video

I uploaded some new videos on our youtube channel. They were too big for blogger but the link is just to the right. Hope you enjoy.

Our Summer Roadtrip

Six weeks in an RV! Surprisingly, Cami and I loved every minute of it. With 30 feet to share between the three of us, we had plenty of space….but being able to take our home with us as we traveled was the best part. We covered seven states and drove over 5,000 miles on our trip! As you can imagine, there is more to say than should be put in one email. So I have decided to just list the highlights and if anything specific sparks your interest, you can ask and I will tell you more. :)

Some of the best nuggets we came away with are:

1. We can and should expect more from the parents/guardians of our students.
2. New ways to approach rehabilitating the families alongside the residents.
3. Fresh ideas on how to train and equip staff without requiring an excessive amount of time and energy from our already overworked directors.
4. Innovative approaches to discipline and handling behavioral issues.
5. Some of the latest resource on teaching teens conflict resolution and communication skills.

Things we are most grateful for:

1. Becoming a part of a larger community of people working toward the same mission. There are hundreds of people doing what we do around the nation with the same goal in mind: restoring the lives of broken, ‘at-risk’ youth.
2. The boundless hospitality and comradery we were met with at each program.
3. A chance to take a step back and reassess what we do and why we are here.

Struggles that face us now:

1. Funding – every program we visited was 12-15 times more expensive than our program and many of our participants already struggle to cover the tuition.
2. Staffing – how do you run a high quality program with qualified personnel when you don’t charge your participants enough to pay them? We need people willing to raise support.
3. Where do we go from here? There was much momentum before we left in June, but since returning everyday needs have taken over and the progress has slowed.

A few highlights:

1. Many of the programs we visited were close to National Parks, so we visited: the Grand Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons and Coral Reef.
2. Camping in the North Cascades with most of the Potter clan.
3. Introducing family and friends in Oregon to our handsome baby boy.
4. Cohen is a champ and took to life on the road without ever looking back!

I think that is enough for now, but I will post again in another week with news on what life has been like since we returned. Thanks again for all your love and support.

Random Snipets

Pookey's mom left :( Less that a week after I posted of her return I got word that she left. Apparently she came by our apartment the night she left, but we were both working late.

Last Tuesday one of our previous students stopped by. It was at least the 5th time a student has asked to move in with us. On two of those occassions we said yes. Tuesday was not one of those times. And suddenly I wonder, how many other teacher are put in that position? Oh how I wish we had a mansion to help all these teens.

I want to quit my job. Don't get me wrong, I have great job and an incredibly flexible schedule to accommodate my new life as a mom. I just don't want to work anymore, but quitting only leaves my husband to pick up the slack. So I work.

I will post highlights from our summer trip within the next 24 hours. I am just waiting for Cami to look over what I have and see if he wants to add/change anything.

She's Back!!

I promise I am working on a summary of our trip and that will be up soon, but this could not wait....

POOKIE'S MOM IS BACK!

Many of you probably don't know, but last October Cami and I took in a dog, Pookie, so that her mom could join the women's program -- in an effort to protect her we will call her Susie.

To make a long story short, Susie had/has a severe heroine addiction but was hesitant to join the program because she would lose her dog. Susie has no one, Pookie is literally her only family member. So there she was, on the stairs outside our apartment, with nothing but her dog standing in the way of her recovery.........so we took in her dog.
It was an emotional ride that only lasted about 6 weeks with Susie leaving and returning a couple of times, but in the end, she fell off the radar and her road to recovery seemed to be cut short. Yet in that short time her and I became very attached. She felt almost like family and with us caring for her baby, we were invited straight into her heart.

Well, as I was sitting here in my living room working I heard someone outside asking about Cami and Deidre repeatedly, so I peaked my head over our balcony.

And there Susie was!!!!!

In that wonderful black DCD t-shirt!

She has returned and entered the more intense program in an effort to turn her life around. We can't talk yet.....we have to wait 2 more weeks for her to finish orientation. But then I will hug her and celebrate with her as she travels this difficult road. I have hope as the Dream Center has a few recovery programs and after failing in the less rigid of the two, she has returned to join the program that says she is serious this time.

I cannot wait to hear all that has happened in the last 9 months, introduce her to my new baby and hear about the journey she took to get back to this place.

Today is a day worth celebrating!

