My new apartment!!!

I tried uploading to this video directly to here but it wasn't working so I decided to post it on youtube instead. Here is the link to a video of my new apartment, my room is smaller, but the rest of the place is bigger than my last apartment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mGP_5XHCec

Bye for now <3

July

July was a very eventful month for me. For those of you on facebook you already know that the family I was babysitting for this summer had the roof of their building catch on fire and the building is now condemned. The crazy part, was I was there babysitting when I got a knock on the door from the cops saying the building was on fire and I needed to evacuate. I immediately grabbed the kid and ran out the door, forgetting his shoes along the way. Needless to say, because of the whole ordeal the mom stopped going to work to stay "home" w/ the kid and try and find them a new place to live. They lived in a few friends apartments for a few weeks and finally just got a sublet for the next 3 months. I however was all of a sudden jobless because of this fire. I have been frantically looking for work all month and applying to everything I could, I think about 250 jobs total. I FINALLY just got another babysitting job yesterday and start next week for a nice family in the Upper West Side. I will be helping the mother who just had her 3rd child last week. I will mainly be working w/ the 1 and 3 year old girls, taking them to different activities in the city while she stays with her newborn. I also have a few family that said they will use me for nights and weekend babysitting once school starts too, when needed.

Being jobless, I had to cancel the trip to DC I had planned this month to visit my friend and wasn't really able to do many fun things in the city. It's been SO hot here that I haven't really wanted to wander around the city as it is. I did however just move. My lease was up at the end of July and the whole month my roommate and I have been frantically looking for a new place. We had a low rent price we were willing to pay and many requirements, so it was very difficult to find what we wanted. But after seeing 15 apartments, all in a 2 day span, we found a really nice place in the West Village. The West Village is one of my favorite, if not my most favorite areas of the city. The best part is I can walk to school, it's only 3 blocks away, AND I can walk to my internship! The neighborhood is amazing and there is so much to do here, and it is just so pretty. I'm sure I will be posting pictures frequently of the neighborhood. The apartment is great and I will post a video of our place once we get all the furniture in and put together. I am now living w/ a girl that I went to high school with. I knew who she was, but I probably only talked to her a few times while in school. She just recently moved to NYC for law school and we decided to live together. We get along great and I'm looking forward to living w/ her for the next year or more.

That's about all that's going on in my life right now, I'm just trying to enjoy the last few weeks of my summer, I can't believe my last long 4 month summer is almost over!

bye for now <3

Canada

I just got back from my week trip up to Canada to visit friends. Max and Mel are two girls that I met last year when I was on my tour of Europe. They came down for NYE to NYC so I thought it was only fair for me to go to them for Canada Day (July 1st), AND I've never been to Canada. ;) I stayed at there place right outside Ottawa, Ontario. Ottawa is the capitol of Canada and is so pretty. Everything in Canada was so green and gorgeous. The first day I was there was Canada Day and it was spent just like most spend the 4th of July here, we hung out on a balcony of their friends all day and then went to see the fireworks that night. The queen was there in Ottawa so they had extra special fireworks this year, and we were able to watch them overlooking Parliament. The 2nd day I was there was Max's 25th birthday. We made her breakfast and then took her out to dinner, then had some of her friends over for cake back at her house. It was a lot of fun to meet all her friends. The next day we went for a quick overnight trip to Montreal, Quebec. We went shopping and explored part of the city, then had dinner and went out for drinks. Sunday (the 4th of July here), we went to their friends house for a BBQ, it was a joint birthday party for Max and one of her friends. It was so hot so it was nice to lounge around a pool and meet more of their friends. The next day we went around their town and then stopped by the mall, and the last day they took me back to downtown Ottawa to show me Parliament, the canal, and the Byward Market.

It was such a great trip, even if I feel like it past too quickly. We have so much in common and are so similar that we always have a good time, even if we are just sitting around watching tv. The hardest part of my trip is that Ottawa and Montreal are bilingual, and most of their friends speak french as their first language. So they would randomly while speaking break into french. I would listen and quickly turn to look at Mel to ask her to translate for me! She would summarize what they said for me, the part that was the funniest is that most didn't realize they did it, so a few times people would ask me questions in french and not realize that they hadn't just said whatever in english.

I'm hoping that they will come sometime in the next year to visit me again back here in the city, I really do wish we lived closer to each other. However, we are so similar and work so well together that we are planning to travel together. All 3 of us are planning a trip in 2012 to go to Australia. They are planning on going for a few more weeks than me, so I will meet up with them there, but I'm so excited to start planning that trip and go explore more of this world w/ them. I will upload my pictures later this afternoon online, so check my http://picasaweb.google.com/cmwright121 later today for pictures from Canada.

