.

So my service is almost coming to a close, 2 months and 23 days to go.
Im not quite sure how i feel about it...Im terrified. Im so unbelievably excited. Im still loving life.

Lots have happened. There is only 4 youth left, so its getting really tough now. Two in the kitchen, and two of us in hospitalities. And our bosses are getting pretty stressed out. We reallllly need youth to come and serve here! So please guys, Come to Green Acre. Just for a week or a Year, 6 months or 3.

The snow is crazy! We have had 11 Snow storms, and it doesn't stop til end of march im pretty sure...But we are getting lots of rain right about now. This is the rainy part of winter, just like Feb is our rainy part of the year.

I miss home so much at the moment. I just Skyped with my sister, Kate. Thats the only tough thing about a Year of service. I mean you have tests, but you have your mates to help you get through them. But towards the end...It just gets harder and harder. And dont get me wrong i love every minute here. I have made the most amazing friends, people i know i will be friends with for the rest of my life!

I think i've had a similiar post to this, but i really think you should all go on a Year of Service, anywhere and do whatever you want! Get out of your comfort zone. It's the best way to learn who you are. I know myself so much more then i did 9 months ago.

Im starting to realize im almost ready to go home.

I still have 3 and something months left but i miss home so much. And i want to start my new and exciting life. Who knows what its going to be...i really dont know yet.
I think first off im going to get a job, probably study Photography at TAFE and save up some money. There is alot of things i WANT to do...But i need to figure out what i NEED to do. So im going to try this first and see how things go.

Life here is still so great. Its getting a little difficult here and there being with the same people all the time. But hey its still the most fun and exciting and crazy adventure I've ever been on. And I'm so happy i still have 3 months to go.

xo

Cheesey Weasey!

Ive been in the states for almost 8 months, and i still think i can't believe i'm in another country! Its so weird to think i'm living with 3 girls and not at home. I've realized i'm so much more independent. I do my own laundry, clean my room, work 5 days a week, I'm alot more careful about money.
The Best thing is that i have my own group of friend that i can hang out anytime and go out and chill with em, eat with them, work and serve with them. This place is really one of the most amazing place's i have ever been. And i really want to encourage people to go on a Year of Service. This has been one of the best years of my life, i may have only been on this earth for 19 years, but this past 7 and a bit months have been the most enjoyable, crazy, exciting, adventurous, Independent, confusing, fun, hard and most difficult times of my life! Sometimes it can get very hard cause you are away from family, and you are with the same people all the time, not being able to just get out, its a little monotonous, and i have been going through the biggest tests of my life. But without that i wouldn't have the good times, like meeting so many amazing people, making myself a new family, i wouldn't of grown the way i have, i wouldn't have been through those scary and new experiences, i would be the same old sad Kimi i was last year. People say they hate change...Why would you hate change, when you get something so amazing. If you are having a hard time and find life boring, do something different, do something a little crazy, break the rules, be spontaneous. If you don't, life will be the same old and boring. Change is the most amazing thing that has happened to me.
I have so much love for life (i know how cheesey that sounds...but its true), Being immersed in the faith and studying the writings from Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-baha and The Bab and the letters from the Universal House of Justice. It really has changed my life, and the way i look at it. Now i know i can serve the faith for the rest of my life!
One of the things i most scared for, is coming home. I'm so excited to see my family and friends but being away from all my new brothers and sisters is going to be so difficult and finding a job and figuring out what im going to study and just what to do for the rest of my life...But its Change and im ready for it! :)

Well well, winter has come. As has the snow.

Every time i look outside i get surprised to see it all white...Its kinda freaky! But its so pretty!! And fun! We had a big snow ball fight and made a huge snowman! :)
But this week is pretty crazy, so we haven't been able to!
Its winter school! We have about 100 somethin people here, and im working cafe. So i have a night shift, 2-11pm. Its not too bad, the only thing i dont like is i dont get to hang with my crew, and im kinda going crazy not being with anyone cept the guests.
Not much else to say bout that...

