Currently Listening As I Am By Alicia Keys see related

Summer Time

Wow, I guess I haven't written an entry since Christmas! Time flies by so quickly! The end of next month will mark my one year anniversary of moving to Chicago, I can't believe it!

I have officially ended my first year at UIC! Last week I had my last classes, my last day at Lawndale Christian Health Center, and I turned in my final papers. It is a good feeling to have completed 1/2 of my time at UIC. I am very excited for next year! Most of my plans for the coming year are falling into place. My second year field placement will be at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL where I will be working as am Employee Assistance Intern. Basically, I will be offering counseling and referral resources to the employees of the medical center.

I also have found a new roomate and new apartment to move into July 1. I am going to be moving from Wicker Park (it is a bit expensive, actually a lot expensive) to a quiet little street in Logan Square. I am moving in with my friend Becca who I go to school with. We both started the Social Work program this year and were in the same track (all first year students have classes with the same group of people all year). However, next year, she is going into a different concentration (track) than me; Becca will be in Community Health and Urban Development and I will be Mental Health. Therefore, we will have the same exact schedule, but will be in different classes. It should work out really well.

Our apartment is a cute little two bedroom on the first floor of a big building in Logan Square. We are really close to a lot of restaurants and stores, and really close to the actual square. Another bonus is that I will be living less than a mile from Daniel (approx. 4 blocks). I am really excited about moving to a new neighborhood that is a little bit more quiet and slower paced.

So, the next step that I am trying to take is finding a job for the summer. It is such a wonderful thing to realize that this is the last summer that I will have to scramble to find a temporary job! Right now, I am trying to settle down a little bit after the stress of the school year and regroup while I job search. I am about to head off to the scrapbooking store to take up my new hobby of making my own cards and stationery. I also have the goal of taking a dance class this summer. Those are two things that I would love to do for myself! Well, I am going to get back to emailing my resume. I will try to post more often, but I am not sure it is likely!

Currently Reading Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies By Jared Diamond see related

Home for Christmas

Currently Reading The Age of Reason: A Novel By Jean-Paul Sartre see related

The End of the Beginning

Well, I am coming up on the end of my first semester at UIC. This is my last week of classes! Time has been moving so quickly, and two weeks from today I will be back at home in California for two and half lovely weeks. I can hardly believe that it has been almost six months that I have been in Chicago. What a good, yet hard and tiring time it has been.

I am very excited to be back at home and to see friends and family. I have to say though, that what I am most anxious to see is my little cat Tavian! I know I know, but I was an only child. Tavi has been my buddy since the 7th grade! It's different for us onlys, as I was telling Dan last night, I got attachced to other things in place of siblings (like how I used to cry when my parents sold our office chairs at garage sales, because I thought they had a personality and I felt a loyalty to them, haha).

I love Chicago, I love having a place of my own, I love going to school and learning out here; however, I have a feeling that once I go back home to CA, that I will have a really hard time leaving. I have come to value familiarity, family, friends, and stability much more these days. My adventurous side is finally starting to take a back seat, I guess that means I am getting old ;) It's almost as if, when you spend so much time away from home that you start to become a different person. This is not all bad, but sometimes one gets the feeling of losing part of oneself. This is all resolved when I go home, any part of me that I feel as though I have lost comes rushing back. Home is a place where you already have a role and people already know who you are. It reminds you of where you have been so that you can more fully see how you have changed, and re-integrate your new experiences into your old self. I miss the feeling of home. 

Anyways, my job at UIC has ended, and I will be interviewing for another position that would begin in January. This would involve interviewing police officers as part of another research study. I look forward to next semester at UIC! I will be taking a standard social work class on multi-culturalism, and two electives: crisis intervention and feminist theory. It should be a great class load, not to mention I get Fridays off!

So, the next couple of weeks will wind down the school year, but will be busy with social events. This weekend we are heading to GR for Dan's family's Christmas party, next weekend is Dan's big work Christmas party! and in between there, I have a little group of things planned with friends. I am looking forward to the end of beginning!

Currently Reading King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa By Adam Hochschild see related

Brrr...

It is getting cold outside! I was driving to work this morning and the radio said it was 30 degrees outside! I could hardly believe my ears. Sometimes I think of the warmth and sunshine of back home and I wonder if I am crazy for moving back to the midwest. It is worth it, but I don't have to like it!

One good thing about the beginning of the cold weather...it means Christmas is coming!! I already have Christmas presents picked out (1 bought), and packs of Christmas cards ready to be filled out and sent to friends and family! I am even contemplating baking Christmas goodies this year. Dad, if you are reading this, I know you are probably convinced that some one has taken over my computer, but it's true, I want to bake! Saturday afternoon, Dan and I are going downtown with another couple that I know from school to watch the lighting ceremony on Michigan Ave. I absolutely love Christmas; the decorations, the food, even the snow (a little bit). It all adds to that warm holiday feeling! Christmas also means that I get to see my family, which will be wonderful!

First though, I have Thanksgiving to celebrate. It will be great to see my family down in Memphis!

Life is moving steadily along. I am wrapping up my first semester at UIC, and my first six months in Chicago. Time goes so quickly!

Two weeks ago, my mom came out to visit from California! It was so good to see her again! Here are some pictures: at Lou Malnati's, Dan and I with  my uncle and aunt, at UIC, and at the bean.

This week brings more school and more work. Just getting ready to finish up this semester. Starting to get going on my final projects, and looking forward to the holidays already!