Weekend Update

Friday was Katharoo's birthday! Yes, my dear roomie is now living in the South and we're hopefully going to meet up sometime soon. Hope you had a great day, Kath!

It's been a wonderful weekend... working, Halloween party (meow), working some more, hanging with the girls, making homemade soup and Halloween cookies, job possibilities, football watching and cheering on NYC marathoners from the Queen City because we all know that is one of my most favorite events in the fall.

November is here which means it's a brand new month and Thanksgiving is right around the corner, yippee! I also better start seriously running since my sisters thought it would be fun to sign ALL of us up for a 5K on Tgiving morning. Awesome. I would say that running 3 miles on the biggest eating holiday of the year wouldn't be a bad thing... except that I don't especially like Thanksgiving food. Does anyone else??

Good 'ole days

I was going through a few pictures today and found this classic of all of us from the Boat Basin, Summer 2008. Gosh I miss those fun times in NYC! And if you're in this picture, I miss you and hope to see you in 3 weeks!

App State Reunion

Last night I had a little dinner party for some of my ASU friends in Charlotte. It was so fun to see everyone! That's what I love about being back in the South- I can reconnect with friends I haven't seen in years!

Oh baby!

Today I went over to the hospital to visit with the Anderson family. My dear friends Katie and Seth had a baby! Seth Alden Anderson was born on 10.21.09 weighing in at a whopping 9lbs 14oz. I was so excited to meet this little guy.

Congratulations, Seth & Katie and welcome to the world, Alden!

Happy Birthday Brian!

After spending the weekend with the Parkers, I realized that I've known B-Dawg for as long as Al has (since we all met on a mission trip in Jamaica 8 years ago) and that he feels like a big brother to me. He would always call the HL girls on our birthdays which was very thoughtful.

One thing I really appreciate about Brian is how good he is to Al. I was telling Michelle yesterday how sweet it is to visit your best friend and see that she has a wonderful husband who loves her tremendously. That's the best thing you can hope for your friends.

Brian, I hope you enjoy your quiche, homemade bday cake, get to play enough video games to your hearts content and enjoy the cabin with Al this weekend (Beam's Chinese food, haha!). Happy Birthday!

photo taken by me a very long time ago

Transition

It's been interesting as I've made the transition from NYC to Charlotte. I will most likely expound upon this more in blog posts, but tonight was fun and special because it felt like a normal NYC night. And as Warren Harding once campaigned, any kind of "return to normalcy" is really good for me right now. Here goes:

1. An awesome Bible study tonight with 7 new friends

2. Driving by the amazing Charlotte skyline all lit up

3. I saw a yellow taxicab

4. Peach Snapple

5. Hearing that Pam got the pr job we've been praying for all year!! Yay!!

6. Trader Joes


it's just the little things in life...

The tradition continues

Fall + friends + banana pancakes + Mario Kart + wedding quilt + mimosas + Labyrinth/Steel Magnolias + Chinese w the Neel's + a drive-by + the happiest man at Publix + homemade pizzas + park + pumpkins + good talks + painting nails + Trigger + sleeping in + (500) Days of Summer soundtrack + changing leaves = wonderful Fall weekend with friends

Wow

By the time I lost my job in January, I was welcomed with open arms by a group of friends who had already lost their jobs. It was an awful feeling to walk in to work on a Monday morning after a long winter holiday and be told the terrible, yet not surprising news. A good friend took me out to lunch the next day because he had also lost his job and we talked about our jobless situation over Greek food and then watched a murder mystery movie during the middle of the day, just because we could. I'll never forget the strange feeling of watching a movie during the day while everyone else was at work.


Amongst our friends, what joy there was when someone found a job but also a continued support for those of us who were still looking. A few of us even joked about forming the "Bored Group" for those unemployed souls who were tired of coffee shops, resume workshops and endless, unfruitful job searches.

Alan posted this website on his twitter this morning and the minute I saw it, all of those initial feelings came rushing back and I felt sick looking at the statistics. Please check it out. While watching, I was focused on the Northeast area and realized that I lived to see both sides of green and red while living in NYC. Perhaps I am still overwhelmed by the map and realize that these huge red circles aren't just shapes but represent so many people who are struggling. I just hope that those without jobs have the support of family and friends. How thankful I am for community during those first few months!

Cold & Snowy

Before I begin, it is important that I set the scene. My Dad is a weather fanatic. He loves weather and always seems to know when the high/low pressure systems are coming, the dew point, and can call most weather patterns before they happen. People write on his FB wall asking what the weather will be or if it will snow.

What did this mean growing up? My Dad's passion for weather made for some fun experiences for three little girls. I remember a few times when we would go to sleep on a school night and he would then wake us up at 1am because we got 6 inches of snow and definitely weren't going to school the next day. I have this incredible memory of being young and playing with my dad in the snow... at 1am. He would also sit out on his car or the porch playing his guitar while watching a thunderstorm roll in. And, please, let's not forget his lifelong dream to go to to the beach during a Cat. 4 hurricane. He was disappointed in the relatively quiet hurricane season (for the sake of weather, not destruction, of course). And just recently have him and Jeff decided they're going to chase tornadoes. Oh my word.

