Hey y'all from Nashville

That's how people say hello here! This trip has been amazing so far. We got into the car, and drove to Ohio, where we stayed the first night. Then we drove to robbins TN.
We found our "home" for the next week, after a little navigating and asking the locals. The people that were "hosting" us, were Chuck and Becky Miller, they were amazing and so, so, nice. Our house was a little small but it was quant! It was camping bunk-bed style. Our first day started off slow, we arrived at the habitat head quarters and met almost everyone who we would be working with over the next, they were all so nice and wanted to hear all about us, and where we were from. The first day we were at a site that the house was already built, so we picked stuff up, and landscaped, while talking with all the workers. The second day was the same, with tons of relaxing and talking and play games.
This is where it gets interesting. On the third day we were brought to a house that only had the foundation and we were able to finish the whole thing!
I helped build a deck and that was the most rewarding thing. We were very sad to leave but were able to spend a night in Nashville. I love it here. It's warm, and all the people are nice. Today we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. This afternoon we are going to drive more of the way, and maybe stop in Memphis. I can't wait to get to Geenville or Geenvole as the locals would say and help build an other house. I know it will be an other amazing week. Look for updates coming soon.

-Malorie Traiser '07

Nashville

Okay, this is going to be long.

We can't add pictures until we get back, most likely, which really stinks, but oh well...Here is how our trip has been so far:

We left on Friday, April 29th. On Friday we drove to Colombus, Ohio where we spent the night. We stopped in Cleveland for dinner at a chain Chinese restaurant called P.F. Changs. It was really good. We spent the night at a Microtel. The next morning we drove to Lexington, Kentucky. We spent a lot of time touring Kentucky. It was beautiful in Lexington. We went to the Kentucky Horse Park and we saw some famous race horses. It was a lot of fun. We then drove to our first building destination in Robbins, Tennessee.

Robbins was a great site to start building at. On Monday we spent the day spreading dirt and doing other landscaping type of things. That was a lot of work, but it was fun. We were doing the work on Monday and on Tuesday at some apartments that Habitat had already built. On Tuesday we went to the same apartments and did more dirt spreading and build some sort of irrigation system. We also went to go see Sahara as a group (on Monday). It only cost us one dollar to get into the movie!!! ONE DOLLAR!!! On Wednesday we worked at a site further away. We spent the day building the floor to the house. We also had dinner at a local church. On Thursday we put up the walls for the house and started a front and side porch, and on Friday we finished the porch. It was soo much fun and the team we worked with was soo great.

Today we are in Nashville and we are just getting ready to leave. We should be in Greenville, Mississippi tomorrow!!!!! It is hard to believe we may work with a group even equally as great as the one we spent this past week with, but I hope we do!!

Anyway...I don't have time to add anymore right not...I'll write more when I can!

~Melissa~

Greetings from Nashville!

Hey everyone! Thank you all for your comments. I love hearing from you guys. We are having a great time and have met so many incredible people. We apologize for not keeping the site updated, as we are having trouble uploading pictures onto the public computers. Hopefully we will find one soon because we all have awesome pictures from Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee!!
So far we have been to The Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, The Kentucky Horse Park, and The Country Music Hall of Fame (just to name the major places)!! But we have also shopped at Super Wal*Mart 150,000 times(thank you Robbins, TN), eaten at delicious resturants, and watched movies at the local theatre for only $1!!!!!!!!
Working on the house in Tennessee was such an amazing experience! Not only because of the physical work itself (and hammering my thumb COUNTLESS times, which is still bruised by the way), but getting to know the other Habitat volunteers, workers, and future homeowner (and her family) as well. Carolyn has prayed for a better home and a better life for many years, and her dream is finally coming true. She was outside with us everyday helping when she could. Her son, Nathan, was also there everyday to take part in the building with us. Everyone in Robbins was so welcoming that it was hard to leave them yesterday.
We spent last night and today (Saturday) in Nashville. I love it here! But we are leaving very soon to make it to our next stop, with a 10 hour drive ahead. Tomorrow we will arrive at our second destination, Greenville, MS!!
I promise, as soon as we find a computer that works with our cameras, we will update you! I miss all of you guys, but am having a blast!
Happy Mother's Day!! Talk to you all soon.

Love, Bre