We went to Northampton, Mass last week which was really nice! Its where Alex lives, so we stayed at his house...He has the cutest little house i have to say! There lounge room is like a library with a model train running on the top! And they got a rockin chair and a nice couch with a tv and its just super homey! which made me miss home! We didn't do to much which i liked, alot of relaxing and chilling with the family. We went out and taught a childrens class for 9 kids, then had lunch with them. Then unpacked everything back at A's house. And played parchessi and had a home made meal! and hung out some more. Then the next day we chilled some more, then me A and reb-ka picked up A's sister from school which was so cool cause the school was just like the ones in the movies!!! Then we had a devotion with Lila's (Alex's sister) friends and had nachos. And theeeeen we went for ice cream and dinner. Then the next day we went for a nice walk next to a river which was kinda frozen and it made me miss my parents cause i know how much they would of loved the walk. We then walked around a bit in the town got lunch and headed back.
So it was a nice relaxing homey vacation! :)

Anyways thats about all for now.
Love you all!
xoxox

I know i know, its been forever.

Omgosh i know it really has been such a long time since I've written here! But not much is really happening...I mean other than what happens every week. Its all the same old busy schedule!

Well this week we had a week long program, Treasurers Conference (Basically, treasurers are like the people who take care of the money in our Local Baha'i Communities, which is used for all things like Children's Classes supplies, Functions run by the community and so on). It was a pretty intense week after getting used to the weekend programs. There was about 40ish people, and Sahar who is on our small team was sick, so there was only 3 of us doing the cleaning and such. It was a long week though, cause not only working 7-4 but every night we had to either close the Kelsey Center (The Main building where there program is held) or work in the Cafe. So it was lots of work. But it was still fun! We had a pretty eventful Saturday night. So that was amusing, they had an Acapella group come sing, and a Jazz band play too! plus little silly things happening every now and then.

Something i have come to realize is that i LOVE working. Even if its cleaning peoples toilets and showers, or making beds and doing Laundry! I always look so forward to the weekend but all we ever do on our weekends is sleep in and watch movies and do nothing (though recently we found Monopoly so thats what we have been doing alot which is hella fun), but work is just so much more fun, even if it gets stressful or its freezing outside. It just wouldn't be what it is without the people i work with! I really am so grateful to work with Reb-Ka, Alex, Sahar, and Sisay! They make every day at work so fun.

So my birthday is coming up which is so weird cause its not hot!!!! And I'm not with my family! But no thats not true! I'm with my second family! No plans but I'm looking forward to it, its on a work day with no guests so it should be entertaining! :)
Oh and on Sunday (if it doesn't snow) we are going to Northampton, Mass! Alex's home. Which should be lots of fun! He's gonna show us round. It should be really nice getting away and being with the group! We are going to be doing a service project too, not sure what we are doing but all in all I'm looking forward to it!

So yeah thats about it for now.
Sorry i haven't written in such a long time!
I will try to write more!

Love Y'all!
xoxoxo

(Our new Lounge!! isn't it cute!!)

Schedule!

Well life here in the US is getting pretty busy!!
Now that its way past summer and we can do all our service/studying projects cause we have time to, our whole week is FULL to the top of things...
The Schedule is;
Monday (Day off 1) - Sleeeeeep in, Volunteering at the local Retirement village (playing games/socializing with the residents), Some of the girls are Helping with a Junior youth group (This is like a class for ages from 12-14 about whats right from wrong, different service projects the kids come up with they think the community needs and so on), And my Best friend Ciara's Choir (which started tonight!! And i am a Soprano!), and then just chillin with everyone at home.
Tuesday (Day off 2) - Sleeeeeeep in, we have the day to ourselves really...We go on our weekly outing and usually get something to eat together and trip to Walmart of course!, Then Step Dance (which im not doing, i did the first one but i really could not get it compared to everyone else..plus i need one day where im not committed to something), Then Glee night at Mark and Renu's! :)
Wednesday - Back to work, Ruhi/Study circle 1 (this is kind of like the junior youth group but for Youth and adults there is 8 of them atm, but more are being made plus they are welcome for anyone to come along.
Thursday - Work, Deepening on the Katab-i-Aqdus (The Most Holy Book, this is like the Bahai Bible haha) at Jim and Jeannine's who are the Green Acre Admin's...So our boss! :)
Friday - Work, Then either Volunteer at the Cafe or Close (clean all the bathrooms and cleaning windows and vacuuming the main building where the guests have the programs)
Saturday - Same as Friday.
Sunday - Work which involves Turn over, All the guest leave Sunday. Check out is at 2 but sometimes it is much more helpful if they leave their rooms before breakfast, that way we can get more done sooner. Its usually better when we have lots of guests. Like last week we had 90 guests which felt like summer again. But we only have 9 Volunteers... So it was a hard day! But its Service!! :D

