April Showers, May Flowers

April is National Volunteer Month. I had no idea until now but I made it a goal to be more active in my community over the month of April. When I lived in Austin and El Paso, I used to put a lot of time and effort into helping the community I live in. I believe it is our duty to care for the environment, ourselves, and others around us. What better way than to volunteer.

I started this month by donating blood at the MS Blood Services because there aren't a lot of people doing that at the moment and it's needed. While this isn't my first time, I still hate needles. I also spent some time volunteering with Big House Books by creating labels for packages that will be mailed to prisoners in MS at correctional facilities.  I participated in an event to stop domestic violence last weekend, which is very important cause to me. It was probably one of the first things I volunteered for when I lived in El Paso. I also picked up trash along the new museum trail in Jackson in celebration of Earth Day.

And while I spent time volunteering for a lot of different causes, I spent this month filling my soul with live music. I saw Eric Church in New Orleans at the beginning of the month. While I'm not familiar with his older material, I still enjoyed the show.  I thought it was a nice surprise to bring up New Orleans artist for a few songs as well.  Towards the middle of the month I also had the opportunity to catch Megadeth, Trivium, and Lamb of God. It was fun to get away from country music and listen to something different. I don't often catch metal artist but I know that Megadeth is a big deal. Lamb of God were probably the highlight of that concert as the lead singer put 100% of his energy into every song and getting the crowd behind him. 

April brings a lot of rain and there were moments this month where I certainly wasn't sure how things were going to turn out but once the rain clouds parted the future looked bright.