Halfway Done?!

Just an update - Appalachia is still beautiful. So week 4 is halfway over...my summer in Kentucky is over halfway over as well. I can't believe that it's gone by so fast. The day I leave will be a sad one for sure. Not looking forward to it. I feel so calm and relaxed here although it's definitely the busiest I've ever been. It will be a HUGE change to move into the stressful environment that is school. Not that I don't love MSU and all :) It will just be different.
My staff is great. They're like my family. I miss the familiar faces of my family and friends back home, but they've been the perfect summer replacement. I've been able to talk to them about anything and they've been super supportive. I hope to have time to visit EACH member of my staff during the school year next year. Shouldn't be too hard to see Jenny and Jess since they live in the midwest as well (and Jess will be making frequent trips to East Lansing to see her BF!). Adam's stuck at UNC, so that will be more of a challenge since North Carolina is a little less convenient. But anyway, they're great and I've been lucky to spend this time with such great people who I get along with in such a great way.
The families we serve are simply amazing, I can't put it into words. All of them have next to nothing compared to what I have back home, but they posses joy beyond what I know back home. The family values around here are incredible. They look out for one another constantly, they are all SUPER close, even with extended family members, and all the families are HUGE. I seriously think everyone is related in some way. Almost all the families we serve have some sort of bizarre connection. They're all thankful for the work we are doing, but what they don't know is that we're growing from them just as much as they're growing from us.

We're starting to close out on some homes now. We finished 2 last week and we're finishing another this week. It's really sad that we can't do more for them. They have homes that are warmer, safer, and drier now, but I still wish there was more I could do. We'll be signing more homes this coming week (including a few that Adam and I found today!), so I will put that energy into these new, equally as amazing families.

Just an update on a few projects:

-The room addition is completely dug out, and by the end of the week, the foundation will be complete. A 20x20ft room addition will almost double this home (currently close to the size of my bedroom at home) in which there are 8 people living in. Also, their new septic system is FULLY funded :)

-Our complete rebuild is moving quickly. Foundation done. New wall studded out and windows/doors framed. Front porch built. Floors insulated. Next is a new roof, then interior work! Also, our electrical re-wire...COMPLETELY FUNDED. That's a total of $10,000 to Harlan County.

-Signed ANOTHER roof today. That makes 5 brand new roofs in Harlan County. EXPENSIVE. Luckily, we have amazing volunteers, and we've raised around $1,000 weekly for these types of projects. Yesterday, our volunteers from Pennsylvania cut us a check for an ENTIRE new roof. We've been able to sign expensive projects since first of all, our staff is Hoss. Second, we've been granted a ton of money. And third, we've had passionate volunteers who feel that they have been called to give a lot to our projects. It's amazing to see all of these things working out so well.

Hope everyone is doing well at home, love you guys. Oh. And I need more mail, so please send me some! Shout out to Dre for the amazing package, my nails are currently a beautiful shade of pink and I am now fatter from the food :)