Live to Love, Love to Live

What a great trip! Filleo, my non profit organization, just got back from our first project community service outside of Ohio. We went down to New Orleans and it was such a rewarding trip. This project was two years in the making. We flew in and Jared and his wife, Emily picked us up at the airport. They were our hosts for the trip and we had such a great time with them!

For one, always remember when you buy a ticket online for Delta, United, or one of these airlines that charges for baggage that it costs that much more. If it is the lowest price on expedia or another website it still may not be if you add the cost of the bags. I was like, "Dang yo! What is up with that?!" It makes me think of the Southwest commercials and how smart the guy that made those is. These airlines should just put it in the ticket price. Man, what a bummer. I say this because we had a box of shirts and other stuff to take down so it ended up costing like an extra $90 just for the trip there.

Well, to get back to our trip, I was so thankful to have my wife Katie on the trip with me, and having Jared from Radio U was a blast. Jared took care of the video footage and was a master at getting in my face with the camera, especially my eye. Weirdo yes, but I get that a lot. Do you think so? Haha.

On Friday, January 7th, we met a guy named Troy (T-roy) who helped set us up with our activities for the day. He works for the school recovery program in New Orleans that helps with the schools that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Okay now, if he made up a rapper name for himself do you think I love the guy, ummmmm yesssss. This dude was awesome. Here we are coming in on Thursday and he finally emails me back that morning, (he forgot we were coming) and his e-mail starts with the letter “F”…That’s it, that is what he put on the email to start. He writes the way he talks, that’s my boy. Well, we took some sweet footage of him also. Organized? Not so much... He was genuine and honest for sure, which is an awesome quality. When Jared Montz () asked him if he liked his new website he responded saying, “It’s F’in Beautiful!" Thanks Troy, you were a hit!

We went to read to some elementary school kids who are attending school in trailers while a new school is being built.

These kids were awesome. Jared started us off with a book about a silent cricket. He did a great job by not helping the kids to figure out what a cricket sounds like. Haha. Try right now to do a cricket noise and see what comes out. I am trying right now and it is making me laugh because I have no idea, this is awesome. But, the kids ended up doing pretty well at it.

Then my wife Katie read a book called “The Day Joey’s Boa Constrictor ate the Wash.” It was a great pick-me-up. Well, let's just say they thought a snake was as cool as me getting a superhero party for my birthday, yep that sweet. They recited most of the book with Katie. They loved knowing it and following along. A job well done wifey, that’s my girl.

So, I come up next to read. If you had to guess any book I would read what would it be about? No, not magic, but great guess. Soccer, well definitely not, come on. Dancing- yes dancing! That was what my book was about. The book was called “Giraffes Can’t Dance.” Before I read I told the kids, “Now, every time I say the word dance I will point at someone and they have to get up and spontaneously dance.” So, we end up getting through the whole book with pretty much everyone dancing. We got spastic jigglers, shakin’ it like salt shakers, the robot (yes a kid tried the robot, awesome), Michael Jackson wannabe (he did the moonwalk, coolest thing I have seen from a kid), and then we also had a kid trip and fall and still go on with the show while on the ground. Yes, I do have video of this and yes I have attached it for everyone to see. Oh yeah by the way at the end I told everyone that they had to get up and we all did a spontaneous dance together.

Then we did something that was chill and we just helped them correct their English test in groups for the next hour. Lunch time, meant a break for lunch for us, and a break from typing for me.

Round two from New Orleans to come in a couple days or less.
Fun day so far? It was sweeeetttt.