Bye for now <3

Florida

I had a great trip to Florida. It was too short, but I was glad I got to at least see Angie and where she now calls home. Friday Angie took me on a tour of her town, then we went to visit her sister. Angie's nephew, who is 6 - is my boyfriend, and he had a gift for me when I got there. He baked me cookies, gave me a picture of himself, made me a lego heart, and gave me a marriage license and wedding ring! She lives right outside Daytona Beach, so Saturday we spent the day at the beach. She showed me the nightlife in her town on Saturday night and then Sunday I left. It was really short, but it was great to catch up, and next time I go I'm hoping to be there for more than a few days and maybe go to some of the theme parks in Orlando. Here are a few pictures from my trip.

Summer

So it is officially summer now, and I have already blown through one of my four months of summer. The weather here has been incredible hot and humid lately, which I guess for NYC is unseasonable for this time of year. Not owning an A/C has made it so much worse too. I have gotten most of my grades in and ended the semester with 1 A, 1 A-, 1 B+, and a Pass. I have one class I'm still waiting on a grade from, but I think it will be an A-. I also finally started my nanny position a few weeks back. It is defiantly a struggle working with this 3 y/o little boy, but we both are adjusting to spending many hours a day together and it's slowly getting better and better. I also got my placement for next year. I'm not sure if I talked about it at all in my last post, but next years placement will be in Manhattan on the west side at a company called FEGS, I will be working for the PROS program helping adults who are mildly to severely/chronically mentally ill find employment, housing, and basically just help them achieve whatever goals they currently hold for themselves. I'm excited to see what this new placement has to offer, and a good part of the program is in April next year they bring HR down and hire some of the second year interns.

My summer has been very full of eventful things so far, and it's only going to get more exciting. This past weekend a group of friends and I went to the Belmont (the 3rd a final race of the triple crown). I had so much fun, we took a trolley there and back and watched races all day and hung out with friends, and made some new ones too. Thanks to Aunt Carolyn, this weekend I am going to visit Angie (my old roommate and friend) who lives in Florida. I am so excited to see her and see where she now calls home. Then in two and a half weeks I leave for Canada. I will be up there visiting my friends who I met last year in Europe for a week. They came down at New Years time to visit NYC, and now I'm going to see Canada. I will be there for Canada Day and one of the girls 25th birthdays. I am so excited to be going up there to visit them, and look forward to seeing Canada. The rest of the summer I have no real plans so far, except I would like to go visit my roommate who is interning in DC for the summer.

I updated my pictures from this summer, here is the link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/cmwright121/Summer2010#

bye for now <3

Up to date...

Here is the link to my pictures. I have finally put up my pictures from my trip back home, and updated this past semesters album too. You can see new pictures in Spring and Summer 2010. I have gotten a few grades, but not all yet and start my job this weekend. I spent the week catching up with my new roommate. My other roommate moved to DC for an internship on Capitol Hill, so a girl that I went to high school with is subletting her room til the end of our lease here. We knew each other and hung out w/ similar people in high school but didn't really know each other, so it's nice to reminisce and catch up on old times.

Aunt Carolyn did the NICEST thing and gave me her air vouchers that were about to expire. So in a couple weeks I will be going to visit my friend and old roommate, who moved about the same time as me last year, in Florida. I'm so excited to see her and am super excited to see some of Florida. I unfortunately because of my new job will only be there 2 days, but that's better than nothing and I'm so glad I finally get to hang out with her again. I miss her terribly, and because she isn't back in Cali anymore I can't even see her when I go home to visit.

That's about it for now. Here is the link for pictures...

http://picasaweb.google.com/cmwright121

bye for now <3

D-O-N-E!!!!

I AM OFFICIALLY HALF WAY DONE WITH MY MASTERS!!!!! The past few weeks have been extremely brutal and for some reason spring finals are always more tedious to write and take than fall finals. BUT I now have a 4 month summer!!! That's right, 4 months! I have never had such a long summer. I will be getting my grades soon and will update once I figure that all out. The field office called me a few weeks ago and I should also be finding out my 2nd year placement in the next few weeks. Costa Rica, like I said before, fell through because it was REALLY expensive, and even with summer loans I couldn't afford it. I started looking and applying for jobs a few weeks back, I was applying for everything and anything because not many people or companies want to hire someone knowing that they have to quit at the end of the summer. I got a great job and start next week. I will be a caregiver/nanny/babysitter, whatever you want to call it, for a 3 y/o boy. The best part is that it is a block away from my house! A two min walk! I will work 3 days a week, and still have 3 day weekends this summer so I'm planning a few weekend trips to visit few friends that are moving out of the city for the summer. The great thing is I can crash on their couches so my trips will be very inexpensive, so I can save some of my babysitting earning.