So thats my life atm! Pretty crazy! But so much fun! I love every single minute of it! I really recommend to everyone that can to take a year off or 3 months or 6 months or whatever just to serve. If you are religious or not, its such a good way to find yourself, make friends for a lifetime! I really am the happiest i have ever been being here!

Oh and btw, i think i figured out what i want to do with myself when i get back home to Ozzieland! Im pretty sure i want to do event planning. The one thing i do here that i love so very much is planning outings and hang outs! even when it doesn't work out i still love it! and i never give up. I really think its something i could do! :)

Anyways its almost 2am!
So i should really get some sleep...Well it is a day off tomorrow so i get my sleep in. But we are going out at 1 to go to target and out to eat which im HELLA excited for. Though Alex isn't here, he is off back home for a docters appointment so its not the same without him here. but we are still having just as much fun ;)
Well Goodnight Y'all!
Love lots! xoxo

Well nothings really different...Other then i applied to extend my Visa!! So i should be here longer then Nov 10th!! :D

We have an extra long weekend this week cause its a Bahai Holy Day on Wednesday (The Birth of the Bab) So we get to relax a little more then usual!! Today we are doing nothin. I went for a walk when i got up, then had some lunch and watched a movie with Colin. Then Watched Bone's with Mia, Reb-ka, Maddy, Cici and Sina and now we are watching Good Will Hunting...And hopefully later we will just chill and hang out! Im getting really sick of watching movies to be honest!! haha its boring! And tomorrow we are going out and hanging out...and then Glee at night at Renu's (our tuesday night tradition) and Wednesday we are having a staff picnic then at 3 we are going to the Retirement Village and talking to the director about us running Bingo for the people who live there!! So im super excited about that!! :D

But thats about all for now...
And here are some pics for y'all!

Cheesyness!

Hey Y'all!

So im just chillin with Alex, Cici and Colin, and they are playing Track Mania a racing game on their laptops so i thought i would take the time to write a little bit here!

Well, we just had Feast, the meeting where Bahai's get together every (bahai) month to talk about whats been happening and if anything is coming up and all that stuff, and that was nice, then Alex, Cici, Colin and i went to watch Jumper and now we are just chillin and hangin. I would say today is one of those days i will remember for a long time, i laughed alot!

Um, so Im on Facilities now which is like Cleaning rooms and makin beds and cleaning toilets and doing garden work, though we haven't done alot of that cause there is a new building and we have just been like getting that ready. I think its so cool, cause in like 10 years or so ill come back here (with my future family i hope) and i will stay in that building and be like i put together those bed frames with colin and just remember all the times doing the laundry in the laundry room with sahar and alex and nava and being silly with Cici and Rebekka and Mads and Mia and everyone! Its just, i really love it here!

i sound all like silly and everything by what im saying, but its true! I think everyone should go away serve in some way or another with people your age and just be happy and live life! :)

Anyways im off after my cheesy and happy post!
Bye Y'all, Love you all! <3 :)

Hey Y'all,

Well life is still pretty fantastic. We went up to Northern Maine over the weekend, without Alex and Sahar, cause they were sick...Which sucked. But it was so beautiful, we went for a hike to the top of one of the Mountains and chilled there for about an hour it was such a beautiful experience, and then we had a Bbq at the lady, we were staying with, brother in-law's house, and they had a farm and it was awesome. And then we played cards all night, then the next day we went to the shops (outlet malls, and a candy store) and then had a delicious lunch Mashid made (the lady we were staying with, her daughter is Nava who was one of the volunteers over the summer.) and then we played cards again and off we went. Oh and we had a devotional in the morning on Sunday, which was so nice, we went round in a circle saying prayers and then read some writing from the Bahai Faith.

