I signed up for a few days of volunteering with the Des Moines Sports Commission – hosts of the 2009 AAU Junior Olympics. The event will run from July 27th thru August 8th and there’s lots of ways to get involved. Here are a few of the categories where volunteers are needed: Athlete Registration Baseball [...]

Spent yesterday morning on the rooftop of the pavilion at the Arboretum. Temperature: 45 degrees. Wind: 20mph. Weight of pebble bags: 50lbs. No hot tin roof here! Brrr! The rooftop offered up these amazing views of the Arboretum which is leaping into spring no holds barred. Click for a larger version: As you can see [...]

Jenny had just finished cooking up some yummy pancakes when I’m walking near the back door and hear some yelping. Hum. That’s weird. It sounded weird, ya know, different. So I open the door and what do I see but a baby fox! He’s yelping up a storm – apparently wanting some of Jenny’s delish [...]

Just finished the design of the treasure map that I’ll be using to teach kids how to use a compass on Earth Day at the Brenton Arboretum. I spent yesterday morning out at the Arboretum getting the bearings and marking which trees, stumps and patches of thick brush I want to hide the treasure markers [...]

One of the volunteer coordinators asked me if I would be interested in helping out with Pet Therapy during my weekly volunteering at Childserve. Most def! Got there at my regular time and recruited Josh to help me pick out books to read. We used our imagination and pretended that we were in race cars [...]

I was looking forward to this all day! I spent the afternoon downtown Des Moines enjoying the Irish Day festivities and then drove north to Childserve to spend some time volunteering. It is beyond words how enriching and fulfilling it is to spend time with kids. My first time volunteering here and I was a [...]

I am so excited! I just got word that I will be leading children on a compass treasure hunt at the Brenton Arboretum for Earth Day! Yeah! Geocaching with compasses with kids – can’t get better than that! I plan to teach them how to use a compass, track coordinates, and use items in the [...]

Another volunteer day at The Brenton Arboretum! Getting closer and closer to spring! Can’t wait to see this place in May, it’s going to be amazing! From the Brenton Arboretum website: “This unique central Iowa arboretum combines the horticultural study of trees with a commitment to natural landscape management and conservation. At the Brenton Arboretum, [...]

Was a volunteer again with the Des Moines Civic Music Association at the Byron Stripling Quartet Show last Friday night. Got to wear my spankin’ cute silk red tie even! Trumpet virtuoso and smooth vocalist, Byron Stripling, and the band amazed me with both jazz classics and fresh contemporary jazz compilations! Byron’s ability on the [...]

I was a volunteer last night at the Civic Music Association‘s presentation of John Pizzarelli at the Sheslow Auditorium on the campus of Drake University, downtown Des Moines. Check out some of John’s groovy swing sound, soft vocals and lose your mind guitar playing with the links below to YouTube videos: After You’ve Gone – [...]