I somehow pulled off a great surprise. I went home this past week to visit my family. It was the only time this summer I was free to go, because school is over and I don't start my job til the end of this month, so it was perfect timing to go home and visit....AND it just so happens that Mother's Day fell during the time I wanted to come visit. SO I surprised my mom, and did a great job, no one spilled the beans and told her, even though me and my sister many time almost slipped. She was very very surprised and wouldn't let go of me for a while, she kept saying she was dreaming. It was great to be home and visit with the family and see my friends. My dad helped out so that I could bring Willy w/ me because it would have cost more to board him here than to bring him back and forth with me. Thanks Dad! I was able to see most of my friends, and spend quality time with them and the family. It was only a week trip, which always flies by too quickly, but I'm excited to be back in the city and experience Summer here. There is so many things to do and experience during summers here, I'm looking forward to concerts, plays, and movies in the parks, and just spending time outside exploring the city more.

I just flew home from CA tonight, and am on Pacific time still so I can't sleep, but I will update later this week w/ some pics from my visit and a bit more about whats going on in my life. Sorry it's been so long since I updated this, but the day after I finished finals I flew home.

Bye for now <3

Finals

I'm in the midst of finals, writing papers, figuring out group projects, and thinking about what I am going to do this summer for work. I get an email, forgetting I even applied, I found out I got into the Costa Rica program this summer...unfortunately I can't afford it and I have to decline it :( I was very excited that out of all the applicants I was chosen to go, they must have liked my application enough to see something there. I'm sad I can't go and venture into a country I haven't been to, but I'm more sad that I can't go to become more fluent in a language that would benefit me to know. Well back to finals, but this Human Behavior analysis of a book I had to read is going to be the death of me. 2 weeks til I am officially 1/2 way done with grad school!

Bye for now <3


Currently listening to: Undisclosed Desires by Muse

April

So the last month has been a crazy one for me. I had midterms due, 2 spring breaks (one from my school, and one from the elementary school I intern at), and I had 6 birthday! I have to admit that this past month has defiantly been the most hectic in my social life. I was going to birthday parties and dinner all month, and with the spring breaks I decided not to do any school work, which was probably not the best choice, but I needed a break! I'm so lucky that I'm interning at a school because I was able to get the second break. Kimmie came during my second spring break, and it was such a fun visit. We went and saw all the tourist sites, and walked about 20 miles while she was here. Her visit was too short, and makes me sad that I'm so far away. Willy moved out here a day before Kimmie came (Thanks to Shanna for being so nice and bringing him!) so she was here to help Willy adjust to NY living. He has adapted well, I'm shocked that we have yet to have an accident in my apartment. I was gone Wednesday for my normal 12.5 hours at school, and thought he would have for sure found something to pee on besides the wee pad I have down. I was shocked when I got home and everything was in place from where I left it and I couldn't find any wet spots and didn't spell pee. He is not so sure yet about the dog parks, but I know it will grow on him eventually. It's so great to have him back though, I was here WAY too long without him.

Now for April....I lose all that social life I had last month. No more dinners during the week, or on the weekends. No going out with friends. I have finals due in 3.5 weeks now....I can't believe I am almost 1/2 way done with my Masters!!! I have to write 3 15pg papers (one I have to read a 400pg book first-I'm on 219 right now), study and take a final exam, and write my part of a group paper, edit the group paper, and give a group presentation. I HATE presenting, so I'm hoping that I can speak less since I will be the one editing the paper! We shall see if my group members allow that. I am done with my internship on the 29th of this month, so I have to start talking to the kids about how I will be leaving and that they will have new social workers next year. I think it's gunna be kinda hard with a couple of them. :( School ends on the 28th, except one class goes until the 5th of May because we had a snow day in Feb. and we have to make up that class.

I looked more into the study aboard program in Costa Rica, and although I would love to do it, I physically cannot afford it. So I will be in NY all summer (which is a 4 month summer for me!) I am looking for a job, and my current supervisor has passed my resume onto a former employer who is trying to get him back at their agency. If I am able to get a job there I would be working with adults who are disabled. If I cannot get a job there, then I will just apply to admin jobs or receptionist jobs, because I'm sure I can't get much more than that with a company knowing that I will have to go back to school in the fall. That's about it for now. Off to go work more on my finals.

<3 Bye for now.

Kimmie's visit to NYC!

here are some pictures from her visit....more to come once I have a few minutes to write more.