I got an email from him this morning saying that all the weather guru's ("including the best forecaster Joe Bastardi from Accuweather") say it's going to be a snowier and colder winter than usual! Awesome! :)

Run, Ginna, Run!

This past weekend my sister Ginna was in her first half marathon. Both of my younger sisters are setting the bar pretty high. We already know that Lucy is the triathalon/biking/racing/get up at 4:30am to workout champ of life. I feel like a lazy bum most of the time (even though I enjoy casually running) but love that their passions include running crazy long distances.


The sweetest thing is that Jeffiepooh talked to my parents, who had been planning to visit Gin for the race, and asked if he could come along to surprise her. I called Jeff on Friday when they were in the car to see how it was going. While Jeff feels like part of the family now, spending 6 hours in the car is a long time with your girlfriend's parents... especially when my Dad can say yaspy things. :)

I talked with Gin yesterday and she was definitely surprised and she finished the 13 miles in style. Good job, Ginna! I'm so proud of you!

Love

I've been trying to figure out how to write this post for the past few days. I'll just go for it and hope it makes sense.

Lately I have been so overwhelmed by love: by God's unconditional love for me, the love my family has shown me in the past few weeks, and especially the love from friends. It hasn't really hit me that I left NYC for good until recently. I was so busy getting 4 years of stuff from one place to the next and arranging car/house/furniture, etc. that I didn't quite grasp what I was really doing. I woke up one morning last week and got an email from a friend in NYC telling me how much she missed me and in the end she said, "love you so much". I was overwhelmed. It was one of those moments where loved triumphed over my fears. I felt the comfort of knowing that my friendships in NYC will last and that I will make new friends here in Charlotte.

Today my heart has also been filled with love. My dear friends Maggie and Neal are got married and I wasn't able to make it. Oh how special weddings are to me and how incredible it is to witness two friends who will commit the rest of their lives together. M&N, I have thought about you all day today. I went to a USC game with Alan (thanks, Alan!) and he was a trooper for listening to me every 30 minutes say (or think), "I bet Maggie is in her dress", "She's probably walking down the aisle", or "They're married!!". Congrats to you both; I wish I could've been there to celebrate with you. I'm sure yall are dancing away right now!

When I moved from NC to Long Island almost 4 years ago, I got there and was handed two babies, an almost 60 hr/week job, new town, life and everything. I quickly asked myself, in tears, when the next flight was to NC. But after getting in my groove, I found it to be home. I feel the same way now... and while I know a few people in Charlotte, it feels somewhat overwhelming to start all over.

I guess to conclude, I am humbled by love. I am reminded, especially looking back over the rollercoaster year of 2009, that I'm not promised, as much as I wish I was, that life will be easy or consistent. Even in my deep anxiety over different things, God is faithful to provide His own love to quiet my fears and also the love of family and friends to listen and care. To be shown this love is incredible and makes you want to be a better friend.

And that's what I have to say about that.

CCC at J. Crew

While I am still in the ongoing process of finding a real job, I have secured a part-time job at the J. Crew of Charlotte's SouthPark mall. I start training next week and will hopefully enjoy helping people shop for clothes. Thankfully, life is starting to fall into place!

Happy Fall

I love fall. Love it. Love pumpkins, apple pie, crisp air, leaves changing colors*, wearing sweatshirts, and so many other things. As I've been "nesting" and getting settled in Charlotte, I've been organizing, buying furniture and hanging pictures. There is one picture, in particular, that I hung yesterday that I absolutely love.

It's of my sweet little Alec (affectionately called "Alecie"). For me, this picture is fall. Even though this picture was taken 3 years ago, it captures Alec's personality perfectly. I just had to share it with you because it's one of my favorites.

















*Haha, one of my favorite LA moments was recently when we were walking through Central Park and having a somewhat intense conversation when she abruptly stopped and gasped while looking at the lone tree whose leaves were changing colors. I love that you share the same passion for fall, LeeAnne! Miss you!

Park Ave to Myers Park

Wow, after what was one of the most stressful weeks of my life, I am home. Home is now a cute little house in Myers Park, Charlotte. Yep, I made the big move down South. While I don't have the energy to rehash the crazy events of the past week, I do have to say how thankful I am for the support of family and friends during this transition. And thanks to all my friends for the calls, emails and texts. I will hopefully be getting back with you soon! :)

It feels so great to have my stuff in one place, to have a car (I haven't had a car in 4 years!), a neighborhood and the amazing feeling of being settled in one place. I still have to find a church and job. I also have to find friends!!! While I am so sad to leave my dear NYC friends, I am excited to be in a city with a few people I know. If you live in Charlotte, I'd LOVE to hang out with you!

So that's the update on my life. There's so much more to tell, but maybe I'll get to that later this week. Along with changing my drivers license, re-routing my mail, and every other change that comes with a move, I have to change my blog title. Hmm... CCC in Charlotte? CCC in NC? Any other ideas?