Category Archives: SOWER Projects 2023

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure

(some of) The Rest of the Story

3 Comments

I’ve spent most of this month writing about what we ladies have been doing here at Realife Camp, but our men have also been busy! Now, to be honest, I haven’t actually seen them working, but judging by how tired my guy was at the end of the day, they have been working hard indeed! I mentioned in a previous post about the Still Water House that the guys have been working hard on. They’ve been installing trim, tiling bathrooms, hanging doors, and all kinds of other finishing details!
Untitled
Gary was primarily working on re-working the ductwork and A/C for the two units. Once again, he got to work in the itty-bitty chase run between the walls!
Untitled
Always with short doorways too! Ouch!
Untitled
They were all part of a team that turned this
Untitled
into this
Untitled
I realize this is not the same view, but that’s the only before picture I had in my stash! Regardless of the view, the transformation has been amazing! The ribbon cutting is scheduled for December 28th, and I know all of the finishing details will be done!
Untitled

Once again, we had a great month! As so often happens, we were blessed with the miracle of acquaintances becoming family by the end of our three weeks.
Untitled
The neighborhood is clearing out as folks head for their different holiday plans. Some are heading home, and some are heading for a little Christmas R&R!
Untitled
We’re gonna miss those guys!  But like our old friend Dr. Seuss has said – “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened!”

We’re smiling big!

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure

The Joy of Cooking

Leave a comment

Kitchen work! It’s in the top three ways I love serving while on a SOWER project.  So when I was assigned to help in the kitchen for our entire time here at Realife Camp, my heart did indeed do a little happy dance.  And I wasn’t disappointed!
Our everyday assignment throughout the month was to maintain the salad bar. Our SOWER kitchen team (mostly Pam & I with special guest Jolyne some days) chopped lettuce and filled all the lovely extras before each meal.
Untitled
But along with fine-tuning our salad bar skills, we also had the opportunity to learn a few other kitchen skills.
I learned how to cook in the dark –
Untitled
I honed my skills on the ginormous tilt skillet –
Untitled
We learned how to put together some amazing pizzas –
Untitled
which were a big hit with the crowd!
Untitled
We learned about the wonder of frozen cookie dough
Untitled
and the fact that warm cookies are always a hit!
Untitled
And for the first time EVER, I learned about the fine art of the deep fryer!
Untitled
We were the veggie peelers and choppers for our final meal as Jesse & Mary prepared an authentic Thai dinner!
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Yellow Curry with Chicken, Tom Yum Soup with Shrimp, and Pad Pak Ruam Mit (stir fry).
It was such a wonderful finale to a very delicious month of Kitchen Work!
Thanks for stopping by! Hope your Christmas preparations are going well!
Steph

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Pictures of the Adventure, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure

Another week slips away

Leave a comment

Where does it go?? Honest, I have really good intentions of blogging during the week (and write several little blurbs in my head), but when push comes to shove, well, it just doesn’t happen. Maybe it’s because it gets dark so early? But for whatever reason – here are some highlights of this past week-
Project Work –
This SOWER project is also just zooming by! It’s hard to believe that we only have four more days of work before we officially wrap up our SOWER year! The guys have continued to work away on the Stillwater House. (Which I now know is destined to be a foster family duplex! Pretty cool, right?)
Untitled
As you can see by the number of trucks parked in front, there has been a big push to get this done! There are some sub-contractors (like the flooring and the exterior stucco), but mostly it has been volunteers and staff working hard to get this house up and running for their big ribbon cutting ceremony on December 28th. This past week we met there for our devotion time and had a beautiful season of prayer – dedicating this construction and the building, that through the mission of this house many lives will be reached for the Gospel and that God would get all of the glory!
Untitled

We ladies were divided between kitchen work and holiday decorations.
Untitled
Bins and bins of holiday decorations – and the place is looking great!
Untitled
Meanwhile, we girls in the kitchen were making sure that everyone was being fed (over-fed actually judging by my scale)!
Untitled
But we were having lots of fun doing it!

Untitled Untitled Untitled

What a grand time we’ve been having – the cooking has been fun, but getting to know the kitchen staff has been oh-so-special!
Untitled
Mary (second from the right)
Untitled
and Jesse! What a treat to work with this couple!

We did some fun stuff, too!
Although we (Gary & I) are generally ‘bad tourists’, we joined several other couples and did some exploring at the Florida Caverns
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
It was an interesting tour – and a very fun afternoon!
Untitled
(That statue represents (and honors) all of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp) who were instrumental in making these caverns accessible in the 1930’s, but we can pretend he’s actually a SOWER wannabe, right?)

