9.14.2013

[to build a house]




If you ever have the opportunity to be involved in a Habitat for Humanity build, I highly recommend doing it. If you're not familiar with Habitat, in a nutshell they rely on volunteer power to build affordable, decent homes for those who cannot afford their own home but desperately need one. Don't worry, you don't have to frame like we did. There are opportunities to do everything from framing to planting flowers.

Framing is hard work. It turns out that hammering a nail into a wall to hang a picture is approximately 17 times easier than hammering a nail into a wall in order to build a wall. I was surprised to discover that I actually had to learn how to hammer properly. There's a technique to it and that technique will save your forearms. Thankfully everyone on the build was so helpful and so kind. After a lesson from one of the other volunteers I had the technique down and was hammering like a pro.

I was so happy to see the gloves they provided for the volunteers, mostly because they were Baylor gloves!! Unfortunately they were mens' larges so I could fit 2-3 fingers in each hole; every time I put them on I would get 2 fingers in a hole together and have to try again.

After a summer of nothing but rain, we were so blessed to have a beautiful, sunny day. It was barely 80 degrees making it even more lovely.

Thankfully Mom thought to start the slow cooker for a pulled pork dinner so we can rest & recover with some college football and delicious pulled pork.

I can't imagine a better way to spend a Saturday.

2 comments:

  1. Courtney how awesome that you did the habitat for humanity service project. Sounds like an amazing Saturday. I did it multiple times several years ago. I did a few days of setting up for foundation and then the diva in me asked to do something out of the 101 Florida heat so they put me inside and I built kitchens and baseboards. I absolutely abhor physically taxing labor in heat but when I saw the families who needed these homes my temporary discomfort was all worth it.

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    1. Oh my goodness I can't imagine working in that kind of heat! And I couldn't agree more: all the discomfort is worth it when you see those families.

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