On Parenthood

It seems that everyone is asking, "So what is it like to be a parent?" But the funny thing is, life doesn't really feel much different than it did before. I know that much has changed, but it is hard to quantify it. And this is just our new normal now. Perhaps this is the case because we have such a delightful baby. I know many new parents really struggle and we have had our moments, but for the most part it has been a rather natural adjustment. Cami even says he is ready for number two!

Cohen is a very pleasant little man. He is content in most situations and loves to take in everything around him. He is wide eyed and inquisitive. Cohen is learning how to "talk". He loves it when we talk to him; he holds eye contact and tries to mimic the movements of our mouths. He has taken to talking to his toys now, it is really quite fun to watch. His smile is so bright and lights up his whole face. He really is a delight to have around and it is fun to watch him learn new things. As a matter of fact, he discovered that if he kicks his legs vigorously while in his bouncy chair, the toys go wild. Well the other day he was in his car seat with a monkey dangling in front of him so naturally he began kicking his feet like crazy. Unfortunately, the monkey didn't bounce around like his other toys and Cohen was quick to tell the monkey that he was unhappy with his performance. He is so fun!!!!!

Hopefully I will be able to upload some new pictures soon.

Road Trip Update

We are currently 2/3 of the way through this summer road trip and still going strong! I was worried that we would be exhausted and tired of living in such a small space with our environment constantly changing, but that is not the case. We are all enjoying ourselves quite a lot actually.

So we started out in Arizona, Cami visited a program while I helped my good friend Rebecca prepare for her wedding. After the Father's day wedding, we went back down to Mesa for another day with the wilderness therapy program there. The program we were scheduled to see next canceled last minute, so we spent a week visiting the Grand Canyon and Zion National park.

After our time in the national parks we traveled to south-central Utah to visit another wilderness therapy program. Next we headed to northern Wyoming and visited a 40,000 acre cattle ranch for troubled boys. From there we swung by Yellowstone, drove through the Grand Tetons and are now in Idaho about an hour outside of Boise at another ranch for struggling teens.

Visiting the various programs has inspired some great conversations between Cami and I. We are learning a lot and as we hoped, seeing new ways to approach our teenagers. I really think we are going bring a lot away from this whole experience. In addition to visiting these programs, Cami is writing an article summarizing what we see. So when that is done I will forward the link to all of you.

Lily Andrea Potter

This entry is dedicated to our ever-so-special cat

Lily Andrea

Cami and I adopted Lily when she was 2 months old, shortly after we married. She is a spunky, adventurous and often mischievous little kitty. She is playful and quirky but slow to trust strangers. She loves to run around outside stalking anything that moves (and is smaller than her). Sunbathing is how she spends her afternoons and she is extremely affectionate around dinnertime. And she puts up with our antics, although it is clear they annoy her.

Needless to say, we love our cat immensely!!!!!!

So as you can imagine, we were heartbroken when she bolted from the RV last Friday night. The wilds of Yellowstone were just too much for our headstrong girl to ignore any longer............
That is right, Lily made a run for it. And when Cami tried to catch her, she just thought he was playing and ran off even further. It was late and very dark, so our cat disappeared into the darkness rather quickly (dun, Dun, DUN). I was convinced she would return, but when morning came and there was still no sight of Lily, I began to worry -- we had to checkout of our campsite by 11am.
To our surprise (and the surprise of the campsite hosts) our site was available for Saturday night as well. So Cami and I paid for another night and waited for our kitty to return.

We waited and waited and waited and waited and waited.

Although we were in an incredible national park, we spent the day in our RV, occasionally stepping out to search the acres of nearby forest for Lily. Dinnertime came and went and still no sight of Lily. Around 9:45 Cami went out on one last scouting trip, this was our last chance, we had to leave in the morning.

He searched, I prayed. He searched some more, I prayed some more.

After 30 minutes in the woods with no luck, Cami began his return to the RV. As a last ditch effort, he turned on his headlamp, looked into the forest and called for Lily. Suddenly, there was a little green pair of eyes, gleaming in the light. And they weren't afraid of him. Cami called for Lily again and this time an unsure meow responded. Stepping into the forest Cami realized that Lily was still apprehensive. Cami decided to sit on the forest floor, shine the light on himself and continue calling out for our kitty. Slowly but surely the meows grew louder and before he knew it, Lily was in his arms!!!

HE FOUND HER!!!!!!!!!