So that’s a little catch up! I may not be crossing too many things off my to-do list today, but at least “Do Blog Post” is done!

Hope you’re all having a lovely Saturday!
Steph

 

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure

Hello Darkness my old friend…

Leave a comment

I’ve come to talk to you again…
Today was what might be considered by some to be a challenging day. Not only did we awaken to frosty morning (brrrrrrr)
Untitled
but we learned at devotions that the electric for the entire campus would off starting at 8AM. And it would be off until at least noon. That really put a crimp on a lot of the projects that were in progress, but between a couple of generators and everyone’s favorite battery powered tools (and lots of well-charged batteries), work was still  getting done. The decorating team was still managing fine – either doing outdoor decorations or finding areas that had lots of natural light. However, preparing lunch for 40 folks without any electric (which included trying to not open the refrigerator or freezer to preserve the cold) presented a bit of a challenge for those of us on the kitchen crew!
When the power wasn’t back on by lunch, Jesse made a quick trip to the freezer and pulled out some chicken tenders and fries and fired up the deep fryer!
Untitled
It might’ve been a last minute choice, but it was certainly a hit with the crowd! No leftovers from that meal!
But as the day wore on, and the power was not returning there was a bit of concern about what to do for dinner. Thinking that for sure we’d have power before dark, we proceeded to prepare a simple meal of soup (already prepared) and grilled cheese, planning to do the grilled cheese in the convection oven. When it became evident that the power was NOT going to be back on, we moved to good old fashioned way to do a grilled cheese – on griddle.
Untitled
By cellphone flashlight!
And so it was – a simple (but quite delicious) dinner by flashlight!
Untitled

Thankfully, power was restored shortly after dinner, the refrigerators are cooling again, and we have heat for another chilly night! Everyone was such a good sport about making the day go smoothly – it’s a good thing we can rely on a higher Power than what comes through those wires!

Happy Wednesday, friends!
Steph

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It
Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure

First day on the job #?

Leave a comment

First Mondays on a SOWER project rarely go as planned. It’s usually a slow start as folks determine what needs to be done, who’s going to be doing what, and who is working with who.  Not to mention just who is who? Today was not especially bumpy – but it was a a classic ‘slow start’. Yet it was a very worthwhile slow. We all met together for devotions – 5 SOWER couples, several independent volunteers and about 20 staff members.
Untitled
After a time of devotions, we then went around and introduced ourselves – staff and volunteers – so we would have the beginnings of figuring out who is who! And then the director began to discuss what jobs different teams would be doing. One of the main priorities for the men is completing a lodge that is scheduled for a grand opening at the end of December.
Untitled
Oh, My! Lots to do there!
There were also other hotel rooms that were partway through some renovations and some miscellaneous plumbing and electrical work that was on the list. The guys broke out into their teams (I think Gary was looking at some A/C units – kinda what he does!), and we ladies waited for our assignments. Two of the ladies were assigned the job of taking down the Fall decorations, and getting started with the preparations for  Christmas Camp  scheduled for the week after Christmas. And although it wasn’t on the initial list of what the ladies would be doing, three of us were assigned as kitchen help. Now I have to say, I’ll take kitchen work over painting or housekeeping (and maybe even decorating – though that did sound like it could be fun!) almost any day, so I was quite delighted indeed!
Untitled
Lunch and dinner is provided for the staff, and we volunteers are invited to join in, so we three ladies were more than happy to pitch in and help. It was a little more intimidating when they said they were hoping the three of us could actually BE the kitchen staff to free up the actual kitchen staff (Jesse & Mary)to help with that lodge and the upcoming open house! Yikes! Thankfully it looks like at least Jesse will be training us this week and so far, our two meals have gone fine! It’s only lunch and dinner for 40 people four days a week, right?  We can do this, right? Right?
Untitled
I’m pretty sure we can handle the salad bar – but I think we’re a little nervous about handling the main course without any adult supervision! Fortunately they have a well stocked freezer and pantry, and  plenty of menu options for us to choose from. So, gulp,  let the cooking begin!

Although the actual work day didn’t start until well past 9AM  (we’re usually working by 8), it was good to spend that little extra time getting to know our co-laborers for Christ this month.  All in all – it was a great first day!

Now if they were all just wearing name tags…

 

Email, RSS Follow
Pin It