15 minutes!" 15 minutes slowly escalated to about 2.5 hours.  Bassically it was myself, Julie, Rebekah, and Maddie (along with Julie's dad who was working on the Skid-steer) left to ourselves. What did we do since we were already basically done at the lot as far as man power goes? I shall tell you.

First off, we listened to music in the car. It was pretty awesome. 

Maddie, Rebekah, Julie and me and our classy duck face. "We are going to be single FOREVER."

Then, once we realized that we had been in the car well past 15 minutes, we decided to get out and find ourselves a shady place to sit and wait. You won't believe that magicalness that was discovered. We came upon a little tree, perfect for shading four girls and it was basically this mini meadow complete with moss, flowers, and baby frogs. We also caught the baby frogs and made them a little home, calling them the Muscles (pronounced musk-els) family. It was a play on words from a joke that had occurred the other day.

Martin Muscles

Then we came up with an ingenious plan to act like we had been working the whole time our compadres were gone. We decided to go get a giant tree branch and wait for them to drive up. As they drove up, we would toss the branch into the tree limp pile (that had been created by the Skid-steer) and yell, "done!". It's safe to say that it took more effort to walk over to find a decent branch than we had anticipated. Hence, we did not get the branch and retreated back to our meadow all the while saying, "that was a bad idea" and "I thought we would be able to lift that".

When we made it back to our meadow, a lady pulled up and said, "You girls look like you could use some hot, fresh cookies!" Um, heck to the yes. This amazingly sweet lady will forever be branded into my memory. She delivered to us STILL WARM homemade chocolate-chip cookies. We ate them all. None for the liars who still weren't back. And we sent them this pictures about how we we're going to eat them all.

 So finally, the day was over and we had to go meet them at a gas station. The excuses flowed, but the cookies had already been eaten. Oh well.

The way back to the was pretty fun as well. Maddie and I made plans (which I didn't think we would actually fulfill) to take a group down to turner falls and meet up with everyone sometime. We actually did this. See, picture:

When we got back, a big group of volunteers from another church had just left. I'm not gonna lie, we had a mini party in honor of their absence. For you see, now, we had the showers all to ourselves. Yes. It was fantastic. So we cleaned up and a few of us went to Chick-fil-a as out last meal in Moore. It was getting more sad by the moment, realizing that we were leaving. Everyone packed up and we had a little game of frisbee before we left.

We headed out around 7PM.

On the way home, Maddie and I listened to music and tried not to fall asleep.

A few of us parted ways in Gainsville, and then it was back to our hometowns. Within three hours, the little world that had been created over the week dispersed and I was back home.

Luckily, my withdraw period only lasted two days.

Normal life resumed again.

In a little under two weeks it will stop for another week, though. A group of about 12 of us is headed up to Joplin, MO to participate in some rebuild. I'm looking forward to it!

Here are a few other pictures from the trip.

I would highly recommend going with a group you like and participate in something like this, if only once. You'll have to experience it for yourself to understand just how good it is. 


Blessings,
Ryleigh