Now im just hanging out with Alex and colin writing in my blog :) since i haven't in ages and i thought i might just write a little about what ive been up to. Oh and this week we will be doing a intensive deepening with the head cook who is running it with us. So that should be nice, and then next week we will have guests coming again, which is College weekend so some of the volunteers who were here over the summer will be coming back. So im excited to see them again! :)

Yeah so thats about it for now.

Catching up with Y'all!

Well, The summer is almost finished. We have now finished all the week long programs, and we are too the weekend programs again!! But its a extented weekend program. This week we are having a program run by Van Gilmer, who is a Bahai singer, and its a choral program, where they have a concert on the last night, so thats exciting! And Ciara, my roomie is trying to see if she can get a shift this week so she can participate! Which is so cool!

The last week here was really good! We had a former member of the Universal House of Justice, Mr Grossman (the Universal House of Justice, is kind of the Head of the Bahai faith, We have an administrative side to the faith, where is runs from local community's to national and then to world wide. And its not to tell us how we should read the writing or to control us, its just so we have a guide to help us in times of hardship). It was my second last Children's class of the summer, but my last week long one. So i was a little sad, closing my classroom door after all the cleaning. But something really sweet happened...Well its starts like this...This week we had a really big group, 10 kids. And the first day i was sick (we had a sickness going around, and i thought i was the only one not to get it...but no) so i had the first day off and then the second day i did organizing jobs since someone was still filling in for me. So the thrid day comes, Monday and it was really hard and loud and crazy. But then after the kids went to their parents i went to chill in my classroom, waiting for my teacher to get ready for the next day. And The Teacher's (Maryann) daughter and her friend were playing in there, i let them stay while i was on my laptop. Then all of a sudden they sit down on our praying rug, and start singing 'Blessed is the Spot' (a prayer) It was so cute and sweet and really made my whole summer, and reminded me why i loved teaching these little kiddies! :)

So yeah, we had our day off today, and we all just chilled down at the Inn in our staff lounge and hung out watched movies. I went for a walk this morning which was really nice! And yeah im excited to start the winter with Ciara, Alex, Colin, Mia, Maddie, Sina, Rebekka and Sahar! :)

Thats all for now!
Goodnight folks.
Kimi xox

Hey Y'all,

So its the end of the week, and we are all chillin in the basement of Sarah Farmer Inn (the main building here, our little hang out) watching Youtube videos, and i thought, HEY i can write in my blog!! So here i am! Ummmm, so its the 11th and a whole bunch of people here are leaving, 3 people have left already and more are leaving tomorrow. Its very sad... I even teared up. So its sad, but we are having a dance party in half an hour for the rest of the people leaving. What else, Not much, the same old...Oh im working in the Cafe next week, running it, and i got the cafe key and everything! But next week is apparently really busy so i get 2 helpers each day! So thats cool! We got a new girl today, from California and we get a new guy from Sweden soon...Hmm...
I dunno, there is not much to tell you each time haha...We are going to see Dinner with Schmucks tomorrow which should be fun. And hopefully do Slip and Slide...maybe.

Ok guys so im going now, we are gonna go hang outside, and swing and stuff!
So thats all for now. If you check out my photos on my Fb you will see more what im up to then here haha. Oh and i was in my friends Vlogg, look it up on my FB too! :)

BYE!
xoxo
KIMI!

Well, im chillin in my room having a me night, in my trackies/sweats and a baggy teeshirt! Im so sleepy!

So Gerald left last week and that was very sad, and im still getting used to it. He was one of the first people who i became really good friends with, he is my best friend and i miss him alot. Green Acre just isn't the same without him. But im dealing.
Nothing new really. Summer here is all the same every week, very repetitive. I have to say im getting sick of the summer food haha, its pretty much the same thing every week. And im looking forward to our staff meals. Im also getting really excited for summer to end, where there is less people, only weekend programs and i'll be working in the kitchen again, plus closer to winter, which im so excited for! But all the summer people will leave, and i will miss them alot! Alot of them are leaving 11th of August, so that wont be a good day. They say that its weird that all the volunteers are all friends, they usually have cliques, but its not like that at all this year, we are all really good friends and hang out every night together. I feel kinda bad cause im not down at the inn with everyone, but im so exhausted and need to sleep early. Oh yeah, so i moved in with Ciara, my closest friend here. She is from Colorado springs and we were getting new people and we thought we would move in together. So it doesn't help that we are really good friends, cause pretty much every night we stay up late talking and laughing for a few hours haha... Ill probably wake when she gets home around 11:30 and end up talking for ages.
We went to Old Orchid Beach, a 40 something minute ride from where we live, its a little tourist town, with a really nice beach and shops and a amusement park. So we went amusing in the park which was loads of fun, and hung with everyone, but i have to say it was weird without Gerald their claiming his seat in the Van and talking the whole ride there and back! hehehe

Hmm so yeah not much else that i can think of now.
So Byeeee Caoi Caoi!
xoxo

Hola!

Hey!

I know, i know its been ages! But its so busy! And i never get much time to write a long essay about my life here!
But something exciting happened today and i wanted to share it! So i knew there was this Australian guy here, and i met him and we talked for a little bit. But then today i met his wife (there child, Zoe is in my class) and she knew i was australian almost straight away from my accent (As IF i have one!!) And she was like where are you from, sydney, ohh what community, warringah, Oooh, do you know Ann and Phillip Hinton, OMG Yes!! Not only that butttttt He is their son! And Zoe is their Grandchild! I got so excited!! :D

So yeah, thats my little exciting story!!
Hope life is good for you all!!
Missing everyone back home! :D
xox

BMG.

Hello there,

We just had the BMG (Black mens gathering) week, where African American men come together to study the baha'i writings and discuss issues relating to them. Its really interesting, cause the way the group formed was that one of the African American males saw that they weren't interacting with each other and thought that they needed to figure out why, and have a week just for them so they could get together, get to know each other and study together. I have to say, this has been my best week so far, all the guys were so kind and loving and just really great people! On their last night they organised a appreciation to the staff which was so sweet, they played the drums which was amazing! And some said poems and some sung, it was a really awesome night. I got some videos, ill post them up on fb... eventually...check em out at some point!

Hola!

So its my day off, but not everyone is off, so Iman, Sun, Senia and Shervin and i are watching UP . And i went to Walmart this morning and got lunch with Mia and Shelly. So im having a nice day. I was hanging out with Gerald and Iman before, talking about the stupid government and stupid money! So this movie is super cute, and im going to watch it now.
BYE!

xoxo :)

Dreams.

Ive now had two dreams that involved me not being at Green Acre anymore and being very sad! I really love it here, my dream last night i had to go home for some reason and i was so sad and torn up about it...it was weird. And then the other night i had a dream i was at Woolies with Kate and mum and i said i miss walmart! haha which was rather odd..
So yeah, just letting you know i love it here, and there isn't really any chance of me coming home early :)

So im working in the kitchen again, and i absolutely love it!! But i hurt my ankle so im taking a break. We Went to the beach last week!! That was cool, but it made me miss home alot, we went swimming and it was like Winter beach water!! It felt like i was swimming in ice water, but it was still fun! Life here is pretty much the same, just very busy cause its summer. i think ill just add some photos cause i dont have much time, plus i dont really know what to write :)
OOOhhh i saw my first Deer!!! IT was very exciting! A bunch of us were sitting outside, and i saw the Deer and i was like OMG LOOK! ITs a deeer!! and nobody cared! haha but i was very excited...I didnt get a good photo though, it was far away. But still extremely exciting!

Sorry.

Im Sorry i haven't written in a while, ive been very busy with the summer schedule. I only get one day off and we tend to go out that day...But i will try very hard to write soon and tell you EVERYTHING :)

Children's Classes update

Oh and i looove the kids accents!!
They are just so cute!! Today was a little harder, the classes are getting more intense each day, so tomorrow's classes looks quite hard and that probably means the kids arnt going to concentrate that much! and im so tired. and its only been 2 days with them...3 more days, well 2 and a half. But its good, its 5 and ive finished getting things ready for tomorrow so i have half an hour doing nothing, just resting and yeah...


:)

Photosss.